Alumni in the News

On August 25, Lisa Carnoy ’89 was unanimously elected to the United States Soccer Board of Directors, where she will be an independent director. The board is the governing body of the U.S. Soccer Federation.

After being appointed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in early June, Justice Paul Feinman ’81 was confirmed by the New York State Senate to the State Court of Appeals on June 21.

On August 3, Ad Age hosted “Women to Watch,” an event to celebrate women in advertising. EVP of Global Solutions for Fox Networks Group Danielle Maged ’89, BUS’97 received an Ad Age “Women to Watch” award during the ceremony.

Max Schnur ’15 made it to the first round of doubles play at Wimbledon’s 131st Championships. He is the first Columbia alumnus to make it into the tournament since 1982.

On August 4, WNYC’s Leonard Lopate interviewed artistic director Thomas Kapusta ’12 and producer Alexander Donnelly ’14 about The Corkscrew Theater Festival, which they created to support independent theater and artists by increasing production opportunities for early-career artists.

Two alumni appeared in Crain’s New York’s list of the Most Powerful Women 2017: New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito ’91 came in at number 17 and Sheena Wright ’90, LAW’94, president and CEO of the United Way of New York City, came in at number 41. The rankings “evaluated the candidates using three basic criteria: the financial size of their organization, their rank within their company and the specific impact they’ve had on New York City through their professional and personal endeavors.” All the honorees were celebrated at a luncheon on September 26.

Maggie Gyllenhaal ’99 stars in The Deuce, which debuted on HBO on September 10. The show takes place in the 1970s and tells the story of the beginnings of New York City’s porn industry; Gyllenhaal stars as a sex worker who enters the triple-X film world.

Musicologist, historian and UC Berkeley Emeritus Professor of Music Richard Taruskin ’65, GSAS’76 received Japan’s prestigious 2017 Kyoto Prize “for his contributions to the study, performance and critical discourse of early music, modern Russian music and Western music history.”

Broadway producer Ron Simons ’82, BUS’89 won the Tony for “Best Play Revival” for August Wilson’s Jitney at the 71st Tony Awards ceremony, held June 11 at Radio City Music Hall.

David Perlman ’39, JRN’40, the famed San Francisco Chronicle science editor, retired in early August after nearly 70 years with the Chronicle. “Perlman has churned out thousands of articles over the years,” said a KQED Science article about his retirement. “Not only has he won numerous science journalism awards, there are two named for him. Perlman’s life has spanned whole epochs in science: the launch of the space age, the entire unfolding of the computer age and, as The Los Angeles Times noted in a profile, Pluto’s entire life as a planet, from its discovery in 1930, to its recent demotion to subplanet.”

Long-distance runner and activist Alison Mariella Désir ’07, GSAS’11, TC’16 is one of the faces of a new Under Armour campaign, “Unlike Any,” which celebrates female athletes. The campaign combines the work of lyricists, poets and spoken-word artists to create videos highlighting each athlete.

Lucia Aniello ’04 made her film directorial debut on June 16 with Rough Night, a comedy starring Kate McKinnon ’06 and Scarlett Johansson, among others. McKinnon also appeared on the cover of the July 2017 ELLE; she was interviewed by Tina Fey.

— Anne-Ryan Heatwole JRN’09