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CLASS NOTES
Everett
Weinberger After three years of marriage, Lori Ann Guzman-Farrell ’89 Barnard and Keith Farrell announce the June birth of their son, Hayden Vicente. Keith is a captain with the Long Beach (Calif.) Fire Department and Lori Ann is a financial adviser with Salomon Smith Barney. Keith may be the first from our class with a child headed to college this fall (please let me know if there are others in our class). His daughter, Mercedes (17), is at Carnegie Mellon with a Presidential Scholarship. By the way, Keith is looking to get in touch with Anthony Diaz, so if anyone knows how to get in touch with him, please let me know (and while you’re at it, update us as to his doings). Theo LeGuin is back in his hometown of Portland, Ore., after grad school in Michigan and several years in L.A.. He’s been married to his college sweetheart, Nancy, for 15 years, and they have two daughters, Isabel (5) and India (8). After working in health policy and market research, Theo joined a friend to form what is now a thriving market research and consulting business for high-tech companies. He writes: “Too much travel, but I love the relative autonomy and find myself surprisingly interested in the process of building a business, over and above the actual research we do.” Marcy and Howard Oster had their fourth child, Yonatan, who joins siblings Sara, Emunah and Amichai. They moved to Karnei Shomron, Israel, two years ago. Howard is an attending physician at Rabin Medical Center, an affiliate of Tel Aviv University.
Sarah A. Kass As promised, we start this issue’s notes by revisiting our 15th reunion celebrations, with a special thank you to Kyra Tirana Barry and Judy Kim for all their help! Day-by-day at the Class of 1987’s 15th reunion: Thursday, party at Dave Perlman’s Essex Street Restaurant. Among the attendees were Chris Crovatto, John Malysa and Rick Russell, who recently returned to the East Coast. Pam Johnson lives in NYC and works at the Helena Rubenstein Foundation. Ed Hoffman and his wife, Ina, also kicked off the reunion at the Essex Street party. According to Kyra, Lee Ilan thought that 13 Carman was the freshman year floor that was best represented. However, Ed and John would say that 8 Carman came in close, and then there were those who would say 14 Jay had a good showing, as well. Jill Niemcyzk, Farah Chandu, Laurie Gershon and Gerri Gold also joined in the festivities. Friday: Casino Royale at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Drew Lane and Eric Lurie and his wife, Kathy, made the trip Friday night from suburban New Jersey. Joe DeGaetano made it to the casino, but babysitting woes kept his wife, Maria, in Atlantic City. Dean Anderson and Steff left boys Benjamin and Zachary home so they could concentrate on the celebration. Judy Kim hung out with Laurie Gershon, Michael Marubio, Cathy Webster and her husband, Bill, and Lee Ilan until at least midnight. “I won three Columbia College mugs,” Judy reports proudly. Saturday afternoon: family barbecue. Kyra’s report: The day’s barbecue brought out the families. Lynne Lada Azer attended with her husband, Emil, and daughters, Emily and Erin. Annemarie Jurczak brought her husband, Keith, and their daughter. Marina Schreiber joined them. Teresa Saputo and her husband and daughter were there as well as Lauren Alter and her husband and daughter. Donna Pacicca and her husband, Dominic, brought their two sons. Irka Seng made an appearance, but left her hubby home. Judy’s report: Nancy and Michael Markhoff were there with their three kids; Dawn Santana and her husband, Gus, were there with their son, Ian. Ted Allegaert and Alex Navab got nostalgic and checked out the crew weight room in the gym. Rob Wolf also attended. Saturday evening: Class dinner at Casa Italiana. More than 60 people attended, including Chris Kane and his wife, Marybeth, in from Darien, Conn., and Bob Ingram ’87E and his wife, Adrienne, in from Long Island. Steve Amitay and his wife, Sharlene, left their two at home in Washington, D.C., where Steve still runs around with the politicians. Kyra notes: “I don’t know who got the beer, but Steve and Sharlene caused late-night reunion trouble on the steps with a well-timed bottle of tequila. Dan Hutson ’87E and Christine Koobatian couldn’t resist the tequila, so they joined their classmates on the steps.” Dave Walker and his wife, Maggie, Dr. Bill Parsons, the roving pediatrician, Bob Albery, Ken Veneziano, Joe Policastro, T.J. Salvidio and Mark Foss made up the single crew who left their other halves at home. T.J. and Mark came down from Worcester, Mass., where both are practicing law and each have a son and a daughter. Well-timed business brought Bob to the Big Apple from Colorado for the weeks surrounding reunion, although his wife, Harriet, and daughters stayed home. Ken also left his wife, Sandy, and his daughters home while he attended to NYC business and catching up with classmates. Locally, Suzy Upton Buttenwieser brought her husband, Peter, and the husband and wife team of Kyra and David Barry also attended. Joe Policastro and his wife, Margaret, live in Harrington Park, N.J. with their 5-year-old twins, Nicolette and Alessandra, and teenagers, Christopher and Brooke. Kyra notes: “Keith Thomson snuck in at the very end of Saturday night with his fiancée, Karen. They were preparing for their move to California. Hard to believe that Keith is out of New York City and trying his hand at the California entertainment business.” Kevin Greber made it back to a reunion of sorts. In a case of stellar planning, he was in town with his wife and daughter for a tour during Memorial Day weekend. Barbara Geary was there with her husband and son. Anne Fallon Lyness was deep in the middle of her move from Wisconsin back to her home state of Massachusetts, her eighth move in 11 years, and she hopes it will be her last. Sandi Asirvatham was kept in Baltimore by the flu. Chris Sommer and his wife, Stacy, were kept in California by the May birth of their son Bennett Scott. He joins big sister Casey. Kyra adds: “We would like to again thank all the classmates who gave to Columbia College this year in memory of Laurie Morrill, which also includes a 2002–03 scholarship in her honor. Her parents, Hilda and Ron Morrill, are very grateful that so many of her classmates remembered Laurie in this special way.” And finally, congratulations to the entire Class of 1987: Our class has broken all historical records for the amount of money raised by a 15th year reunion class. Well done! Life does go on outside reunion, though. Laura Adams said that the last time she submitted information to Class Notes, she was about to begin a Ph.D. program in clinical psychology at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. “I just finished that project,” she said, “concluding the last degree I intend to pursue. I was unable to attend reunion last May, as I was in major dissertation mode. Happily, that’s behind me, and I’ve begun a post-doctoral fellowship at the North Texas Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, where I am working with veterans with substance abuse and psychological trauma disorders.” Andrea Solomon was married last year to Grant Waterson, and had a baby in February, Lucas Antonio Waterson. Andrea was a dean at GS for five years but left this summer to be associate director of Columbia’s 250th anniversary celebration. Yahphen Yvonne Chang says her life has changed quite a bit in the last year and a half. “I got married in March 2001 to John Manning, a fellow investment banker. I still live in Toronto, where I have lived for the past 6 1–2 years, working for a Canadian investment bank.” From Raanana, Israel, Alissa Burstein is now senior editor of the publications department at Bar-Ilan University. She lives with her three kids, Michael Samuel (9); Daniella (7); and Nathan (21–2) and her husband, Itzik. John Ardy, who started in the Class of 1986 but graduated with us, is an executive vice president of Countrywide Credit Industries; most people know the company as Countrywide Home Loans. He runs its Six Sigma program, which is like reengineering. John earned his M.B.A. from USC in 1995 and has been doing this type of work ever since. He married Jennifer Rennecker ’89, who had been president of the board of managers, and they have three young children: Sammi, David and Annemarie. John notes, “We live about 55 miles northwest of L.A., about halfway to Santa Barbara, and would love to hear from anyone who remembers us. We really miss the east coast and look forward to returning when the timing is right.” Since his time at Columbia, Tom Herman has been immersed in the world of teaching, from Boston to Washington to St. Louis to his hometown of Chicago. He teaches junior high and high school English at a tiny school, Northridge Prep, his alma mater, on the north side of the city. ”I also head up the debate team and philosophy club, where I can put the Core to work!” Philip Gold is the director of clinical research for the Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle. He and his wife, Caryn, have two children: Adam (4) and Ethan (2). Abby M. Schrader received tenure and was promoted to associate professor of history at Franklin & Marshall College. In addition, her book, Languages of the Lash: Corporal Punishment and Identity in Imperial Russia, was published by Northern Illinois University Press in May. If that isn’t enough, she received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research programs to research and write her next project on Siberia. Research in Russia kept her away from reunion. Along with her partner, Sharon Eble, Abby is closing on her first home, a 160–180-year-old Philadelphia rowhouse. Bill Flick is in Rosemont, Pa., which is just outside of Philadelphia. ”I have a gorgeous (and very understanding) wife, Leslie, and three fantastic kids: Will (5), Nina (3) and Charlie (1). I am a principal for the North Highland Co. in its Philadelphia office. North Highland is a management and technology and consulting firm headquartered in Atlanta.” Although he was unable to make it to reunion, Bill met up recently with Randy Bessolo and Paul Lee ’86 while on a business trip to Chicago. They both are doing well. Eli Kavon said: “I was saddened to read of the death of Wallace Gray. Professor Gray was my Lit Hum instructor and my teacher for ‘Eliot, Joyce, and Pound.’ He introduced Euripides and Dostoevsky to a yeshivah boy from the Bronx — for that I will always be grateful. “After graduating from Columbia, I worked as an editor in New York for eight years. I then moved to Sunrise, Fla., to be closer to my family. I have concentrated on teaching Jewish history and thought. This November marks my sixth year at Broward Community College. I have lectured at BCC on the Holocaust, Zionism, Kabbalah and the history of the Jews of Spain. This year, I am teaching a course, ‘Israel, Islam and the West: The Roots of Confrontation.’ I frequently lecture at hostels, libraries and to organizations. “When I have time, I write poetry and act. I have had a number of poems published and a few have appeared on CD. My most recent acting stint was as Jonathan Brewster, the psycho-killer, in a local theatrical production of the dark comedy Arsenic and Old Lace. “I have been accepted to The Hebrew University graduate school in Jerusalem as a student in the department of Jewish thought. The university has granted me a deferment. I will be moving to Israel next summer and will start my studies then.” Thanks to everyone who sent contributions for this issue and a thank you in advance to everyone who will be sending contributions for the next issue!
George Gianfrancisco Oft when I reflect upon Camp Columbia, it seems that the ensuing years have zoomed past and left me with little more than silvered locks. Even now, sometimes the years seem like days, and other times, the days seem like an eternity. Perhaps temporal confusion has made the brief missives that I receive seem so much fuller than the orts of information that they appear. Penny Kutlow Tyson and her husband, Mark, welcomed son Daniel into the world. He was met in the delivery room by big brother Jack (2) and some former Morningside Heighters, Scott Marantz and his wife, Susan Laskoff ’88 Barnard. Truly a Light Blue affair. Marge Traub, who now signs her letters Margaret Aguirre, is in NYC where she is the executive producer of American Morning With Paula Zahn after a six-year stint with Good Morning America. She and filmmaker husband, Jeff, have been together for a decade, having met in their native Utah after graduation. Yuri Kim lives in Zurich with significant other Urs Lustenberger and their two children, Elena and Nicholas. Shin Na is in Singapore with her husband, Tony, where she’s busy saving the world through various charitable enterprises when not saving various Internet or TV ventures. Liz King is finishing up her M.F.A. in creative writing at UNC Wilmington. She and her husband, Phillip, have a year-old daughter, Veronica. Jill Levey-Powlen, a favorite contributor to this column, gave birth to her second child, Rachel Sophie. Jill works from her home in New Jersey as a fund raising consultant and enjoys spending time with her two daughters. In a final effort to order the chaos of experiences, I reflect on Matt Sodl. For perhaps no one was more confused during his time at Columbia, nor perhaps was there more confusion surrounding one person. Consider what I call “Myths and Truths of Matt Sodl.” Myth: Matt never saw a two-story building before he got to college. Truth: Matt grew up on a farm in eastern Pennsylvania where silos regularly are three stories high. Myth: Because he was on the football team, Matt was a bad football player. Truth: OK, the team had some rotten luck, but he was an All-American. Myth: Every girl Matt asked for a date turned him down. Truth: Wife, Kathy, said ‘yes’ right off the bat because as a teacher of young children, she could see his innocence and good nature. They live in Manhattan Beach, Calif., and have two daughters, Katie and Kelly. Myth: Matt failed his take-home midterm in MOCA. Truth: It was a D minus, but it didn’t prevent him from having an exemplary career in investment banking. He handles all the entertainment financing at Murphy Noel. Myth: Matt had a chance to win the presidency of the freshman class. Truth: He won a belly flop contest in Ft. Lauderdale over spring break that year. Now I think I have a handle on when things happened in my life. First I was legal to drink, then I graduated from college. But why does ZBT’s Roll in the Hay Party seem like a few weeks ago, yet for the life of me, my CC final seems like a million years ago?
Amy Perkel Thanks to Kim Smith for “reaching out.” Knowing that she wasn’t the only CCT virgin out there, and having the desire to reconnect with Dan Javitch, a teacher in the East Bay of California whom we recently covered in this column, inspired her to write. Kim, as you can read in the profile at left, is passionately involved in education as well. Co-founder and CEO of the New Schools Venture Fund, she was cited in Newsweek’s “Women of the 21st Century” (January 8, 2001) as “the kind of woman who will shape America’s new century.” She also has renovated a house in the Mission in San Francisco, where she lives. I roped Kim into participating on an October panel for the Columbia
University Alumni Club of Northern California on “Social Sector
Innovation: Latest Developments in Investing and Entrepreneurship.”
By the way, for anyone in the Bay Area who Other College speakers who have addressed the club include Bill Meehan ’74 and Christine Vardaros ’91. We persuaded Bill to speak on “The Nine Attributes of Effective Nonprofit Boards.” Bill is chair of the United Way of the Bay Area and sits on the board of the San Francisco Symphony, in addition to teaching a course at Stanford on nonprofits (and he has a “day job” on top of all that!). Christine discussed “Turning Dreams Into Reality: ‘How To’ Tips From a Professional Cyclist and World Class Fencer” at a September networking function for the club. A biology major and fencer at Columbia, Christine is the reigning Northern California/Nevada Cyclo-Cross Champion and member of the U.S. National Team, where she placed top 10 at two World Cup events in Switzerland and Holland. Numerous well-organized College alumni whippersnappers run the club these days, including President Pete Zuercher ’97, who was preceded by an illustrious College contingent including (in reverse chronological order) Chris Front ’91 ’93 GSAS, Amol Sarva ’98, Ilene (Weinstein) Lederman ’87, Robert Kidd ’70 and Larry Kane ’84 ’87L. Other College board members include Karl Cole-Frieman ’92 ’97L, v.p. of operations; Stephen Tsang ’99, who looks after young alumni events; Allan Ng ’99, who manages the Web site, and Jane Lee, who is v.p. of entertainment, which certainly shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who know her. As I tout the virtues of the Alumni Club, here’s a great way to reconnect with classmates and meet ones you only knew by face. Six years ago, the club facilitated Jane and I reconnecting at the annual Film Night — a wonderful event hosted by the club where the dean of the School of the Arts comes out to show a half-dozen short films from students and graduates of the film school. Jane has organized a number of events including seats to December’s Cirque Du Soleil Varekai. She’s also taken club members to cheer on the New York Yankees versus the Oakland A’s. Aside from Columbia activities, other volunteer endeavors include preparing people to become U.S. citizens. Fluent in Russian, Jane spends much time working with Russian immigrants in their endeavors to become Americans. As I’m on an Alumni Club roll, with more than 50 Columbia alumni clubs around the world, I encourage you to become active in any capacity (attending, organizing, speaking) if you’re not already. Parents are welcome, of course! For more information, please visit www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/uar/clubs.html.
Rachel J. Cowan Did any of you catch Jeopardy! on October 10? Doug Yasso was one of the contestants! He came in second, got both Daily Double questions in the Double Jeopardy round and was the only one who got Final Jeopardy correct. Obviously, his days participating in Columbia’s Quiz Bowl were important training. When Doug isn’t competing on game shows, he runs a computer consulting business and works primarily with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in Manhattan. Did any of you catch New Hampshire’s elections this month? Rick St. Hilaire, an assistant county attorney in Belknap County, ran for Grafton County Attorney. The incumbent withdrew from the race, so Rick ran unopposed. Grafton County covers much of western New Hampshire. Suzana Loncar joined the New Jersey law firm of Norris, McLaughlin & Marcus, P.A. She earned an M.A. in reading from Montclair State University in 1994 and her J.D. from Rutgers in 2002. Katerina Antos Hulme gave birth to a daughter, Anne Olivia, on March 5. Steven and Laura Schiele Robinson are proud to announce the August 22 birth of their son, Miles Schiele Robinson. Ijeoma Acholonu married Sylvester Ejeh, a cardiologist, in September 2001. She wants us to know that Ejeh is pronounced “edge jay” lest we all think she has now become “EJ EJ.” Dianne (Morse) Nagler, Stanley McCloy, Dineo Khabele ’89 and her husband, James Hunter ’88, attended the wedding. EJ’s brothers, Uchenna Acholonu ’96 and Toma Acholonu ’98, were in the wedding party. Planning the wedding for 500-plus guests was torture but worth it. EJ finished her surgery residency at Howard University Hospital after seven years (five years clinical and two years of research) and has moved to Atlanta to start a laparoscopic surgery fellowship. Yes, the training goes on. She decided that this is the best way to perpetually defer her student loans. EJ and Sylvester are also the proud parents of Chidera, born in March. Her name means “what God has written.” Anita Bose left the crisis communications world
of Robinson Lerer & Montgomery to take a much-needed hiatus
from the workforce and to travel the globe for the next several
months. Brilliant plan, Anita. Send us a postcard, please.
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