Class Notes
River Campus /Undergraduate
1952
Chesley Kahmann writes that she’s recorded another CD in her Kahmann Touch series. Collision (Orbiting Clef Productions) features 14 new original compositions. Chesley performs on the piano and sings with her group, the Interludes.
1954
Donald Liebers sends a photo taken last August at a family celebration in Alford, Mass., for his nephew, David Liebers ’09, who was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study in the United Kingdom as well as a Gates Cambridge Fellowship. David chose to accept the Gates Cambridge award, and is studying in Cambridge, England, this year. Donald writes: “Needless to say, the Liebers family is very proud of David’s accomplishments. In recognition of his achievements, numerous of his friends from the U of R as well as his immediate family and relatives were in attendance.” Pictured from left to right are Junior Hurge ’10, Derrick Acheampong ’12, Jerome Nathaniel ’11, Ann Scully Liebers ’54N (David’s aunt), David Liebers ’82M (MD) (David’s father), Donald, David, Josh Meiseles ’10, Gregory Smith ’09, Matthew Smalarz, David Kotler ’11, and Malik Sams ’09.
1956
Bill Powell ’60M (MD), a retired obstetrician, has written a novel, From There to Here: Anatomy of a Divorce (Strategic Book Publishing). The book follows the fictional Peter Wyse from his childhood in the 1930s to his courtship, marriage, and many years later, divorce from his true love, Sarah.
1958
Orren Van Orden sends a photo and an update. He writes: “This past summer, my wife, Dorothy, and I attended the 50th wedding anniversary celebration of my Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity brother Tom Currie ’59 and Sally Jenkins Currie ’60. Classmates Warner ’59 and Patti O’Day Blow ’60 and Sandra Nielsen Wanner ’60 also honored Tom and Sally with their presence. It was the first time I had seen Tom and Sally since their wedding in Webster, N.Y., in 1961. They look just as vibrant as they did then, with the exception that Sally’s hair isn’t red now! We pray that their next 50 years will be just as happy as the last 50 have been.” From left to right are Sally, Dorothy, Orren, and Tom.
1959
Warner Blow (see ’58). . . . Tom Currie (see ’58). . . . Peter Hays writes that he’s published his sixth book and his fourth on Hemingway: The Critical Reception of Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises (Camden House). Peter is a professor emeritus of English at the University of California at Davis. . . . Mary Barstow Olson writes: “I have been reading class notes for 50 years now. I always enjoy them but was never as excited as when I read the note from Michael Ko ’91 in the July–August 2011 issue. I can’t promise to have read every entry through the years, but this is the first time I’ve seen a graduate praising his university for its continuing growth and expressing gratitude for the fact that his education at U of R led him to a satisfying and prosperous career. May his life continue the Meliora trajectory.”
1960
Patti O’Day Blow (see ’58). . . . Sally Jenkins Currie (see ’58). . . . Sandra Nielsen Wanner (see ’58). 1964 Peter Standish reports that his Alpha Delta Phi brother John Glossop ’66 passed away. He had lost touch with John and heard about John’s passing, in March 2008, only recently. Peter writes: “John was a revered teacher, director, and author. He taught in Toronto high schools for over 25 years and led two professional theater companies. John cofounded the Etobicoke School of the Arts, whose student productions earned awards at the Sears Ontario Drama Festival and from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the International Young Playwrights Festival. His book, Directing: The Art and Craft (TheatreBooks), is highly regarded in drama circles.” 1966 John Glossop (see ’64).
1969
Tony Cantrick won a gold medal in the amateur division of the 2011 Seattle International Piano Festival and Competition. He writes: “I enjoyed participating in the winners’ recital and having the opportunity to visit with the other winners from around the world. My program consisted of works by Scarlatti, Rachmaninoff, and Debussy. Other awards I received the night of the recital were Audience Favorite and Best Performance of a Sonata by Scarlatti.” His piano teacher is William Chapman Nyaho ’84E (MM). In addition to studying piano and singing bass, Tony is a systems analyst for Crane Aerospace and an avid hiker and bicycler. He lives in Woodinville, Wash., with his wife and two children. . . . Stuart Mushlin has been named a master clinician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. An internist, Stuart is a member of the department of medicine at the hospital and at Harvard Medical School. The master clinician designation recognizes faculty who have distinguished themselves through patient care and mentorship.
1970
Nancy Heller Cohen ’70N has published another book in her Bad Hair Day mystery series: Shear Murder (Five Star Press, January 2012).
1972
Philip Gavitt, chair of the history department at Saint Louis University, has written the book Gender, Honor, and Charity in Late Renaissance Florence (Cambridge University Press). . . . Stuart Schneider has joined paranormal researcher Dinah Roseberry in creating The Ghost Hunter’s Tool Kit (Schiffer Publishing). The kit includes a Tarot card deck featuring Stuart’s photographs, dowsing rods, and an instruction booklet.
1973
Bill Savino, a partner at the Buffalo law firm Damon Morey, has been designated a Top 10 Upstate New York Attorney by Super Lawyers magazine, an affiliate of Thomson Reuters.
1975
Joseph Hymes ’77M (MS) has been named chief operating officer of Agility Health, a provider of health services to patients undergoing physical rehabilitation. . . . Steven Sibener, the Carl William Eisendrath Distinguished Service Professor in Chemistry at the University of Chicago, has been named the recipient of the 2012 Arthur W. Adamson Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Surface Chemistry from the American Chemical Society. He’ll receive the award at the annual meeting of the society in March in San Diego.
1976
Gary Rowen (see ’04). . . . Suzanne Mueller Weiss writes that she’s been named assistant dean of the business school at Illinois Institute of Technology. She’s been a senior lecturer in marketing at the school since 2003.
1977
Bob Dardano sends a photo and an update. He and Deb Howe Allen ’91 (MA) “have made five trips together to Europe over the years, exploring cities from St. Petersburg to Dubrovnik to Lisbon to Dublin,” he writes. The photo shows the two of them “standing atop Blarney Castle before kissing its famous stone during a recent trip to Ireland.” . . . Amy Lansky writes that she’s published a book, Active Consciousness: Awakening the Power Within (R. L. Ranch Press). A former researcher in artificial intelligence at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Amy offers an exploration of human consciousness that “weaves together the science of the paranormal, the teachings of mystics, and meditative exercises.”
1978
Michael Corp, a partner at the Syracuse law firm Hancock Estabrook and the leader of the firm’s trusts and estates practice, has been named a 2011 New York Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers magazine, an affiliate of Thomson Reuters.
1981
Tony Cipolla has been inducted into the athletic “wall of fame” at Wilson High School in Niagara Falls, N.Y. Tony was a member of the Yellowjackets football team all four years at U of R. At Wilson High, he played football, basketball, and baseball. On the football team, he led in interceptions during his senior year, and still holds the school’s single season record. In baseball, Tony served as team captain during his senior year and stole 32 bases for the season, a school and league record at the time. Tony’s total of 58 stolen bases is still a school record. . . . Lori Smith has joined the law firm White and Williams as a partner in the business and corporate, private equity and venture capital, and securities practice groups. She’ll work in the firm’s New York City office.
1985
Dan Koharski sends a photo of himself taken last July at the Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39a, where he was preparing systems for the last launch of the space shuttle Atlantis—the final shuttle launching in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s 30-year space shuttle program. He’s now working on NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket program. Dan writes: “I’m part of the engineering team, performing upgrades to the crawler transporters that will carry the new heavy-lift rockets from the vehicle assembly building to the launch pads. I was also part of the engineering team that did engineering studies on the crawler system that will allow the crawler to move the new heavy-lift rockets to the pad. This project was selected by the American Society of Civil Engineers Florida section as Project of the Year for 2011.”
1987
George Molnar writes that he was recognized for “outstanding contributions to technology” with the Cox Business Exemplary Award at the Vegas Inc. 2011 Las Vegas Top Tech Executives Awards. George provides broadcast engineering, information technology, and emergency response services to the Clark County School District’s Vegas PBS unit.
1988
Tim Talley has invented U-Laces—shoelace “segments” that come in a variety of colors and that wearers can pop into their sneakers, in a variety of patterns, to customize their look. Tim’s company, U-Lace, distributes the laces in more than 30 countries and through www.u-lace.com. Tim is the former senior director of fashion headwear for the New Era Cap Co.
1990
Adam Konowe is vice president of client strategy for aerospace and defense at TMP Government, a communications firm serving federal clients. Adam is also an adjunct professor of communications at American University.
1991
Matthew Jackson, a partner in the Albany law firm Deily, Mooney & Glastetter, has been named a 2011 New York Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers magazine, an affiliate of Thomson Reuters. Matthew’s practice area is multi-jurisdictional commercial and bankruptcy litigation.
1992
Debbie-Ann Facey writes that she’s a project manager at the Fiserv Corp., an information technology company serving clients in financial services and based in Dallas. . . . Jeff Reznick has been promoted to chief of the history of medicine division of the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. A historian, Jeffrey was previously deputy chief of the division.
1993
Jessica Leonard Birk writes that she’s been promoted to senior vice president and director of client services at ID Media, a digital media services company in New York City. She lives on Long Island with her husband, Neil, and sons Craig and Brandon. . . . Joshua Masson writes that he’s been elected the 83rd president of the Iowa Junior Chamber. His one-year term began on January 1. Joshua was also named an Iowa Jaycees Governor, the highest honor bestowed on junior chamber members for contributions to the local chapter as well as to the statewide organization.
1995
Michelle Salob Freiberg and her husband, Rick, welcomed a son, Elliot Noah, in June. She writes: “He is our first, and we are enjoying every minute.” . . . Janet Japa sends a photo and an update. She and her husband, Robert Utley, celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary in October. Janet sends a photo from their October 2010 wedding in Tarrytown, N.Y. From left to right are Alison Hiller White ’96, Emily Beckett, Julie Ann Arzu ’98, ’98N, Sandra Agudelo, Tommy Zarembka, Brendon Hopgood, Rosa Coaxum Slack ’96, and Fartna Ulysse Baptiste. She adds: “We were thankful that Alison, of Alison White Photography, traveled east from Crested Butte, Colo., to photograph the event.”
1996
Rich Andre ’97 (MS) was ordained a deacon in the Paulist priesthood last September. The ceremony took place at St. Vincent Chapel of Catholic University, in Washington, D.C. Rich will continue to study at the Washington Theological Union until he is ordained a priest in May 2012. . . . Alison Hiller White (see ’95).
1998
David Leavitt has been named vice president of the public relations company Weber Shandwick. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Marnie, and writes that they have recently installed a solar roof on their house.
1999
Matthew Hodgdon writes that he and his wife, Sandra, welcomed a son, Tyler Ronald, in August. He joins Colin, 3. Matthew adds that the family is relocating to Massachusetts. “After traveling the world for five years as a trumpet player and dealing art on luxury cruise liners for six years,” Matt writes, he’s accepted a sales position at the pharmaceutical label manufacturing firm CCL Label.
2000
Ari and Victoria Boyer Chodos welcomed their second child, Charlotte Quinn Chodos, in January 2011. . . . Clint Miller has completed a master’s degree from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.
2001
Emily Patterson writes that she married Lee Smith in November 2010 in Baltimore. Pictured from left to right are: (back row) Liz Zelasko, Mehul Patel, Tani Begum, Rakib Azad, Greg Goldstein, Nicholas Borch-Rote, Josh Guthermann, Ilana Blatt-Eisengart, Aaron Guthermann, Nick Rutar, Christy Anthony, Colleen Rutar, Melanie Minges, Javed Jinnah, Nikhil Bhide, Melanie Sisti, Bernhard Boennemann, and Hugo Boennemann; (front row) Lee, Emily, and Emily Bones ’03W (MS). Rekha Trivikram also attended.
2002
Joseph Hamway writes that he and his wife, Jane, welcomed their first child, Alexa Jane, in September 2011. Alexa weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces.
2003
Kate Brodock has been named executive director of digital and social media at Syracuse University’s Division of Advancement and External Affairs. Kate continues to lead the Other Side Group, the new media marketing company that she founded in 2008. . . . Michael and Erica Daniels Marciano welcomed their first child, Cole Michael, in September 2011.
2004
Patrick Fitzsimmons has joined the corporate and securities law practice group in the Buffalo law office of Hodgson Russ. . . . Dan Rowen writes that he married Chloë May at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Pictured from left to right are Quang Luong ’03, Sarah Faso, Jonathan Jackson ’03, Johnny Mazzello ’03, Erika Mudrak ’03, David Selby, Chloë, Dan, David Weissler ’03, Kelly Gresham ’03, Gary Rowen ’76 (father of the groom), Jamie Sokol ’05, and Daniel Schneider ’76. . . . . David Wolpert ’11 (PhD) has coauthored a book, Managing Temperature Effects in Nanoscale Adaptive Systems (Springer), with Rochester associate professor of electrical and computer engineering Paul Ampadu. David is a chip back-end design engineer at IBM.
2005
Amanda Shaw married Mischa Irsch in September 2010 in Burlington, Vt. The bridal party included Whitney Hopfinger, Katie Congdon, Mary DelBalso Salter ’04, ’07M (MPH), and Susan Cho ’05. Also in attendance were Kimberly Hampton ’04, Margaret Possee Figueroa, Travis Figueroa, Josh Evans, Ann Richards Evans, and Jason Salter ’11M (PhD). Amanda and Mischa live in the Boston area where Amanda is a social worker in the criminal justice system and recently opened a forensic consulting practice. Mischa is a foreign exchange sales trader for the Bank of New York Mellon.
2006
Robert Rice spent last summer in Kennebunkport, Maine, performing in the musical Crazy for You. Robert was a member of OBOC (Off-Broaday on Campus), a campus musical theater and revue performance company. Robert lives in Manhattan, where he’s pursuing an acting career. Last summer, he and the cast of Crazy for You were introduced after a performance to the former president and first lady, George and Barbara Bush, who are residents of Kennebunkport. . . . . Benjamin Snitkoff has joined the intellectual property practice group in the Boston office of the law firm Pepper Hamilton.
2008
Ryan Perry ’09 (T5), ’11 (MA) married Sarah Nachtrieb last July in Rochester’s Highland Park. . . . Greg Skipton and Kate Cieply ’09 were married last June in Rochester. They live in Columbus, Ohio, where Kate is in her third year of medical school at Ohio State and Greg is an administrative assistant and assistant to the branch vice president at AXA Advisors. Before marrying Kate and moving to Columbus, Greg was the patron service and education manager of the Syracuse Opera Co. Pictured are (front row, left to right) Colleen Cassidy, Kate, Greg; (second row) Evan Buchberger, Joanna Holmes, Erica Skipton ’09 (groom’s sister); (third row) Courtney Callanan ’09, Andrew Bochenko ’09; (fourth row) Dan Allan, David Lu ’07. Alumni in attendance but not pictured included the groom’s mother, Deborah Greer ’81M (MD).
2009
Kate Cieply (see ’08). . . . David Liebers (see ’54).
2010
Amy Webster Mirabella has opened an art gallery, JGK Galleries, in Rochester’s East Avenue Historic District. Located in a 19th-century carriage house, the gallery, which opened in October, features more than 50 sculptures, paintings, glass works, and mixed media works by accomplished as well as emerging artists from across the United States. Amy is a studio artist who has participated in a number of group exhibitions, completed a number of commissioned works, and donated several pieces to the Rochester Contemporary Art Center.
