Class Notes

College/Arts, Sciences & Engineering

1942

Don Hodgman died in February, his son, Bob, writes. Don had been living in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife of almost 70 years, Naomi. Originally from Buffalo, Don served in the Army during World War II and earned a doctorate in economics from Harvard upon his return. He taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign for 29 years. He and Naomi had four children, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Among Don’s many hobbies were tennis, swimming, birding, piano, family geneaology, and using his MacBook and iPad. He also spoke three other languages: Russian, French, and Italian.

1948

Raymond Murphy ’50 (MA), professor emeritus of sociology at Rochester, died in January, his son, James, writes. Raymond studied geology as an undergraduate, and stayed at Rochester to earn a master of arts degree in sociology before going on to earn a doctorate in sociology from Northwestern. He had two children—James, and his sister, Katherine.

1956

Donald Messina ’57 (MA) writes: “I’ve just completed my 11th year of conducting classical concerts with the St. Andrew’s Chamber Orchestra with a novel musical undertaking. It was the creation of an all-French classical concert with special narrations.” Donald adds that the orchestra, affiliated with St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Rochester, recorded the concert on CD. “It uniquely blends the well-known romantic music of Bizet, Ravel, Massenet, Berlioz, Saint Saens, and others into a dramatic 19th-century love story, narrated before each work, set in Paris, Venice, Madrid, Tangiers, and Marsailles.” Donald welcomes inquiries from classmates at dmessina@localnet.com.

1962

James ’64 (MS) and Anne-Marie Rogozinski Taylor ’63W (MA) send an update. James was named professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering at the University of New Brunswick. “Jim has been at UNB since 1994,” Anne-Marie writes, “and we have happily lived here since then in Fredericton, the capital of the province of New Brunswick in eastern Canada.” Anne-Marie won a national award for her work in special education from the Canadian Association for Community Living. The award recognized Anne-Marie’s “commitment and dedication to the inclusion of all students.”

1965

Tim Butts, who is part of the 50th Reunion Planning Committee, writes: “Class of 1965! There is still plenty of time to plan to attend our 50th reunion, to be held October 8 to 11, 2015. This is a big one for us, and there will be plenty going on. See your friends, see how the campus has changed, and be part of the thrill that the U of R is leading, and experiencing, in the greater city. Lots of us are returning." So far, among them are: Richard Alrutz, Barbara Baer, Helen Powell Ballanca, Dennis Bowlder, Eugene Bruce, Tim, William Champney, Peter Cumbo, Richard English, Marcia Wick Fishbach, Richard Fishbach, William Frykberg, Gwen Meltzer Greene, Marsha Levinson Harris, Gilbert Henner, Linda Lewis Jaslow, Richard Joffe, Thomas Lehner, Melanie Lenard, Georgia Lindemann Lindstrom, Wayne Lindstrom, Nancy Ehrich Martin, Charles Masick, Richard Mengel, James Minor, James Mullen, Craig Murchison, Gary Noyes, John Ozols, Marvin Packer, Jay Plotkin, Richard Rice, Kathleen Trantum Rierster, Gretchen Goeckel Roberts, William Roberts, Sharon Rose Cornell, Lisa Schamberg, Andrea Lazar Schloss, Harvey Schloss, Thomas Skola, Thomas Sloan, Martin Stolar, Max Stoner, Robert Tindall, Robert Trobe, Judith Ebel Tsipis, Dana Lim VanderHeyden, George Ward, Robert Wayland-Smith, Sydne Weinger, Michael Weiss, Thomas Witmer, David Wormuth, Christian Wyser-Pratte, Stephen Young, and William Yust.

1966

Tony Biglan has written a book, The Nurture Effect: How the Science of Human Behavior Can Improve Our Lives and Our World (New Harbinger Publications). Tony is a senior scientist at Oregon Research Institute, where he specializes in child and adolescent behavior. . . . Edward Mendelson, the Lionel Trilling Professor in the Humanities at Columbia, has published Moral Agents: Eight Twentieth-Century American Writers (New York Review Books). . . . Terry Newell, a retired Air Force officer and civil servant, has published To Serve with Honor: Doing the Right Thing in Government (Loftlands Press). . . . Mickey Weiss (see ’67).

1967

Alan Carmasin writes that he and three other Phi Epsilon Pi brothers vacationed together in February in Naples, Florida. From left to right are Bob Lewy, Paul Stein, Alan, and Mickey Weiss ’66.

1968

David Ragusa ’76W (EdD) has written an e-book, Other People’s Kids (BookBaby). “It’s a novel about a high school assistant principal, and 10 days in his work and home life dealing with a variety of issues and problems,” David writes. “The book is based on my 33-year career as a teacher and school administrator, includes a number of amusing and interesting tales, and presents positions on current issues in education such as the Common Core, special education, zero tolerance policies, teacher and administrative behavior, and school-to-home communication.” . . . Joan Roughgarden (Jonathon Roughgarden at Rochester), has written a novel, Ram-2050 (Kauai Institute). A professor emerita of biology at Stanford, she offers a modernized retelling of the Hindu epic the Ramayana, featuring an Apple CEO, his kidnapped wife, and a team of humans and animals who attempt to rescue her. An exploration of the boundary between humans and animals, the book reflects “the marriage of my dual degrees in biology and philosophy at Rochester,” Joan writes.

1973

Vincent Mosca ’78M (MD), a professor of orthopaedics at the University of Washington, has published a book, Principles and Management of Pediatric Foot and Ankle Deformities and Malformations (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins).

1976

Joe Carson sends a photo and an update. He lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, and writes that, having played basketball for the Yellowjackets during the 1973–74 year, this past winter he “watched the team play Emory in Atlanta and brought Rocky!” . . . . Sue Weiss writes: “For the last 12 years I have been teaching at Illinois Institute of Technology’s Stuart School of Business. For my 60th birthday, I decided to fulfill my (nearly) lifelong dream of joining the Peace Corps.” In March, Sue began a 27-month tour of service in Albania, where she’ll work in the Peace Corps’ Community and Organization Development sector.

1978

Karen Heilberg Sivek has been named division manager of human resources at Ensco Inc., an engineering company near Washington, D.C., serving the national security and transportation safety sectors.

1980

Janice Wiesman ’84M (MD) writes: “I recently moved to Manhattan with my husband, John Mannion. I am an associate clinical professor of neurology at New York University School of Medicine and staff neurologist at Bellevue Hospital. I’m also an adjunct assistant professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, where I worked for 20 years, and remain the neurologist for the university’s Amyloidosis Treatment and Research Center. Life in the city is fabulous!”

1982

Susan Wiener Berson, a managing member in the Washington, D.C., office of the law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, has won the 2015 Client Choice Award for Health Care & Life Sciences—District of Columbia.

1983

Frederick Mueller has been promoted to associate at the Westfield, Massachusetts–based engineering and environmental consulting firm Tighe & Bond. Frederick specializes in municipal and industrial wastewater, environmental remediation, and regulatory compliance. Working in the firm’s Middletown, Connecticut, office, he’s played a key technological role in wastewater projects in Middletown, Groton, Plainville, Stratford, Southington, Thompson, and Waterbury.

1984

Bob Glowacky ’85M (MS), his wife, Janney Wilson, and their two children, Alexandra and Will, recently traveled to Quito, Ecuador, to volunteer at an orphanage for children with special needs. Bob writes: “Rocky came along for what proved to be an amazing week with the children and tías, their wonderful caregivers. And to top off the experience, I bumped into Laura Hershaft Saltman at the Quito airport while waiting to board the plane. A small world U of R experience!” . . . Bruce Schneier has published Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World (W. W. Norton & Co.).

1985

Mike Livingston sends an update. “In June of 2014, I received my first patent for the design of a methodology for tracking a location in a stream of data,” he writes. It’s patent US 8,756,202. Mike is principal software engineer at CA Technologies in northern Virginia.

1989

Michael Henry has published his third book of poetry, Active Gods (Conundrum Press). He writes that the book “is a collection of poems that address the subjects of parenting and middle age with equal parts humor, gravity, and amazement.” . . . Alison Nohara leads the new division of neurointerventional surgery at Health Quest Medical Practice in Poughkeepsie, New York. She’s based at nearby Vassar Brothers Medical Center.

1990

Phil Scaffidi has been promoted to special counsel at the Buffalo, New York, law firm Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria.

1993

Abe Dewing was selected to perform with the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Onstage at Symphony outreach program last January. He writes: “The program was created to provide an inside look of what it’s like to be a professional musician. It was so exciting to be chosen and to be able to share this experience with so many of my amateur musician friends who have donated countless hours providing music to our communities. Even though the University provides our planet with world-class musicians, it provides a great music experience for all levels so we could continue even if we chose a different career path. And that allowed me to never stop dreaming about playing at Symphony Hall.” Abe, a digital executive at Boston Herald Media and a violinist in the all-volunteer Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, includes a photo of himself rehearsing onstage in U of R garb.

1994

Dennis Tucker received a commendation from Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal for his work promoting Georgia state history. The publisher at Whitman Publishing in Atlanta, Tucker specializes in books on money, banking, and financial history, the American presidency, and other nonfiction subjects. In his commendation letter, Deal wrote: “Your diligent work has publicized and promoted knowledge of our state’s status as the location of the nation’s first gold rush and the history of the Dahlonega Mint, which produced gold coins from 1838 to 1861.”

1995

Kristen Herlihy writes that she and her husband, Matthew Flint, welcomed their second child, Evelyn Mary, last July. Evelyn joined her big brother, Connor, 3. . . . Jeannie Hassouna Uyanik writes: “Class of 1995: Help us set a reunion-year record the weekend of October 8–11, 2015! To set the new record, we need 115 members of the Class of 1995 to attend our 20th reunion during Meliora Weekend. We know that we can blow this record out of the water. And more importantly, we want to see you and catch up. So start making your travel plans now.” Jeannie adds that she’s helped set up a Class of 1995 University of Rochester Facebook group and a 1995 University reunion page at www.rochester.edu/college/alumni/reunion/classes/1995.

1996

Lisa Manimala Doromal has been named director of the Manhattan executive recruiting firm Harris Allied.

1999

Genesee Cooper Adkins writes that she’s been appointed director of state relations for the University of Washington. She’ll manage the university’s state legislative interests in Olympia. . . . Ross Liebman writes that he and Anh Tran welcomed a boy, Paxton, in December. Paxton was born in Mountain View, California, and weighed 7 lb., 9 oz. . . . Jeremy Mittler writes that he and his wife, Melissa, welcomed a son, Zachary Noah, in February. Zachary was born in White Plains, New York, and weighed 7 lb., 12 oz.

2001

Lauren Gaffney Sternberg writes that she and her husband, Jeremy, welcomed their first child, Connor John, last August.

2002

Brendan Heavey married Sarah Cercone last October. Brendan writes: “In attendance were a motley crew of (formerly) Strong Jugglers.” Pictured (see page 57) from left to right are Colleen Parker McMahon ’00, Ryan McMahon, Eleanor Cashmore ’07, Stacy Jacobs, Ben Jacobs ’02, Trista Kaido Marisa ’01, Mike Marisa ’01, Keith Kraft ’01, ’03 (MS), and Katie Schultz Kraft ’03. . . . Brian LaClair has been named a partner at the Syracuse law firm Blitman & King. Brian is a labor and employment lawyer representing unions and individuals. . . . Michael Stanczyk has joined the Syracuse law firm Centolella Lynn D’Elia & Temes. Michael practices tax and business and corporate law.

2003

Avital Levy Carlis has been named administrative director of Massachusetts General Cancer Center at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton. . . . Kellena Wilson Kane, her husband, Doug, and sons, Atticus and Wilson, welcomed a baby girl, Kiella Candace, in December. They live in Buffalo, where Kellena is real estate development manager for Uniland Development Company and Doug is online creative director for a telehealth company.

2006

Christa Huber writes that she and Dimple Makadia ’07 (MS) were married in Buffalo last October. Pictured are: (front row, left to right) David Fang ’11 (PhD), Amanda Kingston ’08 (MS), ’13 (MS), Michael Shepheard ’07, Christa, Dimple, and Jessica Rothman Miro; (back row, left to right) Tara Goderez, Dan Kaplan, Preeyel Dalal, Jari Greenbaum ’07S (MBA), Ryan Massa, Warren Frame, Emily Augustine, and Jenna Cacciatiri Frame ’13M (MS).

2007

Jason Way completed his doctorate in organizational and industrial psychology from the University of South Florida. Jason is a research psychologist with ACT Testing Service in Iowa City.

2010

Kevin Andrews has been named deputy treasurer of Genesee County, New York. . . . Tal Cushmaro writes that he’s engaged to be married to Rachel Weiss. The couple plans to marry in summer 2016. . . . Anna Vezza sends a photo and writes that she’s getting married to Andrew Lowe in Lincoln, Nebraska, this May.

2011

Eliza Friedman, an attorney at the Buffalo law firm Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman, has been elected secretary of the board of directors of the Program for Understanding Childhood Concussion and Stroke (PUCCS) Charitable Fund. She’s also been named to the board of directors of the SUNY Buffalo Law School Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) Group. . . . Brandon Plaster has published a science fiction e-book, Lenalia (Self-published). . . . Donald Wieand writes that he’s graduated from the University of Leicester with a master’s degree in museum studies.

2013

Lucian McMahon was Reason magazine’s fall 2014 Burton C. Gray Memorial Intern.