Alumni Gazette: In the News

Malik Evans ’02 became the city’s presumptive next chief executive this spring when he defeated current Mayor Lovely Warren in the Democratic primary.

As of this summer, there were no Republican challengers for the position in the heavily Democratic city, meaning Evans is on track to become mayor at the first of the year.

Since graduating from Rochester, Evans has worked with several Rochester-area civic and community organizations. He was elected to the Rochester City School Board at age 23 and served as board president from 2008 to 2013, before being elected as an at-large city council member in 2017. Evans also works in finance, most recently for the ESL Federal Credit Union.

Yellowjacket Helps Lead Israel Baseball to Olympic Debut
Nate Mulberg ’14 had a sideline view of history this summer as an assistant coach for the Israeli baseball team as the country made its debut in the sport at the Tokyo Olympics.

Mulberg, an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the NCAA Division I baseball program at the University of Richmond, helped Israel secure one of just six baseball spots in the Olympics when he coached the team during the 2019 European championships.

At the Olympics, the team beat Mexico but was eliminated after a ninth-inning loss to the Dominican Republic.

At Rochester, Mulberg was a four-year starter for the Yellowjackets. Before joining the Richmond staff, he was an assistant coach at Division III Franklin & Marshall College and with Division I Bucknell University.

Alumnus Named Director of Rochester’s Police Accountability Board
Conor Dwyer Reynolds ’13 has been appointed as the first executive director of Rochester’s Police Accountability Board. Established by a community referendum in 2019, the board was created to provide civilian perspectives on public safety in Rochester. Reynolds’s appointment was confirmed unanimously by the Rochester City Council.

A graduate of Yale Law School, Reynolds was teaching at Yale when he was selected by the board to be executive director last fall and maintains the position at the law school of visiting clinical lecturer in law.

Graduates Named to Lead Two Community Colleges
Kate Smith ’94W (MS) has begun a tenure as the fifth president of Rio Salado College in Tempe, Arizona, and William Heineman ’87 has been named the fifth president of Northshore Community College in Danvers, Massachusetts.

Smith began her presidency last May after leading the college for 18 months as interim president.

Heineman began his position in July. He previously was provost and vice president at Northern Essex Community College.

National Honors for Warner Teacher
Joyce Akwaa ’05, ’06W (MS), ’14W (Pmc) is one of four teachers recognized by Horizons National, a program to improve educational equity by providing enrichment and other support for students in pre-K through high school during the summer. Akwaa, a teacher in Horizons at Warner, received the program’s Lyn McNaught Teacher Award for Teaching Excellence.

Named for the first executive director of Horizons National, the award recognizes exemplary Horizons teachers across the country.

Founded more than a decade ago, Horizons at Warner was one of the first such programs located on a university or college campus.