Class Notes, September/October 1999
Monday November 01, 1999 Category: Archives Permanent Link
Congratulations to everyone who earned graduate degrees last summer. It may be hard to believe, but some of us have yet to experience the personal fulfillment that comes with continuous full-time employment. There’s nothing quite like signing your performance evaluation or discussing the nuances of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” at the company watercooler. Unfortunately, my company doesn’t have a watercooler, so I have to stand near the refrigerator during lunchtime to share my views.
“After three years in the working world,” Ami V. Gadhia “will be going to law school at the U. of Connecticut this fall.” But first, “she will be taking time off to visit California and Cornell friends along the East Coast.” According to my fellow class correspondent, Courtney B. Rubin, “Dana L. Karash has returned to Guatemala , where she spent just over two years volunteering with Concern for America doing appropriate technologies work. Back in the US , she hopes to pursue a degree and career in health education and training.” Another adventurous classmate, Kathryn L. Petrillo, has finished working for the Peace Corps in Bulgaria as an environmental volunteer. After her assignment ended, she was able to travel for three months in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Kathryn is now employed by the EPA acid rain division, source assessment branch. She is working on the Nox budget trading program which will be fully implemented in 2003.
Teresa A. Kurtz earned an MPH in environmental health from the U. of Minnesota , Twin Cities campus. She is working for the university while she considers medical school or public health service for next year. Albert Q. Nguyen earned a master’s of public health from Boston U. He is currently “livin’ the vida loca” in Boston. Last summer, Michelle J. Pirozzi was a law clerk at the US Attorney’s office in Las Vegas. She will finish her final year of law school at Pepperdine U. Nyree D. van Maarseveen is working at the UCSD Medical Center co-managing a nationwide study of asthma medications in pregnancy and their effect on the fetus. She loves San Diego. Pamela L. Sloan reports that she has started her third year of medical school.
Since Courtney Rubin established “Wedding Watch” last year, I thought I would peruse the New York Times for a few Cornell-related announcements. Jill (Akst) ‘97 was recently married to Dr. Craig Sheflin. She works as an analyst with Andersen Consulting in New York City. Janine S. Gillot and Nels Nelson were married in San Diego on Memorial Day last year. Xiaoqin Lu, Dawn A. Chavez, and Ranida Touranont were in the wedding party. Michael Merritt and Mei Mei J. Lee attended the outdoor ceremony and reception.
If “Wedding Watch” is a success, perhaps “Mid-life Crisis Watch” and “Retirement Watch” will be my next pet projects. For now, keep sending in news about your fun-filled weddings, embarrassing relatives, and honeymoon destinations. I promise to put it in the column even if it takes a year–sometimes it does.
I ran into Joshua Lamont ‘98, also an Andersen Consulting employee, in the West Village a few months ago. Josh tells me that, among other classmates, he still keeps in touch with Mary Brice Woods, Jacqueline M. Krueger, Dominique M. Lazanski, and Ada L. Mancilla. He tells me that Dominique has a new job with Yahoo! and that Ada works for an architectural firm in Los Angeles. Josh, a former high school classmate from San Diego , CA , was nice enough to comfort me when I admitted that my application for a food services position was denied by the good people at Sea World when I was 16.
Paul Kuo writes that he is a legal clerk at Major League Baseball Properties in NYC, where he lives with Daniel M. Lin and Dave K. Wu, ME CS ‘97. He also hangs out with Kerwin Kam , ME I ‘97, and Ingrid Y. Kuo. Jenee A. Chizick “just landed a new job at Temple U. as the outreach and marketing coordinator for their study abroad programs. [She’ll] be traveling 16 weeks a year, designing promotional brochures, and maintaining their website.” She moved to Philadelphia last November. Emre K. Mimaroglu “graduated from the MBA program at the Stern School of Business (NYU) in NYC.” He expected to join Merrill Lynch at their investment banking division in London. Scott R. Goldsmith wrote, “Alexis S. Farrell is an investment banker at CS First Boston.”
For Connie A. White, “Life in Arizona is great!” Geoffrey D. Vitale and Steve Kagan recently visited her in Phoenix , where she is the director of human resources at the Phoenix Country Club. “Life is good!” for Stephanie C. Britt, too. She “found the dream job [at the Palm Beach Oceanfront Resort] and dream man!” She is, however, a bit nostalgic about our alma mater. In Denver , CO , Heather L. Nydam, MHA HE ‘99, started her first “real” job at Centura Health. Robin C. Mclean also had a very busy year; she began teaching high school agriculture in Salem County , NJ. Judy V. Luong, a formulation chemist at Bayer Corporation keeps in touch with Tung Do ‘97.
Anna I. Castro “is having a great time in Boston hanging out with Dan Caffarelli, Ariella P. Benger, Maureen C. Mellett, Pablo G. Garcia ‘97, and Julie B. Ross.” She is still singing in an all-women’s group along with Debbie E. James ‘95 and Kathy Heppner ‘95. Jessica M. Andrews has been working in the San Francisco Bay Area since graduation, but now she will be “starting grad school at the U. of Oregon ( Eugene ).” She is pursuing her master’s of architecture and plans on working in the area of sustainable, ecological architecture. Brian S. Walkenberg is leaving his post as a process engineer at MKE-Quantum Components to return to school. He plans to earn an MS in materials and an MBA from MIT and the Sloan School as part of the leaders for manufacturing program.
If you have any news to share, please write one of your class correspondents. We would all love to hear from you. You can also use Cornell Magazine online: http://cornellmagazine.cornell.edu/ to update us on your many achievements.
–—Allie Cahill, Class Correspondent
