Class Notes, March/April 2001

Friday June 01, 2001 Category: Archives Permanent Link

Are you planning to attend Reunion 2001 on the weekend of June 7-10? Don’t let your memories of disastrous prelims and fried cheese dinners at RPCC keep you from descending on Ithaca like a giddy freshman. If you’ve always longed to frolic on the Arts Quad—without the unrelenting pressure of undergraduate life—this is your opportunity. Of course, if you’re a graduate student, you may want to bring a few books along. For more information or to update your address with Cornell, go to www.classof96.cornell.edu. Reunion Chair Matthew Heberger may need some help organizing the festivities, so e-mail him (mgh5@cornell.edu) if you would like to volunteer.

I’m kicking off this installment of Wedding Watch 2001 with an e-mail from Brian S. Wolkenberg. Brian married Sari London (Brown ‘96) last June in Milwaukee, WI. He reports that “many other Cornellians participated in the spectacular three-day celebration, including my brother and best man Scott Wolkenberg ‘98, groomsman Alan S. Becker, my sister-in-law and groomsperson Adrianne Bratis ‘98, and groomsman Jeff Venuti, ME E ‘97. Susie C. Sohn and Darren Leung were among other great friends who traveled to the Dairy Land to party and dance the Hora of the Millennium, along with Bob ‘71 and Nina Gordon Schwartz ‘71, Sari’s sister-in-law-to-be’s parents. (Got that one? Hint: her brother is engaged.) A great time was had by all, and we look forward to swapping stories next June in Ithaca!”

Alexandra Bonney and E. Timothy McAuliffe Jr. ‘95 tied the knot last November in East Hampton , NY . The wedding announcement, which appeared in the New York Times, says that Alexandra is a “sales associate for the fashion designers Mark Badgley and James Mischka.” Her husband is an associate of the New York City law firm Kaufman, Borgeest & Ryan. A few of our classmates have returned to Ithaca to celebrate their nuptials with their friends and family. Medical student Sumitra Chari attended the wedding of Laura Bogardus and Charles Rose, MPA ‘97, at Sage Chapel in June and spotted Patricia Halsey, Rebecca Sheil, Ailie Silbert, Paul O’Connor, Craig Rathmill, Jonathan Pinto, ME C ‘99, Gil Shapiro, and Stephen Dadio. Sumitra says that she has spent a few months trekking in the Indian Himalayas, and in the spring she’s going to Ecuador for three months to work in hospitals and travel.

Cornell University graduate students Stephanie Walker, GR ‘96-97 ( Wells College ) and Gregory Hoffman were married at First Presbyterian Church in Ithaca . The groom’s brother, Eric Hoffman, served as the best man. Peter Kleinman ‘89, PhD ‘99, was also a groomsman. Congratulations to all the happy couples.

Class correspondent Courtney Rubin passed on the following news from Pinar Ustun. She has moved back to Istanbul after working at Gensler NY and London as an interior designer. She worked for National Geographic affiliate Gez magazine until she decided to go back to design and currently works as the group sales director for the largest furniture manufacturer in Turkey , called Koleksyon. She will be in Havana with her Cornellian boyfriend Oded Calderon Ashkenazi ‘90, BArch ‘00, for New Year’s. Pinar keeps in touch with Nathalie Picquot ‘97, Sarah N. Ngo, Celia Koukouli ‘97, Giovanni Revedin ‘97, Cavit Oral ‘98, and Selin Maner ‘99. Every summer for a week they make sure they meet and sail in the Mediterranean courtesy of Alesta Yachting.

Courtney has also done extensive traveling in Costa Rica (with Erica L. Siegel, MPA ‘97), Australia , and Boulder , CO . In addition to working full-time and writing for a variety of magazines, she finished her second Marine Corps Marathon in 2000.

For everyone who has submitted news but has yet to see his or her name, there’s still hope! Here are a few items that didn’t make it into my last column. Jennifer Paige Adams Graziano ‘96, DVM ‘99, is an equine/small animal vet in Middleboro, MA. She bought a house in the same town and would love to have visitors and hear from old friends. Nicole A. Bell graduated from Tufts U. school of medicine on May 21, ‘00 . According to a letter from Lenox A. Bell, she will “pursue training in obstetrics and gynecology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine-Long Island Jewish Medical Center.” Kerry A. O’Brien is entering her fourth year in a PhD program focusing on how to overcome drug resistance. Finally, Amy Broderick graduated from UCLA law school. She took a long (one month) vacation in Europe and began working at a downtown LA law firm in October. If you have any news to share, please write one of your class correspondents. You can also use Cornell Magazine online (cornell-magazine.cornell.edu/) to make updates. To contact me, please use the e-mail address Allie.Cahill@tvguide.com. I have acquired more than my share of e-mail accounts over the last five years, but this is the only one I actually use.

— Allie Cahill, Class Correspondent