Class Notes

1949 Susanne Behrendt Esan ’52 (MA) (see ’76 College).

1951 Mario Sparagana ’55M (MD) has published a book of poems, Meditation in a Minor Key (Peppertree Press). Mario writes that the poems span “three categories: conceptual, haikus, and biographical.”

1956 Charles (Chuck) Weed ’61M (MD) died in June, his daughter, Jennifer, writes. A rheumatologist, Chuck spent most of his career in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the Lovelace Clinic. Joining him there was Janet Spangenberg Weed ’57, ’59E (MA), whom he met when Janet was studying piano at the Eastman School. They were married from 1957 until Janet’s death in 2007, and raised two children, Jennifer and Michael. “Our dad was a big supporter of U of R and took my now teenage daughter there a few years ago to see the campus,” Jennifer writes. After retirement, Chuck pursued many hobbies and served as a docent at the Albuquerque Zoo for 21 years.

1957 Anne Healey Merryfield sends a photo and an update. She writes that she, Mary Lou Myers Grevatt ’68W (MA), and Kay Hatton Ryder enjoyed a minireunion at Vermont’s Trapp Family Lodge last summer. Anne adds: “Our plans include attending our 60th reunion in 2017. More Meliora to come.” Pictured from left to right are Mary Lou, Kay, and Anne.

1973 Alan Cohen, a professor of health policy and management at Boston University’s business school, has coedited the volume Medicare and Medicaid at 50: America’s Entitlement Programs in the Age of Affordable Care (Oxford University Press).

1975 Joel Katz sends an update. A musician, he’s been performing professionally for more than 30 years on Maui. He’s an instructor in Hawaiian steel guitar, guitar, ukulele, and audio technology at the University of Hawaii Maui College and heads the Seaside Recording Studio. His most recent CD, Adventures in Hawaiian Steel Guitar (Seaside Recording), is a Hawaiian Na¯ Ho¯ku¯ award finalist for Jazz Album of the Year and Audio Engineering Excellence. “Na¯ Ho¯ku¯ means ‘star’ in Hawaiian and these are the Hawaiian Grammy Awards,” Joel writes. . . . Nathan Moser (see ’81).

1976 David Esan ’82S (MBA) sends a photo of his grandchildren. From left to right are Coby, born in July; Ayelet; and Elisha. They are also the great-grandchildren of Susanne Behrendt Esan ’49, ’52 (MA).

1980 Sam Narotsky ’86S (MBA) (see ’81). . . . Sandy Strenger ’82 (MS) (see ’81).

1981 Irene Feldman Narotsky writes that she and several classmates had a minireunion at the wedding last May of Sandy ’80, ’82 (MS) and Nanette Weingarten Strenger’s son, Joshua. From left to right are Sam Narotsky ’80, ’86S (MBA), Irene, Scott Birnbaum ’82 (MS), Barbara Barasky Birnbaum, Corine Slawin Milgrim, Nanette, Sandy, Pamela Bernstein Parker, Rita Ungar Moser, Nathan Moser ’75, Hallie Cohn ’09, Scott Strenger ’12, and Harry Kaplan ’17.

1982 Dan Smolnik has been appointed by the Connecticut General Assembly to the Commission on Connecticut’s Leadership in Corporation and Business Law. Dan also serves as secretary treasurer of the tax section of the Connecticut Bar Association and as chairman of the federal business tax subcommittee.

1984 Robert (Cerf) Cerfolio ’88M (MD) has published a book, Super Performing at Work and at Home: The Athleticism of Surgery and Life (River Grove Books). Robert holds the James H. Estes Family Lung Cancer Research Endowed Chair at the medical school of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. . . . Bernadine Munley, an attorney, has been named to the board of trustees of Keystone College, near Scranton, Pennsylvania. . . . Amy Bowen Snavely writes: “After 30 years (and 20 patents!) as an IT specialist with IBM, I have retired and taken a new position as a software engineer at BAE Systems, working on commercial aircraft. Forever grateful to the U of R for giving me the opportunity to discover what I really wanted to be when I grew up.”

1986 Randy Abate is editor of a new book, What Can Animal Law Learn from Environmental Law? (ELI Press). Randy is a professor and director of the Center for International Law and Justice at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University’s law school. . . . Lisa Peterson has been nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as U.S. ambassador to Swaziland. Lisa is a career foreign service officer who has served previously in Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, and the Central African Republic. . . . Betsy Ward has been named chief actuary at Massachusetts Mutual Life.

1988 Michael Nosbisch is a vice president in the Irvine, California, office of the construction management firm Hill International. A former president of AACE International (formerly the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering), Michael was named a fellow of the association in July.

1989 Jennifer Traylor Kruschwitz ’95 (MS) writes that 2015 “was a tremendous year for me. I earned my PhD in color science at RIT and my fourth degree black belt in tae kwon do from Kukkiwon in Korea, all within several weeks of one another. Lastly, I am now a full-time assistant professor in optics at Rochester!” . . . Sven Shockey has joined the board of directors of SmithGroupJJR in Washington, D.C. He writes: “I’m a design principal with the company, which is a large architecture and engineering firm.”

1990 Eryn Kantor has been promoted to executive director in the advisory practice of Ernst and Young. . . . Jason Osborne has been named associate provost and dean of graduate studies at Clemson University. Jason is an educational psychologist and served most recently as professor and chair of the counseling and human development department at the University of Louisville’s College of Education and Human Development.

1991 Salvatore (Sal) Mauro ’01M (Res), a partner at Anesthesia Associates of Rochester, has been named chief of anesthesia at Clifton Springs Hospital. He retains his role as chief of anesthesia at Newark Wayne Community Hospital, dividing his time between the two hospitals as well as Rochester General Hospital and Rochester Ambulatory Surgical Center. . . . In a change-of-command ceremony held in July, Marine Corps Col. Andrew Regan took the role of commanding officer for Headquarters and Service Battalion, Headquarters Marine Corps, Henderson Hall.

1994 Roderick Labrador has coedited an anthology, Empire of Funk: Hip Hop and Representation in Filipina/o America (Cognella Academic Publishing). Roderick is an associate professor in the ethnic studies department at the University of Hawaii at Mãnoa.

1995 Ray and Leanna Douglas McKenzie and Matt ’96 and Jocelyn Moss Roth ’96 vacationed together on Cape Cod last August. Pictured from left to right are Ray and Leanna’s children, Quinn and Elle, and Matt and Jocelyn’s children, Avery and Kate.

1996 Matt and Jocelyn Moss Roth (see ’95).

1997 Laura Beery Ballou is the assistant dean of sophomores at Rochester and director of Wilson Commons, where she has been on the staff since 2002. Last spring, Laura won two professional awards. At Rochester, she won the inaugural Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Learning Award. The award, granted by the dean of the College, Richard Feldman, recognized Laura’s contributions to student activities, the student employment program, and the founding of multiple events, such as Spirit Week and the Major Declaration Celebration, that have become annual College traditions. Laura was also recognized by the Association of College Unions International, the main association of student activities professionals, with the Edward S. “Beanie” Drake Founders’ Award, which recognizes the exceptional leadership of a mid-career student activities professional. . . . Malka (Melissa) Packer sends an update. She writes that she was ordained as a rabbi in 2014 at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Pennsylvania, after more than 10 years as a Jewish educator. She’s served as a rabbinic advisor at Bryn Mawr and Vassar colleges and is now the director of InterfaithFamily/Atlanta, where she leads interfaith conversations and supports interfaith families exploring Judaism. She maintains her own website at www.RabbiMalka.com.

1998 Dave Urbanski writes that he and Sigma Alpha Mu brothers Dennis Annechino and Mark Thrall got together recently with their families. Pictured from left to right are Mark, with daughters Olivia, 4, and Maggie, 2; Dennis, with twins Rocco and Lillian, born in May; and Dave, with son, Lukas, also born in May.

1999 Gregory Reichlen is the new pastor at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church in the northeast Pennsylvania town of Marshalls Creek.

2000 Anthony Tomasula, vice president of PPS Pension Services in Williamsville, New York, was recognized in New York City as one of the Financial Times Top Retirement Plan Advisors in America for 2015. One of 24 advisors from New York state on the list, Anthony was the only advisor from western New York who was recognized. He is married to Michelle Hernandez Tomasula and sends a photo of the two of them at the Financial Times reception.

2001 Jason Espinosa and Candace Curran ’03 were married in Rochester in October 2014. Pictured from left to right are Newman Center administrator Karen Anvelt, Newman chaplain and director Father Brian Cool, Ed Tan ’11 (PhD), Rebecca Wilson ’12 (PhD), Candace, Jason, Alicia Lewis ’00, Kathleen Lynch ’03, Mary Ault Hartstein ’05, and Michael Hartstein ’05. Also in attendance was former chaplain Sister Kathleen Wayne.

2002 Marco Gabbai writes that he has completed a master of science in nursing degree from Drexel University. “I’ve accepted a position as an acute care nurse practitioner caring for liver and kidney transplant patients at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.”

2003 Alison Kane Birzon writes that she and Justin Birzon “are happy to announce the birth of our first son, Adlai Kane Birzon, in June. We have included a picture of the handsome little man.” . . . Candace Curran (see ’01). . . . Reeshi Ray writes that he’s published his first novel, The King Between Worlds (Reeshi Ray). A Kindle e-book, the novel is a work of science fiction set in a futuristic New York City.

2006 Allison Easton Kozlowski writes: “The last year has brought many changes in my life. In August 2014, I was married to an amazing man, Brian Kozlowski, of Buffalo. Vivek Shah ’07 and Emily Snyder ’07 were in attendance at our celebration at Allegheny State Park. This past April, I graduated with a master of science degree in Oriental medicine, and will license as an acupuncturist in the state of Hawaii. The Navy Reserves approved me for promotion to the rank of lieutenant commander for 2016, and Brian and I are expecting our first child in 2016 as well! It has been a whirlwind, but I am very blessed.” . . . Christine Young writes that she married Paul Tsai in June, and “had a minireunion picture taken at brunch after the wedding.” Pictured are (back row, left to right) Rachael Israelson, Daniel Permutter ’05, Cortney Jansen ’06E, Brian Kim ’04, Madeline Woo ’08, and Katherine Shen ’05; (front row, left to right) Paul, Christine, and Lisa Tsang.

2009 Michelle Desrosiers ’13W (MS) married Brandon Heckman last August. Pictured are (back row, left to right) Jason Ludwig, Derek Crowe, Matt Spielmann, Alyssa Shoup ’10, ’11W (MS), Margaret Schoeniger ’13, Colin Desrosiers ’12, ’14S (MBA), Rob Pakan, Brian Magee, and Dave Fang ’05, ’11 (PhD); (front row, left to right) Amanda Ziegler, Brie Spinetto ’13S (MBA), Michelle, Caroline Jacobs, Ngao Nalungwe ’14N, John Kreckel, and Kristen Shaw ’10W (MS).

2012 Faye Gura writes: “Scott Barenfeld and I got engaged in June, while canoeing on Lake Louise in Banff National Park. We’ve attached a picture with my Department of Chemistry water bottle next to a field of dandelions. We met our first year of undergrad and we’re so excited to spend the rest of our lives together!” . . . Scott Strenger (see ’81).