What’s the news? We are always eager to receive your news at the Magazine, care of the Class News Editor, University of Chicago Magazine, 1313 East 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637, or by e-mail: uchicago-magazine@uchicago.edu. No engagements, please. Items may be edited for space. As news is published in the order in which it arrives, it may not appear immediately. Please specify the year under which you would like your news to appear. Otherwise, we will list: (1) all former undergraduates (including those who later received graduate degrees) by the year of their undergraduate degree, and (2) all former students who received only graduate degrees by the year of their final degree. .

1980's

80 H. Stephen Lieber, AM’80, executive director of the Emergency Nurses Association, joined the Chicago office of the American Hospital Association in February as a vice president for personal-membership groups. Robert G. Tompkins II, AB’80, AM’80, MBA’86, completed a Ph.D. at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, and is moving to Vienna, Austria, to join his wife and their two sons, Max and Felix. He has been winding down his consulting business and entering semi-retirement. His latest book, Exotic Options, is due out this year from John Wiley and Sons.

81 College alumni—Lonnie Stonitsch, AB’82, writes: Miriam E. Kanter, AB’81, and husband Kevin Roy announce the July 19, 1996, birth of their son, Jacob Benjamin. Kanter is a physician specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Jennifer E. Gurahian, AB’81, was married in 1995 to Dr. Samuel Melikian, a neurosurgeon and trauma surgeon from the Republic of Armenia. Their son, Samuel Vincent, is 2 years old. Gurahian would love to hear from College classmates. She lives in Mohegan Lake, NY. Ruth Steinberg Gleicher, AB’81, a biology teacher at Niles West High School and the Ida Crown Jewish Academy, was named the country’s best new biology teacher by the National Association of Biology Teachers. A runner in the Chicago Marathon, she also placed first in two local triathlons. Gleicher lives in Skokie, IL, with her husband, David W. Gleicher, JD’79, and their children, Ilana, Ari, and Josh. College alumni, please send your news to: Lonnie Stonitsch, AB’82, 1821 S. Peoria St., Apt. 2R, Chicago, IL 60608. E-mail: missmaam@ bigfoot.com. Phone: 312/226-9712 (h).

82 College alumni—Karen Kapner Hyman, AB’82, AM’88, writes: Julia F. Heberle, AB’82, was named an assistant professor of psychology at Albright College in Reading, PA. A resident of Philadelphia, Heberle had taught psychology at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. She earned master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. Katherine G. Wilkins, AB’82, and George F. Pond III announce the January 14 birth of Hugh Robert, who joins big brother David Michael. College alumni, please send your news to: Karen Kapner Hyman, AB’82, AM’88, 2219 Shefflin Court, Baltimore, MD 21209.

83 College Alumni —Nick Varsam, AB’83, writes: Joann P. Baney, AB’83, is a communications consultant and a professor at Columbia Business School; is married to bankruptcy litigator Phil Bentle; and is the proud mother of William, 3. Paul B. Borysewicz, AB’83, is an associate examiner in reasoning at the Educational Testing Service. (For those of you considering a third attempt at the LSAT, GMAT, etc.: Please. No solicitations.) Victor Goldberg, SB’83, works in software engineering at Cornell University. When she’s not interacting with law students and alumni as the director of private-sector counseling and programs at Yale Law School, from which she received her J.D. in 1986, Harriet Robinson Gowanlock, AB’83, is busy with her family: husband Bill Gowanlock; daughters Sarah Winifred, 4, and Grace Genevieve, 5 months; and their pet Samoyed, Razz Ma Tazz, 11. R. David Knapp, AB’83, reports that he has moved to Singapore after eight years in Hong Kong and is director of operations for Saville Systems Alliance Partners, a software company. Any “old buddies” traveling to Asia can reach him at dknapp@savillesys.com. “Circuitous,” is how Marcia L. Okun, AB’83, AM’83, describes her life’s path, as she now finds herself teaching social studies at her high-school alma mater in Newton Upper Falls, MA, where she has “three kids, a station wagon, and a rotten picket fence.” Helene Brown Pellett, AB’83, earned her M.B.A. from Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management in 1988 and, on leave from her consulting career in health care information, is busy at home caring for daughters Mary Elizabeth, 5, and Leah Hope, 2.

College alumni, please send your class news to: Nick Varsam, AB’83, 832 Castle Pines Drive, Ballwin, MO 63021. E-mail: VarsamNick@aol.com. Phone: 314/207-1672 (h).

84 Peter L. Allen, AM’79, PhD’84, is vice president for development at the Chekhov Theatre Ensemble, a nonprofit arts and education organization. Allen enters the Wharton Business School this fall. Richard D. Johnson, AB’84, see 1985, Erika Bruhn. Jae-Ha Kim, AB’84, a Chicago Sun-Times journalist, also reports on entertainment for the Fox affiliate in Chicago, contributes to Variety and Entertainment Weekly, and critiques music for Chicago radio stations Q101 and WLUP. In her spare time, Kim is working on her fourth book. E-mail her at jaehakim@aol.com. Gordon D. Soenksen, MBA’84, formerly vice president for institutional advancement at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC, became vice president for advancement at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, in January.

85 Chris E. Adolphsen, SM’80, PhD’85, see 1991, Elena Chardon-Pietri. Maria C. Bechily, AM’85, who heads Maria Bechily Public Relations in Chicago, was elected a director of the Northwestern Memorial Corporation, the parent company of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, in January. Also the vice chair of the Goodman Theatre board and a trustee of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Bechily lives on Chicago’s North Side with her husband, Scott Hodes, and their son. Chicago-based management consultants Erika Bruhn, AB’85, MBA’90, and Richard D. Johnson, AB’84, announce the December birth of their daughter, Madeleine. Joshua M. Salisbury, AB’85, and Leah Schlesinger, AB’85, JD’92, are married and live in New York with their daughter, Rachel, 1. Salisbury is a managing director of investment banking for Merrill Lynch, and Schlesinger is a senior associate in mergers and acquisitions at Skadden, Arps. Michael R. Wing, AB’85, and Katherine Palches Wing, MBA’86, announce the November 3 birth of their son, George Bryan, in San Francisco.

86 College alumni—Martha A. Schulman, AB’86, writes: Carolyn E. Shapiro, AB’86, AM’93, JD’95, reports that she has lived mostly within the “U of C sphere of influence.” Not only does she live in Chicago with husband Joshua Karsh, JD’89, but she clerked for Richard A. Posner, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and a former professor and current senior lecturer in the Law School. Her colleagues there included Benjamin C. Weinberg, AB’86, and Julie A. Fernandes, AB’87, JD’94. Carolyn then clerked for Justice Stephen G. Breyer of the U. S. Supreme Court. It was “an extremely exciting year—the cases included the Paula Jones case, the right-to-die cases, and the Brady Bill case.” She is now a Skadden fellow working for the Poverty Law Project of the National Clearinghouse for Legal Services in Chicago, representing welfare recipients and working on welfare-reform issues. Mary Motherwell Smith, AB’86, and her husband, Ted Smith, have moved from northwest Arkansas to Oxford, MI, where Ted is pursuing a Ph.D. in Southern history at the University of Mississippi. She’s working for the university as a video producer—“membership in DOC Films and that A.B. in history prepared me for just about any job,” Mary says. R. Scott Morris, AB’86, MBA’92, and his wife, Marjorie Thomas-Morris, AB’87, live in Chicago. They will celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary this summer. They write, “We have three boys: Tyler, Stuart, and Alexander, ages 5, 3, and 2. The big news is we are not pregnant!” Kate Choldin, AB’86, teaches special education at an alternative high school in Skokie, IL, and coaches girls’ basketball at Niles North High School. She and her sister, Mary Choldin, AB’86, play basketball in a Chicago league and are in their tenth year of competing in triathlons. Benjamin C. Weinberg, AB’86, and his wife, Lisa Morrow, live in Oak Park, IL, with their sons: Eli, 2, and Leo, born March 3. After three years as a legal-aid lawyer, Ben now works at Jenner & Block with fellow Blackfriars Daniel E. Biemer, AB’87, and Kevin Jack, AB’88. Todd D. H. Schwebel, X’86, owner of the Schwebel Co. in Chicago’s River North gallery district, sells fine 19th-century American furniture and helps restore and decorate historic homes. Todd’s consulting projects range from Prairie Crossing, a conservation community in Lake County (IL), to an antebellum Greek Revival mansion in Mississippi. He and Trip Driscoll have moved to Hyde Park.

College alumni, please send your news to: Martha A. Schulman, AB’86, 70 W. 95th St., New York, NY 10025. Phone: 212/666-7370 (h). E-mail: nibbs@mindspring.com.

Other alumni news: Jennifer S. Conrad, MBA’83, PhD’86, a professor and chair of finance at the Kenan-Flager Business School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is the school’s first Mary Farley Ames Lee distinguished professor. A partner of Greenwich Associates in Greenwich, CT, Frank H. Feenstra, MBA’86, works in bond dealing, foreign exchange, and derivatives practices in Europe and the U.S. Feenstra was formerly a strategist for the Alliance Consulting Group. Katherine Palches Wing, MBA’86, see 1985, Michael R. Wing.

87 College alumni—Alison L. Inafuku, AB’87, writes: Jay D. Woldenberg, AB’87, MBA’89, recently founded the Fulcrum Financial Corporation, a mathematical and financial consulting firm. “Reluctantly, I hired myself as president,” he writes. Jay also reported that he “painfully” learned to snowboard, and “life is excellent.” Other than Jay’s good news, this has been a quiet time for the Class of ’87. I hope to hear from more of you in the near future!

College alumni, please send your news to: Alison Inafuku, AB’87, Alliance Capital Management Corp., 1345 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY 10105. E-mail: Alison_Inafuku@acml.com.

Other alumni news: Julie A. Fernandes, AB’87, JD’94, see 1986, Carolyn E. Shapiro. Amelia L. Gallitano-Mendel, AB’88, completed her M.D. and Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in May of last year and began a psychiatry residency at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York. She sees Jane M. Wulf, AB’87, who married Michael Montes last June, and Ted I. Kim, AB’87, who has been in film school at Columbia University. Sumner M. (“Sonny”) Saeks, MBA’87, has joined Silverman Korenthal & Co., a “turnaround” consulting firm in north suburban Chicago, as a partner and professional consultant. He lives in Highland Park, IL, with his wife, Pam, and their children, Karly and Kevin.

88 College alumni—Matthew Lay, AB’88, writes: Francis J. Gavin, AB’88, is an Olin postdoctoral fellow in national security at Harvard’s Center for International Affairs. Prashant Dubey, AB’88, MBA’93; Alexander Sun, AB’88; and Brent J. Hieggelke, AB’88, all work for ABC Technologies in Portland, OR. They are married, respectively, to Sarah J. Geenen, AB’90; Jill Skrezyna, AB’88; and Kimberly Sutton Hieggelke, AB’88. Jeffrey M. Carey, AB’88, a systems technician with Trase Miller Solutions, lives in Elmwood Park, IL, with his wife, Jackie, and their daughter, Jessica. Gary B. Grant, AB’87, has coauthored a nonprofit Internet handbook. He lives in Hyde Park with Kerry Barronette Grant, who teaches math at the Lab Schools. They have a daughter, Alyann, 2. Dawn M. Hirakawa, AB’88, MBA’93, and John K. Shuster, MD’91, announce the August 7, 1997, birth of their daughter, Jessica Lara. John J. Kelly, AB’88, has married Anna Fleming and works for the Environmental Protection Agency in the Midwest. Lisa D. Magnas, AB’88, works in New York in global-trade finance. She has participated in archaeological digs in the Middle East and Ireland and heads the U of C’s New York alumni club. Peter T. Meulbroek, SB’88, has married “the beautiful and mysterious Emily from Montreal” and earned a Ph.D. in geology from Cornell. Peter and Emily are relocating to Plymouth, MA, “to gaze at the rock and contemplate.” Grant A. Prellwitz, AB’90, and his wife, Leslie Whitted Prellwitz, AB’88, MBA’94, have built a new house in Romeoville, IL, where Grant works at home as a senior developer for Ionix Development Corporation. Edward M. Ruder, AB’88, and his wife, Marisa, had a son, Sebastian Edward, on August 24, 1997. Maya Sahafi, AB’88, put her English degree to good use and became an “evil” real-estate developer with two children. C. Maximillian Schmidt, AB’88, MD’92, MBA’92, announces the July 14, 1997, birth of Annika Mae, who joins siblings Christian and Catherine. Pamela J. Sternad, MBA’88, is director of investor relations at RJR Nabisco in New York. She enjoys chamber music and tennis but misses “Ravinia and golf” in and around Chicago. Kevin J. Taglang, AB’88, was promoted to senior communications-policy analyst for the Benton Foundation in Washington, DC, which “works to realize the social benefits made possible by the public-interest use of communications.” After six years in Cambridge, MA, as a technical editor for the Free Software Foundation, Melissa Weisshaus, AB’88, melissa@ai.mit.edu, is in her first year of social-work graduate school at Bryn Mawr College.

College alumni, please send your news to: Matthew Lay, AB’88, 1726 Hobart St., N.W., Washington, DC 20009. E-mail: HobartDC@aol.com.

Other alumni news: David G. Litt, JD’88, a corporations attorney, was named a partner in the L.A.–based law firm O’Melveny & Myers and is working in its Washington, DC, office. Kevin Jack, AB’88, see 1986, Benjamin C. Weinberg. W. Thomas White, MBA’88, was named an associate partner at Anderson Consulting in January. He lives in Chicago with his children: Evelyne, Haley, and Cameron.

89 Brown-Forman Beverages Worldwide, based in Louisville, KY, has appointed Gerard J. Anderson, MBA’89, as the senior vice president and CFO for its wine group. The L.A.–based law firm O’Melveny & Myers appointed Chris A. Hollinger, JD’89, a partner. He works in labor and employment law in the firm’s L.A. office. Joshua Karsh, JD’89, see 1986, Carolyn E. Shapiro. Etya Pinker Novik, AB’89, and Tal Novik announce the January 27 birth of their daughter, Maya Rachel. Having freelanced at Microsoft for more than a year, Etya became assistant editor for Microsoft Systems Journal and Microsoft Interactive Developer magazines in New York. She can be reached at etster@aol.com.