Notes from the Cornell Class of 1991 - 2006 November/December

Class Notes, 2006 November/December

Philip Mekelburg writes from Atlanta earlier this year to announce that he and Rob Forster '90, MD '94, attended the bris of Ethan Goodhart, son of Josh '95 and Jen Hansen Goodhart '95 in March. Philip and his wife also hosted Donna Myers Vallone '93, who was visiting from New York in order to enjoy some rest and relaxation from the rigors of getting her master's degree in Italian language and of motherhood. A good time was had by all, and plenty of red wine and great food were enjoyed. Philip reports that he was very appreciative and extremely excited to receive a shipment of wine stored in the cellar of Dale Arrison Grossman '72, senior lecturer at Cornell. The wine had been purchased 15 years ago with Dale's husband Peter. Philip had been afraid that he would have consumed the few cases of fine Bordeaux before its due time had the wine been stored closer to him-not to mention it was only recently that he had a suitable place to store such fine drinkables. Philip exclaims,"Merci mille fois Monsieur et Madame Grossman!"

Jessica Lifland, BA/BFA '92 (San Francisco) works as a freelance photographer, so keep your eyes peeled for photo credits as you read the New York Times or USA Today. Jessica also enjoys teaching photojournalism at San Francisco State and San Francisco City College. In her spare time, she serves as director for the photo community Photonite, a three-year-old organization that serves as a monthly gathering for local photographers, editors, photo educators, and photo students to meet, share work, and share ideas. Jessica encourages Bay Area photographers to drop by on the first Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. After several years of exercising her Communications degree in the nonprofit, educational, and corporate sectors, Corinne Kuchling has begun work as a self-employed consultant from her Seattle home office. Besides the five-second commute,Corinne is delighted that the flexible schedule allows her to continue her active pursuit of wanderlust, enabling her to explore both Costa Rica and New Zealand this year.

Amanda Telford writes that she and her husband Geoff Crosby are living in Portsmouth, NH, where she works in the human resources department of the Red Hook Ale Brewery. In her spare time,Amanda enjoys swimming and playing with her children. Wendy Fuhr is a family physician in Collegeville, PA, and honing her skills as a semi-professional musician-a singer and fiddle player. Wendy and her husband Eric Allen live in Philadelphia, PA, and have a 1-year-old daughter named Iris. Christine Anderson Perkins writes from Bellingham, WA, where she is the director of the Burlington Public Library. Christine recently won the Library Journal Fiction Reviewer of the Year Award in 2005. She and husband Chris have children Katie, 6, and Jackson, 4. They were all planning to rent a house last summer on Cayuga Lake with some other Cornellians.

On September 11, 2005, the New York Times reported that Claudia Reitenbach married Michael Rudegeair '93. At the time of their marriage, Claudia was working as a kindergarten teacher in Old Brookville, NY. Jean Signorelli Spiegel and her husband Bruce recently moved back to Ballston Lake, NY, with their 4-year-old daughter Lauren, and they are reconnecting with family and Cornell friends. Jean is extremely busy as a manager for Kohl's Department Store. Scott A. Edwards and his wife Cher happily announced the birth of their son Chase Robert, born December 26, 2005 in Seattle, WA.

Jeffrey Nagel recently joined the business and commercial litigation department in the New York office of Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione PC, a 200-plus-attorney law firm headquartered in Newark, NJ. Jeffrey's practice is very broad, encompassing the areas of commercial litigation, alternative dispute resolution, antitrust and trade regulation, appellate practice, internal and audit committee investigations, and securities litigation. He has also defended foreign and domestic corporations and individuals in cases involving international human rights and sovereign immunity issues, First Amendment challenges, criminal and civil antitrust claims, tort actions, and employment discrimination disputes. Jeffrey received his JD from the NYU law school, and also holds a master's in philosophy from the NYU graduate school. After 12 years with Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox PLLC, Linda Horner accepted a position as an administrative patent judge at the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Linda will conduct reviews of ex parte appeals from adverse decisions of examiners at the USPTO.

Chuck Kemper was promoted to VP of human resources for Aker Kvaerner's oil, gas, process, and energy division. His HR responsibilities will span all of the division's operations, including centers in the US, Canada, Chile, China, India, Malaysia, and Australia. Chuck and wife Melissa continue to reside in Houston with their children Hilary, Wilson, Henry, and Charles. Ricky Li was promoted to LeSportsac's director of international sales for Asia and Europe, where he manages international business with France, Italy, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. Since graduating from Cornell, he has lived in Los Angeles, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Paris, and New York City. He is also assisting his wife Laura by handling overseas marketing for her newly published biography on Madame Chiang Kai-Shek. Following in her parents' international footsteps, Ricky's 5-year-old daughter Sienna is attending a bilingual Chinese- English kindergarten in New York City.

Thanks for all your news! More to come in the next issue. Nina Peek, nsr5@cornell.edu.