Notes from the Cornell Class of 1991 - 2012 January/February

Class Notes, 2012 January/February

January/February 2012

Greetings from Silicon Valley! Since this is my first Class Notes column, let me start with my own update. My name is Charles Wu, and my claim to writing fame is that I wrote for the Cornell Daily Sun, so it's good to be writing about Cornell again. After graduation I moved back home to Colorado and 11 years ago I moved to Mountain View, CA, to join the Internet boom. Many jobs later, I now work for a company that specializes in reconnecting alumni and others over the Internet and served as an inspiration for a Hollywood movie. In August, I was in Shanghai for work when Monica Huang, MS '03, invited me to join an alumni brunch, where I was amazed by how many Cornellians there were in China. The lesson being: if you travel, be sure to look up Cornell clubs where you are going. You never know who you might meet. While I think Facebook is a great way to keep alumni in touch, old-fashioned mail works, too, so keep those class updates coming in.

Liz Mirabile-Levens (Cheshire, CT) is a pulmonary and critical care physician. In the category of things classmates do that make you feel you should get off the couch department, Liz, along with husband Doug Levens '92 and sons Peter, 10, and Eric, 7, consider participating in triathlons a family activity. Eric Bluman, of Boston, was elected to the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society's board of directors. He's an assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery at Harvard, as well a staff surgeon at Dana Farber Cancer Inst., among many other roles. Congratulations to Eric for being recognized by his peers.

Kelly Lawas Fairbairn (Simpsonville, SC) is continuing a Cornell tradition of giving back to the community--she is a member of the board of Project Hope Foundation, which serves children with autism and their parents. This is in addition to her running her own company, PPS International, that specializes in international training and development. Alan Lehto is keeping Portland, OR, moving as the director of project planning for Trimet, the regional transit authority. He must be doing a good job, since I used it without problem on a recent trip there. Alan and wife Tracy have daughters ages 5 and 7. He also is a proud supporter of the local Major League Soccer team as a member of the "Timbers Army." Speaking of reasons to be proud, Zina Spezakis shares happy news from New York that daughter Hypatia Athena was born on October 5, 2011. Both mother and daughter are doing well.

Jason and Margaret "Meg" Chen Spielman are busy working on home improvement projects in Austin, TX, when they are not looking after daughters Catelyn, 10, and Amelia, 5. Meg is a dietitian at the Dept. of Veterans Affairs and Jason is director of Web technologies at PayPal. Also in Texas, Susan Starowitz Williams and husband Neil live in the delightfully named city of Humble. Susan is a Pilates and yoga coordinator at Lifetime Fitness and would love to hear from Virginia Hoskins, DVM '95.

A note from overseas: Johnny Tseng is based in Hong Kong, where he has been busy launching a new fashion brand at the clothing export company where he serves as managing director. Like many of us, he fondly remembers the friends back on the Hill. On that note, Janet Sullivan Meaney (Dundee, NY) has a shout out to John House to get in contact with her. Janet fondly remembers being active in the Social Work Practice Group at Cornell and has continued in that vein by volunteering for the local community services board and chairing the "Our Town Rocks" committee. This is in addition to double duties for the Crestwood Children's Center and Schuyler Head Start programs. Cornellians stay busy even after leaving Ithaca.

There must something about Massachusetts and being a veterinarian for the Class of '91. Susan Rosenblatt practices in Waltham, MA, and appropriately writes that she is "working like a dog," but adds that she loves her job and can't imagine anything else she would rather do. Vicki June, DVM '95, of Otis, MA, spends her free time with equestrian competition.

Don't forget to visit our new class website (http://cornellclassof1991.com), our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/Cornell91), or Twitter (http://twitter.com/cornell91) to stay up-to-date on news of our class. Best wishes in the New Year! *Charles Wu, ccwu@mac. com; Tom Greenberg, twg22@cornell.edu; and Wendy Milks Coburn, wmilkscoburn@me.com.