Notes from the Cornell Class of 1991 - 2012 September / October

Class Notes, 2012 September / October

September/October 2012

I hope everyone had an enjoyable and relaxing summer. Many thanks to our classmates who submitted news updates with their class dues. For those of you who haven't had a chance to write recently, we would love to hear from all of you. Consistent with one of the themes that we have touched upon in the past, it seems that many of our classmates have been keeping busy advancing their careers (including some noteworthy accomplishments described below), while finding the time to spend with their families and enjoy their personal lives.

Michael Whitman works at Stuyvesant Trading Group and lives in New York City, where most of his Cornell friends live. He spends his free time involved in activities that include investing, bicycling, building a house, and playing with his children. Todd Schlifstein is a founder and partner of Fountain Medical Group in New York, focusing on sports medicine and wellness. Brenda Palumbo, in Stone Ridge, NY, is the vice president of operations at Acara Partners Marketing/Management and Development. When not working, Brenda spends her time running, renovating her home, and enjoying the beautiful Hudson Valley. Alma DeMetropolis (New Providence, NJ) works at JP Morgan Private Bank. She was named one of the Best 50 Women in Business in the State of New Jersey by New Jersey Business. Congratulations, Alma! Alma is raising two children, Caela, 11, and Christian, 10, and keeps active in community activities. She enjoys traveling with her family.

Ho-Chang Lee and his wife, Christine Chung, live in Connecticut. Ho-Chang is a director of the psychological medicine service and an associate professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine's Dept. of Psychiatry. He enjoys spending time with his children, playing miniature golf and tennis, and watching plays at the Yale Repertory Theatre. Susan Rosenblatt writes us from Cambridge, MA, about her veterinary practice. She credits the late Roger Morse '50, PhD '55, professor of beekeeping, for having a meaningful impact on her during her time at Cornell.

Michele Slobod Ruiz is a partner in the Chicago office of the law firm Sidley Austin LLP, where she counsels hedge funds and family offices structuring private investment vehicles, as well as in investment-related compliance and regulatory matters. She also serves as the global coordinator of the firm's OTC derivatives practice. She and her husband, Jesse, were awarded the Barristers Philanthropic Award from Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth for their civic dedication to the Chicago community and Michele's leadership of her firm's more than 25-year partnership with Kanoon Elementary Magnet School. In addition to maintaining a busy legal practice, Michele is involved in many civic organizations throughout Chicago. Wanda Wright is also keeping busy in the legal profession. She lives in Durham, NC, and serves as an administrative law judge with the Social Security Administration, where she handles a substantial caseload. Jeff Lamontagne was awarded the Jennifer Loren Herskowitz '88 Cornell Tradition Point of Light Award for his founding and longtime leadership of the Second Wind Fund. The Second Wind Fund is a professional counseling program for uninsured and underinsured youth at risk of suicide. Jeff traveled to Ithaca to receive the award during commencement weekend. Jeff lives with wife Suzanne McClung, MS '92, in Lakewood, CO, and spends most of his time with their two children when he's not working.

Working our way to the West Coast, Robert, PhD '97, and Karen Klingemann Spencer, MBA '96, live in Portland, OR. Robert works at Intel Corp. as part of its Portland Technology Development group. He spends most of his free time with his children and enjoys keeping up with their various activities, which include soccer, piano, Girl Scouts, and swimming. He and his family traveled to Rome, Venice, and Tuscany, which he says are fantastic places to relax. He would love to hear from any classmates who lived on the fourth floor of Mary Donlon Hall in their freshman year. Dave Loomis also lives in Portland. He is the founder, creative director, and lead engineer at Lumieria (http://www.lumieria.com), where he spends his time building light sculptures and making music designing software. He is launching his first product and working toward a new collection of sculptures.

Jason and Elana Adleman Feinsmith '89 live in Sunnyvale, CA. In 2011, they made several trips to Ithaca to help Elana's parents move to Chicago to retire. Elana's father, Marvin Adleman, had been head of the Landscape Architecture department and on the faculty at Cornell for 36 years before retiring. Jason writes that the move was particularly sad for him and Elana because they had been coming back to Ithaca with their children every summer for vacation to visit Elana's parents for many years and always loved it. The trips brought them back to the place where they fell in love and eventually married. I'm sure they are not the only ones that have similar feelings when they go back to Ithaca! Jose Enrique Medina manages his own lucrative online business in Los Angeles and spends his time reading and writing poetry. Johnny Tseng works as managing director of J&B Group, a textile company based in Hong Kong, where he lives with his wife, Noelle. Please keep the updates coming! Just drop any of us a quick e-mail or visit our class website at http://www.cornellclassof1991.com. Tom Greenberg, twg22@cornell.edu; Wendy Milks Coburn, wmilkscoburn@me.com; and Charles Wu, ccwu@mac.com.