Notes from the Cornell Class of 1991 - 2000 September/October

Class Notes, 2000 September/October

Greetings from the Hill. REUNION, REUNION, REUNION! Have you made your travel plans back to the Hill yet? Jeff Weintraub, MD '95, would like to remind us all that it is never too soon to plan for your trip to Cornell for our 10th Reunion. The dates are June 7-10, 2001 (Thursday-Sunday). If you haven't already done so, start making your travel arrangements today! We'll keep you posted on those details as we know more. Also, if you haven't added it to your e-bookmarks yet, you really should check out the class of 1991 website. The address is: http://cornellclassof1991.com. Dan Kim and Jeff have asked everyone to check the site on a regular basis, so hopefully we'll develop a dynamic site that contains lots of useful stuff. OK, on to the news front...

We have a basic class theme running through all your mail this quarter, as noted by Shawn Young and echoed by our classmates: "Life is great! " Shawn completed his MBA from Dowling College and is currently working at SupplyForce.com as vice president of technology. Shawn and wife Babita currently have one son, Jonathan Anil Young. Joel Freundlich, MC CH '92, residing in Princeton, NJ, has dropped us a line to tell us about the awesome snowmobiling and skiing trip he had in the Adirondacks this past winter with classmate Roddy Shuler. Joel visited Ithaca in December and met up with Roddy again, as well as Mark Riccio, MS E '99. Joel continues his note: "Entrepreneurial ventures are the way to go. I love my job doing research on the Alzheimer's disease for Praecis Pharmaceuticals, a Boston-based biotech company."

Doug Pascale, ME I '92, has left Michigan and the Ford Motor Co. for a career and climate change. He is enjoying his new job as a program manager at Veridian Pacific-Sierra Research (a high-tech government and military contractor), as well as his new house and his new rock band. Doug tells us he has settled in at the lovely metro Washington, DC, suburb of Sterling, VA. Kristina Montt has made the transition from a contamination engineer to an integration and test engineer for the "Advanced Camera for Surveys" which will be inserted into the Hubble Space Telescope during the servicing mission in late 2000. In between switching roles, Kristina married Kelvin De Garcia this past September on Nantucket. Wendy Fuhr also started a new job in the later part of last year working for the Great Valley Health Organization as a family physician in Collegeville, PA (Wendy's home town). She finished her residency in family medicine at Albany (NY) and had a son in June of 1999. She really enjoys being back with her family in Collegeville. Megan McNealy Graves and husband Michael are still living in the San Francisco Bay Area and loving it. Megan is still working in Oakland with the Merrill Lynch Private Client Group as a financial consultant.

We received a great e-mail from David Taylor. The Taylor family has recently moved back to Ithaca after spending the past six years in Japan. Dave writes: "Our life in Japan consisted of two parts: life before kids and life after kids. Life before kids meant a fair amount of work and travel; in addition to opening the Hyatt Regency Osaka hotel with my wife, Masako (Shibata), we traveled to many spots in Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Australia, just to name a few. Then came the kids (Joe and Kent). We moved to the suburbs (Nara, Japan) and began to enjoy the greenery and grandparents more." Since returning to Ithaca, Dave and Masako are taking courses at Cornell and really enjoying the time they have with their boys. Jay Villa, ME C '92, dropped us a line a little while ago to tell us that he is the Young Alumni Chair for the Cornell Club of Arizona. Among Jay's various activities for the club, he organized some very successful "Young Alumni Nights Out for Cornell Desert Dwellers." If you are ever in Phoenix you should look up Jay and attend one of these events. As Jay notes, "Enthusiasm is high even if attendance isn't." Gayle Berger is still living in New York City and recently received a very deserved promotion at Tommy Hilfiger, USA. Gayle is currently the director of corporate technical services for the company. Michael Saxon is now with Jupiter Communications, working as an analyst at the NYC firm. After completing his MBA from the U. of Illinois this past January, Michael and wife Jill moved to Cranford, NJ.

Chuck and Denise Law Russell welcomed the arrival of their son, Matthew Charles, on Apr. 15, '00. Denise, formerly with Aetna USHealthcare, is thoroughly enjoying staying home and does not miss the corporate world at all! Laura Ceglowski Fronhofer and husband Frank celebrated the birth of their daughter, Scout Heather, on Nov. 20, '99. Laurie, Frank, and Scout currently live in Salem, NY. Classmate Allison Crandall and husband Brian Armieri '90 welcomed the arrival of their son, Dallas Patrick Armieri, on Apr. 4, '99. The Spencer family celebrated the birth of their first child, daughter Merideth Rose Spencer, on Feb. 25, '00. Robert, PhD '97, Karen (Klingemann), MBA '96, and baby Merideth are currently living in the beautiful state of Oregon. Robert is still working for Intel. Other class of 1991 births include Zachary Patrick Beitel, born May 20, '99 to very proud parents David, ME CS '92, and Joanna James Beitel '92. David has recently moved on from Microsoft to Expedia Inc. Finally, we have news about James and Elizabeth Heck's daughter, Leigh Ann Heck. Beautiful Leigh Ann was born on Jan. 21, '99 in the town of Elizabeth, CO. She was 9 pounds, 1 ounce, and 21 inches long. Congratulations to all the new parents!

Janet Yi-Jen Chen Daniel has taken a job as an assistant professor in the biology department at James Madison U. Janet currently teaches physiology, genetics, and cell biology at the school. In addition to receiving her PhD in human nutrition from the U. of Chicago in 1997 and completing her post-doctorate work at the university in molecular genetics, Janet and husband Ronn had a baby daughter, Hannah Ariel, in December 1998. Sharlyn Carter Heslam had a mini-reunion in Santa Fe, NM, this past October. In attendance: Kristen Sciacca, Cynthia Lee Dow, Kristen Hurley, Lisa Dale, and Kara Niles. Kara made the trek all the way from Switzerland! "A great time was had by all and we got plenty of practice for Reunion 2001! " Sharlyn and husband Bill currently live in Dallas, TX. Ben Stewart just got a summer internship with Charles Schwab's electronic brokerage enterprise in San Francisco, CA. Ben completed the first year of his MBA studies at the U. of Southern California. J. Scott Berniker and wife Michelle joined Mark Cisz and me recently at the wedding of Todd Gottesman, MBA '92, on Long Island. Todd and Michelle celebrated their union in a beautiful ceremony on the nicest day of the year and honeymooned in the Caribbean. They plan on continuing to live in the Houston area once they return. It was wonderful to get together with friends we haven't seen in a long time.

On a personal note, Mark and I have just purchased a lovely home in Fort Salonga (Long Island, NY) and I've completed my year as chief pediatric resident at Schneider's Children's Hospital. In addition to packing, and unpacking, and raising our 17-month-old son Bryan, I have begun working in a private practice just a few miles from our new home. Mark still commutes to Wall Street as he continues his career at JP Morgan.

Thank you to everyone who mailed/e-mailed updates and alumni sightings! Keep smiling, stay happy, and keep the news flowing! --Linda Moerck-Cisz (new address: 2 Susan Drive, Fort Salonga, New York 11768 or e-mail cisz_mark@jpmorgan.com); Kevin Lemanowicz, 25 Fox Dr., Dedham, MA 02027; e-mail, kpl6@cornell.edu.