Notes from the Cornell Class of 1991 - 2008 November/December

Class Notes, 2008 November/December

Can you believe we're already halfway to our next reunion? That's right. Our 20th Reunion is coming up in June 2011! In the meantime, members of our class continue to be involved with families, careers, and interesting activities.

Tim, JD '93, and Kim Brown Bixler have moved again! Five moves in 15 years is certainly exhausting. Tim took a job as general counsel of a semi-conductor company outside of L.A., so they moved to Manhattan Beach in July 2007 with their daughter Kendall, 10, and son Robert, 9. According to Kim, "We are renting our home in Northern California and currently renting a place on the beach! Keep in touch with us at thebixlers@earthlink.net." Life will never be the same for Pamela Sewell-Waggoner. An attorney with the Office of Chief Counsel, IRS in Denver, CO, Pamela enjoyed a six-month maternity leave after Amelia and Gregory were born in February 2008. She has less time for hobbies like hiking, tennis, soccer, and skiing, and looks forward to sleeping through the night again . . . someday. Becky Levine Leibowitz is also busy chasing after sons Jonah, 5, and Sam, 3. She is a manager of strategic quality with Ethicon Inc. in Somerville, NJ. She has vivid memories of the smell of breakfast while hiking up Libe Slope to go to class in the morning.

Chris Reynolds is celebrating both his tenth anniversary with wife Ginette and turning 40. He is a credit derivatives broker and enjoys playing golf and coaching lacrosse. Celeste Tambaro D'Allesandro is managing director, Latin American equity sales at Goldman Sachs. Husband David is a cardiothoracic surgeon at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. Sons David, 5, and Aidan, 2, provide great joy outside of work. Raising four kids and a dog keeps Amy Gellert Lebovitz on the go. Somehow she still finds time for tennis and running while supervising the household in Bernardsville, NJ. Noel Dean Blackwood lives in Austin, TX, with wife Laurie. He is a legal director for Dell Inc. and enjoys cycling in his free time. Wendy Milks, director of marketing for Wright Express Corp., wrote from Portland, ME.

Elizabeth Voulieris Kassinis and husband George '90 are currently living in Cyprus. Elizabeth is working for the US Embassy as a senior program advisor with the US Agency for Int'l Development. George is an associate professor of management in the School of Economics and Management at the U. of Cyprus. Also making an impact internationally is Judith Heichelheim, deputy regional director, Latin America and the Caribbean with Population Services Int'l. She tries to spend as much time as possible with her husband Vladimir Bogachev and 4-year-old son and likes cooking and being outdoors in her free time. Judith would love to hear from Tonya Fancher.

How nice to hear from a few of my former fourth floor Donlon hallmates! Mike Gimbel writes from Pittsburgh, PA, where he is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon. He joined the UPMC Division of Plastic Surgery in August 2006 as an assistant professor of surgery. Nate Bailey is a senior VP, human resources at NBC Universal. He and wife Camille live in Silver-mine, CT. Liv Gussing shares news of Akash, who joined the family in June from Mumbai in time to celebrate his second birthday. According to Liv, "He has a good sense of humor, is very meticulous, and knows exactly what he wants. Plus he is a cricket fan! He is now adjusting to life on tropical Bali after the big city!" Isara, 4, is doing a fantastic job as big sister. Liv's freshman-year roommate Jennifer Berger Schatz is enjoying being a newlywed. Now a director of marketing at Matthews Int'l Capital Management, Jen also has a new home in San Francisco with husband Brad.

Ken Mark is launching a line of skincare products in addition to growing his medical practice as a dermatologist/skin cancer surgeon in Southampton and East Hampton, NY. His antioxidant hydrating cream has been a huge hit in some of the country's most exclusive locales: Manhattan, Aspen, and the Hamptons. Check out his website for secrets to keep you looking like you did when you were at Cornell: www.kennethmarkmd.com. More great news for Todd Kennett! After leading the lightweight crew team to their third straight national title, Todd was named Cornell's Spirit of '57 Director of Rowing and Head Coach of Heavyweight Rowing. Todd has been a member of the Cornell rowing staff since 1993. Former track standout Stephanie Best now lives in Utah. She is a detective in the fraud crimes unit with the Logan City Police Dept. She stays in touch with Cynthia Loizides Weber '90, Jeannine Cavender-Bares '90, and Loren Mooney '93, who just ghost-wrote a book for Floyd Landis, Positively False.

Speaking of writing, Bonnie Mills Trenga has been authoring the "Sentence Sleuth" column for Writer's Digest magazine, writing a blog (sentencesleuth.blogspot.com), and working as a freelance copyeditor and writer in Mesa, AZ. Her book, The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier: How to Solve the Mysteries of Weak Writing, is now out in paperback. Bonnie enjoys movies, tennis lessons, and working out; however, she admits she would rather be traveling around Europe. Did you see Voula Saridakis on the History Channel series "Lost Worlds" recently? According to Voula, "The particular episode, entitled 'Al Capone's Secret City,' explores the Chicago haunts of Al Capone, and my job as a historical investigator was to interview the local experts on Al Capone and Chicago history and make some conclusions about the buildings and structures we explored as we filmed." There is a one-minute preview of the episode on the "Lost Worlds" minisite, www.history.com/minisites/lostworlds. When she's not appearing onscreen, Voula is a lecturer in history at Lake Forest College.

Thanks for sharing your news with us! You can reach us via e-mail, through the link on our class website (http://classof91.alumni.cornell.edu), or on the News Form in our class mailings. We look forward to hearing from you! Kathryn Kraus Bolks, klk22@cornell.edu; Sharlyn Carter Heslam, sheslam@berkshirepartners.com; Ariane Schreiber Horn, ams14@cornell.edu.