Notes from the Cornell Class of 1991 - 2011 January/February

Class Notes, 2011 January/February

January/February 2011

I received an overwhelming response to my e-mail blast seeking news, including two first-time updates. Douglas Kelly earned an MBA from the Yale School of Management in 2000 and received the Dept. of Defense Information Assurance Scholarship Award in 2005 to pursue research at the Center for Cyber Security & Research on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) in Dayton, OH. In 2009, he earned a PhD in computer science from the Air Force Inst. of Technology. Douglas is now Cyber Team Lead for the Air Force Research Laboratory on WPAFB, where he conducts cyber defense science and technology research and development and manages programs to enhance or create new military capabilities. In early 2010, Douglas traveled to the Philippines for an "all-in-one 25-year friendship celebration, host family and in-law reunion, wedding/reception/honeymoon, and mini-vacation." He married his quarter-century friend and five-year sweetheart, whom he met in 1985 when he was a Rotary Exchange student. Douglas, Marilyn, and their son Mark, 4, reside in Dayton, OH.

Morgan Rider has lived in Portland, OR, since 1993 and works for Ecology & Environment, an environmental consulting firm, with Eric White '89 and Jonathan Russell '93, MBA '94. At the time she wrote, Morgan was looking forward to visiting Kathleen Novak Murray in Boston during an upcoming business trip. Morgan hopes to attend reunion and looks forward to seeing Judy Small, with whom she worked at Cornell's Undergraduate Admissions Office, and Betsy Mead Noel '86, who lives and practices dentistry in Ithaca.

Simon Atkins has been busy: first, from his home base in Montana, he has added premium material to his global weather site; there's also a free membership level at www.AFCrisk.com; second, he started a spiritual institute with a twist centered on how to optimize one's abundance, at www.Lhatong.org; and third, since starting his doctorate in alternative medicine in 2004, he's finally on the dissertation stage and will finish in October 2011 with a trip to India to receive his degree and trek into Nepal. His dissertation is on biometeoelectromagnetics, and combines the future of medicine--energetics--with spiritual health and climate change. If you figure out how those three fields are related, email Simon at sra10@cornell.edu.

Katrina Schreiber Firlik is co-founder and chief medical officer of HealthPrize Technologies (www.HealthPrize.com), an Internet-based software company that addresses the $290 billion-a-year problem of poor compliance with prescription medications. After perfecting the art of brain surgery, she decided to take on the more difficult challenge of getting people to follow doctors' orders and actually stick with their medications. Deb Moreau Dihel launched a new app for Android Smartphones called GeoReader, which reads aloud historical markers as you drive by them. It also allows you to make your own talking points and share your knowledge about local landmarks and events. You can download the free app at Android Market. For her day job, Deb is a food scientist with ConAgra Foods developing new French fries. Megan Elias is a research associate at the Five Colleges Women's Studies Research Center. She is working on a history of American cookbooks and food magazines and enjoys the beautiful (but not as beautiful as Cornell) Mount Holyoke campus.

Geoffrey Moskowitz recently celebrated 13 years in Moscow with a record heat wave and choking smoke. He and wife Madelaine continue to build their industrial cleaning empire. Tip-Top Industrial Solutions has provided hi-tech cleaning for factories for seven years. Kids Ivan, 10, and Mikaela, 8, are native Russian speakers who never understood American TV or Taco Bell. The Moskowitz family looks forward to our reunion and is ready to stand in line to buy tickets! Rich Levy has lived and worked in Washington, DC, for the past 12 years. Rich is director of research at the National Multi Housing Council. He keeps in touch with Shara Kabak, who lives nearby. Last summer, Rich visited freshman roommate Marc Bloomstein and his family in the Boston area, and Mark '92 and Jessica Benjoya Mandell '93 and their family in the Roanoke area.

Geneva Chong and husband Dave Barnett have moved to Boulder, CO. Viva works for the US Geological Survey, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, based in Jackson, WY. Their son Bard was born on April 16, 2009. Viva won't make it to our reunion because she will be in Ithaca for her sister's graduation from the Hotel school, and she can't stay that long. She hasn't returned since 1991 and hopes to visit roommates Pamela Mischen '90 and Danielle Haynes Feerick, who live in the area.

Class of '91 families continue to expand. On April 27, 2009, Howard Wolkow welcomed daughter Abigal. In March 2010, Eileen Bowden Feeley and husband David welcomed James Colm. On March 26, 2010, Nancy Beninati and her husband welcomed twins William and Zachary. Nancy is a deputy attorney general for the California Attorney General's Civil Rights Enforcement Section in Oakland, CA. Doug Fambrough and Kimberly Moy welcomed their second child, Torin Douglas, on August 30, 2010. Kim is at home with the kids and Doug is CEO of a small biotechnology company in Boston.

Start making plans for our 20th Reunion, the weekend of June 9-12! Check out our Cornell '91 page on Facebook for the latest updates and to let us know how we can make it the best reunion ever! If your news didn't make it into this column, please look for it in the next. *Ariane Schreiber Horn, ams14@cornell.edu; Sharlyn Carter Heslam, sheslam@berkshirepartners.com; Kathryn Kraus Bolks, klk22@cornell.edu.