Notes from the Cornell Class of 1991 - 2011 July/August

Class Notes, 2011 July/August

July/August 2011

It's that time of year again: the warm weather is here, the kids are out of school, and we're all busy with barbeques and vacations. I had a great time catching up with you all at reunion last month--please look for the full report in the Sept/Oct issue. Our classmates continue to keep busy with a variety of exciting and impressive careers and activities--and a surprising number of cross-country moves. Without ado, here's the latest!

Speaking of warm weather, Jill Cohen-Garcia and husband Rick (Fort Lauderdale, FL) just love the hot Florida weather. They spend most of their time at the Boca Raton Resort and Club with friends and family. Although Jill enjoys her role as the senior vice president of quality and assurance for TracFone Wireless Inc., her favorite pastime is playing tackle football and cheerleading with her children Ryan, 9, and Samantha, 7. The Garcias are a busy bunch: Jill saw Bon Jovi in concert with Kid Rock on vacation in Chicago, IL. The family also went to the Georgia mountains region, Charleston, SC, and Savannah, GA, for vacation in July 2010.

Patrick Phair and wife Tanya (Ann Arbor, MI) are also busy chasing around little ones. When Patrick is not occupied with his investments in energy-related startup companies and projects, he is out on the field coaching his children in various sports. When asked about his fondest Cornell memories, Patrick gave us the same story he tells the kiddos at bedtime--that he, ahem, does not remember having wings and beer with friends; as he tells his children, he spent his college years dreaming and planning for the future. Robert Dunlap and wife Heather have a daughter, 2, and a new baby who joined the family in March 2011. Robert earned his MBA from the U. of Texas in 2004 and is now a project engineer with Honeywell Specialty Materials/UOP. Robert and his family live in Colorado, just outside Denver. Hilary Nagler is a new mother--to triplets! She is an interior designer and entrepreneur and the partner in a hip antiques store, living blissfully in Santa Barbara, CA. Classmates Elaine Chiu and Robert Leung added a third son to their family. Benjamin Jack was born in June of last year, joining big brothers Ryan, 10, and Billy, 4.

Elizabeth Henry is an ophthalmologist in a solo practice in Lowell, MI. Elizabeth enjoys horseback riding, showing jumpers, and breaking, training, and raising a foal named "Dino." Dino is a registered Oldenburg colt. Elizabeth and husband Bruno Unzens are also raising their daughter, Alexandra, 2. Elizabeth, unlike Patrick, was slightly more honest with us about her college years; she remembers great times in Ithaca playing darts with the guys over a pitcher of beer.

John Raguin has stepped down as CEO of Guidewire Software, a company he co-founded nine years ago. John says his time at Guidewire was a great experience, leading a company of almost 600 employees that generated well north of triple-digit revenues. However, the headquarters was in the San Francisco Bay Area, and John's family was in the Boston, MA, area, which translated into a very long commute and too much time away from family. John is now looking for opportunities in New England after winding down his time with Guidewire. Last summer, John participated in a triathlon in Gloucester, MA, with a bunch of friends from the Class of '92: Darius Deak, Keith Strudler, Carl Kadlic, and Jim Cotter, ME '93. The group was celebrating Darius's 40th birthday, and everyone had a great time--that is, until the soreness set in!

John is not the only classmate making a big move. Kathryn Pierson Lundin (katelundin@yahoo. com) moved to Beijing with husband Steve and their two little boys. Steve will be the general manager in China for Marsh & McLennan, the global commercial insurance brokerage. In preparation for the move, Kate left her job in New York, NY, at the Boston Consulting Group. Kate looks forward to connecting with any of our classmates who are in Beijing! Jenny Gottleib Shevick is also leaving NYC, bound for the suburbs--Bedford, NY. Jenny is making the move with her husband and their sons, ages 11, 9, 6, and 3.

Jennifer Leeds (jennifer.leeds@novartis.com) and Robert Hess have been living in the Boston area for about 15 years, raising sons Tjaden, 12, and Max, 9. Jenn and Rob enjoy time with friends Karl Yoder '87 and wife Marina Memmo '89 and Steve Hodin '89 and his wife, Renee. Their friends Mark Blucher '90, wife Jodi, and their four kids have moved to St. Louis, but the families still get to see each other when they vacation together in Florida. Jenn and Rob saw Scott Whitney '90 at the Head of the Charles Regatta and regularly run into George O'Toole '88 at various scientific meetings. Alex Flueck, PhD '96, stayed with them when he ran the Boston Marathon in April. The big news for the family is that after reunion this year, they packed up and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area (East Bay)! After being at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, MA, for eight years, Jenn was promoted to executive director and head of antibacterial discovery at Novartis. She is transferring from Cambridge, MA, to grow the group at their site in Emeryville, CA. Jenn works with Rich Colvin '88 in their pursuit to discover and develop new anti-infective drugs. Rob, who was a patent agent with Sunstein, Kahn, Murphy, and Timbers LLP in Boston, received his JD from Suffolk U. in May 2010 and was sworn into the Massachusetts Bar in November 2010. He will continue to practice patent law in the Bay Area. If there are any fellow Cornell alums on the "left coast," they'd be happy to hear from you!

Debra Squires-Lee is also enjoying professional success. She was elected partner in the litigation department of Sherin and Lodgen LLP in Boston, MA. Kevin Lemanowicz has signed on for his 15th year as chief meteorologist at Fox 25 in Boston (located in Dedham, MA). Kevin suggests that classmates should tune in when in the New England area, or "check out my receding hairline on myfoxboston.com." Aside from work, Kevin tries to keep up with his two sons, including the older one, who officially became a teenager in August. His family lives in Franklin, MA, and enjoys spending time together at their home in Destin, FL.

Please continue to share news with us via email, through the link on our class website, http://classof91.alumni.cornell.edu, or on the news form in our most recent class mailing. We love to hear from you! *Sharlyn Carter Heslam, sheslam@berkshirepartners.com; Ariane Schreiber Horn, ams14@cornell.edu; Kathryn Kraus Bolks, klk22@cornell.edu.