Class Notes

1952

Alan F. Hofmann, A&S '52, Med '55, was named a Jubeldoktor by Lund University in Sweden in honor of the jubilee anniversary of his 1965 degree from the university's Department of Physiological Chemistry. He is now professor emeritus of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine.

1953

Gilbert Wise, A&S '53, Med '57, is a clinical professor of urology at Weill Cornell Medical College and an attending urologist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

1956

Stephen F. Jacobs, A&S '56 (PhD), is a professor emeritus at the College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona. He created a wavy diffraction grating, a contraption atop Tucson City Hall that separates the colors of the light spectrum, splashing a rainbow across the downtown.

1960

Gershon J. Spector, A&S '60, is a professor emeritus of head and neck surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. His former residents and medical students honored him by endowing an annual lecture at the medical school, the G.J. Spector Lecture in Experimental Oncology.

1966

Renato Barahona Arévalo, A&S '66, is a professor emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He taught Spanish and early modern European history until his retirement in 2010.

Nan M. Phifer, A&S '66 (MLA), memoirist and author, led Joys and Sorrows Reconciled: A Lively Life-Review Workshop for the American Society on Aging's Aging in America conference in Washington, D.C., on March 21.

Douglas G. Pohl, A&S '66, retired in 2012 from the faculty of Georgia College but continued teaching in the Department of Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy as a professor emeritus until 2015. He lives with his wife, Gail, in Milledgeville, Georgia, where he volunteers as a guide for the town's historic trolley tour.

1969

Robert J. Friedman, A&S '69, member of the Latin music group Mambo Combo, offered ukulele lessons in the spring at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore.

1972

Romesh C. Batra, Engr '72 (PhD), who holds the Clifton C. Garvin Professorship of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Virginia Tech, received a 2015 American Society of Mechanical Engineers honorary membership.

Jeffrey H. Scherr, A&S '72, a principal at Kramon & Graham law firm, was named a 2016 Maryland Super Lawyer for his work in real estate law.

1974

Charles N. "Chip" Kahn, A&S '74, president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals, received the 2016 National Healthcare Award from B'nai B'rith International for leadership in the health care industry.

K. Scott Starks, A&S '74, a retired orthopedic surgeon, was elected in 2015 to serve on the board of trustees for Dosher Memorial Hospital in Southport, North Carolina. He and his wife, Becky, live on Bald Head Island.

1978

Anthony M. Miele, A&S '78, an insurance attorney, was promoted to assistant vice president and senior product manager at the Crum & Forster Enterprise in New York. He recently received a doctoral degree in mathematics education from Columbia University.

1979

Stuart W. Davidson, A&S '79, a partner with the Philadelphia labor and employment law firm Willig, Williams & Davidson, was appointed in January to chair the Professionals Committee of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

Brian S. Goodman, A&S '79, a principal at Kramon & Graham law firm, was named a 2016 Maryland Super Lawyer for the eighth straight year.

1981

Paul Avgerinos, Peab '81, a double bassist, won the 2016 Grammy Award for Best New Age Album. Grace was released on Round Sky Music in August 2015.

Roger S. Blumenthal, A&S '81, HS '88, Med '88 (PGF), '92 (PGF), is a Johns Hopkins professor of medicine and the director of the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease. He is an avid golfer and tennis player and makes it to most home lacrosse games. He and his wife, Wendy, have one son.

Paula E. Boggs, A&S '81, retired in 2012 as general counsel and secretary of Starbucks after 10 years, got married, and became a mom. She now performs with the Paula Boggs Band, which released its second CD in March 2015. Boggs has served for 18 years as a Johns Hopkins trustee.

1983

Chien-Jen Chen, SPH '83 (ScD), took office in May as vice president of Taiwan. He is a renowned epidemiologist credited with suppressing the 2003 epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome in his island nation.

Jay S. Rand, A&S '83, became a partner of the New York–based media, entertainment, and advertising law firm Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz in March. He also serves as co-chair of the firm's Corporate & Finance Group.

1986

Donna Marie Glover, Bus '86 (MAS), joined Ober Kaler in March as an associate in the law firm's Baltimore employment group.

1988

Hollis Day, A&S '88, was appointed chief of geriatrics at Boston Medical Center in December 2015 and will hold a faculty appointment at Boston University School of Medicine.

1989

Sagar Lonial, A&S '89, an expert in the biology and treatment of patients with multiple myeloma, was named chair of the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology within Emory University School of Medicine and Winship Cancer Institute.

1992

Michael Gilligan, Engr '92, became a partner in the Mergers and Acquisitions and Securities Group of law firm Schulte Roth & Zabel. Working out of the New York office, he focuses on public and private merger and acquisition transactions.

1993

Lisa Butler, Bus '93 (MS), joined Florida-based global technology solutions company MotionPoint as vice president of strategy in February.

Adnan A. Hyder, SPH '93, '98 (PhD), is a commissioner for Reframing Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries for the Poorest Billion: A Lancet Commission, established by the NCDI Poverty Commission. He is a professor and associate chair of International Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Marc N. Steren, A&S '93, co-director of the Georgetown University Summer Launch program, received the 2015 National Federation of Independent Business Young Entrepreneur Foundation's Entrepreneur Educator Award and the 2015 David S. Stone Excellence in Teaching award.

1994

Barbara A. White, A&S '94, was promoted to chief strategy officer for Arc Aspicio, a management consulting and information technology firm based in Washington, D.C., that focuses on homeland security and intelligence.

1996

Sarah Chan, Peab '96 (MM), presented a solo piano recital at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in December 2015 and performed in January at St. James's Piccadilly church in London. She is an assistant professor of music at California State University, Stanislaus.

Melanie Harris Higgins, A&S '96, SAIS '96, head of the U.S. Consulate General in Auckland, New Zealand, lives with her scuba diving partner and husband of 13 years, Paul, who is currently working in Chengdu, China.

1997

Sharonne R. Bonardi, Bus '97 (Cert), '00 (MBA), was appointed Maryland's first African-American deputy comptroller in 2015. She had served as the office's director of compliance since 2009.

Kaumudi Kay Kapoor, Bus '97 (MS), president of AT&T Government Solutions, was named to WashingtonExec magazine's inaugural list of Top 30 Executives to Watch. In February 2015, she chaired the Greater Washington Heart Ball, which raised more than $1 million for cardiovascular research and local outreach by the American Heart Association.

1998

David Breau, Engr '98, is general counsel for Straight Path Communications, a company that deals with wireless and computer network communications intellectual property, in Glen Allen, Virginia.

David J. Davies, SAIS Nanj '98 (Cert), has been named the incoming American co-director of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, in Nanjing, China, effective July 2016.

1999

Maria C. Sheetz, Bus '99 (MBA), became senior director of National Sales and Industry Alliances for Amtrak in January.

2000

Traci Thompson Ferguson, Med '00, was appointed to the National Quality Forum's Disparities Standing Committee, which seeks to eliminate health care disparities through measurement, in December 2015. She is chief medical director of medical management at WellCare Health Plans.

Carmen Peralta, Med '00, is co-founder and executive director of the Kidney Health Research Collaborative, jointly based at the University of California, San Francisco, and San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Peralta is a nephrologist and associate professor of medicine.

William G. Kirst, A&S '00, joined West Monroe Partners in Seattle as a senior manager in the business consulting firm's Operations Excellence practice. 

Gilda Martinez-Alba, Ed '00 (MS), '05 (Cert), '05 (EdD), became the Provost Fellow for Diversity and Inclusion and the director of the graduate reading program at Towson University in 2015.

2001

Eva Chen, A&S '01, former editor-in-chief of Lucky magazine, is now head of fashion partnerships for Instagram.

Jared N. Klein, A&S '01, founded the Law Offices of Jared N. Klein in 2015. The Philadelphia practice focuses on zoning, land use, and real estate.

2002

Hussein Akhavannik, Engr '02, '04 (MS), was promoted to partner at the Washington, D.C., law office of BakerHostetler. A member of the Intellectual Property Group, Akhavannik focuses on patent prosecution and portfolio management related to the electrical, computer, medical, and mechanical arts.

Margaux Coady Soeffker, A&S '02, a family law attorney with Terzich & Ort, was named a 2015 Minnesota Rising Star by Super Lawyers.

2003

Cory Donovan, Bus '03 (MBA), launched FurAlert, a free mobile app that allows pet owners to alert nearby users when a pet goes missing.

2005

Duane A. Carey, Bus '05 (MBA), was appointed to Maryland Governor Larry Hogan's One Maryland Blue Ribbon Commission to help streamline state procurement policy. Carey is president of Maryland Business for Responsive Government and is president of IMPACT Marketing & Public Relations.

Gene E. Green, Bus '05 (Cert), '08 (MBA), was named president and CEO of South Shore Health System of South Weymouth, Massachusetts, in 2015.

Clifford E. Hawkins, Bus '05 (MBA), earned the Certified Fraud Examiner credential from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

2007

Zachary S. Pfister, A&S '07 (MAG/MBA), was promoted in January to senior policy adviser at federal lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.

2010

Zhifei Li, Engr '10 (PhD), is founder and CEO of Mobvoi, a Beijing-based startup that created TicWatch, China's answer to Apple Watch and Android Wear.

J. Travis Mitchell, Bus '10 (MS), joined Bayer Corporation's Pittsburgh-area headquarters in January as the U.S. corporate real estate manager.

Smita Mohan, Engr '10, is engaged to be married to Brent Dolan, A&S '11, on October 2, 2016.

Alexandra R. Rosenwasser, A&S '10, was hired as marketing and events coordinator at Baltimore magazine in December 2015.

Leah Zambetti Ryan, Engr '10, and Michael Ryan Jr., were married on July 25, 2015, at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic church in Osterville, Massachusetts. Kaitlin Davis Mosca, A&S '11, was matron of honor; Dea Lovy, Engr '10, '11 (MSE), was maid of honor. The bride and groom currently reside in Malmo, Sweden, for a one-year leadership development program through Leah's employer, Skanska USA Building.

2011

Stephanie Geddie, Ed '11 (Cert), '11 (MS), was one of seven finalists for the 2015–2016 Maryland Teacher of the Year Award. She is a kindergarten instructional team leader at the Laurel Woods Elementary School in Laurel, Maryland, and is a co-founder of Building Blocks Network, a parent outreach program.

C. Jimmy Lin, SPH '11, Med '12 (MD/PhD), a pioneer in the early detection of cancer, was named one of 10 TED Senior Fellows for 2016. He was a TED Fellow in 2012 and has delivered talks at the annual technology, education, and design conference since 2013.

Kelly Mack, A&S '11 (MA), a vice president at Environics Communications' Washington, D.C., office, was named the 2016 vice president of Washington Women in Public Relations.

Robin A. Thottungal, A&S '11 (MA), was appointed to serve as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's first chief data scientist, focused on creating and implementing analytical approaches to decision making across the agency.

2012

Carrie Grady, A&S '12, and Zachary Matuzsan, A&S '12, became engaged to be married in January. They met during their freshman year as members of the Hopkins Emergency Response Organization.

Ted Simpson, Bus '12 (MS/MBA), was hired as a senior director for Huron Consulting Group, a global management consulting company serving the health care, education, life sciences, law, and finance industries.

Carrie A. Scott, Bus '12 (MBA/MS ITS), a data management technology veteran, was promoted in February to vice president at Washington, D.C., management consulting firm Kenesis Corporate and Information Consulting.

2013

Lianne Marie Gonsalves, SPH '13, is a technical officer at the World Health Organization's Department of Reproductive Health and Research, where she leads research in the area of adolescent sexual and reproductive health.

Norman Huynh, Peab '13 (MM), has been named the Oregon Symphony's new Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Associate Conductor and will assume his duties in Portland, Oregon, on August 1.

Sebastian Seiguer, Bus '13 (MBA), is CEO of emocha Mobile Health, a mobile health platform for remote patient management. The company, located in the FastForward East business innovation hub, made the Journal of mHealth Global Digital Health 100 Award List for 2015.

2014

Brian A. Gerardo, Bus '14 (MBA), is executive director and co-founder of the Baltimore Dance Crews Project, a nonprofit that received a $60,000 grant from the Open Society Institute of Baltimore as part of its 2015 Community Fellows program. Gerardo started the project as an after-school club inspired by his passion for hip-hop dance; it has since reached thousands of Baltimore youth.

Peggy Houng, A&S '14, Peab '14, won second prize for her harp performance in the 2015/2016 Enkor International Music Competition.

Alex Mullen, Engr '14, is the 2015 World Memory Champion and the Guinness World Record Holder for most digits memorized in an hour: 3,029. He lives with his wife, Cathy Chen, in their home state of Mississippi, where they are both medical students at the University of Mississippi. The couple helps others apply memory techniques to learning at mullenmemory.com.

2015

Scott A. Miller II, Peab '15 (MM), a composer, educator, and bassist, is working on a commission from the Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra and is a composition fellow for the 2016 Aspen Music Festival and School.