Class notes

1963

Cornelius "Neal" Grove, A&S '63, '64 (MEd), an ethnologist of education, authored How Other Children Learn: What Five Traditional Societies Tell Us About Parenting and Children's Learning, published by Rowman & Littlefield in March. In the book, Grove contrasts U.S. middle class child-socialization practices with the hunter-gatherers of Africa, the Quechua herders of the Andes, the Navajo of the U.S. Southwest, the village Arabs of the Levant, and the Hindu villagers of India.

1967

Michael M.J. Fischer, A&S '67, is Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities and a professor of anthropology and science and technology studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a prolific author; his most recent book, Probing Arts and Emergent Forms of Life, was published in May by Duke University Press. In it, he examines the work of key Southeast and East Asian artists and calls for "a new anthropology of the arts that attends to the materialities and technologies of the world as it exists today."

1977

Andy Hament, A&S '77, is a mediator and arbitrator at ADRsource. He previously practiced labor and employment law for more than 35 years. For more than three decades, he and his wife, Priscilla, have lived in Indialantic, Florida, where he continues to play golf and tennis. He also enjoys skiing in the Rockies but reported that his days on the double black runs are behind him.

1979

Ann Bracken, Ed '79 (MS), is a poet and author based in Columbia, Maryland. Her most recent work is Crash: A Memoir of Overmedication and Recovery, based on her mother's struggle with pain, depression, and overmedication. The book was published in September 2022 by Charing Cross Press.

1980

Lynda Boyer-Chu, BSPH '80 (MPH), is a registered nurse with the San Francisco Unified School District. In February, she served a Fulbright Specialist assignment at Tra Vinh University (TVU) in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. At the request of the TVU faculty, she presented lessons to nursing students and co-wrote a manuscript that will be published in a future issue of the Journal of Nursing Education. She plans to return to TVU in February 2024. Her professional career in public health began with her work in a Cambodian refugee camp in Thailand from 1980 to 1982 with the International Rescue Committee.

1982

Sheila Forman, A&S '82, is a licensed clinical psychologist and mindful eating coach, practicing in Santa Monica, California. She wrote Mindful Bite, Joyful Life: 365 Days of Mindful Eating, published by TVGuestpert Publishing in December 2022. It is her fifth book and her second on mindful eating.

1983

Dennis Averill, BSPH '83 (MHS), Bus '88 (MS), is director for environmental health and safety at L3Harris Technologies and an associate professor and lecturer at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He wrote a children's book titled The Dogs That Helped Santa Save Christmas, published by Luminare Press in November 2022. His first book, Lean Sustainability (Productivity Press, July 2017), received the Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award.

Stephen Kiernan, A&S '83 (MA), a novelist, journalist, and speaker, authored The Glass Chateau, a novel set in France just after World War II. The book was published by William Morrow in June. Kiernan has written six books and many newspaper articles and is nearing the benchmark of having 5 million words in print.

1986

James Joseph Walsh III, Engr '86, co-founded and serves as the executive director of Elevate Atlanta, a youth engagement organization that impacts students in the Atlanta Public School District. Elevate Atlanta is one of 22 independent affiliates of Elevate USA, which benefited more than 10,000 students in 2022. Following a career as a sales and marketing executive and business owner in the technology space, Walsh entered the nonprofit education sector in 2021. He lives in Atlanta with Susan, his wife of 21 years. They have two adult daughters, Brittany and Courtney.

1987

Jane Buckner, Med '87 (MD), is co-founder and scientific advisory board member of GentBio Inc., a biotherapeutics company that develops engineered regulatory T-cells programmed to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. She also is president of the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason; an affiliate professor of immunology and an affiliate professor of medicine, Division of Rheumatology, at the University of Washington; and a partner at the Allen Institute for Immunology. Buckner authored an opinion piece about a new paradigm of early detection and prevention of autoimmune diseases, published in the spring 2023 issue of The Scientist.

1989

Ted Rosenzweig, A&S '89, retired from clinical practice as a general surgeon with the Alaska Native Medical Center after 25 years. He and his wife, Mary, own and manage Anchorage-based Turnagain Brewing, which received a 2022 Alaska Manufacturer of the Year Award and a silver medal in the winter warmer category for its Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout at the Alaska Barleywine Competition. The company cut its CO2 utilization in half by harnessing nitrogen generation and fermentation gas capture. Their polymicrobial souring culture—derived from wild yeast and bacteria on local alder wood—has put the five-year-old brewery at the forefront of sour beer production in the state.

Kasper S. Wang, A&S '89, Med '93 (MD), is the Robert M. Filler Chair of Paediatric Surgery and head of the Division of General and Thoracic Surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children and professor of surgery at the University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine. Previously, he was a staff pediatric surgeon and professor of surgery at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California for almost two decades.

1993

Sarah Szanton, Nurs '93, '07 (PhD), dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in February. The informational hearing was titled "Examining Health Care Workforce Shortages: Where Do We Go From Here?" Her testimony focused on training new nurses, retaining those currently in the profession, and training and retaining high-quality nursing faculty.

1994

Rich Savel, Med '94 (MD), is chair of the Department of Medicine at Jersey City Medical Center, part of RWJBarnabas Health System.

William Spencer, Peab '94 (DMA), is a business analyst working on a large-scale modernization project for the Maryland State Department of Education and a bassoonist in the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra. He published compositions for chamber offerings with double reed themes: an arrangement of "The Stars and Stripes Forever" for bassoon ensemble and an original double-reed ensemble tune titled "The Screamin' Double Reed Blues"—available from TrevoMusic.

1996

Sarah Chan, Peab '96 (MM), is an associate professor of music at California State University, Stanislaus. In April, she presented a solo recital of French and Spanish piano music as well as music composed by Chopin at Salle Cortot in Paris. Her professional work was recognized with a 2022 California State University–Stanislaus Outstanding Professor Award; a 2021 California State University–Stanislaus Outstanding Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Faculty Award; and a 2021 U.S. Presidential Scholar Distinguished Teacher Award, presented by the U.S. Presidential Commission of the U.S. Department of Education. In 2020, she embarked on a performance-teaching tour in Ukraine that featured a solo piano recital at the National Philharmonic of Ukraine and presentations at the University of Educational Management of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Toloka Center for Educational Initiatives, Ukrainian Global School, Mariupol Specialized School of Music, and Mariupol School of the Arts.

1997

Bruce Simmons, Ed '97 (MA), wrote a 12-article series for the Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois) about the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. His first novel, Try to Shoot an Azimuth, was published in March by Gnome Book Writing. The story follows a Pueblo American Indian who returns from the Vietnam War with PTSD and his yearlong recovery from physical and mental wounds.

1998

Jessica Kenyon, A&S '98, is chief executive officer of the Conafay Group, a Washington, D.C.–based government relations company that represents life sciences companies, universities, and other organizations in the biomedical space. She provides expertise in federal research and development programs and in partnerships among government, academia, and industry constituents. She has more than two decades of experience in developing advanced medical technology and has worked at organizations such as American Defense International and the U.S. Army Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center.

Yamini Menon, A&S '98, was confirmed in May as a judge of the Connecticut Superior Court, nominated by Governor Ned Lamont. Previously, she was an assistant state's attorney in the civil litigation bureau of the Office of the Chief State's Attorney. Prior to that, she was with the Division of Criminal Justice.

Jason Silvers, Med '98 (MD), is chief financial officer at Generate Biomedicine, a drug development company with a new approach to producing protein therapeutics. After medical school, Silvers completed one year of a neurosurgical residency, then earned his law degree from Yale Law School. He was managing director and then partner at Goldman Sachs, where he served as the global head of health care mergers and acquisitions and then, based in London, co-managed health care investment banking for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

2000

Cyndie M. Chang, A&S '00, was named to the 2022 "Top Women Lawyers" list by the Daily Journal, an honor that recognizes her as one of California's top female practitioners. Chang is managing partner in Duane Morris' Los Angeles office.

Ava Chin, A&S '00 (MA), is the Jean Strouse Fellow at the Cullman Center for Scholars & Writers at the New York Public Library. She authored Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming, published by Penguin Press in April. The book is garnering rave reviews from The Washington Post, The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus Reviews, among many others.

Jennifer Nickoles, Bus '00, '09 (MS), was appointed president of Johns Hopkins Bayview in April. She had served as interim president since July 2022. Previously, she served in leadership positions at Johns Hopkins Medicine and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

2004

Mary Westergaard, Med '04 (MD), is associate professor and the inaugural vice chair of education in the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She received a Clinical Educator Excellence Award at the UW Health Physician Excellence Awards ceremony in May.

2007

Aaron Baughman, Engr '07 (MS), distinguished engineer of artificial intelligence and Cloud at IBM Consulting, won a 2022 Emmy Award for advancements in curating sports highlights through AI and machine learning. The Emmy was presented at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas in April. The IBM team received the award for a number of AI and ML technologies that help people utilize broadcast content in novel ways.

2008

Phyllis Fagell, Ed '08 (MS), is a licensed clinical professional counselor, a certified professional school counselor, journalist, and author. She is the school counselor at Sheridan School in Washington, D.C. Her book Middle School Superpowers: Raising Resilient Tweens in Turbulent Times was published by Hachette Go in August. The book is a practical, evidence-based guide for parents and educators and teaches middle schoolers how to activate 12 superpowers to discover their strengths and navigate difficult decisions and disappointments.

2009

Jason Liebowitz, A&S '09, Med '13 (MD), a rheumatologist with Skylands Medical Group in Rockaway, New Jersey, and Philip Seo, director of the Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center and the Johns Hopkins Rheumatology Fellowship Program, were editors of the textbook Clinical Innovation in Rheumatology: Past, Present, and Future. It was published by CRC Press in October 2022.

Lauren Underwood, Nurs '09 (MS), BSPH '09 (MPH), is a representative of the 14th District of Illinois, serving a third term in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is the youngest Black woman to serve in Congress and is the first woman, person of color, and millennial to represent her district. She is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Equality Caucus, and the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. She sits on the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and the Committee on Appropriations. She co-founded and co-chairs the Black Maternal Health Caucus and is a member of Future Forum, a generational caucus of 35 young members of Congress who focus on issues important to younger Americans. She was named one of the "Top 10 Black Women of Impact" by the website better.net.

2010

Susan Schneider, Ed '10 (Cert), is founder of Anhinga Coaching, a coaching and training practice. Her focus is on library services access and learning. She is a certified action learning coach, a process that involves problem solving in small groups, credentialed by the World Institute for Action Learning.

2011

Emese Parker, BSPH '11 (MPH), is a women's health nurse practitioner at Woodland Healthcare in Davis, California. She authored To Carry Wonder: A Memoir and Guide to Adventures in Pregnancy and Beyond, published by Larkwell Press in March. In the book, Parker draws from her personal and clinical experiences and provides practical support and evidence-based insights.

2014

Christopher Cirino, A&S '14 (MA), is senior intelligence analyst/travel and event security manager for Sony Electronics. He recently enrolled in the executive leadership program at Harvard Business School.

2016

Amy Sun Yan, A&S '16, is the strategy and operations program manager for global acquisitions at Google. She wrote How to Land a Strategy Role in Tech: Breaking into BisOps, published by Wise Ink Creative Publishing in April, and is a No. 1 bestselling author on Amazon.

2019

Daniel Lunz, Bus '19 (MBA), is co-founder and chief executive officer of Previse, an early cancer-detection company founded in 2019 and initially named Capsulomics. Based in Baltimore, the company has raised $3 million to support the launch of a new diagnostic tool that detects the warning signs of esophageal cancer.

2020

Jessica Wallace Gaston, Bus '20 (MBA), is the owner of Finance Doctor, a financial consulting business, and the co-founder, with her husband, of the Sundry Lawyer's Network, a nonprofit established this year. She was recently named to Dayton Business Journal's "40 Under 40" list. In addition, Gaston is the current title holder of Mrs. Ohio International 2023 and also founded the nonprofit Not Just a Pretty Face in 2022. She is a finance executive for the Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and a member of Ashland University's women's executive board and the city of Beavercreek environmental advisory committee. She and her husband have four children.

2021

Marilyn Wagner, Bus '21 (MBA), is vice president of marketing at Andrews Federal Credit Union in Suitland, Maryland. She is responsible for developing and leading strategic marketing and communications efforts for the $2.5 billion international finance institution.

2022

Lindsey Leake, A&S '22 (MA), is a Florida-based projects reporter at Gannett/USA Today Network. She was recognized in the 2023 "Class of 25 Under 35" young media professionals by Editor & Publisher Magazine. Her USA Today story, "Black blood donors are desperately needed, so I donated for the first time," was selected as a finalist in the commentary category of the National Association of Science Writers 2022 Science in Society Journalism Awards.