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Class Notes

News for this section may be submitted online through the class notes submission form or by email to vanderbiltmagazine@vanderbilt.edu. Please include your current name, name at registration, degree and class year. You also may send us news or update your address and other biographical information electronically through Vanderbilt’s online alumni community, VUconnect, at vuconnect.com. Your submission will be posted in Vanderbilt Magazine, print and online, unless otherwise specified, though we only use photos online due to space limitations in the print magazine. We reserve the right to edit for length, style and clarity.

These class notes were sent for inclusion in Vanderbilt Magazine between June 1, 2025, and Nov. 30, 2025. They will be included in the print Spring 2026 issue.

Class Notes by Year

Class Notes: 1950s-1960s

  • ’53

    Wallace Lehman, BA, of New York City recently was included in the 2025 class of inductees to the Hall of Fame of the Pediatric Orthopedic Society of North America.

  • ’54

    Gerald E. Stone, BA, MD’57, of Pittsford, N.Y., had his Vanderbilt Phi Beta Kappa award accepted by that society to be put in the Library of Congress. Married for 69 years to writer/poet Lois Greene Stone, they have 15 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. His wife is featured in the Smithsonian’s Girlhood exhibit.

  • ’64

    Lalise O’Brien Melillo, BA, of Falmouth, Mass., retired in 2017 from teaching at Falmouth Academy, but she continues to coach students in public speaking. She teaches an adult Shakespeare course at the school each fall, studying a different play each year. Her husband, Jerry, works as a scientist in Woods Hole, specializing in climate change. They spend time with son Ted, a professor at Amherst College, and their grandson, Simon, a delightful 12-year-old.

  • ’65

    Oscar P. Fitzgerald IV, BA, of Alexandria, Va., recently published his seventh book on the history of American furniture, The Art and Furniture of Tommy Simpson (Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2026). A pioneer in studio furniture field, Simpson showed his contemporaries that making furniture was more than just wood and technique—it could be painted like a canvas as well. One of his other books is American Furniture: 1650 to the Present (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017) which continues to be a standard textbook in the field.

  • ’66

    Louis Motz, BE, MS’69, PhD’70, was elected a fellow in the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Environmental and Water Resources Institute in May 2025. He is retired as associate professor emeritus from the University of Florida and lives in Gainesville, where he continues to work as a water resources engineering consultant.

  • ’69

    Jim Rosenblatt, BA, taught in Seoul, Korea, for the Mississippi College School of Law where he was dean from 2003 to 2014 and afterwards was professor of law. He has been a participant in the MC Law Korea Program for 13 years and traveled to Korea another seven times while in the Army.

Class Notes: 1970s

  • ’71

    Bruce Spang, MDiv, MA’75, recently published several books. His memoir No Way Back: A Young Man's Search for Home, which will be published in 2026, focuses on his years at Vanderbilt Divinity School during the anti-war and civil rights uprisings. His book of poems, Twist (Warren Publishing), and his novel, River Crossed (Wisdom House), were published in 2025 and 2024. He lives with his husband and three dogs in Candler, North Carolina.

  • ’73

    H. Mills Gallivan, BA, of Greenville, S.C., was honored as an Icon by South Carolina Lawyers Weekly in its 2025 Excellence in Law awards. The Icon designation recognizes distinguished attorneys with long-standing careers of exceptional leadership, service and impact on the legal profession and community. In a career spanning nearly five decades, Gallivan has built a reputation as one of South Carolina’s most accomplished attorneys in alternative dispute resolution, workers’ compensation and corporate litigation.

    Suhas Ketkar, PhD, of Florham Park, N.J., published a memoir in April 2025, From the City of Djinns to the Promised Land: An Immigrant’s Story (Archway Publishing from Simon & Schuster). He was a visiting assistant professor of economics at Vanderbilt from 1975 to 1978 and visiting professor of economics from 2006 to 2011.

    Cleve Latham, BA, EdD’98, of Chattanooga, Tenn., and his wife, Betty Craft Latham, BA’75, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in June. They were joined by their daughter, Ginger Latham Mayfield, BS’05, son-in-law Tommy Mayfield, BA’03, and granddaughters Polly (15) and Louise (13) at Dollywood for their annual family excursion. A year into retirement after 50 years at McCallie School, Cleve works part time as fitness manager at Gold’s Gym.

    Katy McBride, BA, of Bethesda, Md., recently retired from the Department of Defense's Military Healthcare System, coming full circle in her career as a health care manager, which grew out of her experience as a cancer patient in 1975. She celebrated her friend and pledge sister, Nancy Oliver Gray, BA, as winner of the Alumni Professional Achievement Award when she returned for Reunion Nov. 5.

  • ’74

    Sam T. “Bo” Carter, BA, of Carrollton, Texas, was selected for the 2025 class of inductees to the Vanderbilt Student Media Hall of Fame. A veteran of more than 50 years in college media relations, Carter is a National Football Foundation consultant and executive director of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. He was inducted into the College Sports Information Directors Hall of Fame in 2005.

    Paul J. Placek, PhD, of Stevensville, Md., has been busy with the Historic Stevensville Arts and Entertainment District, the Kent Island Heritage Society, and the Kent Island Cruisers car club. He had a 30-year career with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, plus a few years of consulting after that. For 25 years he edited local and international car club magazines. In 2020, he published 1,000 Jokes for Auto Aficionados (BookBaby, 2020).

    Rob Slocum, BA, JD’77, of Danville, Ky., is the author of Joy to the World! Devotions for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, published in September 2025 by Church Publishing. Joy! provides short daily reflections that engage scripture and offer personal narratives to help readers connect these seasons with their lives today. Entries are about two pages long and include prayers and questions for further reflection.

  • ’76

    50th Reunion

    Rick Glaze, MS, recently published book two in his Pieces of Eight series. Eight Pieces of Eight (ScreenShot Publishers, 2025), is a multigenerational treasure hunt set in the uncharted caves that run beneath the Middle Tennessee hills. Glaze joins three other crime authors—Jeffrey Phillips, C.A. Rowland and Steven Womack—on a panel at the Southern Festival of Books, Oct. 18.

  • ’78

    Stewart R. Flink, BA, of Highland Park, Ill., reports the recent birth of his fifth grandchild, Eden. His book, For All the Water (Forces of Rationality, 2023), is available on Amazon, and he started a private equity fund in February 2025 called Next View Global Water Technology Fund. Peter Lamb, BA’80, with whom he played on Vanderbilt’s varsity tennis team, is chair of the advisory board for the fund.

    Lisa Davidson McKinnon, BA, MBA’87, and her husband, Hugh, returned to Nashville in 2018 after many years away and enjoy living near friends in Brentwood. She is senior credit risk officer responsible for all of Fifth Third Bank’s health care business. Hugh is with the Office of the State of Tennessee Attorney General and was introduced to the U.S. Supreme Court in summer 2025.

    Marc Stengel founded and is the current president of Wasioto Restoration Co., which is dedicated to the preservation and rehabilitation of historic structures in Gainesboro, Tenn., at the heart of the Upper Cumberland region of Western Appalachia. WRC is profoundly grateful for the support and encouragement shown us by Opportunity Appalachia in connection with our renovation of the historic Cordell Hotel in Gainesboro.

Class Notes: 1980s

  • ’80

    James Michael “Mike” Brown, MS, PhD, of Lago Vista, Texas, after a 42-year career, retired as vice president of technology for Calfrac Well Services, a global supplier of oil field services headquartered in Calgary, Canada. He holds more than 25 worldwide patents in enhanced oil recovery, industrial cooling water treatment, steam generation deposit control, scale inhibition, paraffin control, emulsion breaking, acidizing, corrosion inhibition, hydraulic fracturing, solid fuel combustion aids, online process measurement and silica deposit inhibition and is author or coauthor on 29 published technical papers.

  • ’81

    45th Reunion

    Kenneth “Kenny” B. Cole Jr., BA, JD’84, of Huntsville, Ala., was an Academic All SEC middle linebacker at Vanderbilt and has been trying personal injury cases for more than 40 years. He was featured in the Aug. 8, 2025, issue of USA Today in which he was profiled for his work to hold corporations accountable for safety issues. He credits his time at Vanderbilt, and especially Dean John Wade’s Advanced Torts class, with helping point his career in this direction.

    Jennifer Elaine Stille, BA, JD’84, of Lynchburg, Va., was re-appointed by the Virginia General Assembly to serve a second six-year term as a Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judge for the 24th Judicial District. Her term began July 1, 2025. She is Chief Judge of the 24th District and presides in the City of Lynchburg and in Nelson County.

  • ’84

    Marguerite Mahoney, BSN, of Richmond, Ind., writes that she has co-authored two books and is included in the book Dear Meniere’s - Letters and Art: A Global Meniere’s Project (Lilly Pilly Publishing, 2023). She shares her nursing knowledge with new student nurses and staff members.

     

  • ’85

     

    Lillian Crook, MLS, of Bismarck, N.D., will have her first book, a biography of writer Paul Southworth Bliss, published by North Dakota State University Press in 2025.

  • ’86

    40th Reunion

  • ’87

    Kay Kerman, MBA, of Dallas spent most of her career at American Airlines in a variety of positions. She left almost 10 years ago and joined a pediatric health system in Dallas. She writes, “I love the change in dinner conversations. No longer do I get to hear about delayed flights and lost bags, but instead how the care we provide has changed the life of someone near and dear. It’s truly heartwarming. Nick and I have raised three great kids, who are now scattered around the country. We travel regularly. I’ve walked in the Susan G Komen 13 times and have raised over $50,000 for this cause. Let me know if I can walk in honor of you or someone close to you.”

    David Rainey, MBA, JD, of Providence, R.I., started a YouTube channel in 2020 called The AI Guide. The channel has interviews, artificial intelligence news and impact of that news.

    Ralph Steele, MDiv, of Houston recently published his 23rd book, Design Thinking (Mermaid Publishers, 2025), which is available on Amazon. The book was selected to be showcased at the world’s largest trade book fair, Frankfurter Buchmesse, in Frankfurt, Germany, Oct. 15–19, 2025.

    Larry Taube, BA, was recently elected to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for distinguished contribution to the motion picture industry. As the co-owner of Principal Entertainment, a management and production company based in Los Angeles, his membership is a form of peer recognition for having achieved a top tier of excellence and continued accomplishment in the film industry.

  • ’88

    Wayne Guttry, BE, of Hartsville, S.C., recently was promoted to vice president of supply chain and integration at Sonoco Products Company.

    Kim Siemsen Maloney, BE, is an environmental engineer with a small consulting firm called Bullock, Bennett & Associates based in Bertram, Texas, that helps large industrial clients remain in compliance with environmental regulations. She has been married for 34 years and has two daughters and a 3-year-old granddaughter. She works remotely and splits her time between Austin, Texas, and Pinehurst, N.C., where her family has one of the original cottages in the village.

    Wesley Odom, BA, of Pensacola, Fla., recently became a grandfather.

  • ’89

    Michael Ketover, JD, of Walla Walla, Wash., recently received a two-year appointment by the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office’s OCEAN Expert Committee, supporting UK’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. As a member of an independent committee of marine conservation and community development experts, he reviews and scores proposals for competitive grant funding to support innovative proposals from coastal communities for marine protection and to reduce household poverty worldwide. OCEAN is part of the Blue Planet Fund, UK’s £500 million initiative dedicated to supporting developing countries in protecting the marine environment and reducing poverty.

Class Notes: 1990s

  • ’90

     

    Jennifer Plisky Vido, BS, recently was named Best Local Author in Baltimore Magazine’s Best of Baltimore Readers’ Poll for the second year in a row. The recognition celebrates her work on the award-winning Gull Island series, a trilogy of sweet Lowcountry romances. The first two books, Serendipity by the Sea (Wild Rose Press, 2023) and Serenity by the Sea (Wild Rose Press, 2024), have already been released, with the trilogy's conclusion, Simplicity by the Sea, scheduled for 2026. When she’s not writing, Vido serves as executive director of the Harford County Bar Foundation. She and her husband, Durbin Vido, BA’88, live in Bel Air, Md.

  • ’91

    35th Reunion

  • ’92

    Elizabeth Watson Freeman, BS, of Fredericksburg, Va., was appointed interim executive director of the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation in July. She has been an associate professor in the School of Integrative Studies at George Mason University since 2008.

    Philip Edward Phillips, MA, PhD’96, of Franklin, Tenn., received the 2025 Career Achievement Award at Middle Tennessee State University, where he is professor of English and associate dean of the University Honors College. His most recent book, Poe Spaces: Within and Beyond the Spatial Turn, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in November 2025.

  • ’93

    Eddie Stivers III, BS, recently was elected chairman of the Ford National Dealer Council leading the nation’s 2,817 Ford Dealers. He is president of Stivers Automotive Group and resides with his family in Suwanee, Ga.

  • ’94

    Erik Gerson, MBA, of New York is executive vice president, engagement and retention, at Fubo TV where he is responsible for growing user engagement across the live TV streaming platform while also increasing lifetime value of subscribers.

    Cara Heilmann, MBA, of Martinez, Calif., concluded her service on the Owen Alumni Board (also known as the Owen Alumni Council), after 30 years of consistent involvement, giving and leadership at the school level. She also stepped down from her roles as program chair and Executive Committee member. She writes that she is grateful for the many opportunities to give back to a school that has given so much, and she looks forward to continuing her support of local initiatives through the Northern California Owen Alumni Group.

    Ian Macduff, BA, of Needham, Mass., was appointed in July as a member of the board of directors of the Home for Little Wanderers, the nation’s oldest child welfare agency. He is a managing director at Natixis Investment Managers.

    Dharmesh Patel

    Dharmesh Patel, MBA, of Apex, N.C., recently joined Anvaya Investments as a managing partner. The firm is a real estate development fund focused on developing and managing senior living facilities in the Southeast region. He writes, “Also busy helping with plans for a big Indian wedding for our daughter in 2026.”

    Nathan Riddle, BA, recently celebrated his 25th anniversary at AKRF Inc., an environmental consulting and engineering firm. Based in the firm’s New York City office, he is a vice president and deputy director of the Cultural Resources department.

  • ’95

     

    Andrea Johnson, MEd, of Vancouver, Wash., in June finished her 11th year at a high school in Vancouver, where she works as an advocate in a credit and dropout recovery program. She writes, “When I graduated with my master’s in elementary education, I never dreamed that I would end up loving this type of work so much. Sometimes I’m successful getting kids across the finish line. Sometimes I’m not. I like to celebrate the little wins...like keeping them alive, teaching them how to organize digital files or how to revise a paragraph.”

    Sonya Olsen, BS, of Ponte Vedra, Fla., is a speech-language pathologist and the founder and CEO of Ponte Vedra Speech, Language and Learning, a multi-specialty pediatric therapy clinic that provides holistic and comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic speech-language, occupational and academic services for children of all ages and skill levels. Her own three children include an actuary in Tampa, a senior at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and a prospective Vanderbilt student (Class of 2030).

  • ’96

    30th Reunion

    Michael Horner, BA, of Macon, Ga., and Monica Laurel Baird recently were married. He is a personal injury trial lawyer at Reynolds Horne & Survant.

  • ’97

    Caroline Kibler Lesley, BS, of Atlanta, and her husband, Chad Lesley, announce the birth of a daughter, Frances Caroline Lesley, Sept. 26, 2025. Frances is the granddaughter of Anne Cowart Kibler, BA’70, and Frank M “Clint” Kibler Jr., BE’69.

    Irene “Renie” Moss, BS, was appointed operations administrator for the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Gregory Fleming James Cystic Fibrosis Research Center in December 2024. She transitioned to this role after almost eight years as program director for the Alabama Genomic Health Initiative in the UAB Department of Genetics.

    Tony Quiroga, BS, editor-in-chief of Car and Driver, and Carolyn Sloane, BA’05, labor economist, announce the birth of their first child. Fenna Sloane Quiroga was born July 30, 2025, and joins the Quirogas in their home in Birmingham, Mich.

    Carrie Stokes, BE, ME’06, became CEO and president of Barge Design Solutions, a multidiscipline design firm based in Nashville with 24 offices across the Southeast. Stokes started at the firm as an intern and has served in various technical and business operations roles, most recently serving as chief of staff. In July 2025, she was named to the Forbes 50 Over 50 list in Innovation.

  • ’98

    Victoria Arsenis Dimitriades, BS, of Sacramento, Calif., after graduating from Vanderbilt, completed her medical training and fellowship and is now the division chief of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology and the Allergy/Immunology fellowship training program director at UC Davis Health.

    Katie Miller Sundermeier, BA, recently began her 10th year as executive director of the Samaritan Counseling Center of Atlanta (www.samaritanatlanta.org) and her 12th year on the pastoral staff at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta.

    Sarah Johnson Viscardi, BA, of Arnold, Md., recently joined nonprofit consulting firm BWF as director of philanthropic counsel in their division of campaigns and fundraising strategy.

  • ’99

    Jessamine Steinworth Baker, BS, of Glenview, Ill., recently joined law firm Levenfeld Pearlstein as CEO. Previously, she was chief operating officer for nearly 10 years at law firm Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen.

    Aneta Key, MBA'99

    Aneta Key, MBA, writes that after 25 years living and working in San Francisco with her independent management consultation practice AEDEA Partners, she has moved to the Charlotte, N.C., area.

    Bilen Mesfin Packwood, BA, of Oakland, Calif., CEO of Change Consulting, recently won gold in the fifth annual Anthem Awards’ Community Voice category and silver in the Business Leader – Team & Internal Initiatives category for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging; and won silver in the Stevie Awards, Best Female Entrepreneur – Business Services (11 to 2,500 Employees) category as well as bronze for Company of the Year. She is also a finalist for the PR Daily Awards’ Executive of the Year.

Class Notes: 2000s

  • ’01

    25th Reunion

    Amy Palma Breidenthal, BS, of Decatur, Ga., has been awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor of business management at Agnes Scott College.

    Eddie Coates, BS, is head tennis coach at Walker Valley High School in Cleveland, Tenn. In his second season (2025), he led the girls' tennis team to district, regional and super-regional championships en route to a final four state tournament appearance. It was their first trip to the state tournament in 20 years and the second time in the history of the school. He was voted Best of Preps Coach of the Year in Girls' Tennis.

  • ’03

    Amrita Dutta-Gupta, BA, MBA’11, joined bakery Insomnia Cookies, based in Philadelphia, as their vice president of marketing in May 2025.

    Camille Cook Howe, BA, has been called as the next pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. She has led the congregation of Georgetown Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., for the last 15 years. She moves from Washington to Chicago to lead one of the largest Presbyterian churches in the country.

    Esther Larson, BA, and Dr. Adam Lenger recently were married in New Albany, Ohio, and will be establishing their home in Grand Rapids, Mich. this fall. Esther works for the Philanthropy Roundtable, and Adam is a radiologist.

    Mastin, MBA'03

    Anise Mastin, MBA, of Atlanta recently was promoted as vice president and general manager of Spend and Supply Chain Management. Additionally, she was cast in a docu-series, executive produced by former First Lady Michelle Obama, that examined dating for 55+ silver singles in Atlanta, streaming exclusively on Netflix.

    Lauren Hugg White, BA, was elected president of the board of trustees for Lake Travis Independent School District in May 2025. She is serving her third term on the board, having first been elected in 2018. Lauren and her husband, Brandon, live in Lakeway, Texas, with their three children Silas, Sloane and Corinne.

  • ’04
    Al Cheatham

    Al Cheatham, EMBA, of Auburn, Ala, in August 2025 was named president and CEO of Bonnie Plants, purveyor of home garden vegetables and herbs available in all 50 of the United States. Bonnie Plants is a joint venture between Alabama Farmers’ Cooperative and Scotts MiracleGro. Al served in various roles at AFC over the last 24 years, most recently as executive vice president. Prior to accepting the role of president and CEO at Bonnie Plants, Al served as chairman of the board for the company. He and his wife, Leslie, have two sons who are CPAs in Birmingham, Ala.

    J. Oconer Navarro, BS’04, leads the choir of the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in his original song “Love More” at St. Peter's Square for Pope Leo XIV in September.

    J. Oconer Navarro, BS, of New York City, who double majored in music and human and organizational development at Vanderbilt, wrote that while on pilgrimage in Italy, the choir of the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in New York, where he is composer-in-residence, sang his original song “Love More” in St. Peter's Square for Pope Leo XIV as he administered blessings to thousands of pilgrims from the iconic popemobile. The performance was covered on Good Morning America and the Vatican News stream. “Love More” was inspired by the pontiff’s first speech and inaugural homily, and it was written in dedication to the grieving communities of Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, Minn., after the school shooting there.

  • ’06

    20th Reunion

    Geoff Peck, BA, of New York City published his first novel, City of Clans, with the University of Iowa Press in September 2025.

  • ’07

    Alex Bierce, BS, writes that his family has moved to Hingham, Mass., where his children are in kindergarten and second grade.

    From left to right, Goldman, Vest and Josey

    Jennifer Vest, MEd, EdD’16, is executive director of All Souls School, a nursery school in New York City. She joined the school after her 2016 graduation from Peabody. During Back to School welcome events, she discovered two Vanderbilt alumni among her young charges’ parents: Anna Laptook Goldman, BA’10, whose sons attend All Souls and who is president of the Parents Association and on the board of trustees, and Stephen Josey, JD’12, whose daughters attend the school.

  • ’08

    Bethany Ciesielski Gonzales, BA, received the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police annual Professional Staff of the Year award last summer for her excellence in police programming. She manages the Blue Envelope program launched in January 2025 at the Boulder Police Department, which aims for clearer communication with people who communicate differently. She has been the executive administrative assistant for the chief of police in Boulder since 2021. She also serves on the police peer support team, LGBTQ+ liaison and is an instructor for local government courses on bias and microaggression.

    David Sharvin, BE, and his wife, Jamie Goldstein, BA’10, of Worthington, Ohio, announce the birth of their second child, Samuel, in March.

    Ashley Smith, BS, MEd’12, recently was named the chief culture officer for Valor Collegiate Academies in Nashville.

    Manya Whitaker, MS, PhD’11, was named 15th president of Colorado College in June. Her inauguration is scheduled for Nov. 8, 2025.

  • ’09

    Stuart Bishop, EMBA, is the co-founder of Katapy, a media company started during his work at Owen. Katapy is an all-in-one platform that encompasses the entire workflow of media management, curation, monetization, delivery and syndication. Customers include the United Methodist Publishing House, Reelz and the Documentary Channel. They have plans to merge with KNEKTtv, a major player in socially conscious programming, empowering content creators who are doing good in the world.

Class Notes: 2010s

  • ’10

    Edward C. Bayer, MBA, of Raleigh, N.C., recently became KPMG’s advisory leader for the Southeast.

    Michael Bryant, EMBA, of Brentwood, Tenn., recently was appointed to the Tennessee Board of Accountancy by Gov. Bill Lee for a three-year term. He served as senior vice president and chief financial officer of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy before his retirement in 2024.

    Paul Dent, MBA, and his wife, Grace Dent, MEd’09, live in Nashville with their three children. After a decade in health care, Paul purchased a local small business in 2024 called Pyramid Pest Control.

    Nick Gallo, BA, of Oklahoma City, Okla., who is a reporter and digital editor for the Oklahoma City Thunder, the city’s NBA team, was featured in numerous articles this spring (AP, 405 Magazine) regarding his professionalism in his post-game interviews even when numerous players try to sideline him with their antics and pranks. Videos and T-shirts inspired by the pranks have gone viral on social media. “I feel like I owe it to them to deliver the best of myself so they can have their moment,” Gallo told the AP.

    Hartman King, MBA, of Park City, Utah, recently was awarded a patent for a novel AI/computer vision application.

     Alexander Perez, JD, of Houston has been promoted to shareholder in the Houston office of Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr. Perez’s practice focuses on complex restructuring, business bankruptcy and insolvency-related litigation matters.

    Amy Shaw, BE, MS’12, PhD’18, and Sam Rubinstein, former house officer and fellow, welcomed their daughter, Madeline Ruth Rubinstein, in June 2025. She joins big sister, Margot, and the family cat, Mila. The family lives in Durham, N.C., where Amy works as an environmental engineer with CDM Smith, and Sam is an associate professor of medicine at University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill.

  • ’11

    15th Reunion

    Madeline Myers, BMus, of New York was awarded the 2025 Kleban Prize for musical theater libretto writing. The Kleban Award is part of the work of the Kleban Foundation, established in 1988 after the death of A Chorus Line lyricist Edward L. Kleban. The award includes a $100,000 prize payable over two years and has been given out for 35 years. Myers also was awarded the 2025 Stephen Schwartz Award, which is given to a musical theater writer whose voice is seen as crucial to the continued success of the craft.

  • ’12

    Katheryn “Katie” Koss, MSN, of Nashville recently joined HCA Healthcare as the director of ethics and compliance, supporting more than 2,000 HCA clinics nationwide.

    Mark R. Reinhardt, DNP, of Frederick, Md., was named the inaugural dean of the Ruth Whitaker Holmes School of Behavioral and Health Sciences at Hood College in Frederick.

  • ’13

    Jeffery Bass, BA, of Nashville has completed his postdoctoral year (2024–25) at Tennessee State University after earning a Ph.D. in counseling psychology.

    Bridgett Green, MA, PhD’21, was announced in November 2025 as president and publisher of academic and trade book publisher Westminster John Knox Press. Green, who will retain the position of editorial director, has been the vice president of publishing and editorial director since 2022 and the interim president since May. In her new role, she will guide the editorial development and all operations for the nearly 200-year-old press. She will also lead WJK’s executive staff as they continue to re-envision the press as an anti-racist publisher and organization and guide their future in a changing publishing and religious landscape.

    Racquel Martin, BA, announced the birth of her daughter, Eden Denise, in March 2025.

    Kate Locke McNamara, BA, recently completed the LEAD Atlanta Fellowship. LEAD Atlanta is an intensive eight-month leadership development and community education program for promising young professionals in Metro Atlanta.

    Damilola Olu-Ayeni, MBA'13 and Opeyemi Olu-Ayeni, LLM'13

    Damilola Olu-Ayeni, MBA, of Secaucus, N.J., began a new senior executive role as managing director, head of food and beverage investment banking, Americas, for Santander Bank, in July 2025. He and his wife, Opeyemi Olu-Ayeni, LLM, celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary in June 2025.

    Brad Rosenfeld

    Brad Rosenfeld, MBA, of Lexington, Mass., has been named senior vice president and general manager of the Autos Group at Hearst Magazines, the largest automotive media group in the U.S. He is responsible for leading the group’s overall business strategy, driving growth initiatives and overseeing brand development across digital, print and experiential platforms. The portfolio includes the iconic brands Autoweek, Car and Driver and Road & Track and recently acquired MotorTrend Group brands.

    The Stanton family

    Kalen Stanton, MBA, of Ottawa Hills, Ohio, began a new chapter in 2024–25 by taking his three kids (Adair, 10; Madelyn, 6; Emory, 3) to Kenya. He began a new role as a senior partner at management consulting firm Korn Ferry, and his wife, Clare Stanton, MSN’15, works as a nurse practitioner in pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s. He writes, “Looking forward to more adventures with more Owen alumni in the coming year.”

  • ’14

    Margaret Jones Shelman, BA, and Alexander “AJ” Shelman-Cohen, BS, announce the birth of their son, George Oxford Shelman, in September 2025.

  • ’16

    10th Reunion

    Emma Bradley, BA, of Nashville earned a master of public health from Vanderbilt School of Medicine in 2025. Her thesis research evaluated health literacy and colorectal cancer treatment and survival.

    Colbert wedding party

    Dennis G. Colbert Jr., BE, of Chicago, and Molly Pochedly were married at Garfield Park Conservatory, Sept. 20, 2025. He is the son of Edith Patrice Washington Colbert, BS’81, MD’88. Dennis is a student at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

    Julie Garcia, MMHC, of Nashville transitioned to a new role with Vanderbilt Population Health after working at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt for 15 years as medical social worker and director of Pediatric Social Work. Partnering with the Department of Geriatrics, she helps with the implementation of the GRACE model of care for older adults in their homes. In June 2025, she completed the Gerontology Certificate Program offered by University of Washington. In her free time, she volunteers as a naturalist with South Cumberland State Park. Last year, she enjoyed a hiking trip in Bergen, Norway, with her husband and a family trip to Lisbon and Nazare, Portugal.

    Peter Mancina, PhD, of Overland Park, Kans., published On the Side of ICE: Policing Immigrants in a Sanctuary State in December 2025 (New York University Press). It provides an on-the-ground view from police officer body-worn cameras of immigrant arrests and of cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in various locations throughout the sanctuary state of New Jersey. Written for a general audience inundated by news about immigration raids in sanctuary cities like Chicago, New York City and Los Angeles, Mancina shows how police in these locations continue to serve as “force multipliers” or support officers even when implementing sanctuary policies in everyday encounters with immigrants.

    Patrick Meyers, BA, of Nashville earned a master of public health  from Vanderbilt School of Medicine in 2025. His thesis research evaluated the MISSION Act and lung resection outcomes and the impact of community care expansion on veteran mortality.

    Ashley Plumb, MEd, graduated from the University of Connecticut with her Ph.D. in educational psychology, summer 2025. She began as assistant clinical professor in Special Education at the University of South Carolina, fall 2025.

  • ’17

    Adelaide “Addie” Bodell, BA, and Andrew McCaffery were married Aug. 30, 2025, in Greene, R.I., on her family farm. Alumni in attendance included the groom’s parents, John McCaffery, MD’90, and Danielle Stalter McCaffery, BA’87, MEd’89, and friends Charlotte Clement de Bona Collins, BA’16; Caroline Mulligan, BS’18; Lily Puff-Heffernan Seidell, BS; Nick Seidell, BA; Rachel Wyda, BA; Samantha “Sam” Miller, BS; Peter Burke, BS; Emma Noyes, BA; Emily Savage Rafla, BS; Samuel Rafla, BA; Blake Tiemeyer, BS’16; Nicole “Nikki” Steiner, BE; and Emma Willsky, BA. The couple live in Brooklyn, N.Y.

    Sean Pirkle, BA, in July self-published a memoir, Somewhere in Between, that offers a candid, human portrait of becoming a doctor. It is available on Amazon.

  • ’18

    Rachel Anand, BA, and Harrison Yan, BE’19, were married in Trogir, Croatia, Oct. 4, 2025, surrounded by family and friends.

    Adrienne Culver, BS, recently completed a clerkship with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Georgia. She has accepted a position at the law firm Jones Day in the Atlanta office.

    Gordon, MBA'18, leads a dance class at Fitness On The Field in Atlanta, GA. (Photo: Karl L. Moore/The Home Depot Backyard)

    Taneisha Gordon, MBA, led a dance class of more than 1,200 people in the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta at the beginning of 2025 for an event called Fitness on the Field. She is a group fitness and instructional programs coordinator at Emory University.

    Carsen Smith, BA, and Will Braithwaite, BA, were married Oct. 18, 2025, in Brant Lake, N.Y.

    Emily Xu, BA, has been chosen for an oculofacial plastic surgery fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston to begin in July 2026.

  • ’19
    The Deems family

    Eric S. Deems, EMBA, of Nashville, and his wife, Amy, welcomed their first child, Elodie Parker, on March 3, 2025. Eric leads the Nashville office for Land Advisors Organization, a land brokerage and advisory firm, and Amy serves as in-house counsel for Pinnacle Bank. This spring, Eric also partnered with friends (including former Owen classmate, George Ritzen, EMBA), to acquire The Club at Five Oaks, an 18-hole golf and country club.

    Andrew W. Mitchell, MBA, of Birmingham, Ala., formed an independent firm, Oplos Consulting, in February 2025 supporting clients in developing and deploying AI strategy.

    Jeffanie Wu, BS, MD’23, and Matthew Elmo Garcia Gayoso, MD’23, were married in Lake Forest, Ill., Aug. 9, 2025.

Class Notes: 2020s

  • ’20
    Alsgaard-Miller, MBA'20

    Max Alsgaard-Miller, MBA, of Somerville, Mass., recently launched a health tech consulting business that helps innovators build and scale solutions on the Athena Health platform.

    Dusty Jackson, EMBA, of Apollo Beach, Fla., recently was promoted to senior director at search AI platform Elastic in January 2025, and she was named to CRN Magazine’s Women of the Channel 2025 list in May.

    Kristin Keiper-Berneman, MEd, founded Good Grieve Nashville, where she helps parents, families and caregivers navigate the often-tough, but completely normal conversations about loss with their children.

    Thomas, MMHC'20

    Jill Thomas, MMHC, of Hendersonville, Tenn., opened Holding Space, a counseling service providing trauma informed therapy, holistic healing and advocacy to individuals, families and the communities and organizations that support them.

    Sean Zottnick, MBA, and Junchu Du, MBA’21, were married in Shanghai on March 21, 2025.

  • ’21
    Cavanaugh, MBA'21

    5th Reunion

    Savannah Cavanaugh, MBA, of Austin, Texas, wrote that “On March 29, 2025, some 2021 classmates gathered in Lisbon, Portugal, to celebrate the wedding of Jose Padilla, MBA. This included Jose’s uncle, who is also a Vanderbilt MBA alum.”

  • ’22
    The Flemings, Sept. 2024, with Naomi (Kailee Riches Photography)

    Angela Keenan Fleming, MBA, of Nashville announces the birth of her first child, a daughter, Naomi, in July 2024. She began a job at CAT Financial in Nashville in April 2025.

    Tom Hanlon, MBA, of Sacramento, Calif., and his wife, Erin Hanlon, announce the birth of their son, Jackson Robert Hanlon, in January 2025. He writes, “Henry, our oldest, is excited to be a big brother!”

    The McDonald and Hannum siblings

    Madeleine McDonald, MMark, and Madison Hannum, MMark, celebrated the graduation from Owen of their younger brothers, Stone McDonald, MSF’25, and CJ Hannum, MMark’25, in May.

    Somerset Peede, BMus, and her quartet, Quartet 121, won the 2025 Sydney [Australia] Eisteddfod Orvieto Musica Festival Scholarship. Founded in February 2024, Quartet 121 is a Sydney-based string quartet formed by students of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. As winners, they spent a three-week fully paid residency in Umbria, Italy, in June and July 2025. She completed her M.Mus. in orchestral artistry at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and a postgraduate degree in performance with Roger Benedict at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

  • ’23

    Margot Cunningham, MMark, recently joined Ben & Jerry’s at Unilever in Burlington, Vt., as assistant brand manager. In July she and her partner, Will, took a backpacking trip to Vietnam before her move to Vermont. The year 2025 was full of adventure: hiking through South Dakota’s Badlands National Park and exploring all four of Colorado’s national parks, weekend getaways in Washington to visit Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks, a European detour through Italy and Switzerland and reconnecting with Owen friends in Nashville.

    Hillis, MMHC'23

    Mikala Hillis, MMHC, became engaged on a trip to New Zealand and Australia, got a new job at University of Wisconsin Health Carbone Cancer Center and moved back to Madison in 2024. She also qualified for and ran the Boston Marathon. A month later she was married and spent two weeks in Japan for her honeymoon.

    Kingston Ho, BMus, has joined the San Francisco Symphony in its second violin section.

    Joseph Rebak, BA, of Washington, D.C., joined the nonprofit Institute for Defense Analyses as a summer associate in the Science, Systems and Sustainment Division of IDA’s Systems and Analyses Center. He is working towards a master’s in artificial intelligence at Johns Hopkins University. IDA operates three federally funded research and development centers in the public interest.

  • ’24

    Derek D. Bardell, EdD, of New Orleans recently was recognized as a Distinguished Educator by the national nonprofit Next Gen Personal Finance for outstanding commitment to professional development in real-world personal finance topics.

    Nancy Brownlee, DNP, of Friendswood, Texas, had a poster presentation at the National Nurse Practitioner symposium in July 2025 and will present again at the Texas NP meeting in September 2025. She recently was appointed as the MSN FNP track coordinator at Houston Christian University.

    Addison Cheek, EMBA, recently accepted a role with QXO (formerly Beacon Building Products) as regional product manager, commercial, to lead the business in Michigan, Ohio, Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He and his wife are moving to Columbus, Ohio, as part of the transition and would love to connect with any alumni in the area.

    Jasionowicz, MBA'24

    John Jasionowicz, MBA, began a Ph.D. program in business administration with a focus in organizational behavior and human resources at Florida State University. After graduation, he took a position at the newly established Nashville Department of Transportation. As part of their development group, he oversaw projects tied to improving transportation infrastructure and public transportation. He gave a presentation on how we are collaborating with developers to fund infrastructure improvements, for which Mayor Freddie O’Connell presented him with a Certificate of Recognition.

    Kurt Messick, DMin, recently was promoted to full professor at Ivy Tech Community College, where he is part of the faculty of the School of Arts, Sciences and Education at the Bloomington, Ind., campus.

  • ’25

    Ashlynne Culpepper, MMark, and Sam Balty were married Aug. 30, 2025, in Alpharetta, Ga. Catherine Hobbs, MMark’25, was one of the bridesmaids.

    Pedersen, MMark'25

    Gracie Pedersen, MMark, is business affairs coordinator on the Ford account for advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy in their New York City office.

    Smithson and Herrera

    Rob Smithson, EMBA, of Brentwood, Tenn., and Jose Carlos Herrera, EMBA, of Nashville, have transformed a classroom collaboration into Banagua, a single-ingredient banana water that has expanded across national retailers in under six months and earned recognition from some of the top institutions in the beverage industry.