Alumni Updates: Spring 2019

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1965

William Klug LAW ’65, BUS ’67G was reelected to the Board of Supervisors, Fiddler’s Creek Community Development District 2, Naples, Fla. 

1966

Michael Lowenstein BUS ’66G was accepted into the CustomerThink Hall of Fame. He is a thought leadership principal at Beyond Philosophy, an international customer experience consulting organization. Also, he is an adjunct instructor at Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations in Piscataway, N.J.

Donald Mash A&S ’66G retired as senior executive vice president of the University of Wisconsin System. His career spanned more than 40 years in higher education, which included serving as the president at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire and at Wayne State College in Nebraska. He lives in Madison, Wisc.

1970

Anthony S. Fountain A&S ’70 received the Community Service Award from the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Red Rock Canyon Chapter. He is the founder of the Las Vegas–based nonprofit Support America’s Teachers.

Suzanna Rose A&S ’70, ’75G, ’79G is the founding associate provost of Florida International University’s Office to Advance Women, Equity & Diversity. She manages a $3.2 million grant aimed at developing strategies to increase the number of women and minority professors in the STEM fields.

1974

Mark Roberts GSPH ’74G received the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s prestigious Meritorious Service Award, the agency’s second-highest form of employee recognition. He is a senior health physicist with the Division of Nuclear Materials Safety in the NRC’s King of Prussia, Pa., regional office. 

1975

John C. Rafferty Jr. UPJ ’75 rejoined Hamburg, Rubin, Mullin, Maxwell & Lupin at its office in Lansdale, Pa., where he will serve in an “of counsel” capacity. He has served four terms as the Pennsylvania state senator for the 44th District and is a member of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

1976

Andrew Goudy A&S ’76G was sworn in as the new president of the NAACP’s Washington County, Pa., branch during a service at Nazareth Baptist Church honoring Martin Luther King Jr. He has identified his top priority as helping disadvantaged minority students in Washington County receive a quality education.

Michael L. Rosin A&S ’76G gave a presentation titled “Vice President Obama? A Bug, Not a Feature of the Twenty-Second Amendment,” at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minn. He is an independent historian specializing in the legal intricacies of the Electoral College. He lives in Freehold, N.J.

1977

James W. Spisak A&S ’77G coedited Psychedelic Prophets: The Letters of Aldous Huxley and Humphry Osmond (McGill-Queen’s University Press). He is the executive director of the Aldous and Laura Huxley Literary Trust.

1979

Gary Robinson SOC WK ’79 coauthored The Daily Brew: A 365-Day Guided Journal (Outskirts Press), a template to help readers cultivate daily journaling habits. He is the director of counseling services at Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y.

1982

Maria Piantanida A&S ’67, ’70G, EDUC ’82 has formed an independent publishing company, Learning Moments Press (LMP), which focuses on books that convey the wisdom gained through professional practice and life-changing events. 

1985

Lisa (Mickens) Sanford A&S ’85 was appointed director of Pennsylvania Department of General Services’ Bureau of Diversity, Inclusion and Small Business Opportunities. Based in Harrisburg, the state’s capital, the bureau implements programs to increase contracting opportunities for self-certified small businesses and small diverse businesses.

1986

Mary (Daigle) Caraccioli A&S ’86 was named chief communications officer of Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit organization that manages New York City’s Central Park.

1989

Daniel Zimmerman BUS ’89G was promoted to the position of operations director of Eriez-USA, an international separation technologies company based in Erie, Pa.

1990

Tammy Singleton-English LAW ’90 was elected treasurer of the Community Foundation of Upper St. Clair; board member of the Estate Planning Council of Pittsburgh; and board member of the Solo and Small Firm Practitioners Section of the Allegheny County Bar Association. Recently she co-presented a continuing education seminar at California University of Pennsylvania.

1992

Lynn M. Piotrowicz SCI ’92G is the director of the Tucker Free Library, which was named the 2018 Library of the Year by the New Hampshire Library Trustees Association.

Josh Wymard LAW ’92 joined Alerian as general counsel. Alerian is a Dallas-based independent provider of energy infrastructure market intelligence.

1993

Mark Geiser ENGR ’93 was promoted to senior associate at Dewberry—a national environmental, engineering, and consulting firm—in its Mechanicsburg, Pa., office. He is an assistant highway department manager and senior project manager.

1995

Janis C. Brooks GSPIA ’95 presented on the Women in Agriculture panel for the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations in New York City. Founder and CEO of Children and Adults Developmental Agency Programs in North Versailles, Pa., she was recently honored as one of Pennsylvania’s “Black History Makers.” 

1996

Patrick Huey A&S ’96 published his first book, History Lessons for the Modern Investor (Luminare Press), which uses historical examples to illustrate how markets and economies function. He is the owner of Victory Independent Planning, LLC, which provides investment advisory services to private clients and nonprofit institutions. 

1998 

Craig Coleman A&S ’98, SHRS ’00G was made a fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. He is assistant professor and chair of graduate admissions in the Department of Communication Disorders at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va.

2000

Melissa Cohn A&S ’00 was named Cruises Inc.’s Agent of the Year, and the Top Sales Producer with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Beaches/Sandals, the Mark Travel Corporation, Europe Express, and GoGo Vacations. She is an independent vacation specialist in Dix Hills, N.Y. 

2001

Irina Reyn A&S ’01G published her third novel, Mother Country (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s Press), which chronicles the story of a Russian mother navigating immigrant life in New York City while her homeland is engulfed in war. She is an associate professor with the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of English.

2002

James Shaw ENGR ’02 was named one of the 2018 Engineering Leaders Under 40 by Plant Engineering and Control Engineering magazines. He is the founder and managing director of Fastway Engineering in Chicago, Ill.

2003

Ryan Evans A&S ’03 was named vice president of sales and marketing for construction at Border States Electric, a product and supply chain company based in Fargo, N.D.

Cynthia (Orpen) Gilkey LAW ’03 joined the staff at Neighborhood Legal Services Association, a nonprofit public interest law firm that provides civil legal assistance to poor and vulnerable residents of Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, and Lawrence counties. She is vice president of council for the Borough of West Middlesex, Pa.

2004

Miriam Niedelman BUS ’04 was promoted to tax manager in the Boston office of Baker Newman Noyes, one of the nation’s top 100 accounting and consulting firms. She specializes in serving high-net-worth individuals and family groups.

Jeffrey Patrick A&S ’04 was named the winner in the elementary educator category of the 2019 Carnegie Science Awards. He works as a STEM integration teacher at Propel Schools–Homestead in Homestead, Pa. 

Jill Albrecht Weimer A&S ’04, LAW ’07 was named to the 2018 Top 40 Young Lawyers list by the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division. She is a shareholder with Littler Mendelson, P.C., and a founding member of Law Bridge, a nonprofit organization which provides community outreach in Pittsburgh.

2005

Michelle Ferreri LAW ’05 was promoted to the position of practice manager for the New Jersey offices of Cordell & Cordell, the nation’s largest domestic litigation firm focused on representing men in family law cases. 

2006

Gennaro R. Piraino Jr. EDUC ’06G was named the 2019 Pennsylvania Superintendent of the Year by the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators. He is the superintendent of schools for the Franklin Regional School District in Murrysville, Pa.

Stephanie A. Wilsey EDUC ’06G, a professor of psychology at Carlow University in Pittsburgh, was named dean of its College of Leadership and Social Change. 

2007

Lucas Liben A&S ’07 was promoted to partner at Reed Smith LLP, in the firm’s Energy & Natural Resources Group. Working out of the Pittsburgh office, his practice focuses on oil and gas lease disputes.

Justin Miller GSPIA ’07 started a new position as senior planner at Michael Baker International, a leading provider of engineering and consulting services.

2008

Brigette Kamsler SCI ’08G was named the university archivist at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. 

2010

Robert C. Jefferson IV LAW ’10 was named to the board of directors of the Crime Victims’ Center of Chester County, Inc., a community-based nonprofit that provides free crisis response to children and adults impacted by crime and violence. Jefferson is an associate attorney at Gawthrop Greenwood, PC, in West Chester, Pa.

Anthony Joseph A&S ’10 published the scholarly paper “Down but Not Out: Trinity Lutheran’s Implications for State No-Aid Provisions” in the University of Pennsylvania’s Journal of Constitutional Law Online. He is an associate with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates in Chicago, Ill. 

Amanda Reed A&S ’10 joined Caplin & Drysdale’s Washington, D.C., office as an associate in the Exempt Organizations and Corporate Law practice groups. 

2013

Christina Hornack CGS ’13 graduated from the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine and is now an emergency medicine resident at Adena Regional Medical Center in Chillicothe, Ohio. Her husband, David Hornack A&S ’95, ’03, was awarded the Donna Jones Moritsugu Memorial Award for supporting her as she worked to become an osteopathic physician. The award is given by the American Osteopathic Foundation and Advocates for the American Osteopathic Association. They reside in southern Ohio.

2014

Mark A. Mazza A&S ’14 joined Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky’s Pittsburgh office as an associate and registered patent attorney. He works primarily in the areas of public and nonprofit law, corporate law, trademark law, and business services.

2015

Danielle Scalise A&S ’15 is an associate in the Pittsburgh office of Eckert Seamans, a full-service national law firm. Scalise focuses her practice on a wide range of corporate and transactional matters within the firm’s business division.

2018

Alexis Wheeler LAW ’18 is an associate in the Pittsburgh office of Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky, a full-service regional law firm.

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