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Alumni Newsmakers | A Tale of Two Washingtons | On The Money | In Memoriam | Alumni Bookshelf | Artists' Corner

William A. Gralnick, BA ’65, MA ’68, received the Ha NaDiv Crystal Award for outstanding service to the Jewish community from the board of directors of the Adolph and Rose Levis Jewish Community Center in Boca Raton, Fla. Gralnick has served the American Jewish Committee for more than 30 years, currently as its southeast regional director.

The American National Standards Institute awarded Malcolm E. O’Hagan, DE ’66, the Howard Coonley Medal. The award recognizes executives who serve the national economy through voluntary standardization and who support standardization as a management tool. O’Hagan has been president of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association for 14 years, contributing support to international standards activities and has shown leadership in his field. The award was presented in October as part of ANSI’s World Standards Week celebration in Washington.

A professor of economics and political science at the State University of New York at Binghamton, Solomon William Polachek, BA ’67, received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Polachek has been a member of the faculty since 1983, and served as chair of the department of economics and as dean of the Harpur College of Arts and Sciences. He is editor of Research in Labor Economics and associate editor of Conflict Management and Peace Science. Polachek also is past president of the Peace Science Society, an association of scholars interested in international conflict.

After 17 years of service at The Bradley Center, a regional healthcare and educational system based in Pittsburgh, as chief executive officer, Walter H. Goedeke, MS ’69, now is retired. He continues in a consulting role for the company. Goedeke also is a retired Marine Corps Reserve lieutenant colonel.

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Ken Alfers, MPhil ’71, PhD ’75, a faculty member teaching social science at Mountain View College in Dallas since 1972, was named a Piper Professor for 2005 by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation. The author of numerous study and telecourse guides, Alfers has been content specialist for more than 50 hours of educational videos. This year, Alfers received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Distance Education from the Instructional Technology Council.

In October, Molly Miller, MS ’71, received the 2005 association for Women Geoscientists Foundation Outstanding Educator Award. The award was presented at the Geological Society of America’s annual meeting in Salt Lake City. Miller is an authority on paleontology, especially sediment animal interactions and the Antarctic. She received 10 National Science Foundation grants, and is the author or co-author of more than 50 papers and field trip guides. Miller is the former editor of GSA Today, the Journal of Paleontology, and PALAIOS. She formerly served in the Peace Corps and is a tenured professor at Vanderbilt University.

Thomas C. Browne, MSA ’73, is chief executive officer of Nexaweb Technologies, provider of a leading software platform for building and deploying Rich Internet Applications. Browne has more than 20 years of information technology experience, and leads the company’s strategic direction and business growth. Browne resides in Andover, Mass.

President and CEO of Hackensack University Medical Center and chairman of the board of Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, John P. Ferguson, MBA ’73, was named to Modern Healthcare’s Fourth Annual 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare. This is the second consecutive year he received the honor. The listing was featured in the magazine’s August issue. Ferguson has been with HUMC since 1981 and has been president and CEO since 1986. Among other honors, he has received the 2004 American College of Healthcare Executives Regent’s Award and the 2002 Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

A resident of Chambersburg, Pa., David A. Wellman, MBA ’74, is a systems security provider for Electronic Data Systems working in the field security operations division of the Defense Information Systems Agency. Since 2003, his work has taken him to military installations in Southwest Asia. EDS presented Wellman with the Diamond Award for courageous service in challenging conditions. In December, Wellman took his sixth trip to Baghdad, Iraq. In 2004, Wellman earned a master’s degree in network security from Capital College. Wellman is a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel.

Kent Adams, BA ’78, was elected chairman of the board of regents of the Texas State University System, taking office in January. He is the founder and managing shareholder of Adams & Boswell, which has offices in Houston, Dallas, and Beaumont. Adams practices in Texas and Louisiana, concentrating on defending businesses and individuals in civil litigation. He is board certified in personal injury trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. National Law Journal recognized his 2002 defense verdict in Bryant & Shackelford vs. U.S. Silica as one of the top 10 defense verdicts in the United States that year. During his GW days, Adams was active in student government and was a member of the Joint Food Services Board. Adams resides with his wife, Joanne, in Beaumont, Texas. They have two children.

The American Indian Science and Engineering Society presented Nancy B. Jackson, BS ’79, with its Professional of the Year award, given at the organization’s national conference in Charlotte, N.C., in November. Jackson is deputy director of the international security center at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M.

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Jeffrey Nash, BA ’80, Camden County, N.J., freeholder and vice chairman of the Delaware River Port Authority, is the recipient of the 2005 Paul Porado Humanitarian Award from the Larc School in Bellmawr, N.J. The award honors Nash’s longstanding support of the school for persons with disabilities. The award is named for the school’s former treasurer of the board of directors, who also was Nash’s friend.

For the second consecutive year, Peyton R. Patterson, MBA ’83, was named the second most powerful woman in banking in the nation by U.S. Banker in its annual ranking of “The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking.” Patterson is chairman, president, and CEO of NewAlliance Bank, based in New Haven, Conn. In January, U.S. Banker also named her among the top 10 industry CEOs. The publication attributed NewAlliance Bank’s growth directly to Patterson’s leadership. Under Patterson’s direction, NewAlliance Bank was created from the merging of New Haven Savings Bank, Savings Bank of Manchester, and Tolland Bank, and became a publicly traded company. The company’s growth and acquisitions have continued under her leadership.

A resident of Northbrook, Ill., David Prosperi, MBA ’83, is director of public relations of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the largest U.S. futures and options exchange and the first to be publicly traded.

Calvin Warren, MD ’83, was designated as a certified physician executive by the Certifying Commission in Medical Management. Warren was recognized for his educational, medical, and management experience. He is medical director for health services, credentialing and quality for The Health Plan of the Upper Ohio Valley HomeTown Health Network.

A partner in Saul Ewing’s bankruptcy department, Robert M. Greenbaum, BBA ’84, spoke at the Third Annual Turnaround Management Association’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Symposium. The event was held at Caesar’s Atlantic City in June. Greenbaum was on a panel discussing “Financing Alternatives in 2005 and Beyond.” He concentrates in bankruptcy and out-of-court workouts representing debtors, trustees, secured and unsecured creditors, and creditors’ committees. In 2005, Greenbaum was named a “Pennsylvania Super Lawyer” by Philadelphia Magazine and Law and Politics.

Previously a member from 1997 to 2001, Dave Kaplan, MBA ’84, was elected to the Des Moines, Wash., City Council in November. In his full-time position, he is executive director of the Washington Self-Insurers Association, which represents 400 employers who self-insure workers’ compensation risk in the state. Kaplan also was appointed to the Executive Committee of the National Council of Self-Insurers.

Teaching organizational counseling in a master’s program, James Wilcox, EdD ’84, is an adjunct professor with Johns Hopkins University. During semi-retirement in the last few years, he completed his goal of playing all 214 public and private golf courses in the state of Maryland. He has written articles for Washington Golf Monthly and Golf Styles. Wilcox resides in Columbia, Md.

During his GW days, Bob Asztalos, BA ’85, MA ’89, was an active Navy Reservist, having spent six years in the Navy after high school, his wife, Phyllis, reports. He now is a hospital corpsman and a senior chief. He was deployed to Ramadi, Iraq, in August 2005 and hopes to finish the tour in March. Asztalos also is a healthcare lobbyist in Tallahassee, Fla., and is a partner with Buigas & Asztalos & Associates. The firm focuses on senior issues, healthcare reform, and medical malpractice. The couple has a 17-year-old daughter, Courtney, who has been involved for four years with the Navy JROTC, earning the rank of company commander.

A government contracts law practitioner specializing in aerospace and energy in the Washington office of Perkins Coie, Donald Carney, BA ’85, was elected partner in the fall. Carney and his wife, Robin, celebrated the birth of their daughter, Lauren, in the fall. They also have a two-year-old son, Justin.

Snyder Cohn of Bethesda, Md., named Steven M. Braunstein, BAccy ’86, a shareholder in January. He has worked with the firm since 1999, advising clients on medical, legal, wholesale, retail, and not-for-profit issues. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Greater Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants. He also was appointed to the board of the Primary Care Coalition of Montgomery County, Md.

Nancy Farmer, MA ’86, in October was named president and CEO of Tuition Plan Consortium. The organization unites more than 250 private colleges and universities and operates Independent 529 Plan, a pre-paid tuition plan. Farmer was elected to three terms in the Missouri House of Representatives where she chaired the ways and means committee. She was elected state treasurer in 2000.

Seyfarth Shaw’s New York office named Eric E. Schneck, BA ’86, a partner in its real estate practice. He focuses on multistate, multiasset real estate conveyance and mortgage financing transactions on behalf of lenders, agents, fiduciaries, borrowers, purchasers, and sellers. He also manages environmental, engineering, zoning, and other local law issues and property tax cases with local and special counsel. Schneck also has experience in commercial and residential conveyances as well as federal and state bank regulatory matters. Previously, Schneck was a real estate and finance counsel with Bryan Cave in New York.

Tom Horvath, MS ’87, was named the 2006 Engineer of the Year by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Horvath is a NASA Langley engineer who lead work that analyzed the Columbia shuttle accident and took a central role as NASA prepared to return the shuttle to flight last year and again this year. He is a resident of Hampton Roads, Va.

In August, Pasquale J. Rocco Jr., BA ’87, and his wife, Susan, welcomed Silvana Marie into their family. They reside in Bridgeville, Pa.

Marc J. Gross, BA ’88, JD ’91, a partner in the Roseland, N.J., office of Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis, was included in NJBIZ magazine’s list of “Forty Under 40” business leaders. Gross concentrates on business counseling and trial practice in state and federal courts, representing corporate, partnership, banking, and individual clients. Gross is vice president of the Essex County Bar Association. He is president and founding member of the North New Jersey Business Council, a nonprofit organization that assists professionals, entrepreneurs, and chief executives in building business relationships.

A resident of Olney, Md., Monika Gomez, MBA ’89, in October celebrated her 15th anniversary of service to the federal government. She serves in the U.S. Government Accountability Office. She has a 9-year-old daughter, Claudia, and a 6-year-old son, Mateo.

Philadelphia Magazine included Buchanan Ingersoll litigator John J. Jacko III, BBA ’89, in its list of December 2005 “Pennsylvania Super Lawyer’s Rising Stars” for his achievement in business litigation. Also in 2005, Jacko published articles in Pennsylvania Bar Quarterly and Smart Business Philadelphia.

David Parker, BA ’89, JD ’92, is project development director of the Enclaves Group, a publicly traded real estate company specializing in attainable housing. He resides in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.

After graduating, Lt. Col. James Swenson, MD ’89, interned in general surgery for one year at Madigan Army Hospital. He was then deployed to Desert Storm, serving as a general medical officer with an armored brigade in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait. He returned to Madigan for four years of orthopedic surgical residency, then went to Haiti for six months as commander of a medical task force. Swenson then left active duty and remained in the reserves. He now has an orthopedic surgery practice in Monroe, Wash. He was called to active duty three years ago and spent six months in Bosnia, and most recently was called for a second tour in Iraq in November 2005.

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Michael Kaye, BA ’90, and Emily (Kroopnick) Kaye, BA ’90, welcomed their second child, Shawn Peyton, into their family in December. Michael is a portfolio manager and financial author in New York and Emily is an attorney with the Social Security Administration in Jericho, N.Y.

Andrea Olivos-Kah, BA ’91, MA ’94, is an associate with David J. Hart in Miami. She focuses on employment-based immigration, which includes assisting multinational executives, entrepreneurs, investors, intra-company transferees, and extraordinary ability workers to obtain temporary and permanent status in the United States. She previously was a senior attorney with Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone in Detroit, focusing on employment-based immigration and border issues. As a representative of the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association, she played a key role in drafting and ratification of the Michigan Immigration Clerical Act and the amended regulations in the Notary Act. She also worked as independent consultant-electoral observer for the Organization of American States, unit for the promotion of democracy in Nicaragua, Haiti, Guatemala, and Peru.

A partner in the Philadelphia office of WolfBlock, Michael Rosenberg, BA ’91, received an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell’s Peer Review Rating System for ethical standards and legal ability. Rosenberg lives in Mount Laurel, N.J., with his wife, Sheryl (Klein) Rosenberg, BBA ’92, and their sons, Sam and Jack.

Head of information technology infrastructure and corporate real estate for Constellation Energy, Timothy A. Waire Jr., BSEE ’91, was featured in July in CIO Magazine. He also received the magazine’s inaugural Ones to Watch Award. Selected from a national pool of candidates, Waire was among 33 IT leaders featured in the article.

Noel Weil, BBA ’91, a private wealth adviser in Merrill Lynch’s private banking and investment group in New York, was named to Worth magazine’s annual list of top 100 wealth advisers. The listing appeared in the magazine’s October issue. Editors considered only advisers with at least 10 years of experience who have managed accounts of at least $10 million.

After performing an annual tour at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, Joseph S. Frech, MPA ’92, retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 2003.

For the second consecutive year, Virginia Business Magazine listed Susan Childers North, MBA ’92, among the top young lawyers in the state. She is an equity shareholder with Kaufman & Canoles in the firm’s Richmond and Williamsburg offices. She lives with her husband and their 4-year-old son in Williamsburg. North specializes in employment law, an interest partially stimulated by a business law course she took at GW.

Ahmad Tamim Atayee, MS ’93, has been the co-owner of Rivertech, a small civil engineering consulting business specializing in hydrologic and hydraulic engineering, for the past seven years. He received the Outstanding Engineer of Merit Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers, Orange County, Calif., Branch. Atayee also was given the 2005 Outstanding Engineering Merit Award by the Orange County Engineering Council. Atayee resides in Laguna Hills, Calif.

Madison Virginia Burda was born June 18 to Caitlyn (Dallinger) Burda, BBA ’93. Burda is health and wellness marketing specialist for the Independent Record, a division of Lee Enterprises. Burda resides in Helena, Mont.

In June in Greenwich, Conn., Henry Dixon Denner was born to Kristen Shepherd Denner, BA ’93, MA ’98, and her husband, Mark. Henry is their second child. Denner works at the New York headquarters of Sotheby’s as a director of special projects.

Noah Schambelan, BBA ’94, MBA ’96, is an associate in Blank Rome’s Philadelphia office. He practices general litigation.

At the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va., Curt Bergstrom, BA ’96, MHSA ’98, is in residency as an anesthesiologist. He sailed the territorial waters of Iraq aboard the USS Ponce as the ship’s medical officer during a deployment to the Persian Gulf in 2005.

Susan Davis, MPH ’96, in December was named the subject matter expert on water for CARE USA. She is the liaison between CARE’s water team and external relations colleagues to bring in more resources for the division. She has evaluated and visited rural and peri-urban water and sanitation projects in Bangladesh, India, and Vietnam, among other locations. She previously served in programmatic and development roles for WaterPartners International, a small relief organization that focuses on water and sanitation interventions in developing countries. Davis resides in Atlanta.

Washington firm Stout Risius Ross named Scott D. Levine, MBA ’96, managing director in its valuation and litigation advisory services group. Levine specializes in valuation of stock and assets in privately held companies for purposes including fairness and solvency opinions, employee stock ownership, and purchase price allocation.

Previously development specialist at the Cedar Mill Community Library in Portland, Ore., Tara Lynn Siegman, BA ’96, now is an advised fund associate with the Oregon Community Foundation. “While continuing to work within the nonprofit community, I look forward to moving beyond my years in development and into the world of philanthropic giving,” Siegman reports.

Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay, a branch of national mentoring program Big Brothers Big Sisters, named Wendy Foster, MBA ’97, vice president for program services. Foster provides human resources management and project, systems, and technology development skills for the organization. Previously, she has consulted for PBS and affiliate stations, was a senior executive with AOL Time-Warner, and was a senior director for Time-Life Kids publishing. As a volunteer, she helped found the steering committee of the Washington chapter of Girls Inc. and now volunteers for the Girls Coalition of Greater Boston. She serves on the Brookline Community Taskforce on Teen Behavior as a parent representative. She also is a longtime member of the adult/child literary pen pal program In2books and has volunteered for Meals on Wheels. Foster resides in Brookline, Mass., with her spouse and daughter.

On Dec. 23, Molly Rose was born to David E. Deitz, BA ’98, and his wife, Erin. The family resides in Cherry Hill, N.J.

A resident of Richmond, Va., Amy Gilbody, MPA ’99, was appointed advocacy program coordinator for the AARP Virginia State Office. In the newly created position, she coordinates the organization’s state advocacy, grassroots, and legislative activities across Virginia.

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Matthew Fischel, MCPM ’00, in September joined the Philadelphia-area office of the North Highland Co., an independent management and technology consulting firm, as manager. Fischel previously held positions with Netifice Communications, Cambridge Technology Partners, TriWest Healthcare, and AlliedSignal.

Marine Corps Capt. William Osborne, BA ’00, was in Iraq from February 2005 through January with Multi-National Forces, Iraq and Multi-National Corps, Iraq (XVII Airborne Corps) and was an adviser to the Ministry of Oil and Ministry of Electricity security services. He spent most of the time in Basra, Iraq. Osborne reports that he met two fellow alumni at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, one of them Daniel Lee, BS ’05. Osborne says Lee is a contractor for the State Department’s Iraq Reconstruction Management Office focusing on telecommunications sector reconstruction.

A media and legislative communications manager for the Department of Transportation, Sylvia Stofko, BA ’00, earned her master’s of public administration from George Mason University with a concentration in public affairs.

In September in Washington, Holly Waeger, MA ’01, and E.J. Monster, MA ’02, were married. Both are Foreign Service officers and have completed Polish language training to prepare them for a posting in Warsaw, Poland. Prior to their marriage, the couple celebrated with a Maasai tribal ceremony in Kenya during their first posting with the service.

Sarah Upton Greiner, BA ’02, was hired by Stapley-Hildebrand, a San Francisco-based packaging design firm. She designs mass-market food and cosmetic packaging and also exhibits her fine art in San Francisco.

Writing from Madison, Wis., Anthony Varda reports that his son, 1st Lt. Duncan T. Varda, BA ’02, served an extended second tour of duty with the Marine Corps in Anbar Provence, Iraq, in the fall. He was expected to return in mid-February. In April 2004, during his first tour, Varda’s platoon was involved in the first Marine incursion into the Fallujah area, and Varda was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation medal with combat distinguishing device. In this photo, taken in May 2004, Varda leads a platoon of five Light Armored Reconnaissance vehicles and 40 men along the Euphrates River.

In May, Michael Wainwright Whitcher, BA ’02, received a juris doctor degree from New England School of Law. He was among the top 10 percent of his class and received a New England School of Law Merit Scholarship. Whitcher received a Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction Excellence for the Future Award in property. He interned with Hon. Judith Gail Dein, U.S. magistrate judge for the District of Massachusetts. Whitcher was senior literary editor of and was published in New England Law Review.

According to classmate Gloria P. Benalcazar, BA ’02, Jeff Winston, BA ’02, was deployed by the Army in October to serve in Iraq.

Gina Anderson, BA ’03, in the fall returned from Japan after teaching English through the Japan Exchange and Teaching program for two years. She now is the institutional advancement assistant at Women for Women International in Washington.

As of February 2005, Sasa Nikolic, BA ’03, works for Susan Magrino Agency in New York on publicity for CosmoGIRL!, Stuff, and Reader’s Digest.

Second Lt. Robert J. Ellis III, BBA ’05, is serving in the Air Force at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz. He is a crew commander working for the 612th Air Communications Squadron.

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