Class Notes

Glen Laman ’73 released a new book, titled The Hero of Fern Gully and Other Jamaican Short Stories. It is a collection of 15 short stories, co-authored with Dr. Basil Kong.

Barry Neuberger ’78 joined Yeshiva of Flatbush in Brooklyn, NY, as athletic director for both the elementary and high school. He most recently served as assistant athletics director for development at Yeshiva University.

William Dooley ’79 was appointed as the new chair of the Manhattan College Board of Trustees. He is the former executive vice president of Investments and Financial Services at AIG.

Maria Brennan ’81 was appointed director of nursing at Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center in Reading, PA. Most recently, she served as a health care consultant to the New Jersey Nursing Initiative in Princeton, NJ.

Howard Cohen ’82 joined the Independent Investors Representative Committee at Ellavoz Impact Capital in Belmar, NJ. His experience includes management of personal service organizations, taxation, and business consulting of both domestic and international companies.

Bridget Bromirski (Hayden) ’83 was named a winner of the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center’s (SVMC) DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. She is certified by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners and has been employed at SVMC for 28 years.

Kathleen Maffucci ’83 was appointed supervisor of the Nassau Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) Adult Education Career & Employment Center in Garden City, NY.

A. Ernest (Ernie) Toth Jr. ’85 was appointed senior vice president and chief financial officer at Aquestive Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company in Warren, NJ. Since 2020, he has served as their interim chief financial officer.

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Marlene Wallach ’85 was profiled on medium.com in their series Why We Need More Women Founders. She came out of self-imposed retirement to create glēēm Beauty, to create clean beauty products that are crafted from the goodness of Aloe Vera.

Denise Arzola ’86 was named director of clinical-community partnerships at the United Hospital Fund in New York, NY. Previously, she served as a consultant at RiseBoro Community Partnerships.

Thomas “Todd” Gibbons ’86 was named to the Board of Trustees at Pace University in June 2021. He is the chief executive officer at BNY Mellon in New York, NY.

David Schmidt ’86 was featured in Ideamensch.com’s 50 Health Entrepreneurs to watch in 2021. He is the founder of LifeWave, a wellness company in La Jolla, CA. LifeWave’s technology, utilizes phototherapy patches to create cellular changes in the body, and stems from many years of Schmidt’s research into drug-free methods for increasing energy and stamina for military personnel.

Robert Warner ’87 was appointed to the board of directors of RxSight, Inc., an ophthalmic medical device company in Aliso Viejo, CA. He is the former president of Alcon US.

Sigurd Kirk ’88 became a member of the board of directors at Aravive, Inc., a company that develops innovative therapeutics to treat life-threatening diseases, based in Houston, TX. Recently, he was the executive vice president for corporate business development at Allergan.

Rose Cappa-Rotunno ’90 joined the board of directors at WestFair Rides, a company that provides services to older adults in Westchester County. She is the vice president of institutional advancement at Wartburg, comprehensive care senior living center in Mount Vernon, NY.

Steven Rothman ’90 was named vice president, financial services lead at The Instant Group, a workspace design firm. He spent seven years as senior vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle.

Ursuline Foley ’91 has been appointed as an independent director of the board of Greenlight Capital Re in the Cayman Islands. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Provident Financial Services, Inc. and Provident Bank in New Jersey.

Rosemarie Fanelli ’92 was appointed chief regulatory officer at Prometheum, a digital asset securities platform. Most recently, she served as senior advisor to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)'s Member Supervision department.

Amit Muni ’92 joined CI Financial Corp. as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Prior to CI Financial Corp, he served as executive vice president and chief financial officer at WisdomTree Investments, Inc. in New York, NY.

Gail Krieger ’93 was named director of disability services at Berkeley College in Paramus, NJ.

Toni Mazzacca (Dimarco) ’93 joined Mazars as a partner in the financial services tax practice. Previously, she was a director of international tax at a Big 4 firm.

Richard Muller ’93 joined Keene Building Products in Cleveland, OH, as director for new business development. He brings a wealth of experience in the flooring industry to his new role.

Kristen Smith ’93 was appointed registrar at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. She previously served as registrar at the New York Institute of Technology in Westbury, NY, and Mills College in Oakland, CA.

Matthew Smith, JD ’93 became a partner and principal at Callinan & Smith, LLP in Hawley, PA. Most recently, he was a partner at Bruno, Gerbino, Soriano & Aitken, LLP, where he managed their Ramsey, NJ office.

Denise Strauss ’93 was appointed vice president, marketing, and new product strategy at Avadel Pharmaceuticals in Ireland. During her career, she worked for Genfit, Pfizer, Schering-Plough, and Boehringer Ingelheim.

Nadine Fontaine, JD ’94 has been appointed general counsel for the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. She previously served as first assistant counsel to the Governor and assistant counsel for Economic Development, Public Finance, and Procurement.

Andrenaia Giordano ’94 has been hired as senior vice president of Lakeland Bank, based in Highland Mills, NY. She held prior vice president roles at TD Bank and JPMorgan Chase Bank.

Dona Vieira ’94 has joined the Board of Directors of Choice Hotels International. She is executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Sallie Mae. In 2020, Vieira was named among the Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America by Savoy Magazine, honoring her exemplary record of accomplishments and commitment to bettering the community and inspiring others.

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Jacqueline Parker, JD ’95 received the 2021 Jean Allard Glass Cutter Award by the American Bar Association’s. The award is presented annually to an exceptional woman business lawyer who has made significant contributions to the profession and to the Business Law Section. Parker is the deputy director of consumer fairness at Citi.

Ana Sousa ’95 joined Aspen Neuroscience in San Diego, CA as senior vice president of Regulatory Affairs and Quality, and a member of the company's executive team. She previously led global regulatory affairs and quality at Principia Biopharma and has more than 20 years of combined experience in global development and regulatory affairs.

Eric Eckardt ’96 joined the management team of The Real Brokerage Inc. as chief consumer officer. He previously held leadership positions for public and private companies, including companies on the NASDAQ and London Stock Exchange.

Laura Cooper (née Loncar) ’97 joined BlockFi, a financial services company located in Jersey City, NJ, as chief people officer. Most recently, she served as chief people officer at OwnBackup.

Bryan Edmiston ’97 was named chief financial officer at WisdomTree Investments in New York City. He previously served as the company’s chief accounting officer, since 2018.

Laurie Shanderson ’97 was appointed chancellor at Methodist College in Peoria, IL. Most recently, she was the founding dean of the School of Health Sciences at Northcentral University, a private online university headquartered in San Diego, CA.

Kristen Zebrowski Stavisky, JD ’97 has been appointed as the Democratic co-executive director of the New York State Board of Elections. She previously has served as Rockland County elections commissioner.

Sapna Palla, JD ’98 joined Allen & Overy as a partner in its intellectual property litigation practice, based in New York. She continues to teach at Pace University as an adjunct professor of Intellectual Property Law.

Gail Duffy ’02 was appointed assistant superintendent for Instruction and Human Resources in the Irvington, NY, school district. She previously served as an assistant superintendent for Administration and Instruction for the Tarrytown public school system.

Sarah Newkirk, JD ’02 was appointed executive director of the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, CA. Previously, she worked on sea level rise and wildfire impacts with the Nature Conservancy.

Alicia Whittlesey, JD ’02 was promoted to principal at Porzio, Bromberg & Newman P.C.in their Westborough, MA, office.

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Laura Walling, JD ’03 was named to the Nonprofit Times' “2021 Power and Influence Top 50" list. She is senior director of government affairs at Goodwill Industries International. This list recognizes leaders for their innovation, influence, and ability to create dynamic organizational models that can be replicated throughout the industry.

Meredith Hargreaves (née Gethin-Jones) ’04 was elected to the Board of the Foundation for the West Hartford Public Schools, in Connecticut. Formerly, she worked at Haley & Aldrich, an environmental and geotechnical consulting firm in New York City.

Crystal Marsh ’05 was appointed principal of Wilson Elementary School in Westfield, NJ. Prior to the role, she served as assistant principal at Edison Intermediate School since 2007.

Nadia Owusu ’05 was mentioned in the New York Times At Home: What to Do This Weekend newsletter, as part of a reader recommendation for her memoir Aftershock.

Erin McMahon ’06 has become the first woman superintendent to lead the Saugus Public Schools in Saugus, MA. Most recently, she served as a senior advisor to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner.

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Anthony Vinci ’06 was among the recipients of the Forty Under 40 - Emerging Leaders Award from the New York State Society of CPAs. This award recognizes the organization’s members who demonstrate leadership within the organization, made significant professional achievements in the past year, and have gone “above and beyond” in giving back to the community. He works at the Financial Industry Regulation Authority (FINRA).

Amanda Finigan ’07 has become head of the upper school at The Ellis School, an all-girls college-preparatory school in Pittsburgh, PA. Previously, she was the dean of student life at the Berkeley Carroll School in Brooklyn, NY.

Christopher Roker ’07 joined Pace University’s Board of Trustees. He is the chief executive officer and chief growth officer of NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln.

Seth Shelley, JD ’07 has been hired as an attorney in the Conviction Integrity Unit with Attorney General of Virginia Mark Herring’s office. The Unit was created to identify and overturn wrongful convictions in Virginia, with a singular focus on evaluating and investigating claims of wrongful conviction, taking proactive steps to overturn wrongful convictions, and implementing important changes in the law that will finally allow for more wrongly convicted people to pursue their claims in the courts. Prior to joining the team, he worked for 13 years in Virginia’s public defender system.

Heather Kumer, JD ’10 joined Vicente Sederberg LLP in Cranford, NJ as counsel. She comes to the firm from Prime and Tuvel LLC, where she was a partner.

Karey Wallace ’10 joined START Treatment and Recovery Centers in Brooklyn, NY, as vice president for human resources development. Most recently, she headed human resources at Lantern Community Service in New York, NY.

Heather Deichler, JD ’12 received the Women in Insurance Leadership: NEXT Award from Digital Insurance. The award recognizes innovative contributions that women executives under the age of 40 are making in all areas of the insurance industry. Deichler is senior vice president and head of Lincoln’s MoneyGuard Product Management in Radnor, PA.

Vicky Klukkert ’13 joined the newsroom of The Daily Star in Oneonta, NY, as a staff writer assigned to, among other things, the city of Oneonta and Otsego County governments.

Andrew Lennon ’13 joined Chappaqua Central School District in New York State as assistant superintendent for business. He previously served as the director of business administration for the Mt. Pleasant Central School District.

Chanel Thervil ’13 has completed her artistic residence at Twenty Summers’ Hawthorne Barn in Provincetown, MA. She is an artist and educator that uses varying combinations of abstraction and portraiture to convene communal dialogue around culture, social issues, and existential questions.

Leslie Brown ’14 was a recipient of the Forty Under 40—Emerging Leaders Award from the New York State Society of CPAs. This award recognizes the organization’s members who demonstrate leadership in their organization, made significant professional achievements in the past year, and have gone “above and beyond” in giving back to the community. She is a manager at PKF O'Connor Davies in New York City.

Shams Tarek ’14 has been appointed deputy director of communications for the Governor of New York State. He has previously served in multiple roles at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York.

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Jairo Florez ’17 was promoted to the position of regional manager for Central New York, the top position at the New York Power Authority. He is the first Latino to fill this position. Florez joined the Power Authority in 2012 as a Systems Analyst.

Jordan (Jor) Gonsalves ’17 hosts his own podcast Unshaming which was highlighted on Apple's New and Noteworthy page, Spotify's Best Podcasts of the Month, Spotify's Creator Spotlight, and Forbes' "9 Podcast Episodes that Help Build Empathy." Connecting listeners to the stories of others, he tackles the shame associated with topics spanning HIV status, cancer, mental illness, sex abuse, LGBTQ+ issues, and more.

Aris Rotella, JD ’18 joined the law firm Stradley Ronon in New York City as an associate.

Joanna Plakopitas ’19 recently began working at Quintessential in New York, NY, as a marketing specialist with emphasis on the company’s “Old World” wineries.

David Sharif ’19 has published The Empowerment of My Condition, a book of poems inspired by his autism journey. He is an alum of Pace’s OASIS program, a support program for students with high functioning autism and other learning challenges. Sharif reports that he is pursuing a career as a motivational speaker for neurodiversity.

Juliana Martins ’20 of Eleven11 Media Relations was profiled on ThriveGlobal.com in their series on the modern PR industry. Martins is the founder of Eleven11 Media Relations, a bicoastal PR, Marketing and Influencer agency.

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Larry Saperstein ’20 was featured by 1883 for his new role in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Saperstein plays a loyal, sensitive and thoughtful teen to best friend and classmates, characteristics he himself takes to heart and is proud to showcase for boys and young men to see on-screen.

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Lauren Montanile ’15 is engaged to Jonathan Derek Smaldon. She is a senior attorney in New York City. Her fiancé, a graduate of Niagara University, is a manager of Premium Partnerships for the New York Jets.