Class Notes

Adrian Talley (Educ ’86 CM) was named the 2025 DuPage County Regional Office of Education Educator of the Year and Administrator of the Year. Talley is currently in his sixth year as superintendent of Indian Prairie School District 204, the fourth largest school district in Illinois. He was recognized for his work in expanding mental health services, amplifying student voices and expanding STEM opportunities for students.

Patrick D. Melmer (Col ’12, Med ’17 CM), was promoted to associate program director of the General Surgery Residency at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is an assistant professor in the Division of Acute Care Surgical Services and also serves as the director of Surgical Simulation for VCU’s Center for Human Simulation and Patient Safety.

David Scott Thompson (Com ’01 CM) has joined the Atlanta office of Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, P.A. as a partner in its litigation section. He will continue to represent corporate clients in all aspects of complex litigation, including trucking, premises liability and automobile accidents.

Justin Black (Col ’11), Will Gemma (Col ’11 CM) and Dietrich Teschner co-directed two documentary films about the James River in Virginia, Headwaters Down Part 1 and Part 2, which were recently picked up by Virginia Public Media and nationally by PBS. The two-part series follows their five-person crew as they paddle the entire 350 miles of the James River, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay. The films highlight environmental disasters, lesser-taught history, camaraderie and misadventures along the way. Headwaters Down Part 1 screened during the Virginia Film Festival in 2023 to over 500 people in the Culbreth Theatre on Grounds. The series is now available to stream online via the PBS app and on the Headwaters Down website.

Sarah Rovang (Arch ’10 CM) wrote her book, Through the Long Desert: Georgia O’Keeffe and Frank Lloyd Wright, to be released by Rizzoli Electa in September. Though the two heroes of 20th-century art and architecture never collaborated, they maintained a friendship and mutual admiration, exchanging roughly two dozen letters during their lifetimes. This unique meditation on American artistic expression explores the nature of intellectual kinship, as well as home, place and material. Rovang includes a look at O’Keeffe’s time at UVA in the early 1910s, exploring the resonance of her campus watercolors with Wright’s renderings of the same period.

John M. Bowers (Grad ’73, ’78 CM) published his second novel, Legion of the Daggerstone, which follows a 21st-century analogue of J. R. R. Tolkien. His protagonist, an Iraq War combat veteran and UVA English professor, publishes a bestselling trilogy of fantasy novels, only in Charlottesville instead of Oxford. Bowers also published his most recent scholarly book, Tolkien on Chaucer, 1913-1959, with Oxford University Press.

Richard Chalkey (Darden ’24 CM) now serves as special assistant to the president for legislative affairs at the White House. He most recently worked on the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Chalkey had previously worked at the White House during President Donald Trump’s first term, first as the associate director of the National Economic Council, and later as the associate director of the Office of Legislative Affairs. Prior to his current role, he worked as the director of coalitions and policy for the Premium Cigar Association.

Peyton Hall (Arch ’74 CM) received the first Impact Award given by the University of Southern California Architectural Guild. He was honored for his four decades of dedication to the practice of historic architecture and enrichment of the cultural and civic fabric of Los Angeles. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a managing principal emeritus of Historic Resources Group in Pasadena, California, and an adjunct professor in the Heritage Conservation Program of the School of Architecture at USC.

Ross Micheletti (Col ’10) and Mary Wigge (Col ’10) celebrated their wedding with family and friends in Crozet, Virginia, on June 6. Wigge is the daughter of Maureen Aungier Wigge (Engr ’81 CM). The couple plans to travel to Japan in the fall for their honeymoon.

Eric Brown (Darden ’84) announced he is leaving his position as county manager in Washoe County, Nevada, which is the second-largest county in the state with a population of over 500k. He oversaw 3,100 employees and a $1 billion annual operating budget. He had been in the position since 2019. Brown plans to pursue other opportunities.

Latorial Faison (Col ’95 CM) will publish her poetry collection, Nursery Rhymes in Black, on July 15. Faison was awarded the 2023 Permafrost Poetry Book Prize, judged by renowned poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil, for the manuscript. Blending tradition, memory and resistance, Nursery Rhymes in Black reimagines familiar childhood rhymes through the lens of Black history and lived experience. The volume has received acclaim from some of the most esteemed voices in literature, including Joanne Gabbin, Judy Juanita, Glenis Redmond, Trudier Harris and Cedric Tillman, who praise Faison’s ability to transform the rhythmic echoes of youth into a resonant and necessary cultural reckoning.

Rachel Boate (Col ’09 CM) was hired as an assistant professor of art history in the department of art at Colgate University. She researches and offers courses on transatlantic modernisms.

Thornton Staples (Engr ’80) had his composition, “Symphony #1, in F major,” performed by the American Contemporary Classical Orchestra at the Miracle Theater in Washington, D.C., on May 22, 2025.

Dan Reiter (Col ’00) published his debut collection of surf-themed non-fiction, On a Rising Swell, through the University Press of Florida in April. Kirkus Reviews awarded it a star, calling it “a surfing classic fit to sit beside John Long’s The Big Drop (1999) and William Finnegan’s Barbarian Days (2015).”

Christina Shawn (Educ ’08) published her children’s picture book: And Then Came You: When Families Grow Love Grows Too with Chronicle Books in April.

Families grow and change, but what if you like things just the way they are? What if you aren’t ready to welcome in a new parent, a messy pet, or a baby sister who cries a lot? Change can be scary, but even a full heart has room to grow.

Both hilarious and heartwarming, this endearing children’s book is a powerful tool for helping little ones understand that there are often silver linings to the changes life brings. Even when things are initially uncomfortable, an open heart paves the way and teaches us that a family can be full of love at any size.

Liz Garton Scanlon, author of Caldecott Honor winner All the World called Shawn’s book “A lyrical love letter, written to families of all shapes and sizes.”

Shawn received her master’s degree in reading education at UVA before becoming a reading specialist, literacy coach, and author. Originally from Long Island, New York, she now lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband, three kids, and two fuzzy bunnies.

For information about Shawn’s book tour and local events visit her website or follow her on Instagram.