Class Notes

Anant Das (Com ’19 CM) was honored as one of the recipients of the 2025 Norman Vincent Peale Award for Positive Thinking as lead executive producer and general manager of In My Own Little Corner Productions. In My Own Little Corner Productions produced both a professionally filmed musical and a documentary about the making of the aforementioned musical. The two films share the story of Broadway, TV and film actor Chryssie Whitehead as she confronts her Bipolar II diagnosis.

Robert D. Weinberg (Col ’01 CM) was promoted to partner at Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti. Weinberg focuses his practice on family law and estate and trust litigation. A devoted advocate for children, he regularly handles custody matters both within and outside Pennsylvania, always centering the best interests of minors. He describes his approach as “aggressively reasonable,” favoring resolutions that balance pragmatism with principled advocacy, while retaining the willingness to litigate when necessary. He earned his law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law.

Ritt Deitz (Col ’88 CM) published a novel, Settle Down, through Ten16 Press. The surreal sense-of-place novel follows a young Wisconsinite, freshly graduated from UVA, who comes home to find he must rediscover what it means to be from the Midwest. UVA alumni who worked for University Catering in the 1980s will recognize glimpses of the Birdwood Pavilion kitchen and Newcomb Hall. Deitz is Distinguished Teaching Faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he has taught French since 2000.

Peter Mina (Col ’98 CM) has founded The Mina Firm, a law practice focused on federal sector employment law and civil rights litigation in Washington, D.C. Mina spent more than 14 years working at the Department of Homeland Security, where he served as deputy officer in the Department of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. He also was chief of the Labor and Employment Law Division of the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Jim Harshaw (Col ’99, Educ ’99 CM) published the 500th episode of his podcast, Success for the Athletic-Minded Man. He interviews world class performers including Olympic gold medalists, Navy SEALs, New York Times best selling authors and others (including several Wahoos). Episodes can be found on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as well as his website, JimHarshawJr.com.

Michael Cascio (Col ’72) produced and co-directed a critically acclaimed documentary on the artist Edward Hopper for American Masters on PBS, the latest entry in a career that has brought Cascio four Emmys, two Oscar nominations, and a “Producer of the Year” award. His work includes award-winning documentaries such as Inside 9/11 and The 90s: The Last Great Decade? for the National Geographic Channel, Biography, Titanic: Death of a Dream and Investigative Reports for A&E, and At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal for HBO, which received the prestigious Television Academy Honors. In addition to producing documentaries, Cascio has held executive roles at A&E, Animal Planet, the National Geographic Channel and NBC News. He was cited in Entertainment Weekly “It List” as one of the most creative people in the entertainment industry. He also was a backstage janitor at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, which he chronicled in a first-person article in the Sunday New York Times.

Ruika Lin (Col ’11 CM) launched Fieldnotes from a Watcher, an independent literary journal that publishes creative nonfiction stories monthly. Fieldnotes from a Watcher explores many of life’s timeless moments that seem to be shared by many yet voiced by few. Themes include families of origin and of choice, belonging, parenthood, grief, cross-cultural musings and the creative process. Lin invites fellow UVA alumni to sign up as a member of the journal, and/or become a guest writer.

Ann M. Ryan (Grad ’87) published The Ghosts of Mark Twain: A Study of Manhood, Race, and the Gothic Imagination with the University of Missouri Press. Ryan examines Twain’s writings and his uneasy relationship to Black culture and masculinity, even as he imagines a future in which Black men will gain an authentic voice and agency. The work investigates the tense intersections of white fathers, Black men, the histories they reflect and the future they promise, as expressed in Twain’s life and writings. Some of the works considered in The Ghosts of Mark Twain are not widely known: “Which Was It?,” “The United States of Lyncherdom,” No. 44: The Mysterious Stranger and the Morgan manuscript of Pudd’nhead Wilson. Written into the record of these fragments is Twain’s desire to be a different kind of white man, just as their incomplete nature demonstrates how often he stumbled in that effort.

Elizabeth Atwood (Grad ’83) published Deadline: 200 Years of Violence Against Journalists in the United States with the University of Missouri Press. In her book, Atwood offers the first comprehensive look at the history of fatal attacks against journalists in the United States between 1829 and the present. She was inspired to explore the pressing issue of violence against American journalists after the tragic death of one of her colleagues at the Baltimore Sun, Rob Hiaasen, in the Capital Gazette shooting in 2018. Throughout, she demonstrates that distrust of the media and violence against the press in the United States are hardly new developments. Her work examines how intimidation, violence, and censorship have, in fact, been used against the American press since both its and the nation’s founding.

David Meredith (Com ’03) and his wife, Jamie, ran the 2025 Boston Marathon to raise money for The Children’s Room, a nonprofit organization that provides caring grief support for children, teens and families. Their team raised over $20,000 for the organization.

Lucas Hobbs (Law ’98 CM) was elected president of the Association of District Court Judges of Virginia at the Association’s annual meeting in October. He previously served as the Association’s secretary and as its treasurer. He is a General District Court Judge in Virginia’s 28th Judicial District, and lives in Bristol, Virginia, with his wife.

Mauricio Velásquez (Col ’88 CM) published his first book, Tackling Toxicity: A Skill-Based Guide to Addressing Toxicity, which provides strategies for professionals to create healthy and successful workplace environments, as well as for people navigating difficult family and social situations. The book won an April 2025 International Impact Book Award. Velásquez is president and founder of the Diversity Training Group, and has decades of experiences in diversity and inclusion and harassment prevention.

John Peebles (Col ’82 CM) has started an organization, food4nj.org, to provide groceries and grocery store gift cards to families visiting their loved ones detained at the Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey. The organization welcomes donations as well as volunteers to help at Delaney Hall during weekends and Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

Mike McGrew (Col ’75) published his second picture book, The Boy Who Would Be Santa, with Kharis Publishing. The book tells the story of Saint Nicholas, including his struggle after the death of his parents, his teenage journey of discovery, his kindness and charity, the miracles he performed and his evolution into Santa Claus. The book serves as a resource on the historical origins of Santa and as a model of kindness for children.

Cristina Liebolt Foran (Col ’10 CM) and Lincoln Foran (Col ’10 CM) made it to their 15-year Reunions with 2-year-old Susanna Walton Foran and 9-week old Eugenia Lee Foran, who was born March 29. Susanna loved being back on the lawn and introducing baby Eugenia to the grounds. The girls’ matching outfits were given to them by friends Michelle Wagner (Col ’10) and Freyan Soonawalla (Col ’10, Darden ’19). The Forans look forward to continuing to take the girls down to Charlottesville as they grow up!