“Academic Accomplishment” Class Notes

Elizabeth Larus (Grad ’89, ’94), Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs at the University of Mary Washington, has been named Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Global China Hub.

Mills Kelly (Col ’82 CM) will be a Fulbright Scholar at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany during 2024. He is currently a visiting scholar at the Luxembourg Center for Contemporary and Digital History.

Joe Essid (Col ’83) published “Writing Centers & the Dark Warehouse University: Generative AI, Three Human Advantages,” in the Interdisciplinary Journal of Leadership Studies: Vol. 2, 2023.

Jason F. Lovvorn (Grad ‘96) was promoted to professor of English at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Lovvorn has served as assistant director of the Teaching Center and as Writing Program director and currently serves as the English Department’s internship coordinator.

Lt. Col. Michael Trimble (Col ’04 CM) has earned a Ph.D. in military strategy from the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, the U.S. Air Force’s graduate-level strategy school. His dissertation focused on security cooperation and air advisers in the war on terror.

Amy Rosenberg Allshouse (Col ’95 CM) graduated from Santa Clara University School of Law in May, 2023 with a J.D., CIPP/US certification and a High Tech Law Certificate with Honors.

Jessica Botta (Col ’96 CM) graduated this May from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development with a master of arts degree in food studies.  Jessica lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Zayde Antrim (Col ’95 CM), professor of history and international studies at Trinity College, has received a fellowship from the Institute for Advanced Study. She will spend the spring and fall semesters of 2024 in residence as a member of the School of Historical Studies. 

Antrim’s UVA thesis was “Remything Africa: Perceptions of Precariousness and Illusions of Power in the Literature of Sarah Bowdich.”

Bhakti Patel (Col ’99) has been appointed as Managing Principal of the Austin, Texas office at CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, which is a top ten professional services firm offering assurance, tax, consulting and wealth advisory services.  

Jacob Hiram “Jake” Yost IV (Col ’10) founded PT Rehab Doc after graduating from UVA and, later, Virginia Commonwealth University at the Medical College of Virginia as a doctor of physical therapy. Jake’s company offers rehab videos for specific issues like knee pain, back pain, shoulder pain, total knee replacements, or even just a rough stay at the hospital.

The goal is to improve the quality of today’s physical therapy while at the same time helping to solve the problem of affordable healthcare for all people.

Mark Angle-Hobson (Educ ’98, ’02) has been appointed to serve on the board of directors of the Resolve Center in Medford, OR. Resolve seeks to transform the way the people and communities of Southern Oregon manage and resolve conflict and repair from harm.

Mark has also been invited to join the Region 16 Comprehensive Center (R16CC) Community of Stewards. A “network of networks,” R16CC seeks to improve the quality and equity of education for students in Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. 

Neil Birkhoff (Col ’77 CM),principal and tax practice leader at Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black, recently completed his 14-month term as visiting director of the Tax Clinic at the Washington & Lee University School of Law.  He has been an adjunct professor of law at Washington & Lee for fifteen years, teaching income taxation of corporations, trusts & estates, and non-profit organizations.

David Hamilton Golland (Grad ’02) has accepted appointment as dean of the Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Monmouth University, where he has also been appointed professor of history.

Andrea Trank (Col ’80, Educ ’97, ’00 CM) has returned to working with teachers and students by helping them develop strategies to manage stress, stay resilient and maintain emotional self-regulation. She is about to launch a major project with the HeartMath Institute to develop an online series of training seminars for teachers all over the world to learn simple but highly researched and effective tools for staying physically, emotionally and mentally healthy in the classroom. These tools can be used by teachers to help develop more restorative and less punitive behavior management plans.

William Robert Oliver II (Educ ’11 CM) earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Integrative STEM Education from Virginia Tech in May 2022. He plans to continue serving as Professor of Information Systems Technology at Blue Ridge Community College.

Jeffrey Toney (Col ’81 CM) is currently Professor Emeritus at Kean University, where he previously served as the Senior Vice President for Research as well as Provost and Chief Academic Officer. He concurrently serves as a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy. Toney is a Fellow and Distinguished Lecturer of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society, and has served on the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science and Human Rights Coalition since its founding in 2009. He has also published a wide range of peer-reviewed scientific publications and holds six U.S. patents.

Katherine Read Knaus (Engr ’12, ’21 CM) began her post-doctoral research fellowship in the Cardiac Mechanics Research Group of the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California San Diego in 2021. She, her husband and their daughter are enjoying life in La Jolla, California.

Austin Randolph Palmore (Col ’15, Com ’16) graduated in May with a Juris Doctor degree from Washington and Lee University School of Law. After sitting for the July 2022 Virginia Bar Examination, he will begin a one-year clerkship for the Honorable Judges of the Henrico County Circuit Court in the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit of Virginia, followed by a two-year clerkship for the Honorable Randolph A. Beales, Judge of the Virginia Court of Appeals in Richmond.