“Academic Accomplishment” Class Notes
George Maris (SCPS ’19)
As a student at Brooklyn College, I accumulated 99 credits in 1985-1990. I dedicated my life to the AIDS epidemic. In 1985 it was ramped in New York. Makeshift apartments were used for hospice care. I continued working for the AIDS Services Group here in Charlottesville Va. I was at the forefront of using social media as a means of educating and spreading awareness. I was an online outreach worker. testing coordinator and behavioral councilor reducing high-risk behaviors. After the AIDS Organizations closed in 2015 I decided to complete my degree at UVA. During my semester years. I lost my twin brother, I became ill with cancer. However. I was determined to finish each semester with a focus on completing my degree. I graduated in the Fall of 2019 with a GPA of 4.9.9. I was elected to represent the SCPS for the Honor Committee. I am also the vice president for Sigma Alpha Lambda for Public Relations representing the chapter at UVA. I was awarded the Presidents Volunteer Service Award in 2019. I’m proud of my accomplishments and look forward to walking the lawn in May. I hope my story brings confidence in my fellow student to never give up. Life has its way of throwing us curveballs, overcome them with a positive attitude and a goal for achievement.
Clay Moldenhauer (Col ’63)
Clay Moldenhauer (Col ’63), with his poem “Make Fire”, was the runner-up in the 2019 Charlottesville Jefferson-Madison Region Library and WriterHouse Poetry Contest, judged by Poet Laureate of Virginia, Henry Hart. Moldenhauer, who lives in Charlottesville, works on the staff of WriterHouse and is a meditation facilitator and workshop presenter at Unity Church of Charlottesville.
He serves as webmaster of the public service site fivelements.net; was the 2015 American Poet-of-Reference, with the poem “The Flower Sutra”, for the 2015 Hindu Lit for Life Annual Celebration “Lotus Leaves, Water Words”; 2015 instigator of Charlottesville’s first study group of “Laudato Si”, Pope Francis’s world introduction of the concept of integral ecology, at Church of the Incarnation; 2007-2010 Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail’s volunteer Buddhist meditation instructor; 1995 student participant in Curry’s first graduate course in webbing: Academic Uses of the World-Wide Web; artist-In-Residence for UVA’s 1990 Curry Youth Summer Writing Program; 1968 exhibitor for a 2-month public exhibit of Cut-Out Writing Poetry, now called magnetic poetry, at the Lynchburg, Va. Fine Arts Center; runner-up, with the poem “The Truth about Elephants”, in the 1963 UVA English Dept. Senior Competition; student poet of “The Ant”, published in the 1962 UVA Magazine.
Trent Dickey (Col ’77 CM)
Trent S. Dickey (Col ’77 L/M), invited by the All China Lawyers Association, spoke on “American Litigation, A Primer for Chinese Companies” at the December 2019 Global Lawyers Forum in Guangzhou, China. Dickey is a commercial litigation and intellectual property attorney with Sills Cummis in New Jersey and New York City.
Jeffrey Toney (Col ’81 CM)
Jeffrey Toney (Col ’81) has served as the chief academic officer at Kean University since 2011 and is currently provost and vice president for research and faculty. He was named visiting professor in the Department of Philosophy and Linguistics at MIT in June 2019, and he will be visiting scholar at Harvard University beginning June 2020.
Benjamin Lee (Col ’03)
Chris Gavaler (Grad ’06) published a book with Nathaniel Goldberg, Superhero Thought Experiments: Comic Book Philosophy. Examining the deep philosophical topics addressed in superhero comics, Gavaler and Goldberg read plot lines for the complex thought experiments they contain and analyze their implications as if the comic authors were philosophers. Reading superhero comic books through a philosophical lens reveals how they experiment with complex issues of morality, metaphysics, meaning, and medium. Given comics’ ubiquity and influence directly on (especially young) readers—and indirectly on consumers of superhero movies and video games—understanding these deeper meanings is in many ways essential to understanding contemporary popular culture. The result is an entertaining and enlightening look at superhero dilemmas.
Amy Ansong (Col ’01)
Amy Ansong (Col ’01) recently completed her Doctorate in Education from George Mason University. She currently resides and works in Italy and the Middle East.
Mark Lester (Law ’79)
Mark Lester (Law ’79) published H. H. Asquith: Last of the Romans. The book chronicles the life of H. H. Asquith (1852–1928), the longest-serving British prime minister between Lord Liverpool and Margaret Thatcher.
Morgan McCoy (Col ’15)
Morgan Anne McCoy (Col ’15) earned her doctor of osteopathic medicine degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in May 2019. She is continuing her training in family medicine at Abington Hospital-Jefferson Health in Abington, Pennsylvania.
Geraldine Chi (Col ’03)
Geraldine Chi (Col ’03) earned her MBA in management and finance from the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School in May 2018. She was a member of Beta Gamma Sigma Business Honor Society and National Society of Leadership and Success–Executive and Advanced Leadership.
Jenna Martin-Trinka (Educ ’15)
Jenna Martin-Trinka (Educ ’15) received a master’s degree, her second, from the University of Salamanca, Spain, in Spanish and Spanish culture. She works as a reading teacher in Harrisonburg City Public Schools providing bilingual reading intervention to students in dual language programming.
Todd Saxton (Col ’85 CM)
Todd Saxton (Col ’85 L/M), with M. Kim Saxton and Michael Cloran, published The Titanic Effect: Successfully Navigating the Uncertainties That Sink Most Startups. The book is a guide that helps new businesses avoid the “icebergs” blocking their path to success. The Titanic Effect was written for founders, startup employees, investors and entrepreneurship enthusiasts. Todd Saxton is a professor and Indiana Venture Faculty Fellow at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
Robert E. Comet, Jr., AIA, LEED AP (Arch ’76 CM)
Rob Comet (Arch ’76) a principal with the Richmond, Virginia, office of Quinn Evans Architects, has been appointed by the Virginia House of Delegates to serve a three-year term on the Capitol Square Preservation Council. This is Comet’s second time serving on the council; he was also a member of the founding group that began serving in 2000. He is representing the Historic Richmond Foundation, of which he is also a board member.
Earl Watts (Col ’79, Med ’84 CM)
Earl Mark Watts (Col ’79, Med ’84) was installed as Delegate for the Virginia Chapter to the Congress of Delegates of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He has practiced Family Medicine for the past 30 years in the Roanoke Valley and was recently appointed Family Medicine Clerkship Director for the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine.
Andrew Lee (Med ’89 CM)
Andrew G. Lee (Col ’85, Med ’89 L/M) published his 10th ophthalmology textbook, Neuro-Ophthalmology: Global Trends in Diagnosis, Treatment and Management. Dr. Lee is currently president of the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society and lives in Houston, Texas, with his wife, Hilary Beaver (Med ’91) and his two daughters, Rachael and Virginia.
Gwendolyn Perkins (Col ’85 CM)
Gwendolyn Denise Perkins (Col ’85 L/M) presented “The Teacher Leadership Journey” at the International Academic Forum Conference on Education in Honolulu, Hawaii, in January 2019. She is an urban school administrator in Virginia and teaches graduate education courses as an adjunct instructor with private and public universities.
Matthew Ryals (Col ’11)
Matthew M. Ryals (Col ’11) recently earned his doctorate from the Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology Program of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Dorie Ellis (Nurs ’08)
Dorie C. Ellis (Nurs ’10) will earn her doctorate in nursing practice in nurse anesthesia from the University of North Florida in December 2018.
Paul Lombardo (Grad ’82, Law ’85)
Paul A. Lombardo (Grad ’82, Law ’85), the Bobby Lee Cook Professor of Law at Georgia State University College of Law, was a featured commentator in the Oct. 16, 2018, broadcast of the PBS program American Experience, “The Eugenics Crusade.” His work on the history of eugenic sterilization and the 1927 Supreme Court case of Buck v. Bell was also highlighted in “Finding Carrie Buck,” a graphic article published online to accompany that program. Earlier this year he was the featured interviewee on the NPR program and podcast Hidden Brain: “Emma, Carrie, Vivian: How A Family Became A Test Case For Forced Sterilizations.”
Jill Zimorski (Col ’99 CM)
Jill Zimorski (Col ’99 L/M) passed the master sommelier exam on Sept 5, 2018, successfully completing the four stages required for the qualification. Of the 182 master sommeliers in the Americas chapter, 29 are women. There are 273 master sommeliers worldwide. Zimorski lives in Chicago, where she works as a champagne specialist, representing the Champagnes of the Moët Hennessy Champagne Portfolio (Krug, Ruinart, Dom Pérignon, Veuve Clicquot & Moët & Chandon). She was previously the wine director for three Michelin-starred Alinea Restaurant & the Alinea Restaurant Group in Chicago & the Beverage Director for José Andrès, ThinkFoodGroup in Washington, D.C.
Kirsten Randall (Col ’95)
Kirsten Randall (Col ’95) earned a master’s degree in humanities from California State University, Dominguez Hills. She lives in Tacoma, Washington, and works at Fort Nisqually Living History Museum.
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