“Job” Class Notes

John E. Ludlum (Law ’98) has joined the law firm Cozen O’Connor in the labor and employment department. Ludlum brings nearly three decades of experience advising and representing national and Utah business clients in compensation and tax matters ranging from executive compensation to mergers and acquisitions-related tax issues. He will work in the firm’s Salt Lake City office.

Ludlum comes to the firm from Holland & Hart, where he was a partner in the tax and benefits group. Before joining the legal profession, Ludlum was an officer/aircraft commander in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he executed search and rescue, law enforcement, pollution response, ice patrol, and medical evacuation missions domestically and internationally, including service in Operation Desert Storm.

Jason Cottrell (Educ ’16 CM) was recently appointed the data coordinator for postsecondary education at the U.S. Department of Education. In this role, Cottrell will work to improve data quality and maturity by working with data stewards, assessing the needs for data literacy training, and managing data practices for the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) while developing a governance model for data collections and analyses within OPE. He previously served as lead research analyst in the Office of Postsecondary Education.

Cottrell was also elected to a 3-year term as the vice president for membership for the American College Personnel Association—College Student Educators International.

He received all of this news as he returned home from a 2-week trip to London and Paris where he and his husband celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary and their 25th anniversary. 

Scott Weinrich (Engr ’20) has joined the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) as a research staff member in the strategy, forces and resources division of IDA’s Systems and Analyses Center. IDA is a nonprofit corporation that operates three federally funded research and development centers in the public interest. IDA answers the most challenging U.S. security and science policy questions with objective analysis leveraging extraordinary scientific, technical and analytic expertise.

Megan Haase (Engr ’24) has joined the Institute for Defense Analyses as a research staff member in the strategy, forces and resources division of IDA’s Systems and Analyses Center. IDA is a nonprofit corporation that operates three federally funded research and development centers in the public interest. IDA answers the most challenging U.S. security and science policy questions with objective analysis leveraging extraordinary scientific, technical and analytic expertise. Haase is a member of the Society of Women Engineers and the American Society of Biomechanics. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biomedical and health science engineering from North Carolina State University in 2020 and holds a doctorate from UVA in biomedical engineering.

Mike Kerrigan (Col ’93, Law ’96 CM) has been named managing partner of the Charlotte, North Carolina office of Hunter Andrews Kurth. Kerrigan leads the firm’s capital finance and real estate team, focusing on the purchase, sale and trading of loans, securities, claims, derivatives and other interests in domestic and international companies in, near, or emerging from financial distress. He joined Hunton Andrews Kurth in 1996 and has spent his entire legal career with the firm.

Alison Flood (Com ’06 CM) has been promoted to partner at Goldman Sachs, one of 95 in the 2024 class. Partners are selected based on their commercial effectiveness, leadership and impact on firm culture. Flood works in the firm’s global banking and markets business in New York.

Joanne “Joleen” Searles (Col ’99 CM) has joined the Sarasota, Florida office of the law firm Shutts & Bowen as partner in the private client services practice group. Searles focuses her practice on complex estate planning, trust and estate administration, settlement and probate, high net worth planning, as well as federal estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax planning.

Ellen Finkelstein (Col ’88 CM) has been named CEO of Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America. With more than 300,000 members worldwide, Hadassah works to advance women’s health, supports a strong Israel and instills Jewish values in future generations.  Hadassah is helping women find their voices to advance health equity, fight hate and antisemitism in the U.S. and model shared society in Israel.  Thanks to the medical system in Israel that Hadassah helped create, new treatments and scientific breakthroughs are saving lives around the world.

Emily Waterfield (Col ’05 CM) has been appointed head of school at The Common School in Amherst, Massachusetts. A progressive, independent elementary school entering its 60th year, The Common School seeks to advance equity and environmental justice through joyful learning, community, and emergent curriculum. Waterfield holds a master’s degree from Columbia University, is a graduate of the Inclusive School Leader Fellowship, serves as adjunct faculty at Tulane University and has two decades of experience as an educator and school system leader. She moved to Amherst from New Orleans, Louisiana along with her husband Chris and their three children.

Sherrie Westin (Col ’80 CM) was named chief executive officer of Sesame Workshop, the global nonprofit behind “Sesame Street.” Westin is the first woman to lead Sesame Workshop since its co-founder, Joan Ganz Cooney. Westin had served as president of the organization since 2021 before being named interim CEO in February.

Rear Adm. Cathal O’Connor (Col ’88 CM) joined the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) as an adjunct research staff member in the Strategy, Forces, and Resources Division of IDA’s Systems and Analyses Center.

IDA is a nonprofit corporation that operates three federally funded research and development centers in the public interest. IDA answers the most challenging U.S. security and science policy questions with objective analysis leveraging extraordinary scientific, technical and analytic expertise.

Now retired, O’Connor commanded a warship in San Diego, California, a squadron of warships in Japan, and a strike group of warships, landing craft, helicopters, and jet aircraft, again in San Diego.

O’Connor was commissioned an ensign from the UVA Naval ROTC unit after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English. He rowed lightweight crew and was a member of Chi Psi fraternity.

David Cadaret (Col ’93, Educ ’04 CM) recently joined the faculty of the University of Washington School of Law as an associate teaching professor. Before accepting the appointment, Cadaret taught at the University of Oregon School of Law for 11 years.

Kate Granruth (Col ’21, Law ’24) has joined the law firm of Hollingsworth LLP as a first-year associate. During law school at UVA, Granruth was managing editor of the Virginia Journal of Social Policy and the Law, a student participant in the Innocence Project Clinic, and won the First Year Legal Research & Writing Best Brief Award.

She was also a participant in the Environmental Law & Community Engagement Clinic, a law clerk at Equal Rights Advocates, a legal research assistant at Southern Environmental Law Center, and an intern at the Maxine Platzer Lynn Women’s Center.

Based in Washington, D.C., Hollingsworth LLP is known for work that focuses the courts on sound science, particularly the lack of scientifically reliable causation evidence.

Howard M. Turner Jr. (Engr ’97) was hired as senior director of preconstruction and risk management for energy and technical Services at McKinstry, a national construction and energy services company dedicated to innovating waste and climate harm out of the built environment. Turner will lead preconstruction and risk management efforts for energy, sustainability, and decarbonization projects across the U.S., with a focus on existing facilities.

Edward Castillo (Col ’18 CM) has joined the Raleigh, North Carolina office of law firm Ogletree Deakins as an associate.