“Job” Class Notes

Joseph J. Pancrazio (Engr ’88, ’90 L/M), associate provost and professor of bioengineering at The University of Texas at Dallas, has been named vice president for research at the school. Pancrazio’s research focuses on the development of novel neural interface technology, which is used to understand and influence the brain and nervous system for the purposes of improving human health.

Penny Pennington (Com ’85) has been selected as the next managing partner, effective Jan. 1, 2019, of the financial-services firm Edward Jones. She has been with the company since 2000. Pennington and her husband, Mike, live in St. Louis, Missouri, and have two adult daughters. 

Jill Ackermann Dennehy (Col ’06) was promoted to partner with the law firm Kennedys (known as Kennedys CMK in the U.S.). Dennehy is based in the firm’s Basking Ridge, New Jersey, office, focusing primarily on a broad range of insurance coverage issues. She has been lead counsel on several significant insurance coverage matters. A graduate of Villanova University School of Law, Dennehy is admitted to practice in both New Jersey and New York, and has been with the firm since 2011.

Jason Sisney (Col ’95 L/M) was named state budget adviser to California State Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and the Assembly Democratic caucus. In that role, Sisney is the Assembly’s lead negotiator on state budget matters with the state Senate and Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration. Previously, Jason served for 12 years at the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, most recently as chief deputy legislative analyst.

Liz Dunn Cohen (Col ’91 L/M) has joined Kekst & Co. as a managing director. She will provide strategic communications counsel to boards of directors and senior management around financial transactions and reputational issues. 

Rob Buchsbaum (Col ’86 L/M) has been appointed by the engineering firm AECOM as principal for real estate economics for the Northeast U.S. His responsibilities include advising clients on the repositioning of corporate portfolios, “Brownfields” (environmentally contaminated sites) and special use facilities. In this new role, Mr. Buchsbaum will provide strategic oversight and direction for client’s real estate redevelopment and positioning activities in the region. 

Heather Wood (Grad ’00 L/M) has joined the Virginia Beach office of Dewberry as a business development director for the firm’s ports and intermodal division in the southeast and mid-Atlantic regions. In her new role, she is responsible for the growth and development of the firm’s ports and intermodal clients across the two regions.

Amie Seymour (Com ’06) has joined Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida as executive vice president and chief technology officer. In these positions, she supports the company’s growing business by implementing its future state operating and digital distribution model across all business units. She also is responsible for the development and execution of the bank’s overall technology roadmap.

Leslie Gillin Bohner (Col ’87) has been promoted from senior vice president to executive vice president at Pennsylvania Trust. She remains chief fiduciary officer and is assuming the title of General Counsel. In her new role, Ms. Bohner is responsible for managing all fiduciary and legal matters across the company, coordinating with outside counsel, reviewing legal agreements and providing legal advice to the management team. She has been with Pennsylvania Trust since 2011. 

Eric Davis (Arch ’83 L/M) has been appointed deputy director of the Cook County Department of Capital Planning and Policy. He oversees the county’s public safety facilities portfolio, including the nation’s largest single-site jail and its second-largest unified court system. He has also been re-elected to serve a third term as a trustee of Oak Park Township.

Brian K. Matney (Col ’87 L/M) was recently named director of secondary education for the Mecklenburg County Public Schools and to the board of directors for the Virginia Foundation for Educational Leadership. Through June 30, 2018, he also continues his work in a second two-year term on the Governor’s Standards of Learning Reform and Innovation Committee. He and his wife, Kathryn, are the proud parents of two sons, Will, a college sophomore, and J.T., a high school junior.

Rawleigh Taylor (Col ’08 L/M) has been named vice president of sales and marketing for CSC Leasing Company in Richmond, Virginia. Mr. Taylor has been with CSC for seven years, before which he worked as a business analyst for Johnston Mclamb Case Solutions. Mr. Taylor is married to Polly Marshall Taylor (Col 08) and they have a son, Bruce, age 1.

Jon R. Wiener (Grad ’84) has been appointed dean of Allied Health at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College in Asheville, North Carolina, where he previously served as associate dean. In this position, he will oversee 11 programs, more than 800 students and 120 faculty in a variety of programs. Mr. Wiener teaches microbiology, and also teaches martial arts, having earned a 5th degree black belt in Karate and Senior Tai Chi Instructor status. Prior to his time at the community college, Dr. Wiener was an associate professor at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, as well as assistant dean of academic affairs at the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Houston.

Brittney McClain Powell (Col ’09) has joined the Washington, D.C., office of Fox Rothschild as an associate in the firm’s Corporate Department. She focuses on international trade law and represents clients in anti-dumping and countervailing duty proceedings such as investigations, scope ruling requests and various reviews before the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. International Trade Commission.

Chris W. Altenbernd (Law ’98) has joined the firm Banker Lopez Gassler, returning to practice with many of the attorneys with whom he started his career in 1975. After starting and running one of Florida’s first appellate groups, he was appointed by Governor Bob Martinez to an appellate judgeship on Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal in 1989, on which he served until 2016, including some terms as chief judge. Having written more than 1000 judicial opinions on a wide array of legal issues, he now handles a broad spectrum of civil appeals, including complex torts, commercial and construction claims, insurance coverage issues, domestic relations, and real estate. He is involved in the Tampa Bay community, where he has lived since 1975.More information can be found here. 

Shana K. Small Cyr (Grad ’06) was promoted to partner at the law firm Finnegan. She represents clients in complex patent litigations, contentious proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and appeals related to pharmaceuticals, biologics, combination products, diagnostics and medical devices. She also counsels clients on issues arising under patent and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) law. 

Bradley Martin (Col ’99) was named partner at Balentine, the Atlanta-based wealth management firm, where he leads a team providing comprehensive wealth management and investment advice to business owners in transition, high-net-worth individuals, and their families. Mr. Bradley has been a senior relationship manager at Balentine since 2014.

Brandon Conley (Col ’96 L/M) was named vice president of Worldwide Sales by RedLock, the Cloud Threat Defense company, where he will provide global leadership and management for the company’s field sales organization. Bringing with him a 20-year-career that spans executive sales roles at venture-backed startups and private equity-owned and publicly traded companies in the security, mobility and identity management markets, Mr. Conley comes to RedLock from Netskope, where he served as vice president of sales. Mr. Conley, his wife Terri and their three children live in Ellicott City, Maryland.

Rex Young (Col ’12 L/M) earned his law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in May 2017. After passing the Virginia bar exam, he was sworn into the Virginia State Bar in December and began a new position as corporate counsel at Cooperative Solar, a developer of utility-scale solar facilities across the midwestern and southeastern United States.

Kathryn McCarver Root (Col ’87 L/M) celebrated the 10th year of her gallery, KMR Arts, by expanding her business with a new service for picture hanging, art placement, and installation: KM Installations. She was a photo editor for 20 years with publications including Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, Us Weekly and InStyle magazines before she opened a fine art photography gallery in 2007. She has 30 years of experience editing, collecting, curating, framing and installing photographs.

Ronika J. Carter (Law ’14) has joined the intellectual property practice of the firm Watson LLP. Carter counsels clients involved in intellectual property transactions, corporate transactions, sports law and videogame law. Prior to joining the firm, she was employed by an Am Law 100 law firm, as well as at an entertainment law boutique firm.

Tresa Chambers (Col ’89) is the director of communications at Texas A&M University-Commerce in Commerce, Texas. She is responsible for leading the content development efforts for the university, brand development and production of the alumni magazine.  

Bethany Harrison (Col ’01) was elected the Commonwealth’s Attorney for the city of Lynchburg, Virginia, in November 2017. Ms. Harrison will be the first female Commonwealth’s Attorney for Lynchburg when she takes office on Jan. 1, 2018. She serves as the chief deputy in the same office and has been a prosecutor since 2006. Bethany is the current president of the nonprofit Court Appointed Special Advocates of Central Virginia, chairwoman of the Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and she serves on the board of the YWCA of Central Virginia. She lives in Lynchburg, Virginia, with her husband and two sons.

Gesine Bullock-Prado (Col ’92) premieres her new Food Network baking show, “Baked in Vermont,” on Dec. 2, 2017. UVA classmates Lisa Jones (Col ’92), Jennifer Nunes (Col ’92) and Michael Palace (Col ’92, ’95) and their children will join Ms. Bullock-Prado for a gingerbread house-decorating party in her Vermont baking school. 

Brian Jonas (Arch ’97) has been promoted to associate principal at the Seattle-based Graham Baba Architects. Mr. Jonas has over 20 years of experience across a broad range of project types and scopes, and his expertise is in high performance building envelopes, energy efficient design and detailing. His most recent work includes a flagship roastery and café for a leading international coffee company, and Center Table, a 650-seat and six-restaurant dining facility for the University of Washington.

Shannan M. Fitzgerald (Col ’12 L/M) has joined the Richmond law firm of Christian & Barton as an associate in the litigation practice group. She will assist clients with contract and business tort disputes, and other general litigation matters.

Cameron Garrison (Col ’96) was elected to be the next managing partner of the Kansas City, Missouri, law firm Lathrop Gage. Mr. Garrison, who is the assistant chair of the firm’s intellectual property division, has been with the firm since 2002 and has served on the executive committee since 2014. He has experience in patent, trademark, false advertising, copyright and trade secret litigation in a range of industries. His tenure as managing partner begins Jan. 1, 2018.

Stephen Erickson (Col ’91 L/M) is the chief administrative officer & general counsel for Logix Fiber Networks, a fiber-optics telecom provider for small and mid-sized businesses in Texas and Oklahoma. Based in their Austin office, Stephen manages legal, HR and real estate matters. Previously he was general counsel & director of finance for Eye Corp Media.