“Job” Class Notes

Matthew W. Hughey (Grad ’09) was recently promoted to full professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut. 

Michael H. Sampson (Col ’96) joined the law firm Leech Tishman as a partner in the litigation practice group and will serve as chair of the firm’s insurance coverage group and co-chair of the cannabis group. Sampson is based in Leech Tishman’s Pittsburgh office.

Jose Luis Alvarado (Educ ’01 L/M), who currently serves as founding dean and professor of the College of Education at California State University Monterey Bay was recently named the next provost and vice president of academic affairs at Cal State Los Angeles. Dean Alvarado will begin his new role during Summer 2020.

Sol Bermann (Grad ’92) is the chief information security officer and executive director of information assurance at the University of Michigan. Sol is responsible for the university’s information assurance program, including IT security, privacy and policy on several campuses. Sol was previously the director of international privacy at Walmart, and before that, the chief privacy officer for the state of Ohio.

Lawrence “Larry” Roberts (Col ’78 L/M) returned to Charlottesville in February 2020 when he was named the fifth director of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at UVA. Prior to joining Sorensen, Larry served in high level positions with two statewide elected officials and chaired five successful statewide political campaigns. In addition, he was a lawyer in private practice for more than 25 years—winning multiple awards for distinguished service and pro bono work —and founded the Federal Communications Bar Association Foundation, which has distributed millions of dollars in student scholarships and donations to nonprofit service organizations.

Jon McCullers (Col ’89) has been named senior executive associate dean of clinical affairs and chief operating officer of the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, Tennessee. He retains his roles as chair of pediatrics and pediatrician-in-chief at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.

Meghan Stahling Brodie (Col ’07 L/M) started The House Finch, a Richmond-based home organizing business. Her business focuses on helping young families get organized and implement systems to make their daily lives more efficient. She also helps clients purge, downsize and unpack into new spaces. Meghan lives in Richmond with her husband Kyle Brodie (Darden ’17) and their daughter. 

Gunes Hopson (Col ’97, Law ’01 L/M), an avid traveler and uber-planner, is now an independent travel advisor affiliated with MEI-Travel. She provides complimentary concierge-style travel planning services. Gunes continues to enjoy writing for her travel blog, fotogenictravel.com, and offers photography services through fotogenicrichmond.com. Additionally, she still practices law full-time as associate general counsel at Automattic Inc.

Henry N. Ware Jr. (Col ’77 L/M) was inducted as a fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation in January 2020. The VLF has provided over $26 million in grants to support projects throughout the commonwealth that facilitate access to justice, promote an appreciation and understanding of the rule of law, and provide law-related education in support of these ideals. Ware serves on the foundation’s board of directors and is chair of its committee on continuing legal education. He is a member of the Boyd-Graves Conference and his practice, Spotts Fain, in Richmond, Virginia, focuses on products liability/toxic tort defense and insurance coverage litigation. Ware and his wife, Marilynn, live in Manakin Sabot and their three sons, Henry, Shep (Col ’12, Engr ’15) and Robert live and work in Richmond.

Christy McMannen (Col ’02 L/M) recently became the first African American equity partner at Christovich and Kearney, a regional law firm in New Orleans. McMannen is a civil litigator whose areas of practice include premises liability, insurance defense, toxic torts and title insurance litigation. She previously served as in-house counsel at an oil and gas land services firm. She has lived in New Orleans since graduating from UVA, and she is married to Jim Dennard, with whom she has three children.