“Job” Class Notes
Ashleigh Owens (Col ’06 CM)
Ashleigh J. Owens (Col ’06 CM) was named chief assistant district attorney of Richmond County, New York (Staten Island). She is the first woman to hold the position in the history of the county.
Michele Walsh (Col ’92 CM)
Michele Bresnick Walsh (Col ’92 CM) has been elected as chair and CEO of the law firm Gordon Feinblatt LLC, effective July 31, 2024.
Walsh is the first woman to occupy this role in the firm’s 71-year history. She began as an Associate at Gordon Feinblatt in 1997, as a business and securities lawyer. Over time, she has become an integral member of many of the firm’s practice groups, including forming the EMERGE practice group for emerging businesses. She currently chairs the firm’s Business and Securities practice groups, serves on the firm’s Executive Committee, and chairs the firm’s Finance Committee and Talent Acquisition Committee.
Walsh is also a tireless advocate in the community where she is involved in the leadership of many philanthropic organizations, including There Goes My Hero Foundation, Lawyers’ Campaign Against Hunger, Executive Alliance and many others. She relates to those looking to “seize the day,” and has done just that in her professional and personal life.
Ben Arthur (Col ’95)
Ben Arthur (Col ’95) is launching the sixth season of his podcast, SongWriter, in which an author reads a song and a songwriter performs a song written in response. Past seasons have featured artists such as Questlove, Susan Orlean, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Roxane Gay, Joyce Carol Oates, Steve Earle, and others. This season will focus on elements of human flourishing like forgiveness, polarization, and empathy. SongWriter is also available as a live performance series.
John Flagg (Col ’19 CM)
John “Jack” Flagg (Col ’19 CM) has joined the law firm of Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt, P.A. as an associate in the Tort & Insurance Litigation Department. He will handle insurance defense claims involving premises liability, automobile, and personal injury matters from the firm’s office in Fort Myers, Florida. Flagg is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law and a member of the Lee County (Fla.) Bar Association.
Issa Moe (Col ’03 CM)
Issa K. Moe (Col ’03 CM) has rejoined Moss & Barnett, a multi-disciplinary law firm with offices in Minneapolis and St. Cloud, Minnesota. Moe returns to the firm after serving as general counsel for ACA International, a trade association for the accounts receivable management industry. He focuses his practice on representing clients in litigation and providing counsel to clients on compliance, risk management, and general business matters. Moe advises clients on compliance with consumer financial laws and regulations, including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and Telephone Consumer Protection Act. He also represents clients in class action litigation and regulatory actions brought under those and similar financial laws and regulations.
Whitney Athayde (Col ’05)
Whitney Garrison Athayde (Col ’05 CM) has been promoted to managing consultant at AmPhil, where she helps mission-aligned nonprofits strengthen civil society by scaling their fundraising operations. She works from a farm just north of Charlottesville where she and her husband also homestead and homeschool their four children.
Kaitlyn Witman (Col ’12 CM)
Kaitlyn (Houck) Witman (Col ’12 CM) has been named co-CEO at Rainfactory, the company she co-founded in 2014. Rainfactory is a marketing agency for new technology product launches, crowdfunding, and pre-sales. She lives in Vienna, Virginia with husband Ben Witman (Engr ’12) and their three children.
Steven Fox (Engr ’81 CM)
Steven Fox (Engr ’81 CM) is co-founder and Luke Fox (Engr ’15 CM) manager of eViation and Drone Academy, which provides classroom, flight training, and hands-on experience focused on the emerging Unmanned Aviation Systems and electric “green technologies” aviation markets. Opened in January 2024, the Academy is located at Hampton Roads Executive Airport in Chesapeake, Virginia. Its mission is to prepare students for the FAA Part 107 UAS Operator examination and to also provide specialized drone training for select use cases.
The Academy has agreements in place with Old Dominion University, NASA, the Virginia Space Grant Consortium, Virginia Tech, Hampton University, Community College Workforce Alliance, school divisions in Virginia Beach and York County, Virginia, and New Horizons Regional Education Centers.
Justin Watkins (Col ’02 CM)
Justin Watkins (Col ’02 CM) has been promoted to major in the U.S. Army. Maj. Watkins currently serves as an appellate defense attorney at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He previously served in South Korea, Kentucky, Iraq, Germany, and Kuwait. Next year, he will attend the Army’s Judge Advocate Officer’s Graduate Course in Charlottesville for a Master of Laws (LL.M) in Military Law.
Nicole Gates (Col ’09)
Nicole Gates (Col ’09) has been promoted to Vice President, Legal, for Dr. Seuss Enterprises. Gates, who previously held the role of Senior Corporate Counsel, will manage the growing Dr. Seuss Enterprises legal team and, as a member of the executive leadership team, will provide strategic guidance on major corporate initiatives and a wide variety of operational matters.
Michael Palladino (Grad ’94)
Michael Palladino (Grad ’94) has been appointed provost and vice president for academic affairs at Stockton University in Galloway, New Jersey. Palladino currently serves as vice chancellor for academic affairs at Bloomfield College of Montclair State University. His appointment is effective May 6.
Stockton Announces Next Provost – News | Stockton University
Evan Rothschild (Com ’97 CM)
Evan Rothschild (Com ’97 CM) has become the newest Principal at Adero Partners, a wealth management firm with offices in the San Francisco area and in Portland, Oregon that caters to high-net-worth clients. As a Chartered Financial Analyst for over 24 years and a Certified Financial Planner, Rothschild excels in guiding thoughtful individuals and families through the intricacies of stock plan compensation, investments, estate planning, and personal risk management.
Rothschild previously worked as a financial adviser at Morgan Stanley, founder and portfolio manager at Morris Rothschild Capital, and senior equity analyst at The Boston Company and Delaware Investments. He lives in Redwood City, California with his wife Allyson.
Melanie Avery (Col ’99 CM)
Melanie Avery (Col ’99 CM) is leading a large data transformation and decision support team for BAE systems as Technical Program Manager for a cross-functional team of data scientists, software developers and business analysts in a data transformation and decision support division at DHS. She took on this role after serving at Veterans on the Rise, a 501(c)3 non-profit, for nine years while also working as a Management Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Paul Alp (Arch ’91)
Paul Alp (Arch ’91) has joined the law firm of Adams and Reese, where he serves as one of the co-leaders of the new Adams and Reese Aviation and Aerospace Team.
In addition to traditional matters for airlines and manufacturers, Alp focuses a substantial portion of his law practice on complex airworthiness, compliance and enforcement issues. He is an author of numerous articles on legal issues affecting the aviation and aerospace industry. He also holds a commercial pilot certificate and has worked as a flight instructor.
Arp received a J.D. from George Washington University and an LL.M. with a specialization in Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice from American University. He served as a partner at the law firm of Jenner & Block and as legal counsel at The Boeing Company.
Paul practices in the Washington, D.C. office.
Chase Overton (Com ’22)
Chase J. Overton (Com ’22) has joined Guidehouse, a global business consulting and services company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, as a data science consultant. Previously, he was a risk and compliance consultant with Protiviti.
Samuel Towell (Law ’05)
Sam Towell (Law ’05) has been elected by the Virginia General Assembly to one of three judgeships on the State Corporation Commission. The SCC is a constitutionally organized independent department of state government that regulates public utilities, insurance, state-chartered financial institutions, securities, retail franchising, and railroads.
Henry Legard (Com ’17 CM)
Henry Legard (Com ’17 CM) and Niel Ketkar (Engr ’19 CM) have founded Verisoul, a platform that identifies fake accounts and bots by using Artificial Intelligence to analyze email, network, device, and user behavior. The product prevents sign-up promotions from being abused, reduces cybersecurity risk, improves user experience, and more.
Legard and Ketktar have raised $3.25M from investors, and are always looking to connect with fellow ’Hoos – either customers or potential employees.
Jim Roche (Darden ’06 CM)
Jim Roche (Darden ’06 CM) has been named president, BRP and CEO, Underwriting, Capacity, & Technology Operations at Baldwin Risk Partners, one of the largest insurance brokers in the United States.
Roche has been at BRP since 2019, when he joined as part of the acquisition of Millennial Specialty Insurance (MSI), a firm which he founded in 2015.
Additionally, he has purchased a farm in Charlottesville near Foxfield to serve as a full-time residence upon retirement.
Jenny Burkett (Nurs ’97 CM)
Capt. Jenny Sigel Burkett (Nursing ’97 CM) assumed command of Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command, Camp Pendleton, California, on Aug. 4, 2023. She is the first Nurse Corps officer to command the hospital. She lives in Oceanside, California, with her husband C. Allen Burkett Jr., and children Emma, Lizbeth, and Clarence.
Steven Betz (Grad ’98)
Steven Betz (Grad ’98) has joined the University of Michigan-Dearborn as government relations director. In this role, he directs all university interactions with federal, state, and local officials.
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