“Job” Class Notes

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.