“Job” Class Notes

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 (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) 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) 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) 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) 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

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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) 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.

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) 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.

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) 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.

Sharon E. Crane (Grad ’84) has joined Haynes and Boone, LLP as counsel in their Life Sciences practice group in Washington, D.C. Crane’s practice focuses on intellectual property matters in the biotech and pharmaceutical fields. She advises clients on drafting patents, challenging competitor patents and defending against infringement claims.

Robert Muckenfuss (Col ’93 CM) has been appointed as chair of McGuireWoods’ Financial Services and Securities Enforcement Department. Previously, Muckenfuss chaired the Commercial Litigation Department. He has over 20 years of experience representing financial institutions nationwide. 

Linda Lakhdhir (Col ’81 CM) has joined the NGO Climate Rights International as its legal director. CRI was founded in 2022 to focus on the intersection between climate change and human rights abuses, using on the ground research, detailed documentation and strategic advocacy to press for needed change. Lakhdhir previously served as Asia legal adviser for Human Rights Watch.

Juliana Yee (Col ’10 CM) has been promoted to partner at the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson.

Juliana focuses her practice on high-stakes disputes, including class actions, mass actions and trials in state and federal court and across a wide range of industries, including technology, entertainment, higher education and financial services. She helps companies navigate their most challenging and high-profile matters through all stages of litigation. Juliana also maintains an active pro bono practice focused on immigration matters and civil rights. She is committed to advancing diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and currently serves as the co-chair of the Development Committee of the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion.

Before joining the firm, Juliana clerked for Judge Vince Chhabria of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and Judge Jay Bybee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 2019, she completed a three-month fellowship as a volunteer assistant district attorney for the San Francisco District Attorneys’ Office, first-chairing four criminal jury trials to a verdict.

Jane E. Hardy (Col ’85) was recently named senior associate dean at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana.