“Job” Class Notes

Heather Wishart-Smith (Engr ’96, ’98) was elected to the board of directors of Orion Energy Systems, which provides energy efficiency and clean tech solutions, including LED lighting and electric vehicle charging. Wishart-Smith is also on the board of Group PMX, a private program and construction management company, and facilitates partnering sessions for large construction projects with GCC, LLC. Wishart-Smith was elected to the National Academy of Construction in 2022, and earned her National Academy of Corporate Directors Directorship Certification this year. She is a Fellow of the Society of American Military Engineers, for which she served as national President in 2020, and a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers. She lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband Keller Smith and children Glory, Nick, and Alexandra.

Anne E. McCall (Col ’81 CM) was named president of The College of Wooster, effective July 1, 2023. Her inauguration is scheduled for October 28, 2023.

An inspirational and values-driven administrator with a track record for building innovation through inclusive excellence, a dedicated teacher and mentor, and internationally recognized scholar of nineteenth-century French fiction and life writing, President McCall is the second woman to lead Wooster since its founding in 1866. She also is a tenured professor in the Department of French and Francophone Studies.

McCall previously was provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Xavier University of Louisiana—ranked fifth among Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the U.S. according to U.S. News & World Report and first among all institutions for the number of African American graduates completing medical school and multiple Ph.D. programs. 

Charles Siu (Com ’92, ’95 CM) is director of tax and accounting at Dynamic Facility Designs, LLC in Alexandria, Virginia.

Tara Wheeler Prather (COM ’90 CM) has started a new position as the alumnae engagement manager for Alpha Gamma Delta Fraternity, Inc. Based in Indianapolis, Alpha Gamma Delta is an international women’s fraternity and is part of the National Panhellenic Conference.  Prather works from her home in Valrico, Florida where she lives with her husband and son.

Gunes Hopson (Col ’97, Law ’01 CM) has started her own travel business, Luxe Travel by Gunes. She provides curated luxury travel planning services to her clients, taking care of all the details so that they can relax.

Daisy Stevens Rojas (Col ’09, Educ ’15) recently accepted a role at Charlottesville-based, Platt Financial, as a financial services professional. She works collaboratively with individual and corporate clients to create financial strategies bridging generational, cultural and professional challenges. Rojas also develops the branding and marketing strategies of the firm’s related content, research and initiatives. Before moving into this role, Rojas was vice president at a multi-state contracting firm managing contracts in locations such as the Homestead and Greenbrier resorts and other private communities in Central Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. and Maryland areas. Before that, Rojas worked in philanthropic pursuits garnering more than $20 million in support for the University of Virginia, education initiatives and various community service organizations. She also served as president of the Albemarle County Rotary Club during the 2022-2023 fiscal year and has over 20 years of financial services experience. She holds a Certified Fund Raising Executive designation and has acquired industry registrations with Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the State of Virginia with Annuity, Life & Health Insurance, SIE, Series 6, 63 and 65 exams. https://www.plattfinancial.com/

Devon Knudsen (Col ’05) is concluding a two-year secretariat position coordinating the U.S. government’s atrocity prevention efforts. She also led the multilateral atrocity prevention efforts of a group started by Samantha Power, who she first heard speak at UVA. Knudsen is grateful to have been entrusted with this responsibility and for the widespread support she received in this role.

Eric Solomon (Law ’78) former assistant secretary for tax policy at the U.S. Treasury, has joined Ivins, Phillips & Barker (IPB) firm as a partner in its Washington, DC office.

Solomon brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to IPB, having most recently served as a partner and then senior counsel at Steptoe & Johnson, where he focused on transactional tax, tax policy, and tax controversy issues. Previously, Solomon held the position of co-director of Ernst & Young’s national tax department. He also served in the Office of Tax Policy at the Treasury from 1999 to 2009 and at the IRS from 1990 to 1996.

He was assistant secretary for tax policy, the highest tax policy position in the Treasury, from 2006 to 2009. At the IRS, he headed the corporate tax division in the Office of Chief Counsel.

Kim Curtis (Col ’00 CM) has accepted a position as director of communications & outreach at Rare Book School at UVA. Rare Book School provides continuing education opportunities for students from all disciplines and skill levels to study the history of written, printed, and digital materials with leading scholars and professionals in the field.

Dr. Jill Garrett (Col ’01), a licensed psychologist with extensive specialty experience in perinatal mental health, has founded Motherhood Feels, a platform to share information and evidence-based strategies on maternal mental health for new, expectant and seasoned moms.

Dr. Garrett has over ten years of experience as a practicing psychologist, and is the founder of the maternal mental health service line at the hospital where she practices, as well as the founding psychologist and program director of a perinatal-specific day program for the same hospital system.

 Dr. Garrett created Motherhood Feels to support more moms and families in the pregnancy and postpartum period.

Motherhood Feels: Before Baby Boot Camp, is an online course designed to support moms to healthily cope in pregnancy and the postpartum period. 

Motherhood Feels: Hindsight is 20/20 is a podcast where Dr. Garrett engages with seasoned moms on their motherhood reflections to learn what they wish they had known ahead of mom life and how, in hindsight, they would have supported their “motherhood feels” differently. 

The Motherhood Space is the maternal mental health program at Baptist Medical Center in Jacksonville, Florida that Dr. Garrett founded.

Cheri Pridgen (Com ’83 CM) has recently accepted a position as General Manager with Curtis Media Group, the largest privately owned broadcast company in the state of North Carolina. Curtis Media Group owns and operates several radio stations in Raleigh and throughout the state of North Carolina, as well as providing Digital and Event Marketing services to their clients.