“Job” Class Notes
Darleen Opfer (Educ ’97)
V. Darleen Opfer (Educ ’90, ’97 CM), vice president and director of RAND Education and Labor, was appointed to the board of directors for the Council for Aid to Education, Inc. (CAE). CAE is a nonprofit developer of assessments that measure students’ essential academic and career skills. Opfer leads a staff of more than 200 research experts who are focused on using evidence to improve schools for low-income and minority students. In addition to her role with RAND Education and Labor, Opfer holds the Distinguished Chair in Education Policy at RAND Corporation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that helps improve policy and decision making through research and analysis.
Howard Turner (Engr ’97)
Howard Turner (Engr ’97) was named North American Director of Energy Preconstruction Services for Trane Technologies. Turner and his team are responsible for conceiving, designing and ensuring the constructability of projects that enable clients to achieve their decarbonization and sustainability goals.
Paul Davis (Col ’97)
Paul Davis (Col ’97 CM) has created The Bank Slate, a website dedicated to news and perspectives for the financial services industry. The Bank Slate also has a weekly newsletter and contributes content to the American Bankers Association. Davis is also the Director of Market Intelligence at Strategic Resource Management, a consulting and advisory firm in Memphis, Tennessee.
Madeleine Fontana (Col ’17)
Madeleine McDonald (Col ’17 CM) was married to Anthony Fontana in 2021 and graduated from Mercer University’s Physician Assistant Program in 2022, receiving the faculty’s distinguished student award among other academic honors. Madeleine and Anthony live in Atlanta, Georgia, where she is employed as a physician assistant in an internal medicine practice.
Jonathan Havens (Col ’05)
Jonathan Havens (Col ’05 CM) was appointed managing partner of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP’s office in Baltimore, Maryland. As managing partner, Mr. Havens functions as the office’s chief executive. In his practice, Mr. Havens counsels clients on regulatory, compliance, enforcement and transactional matters related to products regulated by numerous federal and state agencies. Since 2019, he has been listed in Chambers USA for his nationwide cannabis law practice, and in 2021 he was named a Rising Star by Law360. In 2020, Mr. Havens was selected to serve on Law360’s inaugural Cannabis Editorial Advisory Board, and in 2018 he was named to the National Law Journal’s inaugural Cannabis Law Trailblazers list.
Brian Ball (Col ’73, Law ’76 CM)
Brian Ball (Col ’73, Law ’76 CM), former Secretary of Commerce and Trade of Virginia, has been named “of counsel” to Williams Mullen. Before serving as secretary, Ball was with the firm for almost 30 years, where he was a partner, served as general counsel and was a member of the firm’s board of directors. He will rejoin the Corporate Section to support and serve the firm’s Economic Development Team, where he will assist clients and their consultants with business expansion and related needs.
Thomas Taylor (Educ ’09)
Mayme Donohue (Col ’07 CM)
Mayme Beth F. Donohue (Col ’07 CM) has been promoted to counsel at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP. A member of the firm’s corporate team, Donohue counsels clients on securities law matters, capital markets transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance issues. She regularly answers complex securities law questions for both public and private companies and advises clients on reporting requirements under U.S. securities laws and Nasdaq and NYSE rules. She is also a leader of Hunton Andrews Kurth’s metaverse and blockchain working groups, and is associate editor of the firm’s Blockchain Legal Resource blog.
Leigh Anne Kelley (Col ’89)
Leigh Anne Kelley (Col ’89 CM) has been named director of communications for the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.
In her new role, Kelley will help shape and direct an integrated communication strategy for the institute, whose world-class research teams are working to better understand human health and develop innovative approaches to preventing, diagnosing, and treating disease.
Kelley brings 20 years of professional media experience to the institute’s communications team as a writer, editor, designer, and content manager for newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and digital media. She guided coverage of the commonwealth’s growing tech sector as managing editor of Virginia Business magazine and became a faculty member at Radford University in 2006.
Christine Hollins (Col ’91 CM)
Christine Hollins (Col ’91 CM) has been named chief development officer at the UVA Alumni Association. She serves as vice-chair of the Volunteer Board at The Fralin Museum of Art and lives in Charlottesville with her husband and daughter.
Andrew Joyner (Col ’97 CM)
Andrew William Joyner (Col ’97 CM) was named associate director of development at the UVA McIntire School of Commerce. Joyner spent the three previous years as assistant director of development at the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development. Andrew and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Crozet with their three children.
Fred Karnas (Arch ’71)
Fred Karnas (Arch ’71) recently completed a term as a senior policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Treasury. He was asked to join the leadership team focused on addressing evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic based on his career work as a deputy assistant secretary at HUD in the Clinton Administration, senior advisor to the HUD Secretary in the Obama Administration, and housing cabinet member for Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano. He has now returned to his leadership of the Mental Health Strategic Impact Initiative (S2i), a national entity focused on improving mental health policy and practice, and his work on behalf of the Richmond Memorial Health Foundation.
Eric Patashnik (Col ’87 CM)
Eric Patashnik (Col ’87 CM) has been appointed chair of Brown University’s Political Science Department.
Ann McCollum (Educ ’93)
Anne McCollum (Educ ’93) recently joined the Recreation Law Group, of Driggs, Idaho, opening a New Mexico office. The firm focuses on risk management consulting and recreation law. She worked in classroom and outdoor experiential education and risk management for schools, camps, and youth development programs, and has relied on the counseling skills gained at the UVA School of Education and Human Development during the past five years working as a criminal defense attorney. She graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2016. She has trekked and biked extensively in Nepal, Tibet, and the India Himalaya, as well as most recently in the Italian Dolomites.
Neva Bryan (Col ’89 CM)
Neva Bryan (Col ’89 CM) has been named Senior Director of Academic Enhancement and Coordinator of National Awards and Fellowships at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Previously she served as Director of Career Discovery and Planning at UVA Wise.
Michael Todd (Grad ’07 CM)
Michael Todd (Grad ’07 CM) has been named VP for Finance & Administration at Lehigh University. He most recently served as COO at Franklin & Marshall College.
Andrew Topps (Col ’93 CM)
Andrew Topps (Col ’93 CM) has been promoted to Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of the American Forest & Paper Association, effective September 1.
In his new role, Topps will be responsible for the association’s legal affairs and governance issues and providing overall direction of the association as a member of the senior leadership team. Topps joined AF&PA’s legal team in 2010 and currently serves as Deputy General Counsel.
During his time at AF&PA, he has helped formulate and implement the association’s approach to various issues, including antitrust compliance, key environmental issues, employment law, lobbying guidance and corporate compliance. In addition to his legal work, his facilitation of AF&PA’s Diversity Equity Inclusion & Belonging Team has enhanced the association’s respectful work environment and strengthened the organization.
David Thompson (Com ’01)
David Scott Thompson (Com ’01 CM) has announced that he is joining forces with Doug Rohan, another workers’ compensation attorney in Atlanta, to provide more resources to better serve their clients. Thompson, who has been in Atlanta since enrolling at Emory University School in 2001, will also be helping with marketing.
Erik Larsen (Engr ’90 CM)
Erik Larsen (Engr ’90 CM) started a new job as a proposal manager at Maxar Technologies – Assembly, Integration & Test Group. Previously, he was an engineering fellow at Bombardier Transportation/Alstom.
Jordan McElwain (Col ’14)
Jordan McElwain (Col ’14 CM) has taken on a new role as the first content marketing hire at Chapter, a Medicare Advisor with a simple commitment: it’s impossible to find a better Medicare recommendation or better support anywhere else. Chapter’s team and technology search every Medicare option nationwide at an unprecedented level of detail.
The company aligns with McElwain’s life goal of helping underserved populations.
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