“Other” Class Notes

Kari Miller (Educ ’07) was featured in an interview with CharlottesvilleFamily Magazine, in which she talks about International Neighbors, the Charlottesville-based non-profit she founded. International Neighbors works to help ease the transition to life in the Charlottesville community for immigrants and refugees.

Suzanne Goldlust (Col ’90 CM) competed on Jeopardy!, America’s Favorite Quiz Show, in June 2023. She won one game, winning $18,700. She also participated in the Champions Wildcard tournament in February 2024.

Justin Humphreys (Col ’01) has co-authored a new book, Salem’s Lot: Studies in the Horror Film (2nd Edition), published by Centipede Press. The book includes interviews with major figures of the 1979 Salem’s Lot miniseries, dozens of rare photographs, and discussions of various unused script materials.

Cathy Delligatti (Nurs ’75) is partially retired and working remotely. She spent her career as a chief nursing officer and an interim consultant in nursing and quality. She is using her retirement to quilt, garden, cook and visit her seven grandchildren. This year, she and her husband will celebrate 49 years of marriage.

Bruce Woodruff (Col ’64) played with professional tennis players Kim Clijsters, Leylah Fernandez, Jack Sock and Sam Querrey in the Bea for Kids Champions Challenge in Orlando. The charity tennis tournament raises funds for children with complex medical issues.

Adam Ruffin (Arch ’02), Katie MacNelly (Arch ’02), and Danny MacNelly (Arch ’02) are proud to have their practice ARCHITECTUREFIRM featured in “A South Forty: Contemporary Architecture and Design in the American South,” an exhibition at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., which celebrates contemporary architectural practices in the American South. Featuring over forty architecture firms, the exhibition examines how southern architects are responding to a diverse set of challenges, including natural disasters, rapid urbanization and changing cultural landscapes. The exhibition showcases innovation and functionality with a respect for the region’s heritage. Ruffin considers his time at UVA as being crucial to his understanding and love of southern architecture. “A South Forty” will be open to the public through 2026.

Ronnie Poff (SCPS ’12 CM) was initiated as the national president of Pi Sigma Epsilon (PSE), a co-ed business fraternity focused on professional development in sales, marketing and management. Poff is an associate professor at Virginia Tech.

Irwin Shur (Col ’80, Law ’83 CM) has just released his fourth solo album, “The Farther Away You Get, The Better I Look,” available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and other music streaming services. He continues practicing law but focuses on his passion for music.

Rich Scher (Res ’90) will release his debut album, Mill Pond, in March. Scher transitioned into the world of music after a successful career as a physician to channel his passion for storytelling, using it as his new medium of healing. He crafts gritty folk and Americana songs inspired by his observations and connections with the many people and places he’s encountered throughout his life.

Scher is a former professor of surgery at Duke University and head and neck cancer surgeon who trained in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at UVA. He is based in North Carolina.

Justin Ruth (Col ’97 CM) has been appointed as associate circuit judge in St. Louis County, Missouri, by Gov. Mike Kehoe.

Philip Whitman (Col ’04 CM) was raised to the sublime degree of master mason on Sept. 21, 2024 and currently is serving as junior deacon of Bremond Lodge #241 in Newport News, Virginia.

Ross Rommel (Col ’69 CM) is enjoying retirement in the Texas Hill Country after 30 years as a partner with the law firm Hunton Andrew Kurth in Houston. Rommel and his wife Deborah live on seven acres in Hunt, Texas, with 13 chickens, 70 peach trees, and an abundance of vegetables.

Rommel served as general counsel at Hunton Andrew Kurth for 12 years and as head of its trial division for seven years. In 2019, he received the University of Houston Law Center’s Lifetime Achievement in Advocacy Award, which honors an individual who contributed significantly to teaching the art of advocacy to law students.

Rommel was a prosecutor with the Harris County (Texas) District Attorney’s Office for seven years before joining Hunter Andrews Kirth. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a platoon sergeant before attending law school at the University of Houston Law Center.

Rommel wrote a book, Of Tight Lines and Cupped Wings, which recounts his adventures in the outdoors with family and friends. He’s currently taking voice and cello lessons at Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas.

More than 50 years after they won their race at the Head of the Charles Regatta, David Critchfield (Col ’74 CM), Sandy Harris (Col ’74, Darden ’76 CM), Lindsay Stewart (Col ’74), Thor Strong (Col ’74), and Trennie Walker (Col ’74 CM) competed again in the prestigious event in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In October 1972, the UVA rowers won the intermediate four-oared shells with coxswain division, beating second-place Harvard University by eight seconds. They returned in October 2024, rowing in the grand master fours division in a shell that their class donated to the Virginia Rowing Association, named in honor of a deceased member of their crew, Todd Tisdale (Col ’74 CM).

Anant Das (Com ’19 CM) is a co-producer of the U.S. national tour of the Broadway musical “A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical.” Das is also producing two shows on Broadway this season: “Gypsy”, with Audra McDonald; and Steven Spielberg’s “Smash.” Das recently celebrated the four-year anniversary of his theatre subscription box company, Broadway Boxed Up.

Stefan Sittig (Col ’94 CM) was recently nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for outstanding choreography for In The Heights at NextStop Theatre Company in Herndon, Virginia and a Broadway World Award for best direction and best choreography for Xanadu at Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia.

Sittig is a director, choreographer, fight director, intimacy and movement coordinator, educator, performer and podcast host who has been involved in more than 125 productions in New York (off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway), internationally in Brazil, Uruguay and Canada, and at various regional theaters across the U.S. He has also worked in most of the major theaters in the Washington, D.C. area including The Kennedy Center, Studio Theatre, Signature Theatre, Olney Theatre, 1st Stage, The Washington Savoyards, The Atlas Performing Arts Center, Adventure Theatre, Creative Cauldron, Open Circle Theatre, The American Century Theatre and many more.

He recently completed 30 years of teaching at the college/university level and is honored to have trained hundreds of theater students at various institutions including George Mason University, Virginia Commonwealth University, George Washington University, James Madison University and Georgetown University. He is currently writing a book titled Latinidad in Musical Theatre: From Carmen to Lin Manuel Miranda, to be published by Bloomsbury UK/Methuen Drama in August 2025.

Tomer Vandsburger (Col ’08) has been promoted to partner at Perkins Coie, a global law firm headquartered in Seattle. Vandsburger is a member of the business practice, with a focus on employee benefits and executive compensation. He advises clients with Employee Retirement Income Security Act, Internal Revenue Code, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, COBRA, and Affordable Care Act issues. He also counsels on employee benefits issues arising in mergers, acquisitions, and other corporate transactions.