“Other” Class Notes

Caroline Dundervill (Educ ’20 CM) graduated from the West Virginia School of Medicine in May 2025. Dundervill is currently a first year OB/GYN resident at the University of Kentucky.

Pamela Schmid (Col ’87 CM) has announced the creation of a study-abroad scholarship in honor of her late sister, Patti Schmid (Col ’89 CM).

Patti spent the 1987-88 academic year at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and her time there sparked a lifelong desire to make a difference in the world. In 1994, after graduating with a B.A. in history, she traveled to a remote village in Namibia to work as a volunteer English teacher. Tragically, after two years there and only days before her expected return home, Patti contracted a severe case of Hepatitis A. She passed away on Dec. 17, 1995, at age 28.

The Patti Schmid Scholarship (PSS) is the first named inbound study-abroad scholarship in St. Andrews’ 700-year history. The effort was sparked by family and friends from Patti’s days at UVA and St. Andrews. As of late February, more than $87,000 of the $145,000 needed to endow the scholarship has been raised.

The PSS offers financial support to students pursuing a semester or academic year study-abroad opportunity at St. Andrews. Based on financial need, the scholarship honors the unique qualities that exemplified Patti’s life, including curiosity, zest for life, love of learning, and desire for cultural understanding.

Olivia J. (Kiers) Stone (Col ’12) announces her exhibition, A Weather Eye: Art and Early Modern Meteorology, at the Worcester Art Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts, which will run from March 28 to June 28, 2026. As assistant curator of prints, drawings, and photographs, Stone gathered more than forty prints, including maps, graphic satires and more, to chart the dramatic scientific and societal shifts in Europe and America’s collective understanding of weather from the 16th to early 19th centuries. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue she co-edited with curator of contemporary art Samantha Cataldo, titled Facing the Elements: Visualizing Weather Then, Climate Now (Hirmer Verlag, distributed by the University of Chicago Press).

Michaela Barnett (Engr ’22) is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Tennessee’s 2nd Congressional District. A Democrat, she is competing for the longest continuously held Republican seat in the country. She previously completed an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellowship in science and technology policy in Congress in 2025.

Cynthia Alam (Col ’19 CM) recently facilitated an executive presence workshop for senior leaders at Microsoft through her company, PRSNCE Command. During the workshop, she guided participants in building composure, clarity and influence in high-pressure situations, skills that drive stronger leadership and more effective decision-making. PRSNCE Command helps leaders and teams translate executive presence into measurable impact in any high-stakes environment.

Laura Thigpen (Nurs ’68 CM) traveled to Antarctica in December. She takes her UVA spirit with her wherever she goes, including Antarctica!

Laurin (Goff) Malatich (Arch ’96 CM) launched new branding and website for her interior architecture and design studio, Malatich Cochran Design, that she shares with business partner, Beth Cochran. Malatich Cochran Design is in their seventh year of business and focuses on luxury residential design in and around Charleston, South Carolina.

Malatich has thirty years of project design and management experience ranging from high-end interior residential and boutique retail to large-scale hospitality projects. Her previous employers include LS3P, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Robert D. Henry Architects, Gabellini Sheppard Associates, J.P. Molyneux Studio, Loews Hotels and Camens Architectural Group. Highlighted projects with Gabellini Sheppard Associates in New York City include the award-winning Rainbow Room and Bar SixtyFive landmark renovation at 30 Rockefeller Center, ARIA hotel retail development in Las Vegas, award-winning Top of the Rock renovation at 30 Rockefeller Center and the Vera Wang Collection retail concept. Malatich lives in Charleston with her husband, Matt.

John Cooney (Col ’21) won his UVA friend group’s Fantasy Football competition, dubbed the Valley Fantasy Football League. The Valley Fantasy Football League members lived together on Valley Road during their time at UVA, and remained connected through the friendly competition.

William Lawson (Darden ’72) and Catherine Wood Lawson will celebrate their 48th wedding anniversary in 2026. Mr. Lawson is retired from Eli Lilly. The couple spends summers at their lake cottage on Lake Charlevoix, Michigan. In the winter, they spend time in Saint Barthélemy, Sarasota, Florida and Rosemary Beach, Florida. They fly fish in the western North Carolina mountains in the fall and spend several weeks in Europe in the spring shoulder season.

Lawson keeps in touch with fellow alumni Marc Christman (Darden ’72 CM), who is recently fully retired and is living in Chicago with his wife, Deirdre; Byron Donics (Darden ’72), who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, raising horses with his wife, Debby; David Vondle (Darden ’72) and his wife Debbie, who are residents of Grand Cayman and recently completed a multi year build of a beautiful beach front home in Cayman Kai; and Larry Killgallon (Darden ’72), who is celebrating 50 years of marriage with his wife, Debbie. The Killgallons live in Bryan, Ohio, and frequently travel the world and visit family in various parts of the southern U. S.

Ron Culberson (Col ’83 CM) produced Pep Banned, directed by Chris Farina (Col ’82) and Bill Reifenberger, which premiered to a sold-out crowd at the Virginia Film Festival in October 2025. The film depicts the creation, the humor and the ultimate demise of the UVA Pep Band, which performed from 1974 to 2003.

Craig W. Sampson (Col ’90, Law ’93 CM) has been named a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, a national organization of leading family law practitioners who are recognized by the bench and bar for their knowledge, skill and integrity. Sampson is president of Barnes & Diehl in Richmond, Virginia, and is a co-author of legal treatise Virginia Practice – Family Law: Theory, Practice and Forms (2025 edition).

William Gerstmyer (Arch ’79, ’83 CM) has been sailing from Maine to the Caribbean. He is currently in Ocean City, Maryland. This is his sixth round trip from Maine, where he spends his summers.

Bob Johnson (Col ’77 CM) released a new EP, Purer Eyes: The Songs of Bungalow Stokes, now on Spotify, YouTube, Deezer and Apple Music. The first track is about a painting on a wall in a Lambeth apartment in 1977; the artist was Asher Roth (Col ’77), whose art also adorned Newcomb Hall’s Pavilion XI for several years.

David Meredith (Com ’03) and his wife, Jamie, ran the 2025 Boston Marathon to raise money for The Children’s Room, a nonprofit organization that provides caring grief support for children, teens and families. Their team raised over $20,000 for the organization.

John Peebles (Col ’82 CM) has started an organization, food4nj.org, to provide groceries and grocery store gift cards to families visiting their loved ones detained at the Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey. The organization welcomes donations as well as volunteers to help at Delaney Hall during weekends and Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

Charles M. Bryant (Col ’67 CM) co-founded Spangler Bryant, a company dedicated to originating and producing Broadway shows and movies. His co-founder, David Spangler, is a composer of Broadway musicals, including Hard Road to Heaven, which premiered at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Connecticut, in March to standing ovations. The new company has also optioned a book by Stefani Moore, Last Dance in Paradise, which is in pre-production for a shoot in New Hope in the late spring. Along with running Spangler Bryant, Bryant is a practicing interior designer based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Will Overman (Col ’17) releases his second record, Stranger, September 26, and will tour Virginia with the band Holy Roller in November, making stops in Roanoke, Harrisonburg, Norfolk and Charlottesville. Singles on the album include “Virginia is for Lovers,” “Held Up by a Woman” and “Landlocked Heart.” Much of his record was inspired by and written in Virginia during a tumultuous time in his life. Overman, a working singer-songwriter, is currently based in Nashville, but he grew up in Virginia Beach and spent many years in Charlottesville, giving him a lifelong love of both Virginia’s coastlines and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Jena Crisler (Col ’86) is running for the Virginia House of Delegates, District 35. She is campaigning against assaults on civil rights, the repeals of women’s rights to bodily autonomy, the lack of due process, and budget cuts designed to eliminate basic health care. Crisler has a 25-year career as an internal medicine physician and seeks to use her experience and knowledge of the inner workings of the healthcare landscape to make a difference. She has been endorsed by the Virginia Democratic Women’s Caucus and the Democratic Party of Virginia Rural Caucus. Virginia District 35 includes large swaths of Augusta County and Rockingham County, as well as parts of Bath County and Highland County.

Peter M. Page Jr. (Col ’88 CM) and his daughter, Anne Page (Col ’17, Darden ’23 CM) celebrated their 60th and 30th birthdays at Grand Teton summit August 10. Joining them were fellow ‘Hoos Lyons Brown (Col ’82, Darden ’87 CM), Kayde Schwabacher (Col ’19 CM), Emma Whelan Page (Grad ’22, ’26), John Hughes Page (Col ’20), Valerie Newton Page (Col ’88 CM) and Turner Bredrup (Col ’88, Darden ’94 CM).

Thornton Staples (Engr ’80) had his composition, “Symphony #1, in F major,” performed by the American Contemporary Classical Orchestra at the Miracle Theater in Washington, D.C., on May 22, 2025.

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.

Joan Burcher Green (Educ ’62 CM) reports that her son, Chad Green, was elected to the Virginia General Assembly, House of Delegates, in 2023. Green serves the 69^th District.

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.

Jack Totty (Col ’17 CM) is founder and CEO of Antigua Threads, a company on a mission to bring high quality, artisan-made belts to market while supporting local communities in Guatemala with fair wages and skilled jobs.

The company’s belts are handcrafted using traditional Mayan weaving techniques and finished with premium materials, a process that produces meaningful, sustainable fashion and empowers artisans.

More information is available at https://antiguathreads.com.

Chuck Ross (Engr ’80, ’83, ’88 CM) recently had the honor of officiating the wedding of his former research student and close friend Garrett Josemans. The wedding of Josemans and his bride Taylor Krause was televised on Season 7 of the popular Netflix show “Love is Blind.” Ross is professor of physics and dean emeritus at Longwood University.

Capt. Marvin Heinze (Arch ’79 CM) has been selected to serve as first vice chairman of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA). The association is an independent, nonprofit, politically nonpartisan organization with 360,000 members from every branch of uniformed service — active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired, former officers, and surviving spouses. MOAA advocates for a strong national defense, plays an active role in military personnel matters and proposes legislation affecting the career force, the retired community, and veterans of the uniformed services.  It also provides career transition assistance, military benefits counseling, and educational assistance to children of military families through its charities. Heinze is serving a six-year term, from 2020 to 2026.