“Other” Class Notes

Louis Fierro (Col ’01 CM) and Maura McEwan Fierro (Engr ’08, ’10 L/M) welcomed their second child, Anthony Joseph, on Feb. 14, 2014. Anthony and big sister Anne Rosaleen, 2, are the grandchildren of Anthony Fierro (Col ’73, Med ’76 L/M). The family resides in Richmond, Va.

Bi-Lie Zhao (Col ’00) is a software engineer with IEX Group Inc., a startup stock market that was recently profiled on 60 Minutes and is one of the subjects of author Michael Lewis’ new book, Flash Boys.

Sarath Ravella (Engr ’00 CM) and Soumya Sathya (Col ’00, Educ ’06 L/M) welcomed a daughter, Asha Sathya Ravella, on July 5, 2013. Asha joins big brother Khush. The family resides in Fairfax, Va.

Stacy Nyikos (Grad ’00) has published Toby, a children’s book about the adventures of a curious sea turtle. Toby is the fourth book in Ms. Nyikos’ aquatic series for Stonehorse Publishing; other titles include Squirt, Shelby and Dizzy.

Catina Hadijski (Col ’00 CM) and her husband, George, welcomed their first child, a daughter, Caroline, on March 7, 2014. The family resides in Falls Church, Va.

Kimberly Curtis (Col ’00 CM) and Bruce Alan Vlk were married on May 3, 2014, in Charlottesville, where Ms. Curtis works for the Miller Center of Public Affairs and Mr. Vlk works at the Darden School of Business.

John Kraljevich (Col ’99 CM) and Megan Brogan were married on Nov. 30, 2013, in Awendaw, S.C. Ms. Kraljevich is an emergency room nurse and Mr. Kraljevich is the proprietor of John Kraljevich Americana, a rare coin and medal firm. The couple resides in Fort Mill, S.C., with Ms. Kraljevich’s sons, Andrew, 12; and Riley, 7.

Benjamin Tisdell (Com ’97 CM) and Alexis Siggers (Col ’99 L/M) welcomed identical twin sons, Henry Brennan and Jack Woodward, on March 26, 2014. Henry and Jack join big sister Nora Joan, 2. The family resides in Hong Kong.

Kimberly Steger (Arch ’97 CM) and Carl Meritt Steger (Col ’95) welcomed a daughter, Campbell Molina, on Sept. 12, 2013. Campbell joins big sister Reagan Meritt, 4. The family resides in Fairfax, Va.

Andrew Joyner (Col ’97 CM) and his wife, Elizabeth, welcomed a son, Thomas Henry, on Feb. 27, 2014. Thomas is the grandson of William H. Joyner Jr. (Engr ’68 L/M) and the nephew of John T.R. Terry (Grad ’10, ’14). The Joyners reside in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Kendra Dunn (Col ’97 CM) and her husband, Jason Kaiser, welcomed a son, Braden Jackson Kaiser, on Nov. 18, 2012. Braden is the nephew of Ryan Dunn (Col ’01 L/M) and Leigh Rodes Dunn (Col ’02 L/M). The family resides in Charlottesville, where Ms. Dunn is the marketing director for Stonehaus.

Jenny Burkett (Nurs ’97 CM) and her husband, Allen, welcomed twins Lizbeth Jane and Clarence Allen Burkett III, on Jan. 22, 2014. Lizbeth and Clarence join big sister Emma Faye, 2. The Burketts live in Chesapeake, Va., where Cmdr. Jenny Burkett is the department head of critical care at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.

Holly Watkins (Col ’94, Grad ’96) has received a 2014-15 American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship to support work on her upcoming book, Echoes of the Nonhuman: Organicism, Biology, and Musical Aesthetics from the Enlightenment to the Present. The book explores why 19th-century writers on music tended to compare music to the growth of plants or to other aspects of the nonhuman world. Ms. Watkins is an associate professor of musicology at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music.

Matthew Homan (Col ’94 CM) was promoted to partner at Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice in January 2014. A corporate attorney in the firm’s Charlotte, N.C., office, he has international mergers and acquisitions experience, as well as experience in joint ventures and corporate governance matters.

Martha Whitney (Arch ’92) was promoted to associate at Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects in San Francisco. In her eight years with the firm, she has contributed to many of the firm’s mission-driven projects. She is currently the project manager for Rene Cazenave Apartments, supportive housing for chronically homeless individuals in San Francisco’s Transbay neighborhood; and for 474 Natoma, affordable family housing in the South of Market neighborhood.

Robert Saunders (Law ’87) has been named a 2014 Lawyer of the Year for nonprofit and charities law by Best Lawyers in America. Mr. Saunders is a partner in the Greensboro, N.C., office of Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard, where his practice focuses on tax-exempt organizations, tax-exempt financing and state and local tax planning. He is also an adjunct professor of nonprofit law at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and serves as vice chairman for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce and as vice chair of the Carrboro Economic Sustainability Commission.

Brian Matney (Col ’87 CM) was named the 2014 Virginia Student Councils Association Administrator of the Year. Mr. Matney, the principal of Landstown High School Governor’s STEM and Technology Academy, resides in Virginia Beach with his wife, Kathryn; and their two sons, Will and J.T.

Carol Cox (Col ’87) is senior vice president of external relations at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in San Diego. In this role, she is responsible for Sanford-Burnham’s external and internal communications, philanthropy, marketing and government relations functions. Previously, she served as senior vice president of external affairs and corporate communications at Life Technologies. An avid cyclist, she participated in the 2013 Pedal the Cause, San Diego, to raise money for research at San Diego-area cancer centers designated such by the National Cancer Institute.

Jeffrey Ayres (Col ’87 CM) has been appointed dean of the college at St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt. Mr. Ayres has been a faculty member of the department of political science since 1998 and has served as department chair since 2006. His latest book, Globalization and Food Sovereignty: Global and Local Change in the New Politics of Food, was recently published by the University of Toronto Press.

Heather Reid (Col ’86) received the 2014-15 National Endowment for the Humanities Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Post-Doctoral Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome. She is currently a professor in and chair of the department of philosophy at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa.

Ellen McBride (Col ’83 CM) has been elected chief of the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad. She is the first female squad commander in 31 years and only the second in the squad’s 62-year history. Ms. McBride was also named Public Safety Volunteer of the Year by the Cape Henry Rotary Club. She lives with her husband in Virginia Beach, where she is a creative director, writer and producer for an ad agency in nearby Hampton, Va.

Bob Kolvoord (Col ’83, Engr ’85 CM) was named founding dean of the College of Integrated Science and Engineering at James Madison University.

David Hertz (Col ’83 CM) was promoted to managing director of Dix & Eaton, an integrated communications and public relations consultancy, where he also serves on the firm’s leadership committee. Mr. Hertz is a former journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning editor at the Akron Beacon Journal.

Christopher Cole (Col ’83 CM) was named director of threat intervention services at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The appointment follows his retirement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where he served as a special agent for 26 years. He is married to Kerry Miller Cole (Col ’85 L/M) and is the son of Frederick P. Cole (Engr ’50 L/M).

Edward MacMahon (Col ’82) has been inducted as a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has a solo practice in Middleburg, Va.; and Washington, D.C., specializing in complex criminal and civil cases in state and federal court, including national security cases.

Paul Donnelly (Col ’78 CM) and Frank Yuan Wong were married on March 14, 2014 in Washington, D.C. The couple resides in Decatur, Ga.

Margaret Nichols (Educ ’77, Educ ’78) has received the Special Education Citizens’ Advisory Committee STAR Award in recognition of her work with special education students in Anne Arundel County, Md. Ms. Nichols resides in Annapolis, Md., where she is a speech-language pathologist in the Anne Arundel County school system.

Dean Hasseman (Darden ’78, Law ’71 CM) has retired after a 42-year career as an attorney serving all aspects of the downstream business of the oil industry. Most recently, he was general counsel and chief compliance officer of Citgo Petroleum Corp., where he worked for 23 years. Before joining Citgo, he worked for Sun Oil Company (Sunoco) and Williams Pipeline Company.

Robert Centor (Col ’71 CM) has been named the 2014-2015 chair of the board of regents of the American College of Physicians. He has been a member of ACP since 1978, a fellow of ACP since 1985 and a member of the board of regents since 2008. Dr. Centor is currently a professor of medicine and regional dean of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Huntsville Regional Medical Campus. Previously, he held numerous positions at the Medical College of Virginia. He is a reviewer for several medical journals and his areas of interest include the diagnosis and treatment of adult pharyngitis, and the clinical diagnostic process.

Steven Platt (Col ’69 CM) retired as a full-time judge of the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, Md., in January 2007. He is now a founding member, CEO, a mediator, arbitrator, neutral case evaluator and consultant with The Platt Group. Judge Platt also writes a regular blog column, “A Pursuit of Justice,” for the Maryland Daily Record, a business and legal newspaper published in Baltimore.

Joseph Maiolo (Grad ’68) has retired after a 44-year career teaching college writing. For the last 38 years, he has taught fiction writing and literature at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. In honor of his retirement, the UMD College of Liberal Arts has established the Julie & Joseph Maiolo fund to assist deserving students in creative endeavors. Colder by the Lake, the comedy theater company of Duluth, celebrated Mr. Maiolo’s retirement with a May 15, 2014, performance of Mr. Maiolo’s radio-stage play, The Error of the Rings.

Robert Buerlein (Com ’68 CM) was elected to serve another term on the board of the U.S. Marine Raider Foundation. A co-founder of the U.S. Marine Raider Museum, located in Raider Hall at Quantico Marine Corps Base, Mr. Buerlein also serves on the museum’s historical preservation committee. He continues to serve on the executive committee of the board of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Va.

Scott Kellermann (Col ’67 CM) was named one of 51 Unsung Heroes of Compassion 2014 by Wisdom in Action, a California Bay Area nonprofit organization. At the awards luncheon event, Dr. Kellermann was acknowledged and thanked by the Dalai Lama for his role as a medical missionary to the Batwa pygmies and other tribal groups in southwest Uganda. He was also instrumental in founding Bwindi Community Hospital and the Uganda Nursing School Bwindi. Dr. Kellermann’s work has been supported by the Kellermann Foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization based in Richardson, Texas.