“Other” Class Notes

Richard Erickson (Grad ’71 CM) has been named 2013-14 commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 96 in Montgomery, Ala.

Steven Linas (Col ’70 CM) was appointed by then Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell to a four-year term beginning Dec. 6, 2013, as a doctor member of the Virginia State Board of Examiners in Optometry. Dr. Linas lives with his family in Richmond, Va., where he is a practicing partner with the Virginia Eye Institute.

Elizabeth McCrea (Educ ’69) has been named president of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, beginning her yearlong post on Jan. 1, 2014. Ms. McCrea has held multiple volunteer roles within ASHA and is an ASHA fellow. She is a clinical professor emerita of the department of speech and hearing services at Indiana University, where she was both a didactic and clinical educator and served as the director of the department’s R.L. Milisen Speech and Hearing Center for nearly a decade. She continues to work in the clinical education field in support of the externship program of Nova Southeastern University.

I have just published a fictional picture book for children who have lost someone important as a result of incomprehensible violence. Told from the point on view of a preschool child, it is based on the Twin Towers attacks on 9/11. The book has been praised by Helen Fitzgerald, author of “The Grieving Child,” and considered the foremost authority in the nation on childhood grief. The book is based on my work as a children’s grief counselor with Mrs. Fitzgerald for three age-specific groups. It is my hope to get the book into the hands of any child who may need it; there seem to be any number of uses for it when we see some mass shooting that affects child survivors in the news every few weeks in this nation. Please let me know if you would like a press release or review copy. A book trailer may be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljDLZmyN3XE. Thank you.

Lionel Rowe (Educ ’56 CM) and his grandson, Charley Rowe, competed in the 2013 United States Tennis Association’s Grandfather and Grandson Hard Court Doubles tournament in held at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club in La Jolla, California. Attaining the final round, they received silver trays. They competed in the finals and received silver trays. Mr. Rowe competed in the 2012 tournament with Charley’s twin, Billy, and the pair won the title. Each year, Mr. Rowe alternates between the twins as partners.

Shannon Van Vleet Patterson (College 1999) and Timothy R. Patterson (College 1999) welcomed a son, Thomas Joseph, on December 4, 2013. Thomas joins his big brother, William James, who was born April 1, 2011. The family lives in Moseley, Virginia.

David Storm (Col ’91 CM) and his wife, Audrey, welcomed a son, Alexander, on Nov. 29, 2013. Alexander joins big brother Zachary. The family resides in Charlottesville, where Mr. Storm is an analyst at LexisNexis and a partner in The Wine Guild of Charlottesville and Mrs. Storm is the senior project manager at Artisan Construction.

Jason Maras (Com ’01 CM) and his wife, Maria, welcomed a daughter, Violet Anne, on June 18, 2013. Violet joins big sister Eleanor, 3. The family resides in Chicago.

Phillip Neuberg (Arch ’81 CM) delivered an illustrated presentation on the 20-year Bethesda, Md., campus master plan for the National Institutes of Health during DesignDC, the American Institute of Architects’ Washington chapter’s annual meeting, in September 2013; he gave the presentation again in January 2014 at the AIA Washington chapter’s public architect’s committee meeting. He also presented on the Bethesda campus historic preservation program at ArchEx2013, the Virginia Society AIA annual meeting, in November 2013. Mr. Neuberg is the facilities planning and programming branch chief at the NIH, where he also serves as the agency’s designated federal preservation officer.

Matthew Diehl (Col ’08 CM) and Elizabeth Manley Diehl (Col ’10) welcomed their first daugher, Reagan Jane, on Sept. 25, 2013. Reagan was delivered by Dr. David Berry (Col ’83).

Judy Coutts (Arch ’79) received a Best of Houzz 2014 award for customer satisfaction from Houzz, an online platform for home remodeling and design. Ms. Coutts, an architect in Altoona, Pa., was selected for the award by the Houzz community.

Melanie Fabiyi (Col ’97 CM) and her husband, Segun, welcomed their first child, Arrington Olamide, on Jan. 23, 2014. Arrington is the niece of Tony Covington (Col ’90). The family resides in West Orange, N.J., where Ms. Fabiyi is a marketing manager with EMC Corp. and Mr. Fabiyi is a client account manager with JP Morgan.

Steve Clark (Col ’86, Law ’89 CM) is assistant vice chancellor for university development at North Carolina State University. Previously, he had worked for 19 years in university development at Virginia Tech. Mr. Clark is currently serving a three-year term on the national board of directors of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning, an organization that promotes education and best practices in charitable gift planning.

Matthew Stadler (Engr ’07) received a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of California, San Diego, in September 2013. He is currently conducting postdoctoral research at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, where his research focuses on the aerodynamics problem of developing a better description of turbulence that could result in more efficient airplane designs.