“Other” Class Notes

Mary Romani (Com ’01) and Christopher Romani (Com ’95, Grad ’96) are co-founders and senior executives of Integrity Management Consulting Inc., based out of McLean, Va. Integrity received the Virginia Vanguard Award for Highest Overall Growth and was named the fastest growing company in the Commonwealth of Virginia for 2013 by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. It was also named an Inc. hire power winner for job creation. The company provides major systems acquisition and program management support services to federal clients.

Christopher Romani (Com ’95, Grad ’96) and Mary Beth Laing Romani (Com ’01) are co-founders and senior executives of Integrity Management Consulting Inc., based out of McLean, Va. Integrity received the Virginia Vanguard Award for Highest Overall Growth and was named the fastest growing company in the Commonwealth of Virginia for 2013 by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. It was also named an Inc. hire power winner for job creation. The company provides major systems acquisition and program management support services to federal clients.

Steven Brown (Grad ’95, Grad ’98 CM) recently published John McKinley and the Antebellum Supreme Court: Circuit Riding in the Old Southwest with the University of Alabama Press. The book presents a portrait of U.S. Supreme Court Justice John McKinley, providing an analysis of McKinley’s time and place, his circuit work and the contributions he made to both American legal history and the state of Alabama. Mr. Brown is an associate professor of political science at Auburn University. His previous book Trumping Religion: The New Christian Right, the Free Speech Clause, and the Courts received the National Communication Association’s Franklyn S. Haiman Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Freedom of Expression in 2005.

Denise Fleming (Engr ’92 CM) was one of two executives recognized in 2012 by Women of Color in STEM for her career achievements. She was featured in the organization’s quarterly magazine and recognized at the awards gala and conference in Dallas. Ms. Fleming is currently the vice president of business technology and transformation at BAE Systems Inc. in Arlington, Va.

Terrence Graves (Law ’91) was inducted as a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers on March 2, 2013, at the ACTL meeting in Naples, Fla. Mr. Graves is a shareholder and group leader of the casualty and coverage litigation group at Sands Anderson in Richmond, Va.

Barry Tyler (Engr ’90 CM) has been named one of the 2013 “Faces of Technology” by Florida High Tech, the Florida High Tech Corridor Council’s annual magazine. The group recognized Mr. Tyler’s innovative work in the construction of high-power carbon dioxide and precision infrared optics and coding for the military, aerospace, medical and scientific industries. Mr. Tyler is the vice president of American Photonics in Sarasota, Fla.

Kurt Rozelsky (Col ’90 CM) was named a top attorney for 2013 by South Carolina Super Lawyers magazine. He is an attorney with Smith Moore Leatherwood in Greenville, S.C., where his practice focuses on personal injury litigation and product liability litigation.

Bob Tata (Law ’89) was recently recognized as the 2013 Intellectual Property Lawyer of the Year for the Tidewater area by Best Lawyers. He is a litigation partner in the Norfolk, Va.; and Washington, D.C., offices of Hunton & Williams. His daughter Carter Tata (Arch ’13 L/M) recently graduated from the University, and another daughter, Riley Tata (Col ’17), will begin her first year at the University this fall and will play field hockey for the Cavaliers.

Elizabeth Larus (Grad ’89) published Politics and Society in Contemporary China with Lynne Rienner Publishers. This is her second book. Ms. Larus is a professor of political science and international affairs at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va.

Jennifer Dotson (Grad ’89) has received the Journal of Modern Poetry Book Award for her manuscript, Clever Gretel, published by Chicago Poetry Press. Ms. Dotson, who leads creative writing and memoir classes for the continuing education program at Highland Park High School in Highland Park, Ill., is the founder and program coordinator for HighlandParkPoetry.org.

Lisa Tucker (Arch ’86, Arch ’90 CM) has received Virginia Tech’s 2013 Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching. Two faculty members each year are selected by the university’s academy of teaching excellence to receive the award. Ms. Tucker is an associate professor in the school of architecture and design in Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture and Urban Studies. A member of the Virginia Tech faculty since 2007, she was recognized for her dedication to teaching and service to the school and the profession. She is chair of the school’s interior design program, serving as the primary academic adviser for all of the program’s students, and currently serves as president of the Interior Design Educators Council.

David Havird (Grad ’86) published a book of poetry, Map Home, with Texas Review Press. In the book’s opening poem, a blind weaver, who is at once a grandmotherly Penelope and a Homeric bard, maps the reader home—home, as the concluding poem reveals, to the lowlands of the South. Mr. Havird lives in Shreveport, La., where he teaches 19th- and 20th-century British literature, Southern literature, poetry and creative writing at Centenary College of Louisiana. His poetry chapbook, Penelope’s Design, won the 2009 Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize.

Dorit Kressel (Col ’84) has been selected by njbiz.com for inclusion in its 2013 list of “New Jersey’s Best 50 Women in Business.” The list identifies New Jersey’s most dynamic and distinguished women based on their professional accomplishments, community involvement and advocacy for women. Ms. Kressel is an attorney in the public finance group of Wolff & Samson, where she serves as bond counsel in complex transactions at the state, county and local levels. She also serves as underwriter’s counsel, borrower’s counsel and trustee’s counsel in public finance matters.

Rochelle Cooper (Col ’84 CM) is senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of IAP Worldwide Services, headquartered in Cape Canaveral, Fla. IAP partners with commercial, military and humanitarian aid customers around the globe to support complex, mission-critical initiatives. Previously, Ms. Cooper served as vice president and general counsel of United Space Alliance.

Adrienne Bloss (Engr ’83 CM) has been named vice president for academic affairs at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va., effective July 8, 2013. Previously, Ms. Bloss served as associate dean for academic affairs and institutional relations at Roanoke College. At Roanoke, she focused her work on bringing visibility to academic endeavors at the college, developing a new collegewide honors program and expanding the national scholarship program. Prior to her service at Roanoke, she served on the faculty at Virginia Tech as a professor of computer science.

Mills Kelly (Col ’82 CM) has published a book, Teaching History in the Digital Age, with the University of Michigan Press. He is a professor of European history at George Mason University, teaching courses in historical pedagogy, digital humanities, human trafficking and modern East Central Europe. Mr. Kelly also serves as associate director of the Roy Rozenzweig Center for History and New Media, where he has been either co-director or principal investigator on three major website projects funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Two of these projects won the James Harvey Robinson Prize in 2007 from the American Historical Association.

Deborah Awai (Col ’81, Law ’84 CM) has been appointed assistant branch manager of the Los Angeles Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. She also serves as the group vice president responsible for Federal Reserve’s currency and coin processing operations in the western United States. Ms. Awai resides in Glendale, Calif., with her husband and their daughter.

Joseph Robinson (Col ’80 CM) has been selected as the Pennsylvania Big Brother of the Year by the Big Brothers Big Sisters State Association of Pennsylvania. He is an avid supporter and fundraiser for the service that matches adult mentors with at-risk children. Mr. Robinson and his “little,” short for little brother, were paired based on their interests in sports and have attended numerous Cavalier basketball games. Mr. Robinson is the executive director of the South Central PA Sickle Cell Council in Susquehanna Township, Pa.

Lawrence Jordan (Arch ’80 CM) recently retired after a 25-year career in investment banking, during which he assisted clients such as the cities of Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio, as well as the Dallas Cowboys, the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, the Port of Corpus Christi and the State of Texas. Mr. Jordan is spending his retirement traveling and volunteering, mentoring young adults, playing with patients at a children’s hospital, providing tax assistance to low-income families and transporting disabled veterans to the VA clinic. He also teaches writing to GED students. Last fall, he taught computing, English and mathematics at a junior high school in Hohoe, Ghana. Mr. Jordan and his wife, Jill, welcomed their first grandson on April 18, 2013.