“Retirement” Class Notes

Peter DiGiacinto (Engr ’81) retired as head of global research and development with a major chemical company after 45 years in the industry. Starting in process design with Ethyl Corporation, DiGiacinto went on to become a leading expert in Linear Alpha Olefin technology, helping design and commission several world scale units. During his career, he held several upper-level positions including technology manager, project general manager, and site manager with companies including Albemarle Corporation, Amoco, BP Chemicals, and Ineos. In retirement, DiGiacinto intends to pursue his love of mountain biking in northwestern Arkansas.

Teri Lovelace (Col ’82 CM) retired in 2020 as founder and president of Locus Impact Investing, a community-driven consulting and investment advising firm. Since then, she’s managed her father’s herd of 140 black angus cattle at Wallace Gap Farm in Madison, Virginia. The farm sells all-natural, pasture-raised beef direct to consumers.

Christopher D. Stanley (Com ’76) retired in 2022 after 30 years as a professor and author focusing on the social and religious world of early Christianity and Judaism. In addition to his academic publications, he recently released the final volume of his historical fiction trilogy, A Slave’s Story. He and his wife, Laurel Stanley (Nurs ’77), live in Southern California.

Walter (Casey) King (Engr ’89) retired after 31 years as physics professor at Horry-Georgetown Technical College (HGTC) in Conway, South Carolina. In addition, Casey ended the HGTC Addiction and Recovery Lecture Series after 20 successful years of bringing the message of recovery to college campus with such notable celebrity speakers as Craig T. Nelson, Danny Trejo, Meredith Baxter and many others over the years.

Barry Maine (Col ’74 CM) has retired after forty-four years as a professor of American literature at Wake Forest University. He credits the UVA English Department for inspiring his love of literature and literary scholarship.

Sean “Ed” Patterson (Col ’73) retired from a 43-year career as a clinical development scientist. He served on teams at Fortune 50 companies that gained FDA approval for a number of improved treatments for patients with rare diseases. During his career, he published 11 papers in peer-reviewed medical journals. He currently resides in Cape Coral, Florida, playing pickleball, practicing bass guitar, reading fiction, staying fit and volunteering for community service.

Michael Viscount (Col ’75 CM) retired in April 2024 after 43 years as an attorney in private practice, primarily in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He now lives in Linwood, New Jersey, near the Jersey Shore, and is using his retirement to relax at the beach, play golf, travel and spend time with his family, which includes two sons and two grandsons.

Andy Claybrook (Com ’78 CM) retired in December from 45 years of service as a CPA, the last 28 years of which he spent as a self-employed personal financial specialist (PFS) and certified financial planner (CFP). He has lived in Franklin, Tennessee, since 1982. He and his wife, Rene, have eight grandchildren, all boys. He and Rene are looking forward to spending more time with them, traveling and relaxing.

Jane Everson (Educ ’80, ’83 CM) has retired from a long career in academia. In retirement, she has been elected to a position on her local school board and has published a non-fiction book exploring the lives of women who have influenced her life, titled Everyday Women, Extraordinary Wisdom.

Peter Barres (Col ’58 CM) has retired after a fulfilling career teaching at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut, and tutoring students in math. He is spending his retirement building tiny houses and growing lima beans, tomatoes, butternut squash and string beans in his garden.

Randy Stephens (Arch ’86 CM) retired from a fulfilling, 40-year career in architecture. His career began with WRT, a Philadelphia-based, multi-discipline firm responsible for the design of the Atlantic City Convention Center and Rail Terminal. After 15 years in private practice, he transitioned to higher education, serving as campus planner and project manager for Miami University, and then as university architect for Montana State University. Stephens concluded his career as planning manager for the state of Montana, preparing the portfolio of capital projects for the governor’s budget. Along the way, Stephens was a visiting instructor at Miami University, was named honorary Coach of the Week by the late football coach Terry Hoeppner, and presented at national and regional meetings for the American Institute of Architects and the Society for Collegiate and University Planning. His plans for retirement are to stay connected, to explore, to learn and to serve, including being an A-School alumni mentor this year! Stephens and his wife, Barb, live with their two dogs in Jefferson City, Montana, where he has spent much of his free time hiking and catch-and-release fishing for trout.

Desmond Cormier (Col ’73) has retired from a 26-year career as an art teacher in Charlottesville City Schools. He and his wife are spending their retirement raising sheep, chickens and bees on their farm in Keswick, Virginia. Along with working on the farm, he is also working on a children’s book and teaching at the Center at Belvedere, a senior community in Charlottesville. Last year, he published a memoir, My Summer Vacation on the Cambodian Border, which explores his years as an adolescent in Vietnam.

Jeff Clements (Col ’81 CM) recently retired from a 42 year career in local and state government.

He was inspired to pursue a career in public service due to a college spring break internship with then-city manager Cole Hendrix, an opportunity arranged by Professor Larry Sabato. Following graduation from UVA, he earned his Master of Public Administration from the University of South Carolina. He moved to Jacksonville, Florida with his wife, Lee Ann Jerome Clements (Col ’81 CM). He took a position in the Jacksonville City Council Research Division, serving in that division for 36 years and rising to chief of research. He was elected president of the Jacksonville and Columbia, South Carolina chapters of the American Society for Public Administration.

He is spending his retirement singing in choirs and choruses, staying active in the UVA Club of Jacksonville, and serving as a member of the Advisory Board of the College of Fine Arts and Humanities at Jacksonville University.

Dr. Richard Katholi (Med ’68 CM) has retired from the practice of medicine.  Over 56 years he trained in internal medicine, took care of troops in Vietnam for a year when in the United States Air Force, and then trained in and practiced cardiology. Over those years he published 167 research and review articles.

Jim Thunder (Grad ’74) retired from law in 2022.  Thunder has nearly 300 publications to his credit covering law, public policy, history, biography, ethics, and religion. They include The United States Attorneys for the District of Columbia 1801-2024, “Quiet Killings in Medical Facilities: Detection & Prevention” (Issues in Law & Medicine, 2003) cited by Justice Neil Gorsuch in his book on euthanasia, and a recent exposition on the bicentennial of Lafayette’s 1824-25 national tour focusing on visits with Thomas Jefferson and to the University of Virginia (New Oxford Review). Jim, his wife Ann of 50 years, and their children, including Dr. Megan Swanson (Col ’98 CM), and Kateri Thunder Southall (Col ‘02, Educ ‘02, ‘11 CM), and grandchildren all live in Charlottesville.

Robert Levy (Col ’80) has retired from the practice of optometry after 40 years. Levy graduated from UVA with a degree in psychology and got a Bachelor of Science degree in visual science and his Doctor of Optometry degree from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry. He practiced in Richmond and Northern Virginia, finishing his career at Grove Eye Care in Richmond, where his colleagues included Dr. Laura Schwartz (Educ ’13 CM).  His retirement plans include continuing to play bass guitar and sing in his Richmond band TrainWreck, doing more kayaking, more traveling, and moving down to “the Rivah” with his long-suffering girlfriend Debbie.

Julie Dauksys (Educ ’99, ’10) has retired after 33 years in public education in both Hopewell city and Hanover County, Virginia. Dauksys served as a literacy specialist and coach in grades K-8 for 27 years. In 2022 she completed her Ph.D. in curriculum, culture, and change at VCU. In retirement,  Dauksys will continue as a part-time associate professor of literacy at Randolph-Macon College and serve as co-president of the Virginia Literacy Educators Association.

Lori Spiller (Educ ’99, ’20) has retired after 35 years of teaching in Hanover County, Virginia. Spiller served as a special education teacher for 14 years and, after completing her master’s degree in reading education at UVA, as a reading specialist for the past 21 years. She’s thankful to UVA for the program that guided the majority of her teaching career. Her plans for retirement include a beach home and a part-time job in a library or bookstore.

Elizabeth “Beth” Moore Chiusano (Educ ’77, ’79 CM) has retired after 44 years as an audiologist. Her career included service in the Army as one of the first female audiologists. Chiusano also worked for 10 years in an ENT practice in Lawton, Oklahoma. Upon moving to Sussex County New Jersey in 2002, she purchased a private practice which she ran successfully for 21 years. She sold Sussex Audiology Services & Hearing Aid Center, LLC in 2023. She and her husband Wayne live in Andover Township, New Jersey.

Michael Iademarco (Med ’86) has retired after 25 years of active duty as assistant surgeon general with the rank of Rear Admiral in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service. In his last role, as the deputy assistant secretary for science and medicine in the Department of Health and Human Services, he effected coordination for long COVID across the U.S. government. Iademarco also served at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, as the health attaché to the U.S. Mission to Vietnam in Hanoi, and on various medical and public health school faculties. He has published over 100 scientific articles and has received a Distinguished Service Medal, two Meritorious Service Medals, the Assistant Secretary for Health’s Exceptional Service Medal, four Foreign Duty Service Awards, and the Thomas A. Bartenfeld III Excellence in Public Health Practice award. He and his family live in Washington, D.C.

Fred Levy (Col ’70 CM) has retired after 42 years as a financial adviser at Merrill Lynch, just his second employer since graduating from UVA. He first worked for his family’s long-established retail grocery, bakery, and restaurant enterprise in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It closed in 1981, after hanging on for nearly a decade following a catastrophic flood that devastated the region. Levy began anew with Merrill Lynch, building his business based on the trust and relationships he’d gained in the food business. Always aiming to better his community, Levy served for many years on local nonprofit boards. He can now be found on a tennis court, in a pool, at a bridge table or cheering on UVA sports teams.

Tink “Buddy” Johnson (Col ’78 CM) has retired from private practice in urology after 35 years in Statesville, North Carolina. He has been appointed as an assistant clinical professor of urology at Wake Forest University and will be working at the VA Medical Center in Salisbury, North Carolina. He will be responsible for patient care and urology resident training. Buddy and his wife Margaret will continue to live in Statesville.

Kris Nanda, (Col ’81, Law ’85 CM) of Ottawa, Ontario recently retired from the Canadian federal government where he worked for nearly 22 years.  Before that, his career included six years as a diplomat with the U.S. Department of State , with postings in Toronto, Panama and Ottawa.  From 2017-2021, he served as manager of environmental petitions for the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, helping Canadians convey their environmental concerns to federal cbinet ministers.

In August 2023, Kris and his wife Alison volunteered at A Rocha France’s study and retreat centre at Domaine des Courmettes in the Les Alpes Maritimes high above the Cote D’Azur and Nice in Southern France. A Rocha is a Christian organization with a twofold objective – conservation and raising public awareness on the need and reasons for being good stewards of creation.  The Les Courmettes facility was built over 100 years ago with a donation from former UVA student Paul Goodloe McIntire, who also funded the McIntire School of Commerce at UVA and after whom McIntire Amphitheatre is named.

Robert W Kantner (Col ’77) has retired from private practice law in Dallas, Texas. After graduating from the University with a B.A. in Government and Foreign Affairs with Honors, Kantner attended and graduated from Harvard Law School. He then moved to Dallas where he worked as a trial lawyer specializing in commercial and intellectual property cases and tried 36 cases to a verdict as first chair. Kantner was a partner in the BakerBotts, DLA Piper and Jones Day law. He now enjoys spending time with his three grandchildren and writing family histories for them. 

Alan Korman (Arch ’77) retired in March after a 43-year career in the casino gaming industry in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Korman began his career as a multi-game dealer and gaming supervisor during the industry’s infancy in Atlantic City . Over the next 30-plus years he worked as a casino marketing executive for Resorts, Sands, and Trump Marina before finishing his career as senior executive director of player development for the Golden Nugget. 

Korman has been married for 39 years and has three adult children.

Rev. Mark S. Delcuze (Col ’80 CM) is retiring after 10 years as rector of Christ Church Parish, Kent Island, Maryland. In 38 years of ordained life he has served Episcopal Church parishes in six dioceses. A lifelong ecumenist, he was appointed ecumenical and interfaith officer in two dioceses and held leadership positions in the Virginia Council of Churches and other interfaith councils. He is a five-time deputy to the General Convention and has been active in promoting the full inclusion of LGBTQ persons in the life and leadership of the church. He and his wife Mary Jerome Delcuze (COM ’82 CM) will live in Annapolis, Maryland.

Richard Strulson (Col ’90 CM) has retired from his position as general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary of Interior Logic Group, after negotiating and finalizing the sale of the company to Blackstone, one of the country’s largest private equity funds. In his position at Interior Logic Group, the nation’s largest interior finishing company, Richard was responsible for all legal and compliance matters, oversaw the company’s active mergers and acquisitions program, and managed the company’s human resources group.  Richard is currently an adjunct professor at USC Gould School of Law, teaching mergers and acquisitions, and also serves on various boards.

Dr. Lee Ann Clements (Col ’81 CM) is retiring from teaching after 34 years on the faculty at Jacksonville University in Florida. During her tenure she served as chair of the Department of Biology and Marine Science, chair of the Division of Science and Mathematics, chair of the faculty, associate provost, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and interim provost. She was named Professor of the Year in 1995, chaired JU’s Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation process, and served as a board member of the National Conference for Undergraduate Research and Jacksonville’s Museum of Science and History. Dr. Clements was granted emerita status and will continue to serve as JU’s director of academic integrity.

Jim Flinn (Col ’76, Grad ’98) looks forward to catching up with classmates in 2026 at the 50th anniversary reunion of the class of 1976.

Dr. George Drake (Educ ’93) was granted status as founding dean emeritus of the College of Education and Human Services and the School of Social Work by the president and the Council of Trustees of Millersville University of Pennsylvania following his retirement in January 2022.  Dr. Drake retired after 29 years of service to Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education and 42 years in various roles in basic and higher education education.

Charles L. Orndorff (Col ’74 CM) has retired after 47 years with The Conservative Caucus, the last 44 as administrative vice chairman. In addition to overseeing the organization’s administrative matters, he also served as its expert on American history and the U.S. Constitution. He was acting chairman during early 2012. He now lives in Amissville, VA.

Eric Gyauch (Engr ’82 CM) has retired from Michelin Tire Corp. after 35 years. He joined the company after five years of service as an officer in the U.S. Army. Gyauch and his wife of 36 years, Alisa, live in Greenville, S.C. 

Kevin C. Kelley (Col ’73 CM) retired on May 1 from his position as Managing Director and Associate General Counsel after 39 years with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and its predecessors.  Kevin’s practice as an insolvency attorney with JPMorgan included working on most of the major corporate insolvency matters over that time in the financial, automotive, retail, oil and gas and real estate industries to which JPMorgan was a lender.  

Bill Chapin (Col ’76 CM) of See Rock City, Inc. is thrilled to announce the succession from fourth generation family ownership to fifth generation, as his son Doug Chapin is set to purchase the outstanding shares of the company.

“We have always had a focus on hospitality, as well as on conservation,” said Bill. “In the last 90 years we have protected the geological wonders of Rock City Gardens for everyone’s enjoyment, and for future generations of the next 90 years. Rock City is a unique outdoor attraction that allows visitors to experience what has been created by God and enhanced by man.”

See Rock City, Inc. has seen outstanding growth under Bill’s leadership, including consistent increases in profitability and attendance despite economic downturns, the acquisition of Battles for Chattanooga museum, Grandview, Starbucks, Clumpies Ice Cream Co., RiverView Inn and GOOD DOG, as well as multimillion-dollar renovations alongside the creation of several restaurants and shops inside Rock City Gardens. Bill has received two separate lifetime achievement awards in tourism, one from Southeast Tourism Society in 2019, and another during the Georgia Governor’s Tourism Conference in 2017.

See Rock City, Inc. is a hospitality and entertainment company that features the world-renowned Rock City Gardens high atop Lookout Mountain. Visit www.seerockcity.com for more information.

Photo 1: Bill Chapin at Carter Cliffs; photo credit to the Chattanooga Times Free Press

Photo 2: Bill Chapin, Susan Harris and Doug Chapin at iconic Lover’s Leap; photo credit to the Chattanooga Times Free Press

Photo 3: Doug Chapin and Bill Chapin at the See Seven States Flag Court; photo credit to Rock City

Mosby Garland Perrow III (Col ’63 CM) has completely retired after 17 years practicing law and over 23 years as Circuit Judge in Virginia. Mosby has been married to his wife Holly for 56 years, and two of his daughters, Hellen Perrow Carrington (Col ’91 CM) and Alexandra Perrow Wood (Com ’93) are UVA graduates. Four of Mosby’s grandsons, Will Carrington (Com ’22), Sackett Wood (Col ’22 CM), Hugh Wood (Col ’24), and Woody Carrington (Col ’25), are current UVA students, and his granddaughter Holly Carrington (Col ’20 CM) is a UVA graduate. Mosby also has five grandchildren, two in Virginia and three in Texas, that are yet to enroll in college.

Ellsworth K. “Kenny” Johnson III (Col ’92 CM) retired from the U.S. Army at the rank of Colonel on September 30, 2020.  He served in the Army for 28 years and was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal at his retirement ceremony, which was held on August 6, 2020.  His last military assignment was as the Program Manager for the Missile Defense Agency’s X-Band Radars Program Office at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.  COL(R) Johnson, his wife, Terri, and their sons live in Madison, Alabama.   

Jeffrey Ryan (Col ’80) retired after 25 years as a family physician at Ryan Family Medicine in Albany, New York. Dr. Ryan’s practice was varied and included conventional as well as non-traditional approaches. Among these were acupuncture (Medical Acupuncture – UCLA) and integrative medicine (Integrative Medicine Fellow – University of Arizona). Jeff’s practice was evolving to include an emphasis on geriatric care. Jeff then experienced manifestations of an inherited addictive disorder fueled in part by childhood trauma. It signaled the need for interruption of career and modification of certain life and career goals. Treatment of this is ongoing and is as deeply meaningful as it is profoundly challenging.

Kevin B. O’Connell (Col ’78 CM) retired in April after 35 years with Delta Air Lines. He flew his final crossing of the Atlantic, from Madrid to New York City, after accumulating more than 17,000 hours on the 757/767 aircraft alone. Prior to working for Delta, O’Connell spent eight years on active duty with the U.S. Navy. He participated in combat operations off Lebanon in 1983-1984, and he was recalled to active duty for the first Gulf War as an A-6 pilot.  During the air war in Kosovo he provided expeditionary logistic support to the Sixth Fleet and NATO units while operating at forward support sites in both Greece and Italy. He completed his naval service with more than 2,000 hours in the A-6 Intruder and 401 carrier landings and retired as a captain in the Naval Reserve in 2001. With his wife of 35 years, he is retiring to East Orleans, Massachusetts. on Cape Cod, where his retirement goals include not being attacked by a great white shark while surfing at Nauset Beach. He would also like to avoid falling off the family tractor while mowing the fields on Pochet Island and injuring himself severely. Finally after 43 years of being subject to random alcohol and drug testing at work he would like to blow as much dope as is humanly possible.

George Morrow (Engr ’83 CM) retired from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as acting center director in December 2019. He received NASA’s highest award, the Distinguished Service Medal, the same year. He joined ASRC Federal in January 2020 and is now vice president for robotic exploration and weather in the space operating group.

Marsha McElrath Taylor (Nurs ’77) has moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, with her husband, Brad, after completing a 30-plus-year career as a cardiac operating room and perioperative nurse. During her nursing career, Taylor enjoyed medical ICU experience at Georgetown University Hospital, and served as lead clinical instructor for INOVA Fairfax’s Cardiac Dome Observation Program. She was featured in this role in the Washington Post Magazine article “Hearts and Minds” by Paul Gustafson. Taylor also taught classes on hemodynamic monitoring, disseminated intravascular coagulation and diabetic ketoacidosis. She published several articles including “Atrial Septal Defect Repair” and “Job Satisfaction and Perioperative Nursing.” In retirement, Taylor plans to continue participation in BSF International, and volunteer services. She also hopes to “prepare all those recipes from all those cookbooks I’ve collected over the years!”

James Tyson Currie (Grad ’69, ’75 CM) has reached his final retirement after a nearly 50 years of working. He attended the last two years of U.S. Army ROTC as a graduate student at UVA, the only one in his ROTC cohort, receiving his commission as a second lieutenant in 1970. He spent a total of 30 years in the Army, active and reserve, reaching the rank of colonel. He taught history and political science at the college and university level for many years, including three years at Jackson State University and 18 years at the National Defense University, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, a Defense Department senior service college. He worked on Capitol Hill for almost eight years, serving as associate historian of the U.S. House of Representatives and as a staffer for U.S. Senators Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX), David Boren (D-OK), and John Glenn (D-OH). He was director of Federal Relations for the National Association of State Treasurers and Legislative Affairs Director for the National Marine Manufacturers Association. For the past six years, he was executive director of the Commissioned Officers Association of the U.S. Public Health Service, a nonprofit, nonpartisan entity that represents the uniformed officers of the U.S. Public Health Service. He is a 20-year member of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and has appeared as an extra in such series as House of Cards and Homeland. He is the author of three books and 30 peer-reviewed articles and has had two pieces published in the “Humor in Uniform” section of Readers Digest. He lives with his wife, Janis, in Alexandria, Virginia. Their son Matthew is a graduate student in clinical psychology at Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is currently working on his fourth book, which tells the story of Harry Truman and the World War II Truman Committee of the U.S. Senate.