Class Notes

Ryan McEnroe (Arch ’09) has been promoted to senior associate in Quinn Evans’ Washington, D.C. office. He has contributed to the design of the recently reopened Bird House at the National Zoological Park and the award-winning National Native American Veterans Memorial at the National Museum of the American Indian, both for the Smithsonian Institution. He is a co-founder of AIA|DC’s Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program.

Nakita Reed (Arch ’06) has been promoted to senior associate in Quinn Evans’ Baltimore office. Working at the intersection of historic preservation, sustainable design, and equity, she engages in transformative projects such as the redevelopment of the 800 block of Harlem and Edmondson in Baltimore, Maryland, and the restoration of Baltimore Penn Station. Reed currently serves as president of the Baltimore Architecture Foundation.

Lawrence E. Jordan (Arch ’80 CM) published his first book, The Way: Meaningful Spirituality for a Modern World. The Way integrates religion and science and reconciles Eastern and Western worldviews, confirming with the mystics and the scientists that everyone is related, and everything is connected. Larry lives in Arlington, Texas and Crestone, Colorado. He retired in 2011, after a 25-year career in investment banking. He and his wife, Jill, have two grown children and three young grandchildren, and they enjoy playing with their grandchildren, traveling, and volunteering.

Jonathan G. Malacarne (Col ’09 CM) and Janet E. Horsager welcomed a son, Ari Horsager Malacarne, on December 13, 2023.

Steven Munger (Col ’89 CM) is joining the faculty of the UVa School of Medicine as a professor of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, where he will continue his research into the function and dysfunction of the senses of smell and taste and direct a new center focused on the science of smell, taste, hearing, speech and balance. Dr. Munger has served as the director of the University of Florida Center for Smell and Taste since 2016, is a past-president of the Association for Chemoreception Sciences, and is the editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Chemical Senses. He and his wife, Caroline Worrall (Darden ’98 CM), a financial consultant, will move to Charlottesville in the spring of 2024.

Juliana Yee (Col ’10 CM) has been promoted to partner at the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson.

Juliana focuses her practice on high-stakes disputes, including class actions, mass actions and trials in state and federal court and across a wide range of industries, including technology, entertainment, higher education and financial services. She helps companies navigate their most challenging and high-profile matters through all stages of litigation. Juliana also maintains an active pro bono practice focused on immigration matters and civil rights. She is committed to advancing diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and currently serves as the co-chair of the Development Committee of the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion.

Before joining the firm, Juliana clerked for Judge Vince Chhabria of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and Judge Jay Bybee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 2019, she completed a three-month fellowship as a volunteer assistant district attorney for the San Francisco District Attorneys’ Office, first-chairing four criminal jury trials to a verdict.

Ilana Berry’s (Law ’03) debut novel, The Peacock and the Sparrow (Simon & Schuster), was named a best book of the year by The New Yorker, NPR, and Diplomatic Courier. The book is about an aging spy caught in the crosswinds of the Arab Spring on the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain. Berry was a spy for the CIA for six years, including one year in wartime Baghdad. She publishes under the pen name I.S. Berry.

Jane E. Hardy (Col ’85) was recently named senior associate dean at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

John Armstrong (Col ’69 CM) has published Breaking Stories, a novel in which the principal character, Jake Morris,  is a young journalist who launches an unauthorized investigation of a corrupt politician. When his editor seems to balk at publishing the story, Jake quits and goes on a journey leading toward discovery of the reason for his editor’s reluctance. Breaking Stories is available through Amazon/Kindle. John lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife Val, who he met at the UVA.

Heather Brown Holleman (Col ’97 CM) has won Christianity Today’s 2024 Book of the Year Award for her young adult novel, This Seat’s Saved.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/december-web-only/christianity-today-2024-book-awards.html

Roger Millar (Engr ’82 CM) recently completed his service as president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, advocating for a resilient national transportation system that is safe, smart, and sound.

Jessica Bantom (Col ’98 CM) recently joined integrated design firm DLR Group as their global leader for equity, diversity and belonging. This role is the culmination of her career spanning management consulting, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and interior design consulting. She released her first book, Design for Identity: How to Design Authentically for a Diverse World, in April 2023, and is currently teaching a course based on her book at Marymount University.

Christina Keenan (Col ’12, Educ ’12) and Jack Keenan (Col ’11 CM), welcomed their son, Myles Eslin, Jan. 19, 2023. He joins his big sister, Charlotte Anne, who will turn 4 in December. 

Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier (Col ’04, Educ ’04) wrote a short story, “Ripen,” that was included in The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023, edited by Lisa Unger and Steph Cha.

Bernier has been writing short fiction set in her home island of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, since she was an undergraduate student at UVA. Bernier returned to the Virgin Islands after graduating from UVA, but currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and children. 

Rayotis Perkins (Col ’88 CM) received a ‘Hoos Making a Difference’ honor by the Virginia Football Alumni Club. Dr. Perkins was nominated for his positive contributions as a leader and dedication to community service. 

Dr. Perkins played football as a defensive tackle during the 1980’s for the late coach George Welsh. After his collegiate career, he continued his passion for football as a free agent with the National Football League to include brief stints with the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals.

Dr. Perkins is currently an assistant principal and athletic director with Tolleson Union High School in Phoenix.

Joe Averbach (Col ’09) has been promoted to partner at Potomac Point Group, a boutique consulting firm specializing in transformative initiatives across the housing finance industry. This election underscores his substantial contributions to the firm and the immense value he has brought to its clients in the financial services industry since joining the team in 2013.

In his ten years with PPG, Joe has steered initiatives with precision and a deep understanding of his clients’ specific challenges. He has led teams through major organizational, process, and technology efforts across both the single and multifamily housing markets. Joe’s experience encompasses a wide range of functions, including originations, servicing, asset management, and securitization.

Before joining PPG, Joe worked as a strategy consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton, where he spearheaded business process improvement efforts for Department of Defense clients. Before that, he was an in-house operations consultant at Freddie Mac.

 McCauley Williams (Col ’11) has launched Alma Del Jaguar Tequila, a company committed to wild jaguar preservation in northern Mexico. Williams was inspired by his uncle Rick, a wildlife photographer who moved to Mexico in the 1990s to study wild jaguars and co-founded the Northern Jaguar Project, a bi-national effort between conservationists from the U.S. and Mexico to preserve and recover the world’s northernmost population of endangered wild jaguars and their unique habitats.  

Alma De Jaguar’s second release is a handcrafted 100% Blue Weber Agave Tequila Reposado that is sustainably produced and additive-free.

Alma del Jaguar’s Reposado and its first release, Alma del Jaguar Blanco, are available online nationwide.

Learn more at www.almadeljaguar.com.

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.

Caroline Higgins Languasco (Engr ’11 CM) and Jon Languasco (Engr ’15) welcomed their second child, Archer James, on January 19, 2023. Archer has already visited Grounds twice. Big sister Jules is elated.

Joe Iriarte (Com ’09, ’10) married Katherine Mize on Sept. 30, 2023 at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Virginia. They met in New York City and live in Boston with their pup Alfie.

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.

Nora Stone (Col ’07) has published her first book, How Documentaries Went Mainstream: A History, 1960-2022. 

Since the 1960s, documentary films have moved closer to the mainstream, thanks to the popularity of “rockumentaries”, the independent film movement, support from public and cable television, and the rise of streaming video services. Documentary films have become reliable earners at the U.S. box office and ubiquitous on streaming platforms, while historically they existed on the margins of mainstream media. How do we explain the growing commercialization of documentary films and the conditions that fueled their transformation?

Streaming and the growing interest in reality TV are usually offered as initial explanations whenever a documentary enters the cultural conversation or breaks a box-office record, but neither of those causes grapple with the overlapping causal mechanisms that commercialized documentary film. How Documentaries Went Mainstream provides a more comprehensive and meaningful periodization of the commercialization of documentary film. Although the commercial ascension of documentary films might seem meteoric, it is the culmination of decades-long efforts that have developed and fortified the audience for documentary features. Author Nora Stone refines rough explanations of these efforts through a robust synoptic history of the market for documentary films, using knowledge of film economics and the norms of industry discourse to tell a richer story. This periodization will allow scholars to compare the commercialization of documentary film with other genres. Drawing on archival documents, industry trade journals and popular press, and interviews with filmmakers and film distributors, Stone illuminates how documentary features have become more plentiful, popular, and profitable than ever before.

Kristin Kisska Mehigan (Com ’90 CM) published her debut novel, The Hint of Light, under her pen name Kristin Kisska. The book follows a grieving mother who, after learning that her late son may have fathered a child, desperately searches for the granddaughter she never knew existed. The novel is in the UVA Authors Collection in the Rotunda Dome Room.

Mehigan, who lives in Richmond with her family, including her daughter Elyse Mehigan (Col ’23 CM), has also published mystery and suspense short stories under her pen name.

Steve Nesbit (Engr ’80, ’82 CM) was one of six American Nuclear Society members elevated to the rank of Fellow in September 2023.  The ANS past president (2021–2022) and founder of LMNT Consulting LLC was recognized for being a prominent and effective leader and spokesperson for the beneficial use of nuclear technology.  The society highlighted Nesbit’s work to dispose of surplus weapons plutonium by converting it to mixed oxide fuel and using it in commercial nuclear reactors.

Beth Meyer (Arch ’78, ’82 CM), the Merrill D. Peterson Professor of Landscape Architecture in the UVA School of Architecture, was appointed the inaugural faculty director of the UVA Morven Sustainability Lab in November 2022.  She received the Thomas Jefferson Award, the University’s highest faculty scholar honor in June 2023.

Lindsey Jensen (Col ’13) and Bryan Dale (Eng ’14 CM) got married north of Charlottesville at Moss Vineyards on Sept. 16, 2023. Lindsey and Bryan met on The Lawn one fall sunny day at UVA as fourth years. They survived years of long distance before settling down together in Kansas City, Missouri with their golden retriever, Charlie. They had a great time celebrating their love at the place where their story began. Wahoowa!

Kevin LaPorta (Engr ’09) and Jennifer Murphy LaPorta (Col ’10 CM) welcomed a son, Garrett Jack, on September 23, 2023. He joins big sister Lillian (age 7) and big brother Dylan (age 3).

Heather Wishart-Smith (Engr ’96, ’98) was elected to the board of directors of Orion Energy Systems, which provides energy efficiency and clean tech solutions, including LED lighting and electric vehicle charging. Wishart-Smith is also on the board of Group PMX, a private program and construction management company, and facilitates partnering sessions for large construction projects with GCC, LLC. Wishart-Smith was elected to the National Academy of Construction in 2022, and earned her National Academy of Corporate Directors Directorship Certification this year. She is a Fellow of the Society of American Military Engineers, for which she served as national President in 2020, and a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers. She lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband Keller Smith and children Glory, Nick, and Alexandra.

Chloe Downs (Col ’17 CM)  married Jonathan Colen (Engr ’18 CM) on September 16, 2023, in the garden of Pavilion I at UVA. In attendance were a number of alumni, including in the wedding parties Tyler Curran (Col ’19, Educ ’20), Katherine McCool (Engr ’19 CM), Andrew Coffee (Engr ’18 CM), Brittany Huffman (Col ’18 CM), Anna LeValley (Col ’17 CM), Ritika Bhat (Col ’17 CM), Erika Rashka (Engr ’18), and Caelan Ryberg (Engr ’18). Chloe and Jon are living in Hampton, Virginia, where Chloe works at NASA Langley and Jon is about to begin working as a research professor at Old Dominion University.

James R. Talbot Jr., Capt. USN (Ret) (Col ’53 CM) privately published the Talbot family history, covering the period from Jared Talbot, who landed in Taunton, Massachusetts, in about 1660 to C. Scott Talbot (Eng ’81, Law ’87) and Zachary B. Talbot (Col ’16 CM).

P. Burks Echols III (Col ’85 CM) and Ann Carter “Boo” Refo Echols (Col ’86 CM) celebrated the graduation of their daughter M. Carter Echols (Com ’22 CM) from the McIntire School of Commerce in May 2022 and look forward to celebrating the graduation of their daughter Sarah B. Echols (Col ’24) from the College of Arts and Sciences in May 2024.  The family – including June W. Echols (Educ ’73  CM) and Porter “Pete” B. Echols, Jr. (Col ’55, Med ‘58 CM) – gathered for a photo with their collection of UVA diplomas in July of 2022.  Sarah held the Medical School diploma that was earned by her great grandfather, Porter B. Echols, Sr (Med 1925) as a marker until she earns her diploma in May 2024.

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. 

Anne Marie Seibel (Col ’94 CM) is serving as chair of the American Bar Association’s Litigation Section for the 2023-24 bar year.  She and her husband, Steven Rowe (Col ’94 CM), chief scientific officer of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, live in Birmingham, Alabama.