Class Notes

Peter Capuano (Grad ’09) has published Dickens’s Idiomatic Imagination, an analysis of how Charles Dickens’s use of “low” and “slangular” language allowed him to express and develop his most sophisticated ideas. Capuano considers Dickens’s use of bodily idioms—”right-hand man,” “shoulder to the wheel,” “nose to the grindstone”—against the broader lexical backdrop of the nineteenth century.  Capuano is associate professor of English and a faculty fellow in the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska.

Dr. Chuck Edwards (Col ’69 CM) has published Late Fragment: Notes on the Later Stages of Life, his second book helping the aged find hope in their later years. His first book was Much Abides: A Survival Guide for Aging Lives. Sales support Memory & Movement Charlotte, the nonprofit medical practice Edwards founded to treat Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.   

Steven Betz (Grad ’98) has joined the University of Michigan-Dearborn as government relations director.  In this role, he directs all university interactions with federal, state, and local officials.

Benjamin Cunningham (Com ’16 CM) and Stephanie Coffua (Col ’16 CM) were married in Savannah, Georgia, on October 28, 2023, 10 years after meeting at the Corner Parking Lot during a scavenger hunt for new students. Over 50 ‘Hoos attended the nuptials, where the bride and groom led a rendition of “The Good Old Song” during the reception. The couple lives in Brooklyn, New York, where Stephanie works as an editor for ABC News and Benjamin works as a consultant for McKinsey & Co.

Sharon E. Crane (Grad ’84) has joined Haynes and Boone, LLP as counsel in their Life Sciences practice group in Washington, D.C. Crane’s practice focuses on intellectual property matters in the biotech and pharmaceutical fields. She advises clients on drafting patents, challenging competitor patents and defending against infringement claims.

Catherine Jansch (Col ’13, Med ’18 CM) and Paul Andrew Jarasek Jr. welcomed their first child, Paul Andrew Jarasek III, on December 26th, 2023. 

Robert Muckenfuss (Col ’93 CM) has been appointed as chair of McGuireWoods’ Financial Services and Securities Enforcement Department. Previously, Muckenfuss chaired the Commercial Litigation Department. He has over 20 years of experience representing financial institutions nationwide. 

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.

Liz Barbour (Col ’16, Educ ’16 CM) and Ian Nickel (Med ’19, Res ’20) were married in Albemarle County at Valley Road Vineyards on September 30, 2023. The couple lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with their dog, Rhys. 

Linda Lakhdhir (Col ’81 CM) has joined the NGO Climate Rights International as its legal director. CRI was founded in 2022 to focus on the intersection between climate change and human rights abuses, using on the ground research, detailed documentation and strategic advocacy to press for needed change. Lakhdhir previously served as Asia legal adviser for Human Rights Watch.

Malerie Ma Roddy (Col ’10 CM) has been promoted to partner at the law firm ArentFox Schiff. Roddy concentrates her practice on civil litigation and class action defense, serving clients across industries such as juvenile products, food and beverage, automotive, and consumer home goods. Her experience extends to multidistrict civil litigation, governmental investigations, and advising clients through all stages of product development and sales. Roddy co-chairs ArentFox Schiff’s New Moms Group, ParentFox Midwest, and the Asian Attorneys Inclusion Group.

Allison (Powell) Leighton (Arch ’07) has been promoted to senior associate at Quinn Evans. Leighton has served as the project manager for Cristo Rey High School in Richmond, Virginia; the Acuff Center for Aquaculture at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester Point, Virginia; and the Advanced Career Education Centers at Hermitage and Highland Springs for Henrico County Public Schools.

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.