Class Notes

Gunes Hopson (Col ’97, Law ’01 CM) has started her own travel business, Luxe Travel by Gunes. She provides curated luxury travel planning services to her clients, taking care of all the details so that they can relax.

Mark Trank (Law ’90 CM) and his wife Andrea Trank (Col ’80, Educ ’97, ’04 CM) have moved back to Virginia after 15 years in southwest Florida. Mark, who has spent more three decades in legal practice and has a passion for aiport law, has joined the Norfolk Airport Authority as senior vice president and general Counsel.  Mark and Andrea live in Norfolk’s historic Ghent district and will be welcoming their three sons and their wives and significant others, and especially their 4-year old granddaughter to their new home. 

Mark Scharf (Grad ’84 CM) has published the play Final Respects (Brooklyn Publishing). His play Clean Up was published in the journal Literature Today in July 2023.

Luke Hopkins (Engr ’08) and Sara Hutter Hopkins (Com ’08, ’09 CM) lovingly welcomed a second son, Owen Hutter, on April 20, 2023. The family, including big brother Will, lives in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Jessica Botta (Col ’96 CM) graduated this May from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development with a master of arts degree in food studies.  Jessica lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Dr. Thomas F. Smith (Col ’71, Med ’74 CM) has published his first book, The Search For King: A Fable, written in verse, and is completing his second book, Strange Creatures & Odd Bedfellows: Selected Poems. He also has published haiku and limericks in literary journals. He retired from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis as professor of pediatrics in 1998 to enter private practice. His current academic affiliation is adjunct professor of internal medicine and pediatrics in the College of Medicine at Texas A&M Health Science Center. He and his wife, their three children and four grandchildren live in Austin, Texas. He can be reached through his web site authorthomasmith.com.

CJ Bowie (Com ’14) and Kathleen Bowie (Col ’13, Nurs ’20 CM) welcomed a daughter, Chloe Grace, on June 13, 2023. 

Lindsey Jensen (Col ’13) is getting married to Bryan Dale (Engr ’14 CM) at Moss Vineyards, north of Charlottesville, on Sept. 16, 2023.

Patti Hartigan (Col ’82 CM) has published August Wilson: A Life, the first authoritative and definitive biography of August Wilson, the most important and successful American playwright of the late 20th century. The biography, published by Simon and Schuster, debuts August 15.

The acclaimed Wilson wrote a series of plays celebrating African American life in the 20th century, one play for each decade. Through his brilliant use of vernacular speech, Wilson developed unforgettable characters who epitomized the trials and triumphs of the African American experience. He said that he didn’t research his plays but wrote from “the blood’s memory,” a sense of racial history that he believed African Americans shared. A former theater critic and arts reporter for the Boston Globe, Hartigan traced his ancestry back to slavery, illustrating how his plays echo with uncanny similarities to the history of his ancestors. She interviewed Wilson many times before his death and chronicles his life from his childhood in Pittsburgh (where nine of the plays take place) to Broadway. She also interviewed scores of friends, theater colleagues and family members, and conducted extensive research to tell the story of a writer who left an indelible imprint on American theater and opened the door for future playwrights of color.

Wade Morris (Col ’04) is publishing Report Cards: A Cultural History with Johns Hopkins University Press. The book traces the nearly two hundred year history of American education by examining how grades have reflected the shifting power dynamics between teachers, parents, and students.

Morris argues that report cards reflected broader shifts in the evolution of U.S. schools: the republican zealotry and religious fervor of the antebellum period, the failed promises of postwar Reconstruction for the formerly enslaved, the changing gender roles in newly urbanized cities, the overreach of the Progressive child-saving movement in the early twentieth century, and―by the 1930s―the increasing faith in an academic meritocracy. The use of report cards expanded with the growth of school bureaucracies, becoming a tool through which administrators could surveil both student activity and teachers. And by the late 20th century, even the most radical critics of numerical reporting of children have had to compromise their ideals.

Steven I. Platt (Col ’69 CM) has published his memoir, Lessons Lived and Learned: My Life On and Off the Bench.  A retired senior judge and renowned legal luminary who has been an integral part of the Maryland justice system, Platt shares insights into the inner workings of the justice system as well as highlights of a career so intricately woven within the fabric of history that he’s been dubbed “The Forrest Gump of politics.” He provides both a riveting analysis of the strengths and failings of our justice system and humorous sidebars recounting his life both in and outside the courtroom. Focusing on issues such as judicial decision-making, legal ethics, and the role of judges in our society, Platt offers a comprehensive and cogent examination of the legal system and its impact on individuals and society. Interspersed with this serious review are important and entertaining depictions of his interactions with some of the most influential news makers of our day. Lessons Lived and Learned: My Life On and Off the Bench is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble online. Visit both to find this and other books in Judge Platt’s Pursuit of Justice series.

Daisy Stevens Rojas (Col ’09, Educ ’15) recently accepted a role at Charlottesville-based, Platt Financial, as a financial services professional. She works collaboratively with individual and corporate clients to create financial strategies bridging generational, cultural and professional challenges. Rojas also develops the branding and marketing strategies of the firm’s related content, research and initiatives. Before moving into this role, Rojas was vice president at a multi-state contracting firm managing contracts in locations such as the Homestead and Greenbrier resorts and other private communities in Central Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. and Maryland areas. Before that, Rojas worked in philanthropic pursuits garnering more than $20 million in support for the University of Virginia, education initiatives and various community service organizations. She also served as president of the Albemarle County Rotary Club during the 2022-2023 fiscal year and has over 20 years of financial services experience. She holds a Certified Fund Raising Executive designation and has acquired industry registrations with Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the State of Virginia with Annuity, Life & Health Insurance, SIE, Series 6, 63 and 65 exams. https://www.plattfinancial.com/

Casey Chalk (Col ’07, Educ ’07) published his second book, The Obscurity of Scripture: Disputing Sola Scriptura and the Protestant Notion of Biblical Perspicuity (Emmaus Road Publishing). The Obscurity of Scripture is the first book-length summation and critique of the Protestant doctrine of perspicuity, analyzing its historical, theological, and philosophical dimensions. Chalk, a former Presbyterian seminary student, provocatively argues that perspicuity, rather than sola fide or sola scriptura, is the most foundational of Protestant doctrines. Best-selling author and biblical scholar Scott W. Hahn, who wrote the foreword for the book, declared that it is “sure to be considered a masterpiece.” Chalk serves as an editor or regular contributor for many publications, including The New Oxford Review, The Federalist, Crisis Magazine, The American Conservative, and The Spectator. 

Sabrina K. Mendez (Col ’09 CM) and her husband welcomed twin daughters, Riley and Skyler, on May 19, 2023. Mendez serves as a district administrator for Orange County (Fla.) Public Schools overseeing kindergarten through 12th grade Multi-Tiered System of Supports and Interventions. 

Andrew G. Lee, MD (Col ’85, Med ’89) was named as one of the top 30 ophthalmologists in the United States by Newsweek’s America’s Best Eye Doctors for 2023.  America’s Best Eye Doctors 2023 – Ophthalmologists (newsweek.com)

Lloyd F. Stamy. Jr. (Col ’73 CM) has published his newest book, Perfect Strangers (Bad Bear Down), the third volume in The Hap Franklin Series. Ripped from current headlines, this timely and gripping thriller is a serious and riveting story, but also told with an abundance of playful humor. Underpinning the primary storyline of bringing down the Russian president is Franklin’s emotional struggle with his faith for guidance and forgiveness in order to get life right while there is still time. Early readers have found it “engaging, captivating, suspenseful, and provocative.” To learn more about the entire three-book series, follow the below link to his author page:

www.amazon.com/author/lloyd.stamy

Devon Knudsen (Col ’05) is concluding a two-year secretariat position coordinating the U.S. government’s atrocity prevention efforts. She also led the multilateral atrocity prevention efforts of a group started by Samantha Power, who she first heard speak at UVA. Knudsen is grateful to have been entrusted with this responsibility and for the widespread support she received in this role.