Class Notes

Ashley Bartley (Col ’06 CM) has released two additional titles in her social emotional learning children’s book series published by Boys Town Press. Jasper Lizard Wants to Stay Home (2023) helps young children experiencing separation anxiety and Molly and the Runaway Trolley (2023) offers children strategies for managing anxiety at home and at school. Both books include tips for caregivers, and companion resources are available from Boys Town Press. Bartley is a school counselor, author, and curriculum writer who lives with her husband and three young boys in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. She is the owner and creator of the online business Counselor Station, providing curriculum and resources for school counselors.

Rick Kast (Col ’70) has published Romance With Variations, a novel concerning the relationship between Robert, a lawyer who is a classical music lover, and Anna, a pianist. There are many mysteries in Anna’s background that she is reticent about. After she disappears, Robert has to confront and resolve them to try to find her. Kast is a lawyer and classical music lover himself. He retired from the UVA General Counsel’s Office in December 2015 and lives in Charlottesville.

Whitney Garrison Athayde (Col ’05 CM) has been promoted to managing consultant at AmPhil, where she helps mission-aligned nonprofits strengthen civil society by scaling their fundraising operations.  She works from a farm just north of Charlottesville where she and her husband also homestead and homeschool their four children.

Don Slesnick (Col ’65 CM) delivered the graduation address for Florida International University in December 2023, when was also awarded the FIU Medallion For Outstanding Alumnus. Slesnick, the former mayor of Coral Gables, Florida, received the Excellence in Public Service Award from the Gables Good Government Committee in March 2024. His late wife, Jeannett, a former city commissioner, was also honored posthumously.

Kaitlyn (Houck) Witman (Col ’12 CM) has been named co-CEO at Rainfactory, the company she co-founded in 2014. Rainfactory is a marketing agency for new technology product launches, crowdfunding, and pre-sales. She lives in Vienna, Virginia with husband Ben Witman (Engr ’12) and their three children. 

Steven Fox (Engr ’81 CM) is co-founder and Luke Fox (Engr ’15 CM) manager of eViation and Drone Academy, which provides classroom, flight training, and hands-on experience focused on the emerging Unmanned Aviation Systems and electric “green technologies” aviation markets. Opened in January 2024, the Academy is located at Hampton Roads Executive Airport in Chesapeake, Virginia. Its mission is to prepare students for the FAA Part 107 UAS Operator examination and to also provide specialized drone training for select use cases.

The Academy has agreements in place with Old Dominion University, NASA, the Virginia Space Grant Consortium, Virginia Tech, Hampton University,  Community College Workforce Alliance, school divisions in Virginia Beach and York County, Virginia, and New Horizons Regional Education Centers.

Kathleen Biggins (Col ’82 CM), founder of C-Change Conversations, a non-partisan group devoted to educating people about the science and risk of climate change, spoke on Capitol Hill as a keynote speaker at the National Affairs & Legislation Conference.

Biggins spoke alongside Sens. Kristen Gillibrand, Mazie Hirono, Edward Markey and Sheldon Whitehouse and Reps. Debbie Dingell, Garret Graves and Brian Mast. Approximately 400 delegates from around the country attended.

Justin Watkins (Col ’02 CM) has been promoted to major in the U.S. Army.  Maj. Watkins currently serves as an appellate defense attorney at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.  He previously served in South Korea, Kentucky, Iraq, Germany, and Kuwait.  Next year, he will attend the Army’s Judge Advocate Officer’s Graduate Course in Charlottesville for a Master of Laws (LL.M) in Military Law.

Susan Martin (Educ ’99) has been selected as a finalist for the 2024 Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Leadership. The Golden Apple Foundation is the leading Illinois nonprofit committed to preparing, honoring and supporting great educators who advance educational opportunities for students. Five finalists were chosen from more than 100 nominations. Martin is principal of Reservoir Gifted Academy in Peoria, Ill.

Jennifer (Bogart) McDowell (Col ’87) has been promoted to interim academic dean of career and technical education at Hennepin Technical College, a member of the Minnesota State system of colleges and universities.

Nicole Gates (Col ’09) has been promoted to Vice President, Legal, for Dr. Seuss Enterprises. Gates, who previously held the role of Senior Corporate Counsel, will manage the growing Dr. Seuss Enterprises legal team and, as a member of the executive leadership team, will provide strategic guidance on major corporate initiatives and a wide variety of operational matters.

Elizabeth Larus (Grad ’89, ’94), Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs at the University of Mary Washington, has been named Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Global China Hub.

Steve Silbiger (Darden ’90) has written the 5th edition of his book, The Ten-Day MBA, which will be available for purchase July 2024. The book distills lessons from the country’s top business schools, including Harvard, Stanford and UVA’s own Darden School of Business. Previous editions of the book have sold over 165,000 copies and been translated into 12 languages.

Robyn McCutcheon (Col ’76 CM) has published Queer Diplomacy:  A Transgender Journey in the Foreign Service, covering her career with the Department of State largely in the Soviet Union, Russia, and other post-Soviet countries.  The book also covers her transgender journey — including at the University in the 1970s — through gender transition while serving as a diplomat in Romania.  It is available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637236395.

Robert Colby (Col ’09 CM) has published his first book, An Unholy Traffic: Slave Trading in the Civil War South, with Oxford University Press. The book explores the survival of the slave trade during the Civil War, its effects on the inhabitants of the wartime South, and its influence on the course of the conflict. Colby is an assistant professor of history at the University of Mississippi.