Class Notes

Simrat Jassal (COL ’21 CM) is the president and founder of Premed Peers, a nonprofit that is providing free and affordable MCAT tutoring to students across the nation. Premed Peers has reached over 2000 students across the nation and provided them with mentorship and support during the medical admissions process. The nonprofit also provides students with essay, resume, and private tutoring help. Simrat will continue the efforts for Premed Peers and is hoping to give back to the Charlottesville community. You can get involved with the program here: https://www.premedpeers.org/get-involved

Premed Peers is a national nonprofit that provides free and affordable tutoring to premedical students across the nation. We are a group of undergraduate and medical students across the country who have all struggled, yet succeeded, on the MCAT and want to give back to other fellow pre-meds. We offer a low-cost prep course called MCAT101. The courses are lecture-style that cover high (and low) yield topics on the MCAT and run for approximately 1 hour. We believe that medical educational barriers should not deter students from pursuing medicine. 

Steve Nesbit (Engr ’80, ’82 CM) is serving as the 67th President of the American Nuclear Society, the organization for nuclear science and technology professionals.  ANS works to advance, foster, and spur the development and application of nuclear science, engineering, and technology to benefit society.  Elected by the society in 2020, his term of office runs through June 2022.

Carole Sargent (Grad ’92, ’94 CM) has written Transform Now Plowshares, a book about the nun who committed the largest breach in U.S. nuclear security history. It will be published in December 2021 by Liturgical Press. In August, 2020, in time for the 75th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Georgetown University Press published A World Free From Nuclear Weapons – The Vatican Conference on Disarmament, co-edited by Sargent under the guidance of one of Georgetown’s Jesuits who advises the Holy See on disarmament issues. Their article on the book in The Conversation was published in hundreds of newspapers worldwide. Sargent’s article in The Conversation about Sister Ardeth Platte, who inspired the character of Sister Jane Ingalls in Orange is the New Black was also published in hundreds of newspapers. Sargent  is a literary historian of early modern women’s political thought and founding director of Georgetown University’s Office of Scholarly Publications.

A.J. Frey (Col ’08 CM) has joined the Washington, DC, office of international law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher as a partner in the Investment Funds practice. A.J. joins Gibson from Greenspring Associates, a diversified venture capital platform with over $13B in Assets Under Management, where he served as General Counsel. His practice focuses on the formation and operation of private investment funds across a variety of fund strategies, including private equity, growth equity, venture capital and real asset funds. A.J. resides in Washington, DC with his wife, Brenna, and their two boys, Felix and Max.

Michael Pillow (COL ’79 CM) has published his second novel, Summer Brush Men. The novel tells parallel stories of a younger man and an older man “coming of age” in their own ways. Michael has retired from his day job and lives with his partner Stephanie in Crozet.

Monica Tucker-Schwartz (Nurs ’10) earned her Doctorate of Nursing Practice in Health System Executive Leadership from the University of Pittsburgh in December 2021. Her project titled The Impact of a Professional Practice Model at a Large Academic Medical Center was presented on November 1, 2021. 

Monica lives in Boston, Massachusetts with her husband Jason Tucker-Schwartz (Engr ’08, ’10 CM) and children Isabel “Izzy” (3 1/2) and Scott Jefferson “SJ” (15 months). 

Emily Barksdale (Batten ’21) started in October as an analyst in the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Planning and Budget. She is working with other Batten and UVA alumni and has relocated to Richmond.

Natasha Saje (Col ’76) published Terroir: Love, Out of Place (Trinity UP, 2020), a memoir-in-essays that was a finalist for Pen, Lambda, CMLP, and Indie Book Awards, and was awarded first prizes for the essay by Foreword Reviews and IPPY/ebook.

James “Jim” Kemp (Col ’58, Med ’62 CM) is retired and living in San Diego, but is active in his field as a consultant and Chief Medical Officer of a small start-up pharmaceutical company. After graduating from UVA Medical school in 1962, he completed a Pediatric internship at the University of Florida before going to Atlanta for a two-year Pediatric Residency at Emory University/Grady Memorial Hospital. He then completed two years service as a Lieutenant Commander at the U.S. Naval Hospital in San Diego. In 1965 he was accepted into the two-year Fellowship program at UC San Francisco, in Pediatric Allergy Asthma and Immunology, after which he returned to San Diego board-certified in both Pediatrics and Allergy/Immunology. He helped develop an training program at UC San Diego in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology and opened a private practice, seeing patients and doing over 400 clinical research studies with more than 200 published in peer-reviewed journals. He was President of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology in 2000. He has been an internationally-noted speaker in his field, at numerous national and more than 35 international conferences. In his community he was active in Rotary International and was on the board of directors of the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park, California. He has two daughters and five grandchildren—the oldest just accepted to the UVA School of Law.

Lorisa Bates (Col ’91) has published Benita Renee Jenkins 2: Boxing Rings and Cages, the second edition in the Benita series. It is is an action-packed page-turner filled with intrigue, romance, and twists – a perfect read on those crisp cool fall and winter nights! An entertainment veteran and author, Bates has always had a zest for telling stories. As a young child, while children her age were playing with dolls, she was developing characters and writing short stories. As she got older, her love for  writing only grew. With a career in the media industry spanning over two decades, her talents have expanded to include development, writing, producing and editing for film and television. Benita Renee Jenkins 2: Boxing Rings and Cages and Benita Renee Jenkins: Diva Secret Agent and are available everywhere books are sold.

Charity Robey (Col ’80) is a journalist writing about food, farms and environmental issues. She’d love to connect with classmates doing good work in related areas.

First-year Hancock Dorm mates, Dan Plecker (Col ’74 CM), John Kohler (Engr ’75), Mike Malley (Com ’74 CM) and Nat Karns (Col ’74 CM) spent a long weekend in September at Karns’ camp in Denmark, Maine. The friends have kept in touch for over 50 years and attend the five-year reunions together. They look forward to celebrating their 50 year reunion in 2024. 

Kevin Martingayle (Law ’91), a past president of the Virginia State Bar, was recently elected to the governing council of the National Conference of Bar Presidents. He has also held a number of other legal organization leadership positions, including his current service as a member of the executive committee of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Judges & Lawyers Assistance Program, which supports judges, lawyers, law students and legal staff in handling mental health and substance abuse challenges. Kevin resides in Virginia Beach with his wife, Lizzie, and has a trial and appellate law practice.

Betty Lou Roberts (Nurs ’53) has published her fourth book, Still Climbing, a combination of biography and fiction, featuring 13 short stories. She would love to hear from classmates.

David A. Cook (Grad ’71) published A History of Three-Dimensional Cinema with Anthem Press, London, in September 2021.  This is a companion volume to his A History of Narrative Film (New York:  Norton, 1981, 1990, 1996, 2004, 2016), W. W. Norton’s longest running publication, translated into eight languages, and one the world’s best-selling film history textbooks.  He also wrote Lost Illusions:  American Cinema in the Shadow of Watergate and Vietnam, 1970-1979, Volume 9 of the History of American Cinema series (New York: Scribner’s, 2000, and Berkley: University of California Press, 2002).  After teaching in the Purdue and Emory University English departments, 1971-1985, he served as Program Director and Chair of the Emory’s Film Studies Department, 1986-2007, which he also founded, and then served as Head of the Department of Media Studies, 2007-2012, at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, where he still teaches and does research.

Walter Calvert (Com ’80 CM) was elected a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.  The American College of Tax Counsel is a professional association of tax attorneys with fellows limited to a maximum of 700 across the United States.  Fellows must be nominated for membership and must then undergo a rigorous screening process prior to being elected.  Walt is a partner in the transactional Tax practice of the Venable LLP law firm.

Marie (Plaine) Weitzman (COL ’12 CM) and Andrew Weitzman (COL ’12 CM) welcomed their daughter, Madison Lee Weitzman, October 12th, 2021. Madison’s older brother, Ben, enjoyed his first trip to Grounds in May of this year and looks forward to attending UVA with his sister one day. 

Byron Dickson (Arch ’63 CM), lead practitioner at Dickson Architects & Associates, has been appointed to a four-year term on the City of Roanoke Architectural Review Board. Dickson Architects, which serves Southwest Virginia and adjoining states, celebrated its 50th anniversary June 7.

Monica N. Melmer (Col ’11, Med ’17 CM) and Patrick D. Melmer (Col ’12, Med ’17 CM) welcomed their second child, Madison Grace, on Oct. 13, 2021. Madison joins big sister Kennedy Caroline and can already cheer “Wahoowa!” After completing residencies and starting their careers in South Carolina, the Melmers are also excited to announce they will be returning home to Virginia. The family will reside in Richmond where Patrick is an incoming trauma/critical care surgery fellow at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Suzanne Miller (Engr ’60) has published I Am An American: Is America Racist? It uses the stories of her ethnically-mixed heritage (English/Scot/Native American/West African Black) to tell the story of America, and their place in that story. Carefully researched, the book contains or cites a substantial amount of relevant documentary evidence. The goal is to give readers a sound factual basis to form their opinion on this topic of current national importance. Many will may learn quite a few things about America that are not widely known, such as: Where did the phrase “all men are created equal” come from? Why were the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution written as they were? How were colonists with little military training able to defeat the most powerful military force on the planet at that time, the British Army? How and why did racism take root and develop in America? What does the very concept of “race” really mean? It is available as both an e-Book and paperback through Amazon, Apple Books and Barnes & Noble.

Ralph Aronberg (Engr ’78 CM) was recently awarded Engineer of the Year by the Broward County (Fla.) chapter of The American Society of Civil Engineers.  Ralph has been a member of ASCE for over 40 years, and is now a life member. His specialty is traffic and transportation. He began his career with the Florida Department Of Transportation, then worked for the Broward County traffic engineering division. He opened his own firm in 1983, where his work evolved into forensics.  He has been published in his field on a number of occasions, and is a fellow member of the National Academy of Forensic Engineers.

Laura Griffin (Col ’00) has been appointed Chief Deputy Clerk of Operations for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, effective October 18, 2021.  Laura previously served as the Clerk of Court (senior court administrator) for the Chesterfield and Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Courts.  She will work at the Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr., Federal Courthouse in Richmond.

Dr. Rebecca Clemo (Eng ’13, Res ’21 CM) and Dr. Merrick Kozak (Col ’12, Res ’21 CM) welcomed their first son, Rhys Philip James Kozak on March 3, 2021. The family lives in Charlottesville where Rebecca is a hospitalist and Merrick is a dermatologist. Rhys is the grandson of Dr. Henry Clemo (Col ’81, Med ’86, Med ’87 CM) and Dr. Frances Lynne Clemo (Med ’85), and nephew of Annie Clemo (Col ’17 CM), Cy Clemo (Eng ’14 CM), Hannah Meredith (Eng ’12 CM), Kate Meredith (Educ ’15 CM), Sam Meredith (Engr ’15 CM), Richard Clemo (Col ’75), and George Clemo (Col ’77, Grad ’79 CM).

Deon Brown (Engr ’94 CM) recently accepted a technical engineering position as Test Architect with Paragon Space Development Corporation. He will be the lead point of contact for developing test strategies for spaceflight hardware supplying environmental control and life support functions to Lunar Gateway, the first planned space station in lunar orbit, as the United States returns to the Moon under NASA’s Artemis Program.

Mark G. Haley (Col ’78), co-founder and partner at Prism Hospitality Consulting, LLC, was inducted into the Hospitality Finance & Technology Professionals International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame, the highest level of recognition in the area of technology. Since 1989, 49 individuals have received this award as a reflection of their contributions to the hospitality industry.

Lynda Marie Rozell (Col ’84, Grad ’86, Law ’88) recently published a bestselling non-fiction book Journeys with a Tin Can Pilgrim: from corporate attorney to Airstream nomad, finding joy in everyday life with st. john’s press.  Three years ago, Lynda retired from her position as project manager and in-house counsel with a non-profit in northern Virginia, sold her home, bought an Airstream travel trailer and a RAM 1500 truck, and hit the road full-time.  She writes a travel blog about shrines, religious sites, and areas of natural beauty.  Her book chronicles how she came to be a nomad ministering to the people she encounters on the road.  Based on her personal experience, the book shares entertaining stories and tips for how to live and travel in an RV.  Lynda’s travels take her all over the United States (except Hawaii because, although an Airstream resembles a submarine, it does not float!).  Lynda currently is on a book tour and has been interviewed in podcasts, radio stations, and publications listed on the media page of her book web page.  She frequently speaks at churches, RV parks, and community events.  On occasion, she rolls into town in Fairfax, Virginia to visit her grown children and spends several months each year visiting friends in Florida.  Previously Lynda served as Attorney Advisor to two sequential Commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. and worked in private practice for Hunton & Williams.

The Honorable Junius P. Fulton, III (Col ’81 CM) has been appointed by the Virginia General Assembly as a judge of the newly expanded Court of Appeals of Virginia. Judge Fulton previously served as a judge of the Norfolk Circuit Court since 1996. He and his wife, Darnell Brown Fulton (Col ’81) reside in Norfolk, Va.  

Kim Harrison Greer (Col ’89 CM) published her first novel in September 2021. Masked Intent: A Modern-Day Morality Play blurs the lines between contemporary romance and literary fiction, blending thoughtful prose with pointed observation, insights, and drama. The story arc follows the new, shaky romance between a divorced mom — who happens to be a UVA alumna — and a younger college professor. Told through a series of seemingly disconnected vignettes, the book examines our tenuous relationship with the truth and each other in a world where honesty and authenticity take back seat to the power of influence.

Michelle Jones Coles (Col ’02 CM) has written a debut young adult historical fiction novel called Black Was the Ink about the collapse of the Reconstruction Era. It will be published by Lee and Low Books on November 2, 2021. 

Susan Shapiro (Col ’10 CM) and husband Zachary Shapiro (Engr ’09 CM) welcomed a son, Everett Morton, on July 21, 2021. His mom, dad, grandma Kim Ratliff (Col ’74), and aunt Anne Bowman (Col ’02 CM) are eager to share their love for UVA and Charlottesville with this sweet little guy.