Class Notes

Joseph W. Brown (Col ’65 CM), Of Counsel, Jolley Urga Woodbury & Holthus Attorneys at Law, received the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award from Nellis-Creech Air Force Base. The award honors Brown’s 32-plus years of remarkable support to Nellis and Creech. This is the first time the award has been presented by the Nellis Support Team.

Brown has been a valued and treasured member of the Nellis Air Force Base, Creech Air Force Base and Las Vegas communities for many years. He is a former U.S. Marine, one of the founders and former chair of the Nevada Military Support Alliance and a former honorary commander and vice commander of the Nellis Support Group to the Commander of the Air Combat Command, and, until recently, had been honorary commander for the 526th Intelligence Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base.

Brown also received the National Guard Association of the United States Patrick Henry Award, which provides recognition to officials and civic leaders who, in a position of great responsibility, distinguished themselves with outstanding and exceptional service to the Armed Forces of the United States and the National Guard.

Stephen B. Dobranski (Col ’88) recently published his tenth book, Reading John Milton: How to Persist in Troubled Times (Stanford University Press). He is Distinguished University Professor at Georgia State University, and editor of the academic journal Milton Studies.

Monica Holman Evans (Col ’89 CM), executive director, DC Board of Elections, has been certified as an Elections & Registration Administrator, from the National Association of Election Officials, the highest professional achievement for election officials.  Evans is one of the few African American chief executive elections officers in the United States.

Evans brings broad legal experience to the position of executive director beyond her senior leadership role at DCBOE. Prior to her position as executive director, Evans served as the senior policy advisor on election operations and policy implementation. A Certified Elections & Registration Administrator designation is achieved only through a multi-year course of study taught by the Auburn University’s master’s in public administration faculty. 

Leigh Anne Kelley (Col ’89 CM) has been named director of communications for the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. 

In her new role, Kelley will help shape and direct an integrated communication strategy for the institute, whose world-class research teams are working to better understand human health and develop innovative approaches to preventing, diagnosing, and treating disease.

Kelley brings 20 years of professional media experience to the institute’s communications team as a writer, editor, designer, and content manager for newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and digital media. She guided coverage of the commonwealth’s growing tech sector as managing editor of Virginia Business magazine and became a faculty member at Radford University in 2006.

Jean White (Col ’69 CM) is again president of the American News Women’s Club, Washington, D.C. She retired from U.S. Department of State – class of 1997 – under the auspices of Secretary Madeleine Albright.

Michael D. Steger (Col ’89, Law ’93, Grad ’93 CM) has been appointed co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Solo & Small Firm Litigation Committee.  He practices intellectual property, entertainment and business law in New York City. 

Christine Hollins (Col ’91 CM) has been named chief development officer at the UVA Alumni Association. She serves as vice-chair of the Volunteer Board at The Fralin Museum of Art and lives in Charlottesville with her husband and daughter.

Andrew William Joyner (Col ’97 CM) was named associate director of development at the UVA McIntire School of Commerce. Joyner spent the three previous years as assistant director of development at the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development. Andrew and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Crozet with their three children. 

Philip Woodward Young (Col ’64 CM) reports that his granddaughter, Margaret “Maggie” Galloway Young (Col ’23) is in her fourth year at UVA.

Fred Karnas (Arch ’71) recently completed a term as a senior policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Treasury. He was asked to join the leadership team focused on addressing evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic based on his career work as a deputy assistant secretary at HUD in the Clinton Administration, senior advisor to the HUD Secretary in the Obama Administration, and housing cabinet member for Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano. He has now returned to his leadership of the Mental Health Strategic Impact Initiative (S2i), a national entity focused on improving mental health policy and practice, and his work on behalf of the Richmond Memorial Health Foundation.

Eric Patashnik (Col ’87 CM) has been appointed chair of Brown University’s Political Science Department. 

Sarah (Rose) Carlin (Engr ’05, Com ’13) and her husband, Matt, welcomed their first child, Nathan Edward, on March 12, 2022. The family lives in Northern Virginia where Sarah is an IT strategist for Booz Allen Hamilton and Matt is a sales engineering manager for Splunk. 

Neil Birkhoff (Col ’77 CM),principal and tax practice leader at Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black, recently completed his 14-month term as visiting director of the Tax Clinic at the Washington & Lee University School of Law.  He has been an adjunct professor of law at Washington & Lee for fifteen years, teaching income taxation of corporations, trusts & estates, and non-profit organizations.

Christopher Winter (Col ’07 CM) and Megan Van Syckle Winter (Com ’09 CM) welcomed a son, Brooks Christopher, on August 18, 2022. The family, including proud sister Caroline, lives in Charlottesville.

Casey Chalk (Col ’07, Educ ’07) and his wife, Claire, welcomed a son, Daniel Edmund, on Aug. 3, 2020. He joins siblings Annemarie, 9; Thomas, 7; Elizabeth, 5, and Lawrence, 2. 

Jessica Hatch (Col ’12 CM) celebrated the debut of her first novel, My Big Fake Wedding (Hachette Book Group; Bookouture), on August 18, 2022. It debuted at #1 in Amazon’s Humorous American Literature category. Hatch has a second novel forthcoming from Bookouture in February 2023. Learn more at www.jessicahatch.com.