Class Notes

Frederick Wilbur (Col ’70) recently published his second poetry collection, Conjugation of Perhaps. The previous collection is titled As Pus Floats the Splinter Out. For 35 years Wilbur was a self-employed architectural woodcarver participating in the restoration of such historic properties as Montpelier, Blandfield, and the Maryland Statehouse in Annapolis. He carved several details for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. His ecclesiastical carvings appear in churches nationwide. During his career Wilbur wrote many articles and three books on decorative woodcarving; Carving Architectural Detail in Wood: the Classical Tradition; Carving Classical Styles in Wood, and Decorative Woodcarving: Accessories for the Home. Wilbur received a M. A. from the University of Vermont. He still lives in central Virginia with his wife of fifty years, Elizabeth (Educ ’87), with two daughters and three grandchildren nearby.

Martha Cabell Peters (Col ’90) was appointed assistant provost at Montana State University.

Joan Herlong (Col ’81), a real estate agent based in Greenville, South Carolina, is launching a Clemson office of Joan Herlong Associates Sotheby’s International Realty to better serve clients in South Carolina’s Upstate.

Bill Lawson (Darden ’72) writes: My wife Cathy and I started 2020 with a three week stay at a Viila (Fregate) in St. Barthelemy. Marc Christman (Darden ’72) and his wife Dierdre joined us there for a week. David Vondle (Darden ’72) and his wife, Debbie, invited us to join them for the “Full Monte” at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. We stayed at the Royal Bourbon Radisson with a second floor balcony overlooking Bourbon Street. I threw beads from a float in one of the major parades; we attended an unforgettable gala, brunches, the Gay Parade, brunches and late nite gatherings. If you haven’t done Mardi Gras–put it on your bucket list.

We then canceled our week long train trip on the Belmond Royal Scotsman and a London stay. Also Longboat Key in Florida and recently our annual sojourn to St. Barthelemy this month.

Our summer home on Lake Charlevoix in northern Michigan has been a wonderful place of refuge from the pandemic these last couple of weeks. We are returning to Indianapolis where we are remodeling our home there, replacing our 60 plus year old swimming pool, and constructing a pool pavilion. We are staying three houses down the street at a relative’s house until March when our projects will hopefully be completed.

Please all Wahoos stay HEALTHY and Happy 2021!

Olga Akopiants (Educ ’22) will publish her first novel, Air Unplugged, a sci-fi book about survival against all of the odds, in April 2021. Her book is available for pre-orders until January 23.

Jim Irving (Col ’76 CM) published his first novel, Friends Like These, the first in a series of three books. The sequel, Friend of a Friend, set to be published next year. Friends Like These is available in print and eBook on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. 

Marcus Ruscetti (Col ’08 CM) recently began teaching as an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Cell and Cancer Biology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. His laboratory investigates the dynamic interactions between tumors and the body’s immune system in cancer.

David Moltz (Col ’08) and Campbell Buie (Grad ’10) married on Sept. 26, 2020, in a small, outdoor ceremony at Wisdom Oak Winery in North Garden, Virginia. Both are changing their last names to Buie-Moltz. Campbell is certification program manager at Teachstone, Inc. and, as of Nov. 1, 2020, David is director of strategic communications at UVA Health. Previously, he was communications manager for UVA’s Office of the President.

Sean Murphy (Col ’85 CM) and Laura Frederick (Col ’87 CM) were married on Oct. 4, 2020, in New Braunfels, Texas, and are preparing to relocate from their home in Austin to Winchester, Virginia.

Christopher Hill (Col ’11, Med ’15) and Lucy Meadema Hill (Educ ’11) welcomed Molly Meadema Hill on Oct. 2, 2020. Molly weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and measured 20″ long, and joins siblings Esley, 6, Mac, 4, and Abby Ruth, 22 months. The Hill family lives in Suffolk, Virginia, while Christopher completes an otolaryngology residency at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. 

Jeanne LaSala Taylor (Col ’97 CM) published her first children’s book, Just Bunny and the Great Fire Rescue, in February 2020. Based on a true story, this book is a thank you to firefighters everywhere and a portion of the proceeds go to the NYFF Burn Center Foundation. 

Marsha McElrath Taylor (Nurs ’77) has moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, with her husband, Brad, after completing a 30-plus-year career as a cardiac operating room and perioperative nurse. During her nursing career, Taylor enjoyed medical ICU experience at Georgetown University Hospital, and served as lead clinical instructor for INOVA Fairfax’s Cardiac Dome Observation Program. She was featured in this role in the Washington Post Magazine article “Hearts and Minds” by Paul Gustafson. Taylor also taught classes on hemodynamic monitoring, disseminated intravascular coagulation and diabetic ketoacidosis. She published several articles including “Atrial Septal Defect Repair” and “Job Satisfaction and Perioperative Nursing.” In retirement, Taylor plans to continue participation in BSF International, and volunteer services. She also hopes to “prepare all those recipes from all those cookbooks I’ve collected over the years!”

Robert Bové (Col ’74 CM) has published his third full-length book of poems, Pandemic Poetry Reader, available on Amazon as Kindle and paperback. He and his wife live in Brooklyn Heights, New York.

Michael Adam Burger (Col ’90) is currently a partner in the law firm of Santiago Burger and a managing member in Neutral Mediation Group, both concentrating in the resolution of commercial and fiduciary relationship disputes. Mike is also a volunteer firefighter. He lives in Brighton, New York, with his wife, Anne, and their daughter, Jane. The family hopes to visit Grounds in 2021 for the 30th reunion, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic.

L. Flick Hatcher (Col ’77 CM) has published his first novella, The Last Word, an uplifting book about betrayal, forgiveness, healing, hope, resilience, and the power of the human spirit. The Last Word is available in print and ebook versions on Amazon and BookBaby.com  His second book, Telling Tales, will be released in spring 2021. Hatcher is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice in San Francisco, where he lives with his husband, Lou Marano.

John Howard (Col ’83 CM), professor emeritus of arts and humanities at King’s College London, has published his second documentary photobook with University of Valencia Press, Spain. Felling & Pining depicts life, death, faith and doubt in the poorest and most pious parts of the United States—the Deep South piney woods of Alabama and Mississippi.

James Dean Erickson (Col ’08) and Jenna Brick Erickson (Nurs ’10) welcomed their sixth child, Jonathan Thaddeus, on July 8, 2020. They live on campus at Woodberry Forest School where James serves as chair of the visual arts department and coaches varsity wrestling and track. 

Jimmie Crowder (Col ’58 CM) owns a funeral home in his hometown of South Hill, Virginia.

Steve Williams (Col ’86) continues his work at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia as dean of the College of Rehabilitation Sciences, the Jesse B. Michie Professor and Chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, and the Enterprise Senior Vice President for Post-Acute and Rehabilitation Services at Jefferson Health.

Mark Scharf (Grad ’84) won Best Play for The Monroe Doctrine in the 2020 Southwest Theater Production’s Male Lead Competition. 

Noah Kaufman (Com ’99 CM) and his wife, Rachelle Lasken Kaufman (Col ’02) a boy, Saul Robert. Saul joins big brother Benjamin. The Kaufmans live in Arlington, Virginia. Noah works as a systems accountant (project manager) at the Department of State, is an adjunct associate professor at the University of Maryland Global Campus, and coaches wrestling. He recently re-published a book Life Lessons from the Wrestling Mat: Successful Strategies Gleaned from Three Decades of Coaching and Competing, which includes lessons he learned from his time on the UVA wrestling team. He has published three other books. Rachelle is an author, and has written several books as part of the Kaufman Green Guide series.  

Tom Evans (Col ’53, Law ’56 CM), former U.S. Congressman from Delaware, is the subject of a new book by Lois Hoffman, Barriers: The life and legacy of Tom Evans. With our nation divided between left and right, Barriers reflects on a time when politics worked in Washington. Evans represented Delaware in the 1970s and 80s and worked his way into the center of political power. He built coalitions of Democrats and Republicans, including President Reagan, to pass major environmental legislation despite opposition from big-money lobbyists. The Coastal Barrier Resources Act, touted by the New York Times as “the most important environmental legislation no one has ever heard of,” and the Alaska Lands Act are among his most significant achievements. He’s hopeful his neighbor, President-Elect Joe Biden, will also champion sound environmental policies. The book is available on Amazon.com. 

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Although he ran with the biggest names in Republican circles while in Congress, his influence extended before and far after his time there. Evans gave hundreds of speeches at political and non-political venues to share wisdom and inspire his audiences. At 89, he continues to give interviews and pen op-eds to chastise politicians who are on the wrong path or tap the consciousness of the American people.

Barriers is a window into his life’s work. It speaks to a common-sense approach to legislation and consensus building in interactions with others that got lost in the last decades since he served.

Tom’s legacy is a message for those serving in political office and a call to citizens — use your voices before we cease to have them. 

“Tom Evans worked tirelessly in Congress and afterwards as a lobbyist and advocate to protect wetlands essential to our coastline and wild lands in Alaska. Evans reminds us all of the proud conservationist tradition of the Republican Party who built our national park system and preserved large tracts of national forests and wilderness. Evans worked across the aisle to achieve great things in preserving America’s wild spaces and biodiversity, and his story is both important historically and an inspiration for our future.”

~ U.S. Senator, Chris Coons

Casey Stein Rooney (Col ’10) and Dan Rooney welcomed their daughter, Leigh Rooney, in February 2020. Her Hebrew name is Leah Esther Bat-Chaia (לאה אסתר בת חיה). She is named in memory of three amazing family members who are missed but never forgotten. 

Kimberly Sine (Col ’10 CM) married Anthony Jamison at a beautiful outdoor ceremony in Alexandria, Virginia, on Oct. 24, 2020, surrounded by their immediate family. The couple lives in Washington, D.C. 

David Craig Landin (Col ’68, Law ’72 CM) has established the Landin Law Group, for which the primary office is in Richmond, Virginia. 

Robert Schwab (Col ’79, Med ’83 CM) will publish his third novel, Eddie’s Boy, in February 2021. The novel is a sequel to his first, Holy Water. Dr. Schwab serves as chief medical officer for a hospital in the Texas Health Resources health system based in the Dallas-Forth Worth Metroplex. He also teaches an undergraduate seminar on the healing power of stories at the University of Texas at Dallas. He returns to UVA regularly to serve as a guest lecturer in the post-baccalaureate premedical program in the School of Continuing Education and Professional Studies.

Brooke Westerlund Stanton (Col ’95) co-authored When You Became You, a recently published children’s science education book.

Karen Young Foley (Col ’87, Educ ’08) published her second picture book, Santa’s Sleigh Is Stuck: A Hog Island Christmas Tale. The story, illustrated by Michelle Simpson, takes place on one of Virginia’s beloved barrier islands. 

Jonathan Q. Morgan (Col ’91 CM) was recently promoted to full professor in the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has also been appointed to a two-year Albert and Gladys Coates Term Professorship in recognition of his accomplishments, contributions and service.  

Emily Russell (Col ’08) was selected by Virginia Lawyers Weekly as an “Up and Coming Lawyer” for 2020, which recognizes the work and community engagement of attorneys in their first 10 years of practice. Emily is an assistant county attorney for Chesterfield County, Virginia, and a graduate of Tulane Law School.

Jennifer “Kim” Penberthy (Res ’89) published a new book, Living Mindfully Across the Lifespan: An Intergenerational Guide. The book provides user-friendly, empirically supported information about and answers to some of the most frequently encountered questions and dilemmas of human living, interactions, and emotions. Find more information on the book and the link to pre-order it on Routledge’s website.

Sheldon Zablow (Col ’73, Med ’77), a psychiatrist, published a nutrition book, Your Vitamins Are Obsolete:The Vitamer Revolution—A Program for Healthy Living and Healthy Longevity. This book is about the disparity between what we expect of our vitamins and what they provide. Food often has its natural bioactive vitamins (vitamers) stripped out while the synthetic forms are substituted back in. This vitamer deficiency is exacerbating the universal illness of chronic inflammation which contributes to the onset of depression, dementia, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, etc. The book explains the newly understood mechanism by which this occurs by focusing on the two most essential vitamins—B12 and folate. Vitamers are the forms of vitamins that are used by cells and are critical to the functioning of biochemical activity from the expression of genes to the production of energy molecules to the cleansing of cellular waste. For example, if there is plenty of Vitamin D and calcium but a deficiency of B vitamers, osteoporosis still occurs. The unhealthy pro-inflammatory mechanism explored is the relationship between the deficiency of the vitamer forms of B12 and folate and reduced DNA epigenetic methylation. I call this process the Vitamer Revolution.  

Brenton Sullivan (Grad ’13) published a new book, Building a Religious Empire: Tibetan Buddhism, Bureaucracy, and the Rise of the Gelukpa, this fall. Sullivan teaches religion at Colgate University.