Class Notes

Jane Everson (Educ ’80, ’83 CM) has retired from a long career in academia. In retirement, she has been elected to a position on her local school board and has published a non-fiction book exploring the lives of women who have influenced her life, titled Everyday Women, Extraordinary Wisdom.

Katie Walker (Educ ’12, ’18), the former associate vice president and chief budget officer at UVA, was named vice chancellor for finance and administration at Indiana University. She currently lives in Bloomington, Indiana, with her husband, Andrew Walker (Arch ’12) and her children, James and Lily.

Andrew G. Lee (Col ’85, Med ’89 CM) is proud to receive The 2025 UVA Walter Reed Distinguished Achievement Award. The award recognizes professional accomplishments, outstanding innovation and exemplary leadership in the field of medicine.

Molly Elizabeth Beauchemin (Col ’12 CM) and her husband, Rishi Paul Singh (Col ’11 CM) welcomed their third baby, Iris Oak Singh, in June. Iris is baby brother to two girls, a 4-year-old named Cypress and 2-year-old named Lilac. Cypress, Lilac and Iris have all spent many beautiful hours rocking in the same rocking chair that used to sit outside of their mother’s former Lawn room, 32 East.

Asmau Ahmed (Engr ’00) was named the first chief artificial intelligence and data officer for Varo Bank, the first all-digital nationally chartered bank in the U.S. She will lead company-wide AI and machine-learning efforts. Asmau has led teams and delivered products over the past 20-plus years, most recently sitting on the leadership team at Google X, where she led the development of new technologies. She has also served on the boards of various companies, including the Creative Arts Agency, the Yale Board of Advisers, QuinStreet, Pony AI and blackcomputeHER.

Peter Barres (Col ’58 CM) has retired after a fulfilling career teaching at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut, and tutoring students in math. He is spending his retirement building tiny houses and growing lima beans, tomatoes, butternut squash and string beans in his garden.

Greg Coxson (Col ’80) has published his first book, Optimal-Peak-Sidelobe Polyphase Codes, co-authored with long-time collaborator Jon Russo, and published by ArTech House. Coxson is a research engineer at the United States Naval Academy (USNA), where he teaches electrical engineering courses. Prior to working at USNA, he worked as a radar systems engineer at Hughes Radar, Lockheed Martin and the Naval Research Laboratories in Washington, D.C.

Sara A. Austin (Col ’87 CM) was granted fellowship in the College of Community Association Lawyers (CCAL), which provides a forum for the exchange of information among experienced legal professionals working for the advancement of community association governance. Austin, who is the founder of Austin Law Firm, earned this national recognition due to her outstanding leadership and commitment to the advancement of the legal principles and practical tools necessary for community associations to thrive. Among other professional positions, Austin is a past president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

David Powers (Law ’82) published his memoir, Power Lines: My American Story, recounting his youth in Washington, D.C. and his career which took him around the globe. The memoir started as a collection of light-hearted anecdotes shared with friends and evolved into an exploration of inherited personality traits based on over 200 years of family history, observations on America’s shifting political and social values, and a healthy dose of humor. Power Lines was edited by Dallas editor Nina Flournoy and published by NFES Publishing in Dallas.

Spencer Francis (Engr ’03 CM) celebrated 22 years with Bowman Consulting Group (NASDAQ: BWMN) and commemorated Bowman’s 30th anniversary by ringing the NASDAQ opening bell with other Bowman leaders. Francis has helped grow Bowman from a regional Washington, D.C.-based engineering firm into one of the top multidisciplinary design firms in the United States. Francis is currently executive vice president and division manager at Bowman. He and his wife, Kirsten (Dodd) Francis (Col ’03 CM) live in Richmond with their three daughters.

Austin Palmore (Col ’15, Com ’16 CM) recently completed a two-year clerkship at the Court of Appeals of Virginia, where he was a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Randolph A. Beales (Law ’86 CM). Palmore is now a litigation associate with the broad-based civil practice law firm Christian & Barton, LLP in Richmond, Virginia.

Ted Weihe (Arch ’79) published his book, What Is Lost with the Demise of USAID: Personal Reflections. The book discusses what is lost with the demise of USAID, reflecting on its impact on American leadership, poor and rural communities and humanitarian relief efforts. It includes chapters covering the voter registration campaign in Chile that defeated Pinochet and the successful formation of cooperatives in Poland, Albania, Barbados, South Sudan and Uganda. Weihe has written 12 self-published books which cover ancestry, sailing, chocolate and cooperative development, among other topics.

Randy Stephens (Arch ’86 CM) retired from a fulfilling, 40-year career in architecture. His career began with WRT, a Philadelphia-based, multi-discipline firm responsible for the design of the Atlantic City Convention Center and Rail Terminal. After 15 years in private practice, he transitioned to higher education, serving as campus planner and project manager for Miami University, and then as university architect for Montana State University. Stephens concluded his career as planning manager for the state of Montana, preparing the portfolio of capital projects for the governor’s budget. Along the way, Stephens was a visiting instructor at Miami University, was named honorary Coach of the Week by the late football coach Terry Hoeppner, and presented at national and regional meetings for the American Institute of Architects and the Society for Collegiate and University Planning. His plans for retirement are to stay connected, to explore, to learn and to serve, including being an A-School alumni mentor this year! Stephens and his wife, Barb, live with their two dogs in Jefferson City, Montana, where he has spent much of his free time hiking and catch-and-release fishing for trout.

Nakita Reed (Arch ’06) and Ryan McEnroe (Arch ’09) have both been promoted to associate principal at Quinn Evans, an award-winning national design firm.

Reed’s past projects include the revitalization of Baltimore Penn Station. She is also the host of the Tangible Remnants podcast, which seeks to demystify the process of transforming historic buildings into thriving spaces that honor the past while serving the present. She is a member of the Association for Preservation Technology, a co-chair of the of the Zero Net Carbon Collaboration for Existing and Historic Buildings, and a past president of the Baltimore Architecture Foundation.

McEnroe has contributed to the design of the Bird House at the National Zoological Park and the National Native American Veterans Memorial at the National Museum of the American Indian, both in Washington, D.C., for the Smithsonian Institution. He was elevated to the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows in 2023, is a member of the National Architectural Accrediting Board and is a co-founder of AIA|DC’s Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program.