Jan/Feb 2000

This column kicks off with an all-points-bulletin for news. Any random tidbits, big news flashes or general updates on your lives are urgently needed to ensure the Class of '97 continues to use this space to our advantage, by filling it in every issue! E-mail news to ejb4@cornell.edu or go on line at www.cornell.alumni.edu!

Here's some news from last year. Mira E. Sullivan, MS M '98, used her mechanical engineering degree to secure a position on the new product development team at Cordis, a Johnson & Johnson company that manufactures interventional cardiology medical devices. Mira lives in New Jersey and sees Cherilyn D. Nadal regularly.

In July 1998 at Sage Chapel, Marshall Stocker, MBA '99, married Alexandra (Sanderson) '86, BA '87. Michelle K. Lim (mkl7@cornell.edu) married Dustin Van Winkle in January and moved from California back to Albany, NY, where she works for Sprint PCS. Alyssa N. Goodman (bgood9575@aol.com) went in the opposite direction, moving from the East Coast to San Francisco, where she works for an Internet start-up company, www.goldenparachute.com. Also in California, Erik Mulet (erm23@att.net) is living in North Hollywood and working in an art department creating TV commercials. Neal Rubin (nrubin@earthlink.cnet) was promoted to director of organizational development, sales, and marketing for Hilton Grand Vacations at the Flamingo Hilton, while wife Lisa A. Enkoff, M ILR '97, is a human resources generalist at Citibank. They've enjoyed traveling through the Southwest and hosting Nabil Moubayed, MMH '97, and Candace A. Chase '93, MMH '97. One more wedding: Jasmina Burdzovic and Peter Andreas, PhD '99, got hitched in August 1998. Jasmina has since entered a graduate program in psychology at Brandeis U.

Shawn Tripp (ShawnTripp@aol.com) has spent time in Dallas and Providence since graduation; he planned to open a new restaurant in the Columbus, OH, airport with Anton Air Foods. Shawn has seen Ben Tsai, Jon Eisengart '96, and Randy Koss, in addition to "practically everyone" at Homecoming.

On the West Coast, Joshua Steiner, MS I '98, took a position with Deloitte and Touche in San Francisco. Justin Newman (jen1@cornell.edu) and Tamarra L. Strawn (tls5@cornell.edu) are midway through law school at Cornell; Tamarra planned to study this past summer in Paris. Melinda E. Minear (mem6@cornell.edu) worked as a seismic surveyor, spending alternate shifts in Ithaca before returning to Cornell full-time in the spring to complete coursework for her M Eng. Melinda traveled extensively, offering a caveat to travelers in Norway: "Avoid eating Lüdifiske--foul stuff!" She rued her return to academia, noting she'll sorely miss sleep as she jumps back into the Cornell grind as a "suffering, starving, sleep-deprived student." (Sounds like a Psych 101 experiment!)

After seven months in Hong Kong working for Chase Manhattan Bank's Asia IT department, Jo Hamburge (jo.hamburge@chase.com) was back in NYC in May working on a systems project for Chase Investment Bank. Joshua S. Golden returned to the United States after living and working for nine months in a small town in Costa Rica, and is now working for Buck Consultants, an HR consulting firm in Atlanta. In May, Geoff Hasley, MMH '97, (glh4@cornell.edu) was beginning his third year as executive vice-president and general manager of Green Tree Country Club in Midland, TX. Geoff ran into three Hotel alums at a Dallas meeting: classmate Richard Scott Lese and meeting presenters Robert C. James '71 and Frank T. Stover '65. In January 1999, David Gogolak (gogolak@mindspring.com) shared news of the July 10, '98, opening of Hobson's Choice, a "rum bar" on Haight Street, and noted that Charlie Skipsey '95, Greg Medow '95, and Mike Moran '95 have also been enjoying careers in beverage management. Regulars include Gus Warren '94, Dave Goodridge '94, Dan Anderson '95, Brian Ott '93, and Ashley Jordan Wallens. Charlie, Mark Nicandri '94, BS Hotel '95, and David shared plans to open their first restaurant.

This summer, Aaron Wightman earned a master's degree in industrial forestry operations from Virginia Tech; he and wife Valerie call Wellsville, NY, home. Scott Hatherley completed his MS in biochemistry in June at the UMass Medical Center and accepted a job as a research associate at Equinox Group in Lexington, MA. The company designs forecast models for pharmaceutical companies seeking to develop new drugs. Scott says he's met some Cornellians through the Cornell Club of Boston. In February 1999, David Makharadze (makharad@yahoo.com) reported that his Wall Street restaurant marketing company had a successful second year. He said he would be looking for some Cornellians to help him expand the business. David has kept up with a lot of classmates. In Los Angeles, he visited Jeff Hulett, Dan Sommer, and Justin Wills. In Vegas, he saw Braeden Ziegler. In San Francisco, he met Melissa Montalto and David Gogolak. David M. has also seen Art Kopittke, Sabato Sagaria, Dan Vené, Nick Rizzo, Nicole L. Viglucci, Leslie F. Macdowell '99, and Maren H. Siegel. Christine Booss (cb30@cornell.edu) worked for Symantec Corp. in Oregon before leaping into advertising in New Haven, CT. Meanwhile, Andrea Sciberras (asciberras@studennts.kcom.edu) is happily pursuing a career in osteopathic medicine as a first year medical student at Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. She encourages anyone with questions about the profession to contact her.

Now, a healthy dose of wedding news: Beth A. Kellerman (Beth_Kellerman@brown.edu), a grad student in psychology, married Robert Pattison, an associate biochemical engineer at Genzyme Corp., in April 1999. The wedding party included Alicia Pattison '00, Francesco Noschese, MAT '98, and Daniel Wynne '95. Guests included Dan Brachfeld '95, ME I '96, Jonathan Barber '95, M Eng '96, and Elise (Kellerman) '79 and Joe Wojciechowski '79. Jill (Akst) married Craig Sheflin in June 1999 and the couple now live in New York City; Jill works for an Internet consulting firm in Union Square and Craig received a DO from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in May 1999. Wedding guests included Robin L. Ebenstein, Caryn P. Feinberg, Matthew Stauffer, Stephanie H. Shaps, Angie K. Datta, Sandy Loeb, Carrie A. Brown, BS Ag '98, Kelli M. Clare, James Kirszrot, Alex Dyner, and Roland Scahill.

In late 1998, Laura B. Steigerwalt (steiger@ptd.net) was working for MetaChem Technologies in technical sales. She claimed New York State as her territory, selling liquid chromatography columns to pharmaceutical and education researchers. Meanwhile, Nick Robbins was living in Manchester, MA, and reported continuing his work in film and television production and screenwriting. Also in Fall 1998, Kristi K. Snyder (KristiSnyder@hotmail.com) entered a PhD program in biological anthropology at Binghamton U. Kristi spent a summer working as a naturalist on whale watch tours departing from Boston Harbor where she was conducting behavioral research on humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine. After that she planned to study late-onset degenerative neurodiseases like ALS and Parkinson's.

Finally, I've received an update to news printed in a recent column: Tracey Cornell will be working as an assistant coach under Julie Sasner, former head coach at Cornell and currently head coach for the U. of Wisconsin-Madison's first-ever women's ice hockey team.--Erica Broennle, 7681 Provincial Dr. #103, McLean, VA 22102; e-mail, ejb4@cornell.edu.