Mar/Apr 2004

As you read this, spring is around the corner . . . finally! This past year, like others in recent memory, was one in which many classmates tied the knot. Elisabeth Field married Andy Mims on July 26, '03, in Little Compton, RI. The couple met at Dartmouth, where they received their MBA degrees. Elisabeth is a management consultant at the Parthenon Group, and Andy is a stock research associate at Thomas Weisel Partners, a merchant bank. Joseph Britt and Kelly O'Hare got married at Graham Chapel at Washington U. in St. Louis,MO, on Nov. 30, '02. Briget Doyle Grbic got married on Aug. 3, '02. She and her husband honeymooned in Croatia, and Briget started with Marsh USA in June 2003.

August was a busy month for classmates' weddings: Alex Collmer and Nina Roosevelt '96 tied the knot Aug. 9, '03, in South Dartmouth, MA. Nina teaches fifth grade at the Allen- Stevenson School in New York and is seeking her master's degree in education from Columbia. Alex owns Interactive Entertainment Partners, a video programming firm in New York. His father is a professor of plant pathology at Cornell.Meanwhile, at the Newark Club in New Jersey on the same day, Samantha Youngman (spygirl129@aol.com) and Mark Meiler got married. Classmates attending included Beth Rothenstein, Andrew and Julie Leffler Schultz, Yvette Nick Montvelisky, Josh, DVM '01, and Rebecca Propis Baum, Caryn Feinberg, Michael Siegel and wife Robyn, and Marc and Ellen Goodman Stiefel. Samantha is the features editor at the newly revamped Star magazine.

Paula Gerber (paulaannegerber@yahoo.com) and Pankaj Gore got hitched on Aug. 30, '03 in her hometown of Spokane,WA. Pankaj's brother Neeraj Gore is in the class of '00. Also on August 30, on the other side of the country, Julie Winarski (jnw2@cornell.edu) and Jason Jack were married in Upper Montclair, NJ. Melissa Martinchick and Margaret Safford were bridesmaids; other classmates attending included Greg and Sarah Karcinell Fried, Shelly Tyler Radler, Laurie Rothenberg, and Christina Edling Melendi. Jason and Julie live in NYC, where Julie is an attorney in the investment management group of Davis Poll & Wardwell.

In June 2003, Jason Friedman (jayruns@excite.com) and Jodi Frantz joined in holy matrimony in Philadelphia. Both Jason and Jodi have Cornellian siblings: Jason's sister Allison Friedman Osborn '00 and husband Andrew '00 joined Jodi's sister Brooke Frantz Salzman '95 in the festivities. Al Brandstaedter '96, MEng '97, was best man; John Steed and Aravind Swaminathan also attended. Jason is finishing his residency in emergency medicine at Cooper Hospital in Camden, NJ. Danielle Grundleger (dannie99@hotmail.com) married Harrison Rosenberg in Lawrence, NY, on Sept. 6, '03. The Rosenbergs live on the Upper East Side of Manhattan; Danielle works for IBM as a consultant, and has seen Staci Harris Frauwirth, Dave Silverstein, Jason Bender, Elliot Goodman, Jennifer Colasuonno-Schaffer, and Bill Trenchard.

Scott Hatherley (shatherl@mac.com) sent word that he attended Brad Hopper's wedding on Sept. 6, '03. Maria Westberg (mariawest berg@yahoo.com) married Peter Adams, MBA '02, on Sept. 27, '03 in Bristol, RI. Classmates joining in the festivities included Jessika Trancik, Alison Brown Mungenast, Julie Laukys, and Anne and Sarah Snelgrove, MD '01.Maria finished up her master's at Tufts, where she studied nutrition communications and public health. Julie Laukys (jkl6@cornell.edu) checked in with some news of her own: she received her clinical doctorate in physical therapy from Temple U. this summer.

Anne-Marie Compton (amco101@yahoo.com) gave birth to son Dominic Matthew Ross on Aug. 3, '03. Anne-Marie is enjoying life as a full-time mom after teaching introductory chemistry at the U. of Alaska, Fairbanks. Colleen Zampier (cjz8@juno.com) loves her job as a clinical dietitian at R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the U. of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. Patara Yongvanich, MBA '00 (py12@cornell.edu) was promoted last fall to director of field services for SAP AG. Patara spent the summer with Derek Deich, Dan Davidson, and Jason Wang '96.

John Boyer continues to put his Harvard Law degree to good use: he's a member of the Judge Advocate General core of the 101st Airborne division of the Army and was serving in Iraq this fall. After returning from a "glorious" ten-week post-Bar exam vacation, Lia Brooks (lnb1@cornell.edu) has settled into her job as an associate in Davis Polk & Wardwell's litigation department and still managed to find time to train and run the New York City Marathon on November 2. She graduated from Fordham Law School last May and keeps in touch with Sudwiti Chanda, Rebecca Politzer, and Kristen Breen '98. Christine Booss (cb30@cornell.edu) remains in Eugene, OR, where she's in her third year of studying business law at the U. of Oregon and looking forward to finishing up in May '04.

Rebecca Cantor Amster (Rebecca@amsterfamilylaw.com) opened her own law firm in downtown Coral Gables, FL, where she practices family law, including divorce, adoption, paternity, custody, domestic violence, and dependency. After being inspired by husband Matt '95, who ran in the marathon at Disney World last January, she started training to run in the Disney marathon this year. Rebecca was present at the closing of Jason Litowitz '98's new home.

David Hollman (dah8@cornell.edu) kept busy outdoors in 2003: he traveled to Yosemite National Park with Chris Como '99, Presidential Ridge in New Hampshire, and Mt.Marcy in New York's Adirondacks. David's living in NYC but working in Arlington, VA, since June 2002 for Sapient Corp., and has seen classmate Russ Goodrich in New Hope, PA, and Ann Coulter '84 on Amtrak. Tania Condon Lawrence (taniaben@hotmail.com), husband Ben, and 2-yearold son John moved to Balikpapan, Indonesia, in September 2003. Ben is working as the office manager for Abumas Group, a supply company serving the oil drilling rigs in Kalimantan (formerly Borneo). Tania, who spent last summer in Biddeford, ME, while enrolled in a master's education program at the U. of New Hampshire, planned to volunteer in Balikpapan as an English teacher in a local elementary school.

Megan Clark Eisenberg (mclarkeisenberg@yahoo.com) and husband Josh '96, JD '00, planned to vacation in Vietnam in October 2003.Megan has started her own business, Clark Ventures LLC; she buys, renovates, and sells houses in the New York metropolitan area, and acts as a general contractor on other projects in Manhattan and New Jersey. Megan and Josh keep up with many Cornellians, including classmates Kevin and Lynn Stravinski LaPierre, Emily Mead, Todd Jacobson, Amy Martin, and Maneli Garahan.

Stefan Lehmann (heysml@aol.com) left Morgan Stanley's investment banking division after three years to head to business school at Columbia. Stefan met Elise Shin and Jen Hu for drinks this fall. Elisa Overholt (cedahlia56@aol.com) is back at school studying traditional Chinese medicine (acupuncture and herbs). Seth Guikema (sdg4@cornell.edu) finished his PhD at Stanford in management science and engineering. He moved back to Ithaca and is at Cornell as a postdoctorate in civil and environmental engineering.

Have you visited our class website lately? It is a great way to stay connected: investigate upcoming events in your area, peruse past Class Notes columns, post a snapshot, give a gift. You can always submit your news directly to us at the addresses below, or send it in over the Web. And remember, this space isn't reserved solely for weddings, babies, and other major events . . . there is a forum for news of all sorts! -- Erica Broennle Nelson, ejbnelson@yahoo.com; Sarah Deardorff Carter, sjd5@cornell.edu. Class website, www.classof97.cornell.edu.