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CLASS NOTES
Everett
Weinberger The careful reader of The Wall Street Journal on January 19 would have spotted Goran Puljic and Stephen Trevor among the list of Goldman Sachs's managing directors announced in a full-page ad. Congrats to both. Congrats also to Guy Reiss on making partner at Walter, Conston, Alexander & Green, where he focuses on corporate, commercial and securities transactions. Peter McLaughlin e-mailed that after five years of lawyering in Europe, he's returned to the U.S. He married Elizabeth Saunders in Cleveland in October 1999. Congrats, Pete - there's hope for us remaining bachelors! Sam Katz continues his success at Cendant, where he was recently named chief executive officer of Cendant Internet Group. In international news, Arne Wasmuth in Hamburg, Germany recently set up his own TV production company, Lighthouse Productions, named after the city's historic lighthouses along the Elbe River. Lighthouse produces documentaries for public European broadcasters and live action footage for German Sesame Street, and helps Internet clients with their online audio-visual presentation. Aside from traveling to Berlin as often as possible, Arne has also maintained his tradition of setting foot on Columbia soil every other year since graduation. And now, a new feature of the column: "The List." I am sensitive to the fact that many of the people that appear in this column are within my sphere of '86 alumni contacts. The majority of our class goes unreported. Each column, I will randomly choose 10 names and beseech those named, or their friends/family, to let us know what they've been doing for the last 14 (!) years (my phone number is (212) 787-0587). In this way, we will try to better reflect the diversity of our class. Our first List: Sean Maloney, Frank Chae, Renan Pierre, Frank Fiorito, Daniel Klein, Steve Bezirganian, Gregory McNulty, Steven Cohen, Todd Williams and Donald Finley. Of course, even if your name isn't on The List, please feel free to update us.
Robert V.
Wolf Cathy Webster sent a note full of news. "You may know that I'm active with Columbia College Women, a group which fosters networking and support among and between women graduates of the College and mentors undergrad women as well. Jill Niemczyk is a coordinator of that mentor program, which matches 35 juniors and seniors with alumnae from the N.Y.C. area in a variety of fields. This is the perfect assignment for Jill, since she works at an executive search firm which was recently taken over by monster.com! "Lee Ilan is also on the executive committee of CCW. She's in charge of Community Events, which range from volunteer opportunities to personal development. This [Spring] semester, she organized an evening at PREPARE, a full-body contact self-defense workshop. Lee recently took a new position with the city, working on environmental issues like recycling and sanitation. She sounds really happy with the job (always good to hear that people like what they do). "CCW presents the Alumna Achievement Award each year to someone who has been doing something worth recognizing. This year, the recipient was our classmate, Susan Dreyer, who is director (read: in charge) of the Satellite Academy in Manhattan. This is an alternative high school for at-risk students; Susan worked there as a history teacher for seven years before taking over the helm. We were excited to honor her on March 30. "Okay, that does it for the women. Julien Naginski has been living and working (as an attorney) in Paris for some time now. Julien married a Frenchwoman and is now the father of two children: Louise (age 2 12) and Gabriel (born in December). As for me, I have some news of my own. My husband, Bill Dycus, and I are expecting a child! I'm due in June and am feeling very healthy and happy so far. I'm still working at Barnard (now as sophomore class dean), which is a part-time gig, and I'm still a doctoral student in French literature at NYU. Before the baby comes, however, I have grand plans to pass my orals and defend my dissertation proposal, so I can be ABD (all but dissertation) prior to becoming a mother. With any luck, I'll be able to update you on all of this for a future edition of CCT." I also received a note from Richard Simonds: "My wife Julia and I had our second son, Charles, on February 9. Our first son, Richard, will turn 3 in June. We moved to Scarsdale, N.Y. last June and have been very happy here. It's beautiful. I am a seventh year associate at the law firm of Thacher Proffitt & Wood, in the structured finance department. In other news, Ron Reilly married Erica Blair last September. CC alumni at the reception, besides myself, included Martin Prince '88 and Ron's older brother Mike '85."
George
Gianfrancisco This ad paid for by concerned litigants for Mike Bissinger. The former Lion football captain contacted me to announce that he had just been named partner at Pitney Hardin Kipp in N.J. Specializing in labor and employment law, Biss has assured me that he is my man for any future union problems or sex discrimination suits that are filed against me. He also assures me that all Columbia alumni will get special rates from him. Diane (Bauer) Orlinksy sent word from Baltimore that she has just had her third child, Alexandria. The baby girl keeps company with a brother and sister while their mother is busy in private practice as a dermatologist and teaching at Johns Hopkins. Diane reports that soccer captain James Allard and Claudia Fermature were also blessed with a baby girl; Anneka. Also, Amy Friedman is married and living in San Francisco, and John Roskes is still an attorney in Hong Kong. Diane added that Laurence Holzman and his wife Lara's son, Andrew, is almost a year old. In closing, she wanted to let Claudia Kraut Rimerman and her husband, Howard, and son, Herbie, know just how great it was to have them in Baltimore to ring in the new millennium. Kristine Barakat is finishing a two-year tour in London as international marketing director for FNMA, a group that specializes in media research and consulting. She's looking forward to an N.Y.C. homecoming and a little time off to get back in touch with her Columbia crowd. Notably, Ilana (Volkov) Baltaytis, who is the proud mother of baby Jacob. Ilana is a partner at Cole Schotz in N.J., specializing in bankruptcy and corporate reorganization. Stephanie Schwartz is director of international programming for NBA Entertainment and recently got engaged. Jenna Wright McCarthy is a resident in internal medicine at New York Hospital. She has two children, Jack and Sarah, who aunt Kristine sorely misses. And finally, congratulations go out to my good friend Ed Cespedes, who along with that shadowy figure, Grimm Reaper, were there for me when the days were most dark. Ed married his long-time girlfriend, Kara, last September in his home state of Florida. As all Lion ex-jock weddings do, this turned into a true reunion, complete with sobbing into beer about unrequited passion and a full chorus rendition of "Roar Lion Roar." The newlyweds honeymooned in Paris and are currently splitting time between Florida and N.Y.C. All the best, Ed. And don't forget, this ad was paid for by concerned litigants for Mike Bissinger.
Amy Perke 1999 was a great year for Pete Schnur and his family. He recently was made partner at the 370-person law firm of Blank Rome Tenzer Greenblatt, where he practices corporate law. Pete had a good excuse for missing our 10th reunion. A week before the gala, his wife, Juliet, gave birth to their first child, Alexander Darius. The Schnurs still live in the Big Apple but moved to the East Side for a change of scenery. Back in October, Pete had an opportunity to see a number of his classmates and soccer teammates at Homecoming, including Paul Richardson, who came in from England. Pete reports that not only is Paul married, and father to Ellie Mae, but also that he is a detective, working for Scotland Yard. Paul, we implore you to send us some on-the-job stories! Timothy Bishop has spent a good deal of time in Africa. Following graduation, Timothy worked for the Peace Corps in Benin, West Africa. Finishing in December 1991, he moved to Washington, D.C. for a few months, then returned to New York in September 1992 and entered SIPA. Graduating in May 1994, Timothy finally took a "real job" (his words!) with Catholic Relief Services. He worked with them until mid-1999 in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, got married in between, and had a baby girl at the start of the year. Tim and his wife, Helen, met in Sierra Leone through friends. They report that they survived two civil wars - in Sierra Leone and Liberia - and were evacuated twice by emergency helicopter, first when rebels shelled Freetown in May 1997 and second when the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia was attacked in September 1998. He said that they had been ambushed, held at gunpoint by soldiers with AK-47s, had their cars stolen, and had their offices looted. After four years of this, the couple decided to take a breather. Tim and Helen are living again in New York (actually they are on hiatus in Massachusetts for the birth but were planning to return to New York in May), where Helen attends SIPA. After some time off with the baby, Timothy will commence a job search. If anyone has any leads, Timothy notes he might be willing to pay for them! Paul B. Franklin has finally found a moment to sit down and update us on his comings and goings. "In a nut shell," following senior year he enrolled in the doctoral art history program at Harvard and graduated with a Ph.D. in modern art in June 1999. Paul specializes in French and American visual culture of the 1910s and 1920s. While in school, he published numerous academic articles in English, French and German publications, and edited a collection of essays on humanities in America, Field Work: Sites in Literary and Cultural Studies (NY: Routledge, 1994). Paul spent the last academic year at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as the Sylvan and Pamela Coleman Memorial Fund Research Fellow. In addition to assisting in the planning of an exhibition of American industrial design of the 1920s to the 1940s, he began work on a new book project that examines the relationship between store window design and the history of art. In October, he joined Nest, a cutting-edge quarterly publication devoted to art, architecture, interior design and the decorative arts, as director of research and contributing writer. For the Spring 2000 term, Paul secured adjunct professorships teaching two courses: "Introduction to Gay and Lesbian Studies" and "Histories and Theories of Masculinity" at NYU and Barnard, respectively. On the personal side, he plans on relocating to the City of Light this summer, where he will join his partner of three years, Jean-Paul Florentin, who is Parisian. Congratulations to Paul on his many accomplishments. In January, Jared Goldstein joined About.com, "the network of sites led by expert guides," where he is responsible for business development efforts to add enhanced communication services for About.com member groups. Previously, he was with Earth Web, a portal for the IT industry, working for fellow Columbian, CEO and co-founder of Earth Web, Jack Hidary '91. A tried and true New Yorker, Jared has been in N.Y.C. since graduating, predominantly based in the East Village, where he currently resides with his two dogs, Bonkers and Snoopy, and runs into classmates Jon Tukman and Ethan Nosowsky (we'll try and track them down for the next issue). His only stint away was when he went uptown to the Business School. On the weekend get-away front, Jared plans on jetting to St. Croix, where he will meet up with former Dream Speak band members on their current tour. In April, Jared planned to attend the opening of the Kraft Center, Columbia's new Jewish Center. We missed Jared at reunion owing to family-related matters, which kept him away, but hope to catch up with him at the next reunion, if not before. Team Columbia could be spotted running the Motorola Austin Marathon this past February. While four Columbians ran the race (at least that have reported to CCT), the official CC team comprised Lisa Landau, Matt Assiff, and Liz Pleshette. Eliza Armstrong and husband Andrew McDade also ran. Upon crossing the finish line, the Columbia team could hear well wishers shouting, "ROAR LION ROAR - LOVE THE CORE." Lisa notes that new parents Renny Smith and his wife are planning on a family large enough to field a complete men's and/or women's lightweight and/or heavyweight crew team - whichever forms first. Renny reports that Doug Teasdale is engaged to be married (yes - we had to spell it out) in the summer in St. Louis and that Jon Sturt is traveling west to east around the globe. Jon is currently in Africa somewhere. He e-mails travelogues every few weeks, which generate a great deal of envy among his, according to Renny, "approaching middle age and just took out a new mortgage and my job sucks friends from college." On the TV front, we're most excited to report, though our more astute classmates already know, that Dan Futterman plays a leading role on Judging Amy, a CBS drama about a single mother who leaves N.Y.C. behind to become a judge in Hartford, Conn. Dan's character, Vincent Gray, is the free-spirited brother of lead actress Amy Brennerman of NYPD Blue fame (girlfriend to David Caruso's character and mobster murderer) and son to Tyne Daly of Cagney and Lacey fame. We did a quick Yahoo! TV search on Dan and found "the first page dedicated to the SUPERB (note caps) actor Dan Futterman," which features a picture of the trio of Dan, Daly, and Brennerman. The fan-managed site asserts: "just one look into those piercing beautiful blue eyes and you fall in love." We, of course, know there's more to him than meets the eye! Congrats to Dan on his continued success. Dan has appeared in numerous feature films including The Birdcage, which received a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast, Shooting Fish, The Fisher King, 1999, and Breathing Room. His television credits include guest-starring roles in Homicide: Life on the Street and Caroline in the City and featured roles in the movies When Trumpets Fade, The Out-of-Towners, Thicker Than Blood and Class of '61. A number of classmates are already speculating over the location of the future Futterman Residence and Theatrical Center at Columbia. Best wishes for a great summer!
Dan Max All the news in this column came in via e-mail! "Would it surprise you to learn that I ended up in Los Angeles?" writes Gina Fattore. She's in Hollywood, to be exact. "For the past two years, I've been an actual honest-to-God TV writer," she says. "I got my big break on King of the Hill and am now - through a rather strange and somewhat unexpected turn of events - working on Dawson's Creek, which is more than a little surreal. In my spare time, I run a support group for women who love Pacey too much. (Just kidding, that was a joke; you probably don't even know who Pacey is, do you? I mean you probably have, like, a life and everything.)" Dave Hunt has a new addition to his family. "Our daughter Emily was born in May, joining our 4-year-old son Andrew, my wife Tonia, and me here in Oregon," he writes. "I'm currently serving as district director for U.S. Congressman Brian Baird, overseeing his two district offices and staff. I was also recently elected to the Oregon City School Board and as national vice president of American Baptist Churches USA. Life is certainly never dull." Lopa Mukherjee has moved back to San Francisco where she has been hired as the chief cartoonist for Street Sheet, a popular local newspaper. Julie Schwartz Weber and her husband, Daniel, are now the "proud and exceedingly happy parents of Daniel Bernard Weber," who was born on November 23, 1999, at 11:48 a.m. (just in time for Thanksgiving), weighing 6 lbs., 10 oz. and measuring 19 inches. Daniel's father attributes his son's strawberry blond hair to Julie, but takes credit for young Daniel's big hands and feet. "We can't wait for you all to meet him - once we've crawled out of our den of forced sleep deprivation," he says. "Daniel has not yet learned that nighttime is for sleeping."
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