From Head Hog to   School Builder

 

  
  

 
   

Classes of:
| 10-35 | 36-40 | 41-45 | 46-50 | 51-55 |
| 56-60 | 61-65 | 66-70 | 71-75 | 76-80 |
| 81-85 | 86-90 | 91-95 | 96-99 |

Class of 1986

Everett Weinberger
50 West 70th Street
Apt. 3B
New York, N.Y. 10023
everett.weinberger@db.com

Bryan Steinberg sends his regards from N.Y.U.'s School of Medicine where he's assistant professor of surgery in the cardiothoracic surgery division. He's also associate director of cardiac surgery at Bellevue Hospital. Bryan specializes in adult cardiac surgery and is one of the first surgeons to master techniques in minimally invasive coronary bypass and valvular surgery. When Bryan isn't working he spends time with his wife, Ilene, and their 2-year-old son, Zachary.

Jack Merrick recently formed a production company, Graden Floe Productions, which just produced a full-length film, The Pavilion, a suspense drama based on a Robert Louis Stevenson short story of two friends reunited after the Civil War in a remote sea island off South Carolina. The film, starring Richard Chamberlain as a "drug-addled embezzling fiend on the lam," is described by Jack as "Merchant Ivory on mescaline." Jack produced the film and one of his partners directed it while the third acted in it and co-wrote the script. Jack is following the indie route, trying to sell it to TV or cable and pre-sell foreign rights. He encourages all aspiring filmmakers in our class to send him scripts. Aside from film, Jack continues with his entertainment law practice, or as he puts it, "clinging to his law degree like a life preserver." Jack is happily married to Margot.

Class of 1987

Robert V. Wolf
206 West 99th Street
Apt. 3A
New York, N.Y. 10025
rvwolf@compuserve.com

For more than a year I've been getting a slow but steady flow of e-mail from you all, which has made my job very easy. Please, please, please keep it up in the new millennium.

Aubrey Diane Birzon married Philip Blanda in 1997. Their son, Harry, turned 2 in December. Aubrey is an attorney, most recently with the Administration for Children's Services in New York City, but is in the market for "an alternative route in life." (Suggestions anyone?) Aubrey, Philip and Harry live in Glen Ridge, N.J.

Donna Pacicca is the pediatric orthopedic surgeon on staff at Boston Medical Center and an assistant professor of orthopedics and pediatrics at Boston University. Donna is married to Dominic DeCicco '84E. Their son, Dante, was born in March, 1999. The proud mother writes: "He hasn't started reading the Divine Comedy yet, but at the rate he's going, it's only a matter of time!"

Donna reports that Christine Jamgochian Koobatian also entered the world of parenthood with Daniel Thomas, born in May, 1999. On Labor Day, she caught up with some fellow New England alumni: Dave Madoff '85, Andrew Upton '85, Matt Samarel '83, Chip Traynor '84, and Artie "Bunyan" Ajzenmann '83. Donna and Dom also had dinner recently with Andrew Upton '85 and Wally Yassir '88. Wally is finishing his orthopedic residency at Tufts/NEMC and will be starting a pediatric orthopedic fellowship in San Diego next summer. Donna also ran into Linda Wang Kornguth recently - in, of all places, the operating room. "Linda was rotating on the orthopedic service, and happened to be in the OR with me. Somehow colleges came up, and we realized we knew each other! She and her husband David Kornguth are in B.U. med school...it was a pretty bizarre place to have a mini-reunion!"

Neither lawyer nor doctor, John Erlich of Oakland is founder, 'oudist (Arabic lute player), and musical director of a seven-piece professional folk music ensemble, "Za'atar: Music of the Jews of Arab and Muslim Lands." Za'atar (named after the Middle Eastern spice) was formed in 1997 and performs the sacred and social music of the Jews of North Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey. "So far, we have performed at the Dalai Lama's World Sacred Music Festival (L.A.), the International Sephardic Arts Festival (L.A.), and KlezmerMania (Berkeley), as well as at festivals, clubs, and charitable events. One of my biggest joys in playing this music has been crossing boundaries, playing both Israel Independence Day events and fundraisers for Palestinian humanitarian aid!" For more, see www.zaatar.web.com. John's day job, by the way, is as a city planner working the public counter for the City of Albany, Calif.

I mentioned in the last issue the marriage of Ilene Weinstein (who happens to be president of the CU Alumni Club of Northern California) to Marcos Lederman. What I didn't mention was that there was a wealth of CC alums at the ceremony-and not just from our year, but from across the generations. In attendance were: Edward Weinstein, '57 and James Weinstein '84 (Ilene's dad and brother, respectively); Nancy Basri and Bill Basri '84; Nancy and Michael Markhoff; Hannah Jones; Gerri Gold; Michael McGough '87E; Philippa Feldman Portnoy '86B; Rachel Brody '87B and Michael Lustig '86 (they are married but she still goes by Brody); Amy Perkel '89; Richard Hannis '56; Lee Seidler '56; Herb Sturman '57; Saul Cohen, '57; Howard Orlin '58; and Bob Fischbein '61.

And one final piece of news: Cherie B. Ruben married David M. Green in June, 1999. They live in Derby, N.Y.

Class of 1988

George Gianfrancisco
c/o Columbia College Today
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 917
New York, N.Y. 10115
cct@columbia.edu

"Greetings from Leslie Gittess" reads one of my recent letters. Breaking a long-time Class Notes silence, the former Light Blue tennis star worked for the NHL for the past six years. As a member of the last class to inhabit "The Pub," pro hockey probably seems absolutely serene compared to the 40-man pile-ups that went on our freshman year (with Matt Sodl at the bottom, of course). Leslie tells me that Todd Johnson is the proud father of twin boys, bringing his total of sons to three. Things are looking up for Lion athletics circa 2018, as Sodl, the All American, just had a daughter, too.

Jonathan Nash recently received his master of laws from Harvard. Right now, he's a research associate at N.Y.U. Law, focusing on the environment and land use, and will soon join Squadron Ellenoff. Being back in New York has allowed him to keep up with Orin Tempkin, an organic chemist at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in Jersey who just got engaged. Congratulations. Hopefully he's in the lab trying to bottle a love potion for all the rest of us singles.

Doctor. Doctor.

Dr. Hillary Glasberg is planning to marry Dr. Joel Goldberg. She's a surgery resident at Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston. Something must be in the air, or else maybe Orin really did come up with that love potion.

Dr. Nancy Kauder had a baby girl: Camilla. Nancy's a veterinarian in Baltimore, which qualifies her for this special CCT medical report. She tells me that Sharon Moshavi was wed this past June down there. In attendance were Whitney Connaughton Whalen, Jennifer Hirsch Overton, Michael Kaminer, and Aaron Pressman. Whitney lives in Boston with her husband and 1-year-old, Julia. Jennifer hangs her hat in Madagascar where she works for Catholic Relief Services, moving over from Kenya with spouse and daughter, Ellysia. Aaron is with Reuters in D.C.

Finally, afer finishing his Ph.D. in computer science at Michigan, Anthony Hornoff is starting as an assistant prof at the University of Oregon. Seeing that his research is in human computer interaction, maybe none of us will be needing that love potion in the future.

Class of 1989

Amy Perkel
212 Concord Drive
Menlo Park, Calif. 94025
amyperkel@yahoo.com

Galen Sorrells is comfortably ensconced in Sacramento, Calif. The native San Franciscan and his wife, Monica, are parents to the nearly 2-year-old Jasmine, who was born the day after Galen graduated from law school and the day before he began studies for the bar exam. Galen reports that he spent "quality time" with his daughter at 3 a.m. on the morning of the bar exam. The proud father, who joined the law firm of Downey, Brand, Seymour, and Rohwer in September 1988, is a general business law practitioner serving all needs, including mergers, asset purchases, trademark, and employment related issues with an emphasis on real estate transactions. Galen, who studied political science, had a strong sense he would study and practice law, but decided to work a few years prior to going back to school. He earned his law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law while working full time. Prior to entering the legal profession, Galen was a business loan officer with Wells Fargo Bank.

Chris Della Pietra and his wife, Annmarie (Giarratano) '91 have been living in Glen Rock, N.J. for the past year, where they love the "peace and quiet on weekends" and the green lawn of the suburbs! After seven years of law firm practice, Chris recently became the general counsel of IESI Corporation, the 10th largest waste management company in the U.S., with corporate headquarters in Dallas/Fort Worth. (Okay, we couldn't let that pass without a challenge: we're soliciting any and all jokes on waste management.) Chris works out of the northeast region headquarters in New Jersey, and he is responsible for all legal matters for the company. Annmarie continues her career as a sales/trader for Lehman Brothers on the institutional equities desk in Manhattan.

Enrique Urquiola and his wife of nine years, Cristina Ramirez-Urquiola, denizens of New Jersey, have two wonderful children, Rebecca and Alexandra. Christina earned a graduate degree in social work, though the two did not meet at Columbia but rather in high school. Enrique has been with American Express for the last 10 years. Currently, he is director of database marketing, responsible for tracking and analyzing customer behavior and acquiring customers. He has held this role for the last 18 months. And by the way, Enrique confirmed that the Blue Card, with all the cool advertising, is doing very well.

I'm really sorry we haven't reported on Tom Kamber sooner. In fact, we should all begin bidding on the movie rights of his life post college. Tom's wife, Margaret Nelson, delivered their first baby, a girl named Abigail, on December 14. Tom, a Ph.D. student of political science at CUNY, is in the midst of writing his dissertation on housing policy. Specifically he is comparing the implementation of the Section 8 Voucher Program in New York and Portland. Prior to his studies, Tom worked for a variety of non-profit housing and community groups as a staff member and consultant. The Urban Homestead Assistance Board sent Tom to Russia four times, where he worked on democracy building programs. He was responsible for managing projects with local community and housing groups and providing guidance on structuring non-profits. In addition to working with these groups in their communities, he also brought them to the United States so they could witness first hand the programs they were aiming to replicate. In between work and studies, Tom and his wife took a six-month Asian trip, spending two months trekking in Indonesia and Nepal, boating down the Mekong in Laos, and enjoying Bangkok's urban planning. The two also spent time in China, Japan, and India. Prior to the whirlwind trip, Tom spent a year in South America. His intent was to spend extensive time in Peru, but with a deteriorating civil war, he moved to Bolivia where he wrote articles on the miners' strikes. Yes! Tom's life reads like a novel, but he assures me it is all true!

Deborah Waxman graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) in suburban Philadelphia, receiving the title of rabbi and the Master of Hebrew Letters degree this past summer. Following graduation, Deborah worked as an Israel program coordinator for Habonim Dror and the United Kibbutz Movement, and was the grants development officer at Teachers College. While at RRC, Deborah worked as the Grants Coordinator for the College and an instructor for the preparatory year program. She served as the student rabbi of Congregation B'nai Vail in Colorado, provided pastoral care as a chaplain intern through the Clinical Pastoral Education program at Abington Memorial Hospital, and taught in children's and adult education programs in Philadelphia. Her current role is director of special projects/assistant to the president at the RRC.

Anna Lisa (Martens) Davidson lives in East Aurora, N.Y., with her husband, Bruce, and two children. After working five years on a Multiple Sclerosis drug study as a statistician, and earning an MPH from the University of Michigan, Anna is now spending time at home with Carl, 3, and Erika, 1, and coaching swimming part time. Anna and Bruce "thoroughly enjoy watching their children grow and learn new things every day." In their free time, they manage to do a little ice climbing and skiing in the winter.

I love reading what you send, speaking with you, and writing about all the wonderful things taking place in your lives. Keep the news coming. Best wishes for a healthy and happy 2000.

Class of 1990

Dan Max
Shaw Pittman
1676 International Drive
McLean, Va. 22101
daniel.max@shawpittman.com

Classes of:
| 10-35 | 36-40 | 41-45 | 46-50 | 51-55 |
| 56-60 | 61-65 | 66-70 | 71-75 | 76-80 |
| 81-85 | 86-90 | 91-95 | 96-99 |


 
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