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she is an executive director at the
Urban Land Institute.
Meghan Taira also lives in
Washington, D.C., and has been
calling our nation’s capital home
for the past 10 years. For the past
five, she has kept her ties to New
York by reporting to Sen. Charles
Schumer (D-N.Y.); she is now his
senior legislative assistant for health
and education.
These are all the updates for this
edition. Don’t hesitate to drop me
a line and let me know how you
are doing.
00
Prisca Bae
344 W. 17th St., Apt. 3B
New York, NY 10011
pb134@columbia.edu
According to Crain’s New York
Business, Jeffrey D. Rotenberg
’00L was promoted to partner in
the litigation practice of the law
firm DLA Piper. He previously was
a senior associate.
Michael Glynn is a co-author
of a recent publication of the University
of Texas Press, Independent
for Life: Homes and Neighborhoods for
an Aging America. It was edited by
Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of
HUD under President Bill Clinton.
Tom King’s debut novel, A Once
Crowded Sky, was released this past
summer. According to Simon &
Schuster it “fuses the sensibility of
bombastic, comic-book-style storytelling
with modern literary fiction
to bring to life a universe of super
men stripped of their powers, newly
mortal men forced to confront
danger in a world without heroes.”
Tom worked for the counterterrorism
center at the CIA following the
events of 9-11. While at Columbia,
he interned for DC Comics and
Marvel. Tom lives in Washington,
D.C., with his wife, Colleen, and
children, Charlie and Claire.
If you were at our 10-year
re union in 2010, you may have noticed
Brendan Colthurst and Bryan
Carmel following Vikram Gandhi
with video cameras. Turns out, they
were filming for their documentary
feature film, Kumaré, released in theaters
in June through Kino Lorber,
a distributor founded by Richard
Lorber ’67 and the late Donald Krim
’67, ’71L. Winner of the Audience
Award for Best Feature Documentary
at SXSW 2011 (South by
Southwest), Kumaré documents the
time Vikram impersonated a wise
Indian guru and built a following
of real people in Phoenix. On the
success of its opening in New York
at the IFC Center, the film expanded
to more cities, including Denver,
Chicago and Seattle, and as of this
writing was set to open in Los
Angeles on August 3. Produced by
Brendan and Bryan and directed by
Gandhi, Kumaré is their first feature,
made through their production
company, Disposable Television. Go
see it on the big screen! Tell all your
friends! You also can visit kumare
movie.com.
01
Jonathan Gordin
3030 N. Beachwood Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90068
jrg53@columbia.edu
For some reason, communications
from classmates this summer were
sparse. Hopefully everyone was off
exploring the world, commencing
from grad school and getting married,
and you’ll write in with great
updates in the coming weeks. I will
await them! Meanwhile, here is the
news I have:
Vasantha Rao writes, “I have
been in touch with many CC
alumni lately, as I got married last
year to Joel Dowling; the wedding
took place in Shrewsbury, N.J., on
June 19, 2011. In attendance were
Michael Bilsborough, Apeksha
Kumar ’01E, Jonathan Ferrantelli,
Andrea Villanti, Christopher
Brady, Claudia DeSimio ’99,
Annemarie DeSimio ’02, Courtney
Strate ’02, Hannah Warren ’01 Barnard
and Jessica Beck ’01 Barnard.
It was a wonderful time.
“The biggest news lately is
that my husband and I moved to
Rabat, Morocco, in May. I work for
the Department of Justice, and I
represent DOJ as the resident legal
adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Morocco.
We are both really excited
for this big adventure and hope
that if there are any CU alums in
the area, they will get in touch!”
In other wedding news, Patrick
Durkan married Amy Pettibone on
June 16 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
in New York. Patrick is a partner
at Madison Financial Concepts, a
corporate consulting and financial
planning firm in the city. He also is
the head saber-fencing coach at the
New York Athletic Club.
My former Carman 11 floormate
Karl Ward will attend the Interactive
Telecommunications Program
at NYU Tisch starting in September.
As always, please keep in touch!
02
Sonia Dandona
Hirdaramani
2 Rolling Dr.
Old Westbury, NY 11568
soniah57@gmail.com
It was amazing to see everyone
at reunion after 10 long years. I’m
including updates I received both
at reunion and otherwise.
After graduating, Ksusha Boutov
was a trader for seven years in New
York, first at Morgan Stanley and
then at a hedge fund. She earned an
M.B.A. from Wharton in 2011 and
since graduating has been working
at Goldman Sachs in private wealth
management. Last fall, she married
Sean McCormick ’02 Princeton.
Among the Columbians in attendance
were Courtney Rennicke
’07 TC, Bronwyn Roantree, Anya
Boutov ’05, Oana Cornis-Pop ’03,
Josh Flagg, Lena Kazakina ’99 TC,
Emily Erstling, Scott Statland ’04,
Jeff Stedman ’05, Cody Upton ’05,
Laura Stedman ’06 (née Schnaidt),
Laurel Eisenach ’06, Ed Combs
’06, Enrique Walker (professor, the
Architecture School) and Malwina
Lys-Dobradin ’05. Ksusha writes,
“It’s been a fabulous 10 years, and
I would love to reconnect with any
of my classmates who have been
wondering how I’m doing!”
Sarah Hsiao HuYoung had a
great time seeing all the familiar
faces at reunion, especially her
fellow John Jay 9ers. Sarah and
her husband, James HuYoung ’01,
made the big cross-country move
to Los Angeles in July. Their son
Nathan is 19 months. She writes,
“We’re looking forward to reconnecting
with fellow Columbians
on the West Coast!”
Kimberly Blumenthal started a
fellowship in allergy and immunology
at Massachusetts General Hospital
in July. She and her husband,
Daniel Blumenthal, also a physician
at Mass General, welcomed their
first child, Jonah Martin, on February
1. They live in Cambridge and
would love to meet up with any CU
grads in the area.
Lynn Juang has spent the 10
years since graduation in New
York and working in the creative
industry. She started in fashion
advertising at Laird+Partners and
then, in 2006, began working at
AvroKO, doing restaurant branding,
graphic design and marketing
projects. Just as she left the firm,
she met her now-husband, chef
Seamus Mullen. She helped him
open Tertulia, a Spanish restaurant
in the West Village, in August 2011.
This past March, Lynn left her day
job at a small ad agency and began
working full-time with Seamus as
director of marketing and development
of their fledgling restaurant
group, overseeing all new projects
and communications.
The couple was married on
July 14 at the Brooklyn Winery in
Williamsburg. A sizable Columbia
contingency was in attendance,
including Purdy Tran and Akiko
Kurematsu ’03 Barnard, who
were in the bridal party. Also on
hand were Stefanie Tsen, Paul
Choi, Franklin Amoo, Albert Lee
’02E, Melissa Tominac, Matt Hill
’01, Emeka Ofodile ’01, Ian Chee
’01, Linyee Yuan, Youn Lee ’01,
Miryam Seid and Natalie Fung ’02
Barnard and her husband, Ethan
Farbman.
Liz Matory is in Washington,
D.C., fundraising for nonprofits.
She is two credits away from finishing
her core requirements at the
Robert H. Smith School of Business
at Maryland, where she’s pursuing
an M.B.A. part-time.
Avi Fernandes graduated from
INSEAD in July 2010 and joined
Morgan Stanley in San Francisco.
In January, however, his team
spun out of MS and formed an
independent firm, Iconiq Capital
(global multi-family office based in
San Francisco).
Jeffrey Seth Colen lives in San
Francisco and works at Zynga in
digital advertising.
Ronit Gurtman lives on Long Island
with her husband, Brian Gurtman,
and children, Elisabeth (6),
Micah (3) and Ruthie (6 months).
She’s an employment lawyer at Littler
Mendelson’s NYC office.
Genevieve (Vivi) Ko had a busy
2011. She graduated from Yale (Ph.D.
program in biology and biomedical
sciences), started a new job as a life
sciences consultant in Boston and
was married to Bayan Takizawa at
The Boston Harbor Hotel on October
9. (See nearby photo.)
On October 1, Purdy Tran married
Joshua Bailer at The Mansion
at Natirar in Far Hills, N.J. Alumni
in attendance included Albert J.
Lee ’02E, Emeka Ofodile ’01, Matt
Hill ’01, Lynn Juang ’02, Youn Lee
’01 and Ian Chee ’01.
She writes, “It was nice to be back
in the Northeast to celebrate with
friends and family. In summer 2010,
Josh and I moved from NYC to Miami
Beach, where I am the director
of membership and club development
for Casa Tua, Miami, a private
membership club. Although we miss
the city, we love being able to surf
and run on the beach before hitting
the office in the mornings.”
From 2008–11, Andy Cheung
and his wife, Karen Corrie, lived
in The Hague, Netherlands. Karen
left a job as an ADA with the New
York County District Attorney’s
Office to work for the Office of
the Prosecutor at the International
Criminal Court, where she held
several positions, including that
of associate trial lawyer. From The
Hague, Andy started Sensobi, a
U.S.-based software company, with
a childhood friend. Sensobi was
acquired in 2011 by GroupMe, a
New York-based startup, which in
turn was acquired by Skype.
The couple moved back to New
York in 2012. Karen has begun a
litigation fellowship at the Open
Society Justice Initiative, where she
is pursuing international human
rights litigation. Andy continues to
work at GroupMe, alongside other
CC alumni including Jared Hecht
’09, Neil Sarkar ’07E and Chris
Connolly ’04.
Santosh Sekar ’02E lives in Mid -
town and works for AMEX. He
recently celebrated his five-year
anniversary with his wife, Jyoti.
Luba Kagan lives on the Upper
West Side after a stint in Argentina
and two years in Philadelphia for
business school. She would be
happy to meet fellow N.Y.-area
Columbia alums.
Lisa Genn lives in Park Slope
and was married on June 30 to
Mark Snyder. She works at the
Brennan Center for Justice.
Sheethal (Rao) Shobowale lives
in Brooklyn and works for Google.
She recently had a son, Hudson,
who was the youngest attendee at
reunion!
Leslie Papa lives in New York
with her hubby, Salvatore. She
does publicity for Broadway Show.
Evelyn Addo-Wallace is a
women’s nurse practitioner.
Adrienne Moran is an assistant
U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C.
Nikki Hinman moved to Rome,
N.Y. She works for the State Appellate
Division of New York, Fourth
Department.
Nicholas Manheim lives in Seattle
and is an attorney at Perkins
Coie. His daughter, Naomi, is 2.
Kristin (Savarese) Lorieo works
in communications at a law firm.
Sara Kim ’02E lives on the
Upper West Side and is married to
Steven Munch.
Franklin Amoo works at a
hedge fund owned by a Japanese
company and is involved in a
number of startups. He is contemplating
a move to Asia.
Raquel Aragon is practicing law
in her own professional corporation.
Kevin Espy has a baby, Jaylon
(6 months), with his wife, Teresa.
They live in Riverdale.
Craigory Brown is going to work
in at Goldman PWM out of Miami.
Kelly Jamieson Rainn ’02E gave
birth to Jameson Rainn Thomas on
April 11. She lives with her husband
in the West Village.
Helena Andrews lives in Washington,
D.C., and is a successful
writer.
Abena Sanders is an employment
attorney living in Atlanta and
is engaged.
Elizabeth Alicea is studying at
Cardozo Law School.
Ardavan Akhavan is finishing
his residency at Mount Sinai in urology
and moving to Seattle to do a
fellowship in pediatric urology.
Jarrett Keys lives in Miami and
was married in October 2009 to his
wife, Siumy.
Elvis Rodriguez ’02E lives in
New York and works in financial
services. He earned an M.B.A. from
UVA.
Jeff McCall and his wife, Alexis,
Genevieve (Vivi) Ko ’02 and Bayan Takizawa were married on October 9 at the Boston Harbor Hotel.
Left to right: Hironobu Katoh ’02E; Henry Wong ’02; Camy Chu ’02E; Christopher Wong ’02; the bride’s
father, Chun-Min (Tony) Kao ’68; the bride; Alice Lu ’02; and Lu’s husband, Maximilian Lee ’02, ’06 P&S.
live in Washington, D.C.
Robin van der Meulen lives in
Brooklyn and is a lawyer at Wilkie
Farr & Gallagher.
Amanda Konstam lives in New
York and works in communications
for Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
REUNION WEEKEND
MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013
ALUMNI OFFICE CONTACTS
ALUMNI AFFAIRS Fatima Yudeh
fy2165@columbia.edu
212-851-7834
DEVELOPMENT Valentina Salkow
vs2441@columbia.edu
212-851-7833
03
Michael Novielli
World City Apartments
Attention Michael J.
Novielli, A608
Block 10, No 6. Jinhui Road,
Chaoyang District
Beijing, 100020, People’s
Republic of China
mjn29@columbia.edu
It was a wonderful experience for
me to be back in New York City this
past spring for Alumni Reunion
Weekend and to be able to see so
many at the Young Alumni Party on
the U.S.S. Intrepid. Remember when
we used to party on the Intrepid for
the annual year-end celebration?
Well, we’ll be able to relive that
and all our other memories next
year for our 10-year reunion. Mark
your calendars now for Thursday,
May 30–Sunday, June 2, 2013. And
if you want to get involved in the
planning it’s not too late. Just get
in touch with one of the Alumni
Office contacts listed at the top of
the column. It was great to bump
into Jessica Berenyi at the event this
year but we’ll be represented in far
greater numbers next year!
Now, on to the updates:
First, in wedding news, Albert
Shin married Ji Yeh Kim on June
24 at the National City Christian
Church in Washington, D.C. Albert
and Ji Yeh are associates at White &
Case in New York City. Columbians
in attendance included Jack
(Chen-Wen) Yuen ’03E, Andy So,
Barry Chiang ’03E and John Kwak
’03E.
Mike Youn is leaving the Navy
in September to start a two-year,
full-time grad program at Johns
Hopkins School of Advanced International
Studies in Washington,
D.C. He’ll start in the American
foreign policy concentration.
Michelle Hodara ’12 TC earned
a Ph.D. in economics and education
from Teachers College in May.
She now is a postdoctoral research
associate at the Community College
Research Center at Columbia, conducting
research on issues of college
access and completion.
Graciete Lo writes, “I moved to
Hawaii in June 2011 to complete a
pre-doctoral psychology internship
at the Honolulu VA. I walked in
May and will receive my Ph.D. in
clinical psychology from Fordham
in September. It’s been a long sixyear
journey!
“I hung out in New York for
a few weeks this summer before
starting a two-year position at
the National Center for PTSD in
Honolulu. Interestingly, I ran into
Jennifer Schneider, who is a psychologist
at the NC-PTSD. What an
amazing coincidence! I also recently
met up with Kris Depedro (who is
finishing a Ph.D. through USC) and
Joel Marrero in Los Angeles for a
Columbia mini-reunion. They both
reside in L.A.”
Darrell Silver writes, “It’s been
an exciting year so far: I sold my
first tech startup, Perpetually.com,
in March. It was a roller coaster, and
I can’t wait to do it again. Columbia
bonus points: Dan Moss helped
out tremendously as an adviser on
the deal.”
On March 22, Nick Solaro and
his wife, Amy, celebrated the birth
of their son, Jack. Mom and baby
are doing great.
Leah (Davis) Bailey writes, “In
2010 I received an M.B.A. from
Alaska Pacific University and married
Aaron Bailey. This year finds
me in Walla Walla, Wash., as mom
to Elias (born May 23) and working
as a freelance copy editor under
the auspices of my small business,
Bailey Editing.”
After 2½ lovely years on the
Italian Riviera, Robyn Schwartz
and Dan Hammerman ’02 now are
in Houston, a move precipitated
by Dan’s work. Robyn writes,
“Following a year back working
in homeless services, I recently
returned to nonprofit freelancing
while attempting to build a small
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