Alumni Updates

Elizabeth Bernold ’09 is completing a Masters in Philosophy at the University of Sydney Faculty of Agriculture and Environment. Her thesis topic focuses on the impact of Emissions Reduction Scheme Design and Associated Uncertainty on Electricity Generators’ Investment and Abatement, which she is studying using experimental economics techniques with funding from the Australian Research Council.  She plans to submit her thesis in 2013.

Neal deJong completed his pediatric residency training at Johns Hopkins in June 2012 and is currently a Pediatric Hospitalist & Clinical Instructor in Boston, where his wife Lisa deJong is studying Language & Literacy at Harvard Graduate School of Education.  They live in Cambridge with their 18-month old son Gabriel.

T.J. Demas ’89  is working with the Swiss on a new watch design with seven time zones spanning the dial called TUITIV and hopes to go into production by the end of the year with a RIO 2016 Limited Edition available for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Tanesha Boldin was an invited guest of the embassy for the National Day of Celebration for the Embassy of Saudi Arabia on September 24th. This was the second year that Boldin was invited. The event was attended by several U.S. politicians, as well as by government officials from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Virginia “Ginny” Gomez ’01 was recently appointed an Assistant General Counsel at the Smithsonian Institution.

Rear Admiral Jan Hamby (BA ’80) transitioned from military service at the end of September 2012 after almost 33 years in the United States Navy.  She will be providing consulting and speaking in the areas of information technology, cyber security and leadership while developing Fair Winds Farm in Southern Lancaster County with her husband, Dale and growing her own knitwear design business.

Lauren Holmes, ’09, is now on her second assignment as a Foreign Service Officer with the US Department of State.  She is assisting American citizens in Dubai, UAE.  Her first assignment was in Cairo, Egypt.

Rhondette L Jones, MPH, and Health Education  Specialist for the Capacity Building Branch in the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention of the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention married Roderick Nickson.

Christine Lynn Donovan ’09 is currently studying Human Rights and Democratization at the European Inter-University Centre (EIUC) in Venice, Italy after having worked a year and a half as Senior Analyst at the Consulate General of Mexico in Raleigh. The program involves 41 European Universities, professors from the European Commission, Council, UNHCHR and students from all over the world.

Michael Martine and his wife Emily Martine are living in Budapest, where he is on assignment with IBM, adding to his global supply chain transformation responsibilities and taking on the additional role as executive CIO country leader for Hungary. Find out more about Michael and his work at http://about.me/michaelmartine and http://gamesatwork.biz

Dalya Massachi ’92 published an award winning book , “Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.” It is of great use to both international and domestic work by community-minded professionals. More information can be found at http://WritingToMakeADifference.com

Siddarth Nagaraj ’12 is performing a year of volunteer service with City Year, a nonprofit organization that is part of Americorps. City Year sends volunteers into underserved schools across the country to act as tutors and mentors to low-performing students. Nagaraj is spending the year teaching English and Math to third graders in a rural school in South Carolina.

Carmel Paleski, Director of Academic Affairs at the State University of New York, recently had the opportunity to travel to Cuba with Global Exchange on an educators delegation. Carmel conducted interviews while there with members of the 1961 Cuban Literacy Campaign, and is now working on translating them.

Miranda Patterson was named a 2012 Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellow. The Pickering Fellowship, funded by the U.S. Department of State, will provide support for her completion of a graduate degree at American University as she prepares academically and professionally to enter the United States Foreign Service. Fellows participate in one domestic and one overseas internship. They commit to three years of service as a Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. Department of State, contingent on their passing the Foreign Service requirements. The Foreign Service, a corps of working professionals who support the President of the United States and the Secretary of the United States Department of State in pursuit of the goals and objectives of American foreign policy, are “front-line” personnel who can be sent anywhere in the world, at any time, in service to the diplomatic needs of the United States.

Stefan Ringel, Media Relations Director for Councilman Jumaane Williams, was recently named one of New York City’s “40 Under 40” Rising Stars by City & State.

Alicia Romano ’09 recently accepted a position at the Department of State as an Economic Officer in the European Union and Regional Affairs Office managing their Development, Humanitarian Assistance, Food Security, and Economic Statecraft portfolio.

McKay Roozen ’12 is a teaching fellow with Teach for China in the rural village of Lawu in Yunnan, China. She will be teaching English there for two years to third and fourth graders in one of the most undeveloped regions of China. You can find more information about the program here: http://www.tfchina.org/ For more information about her experience, visit her blog: http://insatiableliving.com/

George A. Rowland ’87 was named Regional Director for the Western Hemisphere in the Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources at the U.S. Department of State. He serves as a senior expert and advisor for the region, ensuring that resources are aligned with U.S. foreign policy objectives. Building on his 25 years of international development experience, he provides strategic vision for the $1.8 billion in U.S. foreign assistance in the region. He lives in Arlington, Virginia with his wife and their two children.

John Sherer ‘88 was appointed Director at the University of North Carolina Press. Sherer had been publisher of the Basic Books Group since 2006, responsible for managing all aspects of the nonfiction publish house’s operations. Under his leadership, Basic Books won numerous awards, including the Bancroft Prize, the LA Times Prize, the Ainsfield-Wolf Award, the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize, and the Albert J. Reveridge Award.

Andrew Sugrue is currently working at Peter J Solomon Company in NYC, a boutique investment bank specializing in M&A. He also has continued to serve on Governor Romney’s foreign policy working group and on the Advisory Board of the McCain Institute for Global Leadership, Senator McCain’s new think tank.

Raley White ’11 is working in Bogotá, Colombia for the organization FUNDES Colombia (fundes.org). FUNDES is an international organization in 10 Latin American countries that promotes the competitive development of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Latin America. Their mission of “Improving Businesses, Transforming Lives” describes the way they provide MSMEs the consulting support they need to grow their businesses, allowing them to employ more individuals, and thereby improving the lives of families throughout Latin America. He currently works in Business Development with the FUNDES Colombia team, generating partnerships with governments, international NGOs, and companies that support the projects of FUNDES. This job opportunity was made possible through AIESEC’s International Internship Program (www.aiesecus.org) and Potencia Venture’s Edge Program (http://www.edgetalents.net/) which seek to prepare the next generation of managers and entrepreneurs to build their careers in the social enterprise field.