Class Notes April 2022

Class Notes

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2020s

Sabrina Ortiz, CAS/BA ’20, received a $5,000 New York City Artist Corps grant. After her senior recital was postponed by the pandemic, Ortiz finally presented at the National Opera Center.

2010s

Gary Norman, WCL/LLM ’11, was appointed by the Maryland Court of Appeals to serve a five-year term on its accommodations review committee, which hears appeals of requests for accommodations on the bar exam from candidates with disabilities.

Celina Mattocks, SPA/MA ’13, wrote 54 Flights, an inspirational coming-of-self story about a businesswoman turned mother.

Zachary Cohen, SIS/BA ’14, joined Bloomberg Government as a congressional reporter on the leadership and elections team.

Matthew Goldberg, SIS/BA ’14, wrote “Therapunitive Intervention,” featured in Coolest American Stories 2022. He also won first place in Unchartered’s sci-fi/fantasy short story competition for “Bees Wings.”

Mandy Kraft, SPA/BA ’15, was promoted to deputy press secretary for the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Katherine Grill, CAS/MA ’16, CAS/PhD ’17, founder and CEO of Neolth, was named to Forbes’s 30 Under 30 list for her work supporting student mental health.

Joni Deutsch, SOC/MA ’17, was named vice president of Podglomerate, an audio/podcast group that provides content for PBS, NPR stations, Stanford, MIT, CVS, Expedia, and more.

2000s

Jessica Searcy Kmetty, Kogod/BSBA ’00, was named president and CEO of Searcy Financial after serving on operations, advisor development, and technology panels and committees for several national organizations.

Jeffrey Rothenberg, Kogod/BSBA ’04, was named vice president of development of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, where he teaches about leadership, citizenship, and conservation.

Monique Earl, SPA/MPA ’07, was selected to lead the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She oversees policies, practices, and programs designed to improve diversity and opportunities at LADWP and helps the agency better serve communities with the highest needs.

Joe Vidulich, SPA/BA ’08, was appointed to Fairfax County’s Economic Development Authority Commission. Vidulich is also government affairs director at Capital One.

Brittany Hicar Asmus, SPA/MS ’09, was promoted to shareholder status at Reminger, where she focuses on civil defense matters.

1990s

Dave Heller, SOC/BA ’90, wrote his fourth book about baseball, Gettysburg Eddie Plank: A Pitcher’s Journey to the Hall of Fame.

Brian Lipman, SPA/BS ’92, was sworn in by Governor Phil Murphy as director of the New Jersey Division of the Rate Counsel.

Claire Sinclair, CAS/BA ’92, wrote her first children’s book, The Mice Who Came to Story Time, after 25 years teaching kindergarten.

Hylah Birenbaum, Kogod/BA ’93, was named executive director of college advancement at Haywood Community College after working in marketing and advertising for more than 25 years.

Eric Ascalon, WCL/JD ’96, is the new director of community relations for TerraCycle, a Trenton, New Jersey–based recycling company that received the United Nations’ Momentum for Change award.

Linde Murphy, SIS/BA ’98, was named to the National Association of Plan Advisors’ 2021 list of rising stars among women advisors for the second year in a row. Murphy serves on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s board of governors and is chair of KLRN public television in San Antonio.

1980s

Charles DeBevoise, WCL/JD ’83, was selected for inclusion in Massachusetts Super Lawyers 2021.

Eugene Goldman, SPA/BA ’73, senior counsel at McDermott Will & Emery, was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2022 in the fields of securities regulation and securities litigation.

Steven Ray Rosenberg, CAS/BA ’74, retired to Arizona after a career in New Jersey Transit rail operations. Rosenberg received two patents and three software copyrights pertaining to low carbon devices.

Charles S. Leonard Jr., Kogod/BA ’76, retired from his Tenleytown CPA practice after 45 years.

Hank Weiss, SIS/BA ’76, retired after four decades with Jorgensen Associates of Maryland, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the Peace Corps, and the US State Department, where he worked as a foreign service officer.

In Memoriam

Alumni

Neal Singer, CAS/BA ’89, June 13, 2021, Wilmette, Illinois

Douglas Campbell, Kogod/BS ’74, July 6, 2021, Olney, Maryland

Cathy Lee (VanNatta) Sacasas, CAS/BS ’69, August 11, 2021, Coral Gables, Florida

Kyle Johnson, SPA/BA ’18, August 18, 2021, Athens, Greece

Dennis Grubb, SIS/MA ’68, October 25, 2021, Washington, DC

Edward Olsen, SIS/PhD ’74, December 9, 2021, Salinas, California

Donna Eberly Peang-Meth, SIS/BA ’94, Rockville, Maryland