Class Notes

A Year in Review: 2007

by Dorothy Jones-Davis, 1998 Class Secretary

Winter 2007

Greetings for a wonderful winter, ‘98ers!

Almira Torralba Baker and Curtis Baker (University of Wisconsin-Madison ('00); University of Chicago MBA ('06)) were married at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Jerome, Arizona on June 23, 2007. The reception was held in Sedona, Arizona at the Los Abrigados Resort & Spa. Wellesley friends in attendance included classmates Cindy Ko, Alyssa Langlais Dodge, Alicia Meza Hilligas, and Esther Kim Chang, as well as Gina Vickery Clayton-Niederman ('99), Nicole LaVoi (former Wellesley Tennis coach); Erika Willacy ('99), Kathryn Hillman Johanski ('99); Kyra Lit Khanna ('99); and Aki Yoda ('97). The couple now resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Virginia Licklider and Andrew Still were married on October 13, 2007 in New York, NY.  Alums came from all over the country for their wedding: Mary Greenfield ('97) flew in from San Diego to stand as bridesmaid, Sarah Holladay ('00) came from North Carolina, classmates Robyn Stinson Antonowicz and Debora Wu came from Portland, ME and Boston, MA, respectively, and Sarah Eliana Bisman ('00) was already nearby.  Virginia reports, “Everyone's doing wonderfully and looks great.  I still love my job at Planned Parenthood, and Drew is still at Technicolor.” The newlyweds are currently living in uptown Manhattan.

Catherine (Tyrell) Backmeyer reports that on September 6, 2007, she gave birth to two beautiful twin girls, Sarah and Madeline.  Catherine writes, “My husband Stephen and I are thrilled.” Check out our class e-notes to see pictures of the two prospective Wellesley women. Catherine says, “As you can see from the picture, I'm already getting them ready for Wellesley.”

Justine Firnhaber-Baker writes, “Hi everyone. I might not make it to reunion this year, so I thought I’d post a note: It’s been a rather busy couple of years for me. My husband and I moved back from France to Cambridge, MA in September 2005, and we had a baby girl, Audrey, in May 2006. I finished my PhD in Medieval History at Harvard in April 2007. This September we moved to Oxford, where I was elected to a postdoctoral research fellowship at All Souls College. There is also another Wellesley alumna at my college. All Souls is rather famously male-dominated, so it’s amusing (but perhaps not surprising) to find it being colonized by Wellesley grads.”

Last, but certainly not least, I’m excited to report that preparations for our 10-year reunion (June 6 – 8, 2008) are going wonderfully. Keep your eyes peeled as more news is to come (so please update your contact information with the college to ensure that you don’t miss any important updates!). And as always, if you would like to pay class dues, donate to the reunion or class funds, nominate yourself or another classmate for a class officer position, or purchase a nifty “A Women’s Place is in the House… The White House” tee-shirt (sizes S, M, L, XL, and 2XL), you can always do any (or all) of these things by contacting me at the address and email listed above.

Fall 2007

Ruth MacQuiddy writes, “I have been living in Istanbul, Turkey. Until recently, I had been auditing a class on Turkish foreign policy, interning at an association of women entrepreneurs in Turkey and working on bringing my Turkish to an advanced level. There has been a major shift in course, however, as I recently started as the Business News Editor for the Turkish Daily News – the major English-language newspaper for the country. I am thrilled by the opportunity to work in a newsroom and provide an extremely valuable product for the future of Turkey. Should any of you find yourselves passing through and want to see a more authentic side of life here, drop a line.”

Vickie Chang reports, “I received my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from UCLA in June 2007 and am going on to do a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in the Stanford University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the area of
School-Based Intervention.”

Jennifer Clarkson Killin and Tripp Killin are proud to announce the birth of a baby boy, Sebastian Grant. Sebastian was born on February 7, 2006 in Albuquerque, NM and weighed 71b., 6 oz. Jennifer writes, "We are so in love with our little bundle of chaos!"

Casey Witman Sankey and her husband John are happy to announce the birth of their son, Evan Robert, 7 lbs 14 oz, on May 8, 2007. He joins his sister Caroline, age one.  Casey and her family live in Southern Arizona and report that they are always delighted to welcome Wellesley visitors.

Suzanne (Henry) Brody reports that she has published her first book, Dancing in the White Spaces, a collection of poetry that plays in the space between the letters.  Designed to celebrate the beauty of Shabbat and Torah, the heart of this collection is a series of poems highlighting facets of the weekly Torah readings. 

And in personal news, July was a busy month for me. First, on July 2nd, I celebrated my big 3-0 with a fabulous spa-tastic celebration in beautiful Napa, CA, surrounded by Wellesley classmates and friends, Karen (Schlowsky-Fischer) Abraham (who incidentally, shares my birth date!), Wendy Fung, and Christina Pan. Then, on July 12th, I was fortunate to attend Karen’s nuptials to Lisbi Abraham (UPenn '91) in beautiful San Juan, Puerto Rico.  As some of you may recall, Karen’s first husband Mark died of cancer three years ago, and the wedding was a beautiful reminder that although, as Karen so eloquently put, “Widowhood is horrible, the pain does lessen and beauty does start to come back into life eventually.”

Finally, as the leaves change, I am reminded that we will be changing class officers at reunion.  With this in mind, if you are interested in either serving on the nominating committee or in running for one of the positions (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, or Annual Giving Representative), please notify either myself, or Vice-President, Mala Shah.

Summer 2007

Summer again… and this one marks less than one year to our 10-year reunion! The reunion committee is working hard to make our reunion one to remember, so get ready!  In other “hot” summer news...

Liany Arroyo married Jesse Mejia on August 26, 2006 in Westbrook, CT. The couple currently resides in Doylestown, PA. Wellesley was definitely well represented on the guestlist with Karima Khawja (’00), Liliana Monge (’99), Olga Garcia (’99), and Maria (Beltran) Sandoval (’96) in attendance. Additionally, yours truly, Dorothy Jones-Davis, served as a bridesmaid.

Pam Mahoney Peak and husband David are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Alexandra Bryant Peak. Alexandra was born on July 22, 2006 in Chicago, IL, and weighed 6lbs, 14oz.  Pam reports that she currently works for the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, after finishing her Master's in Public Policy at The University of Chicago with classmates Eliza Choo ('01) and Zayid Douglas ('00).

Jen Parmelee Witt and husband Matthew welcomed a son, Elliot Ian Witt, into the world on November 17, 2006. He weighed in at 3 pounds, 11 ounces and was 16 ½ inches long. Jen writes, “Elliot joined us 6 weeks and 1 day earlier than we were expecting him and spent 3 weeks in the neonatal ICU. He’s been home since early December and is doing great. He’s over 11 pounds now and is right on track. It’s been a rough road but Elliot has been worth every step.”

Sarah Madland Ballard and husband Nathan are thrilled to announce the birth of their first child, their daughter, Georgia Gearey Ballard, on February 1, 2007. Sarah is returning to her job as a legislative aid to Michela Alioto-Pier, a San Francisco Supervisor, as of June.

Finally, I received an email update from classmate Adriana Alba. Adriana writes, “I just received my Master's at the London Film School in the UK in the art and technique of filmmaking. It was an intense and rigorous three years of making lots of films. Completely amazing! And I loved being in London.”  Of course, there was a twist to Adriana’s update. She continues, “The twist in this is that while I was at film school, I started a band, ‘Semifinalists’, with two of my classmates at school. Well, a few months after we started playing shows around London, we got a record deal with V2 Records in the UK. Our first album came out in May, 2006. It made one of the top 50 albums of the year for the Sunday Times. It's been an amazing experience writing music and touring. We are currently working on our second record.” How exciting. Don’t forget your ’98 sisters when you become a famous rock star, Adriana!

Keep the hot news coming, ladies! And if you’re interested in planning reunion or helping our class fundraise, please drop me an email and let me know. The more the merrier in making our 10-year reunion a weekend to remember!

Spring 2007

Spring forward with some ’98er news…

Of weddings…

Elizabeth (Betsey) Clark married Michael Lee Dickson on June 17, 1006 at Clarkdale Fruit Farms in Deerfield, MA. Currently, Elizabeth is a case manager at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Franklin County in Greenfield, MA.

Caroline Wright and Paul Mutter are proud to announce their marriage on September 30, 2006. The ceremony was held at St. Luke’s Church of East Hampton, with the reception following at Wolffer Estate Vineyard, Sagaponack, New York. The couple currently resides in New York City. In attendance at the wedding were Wellesley friends Vielcka Mansukhani (’99), Karen Young (’97), Samantha Cescau Warner (’97), Aisa Aiyer, Christina Bresani Struble, Stephanie Whitten Lawrence (’96), Kathleen Campbell Lamerton, Samantha Doherty, Yeone Moser (’97), and Caroline’s sister, Kathryn Wright Lee (’96).

Melanie Burror married James Wallace Paddon on October 22, 2006, at Tribeca Rooftop in New York, NY. Melanie is currently working in New York as the Vice President for investor relations of Tribeca Global Management, a hedge fund that is part of Citigroup’s alternative investments division.

Of personal achievements…

Heather Luiz received her MBA from Babson College, with a concentration in Global Management. Of note, Heather received the 2006 Global Manager Award. Currently, she is a strategic business analyst at DHL Logistics in London.

Anita (Meraz) Amos successfully defended her Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Pennsylvania on Oct. 5, 2006. Currently, Anita is adjunct faculty in the Department of Biology at Neumann College, in Pennsylvania, where she teaches Physiology and Immunology.

And of babies…

Helen Kang Morgan and husband Dan welcomed their daughter Madeleine Kang Morgan on November 20, 2006 weighing in at 7 lb.  Helen has competed her residency training, and is now on faculty as an obstetrician gynecologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI.

Renee Sobelman Fittler and husband Darren welcomed a baby boy, Harris Gibson Fittler (weighing 7 lbs, 8 oz.), into the world on December 18, 2006 in Sydney, Australia. Currently, Renee is a circulation analyst at the Sydney Morning Herald.

Mirella Lie Goldwasser and husband Joe are proud to announce the birth of baby boy, Jack Austin Goldwasser. Jack was born on January 7, 2007 in Summerlin Hospital, Las Vegas, NV, and weighed 7 lb, 14 oz. Mirella reports, “Jack arrived three weeks early and took everyone by surprise”, but both she and Jack are doing well.

In a little over one year, we will be “springing” into our ten year reunion. Can you believe it? We, the class officers and the reunion committee, are super excited for our “Super Sweet 1-0” Reunion.  Start planning for June 6 – 8, 2008; it will be here before you know it!  And if you haven’t placed an order your “A Women’s Place is in the House… The White House” tee-shirt (available in sizes S, M, L, XL, and 2XL), get them while they’re hot! You can order a tee-shirt by directly contacting me.