Class Notes
Class Notes
From the GW Alumni Community
To the GW Community
I am honored to be writing to you as the new president of the GW Alumni Association from my home in London—a testament to our global alumni community and the impact a GW education can make. Starting my tenure in the midst of a pandemic has had its challenges. In true GW spirit, however, we have learned to embrace technology to connect across time zones and geographies in ways that even five years ago we wouldn’t have thought possible.
GW’s virtual programming during our bicentennial year has been stunning in terms of variety, depth and the positive energy from the speakers and student and alumni audiences. Kudos also go to all of our alumni networks from L.A. to Singapore who have created innovative and entertaining ways to engage with the university as well as alumni in other regions. We are looking forward to increasing our in-person events while also continuing to grow this vibrant virtual community.
This fall’s Centuries Celebration Weekend was a joyous occasion and an “only at GW” moment on the National Mall. During my visit I could feel the buzz on campus, especially among the students. May our on-campus community as well as our 300,000-plus alumni continue to take great care of one another and shepherd in the safe return to campus and in-person activities and events.
As we approach our third century, I am eager to work with you to strengthen our alumni family—a community built on trust, a shared common experience and purpose. Your story is our story.
We can change the world, but we can’t do it alone—it’s up to us as alumni to come together, get involved and do our part. We can elevate the student experience in the classroom, over coffees, through mentoring and networking and much more. With your help, we can attract the best students and most talented future leaders.
You are amazing. Everyone wins when you share your brilliance.
Raise High!
Christine Brown-Quinn, MBA '92
GWAA President
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Arnold Arluke, MA ’71, BA ’69, co-authored Underdogs: Pets, People, and Poverty (University of Georgia Press, 2020), which examines providing veterinary care to underserved communities in North Carolina and Costa Rica.
Bruce Brager, BA ’73, authored Grant's Victory: How Ulysses S. Grant Won the Civil War (Stackpole Books, 2020).
Roger B. Jeans, PhD ’74, authored American Isolationists: Pro-Japan Anti-Interventionists and the FBI on the Eve of the Pacific War, 1939-1941 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020).
David A. Longanecker, MA ’71, authored The Late Truck Driver, Following The Dream (Archway, 2021). He is a former assistant secretary of education for higher education.
Charles Axel Poekel Jr., BA ’71, published the book, Vencedor: The Story of a Great Yacht and an Unsung Herreshoff Hero in the Golden Age of Yachting (Sheridan House, 2021).
Jerry Sussman, JD ’76, co-founded LangleyCyber, a full-service cyber security firm. He is a 30-year veteran of the CIA.
Marie E. Betteley, BA ’80, published the book, Beyond Fabergé: Imperial Russian Jewelry (Schiffer, 2020). She is a gemologist and an expert on Russian jewels and imperial Russian decorative arts.
Gail Weiss Gaspar, MA ’85, authored Carrying My Father's Torch: From Holocaust Trauma to Transformation (Oceanwalk Press, 2020).
David Goldstein, BA ’88, and his team from law firm Goldstein Hall were awarded the 2020 Grunin Prize for Law and Social Entrepreneurship by New York University School of Law. He is managing partner of the firm.
Henry Herz, MA ’84, authored I AM SMOKE (Tilbury House, 2021), his 10th children’s picture book.
Lorraine McCall, BA ’88, co-authored Immigration, Assimilation, and Border Security (Bernan Press, 2020) with Yoku Shaw-Taylor, PhD ’98.
David Samuels, MBA ’85, was appointed to the board of directors of private equity-backed SemaConnect, a leading provider of electric vehicle charging stations across North America.
Brooks R. Amiot, JD ’93, was recognized in the 2021 Edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. He is the office managing principal in the Baltimore office of Jackson Lewis P.C.
Robert Borhart, BA ’91, joined Ballard Spahr in its Minneapolis office.
Douglas Dietrichson, BS ’97, authored Into the Rubble (Freiling Publishing, 2020), a book based on his experience being deployed to Haiti as a medical specialist following the 2010 earthquake.
George B. Donnini, BA ’95, was named a “notable veteran” by Crain’s Detroit Business. He was named the chair of the Litigation II department at Butzel Long.
Aicha Evans, BS ’96, was named on the Forbes 50 Over 50 list for her work at the helm of an autonomous vehicle company, Zoox, which was purchased by Amazon for $1.2 billion.
Kyle Farmbry, MPA ’94, PhD ’99, will be the new president of Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., effective Jan. 1, 2022.
Pamela Houston, BA ’93, joined the architectural team at CPL in Raleigh, N.C., as a health care planner.
Jennifer Jones, MA ’99, joined the Washington, D.C., office of Goulston & Storrs as a director in the firm’s Real Estate Group.
Michael A. Kotula, JD ’90, was recommended by the Legal 500 in the “industry focus: insurance - advice to insurers” category. He is a partner with Rivkin Radler’s insurance coverage group.
Sena Kwawu, BBA ’90, was selected as board member and treasurer for the Executive Leadership Council, the preeminent membership organization committed to increasing the number of global Black executives in C-suites, on corporate boards and in global enterprises.
Diane Lebson, BA ’92, wrote For A Good Cause: A Practical Guide to Giving Joyfully (She Writes Press, 2021). She leads a national philanthropic consultancy based in Camden, Maine.
Gregg Mitchell Mokrzycki, MFS ’97, authored the novel In the Absence of Struggle (Old Buoy Imprint, 2020).
Edward J. Marolda, PhD ’90, authored Admirals Under Fire: The U.S. Navy and the Vietnam War (Texas Tech University Press, 2021). He is a former senior historian of the U.S. Navy.
Karen Sherman, MA ’92, authored Brick by Brick, Building Hope and Opportunity for Women Survivors Everywhere (Rowman & Littlefield, January 2020).
Richard Sherman, BA ’98, joined Blank Rome Government Relations LLC as a senior adviser in its Washington, D.C., office.
Adam M. Shienvold, BA ’95, JD ’98, joined the International Association of Defense Counsel, an invitation-only global legal organization for attorneys who represent corporate and insurance interests. He is a member at Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC, in Harrisburg, Pa.
Sidney Welch, MPH ’93, was named among the American Health Law Association's Class of 2020 Fellows. She is a partner at Akerman LLP.
Henry D. Almond, JD ’07, BA ’03, was elected partner at Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C.
Asha Aravindakshan, BBA ’02, authored Skills: The Common Denominator (New Degree Press, 2021).
Jason B. Blank, BA ’02, was elected chair of the Florida Bar's Criminal Law Section.
Susan Wright Clutter, MFS ’02, and David McGill, MFS ’96, co-authored the textbook, So You Want to be a CSI? (Kendall Hunt, 2021), which presents crime scene investigation as students would encounter it in the real world.
Adam Conner, BA ’06, is now a member of the George Washington University Board of Trustees. He is vice president of tech policy at the Center for American Progress.
Steven Clark Cunningham, MD ’01, authored the children’s book, Your Body Sick and Well: How Do You Know? (Three Conditions Press, 2020). Proceeds from the book go to charities supporting children’s physical and mental health.
Shannon Dalton, MBA ’06, joined Quinn Fiduciary Services, a locally owned estate management firm in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Tony Dokoupil, BBA ’03, and MSNBC anchor Katy Tur welcomed their second child, Eloise Judy Bear Dokoupil, on May 13, 2021.
Jeffrey Feinstein, BBA ’05, joined New York City-based KBK Wealth Management as a principal.
John Forte, MSEE ’07, was named president and chief executive officer of the Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation.
Paul Kendrick, BA ’05, MPA ’07, co-authored Nine Days: The Race to Save Martin Luther King Jr.’s Life and Win the 1960 Election (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021) with his father, Stephen.
Theodora Lau, MS ’00, authored Beyond Good: How Technology Is Leading a Purpose-Driven Business Revolution (Kogan Page, 2021). She is a fintech consultant and speaker.
Erika (Schnure) Martinez, BA ’07, married Anthony Martinez on March 14, 2021. She is a senior meeting planner with the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Erin Carlson Mast, MA ’03, was named president and CEO of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Foundation.
David A. Michel, BA ’06, was elevated to partner at Boston firm Sherin and Lodgen.
Evan Nierman, BA ’00, authored CRISIS AVERTED: PR Strategies to Protect Your Reputation and the Bottom Line (Advantage/Forbes, 2021). He is a crisis management expert and the founder and CEO of the public relations firm Red Banyan.
Habeeba Park, BS ’03, was selected to be the associate trauma medical director for Ascension St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital in Murfreesboro, Tenn. She has been a trauma surgeon at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Md., for the last five years.
Jonathan H. Schaefer, BA ’07, was elected partner at Robinson+Cole.
Gregory Starace, BA ’00, co-authored Caesar’s Great Success: Sustaining the Roman Army on Campaign (Frontline Books, 2020).
Joshua Suchoff, BA ’08, is the managing director of the Academic Engagement Network.
Tracy Badua, JD ’10, sold at auction world English rights to her debut middle grade novel, Freddie vs. the Family Curse, to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Publication is set for spring 2022.
Pernell “Perry” Choren, JD ’11, joined the firm Ain & Bank as a senior associate.
Natalia Cineas, DNP ’15, was selected as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. She was also named to the 2021 list of “25 Influential Black Women in Business” by Network Journal. She is the chief nursing executive and senior vice president in the Office of Patient-Centered Care at New York City Health + Hospitals.
Robert Contee III, BPS ’13, was unanimously confirmed as chief of police of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia. He has more than 30 years of experience on the force.
Amanda Gilmore Duckworth, JD ’12, focuses her practice on real estate transactions and related areas at the law firm Troutman Pepper. She represents lenders in the origination, sale and servicing of loans under Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac multifamily programs.
Kim Fulmer, MA ’11, and Ben Horn, MA ’18, welcomed their son, Finn Clifford Fulmer-Horn, on July 19, 2021.
Raymond D. Jackson, JD ’15, joined Greenberg Traurig, P.A., in its Tampa office as an associate.
Gabriel C. Kelly, MA ’18, works for the city of Pittsburgh's county government as a grants manager. He was part of a multi-million dollar state and federal grant project to help improve health, recreation and economic opportunities for people living in poverty.
Danielle E. Meyer, JD ’18, joined Goldberg Segalla’s General Liability group as an associate in Raleigh, N.C.
Dani Quattrone, BA ’11, authored In the Year 2020 (independently published, 2020), a children’s book that takes place in an animal world where the COVID-19 pandemic serves as a catalyst to bring everyone together.
Jesse Regis, BA ’11, founded Virgins On Fire Candle Co.
M. Andrea Rojas, BA ’18, was a 2021 summer associate with Bousquet Holstein PLLC.
Jeremy S. Schneider, JD ’12, was elevated to principal at national workplace law firm Jackson Lewis PC in its Washington, D.C., office.
Mourad M. Shehebar, MD ’11, was promoted to associate program director for the Pain Medicine Fellowship at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. He is an anesthesiologist and interventional pain management physician.
David Shaw, JD ’11, was promoted to partner at the law firm Troutman Pepper.
Mohamed Sidibay, BA ’15, is a law clerk at Covington & Burling in New York. He was profiled in the Reuters article “How Mohamed Sidibay went from child soldier to Covington associate” about his forced involvement in the conflict in Sierra Leone.
Christina Sledge, MTA ’18, founded a publishing company called Sledge House Media with her husband. They co-authored and published their memoir, The Story of Christina and I, in 2021.
Tyler R. Smith, BA ’17, MPH ’19, joined the Des Moines-based law firm Bradshaw, Fowler, Proctor & Fairgrave, P.C. as an associate in the litigation and appellate law practice groups.
Gwendolyn Tawresey, JD ’12, was promoted to partner at Troutman Pepper in its Boston office.
Travis Thul, DEng ’18, was appointed a non-partisan White House fellow for 2020-2021 and was placed at the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
Travis Wright, MSPM ’10, was selected to the National Small Business Association Leadership Council and Small Business Technology Council. He is director of growth with the services firm 3Gimbals.
Joseph P. DiBella, JD ’20, joined the firm Rivkin Radler LLP as an associate.
Kathryn Crump Teague, MEd ’21, was named a Fairfax (Va.) County Public Schools 2021 Outstanding Employee. She is the director of student services at Lanier Middle School.
Abia Khan, BS ’20, joined the Institute for Defense Analyses as a data science fellow in the Operational Evaluation Division of its Systems and Analyses Center.
Rafael E. Torres, MBA ’21, MD ’02, was appointed chief quality officer at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, N.Y. He has been the director of emergency medicine at White Plains Hospital for the past six years.