Deanna Bellandi (J90) of Chicago is a political writer for the Associated Press, covering Illinois, Chicago and Cook County governments. She and her partner, Amy Walsh, purchased a condo that will be completed in 2007.

Jeffrey Brauer (C90) of Kirtland, Ohio, was one of 18 lawyers at Hahn Loeser + Parks named in Ohio Super Lawyers — Rising Stars by Law & Politics magazine in June.

Bernice Vignocchi Gallagher (G90) of Lake Forest, Ill., retired in May as director of writing programs after 22 years at Lake Forest College. In August she presented “Illinois Women Novelists at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago” at the Edinburgh Art Festival. She and her husband then spent a month at a seaside cottage on Galway Bay in the west of Ireland. She writes that she is most grateful to Northwestern English professors Harry Hayford, Barbara Foley and Carl Smith, who mentored her at Northwestern and continue to inspire her research and writing.

Paul Frederick Hanna (GMu90) of Bellevue, Neb., is chair of the fine and performing arts department at Creighton University in Omaha. He also conducts the Wind Ensemble and University Orchestra.

Sang-yul “Tony” Lee (WCAS90) of Evanston recently joined the law firm of Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago as a partner in the labor and employment group.

Matthew Mailman (Mu90, GMu91) of Oklahoma City is in his 12th year as professor of conducting at the Wanda L. Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University. He also hosts No Strings Attached, a weekly winds and percussion radio show.

Gina Nolan (J90, GJ93) of North Aurora, Ill., was named coach of the year by the Kane County Chronicle and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association for District 5. She led Geneva High School to a school-best 26-4 record, conference and regional championships and a sectional final appearance. She teaches Spanish at the high school.

Panos Sarantopoulos (McC90) of Reims, France, became managing director of Champagne Krug, one of the world’s leading cuvées, in April. He and his wife, Claire, have two children, Christina and Ramanos, who look forward to visiting the Evanston campus this year.

Gregory Smith (WCAS90) of Ridgewood, N.J., founded EchoTarget, a behavioral targeting online advertising network based in New York City.

Jacquelyne Sularz Belcastro (L91, KSM04) of Park Ridge, Ill., became vice president and associate general counsel for CNA in Chicago in February.

Barry Joseph (WCAS91) of Brooklyn began his seventh year directing the Online Leadership Program at Global Kids, which uses digital media and Internet technology to develop youth leadership around global issues. He has raised more than $2.5 million since founding the program. Recent projects include a youth gaming program that produced an online game about poverty and education in Haiti.

James W. Leiphart (WCAS91, FSM97, G01) of Great Falls, Va., is assistant professor of neurosurgery and anatomy at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He also serves as director of stereotactic and functional neurosurgery at George Washington. His wife, Kristine “Hae Won” Lee Leiphart (WCAS91, G92), is deputy associate administrator for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration.

Christine Conroy Levy (C91, GSESP98) of Chicago is vice president of design and development at Kaleidoscope Learning.

Courtney Craven Schrieve (J91) of Olympia, Wash., is now the communications and community relations director for North Thurston Public Schools. Earlier this year she participated in a Rotary International group study exchange in New Delhi, India, for five weeks. She and her husband, Garin, have two daughters, Hallie and Anna.

Gabrielle M. Toth (J91) of Chicago is an assistant professor of library and information services at Chicago State University. She and her son, Laszlo, live in Chicago.

Derek B. Wall (McC91) of San Clemente, Calif., a general surgeon, is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy on his third deployment to the Middle East. In September he became head of the surgery department at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California. His wife, Alesia Wilburn Wall (C92), limits her practice of speech pathology to consultations and provides volunteer services on a regular basis.

Stacey Wilkins (GJ91) of Norwalk, Conn., is an English and journalism teacher at Weston High School. She recently created a new journalism curriculum for the district. In 2005 she earned an English teaching certification at Yale University. Previously she worked for CNN and Fox News Channel.

Laura Forbes Carlin (C92) of Los Angeles, a home and lifestyle consultant, and her sister, Alison, founded the Art of Everyday Living, a home and lifestyle consulting company. They wrote The Peaceful Nursery: Preparing a Home for Your Baby with Feng Shui (Bantam Dell, 2006).

John J. Curry (WCAS92) of Las Vegas was named a tenure-track assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in July. One of four new professors of world history at UNLV, he teaches both Islamic and world history courses. He also completed a dissertation at Ohio State University on religious movements in the early modern Ottoman Empire after several years of research in Istanbul’s manuscript libraries.

Melissa Mulrooney Gerdes (C92) of Tyler, Texas, is medical director at Trinity Clinic in Whitehouse. The clinic participated in the nationwide TransforMED project, an $8 million dollar study by the American Academy of Family Physicians to evaluate quality and patient satisfaction using a new model of medicine. She was inducted into the position of parliamentarian of the Texas Academy of Family Physicians in July.

Ann-Nora Hirami (GJ92) of Plymouth, Mich., a social studies teacher at Plymouth High School, gave the commencement address at North Hollywood High School in California June 29. At the ceremony she saluted her father, Soichiro “Pat” Hirami, age 80, and her uncle, Akira Hirami, age 79, who received the diplomas they were denied 60 years earlier when they were sent to the Manzanar War Relocation Center in 1942. Her father and uncle led the processional in full cap and gown.

Annie Huang (WCAS92, FSM95) of Wheaton, Ill., a pediatrician at Glen Ellyn Clinic, wrote and published My First Music Book: Notes and the Keyboard (Xlibris, 2006). It is the first in a series of books introducing basic music concepts to young children. She and her husband, Peter Myung, are the parents of two boys.

Melinda “Darlene” Hunt (C92) of Los Angeles is starring in Help Me Help You, a new half-hour comedy that premiered in September on ABC with Ted Danson.

Kathleen Neumann (GMcC92) of Good Hope, Ill., is chair and professor of the computer science department at Western Illinois University.

Mark F. Wegener (McC92) of Redmond, Wash., is a transportation engineer and planner at Jacobs Civil in Bellevue. His wife, Rosemarie Buchanan (J94), is the senior communications specialist for Callison Architecture in Seattle and writes about architecture and design for Pacific Northwest magazine.

Julie Brigner (WCAS93) of Columbus, Ohio, was one of 18 lawyers at Hahn Loeser + Parks named Ohio Super Lawyers — Rising Stars by Law & Politics magazine in June.

Dean A. Carpenter (C93) of New York City is the line producer for the production of The Squirrel at the Summer Play Festival in New York City.

Keith E. Clifton (GMu93, 98) of Mount Pleasant, Mich., was recently promoted to associate professor of musicology at Central Michigan University. He presented papers in Canada and Minnesota in the past year.

John Cosgrove (WCAS93) of Chicago began a residency in family practice at St. Joseph Hospital in June after earning a medical degree from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in May.

Jennifer Ward Lennon (C93, GSESP94) of Colorado Springs is acting coach and choreographer for the Colorado Springs Children’s Chorale. As artist-in-residence with the chorale she also travels to schools throughout the Pikes Peak region to work with choirs and directors in musical and expressive workshops.

Aaron Michelfelder (C93) of Elmhurst, Ill., a family physician and vice chair of the department of family medicine at Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine, was promoted to associate professor of family medicine, bioethics and health policy. He also chairs the medical school curriculum committee and has led medical mission trips to Bolivia, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

Michael Raphael (J93) of Philadelphia is vice president of private equity at CMS Companies.

Sam Struyk (Mu93) of Chicago, music composer for TV and radio commercials and independent films and a jazz pianist, released a Christmas CD, Peace, in 2006. He has scored music for more than 500 commercials, including a dozen Super Bowl commercials. He composed the music for Bud Light’s “Real Men of Genius” radio commercials. He also received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to study with pianist Jim McNeely in New York. 

Andrew Utech (C93) of Tokyo teaches acting classes at Tokyo Film Center School of Arts. He directed Yamabiko Monogatari, a family musical in Japanese that was performed in South Korea and Japan in fall 2005. He also served as a vocal coach for actors in Memoirs of a Geisha, Silk and the upcoming The Beast of Bataan.

Erica Calderas (L94) of Wickliffe, Ohio, was one of 18 lawyers at Hahn Loeser + Parks named in Ohio Super Lawyer — Rising Stars by Law & Politics magazine in June.

Janet Garetto Cantelo (WCAS94) of Blue Island, Ill., an attorney in the Chicago law office of Jenkens & Gilchrist, was named to the Law Bulletin Publishing Company’s “40 Illinois Attorneys Under 40 to Watch” in July. She focuses on intellectual property counseling and litigation.

Hwee Goh (J94) of Singapore is an editor at MediaCorp News, which owns Channel NewsAsia. She and her husband, Wai Mun, enjoy their sons, Alexander and Nicholas.

Mark Kirsons (WCAS94, L97) of Elmhurst, Ill., an attorney in the banking and financial transactions practice, was one of 13 lawyers elevated to partnership at the Chicago law office of Sidley Austin in July.

Corey Rosen (C94) of San Francisco is head of the creature modeling and rigging department at the visual effects and animation studio the Orphanage. He recently worked on Superman Returns and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. He also appeared in Rent as the Life Café manager.

Rick Rothacker (J94, GJ95) of Charlotte is a banking reporter at the Charlotte Observer.

Josslyn Shapiro (C94) of Scarsdale, N.Y., is an engineering geologist for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on brownfield remediation for New York’s five boroughs. She received her doctorate in earth and environmental sciences from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University in 2005.

Lisa Slouffman (WCAS94, KSM06) of Vancouver, Canada, is now product manager at Microsoft after earning her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management in June. While at Kellogg, she was awarded a Siebel Scholarship and a dean’s service award. Her husband, Alexander Fisher (Mu92), is an assistant professor of music at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Tieshka Smith-Cook (WCAS94) of St. Louis was named director of grants administration with Provident Inc. in January. She directs grant and contract bid development activities and ensures post-award compliance through contract management and monitoring.

Elizabeth “Sibby” Ross Thomsen (WCAS94) of San Mateo, Calif., is owner of Sibby’s Cupcakery, a bakery specializing in made-to-order cupcakes. Lucky Magazine named her business one of the best places for baked goods in Northern California.

Beth E. Anisman (L95) of New York City was promoted to chief administrative officer of the corporate advisory division at Lehman Brothers, which includes the legal, compliance and audit departments.

Aseem Z. Ansari (G95) of Madison, Wis., an assistant professor of biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a member at the Genome Center of Wisconsin, received the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s 2006 Shaw Scientist Award, which provides $200,000 in unrestricted funds. He and his team are working on therapies for individualized medicine to treat many diseases, including diabetes and cancer.

Daniel Bertin (C95, GJ00) of Studio City, Calif., became an associate producer in production management at ABC/Touchstone Television in Burbank in July. He encourages everyone to watch ABC programming.

Charles Blumberg (McC95) of Jacksonville, Fla., was promoted to manager of billing systems at Kemper Auto and Home Insurance in January. He is also pursuing an MBA at the University of Florida.

Lisa Clingan-Cruz (C95) of Naperville, Ill., design director at ABC 7 Chicago WLS-TV, completed art directing and led the creative set design and graphics teams for ABC 7 Chicago’s State Street studio, which opened April 10.

Joanne C. Gerstner  (GJ95) of St. Clair Shores, Mich., a sports writer covering the Detroit Pistons and sports features for the Detroit News, became chair of the board of directors for the Association for Women in Sports Media in May. She served as president for the association from 2004–06. Vicki Michaelis (J91, GJ91) is the new AWSM president.

Michael Hardt (WCAS95) of Houston, a financial adviser at UBS Financial Services in Houston, is an adjunct faculty lecturer in the finance department at the University of Houston. He earned an MBA from Rice University in 2005 and a law degree from Case Western Reserve University in 2001.

Thomas Lin (WCAS95) of Kansas City, Mo., is a technical architect at Valentine, McCormick and Ligibel, an advertising agency.

Ian C. Lofwall (WCAS95) of Lexington, Ky., recently joined the law firm of Dinsmore & Shohl in the corporate department in the compensation and benefits practice group in the Lexington office.

Barbara M. Lom (G95) of Davidson, N.C., received tenure and was promoted to associate professor of biology at Davidson College. Her laboratory investigates how individual neurons wire themselves together into a nervous system. She has participated in administration of the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience, a national organization that supports undergraduate neuroscience educators. She was named FUN Educator of the Year in 2003 after launching the online Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education, which she continues to edit. She also received a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation for excellence in research as a young investigator.

Kristi Casey Sanders (C95) of Decatur, Ga., and her husband, Robert Sanders, are co-founding artistic directors of the Savage Tree Arts Project, a nonprofit group of visual artists, filmmakers, writers, dancers, musicians and theater artists who cross-train each other in the arts and create multidisciplinary works with members of the community.

Daniel Searl (J95) of Mableton, Ga., is director of basketball at Suwanee Sports Academy, a basketball training facility focusing on the fundamentals of the game.

Susan Borto Shamoun (WCAS95) of Skokie, Ill., became a director of business analysis at Rush North Shore Medical Center in June.

Jeremy Simon (J95) of Aspen, Colo., is director of communications at Colorado Rocky Mountain School, an independent secondary school in Carbondale. He also serves as president of the board of directors of KDNK Community Radio, where he hosts a new music program. More importantly, he writes, he placed second in a local chili cookoff and ranks about 750th among tournament Scrabble players in North America.

Joshua Thompson (Mu95) of Lake Zurich, Ill., is director of bands at Lake Zurich High School. In May his jazz ensemble was selected as one of 15 finalist bands and performed at the Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City as part of the national Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival at Lincoln Center.

Eboni Corin Howard (GSESP96, 01) of Chicago was named director of the Erikson Institute’s Herr Research Center for Children and Social Policy in July. As director she holds the Frances Stott Chair in Early Childhood Policy Research.

Ellene Hu (J96) of White Plains, N.Y., became director of global skin care marketing for Asia for Estee Lauder in May. In 2003 she earned an MBA from the Wharton School and a master’s degree in international studies from the Lauder Institute, both at the University of Pennsylvania.

Neil Ray (WCAS96) of New York City began a faculty position in pediatric anesthesiology at Columbia University’s School of Medicine in November. He completed a fellowship in pediatric anesthesiology at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

Denise Gould Smith (C96) of Seattle is a group marketing manager at Microsoft. Her husband, Elliott Smith (J97), provides public relations for Seattle Goodwill and is a freelance sportswriter.

Chelsea Stoner (McC96) of Boston is now senior associate at Battery Ventures, a Boston-based venture capital firm.

Robin Knowles Wallace (G96) of Columbus, Ohio, became professor in the Taylor Chair of Worship and Music at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio in July. She wrote Communion Services (Abingdon, 2006) for the Just in Time! series of books for pastors.

Kesha Boyce Williams (J96) of Fairlawn, Ohio, was named manager of web services at the Cleveland Institute of Art, where she is responsible for the museum web site and showcasing creations of students and faculty.

Xiaoxing “Stella” Xu (G96) of Parsippany, N.J., director of global due diligence at Roche Pharma Partnering, was named the 2006 Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Rising Star in May. She is responsible for leading due diligence assessment of potential deals and supporting the transaction of new licensing opportunities.

Aaron P. Brown (J97) of Brooklyn, N.Y., is a copywriter at the Ad Store in New York City. He did work for JetBlue Airways, Mike’s Hard Lemonade and the 2005 GoDaddy.com Super Bowl spot.

Brooke Dombek Fritz  (WCAS97, G97) of New York City is a technology attorney for American Express.

Rod Hicks (GJ97) of St. Louis became news editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after serving as suburban editor for the Detroit News. He is a former board member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Pilar Kuhn (Mu97) of Culver City, Calif., a producer at Jack Morton Worldwide, produced I Remember, a hi-def industrial video for the chief marketing officer of Intel. The video, featuring 6- to 9-year-old kids commenting on their lives before technology, won a Telly Award in June.

Albert Licup (SESP97) of Oak Park, Ill., a lieutenant in the Navy Medical Service Corps, was stationed as a staff optometrist at Naval Hospital Great Lakes after graduating in May from the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago. He was inducted into the Gold Key International Optometric Honor Society. He also received the 2005 and 2006 Illinois College of Optometry Cribb Leadership & Service Award and the U.S. Navy’s Health Professions Scholarship. His wife, Katherine Schwarze Licup (J97), is an associate at the law firm of Foley and Lardner after receiving her law degree cum laude from Loyola University School of Law in 2005. She served as editor in chief of the law school’s Public Interest Law Reporter.

Kazuko Minagawa Prock (WCAS97) of Chicago, senior associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers, was named an associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society in the spring after successfully completing seven examinations in fall 2005.

Anthony Roberts (WCAS97) of Chicago is associate director of development for major gifts at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park after serving as managing director of the American Theater Co. in Chicago for three years.

Marc Sharma (L97) of Vienna, Va., senior counsel in the office of the general counsel of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., was awarded the agency’s Equal Employment Opportunity Award for demonstrating outstanding leadership in recruiting and mentoring young attorneys and for ensuring a working environment that nurtures morale and professional development of commission employees.

Robert Sevim (WCAS97) of Chicago is a corporate managing director in Chicago for Studley Inc., a New York-based corporate real estate firm. He earned an MBA with honors in finance and accounting from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in June. In January he was recognized as being within his firm’s top 20 percent of producers on a national level.

Marilyn Griffin (McC98) of Pittsburgh began her residency training at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in general pediatrics, adult psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry in June. She received a medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford, Ill., in April. She was inducted into the college’s Gold Humanism Honor Society chapter. She also received the David Mortimer Olkon Scholarship for excellence in psychiatry.

Brad Haak (Mu98) of New York City is music director and conductor for the American premier of Mary Poppins: The New Musical, which opened in the fall at the New Amsterdam Theatre. Milton Granger (GMu70, 78) plays piano and serves as assistant conductor of the Poppins orchestra, and Marc Donatelle (Mu77) plays the trombone.

Katherine Leahy (C98) of Chicago, a performance lighting designer, did the lighting for Lollapalooza, a three-day music festival in Chicago’s Grant Park in August. For three months last spring she worked on the Commonwealth Games in Australia. In 2005 she toured with Nelly, doing concert lighting in Europe, Japan and Australia.

Mark E. Smith (C98) of La Jolla, Calif., known professionally as “Mark Emerson,” performed in the world premiere musical Zhivago at La Jolla Playhouse this summer. He recently earned his master’s of fine arts degree in acting from the University of California, San Diego.

Jennifer Del Medico (J99) of Thorofare, N.J., became an associate at the law firm Jones Day in New York City in the fall. Previously she served as a law clerk for Justice John E. Wallace Jr., associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. In May 2005 she received a law degree from Fordham University Law School.

Jill Siegel Finkle (C99) of Arlington, Va., manager of theater and early childhood programs at the National Children’s Museum in Washington, D.C., is currently designing exhibits and programs for the museums’ new 140,000-square-foot facility scheduled to open in 2009. She is also earning a master’s degree in museum studies at George Washington University. Her husband, Corey Finkle (C99), is a producer with Team Creations, a television production company in Washington, D.C.

Priya Gandhi (WCAS99) of Oak Brook, Ill., interned last summer at HAPPYBABY, a woman-owned startup that produces organic fresh-frozen baby meals. The company launched on Mother’s Day in New York City and went national in August. She handles the financial modeling and valuation for the company’s business plan.

Priya Jaikumar (GC99) of Los Angeles, assistant professor at the School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California, wrote Cinema at the End of Empire: A Politics of Transition in Britain and India (Duke University Press, 2006).

Micah Levin (WCAS99) of Philadelphia became an associate at the control distressed debt investing group at GSC Partners in July. He earned a master’s degree in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in May and was named a Palmer Scholar for finishing in the top 5 percent of his graduating class.

Natalie Y. Moore (GJ99) of Chicago, a freelance journalist and adjunct instructor of media studies at Columbia College, co-wrote Deconstructing Tyrone (Cleis Press, 2006), a multifaceted picture of African American men. Her work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times and other publications.

Barbara Nordby Soderlin (WCAS99) of Casper, Wyo., is an education reporter at the Casper Star-Tribune, Wyoming’s major daily newspaper.

Terufumi Yorita (GL99) of Tokyo is senior manager of legal affairs for Bausch & Lomb Japan.