Class Notes

These are the unedited class notes as submitted by class agents and other alumni. Edited notes appear in the print edition.

If you prefer to submit Class Notes by mail, send to:

UMW Magazine – Class Notes
1301 College Ave.
Fredericksburg, VA 22401

2000s

2000

Daniela Kelley Sicuranza
daniela.sicuranza@gmail.com

2001

No Class Agent
classnotes@umw.edu

2002

Travis Jones
tljones8@gmail.com

Carolyn Murray Spencer
turtlecjm@yahoo.com

Janet Johnson Cropp retired from UMW on September 1, 2014 after 31 years with the Commonwealth of Virginia and 26 at UMW. She is proud to have obtained both her BLS and MBA degrees at UMW.  She enjoyed so much serving as both an Enrollment Administrator and an Assistant Dean of Advising Services and is now looking forward to enjoying alumni events.

2003

Jessica Brandes
jessbrandes@yahoo.com

Sarah Elizabeth Amick and Mohammad Al-Zubi married in March 2015 at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia. The ceremony was officiated by Rev. Susan Blanchard, Baptist Campus Minister at Mary Washington from 1998–2004. Diana Dittmann Hudson and Sarah’s sister, Rachel Emily Hirsch, were bridesmaids. Abbie Duke Duenckel ’04 sang a duet with the Matron of Honor, Beth Davis. Heidi Carlson Stello ’04 was the wedding harpist. Stephanie Brown Cook, Lee Anne Mareck, Melissa Fallen ’00, Erin Campbell Madsen ’04, Kristen Bridges White ’04, and Patrick Hiltz ’04 were also in attendance at the wedding ceremony and reception.

Sarah and Mohammad, the happy newlyweds, are currently living in Richmond and both work at Virginia Commonwealth University. Sarah is also a part-time student at VCU, where she is pursuing a degree in International Social Justice and Religious Studies. She is a member of Richmond’s First Baptist Church where she rings in the handbell choir. Sarah also regularly plays cards with Melissa Fallen ’00, Abbie Duke Duenckel ’04, Diana Dittmann Hudson, Susan Blanchard, and other friends in the area. She is very excited about serving as a Network Leader in the growing UMW Richmond Alumni Network!

Garett Seeba completed his residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at LSU New Orleans in June 2015. Previously he completed Dental School at the Medical College of Georgia in 2009 and Medical School at LSU New Orleans in 2012. He is joining a group private practice in Webster, Texas, and will be affiliated with Houston Methodist St. John Hospital and Clearlake Regional Medical Center.

Jay Dee Callahan and Paige Golden Callahan welcomed their first child, Mason James, in April. After meeting freshman year when they both lived in Mason Hall, the name seemed absolutely perfect!

2004

Sameer Vaswani
sameervaswani@msn.com

2005

Allyson “Ally”  Lee Marzan
allyvlee@gmail.com

Lauren Mascarenhas Andrews and Michael Andrews live in Richmond, Virginia, and welcomed twins, Henry Sebastian and Cora Lilly, this summer. They also have a three-year-old son, Jackson David. Lauren works in Human Resources at Keiter. She and Stephanie Shepherd Hallam are still joined at the hip. Stephanie works at Verus Financial in Richmond and married William “Bill” Hallam last year; they reside in Fredericksburg.

Nadia Mudder, her husband, Jan, and two children, Jeremiah and Audrey, took a step back from expat teaching life this year. They moved from Shenzhen, China, to Armour, South Dakota, where they have both accepted local high school teaching positions. They are expecting their third child in November.

Ally Lee Marzan married Rob Marzan on a beautiful April day in Northern New Jersey. Her bridal party included Kimberly Pittman Gordon, Laura Rawlett Taylor, and Caitie Eck ’06. They had plenty of Mary Wash friends join in the festivities, including Kate Martland, Shamus Gordon ’06, Megan Anderson ’06, Nancy-Lauren Raia Buechler ’06, Shana Muhammed ’06, Deirdre Garahan, and Moire Garahan Futrell ’09. Following the wedding, Ally and Rob headed to French Polynesia for their honeymoon, spending 10 days in paradise on the islands of Moorea and Bora Bora.

Bryan Smalley completed his 2014–2015 term as the District Secretary for District 29 Toastmasters on June 30, 2015. He received an award for his service at the District 29 Hail and Farewell Celebration on July 11, 2015.

Mark A. Fiore joined Dilworth Paxson, LLP as an Associate in the Litigation Department. Mark previously served as a Commercial Litigation, Bankruptcy, and Financial Restructuring Associate at Cooper Levenson, P.A. In his practice, Mark represents businesses and individuals on the state and federal level in partnership disputes, breach of contract litigation, federal regulatory and crimination investigations, consumer fraud, business torts, data breach response and risk management, professional liability, employment litigation, and class and collective actions. He also represents debtors, creditors, and trustees in restructurings, reorganizations, workouts, and liquidations. After graduating from Mary Washington, Mark earned his J.D. at Rutgers University School of Law. He is licensed to practice in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the Federal District Courts for New Jersey and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

2006

Shana A. Muhammad
email.shana@gmail.com

Carl Frank Puleo
cfpuleo@gmail.com

Nancy-Lauren Raia married John C. Buechler, a 2002 Bucknell graduate, on April 4, 2015, on Long Island. Her Mary Washington roommates Andrea Wyatt Carey, Susan Jeffries Suleske, and Renee Liers Cartwright served as bridesmaids. Fellow Mary Wash grads Caitie Eck, Megan Anderson, Shana Muhammad, Jacob Kendall-Taylor, Ally Lee Marzan ’05, Drew Cartwright ’05, and Adam Suleske held it down on the dance floor. The couple resides in Manhattan.

Colin Jones graduated with an M.A. in Security Policy from George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.

Davis Rennolds was appointed by the Governor to the UMW Board of Visitors starting July 1.

2007

Paul Walsh, who was JRB President during the 2006–2007 academic year, was recently married to Erika Rose Bartholomew on August 29, 2015, in Quincy, Massachusetts. Paul and Erika met at Merck & Co., where Paul is currently employed as an Associate Principal Scientist in the Drug Product Analytical Sciences group. Paul graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry in 2012.

Megan Martinez Thoen has been appointed the Director of Forensic Mental Health Services and has accepted the position of Research Assistant Professor at the Texas Tech University Institute for Forensic Science beginning in the fall of 2015. She and her husband, Eric, welcomed their first child, Parker, in December 2014.

Stephanie Bowen Preshlock and her husband, Bob, welcomed their first baby boy two days before Easter on April 3, 2015. They have named him Robert Paul Preshlock III after Stephanie’s husband, and have had fun with various nicknames from RP3 to Baby Bobby. Stephanie has had the luxury of staying home with him and taking time off work from her role as an Intelligence Analyst with the federal government.

Robert Hughes and Erin Keegan Hughes welcomed son Benjamin Thomas on February 21 to join his big sister, Claire.

Caitlin Young earned a master’s degree in library and information science from Louisiana State University in May.

2009

Elizabeth Jennings
elizabethsjennings@gmail.com

Alexandra Meier
alexandra.m.meier@gmail.com

Brent Monseur, formerly Brent “Colin” Turner, Sc.M., is serving as the board secretary for an international nonprofit, Medical Students for Choice, which is dedicated to educating and creating tomorrow’s abortion providers and prochoice physicians. He is currently a fourth-year medical student at MCV in Richmond, Virginia. He will be matching into an OB/GYN residency next spring.

Whitney Packett English and her husband, Richard, welcomed a son, Thomas Richard English III, on October 19, 2014. They are living in Warsaw, Virginia, and she is a Certified Public Accountant.