Class Notes

Aidan (McCurdy) Murphy and Michael Murphy ’07 are celebrating their 5 year anniversary in October. Their son, Miles Thomas Murphy, was born in March of 2018.

Jonathan Hillyard has accepted a Chief Medical Resident position with Virginia Commonwealth University’s Internal Medicine Residency Program for the 2019-2020 program year.

Virginia Brown writes: I graduated in 2010 followed by MS in Soil Science at NC state university. I am now married and live near Chicago; we have a small farm with horses and other critters. I still travel all over the US for work providing environmental consulting and ecological restoration for various energy industries. I have recently been working on designing and implementing pollinator habitats on pipeline right-of-ways and solar farms.

Joseph Ryan Payne, ’10 is currently employed by Glassnote Records.
In the May 11th issue of Billboard magazine, Ryan was recognized in the article, Branding Power Players 2019.
Glassnote also took out a full page ad congratulating Ryan on his work.

Allyson Childress ’10 will have artwork exhibited in Indiana and Rhode Island this summer after being accepted into
two nationally juried shows.
Childress attended the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va and graduated in 2010 with a B.A. in
Studio Art. She has worked for the international clothing brand Anthropologie, desiging and building large scale
display insallations and, in 2015 after recieving a series of private commision jobs from a prominent interior designer,
decided to pursue art full time.
Her current body of work is focused on the feminine cycle and sacred intuition. “My work is deeply influenced by the
divine feminine and cosmic intuition. Each piece is approached through daily ritual and meditation, paired with
extensive research into the ancient expression of the feminine. The intuitive and spiritual nature of my creative
process allows my work to express the healing and growth innate in being an artist.”
Childress’ pieces “Shimmer” and “MoonTime” were accepted into the nationally juried show “From the Light of the
Silvery Moon”, an exhibit celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing at the Evansville Museum
of Arts, History and Science in Evansville, Indiana.

Megan Walker ’11 and Andrew Godburn ’10 welcomed their first child, Lucy, in January 2019. She is also the first grandchild of Elaine Godburn (née Blotkamp) ’80.

Dementia specialist Rachael Wonderlin was quoted in a July 2019 Washington Post article on recognizing the signs of dementia in family members.

This spring Abbey Potter ’10, Anne Campbell ’12, Lindsay Cutler ’12, Maura Monaham ’12, and Michael Walter ’12 took a trip to Moab, Utah to visit Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. The group came together from Denver, Charlottesville, Albuquerque, Boston, and Chicago. The Mary Washington crew sported Mary Wash gear through out the trip!

Zarar Ahmend
After graduating from UMW with a BA in Political Science and a minor in Economics in 2013, Zarar attended the University of Baltimore, where I graduated with a dual J.D/M.B.A. in 2017. He was admitted as a member of the Maryland Bar in 2018, and is currently working as an Attorney at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington D.C., and resides in Fredericksburg, VA.

Brian Schippers
Brian Schippers (’13) married Melissa Peters (’14) in June 2016. They gave birth to a sweet little girl in June 2017 and are expecting baby #2 to arrive around Christmas!

Peyton Brown got engaged in December 2018 to Lee Hastings (who went to Tech, class of 2013) and they were planning to get married in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, in November 2019.

I’m excited to be the Class of ’17 (Go Devils!) class agent. I’ve been on the campaign trail ever since graduating, having worked for Senator Tim Kaine. I’m currently a campaign manager for a House of Delegates race here in Virginia.

Kyle Anderson, BA Psychology, has graduated from Boston University with a MA in Psychology.

Noah Goodwin writes: In September of 2018 I started a Ph.D. program in French and Francophone Studies at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In Spring of 2020 I will be receiving my M.A. from the program and will be starting my Ph.D. research in Fall of 2020.

Jasmine Pineda has volunteered to be the 2019 class agent. Send her your updates!