Class Notes

I started a new job as client development director at Investec Wealth Management, still live in London, and look forward to Jubilee and Olympic celebrations this summer.

Kate McGinn Pipke and Nate Pipke ’99 welcomed first child Garrett Michael in November. Jessica Landers Hopkins, director of a national non-profit education organization, returned home to Maryland from Boston, and her daughter turned 1. Steve Hinchliffe of Tucson, Ariz., spent a year in Hawaii and was to receive his MBA in May.

Sherri Trudeau Martin teaches at a Denver area charter school. Son Andrew was to graduate from Overland High School. Nicole McIntyre moved to China to teach fifth grade at Shanghai Community International School. Rebecca Hirschman and Dennis Ti (Johns Hopkins ’02) bought a house in Raleigh, N.C., and were married in Raleigh in November 2011. Virginia “Ginny” Evans Beimdick and Melissa Kittrell Micare attended. Kelly Hahn was promoted to senior associate with Censeo Consulting Group. She was to be married in April in Washington, D.C., and move to Mexico City. Lauren Oviatt Brennan and her husband welcomed second child Keaton Carter in April. Lauren finished her Rhode Island School of Design photography program, and the family moved from Providence to Northern Virginia. Seth Kennard, in his third year as an elementary school principal with Alexandria City Public Schools, and wife Kathleen welcomed second child Ella Kate in November.

Teresa Joerger Mannix and husband Mark welcomed first child Bryce David in January. Melissa Wilson is an interpretive park ranger with Adams National Historical Park in Quincy, Mass., and an educator for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. She was working on her doctoral dissertation on museum education at Capella University. Kelly Turcic Bailey is director of alumni engagement at Slippery Rock University.

Jennifer Stringfellow Bing and Stephen married in September and live in Dumfries, Va. Jennifer works at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Anthony Foster completed his Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., and began a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda. He moved to Sterling, Va., and planned to be married in May.

Allyson Bristor is a City of Bozeman (Montana) neighborhood coordinator and was engaged to marry Christopher Brekke of Duluth, Minn., in July. Laura Reigle Campling and husband Bob have children Benjamin John, born in January, and Grace, 3. Jennie von Drehle of Chicago works in DePaul University’s international programs office. She and husband Ryan welcomed first daughter Zoe Grace in January.

Virginia Bartlett earned a doctorate in religion and ethics at Vanderbilt University and moved from Nashville, Tenn., to California with husband Shane and daughter Sophia. She is assistant director of the Center for Healthcare Ethics at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Missionary Trixy Franke is a physician at the Seventh-day Adventist Health Centre in Cameroon, Africa. She married William Colwell Jr.

Matt Cliszis, a Chartis Insurance regional underwriting manager, and Pam Kirby-Cliszis, a Spike TV producer, live in Brooklyn, N.Y. They welcomed Alexa Jane in March 2011. Matt Wright, married in August in Warrenton, Va., is a special education teacher in Fairfax County, writes for websites and magazines, and started a website with Nene Wallace Reed ’02. Jacquie Frank and Rory Caswell bought a home in Toms River, N.J., planned an April wedding, and looked forward to seeing Alevia Colwell Colombell, Kelli Brittain Reinhardt, and Danielle Matuch. Zac Sargent and Aimee Sargent welcomed first child Oliver William in April. Jen Amore of Washington, D.C., is a policy analyst in the U.S. Department of Labor’s wage and hour division and teaches power flow yoga. Sarah Smith Komssi and Mike Komssi ’00 welcomed their second (and last!) set of twins, Miles Henry and Calvin Robert, in September 2010.

Thanks to everyone who contributed. Email updates to me or submit them via the “MWC Class of 2001” Facebook page.

Andrew Mertz spent New Year’s Eve at his new Manassas, Va., house with best friends Kevin Libby, Tricia Pavlik, and Mike Panlilio ’03. Andrew was finishing his master of divinity degree at Chicago’s Meadville Lombard Theological School. He started a certificate program in youth and theology at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey that complements his denominational para-church youth ministry. Carolyn Murray Spencer, a technical writer, and Jamie Spencer, an art director, of Wilmington, Del., welcomed daughter Caelie in December.

Eric Frere and Erin Donegan Frere welcomed first child Charlotte in October 2011.

The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services awarded certification to Ryan Lacey, who graduated in the top 10 of his Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy class. He interned with the Bureau of Diplomatic Security at the U.S. Department of State and accepted a position in administration of justice in the Washington, D.C., area. Kathleen Rogers Cavender married Michael Cavender of Stafford, Va., in November 2011.

Mikaela Jordan moved home to West Warwick, R.I., then got a job in the underwriting trainee program, specializing in life sciences, at Chubb Group of Insurance Companies in Phoenix. She hopes to obtain her CPCU designation. Matt Longo worked in electrical supply for Raytheon Polar Services Company in McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Elizabeth “Kati” Bergman planned to complete a graduate degree online through Clarion University and works in circulation and youth services at the Central Rappahannock Regional Library.

Broderick “Brodie” Collins and Michael “Chase” Morgan took a nine-week road trip through the U.S. and parts of Canada. Upon return, Brodie got a job in customer service at McLean Animal Hospital. Nicki J. Shupp was promoted to enterprise risk management specialist for Mary Washington Healthcare. Christy Tyrrell is pursuing a master’s degree in media psychology and social change at Fielding Graduate University.

Erika Spivey turned her internship with the UMW Office of University Events and Conferencing into an administrative assistant position. She’s the new communications chair for the Alumni Association Fredericksburg Network. Katherine Beegle joined the Army and is to be a National Guard information systems specialist, stationed in Fairfax County, Va. She and husband Matthew Shaver live in Fredericksburg.

Monica Band is pursuing a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling with a concentration in autism spectrum disorders at George Washington University. She received the Rehabilitation Services Administration hybrid scholarship, which mixes on-campus and online courses. She also is a counselor for adults with severe mental illness for an Arlington, Va., nonprofit. She plans to get her license in Virginia and apply to doctoral programs in clinical and/or counseling psychology.

Rosana Marzullo-Dove is in the doctorate in clinical psychology program at Argosy University in Washington, D.C. She was to take a spring study abroad class in Barcelona, Spain, and start her first-year practicum in a residential facility for people with gambling addiction in Hanover, Va., in the fall. She’s a family educator with the Spotsylvania Department of Social Services and volunteers at the Rappahannock Council on Domestic Violence. Her husband and two daughters are her biggest supporters.