Class of 1996

Early 2025 has been less than kind to a few members of our ’96 family. First, I want to extend sincerest condolences to John Barros, wife Tchintcia, and their family on the unspeakable loss of their youngest son Christian José. After a year of valiant fight, Christian lost his battle to neuroblastoma on January 13 at just 2 years and 1 month of age. Hundreds gathered at St. Patrick’s Church in Boston to memorialize Christian, with the Massachusetts House of Representatives naming the corner of Virginia Street and Davern Avenue as “Christian José Barros Way” in his honor and U.S. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley placing his name into permanent record by formally eulogizing him on the U.S. House floor. May Christian’s memory and light be a blessing to you and your family, John, and know that your fellow alumni are thinking of you all during this time of immeasurable loss.

I am also sad to report that at least two of our classmates lost their homes to the horrific wildfires that terrorized the Los Angeles area in January. After 18 years living in Pacific Palisades, Rob Chambers, his wife Kristen, and their daughters had mere minutes to evacuate, spending three and a half hours in traffic with apocalyptic conditions all around as they fled to safety. Their home, along with more than 90 percent of their neighborhood, burned to the ground. Erica (Greenwood) McLoughlin and her family, themselves residents of Pacific Palisades, also lost their home to the nightmarish devastation.

In happier news, class career updates have been plentiful in the first few months of 2025. David Leone was promoted to principal and district office manager at GZA GeoEnvironmental, marking his 27th year with the geotechnical and environmental consultancy based in Norwood, Massachusetts.

Joseph Marcheso celebrated the conclusion of his 10th season as music director of Opera San Jose by announcing he had accepted a five-year extension to his role.

Jamie Hansen assumed a new role as cloud solution architect leader at Microsoft, where she leads a team of trusted advisors in the company’s U.S. retail and consumer goods organization.

After 11 years with IBM, Matthew Bailey started a new position as the company’s principal client executive, where he will oversee technology sales in the Midwest from his home base of St. Paul, Minnesota.

Bill Tovell reported he had cofounded Instar Partners in Dallas; the new firm focuses on seed-round investing across a broad range of sectors (including consumer, retail, media, and real estate). In January Yeng Felipe Butler announced the launch of Chestnut Run Capital Partners; she is the managing partner for the private credit investment firm delivering flexible financing solutions to small and low middle market companies in the climate, human health, and education sectors. In career pivot news, Mark Buschmann announced his retirement from PJT Partners after 24 years spent in the corporate restructuring business at both Blackstone and PJT.

January also brought big change to our two Biden administration appointees. Monica (Oberkofler) Gorman returned to the private sector after four years as special assistant to the president for manufacturing and industrial policy; she was named managing director at Crowell Global Advisors, a firm helping public and private sector companies navigate today’s complex geopolitical landscape. Tracy (Canard) Goodluck also transitioned away from the White House after working with the U.S. Department of the Interior for 10 years, including the last four as senior advisor to the assistant secretary for Indian affairs. Tracy and her husband, L.T., opted to take a few months off from government work, traveling from coast to coast, spending time with family and friends and visiting Native lands along the way.

—Garrett Gil de Rubio, 1062 Middlebrooke Drive, Canton, GA 30115; ggdr@alum.dartmouth.org