Class Note 1991
Issue
Jul - Aug 2018
As I write this column on April 25, Neal Katyal, former acting U.S. solicitor general, is arguing in front of the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of the State of Hawaii against the third version of the ban restricting travel from several Muslim-majority countries. Neal’s briefs argued that the proclamation exceeds the president’s authority under immigration law as well as the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.
Also in the news, Jake Tapper’s first novel, The Hellfire Club, was released in April. (See a review on page 52). Celebrities such as former Dartmouth commencement speaker Conan O’Brien and actor Jake Gyllenhaal posted photos of themselves reading the book on social media. I had coffee with Leslie Verkauf Cohen that same week, and she reported that she ordered signed copies for her husband and dad for Father’s Day, inspiring me to do the same thing. Leslie recently returned from Coachella and is still working at HBO after 24 years! She was heading to the Tribeca Film Festival in April to scout new films.
More big ’91 news: The brilliant Odette Harris was named a neurosurgery professor at Stanford’s School of Medicine, making her only the second black female to take on that role in the United States. She earned her medical degree from Stanford in 1996, and her specialty is traumatic brain injury. Odette is quoted in the Stanford Daily as saying that at Dartmouth she sought to surround herself with “strong women.” Anyone who knew Odette “back then” would agree that she was one of the strongest of them all!
Another strong woman, Esi Eggleston Bracey, is now executive vice president and chief operating officer of North America personal care at Unilever, overseeing a $5 billion portfolio of products including Dove and Vaseline. Esi was profiled in Black Enterprise, which dubbed her a “globe-trotting corporate superstar.” She previously served as the president of consumer beauty at Coty Inc. after its merger with Procter & Gamble.
Another classmate doing noteworthy things is Brooke Spencer. Brooke is an interventional radiologist, a pioneer in the treatment of deep vein thrombosis and is known nationally for her work with chronic venous reconstruction. Brooke lives in Colorado and was just named to a scientific advisory board by Imaging3. Follow her on Twitter at @theveinlady!
In April I attended a Women of Dartmouth event in Boston featuring motivational speaker Mel Robbins ’90. My freshman roommate Sara Burbine Potter drove there, and Katherine McConville McGaugh and Erica Coles Jacobsen also attended. Erica is raising Cole (13) and Annie (9) with her husband, Todd, in Newbury, Massachusetts. She is a client lead and consultant for C Space, a customer insights agency. She serves on her town’s finance committee “for fun” and loves hitting New England beaches in the summer and slopes in the winter.
Brett Haber, who is still at the Tennis Channel, posted a photo on Facebook this spring captioned: “When you randomly run into your college roommate at the bar at the Mondrian in Los Angeles. Great guy then and now.” He bumped into Rick Gomez, who is executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Target. Brett and Rick were roommates senior year in the River apartments with Josh Hofheimer and John Goodchild.
Finally, I caught up with Josie Sandler, who heads up Sandler Search, a firm specializing in executive search for educational and nonprofit organizations. The firm partnered on the search for Dartmouth’s new vice president for alumni relations, leading to the appointment of Cheryl Bascomb ’82. In her personal life, Josie is married to Josh Flug—Jake Tapper and David Hillman introduced them!—and her daughter, Teddy, is almost 4 years old.
—Deb Karazin Owens, 166 Colonial Drive, Fairfield, CT, 06824; djowens@optonline.net
Also in the news, Jake Tapper’s first novel, The Hellfire Club, was released in April. (See a review on page 52). Celebrities such as former Dartmouth commencement speaker Conan O’Brien and actor Jake Gyllenhaal posted photos of themselves reading the book on social media. I had coffee with Leslie Verkauf Cohen that same week, and she reported that she ordered signed copies for her husband and dad for Father’s Day, inspiring me to do the same thing. Leslie recently returned from Coachella and is still working at HBO after 24 years! She was heading to the Tribeca Film Festival in April to scout new films.
More big ’91 news: The brilliant Odette Harris was named a neurosurgery professor at Stanford’s School of Medicine, making her only the second black female to take on that role in the United States. She earned her medical degree from Stanford in 1996, and her specialty is traumatic brain injury. Odette is quoted in the Stanford Daily as saying that at Dartmouth she sought to surround herself with “strong women.” Anyone who knew Odette “back then” would agree that she was one of the strongest of them all!
Another strong woman, Esi Eggleston Bracey, is now executive vice president and chief operating officer of North America personal care at Unilever, overseeing a $5 billion portfolio of products including Dove and Vaseline. Esi was profiled in Black Enterprise, which dubbed her a “globe-trotting corporate superstar.” She previously served as the president of consumer beauty at Coty Inc. after its merger with Procter & Gamble.
Another classmate doing noteworthy things is Brooke Spencer. Brooke is an interventional radiologist, a pioneer in the treatment of deep vein thrombosis and is known nationally for her work with chronic venous reconstruction. Brooke lives in Colorado and was just named to a scientific advisory board by Imaging3. Follow her on Twitter at @theveinlady!
In April I attended a Women of Dartmouth event in Boston featuring motivational speaker Mel Robbins ’90. My freshman roommate Sara Burbine Potter drove there, and Katherine McConville McGaugh and Erica Coles Jacobsen also attended. Erica is raising Cole (13) and Annie (9) with her husband, Todd, in Newbury, Massachusetts. She is a client lead and consultant for C Space, a customer insights agency. She serves on her town’s finance committee “for fun” and loves hitting New England beaches in the summer and slopes in the winter.
Brett Haber, who is still at the Tennis Channel, posted a photo on Facebook this spring captioned: “When you randomly run into your college roommate at the bar at the Mondrian in Los Angeles. Great guy then and now.” He bumped into Rick Gomez, who is executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Target. Brett and Rick were roommates senior year in the River apartments with Josh Hofheimer and John Goodchild.
Finally, I caught up with Josie Sandler, who heads up Sandler Search, a firm specializing in executive search for educational and nonprofit organizations. The firm partnered on the search for Dartmouth’s new vice president for alumni relations, leading to the appointment of Cheryl Bascomb ’82. In her personal life, Josie is married to Josh Flug—Jake Tapper and David Hillman introduced them!—and her daughter, Teddy, is almost 4 years old.
—Deb Karazin Owens, 166 Colonial Drive, Fairfield, CT, 06824; djowens@optonline.net