Class Note 1996
Issue
March-April 2023
T.S. Eliot once said, “For last year’s words belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await another voice.”
With 2022 reaching its inevitable conclusion and the new year now ahead, a few classmates are writing amazing final verses to the year that was, setting course for inspiring new chapters to be written for years to come.
First, congratulations to Thomas Fisher, who—in addition to being a cover subject of Dartmouth Alumni Magazine earlier in 2022 and his ongoing tenure as attending physician within the emergency room at the University of Chicago Medical Center—wrote and saw published his first book, The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER. In December and as icing on the cake, he saw that same book (which recounts the beginnings of the Covid-19 pandemic from its veritable front lines) named as one of Time magazine’s “100 Must-Read Books of 2022.” Thomas relayed, “It’s such an honor to be recognized next to so many amazing books and authors.”
As the year ends we have many ’96s making major career changes—including a pivot by our own Cassie Ehrenberg. After 21 years with Philadelphia-based legal firm Cleary, Josem & Trigiani, LLP, changing societal needs led Cassie to become senior counsel for pro bono initiatives for the Lawyering Project, a newly formed organization working throughout the United States to improve access to reproductive healthcare. The group’s clients include healthcare providers, abortion funds and practical support networks, governmental entities, scientific researchers, religious congregations, and people seeking abortion care.
Elizabeth (Meyer) Kelley also “did a thing” (as she said)—returning to the College after two years removed from her tenure as director of class activities. In October she returned as managing director of the Dartmouth College Fund. For the past two years she has worked part time with the Upper Valley Haven, offering a food shelf, shelters, and more to her neighbors in need.
Taran Lent was named senior vice president of product development and technology at Transact Campus, a mobile-centric, open enterprise-class cloud platform that enables students and families to transact and interact within all aspects of campus life. Prior to his promotion in December Taran had not only led product innovation for Transact for almost four years but had actually cofounded and architected CardSmith—the first cloud-based campus card payment platform for higher education that was processing 20 million transactions annually before being sold to Transact in 2014.
Our own John Ferrie is also working to improve communities around him. John, director of legal at YouTube since 2008 advising both YouTube and Google management on corporate and intellectual property-related matters, was named board member of Family Promise. The organization operates in 200-plus communities in 43 states, delivering innovative solutions for family homelessness and with an active goal of changing the future for 1 million homeless children by 2030. “As someone who has lived in San Francisco and then Los Angeles for a long time now I’m constantly reminded of the urgency around helping homeless families and preventing families from becoming homeless in the first place. I had found myself asking what more can I do.”
After nearly five years working with Mitsubishi UFG Bank, Lisana Gabriel Brown started a new position as vice president and risk manager within Truist Bank’s disaster recovery business unit (based out of Charlotte, North Carolina).
Congrats to Joey Hood on his formal U.S. Senate confirmation on December 22 as U.S. ambassador to Tunisia!
Lastly, congrats to Oliver Will and his wife, Meredith MacVittie, as they welcomed daughter Thomasin Rosemary on November 15!
—Garrett Gil de Rubio, 1062 Middlebrooke Drive, Canton, GA 30115; ggdr@alum.dartmouth.org
With 2022 reaching its inevitable conclusion and the new year now ahead, a few classmates are writing amazing final verses to the year that was, setting course for inspiring new chapters to be written for years to come.
First, congratulations to Thomas Fisher, who—in addition to being a cover subject of Dartmouth Alumni Magazine earlier in 2022 and his ongoing tenure as attending physician within the emergency room at the University of Chicago Medical Center—wrote and saw published his first book, The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER. In December and as icing on the cake, he saw that same book (which recounts the beginnings of the Covid-19 pandemic from its veritable front lines) named as one of Time magazine’s “100 Must-Read Books of 2022.” Thomas relayed, “It’s such an honor to be recognized next to so many amazing books and authors.”
As the year ends we have many ’96s making major career changes—including a pivot by our own Cassie Ehrenberg. After 21 years with Philadelphia-based legal firm Cleary, Josem & Trigiani, LLP, changing societal needs led Cassie to become senior counsel for pro bono initiatives for the Lawyering Project, a newly formed organization working throughout the United States to improve access to reproductive healthcare. The group’s clients include healthcare providers, abortion funds and practical support networks, governmental entities, scientific researchers, religious congregations, and people seeking abortion care.
Elizabeth (Meyer) Kelley also “did a thing” (as she said)—returning to the College after two years removed from her tenure as director of class activities. In October she returned as managing director of the Dartmouth College Fund. For the past two years she has worked part time with the Upper Valley Haven, offering a food shelf, shelters, and more to her neighbors in need.
Taran Lent was named senior vice president of product development and technology at Transact Campus, a mobile-centric, open enterprise-class cloud platform that enables students and families to transact and interact within all aspects of campus life. Prior to his promotion in December Taran had not only led product innovation for Transact for almost four years but had actually cofounded and architected CardSmith—the first cloud-based campus card payment platform for higher education that was processing 20 million transactions annually before being sold to Transact in 2014.
Our own John Ferrie is also working to improve communities around him. John, director of legal at YouTube since 2008 advising both YouTube and Google management on corporate and intellectual property-related matters, was named board member of Family Promise. The organization operates in 200-plus communities in 43 states, delivering innovative solutions for family homelessness and with an active goal of changing the future for 1 million homeless children by 2030. “As someone who has lived in San Francisco and then Los Angeles for a long time now I’m constantly reminded of the urgency around helping homeless families and preventing families from becoming homeless in the first place. I had found myself asking what more can I do.”
After nearly five years working with Mitsubishi UFG Bank, Lisana Gabriel Brown started a new position as vice president and risk manager within Truist Bank’s disaster recovery business unit (based out of Charlotte, North Carolina).
Congrats to Joey Hood on his formal U.S. Senate confirmation on December 22 as U.S. ambassador to Tunisia!
Lastly, congrats to Oliver Will and his wife, Meredith MacVittie, as they welcomed daughter Thomasin Rosemary on November 15!
—Garrett Gil de Rubio, 1062 Middlebrooke Drive, Canton, GA 30115; ggdr@alum.dartmouth.org