Class Note 1996
Issue
November-December 2023
As autumn takes hold over the calendar and the new academic year begins, we welcome a new first year class into the Dartmouth fold (hello, ’27s!) as the campus in Hanover returns to life. For many within our class this fall is particularly bittersweet because it brings with it the first-time departure of our kids for college (including yours truly). With little birdies leaving the nest for the first time, new phases of life are being entered and—I can say from personal experience—copious tears are being shed. There is strength in numbers, and we will all get through this empty-nest torture together!
In other academic news, three amazing ’96 women are blazing paths forward within their niches of the scholarly arena. Our own Jeneen (DiBenedetto) Graham was named the new head of school at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, California. She started her new role on July 1 in her 12th year with the school (with the previous five years as upper school principal and six years prior as academic dean). Both of her sons attended St. Margaret’s, one who graduated from Colby College this past May and another who is attending New York University. Jeneen also relayed that there are a couple of Dartmouth alums who have children at her school, adding, “It is super fun to see them on campus!”
Also making great strides in her corner of the legal (and legal education) space, Betsy Miller has been appointed by the American Bar Association as special advisor to its commission on women in the profession. Betsy, a partner at Cohen Milstein and immediate past chair of that firm’s public client practice, has had an extensive career in the public and private sector, with positions at the U.S. Senate, the D.C. Office of the Attorney General, big law defense firms, plaintiffs’ firms, academia, and as a certified leadership coach. She also has been a lecturer at Harvard Law School since 2022. Her forthcoming article, “Rainmaking and Leadership are Divorced, and the Firm is Not Alright,” will be published as the lead feature piece in the ABA’s Law Practice Magazine this fall.
Lastly, Maryam Kia-Keating was awarded the 2023 American Psychological Association (APA) Award for Outstanding Service to the Field of Trauma Psychology from APA Division 56. Maryam, an associate professor of clinical psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is the co-creator of Honor, Education, Respect, Opportunity, Hope, Solutions (HEROES) for families, a mindfulness and restorative program for children and parents, and the founder of the Power of Drishti, providing meditations and music. Maryam said, “I’m so incredibly honored and humbled. Thank you for the meaningful recognition, surrounded by inspiring colleagues.”
Congratulations Jeneen, Betsy, and Maryam on all your accomplishments—and all the great things that lay ahead!
—Garrett Gil de Rubio, 1062 Middlebrooke Drive, Canton, GA 30115; ggdr@alum.dartmouth.org
In other academic news, three amazing ’96 women are blazing paths forward within their niches of the scholarly arena. Our own Jeneen (DiBenedetto) Graham was named the new head of school at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, California. She started her new role on July 1 in her 12th year with the school (with the previous five years as upper school principal and six years prior as academic dean). Both of her sons attended St. Margaret’s, one who graduated from Colby College this past May and another who is attending New York University. Jeneen also relayed that there are a couple of Dartmouth alums who have children at her school, adding, “It is super fun to see them on campus!”
Also making great strides in her corner of the legal (and legal education) space, Betsy Miller has been appointed by the American Bar Association as special advisor to its commission on women in the profession. Betsy, a partner at Cohen Milstein and immediate past chair of that firm’s public client practice, has had an extensive career in the public and private sector, with positions at the U.S. Senate, the D.C. Office of the Attorney General, big law defense firms, plaintiffs’ firms, academia, and as a certified leadership coach. She also has been a lecturer at Harvard Law School since 2022. Her forthcoming article, “Rainmaking and Leadership are Divorced, and the Firm is Not Alright,” will be published as the lead feature piece in the ABA’s Law Practice Magazine this fall.
Lastly, Maryam Kia-Keating was awarded the 2023 American Psychological Association (APA) Award for Outstanding Service to the Field of Trauma Psychology from APA Division 56. Maryam, an associate professor of clinical psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is the co-creator of Honor, Education, Respect, Opportunity, Hope, Solutions (HEROES) for families, a mindfulness and restorative program for children and parents, and the founder of the Power of Drishti, providing meditations and music. Maryam said, “I’m so incredibly honored and humbled. Thank you for the meaningful recognition, surrounded by inspiring colleagues.”
Congratulations Jeneen, Betsy, and Maryam on all your accomplishments—and all the great things that lay ahead!
—Garrett Gil de Rubio, 1062 Middlebrooke Drive, Canton, GA 30115; ggdr@alum.dartmouth.org