Class Note 1997
Hello, ’97s! It was wonderful seeing so many of you at our 20th (21st) reunion in June. Hats off to outgoing ’97 class president Jenn Tudder Walus, co-president Lindsey Noecker, reunion chair Amy Henry, Danielle Benware Thompson, and everyone else who made the return to Hanover of more than 250 ’97s and their families such a resounding success. We had phenomenal weather to boot. The fireworks on the Green set to This Is Me and the alma mater was especially moving.
Our ’97 class head agent Chris Winship also deserves a special shout-out for leading the effort for our class to surpass our ambitious goal of raising more than $1 million for the College. As of this writing, we are this close to meeting our class participation goal of 42 percent.
Now for some reunion news.
While chatting with Rachel Dratch ’89, who was watching her son play in the kids’ tent, I ran into Patrick Hansen, who was there with his beautiful daughters, 7-year-old Elisa and 1-year-old Annika. Patrick’s wife, Cynthia, is a professor of linguistics at Grinnell College in Iowa. Patrick leads the TrustRadius customer success team and manages the company’s community programs. He also recently organized a political action committee to bring together small donors to make an impact on local elections in Iowa.
Tim Curtin calls Burlington, Vermont, home. He is a test data infrastructure, analysis, and software engineer by day and an accomplished salsa dancer at night. Tim teaches and performs kizomba, a salsa-type dance which originates from Angola. He has traveled to Montreal, Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, and Havana for performances. “It’s a good reason to travel and see the world,” Tim said.
Cristina (Dugan) Schmidt and Eric Schmidt live in Denver, where Eric is a pulmonologist and assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Their sons are fourth-grader Hunter and first-grader Matthew.
Also in Colorado are Mary Ellen Moore and Neal Rich, who live in Snowmass with their three daughters.
Rebecca Siegel Baron was having a mother-son weekend with fifth-grader Jonah while her husband and two other kids were home in Larchmont, New York. Rebecca works as in-house counsel for an investment bank.
Anna Ochoa lives in Chelsea in Manhattan, works as a director at Credit Suisse, and is quite an impressive photographer.
After traveling the world for the U.S. State Department, Tim Fitzgibbons is now based in Washington, D.C., where he lives with husband Jonathan. They were married in front of Casque & Gauntlet in 2013.
Peter Mancoll also lives in the D.C. area with wife Sara and their three kids.
Xantha Bruso works for AAA in San Francisco shaping clean technology and climate policy by advancing autonomous vehicle deployment.
Amy Semet lives on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and is doing postdoctoral work at Princeton. She plans to become a law professor.
For parents of kids approaching a certain age, Mollie Greves Grow, a pediatrician in Seattle, recommended It’s Not the Stork when it’s time for that special conversation.
David Chiang has been with the Queens, New York, district attorney’s office for 18 years and now serves as a supervising assistant district attorney dealing with community relations.
At Molly’s I ran into fellow Texans Vicky Martinez Garcia and husband Ted, who were in from San Antonio, and Michelle Lewis in from Dallas.
Michelle Stern is a new mom to 7-month-old son Ellis and works in digital marketing strategy in Boston.
Jaime Guzman is the director of youth opportunity programs at the Obama Foundation and a member of the Chicago Board of Education.
More reunion news in the next issue.
—Jason Casell, 10106 Balmforth Lane, Houston, TX 77096; jhcasell@gmail.com
