Class Note 2006
Issue
Nov - Dec 2018
Hi, ’06s.
Greetings from Chicago! I write this column near the end of summer and hope it has been fun and relaxing for everyone. I recently met up with Mike Stroup who moved here to pursue his M.B.A. at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business after serving in the U.S Marine Corps since college.
We’ll start the column with exciting news from classmates abroad. Alexandra Stein is moving to Milan, Italy, with her boyfriend Mike Wood ’10. She is looking for European adventure ideas and wants all ’06s to know they’ve got a place to stay with her if they ever find themselves in Milan.
Fernando Ausin Gómez continues to work on sustainability solutions from an indigenous perspective in Mexico. He recently opened a healing retreat center near Mexico City and is publishing his third book on the topic, Chronicles of a Man of Knowledge. The book will be available on Amazon by January 2019, and Fernando shares that all are welcome to visit him.
In December Alexis Ruegger and Jessica Ovici spent two weeks together touring China. This summer Alexis celebrated one year in her new permanent position at Insomniac Games, helping ship Spider-Man PS4 as a support technician. She’s also been asked to represent her company at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Tech in Houston.
In August John Gontijo moved into a new apartment on the Upper East Side in New York City in anticipation of a male child being born in mid-November.
Casey (Hazel) Nicholson and her husband, Matt ’05, welcomed their second son, Holt Robert Nicholson, on July 7. Big brother Thomas turned 2 in August and is enjoying having a baby brother. Casey and Matt are excited to see them grow up together and know that they’ll be the best of friends.
Steph Lawrence and Craig Rubens welcomed their second child, daughter Lawrence “Wren” Rubens, on July 17. Wren joins 20-month-old brother Sawyer. Craig started a new job at Google’s YouTube in August, and Stephanie continues to build Traveling Spoon, the company she started that connects travelers with food experiences in local homes around the world. Traveling Spoon just launched in Europe as well.
Cayelan Carey received the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography 2018 Yentsch-Schindler Early Career Award. Cayelan is an affiliate of the Fralin Life Science Institute and the Virginia Tech Global Change Center. The award honors an early-career scientist each year for outstanding and balanced contributions to research, education, and society.
Victoria Allen received the National Weather Service Isaac M. Cline Award in the category of diversity and inclusion for her “Navajo Explorer Weather Poster.” Victoria and her coworkers created the poster to provide weather education, help preserve the dying Navajo language (Dine bizaad), and try to increase the safety of the rural tribal population in Flagstaff, Arizona. Victoria looks forward to the next steps of the project, which are to seek funding and produce a video version of the poster for those who don’t read Navajo.
Kimberley McKee was selected to the Vermont Leadership Institute public service program. Currently Kimberley works for the State of Vermont as a grant management specialist in Montpelier, Vermont.
Finally, welcome to our new class alumni councilor Jen Bordeau,who previously served as our mini-reunion chair. Thank you to our outgoing alumni councilor, Ben Schwartz, who has served for three years.
This issue was chock full of updates, and I loved hearing from everyone. Congratulations to all on such exciting news, and thanks for sharing.
—Cindy Tsai, Synchrony Financial, 222 W Adams St., 27th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606; cindaaay@gmail.com
Greetings from Chicago! I write this column near the end of summer and hope it has been fun and relaxing for everyone. I recently met up with Mike Stroup who moved here to pursue his M.B.A. at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business after serving in the U.S Marine Corps since college.
We’ll start the column with exciting news from classmates abroad. Alexandra Stein is moving to Milan, Italy, with her boyfriend Mike Wood ’10. She is looking for European adventure ideas and wants all ’06s to know they’ve got a place to stay with her if they ever find themselves in Milan.
Fernando Ausin Gómez continues to work on sustainability solutions from an indigenous perspective in Mexico. He recently opened a healing retreat center near Mexico City and is publishing his third book on the topic, Chronicles of a Man of Knowledge. The book will be available on Amazon by January 2019, and Fernando shares that all are welcome to visit him.
In December Alexis Ruegger and Jessica Ovici spent two weeks together touring China. This summer Alexis celebrated one year in her new permanent position at Insomniac Games, helping ship Spider-Man PS4 as a support technician. She’s also been asked to represent her company at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Tech in Houston.
In August John Gontijo moved into a new apartment on the Upper East Side in New York City in anticipation of a male child being born in mid-November.
Casey (Hazel) Nicholson and her husband, Matt ’05, welcomed their second son, Holt Robert Nicholson, on July 7. Big brother Thomas turned 2 in August and is enjoying having a baby brother. Casey and Matt are excited to see them grow up together and know that they’ll be the best of friends.
Steph Lawrence and Craig Rubens welcomed their second child, daughter Lawrence “Wren” Rubens, on July 17. Wren joins 20-month-old brother Sawyer. Craig started a new job at Google’s YouTube in August, and Stephanie continues to build Traveling Spoon, the company she started that connects travelers with food experiences in local homes around the world. Traveling Spoon just launched in Europe as well.
Cayelan Carey received the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography 2018 Yentsch-Schindler Early Career Award. Cayelan is an affiliate of the Fralin Life Science Institute and the Virginia Tech Global Change Center. The award honors an early-career scientist each year for outstanding and balanced contributions to research, education, and society.
Victoria Allen received the National Weather Service Isaac M. Cline Award in the category of diversity and inclusion for her “Navajo Explorer Weather Poster.” Victoria and her coworkers created the poster to provide weather education, help preserve the dying Navajo language (Dine bizaad), and try to increase the safety of the rural tribal population in Flagstaff, Arizona. Victoria looks forward to the next steps of the project, which are to seek funding and produce a video version of the poster for those who don’t read Navajo.
Kimberley McKee was selected to the Vermont Leadership Institute public service program. Currently Kimberley works for the State of Vermont as a grant management specialist in Montpelier, Vermont.
Finally, welcome to our new class alumni councilor Jen Bordeau,who previously served as our mini-reunion chair. Thank you to our outgoing alumni councilor, Ben Schwartz, who has served for three years.
This issue was chock full of updates, and I loved hearing from everyone. Congratulations to all on such exciting news, and thanks for sharing.
—Cindy Tsai, Synchrony Financial, 222 W Adams St., 27th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606; cindaaay@gmail.com