Class Note 2017

Congratulations to Alexandra (Woodruff) and Josh Lange, who tied the knot last July! Alexandra and Josh won the trips lottery: Not only did they get to do the flatwater kayaking trip, but they also met their future spouses! After a terrific trip to the Grant, the two began dating during freshman fall and the rest was history! Alexandra and Josh got married at Rollins Chapel right on campus last summer and had their reception at the beautiful Woodstock Inn. There were a number of ’17s in attendance, including James Howe, who was a groomsman. Now Alexandra and Josh are each finishing up year three of their respective Ph.D. programs at the University of California, San Diego. Alexandra is earning her Ph.D. in political science and has enjoyed her recent opportunities to lead teaching sessions. Josh is studying cancer biology and is excited to finally see results in the lab.

We seem to have lots of ’17s who are continuing their studies in fun and warm places! David Klinges, a.k.a. “Nature Dave,” is pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Florida Gainesville. It’s no surprise that the guy who kept poison dart frogs in his Russell Sage dorm ended up studying tropical ecology and biological conservation in graduate school. He began the program last August and was quickly shipped out to Madagascar, where he analyzed how climate change affects the amphibian community in the Ranomafana and Mantadia national parks. Nature Dave truly had a wild time in Madagascar. He was shooting giant slingshots and lines up to 100 feet in the trees so he could climb the canopies and observe the frogs each night. When he wasn’t climbing the trees in the rainforest, Nature Dave spent time in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, and communicated with the Malagasy locals with his limited knowledge of French. Now he’s back on campus in Gainesville, where he enjoys the community because it’s inclusive and everyone values the outdoors. As much as he loves Florida right now, he looks forward to returning to Madagascar in June to continue his research.

Another world traveler making a global impact is Maieda Janjua. After being selected as a delegate for the Telenor Youth Forum to tackle global health inequalities using technology. Maieda attended the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony in Oslo, Norway. Just this past fall she was in Egypt for the World Youth Forum hosted by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The conference connects people of all ages from around the world to talk about technology, entrepreneurship, the economy, and climate change in the Middle East and North Africa. She met a lot of cool people, including the founder and CEO of Orcas, an ed-tech firm that connects parents in Egypt to local trusted tutors and sitters. She became Orcas’ first product manager and continues to work on projects with the team from her new home in Boston. After returning from Egypt and moving to Boston, Maieda began a new job as a product manager at TripAdvisor. As you can tell, Maieda loves opportunities to work in product management because it is at the intersection of technology and business. When she is not working or attending hackathons, Maieda spends time hanging out with her friends in Boston, including fellow ’17 Yifan “Yvonne” Fang, who is at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and many other Dartmouth alums.

—Dorian J. Allen, 93 15th St., Apt. 3F, Brooklyn, NY 11215; dorallen@comcast.net