Hi, ’05s.


I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer. I had the pleasure of spending last weekend in Washington, D.C., with Margot Laporte, Lindsay Ferstanding, Kate Strayer-Benton and Kieron Bryan ’04. We enjoyed reminiscing about our time at Dartmouth and sharing updates from fellow classmates and friends. If you have participated in any mini-reunions of this sort, please let us know so we can include you in upcoming issues of DAM.


Congratulations to Michael Madson and Elizabeth Hunneman, who were married on the beach in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, on June 30! The Rev. David Glendinning ’58 officiated the wedding. The wedding party included Charlie Brown, Brian Zurhellen, Matt Gurensey, Dana Haffner and Elizabeth (Kreter) McKibben.


Amar Manvar married Nitasha Shetty (Columbia ’05) on September 8 at the Hempstead House in Long Island, New York. These high school sweethearts enjoyed an elegant reception at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Dartmouth alumni at the wedding included best man Ravi Sutaria as well as Mana Moriarty, Anca Tohaneanu, Alvin Black, Swathi Reddy ’02 and Pallavi Manvar-Singh ’03. Congratulations, Amar and Nitasha!


I received an interesting e-mail from Meg Thering describing her quest to visit all of the national parks before her 30th birthday. She wrote, “I am currently on a flight to San Francisco International Airport as next week I will be visiting Lassen Volcanic National Park, Redwood National Park, and Crater Lake National Park with Kelly Morr.” To date Meg and Kelly have visited Rocky Mountain National Park and Death Valley National Park together. Meg also visited Everglades National Park, Dry Tortugas National Park and Biscayne National Parks with Ames O’Neill. In May she met up with fellow ’05s Emily Liu and Lily Zapata to tour Guadalupe Mountains National Park and Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We wish you all the best with your travels!


Devin Dwyer is in his third year at the ABC News Washington bureau covering the White House as a reporter and producer, working closely with ABC’s senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper ’91. Devin wrote, “We will be spending lots of time on the campaign trail this fall covering President Obama’s re-election campaign. Follow me on Twitter @DevinDwyer to get the latest dispatches!” Devin also informed us that Lis Smith is heading the Obama campaign’s “rapid response” effort in Washington.


Kim Pelak completed her Ph.D. in human genetics at Duke this year, focusing her research on the genetic basis for why people respond differently when they are exposed to HIV-1. Kim moved back this summer to Boston, where she works as a scientist at MolecularMD, a small cancer diagnostics company. She wrote, “I loved living in Boston before I started graduate school and I am looking forward to reconnecting with Dartmouth folks in Boston again!”


Finally, I received an update from Joshua Valdez, who is working as director of business operations and strategy at Wildfire Interactive, a Silicon Valley startup that helps companies use social media for marketing and advertising purposes. Josh wrote, “Wildfire Interactive was recently acquired by Google and we’re really proud of our accomplishment!” Josh works alongside fellow Dartmouth alum Derek Draper ’02 and can be reached at joshua@wildfireapp.com. 


Please continue to send me your updates on weddings, babies, personal and professional accomplishments, Dartmouth reunions or anything else of note!


Take care.


—Lindsey Horton, 423 Georgia Ave., Apt. 302, Atlanta, GA 30312; lhorton27@gmail.com