Class Note 1994

Happy Winter Solstice, fellow ’94s! I’ve heard from a few classmates that this December promises a flurry of travel, frenzied schedules and new opportunities. This description may not sound like news, since it could probably be any of us during any given week this month! However, as it turns out, our classmates are up to notably more than the typical holiday madness and end-of-year commitments.

Cynde McInnis embraced a cross-country trip in the Whalemobile at the end of 2015. As many of you may remember from our years at Dartmouth and from a recent feature article in Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, Cynde has a passion for whales, dating back to age 8. Pursuing her interests and blazing a career path, she is now program director for whale-watching programs and has created the Whalemobile as an educational tool for children’s school programs. This fall she has been taking her Whalemobile from Pittsburgh through the Midwest and down to Texas to share a hands-on experience by literally bringing land-locked students inside the belly of the whale. Cynde may even be at a school near you. Check out Cynde’s schedule, where else but at thewhalemobile.com.

Pherabe Kolb also has embarked on an exciting career opportunity. She writes, “After 12 wonderful years I am leaving the Smithsonian to join the Aspen Institute as the managing director of communications and public affairs. I start in November. Aspen is an educational and policy studies organization that fosters leadership based on enduring values and provides a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The headquarters are in Washington, D.C., so I will be staying here (where I’ve been since graduation), but will be based in Colorado during the Aspen Ideas Festival each summer. So if any ’94s are headed out West for that event, look out for me!”

Already an accomplished entrepreneur, CEO and Ph.D., Frida Polli had some other big news coming to us through Demetra Navab Taleghani. Deme writes, “On June 27 Frida tied the knot with Conor Bastable in a beautiful ceremony in New York City. Several classmates were there to celebrate Frida’s special day, including Demetra Navab Taleghani, Catherine Adams Stanzler, Daniele Caston Stanzzini and Christy Brogan.” Congratulations to you both!

In a last bit of news, Anne Jeffers Weber, along with husband Scott and two daughters, recently made a big move. Anne shares, “After enduring 25 years of winters in Hanover, Minneapolis and Chicago, we moved south to Austin, Texas. While it’s been a bit of a culture shock, our girls love playing sports all year round outside and we’ve definitely enjoyed eating our way through this foodie town.” Luckily, Anne has two dear Dartmouth pals who lived in Austin for many years—Katherine Osborne Valdez and Gwin Pitman Teasdale—and they can surely give Anne tips on Texan life. As a teaser for the next Class Notes, I’ll let you in on some of Gwin and Katherine’s fun endeavors.

Thank you for all of the news you took the time to share, and I invite you to continue keeping me in the loop on your lives and the lives of your friends. I’m looking forward to a full mailbox with updates, New Year’s resolutions and more. Let me know what you’re working on, and I’ll share some resolutions in the next article, due out at the end of February, which coincidently is just about the right time to remind us what we were resolving in the first place.

—Laura Hardegree Davis, 1664 Cambridge Court, Bethlehem, PA, 18015; lauradavis723@mac.com