Winter 2020
Class Notes

Alumni Updates: Winter 2020

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1944

James A. Kehl EDUC ’44, A&S ’47G published The Cross, the Eagle, and the Rising Sun: The 1941 Vatican Conspiracy vs. the Department of State (Word Association Publishers). He is a professor emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Pittsburgh. 

 

1966

Rosemary Donley NURS ’66G, EDUC ’72G was honored by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf as a 2019 Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania, an award that recognizes women for their service to the Commonwealth. Donley is a professor of nursing and the Jacques Laval Endowed Chair in Justice for Vulnerable Populations at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

 

1968

Joseph Kenda A&S ’68 is ending his documentary television series, Homicide Hunter, after nine seasons. The show, which began airing on Investigation Discovery in 2011, follows his career as a detective with the Colorado Springs Police Department. He has a new series set to debut in fall 2020 with the same network. 

 

1974

Bruce Gerbi A&S ’74, GSPH ’76G received the Marvin M. D. Williams Professional Achievement Award from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. He is a professor emeritus in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. 

 

1976

Lawrence E. McCullough A&S ’76G, ’78G published My Years with Townes Van Zandt: Music, Genius, and Rage (Backbeat Books). He is a publicist and media relations specialist based in New Jersey. This is his 52nd book.

 

1978

Mary C. Robertson A&S ’78G, ’82G retired after serving for 30 years as the director of the Sheekey Writing Center at La Salle University in Philadelphia. She and her husband now live near Fort Collins, Colo. 

 

1980 

Patricia Kroboth PHARM ’80G, ’83G received the Mortar and Pestle Award from the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association. She is dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and the University’s Gordon J. Vanscoy Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

 

1981

Peter Kreckel PHARM ’81 was named Preceptor of the Year by the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association. He works at Thompson Pharmacy in Blair County, Pa., and teaches pharmacology at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pa. 

David J. Robertson A&S ’81G retired after almost 30 years of serving as the executive director of the Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust, a land conservancy in the Philadelphia area. He also taught landscape architecture as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. He and his wife now live near Fort Collins, Colo. 

 

1982

Colleen Repplier ENGR ’82 joined the board of directors at Triumph Group, Inc., as an independent director. She has more than 30 years of experience in the industrial, energy, and commercial building industries and has held leadership positions in both engineering and marketing. She lives in Melbourne, Fla.

 

1985

Beverleigh Barton LeVan CGS ’85 published Mushrooms: An Unlikely Charisma—A Whimsical Photo-Essay and Exhibit (HoneyRock Publishing). She is the managing editor of HoneyRock Publishing and lives in Bedford County, Pa. 

Kathleen R. Tusaie NURS ’85G, ’01G published Fast Facts for the Nurse Psychotherapist: The Process of Becoming (Springer Publishing Company). She is a psychiatric/mental health clinical nurse specialist and psychiatric nurse practitioner, as well as a professor at the University of Akron in Ohio. 

George Yancy A&S ’85 published Backlash: What Happens When We Talk Honestly About Racism in America (Rowman & Littlefield Publisher Group). It is a follow-up to his New York Times op-ed “Dear White America,” and chronicles the controversy that sprung from it. He is a professor of philosophy at Emory University in Atlanta. 

 

1987

Brenda McGuirk Fix A&S ’87 received the Luminary Award from the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association. The honor is given to women who exhibit dedication and transformational leadership in the health care industry. She is the senior marketing manager of pharmaceutical, life sciences, and medical devices at Microsoft in Malvern, Pa.

Bobbi Watt Geer A&S ’87, GSPIA ’09 was named the president and chief executive of United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania. She has worked with the nonprofit for more than a decade and is the first woman to hold the position.

Tom Klemmer A&S ’87 was elected to the board of Sojourner House, a residential rehabilitation program in Pittsburgh. He is a senior analyst of global consumer care at ABB Enterprise Software.

Anne Skleder A&S ’87 was named the president of Brenau University in Gainesville, Ga. She is the first woman to hold the position in the university’s 141-year history. Previously, she was the senior vice president and provost of Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., where she also taught psychology. 

 

1990

Anita Dressel ENGR ’90, ’93G is the chief financial officer of TeleTracking Technologies, a developer of health care management tools based in Pittsburgh. She returned to the city after living in Sweden for nine years, where she most recently worked for Ericsson Digital Services.

Tammy Singleton-English LAW ’90 was selected to serve as the treasurer of the Estate Planning Council of Pittsburgh. She is the founder of Singleton-English Law Offices near Bethel Park, Pa., which specializes in estate planning, probate, and both business and tax law. 

 

1991

Richard K. LeVan A&S ’91G published A Numismatic History of Congo/Zaïre: 1887–1997 (Numiscongo, an imprint of HoneyRock Publishing). He is the editor in chief of HoneyRock Publishing and lives in Bedford, Pa

Matthew R. Martin A&S ’91 was promoted to the position of executive editor at the daily newspaper Erie Times-News. He is an Erie, Pa., native and has worked at the publication since 1999.

Steven R. Strock ENGR ’91 served as the project manager on the construction of the Samuel N. and Dena M. Lombardo Welcome Center at Millersville University in Millersville, Pa. It is the first building in the state to be zero-energy certified by the International Living Future Institute and was ranked among the top five “most positive energy” buildings in the country. 

 

1994

Michelle Lawrence-Schmude A&S ’94 was promoted to the position of associate professor of medicine at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Scranton, Pa. She began her tenure by serving on the National Association of Colleges and Employers Promise of Value Task Force in July 2019.

 

1995

Robert F. Lambert SCI ’95G was named bank director at York Traditions Bank in York, Pa. He is the president of York County Libraries; founder and chief executive officer of LibrariesFeed, a national nonprofit designed to combat child hunger; and founder and chief executive officer of Sir Newton Traders, a proprietary software and marketing analysis supplier. 

 

1996

Margaret Dempsey BUS ’96G joined Erie Bank as the senior vice president of private client solutions. She has spent more than three decades working in financial services and specializes in advising high net-worth clients.

 

1997

Nicole R. Fowler A&S ’97, GSPIA ’10 was appointed to the position of associate director of the Indiana University Center for Aging Research at the university’s School of Medicine in Indianapolis, where she is also a research scientist and assistant professor.

Andrew Haley A&S ’97G, ’05G was named the Charles W. Moorman Distinguished Alumni Professor of the Humanities at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. He has been a member of the university’s history faculty since 2005. His areas of expertise include class, culture, gender, food, and nationalism. 

 

1998

Anthony Breznican A&S ’98 joined the staff at Vanity Fair as a special correspondent. He previously wrote for Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, Associated Press, and the Arizona Republic. His debut novel, Brutal Youth, was published in 2014. 

Keith Campagna A&S ’98 founded and launched Lifework Integration, a company that specializes in educating employers and their employees about work-life balance. He is also cohost of the podcast Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization, a paid presenter, and the cocreator of H-ROI, a human resources software tool.

Craig Coleman A&S ’98, SHRS ’00G was elected to the position of vice president of planning for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and was named chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Edinboro University in Edinboro, Pa. He is a board-recognized specialist in fluency disorders. 

Amanda (Ryan) Johnson SHRS ’98 received the Career Impact Award from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, where she is the director of the Division of Encounter Data and Risk Adjustment Operations. The award recognizes her contributions to the development and management of the Part D prescription drug program payment operations.

2000

Timothy E. Neff A&S ’00 gave a 9/11 memorial talk titled “Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum: Past, Present, and Future” in Pittsburgh. He is the vice president and director of museum and education at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum.

2002

Elizabeth Rossi SCI ’02 published The Text Book (CreateSpace), a pocket guide to texting and communications. She has written more than 80 technical guides and manuals, as well as feature-length screenplays and television pilots. 

 

2004

Joseph L. Gordon BUS ’04 gave a presentation titled “Employee Benefits of the Future: How Legal Developments Will Drive Profound Change” at the Greater Valley Forge HR Summit in Malvern, Pa. He is a senior associate at Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP’s Philadelphia office. 

 

2005

Michael Garrigan A&S ’05 published What I Know [How to Do] (Finishing Line Press), a chapbook of 25 poems that follow a “how-to” theme. He is a writer and teacher living in southern Pennsylvania.

Robert A. Stein BUS ’05G was named the associate vice chancellor for innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Pittsburgh. He also serves as the executive director of the University’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence.

 

2006

Ryan D. Lynch BUS ’06 is a managing partner at OsteoStrong in Pittsburgh, a wellness center that promotes bone health using a robotic musculoskeletal development system. 

 

2007

Edward “Ed” Steck A&S ’07 published the poetry collection An Interface for a Fractal Landscape (Ugly Duckling Presse). This is his eighth book. He lives in Massachusetts.

Aaron S. Marks BUS ’07 was named a top 250 next-generation wealth advisor by Forbes for 2019. He is a senior financial advisor for the Liebman Marks Group in Ambler, Pa., where he lives with his wife and two children. 

 

2008

Callah Antonetti A&S ’08, MED ’16 received the Distinguished Young Alumnus Award from the Williamsport Area School District Education Foundation and was inducted into the Distinguished Alumni Wall of Fame in Williamsport, Pa. She is an assistant clinical professor and the assistant director of the pediatric residency program at the University of Florida, as well as a pediatric hospitalist at the Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart in Pensacola, Fla. 

Carolyn Kellogg A&S ’08G was one of five judges for the 2019 National Book Award for nonfiction. She is a writer and critic living in Montgomery, Ala.

 

2009

Stefani Allegretti A&S ’09, EDUC ’13G held a solo exhibition titled Reverberations of Love at Assemble in Pittsburgh. The gallery used digital art and mixed media to portray sound and its positive effects on humans. 

Christopher Antypas PHARM ’09G was named Pharmacist of the Year by the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association. He is the owner, president, and chief operating officer of Asti’s South Hills Pharmacy in Mt. Lebanon, Pa.

 

2010

Nishauna Ball SOC WK ’10, 11G was elected to the board of Sojourner House, a residential rehabilitation program in Pittsburgh. She is the program development manager at POWER (Pennsylvania Organization for Women in Early Recovery).

 

2011

Tom Getty A&S ’11 published the book How to Make Blockbuster Movies—And Do It on Your Own (Acrolight Pictures). He is a filmmaker living in Johnstown, Pa.

Kelly Dane BUS ’11 was elected to the position of board treasurer at Sojourner House, a residential rehabilitation program in Pittsburgh. She is the principal at Dane Consulting, LLC, a business consulting firm. 

Rachelle Escamilla A&S ’11G published Me Drawing a Picture of Me[n] (Willow Books), a collection of poetry. She is the producer and host of Out of Our Minds (KKUP)—the longest-running poetry radio show in the United States—and teaches creative writing and social action at California State University Monterey Bay. 

 

2012

Sarah Dombrowski PHARM ’12G received the Distinguished Young Pharmacist Award from the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association, where she is the vice president of the board of directors. She works as a medication therapy and disease management pharmacist at Geisinger Health System in State College, Pa. 

Eva Resnick-Day A&S ’12 received the Michelle Madoff Award of Environmental Excellence from the Group Against Smog and Pollution. The award is given to five women in southwestern Pennsylvania who are working to improve the environment. She is a community organizer for the Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 campaign in Pittsburgh, the goal of which is to convert the city to 100 percent clean, renewable energy.

 

2014

Lisa Tennis BUS ’14, ’15G was promoted to the position of supervisor at Maher Duessel in Pittsburgh, where she began her career as a public accountant in 2014.

 

2015 

Mark Janavel A&S ’15 released Transient: First 100 Days of Trump, a documentary that explores the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency through the lens of transgender individuals. He is a videographer for Red C Media in Norristown, Pa. 

 

2016

Nicholas Raught BUS ’16 was elected to the board of directors at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Beaver County. He is an LPL financial advisor with Cottrill Arbutina Wealth Management Group in Beaver, Pa. 

 

2017

Lia Winter ENGR ’17 won the Innov865 Startup Day 2019 Judges’ Choice and Crowd Favorite prizes for the development of the EasyWhip, an improved surgical needle that she designed and prototyped. She is the founder and CEO of Winter Innovations and lives in Knoxville, Tenn.

 

2018

Edward Beall A&S ’18 joined the Institute for Defense Analyses as a research staff member. He works in the operational evaluation division of the nonprofit, which is located in Alexandria, Va. 

 

2019

Chun-Hua Tsai SCI ’19G joined the College of Information Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University as an assistant research professor. He is a member of the college’s Laboratory for Computer-Supported Collaboration and Learning and specializes in data science and human-computer interaction.