Class Notes April 2018

Class Notes April 2018

1970s

James Brett, SPA/BA '73, received Community Work Services's Lifetime Achievement and Advocacy Award for Individuals with Disabilities. Community Work Services was founded in Boston in 1877 to address the roots of poverty through employment, education, and housing improvements.

Donald White, SPA/BS '76, relocated from the Washington, DC, region and is now the facility safety officer at the Virginia Public Safety Training Center in Hanover, Virginia. 

Joan Cashin, CAS/BA '77, professor of history at Ohio State University, has two books forthcoming in 2018: Objects of War: Material Culture in the Civil War Era, published by the University of North Carolina Press, and War Stuff: The Struggle for Human and Environmental Resources in the American Civil War, published by Cambridge University Press.

1980s

Lawrence Husick, WCL/JD '83, has been named a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, where he cochairs the Center for the Study of Terrorism and the Watchman Center's Program on Teaching Innovation. He continues his practice of intellectual property law with Lipton, Weinberger, and Husick.

Tod Breslau, CAS/BA '85, opened Jupiter Next, a 70-room boutique hotel and event space in Portland, Oregon, in January. He also purchased and developed the historic Hood River Hotel, a century-old landmark in Oregon's Columbia Gorge. 

Carole Wacey, CAS/BA '88, was appointed CEO of the Women's City Club of New York, a multi-issue activist organization dedicated to improving the lives of New Yorkers.

Brian Keane, SPA-SOC/BA '89, president of SmartPower, a nonprofit clean energy organization, received a $50,000 Frank Hatch Award for Enlightened Public Service from the Boston-based John Merck Fund. The award is granted annually to an outstanding leader whose work embodies creativity, dedication, and foresight.

1990s

Kris Schultz, SPA/BA '91, was elected to serve as a state representative in the New Hampshire General Court on July 18, 2017. He won more than 78 percent of the vote.

Nadia Hughes, SOC/BA '94, has been promoted to senior photo editor at National Geographic Creative.

Jared Hughes, SOC/BA '95, was named director of legacy, estate, and major gifts at Capital Caring, the nation's oldest, continuously operating inpatient hospice and the mid-Atlantic's largest nonprofit hospice organization. In addition, Hughes has been the top overall fundraiser for the last seven years at Compassion and Choices, the nation's oldest and largest "right to die" patient advocacy group.

Wesley Bizzell, SPA/BA '96, assistant general counsel and director of political law and ethics programs for Altria, was named to the Financial Times' 2017 OUTstanding list of top 100 LGBT executives. The list recognizes senior executives who are helping to create more supportive workplaces.

Paul Haberman, SPA/BA '96, was elected to the council of the borough of Norwood, New Jersey, in October 2017. The principal and owner of the Law Offices of Paul S. Haberman LLC in Norwood, New Jersey, he has been named to the Super Lawyers Rising Stars list for the past five years. He lives in Norwood with his wife, Kim, and their two daughters. 

Thomas Palermo, SPA/BA '98, who has served 10 years as a federal prosecutor, was selected to serve as the 2017 senior litigation counsel for the Tampa-based Criminal Division of the US Attorney's Office (MDFL). He also serves as the reviewer for the Violent Crime and Narcotics Section. In 2017, he received a US Coast Guard Meritorious Team Commendation for his work on the United States v. Polshyn trial team, recognition from the FBI for demonstrated excellence in prosecuting a major criminal case, recognition from the US Postal Service Office of the Inspector General for significant work in health care fraud prosecutions, and recognition from NASA-OIG for outstanding contributions to the mission of NASA's Inspector General. He also serves as the co-den leader for his son's Cub Scouts troop.

2000s

Darren Smith, SPA/BA '00, closed a successful seed investment round to help expand his company, Traipse, which developed a smartphone application for gamified city exploration. The application is now active in several locations in the mid-Atlantic.

Rebecca Keister, SOC/BA '01, published her second book, Secret Providence: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. Her first book, 100 Things to Do in Providence Before You Die, was released in March 2016.

Amelia Saletan, SOC/BA '07, married Antonio de Andrade on October 28 in Washington, DC.

Charlie Wachtel, SOC/BA '08, cowrote the screenplay— with David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmont, Spike Lee, and Jordan Peele—for the motion picture thriller Black Klansman.

Noah Baron, CAS/SOC '09, appeared on the ABC show The Middle in 2017. 

Kevin Carter, SPA/BA '09, joined the US Digital Service, which delivers better government services to the American people through technology and design. 

2010s

Laura (Petti) Hinchy, SOC/BA '10, was promoted to line producer at CNBC. She serves as a regional Emmy judge for the New York chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. 

Hunter Presti, SPA-CAS/BA '13, and Cassandra Baker, CAS/BS '13, were married on June 24, 2017, at the Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church. They began dating during their senior year and now live in Alexandria, Virginia. Presti works on Capitol Hill, and Baker is completing medical school at Georgetown University.

Kasha Horton, CAS/BA '15, works as production manager for Grown, a web series that chronicles four friends in DC who are professionally and emotionally adrift as they struggle with black womanhood.

Michelle Swiger, SIS/BA '15, SIS/MA '17, presented a workshop, "The Peace, Justice, and Inclusion Program: A Model for University and Community Engagement," at the NASPA Multicultural Institute in December 2017. Swinger's presentation was based on American University's Peace, Justice, and Inclusion Program, a partnership between the Center for Community Engagement and Service and the School of International Service.

In Memoriam

ALUMNI

Sima Wali, SIS/MA '84, September 22, 2017, Falls Church, Virginia

Arthur Hayden Anderson Sr., CAS/MS '63, September 26, 2017, Whitehall, Pennsylvania

John Olin Browder, SPA/MPA '77, September 22, 2017, Blacksburg, Virginia  

Hanna Huntley, SIS/BA '16, October 31, 2017, Armenia 

FACULTY

William Kincade, October 9, 2017, Portland, Oregon

David Martin, November 3, 2017, Bethesda, Maryland

Stanley Weiss, November 2, 2017, Chevy Chase, Maryland

Perry Wallace, December 1, 2017, Rockville, Maryland