Class Notes

Name: Grace Fiacco

Class Year(s): 2020

Note: Grace Fiacco ’20 (COS) married Justin Levine ’19 (GCCIS) after meeting almost 9 years ago in the RIT Game Symphony Orchestra. They were married June 2026 in West Seneca, NY and now run the Virtual Video Game Orchestra together.

Submitted on: July 13, 2026

Name: Jesse Bairan

Class Year(s): 2020

Note: After two years serving as a Construction Project Manager at Aviano Air Base, Italy, Jesse Bairan ’21 (CET) is excited to share the completion of the project and Jesse has relocated the company’s headquarters to Orlando, Florida. In Italy, Jesse led the construction of a new facility supporting the 56th Rescue Squadron, 31st Fighter Wing, U.S. Air Force — a rewarding opportunity to contribute directly to military readiness and operations overseas. Jesse has since transitioned into a new role as an Estimator, applying the field and project management experience to the preconstruction side of federal contracting. Jesse is grateful for the experience abroad and looking forward to this next chapter back in the States.

Submitted on: July 10, 2026

Name: Dan Gerken

Class Year(s): 80,81,82,83,84,86

Note: On July 11, Chris Martin ’88 (GAP), MS ’00 (CAST), former captain of the Tiger Shark Varsity Swim team, will join his daughter in Swimac 2026, a unique open water swimming event on the Torne River between Finland and Sweden. Starting from the Finish shore at 12:05 a.m., participants will not only swim over the border between Sweden and Finland, but also cross the Arctic Circle and the International time zone. With the event beginning just after midnight, if you can swim the 3km in under 55 minutes, you actually arrive the day before you begin! Chris will be participating in the event with his daughter Caroline. Chris graduated from RIT as the school record holder in the 100-yard Breaststroke, as a member of the record setting 400-yard Medley Relay team, and upon culminating his career in the pool, he ranked fourth all time on the career scoring list with 870.17 points. During his tenure at RIT he was awarded Athlete of the Week honors. A father of two adult boys as well as his daughter and swim partner Caroline, Chris is the director of program management at L3Harris Technologies in Rochester where he resides with his wife Kim. We wish our former Tiger Shark good luck in this truly unique experience!

Submitted on: June 25, 2026

Name: Marie Desrosiers

Class Year(s): 2000

Note: Marie Desrosiers ’00 (COLA) and Jason Pepen were married February 2, 2026.

Submitted on: June 19, 2026

Name: Edney Freeman

Class Year(s): 1994,1995

Note: On December 9, 2022 a trio of silicon bronze statues Edney Freeman MS ’95 (CIAS) created were unveiled at Yacht Haven Grande Marina, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. This process took 22 months to realize-during the COVID-19 ERA. Edney focused on sculptural ceramics under Rick Hirsch- Bob ?? and Soldervik- Retired from teaching HS art at Charlotte Amalie HS 2010. Edney was invited to the Chanchung China Symposiums of 2006 and 2011 to erect two sculptures permanently installed at the World Sculpture Park and Technology Park. Edney is currently producing sculptural narratives that tell the stories of Edney’s Caribbean heritage.

Submitted on: June 18, 2026

Name: Kevin Harding

Class Year(s): 92,95

Note: Kevin Harding ’95 (CAST) recently stepped into the engineering and maintenance manager role. It’s definitely a different perspective from that side of the table, but it has been both challenging and rewarding in new ways. The role has provided opportunities to broaden his impact, support the team from a different level, and contribute to the organization’s success in ways he hadn’t experienced before.

Submitted on: June 16, 2026

Name: Bhairav Mehta

Class Year(s): 2002

Note: Bhairav Mehta MS ’03 (KGCOE) has been promoted to executive director and head of Artificial Intelligence at JPMorgan Chase. This milestone follows a distinguished career spanning more than 20 years across some of the world’s most respected organizations, including Ford, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon. Bhairav’s academic journey reflects an equally strong commitment to lifelong learning and excellence, with a master of science in systems engineering from RIT, a master of science in statistics from Cornell University, an MBA from Cornell University, and a master of science in computer science from Georgia Institute of Technology. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence and machine learning at George Washington University. In addition, Bhairav recently completed Carnegie Mellon University’s Executive Graduate Program in agentic artificial intelligence, further strengthening his expertise in next-generation AI systems and autonomous agents. His unique combination of industry leadership, technical depth, and academic achievement continues to position him at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation and enterprise transformation.

Submitted on: June 16, 2026

Name: Sandra Malinowski

Class Year(s): 2018

Note: Surrounded by many RIT alumni friends, Sandra Malinowski ’18 (CAST) married Ben Fechtner on June 6, 2026 at the Lodge at Shadow Hill in Ontario, NY.

Submitted on: June 16, 2026

Name: Ethan Feldman

Class Year(s): 2007

Note: After 8 years at Northwestern Mutual, Ethan Feldman ’07 (GCCIS) has joined the engineering team at MDCalc as a QA engineer.

Submitted on: June 15, 2026

Name: Kyle Benesh

Class Year(s): 2011

Note: Kyle Benesh ’11 (SCB) published his first book this June, The AI-Era Engineer: A Field Guide for the Next Generation, building an engineering career in the age of AI. Many years on from Kate Gleason and still learning. theaieraengineer.com.

Submitted on: June 15, 2026