Class Notes
Name: Ron Flicker
Class Year(s): 1964
Note: Ron Flicker MS ’64 enjoys building thousands of Bluebird Houses. Ron is in his 15th year playing Duplicate Bridge at the Lynchburg Virginia. He attends the Duplicate Bridge Club three times a week.
Submitted on: July 8, 2025
Name: Renzo Vizarreta
Class Year(s): 2022
Note: Physics Ph.D. student, Renzo Vizarreta BS ’22, has been awarded the Donald M. and Janet C. Barnard Fellowship for the 2025-2026 academic year at the University of Rochester. The fellowship recognizes Vizarreta’s work on the DUNE and ICARUS neutrino experiments as well as his commitment to mentoring undergraduate students in Peru as they prepare for graduate school.
Submitted on: July 8, 2025
Name: Bill Truran
Class Year(s): 1975
Note: Bill Truran BS ’75 is still shooting images for clients, not because he has to, but because he loves it! Ever since Bill left RIT for NYC back in 1975, he has loved trading images for checks. Bill loves all of his faithful clients, even though he has not ever met many of them face to face. RIT had a big hand in Bill’s success. During his 15 years in NYC, he didn’t think so, but his degree helped him land 15 years as a head photographer for Nabisco and Kraft food, and he still shoots for many people that he met during his years at Nabisco. Think about it: This autistic ADD person found a career that is still going after 50 years. Thank you RIT.
Submitted on: July 8, 2025
Name: Terry Ann (Hayes) Fernando
Class Year(s): 2009
Note: Last year, Terry Ann (Hayes) Fernando MFA ’09 published a memoir about training her vizsla, Zara, to be a hunting dog. It’s called The Accidental Bird Dog: My Journey with an Extraordinary Vizsla. The memoir is about how her life transformed after getting Zara as a pet and then discovering Zara’s talent for hunting birds. What began as a mild interest evolved into a passionate pursuit, as Terry Ann embraced training Zara for competitions and discovered a newfound love for dog training and dog sports. Terry Ann used her graphic design skills developed at RIT to design the cover and layout for the book. It’s available on Amazon in paperback and ebook form: https://a.co/d/g4w1DOp
Submitted on: July 8, 2025
Name: Arianna Valentini
Class Year(s): 2010, 2012
Note: Arianna (Valentini) Huffield CT ’09, BFA ’10, MS ’12 was recently featured in Precisely’s “Women in Technology” series, where she shared her insights on career growth, mentorship, and the power of diversity in tech. This October, she will speak at Product Marketing Alliance (PMA) Boston, contributing her expertise on innovation and leadership in product marketing.
Submitted on: July 8, 2025
Name: Wilfredo Alvarez
Class Year(s): 2002
Note: Dr. Wilfredo Alvarez BS ’02 was promoted to associate professor of Communication Studies with tenure at Metropolitan State University in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Alvarez is a graduate of the Professional and Technical Communication program.
Submitted on: July 8, 2025
Name: Benjamin Fishman
Class Year(s): 2014
Note: Benjamin Fishman BS ’14 is the winner of the first ever Newton Wellesley Hospital Lily Award, a peer-nominated award given to one member of the Med-Surg RN Float Pool.
Submitted on: July 8, 2025
Name: Josh Kierpiec
Class Year(s): 2008, 2011
Note: Josh Kierpiec BS ’08, MS ’11 recently moved back to Western, NY. He is currently the principal site reliability engineering lead at Blizzard Entertainment, managing Diablo and Hearthstone live services.
Submitted on: July 8, 2025
Name: Jeff Sugarman
Class Year(s): 1990
Note: Jeff Sugarman BFA ’90 has been running his design studio for 10 years.
Submitted on: July 8, 2025
Name: Forest McMullin
Class Year(s): 1977
Note: Forest McMullin BFA ’77 has had his debut novel published. It’s title is, Shooting at Shadows, and it is a thriller about a photojournalist who gets mixed up with a crew of neo-Nazi bank robbers. It’s based on McMullin’s experiences in 1993 photographing radical racists and neo-Nazi skinheads, some of whom went on to rob 22 banks in the Midwest. It’s currently available on Amazon.
Submitted on: July 8, 2025