Class Notes

Name: Jonathan Gippe

Class Year(s): 1996

Note: Jonathan Gippe ’96 (CAST) achieved his MBA as a Welch Scholar, Highest Honors Graduate with Distinction. He also has an expanded role at Verizon as the Senior Manager, Network Construction for the Eastern United States and Puerto Rico.

Submitted on: May 26, 2022

Name: Tim Kilby

Class Year(s): 1980

Note: Tim Kilby MFA ’80 (GAP) was awarded a 2022 Phillis Wheatley Book Award and a 2021 International AAHGS Book Award for his book, Gourdvine Black and White: Slavery and the Kilby Families of the Virginia Piedmont, published in 2021.

Submitted on: May 25, 2022

Name: Thomas Lambert

Class Year(s): 1987

Note: Captain Thomas Lambert, JAGC, USN ’87 (CLA) retired from the United States Navy on September 1, 2021 following forty-one years of naval service. During that time he served on five continents and seven seas. His last assignment was as legal counsel to the Navy Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer program, which coordinated Navy support of civil authorities during domestic emergencies. His awards include the Legion of Merit, five Meritorious Service Medals, three Navy Commendation Medals, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal as well as numerous other personal, unit, and campaign awards. He is currently employed as head of the Office of Legal Affairs for the Virginia State Police.

Submitted on: May 25, 2022

Name: Michael Vanderheyden

Class Year(s): 1985

Note: Michael Vanderheyden ’85 (SCB) retired from Tiffany and Company in June 2022 after 37 years.

Submitted on: May 23, 2022

Name: Kevin Hall

Class Year(s): 1977

Note: Kevin Hall ‘77 (FAA) met with Josh Owen, Director of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies, at RIT in May 2022 during the RIT Success by Design event at New York Design Week with other RIT students, faculty and alumni in attendance. Kevin also had the chance to visit with his former professor R. Roger Remington.

Submitted on: May 19, 2022

Name: Melissa Young

Class Year(s): 2017

Note: Melissa Young ’17 (GCCIS) and Dylan Vuz ’18 (GCCIS) were married on May 1, 2022 in Old Tappan, N.J. Melissa and Dylan met at RIT and have been together for 5 1/2 years prior to tying the knot. They are excited about starting this next chapter in their lives.

Submitted on: May 16, 2022

Name: Ashish Vora

Class Year(s): 2004

Note: Ashish Vora MS ’04 (KGCOE) was promoted to Sr. Director, Product Engineering (NPI and Operations) at TDK-InvenSense.

Submitted on: May 6, 2022

Name: Sarai Oviedo

Class Year(s): 2010

Note: Sarai Oviedo ’10 (CIAS) graduated from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary with a Master’s of Divinity on May 15, 2022.

Submitted on: May 2, 2022

Name: Shail Rajan

Class Year(s): 1995

Note: Shail (Mithani) Rajan MBA ’95 (SCB) is thrilled to share that she has published her second novel, The Recipient. After more than a decade working for the Big 4 firms, followed by a decade as a stay-at-home, Shail finally chased her dream of becoming an author. She published her debut The Summer Breeze in 2020, which received a wonderful reception from friends, alumni, and complete strangers. Her new book The Recipient, an emotional suspense novel full of plot twists and an unexpected ending, includes a special homage to her hometown of Rochester and is available everywhere books are sold.

Submitted on: May 2, 2022

Name: Wilfredo Alvarez

Class Year(s): 02

Note: Dr. Wilfredo Alvarez ’02 (CLA) and Associate Professor of Communication and Media at Utica University published a new book, Everyday Dirty Work: Invisibility, Communication, and Immigrant Labor (The Ohio State University Press). In the book, Dr. Alvarez explores co-cultural communication practices in the workplace. Specifically, he investigates how Latin American immigrant janitors communicate from their marginalized standpoints in a predominantly white academic organization. He examines how custodial workers perceive, interpret, and thematize routine messages regarding race, ethnicity, social class, immigrant status, and occupation, and how those messages and overall communicative experiences affect both their work and personal lives. For more information about the book, please visit: https://ohiostatepress.org/books/titles/9780814214671.html

Submitted on: April 28, 2022