1990s

1990

James Austin ’90 (KGCOE) recently accepted a position at Advanced Micro Devices as senior member of technical staff.

Michael Karpovage ’88, ’90 (FAA) writes that in August, Karpovage Creative Inc. launched the Savannah (Ga.) Historic District Illustrated Map. The culmination of a three-year design, illustration and research effort, this is his first bird’s-eye-view pictorial tourism map in the retail marketplace. Depicting Savannah in a 3-D aerial perspective, the map is full of major attractions, historical facts and even hidden ghosts.

Jeffrey G. Smith ’90 (FAA) received an Ed.D. in Organizational Management from Saint Mary’s College of California on May 20. He earned his degree with honors and was presented the Dean’s Award for the most outstanding dissertation. His doctoral research analyzed new teacher-based methodologies for the blended classroom. His previous educational experiment explored Computer Aided Design online instruction and was awarded best research paper at the 2011 Association of Career and Technical Education’s STEM symposium. He and his wife, Carlee, live in Northern California with their two children.

Cynthia Swan ’90 (FAA) writes that 22 years after graduating from the School for American Crafts’ glass program with an MFA, she is finally emerging. After three months of mentoring with Boyce Lundstrom, she has completed seven new series and had 14 pieces in the Fallbrook Galaxy of Glass show, which opened Sept. 8, 2012. She also exhibited in the TAOS Art Glass Invitational 2012, the Walking on Glass Tour.

1992

Joy Champlin ’91, ’92 (GAP) writes that she is the 2012 winner of the Robert Ross Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Personal Achievement Award from the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Greater Rochester Finger Lakes Chapter. This is her second year as the award winner. “My role is to meet and greet current and future donors, as well as show the Greater Rochester community that we are real people with real neuromuscular diseases. The MDA gives us real help.”

Monica (Banko) Meehan ’92 (FAA) won first place in the Brochures and Rack Cards category of the 2012 Mountain-Plains Museums Association Publications Design Competition. Her “Folk Art to Go” brochure promotes educational opportunities at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, N.M. The one-piece layout incorporates a self-mailer, a return mailer, registration form, the schedule of events, information about the museum’s educational programs and a poster for classroom use.

Barbara Thomson ’92 (COS), previously employed as associate director, medical writing at Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc., is now associate director, medical writing at Seattle Genetics Inc.

David Wanhatalo ’92 (CAST), attorney in the Birmingham office of Burr & Forman LLP, has been recognized as a 2012 Alabama Rising Star in the practice area of construction litigation. Rising Stars are attorneys who are 40 years old or younger, or who have been practicing for 10 years or less.

Michael Wenzler ’92 (SCB) was recently promoted to deputy executive director, Office of Labor and Employee Relations at U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Washington, D.C.

1993

Sven Schiller ’92 (CAST), ’93 (CLA) and Fabienne Schiller are proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Désirée Marie. She was born on March 29, 2012, in Montreal, Canada.

1994

Alexandra Hart ’94 (CIAS) writes that she is honored to have her work included in the exhibition, “Redefining the San Andreas Fault Line: 10 Women Jewelers,” curated by Carolyn Benesh, co-editor of Ornament magazine, and sponsored by Craft in America. The exhibition will demonstrate how California’s creative edge in art and design, dating from the mid-20th century, includes the individualistic characteristics of female studio jewelers who challenge themselves through their work by experimenting and redefining the possibilities of jewelry, its role and meaning, into the second decade of the 21st century.

John Simmons ’91, ’94 (SCB) recently founded The Roosevelt Group in Washington, D.C., and serves as managing partner. He was employed at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld as senior adviser and led the national security lobbying practice. The Roosevelt Group started with a dozen clients and continues to partner with Akin Gump to service select law firm clients.

1995

James Sims ’95 (CAST) and Ebony Gibson are happy to announce their marriage on Aug. 18 in Buffalo, N.Y. They live in Upper Darby, Pa.

1996

Gwynn (Davey) Becce ’96 (SCB) has joined American Momentum Bank as senior vice president and Tampa Bay senior commercial lender. She previously served Bay Cities Bank as senior vice president in commercial banking and Regions Bank as vice president in commercial banking. She is a member of the Tampa Bay Rotary Club, where she formerly was club president, and serves as sub-committee chair of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce small business of the year program.

Meghean (Faul) Feidelman ’96 (CAST) and Adam Feidelman are happy to announce their marriage on July 8 in Miami Beach. They live in Pembroke Pines, Fla. The bride is the food service director at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and the groom is executive chef at a Memorial Regional Miramar.

Cristin (McGrath) Frank ’96 (CIAS) is the founder of EveofReduction.com, a resource for using your talents and creativity to reduce waste and over-consumption. Frank is the author of the upcoming book, Living Simple, Free & Happy: How to Simplify, Declutter Your Home, and Reduce Stress, Debt and Waste. The book will launch nationally in March 2013.

Suzanne (Blum) Meredith ’96 (CIAS) and John Meredith ’94 are proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Cora Elaine. She was born on July 23, 2011, in Highland Hospital, Rochester.

1997

Sumir Varma ’97 (KGCOE) was recently promoted to lithography section manager at TriQuint Semiconductor in Hillsboro, Ore. He had been working as a senior process engineer there involved in process development.

1998

Mark Atkinson ’98 (CIAS) is currently a journeyman electrician with IBEW local 103 in Boston, Mass. He has worked on such New York projects as the Bath VA Medical Center, Global Foundries in Malta and Cayuga Community College in Fulton.

Gregory Jarmusz ’98 (CLA), previously employed as assistant operations officer at the U.S. Air Force, is now operations and training officer at the U.S. Air Force.

1999

Christopher Curran ’99 (CIAS) writes that after six years building a consumer goods company, and serving as its president, he and his partners executed an asset purchase agreement with the firm, RIO Brands, backed by their majority shareholder, Guardian Capital Partners, based in suburban Philadelphia. With the sale went their outdoor and beach furniture collections created under the Margaritaville Outdoor brand.

Tracy Weber ’99 (CAST) writes that her company, Kaleidoscope Learning Center in Birch Run, Mich., was named as a finalist for the Saginaw County 2012 Outstanding Small Business of the Year awards. Kaleidoscope’s website is www.myklc.com.