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Transitions

Please note: Our new format for Transitions is arranged by decade of graduation, rather than by college or school.

1970s

Glenn C. Lewis, JD ’77, was voted president-elect of the Virginia Bar Association for 2006; he served as chair of its board of governors in 2005. Glenn is the chair and founder of the Lewis Law Firm, PC, based in Washington, D.C.

Kendal Carson, BS Business Administration ’78, resigned as president of United Bank and has become president of Cardinal Bank, working at its McLean, Virginia, headquarters.

1980s

Richard Baland, MBA ’81, is chief financial officer of Lutheran Social Services, a nonprofit organization with a $52 million annual operating budget.

Diana Cain, MA English ’87, using the penname Corey Chatham, has written Under the Radar: An American Woman’s Story of the Vietnam War, available at www.iUniverse.com.

Steven W. Shea, BA History ’87, was promoted to lieutenant colonel in October 2005. He is assigned to the Plans and Policy Directorate of the U.S. Transportation Command, Scott AFB, Illinois, as the strategic mobility officer.

Linnea Bucher, MBA ’88, is the national manager, customs administration for Hyundai Motor America based in Fountain Valley, California.

Debbie Lou (Tucker) Hague, BA Geography ’88 and MEd Special Education ’93, was named the 2007 Teacher of the Year from First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Charles L. Hoffman, BS Law Enforcement ’88, was promoted to first sergeant with the Prince William County Police Department and supervises its Violent Crimes Unit.

1990s

Tracy Cullen, BA Speech Communication ’90, is the new vice president for communications and marketing at the Society of the Plastics Industry, which is based in Washington, D.C.

Tracey Short, BA Communication ’90, is a marketing collateral executive with IBM and also operates her own advertising and public relations agency, Short & Sweet Advertising/PR in Clearwater, Florida.

Karen Turner McWilliams, JD ’92, was elected to the Virginia Bar Association’s board of governors, representing the Potomac Region. She is a partner in the law firm of DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary.

Charles D. Stimson, JD ’92, was named deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs and is the primary policy advisor to the secretary of defense on detention policy and strategy.

Dale Coyner, BS Decision Science ’93, was appointed to the governor’s Motorcycle Advisory Council for the Commonwealth of Virginia following a public signing by then-Gov. Mark Warner on January 6.

Anna K.M. Gravelle, JD ’93, moved to Colorado and was recently admitted to the Colorado Bar. She is taking a break from practicing law at the moment to enjoy being home with her three-year-old son and nine-month-old daughter.

Chris Paine Thorner, BA English ’93, and Ben Thorner, BA Government and Politics ’93, live in Thousand Oaks, California, with their two-and-a-half-year-old son Max and almost one-year-old daughter Josie Rachel.

Kacey Reed Felts, BA Political Science ’94, announces the birth of Braden Kemper on December 23, joining brother Tucker, age three.

Ryan Nelson, BS Accounting ’94, and Kristy Hudson Nelson, BS Social Work ’93, announce the birth of their daughter, Kate Ryan, on September 2.

Jamy Bond, MFA ’95, published “What Feels Like Destiny,”an excerpt from her memoir in The Sun magazine. She was also a finalist in the Glimmer Train Press Short Story Awards for New Writers for her story, “The Country between Us.”

Dwayne Dehlbom, BA History ’95, received the 2003 Washington State University Employee Excellence Award. He has worked at the university since 2001 and was promoted to academic coordinator in the History Department in 2004.

Mark J. Miller, MS Exercise Science and Health ’95, is the vice president of operations for Merritt Athletic Clubs in Baltimore, Maryland. He and his wife have three great kids: Stephen (8), Brooke (7), and Scott (3).

Mariela Toapanta Naimi, BA International Studies ’95, has named her first-born son Mason. Mason was born on August 31.

Daniel K. Donnelly, PhD Public Policy ’96, was named associate academic vice president at Duquesne University.

Dennis E. Pryba II, BS Finance ’96 and JD ’99, has opened Pryba Fine Art, a retail art gallery in The Plains, Virginia. Gallery services include identification, valuation, restoration, acquisition, and sale of 17th- through 20th-century paintings, prints, and sculptures by recognized artists.

Mike Sylvester, BS Business Management ’96, and his wife, Kathleen, announce the birth of their second daughter, Molly Grace, on December 5. Molly joins older sister, Annie, who is two.

Damon W.D. Wright, JD ’96, is now a partner at Venable LLP, based in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. His focus is on complex commercial, unfair competition, and white-collar criminal litigation, as well as appellate litigation.

Corey W. Hill, MPA ’97, was appointed by Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine to serve as the acting director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

Carrie Secondo Lake, BA Communication ’98, left her position as a Creative Services project director at Mason to become director of communications at the Professional Services Council, a trade association for companies that provide professional and technical services to the government.

Andrew Vita, BS Administration of Justice ’98, was named the Fairfax City Fire Department’s 2005 Career Firefighter of the Year.

Leah E. Bellacera, BA Communication ’99, was named director of marketing for Carolina Cooling and Plumbing Inc. in Surfside Beach, South Carolina.

Leontine Olson, BA Foreign Language ’99 and MA Foreign Language ’03, is teaching high school French in the Washington, D.C., Public Schools.

Kevin Vink, MS Operations Research and Management Science ’99, a lieutenant in the Army National Guard was awarded the Armed Forces Service Medal by the District of Columbia National Guard.

2000s

Carrie Teresa (Sage) Maison, BA English ’00, has enrolled at Queens University of Charlotte (North Carolina), where she will pursue an MFA in creative writing (poetry).

Eva LaBarge, BS Business Administration ’01, is employed at the Nevada Hospital Association, serving as director of operations in Reno, Nevada.

Diane (Shannon) Sleeman, MEd Special Education ’02, has moved from Fairfax Station, Virginia, to Maplewood, Minnesota.

Felipe Ward, MAIS ’02, was elected to the Chilean Congress and is one of the youngest congressional representatives in the country.

Brandi Michelle Fannell, BA Psychology ’03, had a baby boy in February 2004, moved to New Jersey, went back to school, and was inducted into the International Society of Poets in 2005.

Thomas J. Garrity, BS Administration of Justice ’04, was promoted to sergeant in the Prince William County Police Department.

David S. Holland, BS Electrical Engineering ’04, wrote a Vietnam trilogy that comprises Saigon Cop, Airborne Trooper, and Mekong Mud Soldier. All are available at www.iUniverse.com.

Leigh B. Traylor, BSN ’04, is a military nurse working on a telemetry unit at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Mary Melissa Helle, BA Sociology ’05, works at Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC as an office assistant while she looks for a job in her field.

Karen Schwartz, MS Bioinformatics ’05, presented her poster “Genetic Variation at Drug-Resistant Sites in non-B HIV-1 Subtypes” at the Association for Molecular Pathology and was one of three recipients for the association’s Technologist Award.

Deaths

Donna (LeAnn) Brickey, BIS ’03, July 16, 2005.

Anita Neff Johnson, BA English ’93, October 30, 2005

Stephen John Kulenguski, BS Business Administration ’72, January 5, 2006