Transitions

Editor’s note: Transitions are submitted by alumni and are not verified by the editors. While we welcome alumni news, The Mason Spirit is not responsible for information contained in Transitions.

• 1970s
• 1980s
• 1990s
• 2000s
• Deaths

1970s

Maureen Hunter, BS Social Work ’73, consults on product design and transportation systems as a research psychologist in the Washington, D.C., area.

Jerry Brase, BS Business Administration ’75, was named executive director of the Scarlett Leadership Institute at Belmont University.

Suzanne Fulton, BS Social Work ’79, started Soarings, her own public relations and marketing services firm, in July 2007 in Reston, Virginia.

1980s

George O’Connor, JD ’80, was named vice president, federal government affairs at Entergy Corporation.

John Ring, BS Business ’80, is the CFO for Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Sandra McLeskey, BSN ’82, was named assistant dean of the University of Maryland School of Nursing.

Charles Nance, JD ’82, is chair of the Virginia College Savings Plan, an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia that manages Virginia’s tax-advantaged 529 plan. Nance was appointed to the Virginia College Savings Plan Board by Governor Kaine in late 2006.

Cynthia Hatley, MPA ’83, received the U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary’s Partnering for Excellence Award.

Deborah Girvan, BA Communication ’85, a member of the Fredericksburg, Virginia, city council, is running for mayor.

Daniel N. Vara Jr., JD ’86, former district counsel, INS/DOJ, and a former chief counsel, ICE/DHS, has joined the Orlando, Florida-based law firm of NeJame, LaFay, Jancha, Vara, Barker and Joshi, P.A. as a partner.

Kathy Albarado, BS Psychology ’87 and MA Interdisciplinary Studies ’91, is president and CEO of Helios HR in Reston, Virginia, and principal author of An Essential Guide to HR Administration.

Joe Albiston, BS Biology ’88, and wife, Jeanine, announce the birth of their daughter, Leah Faith, on August 20, 2007. She joins sister Amy (4).

Jonathan Harding, MEd ’89, is a senior consultant managing information technology assets for the General Services Administration in Washington, D.C. He and his wife, Pam, have two daughters, Devin (11) and Erin (7), who are active in cheerleading.

Jeff Landon, MFA ’89, wrote “Starfish,” which was published in the September 2007 issue of SmokeLong Quarterly, and “Lifelike Baby Girls” in the summer 2007 Mississippi Review.com.

1990s

Charles M. Ruchelman, BS Public Administration ’90, was elevated to partner/member with the boutique tax law firm of Caplin & Drysdale, chartered in Washington, D.C.

Melissa Speck, BS Social Work ’90, was promoted to senior director, regulatory advocacy at the Hospital and Health-System Association of Pennsylvania.

Stephen P. Hanson, BA Government ’91, joined the firm of DLA Piper in its corporate and securities practice in New York.

Jeffrey Schanz, JD ’91, was appointed inspector general of the Legal Services Corporation in Washington, D.C.

Jim Wilmans, BS Accounting ’91, and Trish Wilmans, BA English ’92, are living in Leesburg, Virginia, where Jim is owner and CEO of Exponential Consulting, LLC, a financial services software company. Trish is working on her MA in literature at Mason.

David Austin, BA International Studies ’92 and MA International Transactions ’93, is president and chief operating officer for Contextware Inc. and proudly announces the launch of a new Internet search web site called HowDoYa (www.howdoya.com).

Michael L. Goodove, JD ’92, is a partner with the Norfolk law firm of Rabinowitz, Swartz, Taliaferro, Swartz & Goodove, P.C. Michael specializes in personal injury law and was named one of the 2007 Legal Elite in Virginia by Virginia Business magazine.

Christopher Shebby, MBA ’92, was promoted to senior managing director in Energy Investment Banking at FBR Capital Markets.

Arthur Schmalz, JD ’93, a partner with Hunton & Williams, LLP, had a writing award established in his honor by the George Mason University Law Review. The annual award will recognize the journal’s best student write-on submission and will be presented during its alumni banquet.

Deborah Garrett Wing, BA Government ’94, and husband, John David Wing, BA Psychology ’94, welcomed their second son, Mason Price, on July 5, 2007, who joins big brother Garrett.

Jamy Bond, MFA Creative Writing ’95, is a press officer for the U.S. Agency for International Development and lives in Iraq.

Mike Langan, MFA Creative Writing ’95 and JD ’98, had his debut novel, Dark Horse, a lawyer-mystery-thriller, published in February by Five Star Press. His second mystery, Ready for the Defense, is due out later this year. He lives in Syracuse, New York, with his wife and two daughters, where he is a career law clerk to a federal judge.

Mary Manning, BA Psychology ’95, was promoted to vice president for retention at CACI.

Piers Marchant, MFA Creative Writing ’95, is a coauthor of The Worst Case Scenario Almanac: History, published by Chronicle Books. Marchant is editor-in-chief of the two.one.five magazine in Philadelphia.

Larry McDonald, MA Organizational Psychology ’95, is chief operating officer of BRTCR, a professional services firm.

Colleen Kearney Rich, MFA Creative Writing ’95, had her essay, “Admissions Roulette,” published on LiteraryMama.com.

Amy Boone Thompson, BS Education ’95, was named chief operating officer of Stroller Strides, a stroller exercise program for new moms and their babies.

Jamie Beth (Cohen) Schindler, BA English/Writing ’97, is excited about her new job as director of volunteer programs at Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles. She would love to connect with other Mason alumni in LA and invites them to look her up on Facebook.

Kristine (Mitchell) Morris, BA Fine Arts ’97, and her husband, Rex, announce the birth of their third child, George Robert, on November 3, 2007.

Ana Cristina Rojas Gopalan, BA Psychology ’98 and MEd ’01, is a bilingual substance abuse and mental health therapist in the Arlington County Department of Human Services.

Patricia Arnold Buss, MBA ’99, was appointed medical director of Health Net Federal Services.

Hakim Elmanouzi, BS Marketing ’99, is general manager for Alto Plaza, a newly opened restaurant in Centreville, Virginia, offering Nuevo Latino and continental cuisine.

Andrew Wingfield, MFA Creative Writing ’99, received an honorable mention for his novel, Hear Him Roar, in the prize competition by the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment for the best book of environmental creative writing published in 2005–06. Andrew’s story “Precious” was published in the spring/summer 2006 online journal Terrain and nominated for a 2007 Sundress Publications Best of the Net 2007 Award and Anthology.

2000s

Vinod Dubey, MS Information Systems ’00 and Certificate Software Engineering ’01, was awarded the Computer Measurement Group’s Graduate Fellowship for quality of service brokering and performance management of composite services.

Chris Lazo, BA Interdisciplinary Studies ’00, is an accounts payable specialist with Brainware Inc. of Ashburn, Virginia.

Carrie Teresa (Sage) Maison, BA English ’00, earned an MFA in creative writing (poetry) from Queens University of Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina, in January.

Angela D. Sargent, BA Biology ’00, started A.I.A. Inspired Designs in September 2007. She makes hand-knit scarves, hats, doll blankets and pillows, plaques, and greeting cards featuring her poetry. Visit her web site at www.AIAInspiredDesigns.etsy.com.

Graziella (Morse) Jackson, BA Communication ’01, earned an MA in communication, culture, and technology from Georgetown University in July 2007. Graziella works for NavigationArts in McLean, Virginia, as an information architect.

Brett W. Spitale, BA Communication ’01, joined the Alzheimer’s Association of Central and Western Virginia as vice president for development in January. Prior to that, he served as director of community development for the Arc of the Piedmont.

Mark C. Wallace, MA English Literature ’01, was voted Most Favorite Professor for Southside, Virginia. He is the chair of the Department of History at Danville Community College and also teaches courses for the University of Richmond and Cambridge College in Massachusetts.

Angelica M. Perez, BS Electrical Engineering ’03, is a patent examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Virginia. She and her husband have a 2-year-old son, Benjamin.

Catherine Timmons, MEd Educational Leadership ’03, in January was named principal of Culpeper County’s new Yowell Elementary School, which is scheduled to open in August.

Matt Ellsworth, MFA Creative Writing ’04, is senior writer and editor for an Arizona philanthropic foundation. He also has a blog called EDITWRITE.

Andre M. Ingram, MA Transportation Policy ’04, a U.S. Marine Corps captain, was selected for promotion to the rank of major.

Linda Morefield, MFA Creative Writing ’04, published an essay, “Cambodia: A Visit to Year Zero,” in the Northern Virginia Review in March 2008.

Courtney L. Porter, BA Communication ’04, and Russell W. Jenkins were married on October 6, 2007. The couple resides in Charleston, South Carolina, where Courtney is a senior associate at Kearns & West, a strategic communications and stakeholder relations firm.

Jennifer Waters-Raad, MM Music Performance ’04, signed a two-year contract with the Washington National Opera. She was auditioned personally by Placido Domingo.

Tara Laskowski, MFA Creative Writing ’05, has an essay, “The Jukebox,” in the March/April 2008 issue of The Rambler.

Ryan Effgen, MFA Creative Writing ’06, has a story titled “Background Action” in Pindeldyboz#7 (www.pindeldyboz.com/issue7.htm).

Rebecca Erbelding, MA History ’06, was featured in a March 17, 2008, New Yorker magazine article “Picturing Auschwitz.” She is the archivist at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and discovered a rare photo album featuring images of Nazis such as Josef Mengele and Richard Baer, who ran Auschwitz for a time.

Art Taylor, MFA Creative Writing ’06, had “Tell-All,” a short story, published in the summer 2007 online journal Burst. His essays have appeared in the spring 2007 and fall 2007 issues of Mystery Scene magazine. He also writes reviews of mystery fiction for the Washington Post’s “Book World.”

Carrie Addington, MFA Creative Writing ’07, won the American Literary Review’s 2007 Poetry Prize with her poem “Scar,” which will appear in the publication’s spring 2008 issue.

Shelley Brower, MM Piano Pedagogy and Performance ’07, started a private piano studio in her new home in Reading, Pennsylvania.

William H. Roberts Jr., DA Education ’07, is a college professor at Strayer University’s Loudoun campus. He recently retired from the U.S. Navy Medical Service Corps after 33 years of service.

Ting Zhang, PhD Public Policy ’08, signed a contract with World Scientific Publishing to produce a book on elderly self-employment for an aging U.S. economy. Last year, Zhang won a Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Fellowship to conduct research on the topic. Her paper on “The Role of Elderly Entrepreneurship in Metropolitan Economic Growth” won the finalist title in the Charles Tiebout Prize for Regional Science.

Deaths

James Argodale, BS Business ’79, February 15, 2008

Thomas P. H. Dunlop, MA Linguistics ’96, February 1, 2008

Catherine J. Gaber, BA History ’75, December 1, 2007

Sandra Johnson, BA Psychology ’74 and MA ’76, February 15, 2008

Andrew G. Nelson, MA History ’78, October 10, 2007

Marie Opetaia-Williamson, BA Art and Visual Technology ’06, February 16, 2008

Nick Palmiotto, MS Operations Research Management ’94, October 6, 2007

Elizabeth Louise Pickels, BS Decision Science ’89, January 16, 2008