Transitions

• 1960s
• 1970s
• 1980s
• 1990s
• 2000s
• Deaths

1960s

George Hargrove, BA Business and Public Administration ’68, retired from the federal government and spends much of his time as a substitute teacher in the Cupertino Union School District of Cupertino, California. His experiences there inspired him to write Shhhhhhhhhh!, a children’s book. It is available at www.iUniverse.com.

1970s

Sharon Baker, BS Mathematics ’71, is packing up her life in Juneau, Alaska, and joining the Peace Corps as an environment education volunteer in Madagascar, starting in February for 27 months.

Linda Trexler, BS Elementary Education ’71 and MEd ’90, was awarded one of the Washington Post’s Distinguished Educational Leadership Awards for her role in transforming Neabsco Elementary School in Prince William County, Virginia, where she is principal, from a Title I school to one that consistently makes adequate yearly progress, or AYP, under No Child Left Behind benchmarks.

Michael Cobb, BA Sociology ’74, received the Alumni Faculty Award at Alfred State College’s New Student Convocation in August 2006. Each year, students from the recent graduating class nominate a faculty member who influenced them and played a critical role in helping them reach their educational goal.

Frances M. Finta, MEd Counseling ’75, was elected president of the Arlington Retired Teachers Association and vice president of the Arlington County Civic Federation.

Roberto Rodriguez, BA Public Administration ’78, was appointed director for investment programs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) with overall responsibility for the financial management of weapon system development and procurement.

William Seippel, BS Business Administration ’78, has been named chief financial officer of MIVA, a publicly traded firm that provides online advertising services in the United States and Europe.

1980s

Gregory D. Andranovich, MA Economics ’80, professor of political science, was honored as one of four outstanding professors by California State University, Los Angeles for being a published author, expert in urban politics, and his extensive research. His students consistently rate his classes highly, and they highlight his energy and humor as a teacher and his compassion as an advisor.

Daniel W. Leedy, BA Government and Politics ’80, was elected judge of the County Court at Law of Austin County, Texas.

Thomas L. Knight, BSN ’81, was appointed associate professor of nursing at Mountain State University in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Mark Davis, BA Government and Political Science ’82, is a realtor with Keller Williams Realty in Manassas, Virginia.

Michael Hewitt, BS Management ’83, currently a captain in the Navy, is approaching his change of command for Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing FIVE, Naval Air Station, Brunswick, Maine.

Anthony Grooms, MFA ’84, had a second edition of his short-story collection, Trouble No More, published in January 2006. The collection was chosen as the year’s selection for the All Georgia Reads program.

Lisa A. Mayne, JD ’85, was sworn in as the 11th judge of the Fairfax County General District Court last November. She was elected by the Virginia General Assembly to fill the judgeship it created earlier in 2006.

Robert Wilkins, MBA ’86, is a philanthropic builder of soccer fields, provider of numerous scholarships, and a youth sports coach since 1969, and tries to help others as much as possible.

Jeanne M. Sorrell, PhD Education ’87, was chosen by Gannett Healthcare Group as a 2006 National Nurse of the Year for her significant contributions in education, professional development, and long-term learning of nursing professionals.

Mark Winegardner, MFA Creative Writing ’87, wrote The Godfather’s Revenge, his second book that continues the Godfather saga created by Mario Puzo.

Terri Cofer Beirne, BA Government and Politics ’88, was selected by the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors to represent the Midlothian District on an interim basis.

Greg Kalinsky, BA Philosophy ’89 and JD ’00, was named to head California and West Coast operations as regional vice president by GEICO’s board of directors. Greg will work out of GEICO’s San Diego, California, office.

1990s

Chris Harper, BA English ’90 and MA English ’93, will have her second book, Welcome to Jesusland, published by Time Warner Books.'

Anne Miren Berry, BA Economics ’91 and MA History ’95, has written a short story, “Down the Road,” about having her husband, Joel, deployed to the Middle East in January 2003. The story appears in an anthology published by Random House, titled Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families.

Tracy Evans, BA Speech Communication and Mass Media ’91, and her husband, Rob Gibson, are now a family of three. Their daughter, Natalia, was born on October 8. The couple and their newborn split their time between Philadelphia and Miami.

Chris Kormis, MA English ’91, was named assistant vice president for university relations at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Liz Murawski, MFA Creative Writing ’91, won first prize in this year’s Anne Stanford Poetry Prize competition with her poem “Abu Ghraib Suggests the Isenheim Altarpiece.” It will be published in Southern California Anthology.

Paul J. Reagan, JD ’91, was named chief of staff by Virginia Senator James Webb. Previously, Paul served as communications director for Virginia Governor Mark Warner after spending 19 years on Capitol Hill, where he worked for different members of Virginia’s congressional delegation.

Ron Sanchez, BA English ’91, has earned a spot at the Los Angeles short film festival for his film, Leave a Message.

Geoffrey L. Weber, BS Accounting ’91 and MBA ’98, was elected to KPMG LLP’s partnership as principal in the Washington, D.C., office.

John May, BS Accounting ’92, has been admitted as a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers Dispute Analysis and Investigations practice in Boston.

Steven Paul Delorge, BS Economics ’93, is a two-year survivor of pancreatic cancer and counsels other cancer patients. He is in the process of writing a book, which will be available for free at his web site: www.timberoaks.com.

Mary (Gallagher) Gray, BA English ’93 and MA English ’01, has been teaching English and creative writing for the Fairfax County Public Schools for 10 years. She and husband Dan welcomed a baby boy, Charles Christopher, last April.

Edward S. Lang, BA Government and Politics ’93, was appointed to the newly created position of senior vice president and general manager, mobile, in Playboy Enterprises’ Entertainment Group. Ed will be responsible for the global strategy, expansion, and oversight of Playboy’s mobile and wireless businesses. He most recently was vice president, mobile initiatives, with Sony Corporation.

Laura Scott, MFA Creative Writing ’93, an assistant professor of English at Mason, led the charge on campus for the 2006 NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month effort that encourages writers to compose a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. For more information, visit mason.gmu.edu/~lscott/nano.html.

Holly Vineyard, MA International Transactions ’93, is the deputy assistant secretary of commerce for Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia in the International Trade Administration’s Market Access and Compliance Unit. In this position, she oversees activities on market access, trade, and commerce, and attends to compliance with international trade agreements.

David Bobzien, BA Government and Politics ’94, was elected to the Nevada state assembly for District 24. A Democrat, David received 55.05 percent of the vote last November.

Stuart H. Coleman, BA Economics ’94, was promoted to general manager of the New England Division of the Boston financial contracting office of Winter, Wyman & Company.

John Gaudiosi, BA English ’94, was named one of the top 50 videogame journalists in the world.

Kurt Olsson, MFA Creative Writing ’94, wrote a collection of poems, Autobiography of My Hand, which was published by Bright Hill Press. The jacket carries blurbs by Mason English professor and poet Peter Klappert and Peter Ramos, MFA Creative Writing ’96.

Dione Sharmin, BA English ’94 and MS Transportation Policy Operations and Logistics ’02, and her husband, Sonny, are pleased to announce the arrival of their precious baby girl, Augustine Z., born on August 14.

Andrew E. Jones, BS Economics ’95, has taken a job in New York City as an equity research associate for Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, covering the online brokerage sector.

Donna M. Greenwood, MA Psychology ’96 and PhD Psychology ’00, cowrote with Kirk Rogg, PhD, My Leadership Journey: Charting a Course to Leadership Wisdom, which was published recently. In addition, she was selected as one of the 50 Best Women in Business in Pennsylvania for 2006.

Jeannette Snyder, BA English ’96, has had four books of gay fiction published, as well as three stories in anthologies and one at amazon.com. For more information, visit jmsnyder.net.

Christy Denslow Tyner, MEd Curriculum and Instruction ’96, and her husband, Sam, announce the birth of their twins, a boy, Kai, and a girl, Kalaya, on September 26.

Theresa Werner, BA Communication ’96, is the domestic planning editor for radio and television at Associated Press in Washington, D.C., and was elected the 47th president of the American News Women’s Club for 2006–07.

J. Seth Witmer, BA History ’96, has been working for the Farner-Bocken Company in Davenport, Iowa, since 2004.

Stephanie E. Diehl, MSN ’97, has a daughter, Emily Nicole, age seven, and earned national critical care certification, a master’s degree in nursing from East Carolina University in 2005, and board certification as a family nurse practitioner in 2006. Stephanie works as a nurse practitioner with Southeastern Nephrology Associates in Wilmington/Jacksonville, North Carolina.

Dalal Musa, BS Social Work ’97, is writing a mental health column for Northern Virginia magazine. His first column addressed holiday depression and appeared in the November/December 2006 issue.

Trish Perry, BA Psychology ’97, has written two books for Harvest House. The first, The Guy I’m Not Dating, was published last August, and the second, Too Good to Be True, will be out in March.

Patrick Snyder, BA English ’97, welcomed his fourth baby girl, Elizabeth Connell, on October 10. She joins her older sisters, Emma (7) and twins Rachel and Mara (4).

Allen Grant, MEd Early Childhood ’99, was awarded a PhD in educational leadership and research from Louisiana State University.

David Hardin, BA Government and Politics ’99, a 2003 graduate of George Washington University Law School, has joined the firm of Vinson & Elkins LLP as an associate.

Richard Kelsey, JD ’99, is the new president and chief operating officer of LanpherWilson Corporation and Turiss LLC.

2000s

Andy Fogle, MFA Creative Writing ’00, has written a collection of poems, New Batteries for Your Halo, which was published by March Street Press. The jacket carries blurbs by poets Carolyn Forche and Mark Fitzgerald, MFA Creative Writing ’01.

Douglas A. Brook, PhD Public Policy ’01, was elected to the National Academy of Public Administration.

Nichole Devolites, BA Communication ’01, is director of marketing for Solutions Consulting Group in San Diego, California.

J. Lee Hill, BA Integrative Studies ’01, was called as minister to youth and young adults for the historic Riverside Church in the city of New York.

Marsha Fiol, MS Transportation Policy ’02, is the Virginia Department of Transportation state transportation planner. In this high-level position, she oversees all transportation planning efforts relating to roads, bikeways, and pedestrians.

James Halabuk, BA History ’02 and MA ’03, a doctoral student in Mason’s Department of History, has been awarded a research fellowship by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and will conduct research at the New York Historical Society.

Justin Pilla, BA English ’02, received an MA in English from the College of Charleston last May.

Kathleen Toomey Jabs, MFA Creative Writing ’04, had her short story, “Safekeeping,” published in the Random House anthology, Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families.

Barbara Acosta, PhD Education ’05, won first place in the American Educational Research Association Bilingual Education Research Dissertation Competition. She will receive a plaque at the association’s 2007 annual meeting.

Catalina Lemaitre, MS Peace Operations ’05, is an evaluation officer with the Office of Policy Planning and Resources for the Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. The position involves performance measurement initiatives and developing a new system that gathers information about public diplomacy initiatives globally.

Isaac W. K. Thweatt, BM ’05, is the new community outreach coordinator for the Mason Enterprise Center at Mason’s Prince William Campus. Isaac is also a student in Mason’s Master of Arts Management program and serves as president of the Black Alumni Chapter.

Shaoming Cheng, PhD Public Policy ’06, won the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Award for the Best Dissertation in Public Policy and Management in Asia for his thesis, “Heterogeneous Preference in the Location Choices of Japanese Investors in China: A Mixed Logit Approach.” The award includes an honorarium and an invitation to the association’s fall research conference in Madison, Wisconsin.

Jessica R. Greene, BA English ’06, announces the birth of her first child, a daughter, Olivia Reese, on August 29.

Genora Reed, MPP ’06, was awarded a fellowship from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, which provides work in a congressional office. The nonpartisan, policy-oriented foundation seeks to educate leaders and promote collaboration among community and business leaders, minority-focused organizational leaders, and organized labor.

Cesar A. Vence, BA Latin American Studies ’06, was named a 2006 Virginia Governor’s fellow and worked in the governor’s office in Richmond over the summer. Cesar was also selected for an internship with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.

Deaths

Karen A. Black, MSN ’97, December 6, 2005
Manuel A. Gehring, BS Finance ’88, February 19, 2004
Larry F. Hepner, BSN ’81, November 4, 2006
Robert T. Petruska, MEd Administration ’91, September 18, 2006
James D. Taylor, MPA ’85, May 11, 2005
Maude Adams White, MEd Elementary Education ’75, September 22, 2006