Class Notes Archives
July/August 2009 |
January 2005 Hello everyone! Happy New Year! Now that 2005 has begun, it is definitely time to start planning your trip back to MIT for our 10 th reunion. I hope to match faces with names during that weekend! Some news from our super reunion leaders: From Jahnavi Swamy, reunion chair: Only six short months until we meet at MIT for our reunion on June 2-5! The reunion committee has recently finalized the events and registration materials will be in the mail shortly. Please make sure that you have updated your information online at alum.mit.edu/index.html so you don't miss any important reunion information. If you can't wait for your reunion information by snail mail, you can access detailed information about reunion events and accommodations 24 hours a day by visiting alum.mit.edu/ne/reunions/class-pages/1995/index.html, the MIT Alumni Association reunion website. You can see the preliminary schedule of events and even check out the hotel accommodation information, prices, codes, and phone numbers are all available through the site. Hotels sell out quickly, so make your reservations soon! (Dormitory rooms will also be available for those who want to relive the true MIT experience.) Be sure to check your email for notices about pre-reunion events in your area! It's a great chance to reconnect with classmates that live nearby before we all meet in Cambridge! If you don't get info about an event, feel free to host one; contact us for more details. Are you interested in encouraging our classmates to attend the reunion? If so, contact Jahnavi at jahnavi@alum.mit.edu. She is looking for volunteers to call a handful of people to encourage them to join us at MIT in June! From Colin Page and Diane Hodges Popps, reunion class gift cochairs: Please get involved in the 10th reunion class gift today (every donation to MIT during this fiscal year is counted towards the class gift). So please make your gift to one or more of the following today: Class of '95 UROP fund: supporting unique undergraduate research projects; Lizette Arce-Doshi Scholarshi: providing financial aid for female undergraduate leaders; Any of the many other MIT funds, departments, organizations or activities. You can make your gift online at: web.mit.edu/giving/reunions/ to any group you choose, for any amount you choose. The class gift committee can always use more people willing to ask their friends and classmates to help with the campaign. Please volunteer to help the class gift committee by e-mailing colinp@alum.mit.edu or dianeh@alum.mit.edu . Now, on to the notes: Dave Roberts is currently working at Continuum Photonics in Billerica , MA . He and his wife, Heather, had their first child, Taylor Alexandra, in June 2003. Beth Siers is still happily working at MIT in the Libraries. She is even happier these days as she's met the man of her dreams. Paul Brennan is originally from England , and he took her there this summer to meet all his family and friends. It was Beth's first trip overseas, and she reports that they had an absolutely amazing time. After seeing all the change of life status updates from all her classmates, Erika Schutte would like to say she also took the plunge... and got herself a pet hamster (hamrat). His name is Pinky due to his fuchsia eyes and the fact that he is not "the Brain." She also offers advice for all the new parents who will soon be small pet owners: chapstick is a wonderful, non-toxic lube for squeaky hamster wheels. Lydia Chan is now Lydia Timpson as she married Mark Timpson three years ago. She has been living in London for the last seven years, and is now working at Lehman Brothers trading financial derivatives. Josh Abrams just moved to sunny Scarborough , England (yes, home to the fair of which Simon and Garfunkel sang). As of September 1, he and his partner, Jennifer, have begun new posts as lecturers (assistant professors in the states) in the department of theatre and performance studies at the University of Hull , Scarborough School of Arts, which is in a beautiful resort town on the North Sea . Josh is still completing his PhD at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York and hopes to defend his dissertation there next spring. If anyone's in the area, look him up! In a previous issue of the Class Notes, the pictures of Raj Sodhi were incorrectly captioned. The picture labeled "before the first haircut" should have actually read, "after the first haircut." My apologies, Raj! He reports that he has since had his second haircut, which was much shorter, and is now due for his third, according to his wife. Maybe you can be the first to spot Raj with his new 'do at the reunion! :) Jennifer Glos is happy to share the date of her television broadcast premiere. Her half hour documentary, **War on their Minds: Voices of American Kid** aired on Showtime on November 1 at 8:00pm (ET/PT) as part of a compilation of films on war. It was also shown on Showtime on its own through the month of November. Jennifer is currently living in LA with her husband, Manish Tuteja '93, and is finishing her MFA at UCLA Film School . Judy Gagnon recently accepted a new position at Caterpillar's corporate office in Peoria, IL. She will serve as Caterpillar's hazardous materials engineer, overseeing proper shipment of materials worldwide. Judy is also enjoying her time with her five "kids:" two ferrets (Cuda and Ollie), two exotic parrots (Darwin and Kalu), and one iguana (Oz). Congrats to Shalini Verma and Rohit Gupta who are expecting their first child in March (and are very excited!). Shalini is continuing to manage North American operations for Sun Microsystem's remanufacturing business and has also taken on the role of vice-president of the Asian Diversity Council at Sun. She will be moving on from executive director to board of advisor for Indus women leaders shortly to focus on her new role! ;) Rohit is enjoying his position as an attending and professor at the University of Chicago in emergency medicine. He is working on various research initiatives in informatics, and is busy pulling together a book on emergency medicine boards. Congratulations to Agnieszka Reiss Vestal, her husband, Steve, and daughter, Gwen, who welcomed baby Dane Thomas Vestal on July 15, 2004 . Masahiko Nagamiya moved back to Japan in April and is now working at Behr Japan , a global supplier of automotive thermal components. He and his wife are happily settled down in Tokyo now. Thanks for submitting your notes, everyone. Keep them coming! I do look forward to receiving your most up-to-date information in person June 2-5 in Cambridge ! --Ranjini Srikantiah, 92 Westwood Blvd , Westwood , NJ 07675 , ranjini@alum.mit.edu. |