chemistry icon NEUTRON NEWS 2012 chemistry icon

(Updated 02/02/2012)

DELIVERED BY THE ELECTRON EXPRESS           PUBLISHED BY THE PROTON PRESS

molemolemolemolemolemolemolemolemolemolemolemolemolemolemole

chemistry icon Alumni News  chemistry icon

[Editor note:  If you don't like what I said about you...email me something better.  If I missed an update you sent to me, sorry.  Send it again.  The NN will be ever changing now that I have it on the web....so check often for updates.  My goal will be once a month -- near the first of the month.  Also to shorten the NN I will delete your info from the current NN if it is more than two years old...so to be included keep me updated.

Due to the email address changes and the spam robots, I have decided to remove Alumni emails from my NN.  If you want to contact an alumni, please email me at molesrus@yahoo.com  and I will let you know if I have an email address available.  This helps protect your account and makes my "retired" life easier.]

For fast access to the decade of your choice:  '70s   '80s   '90s   '00s   in our memories

The '70s

Scott Burns (74) -- retired in 2009 after 30 years of service to the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign as an engineering professor; has now returned to school and is an undergraduate senior in the College of Fine and Applied Arts specializing in ceramic sculpture; has been exhibiting math-based artwork for 21 years Note: I have a piece of his artwork hanging in my home - very nice!!); married with three kids, oldest is grad student in library science, middle is with the Peace Corp in Kenya, youngest is junior undergrad at U of I, wife is head K/1 teacher at University Primary School (one of U of I's laboratory schools); interests include mechatronics as an artform and enjoying nature.  PICS  [10/23/11]

Barb (Armaroli) Butler (74) -- full-time mom and part-time free lance writer '10; married; kids: Adam '93 and Greg '94; worked for Argonne, U of C Med center and Arthur Andersen; grad from Drake in journalism and biochem '78.  [06/14/10]

Pam (Wetterauer) Dunne (74) -- a stay-at-home mom and member of the "sandwich generation."; kids: Andy '94 and Brian '91; married: to ??; worked at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital in microbiology, virology and immunology; worked at Rush U Medical Center in hematology and microbiology; grad Knox College and Rush University '79 with BAs in Chemistry and Medical Technology.  [01/13/12]

Tony Wesley (74) -- enjoying retirement and watching his daughter grow up; Chief Financial Officer of Diversapack LLC in New York; planning on selling his 31 acre farm in PA and moving to Cleveland '10 to retire and have better school choices for Cate; kids: adopted Cate in '06 and started being a dad at age 49!!!; been with his partner, Al (an attorney) since '86; lived in Cleveland for 15 years (founded an accounting firm and did lots and lots of volunteer work with arts and ecumenical organizations); spent 7 years in a monastery; spent a study year in France; grad Notre Dame '79.  [01/18/12]

Cyndi (Brown) Cuppernell (75) -- using her nursing experience on the hospital’s EMR (electronic medical record) team - her hospital was the 11th in the nation to reach HIMSS level 6, which means about the only thing they have left on paper are the consent forms - Level 7 is the highest and to get there they would need to have signature pads like you use to sign for a credit card; she also built the documentation setup for the neonatal intensive care physicians to work with the EMR system and now is a national consultant for that software; works at Carle Hospital in cardiovascular ICU and does recoveries for heart surgeries and teaches Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS); grandkids: Tyler and Alexis; kids: Rebecca '86 and Victoria '90; married: Tom '83; grad Parkland College '93 in nursing; grad UIUC '84 in home ec.  PICS  [07/24/10]

Paul Pomes (75) -- working on a kitchen re-modeling job that included a new furnance and revamp of electrical and computer wiring '12; doing relief work as an independent contractor under the DBA Furry Friends Veterinary Service; having his DVM means a lot of 12-hour days and constant learning; living in San Diego; spent some time in OR to learn about Llama care - wants to have a couple for pets!!!; gets to take lots of mini vacations due to Martha's work schedule including Hawaii '11; retired from Qualcomm in CA; kids: Dylan '88 (joined the military), Alanna '91, Andrew, Ben, and Joshua; married: Martha (an engineer) of San Diego; travel: ski trip in Andorra '08; Dr of Veterinary Medicine '07; grad UIUC in CS '80.    PICS    [01/11/12]

Steve Carnes (76) --  working as a independent consultant for defense industry, robotics and biomedical; living in economic depressed Michigan, remodeling his house and working on his "bucket list" now that he crossed the 50 yr old mark; travel: Epcot, mammoth cave, Atlanta, Jimmy Buffet concert in WI, Oshkosh Fly-in, Loveland, CO,Berne Switzerland (complete with hiking in the Alps), France, Germany, Netherlands, Vegas, PA-NJ-VT-ME; ,kids: Andrew '88, DJ '91 and Kelli '94: married: Cindi '04; MSEE from UC San Diego '96; worked in Japan (90-93); MME from NU '90; MBA from Kellogg '89; BSChE from NU '84.   PICS   [12/25/11]

Tom Hoffman (76) -- living in VA and working for Cisco '10 and "runs the software release process and tools teams for one of the Cisco router operating systems (IOS-XR)"; worked for 3 different startup companies, as a defense contractor and for Shell; kids: two daughters '90 and '85; married: Robin; grad SIU-Carbondale in Physics/Math/CS '81.  [01/11/12]

Gary Murakami (76) -- working for Skarven Enterprises, LLC as a computer R&D engineer; very active in their local church and youth ministry "Young Life"; married '97 to Linnea; living in NJ; worked for AT&T Labs as a programmer for 22 years (www.nobell.org); PhD UIUC '91; MS from USC in comp science '81; grad in comp science/bio Northwestern '80.  PICS  [12/25/10]

Marcia (Lacy) Dettloff (77) -- enjoying being an empty nester and doing remodeling projects at the house; Doctor of Optometry since '85 and has had her own office since '87 and has a new building '08; kids:Scott '83, Holly '86, Michelle '90; married: Wayne '80 who is working for Rambus; very busy with family vacations to Costa Rica, Yucatan, Alaska, CA, Bahamas, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Canada, Galapagos/Ecuador (actually ate guinea pig (says it tastes like chicken)) .   PICS   [01/11/12]

John Kall (77) -- working in private practice at Alexian Brotheres Medical Center in Elk Grove Village '10; specialty is cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmia management-characterized several specific arrhythmias and developed several tools to facilitate the ablation (elimination with intravascular radiofrequency cautery or surgical excision) of several types of cardiac arrhythmias; worked as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago; kids: daughter '05 and Joey '03; races a Porsche 996 for fun and restores old cars(detomaso pantera 1972); grad Loyola University Chicago Cardiology and Cardiac Electrophysiology '92; grad Mayo Clinic Internal Medicine '88; medical school '84; Loyola University Chicago undergrad in chemistry '81.  PICS  [12/25/10]

Bill White (77) -- elected to the District 99 school board; he has finished writing his first Sci-fi book "On a Higher Hill" about the Mormons colonizing Mars and is working on his next book; doing some sailing and playing chess online; law practice in DG; married: Karen '90; kids: Kelsey '93 and Kyle '00; Law degree from Loyola; grad U of C '81.  [01/31/10]

Joe Bularzik (78) -- leaving Abu Dhabi University and starting a new job at the largest university in UAE, Higher Colleges of Technology and will become the Dean of Applied Arts and Science. It will have divisions of Applied Health, Science, Communications and Education. The university has 14 campuses in 7 cities (lots of travel required) and most of the campuses are gender segregated; Joe says "The students still enjoy blowing up alcohol in a carboloy, throwing alkali metals in water, making balloon orbitals and especially doing the 'Mike Mayfield dance of the Orbitals' while I try to make my body into s, p, d and especially the dreaded f"; moved to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates '09 and set up a science department at Abu Dhabi University; taught at Purdue extension, Notre Dame, Arizona and in Pennsylvania; worked for Inland Steel several years; married: Lenny; kids: Kristin '88 (living in Boston '11) and Nicholas '84(serving in Afganistan '11); visited Amman Jordan and then Jeruselam and Bethlehem in Palestine - were in the Church of the Nativity for Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve '10; visited China and Japan in '94; PhD from Berkley in chem.  [01/17/11]

Raju Chandra (78) -- VP, Marketing and Sales for Tecom Industries Inc.; worked as marketing product manager for EDO Reconnaissance and Surveillance Systems; kids: daughter Roopa '98, son Neeraj ''92, son Nishant '89 ; married: Seema '85; lives in LA area; grad '83 from UIUC in MSEE; grad '81 from UIC in BSEE.  [01/11/12]

Sam Meyer (78) -- living in San Francisco; started his own company, Sourdough Painting, in San Fran, CA (contractor/painting houses); playing lots of golf (played golf with a couple of guys who were working out at Lawrence Livermore Labs, demolishing the bevatron machine, that they said had been used to discover several elements- Berkelium, Lawrencium, Californium); went to Prague and Berlin in '03, Budapest '99 and '03, Ireland, England, and France in '01; grad with MS from UC Davis in community development '96; volunteered with Native Americans in CA in the early '90s.   [06/14/10] 

Keith Rose (78) -- had major water damage to his basement (in Woodridge) from the IKE rains in '08 - impromptu renovation project!!!; took a two week trip to Alaska '03 - saw whales, fished/caught salmon, loved Denali; builds high performance computer systems for fun; working for CITGO Petroleum Corp. in Cicero, IL since ’87; presently responsible for all of R&D (fluids), Technical Service (fluids), and In-Service Oil Monitoring (Stationary Gas Engine and Heavy Duty Engine) -manages 3 laboratories all at this location.; still plays some chess; coaches youth football and assists at wrestling in spare time; kids: Jennifer '89 (DGS '06), Eric '91 (DGS '09), Matthew '95 (DGS '13); married: Sandy Duffin '87 (DGS '77); worked for Amoco; grad Cornell college.   [10/23/11]

Pam (Marrs) Simon (78) - working part-time as youth minister at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Westmont and being a full-time mom (So far, main goal of keeping youth ministry and pharmacy completely separate is a success!); kids: Stacia Marie ’90, Christopher Aaron ’93 and Hannah Ruth ’00; married Matt Simon ’86; PharmD ’86 UIC.  [07/18/11]

Dave Dallemolle (79) -- getting to help his kids with chemistry at home - oh, those moles never go away; went back to DGS for a swim meet to watch his daughter and realized he hadn't been there for 20 yrs!!!; vacationed (bike trip to Utah &CO, TX, KS, Las Vegas and Grand Canyon '08) & (Badlands, Black Hills, Yellowstone, and Grand Tetons '06); enjoying biking and bought his 4th bike in 5 yrs - a cyclocross; still with BP, but has moved into a role in Business Development in the Pipelines Business. Quite interesting change after 18 years in chemicals technology, operations, and commercial roles; was the Product Manager for the North American Styrene Business (Moving moles of styrene around the country as cheaply as possible) - he encourages everyone to buy more cars, computers, and plastic toys; works with Corey Correnti '80; married: CC; kids: Bryan '93 and Marie Elise '95; grad U of Texas for Masters and PhD; grad UIUC in Chem Eng.   PICS   [01/11/12]

Darrilyn (Albright) Fraser (79) -- living near Athens, Georgia since ‘03; director of two Master Seed Labs in Bio R&D for Merial, the Animal Health Division of Sanofi; happy to work in science again, but struggles with the corporate mindset; still dancing (tap, modern) and enjoys performing; member of start-up tap group “Tapped Out”; enjoys her property where she has a pony and grows pecans (I get fresh pecans from her every Christmas - YUM); loves helping neighbors who produce pigs for 4-H; travel: Accra, Ghana '08; '99-03 postdoc/non-tenure track faculty at Washington State Univ working on equine virus similar to human AIDS; spent yr in Eng '94; '90-93worked at Smithsonian Institute NMNH on bird genetics; PhD '98 and MS '89 from U of Kentucky.    PICS   [01/13/12]

Rob Plotke (79) -- still living the "retired" lifestyle in Chicago (until he finds something better!); enjoys adventure travel, hiking/climbing, sailing and volunteering; travel highlights include: Barbados, Brazil, Banff, Moab, Las Vegas, WI, MN, ND, SD, WY, UT, IN, KY, TN & ME; ran his first triathalon and his first dogsledding trip '11; climbed some volcanoes in Ecuador; mountaineering: several above 20,000' incl. Aconcagua '98, Everest '02, Mt. McKinley (Denali) '07; climbed the tallest mount in Europe (Mt. Elbrus in Russia) in July '03; climbed Mt. Everest in May '02; extensive travel-ALL seven continents; sailing: US, Asia, Australia; ran the Chicago Marathon '05; worked 18 yrs at Accenture ('85-'03) including London ('88) and Asia ('89-97); grad UIUC '85 with MS in engineering; grad UIUC '83 with BS in engineering. and '85.  [01/11/12]

Mary (Plotkowski) Skibinski (79) -- graduated from nursing school '06 with her RN and working at Mercy Hospital in Aurora; worked for Lucent; enjoys yoga, ballroom dancing, piano and gardening; kids: Kimberly '90 and Caroline '94; grad North Central in CS '83. [02/03/11]

Chris Troscinski (79) - a dentist (since '88) in the Seven Bridges Complex in Woodridge (since '03); says "life and career good even though I am turning 50!!!"; married: Diane Foster (DGS grad); kids: Christine '94 and Steven '90; dental residency at Evanston Hospital / Northwestern; grad UIC with DDS '87 and UIUC with BS in biology '83.  [07/19/11]

Vince Versaci (79) -- dentist in Western Springs since '89; married '85 to a nurse (Jean) at Good Sam; kids-Vince Jr '87, Mary Beth '90, Joseph '93, Theresa '95 and ???;D.D.S from UIC '87; BS in bio from UIUC '83.  PICS  [12/25/11]

Sara (Bush) White (79) --  lives in Charleston, SC and is working at Wal-Mart pharmacy part-time (has worked for Rite-Aid and Eckards); I surprised Sara by dropping into her work when we visited SC in Nov '06; married: Roy '86 who works for MBT International (Musiccorp); Roy travels in the US extensively and the family took vacations to CO, KY, Las Vegas, UT, WI, FL and NC; kids: Daniel '90 and Andrew '94; grad from Purdue in pharmacy '84.   PICS    [12/25/11]

The '80s

Roy Goodman (80) -- says that "Avogadro appears as a character in the latest "Professor Layton" game for Nintendo hand-held devices"; working for Axioma in NYC; living in Greenwich Village; worked for Instinet and Digital; kids: Rose '00 and Isabelle '98 - have worked on Kodak commercials, the Maury show and in local plays; married: Catherine Alise Boursier is an actress (has roles in computer games, commercials, Shakespeare plays); grad from Grinnell '84. PICS   [12/25/10]

Dave Heidler (80) -- currently a Wired Equipment Product Engineer with AT&T/Lucent/Alcatel (started in '84 and worked in IL and MA) as an interface between design and manufacturing locations, reviewing the equipment drawings and loading them into the database and working with vendors and manufacturing locations to produce the products; kids: Charlene '91, Kyle '96 & twins Emily and Mitchell '98; married: Brenda; grad Texas Tech '90 - MS Industrial Engineering; grad UIUC '84 - BS in Chemistry.  [02/01/12]

Amy Person (80) -- living in Washington and helping care for her parents; worked as a pediatrician in Milwaukee.  [12/25/10]

Sandy (Hoffman) Richard (80) -- living in Louisville, Colorado and a stay-at-home mom for her 4 boys plus being a nanny for two other young ones; finished six years of working with cadets in the Civil Air Patrol; her favorite things:backpacking and theological studies; kids: 4 boys ('88,'89,'91,'93); married: Jim (met him at U of Wyoming and followed him to Omaha where he attended Creighton Medical School while she worked in molecular biology research at Eppley Cancer Ctr.; grad University of Wyoming '84 with a BS in Biochemistry.  [01/13/12]

Benita Walker (80) -- employed as a full-time volunteer and part-time teacher; spent some time in GA with her brother Jerry but doesn't like the heat of the south - enjoys Wisconsin; learning Spanish and using her gym and love of walking to stay in shape; coordinates mental health workshops for the Wisconsin National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. and volunteers with several organizations - especially Big Brother/Big Sister - there is great need for mentors and is a very rewarding experience; walked multiple marathons: Durango, Colorado '03, Columbus, OH '04 and GA; married: Joe Senulis '89 (works for the DNR and Red Cross), no kids but one very fat cat and a new kitten; Masters in Social Work '99 and BS in Political Science and Environmental Studies '89 from University of Wisconsin-Madison.  [01/12/11]

Reg Williams (80) -- joined a clinical practice called Graystone Ophthalmology (10 docs) in Hickory, North Carolina '96; kids: Chris '87 (grad Notre Dame and attending Law School), Tommy '90 (at Wake Forest), David '92 (at USC in Columbia, SC) and Eric '96 (in HS); married: Charlotte '85 - a professor and dean at Lenoir-Rhyne University; did his retina fellowship at the University of Nebraska - Omaha; for fun: into bicycling and inline hockey - has a passion for performance driving, and likes to take hot laps up at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) and down at Road Atlanta - most recently, has gotten together with a bunch of other eye docs to form a Classic Rock Band called "20/20"(played for a crowd of thousands - not a mole yet- at the Hickory, NC Octoberfest); did his ophthalmology residency at the University of Kansas, and became intrigued with the retina; grad UIC Medical School and did quite a bit of Biochemistry research (including protein sequencing of an enzyme called Aldose Reductase, which plays a role in diabetic complications.) - the research had many applications in Ophthalmology, and eventually he got the eye-bug; did marine bio research involving cold-water fish that produce peptide and glycoprotein antifreeze) got fascinated with Medicine; grad UIUC in biology '84.  PICS  [10/23/11]

Asif Yusuf (80) -- living and working in Oak Brook; ran for Village President '07.  [12/25/11]

Tom Dusek (81) -- still working for Com Ed [ Unicom,Exelon what ever the latest name is] as a nuclear reactor operator since '88; enjoys traveling ,mostly to asia; served in the Navy on a missle cruiser.  [01/11/12]

Jon Grussing (81) -- recently enjoyed a 25th College reunion and received a nice fountain pen to mark 25 years at Credit Suisse; relearning chemistry as his daughter quizzes him on the periodic table; visited a possible new school with one of his daughters and was in heaven in the science lab complete with Erlenmeyer flasks, burettes and Bunsen burners. "Those were the days!!"; did a fun 120 mile bike ride called the Dunwich Dynamo '07 -- from London to a coastal village on the Saturday with the fullest moon in July in pouring down rain; working in London for Credit Suisse First Boston Bank; Easter '04 flew around the world with all four kids and his wife - made stops in LA, Auckland, Christchurch NZ and Sydney-(Tim Danielson, a DGS 81, lives in Melbourne and he flew over to join us for a day)-great trip-saw every movie more than once; kids: four of them; married: Kathleen '91; grad Dartmouth '85 in Econ.  [12/25/10]

Tasso Kaper (81) -- keeping in shape playing soccer (played on Mole Day '11 and tried to score a mole of goals) - wears #25 for Mike Lowell of the Red Sox - thinks that makes him "younger" (part of his denial about turning 47!!!); coaches youth soccer teams year-round; still working with his dad (now 75) on math models for chemical reactions in a joint effort with Argonne chemists; prof and department chair at Boston U.; married: Antonella Cucchetti `93; kids: Julia '02 & Marco '99; grad Caltech with PhD '92; grad U of C '86 in math. [01/26/12]

 Linnea Meyer (81) -- practicing family medicine at Arlington Family Practice, a small private practice outside of Boston; she states "Life in medicine continues to be riddled with change - it is not enough to keep up with ever-changing medical information as the landscape in which we practice seems to be in constant flux as well. The hospital group in which I practice was just chosen as one of 32 organizations in the country to pilot the new model for Medicare called Accountable Care Organizations."; practices Chinese Martial Arts regularly since '87; interested in acupuncture and Chinese Medicine as well; grad from Lawrence Family Practice Residency '02 - at the ripe age of 39!; grad UMass Medical School.  [01/10/12]

Diane Tarkowski (81) -- currently working for DePaul Univ researching new technologies and teaching faculty, staff and students how to use them -- does the system administration for iTunes U as well -- doing software licensing also -- and was the manager of the ID Card Services offices as well as the software consultant; worked at Computer City as a sales clerk on the floor and educational sales; worked in immunology/virology (Rush Presbyterian); worked for Amoco in inorganic and organic chemistry and liked to do long-term research, but not quality control; got an MBA and did new product research and then marketing communications (all still for Amoco Chemical); worked for a software firm doing marketing and really early web site design '95, but they went bust; grad University of Chicago (BS in Chemistry) and Benedictine College (MBA.   [01/31/10]

Chris White (81) -- chair of the Physics department at IIT in Chicago; on sabbatical at Berkeley '07-'08; a project manager on the Daya Bay Anti Neutrino Experiment be built at the Daya Bay Nuclear Facility in Shen Zhen, China (near Hong Kong); Asociate Professor of Physics at the Illinois Institute of Technology and will become the chair of IIT's University Faculty Council 01/08; has a State of Illinois grant to set up a program to re-train science teachers; worked on the MENOS project shooting neutrinos at Minnesota; voted "Teacher of the Year" at IIT '03; works at Fermi in particle physics; spoke to my classes in fall '00; married: Kathleen '89; kids: Kimberly '95, David '99 and Brendan '02; spent summer '93 in Japan; post-doc in Columbus; PhD in particle phys '90 from U of Minn; grad UIUC in physic eng '85.  PICS   [02/02/12]

Scott Bush (82) -- working for Motorola in Champaign, IL as a software developer for cell phones; traveled to China in ’03 and turned on the TV in Beijing and saw an interview with Mary McDowell (also ’82 alum) who had been in Hong Kong the week earlier and had taped the interview for CNBC-Asia. You just never know where you will see Chem alumni; two kids Jessica ‘92 and Trevor ’95; married to Karen (a UCC campus minister) in ’89; grad UIUC.  [06/14/10]

Samantha Chan (82) -- living in the Chicago area (just a few blocks from Judith Tzeng '83)  and working for Abbott Labs; worked for Pfizer in Groton, CT; kid: Haley '98; married: to ?? (also a chemist); grad UIUC ?? MS in Chem; grad Uof C '86 with BS in Chem.  [01/13/12]

Ken Kus (82) -- working in USFilter, HPD Products, a division of Veolia Environment - VE; in charge of the engineering group at HPD in Plainfield, IL -been working there since '86; working on development of a potash facility in Brazil that makes 1.2 million tons of KCl per yr - a $200 million company project; family trips: Italy and cruised the Med(Italy, Sicily, Turkey, Greece), Caribbean cruise, St. Louis, and Ohio: been doing lots of international work and been traveling the globe overseeing the project managers; recently went to Brazil, Australia, Eastern Europe(toured Auschwitz), Qatar, Egypt, Dubai, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Zhongshan, China, Beijing, Shanghai, Paris, Kuala Lumpur, Sao Paulo, Rio De Janeiro, Santiago, London, Manchester, Jordan, Israel and Tokyo (lots of frequent flyer miles!!!). Had the chance to see the Bridge over the river Kwai in Thailand, rode a train on the death railway near the Burma/Thai border (WW II), hiked the Great Wall of China, saw a concert in the Sydney Opera House, swam in the Dead Sea, walked in the steps of Jesus and went to Tiananmen Square. (Claims he did a lot of work during these trips too!!); kids: Aaron ’00, Bradley ’97; Married: Ellen ’90; grad UIUC in Chem Eng ’86.   PICS   [12/25/11]

Dennis Marr (82) -- from Dennis "Still here in California. But now I'm Senior Director of R&D at Thoratec Corporation. I joined Thoratec in January of this year, and I head up R&D on the west coast for the company and have R&D groups in 2 locations: one in Sacramento and one in Pleasanton (near San Francisco). I spend 4 days/week at Thoratec headquarters in Pleasanton and 1 day/week in my office in Sacramento. Pamela started our real estate investment and property management companies (First Line Solutions, Inc. and First Line Solutions, LLC) in 2007, and she is doing this full time. We own several rental and investment properties in Sacramento. I have merged my own product development company First Line Ventures, Inc. with a new California product development company named DHT Ventures, LLC that I started earlier this year with 2 other partners. New product HomeStar Pocket Personal GPS"; married: Pamela '05; travel: Mediterranean cruise '11, Mexican Riviera cruise '10, Hawaii '08, Las Vegas '08, China '86; grad PhD U of Wisc-Madison '93; grad UIUC in chem engineering '86.  PICS    [12/25/11]

Mary McDowell (82) -- working for Nokia running the mobile phones business (feature phones), which has a strong emerging markets focus; she says "there are sites are all over the place so I continue to fill up my passport. It's fun to work on this end of the business for a change and see how even very low cost devices can have a huge impact on people's lives."; gave the graduation address to the U of I College of Engineering '10; worked for Compaq/HP in Houston, TX for 17 years and still trying to fight off the southern accent; married: Kevin-an art dealer, representing fine art photographers; emailed me from Singapore for Mole Day '07 - moles are EVERYWHERE; traveled to Helsinki, Lisbon, Stockholm and Singapore '07; grad from UIUC in CS '86.   PICS    [12/25/11]

Ellen (Whowell) McKirdy (82) -- a stay-at-home mom and living in Madison, WI; worked at Dickson Mounds Museum in Havana, IL; worked as a retirement plans analyst in the corporate world; kids: Ryan '99 and Ethan '03; married: Stuart; graduate school in archaeology at SMU in Dallas; BS in math and anthropology from UICU '86.  [04/12/11]

Maria Person (82) -- continues to work as the director at the College of Pharmacy, U of Tex. in Austin on proteomics and small biomolecule analyses in the mass spectrometry core; busy with the kids (choir and math/science projects); visited India and saw the Taj Mahal in Agra and the place where Vishy was born in Varanasi, where she stepped in a cow patty which is supposed to bring good luck!!!; involved in local middle school, politics, and book clubs; kids: Anita '99 & Maya '97 & dog Henry; married: Vishy '95; PhD from U of C in PChem '91; grad from Carleton in Chem '86.  [12/25/10]

John Svoboda (82) -- owns a trucking firm that connects suppliers with clients; served as Director of Information Services for Compass Consolidators in Lemont '01-'07 - managed all the computers and phones; married: Donna '91; kids: Joe '85, Brittany '96, and JJ '98.   [01/11/12]

Joe Wang (82) -- gastroenterologist in Jefferson City, MO; part of a thriving 4 doc GI group within a 70 physician multispecialty medical group.  Always looking to add more good doctors.  Keeps busy with various kid activities including Boy Scouts and cub scouts, Awanas (church bible verse group), chess, orchestra, swim team (Joe became a YMCA swim official '09), Chinese and piano lessons when time permits; kids: David '99, Michael '00, and Ella '02 ; grad med school at Washington U-gastroenterology; grad Northwestern   [10/23/11]

Dave Applegate (83) -- trip to Wyoming '08; trip to Nashville '06; had recent trips to Peru, Poland and Japan; started Tai Chi '01 and attended a U2 concert (somehow those seem in conflict); has a new bike and cycles A LOT (biked British Isle '00 and Cabo San Lucas '01); works at an aerospace company managing a group of engineers and technicians who test components for helicopters, airplanes, and rockets; grad Penn State '92 and UIUC '89 in ceramic eng.   PICS   [10/23/11]

Linda (Hu) Chan (83) -- made a move to Sacramento, CA when husband Tim became Senior Pastor of the Chinese Grace Bible Church (so far the family is adjusting well moving from the East Coast (MD) to the West Coast (CA) '11; very involved in her church - runs a Bible Club, composes songs, sings in a Chinese worship band at her church - this, on top of being wife and mother, but she enjoys it, and it's socially and spiritually fulfilling - and teaches church school kids in English; married: Tim a senior minister at a Chinese church in CA; kids: Wesley, Stephanie, Esther; worked for Pepsi for 11 yrs as analytical chemist; grad UIUC '87 chem major.   PICS   [12/25/11]

Braden Smith (83) -- working for UOP since '87 in Des Plaines as a process control chemical engineer starting up refineries and chemical plants - traveled to Malaysia, China, Korea, Japan, Texas, Kansas, England, Netherlands, Portugal, Turkey, Isreal (for pleasure) and even Joliet, IL!!!; kids: Lauren '99 and Rachel '96; married: Kathy Griesheim (DGS grad); grad UMASS in chem eng '87.  [01/13/12]

Chuck Walle (83) -- second year volunteering at Good Sam in Downers Grove '10; working in the Education Department using his computer and analytical skills; has worked for a number of the big name companies (IBM, Sears, Discover Card, USG, Bank of America, CVS CareMark) as well as a number of local and obscure places and after 19 years of corporate IT, changing careers to nursing - currently enrolled at COD and formerly accepted into the program; living in Woodridge; Rush AND '15; COD Nursing '12; grad NIU in computer science '89.  [06/14/10]

Helena (Kim) Wang (83) -- pathologist with Boyce &Bynum Pathology for the past 13 years, a single specialty group in Jefferson City, MO; busy being a mom with basketball, karate and cub scouts; finds time for herself for fencing, Zumba and travel (CA, Vail, Disney, Italy or Korea '10 and PARIS); kids: David '99 and Michael '00 (both love chess); grad med school at Washington U-Pathology; grad Northwestern.   PICS   [12/25/11]

Sue (Farrands) Weiger (83) -- a part-time faculty for George Williams University (Lake Geneva Campus) teaching technology and is working on her masters in Linguistics - intrigued by the language of technology; works with Elderhostels and says I am just the right age (55+) to join in the fun (just a polite way of calling me OLD); has lived in Baltimore, Washington, New York, Chicago; is married to a Coast Guard husband Andreas; kids - son Chris '90 (attending Marquette) and daughter Hannah '92 (AFS in Paraguay '08-09); grad Syracuse University in Public Relations/Logic '86. [10/23/11]

Robert Zitko (83) -- made partner in ’00 at Kirkland & Ellis, one of Chicago's top law firms, and practices in the employee benefits law area; lives in Lake Forest; kids: daughter '06, Chris ’01 and Bradley ’98 (the boys are playing chess and doing great thanks to dad's coaching); married: Christine; grad UIUC law school; grad UIUC in accounting ’88.  [06/14/10]

Ed Cryer (84) -- working as an Engineering Manager for Electro-Motive Diesels developing locomotives in Homer Glen, IL; kids: kid#1, kid#2 and kid#3; married; grad Northwestern with a MBA '00; grad ??? in ???; grad Kettering '89.   [05/04/10]

Soo See Lee (84) -- living in New York city; has opened her own business providing Medical education services for healthcare providers and organized healthcare conferences; worked in the Pharmaceutical industry at Bayer Pharmaceuticals and then Bristol Myers Squibb as a Medical Director; was a Associate Professor of Pharmacy in St. Louis and taught at a Veterans Administration Hospital and became a Certified Diabetes Educator(CDE); did ambulatory care residency in Madison, Wisconsin; grad or UIUC with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree (PHarmD).  [10/23/11]

Julie (Snively) Little (84) -- a stay at home mom and has taken up walking in a serious way - mini-marathons for charity; worked as a contractor doing HR work for the Department of Homeland Security in Indy; still selling Longaberger baskets; started a year-round 13U youth travel baseball team with her husband John '07; trips: Savannah, GA '10, cruise '07 to the Mexican Riviera - Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta, China '01 - saw the Great Wall, Tiannnmen Square, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Beijing; worked for Resort Condos International in Indianapolis; kids: Jacie Lin '01, Jeremy '94 (hopes to attend Westpoint or the Air Force Academy and Julie is helping him get in physical shape!); married: John Little '91; MBA from Indiana U '95; grad UIUC '88.   PICS  [03/08/11]

Nancy Person (84) -- has adapted well to independent living in her condo in Bay Area (CA), with a little help from her friends and family; recovering from severe brain trauma, paraplegia, stage IV bedsores and surgeries; will have extensive rehab and she has recovered mentally and is making improvements in adapting to life in a wheelchair; she has lost her job and a failed insurance system has her nearly bankrupt '08; injured in a serious car accident July '07; grad UIUC '88.    [12/25/10]

Greg Rasp (84) -- a doctor of Radiation Oncology in Dayton, OH with special training in intraoperative radiation therapy, low-dose and high-dose rate brachytherapy, prostate brachytherapy, 3-D conformal radiotherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery/gamma knife, and intensity-modulated radiation therapy; his hospital is building a proton accelerator/cyclotron for cancer patients;.enjoys spending time at Lake Norman in NC during the summer; kids: Kallie '95, Jordan '96 and Kyle '99; married: Sandy '89; residency in Radiation Oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota; internship at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, Illinois; Med school grad UIUC '92; grad UIUC '88.  [06/14/10]

Linda Winke (84) -- Nurse Practitioner for the Cardiology Department at Evanston Hosp; part of a group of 5 NPs who rotate weekly through several different roles - doing inpatient Cardiology Consults at Evanston and Glenbrook Hospitals with Clinical Cardiologists, collaborating with Interventional Cardiologists by doing outpatient history and physicals and caring for inpatients after Cardiac Cath Lab procedures, and also working with outpatients in the Heart Failure Clinics in Skokie and Glenview; volunteer docent for the Chicago Architecture Foundation; certified to give several walking tours: Historic Skyscrapers, Modern Skyscrapers (both downtown), and neighborhood tours of Uptown, Edgewater, and Lakewood-Balmoral; trips to Seattle. Great Superior Hiking Trail in northern MN, Japan, Chile, London, Paris, Newport, RI, bike trip in SW Utah near Bryce and Zion Canyons, San Francisco/Silicon Valley and SW Arizona and Joshua Tree National Park; married '90 to Ken, a Certified Orthotist, at The Rehab Institute of Chicago; Masters in Nursing at Rush '05; passed the Adult Nurse Practitioner Exam '06; IL certification as an Advanced Practice Nurse '06.  [09/16/11]

Heidi Applegate (85) -- back home in the DC area, till she returns to work in Jan '12, after a two month assignment in The Hauge and being assigned to Islamabad, Pakistan '09-'11 (trying to viist all the "P" countries); trips: Maldives and Sri Lanka '09, visited Mr. M in July '09, Wyoming '08, Nashville '06, Alaska '06 and met with Mike Dilger('85) to hike and see some grizzly bears, Peru '05 with her brother, stationed at the US Embassy in Warsaw, Poland '02-04-busy with gov't functions and travel-visited Germany and several cities in Poland, took a bike trip with her brother to Ireland, a cross-state bike ride in Wisconsin '01; I met with her and her brother for pierogis at a little polish restaurant in Chicago '04; she has raised thousands of $$$ for Leukemia Society since '01; ; PhD from Penn State '96; spent 87-90 in Europe; Fulbright winner; grad Michigan State U '89.   PICS   [12/25/11]

Kelly (Cross) Brask (85) -- visited our DG house '06; visited Chicago '05 and went sailing with us on a cold and windy evening; three kids; married: Michael, an engineer, '04 after getting engaged in Paris; working for a Christian Mission organization and living in Sweden; traveled across the Arctic Circle '01-got to see some Northern lights; did mission work in south pacific ‘94; grad UIUC '90.  [12/25/10]

Frank Karbarz (85) -- started CoreX Materials in '11 to manufacture performance materials using CO2 and industrial mineral wastes - loves the chemistry and sequestering CO2!; VP business development for four years @ EnviroFuels, a fuel catalyst and specialty chemical company; started his own company (TruGrid) in '02 (a utility computing company to deliver on-demand supercomputing; uses the principles of grid computing to sell supercomputing capacity like it is electricity); worked for Enron till the meltdown; Still racing my bicycle on the road and cyclocross too - rode his bike in the Race Across America over 2850 miles from San Diego to Savannah in 15 days during the summer of '98; playd Words With Friends (often against Mr. M); Climbed Col D'Izoard in France '00; kids: Matthew '06 & Rachel '11; married: '99; MBA from U of C '98; grad UIUC '89 in Ceramic Eng./Materials Science. [01/11/12]

Jerry Karlin (85) -- gave up the Chicago city life and moved to Glenview in the "burbs" '11; Jerry says "caught up with Paul Sternenberg when he was in town for some cadaver convention We had ribs for dinner ... which I don't know how he can eat after monkeying around with cadavers all day."; completed a year-long course in improvisational comedy at The Second City in Chicago '03; Director of Finance for the e-commerce division for United Airlines since '99; worked for American Airlines in Dallas for 5 yrs; kid: JP '11; married: Karen '10 - a guidance counselor at Glenbrook South; MBA from Cornell '93; grad UIUC '89.  [12/25/11]

Claus Raddatz (85) -- working for Chamberlain (garage door opener manufacture) managing the Mech Eng Dept for all residential GDO products; living in Bolingbrook; active in local church; worked for Eaton, Delphi and Hendrickson; lived in France, Germany, Michigan and IL; kids: Katja '97, Alex '99, Ryan '01 and Deidre '03; married: Jennifer '91(works for the Adventist Health System (inlcudes Hinsdale Hospital and the new hospital in Bolingbrook); Grad UIUC in mechanical eng '89.   PICS   [12/25/11]

Paul Sternenberg (85) -- living in Oregon and is an orthopedic surgeon-specializes in hand and upper extremity problems and passed his CAQ tests '05; helping coach chess at an elementary school and has taught both his kids to play; married to Darcie ('92); she is a nephrologist he met in med school who now stays home with the kids and studies digital photography (went to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico for a class); kids: daughter Leah '01 (loves reading and not science or math) and son Nathan '03 (loves "hoops" and football; took a trip to Sweden in '03; MD '93 from Washington U in St. Louis; BS from Wheaton Coll. '89 in Biochem.  PICS   [12/25/11]

Jeff Bulmahn (86) -- living in Salt Lake City and working for Goldman Sachs; worked for the Bank of America as a webmaster/developer in Austin; grad Penn State '97; grad UIUC '91 physics major.  [10/23/11]

Jim Park (86) -- living in CA and working as a corporate trainer, Project Management Consultant and PMP; also teaches at Stanford Univ and cPrime, Inc; kids: Ariana '01 and Annika '03; married: Mimi '96; grad U of CA, Berkeley.  [12/25/10]

Bill Fick (87) -- lawyer with the Federal Public Defender in Boston; started playing the oboe again after a 20-year break; spent much of the 1990s in Russia working to develop Internet access across the former USSR; kids: Alex '03 & Lydia '00; married: Olga; Law degree from Yale in '01; BA from Yale '92.  [01/11/12]

Kannan Manickam (87) -- living in Baltimore, MD '12; had a one year fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Female Urology; married: Amita; kids: Neha '07 and twin boys Neil and Nikhil '05; living in Valparaiso, IN; grad UIC med school in Urology; grad UIUC in Electrical Engineering '91. [01/11/12]

Mary (Kriz) O'Daniel (87) -- keeping very busy with the three young boys - so many activities (scouts and sports) and toys; an Architecture Strategy Engineer for GM in Detroit area; bought a hard-side camper for camping trips - Wisconsin and UP of Michigan '11, Utah '05; kids: Mark '07, Timothy '02; Patrick Joesph '00 has hydronephrosis (a kidney condition); married: Greg '96, he also works for GM doing engine calibration work for our future truck products; MS in Stats from Iowa State '98; MS from MIT '92; IIT grad in engineering '90.  PICS   [01/26/12]

Barb Pickett (87) -- currently taking classes (Anatomy and Physiology II) in the health field & completed Introduction to Physical Therapy for Physical Therapist Assistants; volunteering at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital in the Physical Therapy area for both Pediatrics and Adult Inpatient; worked as a CAD Technician at CBI (Chicago Bridge & Iron); active in the Chicago Regional Chapter of ASM, the Materials Information Society; sings in the choir at her church; walks and does Yoga for fitness. Computer-Aided Design Certificate '02; B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering '94 from Purdue University.  [01/13/12]

Rom Srinivasan (87) -- professional photographer living in San Francisco area; works for non-profits and has some amazing pictures on his website (click PICS for a link).  PICS  [01/21/12]

Nick Tilbrook (87) -- serving in the Navy and stationed in Hawaii; promoted to Submarine Commanding Officer '08 (CO is the peak of a submariner's career -- it means that Nick is in charge of a submarine - the USS Chicago.); he is the recipient of the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Navy Commendation Medal (4 awards) and Navy Achievement Medal (2 awards) in addition to several unit and campaign awards; kids: Reilly and Aleck; married: Erin; Master’s Degree in Engineering Administration from Virginia Tech in '00; grad UIUC '92 with BS in Electrical Engineering and physics.  PICS  [09/01/10]

Eric Weeks (87) -- won a teaching award May '06; spent summer '05 at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland doing physics research; kid: Marion '07 (Eric emailed this in '12 "I asked her the other day what she wanted to be when she was an adult and she said "a scientist, like you, Daddy. Maybe we can do science together."); married: Christina '04-chem alum Linas Buntinas '89 (his best man) and Jenny (Gaspar) Lew '89 attended the wedding; tenured Associate Professor of Physics at Emory Univ in Atlanta; teaching physics to pre-med students and continuing his research in Confocal Microscopy of Colloidal Glass Transition along with squishy stuff like shaving cream and mayonnaise; did a post doc at U of Penn in Philly; grad U of Texas (Austin) with PhD in physics '97; grad UIUC Eng Physics '92.  PICS  [01/10/12]

Scott Bulmahn (88) -- running a software business writing applications for credit card terminals; kid: Rebekah '11; married: Melissa (doctor of pharmacy for Bristol Myers Squibb) '07; reports that business is great and that he was in Chicago and met with Andy Szymulanski '89 who is also doing well; started a company to develop embedded software running on point of sale terminals '04; resigned as Chief Technology Officer for a payment processing company (E-Chex) in Dallas '04; lived in Dallas since '94; worked in NYC for JP Morgan; grad SMU with masters in applied economics '08; grad UIUC '93. [12/25/11]

Jason Hulst (88) -- provides financial planning services as well as tax planning and preparation from his at home business - loves the commute from downstairs to upstairs; plans to sit for the CPA exam '09; still keeping the rental properties going as a landlord; married Diana Wuchich '94 (Association for Individual Development - works with disabled individuals); served in Army '91; awarded the MAFM (Masters Accounting & Financial Management) '08; grad from the Keller Graduate School of Management '08; grad NIU '94 in Pol Sci/Philos.   PICS   [12/25/11]

John Lee (88) -- living in Barrington and in private practice at Good Shepherd Hospital as a Cardiac Anesthesiologist; kids: Olivia '01 and Matthew '03; married: Jane (also a doctor of internal medicine) '97; spent 4 yrs at Cook County Hospital-helped establish a Molecular Pathology Laboratory-developing assays utilizing PCR to test for tuberculosis and HIV viral burden.; Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine; grad Northwestern '93 in bio with an emphasis in Molecular and Cellular Biology.  [01/11/12]

Jill (Fitzgerald) Stowers (88) -- stay at home mom and really enjoys the time with her kids; does online tutoring to keep her teaching skills sharp (named tutor of the month May '09); very active in her church; went to Japan for 3 weeks with her husband Phil on a self-organized mission trip - part of Grace Mission International Partnership - summer '03; taught AP chem at Fenton HS over 10 yrs; married; Phil (also a teacher); kids: Isaac '07, Rachel '05; worked with disabled people summer '92, spent summer '93 in Japan teaching English; grad from Bradley with chem/sec ed major '93.  [12/25/10]

Mike Swartout (88) -- teaching aerospace engineering at St. Louis University; got 2nd place (for the 3rd time) in the satellite-building competition, and now entering the fourth competition; kids: A.J. '05 and Noah '01; married: Leah '99; PhD Stanford '00; MSAE UIUC '92; BSAE UIUC '91.  [01/04/10]

Erik Brandenburg (89) -- Erik passed away 8/9/2009 from a long and courageous fight with myelodisplastic syndrome (MDS) - a bone marrow malfunction; Click here to read his story   (08/09/09]

Sara (Bergman) Forster (89) -- back in the science field again and working as a health physicist for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at the Region III office; worked on a contract basis in environmental litigation and antitrust cases '05-'10; kid: Esther '09; married: Eric '06 at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle; passed the IL bar exam 04; worked for Pharmacia in Skokie as a Radiation Safety person and Research Biochemist; JD from University of Minnesota '04; MS from UIUC '96 in chem; grad St. Olaf '94.  PICS   [01/18/12]

Julie (Munday) Killacky (89) -- working as a nurse in a family practice office and loves it; spends her time with her kids (trying to get them through the teens and drivers ed), helping at school, President of the PTA, an advisor for her sorority in Champaign, helps at church, playing chess and doing chem experiments with her kids who say "hey, what will happen if I just throw this in too?" or "why do we have to measure, let's just throw it all in!!!" (GO JULIE!!); living in Naperville '08; kids: Joshua '03-has decided that he is going to play professional baseball until he is REALLY old (you know, 35) and then retire to build roller coasters, Jake '01-plays any sport he can, Justin '95-will be driving soon (stay off the sidewalks--roads are ok, sidewalks not so much) and his favorite subject in school is CHEMISTRY!; married: John Killacky an attorney for an insurance company '94; grad COD nursing '10; grad UIUC '93.  PICS  [10/23/11]

Greg Klabish (89) -- living in Shanghi and working for Morgan Stanley; worked for Groove Networks as a software engineer; grad UIUC '93.  [10/23/11]

Jennifer (Sebestl) Laaksonen (89) -- working for Pfizer Animal Health (drugs for animals instead of humans) in Kalamazoo, MI - involves travel to England '06, India, and...Nebraska; kids: Lucas '01 and August Michael '08; married: Wally Laaksonen (attorney and professional fisherman); served as assoc. director of pharmaceutical science/analytical chem for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals till '06; active in leadership of youth groups in her church; PhD from Wayne State in organometallics; Hope College grad '93.   PICS    [12/25/11]

Jenny (Gaspar) Lew (89) -- ran her first and probably last half-marathon '08; living in Geneva, IL; kids: Zachary '02, William '01; an Ob/Gyn in private practice with DuKane and working at Delnor Hospital (learning the daVinci Robot surgery system); inducted into Fellows of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology in '04; married George Lew - Assist. Prof. at Loyala Univ in Chicago and works in ER; trips: FL, Toronto; med school grad '97; grad UIUC biochem '93.   PICS   [10/23/11]

Evan Rynes (89) -- opened a private music academy in southwest Berlin in '08 with his wife; playing with the "Komische Oper Berlin", one of the finest opera orchestras in Berlin - performed at the Hong Kong Arts Festival '04 and the Athens Festival '06; married: Kyeong, who is a learned composer; had a one year appointment in the Orchester der Beethovenhalle in Bonn, Germany; violin student in Lubeck, Germany '97; Fulbright in Germany for 1994-95; grad Indiana U-music.  [12/29/10]

Sameer Talsania (89) -- accepted a position (3/07) with the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company as a Sr. Materials Scientist in their Packaging Technology group; will be working in Chicago at the Wrigley Global Innovation Center on Goose Island (near North Ave and Halsted); kid: Avi '11; married: Bea; his sister Seema was married in Nov '02; recent travels: Spain, Puerto Rico; visited INDIA '98; PhD from U of Houston '97; grad UIUC '93 in chem eng.  [08/12/11]

 

The '90s

Frank Kofron (90) -- working for Kao Brands in Ohio; 1994-2001 worked for Air Products in St. Louis, Penn, England; kids: Anthony and Clare (twins) '06; married: Kathy '05; grad UIUC '94 in engineering.  [06/29/10]

Anuja Dharkar (91) -- managing the worldwide individual business for education for Adobe; was running Macromedia's worldwide curriculum, professional development, and certification programs for Education; living and working in San Francisco, CA; kid: Shaila '10; married: Landon '06 in Portland, ME; Landon launched a new company '08 Vanno; published her first book "Digital Design: Foundations of Web Design" '03; took a summer ’01 trip to Spain; grad ’01 from Stanford with Masters in Learning, Design, and Technology; BS from NWU ’96.   PICS   [12/23/10]

Arthur Huen (91) -- finishing up residency program in Dermatology at Univ of Pittsburgh and has begun a short stint of research in wound healing of the skin; married: Luisa Hiller in Ohio in '04 (she is working on the mutation/evolution of bacteria involved in ear infections): kid: Natasha '08: grad Northwestern '04 with PhD in cancer biology.  Here is Arthur's response to my missing mole day '10: "I wouldn't get to irrational 'trying to make amends' on Pi day. You could end up driving yourself around in circles in a Sisyphian manner. I recognize this is not a great metaphor as Sisyphus rolled an immense boulder up a hill rather than in circles. On the other hand, it was probably a hill with a 100% grade, where the rise and run are both equal to 1 making the slope the square root of 2, which is also irrational. At this point, the gears "upstairs" are grinding a bit. I should really keep a mechanic on retainer as well as a constant Euler."  Nice to know that a guy with a PhD and an MD still has time to be clever!!!  [03/15/11]

Mike Mendoza (91) -- turning a new page in his career as he takes on more administrative, teaching, and research responsibilities as Medical Director of Highland Family Medicine, the main faculty practice and residency teaching site for the University of Rochester Department of Family Medicine; in the Masters of Medical Management graduate program at the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester and says " I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up…"; moved to upstate New York and lives in the town of Brighton, a suburb of Rochester; had a faculty position at U of Chicago in the Department of Family Medicine and worked at Brandon Family Health Center-a clinic on the south side (2005-09); helped organize a successful 17th yr class reunion for class of 1992 in '09; sailed the Chicago-Mackinac race (4th time) aboard Elusive (a J-120) '05; kids: Julian '07 and Elena '05; married Lisa Vargish '03 (new job at the Jewish Home of Rochester - in addition to seeing patients, Lisa will continue doing home visits and teaching medical students and residents from family medicine and internal medicine) - chem alum, David Lim and Joyce (Berroya) Dieter were members of the bridal party; grad U of C med school ’01 and from UIC Public Health School ’01 with MPH; grad U of C '96.   PICS   [01/11/12]

Joyce (Berroya) Dieter (92) -- working for American Family Insurance as a Project Management Specialist in Madison, WI; married: Steve; kids: sons Aaron '06, Joshua '04 and Brenden '02; worked for Dean Health Plan, Berbee, Pricewaterhouse Coopers previously; MBA UGA '01; BSIE UIUC '96.  PICS   [01/13/12]

Janice Moy (92) -- living in Vancouver, WA; stay at home mom and very busy with her two daughters; kids: Lillian '09 and Evelynn '04; married: Wayne Chen '01- he received his MBA '08; worked for KPMG in Chicago; MA from UIUC in taxation '99; BA from UIUC '96 in accounting.  [12/25/10]

Devayani Pandav (92) -- Registered Nutritional Consultant and Business Owner - she owns and operates a health and wellness business and teaches others to do the same; living in Chicago; in a movie with Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt - "What Women Want" '00; spent 18 mos in India after HS; grad UIC '96 with Bio major and chem minor.  [07/24/10]

Greg Rose (92) -- living in Pasadena and working for Opera Solutions, a company that does big data analytics; worked for an iPhone app writing company; went to Brazil and the "Carnaval" -- had a great time and met his wife; married: Gisele; grad of Northwestern, Major-mech eng.  [12/25/11]

Than Boves (93) -- a post-doc research associate at UIUC in dept of natural resources and environmental science - studying behavioral ecology of birds; kid: #1 '11; grad U of Tennessee '11 with PhD in Wildlife Ecology (studied the effects of natural resource extraction (coal and timber esp) on birds in the Appalachian Mts.).  [01/11/12]

Andrew Hwang (93) -- continuing to work as a general internist for Kaiser Permanente in their Campbell clinic (in the San Jose vicinity); was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Physicians in recognition for my community service in setting up a free, faith-based medical and dental clinic for the homeless '11; married: Marie Ann (from Hawaii) '07; went to Asia in summer of '97; finished residency in Internal Medicine in San Jose, CA '04; grad NWU med school '01; grad Northwestern '97.  PICS   [12/25/11]

Rachel Kaiser (93) -- joined the UCSF Rheumatology faculty in '08; enjoying living in warmer San Francisco (compared to previous homes in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Manhattan); travel: Austria '08; kids: Alexander '09; married: Yves '07; was enthusiastically studying German until son was born; finished a rheumatology fellowship at UCSF '08; completed a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree at UC Berkeley '07; chief residency '05 and internal medicine residency '04 at Columbia University, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York; grad with MD University of Pittsburgh '01; undergraduate degree in English at the University of Chicago '97.   PICS   [10/23/11]

Glenn Merkel (93) -- moved to Fort Worth, TX; working for JC Penney as maintenance manager; been doing a lot of road biking; went to Kenya July '05 on a 10 day mission trip with a safari excursion as well; attended Sunday school at his church in GA and ex-President Jimmy Carter was his teacher!!! - WOW; took a 10 day mission trip to Brazil '02; worked in Ireland for 2.5 years; took a Mediterranean cruise summer '00; grad of U of Minn in chem eng '98.   PICS   [01/13/12]

Christina (Wu) Nguyen (93) -- currently being a stay-at-home mom and living in the San Diego area; kids: Makenna '11 & Brayden '08; married: Tran Nguyen (CFO of biotech) '06 - engaged in Monet's Garden (France); worked at a handful of start-ups, eBay and Accenture; studied in Birmingham, UK '96; worked at Byron Nuclear Plant summer '95; grad UICU in mech eng '98.   [01/11/12]

Steve Rose (93) -- living in the SF bay area and working in software development for GOOGLE '11; interested in photography -- going semi-pro in his spare time; travel: Europe, India and multiple China trips; worked for Orange Labs R&D on next-gen web technologies'00-'10 and for Portal Telcomm in CA '00 and for Ernst & Young in Chicago '99 and for GE programming MRI machines '98; married: Eileen - at a new biotech startup where she's working on techniques for regressing an adult cell to a stem cell; grad NWU in CS '98.   [12/25/11]

Ankit Desai (94) -- a cardiologist; kids: two daughters; married: yes to ???; completed med school; worked at Mayo clinic '98; grad U of C '97 as a bio major.  [12/25/11]

Amy Hwang (94) -- living in Seattle; kid: Danielle '11; married: ???; grad NWU '98.  [12/25/11]

Mark Karbarz (94) -- works for Portola Pharmaceuticals in South San Francisco (works with Steve Rose's('93) wife); sold his car and bikes to work; just got engaged (5/21/10); Had his "first" mid-life crisis; started running and training more - ran 3 half-marathons in 2009; worked for Johnson and Johnson as a scientist in their Pain and Related Disorders group for Drug Discovery; lives in San Francisco, CA; taught Organic chemistry/biology at Mirarmar Community College and remembers my helpful hints in Lewis Structure and VESPR theory (that is scary!!!); traveled to Europe/Cent. America/CA/Mexico/East Coast; started playing guitar in his spare time; PhD from Duke '04 in biochem cloning Lipid A phosphatase (IpxE); grad UIUC in BioChem '97.  [06/14/10]

Derrek Long (94) -- working for a start up named Taxi Magic'12; living in LA and moved from Alexandria Virginia; tried to become the "best ever poker player" '03-'06; worked for Ticketmaster programming their website '02-'07; moved to LA '01 playing drums for bands; a web programmer for Revoe Group '00; kid: due in '12; married: Anhdao Pham '08 in Sacramento CA - went to Maui and Kauai for honeymoon - Steve Rose and his wife attended the wedding; grad UIUC '98 in chemistry.   [01/13/12]

Greg Partenach (94) -- does management consulting, focusing on Business Process, I.T. Strategy, Change Management, and Business Intelligence working with Fortune 500 companies; married: Marla (honeymoon throughout Italy and Sicily and loved every single day of it - amazing).  [12/25/10]

Ankur Patel (94) -- works in IT on JAVA platforms since '99 - works for Accertify (American Express) fighting online fraud - enjoys all the fast hardware and parallel processing toys he has to work with; worked for Razorfish.com in Cambridge, MA; lived in Germany and traveled to six foreign countries; kid: Shreyas '11; married: Sinal '09; grad (MS) from North Central College in Naperville '04; grad (BS) from NWU '99 in computer science.  [12/25/11

Umar Shakur (94) -- working as chief resident of internal medicine at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island - part of Brown University; moving to Worchester, MA '11; currently applying for a fellowship in cardiology with the hope of one day implanting ICDs and pacemakers into people (Mr. M note: about the time he is ready - I might be too!!!); married: Nida '09 - she is an internal medicine resident at Rhode Island Hospital (had a ceremony in Syracuse and one in Chicago - DGS Chemistry alum, Ejaaz Kalimullah attended - honeymoon in Playa del Carmen, Mexico and toured the Mayan pyramids, snorkeled in Cozumel and ziplined in the jungle); grad U of C '99 bio major.  [12/25/10]

William Woo (94) -- living and working in Shanghai since '02; working for a semiconductor equipment company (Axcelis Technologies) that manufactures semiconductor processing equipment and is based in Boston area; worked in Silicon Valley '99-01; spent summer '99 in Hong Kong; kids: Vincent '11 & Victoria '08; married: ?? '??; grad Stanford '99 with MS in Engineering-Econ. Systems and Operations Research; BS UIUC in EE '97.  [01/11/12]

Kirsten Chan (95) -- performing in a comedy troupe called "stir friday night" starting a not-for-profit company called Project: VISION, Inc.; working for an engineering firm in Chicago; worked for a diamond dealer; worked at a child care facility for Motorola in Deerfield '03; certified teacher for infants to age 2; living in Chicago '03; finished a year of training at Second City; an extra in Spiderman 2 and Mean Girls; had a huge part in a play in Chicago '03; got to go backstage at three Incubus concerts as well as Oasis and Jane's Addition; grad UIUC '00. [12/25/11]

Vivien Ho (95) -- working at Dreyer Medical Clinic, a multi-specialty group in Aurora, IL '08; completed family medicine residency at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn in July '07; finished internship in Family Practice at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn in '05; kids: Benji '09 & Nathan '07; married: Adam '04; still playing a bit of chess; grad U of Chicago med school '04; grad UIUC with double-majors in Chemistry and Biochem '99.  PICS   [01/31/10]

Brian Partenach (95) -- at Northwestern Kellogg school of management in the MBA program '10 (is a chemist at heart though, and still works for a chemical consulting company called Bureau Veritas - ideally would like to get a job after his MBA and stay in the chemical/pharma/energy field.  [12/25/10]

Jessica (Franciose) King (96) -- living in Madison, WI; worked in Pediatric Gastroenterology at the children's hospital in Madison; a guest lecturer for Marquette and Madison's PA programs; did a rotation in Mayan villages in Belize '08 and loved it; rans half marathons on her birthday; worked with inner city Milwaukee girls through her church; worked in Zion, IL for Cancer Treatment Centers of America as a nutritionist with cancer patients; kid: kid #2 '12, Olivia '09; married: Jon (a soon to be doctor - doing a Palliative Care/Onc Fellowship) '05; Physican Assistant degree '09; MS in dietetics at Univ of Utah '02; grad BYU '00 with BS in biochemistry.   PICS   [01/10/12]

Nirali Shah (96) -- living in Kensington, MD '11 and doing research for NIH; hem/onc fellowship in Baltimore '09; lived in Arlington, VA '08; did an elective rotation in Honduras '07; lived in Boston '07; kids: sons - Ishan '11 and Om '08 (Om" is a sacred syllable from Vedic scriptures that stands for the all-encompassing, often uttered as a mantra at the beginning and end of prayer); married: Pratik '06; grad Harvard combined medicine-pediatrics residency program at MGH-Children´s Hospital Boston '08; grad from UIC medical school '04; grad UIC with BS in Chem and HS education '00.  PICS    [12/25/11]

Kristina Wilson (97) -- has started her own company in NYC that matches artists with families who need sitters - from her website "Sitters Studio is a community for creativity where artist caregivers pursue their dreams while sharing their artistic gifts with children. It’s a unique combination of art and childcare that we call: Sitters Studio ARTISITTER Childcare."; still performing (most recently with the Chelsea Opera); starred in an infomercial for the George Forman grill (even though she is a vegetarian!!!!); had dinner with us when we visited NYC in 8/05; living and working in NYC; worked for Morgan Stanley and continuing her acting career on/off Broadway; worked in Naples, FL at a dinner theater '02; played Cinderella in a tour group '01; grad New York U '01 in music.  PICS  [01/17/12]

Leslie (Oca) Esguerra (98) -- working at UOP, A Honeywell Company as an R&D Engineer - works in the structural/inorganic lab running analysis for R&D and Manufacturing; worked at a palm oil company, Loders Croklaan, in Channahon, IL as a QC technician; worked as a camp leader for a week of Forensics Science Camp at North Central; worked as a Research Assistant/Student Intern at the Morton Arboretum in the Soil Science Laboratory; for mole day in her Analytical Chem lab, she made mole day shirts; kids: pregnant with second child and Cammie ’01; married: Arnold Esquerra ’01; grad North Central in Chem '09; grad UIC Pre-Pharm '00.   PICS   [10/23/11]

Tess (Kochan) Hindman (98) -- remodeled her house and still found time for trips and fun "GO CUBS"; working for General Mills in IA as a System Engineer for the Fruit Shapes platform-product with the fruit pieces in pouch - Scooby Doo, Spiderman, Sharks, Care Bears, My Little Pony, etc. and also produces Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-ups, and Fruit by the Foot; active in service organizations (Big Brothers Big Sisters, Junior Achievement, Tanager Place); travels include Las Vegas, Ozarks, Cozumel & Europe; chem eng. grad of Iowa State '02.   PICS   [12/22/10]

Jason Lawton (98) -- taking a one year leave from work to travel around the world '09-'10; worked for Genentech in San Francisco '07-'09; worked at Eli Lilly in Indianapolis and Lafayette, IN for 4 years; grad Purdue with a double major in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering '02.  PICS  [01/07/10]

Meghan Goldenstein (99) -- made a ginormous 'periodic table of books' out of about 110 cake-mix boxes for the junior room at the DG public library '10; worked as a field organizer on Barack Obama's campaign '08; grad student (Masters) at U of Wisc in Madison studying educational policy and also a French 101 TA '06; worked full time at the DG library summer '04; spent fall '04 teaching English in France; spent '03 in Chambana subbing, being a waitress, and teaching world studies to a seventh grader; grad UIUC in history/secondary ed '03.  PICS   [07/24/10]

Genica (Zdenek) Miller (99) -- working at Good Samaritan Hospital as a Nuclear Medicine Technologist; kid: Mason Cole '10 (born on 10/24 - just missed mole day and being named Avogadro!!!); married: Devin Miller '08; worked at Packer Engineering '03; received summer research grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute '02 and '03; grad from Nuclear Medicine Technology Program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital '05; grad with a BS in chemistry from Benedictine University '04. [10/29/11]

Leia (Blumenthal) Stirling (99) -- a Senior Staff Engineer at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and works on developing new medical devices and diagnostics; living in Boston; kid: #1 due '12; married: Sebastian '05; helped with aerospace camp at UIUC summer '03; post-doc at Children's Hospital Boston '09; PhD from MIT '08 with focus on human dynamics and control - did computational modeling and experimental studies (took an excellent ride in the "Vomit Comet" - how cool is that!!!); MS UIUC '05 in Aerospace Engineering which focused on aircraft ice accretion; BS UIUC '03 in Aeronautical and Astronautical engineering and a minor in Math.  [01/16/12]

Lionel Tan (99) -- finished his residency in internal medicine and passed the internal medicine board exam (no more tests for 10 years!); working at Riverside County Regional Medical Center in CA as a nocturnist...basically, works nights 9PM-9AM in 7 day on/7 day off shifts, and admits patients/answers nursing calls; says that the HS classes that helped the most "Spanish - since 25% of his patients only speak Spanish" and CHEMISTRY; was a resident (internal medicine) at Loma Linda University '08; says his poker "career" is going well too--finished in 6th place in a $1000 buy-in tournament in Las Vegas during spring vacation '08; did rotations at Christ Hospital in Chicago '05; passed his boards in '05; attended med school at UIC; worked at Hinsdale Hospital summer '00; grad UIC '03 in psychology and minor in economics. [12/03/10]

The '00s

Dan Perlin (00) -- currently with Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) in Chicago; pursuing a private pilot's license; worked at Ambitech Engineering in Downers Grove; worked for Sargent & Lundy in downtown Chicago in the Fossil Power Technologies division; lives in Wicker Park; studied in Singapore spring '06 - traveled to Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Europe twice, Southeast Asia and Australia; grad from UIUC in Mech. Eng '06.  [01/17/12]

Peter Abasolo (01) -- currently a second year pathology resident at Harbor-UCLA; used to think that AP CHEM was so hard.... and now thinks AP CHEM wasn't that bad... compared to pharmacology, pathophysiology, etc, etc; grad med school at Loma Linda University Medical School (in California) '10; grad UIUC '05.  [12/25/11]

Nileena Job (01) -- engaged to be married (5/5/2012); working in Maryland since '08 for a scientific instruments company called Shimadzu Scientific Instruments Inc.and specifically works in the marketing department, dealing with their spectroscopy product line (UV, RF, FTIR); wasn't too thrilled about moving out east, but being close to two major cities (DC & Baltimore) has its perks; grad MSU '07 - M.S. in analytical chemistry; grad Grinnell College '05 - chem major.  [11/28/11]

Faiyaaz Kalimullah (01) -- a resident in Dermatology at the University of Arizona Medical Center; grad Rush Med School '10; grad University of Chicago '06 with a BA in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.  [10/23/11]

Pierre Miller (01) -- lives in Chicago; working on an album of his own piano music and a "standard repertoire" album; just finished a stint conducting a startup opera company; studied piano with Steven Hesla at Univ of Montana, Missoula; grad from Kalamazoo College with a B.A. in Chemistry and Music '05.  PICS  [02/02/12]

Odell Ordonez (01) -- a senior consultant at Perficient Inc doing Enterprise Performance Management; living in Seattle, WA with his fiance Lenore Salazar (AP Chem class of '03); worked as a technical consultant with Crowe Chizek in Oakbrook; grad UIUC '04 BS in math and CS.  [01/13/12]

Pushpa Samuel (01) -- working as a engineering project manager for a small start-up company called Hemosphere.- makes one device (dialysis graft) that's been on the market for the past 3 years and preparing to launch a new device called the HeRO Graft, which is an acronym for Hemodialysis Reliable Outflow; worked at ev3, a startup biomedical device company as an R&D Engineer designing balloon angioplasty catheters for treatment of peripheral artery disease; celebrated her birthday and Easter in Chicago '08; worked in St. Louis at a biotech company called Stereotaxis-small start-up company that focuses on R&D with magnets that are placed into heart catheters--next step is to work on using the magnets in catheters going to the heart and kidneys '05; summer trip to India '01; grad with B.S. in biomedical engineering at Wash U '06.   [12/25/11]

Kristen Scoville (01) -- graduated Law School '11; trip to Spain summer '04, '03 & '01 with Narissa Nonzee '01; grad Law School U of Penn '11; grad UIUC '05.  PICS  [05/17/11]

Jameel Shihadeh (01) -- working application R&D at Novozymes, largest industrial enzyme producer, focusing on enzymes in first generation biofuels (ethanol): grad UIUC Masters, Agricultural Engineering '08; grad UIUC in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Chemistry '06.   [12/25/10]

Kate Jakubas (02) -- volunteering at the Museum of Science and Industry -- "it has been a lot of fun and very rewarding to talk to kids and grownup kids about science"; working for Elkay, a company that makes stainless steel kitchen sinks, faucets, and water fountains in Broadview, IL (close to Brookfield Zoo)-mostly works with corrosion/quality issues and investigating different alloys and materials; business trip to China '07; grad UIUC with a degree in Materials Science Engineering '06.   [01/07/10]

Dana (Junk) Jacobson (02) -- married: Charlie Jacobson; grad in Business Admin and French from Illinois Wesleyan University '06.  [07/09/10]

Clayton Luedtke (02) -- completed a medical laboratory technician degree '11 and working at Fort Atkinson Memorial Hospital in Fort Atkinson, WI; married: Tiffany (works for PPD in small molecule analysis); grad in chemistry from Carroll College '06.  [01/10/12]

Katie (Malter) McLean (02) -- consulting Manager, Global Selection & Talent Management for TeleTech; Married; Living in Dallas, Texas; finishing dissertation for PhD Industrial & Organizational Psychology expected to graduate December '12; MS I/O Psychology Capella University '09; MBA UT-Arlington '09; BA Psychology UT-Dallas '05.  [01/10/12]

Stephanie Ott-Monsivais (02) -- teaching at UICU '10; masters/PhD in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from UIUC '08.  [07/09/10]

Abhi Solanki (02) -- a resident in Radiation Oncology at U of C '12 and living in Chicago; internship in NYC; grad U of Chicago med school '09; grad UIC '05 with BS in biology.  [01/11/12]

Asad Ahmed (03) -- med school at Midwestern in DG; grad Benedictine U in Lisle in pre-med.  [01/31/10]

Golnaz Arastoopour (03) -- works for epistemicgames - builds computer games and workplace simulations for kids; worked as a high school math teacher in Chicago Public Schools for two years; getting a PhD in Learning Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; grad Columbia University with an MS in Math Ed '08; grad UIUC in Mechanical Engineering '07.  [01/11/12]

Kira (Johns) Browder (03) -- living in Columbus, OH; working at Accenture, an IT consulting firm; married: ?? '11 (went to Costa Rica for honeymoon); grad MSU '07 with BS in Computer Science.  [08/03/11]

Hemali Desai (03) -- working for Citigroup in Chicago as a Global Transactions Services Analyst; grad UIUC '07 in business admin, finance and English.  [06/29/10]

Jon Haughton (03) -- working as an associate product specialist with Corn Products International in Westchester, IL; interned with ADM in sustainable bioenergy modeling '08; tried the Chicago Marathon '07 and succumbed to the heat and humidity (Diverted at mile 20), planning revenge in '08; was a co-op with Kimberly-Clark, working in Philadelphia, doing process engineering, making toilet paper '07; summer internship at Nalco Chemical (automation and boiler research group) in Naperville '06; grad UIUC with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Math minor '08.  [02/12/11]

Michelle Li (03) -- in the first year MBA program at Harvard Business School and having the time of her life - traveling for fun, laughing, and generally enjoying life :); worked for Blackstone (private equity firm) in NYC for three years; involved in community service work (tutoring SAT) and finds time to skate and play the piano; travel: Dominican Republic, China, Mexico; interned with an investment bank (UBS) summer '05 and Lehman Bros '07 & '08; grad Harvard '08 majoring in Economics and wrote a thesis on public health.  [10/23/11]

Brian Oca (03) -- working as a Staff Pharmacist for CVS Pharmacy; engaged to be married in Sept 2012; grad from UIC College of Pharmacy '10.  [01/13/12]

 

Derek Rockwell (03) -- working for village of Roselle as a Village Planner; married: Elizabeth; grad UIUC '07 in Urban and Regional Planning.  [06/29/10]

 

Mike Rylander (03) -- works as a consultant (software development) for ThoughtWorks and currently working on a major airline's website; grad DePaul '11 in computer science; grad COD.  [01/13/12]

 

Lenore Salazar (03) -- living in Seattle and engaged to Odell Ordonez '12; grad UIUC '07 in accounting and Spanish.  [01/13/12]

 

Karmen Wong (03) -- currently in final semester of law school at DePaul '12; a part-time worker at a non-profit organization; volunteered to be a special awards judge for the Chicago Intellectual Property Alliance at the CPS Science Fair '10; did a summer stint as a tour guide at the US Capitol (I was really an intern); learned how to surf in Hawaii; visited a pop star's house in Tokyo; learned to play the ukulele :); spent the summer '05 in Beijing, China studying Mandarin, China's public health policy and traditional Chinese medicine; grad Northwestern '07 as an English major.  [01/14/12]

Kristina Henry (04) -- analyst at the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory which is relocating to Dover, DE; Grad Johns Hopkins with Masters of Science in Biotechnology/Biodefense '09; grad Ohio Northern University '08 with a BS in Biology and a 2nd major in Criminal Justice.  [12/25/11]

Fadi Shihadeh (04) -- first year medical student at Ohio State University and having a blast '10; grad Benedictine University as a biochem major '09.   [01/10/10]

Sybil Zachariah (04) -- living in LA and in third year of medical school '11; spent a year working in Madrid & traveling after graduation; grad UIUC biochem degree and a minor in Spanish '08.  [10/23/11]