2000s

00 Looking Forward

Hey, classmates. I don’t have too many updates for this edition, but the ones I have will keep us looking toward the future with hope and excitement. Lauren (Murphy) Brown and her husband Tim welcomed their second beautiful daughter, Hadley, on Sept. 20, joining big sister Madison. Congratulations to the Browns. Mary (Gleason) Sennes, a highly experienced corporate attorney, has rejoined Stoel Rives as Of Counsel in its corporate group in Minneapolis. Her practice will focus on transactions in the energy industry. She was previously a corporate M&A and finance attorney with Stoel Rives from 2007-13, a corporate attorney with DLA Piper (2019-21) and a partner with Barnes & Thornburg LLP (2013-18). I am sure the rest of you have news or updates you’d like to share. We could use some good news, so feel free to send them my way. Please brag about yourself. In the meantime, I hope you all enjoyed your winter and are starting to thaw out a bit. I am seeing some hints of warmer weather with baseball and soccer games in full swing and the longer daylight hours. There is nothing like an intense kindergarten soccer game where cartwheels and hugs in the middle of the field are the norm. I hope you enjoy your spring and are looking forward to summer as much as I am. — Laurie (Strotman) O’Malley; ndbug3@hotmail.com

 

00MBA Class Secretary — Georgette (Leonard) Stubin;

46917 Polo Drive, Canton MI 48187; mba2000@alumni.nd.edu

 

00JD Class Secretary — Daniel Hardwick;

danhardwick@gmail.com

 

01 New Challenges

The Rev. Gerard “Gerry” J. Olinger, CSC, checked in and wanted to share that he was named vice president for student affairs at Notre Dame. Father Olinger will oversee a division composed of multiple departments related to residential life, student development, career and professional development, health and well-being and Campus Ministry. If you are on campus, please feel free to stop by his office (Suite 316 in the Main Building) or apartment in Alumni Hall. Andrew Whiting has started a Chicago-based logistics company called Better Trucks. If you live in the suburbs of Chicago and receive any type of package from Amazon, it is likely it was delivered by him or one of his drivers. Please share your updates and photos via our Instagram page @nd2001alumni or to our email at classof2001@alumni.nd.edu. — Michael Anselmi; manselmi@alumni.nd.edu

 

01MBA Class Secretary — Dominic Pang;

dpang@panglaw.com

 

01JD New Ventures

Shonda Folsom’s husband, Clinton, retired from the Department of Homeland Security after 30 years and was officially retired less than a week before he went back to work as her office manager at The Folsom Law Firm. Stephanie Renner announced the start of two new ventures: Renner Strategic Consulting and Renner Law Group. Renner Strategic Consulting provides advice and solutions to banks, small (and large) businesses, and nonprofits. It helps organizations deal with crises, make difficult staffing decisions, improve regulatory relations, manage the regulatory exam process, improve operational efficiency, develop a usable strategic plan, assess corporate culture and management effectiveness, establish a working corporate governance structure and conduct due diligence. Stephanie also offers management and board education, strategic planning retreats, leadership training and speaking engagements. Renner Law Group provides outside general counsel support to banks, small businesses and nonprofits. I hope you and your families are in good health. Please remember to send me news for our column. — Jonell Lucca; cell 602-677-3266; jonelllucca@yahoo.com 

 

02 Save the Dates for Reunion

Chris Brusznicki graduated cum laude from Northwestern Law School last June. He passed the bar and was sworn in as an attorney in November. Chris launched a few new businesses and is planning to use the law degree for a legal software business he owns. Kimberly (Blackwell) Lawler and Mike Lawler welcomed their fifth boy, Seán Fulton, in June. (His middle name is after Bishop Fulton Sheen.) Big brothers Michael, Malcolm, Joseph and Oscar love having a new baby around. Mo (Whitaker) Dana welcomed her first son, Whitaker Gray Dana, on Dec. 17. He goes by Whit, like his late grandfather and sometimes his mother. Please save the dates for our reunion, June 2-5. Information can be found at reunion.nd.edu. This event is extra special because we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of our graduation, but also the 50-year anniversary of Notre Dame welcoming its first undergraduate classes of women. Early bird pricing is available until April 30. I hope to see many of you there. — Lisa (Sestile) Corcoran; lsestile@alumni.nd.edu

 

02MBA Class Secretary — Melissa Hurd;

hurdmc@yahoo.com

 

02JD Partnerships and Reunion 

Hello from South Bend. I hope you are doing well. I am pleased to report that Trish O’Donnell was promoted to partner in the Reed Smith Financial Industry Group, where she advises clients on cross-border structured credit transactions in the New York and London markets. Trish, her husband, Carlos, and their daughters, Ciara, 8, and Nora Eileen, 6, relocated to Philadelphia in 2019. I would be remiss if I did not mention that 2022 marks the 20th anniversary of our graduation from the Law School. Scary, I know. That means 2022 is a reunion year for our class. As of this writing, the University intends to host our reunion on campus during the first weekend of June. Obviously, due to COVID, this is subject to change. The last two reunions were virtual events, but please consider coming back to campus this June. It should be a fun event and the Costantini family will host drinks at our house one evening. Hmm, I probably should have sought spousal permission before making that announcement. I hope to see many of you in June, or any time life takes you to South Bend. — Ryan D. Costantini; 414 S. Notre Dame Ave., South Bend IN 46617; mobile: 574-339-8050; ryan.costantini@gmail.com

 

03 In Memory of Andy Gomez

It is with great sadness that I report we lost a dear classmate, Andy Gomez, a beloved son, brother, uncle, friend and bilingual educator. Andy passed away on Jan. 12 after suffering a sudden heart attack. Andy was dedicated to his family and his love of teaching. His gentle and kind personality touched the lives of many, and because of his dedication to the education of children, he was recently promoted to his dream job. He was thrilled to start this new chapter in his life. May he rest in peace. In other news, Tim Pezanko and his wife, Brea, welcomed Aerin Alexandra and Maeve Victoria on Bastille Day, July 14. After a stay in the NICU, they came home to big brother Harrison James, who is doing a great job in his new role. — Josh Gentine; jgentine@alumni.nd.edu

 

03MBA Class Secretary — Rosemary Guillette;

9 Messenger St., Unit 7, Plainville MA 02762; rguillette@alumni.nd.edu 

 

03JD Class Secretary — Lawrence A. Ward;

206-903-8817; ward.lawrence@dorsey.com 

 

04 Big Professional Ventures

Mike Maimone moved to Nashville just before the pandemic. He then recorded a quarantine album in his new home studio called “isolation:001,” with an accompanying visual album, “isolation:001:the movie.” The former earned him a spot in Lightning 100 FM’s annual Music City Mayhem competition, and the latter was accepted to four film festivals. During lockdown he was also commissioned to compose the theme to “Tommy Dakota: A Queer Western Romance,” now available on all streaming platforms. Now that live music is coming back, Maimone is booking tour dates for 2022 and hopes to connect with ND classmates again while on the road. Amy Chambers recently left her COO role at a credit union to start her own coaching, consulting, speaking and training business. She became a professional/career and personal/life coach, but also will be consulting for businesses on topics that have to do with people, talent, leadership, culture, results, performance, etc. Visit her website at amymchambers.com and check out her first book, VIRTUES: The Seven Practices of Becoming an Exceptional Leader. Amy and her boyfriend, David, bought their dream home at the beach and closed on it three days before lockdown in March 2020. Amy ran her 175th half marathon in the fall and ran a full marathon in Madrid, which was her 10th full marathon. Kate (Marotta) Hourigan and husband Michael Hourigan ’03 welcomed baby girl Betty on Nov. 2 in Stanford CA. She joins siblings Charlie, Teddy, Frank and Maggie. Keep your updates coming. — Carol Martino; carolmartino10@gmail.com

 

04MBA Pinehurst Aced

Eric Nedell, Chris Chotard, Mark Werling and Ryan Lentell met up in Pinehurst in September for a weekend of golf. The highlight of the trip was Chris getting a hole-in-one on No. 3 of The Cradle course. He launched his tee shot from the Tifway Bermuda grass of the third tee box and it gracefully flew 66 yards before landing on the world-renowned Champion Bermuda grass of Pinehurst greens. The ball then poignantly rolled toward the flag and came to rest at the bottom of the cup. Keep the updates coming and hopefully the Irish are making a run deep into March Madness when this issue arrives. — Harry Howisen; hhowisen@gmail.com 

 

04JD A Doctor in the House?

Tom Van Gilder, affectionately known as “Dr. Tom” to many of us whom he guided through various illnesses and the occasional skin rash, serves as chief medical officer for the mental wellness start-up, BetterUp. He made the move after serving as Walmart’s first chief medical officer, where he ran the company’s COVID response. Tom lives near Milwaukee with his wife and two of their six kids. There are rumors of a grandchild in 2022. Ben Tschann was spotted hoisting up his daughter during her many push-ups as the Irish defeated Stanford in the fall. Ben is a partner at Goodwin Procter in San Francisco. He lives in Lafayette CA with his wife and their two children. Please contact me with updates. — Katie (Wharton) DeFerrari; katiedeferrari@gmail.com

 

05 Classmates Thriving 

After being COVID-postponed for a year, Matt Jagodzinski married Diana Bodine on Aug. 6, at the Notre Dame Newman Centre for Faith and Reason on St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin. Rev. Matt Kuczora, CSC, ’05, ’11MDiv, ’23JD presided at the Mass and was joined by best man Paul Holt ’06, Anne Marie and Mike Giampa, Ryan Goes ’06, Robert Knuesel, Sarah Todnem ’03 and Brandon Lenk ’06. Matt and Diana renewed their vows in Morristown NJ on Oct. 8 with Father Matt and Paul reprising their roles and were duly celebrated by Brandi and Nick Stober, Ashley and Jeff Grontkowski ’06 and impromptu emcee Hunter Young ’06. Ryan Goes was a stellar two-time guest, but the real star of the evening was DJ Drew. Yes, all the way from South Bend and the Linebacker Lounge, DJ Drew kept the party rocking all night long. From rocking parties to rocking cradles, we have a couple of new babies to welcome to the fold. Kaitlin (Redding) Poole and her husband, Fletcher, welcomed their daughter Madeleine (“Maddie”) on June 17. Maddie joins big brother Samuel, who turned 2 in June. The Poole family lives in Fairfield CT. Jenna (Richards) Kirk and husband Michael welcomed son Connor James on Sept. 22. He joins adoring big sister Teagan Marie. We have news from several classmates excelling in their chosen fields. Matt Slafka lives in the Seattle area and was recently named Boeing’s chief engineer for international sustainment on the P-8 Poseidon aircraft program. The P-8 is a maritime patrol aircraft initially developed for the Navy and currently in use by Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Korea, Norway and Germany. Matt’s role is to aid international customers in their operations, increasing efficiency and effectiveness of their aircraft while maintaining the highest levels of safety. Deanna Sortino continues to rack up awards for her excellence as an art educator. In November, she was awarded the Illinois Art Education Association’s Educator of Distinction award at the 2021 IAEA Conference in Bloomington IL. The IAEA awards and scholarship committee selected Deanna for this award in recognition of her exemplary professional performance, service and leadership. Deanna’s photography lesson was also recently published in the October issue of School Arts Magazine and in Davis Publications’ Contemporary Art resource book. Maya (Noronha) Duff lives in Austin and has published a picture book called Snow in Our Potties! (The Storm Made Us Do It), which chronicles the experiences of Maya and her family during the winter storms that impacted Texas in early 2021. Maya is donating a portion of the proceeds from the book to the Central Texas Food Bank and Water Mission. Check out mayanoronhaduff.com to order your copy. Wishing all of you a healthy and uneventful winter with no need for snow in your potties. Keep the updates coming. — Caroline Meehan; ndclassnotes05@gmail.com 

 

05MBA Class Secretary — Himanshu Gosar;

hgosar@alumni.nd.edu; ndmba2005-owner@googlegroups.com

 

05JD Partnerships

With two offices and 11 kids between them, Juan Castañeda and Josh Heidelman proudly have teamed up to launch their own boutique law firm, Castañeda + Heidelman LLP. Having offices in Chicago and San Diego, the firm’s national presence will serve businesses, nonprofits and individuals with a focus on dispute resolution, investigations and compliance. Juan brings a background in internal investigations and litigation that he developed as an assistant US Attorney with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. He also was in private practice at Sheppard Mullin and Mintz Levin before launching his own firm. Josh brings a diverse, in-house perspective, having previously served as the general counsel for Wycliffe Bible Translators. He also practiced with Bryan Cave and K&L Gates. We wish this new partnership endless success. Brook (Renzas) Miller left her role at the County of San Diego to return to private practice. She serves as special counsel in the real estate, land use, natural resources and environmental practice group in Sheppard Mullin’s San Diego office. Before embarking in the public sector, she was a partner at Best Best & Krieger LLP. In New York City, Alexander Lorenzo serves as a partner at Alston & Bird. He helps clients navigate their complex commercial and financial services disputes, from inception through appeals, in federal and state courts throughout the country. Paul Harris was honored in the 2022 edition of Benchmark Litigation in the area of general commercial litigation for his work at Ulmer & Berne LLP in Cleveland. Tim Storino joined Dentons’ litigation and dispute resolution practice in Chicago after serving nearly 12 years as an assistant US Attorney, where he investigated and prosecuted a wide variety of high stakes criminal offenses, including racketeering, public corruption, white-collar fraud, mortgage fraud and child exploitation, at the trial and appellate levels. Tim joined the Department of Justice in 2009 as an assistant US Attorney in the Atlanta office, where he served for more than three years before joining the US Attorney’s Office in Chicago in 2013. At Dentons, Tim is partnered with another classmate, John Wingerter, who practices in the firm’s Pittsburgh office. In Washington DC, Louis Crisostomo left the Department of Justice after 10 years and joined another federal agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Louis serves as assistant general counsel within the agency’s Office of the General Counsel, National Security & Cyber Law Branch. Finally, in addition to launching My First Nest Egg, an app designed to provide parents effective and fun tools to teach their children good money habits by encouraging achievement, saving and generosity, Nicolle (Sielle) Hood became an adjunct professor of law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State U. She will teach a course in negotiations during the spring semester. — Adam J. Russ; Houston TX; adamjruss@gmail.com

 

06 Bright Star

Megan Duffy was named to The Athletic’s 40 Under 40 list of Rising Stars in Women’s Basketball. Megan is in her third year as head coach at Marquette U in Milwaukee and, according to the Athletic, is “one of the brightest young stars in the women’s game.” Pablo Manriquez was promoted to Washington correspondent for Futuro Media, covering Congress and the White House. Katherine (Malkovsky) and Michael Igoe ’07MBA welcomed their daughter Isabelle in October 2020. Katherine continues writing as a freelancer-for-hire and has bylines in Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Parents and more. Kelly and Ricky Nieto welcomed baby Bennett Joseph into their family in October. They are thrilled to add to the list of ND fans. Sara Urben married Jacob Crawford on Oct. 30 in Chicago. Domers from P-Dub (Pasquerilla West), Spain and the North Dining Hall (Hall of Sighs) were in attendance. Jacqueline and Lee Regner welcomed their second child, Emma Grace Regner, on Dec. 2. Marissa Monroy and Adam Bennett were married in Austin TX on Nov. 13. Several Domers were in attendance including: Dana Santiago, Patricia Varraveto, Michelle McCarthy, Kaylan Lucius, Sabrina Placeres, Ariana Salazar, Elizabeth Huselton, Kellye Mitros ’07SMC, Lilian Davis ’07 and Caitlin D’Alton ’07. Crista and Will Fischer welcomed a daughter, Amelia Mae, into the world on Nov. 7. After time in the NICU, she got to go home and meet big sister Annie, 2. Lindsay (Kral) and Artie Walter welcomed their second child, Alice Louise, on March 16, 2021. — Anna (Skoien) Lall; annagracelall@gmail.com 

 

06MBA Updates

From the Mendoza Class of 2006, we are sad to note the passing on Dec. 29, 2018, of William H. Seeger, age 63, of Mishawaka IN, formerly of Riverside IL. Yours truly, Michael Lloyd, procured another truckload of appliances for families in southern West Virginia in December as part of my philanthropic efforts working with the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul group out of Pineville WV. Support efforts will continue in 2022 so contact me if you wish to learn more about these efforts. (See the YouTube video, “Discovering McDowell County” for background information.) I continue to reach out to classmates for contact information and to compile personal and professional updates for The Classes section of ND Magazine. Please forward your updates to me. — Mike Lloyd; 651 Nathaniel Chase Lane, Herndon VA 20170; cell 312-388-0501; mt_lloyd@yahoo.com 

 

06JD Class Secretary — Amir Hassan Sadaghiani;

sadaghiani@alumni.nd.edu   

 

07 Class Secretary — Stephanie Pelligra;

ndclassnotes2007@gmail.com

 

07MBA Class Secretary — Tim Ponisciak;

tponisci@nd.edu

 

07JD Class Secretary — Patrick A. Salvi II;

Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., 161 N. Clark St., Suite 4700, Chicago IL 60601; 312-372-1227; psalvi2@salvilaw.com

 

08 We Did It 

We made it to spring. It is now above 50 degrees (in most parts) so break out the shorts and skirts like the spring of 2007 in South Bend. And here are a few crisp updates to brighten your day. Andrina (AJ) Ong reached her 150th country, The Gambia, on Thanksgiving Day. She can’t wait until she is completely done seeing every country in the world so she can finally relax and bum out on a beach somewhere. She may run into Mike Reilly, who was recently spotted on a Brazilian beach. Drew Whiting relocated to Erie PA with his beautiful wife and twins. Immediately after moving, Drew’s wife received a job assignment in London for a month or so. Drew taught his children to respond to strangers in the street with “Ellow Gov’nah.” The family will return to Erie shortly. Pat Gotebeski wished a happy 91st birthday to Bet in January 2022. We always knew Pat had great genes. Speaking of great genes, Brian Sullivan adopted a visually impaired dog, Waldo. Brian’s other dog, Rocco, has enjoyed the new addition (so far). Kyle Meade and his wife Aileen welcomed a son in June, Iverson James. He is well loved and already annoyed by his sisters, Cavanaugh and Kilian, and his brother, Bray. Iverson is looking forward to intramural hoops at ND but isn’t fond of practice. Rose ’09 and Joe Jost had a baby boy this summer, Benjamin. His sister, Chloe, is using him as a punching bag to practice for Baraka Bouts. Tom Dorwart married Julie Don in Omaha on July 1. They are in love. Mike Hatke and Bobby Delgadillo were groomsmen while Josh Rivera, Chris Liedl, John Gleason and Kyle Meade shined Tom’s dancing shoes. Tom has agreed to host a tailgate in return for asking them to wear a suit in Omaha’s July sun. Meli Barber was reelected president of DignityUSA, an LGBTQI Catholic advocacy group, for a two-year term which began in October. Speaking of good news, Ryan Milligan recently self-published his first children’s book. It is titled My Very Punny Dad and reflects his love for dad jokes, which he claims he was telling long before the birth of his two daughters. The book is available on Amazon and has great reviews so check it out. Jessica Rodriguez married Joseph Beguiristain (U of Miami alum, but we won’t hold it against him) in May 2021 in Homestead FL. Jessica’s bridesmaids included Imelda (Guerra) Zavala ’10, Briana Miller ’09, Mari Jose Sanchez ’09, Rachael Stewart ’09 and her daughter Autumn Raine ’33. Imelda’s daughter, Amelia Luz, was one of our flower girls. Jessica and Joe’s dog, Mojito, was the best dog. Dozens of Notre Dame alums attended, including the O’Neil boys and the Irish Latino crew. Love was in the air recently. Rachel Heneghan married Eric Werdahl in June 2020 in Minneapolis and completed a cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at the U of Minnesota this past summer after finishing general surgery residency in Seattle. She is ready to begin her first “real job” in her hometown of Indianapolis at the ripe age of 35. Rachel is also smart. Christina (Holmstrom) Valenzuela was one of 12 finalists in the 2021 OSV Innovation Challenge, a program supporting ground-breaking ideas in the Catholic Church. Her “Cycle Prep” program made it through four rounds of competition, spanning from March through September of 2021 with more than 600 entries. Christina’s entry was a self-paced, online course, using scientifically accurate information, helping parents teach their daughters about cycles and periods with a positive narrative. Though she didn’t win, she was excited to participate alongside fellow Domer Samantha (Stempky) Povlock ’13, whose ministry, FemCatholic, was one of the grand prize winners. Christina also had the best idea of 2021-22: making new football coach Marcus Freeman an honorary member of the Class of 2008. How can we get in touch with him and invite him and his family to the next reunion? We are serious. — Patrick O’Brien; classof2008@alumni.nd.edu

 

08MBA Class Secretary — Megan Ulrich;

meganlouisefitzgibbons@gmail.com

 

08JD Promotion

Congratulations to Aaron Bart Fricke, who has been promoted to general counsel of the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners and has moved to the Las Vegas office. He and his wife, Laura, live in beautiful Henderson, just outside of Vegas. In memory of Kyle D. Smith, the Class of 2008 Mock Trial Award fund has been established at NDLS. Please donate at donate.nd.edu/, and under “Designations” mark “Kyle D. Smith Class of 2008 Mock Trial Award.” This is an expendable scholarship, meaning that we will be able to award the scholarship if we have money in the fund. Please be generous this year and in years to come. — Marie-Therese Mansfield; mt.mansfield1@gmail.com 

 

09 Class Secretary — Megan Flynn;

megflynn7@gmail.com

 

09MBA Class Secretary — Shawn Pulscher;

801-336-7344; spulscher@alumni.nd.edu

 

09JD Class Secretary — Josh Rinschler;

josh.rinschler@gmail.com