2000s
2000s
00 The Summer Scoop
Happy summer, classmates! This is my favorite time of year. The days are long and sunny, school is out, the community pool is open and, best of all, I don’t have to make school lunches every day! Living in Chicagoland, summer just seems to lift everyone’s moods because we are all happy we aren’t in the doldrums of winter. Even through winter, however, our classmates were busy with some exciting news. Brad Conners and his wife, Katy, welcomed their seventh baby, Edward Robert “Teddy” Conners, on Jan. 27. Teddy joins big siblings John, Josephine, Charles, Lillian, Henry and George. We congratulate you on lucky number 7! Congratulations are also in order for Daniel Feighery, who married Natalia Payne in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at the Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church a few months ago. In attendance were cherished Notre Dame friends Rick Silvestrini ’01, Timothy Johnson, Joey Leniski, Kate Harness, Anthony Diebold, Stephanie Nemeth ’02 and Christian Jara. Natalia is an amazing actor, currently on stage in the Lynn Nottage Off-Broadway play Crumbs from the Table of Joy for Keen Company. Since graduating from Notre Dame, Daniel advanced through the ranks of the film industry on movies like A Beautiful Mind, American Gangster, the Squid and the Whale and Sinister. He currently works as a union cinematographer, producer and director, and also enjoys teaching at New York Film Academy. Daniel also made a short film with ND professor Ted Mandell for the University’s “First Time Fans” series about two Harlem fencing coaches who visit coach Gia and the national championship Irish fencing team, who just completed a historic three-peat! I can’t wait to see it, Daniel. I hope you and Natalia continue to find success on the screen and stage, and steer clear of TMZ. In other great news, the Class tailgate is back!! We will be hosting a Class tailgate for the USC game on Oct. 14. Please order tickets through the lottery. We will have more details on the tailgate as we get closer. All are welcome to join, and the tailgate will be fully funded by the Class. Reach out to Melissa Tacey Goodwin at mjtacey13@yahoo.com with questions. Please consider earmarking $25 from your annual donation to the Class of 2000, allowing us to continue hosting great tailgates and reunion events in the future. This wraps up the great news for our Class for now. I hope all of you get outside, enjoy the sunshine (with your SPF 1,000 on, now that we are old), and have a great summer! Please send me your brags, good news and funny stories. I love passing them along in this column! — Laurie (Strotman) O’Malley; ndbug3@hotmail.com
00MBA Happy Summer
Hello friends! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and getting ready for football season. Just one update this time. Barbara Schmitt says, “Greetings to all MBA Class of 2000! My husband, Michael, and I are so happy and proud to share that our daughter Olivia is finishing up her freshman year in Notre Dame’s Class of 2026. She recently graduated from St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago and is pursuing a degree in the College of Arts & Letters, minoring in French studies, and sailing with Notre Dame’s club sailing team. She is living in Johnson Family Hall, newly built in 2020, and is really enjoying the ND community and her coursework. We’ve been on campus quite a bit in the last year and are constantly amazed at the beautiful and growing campus and the truly welcoming community. Hoping her younger brother Matthew will follow her in a few years. Hope to see fellow MBA classmates at a future football game too. Go Irish!” Please send any personal and/or professional updates to the email address below. — Mike McDaniel; mike.mcdaniel@lsus.edu
00JD Class Secretary — Daniel Hardwick;
danhardwick@gmail.com
01 New Books
Jenn and Josh Thompson and kids Cameron (7) and Olivia (6) are settling in West Hartford CT after a 20-year career in the US Navy. Josh flew F-18 Hornets and just wrapped up his military career as the commanding officer of a Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center in central CT. Attending the ceremony were family and friends including longtime best friends and Sorin roommates Chad Maestas (Minneapolis) and Adam Mallord (Los Angeles). Josh and his family love New England and plan to settle there while cheering on the Boston Red Sox and Hartford Yard Goats! Jenn works as an executive director for the United Services Organization (USO) and will continue to serve military members and their families after Josh’s retirement. Josh will continue coaching his kids’ sports teams and begin his next career later this year flying jets for Delta Air Lines. Go Sox! Sharon Farrell shared that her first novel, After the Sirens, will be published by Blackstone Publishing on June 13. It’s based on her 23-year career in the emergency medical services. Natalie Huddleston wanted to share that all are invited to stop by 1445 N. Oakhill Drive after the Pittsburgh and Wake Forest games for a drink and/or a visit. Over the last year, Christian Hawley and his wife, Madeline, welcomed a son, Frank Giuseppe, to the family and moved to San Marcos TX where Christian is the rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. In the spring, they visited Matt Altman and his family at Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio TX where Matt was the mission support commander. All six of the Altman and Hawley kids had a blast at the George Paul Memorial Rodeo, and the adults got a pretty good laugh as Christian recounted his one semester of bull riding on the short-lived and O’Neill Hall–centric Notre Dame Rodeo Team. Former Notre Dame Leprechaun Mike Brown and Cara Krenn ’04 wrote and published The Leprechaun’s Game Day at Notre Dame. It is an officially licensed Notre Dame children’s book illustrated by Maryn Arreguin ’03 that describes the beautiful pageantry of a fall football Saturday at ND through the eyes of the Leprechaun. Filled with delightful illustrations that bring the magic of Notre Dame’s campus to life for young readers, it is the perfect gift for Notre Dame alumni, families and fans. The book can be purchased at the ND bookstore and online at www.LepGameDay.com. Please continue to share photos via @nd2001alumni or class notes via email classof2001@alumni.nd.edu / manselmi@alumni.nd.edu. Enjoy the summer and Go Irish. — Michael Anselmi; 415-860-7130; manselmi@alumni.nd.edu; classof2001@alumni.nd.edu
01MBA Class Secretary — Dominic Pang;
dpang@panglaw.com
01JD A Few Updates
Shonda Folsom bought a ranch in West TX, in a small town called Bronte (named after the Bronte sisters, but pronounced without any accent). Right now, there’s cactus, deer and some storage buildings, but they are working on it for a retirement home. In furtherance of becoming land barons in a small town, they also bought a building on Bronte’s main street! Hopefully it will be leased out as a coffee shop until their kids graduate and then they plan to use it as a law firm/bookstore. Stephanie Renner is excited to announce that she joined the law firm of Jackson Kelly PLLC as counsel based in their Lexington KY office. She is part of the firm’s bank regulatory practice and continues to represent businesses in a variety of transactional matters. Stephanie is still living in Louisville, but is splitting her time during the work week between Lexington and Louisville. I hope to see some of you in Dublin! Please remember to send me any news updates for our column. — Jonell Lucca; cell 602-677-3266; jonelllucca@yahoo.com
02 In Loving Memory
I’m so sorry to share that Jackie Nesson Adams passed away in December in Katy TX. After graduating in 2002, Jackie went on to complete a MSA and became a Double Domer in ’03. Jackie grew up in Crystal Lake IL and she was an equestrian hunter jumper and had a profound love for horses and all other animals. She participated in high school and club volleyball, softball and gymnastics. Her greatest joy was being a mommy to her three daughters Sophia Adams, Olivia Adams and Emmeline Adams. Jess (Donnelly) Richard ‘02, ‘03MSA shared what a wonderful person and incredible friend Jackie was. Jess shared that Jackie was one of a number of classmates who helped her call into the Basilica wedding date line, and ultimately, Jackie was the one who got through and helped Jess reserve her wedding date! Please keep Jackie’s family, and especially her daughters, in your thoughts and prayers. — Lisa (Sestile) Corcoran; lsestile@alumni.nd.edu
02MBA Promotion and a Parade
While I know several classmates got together for football in the fall, no official reports were made. Instead, we have great news that Rico Casares was named director of business consulting at AssetMark. Rico has been employed by the firm for over a decade and recently celebrated this promotion in Phoenix while visiting John Muskett and Shawn Lee. Also, Jim Mannix celebrated his seven years as president of the Notre Dame Club of Charlotte where he significantly increased the dues-paying membership, alumni engagement and events and initiatives. Jim was also recognized as the Grand Marshall of the Charlotte St Patrick’s Day Parade in March! He is a group account executive at Mutual of American Financial Group. Congrats, Jim, on your positive impact on your community. Please share any updates! — Melissa Hurd; hurdmc@yahoo.com
02JD Class Secretary — Ryan D. Costantini;
414 S. Notre Dame Ave., South Bend IN 46617; mobile 574-339-8050; ryan.costantini@gmail.com
03 Happy News
Genevieve LeFevour has joined Thompson Coburn LLP as a partner in the Chicago office. She joins Thompson Coburn from Johnson & Bell in Chicago, where she was a shareholder. Genevieve assists employers in a range of industries with employment litigation and the successful handling of local, state, federal and administrative filings. Her client base includes private security companies, loss prevention companies, sports venue and event management companies, law firms, agricultural companies and auto dealerships. Genevieve currently resides in the northern suburbs of IL with her husband and baby, whom she describes as the “lights of her life.” Lt. Cmdr. Joe Horton ’12JD, JAGC, USN, BCLS graduated from U of Hawaii at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law receiving his LLM in both environmental law and ocean law and policy on May 15, 2022. At graduation, Joe was honored by his classmates to serve as the 2022 LLM class commencement speaker. Lt. Cmdr. Horton currently serves in the national security and environmental law fields as the Force Judge Advocate for Commander, Joint Region Marianas in Santa Rita, Guam. He and his wife, Cmdr. Francine Segovia MSC, PhD, USN, love the tropical breezes, panoramic Pacific Ocean views and the hospitality of their Chamorro neighbors. Maryn (Necel) Arreguin illustrated The Leprechaun’s Game Day at Notre Dame, an officially licensed Notre Dame children’s book written by Mike Brown ’01 and Cara Krenn ’04 that describes the beautiful pageantry of a fall football Saturday at ND through the eyes of the Leprechaun. Filled with delightful illustrations that bring the magic of Notre Dame’s campus to life for young readers, it is the perfect gift for Notre Dame alumni, families and fans. The book can be purchased at the ND bookstore and online at www.LepGameDay.com. Congratulations on these wonderful achievements! — 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 Growing Families
Our Class of 2004 VP Tommy Gaeta and his wife, Victoria, wanted to proudly announce the birth of their daughter, Ana Costa Gaeta, who was born on Aug. 22. She joins her brother Jack, who turned 3 in June. They reside in CA and are enjoying life in wine country! Congrats to Taylor E. and Joe B. Thaman, who welcomed their first child, Genevieve Hale Thaman, on Jan. 17. Joe played on the Notre Dame baseball team that was in the 2002 College World Series. He is employed in the financial planning field in St. Louis MO. Lauren (Ellis) Triplett and husband Patrick welcomed Isaac to the family in March, joining big siblings Ellis (9), Anaïs (8) and Avery (5). He enjoys being adored by all of them. The family resides in Houston. Nina (Pura) Cyrek and husband Witek Cyrek had their third baby in October. Big sister Mari (6) and big brother Kuba (3) love him so much they whine if they are not the one to hold him first. Their daughter picked out the baby’s name, Hubert. John Sengenberger sent a message that he and wife, Lisa, are about to start the college visit process with their eldest, Julia, who is a junior. Crazy how time has flown! I hope to be able to catch up with many of you in person next summer at our 20-year reunion! I’m looking forward to bringing our daughter Lizzie and our triplet boys, Will, Frankie and Mac, to campus for the first time, and showing them where Bill Martino ’06MEd and I met! Mark your calendars for the weekend of May 30–June 2. Continue to send your updates—your classmates and I would love to hear from you! — Carol Martino; carolmartino10@gmail.com
04MBA Home of Champions
U of Denver Chancellor Jeremy Haefner announced Josh Berlo as the new vice chancellor for athletics and Ritchie Center operations. Berlo will oversee the U of Denver’s athletic department and its 18 NCAA Division I programs that have combined to win 34 national championships, 127 individual national titles and 12 of the last 13 I-AAA Directors’ Cups for the most successful non-football school in the country. Former Notre Dame athletic director and former Mendoza College of Business sports business professor Dr. Kevin White stated, “Josh Berlo is a brilliant hire. A natural leader who is very well prepared and inordinately seasoned to facilitate a tremendous experience for student-athletes, the university community as well as all other external constituencies closely aligned with the University of Denver. Just a phenomenal ‘win’ for that beloved enterprise that is college athletics.” Lou Nanni ’84, Notre Dame’s vice president for University Relations, added, “I had the privilege of working closely with Josh over several years at the University of Notre Dame. The University of Denver has made a superb hire. Josh is a person of impeccable integrity with an unsurpassed work ethic and a perennially upbeat demeanor. He will always put the student-athlete first. I cannot wait to watch Denver Athletics soar into the future.” Notre Dame’s Missy Conboy ’82 and Jack Swarbrick ’76 also publicly congratulated both Josh and the U of Denver as did former Notre Dame Athletic Department directors Bubba Cunningham ’84, ’88MBA and Bill Scholl ’79 and former Notre Dame head basketball coach Mike Brey. Congratulations, Josh, and for our classmates living in Denver, head out and support the Pioneers! Keep the updates coming. — Harry Howisen; hhowisen@gmail.com
04JD A Friendly Update
I’m pleased to report that Cynthia (Phillips) Cordes is approaching her 10th anniversary as a partner at Husch Blackwell in Kansas City. She entered private practice after serving as an assistant United States attorney for almost a decade. Cynthia leads teams in government compliance, investigations and litigation. Additionally, she is the founder and director of the firm’s human trafficking pro bono legal clinic. Cynthia lives with her husband and their four children in Overland Park KS. On a personal note, I look forward to their beautiful and coordinated Christmas card every year because it’s better than anything I could copy from Pinterest. Please send updates; I would love to hear from you. — Katie (Wharton) DeFerrari; katiedeferrari@gmail.com
05 Lots of News, Lots of Visitors
Our classmates remain busy with work and family! Erin Fitzgerald and Trevor McClain-Duer live in the Roscoe Village neighborhood of Chicago and welcomed a baby girl, Elizabeth (Betsy) Rose, in January. Betsy is named after Erin and Trevor’s moms (both Elizabeths). She was welcomed home by her two brothers (Theo and Auggie) and dog (Hannah). In March, Oxford U Press published a book co-edited by Greg Laski in collaboration with ND Professor Sandra Gustafson. Greg is a civilian professor of English and co-founding director of American Studies at the United States Air Force Academy. The book, Democracies in America: Keywords for the Nineteenth Century and Today, features short and accessible essays on 25 key terms for the past, present and future of democracy and seeks to facilitate dialogue by looking at the words we use to communicate with one another. In April I made a trip over to Ocean Springs MS to see my London study abroad pals Beth (Stelloh) and Keith Blystone and their family (sons Cole and Luke and dog Rufus). The Blystones relocated from Milwaukee to the Gulf Coast for Keith’s job as chief of staff at Ocean Aero Inc., which has created the world’s first and only environmentally powered autonomous underwater and surface vehicle, the Triton. I’ve also been lucky to have a few visits from classmates in New Orleans. Katie McCoy and her husband, Jeff Fleischer, came through town in January for a break from the Chicago winter. Katie works for Rotary International as manager of supply chain and shared services, and Jeff is a freelance editor and writer. His most recent project is a book about climate change for young adults called A Hot Mess (2021), and he has three books set for release in 2024, including his first fiction work, a collection of short stories. Katie and Jeff are also pet parents to a border collie/Aussie mix (Matilda), so we were able to swap tips on wrangling our high-spirited herding friends. Annelise (Sucato) and Tom Raaf were in town in mid-April with their daughters (Kiera and Marielle) to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Tom’s parents (Barb and Bob Raaf ’68). Barb and Bob renewed their vows and Marielle was baptized at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church at the edge of the French Quarter. I met up with the Raaf crew for a celebratory crawfish boil along with classmates Mike Fischer and Jamie Martin. As I hit send on this column, I am off to see my London flatmate Emily (Paladino) Splitek, who is in town from CO for a conference. I was briefly back on campus in April and reflected on a few things as I walked around. I was startled to realize that most of these kids weren’t even born when we started college (!!) and amazed that they now have little robots delivering food around campus (do these kids even know what it’s like to trudge through the snow for a snack at the Huddle?!). But I was mainly struck by how grateful I am that the friendships I made under the Dome have lasted for 20 years and will last for many more. — Caroline Meehan; ndclassnotes05@gmail.com
05MBA Making Champions
Andrew T. Goodrich was selected as the vice president and director of athletics at Gardner-Webb U in September. In his first year they have won three Big South Conference championships—football, women’s basketball and men’s tennis. The football championship was their first trip to the FCS playoffs in school history and the women’s championship was the first in 13 seasons and earned the team a trip to the NCAA tournament. — Himanshu Gosar; hgosar@alumni.nd.edu; ndmba2005-owner@googlegroups.com
05JD Moving Positions
Congratulations go out to several classmates on recent promotions and new roles. First, Jason Prince joined Crowell & Moring LLP in Washington DC as a partner in its international trade and finance services practice groups. Jason most recently served as the former chief counsel for the Office of Foreign Assets Control within the Department of the Treasury. In Chicago, Jack Barber ’01, ’05JD was elected to the partnership at Latham & Watkins LLP. Jack is a member of the firm’s litigation and trial department. Drawing on his former in-house experience at Crowe LLP and accounting background, he commonly represents accounting firms, institutional clients and individuals in a variety of securities and professional liability matters and investigations. Finally, in San Francisco, Rob Crea joined Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner as the firm’s new US head of fund formation, working within the corporate transactions practice. He regularly counsels investment advisers, private fund managers, broker-dealers, pension plans and other institutional investors on fund formation, product structuring, regulatory and compliance, performance presentation and securities law matters. — Adam J. Russ; Houston TX; adamjruss@gmail.com
06 Class Secretary — Anna (Skoien) Lall;
annagracelall@gmail.com
06MBA Class Secretary — 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 Having a Great Time
It was great, wasn’t it? Our Reunion. Let’s do it again soon. Ankica Jedry, women’s rowing, and her husband, Christopher Goduto, welcomed their second child, Zlata Valentina Goduto, on April 3. Older brother Raphael has embraced security duty for their little “golden” Irish girl. Christopher Liedl refereed the first bowl game of his officiating career, working in the replay booth for the Myrtle Beach Bowl between UConn and Marshall. Two-and-a-half-year-old Thomas has been obsessed with “going on ‘da airplane’ to South Carolina” ever since. Thomas still struggles with his “th” sounds. Kelsey (Montalto) and George Klupchak ’10MEd, took their three little ones skiing to Boyne Mountain in northern MI in March. It went well, all things considered. They FaceTimed with Aunt Julia (Vogelheim) Hudac and Uncle Francisco Castillo-Fierro ’10MEd. Kait Levine-Brown is still the best. Analisa Arizpe is still funny. Doug Schlarman is still an average uncle. Katie (Burke) ’10MEd and John Biddle welcomed their daughter, Anne Elizabeth, in late April. Her big brothers, Joey and Stevie (not to be confused with the legend, Stevie Biddle ’11) love their little sister. Anne is already smarter than the average 1-month old. Andrew Zeiser wonders what the appropriate amount is to contribute to teacher appreciation day. Mike Reilly and Pat Ryan don’t know because they don’t have kids. Neither does Chris Cugliari ’10. While William Kearney usually checks in with school administration on that question, he regularly goes above the suggested amount because it makes him feel better about himself and his kids are “insane” (his words). Drew Whiting always gives cash and still enjoys toasted veggies on his sandwiches. Anita Lyons attended our 15-Year Reunion and sent a nice thank-you note. Thanks, Anita—you are still a gem. Mike Randolph also went to the Reunion. John Donovan still has not planned the friends’ reunion. But he did stay in the dorms during our 15-Year Reunion—despite living six blocks away. Shea, daughter of Lindsay and Patrick O’Brien, colored in her first coloring book in late April. Very mediocre. Jesse Brawer’s son got his family kicked out of a restaurant because he is Jesse’s son. Have a great summer! Friends in the north: Invite your southern friends to the lake this summer. We hear that the FL and AZ heat are the worst. Joe Pappas, you are invited to MI to see Dalton Shaughnessy’s new place. — Patrick O’Brien; classof2008@alumni.nd.edu
08MBA Class Secretary — Megan Ulrich;
meganlouisefitzgibbons@gmail.com
08JD Class Secretary — 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