2000s

00 Post-Winter Catch Up
I hope you all are enjoying the start to your spring season. Winter is fun (for like, a second) when the snow is bright, clean white and your gloves still match and snowmen are all smiling. However, it is always fun to see the early signs of spring start to emerge: buds on trees, lighter winter jackets and that one day of 60-degree weather when everyone feels like they can wear flip-flops and short sleeves (do we remember beach bodies on South Quad in April?). One of the fun parts is catching up with neighbors on how their winters were. In catching up with our classmates, it seems as if we have had a winter full of amazing news. This past October, Beth Burau graduated from Saint Louis U with an Ed.D. as part of its Educational Leadership Program focused on Catholic education. Her doctoral research was a study on Catholic school culture and teacher burnout in 9-12 Catholic high schools in TX. Congratulations on your graduation and your research! Renee (Daniels) Miller and Biz McShane-Murphy traveled together from MN to New York City to run the marathon in November. Both women ran well on a gorgeous fall day. Way to go, ladies, quite an accomplishment! A large group of ’00 Domers descended upon San Antonio last December for two ’00 classmate weddings. Both Anna Lisa Vargas and Juanita Alejandro hosted a wedding on the same day, Dec. 2. The ’00 Domers in attendance included Jeff Sandate, Michael Gonzales, Felisha Rohan, Amador Minjares, Anna Gonzalez, Terri Stillwell, Raul Gutierrez, Adriana Frias, Adriana (Gallegos) Holguin, Michael Fierro, Mary (Devona) Stark, Emily (Reimer) Barry, Kristine Muñoz-Glass, Eric Glass, Rhonda Jo (Ramos) Pickup, John Serrano, Laura (Martinez) Serrano, Augy Rizo, John Arechar, Araceli (Ramirez) Orona, and the Howard Hall Crew: Megan (Kelly) Hanner, Amy Thornton, Colleen (Kelly) and Dan Diemer, Vivian (Su) Barlos, Rebecca (Welch) Geswein and Jenny (McCardle) Carroll. Other Domers in attendance were Ebit (Cueva) Akers ’99, Claudia (Aguilar) Rodriguez ’94, Val Alonzo ’96, Iliana Contreras ’19, Ian Hernandez ’97, Valerie Michelson ’96, Adriana Patacsil ’24, Isabel Patacsil ’24, Ricky Ramon ’99 and Martin Holguin ’14MBA. Juanita’s wedding was celebrated by their friend Bishop Pat Neary, C.S.C. Former members of ND’s Coro Primavera sang at Mass. Congratulations on your nuptials, Anna Lisa and Juanita. Phew! That was a great winter! I hope all of you have an amazing spring. Don’t get too carried away with that 60-degree weather; it isn’t time for bikinis quite yet ... or ever. Please send me your news and brags! — Laurie (Strotman) O’Malley; ndbug3@hotmail.com

 

00MBA Who Wants to Plan a 25th Reunion?
Hello friends! Believe it or not, 2025 will be a big Reunion year for us. I have no idea what these usually entail, beyond a special tent on campus. I’m not sure who organizes it or who pays for it, but it sounds like fun. For us, the University Reunion weekend will be May 29-June 1, 2025. I suppose we could do a football weekend instead? If anyone has info about this or wants to help organize a gathering, send me a note. I didn’t receive any updates this quarter (we must lead boring lives). So, as we enter another agonizing election year, let me just remind us all, “if possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people” (Romans 12:18). Please send any personal and/or professional updates to the email address below. — Mike McDaniel; mba2000@alumni.nd.edu

 

00JD Class Secretary — Daniel Hardwick;
danhardwick@gmail.com

 

01 Happy Spring
There is no news to report at this time. Enjoy spring! Hopefully we will have some stories to share next round as well as updates via Instagram. Please continue to share photos via @nd2001alumni (via Instagram) or class notes via email. — Michael Anselmi; 415-860-7130; manselmi@alumni.nd.edu; classof2001@alumni.nd.edu

 

01MBA Class Secretary — Dominic Pang;
dpang@panglaw.com

 

01JD Class Secretary — Jonell Lucca;
cell 602-677-3266; jonelllucca@yahoo.com

 

02 Changing of the Guard
I’ve loved staying connected with so many of you for 21(!!) years through this column, but it is time to pass the torch, and I’m so grateful to Peter Countryman, who has volunteered to take over starting with the summer edition of Notre Dame Magazine. You can reach him with updates at pcountry@gmail.com. My parting request is to keep the updates coming! No update is too small. I can’t tell you how many classmates reach out to let me know it’s the first (and sometimes only!) thing they read. To that end … Steve Dillenburger was promoted to the rank of colonel in the United States Air Force on Aug. 1. Steve, his wife, Mary Ellen (Botta) Dillenburger ’06, and their four kids, Sean (9), Ann Marie (7), Louis (5) and Peter (3), live in TX. His ceremony was held at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph TX and was attended by family and friends, including Paul Dillenburger ’71, Shelly Garza ’96, ’00M.Ed. and Chad Kohorst ’03, ’04MSA. Steve currently serves as the director of analysis and assessments at Headquarters Air Education and Training Command (HQ AETC/A9), Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph. As the director, he leads analysis and assessment programs to meet USAF, DoD, AETC and Joint Service mission objectives. Maureen (Whitaker) Dana welcomed Winifred “Winnie” Hope Dana on May 22. Winnie joined her older brother of 17 months, Whit, whose favorite book is The Leprechaun’s Game Day at Notre Dame. They can’t wait to bring them to South Bend to meet the real leprechaun and cheer the Irish on to victory. Lori Delaney Johnson had an exciting 2023. She was granted tenure as a full professor of law at the U of Nevada, Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law in July. She has taught business law, legal ethics and legal writing at Boyd since leaving the private practice of law in 2010. Additionally, Lori was awarded the Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Award in March for contributions to the legal writing community in the Rocky Mountain region. She was also awarded Law Faculty Member of the Year at Boyd Law in May. But most importantly, she was able to visit several of her ND classmates and roommates this year. In May she reunited with Natalie (Hallett) Arvesen, Amanda (Malayter) Ball, Tara (James) Gillespie, Susan (Clark) Schwartz and Tina (Reyna) Williams in Nashville for an incredibly fun weekend. She also helped to throw a baby shower for her roommate Susan Fanning in Chicago in June, where she caught up with Cheryl Ziemba. Finally, she visited her London Program roommate Colleen (Gilg) Tararbra in Amsterdam in July. Lori and her husband, Sam Johnson ’00, live in Las Vegas where he works in casino finance and banking and they are busy raising their 10- and 12-year-old children. Thanks for all of the great updates over so many years, and thanks to Peter for taking it from here. You can reach him at pcountry@gmail.com. Wishing you all a wonderful spring. — Lisa (Sestile) Corcoran; lsestile@alumni.nd.edu

 

02MBA Class Secretary — 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 No News Is Good News
There’s nothing to report, but I hope everyone is doing well! Please remember to email me your notable accomplishments and significant milestones to share with our classmates. Go Irish! — 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 See You at Reunion
I look forward to sharing many connections in person at our 20-year Reunion this spring — I hope to see many of you back on campus the weekend of May 30-June 2 — to register, visit reunion.nd.edu. If you haven’t been receiving email notifications and would like to, be sure you’re registered by visiting 2004.undclass.org to create a login. I had the pleasure of running into our classmate Don Norton at Christmas Eve Mass! He and wife Clare and their four kids were in West Hartford CT visiting his sister-in-law and her family for the holidays. Former Farley RAs Jennifer Morgan and Paty Hinojosa took a girls’ trip in October to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival at Disney. Will Herbert assumed the position of US Air Attaché to the Philippines this past summer. He is posted at the US Embassy in Manila (shout-out to FASO!) with his wife, Elaine, and kids Wes (5) and Aya (3). He has now been in the Air Force just shy of 20 years, and is enjoying this new challenge of acting as principal US Air Force diplomat and liaison to the Philippine Air Force. Will hopes to see any Domers who pass through! Keep sending your updates — I often hear how much folks love reading this Class Notes column, and we need your stories to help fill it! — Carol Martino; carolmartino10@gmail.com

 

04MBA Indoctrinating the Next Gen
In November Eric Nedell traveled from VA with his son Patrick to the ND/Clemson game and met up with Casey (Dick) Kreiger and his son John (13), who drove in from Kalamazoo. They spent a lot of time on the highway and in the stadium but unfortunately the Irish didn’t come home with a victory. Two weeks later Eric and Mary (Murphy) Nedell ’04 took the whole family — Conor (13), Ann Monroe (11), Patrick (9) and John (7) — to the ND/Wake Forest game. I brought my son Joseph (3) to the game too, and we missed running into the Nedells at a tailgater by about 10 minutes. Notre Dame handily won the game by 38 points. Judging by those two outcomes, Eric is thinking long and hard about inviting Casey to join the Nedell family at the Texas A&M game next fall. Time flies and our 20th Reunion is just around the corner from May 30 to June 2. Early-bird registration opens on January 23 and registering before March 31 will save you at least $30! That $30 will cover the cost of the cotton candy, Mike and Ike’s, nachos, more cotton candy and Sprite that is needed to indoctrinate your child at an ND football or men’s basketball game next season. Keep the updates coming. I’m looking forward to the 20th Reunion at the end of May. — Harry Howisen; hhowisen@gmail.com

 

04JD Townshend’s Update
Gretchen (Heinze) Townshend is a partner at McGuireWoods LLP, where she has worked for more than 17 years. Working in the health care department, Gretchen focuses on corporate health care transactional work and regulatory matters. She lives in Grand Rapids MI with her husband, Adam Townshend ’05JD, and their three children. They send an amazing Christmas letter. I’ll be back on campus again at the beginning of August for the intensive trial advocacy course. Please reach out if you will be in the area, as I would love to say hello and talk you into being mentioned in one of these notes. — Katie (Wharton) DeFerrari; katiedeferrari@gmail.com

 

05 Short and Sweet
Leslie (Humboldt) Bartula wrote to let me know that her husband, Matthew Bartula, has illustrated a children’s book about St. Joseph called Joseph’s Workshop, due to be published by Sophia Institute Press in March. You can check out Matt’s lovely art on his website (matthew-bartula.squarespace.com) and Instagram (@matthew.bartula). Matt and Leslie live in Richardson TX with their four children: Benjamin (9), Joshua, (7), Hannah (5) and Thomas (2). That’s it for this time, folks! The inbox was quiet. Looking forward to your next round of updates. — Caroline Meehan; ndclassnotes05@gmail.com

 

05MBA On and Off the Field
Andrew T. Goodrich is the VP and director of athletics at Gardner-Webb U. Under his leadership they have been developing a culture of competitive excellence on and off the field as they have won back-to-back Division 1 Big South and Big South/ Ohio Valley Conference football championships. They did this while the student-athletes earned a cumulative 3.32 grade point average, the highest since 2015. Congratulations, Andrew! Please send in your updates for the next column at hgosar@alumni.nd.edu or to the Notre Dame MBA Class of 2005 Google Group by emailing at NDMBA2005-owner@googlegroups.com. Take care and good luck in life and work. — Himanshu Gosar; hgosar@alumni.nd.edu; ndmba2005-owner@googlegroups.com

 

05JD Protecting Our Rights
Words of kudos and praise go out to our deserving classmates who are on the front lines fighting to protect our constitutional rights. Thanks to the hard work of Ryan O’Connor and Jason Weber and their team at O’Connor Weber LLC, the OR Supreme Court in Jacob Keith Watkins v. Ackley held that individuals convicted by non-unanimous juries have a right to a new trial. That ruling comes on the heels of the US Supreme Court decision in Ramos v. Louisiana, a 2020 decision that struck down non-unanimous jury verdicts as violative of the Sixth Amendment. Meanwhile, in OH, the advocacy of Erin (Gallagher) Barnhart, assistant federal public defender, led to the release of Lamont Hunter from OH’s death row after more than 17 years spent in prison. Thanks to her hard work, his wrongful conviction was overturned in Hunter v. Warden Chillicothe Corr. Inst. Erin was recognized at the OH Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ annual Death Penalty Seminar with the 2023 Lifesaver Award for Excellence in Death Penalty Litigation. Congrats, Erin! Now for some promotions and some achievements outside of work. Beth Silker ’02, ’05JD helped open the new Quarles & Brady office as a partner in St. Louis. Beth defends clients in matters of intellectual property, employment law, breach of contract, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and professional malpractice. In Boston, Meghan (Rhatigan) Holmes ’00, ’05JD became lead counsel, viral vector services and advanced therapies for Thermo Fisher Scientific in January. Karen Selking, a principal with Zulkie Partners — a business immigration law firm — completed the Chicago Marathon in October to benefit Team World Vision. She will be running the NYC Marathon on their behalf in 2024. Congrats, Karen! Kait Kuzmickas joined Perry Homes as senior counsel in Houston. John McKiernan became the chief of staff for Wilmington College back in the Buckeye State. After many years back home in NM, Dan Gallegos relocated to our nation’s capital to become the senior legal and policy adviser/ foreign affairs specialist for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Out in Durango CO, after 12 years at FIS, Tyler Bates became the vice president and senior deputy general counsel for AvidXchange, one of the leading providers of accounts payable automation software and payment solutions for middle market businesses and their suppliers. Vince Pecora became the general counsel and corporate secretary for Tritium in Scottsdale AZ. A bit further west, Raj Vohra became the executive vice president and head of data centers, Americas for Thor Equities Group, a global leader in real estate development, leasing and management. Raj will play a vital role in Thor’s expansion in the data center sector. — 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 Looking for More Updates
I have come back for a second round of Class Notes and hope that some of you will reach out to provide some updates for the next issue. Your updates don’t have to be new — just new to the majority of the Class! Since 2018, Katie McVoy has served as assistant legal counsel for the Cleveland Metroparks, a 25,000-acre park district that serves the greater Cleveland area with more than 100 hiking trails, eight lakefront parks, five nature centers, nine golf courses and the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. She views this as the “best lawyer job there is,” and it allows her to spend plenty of time with her two children (7 and 9) and take some great trips with family and friends. Sean Seymore is in his 17th year in law teaching, returning to Vanderbilt Law School where he is the Centennial Professor of Law. After separating from active duty in the Air Force, Mary Ann (Mazzarini) McCarthy has been busy professionally, having spent almost seven years in the Department of Justice, Criminal Division as a trial attorney prosecuting white collar fraud and money laundering offenses followed by a stint at Covington & Burling LLP in Washington DC. She currently works in the Office of General Counsel at Navy Federal Credit Union, overseeing a team of approximately 100 analysts as the vice president of BSA/AML and OFAC compliance. She loves this new role and loves working for NFCU. Mary Ann continues to serve in the Air Force Reserves Judge Advocate General Corps as a lieutenant colonel. Mary Ann resides with her husband, Michael McCarthy ’03, and three kids — Claire (9), Jack (6) and Conor (15 months) — in Falls Church VA. As for me, my wife, Lynne Hammell ’04, and I have been settling into a routine with our daughter, Clare, who was born this past summer. I am guest lecturing at the Law School this semester and hope to continue to stay involved with the Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate. — Brian E. Hammell; behammell@yahoo.com

 

07 New Business, New Babies
Last year, Jesse Goliath was named MS state’s first fellow in the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the premier organization for professional forensic scientists in the country. He began his lifetime fellowship in the spring. Ann Mazur launched her company Relay Active, a women’s activewear brand built on the four-leg “relay” of fashion, art, comfort and performance — which donates 1 percent of all sales to animal rescues. A former track and cross-country athlete at Notre Dame, she also recently celebrated the third anniversary of Runners Love Yoga TV, her online streaming platform of yoga practices for runners. Andrea (Gallegos) and Chris Kolaczkowski welcomed their first child, Iris Celeste, in the summer. She is happy and healthy, as are Mom and Dad, living in the mountains outside of Golden CO. Jennifer L. Cree was selected for the American Bar Association’s Business Law Fellows Program Class for 2023-25. The highly selective program seeks to develop diverse leaders for the ABA’s Business Law Section. Jen concentrates her practice in the areas of corporate, commercial and bankruptcy litigation and practices in DE’s state and federal courts. After hustling the street music and bar entertainment scenes in Charleston SC, Tim Falvey is currently steering his artistic development prospects to Manhattan. Having vacated the shirt-and-tie world in pursuit of a musical itch, he’s now developing “Uncle Tim’s Bench” — an evolving, original folk-rock act. While continuing to cultivate UTB’s SC roots, he’s eagerly immersing himself in the world-class performing arts and professional communities in New York City. And Mark Hotovy and wife Rebecca welcomed their third child into the world at the end of August: Matthew Ignatius. His two older brothers love him immensely. Sheldon Dutes was nominated to be a Visionary of the Year for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. He’ll be in (friendly) competition to raise money for LLS with other Orlando professionals until May 18. If you’d like to help Sheldon reach his fundraising goal for the campaign, contact him on any of his social media accounts. Please send all news and updates to ndclassnotes2007@gmail.com. God bless and Go Irish! — 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 Spring Updates
Sean Cullen MD, PhD ’08 was featured on ABC’s Good Morning America to share important information on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and his family’s personal devastation from RSV. Dr. Cullen was 9 years old when his 9-month-old brother, Kevin, who was born with a serious congenital heart defect, died due to complications from an RSV infection. Nearly 30 years later, Dr. Cullen works as a neonatologist and pediatric scientist at NewYork-Presbyterian Alexandra Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns at Weill Cornell, the same neonatal intensive care unit where Kevin was treated. Dr. Cullen wants parents and caregivers to be informed about the advancements in preventing RSV infection, with new options available for both pregnant persons and newborns. In Dr. Cullen’s segments on ABC, he was proudly wearing his Notre Dame lanyard as a reminder of who and what he fights for every day. Congratulations to Dr. Cullen on the national press attention, and thank you for sharing these important lessons! We want to congratulate our classmates on the many new additions to the Class of 2008 family! Dana (Ergas) McLain and her husband, Dennis, welcomed their second son, Max Jordan McLain, on Sept. 5, 14 weeks early, at 2 lb 2 oz. Max was a fighter in the NICU for 100 days and made it home right before Christmas. Molly (Sullivan) and David Sonderman ’08 are delighted to announce the birth of their son, Samuel Jerome Sonderman, on Sept. 8. Samuel was baptized on campus in the Log Chapel by our fellow classmate Rev. Patrick Reidy, CSC, on a beautiful weekend in November. Alexandra and Michael O’Connor welcomed a baby boy, Darragh Michael, in October. Big sisters Maeve (5) and Rosalie (3) were excited to have a little brother join the crew and affectionately refer to him as “Cutie Baby Darragh,” a nickname Michael and Alexandra are sure he will appreciate in middle school. Liz (Byrum) and her husband, Eric Parker ’99, welcomed their second baby, Holland Thomas, in December. In a wild turn of events, he was unexpectedly born at home after a very quick labor. Future godmother Cassie Belek arrived from across the neighborhood just in time to help call 911 and sing comforting Christmas carols to older sister Emmeline, who turned 2 in December and never got her own birth announcement in Class Notes. The Parker kiddos are well represented with ND godparents: Emmeline’s are Andrea McGinley and Mike Emerson ’99, and Holland’s godfather is Todd Church ’99. Derek Ornelas needed yogurt pouches, ginger ale, milk, tea, soup, Nyquil, eggnog and paint, and he texted Andrew Zeiser so he wouldn’t forget. — Patrick O’Brien; classof2008@alumni.nd.edu

 

08MBA Class Secretary — Megan Ulrich; 
meganlouisefitzgibbons@gmail.com

 

08JD Happy News
Thanks to everyone who wrote in this quarter. Please continue to share your updates! Congratulations to Shawtina Ferguson Lewis, her husband, Anthony, and big brother Elliot as they welcomed Jack Carter Lewis to their family on March 3, 2023. They are looking forward to celebrating Jack’s first birthday. Shawtina will also soon be enjoying an afternoon high tea with Krishna (Thomas) Walker when Krishna comes to Los Angeles for business. I wish I could be there to join y’all too! Anand Sambhwani shared that he was promoted to partner at Keller Anderle on Jan. 1. Additionally, Anand was named to the 2024 edition of “Southern California Super Lawyers.” Eileen Pruitt was promoted to executive vice president, chief human resources officer and senior legal counsel at Lippert Components Inc., effective Jan. 1, 2023. In this role, Eileen leads Lippert’s global HR strategy and initiatives. George McDonnell joined iPipeline as the company’s general counsel, overseeing the full spectrum of legal operations, which include customer and vendor contracting, intellectual property, employment law, privacy and data security, corporate compliance and regulatory matters, and providing advice on strategic corporate planning and decisions. Finally, in memory of Kyle D. Smith, the Class of 2008 Mock Trial Award fund has been established at NDLS. Please note the donation method has changed: donate at giveto.nd.edu/law-fund. Under “Dedicate Donation,” mark “in memory of” and “Kyle D. Smith Class of 2008 Mock Trial Award.” This is an expendable scholarship, meaning that we will be able to award the scholarship as long as we have money in the fund. Please be generous this year and in years to come. Also, please check to see if your company will match your donation. Thank you! — Marie-Therese Mansfield; mt.mansfield1@gmail.com

 

09 15th Reunion
The Class of 2009 will be celebrating its 15th Reunion from May 30-June 2. To register, visit reunion.nd.edu. — 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