2000s
2000s
00 Good News For Winter Doldrums
Now that the holiday season is behind us, and we are headed into that long stretch of winter, I have some fun news that might brighten your day. First off, we want to thank so many of you for coming to the Class tailgate at the Louisville game. We ended up having about 75 classmates get together, which is so great. A huge thanks to Justin Liu for the parking pass donations! It seems as if a good time was had by all! This is also a great time to remind all of you to register for our upcoming 25th Reunion May 29 - June 1 by visiting reunion.nd.edu. If you’d like to volunteer to be a dorm captain who helps round up attendance, help with the Reunion or run for Class officer, please reach out to Melissa (Tacey) Goodwin at mjtacey13@yahoo.com. In other great news, Christina Fitch just married Doug Stellato this past October in MA where the couple lives. She is a palliative and hospice physician and he is a chemical engineer, graduate of WPI. Congratulations to the new couple! Another one of our classmates has also been busy: Jamie (Fanning) Eden recently published her first children’s book on Amazon, No First Days. It is available in paperback, hardcover and a Kindle version, and it is aimed at ages 5 and up. It was inspired by her sons, Tristan and Brooks, who at the ages of 6 and 4, respectively, fussed and refused to try or start anything new. The book is a fun rhyme about how we must try new things so we do not miss out in life, no matter how much we are afraid to do so. There are probably some good lessons in that book we all can learn from. Jamie and her husband, Travis Edens, live with their two boys in Albuquerque NM where they all love to cheer on the Irish! I hope this column was a bright spot in your wintry day. Please pass along any more good news you have. I always love hearing your brags and updates! — Laurie (Strotman) O’Malley; ndbug3@hotmail.com
00MBA Slow Down (and Reunite!)
Amanda and I spent five weeks of our summer on the southwestern tip of Ireland on the Ring of Kerry, overlooking the wild Atlantic ocean, just hiking and exploring every day. Such a beautiful country! Thousands of shades of green. If you haven’t been, we highly recommend it. Beyond the beauty of the countryside, it was great to see how the Irish generally seem to live a much slower pace of life, frequently stopping to enjoy little things like an afternoon coffee on a sidewalk café or an evening pint with friends. To quote that great theologian, Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” I hope you all have a chance to slow down this year. Speaking of which: MBA Class of 2000 Reunion! Who can believe that almost 25 years have already passed since we graduated from the Mendoza College of Business? Well, it truly is that time already, and with that comes planning for our 25th Class Reunion on Notre Dame’s campus May 29 - June 1. Please visit reunion.nd.edu to register! Additionally, we are inviting anyone interested in joining our Class Reunion Committee to email Carol Anderson promptly at CDAnderson.MBA2000@alumni.nd.edu with your mobile number, to be added to our team’s Whatsapp Group. We need about 20 people on the committee to plan all the events, so we’d love to have you join us! If these summer Reunion dates don’t work for you, some of us will also be gathering at a ’25 football game. Maybe against USC on Oct. 18 (open to suggestions)? Here are some updates. Donny Gay wrote: “Sure I have my first update in 24 years … I have accepted the position of supervisory special resident agent in charge of the Texas City Resident Agency over the five counties surrounding and south of Houston on the coast. After 18 years working for the FBI in NY, Washington DC, Quantico VA and overseas, we are finally about to be back in the Lone Star State. We have our oldest son, Eli, at Holy Cross and Notre Dame, transferring for his master’s to ND full-time at the end of the year. Middle son Caleb is at Texas A&M, and youngest son Jonah is going to be a junior in high school. Our two oldest boys are Eagle Scouts and the youngest is about to be. We are blessed and miss our Notre Dame family. Whenever in Houston, all are welcome … Donny, Kimberly and family … go Irish!!!” Maureen McDonnel wrote: “I have been certified through the Certified Horsemanship Association as an instructor of riders with disabilities, enabling me to ‘up my game’ at the amazing therapeutic riding charity where I have volunteered the past 13 years. Aside from that, as I head into my (gulp) 25th year with Deloitte, I have been on an M&A project for the past 53 weeks (and counting) that has me drowning in billable hours.” Jonathan Puskas wrote: “I’ve entered my final year in the Navy. I had an amazing trip to embark the Aircraft Carrier USS Ronald Reagan in the Western Pacific with Michael Gervais, multiple Olympians, Tommy Caldwell (Dawn Wall climber) and Vitor Belfort (UFC Champion) to discuss ‘High Performance Mindset.’ This was a fantastic perk of having been recalled onto active duty to serve on the Navy’s Culture and Resilience Task Force. I’m concurrently leading my own firm, Neptune Consulting PDX, which supports clients including Google, Microsoft and the US government as they define well-being investments and the programs, services and talent to support them. In addition, I recently spent a week on the Palmer glacier coaching youth alpine ski racers. Rachel is well as she enters campaign season for Lake Oswego City Council and our sheepdogs (Scout and Maisel) continue to keep us on our toes.” In other news, some of you may remember that Owen Gwin’s daughter, Emma, was born during our first week of MBA orientation (“Will Owen Gwin please report to the MBA office, your wife is in labor...”). Well, she just got married this summer! Do we feel old yet? It was a beautiful wedding in a fantastic barn venue in TX. Owen had some nice moves on the dance floor, but according to him, he was just trying not to break a hip! 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 A Historic First
Dr. Kristin (Bonacci) Geraty was recently named provost and vice president for academic affairs at North Central College. The appointment is historic as Dr. Geraty becomes the first woman to serve as the college’s chief academic officer. Jim Gebhard and his family moved in October 2023 from Minneapolis MN to Haarlem, Netherlands. They are loving the charm, walkability and quiet sophistication of this part of North Holland, and the whole area feels like living in a fairy tale. It has been a bit of a reverse culture shock to come back to Minneapolis for a few weeks this summer, and stepping into a Super Target makes you realize the absolute abundance of stuff we have in the US. Please continue to share photos via @nd2001alumni (via Instagram) or Class Notes via email at classof2001@alumni.nd.edu. — Michael Anselmi; 415-860-7130; manselmi@alumni.nd.edu; classof2001@alumni.nd.edu
01MBA Class Secretary — Dominic Pang;
dpang@panglaw.com
01JD Class Updates
Steven Pratico was inducted into the Northeast Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 6. Since February, Jason Scheiderer has served as senior vice president and director of litigation for Fanatics after accepting his client’s offer to move in-house. Jason’s new job means traveling to NY, Los Angeles and their other offices and enjoying being on the cutting edge of all things sports! And all while serving on the ND Law Association board! Shannon Ball Younger, Christina Rissler, Sandy Dermody and Crystal Marietta enjoyed the ND-Georgia Tech game together in Atlanta! Mark Pasko was recognized by the Sonia & Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program as a Community Champion. The bobblehead trophy in Mark’s likeness was particularly awesome. I was in Boston for work and enjoyed a great dinner with Kathleen Lundy! Please remember to send me any news updates for our column. — Jonell Lucca; cell 602-677-3266; jonelllucca@yahoo.com
02 Classmates Featured on FaithND
Two of our classmates were recently featured in FaithND’s Daily Gospel Reflections: Danielle Rose Hesley on Oct. 12 and Anthony Pagliarini ’15 Ph.D. on Nov. 21. Visit faith.nd.edu/daily-gospel to view. Please email me any updates about you or your classmates. Thank you! — Peter Countryman; pcountry@gmail.com
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 Congratulations
Stephanie Vasconcellos has been selected for the Leadership Greater Chicago (LGC) 2025 Signature Fellows Class. The LGC Signature Fellows Program immerses participants in Chicago’s socioeconomic issues and equips them with the necessary skills to bring about transformative change in their communities. Congratulations on the achievement! We are getting thin on updates — I hope you’ll consider sending me a life update soon. — 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 Congratulations
Congratulations to Juan Alba, who was inducted into the Hammond IN Sports Hall of Fame. He is now coaching high school track. He and Elizabeth (Christian) Alba ’05 were married in 2017. Julie LaFleur and wife Victoria Kay ’14 had daughter Margaux Jeanne, 2, and son Etienne Thomas, 8 months, baptized at Damien High School Chapel in La Verne CA on Aug. 31. Julie’s twin brother Bill LaFleur and his wife, Giovanna, excitedly agreed to serve as Margaux Jeanne’s godparents. Send me some updates! — Carol (McCarthy) Martino; carolmartino10@gmail.com
04MBA More Irish to Love
Andy Downard and his team at Thriftly have deployed their Thriftly Complete software to 65 stores in five states, including Goodwill and St. Vincent de Paul. If you have friends in thrift, please introduce them to Andy! Amanda McCullough and her husband, Tim, welcomed baby McCullough number six. Kyle Joseph Raymond was born in September 2023 in Austin. Kyle joins siblings Timmy, Samantha, Matthew, Luke and Ryan. Amanda attended the ND vs. Texas A&M game in College Station TX as the Irish launched their 2024 football season with a victory over the Aggies. Keep the updates coming. — Harry Howisen; hhowisen@gmail.com
04JD Planes, Trains and Supply Chains
A partner at Husch Blackwell in Phoenix, Julie Maurer heads the firm’s national transportation group. She handles all legal matters for transportation companies and transportation-adjacent companies. Serving as a logistics attorney and litigator, Julie’s practice covers maritime, supply chain and logistics, warehousing and ports, intermediaries, as well as truck, transit and ground. I should have called her when I was waiting nine months for my new oven. Additionally, Julie has developed a niche practice involving driverless cars. Julie is married and lives in Phoenix while also spending time at her new vacation home in Sedona, AZ. She has two dogs, an English bulldog named Lucy and a Golden Retriever named Stanley. Keep the updates coming! — Katie (Wharton) DeFerrari; katiedeferrari@gmail.com
05 Accomplishments Abound!
Our classmates continue to accomplish exciting things around the globe! Marie-Christine Luijckx wrote with greetings from Switzerland, where she was enjoying a visit with Elizabeth (Christian) Alba and her husband, Juan Alba ’04. Marie-Christine is based in Dubai, where she started her own business (Fruitful Day, a fresh fruit and healthy snacking company) and is serving as the current president of Entrepreneur’s Organization Dubai Chapter. Elizabeth is a dentist and Juan is a high school track and field coach. He was also recently inducted into the Hammond IN Sports Hall of Fame. In September, Tim Culbertson completed his 4.5-month solo thru-hike of the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada, navigating a hectic wildfire season through the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges. He also thru-hiked the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail from GA to ME in 2016 and the 3,000-mile Continental Divide Trail from Mexico to Canada in 2022. With all three trails now under his belt, Tim has completed the Triple Crown of Hiking, a feat that fewer than 700 people in history have reportedly accomplished. He is back now in central PA with his partner Gerry, enjoying electricity and hot water, but missing sleeping under the stars. In 2024, Megan O’Hara ’06Arch stepped into the role of CEO at Urban Design Associates (UDA) in Pittsburgh. UDA is a 60-year old international planning and architecture firm that designs resilient cities, towns, and neighborhoods. Matt Shelton has published a book titled Rising Thru Every Fall about his experience as a football player during our years at Notre Dame. The back-cover blurb: “Only eight players in Notre Dame football history can take you on this behind the scenes journey through the coaching carousel of years 2001 to 2005. Experience the turmoil of five years under the leadership of five head coaches from a player’s perspective. Feel the agony as former player Matt ‘Turbo’ Shelton navigates multiple career-ending injuries, one of which nearly took his life. Come along for Matt’s journey as he battles through the pain of a torn ACL to break a record that stood for 25 years in Notre Dame history, all before getting his chance in the NFL.” Matt invites all classmates to grab a copy wherever you buy your books! The mention of the coaching carousel reminds me that I need to dig out my “By George, It’s O’Leary!” T-shirt (remember those??) to bring to Reunion. Are you making your Reunion plans? We are planning an unforgettable weekend of events May 29 - June 1 to celebrate our 20th Reunion and hope you will register soon at reunion.nd.edu! Please email ndclassnotes05@gmail.com if you have any ideas or would be willing to help in any way with Reunion planning (shout-out to Jacqueline Pimentel-Gannon for being the first classmate to answer this call)! We also need some classmates to help replenish our Class of 2005 Fund to cover the cost of our Class tent and other exciting Reunion ideas. These donations are tax deductible and count toward your ND annual giving. To make a gift to the Alumni Class of 2005 Class Fund, go to giving.nd.edu, put in the amount of your gift and continue. Under designation, put in the search box to the right “2005” and select Class of 2005 (Alumni Association). Continue entering your information and payment. We are not able to see donor names, but please email ndclassnotes05@gmail.com if you have made a donation to our Class Fund so we can list you as a Reunion Sponsor when we thank everyone who helped make this Reunion a success. Keep the updates coming! — Caroline Meehan; ndclassnotes05@gmail.com
05MBA Class Secretary — Himanshu Gosar;
hgosar@alumni.nd.edu; ndmba2005-owner@googlegroups.com
05JD Mark Your Calendars
Megan Brennan became senior legal counsel for Tenet Healthcare in Nashville TN, where she counsels hospitals across five states. She continues to focus on health care law, which she first gained during the decade that she spent at Eichhorn & Eichhorn LLP. Congrats, Megan! After a riveting performance of Sesame Street Live! Say Hello, our family had the chance to catch up for dinner with Ashley (Graf) and Mike Federer in Dallas. Ashley is senior vice president and divisional general counsel for Comerica Bank. Mike is executive director with Atlantic Global Risk after serving as the CEO for Fusion Specialty Americas, an MGA focused primarily on transaction liability policies. And on a final note, please mark your calendars for Reunion 2025 — incredibly, our 20th — which will take place May 29 - June 1, 2025. Register soon at reunion.nd.edu. Paul Harold doesn’t know it yet, but we are all crashing at his house. Go Irish! — 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 — Brian E. Hammell;
behammell@yahoo.com
07 Celebrating Achievements
Jennifer (Galano) Peiffer ’08MSA and Austin Peiffer ’08MSA of Warren Township NJ are blessed to announce the birth of their daughter Andrea and the promotion of their daughter Samantha to big sister. Grandparents Mary and John Galano, also of Warren Township, Beth and Mike Peiffer ’72 of Colleyville TX, and aunt Jessica Galano and her fiance Alex Nikitin of South Orange, NJ are thrilled to welcome the newest member of the family. Melinda Leonard Smith got married September 2023 in the beer garden of an Irish pub in Chicago with Ryan Ritter walking her down the aisle. Many a Domer were in attendance and many a Bolton song were belted. Danielle (Thomson) Killen and her husband Sean welcomed their second son Owen Joseph on July 27. He joins older brother Collin. The Killens enjoy hosting visitors at their home in Lancaster, PA. The doors are always open to ND classmates looking for a detour off the Pennsylvania turnpike. Katie (Murphy) and Mark Desplinter ’05 welcomed their newest child this summer. Mary Cornelia DeSplinter joins big brothers Jack and Mikey. Steve Cartwright was recently appointed as a board member at Fonkoze USA. Started by Father Joseph Philippe with a vision to build an alternative bank for Haiti’s poor, Fonkoze now boasts 46 branches across the country with nearly 10,000 families having gone through the organization’s “graduation” model program to lift families out of extreme poverty. On his appointment Cartwright said, “It’s an honor to help steward this incredible family of institutions and their legacy of supporting women and families throughout Haiti.” Beth Garrabrant was recently featured in the Notre Dame Women Connect Inspired Conversations event in an interview with professor Pamela Robertson Wojcik. Beth is a professional photographer and received her BA in both Studio Art and FTT at Notre Dame, and later graduated from the International Center of Photography in New York City. She’s worked on an array of high profile projects including editorial and commercial work with clients such as Disney, Showtime, Netflix and Nike and also collaborated with Taylor Swift on the musician’s album covers for Folklore, Evermore, Fearless, Red, Midnights, Speak Now, 1989, and The Tortured Poets Department. Please continue to send us your updates at NDClassNotes2007@gmail.com. God Bless and Go Irish! — AJ Cedeño; 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 Welcome to the World
The world became slightly better this past September when Megan O’Hara and her husband, Jonathan, welcomed their son Milo to the world. Milo screamed in glee after meeting fellow 2008 classmates Bridget Keating, Kim Schoemaker and Peter Tooher shortly after his arrival. Welcome, Milo! And welcome Marcus Freeman to the Class of 2008! In September, John Donovan, Mike “Feeny” Randolph, Drew Whiting, George Klupchak ’10MEd, Kevin Powers ’10MEd, Nicole (Koors) Burns, Pat Burns, Chris Cugliari, Jesse Brawer and John Biddle reunited for the Stanford game and downtown South Bend thereafter. Pat O’Brien also attended the Stanford game with his daughters. He rented an Airbnb that smelled like smoke. Nobody made it into the game (just like Brian Sullivan and Andrew Zeiser in 2007) due to child meltdowns, so Pat walked two miles back to the car which was parked in Lawrence Sullivan’s parents’ driveway and took the kids to Pizza Hut. Pat Miller had bleached-blond hair freshman year. Andrew Zeiser invited the ACE 30 Cleveland teachers to dinner, but they politely declined. Bob Costa did very little this fall as chief election and campaign correspondent for CBS News (kidding). In fact, he interviewed President Biden in the White House residence for CBS News Sunday Morning, the president’s first interview since he announced he would not seek reelection. Rachel (Maly) and Tom Goldrick ’07 welcomed their third child, George, in May. He joins siblings and chaos creators Vera and Charles, and in typical middle child fashion, the parents forgot to proclaim the birth of Charles in 2021, so here is that announcement. Rachel, you are a wonderful mother. Tom would not have remembered to announce any of the three. Isaac Garcia and Desiree Zamora had their third child, Mary Claire Garcia, in October 2023. Congratulations and God bless your backs and knees. Also, Mary Claire (Sullivan) Mandeville approves of this name. Speaking of sore knees and backs, Elisabeth (Rowley) and Billy Sullivan had baby number five, Ann Marie, in April. They officially now have “too many children if anyone was curious” (their words, not the writer’s). Luckily, legends Rev. Patrick Reidy, CSC, and Jennie Motto Mesterharm are the godparents and came to Nashville TN for the Baptism. To ensure that the godparents were up to the godparenting task, Elisabeth and Billy created a feats-of-strength game, which included freestyle swimming. Both passed. Another baby legend was welcomed to the world. Georgia Steenberge and her husband welcomed baby girl Solveig. Big sister Svea is pumped! Georgia reports that she and her family are enjoying the stereotypical life in Sweden, with free healthcare, bad weather and lots of Pippi Longstocking. Garrett Mandeville is thinking of starting an urban yurt company in Milwaukee, but everyone thinks it is a bad idea. Lastly, sharing news is not always easy. Our classmate, a loving husband and father, and Canada’s finest, Hudson Sullivan, passed away in August. Our sincerest condolences to all of his family and friends. If you get a chance to light a candle in his honor at the Grotto, please do so. Pat Ryan, Kait Brown, Kerry Maguire ’09 and Joey Valdivia, holler at us. — 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 Doing Better Than Fine
Heidi (Rocha) and Mark Witte welcomed their third child, Celine Rose, into the family in July. Meanwhile, Andrew Matasic and Craig Wiborg took a hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia, Turkey – one of their favorite adventures thus far. Please visit the Notre Dame Class of 2009 Facebook Page to reconnect with members of the class. If you have any additional news or announcements, please contact me. — 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