2010s

Saverio Romeo, SIS/BA ’10, joined Fox Rothschild LLP in Philadelphia as an associate in the litigation department. His practice focuses on white-collar criminal defense and complex commercial litigation.

William Hubbard, SIS/BA ’11, joined Veterans Education Success as interim chief policy officer. Hubbard previously served as the chief of staff for Student Veterans of America, where he helped secure the Forever GI Bill® in 2017.

Michèle Colburn, CAS/MFA ’12, received a 2021 individual artist grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Earlier this year, Ronewa Art Projects hosted Colburn’s solo exhibition online.

Alexander Lamm, Kogod/BSBA ’13, married Hannah Furrey, Kogod/BSBA ’13, on September 25, 2021.

Judith Mabone, SIS/BA ’18, placed second in the 2021 Miss District of Columbia competition and received a $5,000 scholarship.

2000s

Andrea Lewis, SOC/MA ’00, was promoted to director of programs at Maryland Humanities. Lewis coordinates literature and discussion programs and book festivals.

Dawnica Jackson, SOC/MA ’01, was named associate vice president of marketing and communications at Texas Southern University—second largest among the nation’s Historically Black College and Universities.

John Thompson, SIS/MA ’01, WCL/JD ’01, joined Akerman LLP as a partner, expanding the firm’s bankruptcy and reorganization practice.

Michael Lamm, SIS/BA ’02, and Simone Wine, SOC/BA ’03, welcomed their third child, Henry Penn, on April 11, 2021.

Toby McChesney, SPA/BA ’02, was named vice provost for graduate programs at Santa Clara University. McChesney previously served as senior assistant dean of graduate business programs at the Leavey School of Business.

Christopher Clancy, CAS/MFA ’03, released his debut novel, the anti-war political thriller We Take Care of Our Own (Montag Press), on April 21, 2021.

Lauren Burgoon, SOC/BA ’03, graduated from Cooper Medical School of Rowan University with distinction in service learning. Burgoon is a pediatric resident at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.

Alejandra Castillo, WCL/JD ’04, was sworn in as US Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. Castillo previously served as national director of the Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency.

Rachel Lauren Weiner Cohen, SPA/BA ’04, WCL/JD ’08, was elected to Latham & Watkins’s partnership in the Washington, DC, office. Cohen is a member of the intellectual property litigation practice.

Aaron Biterman, SOE/BA ’05, received his lifetime teaching license in social studies and special education from the state of Wisconsin. Biterman teaches in Milwaukee Public Schools.

Jerry Gidner, Kogod/MBA ’07, who has Tourette Syndrome, has been elected to the board of directors of the Tourette Association of America. Gidner is director of the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration at the US Department of the Interior.

1990s

Stephan Silich, WCL/JD ’94, released his second book of poems, tonight will be the longest night of them all (Brooklyn Writers Press).

Jared Hughes, SOC/BA ’95, was appointed development director at DACOR and the DACOR Bacon House Foundation of Washington, DC.

Jared Green, SIS/BA ’96, released Good Energy: Renewable Power and the Design of Everyday Life (Princeton Architectural Press) in May.

Jeff Perkins, SPA/BA ’96, was promoted to CEO of ParkMobile after serving as the company’s chief marketing and product officer. Perkins’s book, How Not to Suck at Marketing, was released in September 2021.

Gordon Shufelt, CAS/BA ’71, CAS/PhD ’98, released The Uncommon Case of Daniel Brown: How a White Police Officer was Convicted of Killing a Black Citizen, Baltimore, 1875 (Kent State University Press) in February 2021.

Thomas Palermo, SPA/BA ’98, received the 2020 Robert W. Patton Outstanding Jurist Award from the Hillsborough County Bar Association.

Elizabeth Kiehner, SOC/BA ’98, released Good Girls Don’t Make History, a graphic novel that amplifies the voices of female legends from 1840 to the present. 

Paul Teller, SPA/PhD ’99, is executive director of Advancing American Freedom, the organization founded by former vice president Mike Pence to promote conservative values and policies.

Michael Dovilla, SPA/MPA ’99, completed an active-duty mobilization with the under secretary of the navy and was selected as commanding officer of a navy reserve unit located near Seattle. Dovilla serves as the inaugural president and executive director of the USS Cleveland Legacy Foundation.

1980s

Stephen Courtney, Kogod/MBA ’87, was appointed deputy director, Department of Information Technology, for the City and County of Honolulu by Mayor Rick Blangiardi.

Lori Miller, SOC/BA ’87, was elected to the Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel’s executive committee.

K. David Harrison, SIS/BA ’88, was named a member of the Explorers Club 50, which honors trailblazing explorers, scientists, and activists doing incredible work. Harrison was also featured in an article by the Advocate.

Jim Brady, SOC/BA ’89, was named vice president of journalism at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Brady previously led WashingtonPost.com and built local news sites in three cities.

1970s

David Sacks, SPA/BA ’71, retired in 2020 after more than 33 years as a Massachusetts probate and family court judge. Sacks received the 2021 Gideon’s Trumpet award from Senior Partners for Justice and the Volunteer Lawyers Project and serves as a fellow with the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission.

Thomas Sander, SIS/MA ’72, retired after 24 years as editor of the Portolan, journal of the Washington Map Society.

James Brett, SPA/BA ’73, president and CEO of the New England Council, this spring received two honorary degrees from Regis College and Assumption University for his leadership and advocacy for individuals with disabilities.

Charles Poekel Jr., WCL/JD ’74, released Vencedor, the true story of his great-grandfather’s rise from Herreshoff employee to designer of the famed racing sloop Vencedor.

Leland Gamson, SOE/MA ’75, wrote Tamim: The Passover Lamb, which won Glory Bound Publishing’s Children’s Book of the Year for 2021. His eleventh book, The Pony Who Wanted to be a Unicorn (Rain Gardens Publishing), was released in 2020.

Robert Sandler, SPA/BA ’75, was one of 12 attorneys selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2022 and received a Lawyer of the Year award on Long Island.

John Vargo, WCL/JD ’77, an avid collector of political memorabilia, received the 2021 president’s award from the American Political Items Collectors.

Carole Boston Weatherford, Kogod/BA ’77, authored two books that won American Library Association Youth Media Awards in January. BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom, illustrated by Michele Wood, won a Newbery Author Honor. R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul received a Coretta Scott King Award for illustrations by Frank Morrison.

Susan Numrich, CAS/PhD ’79, received the 2020 Goodpaster Award for Excellence in Research from the Institute for Defense Analyses.

1960s

Steve Mehlman, CAS/BA ’64, of Beaumont, California, was appointed chair of the Riverside County Council on Aging for 2021–22. Mehlman is also the elected Beaumont city clerk and a senior senator and executive committee member of the California Senior Legislature.

Bernie Weiss, SPA/BA ’64, was reelected volunteer president of the Seniors Job Bank, a nonprofit in  Hartford, Connecticut, that connects job seekers over 50 with businesses and households that have work to be done.

GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government website at http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.

ALUMNI

David Schmidt, CAS/BS ’91, May 8, 2020, Asheville, North Carolina

Harold Shupack, Kogod/BS ’57, December 7, 2020, Westport, Connecticut

Marilyn Gorman Hopkins, SIS/PhD ’74, December 31, 2020, Chevy Chase, Maryland

Toby Dunn-Stark, CAS/BA ’66, January 2021, Boynton Beach, Florida

Savilla Pitt, SPA/MPAP ’16, January 16, 2021, Washington, DC

Mark Persian, CAS/BA ’75, CAS/MA ’82, February 24, 2021, Arlington, Virginia

William Duncan, Kogod/BA ’71, March 5, 2021, Greenbelt, Maryland

David Klasen, SIS/BA ’07, March 28, 2021, Washington, DC

Midwin Charles, WCL/JD ’99, April 6, 2021, New York, New York

Jarad Geldner, SIS/BA ’17, May 27, 2021, Washington, DC

Roberta Rae Hitt, WCL/JD ’75, June 27, 2021, Festus, Missouri

John Mascatello, WCL/JD ’85, June 27, 2021, Brunswick, Georgia  

Jonah Gitlitz, Kogod/BS ’55, July 29, 2021, Washington, DC

Dennis Rounsley, SPA/BA ’59, 2021, Laguna Vista, Texas

FACULTY

Professor emeritus Richard McCann, January 25, 2021

Former president Joseph Duffey, February 25, 2021

Professor emeritus Gary Ford, March 2021