Class Notes

Class Notes Submission | Alumni Class Notes As a Hunter College graduate, you are automatically a member of the Alumni Association. Please keep your alma mater informed by updating your contact information and by submitting a class note to tell us about your life and career. Below, you can read the class notes of your fellow alumni and learn about all the exciting things that Hunter’s many graduates are doing with their lives! Alumni Class Notes 1910’s | 1920’s | 1930’s | 1940’s | 1950’s | 1960’s | 1970’s | 1980’s | 1990’s | 2000’s | In Memoriam

2000’s

The paintings of Kristine Moran (MFA ’08) are currently on display at the Skew Gallery in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The exhibition, titled “Unraveling Under Conditions of Uncertainty,” is open through July 31st. Moran has had two previous solo shows at the Angel Gallery in Toronto which both received wide critical acclaim, and she was recently awarded the prestigious Mary Walsh Sharpe Foundation studio prize. Scott Bennett (MSW ‘05) is the author of The Elements of Résumé Style: Essential Rules and Eye-Opening Advice for Writing Resumes and Cover Letters That Work. Formerly the President and COO of Public Service Computer Software, Inc., he is now a career coach who has guided over 4,000 job seekers from more than 100 countries. His website, clickforcareercoaching.com, offers information, tools, and resources for active career seekers. Deborah R. Goldstein (MSW '05), who has a side career custom-designing t-shirts, has been featured in the media for her shirts decorated with ‘80s rock lyrics. She has also created t-shirts for her alma mater, the Hunter College School of Social Work, with proceeds from the sales benefiting the Amy Watkins Scholarship, which provides scholarships to HCSSW students in financial need, and the school’s student government. To learn about Goldstein’s creations, visit www.misswit.net. Desert Sunrise, a play written and directed by Misha Shulman (BA '05), was performed at the Theatre for the New City in New York in September and October 2005. The TNC produced another play by Shulman, The Fist, in the spring of last year. An Israeli army veteran, Shulman uses English, Arabic, and Hebrew dialogue in the new play, which deals with an encounter between an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian man.

Brian Fraga (BA '02), is now working as a reporter for the Standard-Times newspaper in New Bedford, MA, covering regional news and events. Studied journalism at Hunter, writing for The Envoy and The Word - http://theword.hunter.cuny.edu/. As a certified rehabilitation therapist at the Association for Visual Rehabilitation in Binghamton, NY, Ralph Gedeon (MSEd '02) teaches clients who have recently become blind to maximize their other senses so they can hold jobs as well as cook, clean, and perform other household tasks. Gedeon, who is himself legally blind, has been at AVRE since 2001.

Catherine Pisacane (BA '01) received the Worcester Business Journal’s 2005 “Top 40 Under 40” award which highlights rising stars in the business community. Pisacane is the founder and executive director of Project Smile, a nonprofit organization that seeks to help comfort children in traumatic situations.

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1990’s

Edel Rodriguez (MFA ‘99) was profiled in a July 5 article in the Miami Herald entitled “Mariel refugee turns artistic talent to children’s books.” Rodriguez came to the United States from Cuba at the age of eight, arriving in Miami as a Mariel boatlift immigrant. Now an award-winning artist, Rodriguez is the author and illustrator of a new children’s book. Sergio Makes a Splash! tells the story of a little penguin who, despite his love of fish and water, is afraid to swim. The book is available for purchase at barnesandnoble.com. Soprano Lazara Perez ('99) will be performing in a grand concert—featuring Latin-American ballads, musical theater, zarzuela, and boleros—on May 31, 2008 at the Second Reformed Church at 938 Summit Avenuie in Jersey City, New Jersey (PATH to Journal Square). The event will be followed by a wine and cheese reception. For more information, call 201-780-8305.

Cappelli Enterprises, a real estate development company in Westchester County, has named Andrew Lofredo (BA '96) director of asset management.

Santa Clara University has named Robin Reynolds (BA’94) assistant vice provost for planning and administration. Reynolds holds a master’s in public administration from NYU.

Steven Burch (BA ’93) has just published Andrew P. Wilson and the Early Irish and Scottish National Theatres, 1911-1950 (Edwin Mellen Press) and recently received tenure and a promotion to associate professor at the University Of Alabama, Department of Theatre and Dance. Mitchell J. Silver (MUP’93), planning director of the city of Raleigh, North Carolina, has been elected to the American Planning Association’s board of directors as a director-at-large. Silver has been deputy director in the Office of Planning in Washington, Northern Manhattan planning and policy director for the Manhattan Borough President, and a city planner in the New York City Planning Department. He has also served as president of the New York Metro Chapter of the APA. Stephen J. Fernbach’s (MSH '93) collection of poetry, A Man of Verse for Better or Worse, was published by PublishAmerica and is available on www.barnesandnoble.com and www.amazon.com.

Kaisha Thomas (MA’91) was recently appointed director of individual and family counseling at the Center for Family Services of Palm Beach County, Florida.

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1980’s

Neurobiologist Erich Jarvis (BA '88), an associate professor at Duke University Medical Center, was recently awarded a grant of $500,000 a year for five years to further his biomedical research—and was featured on the PBS show Nova ScienceNow, which showplaced both his scientific work and his dancing skills. Jarvis, who has a PhD from Rockefeller University, was a dancer before going into science. His new grant is from the National Institutes of Health.

Joseph Rutkowski (’87) is the Director of Instrumental Music for the Great Neck North Secondary Schools on Long Island. Since 1991, he has conducted the schools’ Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Band at many sites, including Avery Fisher Hall and Carnegie Hall. Prior to his position in Great Neck, he was Director of the Symphony Orchestra at Stuyvesant High School for eight years. He has been named a Presidential Scholar Teacher twice and was recognized at the Presidential Scholars Teacher Recognition Luncheon in Washington, DC. Rutkowski is also a successful clarinetist who has appeared as a concerto soloist and chamber music artist at Carnegie Hall. He received degrees in performance from the Mannes College of Music and Queens College and an Advanced Certificate in Educational Administration from Hunter.

Sabrina Silverberg (BA '86) was named executive vice president for music strategy and relations by MTV Networks in June 2005. Prior to joining MTV Networks in 1994, Silverberg was an attorney for the National Broadcasting Company and an attorney at the New York law firm Weil, Gotshal and Manges. Silverberg, who earned her JD at NYU School of Law, is also a co-founder of Stinky Records.

Citigate Sard Verbinnen, a communications firm with offices in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, has promoted Judy Brennan (BA '85) to the position of managing director.

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1970’s

Antonio R. Howell (MA ’79) has been appointed Dean of the Humanities Division at Tarrant County College Northeast Campus. Howell, a Fulbright-Hayes Scholarship recipient and international educator, holds an MA in Linguistics and a Doctor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language Instruction from the State University of New York. In addition to teaching high school and college in the Republic of Panama, he has taught a variety of English and Linguistics courses at colleges throughout Texas.

Artist Eileen Hickey-Hulme’s (BFA ‘76) exhibit, “Bang, Bang!!!! Guns and Roses,” will be on view at the Prudential Gallery in Amagansett, New York from May 1, 2008 to May 31, 2008. Hickey-Hulme employs materials such as lipstick, nail polish, eye shadow and marine paint to create her works, thereby questioning and disrupting the viewer’s understanding and experience of a painting. Hickey-Hulme has been a fine art painter in New York City for the past 35 years.

Pace University School of Law’s Public Interest Law Scholarship Organization recently presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to Barbara Finkelstein (BA’75) for her extensive contributions to public interest law. Finkelstein, who holds a JD from Rutgers University School of Law, is executive director of Legal Services of the Hudson Valley,  a nonprofit law firm that provides legal representation to low-income individuals and families in civil legal matters. Finkelstein is co-chair of the Special Committee on Funding of the New York State Bar Association and a member of the New York State Equal Justice Commission.

Carol Rossi Paprocki (BA ’74) has been appointed Co-Chair of the New Jersey Hospice-Veteran Partnership (NJHVP) by the New Jersey Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. Formed in 2007, the NJHVP’s mission is to facilitate services to veterans and provide training for caregivers who assist veterans at the end of life. Paprocki is the Public Relations Manager at Samaritan Hospice in Marlton, New Jersey.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, one of the premier law firms in the country, has elected Evan R. Chesler (MA '73) as its next presiding partner. Formerly head of the firm’s litigation department, Chesler began serving as deputy presiding partner in November and will become the presiding partner in January 2007. Named one of America’s leading practitioners by publications such as Best Lawyers in America, Chesler earned his JD from NYU School of Law.

John Rowan (MA '72) was recently elected president of Vietnam Veterans of America.

Arnold L. Lettieri Jr. (MA '71), recently graduated from the 5th Annual Citizens' Academy of the Newark Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).  He also participates in the New Jersey Chapter of InfraGard, a partnership between the FBI and the private sector dedicated to sharing information and intelligence to prevent hostile acts against the United States. The Sunrise (Florida) Civic Center exhibited artwork by Essie D. Owens (BA’71) this winter.

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1960’s

Carolyn Jacoby (BA '69) was appointed as senior representative for the South Sea Pearl Consortium, an organization that provides information to jewelry designers, retailers, and consumers about South Sea cultured pearls.

Fran Lewis (BA ’68) has recently published a book titled My Name is Bertha. The fictional children’s book tells the story of a young girl who feels misunderstood by society. As Bertha tells her stories of struggle, she encourages her young readers to think positively and believe in their own personal strengths. Lewis worked as a public school reading and writing staff developer for thirty six years. Her second book, Bertha Speaks Out, will be available for purchase at the end of August 2008. My Name is Bertha is currently available for purchase at barnesandnoble.com. Actor Rhea Perlman (BA '68) is branching out as a children’s book author with the publication of Otto Undercover #1: Born to Drive and Otto Undercover #2: Canyon Catastrophe. The hero of the two illustrated books is Otto Undercover, secret agent, racecar driver, and inventor.

Nancy Rabstejnek Nichols (BA ’67) was recently named to the Board of Directors of The New York Pops. Nichols is the Senior Vice President of External Affairs at Weber Shandwick, the largest full service Public Relations firm in the world. She has previously acted as Chair and Co-Chair of The New York Pops Birthday Gala Leadership Committee. Under her leadership, the orchestra’s annual gala raised a record-breaking $1.03 million in 2007 and surpassed that amount in 2008 with over $1.7 million in revenue. She also serves as President of the NY Women in Communications Foundation and a board member on the Professionals in Advertising Political Action Committee and the James Lenox House Association. David Poorvin (BA’67) has been named to the board of directors of NUCRYST Pharmaceuticals, which develops and manufactures medical products that fight infection and inflammation. Poorvin, who has a doctorate from Rutgers and is currently executive in residence for Oxford Bioscience Partners and a consultant at Poorvin Enterprises, has worked at Schering Plough Corporation, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, and Lederle Laboratories. New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg recently honored the city’s first assistant corporation counsel, Jeffrey D. Friedlander (BA '67), for his 35 years of service in the city’s Law Department. Said the New York Times column “Metro Matters,” Friedlander “supervises divisions, writes and reviews mayoral legislation, advises the mayor and city agencies, negotiates with the City Council, and is in charge when the corporation counsel is not around”—and is one of “the quiet ones, the…men and women who make the city work with little notice or acclaim….”

Barry Gold (BA '66) was appointed chair and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. Gold was formerly principal investigator in cancer biology at the University of Nebraska, where he also served as associate director of the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer.

Leslie Barton (BA '63) has retired after a 17-year tenure as Pediatric Residency Program Director at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. She has been designated a Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, and an education fund has been established in her name. Barton says she dedicates these honors to Hunter College, which encouraged her to "go for it."

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1950’s

Bob Feinberg (’56) and Marvin Starkman (’56) have co-written a play which recently premiered at the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue. Eddie is based on the life of Eddie Jacobson, an American-Jewish businessman who was a business partner and close friend of President Harry Truman. A one-man show performed by Starkman, Eddie tells the story of how Jacobson risked their thirty-year friendship to lobby the President to support the birth of the state of Israel. Eddie will play at synagogues and community centers throughout the east. Please email Marvin Starkman for further information. Marion Dusoir Ennes (BA ’56) is the posthumous author of a collection of natural science essays titled Nature’s Way: Observations of a Good Earthkeeper. Ennes, fascinated by nature since childhood, wrote a natural sciences column for The Independent newspaper for ten years under the title “Nature’s Way.” Her collection of 350 columns is published in this book and is available for purchase at http://www.cypresshouse.com/. For further information, please visit http://www.natureswaybook.net/.

Ada Chirles (BA '51, MA '65) spent two weeks last October teaching English to Italian teenagers in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. She was part of a group organized by Global Volunteers, a nongovernmental organization that sends teams of volunteers all over the world to participate in short-term service programs.

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion awarded an honorary doctorate to Leo Hershkowitz (BA’50) for his “many years of outstanding teaching, dedication to historical scholarship, and selfless efforts to preserve and make available for study the documents relating to the early history of Jews in America.” Hershkowitz, who earned his PhD at New York University and is a professor of history at Queens College, focuses on the history of New York Jewry from its earliest origins to the beginning of mass immigrations in the 19th century.

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1940’s

Prizewinning architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable (BA '47) was recently profiled by both the New York Observer and MetropolisMag.com. She “essentially invented the field of architecture criticism for a general audience,” says the Observer interview, adding that she was “at the forefront of the historic-preservation movement,” while Metropolis notes that she was the first architecture critic to write for a daily newspaper and the first to win a Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. Long the architecture critic for the New York Times, Huxtable currently writes for the Wall Street Journal.

Acclaimed actress Ruby Dee’s (BA'44) latest starring role is in No. 2, a new film slated to be shown at the Sundance Film Festival.

The mother/daughter alumni team of Shura Saul (BA ’40) and Jennifer Rosvally (MSW) have co-authored Mother/Daughter Duets: Relationships in Counterpoint, which examines a range of concerns in the relationships between mature daughters and their aging mothers. After retiring from a career in gerontology and social work, Saul taught in a correctional facility for ten years. She continues to teach, write and publish today. Rosvally has a private psychotherapy practice and is a licensed clinical social worker. She has also written and published original poetry and songs. For more information on the book, please visit http://www.motherdaughterduets.com/. A Minefield of Etceteras, a book of poems by Peggy Herrman Heinrich (BA’49), was recently published by iUniverse. This is the fourth book of poetry by Heinrich, who has also written articles, plays, children’s books, and the libretto for a children’s opera and taught poetry writing.

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1930’s

Author and poet Laura Seeman (BA '33) has published two books of fables. A Penguin Called Samantha and When Animals Talk are available on barnesandnoble.com and ebookmall.com.

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1920’s

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1910’s

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In Memoriam

Professor Roselle Kurland of the Hunter College School of Social work died in June 2005. Professor Kurland was on the faculty of the social work school for 27 years. She was a master teacher, loved and admired by students and colleagues alike for her warmth and compassion, her profound commitment to her students, and the truly impressive range and depth of her professional knowledge.

Sarah B. McKeige (MA '93)

Mitchell Hogue (BA '90) died on Saturday, August 27, 2005.

Sr. Teresita Watson (MS '75) passed away on Wednesday, April 30, 2008. She had been a Dominican Sister of St. Mary of the Springs in Columbus, Ohio since 1957. Sr. Teresita loved teaching, and ministered at schools in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, and Ohio over the course of her 50-year career. She will be missed by her family, religious community, and many friends.

Penny Wise Sodos ('68) died on July 4, 2008 at the age of 62. She was a database administrator and systems programmer, as well as an active gardener and loving wife, mother and grandmother. Memorial contributions can be made online to the ASPCA.

Lenore Ganzell (BA '65)

Harvey E. Pine ( '61) died on September 2, 2004 at the age of 64.

Sandra Kantrowitz ( '61) died on June 22, 2005.

Diana Weaver (BA '59)

Barry Castro (BA '55) died on May 5, 2005.

Barbara Zimmer ('54) died on Saturday, October 8th.

Jennie Ewanoski (BA '54)

Eleanor Gaspari Shapiro (BA '48), the 1948 Senior Class President, died on April 4, 2005.

Marguerite Blackwell Stein (BA '46)

Marian David Carton Gulack (BA '46) died suddenly on March 25, 2005, at the age of 79.

Catherine M. Pessino (BA '46) died November 2005.

Doris Chertow (BA '45) was a member of Thomas Hunter Society.

Irma Boydston (BA '45)

Mary Garnett Andersen Carlsen (BA '43) died in April, 2005, after a long illness.

Molly Nierenberg (BA '43)

Sylvia Alves Barton (BA '42) died peacefully in her sleep at home early Wed morning Dec. 21, 2005. She was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, teacher & friend to many.

Beatrice Berdell (BA '42)

Rhoda Joseph (BA '42)

Pearl Bergos, ('40) died on September 2, 2005, beloved mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.

Blanche Greenman Bloom Roth (BA '40)

Leah Schwartz Shapiro (BA, MA '40), the wife of Nathan Shapiro, passed away on February 26, 2008. Mrs. Shapiro worked as a teacher and school secretary for approximately 25 years, most recently at Junior High School 127 in the Bronx. Condolences may be sent to Mr. Shapiro at 5707 East 7th Street, Tucson, AZ 85711.

Helen Brenner (BA '39)

Grace Hirsh (BA '39) died on July 16, 2005. She was a resident of Hartsdale, NY and a dedicated volunteer.

Catherine Starke (BA '38)

Miriam Grishman (BA '37)

Florence L. Knox (BA '37)

Jeanette Reibman (BA '37)

Lucile Dobbyn (BA '36)

Shirley Reif (BA '35)

Yetta Axelrod (BA '33) died in February 2006.

Frieda Sohn (BA '33)

Ruth Kauffman (BA '31)

Caroline Ullman Fransman (BA '31) died on September 2005 at the age of 95.

Elizabeth C. Beine (BA '29)

Liza Foner (BA '29)

Rose K. Levski ('27) died on July 24, 2008 at the age of 103.  After a thirty-year teaching career in Brooklyn public school, she retired to Miami, where she spent the last thirty years volunteering in schools, hospitals and the Hadassah organization.  She was a lover of music, theater and ballet, and she will be missed by her family and many friends.

Marie Z. Balich (BA '25), died February 2006.

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