July 2007

Introducing Class Notes


In response to alumni requests, @Jepson inaugurates a class notes section. Please submit your news or email jepson@richmond.edu

The Reverend Canon Matthew Corkern, '95, married Alice Bickerton Coke on Oct. 21, 2006, at Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville, Tenn. In the days immediately following, Matthew co-led a 12-day pilgrimage with retired University of Richmond art history professor Charles Johnson, exploring art, architecture and faith across Italy. Matthew and Alice then honeymooned for four days in Venice and two days in Rome. In the upcoming months, Matthew will be leading two pilgrimages to Normandy, one this summer and another this fall. Since March 2000 when he organized and traveled with his first group of pilgrims, Matthew has led 17 pilgrimages, which he described as spiritual, cultural and educational journeys.  

Clifford "Tripp" Perrin, '95, and his wife, Dawn, celebrated the birth of their first child, Isabel Grace, on Feb. 1, 2007. Isabel weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces. In addition to his new parental duties, Tripp remains active in Jepson and University affairs, including serving on Jepson's Alumni Networking Group and giving the alumni speech at Jepson's Senior Banquet in April 2007. He has served as the vice president for communications of the University of Richmond Alumni Association for the last two years and began serving a one-year term as the association's president-elect on  July 1, 2007, to be followed by a one-year term as the association's president.

Elizabeth Crowe Ream, '96, resigned as executive director of the Virginia Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs to accept a new job as grants director of University Instructors Incorporated, effective May 25, 2007. In 1994 University of Richmond alumnus Jim Popp, '92, founded University Instructors, a for-profit company dedicated to helping K-12 students reach their highest potential by providing them access to highly motivated and educated instructors. The company now ranks as number 139 on the nation's list of the 500 fastest growing companies. In her new position as grants director, Elizabeth will lead the company's effort to attract new business and funding opportunities through the development of federal, state, corporate and local grants.

Christie Getman, '97, moved to Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 2005 to work for the American Red Cross Tsunami Recovery Program. Christie manages a portfolio of approximately $130 million in her role as head of programs for both Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Prior to joining the American Red Cross, she worked for two other nonprofit organizations: Winrock International from 2001-2005, where she served as a regional monitoring and evaluation specialist based in Bamaka, Mali, from 2002-2004, and Christian Children's Fund from 1998-1999 in Dakar, Senegal. Christie obtained a master's in anthropology from George Washington University in 2001. 

Maurice Henderson, '97, resigned his post as deputy press secretary to Gov. Timothy Kaine of Virginia to start a new position as chief of staff for the chief technology officer for the District of Columbia effective July 9, 2007. The Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) develops and enforces policies and standards for information technology in the DC government. OCTO identifies where and how technology can systematically support the business processes of the District's 68 agencies.

Christopher Poulos, '97, and his wife, Helen, welcomed their first child, Molly Elizabeth, to the world on March 28, 2007. The family visited Jepson on April 23, 2007, when Chris spoke to current students at a Dean's Luncheon about his experiences in the Peace Corps and, more recently, as a high school Spanish teacher honored as the 2007 Connecticut Teacher of the Year. Later that same day, the family traveled to Washington, D.C., where they spent the next few days attending several Teacher of the Year festivities, including one where Chris met President and Mrs. Bush in the Oval Office.


  Chris, Molly and Helen during their Jepson visit.         The Bushes congratulate Connecticut Teacher of the
                                                                                                                           Year Christopher Poulos

Stephen DuMont, '00, and his wife, Andrea, celebrated the arrival of their first child, Abigail, born Oct. 26, 2006. In April 2007 the family moved to Kansas City, Mo., and bought their first home after Steve accepted a position in the operations division of the Kansas City office of H&R Block Financial Advisors.


Abigail Elizabeth DuMont at five months

Mary Elizabeth "Liz" Hudson, '00, worked for a number of nonprofits in the Washington area before moving to Baltimore, Md., where she joined publishing company Agora, Inc., in 2003. After a one-year stint with a financial publisher subsidiary of Agora, Liz was reassigned to Agora's legal department. There she has worked on a number of the company's court cases, several dealing with First Amendment rights. When a publishing colleague founded the Roberto Clemente Santa Ana Health Clinic to provide free and low-cost health care to the poor and underserved in Nicaragua, Liz volunteered her services as a consultant. She helped the clinic attain 501(c)3 status, something she said she could not have done without the knowledge she gained in her "Leadership in the Arts" course.

Ginger Doyel, '01, an author and illustrator based in Annapolis, Md., celebrated the publication of her latest book, "The Annapolitan Club: A Tradition of Hospitality since 1897,"  in December 2006. The book traces the history of the Annapolitan Club from its founding in 1897 through the present day, including many interesting vignettes about some of Annapolis' most colorful and influential citizens.

Matthew James "M.J." Lynch, '03, and Amanda Nelson Lynch, '03, married in October 2005 and bought their first home last summer in Metro Atlanta. M.J. serves as the premium-seating customer service representative for Atlanta Spirit, the parent company of the Atlanta Hawks (NBA), the Atlanta Thrashers (NHL) and Philips Arena (an entertainment venue). He loves working in the sports field. Amanda is currently teaching third grade at the Atlanta school where she was originally placed as a Teach for America corps member. This year her school selected her as Teacher of the Year, and she went on to become a semifinalist at the district level. Amanda is working on her teaching certification while pursuing a master's degree in education.

Nicholas Morales, '03, has been accepted to Harvard Law School for fall 2007. He plans to focus his studies in the field of environmental law.

Joshua Walker, '03, who graduated with a master's degree in international relations from Yale in 2006 and is now pursuing a doctorate in politics and public policy at Princeton, has focused much of his research on Turkey, the only democratic Muslim-majority country in the Middle East. In an op-ed piece published in the Jerusalem Post and the Turkish Daily News on July 14, Josh expresses his concern about the pervasive anti-Americanism in Turkey and makes an argument for why U.S. policymakers should make every effort to reverse the trend. He takes a favorable view of the preliminary results of the July 22 Turkish elections in another op-ed piece published in the Jerusalem Post on July 25, writing that "a new day has arrived for Turkish politics with the most representative parliament in living memory."  

Seth Lewandowski, '04, enjoyed a run in the Classical Theatre of Harlem production of "Marat/Sade," Feb. 2-March 11, 2007.

Jessica Moye Tallman, '04, is planning a move to New York City with her husband, Mark Tallman, after Mark landed a recurring role in the ABC soap opera "All My Children." Mark debuted as "Kyle" the week of June 11 and will be appearing in one to two episodes a week indefinitely. Jess, who has been working as assistant director of alumni and parent programs at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., will look for a job in New York City, possibly in event planning.

Amy Vest, '04, just completed her second year at Harvard Divinity School, where she is pursuing a Master of Divinity with a focus on religion in higher education. 

Julee Wilson, '04, successfully taped her first television spot on June 4, 2007. Julee, a fashion editor for Real Simple magazine, appeared on New York City station NY1 to discuss how to mix patterns to achieve the most up-to-date look. On July 1, 2007, she offered solutions to summer hair woes based on research conducted by Real Simple during her live broadcast on New York City station WABC. Julee was awarded a fellowship to attend the Stanford University Professional Publishing Course in mid-July.

Kimberly Bowers, '05, was appointed Director of Gubernatorial Appointments by Governor Timothy Kaine of Virginia in March 2007. She is primarily responsible for soliciting and assessing candidates for gubernatorial appointment to policy, supervisory and advisory boards, commissions and councils in state government.

Saona Chapman, '06, played basketball throughout fall 2006 for Athletes in Action (AIA), a Christian athletic ministry that puts together teams of professional and post-collegiate athletes to compete nationally and internationally. She traveled with her AIA team to Canada, Michigan, Texas, Massachusetts and New York to compete against collegiate teams. In January she accepted a job as Public Relations Coordinator for Voice of Hope, a nonprofit Christian community center in West Dallas that provides services and emergency relief to children, families and senior citizens in what is the 11th poorest community in the nation. Saona took a month-long leave of absence from work in April to play basketball with an AIA team in Turkey, an experience which she described as a great athletic, cultural and spiritual adventure. This fall Saona will begin her graduate studies at Harvard Divinity School. 

Elleni Ghebremicael, '06, just completed her first year as a Teach for America corps member in a fifth-grade classroom in Baltimore, Md. She will "loop" next year, meaning she will teach sixth grade, so that she can stay with the same group of students. This summer she will spend five weeks with the nonprofit group Senecorps building a school in the West African nation of Senegal. Elleni serves on the board of Americans for Informed Democracy, a nonprofit organization that seeks to educate undergraduates about America's role in the world.

Jason Guillot, '07, began working as a commercial real estate agent with Thalhimer Commercial Realty in Richmond, Va., July 9. He is living in Richmond's bustling Shockoe Bottom and enjoys competitive cycling as a member of the University of Richmond Cycling Team. 

Sara McGanity, '07, spent the month of June traveling through Italy, Spain and France with her sister Catherine (UR '10) and has worked at a summer camp in Hunt, Texas, since her return. In early August she will be moving to Washington, D.C., where she has accepted a position with the Corporate Executive Board (CEB), a think tank that provides best-practices research, decision-support tools and executive education to corporations and nonprofits worldwide. In her role as a business development associate, Sara will assist CEB member institutions with relationship sales, marketing initiatives and qualitative analyses.

Stefanie Simon, '07, began a two-year fellowship at the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government effective July 1, 2007. Stefanie and several postdoctoral fellows will be conducting social psychological research on prejudice under the direction of Harvard assistant professor Todd L. Pittinsky. Unlike the majority of previous prejudice research that examined negative intergroup attitudes, this research will examine positive intergroup attitudes, with the goal of developing a framework for a type of intergroup leadership that can effectively provide in-group leadership without strengthening negative attitudes toward the out-group.

Written by Cassie Price