A&S Classnotes

Spring 2023 A&S Classnotes
um sign

 

60s

David Burkart, B.A. ’62, is retired from his long career as a design consultant but continues his work in art and design, particularly in heraldry. His designs of coats of arms for an international clientele can be seen at his website davkdpburkart.com.

Harry Schrier, B.S. ’66, retired from the practice of anesthesiology after 43 years. He worked at South Miami Hospital for 37 years and enjoyed it very much. Schrier now spends quality time with loved ones, traveling with his family, and gardening. He fondly remembers his time at the U in the 1960s.


70s

Diane Peterson, B.A. ’72, has been a professional stuntwoman for over forty years working on over two hundred movies and television shows including “Titanic,” “Batman Forever,” “Robocop II,” “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “MacGyver,” and many more. She has doubled for actors such as Sharon Stone, Jessica Lange, Faye Dunaway, Diane Keaton, Heather Locklear, Heather Thomas, Farrah Fawcett, Michele Phillips, Kate Capshaw and many other actresses. Peterson released a book about her experience in industry last year.

Jim Hayek, B.A. ’72, found it difficult to land a job in the Miami ad agency business, so he embarked on a two-year career playing in a traveling rock band. When he finally landed a design job in television for an independent channel in Miami, his career was off and running. Hayek was a television art director for ABC, CBS, FOX Sports, and various productions in South Florida, Los Angeles, and Denver. Now retired, Hayek continues to take on freelance design assignments as well as painting, drawing, and wheel pottery. He is also finding quality time writing, recording, and playing music. He plays for a blues-based band called Hard Blue and they have two albums. Hayek encourages UM alumni to listen and check out the band’s website, hardbluemusic.com.

Nanette Avery, B.F.A. ’76, released her latest novel, Blank, published in October 2022. Set in a dystopian version of Earth, the novel echoes the tale of Alice in Wonderland combined with The Lost City of Atlantis. Avery lives outside Nashville, TN., with her husband and orange cat.

Valerie Zundell, B.A. ’77, M.A. ’78, owns a chocolate shop in Jupiter, FL., called The Chocolate Spectrum that not only makes chocolate but is a social enterprise that trains and employs individuals with autism and others who are neurodiverse. The Chocolate Spectrum is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Zundell started the business for her autistic son who likes to make pastries. Before opening The Chocolate Spectrum, Zundell was a speech pathologist who owned and operated a therapy center for children with developmental disabilities. She encourages UM alumni to visit her shop’s website, thechocolatespectrum.com.

 
80s

Conchita Espino, Ph.D. ’81,
moved to Costa Rica after 20 years working for the World Bank Group to start a nonprofit with the innovative idea of creating a long-distance hiking trail from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. Today Asociación Mar a Mar helps rural women entrepreneurs and indigenous peoples to develop businesses that provide services to national and international hikers taking the route called El Camino de Costa Rica, which is modeled after the centuries old Compostela Camino. Espino invites UM alumni to visit the route website caminodecostarica.org and visit LinkedIn and Facebook under the name @maramarasociacion.

Linda Marie Golian-Lui, B.A. ’86, accepted the position of Dean of Libraries for Florida Atlantic University in August 2022.

David Auslander, B.A. ’83, J.D. ’86, continues to practice law in Miami with fellow UM alumnus and lawyer Paul Nemiroff. Him and his wife, Cipora, recently welcomed two grandsons and future ’Canes, Jaco and Saul Moreno.

Jason Green, B.A. ’88, is semi-retired after 25 years working as a freelance photographer. Now he spends a few hours a week working at his local Home Depot and making interesting jewelry pieces from objects he finds.


90s

Jeff Holman, B.A. ’91,
was cast as a supporting role of Roger Otter in the movie, “Being The Ricardos,” opposite Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem. He is also playing a recurring role of Randy Walsh in the hit Showtime series, “Yellowjackets.”

Jennifer Miller, B.A. ’92, finished her Ph.D. in 2003 and started her first job as an Assistant Professor of GIS (geographic information science) at West Virginia University. After four years there, she moved to the University of Texas at Austin and is now chair of the Department of Geography and the Environment. She currently lives in Austin with her four dogs and pygmy goat.

Chrissy Barbusca, B.A. ’93, was voted 2022 Teacher of Year for Wren High School and was a finalist for the district Teacher of the Year Award. 

Annejeanette Washington Collin, B.A. ’93, was named the Dr. Theron Trimble Florida Social Studies Teacher of the Year for Middle School by the Florida Council for the Social Studies. The award recognizes exceptional and innovative teachers for creating meaningful lessons for their students and advocating for social studies education. Collin is being honored for her passion for bringing lessons to life in her classroom through innovative projects.

Dennis Klemm, B.S. ’94, after many years as the Sea Turtle Recovery Coordinator for the National Marine Fisheries Service SE Region, Klemm moved up to a new position as the Chief of the Sea Turtles and Fisheries Coordination Branch in the Protected Resources Division last year.

Teresa Rodriquez-Guerra, B.S. ’95, is Director of Entertainment Strategy and Administration at Royal Caribbean Group. 

Michael Vazquez, B.A. ’89, M.B.A. ’96, was the owner and vice president of MECO MIAMI, Inc. for 40 years. He recently sold his business to the multi-national Sunbelt Rentals, a $9-billion-dollar company. Vazquez is grateful for the education he received at UM, which helped him throughout his career.

Scott Stein, B.A. ’93, M.F.A. ’97, published his fourth novel The Great American Betrayal (Tiny Fox Press) in September 2022. The book was named one of "The Best Comedy Books of 2022” by Vulture.com.

Adam Ball, B.S. ’94, M.D. ’99, is the owner of Gulfstream Urology Associates in Port St. Lucie, FL., practicing minimally invasive outpatient urologic care for 18 years. He is currently the president of the Florida Urological Society (2022-2023). Ball is married to Cristina Ramirez-Ball, a UM alumna.


00s

George LaVern, B.A. ’03,
started a new position in November as senior safety manager, managing phase I to phase III clinical trials for Drug Safety Navigator.

Ihoema Iruka, Ph.D. ’05, received the American Psychological Association’s 2022 Mid-Career Award for Outstanding Contributions to Benefit Children, Youth and Families. The award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions in science, policy, and practice that benefit the psychological functioning or well-being of children, youth, and families.

Fatima Henson, B.A. ’06, is the author of a Young Adult/Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel, Love in the Age of Dragons, published by SparkPress. The book was released in November 2022.

Natalie Houston, B.A. ’06, was elected to the board of the Florida Library Association. 

Roger Feicht, B.A. ’07, was awarded board certification in business litigation by the Florida Bar. Of the over 110,000 lawyers in the Florida Bar, just 229 are board certified in business litigation.

Melissa Ramnauth, Esq., B.A. ’08, successfully registered The Cutlass Magazine as a trademark.  The publication is a platform dedicated to the Indo-Caribbean community and its descendants. As an Indo-Caribbean descendant, Ramnauth can use her legal degree to collaborate with her Caribbean community. She has a firm that focuses on trademark and business Law. She is most proud of being able to help her South Florida and Caribbean communities protect their growing businesses with trademarks and contracts. 

Joshua Weiss, B.S. ’08, M.D. ’12, welcomed a new hurricane into the family and brought him to his first football game last year.

David Steeb, B.S. ’09, was recently selected as the founding dean of the College of Global Population Health at the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis, the first program of its kind in the U.S. with a global emphasis on population health. The college will focus its efforts on advancing health equity for populations near and far through its academic programs, interdisciplinary research, and service to the community.


10s

Kristin Hammal, B.A. ’11,
originally started a pre-med program at the University of Miami to help her tiny island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean. However, Hammal decided to join the family business and strengthen her administrative skills. In November 2021, she was appointed to the board of one of the island’s major hospitals by the St. Lucia government. She is very grateful to have the opportunity to serve in this capacity and to help provide oversight on the hospital’s operations.

Angelica Sogar, B.A. ’10, M.S. ’11, was a featured speaker at the Women's International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA) 2022 International Conference in Geneva, Switzerland. She spoke on a panel about the importance of collaboration and sustainability in the maritime industry's approaches to ocean health and decarbonization.

Victoria Moscoso, B.A. ’13, has been serving as an active-duty Army officer since graduation, almost ten years ago. Moscoso spent time serving as a military police staff officer at the Battalion and Brigade levels, a military police platoon leader, and military police company commander. She recently was selected to become a foreign area officer, serving as a soldier diplomat in U.S. embassies overseas. She also completed a degree in foreign service and is learning a third language, Turkish, prior to being stationed in Istanbul this year.

Angela Carracino, B.S. ’15, married Eli Gurwitz, B.B.A. ’14, in August 2022.  

Lauren Cornelia Goode, B.S. ’15, recently graduated from the University of Florida College of Dentistry. Currently practicing in Washington, D.C., she looks fondly upon her UM experience and fondly remembers her classmates , the diverse and gorgeous campus, and the loads of fun she had learning all about Miami.

Congyu Liu, B.S. ’16, landed a job at Meta in Seattle, WA., as a software engineer. He is very proud to be a UM alumnus. 

Kayla Thayer, Ph.D. ’17, a licensed clinical psychologist and recently achieved board certification status with the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) in Clinical Psychology (ABCP).

Roxette Gonzalez, B.A. ’18, earned a double major in philosophy and political science, with a minor in ecology. As of 2020, she is now a law student currently in her third year. She is graduating in May and will be taking the Florida Bar in July. Gonzalez worked as a legal intern at a litigation firm where she was offered a full-time position after graduation. During her internship, she worked on many interesting cases, ranging from personal injury claims to wrongful death, products liability, and medical malpractice. This experience allowed her to realize that medical malpractice is the area of law she would like to specialize in. Through litigation and lobbying, Gonzalez plans to advocate for health law reform to lower the cost of healthcare without affecting the quality.

Hande Kucuk McGinty, Ph.D. ’18, started a new position as a tenure-track faculty at the Department of Computer Science at Kansas State University. McGinty’s current research focuses on food, agriculture, chemical and bio-medical ontologies. Her current research interests include generating bio-medical ontologies, chemical, food and ag-ontologies using semi-automated methodologies; generating new algorithms and methods to create and utilize ontologies as well as using artificial intelligence and machine learning to bridge the gap among them.

Stephanie S. Thomas, M.P.A. ’18, graduated with a doctorate in health science from Eastern Virginia Medical School in May 2021. Her daughter, Ariayanna L. Val, became a sailor with the U.S. Coast Guard and graduated from Alabama State University in 2021. An avid advocate for health and philanthropist, Thomas was featured in Miami Today newspaper for the “Celebrating 40 Years/Best of Miami” edition in May 2022. She was appointed as a board member of the Haitian American Chamber of Commerce and became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. in May 2021. She sits on various boards such as United Way—Health Impact Committee and the National Forum for Black Public Administrators. She recently celebrated 21 years of public service with the City of North Miami in January 2023. 

Emily Parks, B.A. ’19, after a great first year as a Fulbright fellow in Greece, Parks was selected to be a return fellow and complete a second-year grant. She will continue to work with middle school students in Athens, Greece.

Yiqun Zhou, Ph.D. ’19, is starting his career as a principle scientist for Roche, a global pioneer in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics focused on advancing science to improve people’s lives. Zhou earned his Ph.D. in chemistry and holds experience in the research and development of transformative technologies including security and 3D printing, cosmetics, thermoelectricity, rocket fuel, bioimaging, immunotherapy, and gene therapy.


20s

Diana Borras, B.A. ’20,
joined the Peace Corps in Morocco last year. Borras said she was part of the first cohort to return to the country after COVID-19.

Chuan Liu, Ph.D. ’20, received a full-time position at the Bard Early College as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry teaching college classes to high school students who seek a college degree at the end of high school.

Carolyn Keatley, B.S. ’22, landed her first job at Cogstate, a neuroscience clinical research company aimed at optimizing brain health.

Beth Markowitz, B.F.A. ‘’18, M.S. ’22, was born and raised in Miami, FL. She comes from a proud family of UM alumni: her mother (B.B.A., ’92); her father (B.B.A., ’84; MSEd, ’04; EdD, ’12); and her sister (B.A., ’15). Markowitz currently serves as the Manager of Foundation Relations at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, where she works to support the Arsht Center's education and community engagement programs. She proudly serves as the Vice Chair of the Steering Committee for the Miami Emerging Arts Leaders, a leadership development program created by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, which identifies and cultivates the next generation of arts leaders in our community. Most recently, she was selected as the 2023 Joyce Galya Scholarship Recipient by the Miami Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals to attend a national fundraising conference. The scholarship award was established in 2009 to honor Joyce Galya, who was the Director of the University of Miami’s Citizens Board for more than 25 years.

Sergio Papa Ruark, M.S. ’22, was awarded by the LGBTQ Student Center University of Miami for “Outstanding Research” in May 2022. He also served as a teaching assistant and was nominated as an “Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant” for 2021-2022. In addition, Ruark collaborates on various presentations and performances, such as the first-ever Native American Heritage Month celebration on campus organized by UM NAGIS (Native American & Global Indigenous Studies) and the UM Indigenous Heritage Committee. He is passionate about attending Native American Two-Spirit Pow Wows to share his ancestral Andean culture. Currently, he is representing the Montana Two-Spirit Society as Mr. Montana Two-Spirit 2022-23. In addition, he attended and danced at the BAAITS (Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirit) in San Francisco in February. Moreover, he will be attending The Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Missoula Pride, and the 36th International Two-Spirit Gathering in Nova Scotia, Canada.