Jim Baker (MPA ’61) spent much of his career in developing countries and retired in 2006. His wife Fran has been a real estate agent for more than 30 years and will retire soon. They have been living in Potomac, MD and will relocate to Wilmington, NC. Jim sends best wishes to his classmates and looks back on his time at IPA with great fondness lasting over a lifetime.
Rich Hughes (MPA ’61) was elected president of the Coast Life Support District, which provides ambulance services and, by contract, urgent care to rural citizens on the northern California coast.
Howard T. Spence (MPA/JD ’77) was re-elected Eaton County (MI) Commissioner in November. Howard continues to represent the Eaton County Board of Commissioners on the Public Safety and Judiciary Committee of the Michigan Association of Counties.
Dan Weiss (MPP ’80) is Senior VP for Campaigns at the League of Conservation Voters. He oversees LCV’s multi-million dollar efforts to elect pro-climate action candidates. Classmate Leslie Keenan (MPP ’80) attended the organization’s NYC dinner with keynote speaker Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Diane Proctor Reeder (MPP ’81) is the author of What the Word BE: Why Black English is the King’s (James) English!, which was named one of the Top 10 Black Books of 2014 by Kam Williams, national book critic and member of the NAACP Image Award Nominating Committee.
Paul Weech (MPP ’81) has been named President and CEO of NeighborWorks America, a 35-year-old, Congressionallychartered nonprofit that supports the work of about 250 of the nation’s best community development organizations.
Bev Godwin (MPP ’82) started a new position as senior advisor at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs.
After more than 25 years practicing law, Alan M. Koschik (MPP/JD ’87) of Solon, OH, was appointed a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Ohio by the U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit.
Eric Norenberg (MPP ’87) city manager of Oberlin, OH since 2007, shares that the city was named one of 16 Climate Action Champion communities by the White House in December.
Aaron Schutz (MPP ’90) has a new book out in April 2015, People Power: The Community Organizing Tradition of Saul Alinsky (Aaron Schutz and Mike Miller, eds., Vanderbilt, 2015).
Dong Yeon Kim (MPP ’91, PhD ’93) has been named President of Korea’s Ajou University. The inauguration ceremony in February was highlighted by congratulatory remarks from Emeritus Professor Lawrence Mohr (Dong Yeon’s doctoral dissertation committee chair); U-M President Mark S. Schlissel; and the Prime Minister of Korea.
John Kenneth Weiss (MPP/MUP ’94) transitioned after nine years as Ann Arbor-based Neutral Zone’s Executive Director to a new position as Director of Strategic Initiatives. John leads efforts to disseminate Neutral Zone’s unique youth-driven approach to other afterschool and school-based programs.
Lorelei A. Vargas (MPP ’95) was appointed Deputy Commissioner for Early Care and Education with the Administration for Children’s Services in New York City in November 2014. She is responsible for administering one of the largest publicly-funded early care and education systems in the country.
Richard Charlton (MPP/JD ’96) and wife Mariam welcomed a baby boy, Richard IV, on June 18, 2014 in New York, NY.
Stacy Ebron (MPP ’99), her husband, David Thomas, and their son Myles welcomed baby Xavier Reid Thomas on September 8, 2014.
Bernard Jay “B.J.” Alpern (MPP ’00, AB ’85) and Pyper (Logan) Alpern (AB ’99, JD ’02) are thrilled to announce the addition of another ‘lil Wolverine cub, Charlotte Jayne Winton Alpern. Charlotte cheers on the Wolverines with sister Hannah, brother Sam, and sister Margaret.
Cortney Robinson (MPP ’01) married Abby Flottemesch on January 17, 2015 in Washington, D.C. Cortney works at the Aerospace Industries Association and is former president of the U-M Washington, DC alumni club.
Brodie Killian (MPP ’03) is a director in the debt capital markets group at William Blair & Company, a Chicagobased global investment and asset management firm. Brodie focuses on financing initiatives for Michigan schools and community colleges.
Phil Maxwell (MPP ’03) and wife Christine welcomed their first child, Louis Titus, in October 2014. Phil continues to serve as a Major in the U.S. Army JAG Corps and is currently stationed at Fort Hood, TX. They will move this summer to Charlottesville, VA where Phil will pursue an LL.M. in military law.
Kathryn (Wiklanski) Mellouk (MPA ’03) is associate vice president for research compliance at Boston University.
Alexa Shore (MPP ’04) is the Director of Organizational Learning at Uncommon Schools, a charter school organization that manages 42 schools. Alexa lives in New York City with her husband Doug Ready and their daughters Leah and Samantha.
Dara Alpert Lieberman (MPP ’07), husband Mike, and son Cameron welcomed baby Alana Alpert to their family in March 2014. Dara is Senior Government Relations Manager for Trust for America’s Health and recently led the organization’s advocacy around the Ebola outbreak.
In September 2014 Zara Ahmed (MPP/ MPH ’09) took up a position as the Senior Policy Advisor for Health Systems and Sustainability with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) office in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Cortney Watson (MPP ’09) married fellow U-M alum Jeff Kruszewski (AB ’03, JD ’06) this past August in Charlevoix, Michigan. Cortney and Jeff reside in Washington, DC.
Chris Reade (BA ’10) is a 2015 Code for America Fellow. He will work with the city of Indianapolis to improve public safety through better data analysis, increased transparency, and greater public engagement.
Andrew Chinsky (BA ’11) graduated from Harvard Law School in May 2014 and in the fall of 2014 (in addition to becoming a Michigan football season ticket-holder), began work as a litigation associate at Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago.
Sara (Bonner) Davis (MPP ’11) married Daniel Davis on May 17, 2014 in Athens, Georgia. In September, she began a new job as a manager with the health care advisory practice at Grant Thornton.
Parvati Patil (MPP ’11) began working for the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), at the World Bank Group in Washington, DC in December 2014. She is leading the start-up phase of a new EdTech initiative in the financial inclusion sector.
Ashley Hill (BA ’12) returned to the U-M in fall 2014 to pursue dual graduate degrees in public health and business. She received a Dow Sustainability Fellowship to work with other graduate students from across the university on issues of sustainability.
Perry Zielak (MPP ’12) started a position in October 2014 as a fiscal analyst with the House Fiscal Agency and the Michigan House of Representatives in Lansing, MI.
Vanessa Kargenian (MPP ’13) spoke in January at the 2015 State of the Net Conference in Washington DC. Vanessa is currently a Supervisory Development Associate at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Cat Knoerr (BA ’14) started work at Accenture as a management consultant in September, 2014. In her free time she works with the Detroit Asian Youth Project.
Megan Levanduski (MPP ’14) recently started a Fulbright-Clinton Fellowship in Kazakhstan. She works with the Green Academy Scientific Research and Education Center, providing analysis and recommendations to promote green economic development in Kazakhstan.
After graduation, MacKenzie Miller (BA ’14) began work in political advertising analytics at the Campaign Media Analysis Group in Washington, DC
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Below is a formatted version of this article from State & Hill, the magazine of the Ford School. View the entire Spring 2015 State & Hill here.