Mario Garcia Turns the Page on Newspaper Design


t was like painting the Sistine Chapel,” says Mario Garcia (M.A. ’72, Ph.D. ’76), of his recent redesign of The Wall Street Journal. “Introducing color to the front page broke a 110-year tradition. They never even had photos until April 9, 2002.” Garcia’s winning strategy? Respect the paper’s traditions.

“You’re not going to take a hammer and destroy it. You’re going to enhance it. This is a successful product that 3.5 million people read every day.”

As president, CEO, and principal designer of Garcia Media, Garcia has masterminded the redesign of over 500 newspapers and other media concerns, including The Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Francisco Examiner, and numerous foreign publications.

“I take my camera with me,” Garcia says of his three-mile morning run. “I have photographs of how different cities wake up. I have my favorite cities, and in my old age, I say, ‘If it’s not a good running city, then I’m not doing that project.’ Running cuts my jet lag, and it keeps me in shape. I feel good for 55.” In October 2001, he ran in Hong Kong, Athens, Berlin, and Nice on consecutive mornings, and he runs several races each year, most recently marathons in Copenhagen and New York City.

Garcia, who was an acclaimed child actor in Cuba, has been a professor at Syracuse University, the University of South Florida, and currently the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. He and his wife have four grown children and three young grandchildren. Their son, Mario Garcia, Jr., an attorney, is senior vice president of Garcia Media. The firm is now planning a major redesign of The Miami Herald to coincide with that paper’s centennial celebration in early 2003. “It will be a challenge,” says the senior Garcia, “but doing this in my hometown makes it all the more meaningful.”

Garcia, who travels over a million miles annually, is often called a guru or a maestro.

“I see it in headlines preceding my name, and I know that my obituary will say, ‘Mario Garcia, the Guru of Newspaper Design.’ I’ve lived with that and I’ll die with that. But I don’t necessarily see myself as a guru at all. Gurus are venerable old men, and I don’t consider myself either at this point.”

Marilyn Milian Is the People’s Judge

was in the middle of a first-degree murder case when the producer called me,” says Marilyn Milian (B.S. ’81), who has presided over The People’s Court since March 2001. “Traditionally, the judges on these shows have been gray-haired men, so it’s telling that The People’s Court, the granddaddy of all these courtroom TV shows, made a decision to find—and hire—a Hispanic woman.”

Milian, married and living in Coral Gables, Florida, with three young daughters, flies to New York City every Monday through Wednesday to tape the show. “I went through a lot of angst when I decided to leave the bench in Miami,” she says.

When she was cleaning out her office after 17 years with the State of Florida (ten years as a prosecutor and seven years as a judge), she came across her law school application essay. “It’s really weird to be 19 years old and know that you’re going to be a judge someday.” Milian, who graduated from the University of Miami at age 20 and from Georgetown University Law Center at 23, says, “It’s nice to be focused and it’s nice to work hard, but to never take a left turn is sort of sad. So when I reread that essay, I realized that I’d made the right decision. I’d finally taken a left turn.”

As for her recent celebrity status, Milian says, “People ask me what it’s like to have five cameras in the courtroom, but I never notice the cameras. It keeps it fresher and more real if I’m me, and not playing to how the final package looks when it goes out to our 220 affiliates around the country.”

Besides requesting autographs, Milian says that viewers often thank her for her advice on landlord/tenant cases, moving company contracts, and other small-claims court matters. “It really makes you feel good when you know that people are out there listening and not just looking at the litigants for freak value,” she says, admitting that sometimes the cases can be quite entertaining. She recently heard a case involving a Whoopi Goldberg impersonator.

“I’ll do the show for as long as they’ll have me,” Milian says. “I am having a ball.”

Mark Reeves Answers a Spiritual Call


ark Reeves (B.Arch. ’78, M.Arch., ’80, J.D. ’84) is a licensed architect and a member of the Florida Bar, but today he spends little time in a design studio or law office. “Father Reeves,” as he is now addressed, was ordained as a priest by the Archdiocese of Miami in May 2002. Currently, Reeves is completing his License in Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome while residing at the Pontifical North American College in Vatican City, where he has lived and studied since 1998.

“I loved practicing architecture,” says Reeves, who once taught design, graphics, land development regulations, and professional practice courses at the University of Miami. But at the urging of several attorney friends, Reeves enrolled in UM’s evening law program. “I went to law school on kind of a dare. It wasn’t something that I really needed to do at the time.”

Reeves, who became an attorney in 1984, says, “I left my architecture job on a Friday afternoon and started practicing law on Monday morning.” And he continued to practice law for 13 years, including eight years at the firm of Steel Hector & Davis, but yet another career change revealed itself.

“God doesn’t zap you with a bolt of lightning and tell you to become a priest. It’s the sense that He wants you to do something else with your life. We all have some sort of internal motivation regardless of our chosen careers, but the spiritual call is of a different dimension. It’s a little bit stronger, and a little bit more serious.”

Every now and then Reeves entertains the idea of merging his architecture and theology backgrounds. “I’d love to design a church,” he says. “I think it could be very interesting and quite a challenge, but I’ve learned that there are only 24 hours in a day, so you can’t do everything. But who knows?”

Adds Reeves, “My attitude is apply yourself, work hard, and accomplish the goals you set out to accomplish. Looking back, I wouldn’t have done anything differently. My life has been absolutely amazing.”

Charlotte Freeman Fights Depression with Faith


e won’t wait for snail mail anymore,” laments Charlotte Freeman (M.S. ’94, Ph.D. ’96), a Memphis-based psychologist specializing in clinical child and family psychology. “We have e-mail, faxes, pagers, cellular phones. We have to be in touch all the time. When are we able to rest? Home used to be a safe haven for family and love, but now the workplace has intruded into the home environment, and that’s a concern.”

In 2001, Freeman was one of five national recipients of the Welcome Back Award, bestowed in recognition of her work to prevent and treat clinical depression in the African-American community. The purpose of the program, sponsored by Eli Lilly and Company, manufacturer of the antidepressant Prozac, is to help fight the stigma associated with depression and to help the public better understand that depression is treatable.

Today Freeman, who earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Dillard University in New Orleans, serves as director of clinical services at the Memphis Exchange Club Family Center, which she calls “the most comprehensive center, in terms of child abuse and domestic violence issues, in Memphis and in the Mid-South.” The nonprofit organization is strictly secular, but in her private practice, Nia Therapy Services, Freeman explores with her patients the connections between scripture and traditional therapy.

“It is taboo to have mental health problems in the African-American community,” Freeman says. “We have not embraced the idea that there could be something wrong with us mentally. But we tend to go to church, and with Tennessee being in the Bible Belt, I wanted to create a practice that would offer a service directly to those who are of the Christian faith.”

A native of Bogalusa, Louisiana, Freeman recognizes that children in small towns, particularly African-American children, need to see role models succeeding in the areas of science and technology.

“Growing up, if we don’t have someone to mentor us, someone who looks like us and who can say, ‘You can do this,’ then the likelihood is that we’ll go toward another career path where we do see African-Americans succeeding.”

Ron Zodkevitch Gives Patients the Star Treatment


on Zodkevitch (M.D. ’84) is known nationwide as “Dr. Zod.” As the reassuring voice on the syndicated radio program, Loveline, which he cohosted in the early 1990s, Zodkevitch thwarted a number of potential suicides but stresses that call-in shows are not a substitute for diagnosis and therapy. Today he works closely with the Screen Actors Guild as an advocate for the rights of child actors, and he cohosts the Dr. Zod & Johnny Show, along with Johnny Whitaker, who played red-haired twin Jody Davis on the 1960s sitcom Family Affair. “Despite their success as children, many child actors have difficulty assuming a mainstream life as working adults,” Zodkevitch says.

After medical school, Zodkevitch visited rural regions of Mexico, China, Bali, and Thailand, and for ten days he lived with a tribe of headhunters in the jungles of Ecuador, where he diagnosed and treated the chief’s tuberculosis. During his travels, Zodkevitch learned that many cultures don’t have a word to describe depression, so now he teaches young physicians to “look for physiological problems as well as cultural and emotional difficulties, and to keep an open mind about treatment alternatives.”

Zodkevitch also is an associate clinical professor at both Charles R. Drew University and the University of California, Los Angeles; a private-practice psychiatrist in Beverly Hills; and president of TOUGHLOVE® International (www.toughlove.org), a nonprofit organization for troubled children and adolescents. The organization promotes cooperation between families, schools, and other human services agencies and helps create community-based self-help groups. He is coauthor of the book, Toughlove 25 Years Later, which will be released in early 2003.

In addition, Zodkevitch recently cowrote and coproduced The Big Suitcase, narrated by Dennis Franz (star of NYPD Blue), and Chances. Both movies, which Zodkevitch calls “the next generation of driver’s ed films,” won top prizes at the 2001 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. “We approached the films with the philosophy of helping people think about their driving and how it affects others.”

1940s
Zerney B. Barnes, B.S. ’44, has retired from practice as a general surgeon. He is a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. He resides in Montgomery, Alabama.

1950s
Roger A. Saunders, A.B. ’51, a renowned Boston hotelier, helped establish The Roger Saunders School of Hotel and Restaurant Management at Newbury College in Brookline, Massachusetts. With his four sons, he owns the Saunders Hotel Group.
William G. Smith, B.S.M.E. ’51, is currently marketing several inventions for which he has been issued patents. After retiring in 1991 as director of advanced space vehicle design for Air Force Space Systems, Smith practiced law, then began designing theme parks for Disney.
Michael Mescon, A.B. ’52, M.Ed. ’53, received the 2002 Text and Academic Authors William Holmes McGuffey Award for Business Today, a textbook he cowrote with Courtland L. Bovee and John V. Thrill. Now in its 10th edition, the book was recognized for longevity and demonstrated excellence over time.
Julian S. Haber, A.B. ’56, M.D. ’61, a staff pediatrician at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, since the late 1960s, received the first Cook Children’s Physician Network service award for his dedication to treating children with neurodevelopmental and neurobehavioral disorders. His nationally acclaimed book, ADHD: The Great Misdiagnosis, was published recently by Taylor/Rowman and Littlefield.
Alvin Lloyd Brown, B.B.A. ’57, one of the founding partners of Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Company, a Miami-based accounting and management consulting firm, has been named an honorary member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. A Korean war veteran, Brown has served as chair of the South Dade Branch Board of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, and he was previously selected by Money Magazine as one of the best tax practitioners in the United States.
Sonia Pressman Fuentes, LL.B. ’57, one of the founders of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and an author, wrote a vignette that was published recently in the Washington Post. “I lucky Everything” is the story of a Vietnamese manicurist who sets a prime example of how immigrants enrich our nation.
Richard M. Lobo, A.B. ’58, has been appointed president and CEO of WEDU, Tampa’s most viewed public television station. His 40-year broadcasting career includes senior-level management at major stations in Cleveland, Chicago, New York, and Miami, as well as a 15-month stint as head of the U.S. Information Agency’s Office of Cuba Broadcasting, appointed by President Clinton.
Irwin L. Hollander, B.B.A. ’59, is retired from the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Statistical Programs. He resides in Boynton Beach, Florida, and is married with three daughters and three grandchildren.

1960s
Vance Harper Jones, B.M. ’61, M.M. ’63, has been the organist at First Presbyterian Church in New Bern, North Carolina, for 25 years. He also is dean of library services at Craven Community College. A member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, he recently served as state president for the fraternity.
Michael A. Falcone, A.B. ’62, is president of the Northfield Capital Group, LLC, a national commercial mortgage company based in Manlius, New York. He also serves on the advisory board of the School of Education at Syracuse University.
Eugene J. Fierro, B.Ed. ’62, J.D. ’67, a judge on the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida, has been inducted into the Miami Beach Senior High School Hall of Fame for his commitment to public service in Miami-Dade County, Florida. A member of the University of Miami School of Law Board of Directors, he received the school’s Alumnus of Distinction award in 1999.
Kenneth Chamberlin, B.B.A. ’65, was inducted into the Travelers Century Club, an organization of people who have visited 100 or more countries. He has retired from his role as president of Interworld Marketing Corporation, a travel marketing and consulting firm.
John Penick, B.S. ’66, M.A. ’69, professor and head of mathematics in the Science and Technology Education Department at North Carolina State University, is president-elect of the National Science Teachers Association, the nation’s largest professional science teacher organization.
Thomas R. Spencer, Jr., A.B. ’66, J.D. ’69, a board member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, recently served as chairman of the Fourth National Symposium on Business Intelligence. In practice in Miami, Florida, his primary focus is commercial and governmental litigation in federal and state courts.
Patrick J. Mansell, B.B.A. ’68, has completed five full-length novels, including his Bimini Twist Adventure Series, a collection of fishing-based tales gathered from his own experiences with his two sons in the islands.

1970s
Nancy Olson, M.Ed. ’70, executive director of the Florida Marlins Community Foundation, was inducted into the Sidney (Ohio) City Schools Hall of Honor.
Cami Green, M.C.L. ’71, is teaching law at Florida International University.
Richard Krissel, B.B.A. ’71, owner of Krissel & Co. CPAs in Miami, recently retired from the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves as captain.
Anthony C. Musto, B.G.S. ’72, has been elected city commissioner for the City of Hallandale Beach, Florida.
Mark H. Thiemens, B.S. ’72, professor of chemistry and dean of physical sciences at the University of California San Diego, has been named the Distinguished Scientist of 2002 by the American Chemical Society (San Diego). He also was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Steven E. Chaykin, A.B. ’73, J.D. ’76, has joined the Miami office of Zuckerman Spaeder LLP as partner. Before entering private practice representing high profile corporate executive and public officials, Chaykin worked for nine years as a federal prosecutor.
Larry Greene, B.B.A. ’73, won an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for his work as a photographer on “Poison Paint,” a five-part series on KCBS-TV, Los Angeles. The report investigated lead poisoning at area schools.
Bernard S. Shapiro, J.D. ’73, was reelected without opposition to a six-year term as a circuit court judge in Miami-Dade County.
Daniel M. Baeza, B.S.E.E. ’74, M.S.E.E. ’79, earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Florida Atlantic University, He also was promoted to general manager in charge of fundamental planning for BellSouth Telecommunications. He resides in Coral Springs, Florida.
Eric Buermann, M.B.A. ’75, J.D. ’82, the Florida Republican Party’s in-house general counsel since 1998, has been named of counsel for the law firm of Steel Hector & Davis LLP, practicing in the areas of real estate and public law while retaining his post with the GOP.
E. Regina Widman, M.D. ’75, was chosen as one of The Best Family Doctors in America, published in the May 2002 issue of Ladies’ Home Journal magazine.
David A. Ellis, B.S. ’76, is president of Newbury College in Brookline, Massachusetts. Prior to his election last year, he served as vice president for business and financial affairs at Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill.
Lovette McGill, B.Ed. ’76, a social worker for the Miami-Dade County Department of Human Services, has been appointed secretary of the Miami-Dade chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, a national organization of black trade unionists.
Jeffrey M. Zirulnick, B.Ed. ’76, M.S.Ed., ’79, assistant director and director of the University of Miami University Center from 1980 to 1988, has joined Lewis B. Freeman & Partners, a forensic accounting and consulting firm headquartered in Coconut Grove, Florida, with offices in Weston and West Palm Beach, Florida.
Patricia San Pedro, B.F.A. ’78, former vice president of event marketing and community relations at The Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald, has formed her own marketing and special projects company, San Pedro Productions, based in South Florida. Before joining The Herald, San Pedro was a three-time Emmy Award-winning producer of WTVJ-NBC in Miami and the key spokesperson for American Airlines.
S. Howard Orner, B.B.A. ’79, J.D. ’89, has three children and resides in Boca Raton, Florida. His Coral Springs law practice concentrates on commercial and civil litigation.
T. Glenn Rigney, B.Ed. ’79, is the assistant women’s basketball coach at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Jorge Villa, B.S.M.E. ’79, has invented the FoxHole, a patent-pending, steel-reinforced concrete structure designed to withstand the forces of a hurricane. He got the idea for the 15-ton structure after he and his family almost perished in Hurricane Andrew.

1980s
Cyrus “Russ” Jollivette, J.D. ’80, has joined Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida as group vice president, public affairs. Formerly the head of public affairs, government relations, and foundation and corporate relations at the University of Miami, Jollivette also has served as managing editor of The Miami Times and as producer-moderator of Perspective for then-NBC affiliate WSVN-TV, Miami Beach. Most recently, he founded a successful consulting practice in Washington, D.C.
Walter P. Kubany, M.S. ’80, was promoted to director of yield management for Fairfield Resorts, a subsidiary of Cendant.
Bruce A. Blitman, J.D. ’81, attorney and certified county, family, circuit court, and federal mediator practicing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, received an Outstanding Service Award from the Broward County Bar Association Board of Directors.
Dan Radakovich, M.B.A. ’82, is the senior associate athletics director at Louisiana State University.
Andrew Garcia III, A.B. ’83, is vice president/owner of Ruskin Packaging, Inc./Lowell Distributors, a produce packaging and supply operation serving the state of Florida. A member of the University of Miami varsity tennis team from 1980 to 1983, Garcia played on the Professional Men’s Tennis Tour from 1980 to 1986, and he was a trainer and coach to Mary Joe Fernandez and Gabriela Sabatini.
Dianne Gerrits, B.S. ’83, M.B.A. ’84, has been promoted to partner in charge of Midsouth State Tax Practice at KPMG, LLP.
Debra Ferlise Hall, B.F.A ’83, has become vice president of Barbizon International, an organization of modeling and personal development schools located around the world. Formerly, as creator and producer of the hit teen television series, Hall Pass, Debra worked with such celebrities as ’N Sync and The Backstreet Boys. She also has won an Emmy Award for Kids Health Works, a Discovery Health Network program that teaches young people about personal wellness.
Steven L. Panitch, A.B. ’83, served as president of the Buffalo Grove area Chamber of Commerce and as vice president of the local Rotary Club in 2001. He is a member of the Plan Commission of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, where he resides with his wife and daughter.
Catherine B. Parks, J.D. ’83, has been appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to the Florida Local Advocacy Council, which investigates claims of abuse and neglect filed by mentally challenged individuals. She has two children.
Daniel E. Somers, J.D. ’83, practices law at his own firm in Morristown, New Jersey. He resides in nearby Green Villiage with his wife, Julia, and their four children.
John J. Fumero, A.B. ’84, J.D. ’87, general counsel for the South Florida Water Management District, was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Water Resources Association (AWRA)—Florida Section. He was also elected chair of Palm Beach County’s Environmental Control Hearing Board.
Michelle Stern, A.B. ’84, is supervisor of mental health services for The Shield Institute in Bayside, New York.
Christine Stroup-Benham, A.B. ’84, was promoted to director of the Office of Institutional Analysis at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston Texas, where she received her Ph.D. in 1995.
Jorge R. Duyos, B.S.I.E. ’85, M.S.I.E. ’88, has been appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to serve a four-year term on the Board of Professional Engineers. President of JRD & Associates, Inc., an industrial engineering consulting firm based in South Miami, Duyos also is an adjunct faculty member in the University of Miami’s College of Engineering.
Jesus A. Martinez, B.S.E.E. ’85, was promoted to tntelligent transportation systems administrator for Dade and Monroe Counties at the Florida Department of Transportation. He also completed an M.B.A. degree last year from Florida International University.
Adam S. Bright, B.S.E.E. ’86, M.D. ’90, has been elected to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Board of Councilors and is president of the Young Physicians Section of the Florida Medical Association. He practices in Sarasota, Florida.
Christine Stebbins Dahl, J.D. ’86, lives in Portland, Oregon, with husband Jeff and two sons. She celebrates ten years as an assistant federal defender. Her habeas corpus work has resulted in the release of more than a dozen people detained by the INS without charges.
Kevin S. Hennessy, J.D. ’86, a shareholder in the statewide law firm of Lewis, Longman & Walker, P.A., has been awarded the “av” rating by Martindale-Hubbell, recognizing Hennessy’s expertise, experience, integrity, and overall professional excellence.
Carol Hotchkiss Malt, Ph.D. ’86, a museum consultant, independent curator, and author, has written The Free Woman (ETHOS Publishing), the product of five trips to Morocco and four years of research. The book tells the story of a 15th-century Moroccan woman who escaped the harem system to become a pirate queen and rule a city.
Theodore L. Shinkle, J.D. ’86, a shareholder with Florida law firm GrayHarris, received Board Certification from the Florida Bar in Admiralty and Maritime Law.
Mike J. Abbott, B.M. ’87, has launched Accessrock.com, an interactive Web site for rock guitar players featuring audio and visual lessons, live lessons, chats, discussion boards, artist interviews, and giveaways. He resides in Verona, New Jersey.
David Champouillon, B.M. ’87, assistant professor of trumpet and head of the brass and jazz studies at East Tennessee State University, was named executive director of the Jean-Baptiste Arban International Trumpet Institute, an annual two-week summer program at the Abbey de Pontlevoy in France’s Loire Valley.
Neil Birenbaum, B.S.C. ’88, is vice president of communication for First Data Corporations, a merchant services company in Coral Springs, Florida.
Marilyn Blanco-Reyes, J.D. ’88, is managing director, legal of the Mercosur, Latin America and Caribbean Division of Federal Express. She was recently listed among Hispanic Business magazine’s Elite Hispanic Women.
Karthik Ramaswamy, B.S. ’88, M.D. ’91, assistant professor of cardiology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, was presented with a Master Teacher Award from the medical school. He also recently married Anita Bhandiwad, a cardiology fellow at Harvard School of Medicine.
Glenn Allen, B.F.A. ’89, founding member of the University of Miami Hemp Awareness Council, spent the last five years as associate director of the Coalition Advocating Medical Marijuana (CAMM). He now resides in Hollywood, Florida, where he teaches yoga and performs music.
Lee G. Cohen, J.D. ’89, who is married to Stacey Belfer Cohen, B.B.A. ’90, has been awarded Statewide Prosecutor of the Year by Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Florida. Lee is the assistant state attorney in charge of county court at the Broward State Attorney’s office. The couple has two sons.
Syed Saulat Hussain, B.S.E.E. ’89, is senior marketing manager for Infineon Technologies in San Jose, California. He lives “in the heart of Silicon Valley” with wife Rehma and two children.
Barrett Mincey, B.B.A. ’89, M.B.A. ’91, teaches special needs children for Miami-Dade County Public Schools. She also has established an organization that serves underprivileged youth in the inner city.
Leon N. Patricios, B.S. ’89, M.S.T. ’91, J.D. ’94, was named partner at the law firm of Ferrell Schultz Carter Zumpano & Fertel. He has two children with his wife, Y. Michelle Ramirez-Patricios, A.B. ’91, J.D. ’95, who is an attorney with the Miami Department of Justice.
Tamara Wettermann, M.D. ’89, has opened a solo medical practice in Pennsylvania.

1990s
Preston A. Britner, A.B. ’90, assistant professor of human development and family studies, was presented the 2002 Teaching Promise award from the American Association of University Professors, University of Connecticut chapter.
Deborah M. Gamponia Cloar, B.B.A. ’90, is the Mid-Atlantic college relations manager at the Institute for the International Education of Students in New Jersey.
Carl A. Fornaris, B.S. ’90, is head of Legal and Compliance for the Latin America regional office of Barclays Capital in Miami.
Lucinda A. Hofmann, J.D. ’90, a partner in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale offices of Holland & Knight LLP, has been board certified in appellate practice. She is the current chair-elect of the American Bar Association’s Council of Appellate Lawyers and serves on the board of directors of the Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade County and the Performing Arts Institute.
Michael R. Holub, A.B. ’90, is the associate campaign director for the Combined Federal Campaign, United Way of the National Capital Area. He resides in Bethesda, Maryland.
Lynn M. Margulies, A.B. ’90, M.B.A. ’91, is the Florida regional human resources manager for cellular/wireless carrier MetroPCS. She also was elected the 2002 president of the Greater Miami Society for Human Resources Management. She resides in Weston, Florida, with her son.
Sean Peart, A.B. ’90, has become vice president of First Union Securities in Miami after nine years at Smith Barney.
Alicia Powell, B.S. ’90, M.D. ’93, and Marvin Wang, M.D. ’93, announce the birth of daughter Alexa.
Gregory P. Sandoval, B.Arch. ’90, is vice president of Nichols Brosch Sandoval & Associates, Inc. (NSB), a Coral Gables-based architecture design firm that specializes in mixed-use centers, hospitality, and high-end commercial retail projects.
Robert B. Strimling, M.D. ’90, and wife Debbie Bindler announce the birth of their twins, Claire and Ryan. Robert has had his own dermatology and Mohs surgery practice in Las Vegas since 1996.
Damaris Sanjurjo Reynolds, A.B. ’91, is a senior attorney at the Department of Children and Families in Okeechobee, Florida.
Nina Pandey Snyder, B.S.C ’91, is a certified legal assistant for The Law Offices of Stephen F. Malouf, P.C. Recently married, she and her husband live in Dallas, Texas.
Elizabeth Jahreis Rainville, B.S.C. ’92, formerly art director at Florida Hospital Marketing, has launched the graphic design firm, Elizabeth & Stuart, Inc., in Orlando, Florida, with partner Stuart Bogue.
Michael Lent, M.F.A. ’93, is completing his first book, Breakfast with Sharks, for Random House Publishing. A columnist for Creative Screenwriting Magazine and a part-time instructor at Santa Barbara City College, two of his movies are in preproduction in Hollywood. Michael’s wife, Sonia Beckwith Lent, B.S. ’93, is director of client relations for the online advertising agency, Hi-Speed Media, in Glendale, California.
Rosemary Lowenkron Borek, A.B. ’94, and Timothy J. Borek, A.B. ’95, announce the birth of daughter Amanda Rochelle. The family resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, where Rosemary is a government defense attorney and Tim is a computer book editor for John Wiley and Sons.
Joy Henneberger Green, B.S. ’94, is news manager of The Golf Channel in Orlando, Florida. She recently married a professional golfer.
Jeffrey Gulden, B.B.A. ’94, has left the Utah Grizzlies minor league professional hockey team to become the assistant vice president of marketing and public relations at Enterprise, Utah’s only weekly business newspaper.
Nikolas J. Korba, B.S.C. ’94, is a staff pastor at the Miami Vineyard Community Church.
Sean Murphy, A.B. ’94, a financial consultant for Salomon Smith Barney, was appointed to the board of governors of the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce. He also is chair of the African-American Chamber of Commerce and an executive board member of Shepherd’s Hope for 2002.
Adam August, A.B. ’95, J.D. ’98, M.B.A. ’99, lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, Brooke, and works as a corporate attorney.
Michelle Diffenderfer, J.D. ’95, has become a shareholder in the law firm of Lewis, Longman & Walker, P.A. She also is president and cofounder of the young women’s mentoring group, Girls II Women, Inc., and she is the Continuing Legal Education chair as well as a member of the Florida Bar’s Environmental and Land Use Law Section.
Jennifer Hammond, A.B. ’95, is a health care attorney employed by the Health Law Firm in Orlando, Florida.
Terrence Cheng, M.F.A. ’97, has published his first novel, Sons of Heaven (William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers). Based on the brutal massacre at Tiananmen Square in 1989, the epic story blends fiction with history.
Nikki Hackendahl, B.S. ’97, has received her D.V.M. from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine.
Heidi Jo Livingston, J.D. ’97, has become a shareholder with the law firm of Hill, Adams, Hall & Schiefflein, P.A. in Orlando, Florida.
Larry A. Schwartz, J.D. ’97, practices construction and general civil litigation as an associate at the firm of Lewis, D’Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard in Los Angeles, California.
Lisa Ackley, A.B. ’98, is the head cheerleading coach at the University of Maine, in addition to handling athletic marketing and promotions duties there. Last year her team finished third in its division at the National Cheerleaders’ Association college national championship in Daytona Beach Florida.
Shelly Sitton Asayag, B.S.C. ’98, is chief operating officer of Creation Management, a sports and entertainment management firm on Miami Beach. Her husband, Rami, is a professional golfer.
John Bolanovich, J.D. ’98, is an attorney in the Orlando law offices of Allen, Norton & Blue, P.A. He practices labor and employment law defense for owners and operators within the hospitality industry.
Tiani Jones, B.S.C. ’98, is a television reporter at WTVQ, Channel 36, an ABC affiliate in Lexington, Kentucky.
Richard L. Steinberg, J.D. ’98, M.B.A. ’98, was elected vice-mayor of the City of Miami Beach, the youngest in the city’s history. Elected to the City Commission last year at age 28, he was the second-youngest commissioner ever elected.
Nadia Deborah Sutherland, B.S. ’98, has received a Doctor of Medicine degree from Wake Forest University. She begins a residency in pediatrics at the University of Florida Shands Children’s Hospital in Gainesville.
Elbert L. Waters, J.D. ’98, is director of the Community Planning and Development department for the City of North Miami, Florida. He also is a member of the Architectural Design/Review Committee of the Miami-Dade County Housing Finance Authority.
Elise Ann Bialilew, B.B.A. ’99, M.B.A. ’01, and Brad E. Coren, J.D. ’00, were recently married. The couple resides in Weston, Florida.
David J. Kron, B.B.A. ’99, is a financial advisor for Prudential Securities in Philadelphia. He has helped form the Meyers & Kron Financial Group at the company, specializing in helping individuals, small businesses, trusts, and foundations grow and protect their wealth. Kron is on the board of the Jewish Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia.

2000s
Jordan McAuley, B.S.C ’00, is the owner of MegaNiche, which operates ContactHollywood.com, the leading resource for the entertainment industry. He resides in Los Angeles, California.
Edward M. Federico, M.A. ’01, is a television news reporter and anchor for WLUC-TV 6 in Negaunee, Michigan.

Have You Made the Headlines Lately?

Enjoy reading about your classmates in Class Notes? Share some news about yourself in a future issues of Miami magazine. You can email your information to us at alumni.classnotes@miami.edu. Please include your name; address (indicate if it is a new address); address (including city, state, and zip); home and work telephone numbers; email address; your place of employment and title; your degree, year graduated, and school/college; and your latest news (career changes, accomplishments, promotions, honors, etc.). We will print your news in the first available issue.