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Editor Ellen Fenlon Beal '81 Worked on Gospel of Judas
Working on The Gospel of Judas carried all the intrigue of a John LeCarré spy novel for Ellen Fenlon Beal '81. "Few of us at the society knew about it, and everything was watermarked to make sure that if anything had gone missing, we’d know whose was the offending copy,” she says. While riding the Metro trains, she’d hide the galley copies beneath papers to keep others from peeking over her shoulder as she read. To stifle leaks, she notes, “We worked on a very short deadline to go from manuscript to finished book. I wrote the cover copy at 2 a.m. We worked hard to keep the book under the radar, and at the end we were able to say, ‘We did it!’” The reward came quickly: The Gospel of Judas shot up the New York Times Bestseller list.
Jun 30, 2009
Tony Fernandez '81 Oversees Supply Chain Involving Nearly 100 Countries at Cadbury
Tony Fernandez ’81 is responsible for ensuring that cream-filled, chocolate eggs show up in Easter baskets worldwide. As chief supply chain officer of Cadbury plc, he oversees 20,000 people in nearly 100 countries who bring fresh ingredients into and distribute tasty treats for the world’s largest confectioner. Getting that candy into the hands of consumers is a logistical ballet, choreographing such components as the lifestyle needs of cocoa farmers in Ghana, the ever-changing costs of oil and transportation, and Cadbury’s industry-leading Fair Trade and sustainability initiatives. "Supply chain is everything from purchasing materials and manufacturing to quality control and distribution, with the end being a consumer purchase," he says.
Jun 25, 2009
Robert Jacoby '80 Originates Over $500 Million in Loans, Debt, and Equity Annually
As CEO and primary shareholder of commercial mortgage banking firm U.S. Realty Capital LLC, Robert A.C. Jacoby ’80 originates over $500 million in commercial mortgages, construction and bridge loans, mezzanine debt, preferred equity, and equity. His company originates and places debt and equity products for life insurance companies, commercial banks, and, until 2007, Wall Street. It also services $200 million in loans to several different life insurance companies and manages its own private equity fund for opportunistic real estate investments. Jacoby took small steps at several large regional commercial banks and later trained in the real estate consulting practice of one of the Big Eight accounting firms.
Jun 09, 2009
Glenn Young ’86 Uses Online Community to Forge Professional Connections
Establishing strong connections is a skill Glenn Young ’86 uses regularly as a business and marketing research consultant. He uses the online community to reach out to potential business partners, vendors, and clients. “The high quality and success of other alumni make for very good business connections,” he says. "There is a feeling of community among alumni. The online community helps me by seeing what alumni have done and are doing and by creating business opportunities with each other." The economics and business graduate says the online community inspired him to set up a Lafayette group on the professional networking site LinkedIn.
May 28, 2009
Alex LaRoche '98 Wears Many Hats as VP at Moser Jewel Co.
Lafayette's blend of liberal arts and engineering gave Alex LaRoche '98 the unique foundation he would need as vice president of sales and engineering for Moser Jewel Co. "Communication is critical in today’s business environment," says the engineering studies major. "The liberal arts aspect of Lafayette assures that all engineers become very proficient in communicating their ideas. Speaking 'engineering' only works when dealing directly with engineers. In a given day, I’ll communicate with engineers, purchasing managers/buyers, production personnel, vendors, and owners of other companies." Moser Jewel is a small supplier of micro-precision components and assemblies, with clients such as IBM, Lockheed-Martin, Hughes Aircraft, General Motors, and Eastman Kodak.
May 14, 2009
Debbie Cipriani ’80 Ensures Safety of Over-the-Counter Medications
As a physician, Debbie Cipriani ’80 helped nurse babies back to health and support their parents through a stressful time. Now the biology graduate is supporting health on a larger scale, working in drug safety at Johnson & Johnson. “We are a group of medical professionals—nurses, physicians, pharmacists—who help to assure the drugs we are using are safe,” she says. “We assess all instances when a patient or a physician contacts our company with a concern that one of our drugs has caused a side effect, and we look at all the reports on each drug in a given year and are continually re-assessing the safety profile of each drug. This sounds so schmaltzy but it is the honest truth: I know what I do makes a difference."
May 11, 2009
Three Alumnae Archivists Provide Windows on the Past
Elaine McCluskey Stomber '89, associate archivist at Lafayette, Emelie George Rubin '02, archivist at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and Kathy Stewart Jordan '91, digital initiatives and web services manager at the Library of Virginia, organize and preserve historical materials to make them available and useful. "An archivist works with the things that people create on a daily basis that help us understand their lives: their letters, diaries, records of public office, etc.," says Jordan. Or a lock of the Marquis de Lafayette's hair. Or 19th century ladies' kid gloves engraved with his image. Or even, as Rubin recalls of her past work at the National Agricultural Library, a set of 20 T-shirts with statements about the flesh-eating screwworm fly.
Apr 27, 2009
Who is Keith Costigan '88? A $15,000 Winner on Jeopardy!
History graduate Keith Costigan '88 recently took home nearly $15,000 on the quiz show Jeopardy!, winning his first competition and losing the second by $1. Being a history teacher for 20 years was perfect preparation, he says. "The show goes by in a 20-minute blur," he adds. "You have no idea how you are doing until they take a commercial break and you look up to see your score. When you are standing there, they try to make everyone the same height, so some people have to stand on boxes. They used to actually stand in a hole cut in the floor, but they told us more people tripped coming out of the hole than fell off the box."
Apr 23, 2009
Alfredo Cahuas '86 is CFO of Renewable Energy Company NaturEner
Alfredo Cahuas ’86 is CFO of NaturEner in North America, a renewable energy company based in San Francisco. When he first joined the company a year and a half ago, it had 10 employees. Today, NaturEner has a staff of 40 and recently completed its first utility-scale wind energy facility in the U.S., the 107 MW Glacier 1 wind farm in Montana, a project that required $190 million in third-party funding. Cahuas believes Lafayette’s combination of liberal arts and engineering helped prepare him for a career with a global company. “A well-rounded education that cuts across many different disciplines is absolutely imperative in today’s post-modern economy,” he says.
Apr 07, 2009
Ted Gumbart '84 Leads Atlantic Sun Conference
"Lafayette is big enough to have a great range of opportunities, but small enough so that I could actually take advantage of so many of them," says Atlantic Sun Conference Commissioner Ted Gumbart '84. "I think my Lafayette experience prepared me for, and also confirmed my abilities and interests in, the job I have now. I'm involved with many different things, such as TV packages, running championships, managing officiating programs, and working with our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and doing them in a setting that values the personal relationships. At Lafayette, you would recognize most of the people you would pass on campus in any given day, and you felt a part of it."
Jul 07, 2008
Tom Kraemer ’86 Wields Power of Branding
Tom Kraemer '86 is principal of Kraemer Inc., a full-service marketing communications firm. He took the experience gained as the Lafayette Public Information Office’s first art director and as Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ national art director and transitioned it into providing art direction for clients large and small. Kraemer Inc. specializes in brand development and has worked with Fortune 500 companies like IBM, AIG, Panasonic, and Swatch. In 2006, Kraemer led the team that won a Webby Award for its design of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ site www.hybridcenter.org. It was selected from more than 5,500 entries. The New York Times has hailed the Webby Awards as “the Oscars of the Internet.”
Jun 02, 2008
Berrisford Boothe ’83 Encourages ‘Artmaking’ in All Forms An associate professor of art at Lehigh University, Berrisford Boothe ’83 believes being a professional painter, printmaker, and installation artist gives him credibility in the classroom. He is represented by galleries in New York City and Philadelphia. He has mounted 10 solo exhibitions and been part of more than 60 group exhibitions nationwide. His work is part of public and private collections nationwide and in South America. Boothe’s career has been presented in Fine Artist’s Guide to Marketing and Promotion and Halima Taha’s Collecting African American Art, and Robert Wuthnow's Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist.
Apr 23, 2008
Gift Adds to Reunion Excitement for Class of ’88
Elizabeth Freebairn ’88 was inspired to help with her class reunion by organizer Rachel Nelson Moeller ’88, associate director of career services. Freebairn and the Class of 1988 also will be giving the Lafayette community a gift that will help future classes. “I am very excited about our Reunion Gift this year,” she says. Moeller suggested that the class establish a Class of 1988 Internship Stipend. “The fund will provide financial support for students participating in unpaid internships or ones with high lodging and transportation costs. And part of [Moeller’s] job responsibilities are to manage this fund. We know all the money we raise will be put to good use,” Freebairn says.
Apr 11, 2008
Class of ’83 Has Its Dancing Shoes Ready
When class Reunion co-chair Ellen Poriles Weiler ’83 arrives on campus for Reunion, point her toward the dance floor and get out of her way. “I just love being on campus,” says Weiler, who danced for three hours straight at her last Reunion. "It's a way to see friends and I’m excited to bring my son. The Reunion chairs and College staff make every effort to make sure all your needs are met. There will be plenty of time to engage intellectually, take classes, meet with classmates, as well as free time to see what’s going on around campus. It can be as action-packed or laid back as you want it to be. All you have to do is show up with a great attitude and have a good time."
Apr 03, 2008
Kimberly Rakow McChesney ’85 Finds Peace after Parkinson’s Diagnosis Kimberly Rakow McChesney ’85 will speak at the April 4-5 Council of Lafayette Women Conference about her battle with Parkinson’s since being diagnosed with the disease three and a half years ago. She will talk through her journey in an interactive way and discuss some of the obstacles she ran into. She will discuss her initial reaction to her diagnosis and how she began to deal with the harrowing disease. McChesney believes it’s possible to prevent the depression and loneliness that can result from such a diagnosis. “My message is going to be very spiritual and very religion centered because that’s where I found my help,” she says.
Apr 01, 2008
Richard Osifchin ’86 Impacts Healthcare Issues For Richard Osifchin ’86, the best part of his job is that he gets to apply his knowledge of chemical engineering and chemistry to help people battle tough healthcare issues. He is a director in global pharmaceutical commercialization for Merck & Co., Inc. in New Jersey. He manages the research pilot plant facilities that support clinical product development and chemical process development for new active pharmaceutical intermediates, the active ingredients in drugs. Recently, he was part of a team that received the Presidential Green Chemistry Award for the synthesis of the active ingredient in Januvia, a drug Merck launched last year to help lower blood sugar levels in patients with type-2 diabetes.
Mar 21, 2008
Fighting Breast Cancer One Mile at a Time Economics graduate Sandy Kazinski '85 has dedicated much time to the fight against breast cancer, participating in five 60-mile fund-raising walks for the Susan Komen Foundation, most recently one in San Diego last November. She has raised $70,000. "I decided to do this because the statistic of one in seven women getting breast cancer scares me, and because we haven't found a cure yet," she says. "It's one of the easiest things I can do to help this fight." Kazinski, who works at financial firm UBS as a director in the global talent management group, trains extensively for her three-day walks, logging 700-800 training miles.
Mar 11, 2008
Wynne A. Whitman ’86 Will Address Wants, Wishes and Wills at CLW Conference Author and lawyer Wynne A. Whitman ’86 will explain how women can take responsibility for their financial, legal, and physical health at the Council of Lafayette Women Conference April 4-5. While she believes that it is critical for all women to look into estate planning and to have wills and trusts made, she also maintains that there are other important documents that should be considered, including Powers of Attorney, Health Care Proxies, and Living Wills. She will discuss all of these documents at the conference. Whitman says that she is looking forward to the entire program and that if she can convince one woman to plan for her future, she’ll feel a real sense of accomplishment.
Feb 28, 2008
A Love for Juggling Roles and Clients
Whether she’s hanging on the back of a motorcycle racing around a track at 120 mph, chronicling a delicate surgical procedure, cheering from the sidelines at her daughter’s field hockey games, or working up a sweat at a cardio kickboxing class, for Renáe Schneck Biale ’82, it’s all about balance. As president of RCB Communications, she juggles multiple roles and a broad range of clients. At the April 4-5 Council of Lafayette Women Conference, she will speak in a panel discussion on “Discover Your Inner Entrepreneur.” Other on the panel will be Karen J. Fried ’84, president of TLI Games; Jennifer C. Cortner ’85, president of EFX Media; and Elise Nappi ’87, co-founder of Planet Mom T-Shirts.
Feb 27, 2008
Ellen Poriles Weiler '83 Will Serve Up Cooking Tips at CLW Conference Ellen Poriles Weiler ’83 will speak at the April 4-5 Council of Lafayette Women Conference on "Love at First Bite – Exceptional Summertime Cuisine for Sun, Surf, and Sand." "I think people will be inspired to cook some great meals while spending minimal time to prepare them. I hope to captivate my audience with such mouth-watering recipes as shrimp kebobs with jalapeno-lime marinade and grilled curried mangoes with coconut sorbet and toasted coconut," she says. Weiler encourages alumnae “to attend this conference because they deserve a break from work and family to focus on themselves and spend some quality time on themselves. A trip back to campus may just be the restorative mini-vacation they need.”
Feb 14, 2008
