Alumni Updates
The Chemistry Department always looks forward to hearing from alumni. Please keep sending us your updates with our online Send Us Your News form.
Class of 1958
Carl Merril writes: I still remember graduation day at William and Mary, when Dr. William Guy (the chairman of the chemistry Department at that time) put his hand on my shoulder (which was surprising because he was very formal) and he said: “Carl I suppose I should congratulate you for getting into medical school, but I don’t really think that’s what you want, because I suspect you really would like to investigate - Given our complexity, how do we exist – not why people get sick.” Of course he was right, and “luckily” the Dean of Georgetown Medical School also recognized and encouraged my interests in basic medical science. Following graduation from Med. School and a residency in Boston, I was accepted as a “research associate” at the NIH – which is where I stayed until I retired after 43 years. That would have been the end of my academic story, but one of my former Post-Doctoral fellows, who joined the Navy Biodefense Research Directorate arranged for me to join them for lunch. The next thing I knew, the Navy began putting my ideas to work - to save individuals who were dying from antibiotic resistant infections and more recently to help to develop new vaccines for the COVID-19 epidemic. I am now the co-founder and chief scientific officer of a company that was established to facilitate our efforts to achieve these goals: “Adaptive Phage Therapeutics.” The company’s website is at: www.aphage.com. Although I have pursued a rather circuitous route, I have also managed to solve the question that Dr. William Guy raised on graduation day in 1958: “Given our complexity, how do we exist”? Now, I just have to find time to publish it. www.aphage.com
Class of 1964
David Mims served on the Homecoming 2019 panel to discuss Life after W&M with current chemistry students. He is a retired IBM Marketing Manager and Customer Support Program Development Manager with assignments in SC, NY, Atlanta and Tokyo, 1967-88. He has had various free-lance market development jobs since.
Class of 1970
Cora Boswell Levin writes: I entered William and Mary having no firm idea of a major, but Dr. William Guy (Chemistry 101) was my inspiration to pursue chemistry. I graduated from W&M with a BS in Chemistry in 1970. I continued my education at the University of Minnesota and earned an MS in Organic Chemistry in 1972. I worked in medical research at Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, PA and then at NIH until 1976. I took a lengthy time-out from my career to raise my four wonderful children, which I consider my most satisfying achievement. Alas, they all live far away in Colorado, and now there are four grandchildren, too. In 1992 I returned to my chemistry career, this time in the pharmaceutical industry with Warner-Lambert in Lititz, PA. Warner-Lambert came out with a huge success, the anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor (atorvastatin); I contributed to the release-to-market process. Pfizer bought Warner-Lambert to obtain Lipitor, and a few years later sold off the consumer healthcare sector to Johnson & Johnson. I retired in 2019 after nearly 27 years in the same laboratory, under three corporate owners, and with several promotions. J&J lured me back this year as a part-time data reviewer. I am grateful for my chemistry education at W&M, which was the foundation for my career.
Berkley Powell writes: Retired after 45 years as a Pediatrician and Medical Geneticist, specializing in inborn errors of metabolism. My Chemistry background paid off!
Class of 1974
David Oelberg retired recently as Professor of Pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School with over 150 publications and $1 million dollars in grants funding.
Class of 1977
Robin Felder has been at The University of Virginia as Associate Director of Laboratory Medicine for 36 years after graduating from Georgetown University with a PhD in Biochemistry. He is currently a Professor of Pathology. One of his pursuits is his weekend job of owner and Master Distiller at Monte Piccolo Farm and Distillery. http://montepiccolo.com
Class of 1979
Joann Gray Reynolds attended the Class of '79 lunch with spouse John Roach. She retired in 2017 and thanks W&M for all the skills she learned.
Class of 1982
Rob Kravitz writes: I moved to the Dallas, TX area last year to work with the Electric Power Research Institute and a Strategic Account Executive to our members in TX, OK and AR. https://www.linkedin.com/in/robkravitz/
Class of 1982/1984
Mary Manson Sweigart attended Homecoming 2019 with daughter Kristen '22 who is also a chemistry major. She writes: Living in Muscat, Oman, for 25+ years.
Class of 1985
Catherine Kelly Andrews writes: I retired from 20+ years in Pharma R&D in Connecticut. My husband and I moved to Richmond and began doing volunteer work (which I didn't have much time for during my working years) for civic and church groups before the pandemic shut it all down. We are trying to get back into volunteering safely-outdoors and virtual activities for now. We particularly enjoy mentoring early in career chemists through the local ACS section.
Class of 1987
Kathleen Dunnington Bedard writes: Continuing to learn! Launching mid-life new career, just finished my Masters in Counseling here in Texas, May 2020. Joyfully married for 32 years and raised three boys, two are married. Missing Virginia, we've lived in Frisco, Texas for twenty years.
Class of 1988
Michael Crowder writes: On July 1st, I became the Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School and Interim Vice-President of Research and Innovation at Miami University. https://www.miamioh.edu/cas/academics/departments/chemistry-biochemistry/about/faculty-staff/faculty/crowder/index.html
Class of 1990/1991
Phil Smith writes: Ph.D. UVA 2002. Still in the Army doing Medical Product R&D. I'm in my last assignment in the Army before retiring. I have a wonderful family. Wife is Kristen (Adams) Smith '94. Life is Great!
Class of 1991
Christopher Walsh writes: I have been living in Oregon since 1995. I moved to Oregon to pursue my Master's in Oceanography and Atmospheric Science at Oregon State University, which is also where I received my PhD in Analytical Chemistry. I served as a Visiting Professor at Reed College and Lafayette College. Now, I am an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Eastern Oregon University. My wife of 20 years, Kuuipo Walsh, is Director of the Geographic Information Science program at Oregon State University. I hope to bring her to Williamsburg for the Grand Illumination and to see campus some time.
Class of 1994
Michael Manetas is an MD practicing Gastroenterologist in Richmond, VA.
Beatrix Slomiany is Medical Director at the Baptist Health Wound Care Center, Louisville KY (Healogics Specialty Physicians).
Kristen Adams Smith writes: Ph.D. in 2002. Doing medical research for US Army, Lieutenant Colonel, promotable to Colonel. Met my husband Phil ('90 MA '91) through a blind date set up by my undergrad chemistry research mentor (PhD student)!
Class of 1994/1996
Panagiotis (Peter) Kourtesis is a clinical scientist in oncology at AstraZeneca.
Class of 1995/1996
Michael Amendola served on a panel to discuss Life after W&M with current chemistry students. He is Professor of Surgery at VCU School of Medicine and Director of the Operating Room, the Vascular Duplex Laboratory and Director of the Chief Resident in Quality and Patient Safety.
Class of 1996
Geoff Hird is Head of Pharmacentres & CMC @ Liquidia Technologies in NC.
Class of 1997
Christian Jenski writes: I am Board Certified in Emergency Medicine, Functional Medicine & Integrative Medicine. I have a growing practice that I am incredibly passionate about. I am married with two children (ages 5 and 6) and my wife and I are urban farmers with over 30 different crops growing in any given season. https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/about/christian-jenski-md/
Class of 1999
Cathy Sullivan Bloedorn is teaching HS Chemistry for her 15th year and Forensic Science for 6 years. She has a 9 year old son who is interested in STEM.
Michael Fox writes: Since 2007 I have been back in Virginia as a faculty at VCU Medical Center, the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, and most recently the School of Neuroscience at Virginia Tech. I have actually been back to the W&M campus often to recruit for graduate programs I mentor in and an NIH-funded Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program I direct (neuroSURF – which I believe I have had at least one W&M student enrolled each summer, preCOVID of course). Anyway, most of that is old news. The update is that I recently took over as director (a.k.a. chair) of the School of Neuroscience at Virginia Tech.
Class of 2001
Geoffrey David writes: In October 2019, I left Kirkland & Ellis LLP to become Head of Litigation and Investigations at Rio Tinto, a global mining company.
Stacey Smith Cummings writes: I always enjoy reading Distillations! While a student, I wasn’t the best Chemistry major but I did still enjoy chemistry. Maybe that’s why this is the first update I have ever sent to the department. I am a pediatrician with Geisinger health system in central Pennsylvania. Last summer I became Vice Chair of Outpatient Pediatrics for the system. COVID has created interesting times to be a health care leader. My husband Doug, 3 kids (10, 7, and 4 years), and I have weathered things well so far, but we look forward to when we can return to Williamsburg (where we lived for 6 years before moving to Pa.) to visit WM, and of course the Cheese Shop!
Class of 2002
Ryan Carra writes: My wife Meghan and I live in Silver Spring, Maryland, with our one-year old son Oliver. I am now a partner at my law firm, Beveridge & Diamond, where I focus on the regulation of chemicals. I am still close with a few other chemistry alums, including Manish ('01), Geoff ('01), and Nichole ('04).
Class of 2005
Erica Vos writes: This is my first news update to the Department, and a lot has happened since 2005! In 2010, my husband and I got married in Clermont, Florida, just outside of Orlando, with many good friends and W&M alums in attendance. We moved to the Netherlands in 2011, where I earned my MSc in Life Sciences: Systems Biology at the University of Amsterdam. With my master's degree in hand, I was able to start my PhD work at the Hubrecht Institute (part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) in Utrecht, in 2013. On October 31st of this year, I was awarded my doctoral degree in Biomedical Genomics, after a glorious defense and ceremony that I'll never forget. Our international journey continues: despite absolutely loving life in Holland, my husband and I have just moved to Switzerland--together with our dog, whom has been with us since our Florida days--where I'll soon start postdoctoral work on mammalian gene regulation at the ETH Zurich. I think back, with great fondness, to my days at William & Mary, and I'm always pleased to receive the Distillations newsletter. Keep up the good work!
Class of 2005/2007
Michael Hurt (BS 05, Masters 07) and Natalie Stinton (BS 07) are expecting their 4th son any day now. Michael stays at home with the boys and has mastered home schooling during the pandemic. Natalie is now the Chief of the Oral Medicine and Maxillofacial Surgery Department at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA. She also is the program director for the pediatric dentistry residency program there.
Class of 2007/2008
Maria Happel Traver writes: Clayton Traver ('08) and I ('07) welcomed our second baby boy Alexander Davis Traver in November 2019. His older brother Samuel (born in 2016) adores young Alex, but wants the world to know that all the toys in the house belong to him alone.
Class of 2008/2009
Jordan Walk is a Senior Lecturer in the William & Mary Chemistry Department.
Class of 2010
Rob Ziegler writes: I graduated from Boston University with my Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in 2015 and then did a 2 year postdoctoral appointment at MIT in flow chemistry. Since Jan 2018, I am a medicinal chemist in the Oncology Chemistry group at AstraZeneca in Boston.
Class of 2011
Ash Hoover writes: I’m a software engineer for Planet (https://www.planet.com), a satellite imaging company founded by ex-NASA scientists with a mission to image the Earth every day and make global changes visible, accessible, and actionable (TED talk: https://youtu.be/UHkEbemburs). My current role involves leveraging machine learning to highlight features and trends of interest in a massive and ever-growing archive of satellite imagery! From principles of spectroscopy to data analysis and computational modeling, many of the topics from my W&M chemistry studies have been an incredibly relevant foundation. I’m excited to be working at this intersection of technology, science, and impactful applications including monitoring progress on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (https://www.planet.com/markets/sustainability/) and combating deforestation (https://www.planet.com/pulse/planet-ksat-and-airbus-awarded-first-ever-global-contract-to-combat-deforestation/); http://www.linkedin.com/in/ashhoover
Ellen Speers writes: I graduated with a PhD in Chemistry from UVA in May 2020, and I accepted a job as a Research Specialist at LSU Health Shreveport starting October 2020. www.linkedin.com/in/ellen-speers/
Class of 2012
Emily Eklund Mayhew writes: After 6 years in IL and WI, we are back East. I am doing a postdoc at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia (building models to predict what molecules will smell like from their structure) and my husband, Eric, is a staff scientist at the Army Research Lab in Aberdeen, MD (studying the combustion properties of fuels). We bought our first house this summer, and we're expecting our first child in February. Trying to stay active with yardwork through many months of covid-induced work-from-home. :) http://www.monell.org/faculty/people/emily_mayhew. Photo from LAST summer's vacation in Panama!
Hannah Naughton writes: Defending my PhD 09/22/2020 from Stanford Earth System Science! It's on microbial soil carbon cycling. Moving on to a post doc at Lawrence Berkeley Lab to study how roots and topography affect soil carbon storage. Always remembering W&M Chemistry fondly and very appreciative of the education you gave us. Would love to end up teaching somewhere as special one day!
Class of 2013
Dad Rick sent us the following update about Matt Entsminger: He went from Williamsburg to Charlottesville and earned a M.S. in Commerce from UVa in 2014. Matt is employed with Delta Airlines on the business side and works in Corporate Sales Development. He is currently living and working in Paris France.
Dad Rick sent us the following update: Clay Entsminger BS '13 in Classics and Chemistry went on to Franklin Pierce Law at the University of New Hampshire earning both a J.D. and LL.M. in Intellectual Property. He is currently an attorney with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a United Nations agency, in Geneva Switzerland. Clay is admitted to both the Virginia and U.S. Patent and Trademark Bar.
Sofia Garakyaraghi attended Homecoming 2019 and served on a panel to discuss Life after W&M with current chemistry students. She is Managing Editor (ACS Central Science) at the
American Chemical Society.
Kayla Miller finished PharmaD and now lives in Richmond.
Charles Wang is an Orthopedic Surgery Resident @NYU.
Class of 2014
James Chesnut is an environmental scientist in RTP North Carolina.
Class of 2015
Jahan Cooper graduated with an M.S. in biochemistry from Ohio State in 2018.
Stephanie Gianturco writes: Just graduated from pharmacy school with PharmD!
Class of 2016
Jill Williamson Alty writes: Isaac Alty ('16) and I were able to muddle our way through a pandemic wedding on July 4th, 2020. We were thrilled to have fellow Chemistry Tribe members standing with us on our big day, such as Amanda VanInwegen ('16), Heidi Crockett ('16), John Rose ('16), and Hannah Smith ('16). Isaac graduated from Harvard Medical School in May and began his surgical residency at Brigham & Women's Hospital. I am finishing my Chemistry Ph.D. at UNC this Spring and am happy to leave a strong W&M contingent thriving in Chapel Hill. I'll be joining Isaac up in Boston as a postdoc at MIT.
Amanda VanInwegen writes: I graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy with my Doctor of Pharmacy degree in May 2020. I am beginning a pharmacy residency at the University of Virginia Health System in July 2020.
Class of 2017
Aaron Bayles is a Ph.D. student in chemistry at Rice University. He came back to William & Mary last November to tell current students about Rice University and his grad school experiences.
Jacob Young writes: I am currently in my second year at SMU Dedman School of Law. I am pursuing a career in patent law where I can use my Chemistry background to assist in patent litigation. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-w-young
Class of 2020
Check out where the Class of 2020 headed after graduation!
