Updates: 2000s' Grads

We post updates from alumni and friends as we receive them. Use our handy online form to send us your news!

Emily Ferguson (B.A., '00) I've been in Denver, Colorado for nearly 10 years now, and while I absolutely love it, my nieces and nephews are all in VA, so I'll be heading back before too long. Although I've been in financial services ever since graduation, my research and paper-writing skills have served me well in my career! I have been the resident writer, editor and resourceful marketer for my firm for over six years, and couldn't be happier playing that role for a bunch of finance gurus. (3/10)

Jimmy Finn (B.A. '00) After practicing law for a 3 years, I knew I needed to be in a more creative profession; I wanted to create and tell interesting stories on screen. I should have realized this earlier since history, after all, is about storytelling. In Fall 2009, I left my firm and took a job at William Morris Endeavor, the talent agency. A year later, in Fall 2010, I went to work for Left/Right Productions, an unscripted TV production company in NY as a producer. One of the networks we develops shows? History of course. Finding interesting people and stories to develop television series around and helping produce those shows is a lot of fun. It's the best job I've ever had. (5/11)

Elizabeth Ferguson Killian (B.A., '00) After living in Denver, Colorado, for more than nine years, I have just moved to Charlottesville, Virginia. My husband and I (VT, 1996) wanted our son (21 months) to be able to grow up closer to family. We miss the Rockies terribly, but are settling into the Blue Ridge. (11/09)

Marsh Pattie (B.A., '00) My biggest news is that my wife and I just had our first child – James McKinley Pattie (W&M Class of 2031!). I'm entering my fifth year as Director of Student Affairs at UVa's Darden School of Business. I'm also working part-time on my doctorate in Social Foundations of Education (at UVa's Curry School). Life is busy, but great! (11/09)

James Heslep ( B.A., '01) I've been practicing law at Steptoe & Johnson in West Virginia for six years now in the Labor & Employment Department. I've also been teaching some business classes at a local university for the past three semesters. My history background from W&M is put to use every day. You guys are the best. (3/10)

Adam Rosenthal (B.A., '01) After graduating from the University of Maryland School of Law in 2004, I spent a service year as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Philadelphia, PA. I returned to Baltimore in 2005 and I have worked as an Assistant State's Attorney for 4 years. I am currently serving as a felony narcotics prosecutor. (3/10)

Greg Tomlin (B.A., '01) I will join the faculty of the History Department at the U.S. Military Academy next fall. Currently I'm completing graduate work in Cold War studies at George Washington University and participating in conferences to discuss the book I coauthored last year, entitled The Gods of Diyala: Transfer of Command in Iraq, published by Texas A&M University Press. (11/09)

Marc Landry (B.A., '02) Since 2004 I have been working on my Ph.D. in history at Georgetown University. I am living in Munich, Germany, researching and writing my dissertation, "'White Coal': The Hydroelectrification of the Alps, 1880-1955." (11/09)

Matthew Latham (B.A., '02) I have found myself in the position of Nuclear Quality Inspector working for Northrop Grumman Corporation. Schoolwise, I am currently looking into a Master's in Library Science to concentrate in Archiving and Special Collections, which complements a History background nicely. I am in the process of getting my Master of Divinity degree as well, with a focus in Biblical Counseling. I hope to become a military chaplain, but while I am working for NG, I can get my MLS free, so that is the plan. (11/09)

David Preston (Ph.D. '02) David Preston's book, The Texture of Contact: European and Indian Settler Communities on the Frontiers of Iroquoia, 1667-1783 (Nebraska, 2009) won the 2010 Albert Corey Prize for best book on American-Canadian relations from the American Historical Association and Canadian Historical Association. The book was also awarded the 2010 Excellence in Research Award from the New York State Archives. (9/11)

Zoe Robinson (M.A., '02) I was in the master's cohort of 2000-01 as the St. Andrews Scholar. I have been living in London for the past six years and working in Parliament as a reporter and editor for the Official Report in the House of Lords. I am about to move to the Philadelphia area and marry the brother of my W&M roommate! I'm excited about this new phase in my life. (5/10)

Jaime Marconette (B.A., '03) After graduating, I moved home to California and took a job with Stanford University in 2004. I finished my time with Stanford 4 years later as a Financial Management Analyst working specifically with the Department Of Music. I packed my car in May 2008 and moved to Nashville to pursue a life in music. I am currently working on Music Row in music video marketing for AristoMedia. (3/10)

Jessica Otis (B.S., '03) I received a M.S. in Mathematics in '05 and a M.A. in History in '07. I am currently working on my Ph.D. in History at the University of Virginia (hopefully to be completed by '11). My dissertation is on the history of popular mathematics in early modern England. (3/10)

Clare Wuerker (B.A., '03) I graduated from UVA Law in May and have recently begun working as a trial attorney for the Department of Justice. (11/09)

Mike O'Neill (B.A., '04) is a policy analyst with the Government Accountability Office, one of the research agencies for the Congress. "I have contributed to reports assessing key policy issues, including the economic stimulus, climate change and budget issues. I was promoted last year to a senior policy analyst in the Strategic Issues team.I graduated from William & Mary in 2004, double majoring in History and Government. I went on to Cornell University to complete a master's degree in Government." (2/10)

Kerry Kalathas Revell (B.A., '04) Last May I completed my M.A. in Applied Linguistics with a concentration in teaching English as a Second Language (ESOL) from University of Massachusetts, Boston. I just began work as adjunct ESOL faculty at the Community College of Baltimore County in Maryland. Although I do not directly use my history degree for work, I've been surprised and pleased to apply a lot of what I have learned at W&M in teaching Sunday school and other church work. (3/10)

Michelle Grappo (B.A., '05) I am in my second year of a three-year Ed.M. program in School Psychology at Columbia University Teachers College. Prior to this adventure, I taught special education overseas for two years. I love learning and my time at William and Mary was one of the richest periods (for my brain) of my life. I now help children work to their strengths and (hopefully) fall in love with learning. My training in History gave me a unique, albeit unusual, approach to the world of education and especially cognitive psychology. I can't imagine myself having studied anything else. (3/10)

Matthew E.S. Butler (M.A. '06) I completed my PhD in Modern History at the University of Cambridge in July 2011. I've recently published an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography on Sir Herbert Gibson and an article in 'Latin American Politics and Society' titled "Railroads, Commodities and Informal Empire in Latin American History." (9/11).

Matthew E.S. Butler (M.A., '06) I'm finishing my Ph.D. in Modern History at the University of Cambridge. Expect to graduate May 2010. (11/09)

Kristin Eliason (B.A., '06) I graduated from law school in May 2009, passed the Maryland Bar exam in December of 2009 and am currently a law clerk for two magistrate judges in the Juvenile and Neglect Branch of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. (3/10)

Jessica Ruse (B.A. '06) Since 2007, I have been employed as a program assistant at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, part of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. I also am working on my M.A. in Museum Studies through Johns Hopkins University's online program and expect to complete it next year. (9/10)

Adam Reeves (B.A., '07) I will graduate from the William & Mary School of Law this Spring, and will spend the following year clerking at the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals for Judge Eugene Siler, who sits in London, Kentucky. (3/10)

Melinda Snow (B.A., '07) I am an itinerant English teacher in five elementary schools in rural Spain. (3/10)

Thomas Thompson (B.A., '07) I'll be traveling to Cairo to study at the Center for Arabic Study Abroad's year-long Arabic program. Following that, I will be enrolling at the Near Eastern Languages and Cultures Department at UCLA to study for a Ph.D. in Arabic literature. (4/10)

Allison Finkelstein (B.A., '08) I am in my first semester of the U.S. History Ph.D. program at the University of Maryland, College Park. (12/09)

Zachary Jones (M.A., '08) I have been accepted as an Adjunct Instructor of History at University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau, where I will teach night classes in history. I will also continue my job as director of the Sealaska Heritage Institute's Special Collections Library, in Juneau. (11/09)

Lara Overy (B.A., '08) After graduating from W&M as a non-traditional student, I chose to give back to the school that gave me so much. I am a development officer in the Reunion Giving Program. I love raising money for this school and working with alumni to reconnect them to W&M! (3/10)

Joe Pirro (B.A., '08) I am currently teaching second grade in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, as a corps member with Teach For America. (11/09)

Sarah Thomas (B.A., '08) I am in the second year of a two-year master's program in architectural history at the University of Virginia School of Architecture. I will graduate in May 2010. I am focusing on early American vernacular architecture, and my thesis is about a late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century furnace community in Shenandoah County, Virginia. I am currently applying to History Ph.D. programs, and my top choice is the History Department at William and Mary. (12/09)

Johanna Miller Lewis (Ph.D., '09) I'm now a full time Associate Dean in the Graduate School at University of Arkansas at Little Rock. This semester I'm teaching U.S. Women's history for the first time in 5 years. In Spring 2009 Jim Williams (MA) and I presented a panel at the Society of Early Americanists Conference in Bermuda. (3/10)

Taylor McClure (B.A. '09) I'm currently a 1L at Roger Williams University School of Law in Bristol, Rhode Island. Just close enough to Newport to get a good dose of the Gilded Age!(11/09)

Katharine McCown (B.A., '09) I'm currently working for the W&M in Washington Program and W&M Alumni Association in their D.C. Office as Program Assistant. (11/09)

Matthew Morrill (B.A., '09) In summer 2009 I was the recipient of the Historic Deerfield Summer Fellowship in Museum Studies, History, and Architectural History. Beginning in the fall of 2009, I'm employed as a Research Historian with History Associates, Incorporated, a historical research consulting firm. (11/09)

Jack Cohen (B.A. '10, M.A. '11) After graduation, I earned my M.A. in Comparative & Transnational History at William & Mary in 2011. I now work in the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations, for the College's University Development. (9/11)