ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Class Notes 1985 Danni Dunn: I retired from Ernst & Young. Now I am considering what to do when I grow up.
1988 Paul Reinhart: Just boring ol’ retirement with lots of tennis, travel and volunteering.
1989 Cheri Johnson: I returned to real estate in 2012 after 10 years budgeting billions of dollars for Medi-Cal, writing regulations for new legislation, supervising, etc. My new position as senior real estate officer for California’s Department of General Services involves a promotion, with no staff, and a nice view of the Sacramento River. I approve or reject the appraised value of property. We get a lot of fake or incompetent appraisals, so the work keeps me busy.
1995 Bill Rhyne: In January 2012, I started work as a full-time assistant professor in the School of Business and Management at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, Calif. Visit my classes to share your career experiences. My Hawaiian band, Da Puna Bruddahs, is performing at Sonoma County wineries, restaurants and corporate events. Come experience “the Aloha.”
1998 Brian Berry: In my 12th year at Intel managing the Supply-Demand Alignment Team for Chipsets Planning. Rob Bremault: In October, I departed from an 18-month position with a software firm that was subsequently re-acquired by the original Australian owners. On a trip to Kauai, I took a leap of faith zip-lining over canyons with my wife and son. I took a seasonal position with Costco in Folsom, baking nearly 7,000 pumpkin, apple and pecan pies; I then spent 3 weeks rounding up shopping carts in the parking lot, and lost 20 pounds. I completed an energy consulting project for a local engineering firm, and hope to find a permanent position in the Sacramento region. Phoebe Cameron: I am still working for Gartner as a consultant in our Energy and Utilities practice, focusing on IT strategy, IT organization design, organizational change management and more. I caught up with Maria Rodriguez and Carrie Douglas Fong at Beth Ashkin’s latke party. Ethan Cooke: I’m firmly rooted in San Francisco, working in human resources at Blue Shield, where I’m leading the company’s employee engagement program. Life is good with my wife, Clara, and our daughters, Ariana, 10, and Lindsey, 7. We are healthy and grateful. We get together regularly with Elaine Chan MBA 98 and her husband Steve, who live in Cupertino with their boys, Clark and Kenton. I wish all the best to my former classmates and would be happy to connect with you.
44 W I N T E R 2013 I N N OVATO R
Kevin Crow: I am still working at Intel Corp. and am now in marketing. Last summer I took my second sabbatical, including a family trip to Europe, co-leading two Scout camps, upgrading my coaching license and building a new PC. For the past few years I’ve been working on a new storage category—solid-state drives. Linda is doing fine and working part time in addition to keeping up with a range of activities. The Crow house definitely misses the great fiestas we had. I occasionally bump into the Broers and Brian Berry, who is also at Intel. I work with Max Simmons MBA 97 on a regular basis. Andy Rolleri: I’m still with Prima Games, now as associate publisher. With the move to digital publishing and app production, I’m learning quite a bit about new media. Our parent company, Random House, is going through a merger with Penguin Books, which will create the world’s largest book publisher. Paige Ruffner: I am still with IBM (formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers consulting), working as an organizational change management consultant and going on my 15th year. I still love living in the Washington, D.C., area. This past year I completed the required coursework, and am earning my experience hours, to become a certified coach through the International Coach Federation. I intend to use my skills for executive coaching while working for IBM and establishing a personal life coaching business, Life Spring LLC. My goal is to leave consulting once my son and stepsons are done with high school/college, then “retire“ as a life coach. Josephine Suryono and Ationg Lie: Josephine left Hewlett-Packard 6 years ago and opened a children entertainment franchise business called BounceU, which is very non-high-tech. We have two successful locations: Roseville and Rancho Cordova, Calif. Ationg is still working at H-P as a software engineer. It’s a nice balance to have him working for a big corporation with steady income and great benefits and still have time to help with the business. Lee Zheng: It’s a super busy time for us, and we’ve just had another record year. It’s an interesting and exciting time to be in Hong Kong and China.
2000 Aaron Chin: Our kids are both in school. Woohoo! No more paying for daycare. I’ve worked 13 years now at Intel as a business/software analyst. And, for 12 straight years, I’ve played on the same basketball/softball team with Joncarlo Mark MBA 00, Bob Blyth MBA 00 and Max Simmons MBA 99.
2007 Sara Happe: Brett and I welcomed our daughter, Piper, in January 2012. We are still living in the San Francisco south bay. Brett is working for an IT consulting company, and I am still working for Intel, supporting the corporate marketing team. I celebrated my 5-year anniversary there in July.
Paige O’Connell: In September, Mike and I welcomed our baby girl, Zoe Mae O’Connell. I’m back at work, in a new expanded role at Blue Shield of California.
2008 Fabiana Alves: My oldest son, JP, is attending a business program at a renowned university. He aims at being involved with culture production, social projects and events. He made his first trip to Europe as an assistant for a rock band. I have completed nearly 5 years with Rabobank, where I play distinct roles as an executive business manager and as the head of the advisory department. Last year we faced big challenges in terms of competition, but we are still in our growth path, having achieved $2 billion assets within our 750 rural clients, which are the biggest farmers in Brazil. Our advisory projects have grown in scope and complexity. Family business governance is booming in Brazil and has been incorporated in our consultancy. We are working on a family company that operates 250 thousand hectares and is one of the biggest soybean and cotton producers in Brazil. In 2013, I hope for as many achievements as 2012, but a calmer year. Dakota Coe: Shannon and I welcomed our daughter, Savanna, in December 2012. Dania Stotts: I am at Kaiser Permanente, enjoying the challenge of being an executive consultant and advising health plan executives on sales and account management strategy. I recently returned from a trip to northern Thailand, where I made friends with the elephants and loved watching muay Thai boxing.
2011 Jonathan Lieberman: I recently moved to Locke Lord LLP in San Francisco, where my practice will focus on complex financial transactions and consumer finance litigation. Andrew Perroy: Howdy from the East Coast – Philadelphia that is. I tried to bring the California weather with me but got awarded a hurricane. Ellie moved to D.C. and got a once-in-a-lifetime earthquake, one of the hottest summers and rainiest years on record. After a tough job hunt, I landed a great role in my sweet spot of music and entertainment as the director of marketing at a company that manufactures and distributes independent content (music, film and books). They put me in charge of an ailing multi-milliondollar brand and said, “You’ve got an MBA, figure it out. We’ve got high expectations.” That’s a gut check, but Professor Tsai, don’t worry. I just built their first forecasting and performance models. I’m even going to use them to release an album from my old heavy metal band. With every new challenge I face, I use the experience I gained at the GSM and remember all the good stuff and smile.