ALUMNI NEWS
’82 ’78
Apso terrier mix,” reports Andrew Gibian. “I am general manager for Qdoba Mexican Grill and loving it! I am not able to make the reunion this summer, but will send positive vibes to all there. Take care and peace.” Janet Schaefer is working for a pharmaceutical company, Sanofi, where she is a clinical diabetes educator and dietitian. She is responsible for all of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts, providing diabetes education to doctors’ offices, clinics, and their patients. She also teaches staff in longterm care facilities. Janet reports: “Having spent the first 15 years of my career working in finance and real estate, I am finding the career change to be rewarding.”
1978
Alice Blondin Carman opened her own art studio in Overland Park, Kan., last summer. Her most up-to-date paintings can be found on her Facebook page, Alice Carman Studio. Kimberly Roe Nowik visited Connecticut to attend the wedding of Pam Proulx and Craig Rutkowski. She has also been in touch with Lesly Michals ’80. Kim writes: “I can’t believe how time has flown, but we all still feel that our time at Loomis Chaffee was experienced yesterday. Anyone living in or visiting my area in Texas is welcome to come visit. I’d love to hear from alumni.”
1983
Matt Rowe and his wife, Evelyne, continue to reside in Guilford, Conn. Matt works in the medical device industry, and Evelyne has started a garden design business. Their children, Nina and Nelson, are full-time college students. Johan Westenburg has completed his master’s degree in economics at Vanderbilt and is currently finishing his translation of Making Money: The Free Market and Utopia by Hans Achterhuis, the Dutch philosopher. Johan and Machteld own an old townhouse in the heart of Oostende, Belgium.
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Kimberly Roe Nowik ’78 has lived in Texas for six years and loves the warm weather. She owns Half Moon Ranch, a horse breeding and boarding facility in Bandera, and she recently opened the Half Moon Ranch Old West Emporium, a saddle, tack, and custom leather goods store in Kerrville. Kim also includes her custom-painted furnishings, jewelry, cowgirl clothing, and gifts. After four months, the store is thriving and becoming a destination for locals and travelers in the beautiful hill country.
1985
Sally Spencer-Thomas was recently honored by Denver University, where she received her doctorate in psychology. For her work in suicide prevention, she has been designated a “Master Scholar.” As a clinical psychologist, mental health advocate, faculty member, and survivor of her brother’s (Carson J. Spencer ’88) suicide, she sees the issues of mental health promotion and suicide prevention from a number of vantage points. Sally is the co-founder and chief executive officer of the Carson J. Spencer Foundation, a Colorado-based nonprofit organization with a mission to “sustain a passion for life” through suicide prevention, social entrepreneurship, and support for people bereaved by suicide. She has held leadership positions with the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, a program of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, and the American Association of Suicidology. As a professional speaker for CAMPUSPEAK, she travels around the nation talking with college students and staff about leadership, suicide prevention, and how to give the simple gift of reaching out.
1986
Scott Barnard is an independent consultant in the medical device industry. He enjoys living in Sherborn, Mass., with his wife and two boys, 11 and 13. Michael Rinaldi writes: “I have now lived in Charlotte, N.C., for the past 10 years after a number of years of training in New York City and Boston. My wife, Mariangela, and I have three children: Christopher, 11; Sofia,
’83 Pauline Chen ’82 and Bill Flanagan ’87 and their families recently enjoyed a reunion at the Flanagan home in Auriol, France. Bill’s son Liam took this photograph: (top) Woody Halsey (Pauline’s husband); (middle) Pauline, Bill, and Bill’s wife, Tavi; (front) Natalie and Isabelle (Pauline and Woody’s twins), and Aidan and Roan Flanagan. Greg Foley ’83 joined an expedition that climbed Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet), the highest point in Africa, last January. He attained the summit via a 9-day trek on the Western Breach route. Greg is editorin-chief of the Idaho Mountain Express newspaper, Sun Valley, Idaho, voted last fall by the National Newspaper Association as the second-best large non-daily in the U.S. Greg’s essay about the Africa climb can be read at: www. mtexpress.com/story_printer.php?ID=2005140789.
9; and Nicholas, 5. I work as an interventional cardiologist at Carolinas Medical Center, the flagship hospital for the second largest not-for-profit health care system in the U.S., and serve as director of clinical research for the Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute, the cardiovascular service line for our system. In addition to a busy clinical schedule caring for patients and performing procedures, I am involved in a lot of new technology research including trans-catheter aortic valve replacement and percutaneous mitral valve repair, left atrial appendage occlusion, renal nerve ablation for refractory hypertension, and a number of other cardiac and vascular technologies. I do a fair amount of lecturing at conferences and recently returned from a series of debates in Saudi Arabia.”