Mission Statement: Mirman School is passionately committed to the education of highly gifted children. We are dedicated to: academic excellence; the social, emotional, and physical development of the student; depth, complexity, and differentiation tailored to each student’s needs and abilities; and developing creatively productive and ethical world citizens.
MIRMAN.ORG MERIDIAN 1
Credits Mirman School’s Advancement Office is pleased to present the 2015 Meridian and Annual Report. Dan Vorenberg Head of School Sue Mathews Director of Advancement Noah Kaufman Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations Geoffrey Gardner Director of Communications Alec Colantonio-Ray Data and Advancement Coordinator FEATURE ARTICLES Allie Ferguson Anessa Karney ’77–’82 DESIGN AND LAYOUT Coopersmith Design PRINTING Colornet Press PHOTOGRAPHY Mathew Imaging Jaimie Trueblood Joshua Green Karen Newman On the cover/back cover: A scene from the May 2015 production of Grease
2
CONTENTS
Meridian
4
A Message from the Head of School
6
MirmanX: Shooting for the Moon
8
Building a True Learning Community
12 A Field of Dreams 14 eCybermission: Accomplished 15 Faculty and Staff Focus 16 Mirman Moments 18 Board of Trustees mirman.org meridian 57
42 Off to a Running Start: Iris Cong ’05–’13 44 Alumni Notes 2014–2015 50 Alumni Stay Connected 56 The Impact of Giving
Annual Report
21 2014–2015 Annual Report 23 Legacy of Giving: Anessa Karney ’77–’82 25 Finance and Advancement Reports Mirman School 2014–2015 Annual Report
27 Annual Giving Statistics 28 Annual Giving Donors 36 Endowed and Restricted Giving 38 Annual Giving Volunteers 39 Leadership
mirman.org annual report 21
40 Matriculation List
MIRMAN.ORG MERIDIAN 3
A Message from the Head of School
It is hard to define a single year in the life of a school. Great educational organizations do not simply let summer vacation bracket their institutional progress, and Mirman is no exception. The following pages contain photographic and textual narratives of the innovative, artistic, kinesthetic, and intellectual development of young children. From our groundbreaking MirmanX program to our recent successes on the new athletics field, Mirman continues to embody both renewal and discovery in the hearts, bodies, and minds of our students. Excellence and growth do, however, require considerable investment in order for the ideas and initiatives of forward-thinking organizations to take root. New programs, on-going professional development, and the materials and resources that turn vision into reality require significant philanthropic effort from the extended Mirman community. It is therefore, with gratitude and heartfelt appreciation, that I thank those listed in the Annual Report section for making the progress we see in the front pages, and throughout our campus, possible every day here at Mirman School.
DAN VORENBERG
4
MIRMAN.ORG MERIDIAN 5
MirmanX: Shooting for the Moon it, and even recommit improvements back to the original project. It’s a community-based paradigm of software development.
Google X—the tech company’s secret innovations lab—is dedicated to “moonshot” projects such as teleportation devices, driverless cars, and balloons that deliver Internet to developing countries. Inspired by the Google-esque ambition he sees in classrooms at Mirman, the school’s Director of Technology is launching MirmanX—a collaborative, open-source program that will offer students a socially aware platform from which to dream big. Michael Taggart tells Meridian how encouraging students to bring their boldest passion projects to life will empower them to make real and lasting contributions to the world. Tell us the story behind MirmanX. What was the genesis? During my first year at Mirman, it became very clear to me that students are doing more than just homework. Some are writing their own novels or graphic novels, trying to write their own apps, making video or board games, designing new products, or trying to start businesses. Because of the nature of education, a lot of times these passion projects don’t make it into the realm of school. This is unfortunate. When students have strong ideas and they are ready to bring them to fruition, how can their school assist them? That’s the idea behind MirmanX: to help students achieve far-reaching goals in an open-source environment supported by the school. For the projects themselves, a high level of technical complexity is something that we’re after because we want students to be challenged above and beyond what they already know. And then there’s that component of social awareness: will the project benefit the community - a family, the school, the city, or the planet - in some way. What do you mean by open-source? Imagine that your car breaks down but when you try to fix it, you see a sticker from the manufacturer saying that you aren’t allowed to open the hood. That’s problematic because you bought the car and should have the freedom to repair, maintain, or enhance it. That’s the philosophy of open-source software—you can change and customize it to your needs. You can download and use it free of charge, review and change the code, redistribute 6
Is Mirman using open-source software now? Absolutely. The entire stack that runs the mirman.org website— the servers, webhost and design software—is open-source. It couldn’t look as good as it does, or work as well as it does, without us having the freedom to modify it. Our entire back-end infrastructure here on campus is based off of open-source Linux servers. We’ve also been developing a lot of our own software. We recently finished writing a bus-scheduling app where teachers can use a tablet, such as an iPad, and check kids in and out without having to carry binders of information around. How many student projects will be accepted into the MirmanX program? We’re going to limit the pool to 12 Upper School students on a first come/first served situation, with three of those twelve projects selected for completion. By applying, students whose projects are not selected agree to work as part of a team to create a chosen project - the idea being to put an emphasis on teamwork. With guidance and accountability from our advisory council: Monica Ajmera, Scott Becker ’96–’99, Eric Bollens ’94–’03, Ashley Felts ’92–’96, Geoffrey Gardner, Eric Gradman ’87–’93, and Nick Greif ’95–’01, those students will work toward their goals. We were very fortunate to receive start-up funding from Chief Advisor Eric Bollens ’94–’03 and an anonymous donor to launch the MirmanX program, so we will have the ability to fully support these students and their ambitious dreams. Can you tell us about a past student project that would have benefited from MirmanX? Project Bubba has been a staple of our Innovation and Design courses for a couple of years now. Our Director of Operations has a neighbor whose dog was born without front legs. Using the Stanford Design School design process and with a special focus on empathy, students in the Innovation and Design course prototype prosthetics for Bubba the dog. But while students can prototype, coming up with a final product is difficult because of a lack of materials and extra education. Students would need to know advanced engineering, physics, and mathematics to determine what materials would be appropriate to use. Then we would need the funds to acquire those materials. The 3D printers that we currently have are great, but the materials aren’t right for a project like this. Do you think Mirman students have the potential to be as innovative as tech companies such as Google, given the resources? Absolutely. I can tell you that within our computer science
department, our Upper School 4 students are graduating with skills that command six-figure salaries, and that’s out of middle school. With more time and training, a lot of really amazing things could happen. A major goal of MirmanX projects will be a component of social awareness, of giving back to the community. Not only will chosen projects have to be ambitious, but they should speak to, or attempt to solve, some sort of larger societal issue. If we focus on social awareness and the empathy component, which tech companies don’t always do, our students can potentially do some lasting good.
technology all day long, but if you can learn to work as a strong member of a team—there isn’t a better lesson we could teach.
What new opportunities would MirmanX offer the students? On the technical side, we will have the opportunity to build more robust apps, develop software to a greater degree, and make it all available to the public. If we create a mobile app, we can submit it to the app store for Google Play or iOS. Some of that’s happening already, but with limited resources and with limited time. From a hardware perspective, the students will get to work with materials and tools that they have not been able to use before: laser cutters, carbon fiber, advanced robotics, and enhanced 3D printers. Then there’s the stuff that would be brand new to us—authentic wearable electronics, 3D modeling, and Virtual Reality—because we would have the materials to produce them and the expertise to help bring those types of projects to fruition.
Follow the projects as they develop at mirman.org/mirmanx
What excites you the most about MirmanX? I’m looking forward to working with the kids on these projects. That’s probably the biggest part—celebrating students’ passions. Another is using the considerable gifts not only of our students, but of the school itself, the privileges that we have here, to make the world a better place for everyone. What we accomplish here at Mirman can become an example for schools across the country.
Is Mirman uniquely positioned to take advantage of a program like MirmanX? I don’t know of any other middle school that is launching a program with this level of entrepreneurship and focus on personal projects. There’s an ability to say “yes” to new things at Mirman that simply doesn’t exist in other schools. In places with longstanding cultures and traditional mindsets, it’s harder to get a program like this off the ground. But this moment of reexamining who we are as a school has created fertile ground for innovative projects such as this. What do you see as the long-term impact of MirmanX for students and the school itself? I would love Mirman to be known as the school that encourages and facilitates the pursuit of student passions in meaningful and lasting ways. The projects that come out of MirmanX will be the sole intellectual property of the students. Whatever they create belongs to them. It’s about encouraging freedom of exploration and trusting students to do great things with that freedom. I want our students to leave the MirmanX program thinking that they got to do something special, that they gained skills that they wouldn’t have gained otherwise, and became better people for having participated. The value of working as part of a team toward a common goal is the greatest part of it. We could talk about
Sabina Yampolsky, US4 Last year, Sabina designed a prototype back brace to help alleviate symptoms of scoliosis. If her project is selected for the MirmanX program, she would be fully supported to complete the development of her innovative design.
MIRMAN.ORG MERIDIAN 7
Building a True Learning Community Mirman’s New Social and Emotional Learning Process Provides Tools for Students to Understand and Manage Their Well-Being.
The mind of a highly gifted student may ‘connect the dots’ on a wide range of academic topics with impressive speed and agility. Their limber engines can efficiently mow down rows of algebra equations, or devise an innovative solution to a scientific challenge, but at the end of the day, they are still children striving to understand (and control) their own feelings and emotions. Referred to as “Social and Emotional Learning,” or SEL for short, this facet of education is often overlooked, and more and more young adults are entering the world with social and emotional skills that are lacking for their professional and personal success. This can be especially true for gifted students, so Mirman School took on the task of finding an SEL program that would best serve this unique population of young thinkers. “Social Emotional Learning is important to any school community because it means that we are focusing not only on supporting a student in achieving academic success, but also on supporting students in becoming individuals who are socially and emotionally healthy as they navigate within our very complex world,” said Dr. Dena Scott, Mirman School Psychologist. “When students are able to communicate and work well with others, value differences, assume responsibility for their actions, develop critical thinking and collaborative skills, and improve their sense of self-worth through the process of social and emotional learning, there has been a documented increase in academic performance.” After researching over 30 different programs, Tribes Learning Communities stood out to Dr. Scott and Daniel Sussman, Head of Lower School. Jeanne Gibbs is the founder of Tribes Learning Communities and, as an educator and researcher, she has been committed to examining the complexities of education and developing a process to support educating the whole child.
8
“In the early 1970s, the Tribes process came into fruition as educators and parents worked together to identify challenges within the educational system and discover ways to more effectively support student motivation,” said Daniel Sussman. “Tribes Learning Communities is considered a long term “process” that school communities adopt, and is not a formal program or curriculum. We are excited to begin implementing this new process with our youngest students this year.” The four Tribes agreements form the cornerstone of the process. They include attentive listening, appreciation/no put-downs, the right to pass/right to participate, and mutual respect. “These agreements are emphasized throughout Mirman School as students interact with faculty, staff, coaches, and administrators,” said Dr. Dena Scott. “There are various Tribes related tools that will be introduced and modeled through practice to also support the process of developing a school that honors inclusion, influence, and community. It all boils down to the four Tribes Agreements.” CONSISTENT MESSAGING Both Dr. Scott and Daniel Sussman agree that the most important factor for a successful SEL process is that the students hear consistent messaging throughout the day. “By hearing the same language, two things happen. One, a routine is established,” said Daniel Sussman. “This is particularly important for elementary age students. Having a clear understanding of expectations is very helpful. Mutual respect should look the same in the art room as it does in the homeroom class or out on the playground. Secondly, consistent messaging helps build our community, whether students are speaking with other students, faculty mentors, school staff, or parent volunteers. One of the major benefits of adopting this process is that we can integrate common language and expectations from Rooms 1 through Upper School 4.” Starting this year, Tribes is being introduced to students in Rooms 1, and the process will build throughout their tenure at Mirman School. The end goal is clear. “By the time students leave Mirman in Upper School 3 or Upper School 4, they will understand the benefits of being a helpful member of their community, they will have developed a terrific set of friendships and relationships, and they will know how to deal with a really hard-to-understand child or adult that they may come across in the years to come,” said Dr. Scott. “The Tribes process may start at Mirman, but it will hopefully continue influencing positive decisions for the rest of their lives.”
THE 4 TRIBES AGREEMENTS We show kindness and respect. We avoid negativity and mean remarks.
We pay close attention to others and let them know they have been heard.
We have the right to share or pass, while still participating.
We recognize and appreciate our differences and similarities.
MIRMAN.ORG MERIDIAN 9
10
Camp Mirman runs from June 20 – July 29, 2016 Camp Mirman is a 6-week, day camp perfect for Pre K-8th Grade students that focuses on a wide selection of fun, yet stimulating, week-long STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) classes. We provide three distinct programs: Mini-Mustangs (3-5 yr old), Junior Camp (6-8 yr old), and Camp Mustang (9-14 yr old). Visit mirman.org/campmirman to review class information and sign up!
MIRMAN.ORG MERIDIAN 11
The value of playing a home game cannot be overstated. With the crowd on your side, familiar surroundings, and the sense of defending your school, there’s nothing quite like it. Prior to the completion of Mirman’s new middle school regulation-sized soccer/football field, the school’s Athletics Department was not able to host home field games. Yet, after a multi-year fundraising and planning effort led by the Board of Trustees’ Facilities Committee, chaired by Mayee Futterman and Alex Wuo, and in close partnership with Mirman School CFO David Royal, the Kotzubei Family Athletics Field finally “While we refer to this came to fruition in space as a field, it is much time for the fall 2015 football season. more than that,” said “The Kotzubei Dan Vorenberg, Head Family share our founder’s belief in of School. “Indeed, this celebrating the whole is the quintessential child,” said Susan Berman, Board outdoor classroom – a Chair. “Quietly, and place where some of the with an open heart, they made this most important Mirman expansion possible.” lessons will be learned.” Mirman’s new field is equipped with natural turf that is watered with a 100% automatic irrigation system, utilizing a smart controller, which senses weather conditions and modifies the watering schedule accordingly. The field itself utilizes Tifway II Bermuda turf, which is the most drought tolerant species available for playing fields. Best suited for Southern California’s warm climate, this turf will enable Mirman School to minimize water usage as compared with other playfield suitable turf species. Landscape areas outside of the playing area will utilize mulch and a drought tolerant native grass mix. In addition to the athletics field, many Mirman families have provided funding and other support for a new Athletics Department building and sports courts to be located on the eastern side of campus. For the first time, Mirman will be able to host home field games and hold simultaneous practices for its volleyball and basketball teams. This will also allow for future expansion of the school’s academic programs, classrooms, and other facilities.
12
“While we refer to this space as a field, it is much more than that,” said Dan Vorenberg, Head of School. “Indeed, this is the quintessential outdoor classroom—a place where some of the most important Mirman lessons will be learned.”
THANK YOU! Mirman School thanks these generous individuals and families for making possible these improvements to our athletics programs: Tilly Bagshawe-Nydes and Robin Nydes Jaynee and Eric Beckman Bel Air Investment Advisors Drs. Barry and Susan Berman Darlene Boyd, Ed.D. Karen and Ted Coyne Claire Cui and Jason Peng The Deshong Family Rikard and Christine Ekstrand Asma and Irfan Furniturewala Eric and Nancy Garen Ronit and Todd Gravori The Hancock Family Perla and Amiram Karney The Karney Goldstein Family Ginh and Mark Landecker Jamie and Michael Lynton Carol and Wally Marks James A.C. McDermott and Deborah A. Cincotta Mirman and Geffen Families Michael J. Moody and Jennifer L. Hinman Yvette and Erich Nall
Susan and Drew Pauly The Peace Family Michael Phillips and Juliana Maio Platinum Equity, LLC Gelila and Wolfgang Puck Beth Quillen Thomas Kimberly and Dale Reed The Robinov Family Barbara and Jeffrey Rosenbaum Alison and Larry Rosenthal Leonard M. Ross and Family The Schare Family Dr. Steven S. Shin and Mrs. Tiffani L. Shin Rachel and Eric Stern Aparna P. Sulé and Raj V. Iyer The Tausik Family Lauren and Bobby Turner Dan Vorenberg Kate and Modi Wiczyk Nazila and Matt Yadegar Gina and Chris Yoon Vivian and Marc Zachary
Dan Vorenberg and several lead donors gather at the ribbon cutting celebration in October
MIRMAN.ORG MERIDIAN 13
eCybermission: Accomplished Science teacher Arpa Ghazarian worked closely with several teams of Mirman students as they entered the 2015 eCybermission STEM competition, a nationally renowned web-based Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics competition for 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grade teams. More than 7,000 teams from around the country proposed a solution to a real problem in their community, and then competed for State, Regional, and National Awards. eCybermission challenges students to explore how Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics work in the world. Two teams from Mirman – Team Infection Protection and Team Hope2Others – went all the way to the National competition and were honored at the National Judging and Educational Event (NJ&EE) awards luncheon in Hunt Valley, Maryland on June 19, 2015. Both teams brought home top awards!
About the Projects TEAM INFECTION PROTECTION
Developed a better HazMat suit for doctors and healthcare workers in the field dealing with Ebola and other diseases/epidemics. RESULTS • 1st Place State winners in 6th-grade category; Regional Finalists • STEM In-Action Grant Winners ($5,000 to continue their research) • Team members: Rohan Madhogaria, Rhea Madhogaria, Natalie Barnouw, Siji Smolev
TEAM HOPE 2 OTHERS (H2O) Designed a better and more natural water filtration system using plants.
RESULTS • 1st Place National Winners, 7th-grade category • 1st Place State winners in 7th-grade category; Regional Finalists • Team members: Christina Lee, Angela Lee, and Samantha Morris
Contaminated water is poured into the upper bucket and moringa paste is added and allowed to sit for 1-2 hours allowing the sediment to coagulate and aggregate at the bottom of the upper bucket. The funnel has a stopper attached to a chain; the stopper prevents water from dripping into the lower bucket until the coagulation process is complete. The chain is pulled to remove the stopper, allowing the water to pass through the funnel containing gravel, sand, and cheesecloth, which filter the moringa-bacteria flocs. The water in the lower bucket is clear and clean. The water in the lower bucket is clear and clean.
14
Faculty and Staff Focus Rita Smith, Assistant Director of Admission/Director of Extended Programs, and Arpa Ghazarian, US Science, successfully managed the second year of Camp Mirman. Featuring expanded STEAM-related activities over a 6 week run, Rita and Arpa rose to the challenge and delivered a fun and enriching experience for our day campers. Jeff Maynard, Theatre Arts From February through April 2015, Jeff was added to the USC Theatre Faculty. He taught musical theatre and directed USC’s big spring musical - Grease - while simultaneously working with Upper School students on our own production of Grease. Wendy Samson, US English During the 2015 summer break, Upper School English teacher, Wendy Samson, received an NEH grant to study the Industrial Revolution in Lowell, MA. The project was called Inventing America: Lowell and the Industrial Revolution. Mrs. Samson was awarded the NEH grant after writing a compelling essay as part of her application.
Norm Brennan, US Science Upper School student Jahan Razavi and Science teacher Norm Brennan were recipients of the Nuclear Society Student and Teacher Awards presented at the Los Angeles County Science and Engineering Fair. Jahan's project—titled "PyroVision: A Detection System for Wildfires"—serves as a wildfire detection system. Mr. Brennan provided invaluable guidance as Jahan incorporated temperature sensors, Arduino, Bluetooth transmission, and red LEDs to detect vast temperature changes and wirelessly send this information directly to the fire station.
Over the summer, Mrs. Jessica Crain, Lower School Advisor, Mr. Daniel Sussman, Head of Lower School, and Mr. Jeffery Flag, STEM Director, participated in Nueva's Design Thinking Institute in San Francisco. Design Thinking prepares students to solve large, complex, cross-curricular, real-world problems by teaching them effective ways of thinking and collaborating. They enjoyed reconnecting with Mirman alum Austin Veseliza (’04–’13), a Nueva sophomore and DT Institute student-leader! While in San Francisco, they met with assisted/ augmented reality application engineer Jonathan Weisbaum, and were able to experiment with Google Glass, Google Cardboard, Oculus Rift, and ODG R7 Smart Glasses while learning about their implications for the future of education.
Jocelyn Balaban, Director of External Gifted Relations In March 2015, Mirman’s biennial “Celebration of Women in STEAM” was a huge success. The event began in 2009 under the leadership of Jocelyn Balaban, Director of External Gifted Relations, and provides a unique opportunity for students to “We continue to see engage with women who have tremendous results carved out careers doing what from the students once they love in the fields of Science, they understand these Technology, Engineering, Arts, challenging courses of and Mathematics (STEAM). It study will lead them was a chance for students to interact and ask questions, and down amazing paths in walk away inspired or hopeful life,” Ms. Balaban said. about their own STEAM career ambitions. Our guests included Game Designers, Animators, Aerospace Engineers, and Doctors from all avenues of medicine and research, to name just a few. Over the summer, Mrs. Jessica Crain, Lower School Advisor, Mr. Daniel Sussman, Head of Lower School; Mr. Jeffery Flag, MIRMAN.ORG MERIDIAN 15
Mirman Moments
A few of the top Mirman Moments from 2014–2015. Keep up with the latest at mirman.org/news
K-MRN RADIO PREMIERES Nov 17, 2014 K-MRN is a student-produced radio show that offers the latest in Mustang sports, on-campus action, entertainment, and special guests who have the inside scoop on Mirman!
CELEBRATING CHILEAN INDEPENDENCE DAY Sep 26, 2014 Towards the beginning of the school year, Mirman School welcomed a cadre of Chilean "cueca" dancers to campus. They helped introduce the students to the sights, sounds, and tastes of this unique South American nation.
FOOTBALL CHAMPS! OUR US3 & 4 SQUAD BRINGS HOME THE WIN Nov 20, 2014 Our US3 & 4 football team ended the season undefeated! Thanks to Coach Sabu and all of the support from our fans during their incredible playoff run and championship game.
“ROBO MUSTANGS” TAKE ON THE FIRST LEGO LEAGUE COMPETITION Oct 10, 2014 A group of ten Mirman students teamed up as the "Robo Mustangs" to take on a major engineering challenge: the FIRST LEGO League competition! FIRST LEGO League (FLL) introduces younger students to real-world engineering challenges by building LEGO-based robots to complete tasks on a thematic playing surface. FLL teams, guided by their imaginations and adult coaches, discover exciting career possibilities and, through the process, learn to make positive contributions to society.
OUR HOLIDAY MUSIC PROGRAM WAS A 'TAPESTRY' OF WONDER Dec 19, 2014 Before the holiday break, our community was treated to the wonderful concert “A Winter's Tapestry” under the direction of Music teacher, Mr. Paul Kay. The program itself took place at the gorgeous Bel Air Presbyterian Church. Featured numbers from the Mustang Chorus and Concert Singers included “Allunde Alluya,” “Jingle Bells (Sort Of),” “Let It Snow,” “Bande Hain Hum Uske” and more.
16
A 'PEACH' OF A PRODUCTION Dec 08, 2014 James and the Giant Peach delighted audiences with 3 stellar performances. Our student actors brought the cast of wacky characters to life in a clever re-imagining of the beloved story by Roald Dahl.
‘STEFANIE’ SAVES THE DAY IN A MAGICAL PRODUCTION Jan 12, 2015 Mirman School's Theatre Department got the New Year off to a great start with the imaginative play Stefanie Hero! Directed by Mr. Jeff Maynard, our second US3 play of the year was a technically complex production. The set piece highlight was an enormous dragon puppet operated by a team of five. The cast and crew did a marvelous job!
WRITER AL JEAN SHARES HIDDEN ‘SIMPSONS’ MATH GAGS Feb 04, 2015 Mirman parent, former math major at Harvard, and show runner for The Simpsons, Al Jean, gave our students an inside look at how the long-running animated series has incorporated mathematics into its famous repertoire of sight gags and ‘background humor.’
HONORING THE LIFE AND TIMES OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Mar 04, 2015 Students, faculty, and parents gathered to celebrate William Shakespeare's birthday. A troupe of characters, seemingly transported from 16th century England to modern day Los Angeles, magically appeared to take the students on a Renaissance-inspired trip through Shakespeare's life.
CELEBRATING WOMEN IN STEAM March 18, 2015 Mirman School welcomed over 30 female professionals to campus for presentations on their successful careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) related fields. The event introduces students to a diverse variety of professionals who have carved out careers doing what they love.
JUNIOR VARSITY CHAMPS! US3 & 4 BASKETBALL GOES UNDEFEATED Feb 26, 2015 Mirman's US3 & 4 Boys Basketball team competed for the San Fernando Valley Private School League Junior Varsity Championship. With a final score of 45–43, the team ended their season undefeated. Congratulations to the 2014–2015 Junior Varsity Champions!
MIRMAN'S SPRING FAIR WAS SIMPLY MARVELOUS! Apr 27, 2015 This year's Spring Fair theme was "Mirman Marvels," and everyone got into the spirit with superhero costumes, face painting, and special attractions. The Spring Fair serves as our biggest annual fundraiser, and it really does take the entire "village"—students, parents, and faculty—to pull it off!
‘GREASE’ IS THE WORD May 29, 2015 Beautifully adapted for younger audiences, Grease was a kid friendly, rollicking performance featuring Mirman’s US4 students as Danny Zucko, Sandy, Rizzo, Kenickie, and their friends.
CONCERT SINGERS STRIKE 'GOLD' AT HERITAGE FESTIVAL Apr 24, 2015 The Upper School Concert Singers celebrated a victorious win at the Heritage Festival of Gold in Anaheim, California. After a very rigorous adjudication from esteemed choral professionals, Donald Brinegar, Co. A. Philip Waite and David Stocker, the choir received scores of 91, 91, and 91 - making Mirman’s Concert Singers one of the top 4 choirs in the entire competition.
FAMILY OPEN HOUSE BRINGS GENERATIONS TOGETHER May 08, 2015 The Mirman Family Open House was an amazing showcase of student achievement! Grandparents, grandfriends, mothers, fathers, students, and siblings gathered to celebrate a year of learning and accomplishment.
MIRMAN.ORG MERIDIAN 17
Board of Trustees
MIRMAN SCHOOL BOARD OF TRUSTEES
BOARD CHAIR: Dr. Susan Berman
Susan Berman, Ph.D., Board Chair Deborah Beckmann Kotzubei, Board Vice Chair Aparna Sulé, Chair Elect Claire Cui Mayee Futterman Sharon Gavin Jennifer Hinman Anessa Karney ’77–’82 Alan Mirman Steven Oh Erich Nall James Peace Kate Phillips-Wiczyk Lauren Turner Kiko Washington Modi Wiczyk Alex Wuo
Susan joined the Board of Trustees in 2011 and was elected Chair of the Board in 2014. She is COO of The Help Group, the largest, most innovative and comprehensive nonprofit of its kind in the United States serving children, adolescents and young adults with special needs. With commitment and passion, Dr. Berman has been at the forefront of establishing innovative day school, residential and outpatient programs for children with special needs for the past three decades. Dr. Berman graduated summa cum laude from Brandeis University in 1978 with a B.S. in Psychology and in 1983, received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology. She and her husband Barry live in Encino and they have a daughter Laura, and sons Andrew ’96-‘03 and Jonathan ’04–’13.
Trustees Emeriti Michael Agran Marilyn McDaniel Beverly Mirman, In Memorium Dr. Norman Mirman, In Memorium Ex Officio Dan Vorenberg, Head of School
18
ROLE OF THE MIRMAN SCHOOL BOARD OF TRUSTEES: The Mirman Board of Trustees is a volunteer body that serves as the guardian of the school’s mission and founding principles. Focusing on strategic issues and the longterm well being of the school, the Board’s responsibility is to ensure that the mission is appropriate, relevant, and vital to the community it serves. The Board monitors the success of Mirman in fulfilling its mission and concentrates on major strategic initiatives while leaving the school’s operational objectives to the Head of School and administrative team. The Board and the Head of School work in partnership in upholding these main principles to best serve Mirman.
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Claire Cui
Claire joined the Mirman Board in 2013. As a retired investor, she assists with Mirman’s fiduciary planning as a member of the finance committee. Claire holds a B.S. in Chemistry with Honors from UCLA, and a M.B.A. from USC. She enjoys investing, reading, and hiking. Claire and her husband Jason Peng live in Pacific Palisades with their daughter Victoria (US1) and son Louis ’11–’14.
Mayee Futterman
New to the Board this year, Mayee is past President of the Mirman PSL, and Co-Chair of the Board’s Facilities Committee, where she helps manage the implementation of Mirman’s Campus Master Plan. She is also currently a Co-Chair of the Mirman Spring Fair. Mayee is a graduate of the University of the Philippines School of Architecture and the UCLA Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning. She is co-founder of CIVIC Technologies, and she is also co-founder and design principal of Futterman & Associates Inc., which provides architectural, urban design, planning, and geographical information systems services. Mayee is an artist, teacher, and art book editor specializing in Chinese Brush Painting. She is the proud mother of US3 student Jake Futterman and is married to Marc Futterman, an entrepreneur, software developer, architect, and urban planner.
Sharon Perlmutter Gavin, Ph.D.
Sharon is a scientist who has worked in the technology and entertainment industries. During her career, she developed technology for Warner Bros., including the critically acclaimed “Ultra Resolution” process used to restore and improve the quality of classic films. Sharon was granted 26 patents for her work and is a published author of numerous technical papers. She obtained her B.S. in Electrical Engineering from UCLA, where she received the Outstanding Senior Electrical Engineering Award. She studied at Stanford University as a National Science Foundation Fellowship recipient, earning her M.S. in Electrical Engineering, M.S. in Statistics, and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. She serves on the board of several non-profit organizations, including Connections for Children, the Santa Monica Family YMCA, and the Rotary Club of Santa Monica. She is also a graduate of the Riordan Leadership Institute. Sharon and her husband, Andy, live in Pacific Palisades and have a son, Alex, in Rm2 at Mirman.
Jennifer Hinman
Jennifer has been in the investment field for more than 25 years and is currently a Partner of the Capital Group Companies, where she is a fixed income analyst with research and investment responsibilities for gaming and leisure, utilities and independent power producers, and cell towers. Later this year, Jennifer will shift to a new management role covering the administrative and research associates within the CGC equity and fixed income investment groups. She received her B.A. in Russian Studies from Bucknell University, and pursued her M.B.A. coursework at NYU. In addition to serving on Mirman’s Board of Trustees, Jennifer is a volunteer soccer referee for the local AYSO program. Jennifer and her husband, Michael J. Moody, have lived in Los Angeles for 28 years. They have two sons: Neil ’98–’06, who teaches English and lives in Vietnam; and Christopher ’01–’10, who is a student at Tufts University in Boston.
Anessa Karney ’77–‘82
Anessa Karney is starting her third year on the Mirman Board of Trustees. She currently sits on the Trustees and Policies and Procedures Committees, as well as on the Advancement Committee. Anessa is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She is a former corporate attorney and practiced at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. She also has extensive experience managing political campaigns. In addition to her board responsibilities at Mirman, Anessa is on the Grant Screening Board of the Everychild Foundation and sits on the Undergraduate Financial Aid Council at Penn. Other board involvement has included Jewish Family and Children Services and the Holocaust Center of Northern California. Anessa is a Mirman alumna, married to Stuart Goldstein, and the proud mother of Mirman alumna Alexandra Goldstein ’09–‘13 and two current Mirman Upper School Students (Justin and Kyra).
Deborah Beckmann Kotzubei
Debbie has been involved in K-12 education for the past ten years. Following her career as a Mergers & Acquisition attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell, she became very interested in the field of education and completed substantial graduate work in the field of Educational Psychology with an emphasis on Gifted Education. Debbie has been a member of the Board of Trustees at Mirman School for the past six years, where she currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Board and Chair of the Trustees Committee. She has been a member of the California Association for Gifted and the National Association for Gifted Children where she has been an invited speaker at their annual conference. She graduated magna cum laude from Washington University with a B.A. in Economics and Political Science and received her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and a member of Columbia Law Review. She and her husband Jake are proud parents of Ben ’06–’12 and Natasha (US4).
Alan Mirman
Carrying on his parents’ legacy has kept Alan an active member of Mirman’s Board of Trustees for many years. When not focusing on his busy law practice specializing in real estate, financial institutions, and business litigation, Alan can be found working on several Mirman initiatives including assessing our school mission, participating in advancement efforts, and joining the conversation about the future of Mirman. He holds a B.S. and J.D. from UCLA. Alan sat on the Board of the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, as well as the UCLA Law School Board of Directors; California Receivers Forum - Founding Board member and the Rampage FC Board of Directors. Alan and his wife Nancy live in Malibu, and have three sons: Aaron ’91–’00, Zack ’94–’03, and Jesse ’97–‘04. He enjoys traveling, golf, gardening, and reading.
Steven Oh
Steve is the Chief Operating Officer of TYT Network, a leading digital media company specializing in news talk content with over 3 billion views and 4 million subscribers across multiple platforms, including YouTube, Hulu, Facebook, Roku, AOL, and many others. Prior to joining TYT, Steve was an attorney and an entrepreneur. He cofounded Yoforia, a frozen yogurt chain in Georgia and the Carolinas, and Exogear, a consumer technology company. Steve was an associate at the law firm of Winston & Strawn in New York City and at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Los Angeles. He is a graduate of Cornell University and UCLA School of Law. He lives in Studio City with his wife Mona and daughters Amanda ’06–’13, Ally (US3) and Katie (Rm5).
MIRMAN.ORG MERIDIAN 19
Erich C. Nall
Erich, known fondly as Coach E, is Owner and Founder of Ultimate Transformations Training in Los Angeles. For more than 20 years, he has been a prominent figure in the Los Angeles community in health, fitness, and education. He trains successful professional athletes, actors, models, and lay people: both adults and youth. Erich is the author of “21 Days to Ultimate Health and Wellness,” an extension of his goal to share the message of mental, spiritual, and physical wellness with the world. His desire is for “every individual to fall in love with the highest image of themselves.” He is a certified strength and conditioning trainer, a nutritionist, and holds his B.A. and M.B.A. in Business and Economics. Erich chairs our Diversity Committee and is parent to three Mirman alumnae daughters: Tahirah ’00–’08, Kamilah ’02–’11, and Malaika ’05–’14.
Dr. James Peace
James is owner and physician of the Diabetic Eye Medical Clinic. He is an active member of Mirman’s Board, and serves as chair of the Audit Committee. James attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill for pre-med, where he also earned his medical degree. He is involved in many local and national medical organizations, including Chief of Staff of Olympia Hospital in Los Angeles. He and his wife Monique live in Los Angeles and are proud parents of James Peace III (Rm5).
Kate Phillips-Wiczyk
Kate is a native of Los Angeles. She received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her J.D. from New York University School of Law. Kate practiced corporate law at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York City and then moved back to Los Angeles, where she worked as an attorney at the entertainment law firm Armstrong, Hirsch, Jackoway, Tyerman & Wertheimer. After leaving the legal profession, Kate also worked as a Sales and Business Development Executive at Marquis Jet Partners. Kate and her husband Modi have three children who attend Mirman, Jacob (US1), Sloane (Rm2) and Jesse (Rm2). This is her second year as a Trustee. She is also Chair of the Advancement Committee and Co-Chair of the Capital Campaign Committee. Kate is involved with various local and national organizations such as Baby2Baby, Cedars Sinai, and the CISLA Mentorship Program.
Lauren Turner
Lauren is a graduate of The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Prior to that she attended Dana Hall School, an independent girls school in the Boston area. Her professional experience is in public relations, marketing, and event planning for clients including Vanity Fair, Newline Cinema, and MGM. Lauren left the workforce to be a stay-at-home mother to her two children, including Mirman alumnus Will ’09–‘15. She currently serves on the Board of Planned Parenthood, has served on the Evergreen Community Preschool and Everychild Foundation Boards, and chaired committees at Brentwood School, where both children currently attend. Lauren recently started a new career as an interior designer, and is passionate about the opportunity to serve on the Mirman Board of Trustees during this exciting period of expansion and growth for the school.
Kiko Washington
Kiko currently serves as Executive Vice President, Worldwide Human Resources, Warner Bros. Entertainment, a post to which he was promoted in January 2009; he joined Warner Bros. in August 2000. He came from parent company Time Warner, where he served as Vice President, Human Resources Planning and International Human Resources Management. Prior to joining Time Warner, Kiko spent 15 years at Home Box Office. Kiko graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School with a bachelor’s degree in Economics. He lives in Santa Monica with his wife, son Austin (Rm3) and daughter.
Modi Wiczyk
Modi Wiczyk a native of Long Island, New York. He received his B.A. from Harvard College and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. In 2005, Modi cofounded and is Co-CEO of MRC, an independent film and television studio based in Los Angeles, where he has worked ever since. Modi and his wife Kate Phillips-Wiczyk have three children who attend Mirman, Jacob (US1), Sloane (Rm2) and Jesse (Rm2). This is his third year as a Trustee. He also is Chairman of the Finance Committee and serves on the Executive Committee.
Alex Wuo Aparna Sulé
Aparna Sulé is a corporate lawyer at Skadden, Arps. Her practice focuses on structuring, negotiating and executing complex financing transactions including leveraged financings and corporate restructurings. Aparna has a J.D./ M.B.A from the University of Chicago and she graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a double major in accounting and economics. Aparna is on the Grant Screening Board and co-chairs the Policy Committee of the Everychild Foundation which makes grants to prototype projects in Los Angeles that have a meaningful impact on the lives of children in need. She is Chair of the Policies & Procedures Committee and serves on the Audit Committee and Finance Committee. Aparna and her husband Raj Iyer have 2 daughters at Mirman School, Anika (US1) and Riya (Rm2).
20
Appointed a Senior Associate of Richard Meier & Partners in 2012, Alex has designed, managed and collaborated on projects ranging from museums and private residences to hotels and high-rise buildings. Alex began with Richard Meier & Partners in 1995 as a member of the Getty Center Design Team and has also collaborated on the design and development of several projects including the UCLA Broad Art Center and the San Jose City Hall. Alex remains connected to academia and has served as a guest critic and juror at USC and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Alex earned his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1995. He is a Registered Architect in California, a member of the American Institute of Architects, and a LEED Accredited Professional. Alex is co-chair of Mirman’s Facilities Committee, where he helps manage the implementation of Mirman’s Campus Master Plan. He lives in LA with his wife Wendy, son Dylan (Rm4), and daughter Sabrina (Rm2).
Mirman School 2014–2015 Annual Report
MIRMAN.ORG ANNUAL REPORT 21
22
Legacy of Giving BY ANESSA KARNEY ’77–’82
Mirman has played an important role in my life for almost forty years. I remember well entering Mirman back in 1977 as a shy six year old. Ms. Welch was my teacher and two of my closest friendships to this day were formed in her class. I had arrived on a small, intimate, safe campus where over time I began to thrive and develop a persona all my own. Frankly, looking back, my experiences at Mirman laid the foundation for all that followed. I was inspired and encouraged to develop my own voice by teachers like Ms. Rubin and Mr. Lee who taught me to stand up for what I believed in. I remember Mr. Lee’s class where we played a daily political trivia game. In 1980, we staged a mock election where we dressed up as the presidential candidates and learned everything we could about the campaigns and their positions. Mr. Lee in particular opened my eyes to the world around me. He taught me that caring about current events matters and explained why I should be reading the newspaper each day. That early interest in politics and government led me down a life-long path that included managing a political campaign in Philadelphia while still a student in college followed by my work on several other campaigns as well as on Capitol Hill. I credit Mirman with igniting in me a passion for politics and for providing a safe, nurturing environment where I found my voice and the confidence to stand up and support both causes and individuals I believed in. Fast forward thirty years and I find myself back at Mirman as a current parent to Justin (US2) and Kyra (US1) and to one alum, Alex, a current ninth grader (pictured top right). My husband and I had been living in the Bay Area and moved back to Los Angeles several years ago in large part so my own children could benefit from the kind of transformative and unique education I was so fortunate to receive here. Just as I was inspired by Mr. Lee and so many others, I see on a daily basis the way my kids are being stimulated by teachers like Mr. Brady and Mr. Taggart. Mirman taught me how to be an active, engaged learner and I am forever grateful. As a parent there is no greater satisfaction than seeing those same qualities now being nurtured in my own children. While the Mirman of today may look different from the school I attended, Mirman remains the same warm, stimulating, and engaging community that I remember and cherish. I am grateful every day for the education my children are receiving and believe that Mirman is better positioned now than ever before to develop the great minds of the future. At its core, Mirman is committed to educating each child to reach his or her maximum potential. Yet, there are unbelievably exciting changes taking place every day. Between ongoing innovations like Promethean boards and the one-to-one laptop program, as well as the amazing Innovation Lab, Mirman is always thinking ahead to what our students will need to know to succeed in the rapidly changing 21st Century. When I was a student back in the
1970s, we were delighted to use different colored chalk on our blackboards and felt lucky to experiment with the one PC on our campus. Today, everywhere you look our students are tackling cutting edge issues, supervised and inspired by teachers utilizing technology and the best resources available. I look back fondly on my “acting” debut in the Room 4 production of “Free to Be You and Me,” but it does not come close to the breathtaking musical and theatrical productions staged today by Mr. Maynard and Mr. Kay. To see how far Mirman has come in academics, performing arts, and athletics inspires and amazes me. To that end, I believe strongly in investing and giving back to the school that has given so much to my family and I. In addition to the time I spend volunteering – Mirman has the most wonderful group of parent volunteers – my husband and I make this school a top philanthropic priority. We know full well that tuition does not cover all of the compelling, innovative programs Mirman seeks to develop and strengthen and this campus needs our support to ensure it will continue to thrive for all our future students. For my family, giving back financially is the most gratifying way to honor a school that has done so much for us. I could not be more proud to support this great institution. With everyone’s support I know the future of our school will be brighter than ever. Anessa on the first day of the 1981–82 school year (pictured left)
MIRMAN.ORG ANNUAL REPORT 23
24
Finance and Advancement Reports 2014–2015 FINANCE AND INVESTMENT COMMITTEE Modi Wiczyk, Chair Claire Cui Irfan Furniturewala Jennifer Hinman Allan Schare Aparna Sulé Susan Berman, ex officio
OPERATING REVENUE: Tuition and Fees Operating Advancement Ancillary Services Interest, Investment Income, and Endowment Support of Operations
ADVANCEMENT COMMITTEE Anessa Karney ’77–’82, Chair Deborah Beckmann Kotzubei Alan Mirman Leslie Mirman Geffen Lauren Turner Kate Wiczyk Susan Wolf Susan Berman, ex officio
$12,699,292 $10,675,613 $1,286,109 $683,089 $54,481
TOTAL FUNDRAISING REVENUE: $2,031,311 Operating Advancement: Annual Fund Parent Service League
$1,286,109 $1,145,808 $140,301
Capital Campaign And Endowment: Capital Campaign Gifts Endowment Gifts Endowment Earnings
$745,202 $719,618 $2,918 $22,666
OPERATING EXPENSES: $12,298,280 Salary and Benefits $7,261,931 Curriculum $1,330,403 Financial Aid $972,464 Facilities $1,521,405 General and Administrative $1,212,077
MIRMAN.ORG ANNUAL REPORT 25
26
Annual Giving Statistics High parent participation in Annual Giving proclaims a strong message of support in our school community, and beyond. In the 2014-2015 school year, Mirman School achieved an industryleading 99% parent participation rate, with 100% of our Board of Trustees and employees also contributing to the Annual Giving campaign. Teams of dedicated volunteers and the generosity of our community make it possible for Mirman School students to soar to even greater heights. Mirman School very much appreciates the support and participation of the parents, alumni, parents of alumni, grandparents, employees, and friends who devoted their time, effort, and resources to the school.
AREAS OF SUPPORT
During 2014-2015, donors to Mirman School were given the option of directing their annual gifts toward four different areas of support: the area of greatest need, financial aid, academic programs, and faculty development. The majority of donors chose to designate their gifts to the area of greatest need, allowing the school to allocate funds where they will make the most impact. This chart illustrates the distribution of directed support as a percentage of total Annual Giving donations received.
PARENT PARTICIPATION COMPARISON
SUPPORT
99%
87%
84%
68%
EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION COMPARISON
Area of Greatest Need Academic Programs Financial Aid Faculty Development
100%
100%
100%
82% 10% 6% 2%
94%
CAIS – California Association of Independent Schools ESHA – Elementary School Heads Association NAIS – National Association of Independent Schools
MIRMAN.ORG ANNUAL REPORT 27
Annual Giving Donors DONORS BY RECOGNITION GATEWAYS
LEGACY GATEWAY ($50,000+) Brigitte and Donald Bren ★ The Diadames of the Child Care League ★ Christine and Rikard Ekstrand MIRMAN GATEWAY ($20,000–$49,999) Joseph Drown Foundation Anessa Karney and Stuart Goldstein ★đ&#x;Ž“ Deborah and Jacob Kotzubei ★ The Robinov Family Eric and Rachel Stern ★ Lauren and Bobby Turner ★ Kate and Modi Wiczyk FOUNDERS’ GATEWAY ($10,000–$19,999) Tilly Bagshawe-Nydes and Robin Nydes Yu-Tsun and Marc Brown Deborah Cincotta and Jim McDermott ★ Karen and Ted Coyne ★ Claire Cui and Jason Peng Jeannette and Howard Deshong ★ The Fluent Family Lyre and David Fribourg ★đ&#x;Ž“ Asma and Irfan Furniturewala ★ Andrew and Sharon Gavin Ronit and Todd Gravori ★ Leilani and Richard Grinold, in honor of Benjamin Weinberg Ginh and Mark Landecker Padma and Sushil Madhogarhia ★ Matthew Malkan and Shoko Sakai Zina and Peter Pistor ★ Wolfgang and Gelila Puck Jacklin Rad and Farshad Rastegar Kimberly and Dale Reed Derek Schneider and Wisdom Lu ★ Amrita Sen and Ravi Ahuja Karen and Ben Sherwood Blen and Amanuel Sima Kimora Lee Simmons-Leissner and Tim Leissner - Goldman Sachs Gives The Stubbeman Family Aparna SulĂŠ and Raj Iyer ★ Wallis Foundation HEAD OF SCHOOL GATEWAY ($5,000–$9,999) Anonymous Anonymous, in memory of Dr. Mirman Monica and Ashish Ajmera
28
Dr. and Mrs. Robert Andrews The Hoffman Chande Family Peter and Cynthia Csato ★ Laura and Zach Fisher Gisela and Jeff Friedman Delara and Kourosh Ghassemieh The Gordon Family ★ The Gurudevan Family Charles Ho Sandra Hoffman Catherine and Albert Huang The Kandler Family ★ Seung Mi Lee and Joo Seo Kim ★ Sagar and Shareena Kumar Mrs. Sharmini and Dr. Kain Kumar ★ Jin and Jennifer Lee Debra and David Lewis Sabina Lippman and Mark Jungers The McBride Family Alan and Nancy Mirman ★ Robyn and Dean Norris ★ Ozturk/Padmanabhan Family Dr. and Mrs. James Peace, in memory of James and Constance Peace Sr. Marc and Leanna Primiani David Quinto ★ Nataalia Rey and Leonard Ross ★ Anita and Michael Rice Jacqui and Todd Rosen ★ Layne and Kyle Rosen Azadeh and David Shladovsky ★ Dan and Katie Spilo
Jody and Jacques Stambouli Jaynee Strickstein-Beckman and Eric Beckman, in honor of Analea Beckman, Marlo Beckman, and Dan Vorenberg ★ The Tausik Family ★ Tepper Family ★ Jewels and Kiko Washington Grace Wen and John Wang ★ Wendy and Alex Wuo The Yeh/Hsieh Family ★ Vivian and Marc Zachary ★đ&#x;Ž“ Mark S. Zucker ★ CAMPUS GATEWAY ($3,600–$4,999) Anonymous Jerome and Marilyn Bidinger, in honor of Lilly Ray Stobo Janet and Alan Block Kimberly and Michael Copeland ★ The Fener Family, in honor of Sydney and Jack ★ The Fram Family ★ Kalpa and Manu Gargi Tory Gong and Steve Newsom The Moon Family The Morrell Family The Saada Family Howard and Haleh Shapiro von Firley-Butler Family The Zumbrunnen Family ★
BENEFACTOR GATEWAY ($2,000–$3,599) Anonymous Lori and Michael Aramian Judith Baxter and Eleanor Mercado ★ The Berman Family ★ The Bowse Family Bukata-Maslow Family Susie and Stephen Cha ★ Paul Chung and Annie Suh ★ The Davidov Family ★ Stephane Emeret and Sunjoo Moon, in honor of Jaesan Emeret Gabriel Esparza and Mina Pacheco Nazemi Kathy and Kamran Fattahi Felts Family Bran Ferren and Robyn Low Larry and Nu Furst Mayee and Marc Futterman ★ Dr. Jeff Goldsmith and Mrs. Michelle Morrow ★ Julie and Brian Goodman ★ The Haley Family ★ Harkin Goodrich Family Hinman-Moody Family JamĂŠt-Kuhne Family Sonali and Dilip Jeste Mr. and Mrs. Joel Kam, in honor of Alyssa and Alexis Kam Dr. and Mrs. Steve Kim ★ Velma and Bill King, in memory of Vanessa Suzanne King The Kosten Family ★ Kurgan Family Yassi and Justin Lancer The Maresca Family Davina and Edward Massey ★ Carlo and Rebecca Mattoni đ&#x;Ž“ The McLeod Family Chitra F. Mojtabai and Clayton Townsend ★ Motakef Family Narayan Family Karen and Stephen Newman The Oh Family ★ The Oxyzolou Family, in memory of Marika and Vasilis Oxyzolou and Kleanthis Tillos ★ Deron Quon đ&#x;Ž“ Glen and Brenda Reynolds ★ Gregory Rovenger ★ The Saito Family Kamyar and Natasha Shabani Elizabeth and Michael Song The Volokh Family đ&#x;Ž“ Dan Vorenberg Cynthia Watts Jen and Andrew Jen ★ Ian C. Wiener ★ Lisa and Marc Yassinger Mr. and Mrs. Dariush Youshaei PATRON GATEWAY ($1,000–$1,999) Anonymous Bobbie Andelson Heck đ&#x;Ž“ Lisa Anderson and Bill Colitre ★đ&#x;Ž“ Sam Anderson Family ★ AnnaLea and Evan Arnold
Bailhe Family Anna Barber The Barnouw Family Carol and Terry Becker Ashley, Jann, and Saul Berman ★đ&#x;Ž“ Bidwell-Weinberg Family Drs. Elham and Kamran Broukhim ★ Kris and Jay Calvert The Castruita/Kumar Family Li Chen and Zhihang Chi Drs. Bahar and Ramin Davidoff ★ Roxanne A. Davis and James A. Gavsie Cliff Eidelman and Claire Benoit The Ekholm Family ★ The Eknoyan Family Stephen Farkas and Christina Ho The Freitas Family ★ Drs. Devi and Daniel Friedlich đ&#x;Ž“ Ray and Lorraine Friedman Lois Grace Golde ★ Elli and Jonathan Goldrich ★ Leana Golubchik and Bill Cheng ★ Susan and David Heckerman ★ Chao Shuo and Hsin Chang Huang, in honor of Owen and Cara Huang Dr. Jenny Johnson, VMD ★ Tyler Kelly and Jay Belson Cary and Hillary Kim ★ Jung Kim and Danny Yoon ★ Katie and Bill Kleiman, in honor of Darrel Lee ★đ&#x;Ž“ Korban Family, in honor of Chloe Korban Jesse and Chad Langley
Ben and Lilli Lee Caroline and Paul Lee ★ J. Lee and June Wang ★ Lynn Lempert Marc and Emily Levine, in honor of Josh and Kayla Levine ★ Drs. Roger Lim and Michelle To Leslie and Brett Marley ★ The Milam Family ★ Trina and Frank Nuovo The Parekh Family Darcy and Jeff Pollack ★ Carrie and David Ring Pam and David Schaller ★ Jennifer H. Schulte ★ David and Isla Shavelle ★ Mrs. Angelina and Dr. Eddie Shek Mrs. Tiffani and Dr. Steven Shin The Spurling Family, in honor of Nischal and Kiran Spurling Rozalin and Houman Tehrani ★ The Trajanovich Family ★ Trueblood Family Yalda and Jim Uhls Connie and Victor Wang Dana and Jon Weisman Robert and Penny White Brent Wiblin and Jennifer Wharton Dana and David Wolf ★ Amir and Dana Yariv ★ The Zaidel Family ★
MIRMAN.ORG ANNUAL REPORT 29
DONOR GATEWAY (up to $999) Anonymous Anonymous, in honor of Elle Nicoletti Claire Abramowitz đ&#x;Ž“ Nahal Agahi Nazy and Farid Amid ★ Barbara and Ted Barkow, in honor of Elena Saviano ★ Adrienne and John Beckmann, in honor of Jeff Maynard Brittany Beer Langer đ&#x;Ž“ Donna Benton and Kotcherlakota Bapa Rao Judith and Michael Berliner Myra and Howard Berloff, in honor of Dashiell and Sasha Frank and Betty Birney Jacob and Harriet Block Andrew Bloomgarden đ&#x;Ž“ Craig Bloomgarden Krisena and Scott Borenstein đ&#x;Ž“ Borkowski Coyoca Family Darlene Boyd Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Buckley Mia and Henry Capanna The Cespedes Family, in memory of Petra Emilia Cespedes Drs. Jing Chang and Jason Cong Iris Cong đ&#x;Ž“ Costache Family Michael Daugherty and Margaret Sigel Rachel Davies, in honor of Sage Miller Gabrielle Davis đ&#x;Ž“ Jonathan and Laurie Deer The Demko Family ★ Amita Devi Pentakota đ&#x;Ž“ Dietrich Family Barbara Dischler The Dobbs-LaPlante Family ★ Duncan/Morisaki Family ★ The Ebel-Crooks Family Amanda Enayati and Jaime Uzeta Gregory Engel đ&#x;Ž“ Ann and Gerald Fener Diane Flannery ★
30
Dr. and Mrs. David M. Fung ★ Chris Funk Patricia and Tomas Ganz Rebecca F. Ganz đ&#x;Ž“ Mariko and Todd Garfinkle, in memory of Dr. Jack and Shirley Garfinkle ★đ&#x;Ž“ Donald and Irene Gavin Svetlana Gayduk ★ Ms. Talia Geffen and Mr. Matthew Arnold, in honor of Dr. and Mrs. Mirman đ&#x;Ž“ Yoni Geffen, in memory of Dr. Norman and Beverly Mirman đ&#x;Ž“ Robert and Teri Geske ★ The Gould Family ★ The Gower-Samples Family Nick Greif đ&#x;Ž“ Carolyn and Scott Hampton The Hancock Family Gayla and Jeffrey Hartsough, in honor of Cohort 2003 Shannon Hasson The Hatch Family ★đ&#x;Ž“ The Hayes Family Jonathan Heckerman đ&#x;Ž“ Robert Heckerman đ&#x;Ž“ Barbara Heitz ★ HopSkipDrive Joanna N. Huey ★đ&#x;Ž“ Kathryn E. Jackson ★ Ed and Yolanda Jacobs ★ Dr. Leila Kaghazian and Dr. Jafar Adibi Bryan Kaplan đ&#x;Ž“ Darlene Kaplan and Steve Zuckerman The Karambelas Family, in honor of Anthony William Karambelas Natalie Karl đ&#x;Ž“ Michael and Lynn Kaufman Mr. and Mrs. B.J. Kerekes ★ Erika and Michael Kerekes ★ Mary C. Kincaid Shirley Kleiman ★ Todd and Beth Klein Gabriella and Stanley Kleinman, in memory of Nicolas Korda ★ Kranz Family
Nicole and Jeffrey Lake ★ Jim and Kris Langley Valerie Lau đ&#x;Ž“ Marc Lebovitz đ&#x;Ž“ Inge and Jim Ledahl Carol and Gerold Libby The Linham Nicoletti Family ★ Lockman Family Rachel Madhogarhia đ&#x;Ž“ Veena and Suresh Manchanda Larissa Markevich and Igor Shlimovich ★ Dr. Dionne McClain and Mr. Terence Mathews ★ Lynn and Bryan McMullen ★ Caroline and Robert Meer ★ Elana Meer ★đ&#x;Ž“ Alan Meyerson ★ Ally Miller Pehle, in memory of Dr. Mirman đ&#x;Ž“ Dawn and Earle Miller đ&#x;Ž“ Leslie Mirman Geffen, in memory of Dr. and Mrs. Norman J. Mirman ★ Marc and Jessica Mitchell ★đ&#x;Ž“ MontaĂąez-Garay Family The Montenegro Family ★ Crystal Moon đ&#x;Ž“ The Moore Family ★ Alfred and Mary Moreno, in honor of Nathaniel and Sofia Moreno The Morris Family ★ Lisa and Ronald Moy ★ The Nall Family ★ Frani Newman, in honor of Charlotte Newman Maoshing Ni and Emm Wang Gregory and Stephanie Nortman đ&#x;Ž“ Valentina and Liviu Obreja O’Connor Family The Osovski Family Robert Ouriel ★ Nick and Hillary Peterson The Petrus Family ★ Dr. Kelly Phelan Christine and Scott Picker ★ Matthew Raab, in memory of Bernard Raab đ&#x;Ž“ The Rawlins Family Linda Reynolds, in honor of Zoe and Charlotte Reynolds The Rider Family ★ Jesse Rissman and Anita Zamora Camille B. Roberts ’13 đ&#x;Ž“ William and Jeanne Roberts ★ The Rogers Family Barbara and Jeffrey Rosenbaum ★ Chelsea W. Rosenthal ★đ&#x;Ž“ Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rosenthal and Alec Rosenthal đ&#x;Ž“ Ted and Nadine Rosenthal Kristen Rushlow The Rusmeepongskul-Arellano Family, in honor of Maximo Arellano Thomas Safran ★ Shilpa and Raja Sahi Michael Saphier and Dona Heller John and Allison Saviano, in honor of Sheila Simmons ★ Ethan Sawyer ★đ&#x;Ž“
Jotham Schwartz and Rahnna Denmark Lia Seraydarian đ&#x;Ž“ Howard Shao Shapiro Family ★ Alastair Shearman đ&#x;Ž“ The Shurman Family ★ Devin Sidell ★đ&#x;Ž“ Mehran and Nazila Sina ★ Beverly Sinclair Kerry and Kevin Sinclair ★đ&#x;Ž“ Jim Sington and Susan Murdock ★ Kay Sloves and Matthew Newman, in honor of Charlotte Newman The Stark and Ledahl Family, in honor of Sinclaire and Beckett Ledahl ★ Quinn Stills Stobo Family Mee-Lee and Warren Szeto Carol Tan, in honor of Isabella Roque Schuyler Thomas ★ Darryl and Tonya Tooley Helene and David Toomey ★ Carole and Donald Urfrig Gregory Urfrig and Family đ&#x;Ž“ Patsy Vaclavik, in honor of Nathaniel and Sofia Moreno, in memory of Dr. Richard Vaclavik The Vaclavik Moreno Family, in honor of Nathaniel and Sofia Moreno Cookie Valente Dr. Eric Vilain ★ The Villarama Family ★ Kim and Scott Vogt Odetta and Terrence Watkins ★ Yannina and Frank Weeks ★ Wernig Family Gwendolyn and Carl White Steven White ★ Patricia Wilkie The Willard Family ★ William and Sonia Pindler Family Foundation ★ Jill and Coburn Williams ★ Richard Wishner, in memory of Mrs. Joyce Ann Kresa Michelle Woodcock Nobu and Shiho Yamamoto, in honor of Kent Yamamoto ★ Miok and Michael Yoo Dominique Young Alan and Jenny Zachary đ&#x;Ž“ Michael Zaks đ&#x;Ž“ Sabrina Zaks đ&#x;Ž“ ZaneDev, LLC The Zelkin Family The Zeltser Family
MIRMAN.ORG ANNUAL REPORT 31
Annual Giving Donors DONORS BY CONSTITUENCY
TRUSTEES The Berman Family ★ Claire Cui and Jason Peng Asma and Irfan Furniturewala ★ Hinman-Moody Family Anessa Karney and Stuart Goldstein ★đ&#x;Ž“ Deborah and Jacob Kotzubei ★ Alan and Nancy Mirman ★ The Nall Family ★ Dr. and Mrs. James Peace, in memory of James and Constance Peace Sr. Aparna SulĂŠ and Raj Iyer ★ Lauren and Bobby Turner ★ Kate and Modi Wiczyk Wendy and Alex Wuo PARENTS Anonymous Anonymous, in memory of Dr. Mirman Nahal Agahi Monica and Ashish Ajmera Nazy and Farid Amid ★ Lisa Anderson and Bill Colitre ★đ&#x;Ž“ Sam Anderson Family ★ Dr. and Mrs. Robert Andrews Lori and Michael Aramian AnnaLea and Evan Arnold Tilly Bagshawe-Nydes and Robin Nydes Anna Barber
32
The Barnouw Family Judith Baxter and Eleanor Mercado ★ Bidwell-Weinberg Family Janet and Alan Block Borkowski Coyoca Family The Bowse Family Brigitte and Donald Bren ★ Drs. Elham and Kamran Broukhim ★ Yu-Tsun and Marc Brown Bukata-Maslow Family Mia and Henry Capanna The Castruita/Kumar Family The Cespedes Family, in memory of Petra Emilia Cespedes The Hoffman Chande Family Li Chen and Zhihang Chi Paul Chung and Annie Suh ★ Deborah Cincotta and Jim McDermott ★ Kimberly and Michael Copeland ★ Costache Family Karen and Ted Coyne ★ Peter and Cynthia Csato ★ Claire Cui and Jason Peng Michael Daugherty and Margaret Sigel Drs. Bahar and Ramin Davidoff ★ The Davidov Family ★ Roxanne A. Davis and James A. Gavsie Jonathan and Laurie Deer The Demko Family ★
Jeannette and Howard Deshong ★ Dietrich Family The Dobbs-LaPlante Family ★ Duncan/Morisaki Family ★ The Ebel-Crooks Family Cliff Eidelman and Claire Benoit The Ekholm Family ★ The Eknoyan Family Christine and Rikard Ekstrand Stephane Emeret and Sunjoo Moon, in honor of Jaesan Emeret Amanda Enayati and Jaime Uzeta Gabriel Esparza and Mina Pacheco Nazemi Stephen Farkas and Christina Ho Kathy and Kamran Fattahi Felts Family The Fener Family, in honor of Sydney and Jack ★ Bran Ferren and Robyn Low Laura and Zach Fisher The Fluent Family The Fram Family ★ The Freitas Family ★ Lyre and David Fribourg ★đ&#x;Ž“ Drs. Devi and Daniel Friedlich đ&#x;Ž“ Gisela and Jeff Friedman Asma and Irfan Furniturewala ★ Larry and Nu Furst Mayee and Marc Futterman ★ Geoffrey Gardner Mariko and Todd Garfinkle, in memory of Dr. Jack and Shirley Garfinkle ★đ&#x;Ž“ Kalpa and Manu Gargi Andrew and Sharon Gavin Svetlana Gayduk ★ Robert and Teri Geske ★ Delara and Kourosh Ghassemieh Elli and Jonathan Goldrich ★ Dr. Jeff Goldsmith and Mrs. Michelle Morrow ★ Leana Golubchik and Bill Cheng ★ Tory Gong and Steve Newsom Julie and Brian Goodman ★ The Gordon Family ★ The Gould Family ★ The Gower-Samples Family Ronit and Todd Gravori ★ The Gurudevan Family The Haley Family ★ The Hancock Family Harkin Goodrich Family The Hayes Family Catherine and Albert Huang JamĂŠt-Kuhne Family
Dr. Jenny Johnson, VMD ★ Dr. Leila Kaghazian and Dr. Jafar Adibi Mr. and Mrs. Joel Kam, in honor of Alyssa and Alexis Kam The Kandler Family ★ The Karambelas Family, in honor of Anthony William Karambelas Anessa Karney and Stuart Goldstein ★đ&#x;Ž“ Tyler Kelly and Jay Belson Erika and Michael Kerekes ★ Cary and Hillary Kim ★ Jung Kim and Danny Yoon ★ Seung Mi Lee and Joo Seo Kim ★ Dr. and Mrs. Steve Kim ★ Katie and Bill Kleiman, in honor of Darrel Lee ★đ&#x;Ž“ The Kosten Family ★ Deborah and Jacob Kotzubei ★ Kranz Family Sagar and Shareena Kumar Mrs. Sharmini and Dr. Kain Kumar ★ Kurgan Family Nicole and Jeffrey Lake ★ Yassi and Justin Lancer Ginh and Mark Landecker Jesse and Chad Langley Ben and Lilli Lee Caroline and Paul Lee ★ J. Lee and June Wang ★ Jin and Jennifer Lee Lynn Lempert Marc and Emily Levine, in honor of Josh and Kayla Levine ★ Debra and David Lewis Drs. Roger Lim and Michelle To The Linham Nicoletti Family ★ Sabina Lippman and Mark Jungers Padma and Sushil Madhogarhia ★ Matthew Malkan and Shoko Sakai The Maresca Family Larissa Markevich and Igor Shlimovich ★ Leslie and Brett Marley ★ Davina and Edward Massey ★
Jeff and Robyn Maynard ★ The McBride Family Dr. Dionne McClain and Mr. Terence Mathews ★ The McLeod Family Lynn and Bryan McMullen ★ Alan Meyerson ★ The Milam Family ★ Chitra F. Mojtabai and Clayton Townsend ★ MontaĂąez-Garay Family The Moon Family The Moore Family ★ The Morrell Family The Morris Family ★ Motakef Family Narayan Family Karen and Stephen Newman Maoshing Ni and Emm Wang Robyn and Dean Norris ★ Valentina and Liviu Obreja O’Connor Family The Oh Family ★ The Osovski Family Robert Ouriel ★ The Oxyzolou Family, in memory of Marika and Vasilis Oxyzolou and Kleanthis Tillos ★ Ozturk/Padmanabhan Family The Parekh Family Dr. and Mrs. James Peace, in memory of James and Constance Peace Sr. Nick and Hillary Peterson Christine and Scott Picker ★ Zina and Peter Pistor ★ Darcy and Jeff Pollack ★ Marc and Leanna Primiani Wolfgang and Gelila Puck David Quinto ★ Jacklin Rad and Farshad Rastegar Kimberly and Dale Reed Nataalia Rey and Leonard Ross ★ Glen and Brenda Reynolds ★ Anita and Michael Rice The Rider Family ★ Carrie and David Ring Jesse Rissman and Anita Zamora The Robinov Family The Rogers Family Jacqui and Todd Rosen ★ Layne and Kyle Rosen Gregory Rovenger ★ The Rusmeepongskul-Arellano Family, in honor of Maximo Arellano The Saada Family Shilpa and Raja Sahi The Saito Family John and Allison Saviano, in honor of Sheila Simmons ★ Pam and David Schaller ★ Derek Schneider and Wisdom Lu ★ Jennifer H. Schulte ★ Jotham Schwartz and Rahnna Denmark Amrita Sen and Ravi Ahuja Kamyar and Natasha Shabani Howard Shao Shapiro Family ★
Howard and Haleh Shapiro David and Isla Shavelle ★ Mrs. Angelina and Dr. Eddie Shek Karen and Ben Sherwood Mrs. Tiffani and Dr. Steven Shin Azadeh and David Shladovsky ★ The Shurman Family ★ Blen and Amanuel Sima Kimora Lee Simmons-Leissner and Tim Leissner - Goldman Sachs Gives Mehran and Nazila Sina ★ Elizabeth and Michael Song Dan and Katie Spilo The Spurling Family, in honor of Nischal and Kiran Spurling Jody and Jacques Stambouli The Stark and Ledahl Family, in honor of Sinclaire and Beckett Ledahl ★ Eric and Rachel Stern ★ Quinn Stills Stobo Family Jaynee Strickstein-Beckman and Eric Beckman, in honor of Analea Beckman, Marlo Beckman, and Dan Vorenberg ★ The Stubbeman Family Aparna SulĂŠ and Raj Iyer ★ Carol Tan, in honor of Isabella Roque The Tausik Family ★ Rozalin and Houman Tehrani ★ Tepper Family ★ Darryl and Tonya Tooley The Trajanovich Family ★ Trueblood Family Lauren and Bobby Turner ★ Yalda and Jim Uhls The Vaclavik Moreno Family, in honor of Nathaniel and Sofia Moreno Dr. Eric Vilain ★ The Villarama Family ★ The Volokh Family đ&#x;Ž“ von Firley-Butler Family Jewels and Kiko Washington Odetta and Terrence Watkins ★ Yannina and Frank Weeks ★ Dana and Jon Weisman Grace Wen and John Wang ★ Steven White ★ Brent Wiblin and Jennifer Wharton Kate and Modi Wiczyk Ian C. Wiener ★ The Willard Family ★ Jill and Coburn Williams ★ Dana and David Wolf ★ Wendy and Alex Wuo Amir and Dana Yariv ★ Lisa and Marc Yassinger The Yeh/Hsieh Family ★ Miok and Michael Yoo Mr. and Mrs. Dariush Youshaei Vivian and Marc Zachary ★đ&#x;Ž“ The Zaidel Family ★ The Zelkin Family The Zeltser Family Mark S. Zucker ★ The Zumbrunnen Family ★
MIRMAN.ORG ANNUAL REPORT 33
ALUMNI Anonymous Claire Abramowitz ’95-’00 Bobbie Andelson Heck ’86-’92 Lisa Anderson ’76-’84 and Bill Colitre ★ Brittany Beer Langer ’90-’97 Ashley Berman ’90-’98 Andrew Bloomgarden ’95-’02 Krisena ’92-’94 and Scott Borenstein Iris Cong ’05-’13 Gabrielle Davis ’95-’99 Amita Devi Pentakota ’01-’08 Gregory Engel ’80-’83 Lyre and David Fribourg ’78-’81 ★ Drs. Devi and Daniel Friedlich ’78-’84 Rebecca F. Ganz ’84-’91 Mariko and Todd Garfinkle ’64-’69, in memory of Dr. Jack and Shirley Garfinkle ★ Ms. Talia Geffen ’88-’97 and Mr. Matthew Arnold, in honor of Dr. and Mrs. Mirman Yoni Geffen ’91-’99, in memory of Dr. Norman and Beverly Mirman Nick Greif ’95-’01 Michael Hatch ’03-’13 Tess Hatch ’98-’05 Jonathan Heckerman ’08-’09 Robert Heckerman ’08-’13 Joanna N. Huey ’91-’96 ★ Bryan Kaplan ’85-’93 Natalie Karl ’95-’02 Anessa Karney ’77-’82 and Stuart Goldstein ★ Katie and Bill Kleiman ’70-’79, in honor of Darrel Lee ★ Chloe Korban ’97-’06 Valerie Lau ’93-’97 Marc Lebovitz ’81-’90 Rachel Madhogarhia ’10-’13 Carlo ’80-’88 and Rebecca Mattoni
34
Elana Meer ’00-’07 ★ Ally Miller Pehle ’77-’82, in memory of Dr. Mirman Dawn and Earle Miller ’70-’73 Marc ’82-’90 and Jessica Mitchell ★ Crystal Moon ’01-’06 Gregory ’84-’90 and Stephanie Nortman Deron Quon ’82-’86 Matthew Raab ’95-’98, in memory of Bernard Raab Camille B. Roberts ’04-’13 Alec Rosenthal ’11-’12 Chelsea W. Rosenthal ’89-’94 ★ Ethan Sawyer ’84-’88 ★ Lia Seraydarian ’99-’06 Alastair Shearman ’92-’98 Devin Sidell ’85-’92 ★ Kerry and Kevin Sinclair ’90-’97 ★ Gregory Urfrig ’82-’89 and Family Eugene Volokh ’76-’78 and Family Alan ’80-’86 and Jenny Zachary Vivian and Marc Zachary ’78-’83 ★ Michael Zaks ’01-’07 Sabrina Zaks ’02-’09 FACULTY AND STAFF Anonymous Vladimir AmĂŠrico DurĂĄn Gladys Avila Elaha Bahadori Brad Barry Norm Brennan ★ Tiffany Brkich Drew Brody Ellen Brown ★ Carolin Chhor Alec Colantonio-Ray Michael Coleman ★
Jessica and Jared Crain ★ Mari Cueno-Araiza ★ Alison Denner ★ Jessica Duncan Karin Durup ★ Tate Esparrago Craig Fine ★ Jeffery Flagg Diane Flannery ★ Geoffrey Gardner Aida Gharapetian ★ Arpa Ghazarian ★ Veronica Gonzales ★ Giselle Grams ★ Kristina Harris Shannon Hasson Suzy Hertzberg Joanna Jimenez Noah Kaufman Paul Kay ★ Toy and Marc Kelly ★ Elise Kerr Joy Kliewer Tracy Knavel ★ Chloe Korban đ&#x;Ž“ Meghan Lewis Jen Liggitt Jimmy Lindsey Sean Lueder Jocelyn and David Lutzky ★ Jeff and Robyn Maynard ★ Kim McCarthy Gian Molero Jacquelyn Myers ★ Ann Marie Nagel Jennifer Ordonez ★ Ronna Perel ★ Carlo Reyes Luis Rodriguez ★ Stephanie Rourick ★ David and Lurie Royal ★ Kristen Rushlow Judith Sacks ★ Wendy Samson ★ Lacey Schmidt Dena Scott Mike Sewell ★ Sheila Simmons ★ Rita Anne Smith ★ Jori and Daniel Sussman Michael Taggart Romulo and Cornelia Tecson ★ Schuyler Thomas ★ Latu Tupou ★ Dan Vorenberg Michelle Weng Michelle Woodcock Dominique Young Marjorie Zinman ★ PAST PARENTS Anonymous Bailhe Family Carol and Terry Becker Donna Benton and Kotcherlakota Bapa Rao
Judith and Michael Berliner The Berman Family ★ Jann and Saul Berman ★ Frank and Betty Birney Craig Bloomgarden Kris and Jay Calvert Susie and Stephen Cha ★ Drs. Jing Chang and Jason Cong Rachel Davies, in honor of Sage Miller Barbara Dischler Diane Flannery ★ Dr. and Mrs. David M. Fung ★ Chris Funk Patricia and Tomas Ganz Lois Grace Golde ★ Carolyn and Scott Hampton Gayla and Jeffrey Hartsough, in honor of Cohort 2003 The Hatch Family ★ Susan and David Heckerman ★ Suzy Hertzberg Hinman-Moody Family Ed and Yolanda Jacobs ★ Darlene Kaplan and Steve Zuckerman Michael and Lynn Kaufman Velma and Bill King, in memory of Vanessa Suzanne King Shirley Kleiman ★ Todd and Beth Klein Gabriella and Stanley Kleinman, in memory of Nicolas Korda ★ Korban Family, in honor of Chloe Korban Carol and Gerold Libby Lockman Family Caroline and Robert Meer ★ Alan and Nancy Mirman ★ Leslie Mirman Geffen, in memory of Dr. and Mrs. Norman J. Mirman ★ The Montenegro Family ★ Lisa and Ronald Moy ★ The Nall Family ★ Trina and Frank Nuovo The Petrus Family ★ Dr. Kelly Phelan The Rawlins Family William and Jeanne Roberts ★
Barbara and Jeffrey Rosenbaum ★ Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rosenthal Ted and Nadine Rosenthal Thomas Safran ★ Michael Saphier and Dona Heller Jim Sington and Susan Murdock ★ Helene and David Toomey ★ Carole and Donald Urfrig Cookie Valente Kim and Scott Vogt Connie and Victor Wang Cynthia Watts Jen and Andrew Jen ★ Wernig Family Robert and Penny White William and Sonia Pindler Family Foundation ★ Nobu and Shiho Yamamoto, in honor of Kent Yamamoto ★ GRANDPARENTS AND FRIENDS Anonymous Anonymous, in honor of Elle Nicoletti Barbara and Ted Barkow, in honor of Elena Saviano ★ Adrienne and John Beckmann, in honor of Jeff Maynard Myra and Howard Berloff, in honor of Dashiell and Sasha Jerome and Marilyn Bidinger, in honor of Lilly Ray Stobo Jacob and Harriet Block Darlene Boyd Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Buckley Ann and Gerald Fener Ray and Lorraine Friedman Donald and Irene Gavin Leilani and Richard Grinold, in honor of Benjamin Weinberg Barbara Heitz ★ Charles Ho Sandra Hoffman Chao Shuo and Hsin Chang Huang, in honor of Owen and Cara Huang Kathryn E. Jackson ★ Sonali and Dilip Jeste Mr. and Mrs. B.J. Kerekes ★
Mary C. Kincaid Shirley Kleiman ★ Jim and Kris Langley Inge and Jim Ledahl Veena and Suresh Manchanda Alfred and Mary Moreno, in honor of Nathaniel and Sofia Moreno Frani Newman, in honor of Charlotte Newman Linda Reynolds, in honor of Zoe and Charlotte Reynolds Beverly Sinclair Kay Sloves and Matthew Newman, in honor of Charlotte Newman Mee-Lee and Warren Szeto Patsy Vaclavik, in honor of Nathaniel and Sofia Moreno, in memory of Dr. Richard Vaclavik Gwendolyn and Carl White Patricia Wilkie Richard Wishner BUSINESSES Abacus Diagnostics Adobe ⚑ Amgen Inc. ⚑ Bank of America Charitable Gift Fund Bank of the West ⚑ Boeing Matching Gifts Program ⚑ Capital Group Companies ★⚑ Deutsche Bank Securities ⚑ The Diadames of the Child Care League ★ Donald Bren Foundation Edison International ★⚑ ExxonMobil Foundation ⚑ Fidelity Charitable The Fuller Foundation Goldman Sachs Gives Google Inc. ⚑ Guggenheim Partners ⚑ Her3sy - Casey Jones ⚑ Honeywell International ⚑ HopSkipDrive Joseph Drown Foundation Karisma Foundation ⚑ Pentera Trust Company Limited The Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation ⚑ Salesforce.com ⚑ Schwab Charitable Fund Time Warner ★⚑ Toyota Financial Services Making Life Easier Fund ⚑ University Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery William and Sonia Pindler Family Foundation ★ Wallis Foundation The Walt Disney Company ⚑ ZaneDev, LLC
★ ★ đ&#x;Ž“ âš‘
Donors with 5–9 consecutive years of giving Donors with 10+ consecutive years of giving Alumni donors Matching gift donors
MIRMAN.ORG ANNUAL REPORT 35
Endowed and Restricted Giving
DR. NORMAN J. AND BEVERLY M. MIRMAN ENDOWED MEMORIAL FUND Established in honor of the founders of Mirman School, the Dr. Norman J. and Beverly M. Mirman Endowed Memorial Fund reflects the Mirmans’ commitment to developing the campus as a beautiful natural setting, which inspires the intellectual, creative, physical, and emotional growth of the children at Mirman School. This endowment provides necessary funds for the continued beautification and enhancement of the physical campus as an extension of the school’s educational space and mission. Nancy and Dick Curry, in memory of Joyce A. Kresa FACULTY PROFESSIONAL ENRICHMENT ENDOWMENT Established by the Mirman School Board of Trustees in 2006, the Faculty Professional Enrichment Endowment provides funds annually for professional development opportunities for Mirman School faculty. MIRMAN SCHOOL ENDOWED FACULTY DEVELOPMENT FUND This fund supports ongoing professional development opportunities for Mirman School faculty, while also honoring the extraordinary educators and institutional leaders who have dedicated years of service to Mirman School. MCDANIEL FAMILY ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP FUND Established in 2006, with a grant from the Flora L. Thornton Foundation, the McDaniel Family Endowed Scholarship Fund honors the legacy of Marilyn and Glen McDaniel’s commitment to Mirman School. MIRMAN SCHOOL ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP FUND Established by the Mirman School Board of Trustees in 2006, this fund provides financial aid to qualified students who might otherwise be unable to afford a Mirman School education. THE RICHARD A. BOOLOOTIAN ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP FUND Established in 2005, gifts to this fund honor Dr. Richard Boolootian’s 30-plus years of dedication to Mirman School. SHERWINDT FAMILY ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP FUND Founded in 2007 by Mr. Jed Sherwindt and Ms. Joanna Gardner, the Sherwindt Family Endowed Scholarship Fund will provide financial assistance to Mirman School students in perpetuity. 36
STACY PHILLIPS ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP FUND This fund supports female students at Mirman School who come from socio-economically disadvantaged single-parent families. Anonymous, in honor of Stacy Phillips Judith Bain, in honor of Stacy Phillips Karen and Thomas Higginsin, in honor of Stacy Phillips Cathy Kirkpatrick Marsha Kwalwasser, in honor of Stacy Phillips Edith Matthai, in honor of Stacy Phillips Miriam Muscarolas and Grant Abramson, in honor of Stacy Phillips Stacy Phillips ★ Mark and Lisa Schwartz Charles Sena Emese Tardy-Green Jocelyn Tetel, in honor of Stacy Phillips Susan and David Wolf, in honor of Stacy Phillips
GLYNELL S. BARNES MEMORIAL LIBRARY FUND The Glynell S. Barnes Memorial Library Fund is dedicated to the loving memory of Glynell S. Barnes and in recognition of her involvement with establishing the Mirman School Library. Gifts to this fund support the purchase of books, periodicals and electronic educational resources for the library.
PERFORMING ARTS Music and theater arts remain cherished traditions, a legacy of Dr. and Mrs. Mirman. Directed gifts to our music and theater departments support not only the musical instruments, production resources, and materials that we need to put on our complex plays, musicals, and concerts, but the children, our performers and artists, who thrive on the Mirman stage and beyond.
Canard Barnes ’75–’79 and Jennifer Goldstein Barnes ’80–’86 đ&#x;Ž“ Alex Levine ’78–’81, in memory of Mrs. Barnes đ&#x;Ž“
Anonymous
INNOVATION LAB Directed gifts to our Innovation Lab support this highly collaborative and cutting edge maker space. Technology resources provided by this fund allow our students to delve into 3-D modeling, analysis, electronic experimentation, and sophisticated programming.
STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) is a primary focus of Mirman’s curriculum, with innovations in technology, including robotics, scientific discovery, and mathematical inquiry, at the heart of our teaching and learning community. Gifts directed to our STEM program support these efforts.
Anonymous
Scott Becker ’96–’99 đ&#x;Ž“
MIRMAN.ORG ANNUAL REPORT 37
Annual Giving Volunteers
CHAIRS Mona and Steve Oh LOWER SCHOOL CHAIRS Andrea Berloff and Drew Filus UPPER SCHOOL CHAIRS Leslie and Brett Marley TEAM LEADERS Deborah Cincotta Kamran Fattahi Lyre Fribourg Leana Golubchik Junga Kim Melissa Larsen Ekholm David Lewis Debra Lewis Sushil Madhogarhia Davina Massey Robyn Norris Marcia Schneir COORDINATORS AnnaLea Arnold Jaynee Beckman
38
Dominique Cespedes Alicia Coppola Jones Cynthia Csato Laura Davidov Laurie Deer Stephane Emeret Shaheen Felts Laura Fisher David Fribourg ’78–’81 Lawrence Furst Marc Futterman Chrissy Hsieh Alison Kandler Bill Kleiman ’70–’79 Marina Kosten Aarti Kumar Sharmini Kumar Yassi Lancer Renelle LaPlante Sabina Lippman Wisdom Lu Julissa McBride Ian Moffitt Chitra Mojtabai Kelly Morrell Rosalyn Morrell
Dean Norris Zina Pistor Jacklin Rad Farshad Rastegar Glen Reynolds Jennifer Schulte Howard Shapiro Michael Song Daniel Spilo Annie Suh Tonya Tooley Yu-Tsun Tseng-Brown Kathryn Vaclavik Dana Weisman Oren Zaidel Boris Zelkin PSL PRESIDENT Mayee Futterman PSL VICE PRESIDENT Chrissy Hsieh FACULTY AND STAFF LIAISONS Jocelyn Balaban Paul Kay
Leadership
2014–2015 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Deborah Beckmann Kotzubei Susan Berman, Chair Claire Cui Irfan Furniturewala Jennifer Hinman Anessa Karney ’77–’82 Alan Mirman Erich Nall James Peace Aparna Sulé Lauren Turner Dan Vorenberg, ex officio Modi Wiczyk Alex Wuo
2014–2015 ALUMNI COUNCIL Nicholas Abouzeid ’02–’09 Saba Amid ’05–’13 Jocelyn Balaban Brittany Beer Langer ’90–’97 Eric Bollens ’94–’03 Ashley Felts ’92–’96 Talia Geffen ’88–’97 Jennifer Goldstein Barnes ’80–’86 Nicholas Greif ’95–’01 Anessa Karney ’77–’82 Bill Kleiman ’70–’79 Chloe Korban ’97–’06 Leslie Mirman Geffen Marc Mitchell ’82–’90 Gizelle Pera ’96–’03 Kevin Sinclair ’89–’97 David Ulick ’74–’84
2014–2015 SENIOR ADMINISTRATORS Dan Vorenberg Head of School Jocelyn Balaban Director of External Gifted Relations/Administrative Liaison Alison Denner Assistant to the Head of School
We would like to express our deepest gratitude for the dedication and generosity of our volunteers, in all its forms. Thank you for partnering with us in pursuit of our mission and goals.
Joy Kliewer Director of Advancement Jen Liggitt Director of Admissions David Royal Chief Financial Officer Sheila Simmons Assistant Head of School/Head of Upper School Daniel Sussman Head of Lower School Michael Taggart Director of Technology 2015–2016 OFFICE OF ADVANCEMENT Sue Mathews Director of Advancement Noah Kaufman Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations Geoffrey Gardner Director of Communications Alec Colantonio-Ray Data and Advancement Coordinator
If your name has been accidentally omitted, misspelled, or listed under an incorrect heading, please notify us by calling (310) 476-2868.
MIRMAN.ORG ANNUAL REPORT 39
Matriculation List
MIRMAN SCHOOL STUDENTS ENTERED THE FOLLOWING SCHOOLS IN 2015–2016 Brentwood School Buckley School Corpus Christi High School Crossroads School CSULA Early Entrance Program Flintridge Preparatory School Groton School Harvard-Westlake John Adams Middle School Lawrenceville School Marlborough School Milken Community High School New Roads School North Hollywood Highly Gifted Magnet Notre Dame High School Oaks Christian High School Palisades Charter High School Palos Verdes Peninsula Phillips Academy Andover Phillips Exeter Academy Santa Monica High School Taft High School
40
Graduating Class 2015
Class of 2015 celebrates their victory in the Seniors vs Faculty Speedaway game.
MIRMAN SCHOOL ALUMNI ENTERED THE FOLLOWING COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES IN 2015–2016 Babson College (1) Bard College (1) Barnard College (1) Brown University (1) Columbia University (1) Duke University (1) Gonzaga University (1) Harvard University (1) Loyola Marymount University (1) Middlebury College (1) New York University (2) Northwestern University (1) Occidental College (1)
Pepperdine University (1) Pomona College (1) Princeton (1) Reed College (2) Rice University (1) Stanford University (2) Tulane University (1) University of Arizona (1) University of California, Berkeley (2) University of California, Santa Barbara (1) University of Denver (1) University of Michigan (1) University of Pennsylvania (5) University of Southern California (2) Vanderbilt University (2) Wharton School of Business, University of Pennyslvania (1)
MIRMAN.ORG ANNUAL REPORT 41
Off to a Running Start IRIS CONG ’05–’13
Mirman alumna Iris Cong is used to being younger than everyone else in the classroom. Already a junior at UCLA at only 15 years old, Iris exudes wisdom and confidence far beyond what her age implies—and she credits her time at Mirman for giving her a head start at chasing her dreams. FROM MIRMAN TO UCLA During her time at Mirman, it quickly became obvious to Iris’ Lower School teachers that she was ready for challenges beyond her grade level. With their encouragement and support, Iris moved ahead quickly by skipping several grades in math. Doing so allowed her to, among other things, challenge herself by taking AP Calculus BC, an achievement almost unheard of for an 11-year-old. “Most teachers I’ve talked to were surprised that I was allowed to take Calculus that young,” she says. “But Dr. Mirman’s philosophy that special students should be given special opportunities is deeply embedded within the school,” says Iris. Mirman is one of the only schools in the country that offers individualized Calculus courses for middle-school students. Taking advanced classes when she was ready and not when her age dictated helped catapult Iris to early admissions at UCLA. “The push that I got from my teachers at Mirman really allowed me to shine,” says Iris. “I wouldn’t have gotten into UCLA early without that.” Enrolling in college at age 13 has allowed Iris the advantage of time, which is useful because she wants to earn multiple degrees in more than one discipline. “There aren’t that many people who can master two different subjects and be able to work at the intersection of those fields,” she says. “I chose computer science to major in first because it’s a perfect subject to apply to something else—from computational medicine to quantum computing.” COMPETITIVE SPIRIT Thanks to her mathematical acumen, Iris was a natural fit for the Mirman math team and landed an early spot as a Lower 42
School student. One of her proudest moments was competing in the Don Bosco Math Competition for the first time. “I had just moved ahead two grades in math so I was nervous,” she says. “But I ranked in the top five at Mirman and our team got second place. I received a medal on stage and that gave me tremendous confidence and motivation.” In addition to winning a medal, Iris learned important lessons and gained valuable experience during those first competitions that prepared her to compete at the university level. “I learned early that I won’t always know how to solve every problem right off the bat and that I need to be patient and persevere,” she says. Perseverance pays off, as is evidenced by Iris’ stellar performance in the William Putnam Math Competition in 2014. Out of 4,320 students from 577 universities who competed in the prestigious annual competition, Iris ranked 260 overall. Within her UCLA team of 29 students, she placed fourth—well ahead of seniors at the university, proving that one’s age is an irrelevant number when it comes to mathematics. CITIZEN OF THE WORLD Iris credits Mirman for more than math, though—she drew inspiration from English, Latin, history, and choir, in particular. One of her favorite memories is of traveling with the choir to Reno, NV for the International Choral Festival where the group had the chance to meet choirs from all over the world, including Indonesia. “It was my first exposure to different cultures through school and it opened me up to not only the people directly around me, but also around the world,” she says. Empowered by that early experience, Iris traveled to Beijing this past summer for an internship at the Center for Quantum Information. Under the tutelage of the prestigious Turing-awardwinning Professor Andrew C. Yao and the highly distinguished Alfred P. Sloan Fellow Professor Luming Duan, she conducted research on the development of algorithms that would run a quantum computer—even though she was technically too young for the program. “The other interns were all grad level students,” says Iris. “But I didn’t feel out of place because we were studying the same things. One of them didn’t even know I was 15 until we went on a weekend trip and I bought a half-price ticket for being under 16.”
As with her teachers at Mirman, Professor Yao, Dean of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences, saw great potential in Iris regardless of her young age. “I think Professor Yao has a philosophy similar to Dr. Mirman,” she says. “He saw me as a special case and decided that it would be worthwhile to allow me an early start.” The internship was hugely impactful for Iris, exposing her to academic research for the first time, fueling within her a desire to pursue interdisciplinary study, and opening her eyes to international collaboration. The research paper she authored during her time in Beijing is currently available online at arxiv.org, an e-print library maintained by Cornell, and she is planning on submitting it to one of the American Physical Society journals as well. “I always want to be learning about new frontiers and advances,” she says.
This insatiable passion for knowledge was born at Mirman and bolstered by crucial skills she learned there, such as study habits, time management, and teacher interaction. Iris credits the planner she was taught to keep in year three for helping her budget and balance her time wisely now that she’s in college. And she credits small class sizes at Mirman for illustrating the benefits of forming close relationships with teachers. “I never felt intimidated to approach my teachers at Mirman after class or during recess with questions or independent projects,” she says. “I apply that at UCLA by always taking advantage of my professors’ office hours, something which has helped me gain a lot more from my classes.” Whatever fields of study Iris chooses to focus on in the future, the running start she got at Mirman will undoubtedly serve her well. “I really want to be an interdisciplinary professor at a university— maybe a joint appointment with two different departments,” she says. “At only 15, I have plenty of time to make that happen.”
MIRMAN.ORG ANNUAL REPORT 43
Alumni Notes 2014–2015 Artist Jessica Dunne ’63–’64 was awarded a Visual Arts Fellowship at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts this past January. Last year, she displayed her work as part of Print Facets: Five Centuries of Printing, at the Curator Gallery in New York City. Jessica’s work was also included in the Kala Artists’ Annual Exhibition in Berkeley, CA from October through December of 2014. In addition to art showings, Jessica was published in The Woods Were Never Quiet, Stories by Monique Wentzel with drawings by Jessica Dunne, a limited edition letterpress book by The Book Club of California. She was also invited to create a spit-bite aquatint etching for the Al Mutanabbi Street Starts Here project, an international group of printmakers creating work to address the 2007 bombing of Al Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. The project, Absence and Presence, will be shown in the US, the UK, the Middle East, and North Africa through 2017. A long and multidisciplinary career took Karen McBride ’68–’71 from a UCLA geochemistry lab to field mapping in the Himalayas, to the movie industry, and then to the space business. A born manager, she gave a determining contribution to the Phoenix Lander mission, the first NASA mission to land in the polar regions of Mars. In more recent years she managed a large number of science and technology programs at NASA headquarters, but her heart always remained on Mars. She is the author and co-author of a large number of papers, the most recent ones dealing with the paleo rivers and lakes on Mars. Her new passion is Europa, a moon circling Jupiter.
44
David Edelsohn ’72–’81 is a member of the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) project. GCC is the system compiler for Linux, used to run systems from Google and Facebook to the New York Stock Exchange. As a member of the GCC Steering Committee, David accepted the 2014 ACM SIGPLAN Programming Languages Software Award on behalf of the community at the PLDI 2014 conference this past summer. David currently works in the Research Division of IBM.
Tulani BridgewaterKowalski ’77–’84 runs DDB Productions, Inc. and Bridgewater | Artists | Management. With over two decades of entertainment industry experience in music, film, and television, she currently produces albums, and domestic and international tours, while managing her roster of award-winning clients: Dee Dee Bridgewater, Irvin Mayfield Jr., and Theo Croker. Tulani lives in Los Angeles with her husband, their two children, and a very furry dog.
David Kukoff’s ’72–’78 first novel, “Children of the Canyon,” was published last year by Rare Bird Lit. The protagonist in the story attends a school very much like Mirman. David is a graduate of Columbia University and UCLA Film School. He has five produced film credits to his name and has written for every studio and network in Hollywood. He has also taught film and television writing at Northwestern University, where he made the Faculty Honor Roll in his first year, has been a guest lecturer at UCLA’s Faculty Lecture Series at Lake Arrowhead, and has served as a guest editor for UK-based academic publisher, Palgrave MacMillan.
Danelle Fisher, M.D. ’78–’83 is a pediatrician in the Westchester area of Los Angeles. She began practicing in 2001 at Westchester Pediatrics, a private practice which she now owns. She and her husband Marshall have a “precocious” three-year-old son named Joseph. She enjoys reconnecting with many of her fellow classmates from Mirman and spending time with them and their families.
Jamie Altshule ’75–’82, Educational Consultant and Founder of Academic Success, Inc., Jamie brought her expertise to Mirman School with an ISEE prep class for the Upper Level test. Along with teaching classes, Academic Success provides outstanding in-home coaches to support students, while empowering parents with customized feedback after each session. Jamie is thrilled to be “back at school” on the Mirman campus.
Michael Kaz ’80-’84 is the founder of Glossop's Syrup, a manufacturer of premium bar products that are available online and in retailers around the country. Michael started Glossop's in 2013 with a line of six bar syrups. Currently he is building the Glossop's brand and expanding into other cocktail related products, including bottled craft cocktails. After graduating from Harvard School in 1990, Michael earned a degree in Creative Writing from USC. Marc Lebovitz ’81–’90 founded tech startup, Adornably, along with Mirman alumni Sterling Newton ’81–’90 and Vicharin (Pebbles) Vadakan ’81–’87. Adornably helps people virtually design their home decor with photorealistic augmented reality. Prior to Adornably, Marc founded TechForward, which made it possible to upgrade consumer electronics in an easier, more affordable, and environmentally responsible way. TechForward was funded by New Enterprise Associates and First Round Capital, and was acquired by SquareTrade in 2012.
Hilary Kaplan ’83–’90 is a writer and translator of poetry and prose from Portuguese into English. Her first book, Rilke Shake, a translation of poems by Brazilian writer Angélica Freitas, was published in a bilingual edition on February 15, 2015 by Phoneme. She received a 2011 PEN Translation Fund award to complete the translation of the book. A selection from Rilke Shake is featured in Circumference magazine. Hilary currently lives in Los Angeles and teaches in the Language and Thinking program at Bard College. Marnee Reiley ’83–’86 is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice in Irvine, CA. Marnee loves collaborating with her clients to work on gender identity, life transitions, and relational issues. When she is not in the office, you can find her on the local hiking trails or enjoying the company of friends and family. Chester Englander ’85–’87 has performed on percussion and cimbalom with many of the great American orchestras, including those of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Cleveland, Oregon, Buffalo, and San Diego, among others. During the 2014–15 season, Chester returned to Europe with The Cleveland Orchestra, and performed featured cimbalom parts with the New York Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, and Atlanta Symphony, as well as a concerto for cimbalom and ensemble with the New World Symphony. Josh Glazer ’85–’90 has spent the last 12 years as Chief Technology Officer at Naked Sky Entertainment, proud makers of games that are fun, innovative, and socially responsible. By night he teaches Game Engine Programming for the Viterbi School of Engineering at USC.
Angela Kay ’85–’92 is the Managing Director and Head of Product Development for ICE Canyon, an Emerging Market and Global Credit investment management firm. Angela previously worked in the Clinton administration’s White House Office of Political Affairs. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (B.A. with honors in Political Science) and University of California, Los Angeles (Masters in Public Policy specializing in International Policy and Economics). Over the summer, Devin Sidell ’85–’92 shot a role in Rob Zombie’s new horror film "31," and appeared in the season 3 premiere of "Ray Donovan." On June 2 she launched a Kickstarter campaign for her web series "LA Picker," a fun and quirky show about one woman’s journey into the competitive world of urban treasure hunting. The program is based on her love of searching for hidden treasures at estate sales and thrift stores. Elisabeth Rene Avnet (Wakcher) ’86–’94 was awarded The 2015 Herbst Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence. The Herbst Foundation recognized Elisabeth for engaging students in critical and creative thinking, inspiring the joy of learning (which results in higher levels of academic success), and challenging students to do their best work and exceed expectations. In her 10th year of teaching, this honor is especially meaningful to her. Elisabeth teaches 5th Grade core academics and Performing Arts (K-8) at Kittredge School, a small independent private school in San Francisco. She received her masters in Teaching at Evergreen State College in 2005.
Will Hattman ’86–’92 has spent 14 years living in Portland, Oregon, having moved to attend Reed College, and subsequently refusing to leave. He plays drums in the band Months as well as handling guitar and lead vocal duties for the band Down Gown. Will is in his third year working as an Organic Search Specialist for Anvil, a digital marketing agency. He recently married short fiction author Alissa Nielsen. Tamara Brisk ’87–’95 is the owner of Paris Deluxe Rentals, a boutique apartment rental agency for short stays in Paris. Paris Deluxe Rentals offers gorgeous apartments in 17th century Marais streets, with 21st century amenities. Tamara invites you to come enjoy an apartment overlooking the historic Notre Dame cathedral on your next visit to The City of Light! Jens Erik Gould ’87–’94 is a former reporter for Bloomberg News and Time Magazine. He has started a groundbreaking new media company that aims to make the news media more ethical. Jens’ company, The Knife of Aristotle, has developed a methodology to evaluate and rate media outlets based on their level of ethics, objectivity, and bias. Their goal is to help news consumers become better critical thinkers, and also to propose a set of standards for reporters to produce more data-based news. Two Bit Circus, co-founded by Mad Inventor and Mirman alumnus Eric Gradman ’87–’93, is inspiring kids of all ages with their one-of-a-kind experience called STEAM Carnival. Playing games, building robots, racing through lasers, and cheering on circus performers are just some of the fun activities offered during their reimagined carnival event.
MIRMAN.ORG MERIDIAN 45
Alexis Arnold ’88–’95 is an artist and art educator in San Francisco, California. Her artwork is on consignment through the Aspen Art Museum and included in current and upcoming exhibitions at the Whatcom Museum in Washington, Hiestand Galleries at Miami University of Ohio (Young Sculptors Competition), the University of South Dakota, and in Budapest, Hungary. In addition to her own practice, Alexis teaches art at several public schools in the Bay Area as an artist-in-residence with two non-profit organizations. Alexis received an MFA in sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute and a BA in art from Kenyon College. Last year, Daria Somers ’88–’96 played Mimi in a modern-day hipster "La Boheme" with Pacific Opera Project in Highland Park and Orange County, CA. She also performed the title roles in "Madame Butterfly," "Tosca," and "Violetta in La Traviata." Prakash Amritraj ’89–’97 has over ten years of competitive tennis playing on the ATP World Tour under his belt. Earlier in his career, he was ranked the #1 Junior player in the United States. While attending USC, Prakash was named a National Champion and went on to represent India as their #1 tennis player in the Davis Cup for numerous years. He has competed in all of the world’s major tournaments, including Wimbledon and the US Open. He has recently transitioned into Hollywood and is producing his first film. Josh Lockman ’89–’96 currently teaches international law and US foreign policy at USC. After earning his undergraduate degree at Yale University, Josh returned to Los Angeles to attend USC Law School. Recently, Josh has taken on a role in former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, where he provides advocacy to support her record on foreign policy on television and radio, as well as key responsibilities in fundraising.
46
Harrison Schaen ’90–’94 is founder of Digital Innovation Industries and President of Issue Fixers, a digital collective that operates as a full-service agency providing clients with everything they need to build and grow their brand. Harrison is currently busy launching his next business, OK Feed Me, a mobile application that enables consumers to connect with independent chefs for the purpose of scheduling meals to either be delivered or prepared in consumers’ homes. After graduating from Mater Dei High School in 2003, Harrison went on to Princeton University, where he played varsity basketball, started a student-run magazine, developed the student television network, became director of video production for the USG, and graduated with a degree in English in 2008. Krisena Fell Borenstein ’92–’94 is an orthodontist in a private practice in Culver City that treats both children and adults. She also holds a part-time faculty position at the UCLA School of Dentistry. When not in the office, she spends time with her two children, Kate (5) and Ben (3). For the past ten years of her career, Ashley Felts ’92–’96 (far right), has been focused on PR and digital marketing. She started working for a small boutique PR agency in Chicago with clients including Mike Ditka and the Chicago Bulls, and then moved back to Los Angeles to focus on tech start-ups. Next she transitioned into the digital marketing space, and spent the following three years at PMK*BNC, a global PR and marketing agency. There she managed digital, influencer, and social strategies for clients including JCPenney, Genworth, YouTube Space Los Angeles, Jenny Craig, Yelp, and Beverly Center. Ashley currently leads the digital strategy team for Spark44, the agency of record for Jaguar and Land Rover.
Beth Glazer ’92–’98 taught Special Education K-5 for two years with Teach for America in Atlanta, followed by a year in the charter network in California. She holds a masters in comparative education and social science and currently works as the Training and Development Coordinator for student and full time staff at UCLA Recreation. Beth creates workshops, orientations, and programs for the purpose of helping college students gain and communicate transferable skills. She also coaches middle school girls basketball at Harvard-Westlake. Joel Smith ’93–’98 is a Lecturer of English at the University of Arizona, where he previously received an MFA in Creative Writing and an MPA with a concentration in Nonprofit Management. He is also the writer of The Parish: An AmeriCorps Story (out now on Beating Windward Press). The recently released graphic novel—his first—tells the story of volunteers coming-of-age in postKatrina New Orleans. For each copy sold, $1 is being donated to NOLA Habitat for Humanity. Priscilla Frank ’94–’03 is currently working as the editor of the Huffington Post Arts & Culture page, using the Internet as a democratic platform to promote female artists, artists of color, and those living outside of New York and Los Angeles. In 2014, Zack Mirman ’94–’03 worked in a developmental biology lab at Memorial SloanKettering Cancer Center. Later in the year, Zack co-authored an article in the journal "Nature." The article explores the regulation of cell rearrangements in a dynamic tissue of the fruit fly embryo. He lives in Brooklyn, NY, and has plans to pursue a Ph.D. in cell/ molecular biology in the coming years.
Kimberly Smith ’94–’00 is currently Director of Programming at Disney subsidiary Maker Studios. In her prior three years at Yahoo, Kim oversaw the resurrection of the beloved television show “Community” and launch of the new show “Other Space.” She attended Marlborough School, went on to graduate USC Magna Cum Laude, and lives in Beverly Hills. Ben Bram ’95–’02 has been working as a vocal arranger and producer with a cappella group Pentatonix. In February 2015, Ben and the group received a Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental Or A Cappella, and also achieved platinum album certification for "That’s Christmas To Me," which signifies one million copies sold. Paisley Kadison ’95–’98 graduated from Stanford Law School in 2012. She currently lives in Manhattan and works as a corporate associate at the law firm of Curtis, MalletPrevost, Colt & Mosle LLP. She is also a young fellow at the Morgan Library & Museum. On her off time, she enjoys skiing and fly fishing in Park City, Utah. This past March, Emma Kragen ’95–’02 returned from an expedition to Antarctica with environmental group 2041. Kragen, a filmmaker who completed her MFA at UCLA in cinematography in June, was sent on her journey by UCLA to create an expedition film for 2041 that was screened on the last night of the voyage. Throughout the expedition, she was filming, editing, and compiling footage for a blog on UCLA’s page. Kragen is also currently in production on her second film, produced by James Franco’s company Rabbit Bandini, and is developing a handheld rig for cinema cameras specifically designed for female camera operators for her master’s thesis.
This past summer, Evan Taksar ’95–’02 joined the team as an Assistant Director at Camp Alonim, located at American Jewish University. Evan is a recent graduate of the Hornstein Program at Brandeis University with a dual Masters degree in Jewish Professional Leadership and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. Natasha Spottiswoode ’96–’03 is finishing up a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences through a joint program between the University of Oxford and the National Institute of Health. Her thesis is on malaria and iron metabolism. At the same time, she is starting medical school at Columbia University. Her career aspiration is to work as a physician-investigator on diseases that impact underserved populations. Natasha received her undergraduate degree at California State University, Los Angeles through the Early Entrance Program, and earned a Masters in Bioscience at the University of Oxford. In her spare time, she enjoys rock climbing, traveling, playing the cello, and exploring New York with her friends and classmates. In the fall of 2014, Chloe Korban ’97–’06 taught English at a high school in a small village in the Northern Italian region of Lombardy. Chloe accepted this position after graduating from UCLA with a double major in Gender Studies and Italian, and completing two independent research projects in the Italian Department, for which she received Departmental Honors. After returning from her trip, Chloe joined the Mirman School staff as Assistant Teacher for Room 5C for the 2014–2015 school year before entering Northwestern University School of Law. This past spring, Sarah Lyons ’97–’04 graduated from San Diego State University. She spent her summer interning for a non-profit organization called the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, located in Jerusalem, Israel. Along with her team members she helped to facilitate educational programming for people of various ethnic and religious backgrounds, to encourage interfaith cooperation towards environmental sustainability.
Amir Atighehchi ’98–’05 graduated from the USC Marshall School of Business in 2013 with an emphasis in entrepreneurship. During his junior year, his company, Nutlock, was conceptually born. Nutlock is a product that protects a bicycle’s wheels from theft, and only needs to be installed once. Following his graduation, he also co-founded a coffee franchise with his uncle called DRNK coffee + tea. They currently have four locations and are proud to serve coffee on the USC campus. Erin Hill ’98–’03 is a Coordinator in Feature Production for Sony Pictures. In 2014, she completed a graduate certificate program in Producing at UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film, and Television. She is also a graduate of Vanderbilt University. Adrienne Li ’98–’02 has been living in Hong Kong for the past two years, where she has pushed herself to take on new challenges. This past year, she competed in her first amateur boxing match. After three intense months of training, the mental and physical journey culminated in a win! Grateful, ecstatic, and relieved, she will be returning to her job in Digital Marketing while looking for her next adventure. Samuel Licker ’99–’05 is a recent graduate of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where he studied international relations and business. Samuel was a member of Alpha Kappa Psi, the co-ed professional business fraternity on campus. In 2014 he completed a year abroad studying in Tokyo, Japan. This past year, Daniel Lundberg ’99–’06 moved to New York, where he took on the role of assistant sound designer on his second Broadway show, "On the Twentieth Century." Daniel has been lucky to work with the most talented and generous people on over 100 projects in the last eight years, from theme parks and circuses, to plays and concerts. He got his start as a sound designer working on choir concerts and plays in Room 5.
MIRMAN.ORG MERIDIAN 47
Christopher Bowman (Christo) ’00–’06 is the front man for the alternative rock band Bad Suns, who played both weekends of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2015 in Indio, California. Avalon Nuovo ’00–’09 is a student at Art Center College of Design, where she is working toward a BFA in Illustration. She recently published an art book entitled "Trotting," which combines the contents of her travel sketchbooks with analog film photos to document three months of adventuring through Europe this past spring. Over the summer of 2014, Nicholas Abouzeid ’02–’09 interned at FM Development, a real estate development company in Los Angeles. To his surprise, Managing Partner Jordan Friedman ’88–’93 is also a Mirman alumnus! Samuel Hill III ’02–’11 is a recent graduate of Loyola High School, and currently studies Video Game Design at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. In 2014, Elizabeth Goran ’03–’09 released an EP of 5 original songs on iTunes entitled “Fight.” Elizabeth’s interest in singing began in Mr. Paul Kay’s chorus at Mirman. Elizabeth started playing piano at age 4 and writing songs at age 8. She attended the highly selective Singer-Songwriter program at Interlochen National Center for the Arts a few summers ago, and also the NYU Songwriters Workshop in the summer of 2014. Elizabeth was one of only 20 songwriters selected for the NYU program, which included high school, college, and graduate students, as well as professional musicians.
48
This past year, Ventura Blvd Magazine selected Mirman alumnus Johnny Berman ’04–’13 as one of the ‘Top Ten Teens to Watch.’ This list features “achievers, innovators, and better placemakers who are well on their way to making a difference in the world.” Maya Flannery ’04–’13 recently completed an internship in Tsao Lab at Caltech under Dr. Tomo Sato, whose focus is on researching the effect of ultrasonic neuromodulation on brain activity. Maya currently attends Polytechnic School in Pasadena. Sayahn Mudd ’04–’13 is a junior at Loyola High School. Earlier this year, he had the opportunity to play piano for Mayor Garcetti’s office for a Celebration of African American Heritage, where he met Commissioner Mike Davis and ABC7 Eyewitness News anchor Leslie Sykes. The celebration honored Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, John Legend, Nia Long, Vanessa Bell-Calloway, Dr. Edward Savage, and other innovators in the African American Community. Over the summer, Declan Saviano ’04–’13 embarked on a three week journey through France, traveling with the Roman-Gaul Archaeological Field School and Study Tour along with seven other classmates and a Classics instructor from Phillips Exeter Academy. Sponsored by the Classics Department at Exeter, the group explored ancient sites in Roman Provence for a week. They then spent 2 weeks excavating a 1st century B.C.E. Roman house at the Gallo-Roman site of Bibracte, the center of Vercingetorix’s revolt against Julius Caesar. Elliott Sina ’04–’13 completed his first Olympic Triathalon in September of 2014 and raised over $6,600 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in honor of a friend’s sister who is battling cancer. He is currently a student at Milken Community Schools and a member of the varsity water polo team.
In the fall of 2014, Austin Veseliza ’04–’13 (far left) presented at a tech event sponsored by Foundation Capital, a venture capital firm in Menlo Park, CA. Harnessing the power of wearable technology to aid the hearing impaired, Austin wants to build a glove that is capable of communication through touch points on the hand and fingers. Liz Yount ’04–’11 is the #1 Lincoln-Douglas Novice Debater in the USA, winning the national championship at the Woodward Academy in Atlanta, Georgia in March 2015. She also took home the 1st Place Speaker award. This past fall, Liz won a spot on USA Debate, our country’s national debate team. This past summer, top debaters from across the country endured a rigorous three month selection process to make the nine person team. The team plans to compete in Germany, Slovenia, Jakarta, Croatia, New York City, and New Orleans. Giselle Etessami ’05–’14 has been following through with her passion for acting, performing in Milken Community Schools’ production of "The 39 Steps." She played numerous roles, including the mysterious German spy, a helpless romantic elderly lady who runs a "hotel," and a bad guy. It was the first time she played several roles in one play and changed characters onstage. Lily Green ’05–’13 is a senior at Palisades Charter High School. She is an actress and a writer for her school’s sketch comedy group. The group is completely studentrun, including writing, directing, and casting. Last spring, a sketch that Lily both wrote and acted in was honored by being selected by student vote for the group’s "best of" show. The show was performed twice to very receptive audiences and is considered to be one of the most successful in the group’s history.
Emma Wernig ’05–’12, along with the other three members of the Incendium Quartet, won first place in the junior division of the 2015 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. This is the largest and most renowned chamber competition both in America, and across the world, for chamber musicians under 18. Over the summer, Sophie P. ’07–’13 studied in England at the Oxbridge Summer Program, where she majored in Creative Writing and minored in Classical Civilization. Sophie has a passion for writing and Ancient History, but also spends her time rock climbing competitively, recently advancing to Divisionals in the sport. This past fall, Melanie Krassel ’08–’11 began her undergraduate academic career at Duke University. She plans to pursue a computer science degree and a business-related second major or minor. Melanie is also very interested in knowledge and the mind, so she is considering placing an emphasis on Artificial Intelligence within her computer science studies. In the summer of 2014, she attended Stanford’s Residential Artificial Intelligence Summer Institute and made an app using Artificial Intelligence concepts that help musicians play music by ear. Teagan Stedman ’08–’12 is the Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Shred Kids Cancer, Inc., a non-profit that provides kids the chance to help their peers battling pediatric cancer. Teagan was featured on "Good Morning America" for his work with his non-profit and his research project idea, which was named the "Next Big Thing" by TEDxTeen. He was able to further develop this idea for an improved drug delivery mechanism benefiting cancer patients while at Brown University this past summer. He is excited to be able to continue his work at the Institute for Regenerative Engineering, University of Connecticut Health Center while he attends 10th grade at Westminster School in Connecticut, and will continue to raise awareness and funds for pediatric cancer research. As of the date of this writing, Teagan’s organization has funded seven clinical trials and granted over $250,000 to pediatric cancer research.
Alaman Diadhiou ’09–’15 is featured in "Tap World," an awardwinning documentary starring the most cutting-edge tap dancers from across the globe. This film follows leaders of the art form who are shaping the community around them. Their personal stories of inspiration, struggle, and triumph are keeping this art form alive and thriving internationally. Starting in his freshman year at Deerfield Academy, Kent Yamamoto ’09–’12 created his first RubikCubism piece for an Asian History project. He then went on to complete two more pieces: one of Albert Einstein, and one as a memorial tribute to Nelson Mandela. Last year, he completed a mosaic that consisted of 400 Rubik’s cubes; the piece was a tribute to Deerfield headmaster Frank Boyden. Kent has an official partnership with Rubik’s and has started his own company called ColoRubik’s Mosaics.
Rehaan Irfan ’10–’13 created an app, titled Plan Smart, which is currently available for download on iOS devices. The app, targeted towards middle-and highschool students, is an easy solution to managing homework and is a better alternative to paper planners. Rehaan is delighted that in just a few weeks, his app has been used by students across 12 countries and is getting positive feedback. He has been programming for over three years and is fluent in several programming languages, including Java, C++, and Swift. Rehaan is 14 years old and is in 9th grade at Harvard-Westlake. This past spring, Katie Donenfeld ’12–’14 received a first place overall award at the Los Angeles ENERGY Dance Competition for her dance solo “Fidelity.”
Have your own alumni note to share? Email alumni@mirman.org with your achievements, accolades, and updates. We’d love to hear from you!
MIRMAN.ORG MERIDIAN 49
ting represen of alumni s us to d p re m d a n c u to Day, h me back nksgiving history co ds—a long–held ’s n a Every Tha m ir ade of M and frien every dec ith faculty, family, tw tradition. c l e o n o n h o c c S n re ed Mirma sh ri e h c and
The Mirman School Robo tics team debu school year. ted in the 2014 In their inaugu –2015 ral ye at their FIRST® LEGO® League ar the team did very well faculty adviso Robotics Com rs, along with petition. Our our alumni m ’05–’13, John entors Saba ny Berman ’0 Am 4–’13, Ben Ko Arjun Mahaj tzubei ’06–’12, id an ’05–’12 wor and ked diligently prepare them with the grou for the compe p to tition.
A L U M N I Stay Connected… Last year, Ro oms 5 took a field trip to Tw STEAM Carn o Bit Circus’ ival: a unique , high–energ tech–infused y event featur game attract ing ions designed and reimagin to thrill, amus e the way we e, learn. Mirman and Two Bit Ci alumnus rcus Co–Fou nder Eric Grad showed them man ’87–’93 around the ca rnival of mod spectacles, cr ern amusemen ossing all five t of the STEAM Science, Tech disciplines: nology, Engine ering, Arts, an d Mathematic s.
Mirman st udents h ave take student– n to the a pro irwaves! during th duced radio show K–M e 2014–20 15 schoo that premiered at RN is a and som l year. To Mirman e insider gain insp knowled visited K iration ge, our K PCC’s stu – M d R io in Los N studen opportun Ang ts ity Cohen ’7 to watch Mirman eles. The students 8–’86, rec School a ord portio lumna an got an Two.” Aft d host, A ns of her erwards, lex KPCC sh sh round–ta ow, ble discu e invited them to ssion abo participa “Take te in a ut what it ’s like to work in ra dio.
re d the pleasu ’s IT team ha g minds. The an irm M k, ea st computin summer br an’s greate e Mirman Throughout me of Mirm ho joined th so w of ts fit en ne ud st t year were and be en ol rr ho cu sc 6 umni and e 2015–201 th r W. (US4), fo fantastic al nn e Fi ar ), us to prep Kyle O. (US4 ), S4 (U R. team to help s ’06–’15, Mile d Adam S. (US4). Kevin Shao ’04–’13, an o an vi Sa n Decla
ned Head 21 and over) joi er, alumni (ages ir former mm the su d st an pa i, is mn Th nberg, fellow alu re Vo Mixer. The n er Da ol mm ho Su of Sc r Annual Alumni ou for s s Angeles. er Lo ch in r Mirman tea all Cultural Cente y irb Sk at ld he s tiv tia es currentl gathering wa and exciting ini explored the about the new d ed an rn t, lea ea ni to e um Al d a bit showing irman School, ha volution exhibit underway at M Rock and Roll Re e Th d ! an all am Bill Grah e was had by nter. A good tim at the cultural ce
Speaker Se captured ries: Last winter, alumnus th Eric Boll Design L e imaginations o ens ’94– ab fM ’03 his journ students. He retu r. Jeffery Flagg ’s Innova ey from rned to c a tion Mirman ampus to Chief Te S chnolog chool stu talk abou y Officer d t e n t to at Cloud compli, a being the funded s tart–up.
and own ’01–’10 topher Ashd ris ar Ch s ye st nu la um Mirman al irman School lder visited M t they are Dr. Robert Bi search projec re g in m co up the study of an s al us go e sc Th to di on at UCLA. ng n with ki re or w ild ch tly curren e brains of ore about th Bookheimer, n sa is to learn m Su . Dr an alumnus intelligence. rent of Mirm exceptional igator, and pa st ch project. ve ar In se l re pa e ci th g Prin ’09, is leadin 2– ’0 n he Co David
ch spiring spee e 1 gave an in Dinner on th Greif ’95–’0 k ip ic sh N er g, ad rin Last sp g Donor Le nnual Givin during our A ct of giving. pa im d an importance
Alumni returned to campus last spring to enjoy our Upper School music al production of Gre ase. With impressive, captivat ing, and downright hilarious performances by ou r amazing US4 stude nts, Rydell High was full of Mi rman pride!
Last June, M irman School s our grad aid farewell to uating U pper Sch 4 “Senio their nex rs.” As they emb ool t adventu a re, we a rk on of how fa re s r welcome they’ve come, a o proud nd happ them into ily th commun ity. We w e Mirman alum ni ere also have alu honored mnus Sc to o tt B e cker ’96– back on campu ’99 a heartfe s to deliver lt Alumn i Welcom e.
again students once lors and and current se ni un um co al , r er ee m nt A. This past sum Mirman team as our volu cluded: Diba mp s azing team in joined the Ca am r Ou g. ’12, Gaby Fook in in 5– ’0 tra s n– el –i ni rs Da lo a dr an ill counse W ex Al 2, ’1 3, Amid ’05–’1 Hampton ’05– (US3), Saba 2–’11, Natalie ’08–’13, e Gauthier ’0 S3), Calyx Liu lo (U Ch L. 3, a ’1 yl 9– Ka ’0 5, ’1 l ’00–’08, al 9– N ’0 h ne ra vi hi Le Ta Nall ’05–’14, L. (US3), Josh ka ai al M 1, l ’02–’1 5–’14. Kamilah Nal elle Rubeli ’0 1–’14, and Jo Louis Peng ’1
MIRMAN.ORG MERIDIAN
Every year, M irman alumni , students, pa of our faculty rents, and m participate in embe a series of pa as part of ou nel discussion rs r Admissions N s ights. During school year, the 2014–201 our alumni sp 5 eakers were: ’05–’14, Gise Cydney Davi lle Etessami s ’05–’14, Robe Ben Kotzubei rt Heckerman ’06–’12, Arju ’08–’13, n Mahajan ’0 Novick ’08–’1 5–’12, and Ja 4. They all sp ckson oke very eloq wonderful am uently, and w bassadors fo ere r our school.
n ’89–’96 us Josh Lockma Mirman alumn ssion and s: cu rie dis Se r a d ke ea lea Sp ol last winter to ho Sc and the an st, Ea irm le M visited litics of the Midd po e th m. Josh on ris te rro ba te student de fight against d States in the each country, d an n, role of the Unite gio re is a very diverse t of explains: “This ing their own se country, is battl ch ea in th wi ’ solution.” all even s fit e siz e e is no ’on problems. Ther
us an alumn during its: Mirm e is m V ti s k u o p to am rnia, n ’01–’10 Alumni C Ashdow niversity of Califo with r e h p to U ct e m Chris n o n fr o r break and rec his winte drop by campus a Carina n m lu A . to ers Merced an to er teach his form returned to Mirm s as some of o m 3 clas ls o a o R 1 6–’1 ez’s Lopata ’0 . Jennifer Ordon ior Career Day. Ms Sen shadow School’s iewpoint part of V
Over the summer, several alumni go t together for a Mirman “mini reunion” at Far Ba r in Little Tokyo. Attendees includ ed: Michael Kaz ’80–’84, Ara Lovit ’81–’86, Ashley Le t onard Stohl ’78–’8 4, Daniel Riskin ’78–’83, Christy Le mire (Nimitz) ’78 –’83, Alex Cohen ’78–’86, Danelle Fisher Naiman ’78 –’83, Jordan Sommers (Wald) ’77–’84, and Jenn ie Morris ’78–’84.
tle of ss. ed the ti 0 assum epreneurial cla 9 -’ 1 ‘8 z tr vit n o E b P e re L A e E h ng, Marc rfield’s L ssion, w Last spri r Jessica Butte hark Tank” se working on all S n “ fo e a ” 0 e b rk in a d d “Sh ate win $50 ey ha particip plans th for a chance to Students nted business s e g er jud se s. and oth they pre eir idea r to Marc ent of th semeste rther developm fu towards
Last spring, Mirman Sch ool performing arts student s and alumni competed against high school age students in the prestigious California Sta te Thespian Festival in Upl and, California. Three member s of our troupe were sele cted to perform in the All State sho w, including alumnus Fre ddie Mulbarger ’03–’12.
Last year, alumni joined other members of the Mirman community to attend our fabulous holiday program, our fantastic Upper School 3 play, and took a moment to give back at the One Voice Holiday Food Program.
Last spring, parents of Mirman alum ni joined Head of School Dan Vorenberg for an explorator y tour of Mirman School. Multiple stops were set up to give our guests a glimpse into what is new and innovative on campus. It was a lovely afternoon full of reminiscence, reconnection, and excitement towards the future of Mirm an School.
umni Marc , Mirman al s: Last year ) Vadakan ie es er bl S eb er (P P Speak d Vicharin an to our LEA 0 k ’9 1– ea ’8 sp Lebovitz campus to d the to de ck un fo ba ly e ’81–’87 cam m class. Marc recent virtually uris ople Entreprene ly, to help pe ealistic p, Adornab tu ar photor st ith w tech r co de rling r home umnus Ste design thei Pebbles, al . s team. ity hi al up re e d ak augmente Kevin Litt m tions, and d an 0, ’9 Newton ’81– ked thoughtful ques do our alumni ts as The studen by the exciting things ed ir sp were in an School. after Mirm
d by ’11–’12 stoppe hool, Alec R. n. sc ow of Br n ks le ee El w s. g s e teacher, M In the closin –year lunche ith his favorit of w h d– nc en lu r ei ve th to ha an School n have made irm ow M Br m s. M fro d Alec an atriculated er since he m a tradition ev in 2012.
st year h school this pa i graduating hig fun, food, of n oo Mirman alumn rn te af irman for an ssmates came back to M th their fellow cla reconnection wi d an s, rie mo me hers. and former teac
Last sp rin of Mirm g, a group of a with o n School his seven alumn ur to i alumn senior stude ry returned spanning 42 us to ye n drawin and alumna ts on the sub campus to s ars ject of g on th peak offered transit eir ow dialog a uniq ne ion w u includ ith our stude xperiences, e perspectiv . Each ed: Da e and, n e ts n g a a bout li g na Chid e Lockm d in fe aft an o ek an Katie L ’89–’96, Nic el ’67–’74, Da er Mirman. pen T iptrap k v ’97–’06 Greif ’95–’0 id Ulick ’82– he panel 1, , and N ’8 ick Ab Gizelle Pera 4, Josh ouzeid ’9 ’02–’09 6–’03, .
l one ry specia sted a ve o h ology, l n o h o c h c Te S e, g, Mirman Women in Scienc n ri sp st ). La nt: EAM ational eve Mathematics (ST elds, day educ –related fi rts, and M A A , E g T n S ri e in atch g H in ss rk Engine o Te w d 5–’13 an o women ese Thirty–tw mnae Saba Amid ’0 students about th alu ers our b g to m in s e d n m lu o c ti w in ta llo de presen Saba, joined by fe am, a te m s c 5, ti ’0 o b ’98– of study. nights Ro s K a l’s re o a to o g h s c excitin unity S at it take en Comm lained wh to our of the Milk eir robot and exp xplained e ss Te th l. ff o ve d le rospace e l e o w a o o e h sh th sc t the high to work in class a e te lik e p is m it co what live in– students em with a lumna Rooms 1 onished th ding soda cans. A rned to st a d n a , lo tu p re im o g ls industry in a ) lv tion invo above left ost. demonstra ’88–’95 (pictured nh io ss se m a s ha Lana Gra her time a volunteer campus to
rman to bust a move, Mi e. stumes and ready School Fall Danc r Decked out in co pe Up r ou for to campus mni ghouls, alu of le gg alumni returned ga the lloween, and The theme was Ha hair–raising fun! ns took part in the bli go d an ts, os gh
At the end of last year, Alu mni joined the rest of the Mirman community for a farewell reception honoring Ms. Sheila Sim mons, Ms. Ellen Brown, and Mr. Luis Rodriguez. It was a very special afternoon full of laughte r, tears, heartfelt speech es, and warm reconnections .
Speaker S eries: Last spring, M award-w inner Ben irman alu mnu Bra LEAP Entr epreneuri m ’95–’02 spoke to s and Grammy sm class music, film about build Ms. Butterfield’s , and TV. ing a care er in
Alumni donned their sombreros and joined our students, faculty, and administrators for our Uppe r School Winter dance. The theme was ¡Fiesta!
’82–’90 arc Mitchell s: Alumnus M to speak to g Speaker Serie rin mpus last sp ass. returned to ca LEAP Entrepreneurism cl s d’ an el e, rfi si tte ot Bu Lo Ms. O of ounder and CE apps and Marc is Co–F r mobile fo rm fo at pl don advertising s partner Bran sie, arted with hi ot Lo g in nd games he st ou –f rial 12. Prior to co entrepreneu Werber in 20 of y or st hi long ghts a si d in ha d s an ha , Marc advice s experience, t it means ha w nd endeavors. Hi ta rs udents unde helped our st preneur. tre en an be to
This past fall, me mbers of the Cla ss of 2014 got together at El To rito in the Sherm an Oaks Galleria a night of fun, foo for d, and reconnecti on. Special thank to alumna Saba s Amid ’05–’13 for he lpi ng to organize this wonderful me et up.
Last spring, alumni, pare nts joined the re st of the Mirm of alumni, and former fa cu rockin’ soun an commun ity to experie lty ds of our an nual Pops Co nc by Director ncert. The ch e the Paul Kay, da zzled the au oir, led four–part ha dience with rmonies an beautiful d soulful so music of the lo s as legendary B ritish rock ba they presented the nd Queen.
Yoni Geffen ’91–’99, Mirman alumnus and grandson of Dr. and Mrs. Mirman, droppe d by campus to see what’s new and to reconnect with his form er teachers and administrat ors, including one of his favorite s, Ms. Jocelyn Balaban.
see mpus to ed by ca f his favorite p p o st 1 iley ’02–’1 h some o Roland W to reconnect wit lly (Nickol). Ke nd a s. w M e g n in what’s rs, includ e h c a te r forme
Weiss ’78–’82 t year, alumna Lizzy Speaker Series: Las ces in the en eri to share her exp ia returned to campus ry Flagg’s Multimed ffe Je . Mr h wit ry entertainment indust ard–winning aw an is zy Liz ss. P cla Film Production LEA cer, writer, and sion creator, produ screenwriter, televi w "Switched TV wn for her hit sho showrunner best kno at Birth."
James and the Giant Peach delighted audie nces last winter with thre e stellar performances. Several Mirman alumni returned to campus to witness the fun firsthand! slippers, zy pants and rite pairs of co r Upper School Spring vo fa r ei th g Sportin e fun at ou but a ined in on th as anything our alumni jo emed party w th a– m ja pa Dance. The ooze! springtime sn
MIRMAN.ORG MERIDIAN
The Impact of Giving Mirman School’s Annual Giving Fund is the engine that keeps us moving forward. It directly supports the needs of our remarkable community, and makes possible the people, places, and programs that our unique population needs to succeed. Annual Giving provides 10% of our entire yearly operating budget; it closes the gap between tuition and the cost of education. Annual Giving supports everything from pencils, pens, and erasers, to theatre props, computer programming software, and robotics equipment. Annual Giving allows us to recruit, retain, and continue to professionally develop our incredible faculty who specialize in the education of highly gifted students. Annual Giving provides financial aid opportunities to deserving students who need a Mirman education, but would otherwise be unable to afford one. Mirman School is one of the few schools in the nation that serves the needs of highly gifted children.
Please make your gift or pledge today!
56
16180 Mulholland Drive Los Angeles, CA 90049 (310) 476-2868 mirman.org