SAIS Bologna Center Class of 1989

Johns Hopkins SAIS Bologna Center Class of 1989

Updated 03/23/04 - SIGN UP - BOLOGNA CENTER REUNION!

Ciao Bolognesi,

The main reason for developing this website and maintaining it is for YOU to be/keep in touch....and hopefully hear about who is up to what, and where. Info, contributions, pictures, suggestions and updates are always solicited and welcome! Keep them coming!

Take a look at the class list page to review your listing...if it is incomplete or incorrect, or if you change your email address/location, do send me an update.

*NEW REQUEST* Please send me a "permanent email id" or one that is as close to permanent as can be (perhaps a yahoo/hotmail/jhu type account, or as Sarah Kaplan calls it an "efl" account - email for life. If your email address is a work address, please supplement it with a non-work one too.....this will alleviate the email bounce-backs that occur and will make sure that you are kept informed of updates.

BC '89 class list - disabled due to bot activity

New e-mail addresses, additions or changes in listing info:

New emails: Dorothee Leijenaar, Mahrukh Doctor, Pedropablo Permuy

HELP!

Used to have contact information, but have fallen out of touch - new email ids?

Lost touch with Marta Costanzo Youth, Reinier Starink, Marcos Haurie Girelli....if you know of their contact info, please email it to me.

(Still) Looking for updated info on Bart Turtelboom, Ester Janosiova, Markus Schladt, Tony Sorgi...

M.I.A. list: I was actually able to dig out a class list (this was nothing short of a wonder!) and these are the people whose contact info is missing. Are you in touch with any of them - do you have their contact info?

The list gets shorter by 25 since June 2001.

Please let me know if you are able to get any contact information for the "missing" folks and help include them in our network - I am sure that they will also like to be updated with going-ons (goings-on?) with all of us......

Rachel Beer, Alexandra Beveridge, Joerg Boche, Christopher Boege, Antonio Brusa, Raffaele De Benedictis, Francois Delhaye, Christopher Denby, Nancy Dimich, Christopher Endean, Giampiero Giacomello, Naomi Hasegawa, Camille Hill, Richard Koch, Klaus-Peter Kolski, Laszlo Kopits, Julia Lyke, Joseph Marx, Lesley Parachini, Ronald Parker, Sarah Raper, Jorgen Reichert, Gregory Salinger, Sherry Steeley, Arline Terry, Evertjan van Veen, Isabella Vichi, Pamela Wilson, Marek Wolski, Geng-fa Xu, Timothy Yarling

RECENT UPDATES:

Bologna Center Reunion is from April 30-May 2nd

A few of you have written to me about the Reunion; here is some info that might be useful.

Link to the program and online sign-up information. There is another link on this website that lists all those who have successfully registered. Since many of you have expressed interest and asked "who is going", I would encourage you to sign up ASAP if you are going, so that your name is listed. This will generate additional interest from others. I know for sure that many more of us are interested (and are planning to go), than have signed up so far. SO REGISTER - that is the best way to let everyone know.

Maribel, Torun, Howard, Melitta, Andy, Capucine, Nicole, Chris Milligan, Karin, Ingrid etc....are all planning to attend.

There have also been some enquiries regarding doing something special for our class - the best folks to coordinate what the best ideas might be are Howard and ? (Volunteers needed!). Perhaps Linda Moffa at the BC might be able to assist in terms of logistics. Unfortunately, Daniela and myself will probably not be able to attend.....Also heard from Sarah Kaplan who cannot attend. Mahrukh and Sandra too cannot make it.

Additional information on the program provided by Gabrielle Bennett here.

For all those attending, (1) take lots of photos (2) send (mail/email) them to me to share with the group!

Mar 2004

Harald Guenther moved to Wash DC in February from Austria. He works at the Austrian Embassy as the Deputy Chief of Mission. He promises to come up to Princeton and play some tennis!

Check this picture of the Sandra Kramer family in front of the Humayun Tomb in Delhi. The great news is that Sandra and family are planning a trip to the Kangra Valley in Himachal next month, at the foothill of the Himalayan mountains, where my hometown is - and will stay with my parents for two days. I wish I could be there too! (Some dated photos can be found here and here). Do take lots of pics and send them over!

Mahrukh writes "I completed my Research Fellowship at St. Antony's College and the Centre for Brazilian Studies in Oxford in September 2003. Thereafter, I took up a post as Lecturer in International Political Economy at the University of Reading. Unfortunately, I do not think I will manage to go to Bologna this reunion year (although I really would have loved to) because of research travel that I have to get in before the university exam season gets started in mid May in the UK."

Judith is visiting Princeton; we are looking forward to some tennis and local sightseeing. She came last year and the families had a nice time.

Mariavittoria is back in Italy from Morocco.

For those who might be interested, the Kaisth family visited Egypt over Christmas - a trip of a lifetime to a fascinating country. The kids enjoyed 5000 years of history, sailing on the Nile and the company of their cousin....I even got to play 9 holes of golf overlooking the Great Pyramid of Cheops! Pictures can be found on my weblog.

Feb 2004

Sigrun Bohle left Serbia at the end of June after approximately 5 years in the Balkans. Spending a 3 month break travelling through Europe including several weeks in the Canary Islands, she is back in Vienna.

Sandra Kramer is still in Delhi, "still enjoying India very much."

Peter Backe is "with the European Central Bank for a year working as an adviser for EU accession and post-accession issues that arise it the context of the 2004 enlargement of the European Union."

Ricki Aberle is back on the East Coast having moved to the Wash DC area from Seattle WA.

Yvette Pintar's cute little twins - now about a year and a half! (Thanks for the pic!)

Chris Milligan wrote - "Been in Baghdad since April as the Deputy Coordinator for Reconstruction. Following SAIS, joined USAID, served in Ecuador, Zimbabwe, Indonesia and now Iraq. Would be good to hear from others." Got to run, busy as hell.""

Karen Seiger had a great idea regarding a care package - she wrote:

"Hi All! Some of you know Chris Milligan, who is deputy director of the US Agency for International Development Mission in Iraq. He and his colleagues are the civilians who are working along with private organizations to help get Iraq up and running again. They are working on healthcare, basic infrastructure, and complex civil society projects. They're non-military, but they've chosen to risk their lives and do the critical work of helping Iraq rebuild and recover. Some of you have been there and know what it's like (Hi Bronwen!) Anyway, James and I are putting together a care package to send to Chris and his colleages, and we thought we'd invite you to join us. We're just sending things like DVDs (used or new), brownie mix, moisturizer (being the desert and all), novels, and other goodies that we all like to get in care packages. If you'd like to participate, you can either send any items to us or to Chris directly. There is no deadline, but we're going to send off the first package at the end of January. We'll forward anything that comes in though. Our address is: Karen Seiger and James Wesolowski, 95 Horatio Street, #318, New York, NY 10014 Chris's direct address is: Chris Milligan, CPA--USAID, APO AE 09335 (you only need US postage) Thanks! Karen"

Andrea Nicolaj found this website by chance and writes " As far as I am concerned I am working for te European Commission Directorate General for Trade dealing with trade & development issues and in particular the Doha Development Round.. I have been working for DG Trade for 1 year now, after spending 8 years working oveseas for the EC, first in Romania from 1994 to 1998 and then in Senegal from 1998 to 2002. I am married and have 2 children: Lara (11 years ) and Matteo (3 and 1/2)." He also sends a great picture of his family!

Melitta Schubert has moved back across the pond....she is back in Brussels. Will certainly miss the tennis and golf that we got to play when she was in DC. Here is a summary and link to a story in the Washington Post about her move.

Austrian Puts Personal Concerns Before Career Ambitions By Nora Boustany

There was a time when female diplomats, single or married, had to follow a straight career path and suppress all personal considerations if they wanted to move ahead to an ambassadorship or other coveted postings. But that's not the case with Melitta Schubert , deputy chief of mission at the Austrian Embassy, who has decided to make an unconventional lateral move back to Brussels. To view the entire article, go here.

Maribel Houben has had another cute child - Giulia who will be 1 on March 1st - here are some pics of the kids (Giulia and Carlos): Pic1, Pic2, Pic3.

Sarah Kaplan is defending her thesis for her Ph.D. at MIT on April 30 and is in the middle of a job search for a faculty position.

Rob Machalek writes " I've been living in Minneapolis since returning in 1994 from my 2 1/2 year stint in Frankfurt, Germany at the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany. I worked for 5 years with my brother in his publishing company, Machalek Communications. Then four years ago I began building my own company, MasterMine Software, Inc., around a "data mining" product I engineered to work with GoldMine CRM software. You can read more about us at www.masterminesw.com. After 4 years of bootstrapping, we are really getting off the ground, both in recognition in the software world and in financial success. We've sold copies on every continent but one (guess) -- but unfortunately, I don't get to travel much to follow up.

My international travel is confined mostly to Nicaragua, where I volunteer with a sister-city project. My Spanish is rudimentary, but the smattering of Italian helped to pave the way for that.

I seem to have settled into a long bachelorhood. I get back to Washington once in a while to visit Jan Levin and would love to see others, but have mostly lost touch. I would especially have enjoyed the party with Melitta Schubert. I remember fondly her heroic attempt to teach Kerri and me to make tira misu using whatever primitive kitchen implements we could pull together in our Bologna apartment. The tira misu was a success, but our learning fell short.

Those who remember my ex-wife, Kerri Westenberg, may be interested to know she now lives in L.A., is a senior editor at Bon Apetit Magazine, and recently had her first child. We were divorced a year after I completed SAIS.

Cheers!"

Jody Ranck was in Zambia - maybe twice already since the last update. In July he wrote "Just had an amazing trip to Zambia for a study I'm doing on the biopolitics of risk which is examining the controversy over GM food aid and the 'famine' in Zambia. It was absolutely fascinating and I'll be returning in August. Had time to do a one day safari as well which was spectacular. Even met some SAISniks on the safari--we're everywhere! I'm planning on working on some long-term research projects with faculty there as well which will look at the HIV epidemic and food security, gender and ag policies, the politics of biosafety and transgenic crops, as well as some other work on vaccines and clinical trials in developing countries. By this time next year I might also be on the faculty of UCSF and return to academia unless I decide to stay away from the Ivory towers for a bit longer."

Daniela is looking to hire two fundraising/development candidates (Alumni Officer/Development & PR Consultant) in New York.....if anyone you know is interested, please contact her.

June 2003

Sending her regards to all, Karin writes "This picture was taken a bit less than a month ago. Daughter Nerjis just turned 4 ( months that is ), is growing teeth already, and keeps on smiling."

Jan writes "I'm currently working on Middle Eastern refugee issues in PRM, but will be moving over to the France/Vatican desk here at State in August"...PRM, as I found out later, stands for "Population, Refugees and Migration"....always good to learn something new!

The family keeps growing....."Chiara Sofia Purificato was born at 8:07 am on April 17, 2003 weighing 6 lbs/5oz. and measuring 19 inches long! She arrived 10 days ahead of schedule, and fortunately all went well -- delivered just about 4 hours after getting to the hospital. The pancia I was sporting when we got together was all worth it :-)" writes Kelle. Pancia? what pancia? "So at our next dinner there will be three of us! Here's a picture of her on Easter Sunday -- our own special uovo di pasqua!!"

News from Matt: "Lynn and I recently moved back to the DC area after three years in northern Nevada. Since I finished my Ph.D. in 1997, I've been working at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA). CNA is a federally funded research and development corporation that does a lot of work with the Navy. In 1999, I took a three year assignment as scientific analyst to the Navy's TOPGUN strike fighter aircrew training program. Now I'm back at the home office working on research projects for the Navy, The Center for Disease Control and the Department of Agriculture. Talk about timing....."Lynn and I have two little girls: Lydia is three and Siri was born at the end of January, the same day as Jay Camillo and Keira's second boy."

Melitta hosted a get-together for our classmates in the local area in the middle of March. It was a fun event....we had quite a few people show up...it was good to catch up. Here are some photographs (thanks Pedro Pablo...still waiting for the other photo-snappers to send me theirs). Thanks Melitta for a great evening!

Edoardo and Emanuela were expecting to have a baby, Riccardo in May.....pictures?

Quick....who could this be? "To answer several queries I have received, yes, I really do work for the State Dept, yes I really am traveling about 50% of the month, and no, I am not Sydney on "Alias" even though I was indeed a private banker on Wall Street." As many of you already know, Celina is doing good work on the counterterrorism front.

Agnes has some great news to share; she writes "Bien Chers tous...Our Number one was born on March 1st .....Jean Vittot and Agnes Bolley are pleased to introduce you their NUMERO 1: ALICE, Vintage 2003 born in Tokyo on March 1st after 9 months of new sake barrel ageing. Sincerely, The happy parents..."

Brenda Pearson quoted on the front page of the NYT "March 13, 2003 - Serbs' Premier Is Assassinated; Led in Reforms" By Daniel Simpson - ......."The assassination portends a dark period for Serbia and the region," said Brenda Pearson, a specialist on Balkan affairs at the Washington-based Public International Law and Policy Group. "This period will see a resurgence of nationalism that was never repudiated by much of the Serbian establishment and continues to be allied with the underworld."

March 2003

Did you know you could get a free "you@jhu.edu" email for life - click on the alumni website for details.

Long-lost Alison got back in touch (while "googling" for Tony Sorgi - she came across this website)...No luck getting in touch with Tony though! Alison is in Singapore - after having lived in Tokyo for several years. Has two kids Kiri and Linus, writing, doing voice-overs, executive-coaching, and offers this to all of you "BC alums who find themselves on layovers in Singapore must get in touch. I live merely ten minutes from the airport, and our complex has several pools, tennis courts, a driving range, and bbq pits. It is also walking distance from the beach (although I don't recommend the swimming!)."

Karin Dhadamus writes "I wanted to announce the fact that I and my friend Stephane are expecting a baby daughter for January (must already be out of the oven!). Stephane is working as a pilot for the Belgian airforce, and I continue to run my small hotel, and rental of furnished flats for short term stays."

Jody Ranck has been upto some neat stuff "I finished my doctorate in Health Policy and Admin. from Berkeley in '98 and stayed on to teach and do research on the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide until 2000. I'll be coming out with a book with the photographer Robert Lyons hopefully sometime in 2003. I now consult with UCSF's School of Medicine on reproductive health projects which pertain to gender, culture and power as well as consulting projects with the Rockefeller Foundation on the politics of technology, globalization and poverty. Before too long I hope to have a new politics of technology research project started with the Sustainable Sciences Institute in San Francisco. Since 2000 I've been married to Camille Busette and we live a wonderful life in San Francisco. Recently I had the chance to speak with Sherry Steeley via telephone and she is working on her doctorate in education. Thought I'd give you an update. If anyone passes through SF please look me up." (Send me Sherry's email address....)

Agnes Bolley writes from Tokyo "hello Ajay san, It 's so nice to be reading about everyone (or almost) from his isolated place ....Tokyo , where I have been back again after a 9 month immersion in Bordeaux in 98-99; married to a French .... but representing a Bordeaux wine Merchant (negociant) for the last 4 years and half, I am trying to convince the Japanese to drink French, Bordeaux wines! Pleasant product but not so easy though with the recession. We had the chance to see Dorothee and Peter (her husband ) at the beginning of 2000 in Tokyo on a short visit - had Anne Carminati, Liz and Tomaso, Paal and Martine, Bernard & France (SAIS DC) at our wedding in Sept 2000 .... met Paal and Martine again late last year in Brussels...Liz and Tomaso in London in October now expecting a BB due next Feb..2003... continue the good job of linking everyone." Cheers, Salute, Chin Chi and thanks for Frederic's e-mail!

Sarah Neroni and David Yuen's little boy Alex. Check out those cheeks!

Anneliese Monden writes "I am married to Uwe Wascher and we have two wonderful red-haired kids (Lieselotte 4 1/2 and Victor 2). Uwe's daughters (Cordelia 18 and Anna-Marie 17) live also with us in Antwerp since 99 and Cordelia just started her BA at Rollins college in Orlando, Florida. In fact, we just went to visit her and took of course the opportunity to go with the little ones to Mickey Mouse. By the way, my second stepdaughter is applying to Duke university for next fall; If anybody did their BA there and may have some tips of what to include in the application I would be grateful if you could let me know. (she wants to study engineering) In addition to having a wonderful family life, I also work as an independent management and organizational development consultant (for "larger" companies such as GM, GE, Sun Microsystems, Aventis Pharma etc. which gives me the chance to continue doing cross-border work). I left GE at the end of 99 since my family life got too busy...!. I enjoy being independent and doing interesting work without having to enter company politics...I am also brushing up my Italian since we bought a house in the Italian part of Switzerland overlooking the Lago Maggiore...Let me know if you are in the area... I think a 2004 Bologna reunion is a great idea and Eric Jones should teach us a class! In addition to having wonderful fun and great food and talking about happy memories, we could also organize a few sessions focused on common interests. I am thinking both professionally and family related. Professionally we of course have an enormous wealth of know-how and experience sharing potential by now and we could find out what the big themes might be (needs some further thinking and checking );family related we also have a lot to share. E.g. we have many cross-cultural marriages which raises interesting questions such as how many languages can children deal with? Do you send them to international or local schools and what are advantages/disadvantages etc. Let me know what you think and how I can help. I would be happy to help with structuring the sessions and facilitating some"...if anyone can help with suggestions regarding the Duke application, that would be great.

Slawomir Solarz gets in touch (again coming across the BC89 page by fluke) "I have been living in Warsaw for almost 10 years now. I work for the Insurance and Pansin Funds Supervision Commission. It is a governmental agency, so, I am a civil servant, deputy department director" and sends this photo of our landlady Lina, his wife and himself. He has a seven year old son.

Jay Camillo writes " Keira and I have lived in Atlanta, GA since 1995 along with about 10 or so other SAISers here in the capital of the South. We see the Grunds, Spiegel's Deligtisch's and Andy Cohen once or so a year. We have a one year old son, Aiden Howell, and a second child due in January 2003. I have been with Ernst & Young since 1995 doing economics and international tax work."

Sigrun says she will be in Belgrade till at least August 2003, noting that her office address and email have changed.

Robert Zischg writes from Vienna that he has "been able to locate at least one of our "missing" alumni: Francois Delhaye, our Belgian friend, has been posted with the Belgian Embassy in Vienna and has moved with his family to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, last summer. I don't have his email-adress, yet, but will try to contact him via the Belgian Embassy in Vienna and let you know in due course of any details. With regard to my own professional and personal life, let me try to put the many events since 1989 into a nutshell. Having joined the Austrian Foreign Ministry in 1990 (all in all, four of the Austrians in our class, namely Melitta Schubert, Harald Günther, Georg Oberreiter and me, have finally ended up in the diplomatic service !), I have subsequently served at the Austrian Embassy in Budapest (1992), at the Austrian Embassy in Rome (you won't believe it !, 1993 - 1996) and lastly at the Austrian Permanent Mission in Geneva, Switzerland (1996 - 1999). In September 1999 I have assumed my current assignment as head of unit for nuclear disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Vienna. Despite the heavy workload, I enjoy this kind of multilateral work, as I am dealing with a number of "hot" issues like Iraq and DPRK. Turning to some personal notes, I got married in June 2000 to Birgit. We have got two lovely sons: Michael, 17 months, and, most recently, Sebastian who was born on 13 December 2002, five weeks ahead of "schedule", but just right in time to join our family Christmas Party. It goes without saying that our two sons have enriched our life enormously and are the focus of all our love and attention. Dear Ajay, that's a brief up-date on my whereabouts. I hope that you will continue to keep our boat floating and that my news will be a modest contribution to this end. By the way, I would highly welcome a 15 year reunion in Bologna in 2004. I hope that I would be able to attend. April and May are unfortunately full of conferences and meetings so that I had to miss the Bologna weekends in the past years."

Achim Schaefer came across this site by chance too - he lives in Stuttgart, Germany, with his wife Barbara and two children (Anton, 4 and Theodor, 2). " I work as an attorney-at-law in Stuttgart, and I have a law firm of my own together with three partners, specialised in corporate and finance law. - Stuttgart is a great city which has much more to offer than some car manufacturers, and all BC89 alumni are invited to visit me when they come to Stuttgart."

Sandra Kramer, currently in New Delhi, sends these photographs from Mumbai, India, and promises to visit my parents in Himachal at some point.

From San Fran, CA, Jennifer Cano writes "I stumbled upon the BC website and thought it might be time I came out to the woodwork. You have put wonderful effort into the site. I enjoyed reading the updates and hearing that people are well and enjoying life. I have been working in elementary education for about eight years and I am currently directing an after school program for a community based organization in San Francisco's Chinatown. It would be great to hear from any alumni visiting San Francisco. Gung Hay Fat Choy to you and Daniela. Peace."

Vincenz Wagner is in Madrid and writes "after my Uchicago MBA I held two MD positions in Spain, one with a Pan-European Internet Company and one with a Norwegian premium sms Mobile phone co. Very interesting experiences in General management but instable.. Have started two small cos. with four former colleagues, they are profitable already but nothing to live off in the foreseeable future. Would like to stay in Madrid but its a lame job market. Jeannie is Deputy Dir of the Latin American Institute at one prominent Business School here, so there´s another reason besides the two girls that love it here.. Anyways, just wanted to give you a brief update, let me know should you come this way. Also, should you come across anyone ever mentioning wanting to start operations in Spain,remember to mention me,could you...." now thats an idea-- any takers?

After Bologna, Patrick Asea did his Ph. D in Economics at Homewood (Class of 93) and got a job as Assistant Professor of Economics at UCLA. "After 8 years in academia I came back to Africa where I am now the Chief Economist of the Economic Commission for Africa (based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia). I am just a 1 1/2 flight away from Uganda so it is rather nice to be able to scoot down "home" from time to time. Ethiopia is a wonderful place to visit and I have this huge house which is empty so please come visit. Isabel I am planning a trip to Luanda so please get in touch. I also travel quite frequently on business to New York, DC and Brussels so I look forward to meeting as many of the class as possible."

Judith visited Princeton in November with her family and stopped by for a meal.....it was a pleasure seeing her again. Some photographs from her visit Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3. Melitta also came by one weekend....we even managed to get some tennis in! Photo 1, Photo 2...is she related to Schubert? Planning to go to Melitta's in mid-March for a get-together with some local alum (Wash and Baltimore area)...will update all of you.

October 2002

Sarah Neroni and David Yuen had a boy (Alexander Richard Yuen) in August. We had gone to their baby shower in July (at Karen Seiger's apartment in Manhattan).

Mia Birk writes from Portland: "Busy with our 6 month baby girl Sasha Rose and 4-year old boy Skyler. And with work - I'm still running a consulting firm specializing in bicycle, pedestrian, and trail planning and design."

From sunny Rio, Mahrukh Doctor writes,"I am here to present a paper at a conference and to do some research. No better place on earth than Rio - especially between work related appointments. Okay, Rome is close - in fact it is my favorite city. Ajay, no real news to report - I am still a research fellow at the Centre for Brazilian Studies at Oxford University. And Isabella was very proud that both her countries got to the final of the World Cup."

From rainy Seattle, Leanne Galati writes " Antonio and I have been living in Seattle for 8 years. We have two children-Matias 4 and Elena 18 months (la "spiritosa"). After working for the (now defunct!) Aviation Division of AT&T Wireless for six years and taking a year off after Elena's birth, I am now working as a Senior Economist with Seattle Public Utilities--After all of these years, I have finally joined the ranks of "government bureaucrats"--or I should say "civil servants"! I actually love my job and am really enjoying working in the realm of city government. Antonio is still managing a local Italian artisan bakery but they are now nationally distributing an exquisite (I may say!) line of gourmet crackers called "croccantini" (brand is La Panzanella). I still see lots of Kathy Scott (Neal) and family. We have recently moved into a larger house so we really have room for out of town guests! Hope someone actually wanders to our little corner of the world sometime!."

Mariavittoria Garlappi is managing technical assistance projects in the field of management and vocational training in Morocco. A hard to refuse offer: "Should anybody come to Casablanca I would be happy to have a drink together."

Daniela and I visited Rome last week; I was presenting at a conference (www.e-commerce-summit.com). Just by fluke met Georg (and his family - Cristina, and his two boys, Maxim and Leon) at the airport as we were returning back from Rome - photos 1, 2, 3.

The other good news is that Melitta and Judith are planning to visit us in Princeton shortly....nothing like an opportunity to catch up in person.

Any interest on doing a 15 year reunion in Bologna (2004)? Please email me with your thoughts on activities and initial indications of interest in attending....

July 2002

Celina writes "I have just recently returned to Washington, DC to join Secretary of State Colin Powell's counterterrorism team focusing on terrorist financing, after living and working in London for Goldman Sachs as a private banker. I had left the State Department to get an MBA at Harvard and ended up going to the private sector rather than returning to government. Post 9/11, I discovered I could contribute what I learned about international financial markets to the war on terrorism." Wow...sounds so interesting!

"I have news!" writes Kathy (Neal) Scott "I just started a job working on government relations for Boeing here in Seattle. Its fun to be back at work. Kate (3) and Laura (6) are doing great and keep hoping there will be another Bologna reunion soon so they can visit Italy. Kate is "best buddies" with Leanne Davis' son, Mattias, who lives nearby. And Leanne and I both had a great visit with Melinda Amberg last summer."

After 3 1/2 years in Tokyo and 3 1/2 years in Los Angeles for the Austrian Foreign Service, Harald Gunther and family (wife Ilona, and children Fabio and Angelo). "In Vienna I am working in the Department for Press and Information (Deputy head), and we will probably stay here for another two years. I ask everybody to say hello, who passes by."

From her beautiful apartment overlooking the beach, Isabel writes "I got so many replies to my message and it is really great to get in touch with friends....I am in Angola since 1997 working with the National Democratic Institute -- we are the do-gooders promoting democracy (in a country that has been at war since independence!). In 2000, I married Gita (actual name Jorge Augusto Couceira Cerveira e Baptista) who is an Angolan who works in the movie industry. He lived for 14 years in Paris, then South Africa and after meeting me he returned to the homeland. I am very happy and I like the work I do. I live in a beautiful apartment overlooking the ocean and there is a room for guests so if you can swing you are most welcome."

Torun sends the following information: Her children are Ragna,7 and Henrik, 5. "I just booked a ticket to Bologna, going there for a long weekend in two weeks to see friends. I haven't been back since we met (the 10th anniversary) so I'm really looking forward to see the Due Torri again and everything." She also writes...PS I got so inspired by your letter so I made some research on missing persons. I haven't been in touch with any of them, though....she dug up some information and emails for Paal Frisvold, Mark Babski, and Bjorn Kjellstrom! Tack!

Bert Ulrich writes "My wife Debbie gave birth to our little son named Maximilian who is turning already 1 next week. He is a lot of fun. I am still curating NASA's art collection and commissioning artists."

Learnt something new from Sarah Kaplan: She wrote "permanent e-mail is sarah.kaplan@sloan.mit.edu (an efl)" What in the world is an efl? Hint: it is not: "electronic fellow", "efreelancer" nor "electricfreakylinguist" ....look below for the answer*

While working on her dissertation, Christie (Kulich-)Vamvakas, is bringing up two young ones (Ilias and Alexi) and is planning to be in Greece with her family for three weeks over the summer...she writes that Sarah (Neroni) Yuen is planning to move to Connecticut from New York with her husband, Dave, and is expecting a delivery from the stork at the end of summer!

Laura (Subrin) Yeager, based in Austin, had a baby girl in February (Gweyneth Katharine) - she joins her brothers (Nicholas, 5 and Harrison, 3) in making life more interesting for Laura and Scott.

"After years of high-tech marketing and product development here in Silicon Valley and riding the Internet roller coaster," Susan Mateucci in Northern CA has "changed gears and is doing a divinity grad program at Fuller Theological Seminary. I'm also competing in triathlons and training for long-distance bikes rides. Loving it!". She is looking to get in touch with Xu Gengfa....anyone have any contact info for him?

"Life is good" writes Mark Babski. Married to Isabelle Cordemans (met at Bologna, though she was an art student there, not with JHU) and has two wonderful twin boys, Odis and Ezra, 4 years old. "We're living close to the surf in San Clemente, CA (and spending about 4 months per year in Antwerp, Belgium, where Isabelle is from). In San Clemente, I have the opportunity to ride waves often. My work at Beach.com and Surfrider.org keeps me busy and is very satisfying work, indeed."

Chris Nieuwhof in Maastrich is "amazed by the number of twins born in our year, must have been something special back in 1989. Thanks you so much for your work on the site, it is so much fun to read." Thanks for sending me your work email!

Yvette and Peter Pintar had twins in June (Stella Simone and Ethan Jeremiah). She writes that "Big brother Noah is doing well, too, and is very curious about the babies, though he doesn't think they are much fun to play with just yet. Good thing is he can tell them apart without any problem. We still find it hard to believe we are now a family of five. Slowly it is starting to sink in." I had the chance to meet the family in Detroit at the end of August and had a nice Thai meal with them. Lovely kids!

Maribel visited Howard Sobkov at the end of June....here is a picture. His comments were that he is "Having a great time catching up about everyone and sharing parenting skills. How times have changed."

Simel writes "I just talked to Maribel Houben. She was in Baltimore. She found me through your diligent work toward connecting the BC alumni. We had a nice chat catching up. I wanted to thank you for making such pleasant surprises possible. By the way Jill had twins late last year. One boy, one girl. I had the announcement here somewhere but I can not find it now. I noticed that your message about her did not mention that." More twins! She also makes ceramic pots and donates a part of the sale proceeds to various organizations including those connected with Women Home Based Workers. One such organization is SEWA - Self Employed Womens Association (www.sewa.org).

Got in touch with Bjorn Kjellstrom (thanks Torun); He is currently "Head of Press in the European Commission after having been with the European Parliament for six years. Current place of employment is Stockholm (i.e. home) where I live with wife + twin daughters age 6." (Still more twins!).

News from Chris Milligan: "It's been a lot of fun reading about everyone and what they're up to. As for myself, I have been living in Indonesia for three years, following three years in Zimbabwe and three others in Ecuador. I'm working on decentralization of power to local governments post Suharto's authoritarian rule. I plan on being here for another two years working for the United States Agency for International Development."

Georg Oberreiter moved back to Vienna from Brussels.

Brenda Pearson writes "I just completed a one-year research fellowship at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington. I hope to complete my manuscript by the end of this year. The working title is: The Albanian-Macedonian Conflict: A Violent Peace. The book will be published by the Institute--and maybe 200 people will read it, if I am lucky." Come on folks, we can help increase that number, can't we? She continues "We bought an apartment in Rome several years ago but only recently completed the renovations. Gianfranco still works at the Italian Foreign Ministry and our daughter Corinna (CORY to her American friends) is 3 1/2 years old. Aside from my usual writings on the Balkans, I will return to consulting work with the World Bank and USAID. I cannot seem to get away from the former Yugoslavia but at this point, it is my specialty and most projects are only a quick flight from Rome."

Edoardo Marcucci came across this web site just crawling across the web. He sends the following updates: "After coming back from the states I served one year in the Italian navy, got a Job at Alenia - A Finmeccanica Company. Stayed there for about six years. Got Married to Emanuela on December 2nd 1998. Participated to a "Concorso" (National competition) for a post of "researcher" at University of Urbino. Became Associate Professor Last November. At present I am teaching environmental economics and territorial economics, but my main interests are in transportation economics."

Working for a largely French client, things are pretty quiet at work at the moment for Judith Van Walsum & she is enjoying it fully! "Peter is now 3 and about to go to Kindergarten. Thomas is 1.5 and is a little cheeky fellow. Like Peter, he starts speaking in 3 languages - it is amazing to see how easily kids pick up languages! Workwise all is the same, I am still working for KPMG Consulting (soon to be renamed, as KCI bought us) managing a team developing customized e-Learning solutions in the finance area. Challenging to develop & lots of fun. On top of that I am giving executive training/coaching on communications & conflict resolution skills - it is really interesting to be able to develop a concept & get it to fly within an organization, and naturally to work with sr managers from the Finance area on the softer side of the story!"

Melitta Schubert (currently working in Washington DC as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Austrian Embassy) came up with this interesting link when she did a search for Gregory Salinger on google. She also provided me with Michael Brush's contact info (thanks!)

* efl = email for life :-)

June 2002

I met up with Maribel Houben who is back in Amsterdam and had a wonderful evening catching up; she has a very cute son -- Carlos, to whom she is devoted full-time at this point....and is taking a welcome break from several years of travel. Heard about Sandra, Isabel, Chris, Dorothee etc. etc. from her.....and also that Eric is going to be back at Bologna, teaching this time!

Ingrid Schwaiger writes "As to me, I am (still) in Brussels, actually quite enjoying myself here. The possible setbacks of Brussels' weather are compensated with the sunnier climates of the region I am working on (Southern Mediterranean, Middle East. I am travelling a lot there - extremely interesting."

Isabel Serrão Emerson invites you to visit "I am in Angola (Southern Africa) working with the National Democratic Institute and if anybody comes this way, it would be great to see you (despite the war, Angola does have great people and beautiful beaches)"

Jill Goldsmith has been working as the New York bureau chief of Variety for three years and had twins in November (Nathaniel and Francesca) and will be scaling back starting this summer to an entertainment business reporter, working more from home. Married to Marco Valsania, from Milan, a correspondent in NY for il sole 24 ore."

Jay Camillo has been in Atlanta for about 8 years with E&Y's international tax group. Had a baby in October? Pictures Jay?

Reinier moved to China working with Shell China in an HR role - plans to be there for 2-3 years and then retire! Lucky chap!

In addition to rowing, and being a proud parent of 2 little ones, Caroline and Marianne, Chris Nieuwhof is enjoying life as an internist/clinical immunologist in Maastricht.

Liz Corrado was kind enough to send me emails of several classmates, in addition to this update: "Just in case you are confused by the name, I married Tommaso, an Italian born in Rome but educated in the English-speaking world, in October 2000 and was delighted to adopt a Euro surname to replace my own rather peculiar one! We met on a plane leaving Kiev in 1994 engaged in our respective advisory capacities in the former Soviet Union. I am still resident in London and now working for Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in the bust telecoms sector in Europe. No bambini yet but working on it." Working on the bambini?.....hmmmmmm :-). She also pointed out that Mark Babski had twins a number of years ago, and I thought that Jill and Marco might have been the first....oops.

Sandra Kramer is in New Delhi, last I heard from her was at New Year: "Ajay, happy New Year from cold and foggy New Delhi. It has been great so far, Delhi is beautiful, full of contrasts and I enjoy it tremendously. I know that she visited Mumbai too, amongst other places.....memories of home. She writes "All the best and many regards from India. Namaste"

Can you guess who this Wash DC person is?

November 2001

^{The barbaric,
inhuman, cowardly terrorist attack on Sept 11th. has shocked all of us! Many
of our friends (including SAIS alumni) work in New York and the Pentagon and/or
have friends, family or colleagues who work in and around the impact zones. I
have heard from several that are well and from several colleagues expressing their concern and offering
their best wishes. Please send me an email with respect to your welfare if you
were in the affected areas. If you have any information regarding our
classmates/friends in this regard, that would be appreciated too. I make a commitment to update this site with that information ASAP.} ^{Click here
for
more details.}

There was a get together held for the NY area SAIS alumni at the Park Bar/Restaurant on July 25th. You can find some pics at my blog (or here - click on the "my blog" link) ... you might even recognize some faces.

If you are in the NY area and have not already done so, please sign up to receive local event info....the NY alumni committee is very active and is planning to host at least one social event every month (Past ones have included events at Fez, Paisley and at the Park). Next one (End-of-Summer Happy Hour) planned is on Sept 14 at "The Institute". ^Postponed

I am also helping on the general committee and website committees for the NY alumni group, so any ideas/suggestions you have are most welcome. I can tell you this -- we have some exciting ideas in store for all of us to get together to have fun and network.

The Bologna Center now has an electronic newsletter titled "@The Bologna Center". To get on the (e)mail list, send an e-mail to Karen Riedel or Brent Wakefield at JHU/BC.

September 2001

Got in touch with Howard Sobkov (and almost connected with him in Princeton). Michele and him have two kids: Sam 2 1/2 and Max 16 months. They report "recently hosting Jan Levin, her husband Erwin Rose and two kids Noah and Sasha. Jan and Erwin have moved back to D.C. following a tour with the State Department in Ascuncion, Paraguay."

Simel Esim says that her travels have already taken her to Poland, India, Colombia, and back to Poland this year. She continues to work as a Senior Economist at the International Center for Research on Women. On a lighter side, she has been doing pottery which she says is fun and also financially beneficial as she is able to sell her work - any takers? She is also learning Spanish. Ola! (I still remember her bangle collection - jingle-jangle)

She passes on the following tidbit....Jill (and Marco) are expecting twins -- a first for our class? Congratulations ²!

Also heard from Melinda Amberg (now M A Vajdic) -- No one better to summarize than herself: "After spending my post-SAIS years in financial journalism (mainly at Knight-Ridder Financial), I am now raising three boys (Tyler 7, Matthew 4, Luke 2) full-time in a Chicago suburb just off Lake Michigan. I've found enough time to freelance (recently had my first internet story for ebusinessforum.com...a website of the Economist Intelligence Unit). Also, I teach writing part-time at the College of Lake County. This actually makes me sound busier than I am--life is active but there are many kick-your-shoes-off days entertaining three little boys. Recently visited Leanne Davis Galati and Kathy Neal Scott in Seattle. Had a great time!" Her husband Stan is of Croatian heritage and she claims that the last name is basically impossible to pronounce correctly...Now come on, Melinda! BTW, Congratulations on your 10 year anniv! How does one say "Prost/Salute/Cheers" in Croatian - now, that might be a challenge!

Marie-Louise Lindorfer reports that she saw Mauricio Cellini at a "Commission's cantine?" and via circumstantial evidence (e-mail address) deduces that he is still at the EU. Nice to hear from you!

Jutta Paczulla is moving to Guelph along with the rest of her family (Wesley, Lewis and Ian). Jutta was kind enough to e-mail me updated contact information for Aida Hozic (who is moving to the Poli Sci Dept at the Univ of Florida, Gainesville) and for Jan Levin (and family), who have moved to Silver Spring, MD.

July 2001

There was a SAIS get together in NY on June 13 at Paisley....it was well attended and fun....I signed up to be on one of the committees.

Laura provides the following information, live from Austin, "I'm teaching spinning classes, taking care of Nicholas (almost 4) and Harrison (just turned 2) and a little advisory work for the International Division of the Texas Dept. of Agriculture. Pretty low key."

Torun has been the Editor-in-Chief for 18 mos of the Swedish newswire Direkt. With 2 children Ragna(6) and Henrik(4), they are enjoying Italian cuisine as well as Italian vacations....Torun also contributes information on Dorothee and Christine Nieuwhof. "Dorothee lives in Beijing with her husband Peter and their three children. Chris had her first child, Caroline, last year I think, and she lives with her husband Eric in Belgium." No e-mails though....anyone?

Anyone visiting Brussels....I hear that the Phileas Fogg is THE B&B to stay. Karin Dhadamus has expanded it to a point where it is now a full-time business. Ingrid and her made it for the BC reunion this year. Karin highly recommend the "wonderful, cosy, La Drogheria" for drinks and dinner, and wonders why she never ate there while in Bologna...Karin promises to keep us up-to-date on the Brussels scene and recommends that we get a database of work and home addresses for all....what do you think? Also she mentions that Bart Turtleboom is with Deutsche Bank in London - 2 kids, but no contact information....

Nicole got married in Aug 99 to Bernard, who is also from Jamaica. No one says it better than herself so here goes..."I moved back there for 6 months last year after 5+ years in St. Croix, USVI and then moved here to London at the end of Sept for Bernard's studies in anthropology of media, and the plan is to be here for a few more years. I've been doing development consulting since the beginning of this year, and have been enjoying the experience of not being tied to an office. The English weather notwithstanding, I am enjoying London. A small Caribbean island like St. Croix has a lot to recommend it, but they are very different things from a large, international city. And after my stint in a (very) small place, it is nice to be in a big one." Tough decision -- St. Croix vs London - I'll take both!

Mia Birk has joined a firm specializing in bicycle, pedestrian, and trail planning and design and runs the U.S. Northwest region, but "works all over the place including internationally." Mia and her husband Eric have a 2 1/2 year old boy - Skyler.

Yvette reports that she and her husband, Peter have an 18 month old son named Noah and she is enjoying spending time with him. After being in Prague and Houston, they find themselves in Detroit...and sounds like they may be getting ready to move again!

I have added a location column to the class list (BC '89 class list), please let me know of any additions/changes.

June 2001

Yvette comes through with Aida's e-mail....and Georg gets us back in touch with Peter, Robert and Harald! Thanks folks!

For those in the NYC area: SAIS get together June the 13th at 7:00 p.m.

*****

Mark June 13th on your calendar and join the launch of the NYC-Alumni chapter at Paisley (49 East 21 St.)! Paisley offers an exotic colorful Asian ambiance and a spacious 2,700 square foot space, a perfect place for a cosmopolitan group like SAISers. This will be one of many upcoming events meant to establish a social and professional network for SAIS alumni. For those interested this will also be a great occasion to join one of the committees (events, alumni, website).

*****

Tina Zournatzi is in Brussels working at the European Commission in the area of enterprise policy, after spending 7 years at the UNDP; A proud mom "Chris and I have a 5 year old girl, Nephele and one-year old twin boys, Jason and Aris" - how often does a classmate have twins???? Go Tina!

Paal is also in Brussels, at the European Free Trade Association, defending the interests of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland -- helping them keep their distance from the EU. Sees Jack and Vincenz sometimes, and lives across from Ingrid! Martine and Paal just celebrated their 10 year anniversary (Skoal, Prost, Chinchin, Salute, Cheers!) and have two girls, Zoë and Ruby, 4 and 6 years old.

After 8 years overseas, Kathy (Neal) Scott moved to Seattle, and wound up living three blocks away from Leanne Davis! Finishing her Ph.D in Intl. Political Economy from the LSE this fall, she has two daughters, 5 and 2. Coming Up....another Doctor(ate) in the house!

May 25, 2001

Jutta Paczulla had a baby boy, named Ian, on Feb 24 who "is doing very well and developing fast". She reports that "In Canada, we can now take a full year of parental leave. So, I decided to be a stay-at-home mom for the first year of Ian's life.".....Great place to live, eh?

Eric Graage provides this "very belated update"-"In January 2000 Susan, Annika (now 3 1/2) and I were joined by baby Lukas. For those of our classmates who are concerned that there is no justice in the world, both children show strong indications of being every bit as vexatious and naughty as their father once was." Self-proclaimed "Der Ubergraage". Belated, but welcome and hopefully/not true!?!

(Dr!) Mahrukh Doctor finished her Ph.D. at Oxford in May 2000 and has been a Research Fellow in International Political Economy at the Centre for Brazilian Studies, University of Oxford. Current research project is about European foreign direct investment in the Brazilian automotive industry. Little Isabella is now in school!

Sigrun Bohle is working in Belgrade. Sent there by the Austrian Ministry of Education to develop bi/multilateral cooperation in the field of education, focusing on the Yugoslav and Serbian educational system, she reports that her "office is located in the highest building of the city with a good view of the Danube."

Melitta Schubert is with the Austrian Embassy in Washington DC.

I have been in a competitive tennis class with Nick Cochrane for over 5 weeks - I just found out (via Toby's SAIS website) that he is from the SAIS (DC) Class of 90! What a small world!

Added links on the class list page to a few more personal/professional websites (including my own - shameless :-) self-promotion BUT you can do it too - just send me either your url or html file(s)!)

May 10, 2001

After spending four exciting years in Jakarta, Sandra Kramer (along with her husband and three little ones) is going to move to New Delhi in September. She is working for the European Delegation and will cover India, Nepal and Bhutan for four years! Wow!

Judith Van Walsum reports having her hands full with her two little boys, in a truly delightful way, of course.

Mark Pirritano is completing a one year assignment in Moscow "discovering Russia, her language, and what makes the Russian soul tick." NasDrovya (sp?)!

For those who have not checked it out recently, the Bologna Center has a redesigned website.

April 2001

Sarah Kaplan co-authors a book titled "Creative Destruction" -- Read the New York Times Review

Patrick De Schutter's (serial internet entrepreneur) latest internet venture -- ContactOffice

If anyone has Alison Lester's contact info, please send it to me.

PHOTOS:

A few photos of our 10th year reunion (May 7-9, 1999).

Anna Maria's Broccaindosso Bologna Center Receptions Lunch at Al Castello, Castelvetro Bologna Pictures Kevin B's photos

Feel free to send me photos that you wish to share via e-mail or snail mail (or e-mail me your website links).

INFO UPDATE:

Please send me (professional/personal) updates - we all like to know what you are up to. I will be happy to link to your personal web pages, or put them up on this site, as you like. Keep the info flowing.

I would also like to have updated info for those who we were in touch with (and lost contact) and for those who we have not been able to contact at all. Encourage (y)our classmates to get/keep in touch....I am trying my best to keep contact information current, so please let me know of any changes.

SUGGESTIONS:

Any suggestions are welcome! I know that some are interested in adding additional info to our class list, such as a brief description of what each of us is doing now and where, and phone information. Drop me a line with this info...

BC '89 class list