Class Notes - Fall 2006

1980

Marc D. Powers (J.D.) of New York, NY, was honored at Hofstra University's School of Law Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner. Marc is partner at Baker & Hostetler LLP...Rhona H. Silver (J.D.) of Hewlett Neck, NY, was honored at Hofstra University's School of Law Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner. Rhona is the chief executive officer of Rhona Silver's Huntington Townhouse...David Weprin (J.D.) of Holliswood, NY, is a New York councilman and chairman of the Finance Committee. David is married with five children...

1981

Paul Cartier (B.S.Ed.) of South Hempstead, NY, is entering his third season as organist for the NY Yankees. He has been the organist for the NY Islanders, on and off, since 1979. For a number of years he has served as an air traffic controller at the NY Center Enroute, volunteer firefighter/EMT with the South Hempstead Fire Department and as commissioner with the South Hempstead Fire District. He and wife Janmaire have been married for 16 years. His stepson Kevin, age 18, is attending Nassau Community College, and daughter Katie, age 15, is a sophomore at Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville...Rick Collins (B.A., J. D. '84) of Westbury, NY, presented a seminar titled "Pumped: A Truth-Enhancing Seminar on Steroid Use and the Law," sponsored by the Drug Policy Alliance in New York, NY. A legal expert on sports performance substances, he recently lectured at the 14th Annual International Congress in Orlando, Florida, and at a dietary supplement trade conference in Anaheim, CA...Michael Hallisey (B.A.) of Mechanicsville, MD, graduated from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA, and in August assumed the duties of U.S. Department of Defense and Army attaché at the U.S. Embassy, Astana, Kazakhstan...Valerie Hernandez (B.A.) of Austin, TX, was living and working in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck. She lost everything, and eight days later her mother passed away. Valerie relocated to Texas and is working with fellow hurricane evacuees via the National Emergency Grant program, assisting refugees with job search and training programs, as well as supportive services such as child care assistance, transportation assistance, and counseling... Ellen Meyers (M.S.) of Worcester, MA, is director of special education for the Shrewsbury School District in Massachusetts...

1982

Jina Accardo (B.A.) of Scarsdale, NY, is a freelance copy editor and regional bylaws chair of the Westchester-East Putnam PTA. She and husband Michael have a son who is a sophomore at Vassar College and a daughter who is a junior at Eastchester High School...Paul Brady (B.B.A.) of Wayland, MA, is chief executive officer of Mazu Networks, Inc. and gave a presentation at America's Growth Capital Second Annual Information Security and Data Center Conference on February 13, 2006...Adam Gallo (B.A.) of Austin, TX, is assistant general counsel of Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc., the company that operates the electric power grid covering 85 percent of the state of Texas...Linda Hantzschel (B.S., M.B.A. '88) of South Farmingdale, NY, is assistant vice president for information technology at Hofstra University. Linda is a 20-year employee of the University and was previously executive director for administrative computing...Lauren Sabella (B.B.A.) of Fairfield, CT, is vice president, commercial development for Altus Pharmaceuticals...Ruth Surrey (B.A.) of Parkland, FL, is moving to Southern California with her 10-year-old son...Evan Torgan (J.D.) was honored at Hofstra University's School of Law Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner. Evan is partner at Torgan & Cooper... Martin Weinstein (B.A.) of Dix Hills, NY, is principal of I.S. 302 in Brooklyn and recently received a proclamation from the borough president that January 23 will officially be Martin Weinstein Day in Brooklyn. Martin is a former marathon runner and started a morning running program with the students...

1983

Hugh Collins (B.B.A.) of Winter Springs, FL, is a member of Russell's Softball team that won the Amateur Softball Association World Championship in Oklahoma City last October...Matthew Gottesfeld (J.D.) of Lumberton, NJ, is an associate at the law firm Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co. and works in the legal action recovery department...Charles McDaid (B.B.A.) of Alpharetta, GA, is controller for Bondo Corporation in Atlanta, Georgia. He received an M.B.A. from Old Dominion University in 1993 and is a CPA, CBM, CFM, and CMA....

1984

Seiichi Kunugi (M.B.A.) of Japan, returned home to Japan in February 2005 after living in New York for 28 years...Jorge Martinez (B.A.) of Freeport, NY, was honored by the Hempstead for Hofstra/Hofstra for Hempstead Committee at the 32nd Annual Testimonial Scholarship Ball. Jorge is president of BCM Solutions Inc., a third-party benefits administrator, deputy chairman of the Village of Freeport's zoning board and a vice president and founding member of the Freeport Hispanic Association. He is also a member of the Nassau County Republican Hispanic Assembly... Susan McCourt (B.S.) of East Falmouth, MA, is director of the Last Center for Teaching and Learning at Bristol Community College in Fall River, MA. Prior to being named director, she was a member of the faculty teaching mathematics...

1985

David Crichlow (B.A.) of Upper Montclair, NJ, is the managing partner of the New York Office for Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman... Ronald Dilbert (B.S.) of Hewlett, NY, presents seminars to help single parents, parents and their children...Patrick Gordon (B.B.A) of Long Beach, NY, is playing competitive softball...Yung Ki Kim (B.B.A.) of Seoul, Korea, is chief operating officer of RFtron, a telecom equipment manufacturing company in South Korea. Prior to becoming a venture entrepreneur, she worked for 18 years in investment banking at local and foreign houses, including ING Barings... George Newill (B.A.) of Westbury, NY, works at Connections Clubhouse as an education mentor. He teaches academic subjects to members with mental illness... Richard J. Schmitt (B.A.) of Los Angeles, CA, has been a staff photographer for the Post for the past four years. He freelances for UCLA, Pepperdine and the AFP wire service, and his photos have won National Newspaper Association and CNPA awards...Margaret A. Robertson (B.B.A., J.D. '96) of Baldwin, NY, is an associate at Gust Rosenfeld in its real estate practice...Laurette Ullian (B.A.) of Weston, MA, moved to Massachusetts with her husband and two sons, Jack, age 4, and Nicholas, age 8, after 10 years of teaching the first grade in Manhattan...

1986

Christal Cherry (B.A.) is associate vice president of institutional advancement at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA. She previously served as the director of development at the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, DC...Robert S. Cohen (J.D.) of New Hyde Park, NY, is partner at Moritt Hock Hamroff & Horowitz. He is a member of the Special Olympic Advisory Committee and serves as the committee chairman of its annual Gold Coast Invitational Golf Outing...Maria Grasso (B.B.A.) of Smithtown, NY, was named one of Long Island Business News' Top 50 Women for 2006...Mary Kovoor (B.A.) of Valhalla, NY, is assistant program director for the Mt. Pleasant Public Library. She has two children, Nick, age 11, and Sofia, age 9...Christopher Sparro (B.B.A., M.B.A. '88) of Chappaqua, NY, is president of AIG WorldSource...

1987

Denise Bushnell (B.A.) of Centreville, VA, and husband John have been married for 12 years and have two sons, Brady, age 6, and Reed, age 3. She works for the Fairfax County Public School, in special education...Dr. Kimberly R. Cline (J.D., M.B.A. '89, Ed.D. '96) of Garden City, NY, is vice chancellor and chief financial officer of the State University of New York... Alex Jimenez (B.S.) of Carver, MA, and Lisa Henning (B.A., M.A. '89) are married. Alex was recently named vice president and director of business process improvement at Rockland Trust Company, after nine years with Bank of America/Fleet Bank. Lisa has a part-time position as a speech-language pathologist and is chef and owner of her own company, Queen of Cuisine Personal Chef Service... Eric Thier (B.B.A.) of Denver, CO, is a partner of Oogie's Snacks, LLC, maker of Oogie's Gourmet Popcorn, named in memory of his fraternity brother, Doug "Oogie" Demarco (B.B.A. '88). Other partners include Matt Mansi, Daniel Mansi, Daniel Starishevsky (B.A. '89) and David Rocher (B.B.A. '89)...Charlton Wilson of Loveland, CO, attended The Julliard School of Music in 1986 and upon graduation worked with musicians of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and several orchestras around the southern California area. He and wife Veronica have a daughter, Peyton, age 3, and a son, Ethan, 21 months old. Charlton is also an internationally recognized hypnotherapist and psychotherapist...

1988

Dr. Lisa Cairns (B.A.) of College Station, TX, was a Fulbright Scholar to Denmark for the 1988-89 year and completed a year of sociolinguistic field work. She then attended the University of Chicago where she received the NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant and earned both a master's and Ph.D. in linguistics. After four years as an assistant professor of linguistics, she became a chief strategy officer in Houston. She has a daughter, Leah, age 3, and a son, John, 6 months old...Sharon Hering (B.B.A.) of Fuquay-Varina, NC, and husband Kirk have two children, Zack, age 9, and Shannon, age 5...Karen Rocco (B.A.) is working for the Star & Buc Wild morning radio show... David Saphirstein (B.S.) of Simsbury, CT, is a creative director for ESPN. He and wife Lisa have three daughters, Jessica, age 5, Abigail, age 3, and Rachel, born in August 2005...Jack Styczynski (B.A.) of Harrison, NY, was awarded third place in USBWA's Best Writing Contest for sportswriting...Paul White (B.B.A., M.B.A. '89) of Milford, CT, is chief financial officer and vice president of business development at Ikonisys, Inc., a leading developer of cell-based diagnostic products...

1989

Melissa Connolly (B.A.) of Malverne, NY, was named one of Long Island Business News' Top 50 Women for 2006. Melissa is vice president for University Relations at Hofstra...*Debra Markowitz (B.B.A.) of North Merrick, NY, was honored by the Long Island Press as one of Long Island's Women of Achievement of 2006. As director of the Nassau County Film Office, she raises approximately $40M-$50M per year in indirect economic impact for Nassau County. She is also a freelance writer, and has written three novels for which she is seeking a literary agent...*Joseph Sparacio (B.A.) of Garden City, NY, was recently elected president of the Hofstra Alumni Organization at the Alumni Organization Annual Meeting on May 20. He served as executive vice president from 2004 to 2006 and is chair of the Alumni Organization Development Committee. Joe is CEO and managing partner for the Island Financial Group in Woodbury, NY…