Hofstra Magazine

Class Notes

Summer 2007

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| 1949 - 1969 | 1970 - 1979 | 1980 - 1989 | 1990 - 1999 | 2000 - Present | New Arrivals/Marriages | In Memoriam |

1990

Elizabeth Balestracci (B.A.) of Medford, NY, is the recipient of a leadership promotion to an advanced unit leader with AVON’s direct selling leadership program. She is currently an AVON-certified make-up artist and trainer and manages more than 60 members on her network marketing team. Elizabeth lives in Medford with her husband of 15 years, Michael, and two children, Nicholas, 11 and Emily, 7. Michael is a Port Authority police officer at J.F.K. Airport...Leslie Berkoff (J.D.) of Garden City, NY, was recently re-elected to serve a two-year term as chair of the board of directors of the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), an international professional association that works to enhance the professional status and reputation of women involved in insolvency practice...Steven Bury (B.A.) of Quincy, MA, recently finished his second six-month deployment to Iraq, where he was the administrative contracting officer responsible for overseeing a multimillion dollar lifesupport/ logistics augmentation contract at four operating bases in northern Iraq. He also completed his 12th year of active duty service in the U.S. Air Force and is stationed in Boston...David Kanuck (B.A.) of Hicksville, NY, has joined podiatrist Joseph Disabato’s Culpepper practice...Pamela Lynette (B.A.) of Dulles, VA, joined the Foreign Service under the Department of State in March 2006. She is serving a two-year tour in West Africa...Maureen Peters (B.B.A.) of Stratford, CT, was recently promoted to executive director of the NLN Foundation of Nursing Education. The NLN Foundation supports excellence for nursing education through the funding of nursing education research, faculty scholarships and faculty development programs...Eugene Pierce (B.B.A., M.B.A. ’95) of Larchmont, NY, is currently working as the chief financial officer for JPMorgan’s US Fund Services and US Pension Services businesses in New York City. He and his wife, Stephanie, celebrated the birth of their first child, Jordan Elizabeth, in August...

1991

Lauren DeCastro (B.A.) of Plandome, NY, gave birth to her fourth child, Juliana Grace, on March 19, 2006. She joins big sister Gabriela, 9, and brothers Robert, 6, and William, 4... Dr. Michael Fallig (Ph.D.) of Westfield, NJ, is currently senior vice president of GfK Custom Research North America. The GfK group is the No. 4 market research organization worldwide with divisions in Custom Research, Retail and Technology, Customer Tracking, and Media and Healthcare. For the past year, Michael has taken on additional responsibilities as U.S. director of online strategy...Philip Shenton (B.A.) of Parsippany, NJ, was recently hired by the Paterson public schools to teach high school English. He has previously worked in California and New Mexico as a journalist and still writes freelance...Danielle Braca Swift (B.A.) of Bethany, CT, has joined Mason Onofrio Public Relations as public relations director. She oversees strategic planning, new business and overall operations and management of the agency...Elizabeth Talmont (B.A.) of Westfield, NJ, became a registered nurse and earned an MSN as a nurse practitioner. She works full time at the national office of Planned Parenthood in medical affairs. She is married and has two young daughters, Lily, 5, and Lucie, 2...Rhayne Thomas (B.S.) of Las Vegas, NV, recently published a fun and lighthearted book titled Gracie-isms: My Mother’s Lists of Southern Sayings and My Job to Interpret the Consequences...

1992

Lisa Dandrea-Roman (M.A.) of Shoreham, NY, has been a speech pathologist in the Riverhead School District for 14 years. She is the recipient of a grant from the Mid East Teacher Center for a collaborative project called SOCIAL, which she co-developed with a school social worker. SOCIAL develops social skills of children with disabilities in a fourth grade inclusion/immersion program. She has three children – Gavin, 7, Jared, 3, and Jenna, 11 months...Yiannakis Kekkos (B.B.A.) of Nicosia, Cyprus, has been married since 1997, has two children, and owns an audit firm...Robert Mauro (B.A.) of New York, NY, has been involved in a career in international broadcast media as a technical director since 1998 at Bloomberg’s New York and London Studios. He recently returned to the United States after a five-year assignment in the United Kingdom and has traveled extensively throughout Europe and the Middle East...Kelli Wilkins (B.A.) of Woodbridge, NJ, is a multi-published author and has currently launched her new Web site, www.kelliwilkins.com. Her non-fiction book Cats is scheduled for release in April 2007. Her husband, Robert Sarre (B.A.), is purchasing coordinator at PowerRite products in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The couple celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary in October... Eric Weinberg (B.A.) of Boca Raton, FL, recently became president/CEO of Skyline South Florida, a company that designs and manufactures exhibits for tradeshows. In February 2005, his wife had twin girls, Jenna and Rachael, and the family is living happily in Boca with their bulldog named Studley...

1993

Erich Berendt (B.B.A., M.B.A. ’97) of New York, NY, was recently promoted to account executive with NBC Universal Digital Media...Lisa DiNardo (B.A.) of Deer Park, NY, has married, moved, and had two beautiful children since graduation – Gianna, 5, and Danielle,16 months...Katherine Economou (B.A.) of Fallbrook, CA, recently graduated with a master’s degree in consciousness studies from the Holmes Institute in San Diego, California. She became a minister with the United Centers for Spiritual Living and serves as dean of the Holmes Institute. On April 22, 2006, she married Stephen Butterworth...Jeffrey Fleischman (M.B.A.) of Morganville, NJ, has been appointed senior vice president, e-business, of Monster Worldwide, Inc. Monster is a global online career and recruitment resource...Sandra Lugo (M.S.Ed.) of Bronx, NY, is currently a dual language coordinator and program support specialist. She is also a delegate to the New York State Association of Bilingual Education (NYSABE) and is the proud grandmother of 16-month-old twins...Honorable Thomas McKevitt (B.A., J.D. ’96) of East Meadow, NY, has joined the law firm of Sahn Ward & Baker as special counsel. Mr. McKevitt is a member of the New York State Assembly, representing the 17th Assembly district...Stacey Mornan (B.A.) of Phoenix, AZ, was featured in the September 2002 edition of GLAMOUR magazine as a September 11 survivor. She previously worked for Aon Corporation in New York City, which was located on the 92nd floor of World Trade Center building two...Edward Wolff (B.B.A.) of Atlanta, GA, was recently appointed the first chief administrative officer of Place Properties. He oversees human resources, administration, information technology, legal, and training & development. He has been a part of the Place team for four years and was formerly vice president of human resources...

1994

Stephen Baker (B.S.) of New York, NY, was recently appointed CEO of Reed Business Search, which is the new business-to-business search initiative of Reed Elsevier...Jody Garrett (M.B.A.) of Parkersburg, WV, has been appointed vice president of marketing and merchandising of Woodcraft Supply, LLC, a woodworking industry retailer of supplies, materials, tools and education. He is married and has two teenage children...Anthony Giordano (B.A.) of Westbury, NY, has been promoted to development associate for United Cerebral Palsy of Nassau County. He and his wife of 10 years, Laura, were expecting their fourth child in March...Laurine Rubin (B.A., J.D. ’97) of Hicksville, NY, was recently elected partner at Rivkin Radler LLP. She is currently a member of the firm’s litigation and appeals practice group...Panagiota Betty Tufariello (J.D.) of Selden, NY, is currently an intellectual property lawyer and was recently appointed to the board of directors for the Children’s Maritime Museum in Port Jefferson, NY. She is the founder of Intellectulaw, a firm that specializes in intellectual property law...

1995

Adam Berman (B.B.A.) of Baldwin, NY, is married with one child... Marc Brody (B.B.A.) of Weston, FL, has joined Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart as a corporate attorney with a concentration in general corporate law and federal and state taxation in the West Palm Beach office. He received a doctorate of law summa cum laude from Nova Southeastern University...David DiConza (B.A) of East Elmhurst, NY, is working for Immigration and Customs Enforcement ...Dr. Howard Fero (B.A.) of Stratford, CT, is program chair and president elect of the Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management, an international organization of management scholars, practitioners and students with a developmental focus on scholarship. He is currently a leadership and organizational development specialist...Mark Getman (B.A.) of Lawrence, NY, was the recipient of the 2006 Hometown Hero Serviceperson Award presented by the Intrepid Air and Space Museum. This award was in recognition of his years of volunteer service as a Long Beach police auxiliary officer, civil air patrol public affairs officer, and soldier in the New York guard. Mark is currently assigned to the National Guard RSP unit drilling at the 69th regiment armory in New York City... Paul Iverson (B.A.) of Phoenixville, PA, began courses toward an M.S. in television management. He and his wife recently purchased their first home...Janine Kane (B.S.) of Clarks Green, PA, recently moved back to the east coast from Texas with her husband, Chris, and sons Sean, 5, and Andrew, 2. She is working as a physical therapist for Allied Services in Scranton, PA...

1996

David Scileppi (B.B.A.) of Plantation, FL, has formed Orbis, an organization to foster business relationships, provide speaker series, and support important causes, with fellow Gunster Yoakley attorney Michael Schimmel. He is the chair of Hofstra’s South Florida alumni chapter...Robert Scott (J.D.) of Dallas, TX, is an expert in data security and privacy. His company, Scott & Scott, is a leading law and technology services firm dedicated to helping senior executives prepare for and respond to network security breaches...

1997

Dinesh Kakwani (B.B.A.) of Phoenix, AZ, has been admitted into the partnership of the U.S. firm of KPMG, an audit, tax and advisory firm. His responsibilities include providing tax services to international clients in Arizona, California and New Jersey...David Leno (J.D.) of West Hempstead, NY, was recently named a recipient of Long Island Business News’ 40 Under 40 Award. He is a partner at Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C...Nellin McIntosh (B.A.) of Hackensack, NJ, is working as an account executive at WMCA 570 AM and 970 AM...Philippe Montas (M.A.) of New York, NY, recently started working as a seminar organizer for Grupo Santillana, a publisher that represents many international publishers in the Caribbean region...Peter Morgan (J.D.) of Hoboken, NJ, has been elected an associate of Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP, a 158-yearold law firm that focuses on the capital markets and financial services industries...Joseph Poe (J.D.) of Huntington, NY, was recently elected partner at Rivkin Radler LLP. He is currently a member of the firm’s insurance coverage litigation practice group... Michael Sofarelli (B.S.) of Farmingdale, NY, recently celebrated the publication of his new book, Letters on the Wall: Offerings and Remembrances from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, with a book signing and fundraiser benefiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and the Hofstra University Stephen B. Carlin/Walter W. Rudolph Endowed Scholarship. The event, held November 4, included a special surprise dedication honoring Michael Sofarelli, Sr. (USMC – Retired) and Karin Sofarelli...

1998

Katherine Boden (M.B.A.) of Greenlawn, NY, is heading Con Edison’s Long Island City network recovery team. She leads a team working on stabilizing and rebuilding the area’s electrical system and enhancing customer outreach...Thomas Ferber (M.B.A.) of Freeport, NY, was recently appointed vice president of digital operations for Melville-based Rapid Solutions Group, a provider of marketing support services, customer communications and full-color print-on-demand technology...Antonietta Pace (B.S.) of New York, NY, teaches chemistry at Fiorello M. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts (the “Fame” school). She formed a band with her sister Giacinta (B.F.A. ’96) called “Sunny Girlfriends” and recorded an album of original music. Antonietta and Giacinta are both training for the New York City Marathon with their sister Frances and brother Joseph. They can also both be seen in the Hindi movie “Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna” (“Never Say Goodbye”)...Heather Rittner (B.B.A.) of Columbia, SC, has relocated from Atlanta, GA. In Columbia, she is heading up the marketing department for Kahn Development. She is engaged to Eric Halpern...Roman Terekhin (M.B.A.) of New York, NY, worked for a hedge fund from 1994 to 2006 and has been on sabbatical for the past few months...

1999

Bahram Aziz (B.S.) of Kings Point, NY, recently joined Network Infrastructure Technologies, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in IT project management and consulting for large companies, schools, government agencies and hospitals, as a project manager and senior network engineer...Theodore Christensen (B.B.A.) of Medford, NY, recently accepted a manager position with Cablevision Systems Corporation. He has been with the company for more than seven years. He recently married Cynthia Zitzmann, and they purchased a house on Long Island where they look forward to raising a family...Joseph Mucha (J.D.) of Lake Ronkonkoma, NY, recently opened his own general law practice in Lake Ronkonkoma...Makeda Thomas (B.A.) of Brooklyn, NY, premiered “Fresh Water,” her new dance work, on October 7, 2006, at the Caribbean Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Port of Spain. The program, a highly anticipated solo work, adapted its title from the Trinidadian term for a person who dresses or acts American without having gone overseas...

| 1949 - 1969 | 1970 - 1979 | 1980 - 1989 | 1990 - 1999 | 2000 - Present | New Arrivals/Marriages | In Memoriam |