00
Ashley Lehman Cook formed the law firm Ashley L. Cook PC.
Josh Helland conceived and executed the first “bed drop” in Los Angeles Dec. 7, 2010, the kickoff project for the AGNS Foundation (A Good Night Sleep), as he and volunteers delivered 79 beds and bedding sets to the Downtown Women’s Center. In addition, the AGNS team took six double mattresses to Door of Hope in Pasadena, CA, and 25 double mattresses to People Assisting the Homeless in Los Angeles, both groups working with individuals and families transitioning out of homelessness into permanent housing. He has projects lined up for 2011 in San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, New York City, Jacksonville and New Orleans.
Tammy Nguyen Lee and husband George celebrated the birth of their first child, Gabriella Young An Lee, Nov. 23, 2010. Tammy, the recipient of SMU’s 2010 Emerging Leader award, is the director of development for original programming at AMS Pictures (Ma’s Roadhouse, Girl Meets Gown) and president/founder of the nonprofit ATG Against The Grain Productions.
Patricia McGregor graduated from the directing program at the Yale School of Drama where she was artistic director of the Yale Cabaret. She has worked at venues including Broadway, BAM, Second Stage, The Kennedy Center, The Public Theater, The Kitchen, the O’Neill National Playwriting Conference, Lincoln Center Institute and Exit Art. Last November she was back on the SMU campus holding auditions for the play Yerma, which she directed.
C.J. Nelson is researching cases for Seniors vs Crime, a special project of the Florida attorney general. He is a member of the Jacksonville Sheriff&rsqo;s Advisory Council.
Cecilia Dubon Slesnick and her husband, Don Slesnick III, announce the birth of their daughter, Cecilia Anne, Nov. 6, 2010.
Kevin L. Weiss is senior vice president of human resources in the integrated systems group at L-3 Communications, a defense aerospace business.
Crystal Willars married Matthew Vastine ’05 in a ceremony on Maroma Beach, Mexico, Sept. 16, 2010. She is a senior marketing manager for AT&T, and he is a flight test engineer at Lockheed Martin and a Smoothie King franchisee in Fort Worth. Together they own and operate Fort Worth Foodie, a quarterly magazine dedicated to food culture in Fort Worth.
01
Reunion Chairs: Monica Netherland Hopkins, Newton N. Hopkins,
Sara Love Swaney
José Galarza was hired by Yestermorrow Design/Build School as the first director of semester programs. He is an architectural designer, builder and educator with experience in planning, project management, information technology and construction. As Yestermorrow’s community outreach coordinator, he handled class building projects with such clients as the Vermont Foodbank’s Kingsbury Farm. Currently he runs José Galarza Building Workshop, an architectural design studio based in central Vermont.
Jonathan Giles and Rebecca Waghorn Giles ’03 announce the birth of twins Knox Carter and Tatum Aubrey, February 16.
Bernard M. Jones was elected to the American Cancer Society board of directors. He is the associate dean of admissions and external affairs at Oklahoma City University School of Law.
Laran Carman O’Neill (M.L.A. ’08) has been promoted to director of development for the Cox School of Business at SMU, having served as assistant director since August 2007.
02
Jon Alexis is president of TJ’s Seafood in Dallas, specializing in fresh seafood and the personalized service of a family business.
Beau Brown was asked to direct Late Night Entertainment at the 2011 National Puppetry Festival in Atlanta. He currently produces a late-night puppet slam in Atlanta called The Puckin’ Fuppet Show and is the artistic director and a puppeteer for the web series The Sci-Fi Janitors.
Charles R. Constant works as the executive vice president of business development at Capital Plan in Dallas, Texas.
Christopher Epp and Mairin Flynn ’04 were married Oct. 16, 2010, in Dallas. They reside in Austin.
The Rev. Michael W. Waters (M.Div. ’06) has been the primary religion writer for more than a year for the online publication Dallas South News. His most recent article focused on Junie Collins Williams, age 16 when a bomb ripped through the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church of Birmingham Sept. 15, 1963. The blast killed four young girls, one of whom was her sister. Rev. Waters is the founder and senior pastor of Joy Tabernacle A.M.E. Church in Dallas.
Lisa Renee Wilson married David Benjamin McCaul in Seattle, July 31, 2010.
03
Lisa Blank married Brent Matthew Wynn Aug. 28, 2010. They live in Portland, OR.
Martin Coe is a systems engineer and founder of Intelligent PD, an engineering consulting and contracting firm assisting clients in product development of complex medical devices.
Shannon Winslow De Leon and husband Ben welcomed their second daughter, Winslow Grace, March 12, 2010. Her sister, Anna Lee, was born in October 2007.
Christopher Frederick, aka Brotha Fred, has joined KISS-FM 103.7 in Chicago as host of the morning show, syndicated in several markets.
Ryan Long earned a Master’s degree in engineering management and information systems from SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering in December 2010.
Chrissy Crawford Malone has launched a new tech/art venture in New York called LittleCollector.com, which offers limited-edition contemporary art for children by Shepard Fairey, David Levinthal, Cynthia Rowley and others. Crawford was an art history major at SMU.
Amy Sims became part of the SMU athletic staff Sept. 10, 2010, as assistant director of athletics giving. Previously she was community development director at the Arthritis Foundation and Leukemia Texas, both in Dallas.
Harry Joseph Smith III and wife Stephanie Smith welcomed their son, Harry Joseph Smith IV into their family on March 9, 2011. The couple also celebrated their five-year wedding anniversary on June 3, 2011.
04
Margaret (Peggy) Covert Branch was married in December 2009 and had a son in 2010.
Lindsay Goodner has been named a 2010 Texas “Rising Star” by Texas Monthly magazine. She is an associate attorney in Dallas at Chamblee, Ryan, Kershaw and Anderson PC.
Mikhail Orlov launched webyshops.com, a web-based sporting goods retailer that sells major-brand products.
Quia Querisma is managing editor of SoulTrain.com, which has run interviews with such performers as Arrested Development, Joonie and Rhian Benson.
05
Andrew Dees is a staf sergeant in the U.S. Marines. In October 2010 he joined “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band as a clarinetist and performs regularly at the White House and across the nation.
Elaine Ferguson married Christopher Coleman ’10 in Marietta, OK. They celebrated their elopement with family in October 2010 at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, where they live.
Murtaza Madraswala joined the Nike Inc. headquarters in Beaverton, OR, married in 2008 and welcomed a daughter in 2010.
Courtney Reilly will graduate with an M.B.A. degree from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in May 2011 and will work in the investment banking division of Credit Suisse.
Jordan Reisenweber and Aubrey Knappenberger ’04 were married Aug. 21, 2010, in Laguna Beach and now live in Santa Monica. He has been with MOG Music Network for two years and recently was promoted to digital account executive on the West Coast. She is a digital account executive at comedycentral.com for MTV Networks.
José Leonardo Santos (Ph.D. ’08) was appointed social science assistant professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Metropolitan State University in Saint Paul, MN. He was once an adjunct lecturer and research assistant at SMU, focusing his work on urban immigrants.
Courtney Underwood has worked for eight years to get a SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) program in Dallas. Last November she was among the celebrants hailing a $2 million grant to support a SANE program and treatment center at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. SANE is a service that helps sexual assault victims in the traumatic aftermath of attacks and assists law enforcement in prosecuting the attackers.
Hunter Woodlee has his own gaming company in Dallas, Controlled Chaos, working with iPhone apps, video games and the like.
06
Reunion Chairs: Chip Hiemenz, Katie Horgan
Katie Knapp Littlefield has lived and worked in Japan and now China since her SMU graduation. In 2008 she and a business partner founded an international online retail company called Hazel and Marie Pearls, profiled in the February 2011 issue of Shanghai Talk. They are carrying on the accessorizing legacy of their grandmothers (Hazel and Marie) by offering heirloom-quality pearls online.
Anne Reilly Rasmussen is a December 2010 graduate of SMU’s Master of Liberal Studies program.
07
Anna Alvarado practices law with Tanner and Associates PC in Fort Worth.
Olivia Bender and A.J. Undorfer ’08 were married at Perkins Chapel Oct. 16, 2010. Olivia is the daughter of Betsy Hall Bender ’77.
Bailey McGuire and Frank Sciuto (MBA ’11)have signed on to open a MOOYAH Burgers, Fries, and Shakes location near Fort Worth. The brothers-in-law have been franchise owners of MOOYAH locations for over four years.
Temitope (Temi) Oladiran married Demetrio Moroni at Perkins Chapel Oct. 28, 2008, and welcomed twin daughters, Ashley and Alisha, Nov. 15, 2010.
Angela Pena and Ben Ulrich ’08 were married at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Dallas Sept. 4, 2010. They first met during Week of Welcome at SMU. Angela works in marketing and Ben is a financial analyst.
Jennifer Gadd Snow and her husband, Andrew F. Snow, are the parents of Harrison Taylor Benjamin, born in Dallas Sept. 10, 2010. Andrew is director of alumni relations in the SMU Office of Development.
08
Eric Camp is an attorney in the oil and gas practice group at Whitaker Chalk Swindle & Sawyer LLP in Fort Worth.
The Rev. D. Anthony Everett has been appointed to the Lexington-Fayette (KY) Urban County Human Rights Commission. He is the associate director for African American Ministries with the Kentucky Conference of The United Methodist Church.
Emily George Grubbs, curatorial assistant in the Bywaters Special Collections in the Hamon Arts Library, published an article in Legacies, A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas. The article, “Texas Regionalism and the Little Theatre of Dallas,” discusses the collaboration between local artists and the Little Theatre of Dallas in areas such as program cover design, stage sets and publicity posters. Early in their careers architect O’Neil Ford and artists Jerry Bywaters, Alexandre Hogue and Perry Nichols were among those who collaborated with the Little Theatre.
Lindsay Miller joined the SMU alumni relations team in December 2010 as alumni programs coordinator. Previously she was a program specialist at Mothers Against Drunk Driving and a pacesetter campaign associate for United Way.
Keith Turner married Sadia Cooper ’09 on June 25, 2011, in Houston, Texas. Turner is employed by Halliburton, and Cooper works for K.P.M.G. in their advisory practice. Following a honeymoon in Maui, the couple will reside in Houston.
Tatiana Vertiz won her age group at the Hawaii Ironman last October and is the official women’s world champion triathlete for ages 18-24. She has been competing for only a few years, discovering her love for the sport while a student at SMU.
09
Katye Dunn is the associate youth minister at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock.
Erin McCormick works in San Francisco for 18 Rabbits, an organic granola company which sells its products in Dallas at Whole Foods and Central Market.
Megan L. Rosser is the lead kindergarten teacher at Truth Campus charter school Shekinah Radiance Academy, responsible for all curriculum design, instruction and supervision.
Shelley Smith spent six months volunteering in South Africa teaching and working in journalism and videography. Now she lives in Los Angeles and works in digital ad sales for Turner Broadcasting Company.
10
Elisabeth Brubaker moved to New York City in spring 2011 and is a part of the Piers Morgan Tonight team at CNN.
Juan José de León won the Metropolitan Opera National Council’s southwest regional auditions Jan. 23, 2011, and in February made his Dallas Opera debut in Romeo and Juliet.
Eric Peng, Ph.D., joined the Dallas office of the national law firm Fish & Richardson PC as a technical advisor in the patent group, supporting patent prosecution in technologies including wireless communications, semiconductors and software. He is a member of the technical professional association IEEE and the Leadership Institute.
Alan H. Rose has launched handsondallas.com, a multimedia news site that covers sports, entertainment, food and news in Dallas and the surrounding area. He is pursuing a Master’s degree in emerging media and communication and also works for the Texas Rangers baseball organization.