UHSJournal_Fall2014_NOAR

UHS JOURNALA Magazine for University High School Families, Alumni, and Friends

Annual Report Issue

Fall 2014

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University High School welcomes students of demonstrated motivation and ability to engage in an education that fosters responsibility and the spirited pursuit of knowledge. We are a school where adults believe in the promise of every student, and together we work to build and sustain a community of diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and talents. UHS challenges each individual to live a life of integrity, inquiry, and purpose larger than the self.

UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL VOL. XXV, NO. 2

EDITORAlissa Kinney Moe

EDITORIAL BOARD Shaundra BasonThelma GarzaKate GorrissenHolly Johnson ’82

PHOTOGRAPHY Jane CookJean Fruth Ginger Jackson-Gleich ’03Yvonne O’HareAnne Gamrin Pantelick ’85UHS Communications

PRINTING Burns & Associates Fine Printing

2 From the Head’s Desk

4 All Four One, and One Four AllThe Class of 2014 Graduates by Alissa Kinney Moe, Director of Communications

7 2014 College Admission & Matriculation

8 Think Like a Programmer by Alissa Kinney Moe, Director of Communications

10 University Takes New York by Holly Johnson ’82, Director of Alumni Relations

» Coast to Coast

13 Classroom Reflections: Fostering a Community of Learners by Nick Blum ’08, Summerbridge Associate & Community Engagement Instructor and Samuel Beltran, Academic Director, Summerbridge

14 UHS Album: A Warm Welcome

16 Out in the Wild by Alissa Kinney Moe, Director of Communications

17 At My Desk with Bruce “Doc” Lamott

18 New on Campus

22 Alumni Association News by Holly Johnson ’82, Director of Alumni Relations

24 Class Notes / In Memoriam by Holly Johnson ’82, Director of Alumni Relations

The Annual Report

34 Board Chair Letter

35 Parents Association Letter

36 Alumni Association Letter

37 Board Treasurer Letter

38 Fundraising

39 Gifts Listing

62 Volunteer Thank Yous

64 Ways of Giving to UHS

65 Congratulations and Good Luck!

San Francisco University High School admits and welcomes students of any race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national, or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual ori-entation, national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies admission policies, employment policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school administered programs.

UHS Journal annual report issue fa ll 2014

UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL FALL 2014 1

A few weeks ago, I was invited by a UHS parent to a fundraising luncheon for Gateway High School, a college preparatory, public charter school in San Francisco, founded upon the beliefs that all students can learn at high levels and that all students learn differ-ently. The day was inspiring in three ways. First, I was able to witness the robust local support for Gateway and its mission. Second, I was reminded that students are able to thrive in a variety of settings, as long as adults believe in their promise. And third, all of us in attendance that day were treated to a talk by David Kelley, founder of IDEO and the d.school at Stanford, who shared (to paraphrase) that “being smart is not finding what is wrong with other ideas. Being smart is recognizing that a diversity of ideas, talents, and experiences makes for finding a positive and productive solution as we move forward together.”

This past summer, my husband John and I hosted two college students, who were teaching interns in University’s Summerbridge program. Having devoted our professional lives to, and raised our family in, boarding and day schools, the experience of having houseguests from near and far who are connected to education has simply become a

happy way of life for us. So when our interns arrived this past June, beds were set up and we were prepared with groceries for young adult appetites. What we should have anticipated, but instead came as a most pleasant surprise, was how Nate (UHS ’13, Harvard ’17) and Chris (Lakewood High School [LA] ’12, San Francisco State ’16) would not only enrich our lives, but also leave us with inspiring and lasting impressions in our roles as educators.

The four of us soon settled into our summer work routines, as well as new evening and weekend rituals. Conversations over Sunday breakfasts with the Chronicle and the New York Times and dinners prepared together after stops at Safeway and the farmers market touched upon immigration policy and reform, access and equity in education, human rights, and the role of sports in our society. We discussed the differences between cultures in private versus public schools; talked endlessly about teaching and learning; shared favorite recipes and stories about family traditions and values; and explored themes in jazz, blues, and classical music.

At one point during our many far-reaching discussions, Nate said, “I’m so grateful that at UHS I quickly learned I was not the smartest person in the room.” What I believe Nate was referring to was the advantage he felt upon entering his freshman year at Harvard, as he was able to embrace what David Kelley and so many other educators and thinkers are saying: that our world needs to bring diverse thinkers together to collect ideas, and to test and examine hypotheses and solutions from every angle possible.

At IDEO, problem-solving groups are encouraged to refrain from judgment, to dive deep, and to encourage and solicit and build on the ideas of others. As Nate brought to my attention, students at UHS are able to appreciate this early on in their high school careers, and this is of enormous benefit to them. In this issue of the Journal, you will see that building on the work and ideas of others happens within numerous corners of the UHS experience—not just on campus, but beyond, as well. You will learn about our robust presence in New York City, where UHS alumni network and team up on creative projects. Nick Blum ’08 and Samuel Beltran share a glimpse of the special relationship between our Summerbridge students and their UHS After-School tutors. New faculty, staff, and trustees bring talents, commitment, and experience that infuse energy and new perspectives into our program and planning for the future. And we can all be enormously proud of an outstanding year for annual and capital support at UHS, which reflects the loyalty and generosity of our parents, alumni, faculty, staff, trustees, and friends. The Annual Report included in these pages clearly shows how we are continuously building upon the solid foundation laid by those who came before. We all play such a crucial role in fostering and expanding the truly outstanding education and community we enjoy here at UHS.

From the Head’s Desk

Chris and Nate collaborating over a breakfast of homemade chilaquiles.

FALL 2014 UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL 2

As June turned into July, the crowd around our dining room table expanded as Nate and Chris made friends and invited other Summerbridge interns “home” for dinner and conversation. Our cooking and conversation extravaganzas looked quite different, I am sure, from a group of IDEO thinkers in a room, armed with sticky notes and dry-erase markers. However, as I listened throughout the summer to this inspiring collection of collaborative and nimble thinkers, diverse in backgrounds and experience, at our “family dinners,” I realized that every person there seemed to fully under-stand and embrace Kelley’s tenet that “smart isn’t finding what’s wrong with other ideas.”

Clearly, these young leaders and educators have a firm grasp on how to move forward together, as do our UHS students, and I feel great hope and confidence for both our schools and our future.

Julia Russell EellsHead of School


On Saturday, June 1, of this year, the Class of 2014 came together one last time to celebrate their graduation from University High School, surrounded by loved ones beaming with pride. From the stage of the Palace of Fine Arts, Head of School Julia Russell Eells, Health

Educator and Director of Student Leadership Ginger Jackson-Gleich ’03, and Senior Class speakers Izzy Simon and Mansoor Al-Shehail reminded the freshly minted graduates to use their voices to create meaningful change in the world while never forgetting to listen, to be brave and be proud, and to never accept complacency. The final remarks came from elected faculty speaker and Physics Instructor Ozzie Nevarez, who—in addition to causing the entire crowd to break out in laughter more than once—prevailed upon the Class of 2014 to remember the paramount importance of kind-ness. Before concluding his speech with a brief performance at a Peanuts-sized piano, upon which he played a song dedicated to the graduates, Ozzie left the auditorium with one final thought:

“My message today isn’t some new, life-changing revelation. It’s simply a reminder to always strive to be a kinder human being. You are amazingly and extremely smart, talented, dedicated, and ambi-tious, and I am excited for the future that your generation will create. But that excitement for the fu-ture becomes hope for the future when I see the compassion of which you’re capable.” And with that, the 100 members of the Class of 2014 threw their caps in the air, with many repeating the class cheer they had coined at Convocation nine months prior: “All FOUR one, and one FOUR all!”

All Four One, and One Four AllThe Class of 2014 Graduates

by Alissa Kinney Moe, Director of Communications


From my perspective, active listening allows the most powerful voices to keep a variety of perspectives and opinions on the table. Possessing not only a strongly held belief, but also an open heart and mind, sets a tone of mutual respect, and encourages healthy and productive dialog…

… For a group of students to get an institution to listen, to reflect, to learn, to see, and to appreciate different perspectives is a remarkable illustration of the power that comes when thoughtful articulation and powerful listening is in balance.

In the case of the students and faculty at Smith, Haverford, and Rutgers, an opportunity was missed for a lively and wider dialog. Academic institutions are, by design, places where the free, honest, open (and sometimes provocative, contentious, and even unpleas-ant—though hopefully—respectful) exchange of ideas should be valued above all else.

Class of 2014, I challenge you to use your voice in an effort to ensure that others may use theirs—encourage debate, welcome challenge,

bask in the growth that comes from learning a new perspective or earning a greater understanding of someone or something that is different from you. Continue to use your education as a means to evolve and blossom, not to harden and close yourself off.

Everyone in this theater today is so, so proud of you—and we would not ask you to take on this responsibility if we did not already know you were more than capable. We wish you lives full of joy, love, and, yes, “integrity, inquiry, and purpose larger than the self.” You have a voice: now it is up to you to share your voice with the rest of the world—while always remaining brave enough to listen.

FROM JULIA’S SPEECH


Life isn’t going to live itself for you.

Embrace not knowing. Always give yourself the opportunity to learn; knowledge can be infinite if you allow yourself to be a student of life. Through not knowing and learning through living, you will discover what you truly want out of this whole experience.

And there is nothing more powerful than want.

There is nothing better than the feeling of being wanted.

There is no more powerful a motivator than a burning desire.

And unless you can put the ghost of Andre the Giant in front of me there is NOTHING that will stop me from getting what I want.

This class, we will be the best damn doctors, actors, lawyers, engineers, writers, teachers, scientists, politicians, pro wrestlers, etcetera

that will ever grace this earth because we will want to be!

Whatever you come to want, know that you deserve it, know that you can have it.

To quote my idol, the “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, “To be the man you gotta beat the man.”

And what I’ve learned, is sometimes that man, or woman, is you. I beat who I was to become who I am today, and it is so rewarding to know that I’m not done, that I have no idea where I’ll go next as a person.

I walk around trying to figure out who I am, trying to figure out my own name, and thank God I haven’t figured it out yet.

To the Class of 2014, and anyone who will listen: if I can offer one piece of advice, it is this: Safety is the most dangerous thing in the world. If you’re complacent with your

life before the day you die, you’re robbing yourself of the life you could be living. I hope that none of you ever, ever find yourself, because the moment you know everything is the moment you will never get the reward of learning again.

commencement continued...

As you go off to college, you and your classmates will be in new places, living out great experiences and having the time of your life, as well you should since you deserve it! But in the world of selfies and tweets, it’s important to take time away from your iPhones and be mindful of the needs of the people around you. Your roommate might need a shoulder to cry on. Your classmate might be seriously stressed out about not understanding a key concept. A friend might be going through a difficult family situation. Being that shoulder for your roommate, offering to explain that concept to your classmate, lending an ear to your worried friend—these are things that

can make a big difference. I’m not talking about devoting your life to embody the ideals of those that epitomize kindness, like the Dalai Lama or Mother Teresa, though that would truly be a noble quest. I’m talking about becoming aware of the small ways in which you can make a positive difference to those around you. Ian Maclaren, a Scottish theologian, is thought to have written a quote normally attributed to Plato. Either way, it resonates with me and centers me when I go astray: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

My message today isn’t some new, life-changing revelation. It’s simply a reminder to always strive to be a kinder human being.

You are amazingly and extremely smart, talented, dedicated, and ambitious, and I am excited for the future that your generation will create. But that excitement for the future becomes hope for the future when I see the compassion of which you’re capable. So, whether it’s being a good friend, volunteering within the community, letting the car with its blinker on into your lane, offering something to eat to someone who needs it, holding the door open for someone with their hands full, or perhaps even pulling over to offer duct tape, gas, and a quarter to a stranded motorist in need, please do your part to help make this world a kinder place to live in.

I see our class very much as a whole— a body, an entity. But we are not a homog-enous group. Each person has a unique perspective and personality, a role if you will. So we change as a group and as individuals. The dynamic of the whole is very much affected by the components, and vice versa. Sometimes class members change, and sometimes the entire grade shifts. Sometimes both happen at the same time.

It’s funny to look back at the very beginning of our high school experience and compare it

to right now. For example, just the other day I went on a retreat with the other senior PAs to Angel Island. As I was packing stuff into my backpack, it suddenly donned on me that the last time I had used this backpack or even seen it was during the Yosemite trip before freshman year… As a freshman class, we all stuck together in our nervousness and awkwardness. And as the days, months, years progressed, we formed as individuals—finding the people that made us happiest, that laughed at our jokes, that we could share glances with when something funny happened that only we noticed. We discov-

ered our talents and passions, or stumbled upon an activity that fulfilled us in any num-ber of ways. Relationships formed, were broken, reformed, patched up. And as we grew on our own, the class adjusted with our movement. Our class felt it deeply when some members of our class left, and then when we gained a new one. We experienced it all together. We are one and we are many at the same time. This correlation between our class and its components has flourished since the first day of freshman year, and today it is powerfully strong.

FROM MANSOOR’S SPEECH

FROM IZZY’S SPEECH

FROM OZZIE’S SPEECH


2014 College Admission & Matriculation

Numbers in parentheses indicate enrollment as of July 31, 2014.

ADMITTEDCOLLEGE

American University 2

Amherst College 2 (1)

Bard College 5

Bates College 6 (1)

Bennington College 1 (1)

Boston College 4

Boston University 10 (1)

Bowdoin College 3 (2)

Brown University 2

Bucknell University 2 (1)

California Institute of Technology 1 (1)

Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo 2

Cal Poly, Pomona 3

Carleton College 4

Chapman University 4 (1)

Claremont McKenna College 1 (1)

Clark University 3

Colby College 10 (3)

Colgate University 15 (2)

Colorado College 2

Columbia University 3 (1)

Connecticut College 8

Cornell University 4 (1)

Dartmouth College 4 (3)

Dickinson College 2

Drexel University 2

Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts 1 (1)

Fordham University 2 (1)

Franklin and Marshall College 3 (1)

Georgetown University 6 (3)

Grinnell College 2

Hamilton College 3 (1)

Harvard College 2 (2)

Harvey Mudd College 1 (1)

Haverford College 2

Hobart and William Smith Colleges 6

Hofstra University 1 (1)

Indiana University at Bloomington 3 (2)

Ithaca College 2

Johns Hopkins University 2

Kalamazoo College 2

Kenyon College 6 (2)

Lafayette College 2

Lewis & Clark College 12

Macalester College 8

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1 (1)

Middlebury College 7 (5)

Mount Holyoke College 2

New York University 10 (4)

Northeastern University 7

Oberlin College 4 (2)

Occidental College 9 (3)

Pacific University 1 (1)

Pitzer College 1

Pomona College 1 (1)

Princeton University 4 (3)

Reed College 5 (2)

San Francisco State University 3

Santa Clara University 4 (1)

Sarah Lawrence College 2

Scripps College 2

Skidmore College 12 (1)

Smith College 4

Southern Methodist University 3 (1)

St. John’s College 1 (1)

Stanford University 1 (1)

Syracuse University 1 (1)

The George Washington University 5

Trinity College 4

Trinity University 2

Tufts University 8 (3)

Tulane University 2 (1)

UC Berkeley 7

UC Davis 8

UC Irvine 4

UC Los Angeles 9

UC Merced 1

UC Riverside 3

UC San Diego 8

UC Santa Barbara 19 (2)

UC Santa Cruz 18

University of British Columbia 2 (1)

University of Chicago 3 (1)

University of Colorado at Boulder 4 (1)

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2 (1)

University of Michigan 7 (2)

University of Oregon 2

University of Pennsylvania 3 (2)

University of Puget Sound 9

University of Rochester 2

University of San Francisco 7

University of Southern California 11 (4)

University of St. Andrews 2 (1)

University of the Pacific 2

University of Virginia 4 (2)

University of Wisconsin, Madison 3

Ursinus College 2 (1)

Vanderbilt University 2

Vassar College 3

Washington & Lee University 1 (1)

Washington University in St. Louis 8 (3)

Wellesley College 2 (1)

Wesleyan University 4 (2)

Wheaton College (MA) 4 (2)

Whitman College 5 (2)

Willamette University 4 (1)

Worcester Polytechnic Institute 3

Yale University 2 (2)


UHS Math Instructor Leah Dorazio has taught University’s AP Computer Science class since 2010, and each fall the students in her classroom prove themselves to be ever-savvier in the art of programming. And as teens across the country—and especially in the Bay Area, home to Silicon Valley, famed tech titans, and countless start-ups—are becoming more well-versed in computer science and technology, educators are embracing methods they can use to incorporate technology into their curricula.

Enter Eric Eslinger and the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation (or KSTF). KSTF was founded in 1999 to train and mentor top-notch math and science teachers in pursuit of its mission to improve STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education nationwide. Based in New Jersey, KSTF employs a team of educators and science professionals who support carefully selected teaching fellows across the country as they embark on careers in

STEM education. Eric is the organization’s educational technology program officer; after a career teaching science and writing educational software, Eric has long-studied how teachers can best integrate technology in their classrooms. He also happens to be married to UHS Science Department Chair and Chemistry Instructor Chrissy Jacobs.

Eric and KSTF wanted to conduct a week-long workshop for their new fellows in

San Francisco this past summer on how to use technology as a tool to strengthen their curricula, and Chrissy arranged for University to act as workshop host in exchange for a few spots for our faculty, including herself, Math Instructor Jackie Thompson ’09, English Instructor Melissa Mirza, Health Educator and Director of Student Leadership Ginger Jackson-Gleich ’03, and Leah (who in addition to computer science, also teaches math at UHS).

The workshop catered to a variety of skill levels and teaching backgrounds, with freshly minted KSTF fellows and UHS master teachers working side-by-side as they first tackled mastery of introductory programming tools before moving on to creating apps and developing special projects that they could use in their classrooms. For Chrissy and Leah, their time at the workshop created a fascinating parallel, as Leah discovered new tools to engage and excite her computer science students, and Chrissy realized new ways that programming could be incorporated into her chemistry course-work. She also tackled the fundamental question of why understanding coding is important and how it could enhance her science curriculum. Towards the end of the week, she focused her attention on develop-ing and coding a program that would allow her students to perform virtual chemistry experiments, enabling them to see what might happen between different atoms and elements mixed together before physically performing the experiment in the lab.

Think Like a Programmerby Alissa Kinney Moe, Director of Communications

UHS Instructors Leah Dorazio and Chrissy Jacobs work on code for new projects in their Lower Campus office.


“I think that the most important part of learning to program is developing a sense of ownership over the technology we use in our daily lives. The programs that we develop may not be as polished as professional stuff, but it’s ours. We know how it works, and we can make improvements as we think of them. That’s a pretty crucial 21st century attitude, in my opinion.” —e r ic e sl i nge r, k now le s sc i e nc e

t e ac h i ng fou n dat ion

For Eric, his mission is to train educators to become makers of tools they use in the classroom, rather than just users—as the creator of a program or an app, a teacher can fine-tune it to better suit his or her needs. And Eric points out the benefit of creating something you see the need for, rather than waiting for someone else to do it. It is, in fact, the definition of project-based learning: creating the very thing you want to see, and he finds it to be very motivating among the STEM teachers he mentors through KSTF.

“I think that the most important part of learning to program is developing a sense of ownership over the technology we use in our daily lives. The programs that we de-

velop may not be as polished as professional stuff, but it’s ours. We know how it works, and we can make improvements as we think of them. That’s a pretty crucial 21st century attitude, in my opinion.”

For Chrissy and Leah, realizing how important the computational thinking employed by programmers can be to so many different math and science disciplines was revelatory: “Through my conversation with other teachers at the workshop, it became clear to me that computational thinking can be useful in any science classroom—even one that doesn’t have a computer. Proficiency in computational thinking helps students think like scien-

tists,” says Chrissy. Both teachers were eager to infuse this new perspective into their classrooms, and say these skills can be used by students in all areas of their educations. “Computational thinking involves defining a problem, decomposing it into its discrete and manageable parts, and then creating algorithms for solving not just that specific problem, but all problems of the same structure,” says Leah. “These skills of pattern recognition and abstraction can aid in all areas of study, from philosophy to art to math.”


New York is an enormous city, but the UHS network can actually make it feel much smaller. Our alumni have helped each other find jobs or a place to live and enjoy opportunities to see friends from their West Coast home. In June, UHS paid a visit to our New York alums and found them doing great work and living fascinating lives throughout the Big Apple…

Isabel Rittenberg ’07 had her mind set on moving to New York City after finishing her degree at Hamilton College in Upstate New York. When a friend of a UHS friend pointed her towards her current employer, General Assembly, not only did she not know that fellow alumnus Adam Pritzker ’03 was a co-founder of the digital training enterprise—but that another alumna was working there, as well. “I was in a training session and the moderator [Renee Solorzano ’03, a digital product designer] started explaining how to build an online profile using herself as the subject. I couldn’t believe it when she typed out ‘San Francisco’ and then ‘University High School’ in her bio,” Isabel says. Isabel

ended up getting that job, and now works as a global content marketing manager at General Assembly. She also enjoys the camaraderie of about a dozen classmates from the Class of 2007, who all currently call New York home. Over the summer she and Annie Shapiro ’07 became roommates, and Isabel helped organize a dinner for her classmates to meet Head of School Julia Russell Eells in June. The UHS team had a great time hearing about their lives in the city and filling them in about developments at UHS. Gabriela Hernandez and Andrea Imhof are teachers, Michael Kremer and Rachel Tecott work in international relations, and Alison Lu is a business consultant.

Other members of the Class of 2007 living in New York include Elliot Wehner, who works in banking; Lily Thalheimer, in marketing; Stella Tan, in publishing; and Gracie Glass, in design.

Elliot Rayman ’03 recently opened Búðin, a café specializing in Scandinavian-roast coffee in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Elliot says he’s been working in coffee for a long time, and he and his business partners saw the opportunity to introduce Nordic-style café fare, including wine and beer, to Brooklyn, while also selling Nordic-designed items. (Búðin means “the shop” in Icelandic.)

University Takes New York

by Holly Johnson ’82, Director of Alumni Relations

Elliot Rayman ’03 at his Brooklyn café. Photo: Marty Rayman.


Stina Skewes-Cox ’00 moved to New York to work as district director for US Representative Hareem Jeffries

(NY—8th District), after serving Representa-tive Nancy Pelosi for six years in San Francisco and Washington, DC. Last year, she was named a rising star in the 40 under 40 list of City & State, a magazine and website covering New York politics. As district director for Representative Jeffries, new to Congress that year, Stina coordinated setting up his two district offices in Brooklyn and working with constituents. Today she is the director of scheduling and advancement for the office of the Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power.

Robert Reffkin ’97 is another alum making a splash on the New York scene. After working in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and serving as a White House fellow for the Department of the Treasury—all the while supporting educational opportunity for youths through fundraising—Robert has co-founded a start-up meant to change the way New Yorkers find homes. Urban Compass brings technology into the notorious New York apartment hunt, and Robert’s business model has already been validated by $73 million in venture capital financing. With this early buzz and success, the company has plans to expand beyond New York City.

Jennifer Braunschweiger ’88 has always wanted to write and remembers feeling confident about her skills, even as a teenager. For this reason, when her English teacher Joe DiPrisco scribbled “So what?” across what she had deemed a well-crafted essay, she never forgot it. “I use that all the time with my reporters,” she told the UHS team and her classmates at a lunch last June. Jennifer has been working in journal-ism since college and today is deputy editor of MORE Magazine. Her earlier positions include editing at Good Housekeeping, Seventeen Magazine, Organic Style and writing at Reader’s Digest. She has become one of the faces of MORE, making frequent television appearances on shows like Today, MSNBC’s Jansing & Co., and Money Matters.

A recent exhibit on Governor’s Island high- lighted the work of CDR Studio, an architecture

and design firm in which Jon Dreyfous ’87 is a partner. Housed in what had been an industrial space in the middle of Manhat-tan’s Chinatown, the firm does commercial, residential, and cultural projects with an emphasis on environmentally sound principles. Some of their more recognizable projects have included the Audi dealership at 54th Street and 12th Avenue in Manhat-tan, the Hillsdale house (a private resi-dence), and the pier and building for the last remaining fireboat on the Hudson River. This past summer, CDR won the annual City of Dreams competition to install an environmentally friendly pavilion with a canopy and seating on Governor’s Island. The installation, called “Governor’s Cup,” is made out of more than 30,000 used plastic cups. The firm collected the cups for months and then, with the help of volunteers, crafted the structure using the cups and zip ties. UHS alumni and faculty got to see how the sculpture was created when Jon’s firm hosted our Western Civ seminar for alums in New York on June 20. Bruce “Doc” Lamott was so intrigued that he ended up spending a day on Governors Island, enjoying the sculpture and a music festival. The sculpture was designed for Figment Art Festival, an annual participatory art event, but was to be left up over the summer for visitors to enjoy. CDR beat out 200 other proposals for the opportunity to show off their design.

Peter Saraf ’83 has a blockbuster list of movie hits to his name as a producer, such as Adaptation (2002); Little Miss Sunshine (2006); Away We Go (2009), which was co-written by Vendela Vida ’89 and Dave Eggers. The UHS team had a great time hearing about his movie career in New York, where he has lived since 1989. He moved to the city with a vague desire to attend film school (he had partici-pated in theater at Wesleyan,) but ended up finding work as a production assistant at the Museum of the Moving Image. A job working with the famed filmmaker Jonathan Demme led to Peter pursuing his own path as a producer. He and his business partner formed their production company, Big Beach, about 10 years ago. Of his work, he says: “I love the process of making movies. I love the impact of it; we get to tell stories that move people.”

TOP TO BOTTOM Isabel Rittenberg ’07, Henry Rittenberg ’11, Annie Shapiro ’07, and Stella Tan ’07 at the New York reunion in June.

Peter Saraf ’83 in his New York office.

Stina Skewes-Cox ’00 with Bruce “Doc” Lamott at the recent UHS New York reunion in June.

“I was in a training session and the moderator started explaining how to build an online profile using herself as the subject. I couldn’t believe it when she typed out ‘San Francisco’ and then ‘University High School’ in her bio.” —i sa be l r i t t e n be rg ’07


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Coast to CoastYou can find University alums coast to coast, from their beautiful Bay Area home to the bustling Big Apple, along with some incredible places in between. Check out this map to see where our alums are living today (including overseas)—we hope that realizing how close your fellow Red Devils are will inspire you to reach out and connect. Stay in touch, UHS!


At 3:30 p.m. on a school day, the halls of South Campus transform. As teachers head home and students venture to any one of the myriad of after-school activities that await, a small group of UHS students take over the classrooms of South Campus to share the joy of learning with middle-schoolers from around the Bay Area. Over the course of the 2013–2014 school year, around 45 of our University students took part in the Sum-merbridge After-School Program as either a tutor or teacher, marking an all-time high.

Summerbridge is in its 37th year at UHS, still going strong by carrying forth its long-held mission of providing tuition- free academic enrichment and advocacy to motivated but underserved middle school students, making the best educational opportunities available to students with limited resources. The Summerbridge After-School Program wouldn’t be possible without the support of UHS student-volun-teers who work as tutors and teaching assistants, helping close the educational achievement gap plaguing this city, part of a wider problem that stretches across the state and the country. These tutors work closely with Summerbridge and the UHS Community Engagement Program to learn about and fight to end the social inequities that seem to dominate modern educational systems.

It is always amazing to witness how easily a UHS student is able to transition from learner to teacher. For most, the skills necessary to being an effective tutor are almost second nature. Among other factors, great tutors must be excited about learning, ask effective questions, and know how to balance hard work with rejuvenating breaks. These are skills that are reinforced within every aspect of a UHS education. Our students love learning, and every one sees excellent teaching modeled consistently by their own instructors. They engage their tutees with probing questions—and there is no one better than a UHS student to dole out tips on time management.

At UHS, we often talk about how we strive to be a “community of learners,” and having UHS students tutoring, teaching, and learning from middle-schoolers only serves this purpose. To perceive the classroom from the other side—for a teacher to learn and a learner to teach—enriches one’s education in immea-surable ways.

Catherine is an eighth-grader. The objective of her Monday after-school tutorial is to strengthen her writing skills. Specifically, Catherine is at Summerbridge to develop strategies to create stronger thesis state-ments, and then to argue and defend those statements more effectively. Catherine’s

tutor is Thomas, a junior at UHS. Their text is The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. At first, the whiteboard in Room 203 is exactly that—white and empty. However, as Thomas and Catherine exchange ideas, they take turns copying and annotating passages. Quickly, the whiteboard transforms with a mélange of scribbles and arrows, arguing and critiquing Catherine’s excellent ideas, drawn out by her tireless tutor.

Mitchell is a seventh-grader. The objective of his Wednesday tutorial is to master the rules of exponents, a topic he’s struggled with at school. That’s where Sarah, a UHS sophomore, steps in. The two begin with Mitchell’s homework, easier questions that confuse Mitchell at first. “Try writing them on the board,” says Sarah. Thirty minutes later, Mitchell is cruising along—he doesn’t need Sarah’s help anymore, but she contin-ues to nudge him on as he tackles problem after problem. “How about we take a snack break and try some harder questions?” Sarah suggests. Some cookies and a string cheese later, Mitchell looks up as Sarah writes some tougher problems on the board. “We haven’t even started this in school yet!” Mitchell exclaims as his eyes grow wide. “Well, you’ll have a head start when you get to it,” Sarah replies with a smile.

Fostering a Community of Learners

by Nick Blum ’08, Summerbridge Associate & Community Engagement Instructor and Samuel Beltran, Academic Director, Summerbridge

CLASSROOM REFLECTIONS


A Warm WelcomeUHS ALBUM

“It was great to see the Class of 2018’s smiling faces as they returned from their backpacking adventure, arm-in-arm with new friends and so happy to reunite with their families.” —gi nge r jac k s on- gle ic h ’03, h e a lt h e duc ator a n d di r ec tor of st u de n t le a de r sh i p


On Thursday, August 14, 2014, University High School instituted a new tradition—a welcome event that doubled as both a home-coming for our ninth-graders, freshly arrived from their overnight backpacking trip in the Marin Headlands, and also an informal reception for our incoming families, bringing them into the UHS fold before classes began later that month. This was a chance for friendships to be born, connections to be renewed, and our community to come together.

Veteran UHS families, faculty and staff, and our highly esteemed peer advisors (juniors and seniors who undergo intensive training during the summer months to act as mentors for our younger stu-dents) gathered against the stunning backdrop of Crissy Field and the glistening Bay to celebrate our ever-expanding community and the school year ahead.


On Monday, September 22, University High School welcomed acclaimed author Cheryl Strayed to campus. Over the summer, UHS students, faculty, and staff read Wild, Strayed’s account of her months-long trek up the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in 1995, after a series of personal tragedies, including the loss of her mother to cancer and the dissolution of her first marriage.

Strayed explained to the rapt audience that filled the UHS Theater the process she undertook to write the sometimes-painful memoir, and how writing can help to heal not only an author’s wounds, but the wounds of her readers, too: “This is the point of art—telling a truth you can’t hear anywhere else.” She noted the often-powerful bridges that can be built through shared artistic expression.

Strayed also addressed the reputation Wild quickly gained as “a book for women.” Shortly after the book was published and after yet another male reporter raved about the book off- camera and then asked her about writing for female readers once the cameras started rolling, Strayed took the opportunity to point out that he, too, had read and liked the book, as had many men who had contacted her to express the connection they felt to Wild. “The assumption is if a woman tells a story, it’s for women; if a man tells a story, it’s for everyone.”

After her principal talk, Cheryl sat down for a more intimate lunchtime discussion with a small group of faculty, staff, and students in the Jackson Street Lounge, where those seated around the room’s Harkness table had the opportu-nity to ask Strayed more about her

experiences on the PCT, her ongoing connections with the people she met during her journey, and her devotion to her work as a writer. “When you write, things open up,” Strayed shared.

“Writing teaches me what I have to say.”

Before her talk, Cheryl Strayed posed with UHS Librarians Nicole Hunter and Hayley Beale in front of the bulletin board they dedicated to her book, Wild.

Out in the Wild by Alissa Kinney Moe, Director of Communications


At My Deskwith Bruce “Doc” Lamott

Tinky Winky“This actually stands for a time when Jerry Falwell decided that Tinky Winky, the purple Teletubby, was gay. UHS was never a place that was unsafe for gay and lesbian kids, but there was a time when those attitudes weren’t necessarily expressed. A number of us went out of our way to communicate to kids that this was a safe place to talk, without anyone else passing judgment. I feel like having Tinky Winky in my office was code for, ‘This is a safe space.’”

Photos“At the left is actually my wedding photo with Kip— we got married last Septem-ber after living together for 40 years. Another photo is from a senior retreat in 1999 with some of my old faculty pals (Duncan Lyon ’87, a UHS graduate; Sudie Sides; Rebecca Whitney; Pierre Larzul; and Rob Spivack), all of whom have moved on—except for me!”

Listen Textbook“This is the seventh edition of a book I started teaching when it was in its first edition in 1980! By now, generations of Civ students have survived it. I like it because it explains everything for the music impaired. We started out using texts with LPs, then graduated to cassettes, then CDs, and now we’re online with mp3s and no hardware at all. Times change.”

Triptych“This is one of the many art-related souvenirs I’ve received from appreciative Civ students, this one brought back from Ghent, Belgium. Rachel [Damian] actually uses it every year to show students how a triptych works and I sometimes use it to identify different ranks of clergy by their hats. Actually, it’s a recreation of a van Eyck piece saved by ‘The Monuments Men.’”

Western Civ Quizzes“We just finished our first rotation of the year in Civ, which is when kids meet in small groups. This first rotation was on Greek music, and this was our first listening quiz. Next, the kids will meet in the big group to learn about the Roman Empire. Greece was actually just added to curriculum a few years ago, on advice of Mark Burford ’85, who now teaches at Reed College in Oregon.”

Sheet Music“Right now I’m adapting a piece for the UHS Orchestra, a medley from Les Miserables, to accommodate our instruments: two pianos with eight hands, strings, one trumpet, and two flutes. I’m using the Sibelius program: I play on a keyboard and the notes then appear on my laptop screen. Once I’m happy with the piece I’ve created, I can then print it out on sheet music. In this case, the final product will be performed by the Orchestra at the Fall Concert.”

Obama Tchotchkes“I’ve always been a very enthusiastic supporter of the President, and a novelty shop in my neighborhood started putting out these candles with his image superimposed over that of a saint! My partner Kip and I have also spent the last several Christmases with friends who live down the street from the Obamas in Hawaii, so we check in with the Secret Service regularly over the holidays. We got the bobblehead from a shop there.”


New on Campus

Introducing Our New Faculty and Staff

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1Anitra Busby joins UHS as part of our reception desk team, where she will greet school visitors and parents in the afternoons and evenings. Anitra will also be helping out in the Summerbridge office. A graduate of Skyline College with an AS in Respiratory Therapy, Allied Health, and Natural Science, she is currently pursuing her BS at San Francisco State University in Health Education. Anitra previ-ously worked as the personal assistant and office manager for the president of Skyline.

2Lisa Carroll, an artist and teacher from Oakland, joins our Art Department this year and will teach one section of painting each semester. She has a BA from Boston College and an MFA from Stanford. Lisa has taught at a variety of camps, colleges, and programs and regularly exhibits her work in galleries around the Bay Area; she is currently the owner of Lilu Constructions, an interior design firm.

3Cara Fromherz joined the UHS Admissions Office over the summer, where she is the admissions assistant. Cara graduated from the University of Missouri with a BA in Journalism and Film Studies, and she previously worked as a film production assistant and, most recently, as an administrative assistant and research associate at BioQuest, Inc.

4Tilda Kapuya joins UHS this fall as our director of multicultural education. Tilda taught in the English Department at Urban for 15 years, leading the department as chair for five years. In addition to her classroom work, Tilda contributed to Urban’s efforts around multicultural education, cultural competency standards for faculty and staff, student affinity groups, and supporting students of color.

5Peter King joined the Development Office at UHS as the develop-ment associate this summer, after previously working as an office assistant in the Pacific School of Religion’s Office of Institutional Advancement. Peter also has experience working as an analyst and a public school teacher. He holds a BA from Brown University and a Master’s of Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion.

6We are pleased to welcome Susan Osgood as our new accounts payable/ human resource specialist in the Business Office. Susan has experience in business office operations, accounting/bookkeeping, and professional organizing. She graduated from Ithaca College in New York with a BA in Religion/Religious Studies and a minor in Art History.

7After joining University this past spring to teach part-time in the Science Department, Kelly Peach will continue at UHS this year as a chemistry instructor and a ninth-grade mentor. Kelly received her BA in Chemistry from Whitman College and her PhD from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She was previously a teaching assistant at Santa Cruz and a lecturer at San Francisco State University.

8Lisa Pollack joined UHS last spring as the school counselor, and we are pleased to announce that she returns to this role as a permanent member of our staff. Lisa has a BA from Brown University and an MA in Clinical Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She has years of experience as a clinician and care manager for different Bay Area organizations and is currently a psychothera-pist in private practice.

9University welcomes Joanna Ro as a full-time member of our English Department this fall. Joanna has an extensive background in independent schools, having previously taught at Marlborough School, Phillips Exeter Academy, and Westminster School (CT). She has a BA from the University of Michigan and an MA from the Breadloaf School at Middlebury College.

10After teaching at UHS part-time from 2005–2008, we are pleased to welcome David Roth back to campus to teach economics and math. David’s résumé includes years as a research and consulting econo-mist, serving as an assistant professor of economics at Santa Clara University and the University of Michigan, and working as a research scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. He spent the last four years teaching math and economics at the Jewish Community High School of the Bay, and holds a BA from the University of California at Berkeley and a PhD from Yale.

11Jenny Schneider joined the UHS College Counseling team this summer, where she serves as the senior associate director of college counseling. Jenny was previously a college counselor at Thayer Academy in Massachusetts. She received a BA from Middlebury College (where she also worked in the admissions office) and an EdM in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard. In addition to college counseling, Jenny will be a ninth-grade mentor.

12Andrew Williams (UHS ’00) returns to his alma mater to join Mollie Crittenden in the Community Engagement program and also to serve as a ninth-grade mentor. Andrew has a BA in Urban Studies from San Francisco State University and is in the process of complet-ing his EdM from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he has specialized in youth development and engagement programs. Andrew has done extensive work in the field of community engage-ment in the US Peace Corps, at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, and at the Urban School.


new on campus continued...

Introducing Our New Trustees

LINDA BURCHLinda Burch is a co-founder and chief education and strategy officer of Common Sense Media, a non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology. Linda is a widely sought-after speaker on digital learning and kids’ media and technology use. She has served on the non-partisan Digital Learning Council established by former governors Jeb Bush and Bob Wise, the Games and Learning Publishing Council sponsored by the Gates Foundation, and the Annenberg Sunnylands Math Strategy Group. Previously, Linda was senior vice president of business develop-ment and corporate planning at SyStemix, one of the first stem cell biotech start-ups. From 1985 to 1990, she was a strategic management consultant at McKinsey & Company in New York, where she served healthcare and consumer products companies and prior to that she spent five years in investment bank-ing at Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch, where she negotiated joint ventures between U.S. technology companies and the People’s Republic of China.

Linda received her MBA from Stanford University and her Bachelor’s degree in East Asian Studies from Yale. Linda grew up on the East Coast but lived abroad for big chunks of her childhood—on a tiny island in the Greek Dodecanese in the ’60s and in Taipei, Taiwan, during the ’70s. Linda served as board chair at Pacific Primary during a strategic planning phase that resulted in expansion of the school to a second site. At San Francisco Day School, she chaired the Parent Education Committee; Culturefest, the annual tuition assistance fundraiser; and served on the communications committee for the strategic plan. Linda and her husband, Rajen Dalal, moved to the Bay Area from New York in 1991. They live in the Mission and have two children: Sophie (UHS ’12), a sophomore at Brown, and Kavi (UHS ’17).

PENNY COULTERPenny Coulter graduated from the University of Virginia with a major in Psychology. She continued her education in the field of design at Parsons School of Design. Penny is a former proprietor of HBS, a New Orleans-based antique store, specializing in 17th- and 18th-century French antiques. In addition, she worked as a professional interior designer.

Penny currently serves as managing director of Coulter Management Investments and focuses on nonprofit organizations. She has served on various boards over the years, including The Little School, Summer Search San Francisco and Summer Search National, The College Foundation for the University of Virginia, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and The California Academy of Sciences. Addition-ally, she has served on the selection committee for the Jefferson Scholar program at the University of Virginia, has chaired numerous fundraisers for organizations, and serves on the Council of the Serpentine Gallery in London. Penny resides in San Francisco with her husband, Jim, and their three children: Saer (UHS ’09), Audrey (UHS ’11), and Wyeth (UHS ’16).


MATT FARRON ’98Matt Farron ’98 is a principal at Gryphon Investors, a San Francisco based middle-market private equity firm. Since joining Gryphon in 2005 as an associate, Matt has been focused on the consumer and retail sectors and is responsible for Gryphon’s investments in Flagstone Foods, K&N Engineering, and Sheplers. Matt serves on Gryphon’s Investment Review Committee and leads the firm’s pre-MBA as-sociate recruiting efforts. Prior to joining Gryphon, Matt was an analyst in the Corporate and Leveraged Finance group at CIBC World Markets in New York, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions, as well as debt and equity financings for middle-market companies. A San Francisco native, Matt graduated from University High School and is a proud alumnus of Summerbridge. Following UHS, Matt attended Boston University, where he graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Business Ad-ministration, concentrating in Finance and Accounting. Since returning to San Francisco in 2005, Matt has been involved with a number of nonprofits, including Year Up, Tipping Point, and Breakthrough National (formerly Summerbridge National). Currently, Matt serves on the Leadership Council for Year Up Bay Area, a position he has held for three years. Matt currently lives in Pacific Heights with his wife Jessica, who is a marketing director at Gap Inc.

CAROLYN LANGELIERCarolyn Langelier was raised in Miami, FL, and moved to San Francisco 16 years ago from Boston, MA. Carolyn is a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of Tufts University, and holds a JD from Columbia Law School. Following law school, Carolyn represented foreign and domestic corporations in merg-ers and acquisitions at WilmerHale (formerly Hale and Dorr) in Boston, MA. In 1991, she left Hale and Dorr to join Bob Woolf Associates, Inc. a Boston-based national sports and talent agency. As president of the media division and general counsel, she negotiated contracts and business relationships for television and radio talent and negotiated syndicated, network, and first-run television series. After moving to San Francisco in 1998, Carolyn continued her practice through private business consulting for individuals, small corporations, and partnerships. Subsequently, she also became involved in volunteering at her daughters’ schools in a variety of positions. Most recently, Carolyn has served as co-chair of the Annual Fund at UHS (2010, 2014, and 2015) and chaired several committees on the Showcase House. She also serves as a member of the Volunteer Leadership Committee at Tufts University. Carolyn and her husband Bill have two daughters: Jackie (UHS ’12) and Katie (UHS ’16).

LYNN POOLELynn Poole is a vice president and portfolio manager at Dodge & Cox Investment Managers in San Francisco, where she has worked since 1987. The firm manages over $200 billion in mutual funds and separate accounts for institutions and individuals. Lynn began as an equity analyst before becom-ing a portfolio manager. She is a member of the firm’s Consumer Healthcare Stock Selection Committee and Private Client Group Investment Policy Committee, and is head of the firm’s Private Client Group. Lynn has been active in several nonprofit organizations and independent schools. She is currently serving on the Board of Trustees of the Town School for Boys on its executive committee and as Board secretary. Previously, Lynn was the chair of the Katherine Delmar Burke School’s Board of Trustees. She is also currently on the investment committees for Castilleja School and SPUR. Lynn received her MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and her AB in Economics from Stanford University. She and her husband, Ed, have two children: Sara (UHS ’14) and Mike (UHS ’18).


See the calendar at right to get a sense of what the UHS Alumni Association can offer you in the coming year. Alumni news and events will continue to be disseminated through a monthly e-newsletter, so be sure to keep your email contact information up-to-date with the Alumni Office. Log onto the website (www.sfuhs.org/alumni) or email Holly Johnson ’82 at [email protected] to make updates.

Alumni Association Newsby Holly Johnson ’82, Director of Alumni Relations

Last year was a premium year for alumni engagement, and this year promises to bring even more opportunities for alumni to feel the support of their alma mater. As the school enters a strategic planning phase, there is room for increased alumni involvement in issues big and small. We had a wonderful time visiting alums in the Los Angeles and New York areas last spring and summer and look forward to a trip to Boston this winter.


April28 Alumni Career Day for

UHS Juniors and Seniors

TBD Admissions Information Session for Alumni—“Under-standing the Independent School Admissions Process” with Director of Admissions Aaron Mieszczanski

May8 Alumni Night at

Decorator Showcase, ▶ 5:00–7:00 p.m.

9 Alumni Baseball at Paul Goode Field ▶ Time TBD

9 Reunion Night for Classes Ending in ’0 and ’5, ▶ 6:00–9:00 p.m. at uhs

June1 Commencement, Class of 2015

August12 Summer Send-Off BBQ

for Class of 2014, ▶ 12:00 p.m.

September16 Networking and

Entrepreneurs Club Meeting, ▶ 6:00 p.m.

October2 Alumni Seminar—Russian

Literature with Scott Laughlin, ▶ 6:00 p.m.

14 Alumni Annual Fund Kick-off, ▶ 6:00 p.m.

November27 Turkey Kick-About

Alumni Soccer Game at Kimball Field, ▶ 10:00 a.m.

Alumni Calendar 2014 –2015 Please check the website for updated and new information.

December4 Alumni Seminar

with Dr. Robert Sapolsky, Stanford professor, MacArthur Grant recipient, and UHS parent ▶ 6:30 p.m.

6 Alumni group to see Kinky Boots at the Orpheum Theater, with backstage tour following the show, ▶ 8:00 p.m.

18 Holiday Reunion at the Tres Tequila Lounge (130 Townsend Street), ▶ 6:00–9:00 p.m.

22 Alumni Badminton Match at UHS, ▶ 5:00 p.m.

23 Alumni Holiday Hoops Fest at UHS, ▶ 1:00–5:00 p.m.

January15 Alumni Seminar—

Western Civ ▶ 6:00 p.m.

TBD Alumni Networking and Entrepreneurs Club meeting, ▶ 6:00 p.m.

TBD UHS vs. Lick-Wilmerding Basketball Games at Oracle Arena

February27 Boston Area Reunion,

location/time TBD

March5 Alumni Teaching Fellowship

Applications Due


1977Milton Marks passed away in 2012, and his family has come up with a wonderful way to remember him: the first Milton Marks Neuro-Oncology Family Camp weekend took place in October. Although there are family camps for children with pediatric illnesses, the Marks family believes that this was the first family camp in the US to help families cope with parental illness. For more information, please visit miltonmarksfamilycamp.org.

1979Chris Boas, Bruce Callander, Catherine Calvert, Doug Gorney, Helen MacDonald Hobbs, Shelley Tatum Kieran, Mark Kushner, Lauren MacColl Maass, Bill McLeod, Jennifer Feldman Ranahan, Web Stone, and Marc Zegans all attended the 35th Class Reunion at UHS last May. It was fun to have the first four-year class back on campus!

Marc Zegans writes: “I moved to Santa Cruz about a year and a half ago. I’m loving it down here. I continue my practice as a creative development advisor, working with artists, writers, musicians, actors, directors, and other creative types. I just launched the new site for my practice as a creative development advisor, with the help of the inimitable Colby Devitt ’82—check it out at mycreativeedevelopment.com.

1980 Your 35th Class Reunion is on May 9! If you can help us find mailing addresses for James Abrams, Peter Brigham, Laura Kirkpatrick-Dib, Daiju Mita, Craig Mosteller, Fenton Wardle, or Eric Wong, please email [email protected].

It was great to see Thomas DeFrantz at the holiday reunion and hear about his work at Duke University, where he is a professor of African American studies, dance, and theater.

Robert Pincus lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two daughters, but works as a research scientist for the University of Colorado and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. We were glad to have a chance to meet with Robert while in New York last June and hear his thoughts about science education and climate change!

Greg Sucherman and a business partner have a new venture: Company Choir uses the formation of a company choir as a team building and communications tactic exercise. After working for 25 years for Universal Studios, he is excited by the challenges of this new endeavor.

1981The Class of 1981 has a big presence behind the scenes of television entertainment. Head of School Julia Russell Eells, Director of Development Shaundra Bason, and Director of Alumni Relations Holly Johnson ’82 had a blast hearing about Amy Lippman’s work on the current hit HBO series Masters of Sex and her life in the LA area with her husband and teenaged son. We also met Drew Vaupen and heard about his path to becoming an Emmy-nominated television writer and producer.

1982Seth Farber treated the UHS team to a traditional Harvard Club breakfast in New York last June and shared his perspective on independent schools back East.

Jenny Rosenthal Hitchings didn’t consider herself an athlete in high school, even though she played soccer and was a founding member of the swim team. But as an adult, she has proven to be a tough competitor! In April, Jenny placed second in her age group at the Boston Marathon, coming in impressively under three hours with a time of 2:58:38, averaging 6:49-minute miles. She was also the 113th woman to cross the finish line. And that’s not even Jenny’s fastest marathon time—she ran the Eugene Marathon in 2:46:10 in 2011!

Erin Cressida Wilson co-wrote the screen-play for a new movie Men, Women & Children, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and was widely released in October. Erin and Jason Reitman adapted the screenplay from the novel by Chad Kultgen. The movie stars Rosemarie DeWitt, Jennifer Garner, Judy Greer, Dean Norris, and Adam Sandler as a group of high schoolers and their parents navigating life, love, and relationships in the age of social media and online obsession.

Helene Zindarsian performed “A Night in Armenia,” traditional Armenian songs celebrating the cycle of life, at the Filarmonica Laudamo di Messina in Sicily last March. She performed with some of Sicily’s most acclaimed musicians in the original production by the Messina Philharmonic.

1984The Class of 1984 had a terrific turnout at the 30th Reunion last May. It was great to see Laurence Alvarez-Roos, Robert Anderson, E.T. Tilden Baier, Kristina Boscoe, Steve Crump, Stefanie Fenton, Margaret Grohne, Fred Hamber, Laurette Slawson Hartigan, Lindsay Mace Joost, Phil Kaplan, Jamie Lieberman, Ted Maher, Eve Maremont, Aimee Grauman Nalle, Sam Palmer, Jason Parke, Jennifer Reese, Amy Silverstein, Kathy Tom Engle, Scott Vaupen, Ellie Brigham Wehlen, Sara Hansen Wilson, Grant Winfrey, Elizabeth Wong, and Grant Young back on campus.

Class Notesby Holly Johnson ’82, Director of Alumni Relations

FALL 2014

These class notes include information submitted through September 16, 2014. Please submit your news by email to [email protected] or by mail. Photographs are welcome and will be returned upon request. Digital images should be of high resolution for printing. Remember that the Alumni Office is here to help you network with other alumni and connect with old friends. The password-protected online directory can be reached by logging in at www.sfuhs.org/alumni (click on the “Log In” button at the top of the page). Thank you for keeping in touch!


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(1) Dennis Collins with the Class of 1979.

(2) Seth Farber ’82 met Head of School Julia Russell Eells in New York.

(3) The official poster for Erin Cressida Wilson ’82’s latest film, Men, Women, & Children.

(4) Ed Lovett, Anne Tolpegin, and Paul Gordon represent the Class of 1988 at the New York reunion.

(5) Maury Sterling ’89 with Director of Alumni Relations Holly Johnson ’82 and Director of Development Shaundra Bason in Los Angeles.

(6) John Saroyan ’89 sent in this charming photo for his classmates at their 25th reunion.

(7) Karla Romero ’93’s baby daughter.

(8) The Class of 1994 at their 20th reunion in May.

(9) David Wright ’93 in New York.

(10) Robert Reffkin ’97 and his wife, Benis, with Sasha Rich ’96 and Brant Wong ’94 at the New York reunion.

(11) Veronica Roberts, Maggie Sloan, and Kelly Johnson represent the Class of 1994 at Alumni Night at Decorator Showcase last May.

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Laurence Alvarez-Roos writes: “Married, two daughters, live in Truckee and Patago-nia—summer to summer … the endless chase of the sun and fun has not eased up! I’m still raft guiding and just started a brewery in Chile making ‘fu brew!’”

Anne Robinson Woods submitted this note: “I am very happily married to Montgomery Woods ’85! We live in San Francisco with a daughter at Burke’s and a son at Town School.”

1985Your 30th Class Reunion is on May 9! If you can help us find mailing addresses for Christian du Lac, Tracy Filler, Mary Irwin, Raji Khabbaz, John Ross, Gabrielle Shek, or Paul Slawson, please email [email protected].

Nina Lenzner Evison gave the UHS team the low-down on NYC suburbs and the interior design world in Bronxville. Such a treat to meet her twice in New York!

Lincoln Mitchell parlayed his academic expertise into a fascinating career as political consultant (think George Stephanapoulos) in Georgia (the country). It was so interesting to hear about his work while UHS was in New York last June.

Maryam Mohit and her business partner, Claudine Ryan, realized that the way friends and families share personal recommendations for service providers could be made more efficient through a social media platform, so they got busy launching a startup. GemShare is an app for a platform upon which users can easily build a network of trusted personal contacts in order to share recommendations for people such as physical therapists, plumbers, and contractors. The two were featured in a Forbes.com article last spring and have already impressed venture capital backers to the tune of $1.2 million. Congrats, Maryam!

Page Rosenberg-Marvin spent a morning with the UHS team in Los Angeles last April. Page has forged a career in movie produc-tion, including work on such hit films as Anchorman (2004) and Thor (2011).

1986Dr. Louise Greenspan has just published a book about how girls today are entering puberty earlier than in previous generations. Louise is a pediatric endocrinologist at

UCSF and Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco. She co-wrote The New Puberty with Dr. Juliana Deardorff, an adolescent psychologist. In the book, they explain why girls are developing at a faster rate, and describe the role of triggers such as obesity, stress at home, antibiotics that mimic hormones, and natural ingredients such as lavender and tea tree oil. They also look at substances such as hormones in dairy and meat products and soy, which are commonly blamed. The book includes practical strategies for helping to offset and manage early puberty. The authors were bestowed the 2013 Community Breast Cancer Research Award for their work.

1987Jack Bernstein manages the IMDB arm of Amazon.com in Los Angeles. The UHS team had a great time meeting him for lunch in April.

Jennifer Kaufman had a site-specific installation as part of the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art’s show on emerging artists of the Bay Area in March.

1988Maya Browne says she has retired from producing feature films (such as Ray and Humble Pie) to devote her fundraising skills to The Door, a nonprofit agency that serves homeless and runaway young people (primarily high school-aged) in New York City. Maya serves on the board of directors and helps fund housing, health care, educa-tion, and food for the agency’s clients. She says the UHS tradition of community service really stuck with her!

Anne Tolpegin was cast in the first national tour of Kinky Boots, Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein’s 2013 Tony Award-winning musical. The tour launched in Las Vegas in September and will be in San Francisco at the Orpheum for almost all of December.

Head of School Julia Russell Eells, Director of Development Shaundra Bason, and Director of Alumni Relations Holly Johnson ’82 had a wonderful lunch with Anne Tolpegin, Jennifer Braunschweiger, and Shereif Meleis, followed by coffee with Jennifer Rogers ’91, while in New York last June. Over at Lincoln Center, Ed Lovett gave the trio a view into the flourishing art scene in New York, including the news that his employer, the New York Philhar-

class notes continued...

monic, had just premiered Anthony Cheung ’00’s composition!

1989What a treat to see Alex Afterman, Jennifer Bunshoft Pergher, Katherine Cardinal, Bob Curry, Sam Bley DeJean, Jen Huret Dulski, Oscar Flores, Anne Fung, Sam Graff, Paul Haas, Will Hartley, Ericka Jennings, Elena Reilly Madsen, Miller McCord-Collier, Alissa Kingsbury McLean, Elaine Mecken-stock, Charlotte Stimson Ottley, Matt Glaspell Peek, Ethan Schram, Liz Siggins, Naomi Soffa, JoAnna Soffa, Steph Lorda Terry, Amy McConnell Wolf, and Michelle Woo Bowman back at school for their 25th Reunion last May!

Anne Fung writes: “I have dramatically reduced my clinical practice to take a medical director position with Genentech to focus more on retinal disease research. The sudden immersion in corporate culture with an eight-month-old and a two-and-a-half-year-old are certainly keeping me busy!”

Ericka Jennings, her husband Eric and daughters Amelia (eight) and Tilda (four) were very pleased to move to a new home in Oakland, up the hill on Skyline Boulevard last summer. She was excited to work with the many sustainably oriented vendors she partners with at Green Key Real Estate, the company she and Eric own, on her own home, using sustainable permaculture design in the backyard, no/low VOCs inside, and local products when possible. After moving in, Ericka’s family is looking forward to hiking in Redwood Regional Park across the street and exploring all that the hills offer.

Matt Peek is an architect in San Francisco. His “Flood-Proof House” was recently selected as one of the 15 most beautiful houses in America and is the recipient of the AIA California Design Award.

It’s been a busy year for Maury Sterling! He married Alexis Boozer on May 10, 2014, and is guest starring in the new CBS series Extant, along with Halle Berry. He also stars in the science fiction movie, Coherence, which was released in June. The UHS team had a blast meeting Maury for breakfast in Los Angeles last April.

Amy McConnell Wolf writes: “Living the good life with my two soccer-playing, ski-loving kids and outdoorsy hubby in Burlingame. Working in the digital media/


UHS caught up with Max Osterweis, who created SUNO, a womenswear clothing label, in New York. The clothing is made with unique textiles, much of which were sourced from India, Kenya, and Peru, and SUNO has made a name for itself as high-end fashion with a conscience. The label was the 2013 Winner of the CFDA Swarovski Award for Womenswear. Check it out at www.sunony.com.

Michael Khanh Tran is an ophthalmologist in Orange County, where he lives with his wife and two children.

1993Karla Romero writes: “Alexa Eve Ricketts was born on May 13, 2014. She weighed 6lbs, 7oz and was 19.5 inches long. In early August, we made a trip to California to introduce Alexa to friends and family. Kristen Wall; Jenie Wall; and Cartlina Lee, visiting from Korea, were all able to meet our newest addition.” Karla and her husband, Rob Ricketts, live in Maryland with baby Alexa and big brother Robert.

content marketing space at Stanford. Doing nonprofit work on the side, finding ways to do good in the community. Raising backyard chickens and lots of veggies. Cycling and swimming lots (no more running). Psyched to see you all!”

*Late-breaking news! Amy and her family just relocated to Basel, Switzerland in September!

1990Save the date! Your 25th Class Reunion is on May 9! If you can help us find mailing addresses for Mei Lin Hom, Lenna Gostan-ian Hovanessian, Daniel Hunt, Jeremiah Levy, Andrienne Ness, Brett Norris, Blake Robin, Noriko Tamura Sasaki, or James Whitmire, please email [email protected].

Gabriel Levy couldn’t make it to the New York alumni events last June, but he shared an update. After earning his BA from Columbia College and MBA from Harvard, he’s been an executive in the music and fashion industries. Today he is chief marketing officer at Tinker

Tailor (www.tinkertailor.com), a fashion website he co-founded. Tinker Tailor gives customers access to designer clothing that can be customized.

1991Alice Clements introduced the UHS team to the Silver Lake neighborhood in Los Angeles when we were there in April. Alice is a working artist and art teacher.

Rozz Nash and her family moved to Oakland from Brooklyn in August. We’ll expect to see a lot of Rozz though her dance, music, and multicultural education projects now that she’s close by! Welcome home!

1992Maren Brehm Montalbano was the music director for the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire last summer and says she enjoyed the creative process of planning and auditioning the acts. She has a vibrant career in music, performing early to modern genres.

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(1) Sarah Matthay ’94 shared this cute photo with her classmates for their reunion.

(2) Jennifer Massie ’95 and her husband, Eric Sage.

(3) Luke Miner ’96’s baby.

(4) The New York Times featured this photo of the costumes and set designed by Tauba Auerbach ’99.

(5) Melissa Holman-Kursky ’99 had a baby boy!

(6) Anthony Yu ’99 and Celeste Young ’90 at the New York reunion.



(1) Diana Ziola ’99 recently married her now-husband Daniel Jansson.

(2) The Class of 1999 at their 15th reunion.

(3) Ed Lovett ’88 at the Lincoln Center with a poster featuring the performance of Anthony Cheung ’00.

(4) A postcard from Julia Westerbeke ’99’s recent solo show in Brooklyn.

(5) Nick Fram ’02 and his wife, Victoria, with Civ teacher Rachel Damien and Tom McKinley ’02 at the New York reunion.

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David Wright is paving his own path back to the Bay Area after forging his hedge fund career in New York.

1994Twenty years are nothing to the Class of 1994, who had nearly half their class—plus significant others—at the reunion last May! It was great to see Malvina Yampolsky Baker, Iain Baker, Drew Burns, Eric Chan, Ben Choi, Canby Cohen, Claudine Delagnes-Muzzy, Stephen Dirkes, Alexis Gallagher, Andrew Gilson, Rachel Greenblatt, J.P. Harbour, Thea Hashagen, Katy Hayes, Eleanor Hicks, Kelly Johnson, Grace Kline, Amy Levine Seff, Anne Moffet Ciranni, Mary Shen O’Carroll, Scott Okamoto, Nina Geneson Otis, Nick Parker, Veronica Roberts, Katharine Rogers, Justin Shek, Maggie Sloan de Lloret, Carrie Spring, Kristi Straus, Toby Linnett Swope, Cameron Tana, Jaime Teevan, Jeffrey Terraciano, Greg Ulin, Jade Van Doren, Vladimir Vinarsky, Julayne Austin Virgil, Tyler Walker, and Sarah Barber Wilson on campus. Many thanks to reunion organizers Mary Shen O’Carroll and J.P. Harbour, in addition to others who rallied the troops. Thanks to the

enthusiasm, people traveled from far and wide (Maggie from Mexico City, Vlad from Boston, Jamie from Seattle, Malvina from NY, Veronica from Austin), and Amy Levine Seff celebrated her birthday. Sorely missed were Brant Wong, who had just adopted a baby with his partner, David, in New York, and Melanie Ward, who also wanted to join from Ohio, but just had a baby.

Eric Chan writes: “Enjoying life with our recent addition to our family, Melody, born on January 15, 2014. Our family of four is certainly keeping us busy!”

Ben Choi shares that “my wife, Lydia, and I moved to Palo Alto two years ago—who knew the sun shines outside of San Fran-cisco before noon?! Life is full with our twin four- year-old boys and careers at Adobe and Google. If you’ve ever read a magazine on the iPad, you’ve probably used an app made by Adobe’s Digital Publishing Suite, where I’m senior director of product management. On the UHS front, I still keep close tabs on Prajna Murdaya (whose bag still overflows with gadgets and whose heart remains brimming with idealism) and Lawrence Hon (whose hair seems to only get more unruly and who still tackles life with equanimity).”

Alexis Gallagher: “After 20 years of living in Boston, New York, Milan, Oxford, and London, I’m back. Hello again, San Francisco.”

J.P. Harbour wrote prior to reunion last year that he was looking forward to the 20th Reunion, still single in San Francisco, and celebrating six years of running his own law firm, the Law Office of J.P. Harbour.

Silvie Jensen reports that she was awarded second place in the 38th Annual Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Solo Competition! “The final concert was really beautiful, with each of the eight finalists singing two oratorio arias. I sang ‘The Angel’s Farewell’ from Elgar ’s Dream of Gerontius, and ‘Fac ut Portem,’ from Rossini’s Stabat Mater. It was a great honor to win and, as always, a pleasure to sing in Weill Hall at Carnegie. I recently posted my demo recording for the competition to SoundCloud, so check it out at: www.tinyurl.com/silvie-song-prize.” Silvie will be making her official Carnegie Hall debut singing as the alto soloist in the Messiah at Carnegie Hall with Musica Sacra on December 23, 2014.

Amy Levine Seff is keeping busy with her (almost) five-year-old twins and work.

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Sarah Barber Wilson writes: “Hi ,’94 Classmates! I retired from my 12-year professional dancing career in 2004 and currently live at the base of Mount Tam in Mill Valley with Jason; our three girls, who are nine years, seven years, and 18 months; our dog, Fallon; a hamster; and fish—busy but so fun.”

1995Your 20th Class Reunion is on May 9! If you can help us find mailing addresses for Rose Dakin, Jeffrey Grigg, Adam Holroyde, Andreas Ihlebaek, Jeannine Murray-Roman, Youngik Paik, or Wayne Walker-Wilson, please email [email protected].

Jennifer Massie reports: “I was married on May 4, 2014 at the Marin Art and Garden Center to my sweetheart, Eric Sage. Wendy Kwok and Rose Dakin, also from the UHS Class of 1995, were present. We live in San Lorenzo, CA. He is a developer support engineer at Sony, working on the PlaySta-tion team, and I am a case manager for children under three with developmental disabilities (and recently got my social work license!). I suppose I should also mention that since we are both such geeks, every table at the wedding was named after a board game.”

1996Luke Miner and his wife, Jessica Powell, welcomed baby Cole Cannonball Powell-Miner to the world on May 6, 2014.

1997Jesse Eisenhardt and Eric Wong co- produced a commercial to enter in an online video contest and won the grand prize! The commercial is for an online glasses retailer, Zenni Optical. Jesse and Eric wrote the commercial together, Jesse shot and colored it, and Eric directed and edited it. It should also be noted that Jesse’s son is the star.

Duggan Jensen says he’s working out the best Scarsdale/Manhattan commute for his investment banking job and shared one important lesson with the UHS team in June: don’t get a house with too long of a driveway to shovel!

1998Sabrina Adler and Valerie Moy ’01 got to perform the national anthem with their

singing group, Musae, at the Giants game on Wednesday, April 30.

Michael Zussman reports: “My wife Alana and I are thrilled to welcome Jonah Henry Zussman, our first child, born on April 13. We can’t imagine life without him! The family lives in Brooklyn, NY. I also recently joined the intellectual property law firm Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard as

“of counsel” after managing my own firm for three years.”

1999Mollie Allick, Chris Baker, David Castle, David Denning, Colin Federle, Eric Fischer, Diana Ziola Jansson, James Joun, Louise Davis Langheier, Anna Morser, Allyson Peracca, Linden Bader Rees, Naomi Sakamoto, Ben Sloan, Jonathan Spring, Adam Thorman, Charles Thornton, and Megan Vanneman celebrated their 15 years since graduation with a great reunion in May.

Tauba Auerbach’s art was the backdrop for a new work by the Royal Ballet last spring. Her sets and costumes for Tetractys, which was set to Bach’s “The Art of Fugue,” featured a changing array of body-tights and hanging neon-type geometric light shapes against a black void, according to the New York Times.

Maggie Danielson moved back to the Bay Area after 15 years in New York with her family, including a new baby! Welcome home!

Melissa Holman-Kursky writes: “My husband Paul and I welcomed our son Leo on June 14. I’m lucky to get a full maternity year from The San Francisco School, where I teach fourth grade, so will spend this year with Leo and return to the classroom in the fall of 2015.” On parenting, she added,

“We’re both thrilled and exhausted . . . who knew there was something harder than Western Civ?”

Julia Westerbeke had a solo show at A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn in September. Her show, Morphology, consists of drawing-based work, with drawings collaged into shadow boxes and installations. Julia lives in Brooklyn. She received her MFA from UC San Diego.

Anthony Yu couldn’t make it back to Reunion this year, but got a big dose of UHS while the team was in New York in June. He says he sees lots of UHS alums around town.

Diana Ziola married Daniel Jansson on April 19 in Half Moon Bay, in front of their closest family and friends. Diana’s bridesmaids included classmates Melissa Holman-Kursky and Sophie Saviano, as well as Jenny Spring, wife of Jon Spring. Diana and her husband live in San Francisco, and she works at nearby Genentech.

2000Your 15th Class Reunion is on May 9! If you can help us find mailing addresses for Robert Banovac, Paloma Flores, Jay Hukahori, Talia Jefferson, Patricio Pace, Adriana Perez, Eric Song, Eli Taylor, Astra Teller, Caleb Vognsen, or Daniel Zier, please email [email protected].

John Beshears co-authored a paper published by the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization in November 2013,

“Simplification and Saving,” which argues that simplifying retirement plan options can greatly increase enrollment rates. John is an assistant professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

Anthony Cheung gathered great accolades last summer in New York for his perfor-mance as a pianist with the Talea Ensemble, of which he is the artistic director. The New York Times also lauded Anthony’s composition “Lyra,” which was performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra earlier in June, writing: “Mr. Cheung’s shimmering score makes a persuasive case for the Orpheus myth as part of a global collective consciousness.”

Nathan Rayman ’00 lives in New York, where he is a visual artist and gallery owner and father of a toddler named Eloïse.

2001Melina Denebeim Robbana is the new program director for financial studies at Columbia University Business School in New York.

2002Nick Fram and his wife, Victoria, are making plans to relocate to the Bay Area after his clerkship at the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Newark, NJ.

2003Hallie Chen teaches architecture design and building to eighth graders in Berkeley. Her class raised $78,000 on Kickstarter to build



(1) Michael Gorelik ’03 in front of the Google building in Manhattan.

(2) Micki Baron ’04 at her wedding to husband Jamie Hiteshew.

(3) Amelie Lipman ’04 in Midtown.

(4) Members of the Class of 2004 at their 10th reunion.

(5) Rozz Nash ’91 and Natalie Duong ’06 are both choreographers who are moving from New York back to the Bay Area; they got to meet at the New York reunion in June.

(6) Members of the Class of 2009 who attended their fifth reunion.

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out a library space they named X-Space and fill it with a novel shelving design called STAX and 3,000 books. Hallie writes: “After leaving UHS endowed with a strong sense of social responsibility and critical thinking skills, I went on to UC Berkeley to study urban planning and development, and from there pursued a Master’s of Architec-ture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. I am currently teaching

“Studio H”—a design and building course—to 108 eighth-grade students at REALM, a public school in Berkeley.”

Michael Gorelik loves his job at Google Inc. in New York and the UHS team had a fun glimpse of his life at the hot tech company.

Alon Neidich recently graduated from Tufts University School of Medicine. He will begin a general surgery residency in St. Louis.

Ben Tarnoff’s book, The Bohemians, got a great review in the “Briefly Noted” section of the June 23, 2014, issue of The New Yorker. Ben’s book is about the 1860’s San Francisco literary scene of Bret Harte and Mark Twain; The New Yorker says it “sings with the humor

and expansiveness of his subjects’ prose, capturing the intoxicating atmosphere of possibility that defined, for a time, America’s frontier.”

200410 years after graduation, it was great to see Micki Baron, Bagna Braestrup, Myles Danielsen, Stephanie Eng, Matt Fitzsimons, Nora Handsher, Spencer Hill, Daniel Katz, Julia Kropp, Sydney LaLonde, Kevin Lee, Anna Elsohn Levin, Yuki Lin, Amelie Lipman, Erin Lum, Courtney Mattison, Lauren Moon, Jonah Platt-Ross, Emily Proud, Spencer Sherwin, Gillian Smelick, Nini Spalding, Matt Thirr, Christien Tompkins, Joanna Tong, Kseniya Tuchinskaya, Ali Wiezbowski, Ward Wolff, and Christina Yang on campus last May.

Micki Baron married Jamie Hiteshew in San Francisco on September 7, 2014.

Colin Feuille is a resident in internal medicine at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. We had a great time hearing about school and what his siblings are up to when visiting in New York!

Samantha Hennessy is living in New York, where she works for Google as the regional manager for the Employee Social Responsi-bility team covering their US East Coast, Canada, and Africa offices.

Amelie Lipman is working with Habitat for Humanity in New York. She gave us some great insight into the life of a young alum in Manhattan last June!

Evan Shalen graduated from Boston University Medical School in May and moved back to the Bay Area to do an internal medicine residency at UCSF.

Kseniya Tuchinskaya writes: “I recently returned to the Bay Area after living and working abroad for eight months in Turkey and Spain. I’m currently working as an employment services associate at Upwardly Global, helping skilled immigrants restart their careers in the U.S. (Coincidentally, Upwardly Global was founded by Jane Leu, who is Ted Levinson ’90’s wife.)


2005 Your 10th Class Reunion is on May 9! If you can help us find mailing addresses for Amelie Booska or Sylvia Douglass, please email [email protected].

Jessica Davis married Brandon Mills in San Francisco on August 31, and classmates Erica Engstrom, Leina Lin, and Erica Reder were bridesmaids. Her brothers Jonathan Davis ’99 and Jeffrey Davis ’02 were groomsmen.

Kathryn McKinley is pursuing a joint Master’s degree in Business and Engineer-ing Management at Northwestern’s Kellogg and McCormick Schools in Chicago.

Jonathan Shia lives in New York, where he is the editor of an arts and fashion magazine called The Last Magazine.

George Watsky has been busy touring in support of his fourth album, All You Can Do, including an appearance at the Outside Lands music festival in San Francisco last August. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album #33 in September and noted George as one of the hip hop performers with the biggest vocabulary.

Hollis Wong-Wear is garnering more great press for her career in performing and production, including a feature on NBC News in September.

2006 Natalia Duong headed back to the Bay last summer to join the doctoral program in Theater Dance and Performance Studies at UC Berkeley. Natalia already holds a Master’s in Performance Studies from NYU’s Tisch School for the Arts. Her research focuses on the contagion and reparation performed by bodies affected by the herbicide Agent Orange.

2007The Class of 2007 is very well represented in New York, and the UHS team had the privilege of seeing many of them while visiting in June.

Ninna Gaensler-Debs launched The Litography Project, an online space for people to explore a variety of creative stories about San Francisco’s literary scene, with a successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign last spring.

If the face of the Yoplait yogurt challenge woman looks familiar to you, it’s because it is Julia Mattison!

2008After living in New York and working at the Huffington Post, Natasha Bach is heading off to London to do a Master’s in Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics.

Classmate Daniel Mattes just finished a similar program at LSE and is now living in Cambodia and working as an observer of the trials of the Khmer Rouge leadership on genocide charges.

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA, Kimberly Borden worked as the intern coordinator for a nonprofit health organization in Los Angeles serving women in third world countries. She will be matriculating at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine for the 2014 fall semester.

Hilary Eggers will be nearby at USC’s Keck School of Medicine!

2009Kelsea Carlson, Andra Cernavskis, Hannah Kingsley-Ma, Caroline Kremer, Noelle Martinez, Adam Medoff, Zach Robin, Sam Shapiro, Simone Stolzoff, and Nina Watkins were on hand to celebrate their Fifth Year Reunion!

Jasper Burke just finished her first year of veterinarian school at the University of Pennsylvania. She expects to graduate in 2017.

Andra Cernavskis writes: “I’m at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. I’m really, really loving it.”

Proud dad Anthony Conroy reports: “Declan Conroy just made the Harvard Law Review. He and I both attribute any aca-demic success he may have to the superb education and training he received at UHS.”

Noelle Martinez is starting the MD/MPH program at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

2010Your 5th Reunion is coming up on May 9th! We can’t wait to see you back at school!

Jessie Holtzman won a Fulbright grant to assess care utilization with juvenile onset bipolar disorder through interview-based

research at the University of Palermo in Buenos Aires. Jessie graduated from Stanford with a degree in Human Biology.

Davis Xu founded a nonprofit organization, The Missing Pieces Foundation, which provides laptops for low-income students in need. He buys broken Macbooks and Macbook Pros, adds new parts as needed, puts all the labor in himself, and then gives the newly refurbished laptops away. He sees this as a way of helping the environment (by recycling dead laptops), as well as a way of furthering education. He has already provided some Summerbridge students with laptops. Learn more about Davis’s project at www.missingpiecesfoundation.org.

UHS alums earned 20% of the Dartmouth College Class of 2014 academic honors. Natalie Salmanowitz was one of five valedictorians and gave the valedictory address at commencement, and Jake Leichtling was one of five salutatorians. Natalie majored in neuroscience, with an eye toward studying how neuroscientific advances can enhance the equity of the criminal justice system. She plans to get her Master’s in Bioethics and Policy at Duke University. Jake was a double major at Dartmouth in Computer Science and Economics, and was headed back to California to work at Google.

Ken Savage received the Lloyd W. Dinkel-spiel Award for Distinctive Contribution to Undergraduate Education at his Stanford commencement. Ken was recognized for his “wide-ranging service to the Stanford undergraduate community in multiple capacities and within diverse communities” and “for his commitment to theater as a medium for social change and his service as artistic director for the Asian American Theater Project.” Ken made headlines earlier this year with his widely praised production of My Fair Lady, which he both produced and directed. His brother, Max Savage ’12, played the lead role of Henry Higgins.

2011Misha Semenov is killing it at Princeton University, where he is a senior. He received the Class of 1939 Princeton Scholar Award, which is awarded to the undergraduate who, at the end of his/her junior year, has achieved the highest academic standing for all preceding college work. He had already received several other awards for academic excellence. Misha is majoring in architecture


In MemoriamWe acknowledge the loss of the following members and friends of the UHS community and extend our deepest sympathy to their families and friends.

Richard Anderson, father of Elizabeth Anderson-Theaker ’83 and Robert Anderson ’84, April 20, 2014.

Rose Gamrin, mother of Anne Gamrin Pantelick ’85, August 29, 2014.

Birgit Hall, mother of James Hall ’81 and former trustee and member of the Decorator Showcase Design Advisory Board, July 14, 2014.

Richard Hanlin, father of Max Hanlin ’98, October 3, 2014.

Jesse Martinez, father of Noelle Martinez ’09, May 8, 2014.

Regina Schwenter-Lipp, mother of Dominic Schwenter ’04, January 2014.

James W. Sing ’92, Sep tember 12, 2013.

Tony Stephenson ’85, brother of Gayley Stephenson ’80, September 30, 2014.

Georgena Sullivan, mother of Jonathan Spivack ’07 and wife of Rob Spivack, August 28, 2014.

Carey Timbrell, father of Clayton ’00, George ’05, James ’02, and Margaret ’97 and former trustee, April 4, 2014.

Jim Tracy, UHS cross country and track coach from 1994–2014, April 6, 2014.

Wolf von dem Bussche, father of Nicolas von dem Bussche ’89, August 12, 2014.

Sue Rayner Warburg, mother of Matthew Warburg ’88, April 25, 2014.

Frank M. Woods, father of Monty Woods ’85 and father-in-law of Anne Robinson Woods ’84, May 8, 2014.

Obituaries in this issue include notices received in the Alumni Office by October 5, 2014. Please let us know if you would like a relative to be remembered in an upcoming issue of the UHS Journal.

(1) Nikki Symanovich ’13 with her Connecticut College a capella group at Fenway Park.

(2) Ken Savage ’10 recently graduated from Stanford University.

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and is still a major voice on campus for sustainability. From the UHS Green Club to the Greening Princeton Club, Greening Dining Committee, Green Leaders Forum, and the Princeton Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee.

Noah Springwater won two impressive awards at Columbia University’s basketball banquet last spring: the Scholar-Athlete Award for highest cumulative GPA among all juniors and seniors, and what his dad calls the “spirit/hustle” award.

2012Olivia Christensen, who performs under the name Olivia Somerlyn, has a dance chart hit with her song “Parachute,” released last May. Olivia co-wrote the song with Nick Jonas. She’s already joined the Jonas Brothers on tour, and has opened for Big Time Rush on two tours, including one through South America. Olivia has a huge fan base of Somerlovers and was a finalist in the Macy’s Iheartradio Rising Star program last spring.

Nikhil Paladugu, a student at Swarthmore College, is off to Jingdezhen, China, to study

ceramics, ceramics history, and language. That area of China is known as the porcelain capital of the world.

2013 Nikki Symanovich performed the national anthem before a Red Sox game at Fenway Park with her Connecticut College a capella group, The Shwiffs, last April.

Grant Singer was awarded Best Director at USC’s Ed Wood Film Festival last winter. His short film, Remember This View, was written, shot, and edited in 24 hours. It also featured Alexa Povlitz in a supporting role.


TOP ROW

Ian Wilson

Mark Lerner

Connor Turkatte

Mark Kosoy

Jacob Zarefsky

Jonathan Schwartz

Jack Tannenbaum

Kelly Kirkland

Nikhil Krishnan

Ned Geeslin

Lindsay Deffarges

Matt Chau

Isaiah Brownstein

Kayla Symanovich

Cyrus Robins

Conor Ezarik

Warren Benavides

Devin Reese

FOURTH ROW

Mansoor Al-Shehail

Avery Madison

Spencer Kwok

Solomon Leaman

Phillip Lee

Alana Zack

Rosie Warren

Stephanie Tse

Katherine Tracy

Chiara Tice

Arman Tajback

Owen Christoph

Emily Stabler

Izzy Simon

Jack Segal

Daniel Situ

Izzy Ruston

Adair Rosin

Gabrielle Roberts

Jasmine Rivero

Sam Reyes

THIRD ROW

Daniel Rechtschaffen

Josiah Corbus

Zach Hall

Sarah Neal

JP Polatnick

John O’Malley

Sherwin Ng

Austin Neri

Stephen Nemy

Alex Warren

Wyatt Kim

Russell Guertin

Caroline Grassi

Diego Lopes

Sydney Locksley

Morgan Locksley

George Lieu

Tyler Leong

Jack Gale

Jemma Fagler

Jonathan Wang

SECOND ROW

Patrick Chong

Calvin Philips

Katherine Duff

Radhika Kenkre

Dominique Querard

Jacqui Epstein

Hailey Gavin

Kate Gilbert

Sara Poole

Kayla Nahi

Alex Mohun

Alex Fish

Emma MacPhee

Eliza Hearst

Dede Heldfond

Alissa Huntington

Chloe Hoeber

Hannah Teich

Josh Galardi

Peter Feldstein

BOTTOM ROW

Layla Rao

Ali Zilversmit

Morgan Corley

Sarah Cook

Gabby Chua

Saloni Parikh

Marissa

Rosenberg- Carlson

Emma Gould

Adam Harb

Devyn Hocevar-Smith

Claire Feuille

Jane Knoll

Allysa Lui

Tyana Craig

Ottillia Ni

Debbie Cheng

Samantha Andow

Taylor Lee

Maureen Flaherman

CLASS OF 2014 CONGRATULATIONS AND GOOD LUCK!

NON-PROFIT

ORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 10748

SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Parents of Alumni,

If your son/daughter no longer maintains a permanent address at

your home, please notify the Alumni Office of his/her new mailing

address at (415) 447.3116 or [email protected].

3065 JACKSON STREET

SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115

SAN FRANCISCO UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL

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