Here’s What We’re Doing

Charisse R. Lillie ’74 was recently elected to the board of directors for Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company. She is the recipient of the 2007 Philadelphia Magazine Trailblazer Award. She also will be honored in 2007 with the Woman of Distinction Award presented by Community Women’s Education Project for her dedicated work and contributions to education, advocacy for women’s rights and vulnerable families, and community development. Charisse will also be one of two honorees for the 2007 Operation Understanding Award.

Cheryl E. Woodson ’76, MD, FACP, AGSF recently published a book, To Survive Caregiving: A Daughter’s Experience, A Doctor’s Advice on Finding Hope, Help and Health. This publication is a practical guide for family caregivers and draws on her 20 years of experience teaching and practicing geriatric medicine and her 10 years as a caregiver for her mother who died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2003. The book uses real caregiver stories, everyday language, and humor to help caregivers negotiate the often overwhelming eldercare system to give good care while protecting their own physical, financial, emotional, and spiritual health.

Carol Cooper ’77, MALS ’78 recently published a new collection of essays entitled Pop Culture Considered as an Uphill Bicycle Race: Selected Critical Essays 1979 to 2001. The book contains articles, essays, and reviews about Pan-African pop music, film, nightlife, sociology, and politics; the essays were previously published in places as diverse as Latin New York, Essence, and The New York Times. Carol provides smart, provocative takes on everything from Spike Lee to identity politics, from computer hackers to Brazilian pop. The book is available at Amazon.com.

Yoriko Kishimoto ’77 was elected mayor of Palo Alto, CA on January 8.

Jono Cobb ’79, MD, is living in Maplewood, NJ. He is still doing alumni interviewing in the north central part of the state, but has come across few minority candidates in the past few years. He frequently bumps into Robin Burns Saunders ’81, Cathy ’81 and Stephen ’78 Mitchell, as well as Kenny Gordon ’83, who all live nearby.

Henree Benton ’82 is currently living in Atlanta, GA.

John Johnson ’82 is living in Queens, NY, and has been working for the borough president for the past 10 years. In 2003 he married his soul mate Gemala and had his daughter Kayla soon after. He also has a beautiful 24-year-old stepdaughter, Chantay. John was recently accepted in the New York City Teaching Fellows Program which begins in June. He is looking forward to all of the challenges and triumphs that lie ahead.

William Alago ’83, MD, joined the section of interventional and image guided therapy of the Department of Radiology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York in July 2006 as an assistant attending. He also recently celebrated 15 years of marriage to his wonderful wife, Sandra Ganea, MD, who is a practicing pediatrician. They have three children Melanie (6), Kathryn (3), and Daniel (3). Reading about his college friends Rolando Arroyo ’82 and Shawn Dove ’84 in the AOC Newsletter prompted him to share what he’s been up to. William enjoyed the recent Latino Alumni Council function in El Barrio where he was able to meet several Wesleyan graduates of color. Anyone interested in a career in medicine should feel free to contact him.

Jean Lew ’83 and her daughter Dana Lee visited San Francisco in August 2006 and spent time with Kyung Hee Lee Doelling ’82 and Daphne Kwok ’84. They spent the day researching Korean files of individuals who entered the United States through the Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco from 1910–1940. This research is part of Dana Lee’s high school senior research project and being done in conjunction with Daphne’s Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation upcoming research for a narrative history book.

Daphne Kwok ’84 took a Silk Road China Tour in July 2006 and while in Beijing spent time with YiYi Gong ’85. YiYi has been working for the Chinese Red Cross since she returned to China after Wesleyan.

Maia Chavez (married name Larkin) ’85 was married in September 2006 to her partner-in-crime of six years, Mike Larkin, shortly after making the move from Vail to Denver. Mike (formerly a chef-slash-alternative-newspaper-publisher) is now a Web producer at Fox News Denver and is simultaneously studying for his MBA. Maia is still a freelance journalist and illustrator, although her primary career at the moment seems to be completing the paperwork to adopt a baby girl from China. No small task! They hope to be proud parents in about 18 months, and are thrilled at the prospect of spending a month or so in China at the time of the adoption. Catch up with her at: www.flynnstory.blogspot.com

Eileen Cheigh ’91 and her husband Kuni recently celebrated the birth of their daughter Kaylie Ella Nakamura in January. Kaylie has two proud big brothers who are helping to take good care of her.

Paul Kim ’91 had a great time at a Wesleyan reception for Freeman Asian Scholarship finalists at the Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok on March 2, hosted by Houghton ’43 and Doreen Freeman P’77, and John ’62 and Gina Driscoll. It was his first Wesleyan event in Bangkok, and he enjoyed connecting with the local alumni.

Joy K. Challenger ’90 was recently ordained and is the minister of children and youth at Third New Hope Baptist Church in Detroit, MI.

Nicole Davis ’94 and Melissa Woods ’94 competed in the Danskin Triathlon in Sandy Hook, NJ last September. It was the first triathlon for both. They are very thankful to Josh Guild ’95, Sondy Youdelman ’94, and Richard Yu ’92 who got up at 5 a.m., on a Sunday, to cheer them on.

Kimberly Cooper ’97 had her first piece published in the international magazine Essence in March. The feature is entitled “Finding My Sister.” Read more about Kimberly at www.myspace.com/BGunlimitedInc.

Georgia Silvera Seamans ’98 passed her PhD orals in fall 2006. She is now a PhD candidate in landscape architecture and environmental planning.

Chris McNerney ’99 is currently a graduate student in the clinical psychology doctoral program at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He is conducting an online survey for his dissertation, which explores the impact of social support, ethnic identity, and neighborhood on the relationship satisfaction of individuals involved ininterracial romantic relationships. He seeks alumni assistance in completing a survey to contribute to his research (www.surveymonkey.com/romanticrelationship). If you would like to participate in the study or have any questions about the study, please contact Chris at cmacdr@gwu.edu.

Nyasha Foy ’06 is living in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, New York, with Tia Clinton ’06 and their children, Vixen and Fatboy (cats, of course) and working for the New York State Society of CPAs as a marketing coordinator. Nyasha is a freelance writer for various publications, while she focuses on her music career. Visit her page and leave comments at www.myspace.com/nyashathediva.