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Kelly Melear-Hough '88 Brings Health Services to the Vulnerable Imagine going to see your doctor in the middle of a tomato farm where card tables and folding chairs serve as makeshift exam areas. That sight is an oasis for migrant farm workers in rural Tennessee who otherwise would have no access to health services. Kelly Melear-Hough '88 makes this happen as operations director at Rural Medical Services. "We’re located in Cocke County, which has a big tomato farm that employs over 300 migrant workers in July, August, and September," she says. "We actually see patients in the field and they can be seen for any type of problem they have." She received the Tennessee Primary Care Association’s Charles E. Darling Award for outstanding achievement in organizing, delivering, and/or financing health services to vulnerable populations.
Nov 18, 2009
Economic Development Specialist Brenda Santiago '88 Brokers Multi-Million-Dollar Deals Economic development specialist Brenda Santiago '88 brokers multi-million-dollar deals, working out of her home in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her specialty is creating relationships. She's also interested in workforce development, like helping 7,000 women laid off by Hanes. Most recently, she investigated the "brain-drain" phenomenon of Ph.D’s leaving Silicon Valley, a major threat to the area’s economic growth. Next up is a trip to Australia, where she earned her MBA at the University of Wollongong years ago, to organize a “partnership institute” that will foster public-private tech projects. “One day I represent a government, one day I represent a university, or I might represent a consortium like I did in Silicon Valley,” she says.
Nov 09, 2009
Michael '82 and Linda Tedori Whitman '83 Lead Fleck Society Michael '82 and Linda Tedori Whitman '83 are co-chairs of the Fleck Consistent Giving Society. Founded in 2006 in honor of the late Cyrus S. Fleck '20, the society is comprised of the more than 4,000 alumni who have made gifts to the College for five or more consecutive years. The Whitmans are members of the Marquis Parents Council and alumni admissions representatives. Michael also has hosted internships and externships, and Linda was a class agent for her 25th reunion. at Lafayette, As students, Michael was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and the men’s basketball team, and Linda was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority.
Oct 22, 2009
The Value of Staying Connected In posting to the Alumni Online Community, little did Kristen MacCartney Fitzpatrick '81 know that her guest list and photo of her and husband Scott's St. Patrick’s Day party would hold a greater significance. "A classmate we hadn't seen in a while appeared in that photo; people noticed and got in touch," she says. "He has since passed away, so those contacts were even more important...I have occasionally used the online community's alumni directory to reach out to classmates for both personal and professional reasons. Even one opportunity to renew an old friendship or acquaintance is worth the time spent keeping information there current."
Sep 24, 2009
Alan Hoffman '88 Manages Daily Workings of Vice President Joe Biden's Office As deputy chief of staff for Vice President Joe Biden, Alan Hoffman '88 helps oversee a staff of 120 people and functions much like a COO, managing the daily workings of Biden’s office. "I oversee all of [the vice president's] political activities, I oversee the day-to-day management of what it takes to run the vice president's office, I oversee all of our outreach to Congress, all of our outreach to local and state officials, and all of our outreach to public interest groups and trade associations and basically the general public at large," he says. Hoffman, an American studies graduate, also accompanies Biden on almost all of his travels.
Sep 10, 2009
Investigator Paul McCormick '87 Defuses Crisis An 18-year-old barricaded himself inside his parents' house and was shooting at officers responding to an altercation the teen had with his parents. "He and I started talking," says Paul McCormick '87, a trained crisis and hostage negotiator in the Augusta County (Va.) Sheriff's Office. "It turned out that he was a guitar player, and I like to play guitar." The two men built a rapport as they talked, McCormick from the ground and the teen from a window two feet above. But the rapport broke down, and the teen reached for a pistol inside the house. McCormick leapt and grabbed the man's arm, trapping him at the window. Officers made the arrest with no injuries. McCormick received a Commendation Ribbon for his actions.
Aug 26, 2009
Lance Podell '86 Leads Way for Online Media Networks
Lance Podell '86 is CEO of Next New Networks, an Internet media company that touts itself as television for the Internet, not to be confused with television on the Internet. Some of his most popular networks include Indy Mogul, which discusses independent films; ThreadBanger, a do-it-yourself show for clothes makers; and Barely Political, which created the Obama Girl sensation. There are NNN channels on iTunes and You Tube, where it is a premier partner, but what sets the sites apart is that the programmers and producers help create highly specialized, vocal, and loyal communities online. Viewers share their thoughts as they look forward to each new episode.
Aug 07, 2009
Mychal Wilson '89 Exposes Fraud, Helps Trigger $515 Million in Settlements
Mychal Wilson ’89 became a vocal whistleblower who helped bring about $515 million in settlements between pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Meyers Squibb and the United States Department of Justice as well as 44 state Medicaid programs to resolve fraud allegations made by Wilson and others. “It’s scary that the public doesn’t know that someone can walk into a doctor’s office and bribe him,” he says. “Then you walk in and the doctor prescribes this medication. And you don’t know why. Why drug B over drug C? Sometimes because the pharma rep you saw leaving the office just provided the doctor with a kickback.” Wilson is now a successful entertainment attorney at his firm, MindFusion Law.
Jul 29, 2009
Editor Ellen Fenlon Beal '81 Worked on Gospel of Judas Working on The Gospel of Judas carried all the intrigue of a John LeCarre spy novel for Ellen Fenlon Beal '81. "Few of us at the society knew about it, and everything was watermarked to make sure that if anything had gone missing, we’d know whose was the offending copy,” she says. While riding the Metro trains, she’d hide the galley copies beneath papers to keep others from peeking over her shoulder as she read. To stifle leaks, she notes, “We worked on a very short deadline to go from manuscript to finished book. I wrote the cover copy at 2 a.m. We worked hard to keep the book under the radar, and at the end we were able to say, ‘We did it!’” The reward came quickly: The Gospel of Judas shot up the New York Times Bestseller list.
Jun 30, 2009
Tony Fernandez '81 Oversees Supply Chain Involving Nearly 100 Countries at Cadbury
Tony Fernandez ’81 is responsible for ensuring that cream-filled, chocolate eggs show up in Easter baskets worldwide. As chief supply chain officer of Cadbury plc, he oversees 20,000 people in nearly 100 countries who bring fresh ingredients into and distribute tasty treats for the world’s largest confectioner. Getting that candy into the hands of consumers is a logistical ballet, choreographing such components as the lifestyle needs of cocoa farmers in Ghana, the ever-changing costs of oil and transportation, and Cadbury’s industry-leading Fair Trade and sustainability initiatives. "Supply chain is everything from purchasing materials and manufacturing to quality control and distribution, with the end being a consumer purchase," he says.
Jun 25, 2009
Robert Jacoby '80 Originates Over $500 Million in Loans, Debt, and Equity Annually
As CEO and primary shareholder of commercial mortgage banking firm U.S. Realty Capital LLC, Robert A.C. Jacoby ’80 originates over $500 million in commercial mortgages, construction and bridge loans, mezzanine debt, preferred equity, and equity. His company originates and places debt and equity products for life insurance companies, commercial banks, and, until 2007, Wall Street. It also services $200 million in loans to several different life insurance companies and manages its own private equity fund for opportunistic real estate investments. Jacoby took small steps at several large regional commercial banks and later trained in the real estate consulting practice of one of the Big Eight accounting firms.
Jun 09, 2009
Glenn Young ’86 Uses Online Community to Forge Professional Connections
Establishing strong connections is a skill Glenn Young ’86 uses regularly as a business and marketing research consultant. He uses the online community to reach out to potential business partners, vendors, and clients. “The high quality and success of other alumni make for very good business connections,” he says. "There is a feeling of community among alumni. The online community helps me by seeing what alumni have done and are doing and by creating business opportunities with each other." The economics and business graduate says the online community inspired him to set up a Lafayette group on the professional networking site LinkedIn.
May 28, 2009
Alex LaRoche '98 Wears Many Hats as VP at Moser Jewel Co.
Lafayette's blend of liberal arts and engineering gave Alex LaRoche '98 the unique foundation he would need as vice president of sales and engineering for Moser Jewel Co. "Communication is critical in today’s business environment," says the engineering studies major. "The liberal arts aspect of Lafayette assures that all engineers become very proficient in communicating their ideas. Speaking 'engineering' only works when dealing directly with engineers. In a given day, I’ll communicate with engineers, purchasing managers/buyers, production personnel, vendors, and owners of other companies." Moser Jewel is a small supplier of micro-precision components and assemblies, with clients such as IBM, Lockheed-Martin, Hughes Aircraft, General Motors, and Eastman Kodak.
May 14, 2009
Debbie Cipriani ’80 Ensures Safety of Over-the-Counter Medications
As a physician, Debbie Cipriani ’80 helped nurse babies back to health and support their parents through a stressful time. Now the biology graduate is supporting health on a larger scale, working in drug safety at Johnson & Johnson. “We are a group of medical professionals—nurses, physicians, pharmacists—who help to assure the drugs we are using are safe,” she says. “We assess all instances when a patient or a physician contacts our company with a concern that one of our drugs has caused a side effect, and we look at all the reports on each drug in a given year and are continually re-assessing the safety profile of each drug. This sounds so schmaltzy but it is the honest truth: I know what I do makes a difference."
May 11, 2009
Three Alumnae Archivists Provide Windows on the Past
Elaine McCluskey Stomber '89, associate archivist at Lafayette, Emelie George Rubin '02, archivist at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and Kathy Stewart Jordan '91, digital initiatives and web services manager at the Library of Virginia, organize and preserve historical materials to make them available and useful. "An archivist works with the things that people create on a daily basis that help us understand their lives: their letters, diaries, records of public office, etc.," says Jordan. Or a lock of the Marquis de Lafayette's hair. Or 19th century ladies' kid gloves engraved with his image. Or even, as Rubin recalls of her past work at the National Agricultural Library, a set of 20 T-shirts with statements about the flesh-eating screwworm fly.
Apr 27, 2009
Who is Keith Costigan '88? A $15,000 Winner on Jeopardy!
History graduate Keith Costigan '88 recently took home nearly $15,000 on the quiz show Jeopardy!, winning his first competition and losing the second by $1. Being a history teacher for 20 years was perfect preparation, he says. "The show goes by in a 20-minute blur," he adds. "You have no idea how you are doing until they take a commercial break and you look up to see your score. When you are standing there, they try to make everyone the same height, so some people have to stand on boxes. They used to actually stand in a hole cut in the floor, but they told us more people tripped coming out of the hole than fell off the box."
Apr 23, 2009
Alfredo Cahuas '86 is CFO of Renewable Energy Company NaturEner
Alfredo Cahuas ’86 is CFO of NaturEner in North America, a renewable energy company based in San Francisco. When he first joined the company a year and a half ago, it had 10 employees. Today, NaturEner has a staff of 40 and recently completed its first utility-scale wind energy facility in the U.S., the 107 MW Glacier 1 wind farm in Montana, a project that required $190 million in third-party funding. Cahuas believes Lafayette’s combination of liberal arts and engineering helped prepare him for a career with a global company. “A well-rounded education that cuts across many different disciplines is absolutely imperative in today’s post-modern economy,” he says.
Apr 07, 2009
Ted Gumbart '84 Leads Atlantic Sun Conference
"Lafayette is big enough to have a great range of opportunities, but small enough so that I could actually take advantage of so many of them," says Atlantic Sun Conference Commissioner Ted Gumbart '84. "I think my Lafayette experience prepared me for, and also confirmed my abilities and interests in, the job I have now. I'm involved with many different things, such as TV packages, running championships, managing officiating programs, and working with our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and doing them in a setting that values the personal relationships. At Lafayette, you would recognize most of the people you would pass on campus in any given day, and you felt a part of it."
Jul 07, 2008
Tom Kraemer ’86 Wields Power of Branding
Tom Kraemer '86 is principal of Kraemer Inc., a full-service marketing communications firm. He took the experience gained as the Lafayette Public Information Office’s first art director and as Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ national art director and transitioned it into providing art direction for clients large and small. Kraemer Inc. specializes in brand development and has worked with Fortune 500 companies like IBM, AIG, Panasonic, and Swatch. In 2006, Kraemer led the team that won a Webby Award for its design of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ site www.hybridcenter.org. It was selected from more than 5,500 entries. The New York Times has hailed the Webby Awards as “the Oscars of the Internet.”
Jun 02, 2008
Berrisford Boothe ’83 Encourages ‘Artmaking’ in All Forms An associate professor of art at Lehigh University, Berrisford Boothe ’83 believes being a professional painter, printmaker, and installation artist gives him credibility in the classroom. He is represented by galleries in New York City and Philadelphia. He has mounted 10 solo exhibitions and been part of more than 60 group exhibitions nationwide. His work is part of public and private collections nationwide and in South America. Boothe’s career has been presented in Fine Artist’s Guide to Marketing and Promotion and Halima Taha’s Collecting African American Art, and Robert Wuthnow's Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist.
Apr 23, 2008
