Class Notes: Spring/Summer 2022-23

'40s

Mary Shockley Knight MUS’45 visited Katie Johnson’s prekindergarten classroom in January, where she read the children’s book that she wrote, titled “Benjamin’s Fair Day.” Knight’s great-granddaughter, Madison Suran ’37, is a student in Johnson’s classroom, and her great-grandson, London Suran ’31, is in 4th grade.

'50s

Terry Bischoff MCDS’55 submitted the following: “I retired from Kyle Financial Services. I married Susie Kyle MDS’59 and taught four years at USM, starting the year of the merger [1964]. I could tell stories about that first year, as the faculty and students from the three schools came together! I taught history in the Middle School and Upper School at the old MCDS campus,  coached the varsity soccer team, which was a “new” sport then, and assisted in basketball. I’m currently spending winters in Palm City, Florida, and summers at Pine Lake, Chenequa. My brother, Jerry Bischoff MCDS’48, died in 2022.”

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Ann (Alexander) McDonnell MUS’55 visited her former Milwaukee University School French and Latin teacher, Marion Tongier Hadley, who recently celebrated her 100th birthday! For nearly 70 years, McDonnell and Hadley have stayed in touch and remained friends. McDonnell currently lives in Florida, and Hadley lives in Catonsville, Maryland.

'60s

Stewart Friend ’65 has been growing Vermont maple trees on his property in Hubertus, Wisconsin for 50 years, which he uses to make homemade maple syrup. He always shares some of the syrup with his beloved USM teacher, John “J.S.” Stephens, who remembers when Stuart was in his first class at USM! Friend and his wife, Kathy, along with their daughter, Cory ’96, and son, Alex ’99, have enjoyed watching the trees grow throughout the years.

'70s

Michael Williams ’70 submitted the following: “This is what happens when hockey players reunite 50+ years after they all played together. Lots of stories (mostly embellished), a lot of laughs, and an opportunity to recognize Tom Geilfuss ’70, who was inducted to the USM Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the 1968 hockey team but could not attend the ceremony in October 2022. Thankfully Coach [Tony] Fritz was available to present him with the award!” Pictured from left John Wachs ’71, Mike Williams ’70, coach Tony Fritz, Dennis Cahill ’71, Geilfuss, and Doug Endreson ’71. 

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John Scheinfeld ’71 hosted a showing of his newest film, “What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat and Tears?” at Milwaukee’s Oriental Theatre in May. Scheinfeld produced and directed the film and was available after the showing to answer questions.

'80s

Raj Bhala ’80 delivered the keynote address titled “Challenges and Opportunities for India in a Fragmented World Trading System” at the International Conference on Emerging Trends in International Trade Law. The conference was hosted by CMR University School of Legal Studies, Bengaluru. Bhala’s address included references to his new book, “Trade War: Causes, Conduct, and Consequences of Sino-American Confrontation,” to be published by Carolina Academic Press in September 2023.

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Allyson Tucker-Mitchell ’81 made her television debut on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” in an episode titled “Intersection” that aired on Feb. 2. “It’s a humble beginning, and I’m so thrilled,” said Tucker-Mitchell. “It was a joy working on that set.”

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Susan Zarwell ’87 was named University School of Milwaukee’s assistant head of Upper School in May. Previously, Zarwell served as the school’s director of College Guidance.

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Adam Ciralsky ’89 attended the world premiere of Netflix’s “The Recruit” in December 2022. The show is based on his first job out of law school as an attorney with the CIA, and he also serves as an executive producer on the show. From left Ted Sarandos, CEO of Netflex; Adam Ciralsky ’89, executive producer; Alexi Hawley, creator; and Noah Centineo, actor.

'90s

Scott Friedman ’90 leads the NBC 5 (Dallas/Fort Worth) Investigates team as a senior investigative reporter. The team was recently awarded a prestigious Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism from the Norman Lear Center at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism for its streaming series “Against All Enemies.” In addition, the team was recognized by Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Awards for its “Paper Tag Nation,” an eye-opening series of reports exposing security gaps at the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.

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Jerry King ’92 participated in the school’s Career Lunch and Learn program, in which adults are invited to speak to Upper School students about their careers. King, who is president of Precast Engineering Company, spoke about the engineering field. Read more about the program’s events.

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Ben Zeller ’95 published a book titled “Religion, Attire, and Adornment in North America,” with Marie W. Dallam. Zeller is a professor of religion, chair of religion, and chair of Islamic world studies at Lake Forest College.

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Mike Lindemann ’96 and his children, Luke ’27, Mac ’29, Valley ’29, and Bodhi ’32, caught a massive 4-foot barracuda off the coast of Sarasota, Florida, this spring.

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Will Piper ’96 received the 2023 Lawrence Award of Outstanding Teaching in Wisconsin award. He was nominated by his former student, Nick Mayerson ’18, who graduated in June from Lawrence University. After serving as a 5th grade teacher at USM for 20 years, Piper is currently the school’s assistant director of alumni relations and reunion giving.

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Laura Thurow ’96 was named a “Woman to Watch” by InvestmentNews. Thurow leads the wealth solutions and operations group for Baird’s private wealth management business, overseeing the people, platforms, and services that support Baird’s 1,400 financial advisers in more than 160 offices.

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Raj Chetty ’97 was featured in a January 2023 article on Bloomberg.com for his latest research, in which 2.6 million low-wage workers have not returned to the labor force following the COVID-19 pandemic. Chetty is the William A. Ackman Professor of Economics at Harvard University and the director of Opportunity Insights.

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Christopher Mrstik ’97 received the Department of Labor Exceptional Service Impact Award, which is one of the most prestigious awards given to career staff at DOL. It acknowledges the service of those employees whose exceptional performance and accomplishments have had a marked impact on DOL program operations and the delivery of DOL programs and services to the American public. Mrstik received the award in recognition of a 21-year (and counting) career in the Bureau of Labor Statistics budget office. “I’m currently the chief of the branch of Budget Formulation and Execution, and throughout my career I have been a recognized subject matter and technical expert on financial and budgeting systems and system improvements within both BLS but also across the Department,” he said. Mrstik is pictured center, with Bill Wiatrowski, deputy commissioner at Bureau of Labor Statistics (left) and Marty Walsh, former United States secretary of labor (right).

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Joseph Gratz ’98 joined the San Francisco office of global law firm Morrison & Foerster in early 2023. He is a partner at the firm, and his practice focuses on internet copyright issues. He is currently representing OpenAI, Meta, and Amazon in copyright litigation.

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Andrew Heitman ’98 was the highlighted trainee author for the December 2022 issue of the “Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics” (JPET). Currently, he is a pre-doctoral trainee at Georgetown University in the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology. The JPET article that earned his selection as a highlighted trainee author is titled “A Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic Model of the Brain Considering Regional Lipid Variance.”

'00s

Christopher Chan ’00 released “Ghosting My Friend: A Funderburke and Kaiming Mystery.” Chan works for Agatha Christie Ltd. as a writer, researcher, and International Goodwill Ambassador who connects with Christie fans around the world. He teaches at the high school, college, and graduate levels, focusing on courses in history, literature, political science, and mathematics. He’s also a historian and an information scientist with degrees from Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

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Kate (Taylor) Mouton ’02 earned her MBA, in addition to continuing her role as director of athletics at the Shanghai American School – Puxi Campus. After three years of lock-downs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mouton is pleased to share that she’s able to travel with her student athletes, taking teams to Shenzen, Hong Kong, Dalian, and Beijing.

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Preethi Chintamaneni ’03 welcomed her daughter, Suria Krishna Jain, on April 13. Suria was 6 pounds, 1 ounce.

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Roshan Hariharan ’04 visited campus in May after reconnecting with the school during an alumni event in New York City. Hariharan serves as the co-head of Americas FX and emerging markets sales for Bank of America. While on campus, he visited his former teacher, Dr. Henry Wend (pictured, right), and talked to Wend’s Upper School economics class about how his work is impacted by world events.

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Aaron Mitchell Finegold ’05 joined Kingsley Gate Partners as chief marketing officer, where he oversees the company’s full-funnel marketing strategy, all external communications, and investment in capabilities such as experimentation, marketing automation, and measurement.

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John Bowen ’07 started a new role as director of space and ground systems at Sierra Space in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Previously, Bowen served as senior manager–launch vehicle maintenance at Blue Origin.

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David Bowles ’09 was named a 2023 Notable BIPOC Executive by BizTimes Media, and featured in an April 2023 article by “Shepherd Express.” Bowles is president of CMRignite marketing agency.

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Michael Luckey ’09 reconnected with Susan Zarwell ’87 in April, when Zarwell and other college admissions professionals met with Wisconsin legislators and their staffers from 25 different districts to discuss supporting school counselors and students around the transition to college. Luckey is a staff member for Wisconsin state senator Romaine Quinn.

'10s

Rawlings Joerres ’10 and many other USM alumni gathered in Denver to participate in Walk MS. The group was raising money for the organization in support of their friend, William Colbert ’09, who was recently diagnosed. USM alumni who participated include Chris Bowen ’10, William Colbert ’09, Misha Fabick ’11, Taylor Isaacs ’10, Tommy Joerres ’10, Rawlings Joerres ’10, and Alex Tesensky ’10.

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Sky McGilligan ’10 married Brooke Baker. Many USM alumni were in attendance, including (from left) Peyton Stanford ’10, Jeff Levy ’10, Danny Clark ’10, Sanjay Hariharan ’08, Fitz Stratton ’10, David Mikulay ’10, Grace Stratton ’07, Brian Oldham ’10, and Charlie Wigdale ’10. 

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Jack Minahan ’11 took second place in the National Indoor Skydiving Competition held in Colorado Springs, Colorado in November 2022. Minahan spends most of his time “free flying,” or flying with his body in a vertical formation (either head down or head up) at speeds approaching 200 mph while in free fall. He hopes to compete in outdoor events later this year. 

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Emily Bach ’13 is engaged to Jack Gehl, a 4th grade teacher at Lumen Cristi School in Mequon, Wisconsin, where Bach also teaches kindergarten. 

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Amber Baker ’14 recently got engaged to her fiancée, Ryan Bender.

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Kate Nosbusch ’15 earned her Master of Science in School Psychology degree from the Universit of Wisconsin-Madison. She is currently pursuing an educational specialist degree.

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Walter Taylor ’17 recently got engaged to his fiancée, Alex Ventress ’17.

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Tyler Bair ’18 is a personal trainer for Athlete Performance, a group that trains athletes as young as age 7 to adults in their 70s. Bair focuses his training on helping individuals develop a positive relationship with resistance training to improve performance and reduce the risk of injury.

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Matt Le Pine ’18 was voted Coach of the Year by the North Suburban Special Olympics of Wisconsin. He coaches his brother’s Special Olympics basketball team, which made it to the state regional round this year.

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Nicholas Mayerson ’18 pictured, right was the head game master for the Midwest Trivia Contest, a digital scavenger hunt that has been a staple of student life at Lawrence University since 1966. The contest was enjoyed by 550 people, including 60 off-campus teams, and garnered over 1,200 unique views on Twitch.

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Quinn Tevlin ’18 is a Second Lieutenant serving as a “sky soldier” in the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Tevlin is currently stationed in Italy and will make First Lieutenant this winter.

'20s

Carson Petersen ’20 got engaged to his fiancé, Alyssa Lackey. In addition, Petersen assisted USM’s FIRST Robotics Team #6823 at the regional competition in Orlando, Florida in March, where the team earned the Excellence in Engineering award.

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Lilian Jochmann ’22 was interviewed in for email newsletter by the Notre Dame Club of Milwaukee. Jochmann shared her impressions about her freshman year at the University of Notre Dame, where she is majoring in political science and minoring in constitutional studies, business economics, and Portuguese.

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Donn Rhys Mondano ’22 reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro with a group of Morehead-Cain Scholars. Mondano was the first USM student to be named a Morehead-Cain Scholar, which is affiliated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and covers all expenses for four years of undergraduate study there plus financial support for enrichment experiences.

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Isabela Mortara ’22 has been selected to be a Said Peace Scholar through the American University School of International Service. Mortara will join a cohort of 20 students who wish to advance professor Abdul Aziz Said’s life’s mission through the study of peace, conflict resolution, and interfaith dialogue.

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Alex Ptak ’22 pictured with Kaitlyn Paullin ’26 (right), assisted USM’s FIRST Robotics Team #6823 at the regional competition in Orlando, Florida in March, where the team earned the Excellence in Engineering award.