Class Notes, 2017

February 23, 2021

Joshua Barbour, BA ’99, is enjoying faculty life at University of Texas at Austin. He travelled for two weeks in Japan last summer, stayed in a ryokan in Kyoto, walked the entire 4 km. of Fushimi Inari Taisha and practiced his Japanese.

Ryan Buyco, BA ’10, is a PhD candidate in the Department of Asian Studies at Cornell University. He is currently a Fulbright Fellow conducting dissertation research in Okinawa and the Philippines.

Jennifer (Ries) Chisholm, BA, BS ’99,  says “Hamano-Sensei, Gobusatashite orimasu!” After seven years in Japan, she moved to Singapore and worked with Scotiabank, working with Japanese asset managers. She joined Nike Treasury in 2012 after moving to the United States and now works for Microsoft Treasury.

Ian Everhart, BA ’14, is advancing in his professional life, currently working in property tax appeal work across the Mid-Atlantic. He splits his time between Arlington, Va., and his hometown of Baltimore.

Ioli Filmeridis, BS ’99, recently returned to Washington, D.C., after six years at USAID missions for an assignment with USAID in the Office of Conflict Mitigation and Management.

Andrew Leonard, BA ’00, has gotten married, moved to Iowa and become a computer programmer, not quite in that order. He has let his Japanese lapse a bit but is earnest in relearning all of it for a hopeful trip to the 2020 Olympics!

Nicola Licata, BA ’15, continued Mandarin studies on scholarships at Taiwan Normal and Nanjing University 2015-2016. She is a masters of logistics management candidate in Beijing at the University of International Business and Economics 2016-2018.

Emmett Morse, BA, ’13, currently attends UVA Darden School of Business.

Brennan Murray, BA ’15, is a senior associate in the Office of the Chairman at McLarty Associates, where he leads research and advisory efforts for Chinese and clients operating in the United States. He is also a staff member of Young Professionals in Foreign Policy.

Dr. Richard Pegg, BA ’83, MA ’90, continues to publish and lecture widely on the topic of the historical maps of China, Japan and Korea since completing the book Cartographic Traditions in East Asian Maps (2015).

Todd L. Platek, BA ’74, has been an attorney in New York since 1986 specializing in admiralty and commercial litigation and human rights and political asylum matters throughout the United States. His clientele is mainly Chinese and his staff are native Mandarin speakers.

Timothy Quinn, BA ’12, is currently a PhD student in cultural anthropology at Rice University. He is conducting research on pharmaceutical markets and medical tourism in Thailand.

Wilson VornDick, BA ’02, is a Commander in the U.S. Navy and is currently assigned to the Joint Staff at the Pentagon which advises the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He continues to publish on China-related security issues.

Maggie Wedeman, BA ’16, graduated from Schwarzman Scholars with her master's in global affairs from Tsinghua. She has joined the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations to work on the committee's track II dialogues and develop seminars for Schwarzman alumni.

Hannah (Bowers) Zerphey, BA ’05, moved to Central Virginia to continue her yoga therapy training with Surya Chandra Healing Yoga and grow her business after 10 years in Chicagoland.