Submit a Class Note
Entries appear in alphabetical order.
Patsy Anderson-Rusmisel (M.Ed. '88 Couns Ed) is Director of Student Support Services at Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville, Va. (posted 2011)
Leslie Andreae (M.Ed. '79 Couns Ed; Ed.S. '84) is a community volunteer living in Orlando, Fla. (posted 2011)
Tim Anstiss (M.Ed. ’85 Health & PE) is medical director of The Academy for Health Coaching in the United Kingdom.
Al Armentrout (M.Ed. ’71; Ed.D. ’87 Admin & Supv) retired effective June 30, 2009, after 31 years as a school superintendent in Virginia and after 40 1/2 years as an public school educator in Virginia. (posted 2010)
Randy Barrack (Ed.D. ’82 Admin & Supv) received a Ph.D. in Public Policy Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2009. He became executive director of the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals in 1979 while the state association was housed at the Curry School (1968-1982). He led the association’s successful transition from U.Va. to the state capital in 1982. He is the longest-serving education association executive director in Virginia and the “dean” of secondary school principal association state executive directors in the United States. In 1995 he help founded the Virginia Foundation for Educational Leadership, a Pre-K through grade 16 nonprofit organization, and became its president in 2007. The Foundation’s mission is to foster and strengthen a comprehensive system of leadership learning that links all education levels – preschool, elementary, middle, high school, and higher education – by supporting research based strategies for continuous school improvement. (posted 2011)
Teresa Bashant (B.S. '84 Sp Path & Aud) teaches ESL in Ballston Lake, N.Y., where she lives with her husband and four children. Prior to moving to upstate New York, she was a bilingual special educator in the Boston area for 20 years and a speech therapist and sign language teacher with the Peace Corps in Ecuador. (Posted 2012)
Michael Bentley (Ed.D. ’85 Sci Ed) had a book, The Educator’s Field Guide: From Organization to Assessment (And Everything in Between), published by Corwin. (Posted 2011)
Christine Boardingham (M.Ed. '87 Comm Dis) has worked as a speech-language pathologist at University Hospital, part of the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, for the past 17 years. (posted 2011)
Joe Bock (B.S. '81 Health & PE) is a teacher in the Rochester City School District of New York.
Karen King Brazell (M.Ed. ’80 Soc Stud Ed) is a Supreme Court of Virginia Certified Mediator and Certified Parent Educator, serving Westmoreland, Essex and Richmond County juvenile and domestic relations courts. She is also a grant writer for several agencies and nonprofits. (Posted 2011)
Diane Browder (M.Ed. '76; Ph.D. '81 Spec Ed), Lake and Edward J. Snyder, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Special Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, received the O. Max Gardner Award from the UNC Board of Governors. Recognized as one of the nation’s leading experts on academic instruction and assessment methods for severely disabled children, Browder’s work is fundamentally changing educational expectations for disabled children and impacting educational policies and practices at the local, state, and national levels. The award was established to recognize faculty who have “made the greatest contributions to the welfare of the human race.” It is the only award for which all faculty members of the 17 UNC campuses are eligible. Recipients are nominated by their chancellors and selected by the Board of Governors. The 2011 award carries a $20,000 cash prize. (posted 2011)
Patricia Brown (Ed.S. '85 Higher Ed) is proposal manager for Northrop Grumman in McLean, Va. (posted 2012)
Joseph Bush (M.A. '80, Ph.D. '83 Clin Psych) is married with two daughters, living in Santa Barbara, Calif. He is associate dean for research in the School of Psychology, Fielding Graduate University. His research and clinical area of specialization is pediatric psychology. (posted 2011)
Diane Chavira (M.Ed. '86 Sp Path & Aud) is a speech/language pathologist with Roanoke County Schools in Virginia. (posted 2012)
Mary Jo Cambridge (M.Ed. ’87 Health & PE) is founder and head athletic trainer at Alaska Training Room in Homer. She was featured in a story about her work on at Aug. 1, 2012, at HomerNews.com: 'Together we can': Philosophical cornerstone of Alaska Training Room. In 1998 Cambridge played professional baseball for the Florida Legends of the Ladies Professional Baseball League. (posted 2012)
Ann B. Clark (M.Ed. '82 Spec Ed) has been promoted to deputy superintendent of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools in No. Carolina. Read more about Clark in a recent Curry newsletter. (posted 2012)
David L. Cook (M.Ed. ’82; Ph.D. ’84 Health & PE) is the author of Golf's Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia (Zondervan, 2009), upon which the recently released movie, Seven Days in Utopia starring Robert Duvall, is based. Cook is a sport psychology consultant and motivational speaker. He has worked with over 100 PGA Tour players, been a featured speaker at two PGA National Teaching and Coaching Summits, and directed the PGA's Playing Psychology Workshops for the past 14 years. Cook also serves as sport psychology coach to the 1999 World Champion San Antonio Spurs (1996-present), and has worked with top performers in the NFL, Major League Baseball, Olympics, collegiate national championship teams, and Fortune 500 companies. (posted 2011)
Ronda Davis (B.S. ’82, M.Ed. ’84 Spec Ed) visited Curry for Reunions Weekend 2012. She says, “Wahoo Wah everyone! I am teaching special education in Prince William County, Va. I continue to travel. I was in Fort Worth, Texas, in April 2012 and will travel to see a former exchange student in Uruguay this July. I continue to enjoy hosting exchange students. My last two students were from Belgium and Hong Kong. It was great to visit U.Va. and be a part of reunions weekend!” (posted 2012)
Donna DeGroat (B.S. ’86) received the 2010 Curry School Foundation Outstanding Elementary School Teacher/Counselor Award. (posted 2011)
John Dokken (B.S. '85 Health & PE) is now the tennis teaching professional at the Culpeper Sport and Racquet Club. While at U.Va. he played both singles and doubles tennis and then later played on the pro circuit in Team Tennis in Germany, Spain, Hawaii and France. He served a brief stint as the head coach of the men’s team at U.Va. Before taking the job in Culpeper, he had been working as manager and director of tennis in Winchester for the past 14 years. Read more about John in the Star Exponent.
Barry Dorsey (Ed.D '80 Higher Ed) retired from state service in Virginia in January 2012. He was most recently executive director of New College Institute. Dorsey opened his own education consulting firm, currently with two major clients. (posted 2012)
The Very Reverend Zachary Fleetwood (M.Ed. '80 Soc Fdns), Dean of the American Cathedral in Paris from 2003-1011, has accepted a call to a new ministry as Rector of St. Columba’s-by-the-Castle Episcopal Church, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (posted 2011)
Dianne (Randall) Foster (B.S. ’76, M.Ed. ’80) has two children, Jared Ellis Foster, U.Va. Class of 2000, and Brittany Leanne Foster, U.Va. Class of 2009. In 2010 she received the Hampton Neighborhood Commission Leadership and Service Award Office of Human Affairs Board Service Award 1999-2010. She was featured in a Workforce Management Magazine article, "Optimas Update: The Best Get Better" in March 2003. In 2002 she received Top Female Executive Award from the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women. She works as special assistant to the city manager in Hampton, Va. (posted 2011)
Rachel Fowlkes (Ed.D. ’84, Admin & Supv) is the executive director of the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon. Read more.
Pamela Frederick (M.Ed. '85 Couns Ed) is dean of students at Germanna Community College in Locust Grove, Va. (posted 2011)
Andrea Frye (B.S. '86 Health & PE) is assistant principal at Patrick Henry Elementary in Arlington, Va.
Judy Garet (B.S. ’81) earned a master of arts degree in Speech/Language Pathology in 1983 from Queens College, CUNY. She works as a speech pathologist for the South Huntington Union Free School District in Huntington Station, New York. (posted 2011)
Carol Grace (M.Ed. ’81, Admin & Supv) is director of elementary education for Wise County Public Schools in Virginia. Read more.
Jim Griffin (M.Ed. '85 Health & PE) retired after 24 years with the University of Texas Health Science Center Pain Medicine Center. He works part time now at University Hospital, San Antonio. (posted 2012)
Dick Guare (Ph.D. ’82 Clin & Sch Psych) co-authored with Peg Dawson, ’78, the books, Smart but Scattered (Guilford, 2009), Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents (2nd ed., Guilford, 2010), and Coaching the Student with Executive Skills Deficits (Guilford, 2012). He is a psychologist and director of The Center for Learning and Attention Disorders in Portsmouth, New Jersey. (posted 2012)
Janet Hansen (M.Ed. ’89, Ph.D. ’95 Clin & School Psych) is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Hilliard, Ohio, specializing in Autism Spectrum Disorders. (posted 2011)
Barbara Wendt Harris (M.Ed. ’79) received a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut in 1997. She is audiology program director at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences, School of Allied Health Professions Center.
Liz Harris (B.S. '78, M.Ed. '80 Sp Path & Aud) lives in Raleigh, No. Carolina. (posted 2012)
Emily Hauenstein (Ph.D. ’87 Clin & School Psych), after being at the University of Virginia since 1976, has accepted a new position as associate dean for research at the University of Rochester. (posted 2011)
Muriel Roberts Heanue (B.S. '83 Sp Path & Aud) is assistant principal of Loudoun County High School in Leesburg, Va. She became a charter member of the Virginia Gamma Sigma chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa in Leesburg in March 2012. She is the chapter's membership chair. Alpha Delta Kappa is an international honorary organization for women educators founded in 1947. (posted 2012)
Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy (B.S. '86; M.Ed. '89 Couns Ed) was promoted to vice dean of Academic Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. Formerly she was professor and chair of the Department of Counseling and Human Services at Johns Hopkins. (posted 2011)
Robert Horn (M.Ed. ’82 Admin & Supv) is retired after 27 years in public school administration. He has just begun a four-year term on the Nottoway County School Board in Nottoway, Va. (posted 2012)
Garret R. Hullstrung (M.Ed. '88 Couns Ed) is a science teacher at Henry Viscardi School, a special public school in Long Island, New York, for students with physical and medical disabilities. (posted 2011)
Jay Jackson (M.Ed. '85 Soc Fdns) is Senior Director of Development for Washington & Lee University with responsibilities in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and the cities of Washington DC and Memphis. (posted 2012)
Paddy Jarit (B.S. '86 Health & PE) is a physical therapist/athletic trainer at Sport & Orthopaedic Physical Therapy in Trumbull, Conn.
Jeff G. Konin (M.Ed. ’89 Heath & PE) has been appointed Director of Athletics at Eastern Connecticut State University, effective July 2, 2012. He was previously vice chair of the University of South Florida Department of Ortho and Sports Medicine and executive director of the Sports Medicine and Athletic Related Trauma Institute. (posted 2012)
Tina Lafiosca (M.Ed. ’77, Ph.D. ’81 Clin & School Psych) lives in the Boston area and works part-time in the Developmental Medicine Center at Children’s Hospital and part time in her own child and family practice. (posted 2011)
Barbara A. Lehman (Ed.D., ’86, C&I) is the recipient of the 2009 Arbuthnot Award from the International Reading Association. The Arbuthnot Award is a $1,000 award to honor an outstanding college or university teacher of children’s and young adults’ literature. Lehman is a professor in the School of Teaching and Learning, The Ohio State University. (posted 2010)
Polly Liss (M.Ed. '82 Soc Fdns) says, “Always a volunteer in the Arlington Public Schools, I've served on a number of its citizen advisory committees. Although I am age 84 and no longer a resident of Arlington County, I am still active with Arlington's Career, Technical, and Adult Education Advisory Committee as an ex-officio member. I maintain a high interest in Career Education, and in the November 2011 issue of AACE Careers Update, my most recent article appeared: ‘K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education—and Career Education.’ I have also submitted a well-received paper on teacher preparation to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.” (posted 2012)
Robin Lownsbury (B.S. '86 Health & PE) works with Henrico County Public Schools, Richmond, Va.
Joseph Lynch (Ph.D. '89 Couns Ed) is a professor/psychologist at Millersville University in Pennsylvania. (posted 2011)
Christopher Malone (M.Ed. '80 Health & PE) is retired as dean, chair, coach and faculty member from SUNY Cortland. He currently teaches at Penn State Brandywine and Delaware State University.
Nicola Martin (M.Ed. ’86 Special Ed) is currently the Director of Wellbeing and Disability Services at The London School of Economics and Political Science. The role involves taking a strategic lead in embedding disability equality into the culture of the organization. Martin is Senior Parliamentary Policy Adviser for The British Dyslexia Association, an Honorary Visiting Fellow at Sheffield Hallam University, and an external examiner for three autism/Critical Disability Studies courses. She is a visiting professor at The Institute of Education in Hong Kong. She is also Martin is chair of The National Association of Disability Practitioners and editor of The Journal of Inclusive Practice in Further and Higher Education. Martin gave birth to twin boys a few months after graduating from the Curry School. John and Max are now 25. Max is a contortionist in a travelling circus. John is a post grad at Oxford reading history (currently taking time out to fight cancer). Her daughter Anna, 23, is an actress. (posted 2012)
Sarah McDonald (Ed.S. '82 Couns Ed) was a licensed mental health counselor in Virginia until 1991. She is presently in private practice in Florida as LMHC. She is married to Mark Moreland, Psy.D. They have one daughter, Quinn, who is a student at Bard College in New York. (posted 2012)
Pamela McInnis (M.Ed. '81, Admin & Supv) is superintendent of Warren County Public Schools in Front Royal, Va. Read more.
Laura Michie (M.Ed. '84 Sp Path & Aud) is a speech language pathologist in private practice in Frederick, Md. (posted 2012)
Susan Murphy (M.Ed. ’85 Couns Ed) visited Curry for Reunions Weekend 2012. She says, “After 10 years in higher education— my last position was director of student life at Guilford Technical College in Jamestown, No. Carolina—I completed an associates degree in culinary arts. I currently manage an Earth Fare, ‘the healthy supermarket’ in Boone, where about half of my team are undergrads at Appalachian State University. So I ‘teach’ team members every day, I ‘teach’ customers, and ‘counsel’ about food and its health benefits.” (posted 2012)
Nelson Neal (Ed.S. ’85 Health & PE) is associate professor of physical education and health at Marywood University in Scranton, Pa. He has been awarded a grant by Marywood University for the 2011-12 academic year to study whether a program of physical activity will improve academic test scores and reduce obesity in young adults. He has been teaching for more than 30 years and continues to give presentations at national conferences and have his work published in refereed journals. (Posted 2011)
Lynne Steyer Noble (M.Ed. ‘74 Elem Ed; Ed.D. ’80 C&I) is currently completing a six-month tenure as a Fulbright Scholar at the Mongolian State University of Education. (posted 2011)
Janice Orlansky (Ed.D '86 C&I) is currently supervising Success mentors at The Academy for New Americans in Astoria, Queens. New York mayor Michael R. Bloomberg initiated an ambitious new program funded by the Department of Education and other City agencies to reduce chronic absenteeism and truancy during the school year. This Success Mentor initiative was started to help eliminate student truancy in the five New York boroughs. The program is being deployed in a core group of 25 schools that are test piloting initiatives before they are brought to schools citywide. You can find Jan on the web at www.linkedin.com/in/janorlansky (Posted 2011)
Steve Parker (B.S. '76, M.Ed. '83 Couns Ed) is executive director of CMP Aquatics & Fitness, Inc. in Gloucester, Va. (posted 2011)
Roseann Parks (Ed.S. '82 Couns Ed) is a regional development director at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. (posted 2011)
Governor Timothy M. Kaine appointed Lissa Power-deFur (M.Ed. ’76, Ph.D. ’82, Sp Path & Aud) to the Virginia Interagency Coordinating Council for Early Intervention Services. Power-deFur is associate professor and graduate coordinator for communication sciences and disorders at Longwood University and director of the Longwood Center for Communication, Literacy, and Learning. (posted 2010)
Mary Catherine W. Peterson (B.S. ’86 Elem Ed) was named 2012 Outstanding Middle School Teacher by the Curry School of Education Foundation. She is a gifted resource teacher at Princess Anne Middle School, Virginia Beach. Read more. (posted 2012).
William Prentice (Ph.D. ’80 Educ) was named 2012 Outstanding Higher Ed Faculty by the Curry School of Education Foundation. He is professor in the University of North Carolina’s Department of Exercise and Sport Science and program director of its top-ranked post-professional athletic training education program. Read more. (posted 2012).
Mary Quillen (M.Ed. ’89, Elem Ed) is director of U.Va. Southwest Programs at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon. Read more.
William Quillen (Ph.D. '89 Health & PE) is associate dean and director or the School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla.
Carole Ramser (M.Ed. '89 Sp Path & Aud) is a clinical educator for Longwood University's graduate speech language pathology program and an adjunct professor. She is pursuing a doctorate degree in Speech Language Pathology/Special Education from NOVA Southeastern University. She has been married 21 years to Scott Ramser, CPA. They have two sons, one in college and one hoping to attend U.Va. “Go Hoos!” (posted 2012)
Charlotte Reed (M.Ed. ’77 Admin & Supv; Ed.D. ’80 Curr & Instr) was among 11 women honored as Influential Women of Northwest Indiana. She was selected as the finalist for the education category. Reed is Professor of Urban Education at Indiana University Northwest and executive director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. She plans to retire this August after 19 years at IU Northwest. (posted 2011)
Stewart D. Roberson (B.S. ‘77 Soc St Ed; M.Ed. ‘81, Ed.D. ‘87 Admin & Supv), the former superintendent of Hanover County (VA) Public Schools, has been chosen as the next chairman of the board and president/chief executive officer of Moseley Architects. Roberson retired from Hanover County in June 2011 as one of Virginia’s longest serving school superintendents. He received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree during Randolph-Macon College’s Commencement on May 28, 2011. In 2000, Roberson was named Virginia Superintendent of the Year. (posted 2011)
Howard Roesen (B.S. '86 Health & PE) is entering his 20th year of practice at Affiliated Podiatrist in Newport News, Va.
Barry Rosenberg (M.Ed. ’81) of Swans Creek Elementary in Dumfries, Va., received the 2009 Curry School Foundation Outstanding Principal Award. (posted 2010)
Brenda M. Ryals (Ph.D. ‘81 Speech Path & Audiology) is the recipient of the 2012 Jerger Career Award for Research in Audiology presented by the American Academy of Audiology. In presenting the award, the Academy noted her innovative research, her dedicated support of the science of audiology, and her generous and expert mentoring of the research careers of her students and colleagues. Dr. Ryals is a professor of communication sciences and disorders and director of the auditory research laboratory at James Madison University, as well as an adjunct professor of psychology and of speech and hearing at the University of Maryland. (posted 2012)
Tom Shortt (Ed.D. ’86 Admin & Supv) received the 2011 Jo Lynne DeMary Award for distinguished leadership and significant professional contributions in education at the College of William & Mary School of Education. Mr. Shortt is a former director of the Virginia Association of Elementary School Principals. (Posted 2011)
Sharon Spalding (M.Ed. '83 Health & PE) is professor of physical education, athletic director, and cross country coach at Mary Baldwin College. While on sabbatical last year, he developed a Coaching and Exercise Leadership Minor. He also worked with breast cancer patients helping them stay active during treatment.
Gary H. Spedden (B.S. ’82 Soc St Ed) of Ocean Lakes High School in Virginia Beach has been selected to receive the 2011 Outstanding Alumni High School Teacher/Counselor Award from the Curry School of Education Foundation. Read more.
Sophie Speidel (B.S. '84 PE; M.Ed. '89 Couns Ed) is a school counselor at St. Anne's-Belfield School in Charlottesville. (posted 2011)
Carolyn C. Stamm (M.Ed. ’87) received the 2010 Curry School Foundation Outstanding Middle School Teacher/Counselor Award. (posted 2011)
Anne M. Steen (M.Ed. '87 Couns Ed) is associate director of the SFS Career Development Center at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. (posted 2011)
David P. Steinke (M.Ed. '88 Couns Ed) received a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a specialization in School Psychology from the City University of New York Graduate School in September 2010. He is currently a school psychologist for the Montlcair School District and he has a small private practice. He lives in Upper Montlcair, N.J., with his wife Lauren and their children Bayla (8) and Jacob (6). (posted 2011)
Sandra Feagan Stern (Ed.D. '85, Admin & Supv) is CEO of Stern Estate and a vice chair of the Curry School Foundation board. Her son Kyle Blackmon established a scholarship for future teachers in her honor. Read more.
Michael Turner (M.Ed. '84 Couns Ed) works with the Valley Community Services Board in Staunton, Va. (posted 2011)
Jo Vining (M.Ed. ’81 Admin & Supv), principal of Brownsville Elementary in Crozet, received the 2010 Alton Taylor Leadership Award from the University of Virginia chapter of Phi Delta Kappa. The award topped off her decades-long career in education last spring, just before her retirement. (posted 2011)
Pete Ward (B.S. '82 Health & PE) is in his 30th season with the Indianapolis Colts football team. He was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 2010 after serving as Senior Executive Vice President since 2001. (posted 2011)
Eugenia Ware (Ph.D. ’86 Clin & School Psych) and her husband John work part-time and are transitioning toward retirement. They plan to spend their new phase of life volunteering in the community and with music and arts organizations and having new adventures. Their children are thriving in college: Alex, 22, will receive a degree from Tufts in sociology and a degree in viola performance from the New England Conservatory in 2012. Molly, 20, is majoring in psychology and Middle Eastern studies at Northwestern and will spend her junior year in Morocco. Eugenia says, “I cannot believe how fast the time has flown. I’ve been out of the program for 25 years. Experience does have its benefits, though. My now-gray hair gives me instant credibility with new clients! Best wishes to all.” (posted 2011)
Tony Zentgraf (B.S. '77, M.Ed. '81 Health & PE) is a PE teacher in Albemarle County Public Schools in Charlottesville.
In Memoriam
Barbara Ann Graham (Ed.D. '81) of Charlottesville died on Sunday, August 19, 2012. Ms. Graham also had a bachelor of science degree and a master's degree in nursing. She was on the U.Va. School of Nursing faculty until her retirement in 1994.
Visit the Curry Facebook page