The Penn GSE Magazine

Fall 2019 Alumni Notes

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1960s

Bill Baker, GED’65, is proud to be a member of the Adirondack 46ers mountain club, having hiked the forty-six highest peaks in the Adirondack Mountains of New York in 1994. A retired sixth grade teacher, he has addressed environmental concerns in Ambler, PA, as a member of Citizens for a Better Ambler. 

Katie Barney, GED’69, has published her newest cookbook, The Enchanting World of Food, which includes international recipes contributed by ambassadors, their chefs, and friends of the author. A consultant on international business and protocol, she has always been involved in the diplomatic ­community.

Paul Humber, C’64, GED’65, is editor of The Lasting Bible (CR Ministries, 2019), which addresses how translations of the­ Hebrew word olam and the Greek word aionios affect understandings of punishment and its cessation in the Bible.

Michael Wallace, GED’69, is coauthor of “The NOCCA Integrated World History Curriculum: A New Paradigm for Teaching History in High School” (World History Connected, 2016, Volume 13, Number 1), which describes a comprehensive design model for creating a secondary history curriculum.


1970s

Conrad Snyder, GR’70, is working on a European Union contract to develop the national ten-year education sector plan for Malawi. He recently finished a year in Ethiopia and is moving next year to Gainesville, FL.


Penn Affiliations


At Penn, all alumni have an affilia­tion, or series of letters and numbers, following their name to indicate their degree, school, and year of graduation. A master’s degree from GSE is represented as GED and an education doctorate as GRD. A philosophy doctorate from any school at Penn is represented as GR. An undergraduate degree offered by the School of Education until 1961 is represented as ED. The two numbers following the letters represent the year in which that degree was completed.

1980s

James Day, GR’87, was recently elected professor emeritus at Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium in anticipation of his retirement in 2020. He has served as academic dean and chair of the doctoral, ethics, and undergraduate commissions; founded an interreligious dialogue project; and received the university’s highest teaching awards.

Margaret Mulqueen, GED’78, GR’84, has maintained a psychotherapy practice in Brookline, MA, for over thirty years. She has published a number of essays, most recently in Psychotherapy.net, Psychotherapy Networker, and The Boston Globe.

Mona Weissmark, GR’86, was keynote speaker at the 2019 Rock Valley College David H. Caskey Memorial Lecture, where she discussed the research that inspired her book The Science of Diversity, to be published by Oxford University Press.


1990s

Mark Fabrizi, GED’95, has been awarded tenure at Eastern Connecticut State University, where he is an associate professor of English education. He received an award for teaching excellence from the Connecticut State Board of Regents.

Gail Foster-Lewis, GED’92, GED’95, is president and CEO of Go Forward Education Foundation Inc., which hosts its White Tie Gala and Fundraiser in November to support scholarships for K–12 students at low-performing schools who desire to attend a private Christian school.

Penn GSE graduates in regalia and their family and friends gather in front of a large, blue sign with the Penn GSE logo.

Photo by Krista Patton Photography

Anastasia Germain, GRD’98, recently sold her childcare business, KidsNet Learning Center, after twenty successful years of business ownership. Proud that the school system she created continues to thrive and grow, she looks forward to exploring new educational ventures. 

Angelo Giardino, GED’86, M’87, GR’99, is in Salt Lake City, UT, at the University of Utah School of Medicine and Intermountain Health Care. He is a faculty member and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine.

Jill Kanski-Bruno, D’94, GED’94, is proud to launch the Butterflies for Change campaign at Dr. Jill Bruno Orthodontics to raise awareness of and support for Lifting the Limits for PKU, Hope for Annabel, Ava Potter Pilcher Foundation, Race for Every Child, and The Willie Strong Foundation.

Gloria McNeal, GNU’75, GR’98, was promoted to associate vice president for community affairs in health at National University after six years as dean of the School of Health and Human Services. She looks forward to providing leadership, vision, and global outreach strategies.

Robert Vaughn, GR’98, lead pastor of the Community of Faith United Methodist Church in Herndon, VA, was elected to the denomination’s 2020 General Conference and is also an adjunct faculty member in sexuality and faith at Wesley Theological Seminary.


2000s

John Brewster, G’03, GED’03, has retired after teaching Latin and English at Strath Haven High School in Wallingford, PA. He looks forward to traveling and spending much more time with family and friends.

Servet Celik, GED’02, is an associate professor and the head of the Department of Foreign Language Education at Trabzon University in Turkey.

Soojin Cho, GED’04, is working at an international school in China, writing a book, and filming online courses. She has published seven books, and one of her online courses has been adopted as mandatory by a number of colleges. She is thankful for her Penn GSE experience.

Ted Cross, GED’09, WEV’09, has been named associate dean of graduate programs in the College of Business at Western Governors University.

Laura Freid, GRD’05, is entering her third year as president of Maine College of Art. She is grateful for the awesome consulting work of Penn GSE classmates Jackie Nealon, GRD’05, and Sarah Steinberg, GRD’05.

Stefani Hite, GED’95, GRD’05, is a global consultant on process improvement and change initiatives for organizations. She is scheduled to present this fall at Dr. Jenni Donohoo’s Collective Efficacy Institute, which helps participants to foster a sense of efficacy in schools and classrooms.

Romilla Karnati, GED’00, GR’08, is an advisor for early childhood care and development at Save the Children. She is responsible for the design, capacity building, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of programs in low-and middle-income countries.

James Kingham, GED’09, received his Ed.D. from New York University, where his research focused on the experiences of international graduate students.

Yvette Mayhan, OT’80, GR’00, manages “Talk With Me Baby Grady,” an initiative of the Grady Health System in Atlanta, GA. It is the first prenatal-to-birth, hospital-based program to systematically help parents develop habits of responsive interactions with their babies to promote development that can lead to better reading preparation.

Kieran McLaughlin, GED’05, has completed thirteen years as a high school social studies teacher. When his proposal to introduce AP Human Geography to Morris Hills Regional District in New Jersey was approved in 2016, he wrote the curriculum and began teaching the course.

Alexis S. Montevirgen, GED’03, was appointed president of Los Angeles Pierce College, effective July 1. He was previously vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management at Indiana University Northwest. 

Natasha Murray, GRD’05, is on the board of directors of Phi Delta Kappa International. She has extensive experience as a practitioner, administrator, researcher, consultant, teacher educator, and adjunct professor within K–12 and graduate settings.

Bernex Richardson, GED’09, participated in a 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles in June as part of AIDS LifeCycle to support treatment and prevention of new HIV/AIDS infections. He worked relentlessly to train for this experience while raising more than $4,000 for the cause.

Manami Suzuki, GED’01, a professor at Hosei University in Tokyo, Japan, recently published collaborative work with colleagues Dr. Naoki Ando and Dr. Hidehiko Nishikawa in Management Decision and Management Research Review

Brianne Walsh, GED’08, was granted tenure and promoted to associate professor in the College of Education at Rowan University.

Michael Williams, GRD’08, cowrote “Predicting the Quality of Black Women Collegians’ Relationships with Faculty at a Public Historically Black University” (Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 2019, Volume 12, Issue 2) with Jennifer M. Johnson, GED’08.

Mary Zigman, GED’05, is executive director of The Parent Child Center of Rutland County in Rutland, VT, where a 2Gen Whole Family Education Campus will open in December. Funded by multiple grants, the $2 million campus will house early childhood education, early intervention therapies, an alternative high school, and more. 

Regina Zurbano, GED’03, CGS’04, has joined Bell Mountain Middle School in Menifee, CA, as principal. She previously spent seventeen years in 9–12 education as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal.


2010s

Katherine Barlow, GED’17, has developed accessible content for the City of Philadelphia to help English language learners use a basic banking website, making access to affordable banking tools more equitable for local immigrant communities.

Melanie Betchen, GED’15, graduated from the Cooper Medical School at Rowan University in May and began training at Cooper University Hospital as an internal medicine resident. She hopes to continue integrating mental health and medicine. 

Debora Broderick, GRD’15, is creating a teacher academy program at Central Montco Technical High School in Plymouth Meeting, PA, for high school seniors interested in education careers. Students will earn up to nine college credits and complete over ninety-five hours in the field.

Stephanie (Consoli) Cruz, GED’12, married Mauricio Cruz on February 23 in Philadelphia, PA. The couple still lives in New York, NY, and Stephanie is starting her third year as director of college guidance at a Brooklyn high school.

Mahesh Daas, GRD’13, has been appointed the eighth president of the Boston Architectural College, effective July 12. He was previously dean of the School of Architecture and Design at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. His career spans twenty-three years at four universities, including fourteen years in higher education leadership.

Samuel C. Evans, GED’18, assistant principal at Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School, is a Phila-Stonian, husband, father, educator, historian, and athlete dedicated to changing the world through his scholars.

Stephanie Fazio, GED’11, has published two new books in the Bisecter fantasy series, which features Hemera, a girl who is feared for her shared characteristics with monstrous creatures. When people start disappearing, Hemera is the only one who can save them.

Kimberly Field-Marvin, GRD’16, head of Louise S. McGehee School in New Orleans, LA, presented in June at the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools Conference with Wanda Holland Greene, head of Hamlin School in San Francisco, CA. They encouraged women to answer the call to educational leadership in independent schools.

Christine Galib, GED’13, has been named director of the Ion Smart Cities Accelerator, part of Station Houston’s vision to transform Houston, TX, into a hub for technology innovation and entrepreneurship with partners Microsoft, Intel, and TX/RX Labs. She previously designed and directed an entrepreneurship diploma program at a preK–12 school.

Esther Glasgow, GED’18, is a program coordinator at READ 718, a Brooklyn-based literacy nonprofit serving students from low-income families, for which she will manage a new location beginning this fall. She is grateful for Penn GSE’s role in her career.

Kimberly Guyer, GED’05, GRD’13, is the new vice president for student affairs at Alfred University, where she oversees departments and centers for advising, athletics, career development, academic success, student involvement and conduct, and other aspects of campus life.

Khalilah Harris, GRD’18, became managing director of K–12 policy at the Center for American Progress, where she has coauthored the report “A Quality Education for Every Child: A New Agenda for Education Policy,” a comprehensive set of strategy recommendations for presidential candidates.

Kalyn Higgins, GED’14, is entering her fourth year of full-time teaching as a specialist, and her second year as a learning specialist, at York Preparatory School in New York, NY. 

Xiaomei Huang, GED’17, a Ph.D. student at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, would like to say thank you to Penn GSE.

Cassie Jacobs, GED’19, has joined the Savannah College of Art and Design as a residence director. 

Brendon Jobs, GED’08, GED’11, director of inclusion at The Haverford School in Haverford, PA, recently took part in Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Race, Equity, and Leadership in Schools workshop and has been interviewed by radio programs and podcasts regarding equity, inclusion, and social justice in schools.

Ashley Johnson, GED’17, is senior assistant director of student engagement at Columbia University School of General Studies, where she develops and implements leadership initiatives for nontraditional students and advises and supports all student groups. 

Lynette Kehoe, GED’18, teaches fifth grade English language arts at a public charter school in the South Seattle area. She loves teaching her students how to navigate middle school and encouraging them to love literature, reading, and writing.

Paula Langteau, GRD’17, served as principal consultant for Academic Game Changers LLC, providing leadership consulting for innovative market- responsive programming and services in public and private higher education.

Robert LeBlanc, GR’16, assistant professor at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, was named a Coyle Fellow for 2019-2021 at the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Literacy Research.

Qianjun Lin, GED’18, is an academic progress manager who helps students pursue their dream colleges. She says, “Isn’t it the spirit of a GSE-er, to let the world know that passion is the key to the dream.” 

Linda Luciano, GRD’13, an entrepreneur and career coach, has been elected to another term as vice chair of the board of trustees of Caldwell University. On the board since 2004, she has served on each of its standing committees and as secretary.

Douglas Magee, GED’13, graduated from Vanderbilt University’s Ed.D. program in educational leadership and policy. His dissertation focused on the impact of Tennessee’s alternative teacher evaluation models on teacher growth and student performance.

Anthony Medina, GED’17, was awarded a Place-Based Justice Network Next Generation Fellowship. The fellowship supports emerging leaders of color who work with place-based community engagement efforts.

Christian Miskell, GED’17, and colleagues created WarHood, a ninth-grade program geared toward celebrating and supporting Black Excellence, which they presented at the College Board’s 2018 Dream Deferred conference in Los Angeles, CA.

Lynn Nakazawa, GED’16, was selected by the U.S. Department of State for a ten-month fellowship project training teachers and teaching English in Malaysia at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris. She is one of two hundred U.S. citizens selected for the 2019-2020 English Lauguage Fellow Program, an opportunity for experienced teachers to improve the quality of English language instruction abroad.

Moses Palacios, GED’11, participated in a friend of the court brief in Department of Commerce v. New York, the recent Supreme Court case regarding adding a citizenship question to the decennial census. The brief was filed to illustrate the adverse impact an under-count of immigrant and Hispanic communities could have on urban schools. 

Ebbie Parsons, GRD’11, managing partner of Yardstick Management, was named to the Winter 2019 cohort of the Pahara-Aspen Education Fellowship program, which seeks to strengthen and sustain diverse, high-potential leaders who are reimagining public education.

Jess Pastore, GED’16, LPS’16, is school and library partnerships manager in youth services at the Free Library of Philadelphia, where she develops trainings, programming, and curricula to foster sustainable partnerships with Philadelphia schools. 

Jessica Pavelka, GED’14, is an integrative cognitive behavioral therapist and cofounder of Trauma-Informed Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, a trauma-sensitive, evidence-based, eight-week meditation series held throughout Philadelphia.

Kasey Price, GED’18, became founding teacher of financial literacy for Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School and consultant for the school’s TD Bank Financial Literacy Center for Adults after attending Penn GSE’s Education Entrepreneurship program to create a financial literacy curriculum.

Allayna Ratliff, GRD’17, accepted a position as academic superintendent (network leader) for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District in Cleveland, OH, to supervise and provide support to a portfolio of approximately twenty K–8 schools throughout the district.

John Rogers, GRD’17, has joined The Rise Fund, where he makes social impact investments in K–12 and in higher education in both the United States and emerging markets.

Lior Schenk, GED’18, accepted a position as thinking lab teacher at Pittsburgh’s Environmental Charter School, which will allow him to merge lifelong passions in science and the arts. He is driven to grow the next generation of citizens through the exploration of real-world interdisciplinary problems.

Jennifer Lynn Shouffler, GRD’18, was named superintendent and supervisor of curriculum for the Tewksbury School District in Califon, NJ, effective July 1. She was previously assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Somerset Hills School District in Bernardsville, NJ.

Monirath Siv, GED’14, founder and chief executive officer of Teach For Cambodia, was named to the 2019 Forbes “30 Under 30/Asia” list for social entrepreneurs.

Carolyn Sloan, GED’17, has written a new children’s book, Welcome to Jazz, scheduled for release by Workman Publishing in October. She plans to debut it at the Penn Bookstore in December. Her first children’s book has nearly 100,000 copies in print.

Derick Smith, GRD’12, began a new position as head of Gulf Stream School, a preK–8 coeducational independent school in Gulf Stream, FL.

Kelly Smith, GED’15, married Andrew Marion, GED’15, in June. The two met while enrolled in the higher education master’s program at Penn GSE. Both are pursuing Ph.D.s at the University of Mississippi. 

Keith Sutton, GED’17, is vice chair of the Wake County Board of Education in Raleigh, NC, and has announced his candidacy in the 2020 election for North Carolina superintendent of public instruction.

Jessica Turner, GED’18, a school and mental health counselor, established In Due Time Solutions with her business/life partner Paul to alleviate housing issues affecting students and their families. The company has helped hundreds of individuals receive real estate, financial, and mental wellness education.

Rong (Lotus) Wang, GED’12, became director for assessment, planning, and accreditation at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She supports faculty and staff in assessing programs and services and assists in data-informed decision-making.

Bezawit Wossene, GED’13, is director of international studies at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia, PA. She says to new Penn GSE graduates, “Stay strong, be true to yourself, and forgive your failures; it will all work out!” 

Qianqian Zhang, GED’14, received a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the Lynch School of Education at Boston College in May and has accepted a position as an assistant teaching professor of multilingual writing and a multilingual writing coordinator at Northeastern University.

Submissions have been edited due to space constraints and magazine style guidelines.