July 2018
Samantha D’Annunzio MD ’11 became attending physician in pulmonary critical care with Westmed Medical Group and Greenwich Hospital.
Suraiya Afrina ’14 is currently working as a Knowledge Management and Multimedia Consultant with the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP.
Dominique Batiste ’10 heads the Consumer Insights Team for Starz Entertainment as Director of Consumer Insights and Analytics.
Siobhan Becker ’17 has started her own photography business last fall.
Jasmine Blennau ’16 graduated with an MBA in marketing from St. John’s. She has started a position as an associate producer/equipment specialist at Fairfield University in Connecticut.
Thomas Cassidy ’71, ’78 is pleased to announce his recent book, “Damage Control” has been published.
Natalia Cineas ’01 received the Network Journal’s 40 Under Forty Award during their 21st Annual 40 Under Forty Achievement Awards Ceremony on June 21.
Janelle Clausen ’16 received an honorable mention for “Rookie of the Year” from the New York Press Association for reporting.
Micah Dann ’11 is in Jerusalem on a three-month fellowship with The Ground Truth Project. He is also completing a fellowship with the John Jay College/Harry Frank Guggenheim Symposium on Crime in America.
Theresa Dooley ’10 is pursuing her Master’s in library and information science at Simmons College in Boston. She is working as a supervisor and training specialist at UMass Amherst’s Du Bios Library.
Kaitlyn Gallagher ’12 has been promoted to associate director, business development at Socialfly, a social media marketing and influencer marketing agency.
Angelo Lambroschino ’15 graduated from Caldwell University with a masters degree in higher education administration. He is chapter leader for the New Jersey Alumni Chapter.
Kevin Loucks ’13 has been appointed as an administrator of the Music Academy of the West.
Jon Millian ’12 is currently the producer of Channel 7 Eyewitness News’ 5 pm newscast on weekends.
Frank Posillico ’13 was promoted to senior editor of video at the New York Daily News.
Holly Riordan ’15 has completed her novel, “Before The Farmhouse Burned Down,” a fantasy novel now available on Amazon.
Jonathan Sobel ’91 received the Outstanding Graduate Award — PA from the School of Health Technology and Management. Jonathan is the Senior Administrative Director of PA Services at Northwell Health (formerly North Shore-LIJ Health System), where he is responsible for PA operations at all of the system’s Manhattan campuses.
Gwenn Schwerdel ’12 received the 2018 School of Health Technology Management’s Outstanding Graduate Award.
Matt Weinberger ’08 is currently working as a senior editor at Business Insider. He has gone on Good Morning America as a tech expert twice, and Fox 5 invited him on to discuss a story he wrote.
Adam Wos MD ’01 was appointed medical director of the Emergency Department at Mather Hospital.
Juliette Vendryes ’10 received the 2018 School of Health Technology Management Outstanding Graduate Award. She is the administrative director for Cardio-Pulmonary Services at New York Presbyterian Hospital Lawrence.
Dawn Zier ’86, CEO of Nutrisystem, Inc. received the Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 Award in the Retail and Consumer Products category in the Greater Philadelphia region.
June 2018
Jessica Banslaben ’06 completed her PhD in Social Work, specializing in social policy and gerontology from Fordham University (2018).
Joe Campolo, Esq. ’94, managing partner at Campolo, Middleton & McCormick in Ronkonkoma, has been elected to the board of advisers of the Energeia Partnership at Molloy College in Rockville Centre.
Angela Damaso ’15 is a software engineer at Kaplan Test Prep, leading an initiative to make products 100% usable for people with disabilities and spread awareness about technical and design accessibility.
Frank Granati DDS ’78 ’82 has his own private practice in general dentistry. He is also a U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Pilot, master mason and a knights Templar.
Adam Huck ’16 received his Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education. His degree is in Curriculum, Instruction and the Science of Learning.
William (Bill) Fox ’89 graduated Holy Apostles College & Seminary on May 5, 2018 with a Master of Divinity, magna cum laude and a Master of Arts in Moral Theology, summa cum laude. His master’s thesis, “The Consistent Ethic of Life in the Face of The Hermeneutics of Selfishness” was defended magna cum laude. He was ordained a Catholic priest for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri on May 19, 2018 by the Most Rev. James V. Johnston, JCL, DD. Bishop Johnston assigned me as parochial vicar (“associate pastor”) at St. Peter Parish and St. Therese Little Flower Parish, both in Kansas City, MO, effective June 12, 2018.
Michael Mihaley ’10 has completed his novel recently, The Underdog Parade, which is being published by Kaylie Jones Books, an imprint of Akashic Books.
Michael Nevradakis ’05,’07 completed his doctoral studies in May, receiving his Ph.D. in Media Studies from The University of Texas at Austin. His dissertation, titled “From the Polis to Facebook: Social Media and the Development of a New Greek Public Sphere,” was based on a long-term research project in Greece and examined social media’s impact on the public sphere, civil society and public discourse in Greece during the years of the country’s economic crisis. During this multi-year study, Nevradakis received fellowships and funding from the U.S. Fulbright Foundation, the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, the Erasmus+ Exchange Program, the Greek State Scholarships Foundation, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. Furthermore, in February Nevradakis was awarded the prestigious Dissertation Fellowship by the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, one of twelve such fellowships awarded nationwide, for the completion of his research and dissertation.
Kylie Ohlmiller ’18, (Stony Brook Women’s Lacrosse), was named the 2017-2018 America East Woman of the Year at the conference’s annual awards dinner on June 5.
Chengjian Yao PhD ’15 will finish his postdoctoral position in one month, and will fulfill his new position as a tenure track assistant professor at ShanghaiTech University in July 2018.
Duane Webb MD ’74 was promoted to chief of gastroenterology in May 2017, Omlympic Medical Physicians, Sequim, WA.
May 2018
Naomi Danis ’71, ’72 will be having a book coming out this May from PowKidsBooks, with illustrations by Cinta Arribas. It is her fourth picture book for kids. The book, “I Hate Everyone” is narrated by a little girl who is who is a hot mess of feelings at her birthday party. Naomi is managing editor at Lilith Magazine.
John W. Dominice III ’17 has been promoted to the Senior Vice President of Sales for Max USA Corp, where he will continue to oversee sales and marketing in North America, Canada, South America and Mexico.
Lauren Ferrante MD ’07 was selected to be named the Stony Brook School of Medicine Outstanding Recent Graduate Award.
Scott M. Karson, Esq. ’72 is the recipient of the 2018 Suffolk County Bar Association Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a partner in the Melville, New York law firm of Lamb & Barnosky, LLP, where his primary concentration is in the area of appellate practice. Scott is a former President of the Suffolk County Bar Association (2004-2005) and he currently serves as Treasurer of the New York State Bar Association.
Lissette Lugo ’06, engineer at National Grid, was award with the Alumni Champion Award by the Stony Brook Career Center during their Career Partnership Celebration.
Lily D. McNair, PhD ’83, ‘87 has been named the next president of Tuskegee University. She is currently provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Wanger College in New York. She will be Tuskegee’s eight president and the first woman president of the university in its 136-year history, starting on July 1, 2018
Daniel McLane, Esq.,’88 is the 2018 recipient of the Nassau County Conservative Party’s Special Torch of Freedom Award. Mr. McLane is currently the Principal Law Clerk to the Honorable Thomas Rademaker, an acting Supreme Court Justice.
Bedel Saget ’88, Graphics/Multimedia Editor, Sports, New York Times, was award with the Alumni Champion Award by the Stony Brook Career Center during their Career Partnership Celebration.
Steven M. Stowe’s PhD ’79 book “Keeping the Days – Reading the Civil War Diaries of Southern Women” has been published by UNC Press this spring.
Mark Wolff, DDS, PhD ’77, ’81, ’97 has been named Dean of The Robert Schattner Center
University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Medicine. He will assume his role on July 1, 2018.
April 2018
Cincy Bautista-Thomas ’98 is an Associate Director of Field Education at Columbia School of Social Work for the last 8 years and is a Phd Candidate in Urban Education at the CUNY Graduate Center. She is also co-founder of a personal and professional development training company, Velocity Visions, Inc. with fellow classmate, Ancy Lewis.
Jane Chen, Esq. ’14 has been named to the Executive Board of the Hofstra Law School Alumni Association and co-chair of the Board’s Diversity Committee.
Fran Danis PhD ’74, ’76 was inducted by the NASW Foundation as a NASW Social Work Pioneer® (National Association of Social Workers Foundation).
Rachel Hershenberg PhD ’13 has a self-help book that was just published. The foreword was written by Stony Brook faculty (& Distinguished Professor), Marvin Goldfried.
Saagar Govil ’08 has been appointed CEO and chairman of Vicon Industries.
Huntley Myrie ’90 has been listed in Savoy magazine as one of 2018 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America. He is Senior Vice President, Fuel and Motion Control Division, Eaton Aerospace Group for Eaton.
Elizabeth Pincus ’08 was elected to serve as the National Secretary for AORN (Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses) at the AORN Global Surgical Conference and Expo in New Orleans this past March 2018.
Brian Stallard ’13 is the producer and a co-host of the podcast, Base Paris. The podcast was just named among the 2018 Webby Awards’ “five best podcasts in the world” for the subjects of science and education.
Justin Steele, MD ’02 has joined New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in its Department of Surgery. Dr. Steele specializes in robotic surgery, hepatobiliary-pancreatic, and complex abdominal hernia surgery.
March 2018
Diego Acero ’10, ’11 , has joined the Northwell Transplant Team as a transplant coordinator after donating a kidney to his sister-in-law in 2016.
Justin Belkin ’04, project manager at Canon, U.S.A. has been appointed to the Town of Babylon’s Industrial Development Agency. (IDA)
Robert Bernstein ’71 is pleased to announce the publication of his award winning book (Psychology/Mental Health from Best Book Awards), “Uniquely Normal: Tapping the Reservoir of Normalcy to Treat Autism”
Mark Bridges ’83 earned his second Oscar for his work on “Phantom Thread,” costume designer.
Frank Burgert ’80 has been awarded College Radio Station Engineer of the year, for his work with WUSB, presented by the national college radio station organization, the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System.
Eva Chalas, MD ’81, was presented with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis Who’s Who.
Heather Findletar Hines ’09, Midwifery Class 7 and DNP Class 1 is Program Director for the School of Nursing Midwifery Program.
Diane Fisher ’71 will receive the Master Pilot Award from the FAA, 50 years as a pilot at the ‘Sun and Fun’ Airshow Lakeland, Florida, the 2nd largest airshow in the U.S.
Brian Gugerty ’82, Senior Service Fellow, presented the following at Informatic conferences in March: Blackwell, C., Palso, K., Eckerson K., Marfo, A and Gugerty, B.. Achieving New Results with What Already Exists: Repurposing an existing standard and functionality to achieve new goals. Poster Presentation at the 2018 AMIA Summit, San Francisco, CA, March, 2018. Gugerty, B. Update on the National Health Care Surveys Public Health Reporting Registry. HIMSS 2018 Federal Pavilion Presentation, Las Vegas, NV, March 2018.”
John Hennessy, PhD ’75, ’77 will be honored at the Commonwealth Club’s Distinguished Citizen Award Gala on April 19 in San Francisco.
Kelsea Johnson ’17 auditioned on NBC’s The Voice.
Dr. Dimitrios Kilimitzoglou, DDS ’02, who owns ESI Healthy Dentistry in Smithtown and teaches at Stony Brook University’s Dental School, has been elected president of the Suffolk County Dental Society in Hauppauge.
Dan Smith ’90, principal of Seaford Middle School, has been named Administrator of the Year by the Council of Administrators and Supervisors in recognition of his educational leadership.
Hanaa’ Tameez ’16 – a previous Wall Street Journal Fellow upon graduation from Stony Brook, was recently appointed as the inaugural diversity reporter at the Fort WorthStar-Telegram
Brianna Titone ’04 is a candidate for State House District 27 of Colorado.
February 2018
Dr. Fahim Ahmed ’95 has been appointed as chief medical officer and vice president of medical affairs of Mercy Medical Center.
Arnold Anderson ’93, upon his 30th year of service to others, founded the non profit 501c3 Inspiring Our Youth A Game, Inc in Northeast Florida. The goal, to neutralize the effects of social and educational marginalization on elementary, middle and high school aged youth and their families. We measure our success through increasing high school graduation rates, access to college preparation, prevention of juvenile offending, enhanced health education and decreasing child welfare dependency.
Kim Brandeau ’94 was recently sworn in as a Deputy Comptroller of Nassau County. She has more than 12 years of experience working in the Suffolk County Executive’s Office, most recently as the chief budget examiner.
Erik Buckholz ’97 was recently promoted to be the Human Resources Director for CulinArt, Stony Brook campus.
Randell Bynum ’94 has been named as the new CEO for the Girl Scouts of Nassau County.
Joseph Campolo, Esq. ’94 has been elected chairman of the HIA-LI, Hauppauge Industrial Association of Long Island.
Linda Capuano ‘72 was appointed Administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in January 2018.
Aviva Diamond ’08 was sworn in on December 4, 2017, as a Mt Lebanon School Director, Mt Lebanon, PA.
William Fox ’89, was ordained a transitional deacon for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph (Missouri) on May 13, 2017. He is scheduled (pending final approval from my bishop) to be ordained a priest on May 19, 2018.
James Gesualdi, Esq. ’85, an attorney in Islip, was honored to be the inaugural recipient of the Exemplary Service Award given by the New York State Bar Association Committee on Animals and the Law. He was a founding member and served as chair and vice chair during the committee’s early stages of being a “special committee,” served as chair and continues to serve as a member of the committee. He is author of “Excellence Beyond Compliance: Enhancing Animal Welfare Through the Constructive Use of the Animal Welfare Act” and has served as a special professor of law at Hofstra University School of Law where he taught Animal Law.
Thomas Dono Jr., Esq. ’94 has been appointed chief legal officer of Stoneridge, Inc.
Gary Morgenstein ’74 is pleased to announce his new science fiction baseball novel, “A Mound Over Hell” will be published on March 29 from BHC Press.
Yan Leyfman ’11, one of only 16 nationwide and one of the first medical students to be invited to give a keynote podium presentation at the 2017 ASCO Symposium– the largest and most prestigious oncology conference in the world.
Andrew Schulman ’75 was the first musician accepted as a member of the Society of Critical Care medicine as the first Certified Medical Musician this past September. The Turkish edition of his book “Walking the Spirit” has just been released.
Elana Spira, PhD ’02, ’05 has co-authored a book, “The Organized Child: An Effective Program to Maximize Your Kid’s Potential – In School and in Life”
December 2017 and January 2018
Asif Ali Alidina ’07 has been named to the Orlando Business Journal’s 40 under 40.
Robert Bernstein ’71, a Behavioral Therapist, recently published the 2017 Best Books Awards winner, Uniquely Normal: Tapping the Reservoir of Normalcy To Treat Autism, where he shares a different approach based on cognition thinking in helping people of all ages with ASD.
Sanford Bernstein ’74 received a prestigious MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health for his research program to study muscle disease and aging.
Anne Canadeo ’77 was honored by Assemblyman Andrew Raia (East Northport) as a “Woman of Distinction” for her dedication to combating hunger and promoting literacy through her volunteer work. She is on the leadership team of the Huntington Interfaith Homeless Initiative.
Laura Coppola ’94, currently AGCS’s (Allianz Global Corporate and Security) North American Regional Head of Management Liability Commercial, will take over as Regional Head of Financial Lines for AGCS North America, and will remain based in New York.
Harriet Hyman Alonso Ph.D. ’86 received the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Peace History Society, an affiliate of the American Historical Association. Her new book, Martha and the Slave Catchers, a novel for Middle Grade children, was published in November by Seven Stories Press/Triangle Books for Young Readers.
Thomas Koehler ’08 has signed a one year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Koehler split the 2017 season, his fifth in the majors, his 10th as a pro, between the Miami Marlins and the Toronto Blue Jays.
Larry Lewis’ ’76 first book, Sadie’s Boys, was released in December 2017. This nonfiction book tells the story of Larry’s uncles, father and grandmother during World War II, when his father survived a POW camp in Germany, his uncle Charlie was killed in 1943 serving a navigator on a B17 in the Pacific, and his grandmother, Sadie, fought to save her sons.
Sheree Meyer ’79 was appointed Dean of the College of Arts and Letters at California State University, Sacramento on July 1, 2017.
Keith Miller ’06, chief lending officer at Suffolk Federal Credit Union, has been named to Long Island Business News’s 40 Under Forty.
Virginia Nolan ’78 published her first book, One Day at Christmas, a holiday adventure about the superintendent of a low-income Bronx apartment house, who wants to give all the residents a wonderful Christmas, but needs to find the money to do so.
Ami Shah MD ’94 is a board-certified radiologist and director of mammography and women’s imaging at New York City Health and Hospitals. She was featured in an AMA article this past December.
Jameel Warney ’16 has been named USA Basketball’s Male Athlete of the Year.
Neil Yager MD ’05, an interventional cardiologist, has joined Albany Medical Center’s Division of Cardiology and has been appointed assistant professor of cardiology at Albany Medical College.
