Kellogg World Alumni Magazine Spring 2005Kellogg School of Management
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  class of 2002 family
 

Steve Vernelen '02 with family Veronique, Matthew and Lauren in the Blue Mountains of Australia last summer

   
  class of 2002 wedding
  Amy Sabo '02 and Mark Cress TMP '01 celebrate their nuptials on Martha's Vineyard, Mass.
   
  Philip Taksen '02
  Philip Taksen '02
   

2002

Hello, Class of 2002,

Here's some exciting news for Chicago dwellers and visitors alike: Sarah Lok and her husband opened up a coffeehouse in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago last November. It's called Third World Caf� and is located at 1301 E. 53rd St., Chicago, IL 60615 (773.288.3882). It is an independent coffeehouse that sells coffees and teas (mostly organic and all fair trade), homemade baked goods and desserts and light vegetarian fare. So far business is great, but all Kellogg faces are welcome. Stop by when you are in town!

The Kellogg wedding extravaganza continued through the end of 2004 without skipping a beat. We even have a wedding close to home to report:

Amy Sabo was married June 5 to Mark Cress TMP '01 in Martha's Vineyard. They met in the 2001 Australia GIM class at Kellogg. Because of their love for travel, they put their careers on hold and went on an extended six-month honeymoon, visiting 14 countries before returning to Chicago in December. As Amy put it: "We can thank Kellogg for a great education and an adventurous romance!"

Joe Dziedzic married Jenn Carr on July 3 in Minneapolis. Kelloggians in attendance included matron of honor Jodi (Matthes) Gingiss '03 and groomsman Dan Gingiss, Becky (Evans) Grimm and Brian Grimm, and Stephanie (Blackburn) Freeth and Tim Freeth '01. The newlyweds honeymooned in Paris and Nice and are now settling into married life. Joe is a financial manager with General Mills and Jenn is a doctor of veterinary medicine.

Susan (Deutsch) Budd married Bob Budd on April 5, 2003, in Washington, D.C. Rachael Manansala and Glenn Coleman '03 attended. Since Kellogg Susan has been working at AlixPartners as an associate in the financial advisory services group. She started out in Alix's Detroit office while her husband was earning his MBA at Michigan. The couple moved back to Chicago in June and bought a condo in Lincoln Park.

Melissa Gellert married Matt Cooper in New York on Oct. 2. It was a gorgeous weekend in the Big Apple and the wedding was beautiful. Melissa and Matt capped off the night with a carriage ride through the streets of New York. Kelloggians in attendance to celebrate with them included Natalie (Guenther) Schaefer, Beata (Drizin) Kirr, Erich Kirr '01, Ronnie Frankowski, Kate (Solomon) Slivjanovski, Dan Slivjanovski, Yonca Ulusoy, Sagar Patel, Lisa Jackson, Jeff Kelly, Dan Grace, Don Pillsbury, Cameron Janes and Michele Fischbach '03.

class of 2002 wedding
Brian Peller '02 weds Julie Sneider '03 with a crowd of Kellogg School friends on hand. Front to back, from left, Andy Wong '02, Rachel Manansala '02, Brian Peller '02, Kate Pellettiere (Jim's wife), Julie Sneider Peller '03, Ben Kahn '02, Jeff Rabel '02 and Jim Pellettiere '02

Another romantic KOA story to report: Brian Peller and Julie Sneider-Peller '03 met on the 2002 KOA to Lyon, France, and on Oct. 9, they were married. In addition to '03 attendees (see the '03 notes), the Class of 2002 was represented by Andy Wong, Rachel Manansala, Ben Kahn, Jeff Rabel and Jim Pellettiere. The happy Kellogg couple enjoyed their honeymoon in French Polynesia.

Brooke Brandes married Phil Warren on Oct. 29 in Houston. Brooke writes: "Irene Tarkov was such a beautiful bridesmaid. We are so grateful to everyone from Kellogg who was able to join us for a very special weekend. The following day we introduced the real Texas to all our guests — a barbecue with a live Texas band. I think most people finally understood why I liked Carol's so much! Phil is wonderful and we are having a great time just being married." Additional Kellogg attendees were: Andrew Garner, Ian Milward, Adriana McGrath, Mike Andrews, Marjan Oman, Michael Kenny, Tom Stokes, Angela Teng and Jenny Liang '03. As if that isn't enough great news, Brooke in January was promoted to vice president at JPMorgan Chase. She continues to work in finance for the investment bank's credit risk management function.

2002 wedding
Natalie Guenther and Matt Schaefer, both '02, celebrate their wedding day on Nov. 6 with many fellow Kelloggians.

Matt Schaefer and Natalie Guenther were married in the Windy City on Nov. 6. They were surrounded by many of their Kellogg friends, who helped them celebrate and party the night away! Those there to celebrate with the happy couple were Beata (Drizin) Kirr, Erich Kirr '01, Kate (Solomon) Slivjanovski, Dan Slivjanovski, Melissa (Gellert) Cooper, Yonca Ulusoy, Sagar Patel, Lisa Jackson, Don Pillsbury, Cameron Janes, Michele Fischbach '03, Kevin Stineman, Margie (Block) Stineman '03, Jared Simon, Dan Bird, Dave Shearer, Andy McDill, Jen Pack '01, Derek Mansfield, Vito Iaia, Cassidy Shield, Albie Fratini, Flip Block, Michelle Beels, Julie Saliba, Adriana McGrath, Debbie Koyama, Claire Lundin, Mandy McMillan, Devin Gallagher and John Hartke.

On Nov. 13 Jim Butler married Sharon Gobble in West Palm Beach, Fla. In attendance from the Kellogg School Class of 2002 were Mike Schulte, Eric Swanson, Sara (Thomas) Monopoli, Cameron Van Orman and his wife. After their relaxing honeymoon, the couple returned home to Dallas. With Jim working at an airline (he runs AA.com) and Sharon at a hotel, they spend most of their free time enjoying their travel benefits.

class of 2002 wedding
From left, Darika Soponawat '02, Warit Jintanawan '03, Nat Kulnides (groom), Pip (Wattanasiritham) Kulnides '02, Don Angspatt '02, Araya Sawadpanich and Ponthep Tuntavadcharom '03 celebrate Nat and Pip's marriage.

Thanks to the following parents who, in sleep-deprivation mode, sent these exciting updates so soon after the births of their children.

Allison Small writes: "My husband Scott and I have been living in Scottsdale, Ariz., since August 2003. We've been busy with our jobs, our house and our family. December was an extra busy month for us. Our son Will turned 2 and we had a baby girl, Holly Brooke Small, on Dec. 3."

John Farquhar and his wife Dayna are happy to announce the birth of daughter Alexandra Katherine Fiona Farquhar on Jan. 14. Both mom and baby are healthy and doing fine.

There have been quite a few moves — residential, career or both!

After months of blood, sweat and tears competing in the San Francisco Bay Area real estate market, Mayura and Jay Ladwa finally became homeowners. They welcome visits from fellow Kellogg alums to their home in Menlo Park, Calif.

Staying in San Francisco, Lisa Jackson has taken a position with Hewlett-Packard working on emerging consumer products. Both Julie and Natalie have graciously offered to "sample" any of HP's cool new products.

Carter Balkcom reports that he served as marketing launch manager for Ford's new 205-mile-per-hour "super car," the Ford GT. National media covered the car's first delivery, as well as the delivery of a car to television personality Jay Leno.

In late 2004 three Kellogg alums participated in a sprint triathlon near Boston to help raise money for children to attend summer camp at the Hale Reservation in Massachusetts. Tony Coia, Mandy Taft '03, and Leti Pearman '03 ran in the Kidz 2 Camp Triathlon, with Leti and Mandy winning medals in their age group! Mandy, Tony and Leti had a great time and look forward to continuing to brighten the summers of more children, as well as fight off the New England winter pounds.

Wayne Yao has joined the Chicago-based firm of Wildman Harrold Allen & Dixon LLP as an associate with the firm's corporate, securities and tax, venture capital/SBIC and real estate practices.

  Andy Whitaker '02
 

Andy Whitaker '02 celebrates the holidays with wife Sherri and newborn son Jonathan Andrew.

   
  Brooke Brandes '02
 

Brooke Brandes '02 walks down the aisle with her father.

   
  Carter Balkcom '02
  Carter Balkcom '02 shows off Ford's new "super car."
   

Saying goodbye to New Orleans, James Sowerby will be moving to Houston in June following an internal move at Entergy and Katarina's graduation from her MBA program at Loyola. James is looking forward to joining the "K Posse" in Houston. Other news: James passed the CFA Level 1 exam last June and now has the dubious joy of studying for Level 2 this June. (Any other sufferers out there!?) Katarina and James are both getting into running; she is doing her first half-marathon at the Mardi Gras marathon in New Orleans. They are training for the Lake Tahoe marathon in the fall and James is looking forward to playing for the Kellogg alums' soccer team at the Austin MBA soccer tournament (if not the week of aches and pains thereafter). James says it's always great to keep in touch with other Kelloggians, either in person (Astrid Marechal is the couple's best visitor!) or by email.

Andrew Quarles moved to Calgary, Canada, with wife Stacey and is exploration manager with Pioneer Canada. They are hoping for many visits from Kellogg friends.

After two years with McKinsey in Belgium, Morocco and Australia, Steve Vernelen is moving on to new challenges. Steve, his wife Véronique and their children Matthew, 1, and Lauren, 3, are moving to Berlin in March, where Steve will join eBay's European headquarters. He will be responsible for eBay's Belgian and Dutch customer support divisions.

A couple of classmates have entered academia: Sarah Zehr is the new associate director of admissions for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign MBS program and Alyson Gampel is the new manager of organizational learning at the Schulich Executive Education Centre of York University in Toronto, Canada. Alyson is staying close to Kellogg ties, as Schulich's EMBA is a joint venture with Kellogg.

A message from the Commander. Tiffany Shaad writes: "I am still in the Navy and was recently selected for promotion to commander. I will officially be promoted on April 1 ... no foolin'! I also changed jobs, moving from San Diego to Philadelphia this past August. While I miss the beach, I do enjoy my new work. I am working as a department director of aviation contracts at the Naval Inventory Control Point. Just before Christmas I volunteered for a six-month deployment in support of current combat operations. I am currently working at MacDill AFB in Tampa, Fla., until the end of July. There is the chance that I will be deployed forward at some point, but until that happens I am enjoying working on the same base as my sister, who is a major in the Marine Corps. I will be in Tampa until the end of July and then will return to Philly for the remaining two years of my tour."

Mandy Taft '03, Tony Coia '02 and Leti Pearman '03

Mandy Taft '03, Tony Coia '02 and Leti Pearman '03 after their charity race in New England

OK, so this isn't a move, but he sure was movin' ... Anyone who knows Albert Hwang knows that he has so much going on it is tough to keep up. His latest endeavors include running his first marathon in Phoenix, the Rock and Roll Marathon, finishing in just under 3:30. He "ran" into JJ Orellana '01, who was also completing the marathon. Albert reflected, "my legs were sore, but it was definitely worth it."

And, finally, we had to save the job change-birth-move combo for last because you are sure to get exhausted just reading it!

Starting his next rotation with Home Depot as a store manager in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Sept. 27, Andy Whitaker and wife Sherri moved into their new home on Oct. 15 and welcomed Jonathan Andrew in November. Sherri loves being a new mom and Andy is enjoying managing the store. Andy writes: "The golf courses in Myrtle Beach are great, so they say. Spare time is consumed by Jonathan, but mommy and daddy are very happy and proud parents."

Manuel O. Mendez has two tidbits for Class of 2002 readers. In December 2003 he was promoted to the position of president for Abbott Korea Limited. In his new role, Manuel will manage all functional business areas, including a small operations facility. Manuel writes, "I'm very excited with the opportunity as Korea represents a great opportunity, to learn a new culture and test new business concepts in a challenging environment." Manuel's second piece of good news is the arrival of second daughter Cecilia Beatriz.

Congratulations to all! We get a lot of messages that say, "It is so great to hear what everyone is up to." Keep the updates coming! Natalie and Julie

©2002 Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University