Class of 2001

Phil Woodward ’01, J.D. ’04 writes, “The W&M Student Assembly asked the W&M American Sign Language (ASL) Club to host an Introduction to ASL Workshop on April 3, and they invited me to be the guest speaker! I spoke to a room full of about 50 people, including Vice President of Student Affairs Ginger Ambler ’88, Ph.D. ’06, in the Sadler Center that evening! I also treated some W&M ASL Club members to a silent lunch at The Cheese Shop that day, and I attended a Wren Ten that night. It was the most crowded that I had ever seen the Wren portico!”

Malinda Zehner Guerra won an Emmy Award and was nominated for an ACE Eddie Award for editing Season 4 of HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show.” She wrote to the W&M Alumni Magazine in April: “I recently finished the third season of ‘American Horror Stories’ and I’m currently working on the upcoming season of ‘Naked & Afraid XL,’ with some other projects coming up in the summer.”

Mit Winter, an attorney specializing in college sports, was interviewed by the Richmond Times-Dispatch in April about Virginia’s new law on name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation. A former Tribe basketball player, Mit works for the Kansas City firm of Kennyhertz Perry and helped Missouri legislators draft that state’s NIL law. He told the newspaper he believes the primary assets of Virginia’s law, which took effect July 1, are that it streamlines fundraising for NIL and allows athletes to be compensated for marketing their teams. The NCAA doesn’t permit those activities, but Virginia’s law says no governing association can penalize in-state schools or their athletes for following Virginia’s guidelines. 

Caplin & Drysdale notified us that Leila Dominick Carney (shown below) was promoted to member of the firm effective Oct. 1, 2023. You can read about her areas of practice on the law firm's profile page.

Heather Tetley Baron and John Baron ’00 welcomed a son, James Nelson Baron, in 2019. James was named after both of his grandfathers, who were educators: James Baron, professor of classical studies at William & Mary for 34 years, and Warren Nelson Tetley, who was a teacher and coach for 40 years in Virginia public education. He joins his big sister, Virginia, and they live in Richmond, Virginia.   

Phil Woodward, ’01, J.D. ’04 was just featured in the spring issue of the W&M Alumni Magazine in a profile that included his great work with the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities. He and his wife, Lyla Koch Woodward ’03, have three great kids and live outside of Raleigh, North Carolina.  

Stephanie Haberman Bordas is back home in New York City, where she is a professional photographer and runs the photography studio Brooklyn Boudoir. Please check out her work at brooklynboudoir.com, and if you are an aspiring photographer, Stephanie also teaches others. Contact her for details.   

Lori Palen has been living in Cary, North Carolina, since 2010 with her husband, Wes, two sons (Tommy, 11, and Patrick, 8), and three cats (Bubba, Mickey and Mama). She started her own business, Data Soapbox, in 2021. They work with researchers (and other people/organizations with data) to develop reports, presentations, infographics and more.

Friends,

Happy spring, Class of 2001. Hard to believe we’ve been away from Williamsburg for over 20 years. I am thrilled to be the Class of 2001 reporter and hope you will email/write me with your updates and big news. You can find me on FB and IG (I am way too old for Tik Tok)!

Laura Keehner Rigas was just appointed to the W&M Board of Visitors by Gov. Glenn Youngkin — congratulations Laura. We are so proud of you!

Matt Joosse is now a practicing orthodontist in Williamsburg of all cool places where he and his lovely wife, Alex (W&M professor in public policy), and three kids live. Visit his office or online — www.joossefamilyorthodontics.com

I recently became a graduate of W&M’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business after completing the Master of Science in Marketing (online) so I can learn how to better market/promote my law firm in Roanoke, and Whit Ellerman’s business, Cardinal Bicycle. If ever in Roanoke, please come see us — we would love to feed you at our restaurant or gourmet grocery store.

I look forward to sharing our class news together!

Lauren

Friends,

Happy New Year class of 2001. Hard to believe we’ve been away from Williamsburg for over 20 years. I am thrilled to be the Class of 2001 reporter and hope you will email/write me with your updates and big news. You can find me on FB and IG (I am way too old for Tik Tok)!

Laura Keehner Rigas was just appointed to the W&M Board of Visitors by Gov. Youngkin — congratulations Laura. We are so proud of you!

Matt Joosse is now a practicing orthodontist in Williamsburg of all cool places where he and his lovely wife Alex (W&M professor in public policy) and three kids live. Visit his office or online — https://www.joossefamilyorthodontics.com

I recently became a graduate of W&M’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business grad after completing the Master of Science in Marketing (online) so I can learn how to better market/promote my law firm in Roanoke, and Whit’s (Whit Ellerman) business Cardinal Bicycle. If ever in Roanoke, please come see us — we would love to feed you at our restaurant or gourmet grocery store.

I look forward to sharing our class news together!

Lauren Morgan Ellerman

Hello, Class of 2001! My name is Jaclyn Smith and I am thrilled to serve as the new class reporter. I would like to thank Kerri Johnson for her service as our class reporter for two decades. She has done a wonderful job and I look forward to grabbing the baton and keeping up the pace. 

When I was on campus, you would most likely see me in Adair or Tyler as a kinesiology and marketing major, on the sidelines cheering on the Tribe as a member of the Co-Ed Cheerleading Squad, or hanging out with my sorority sisters in Chi Omega. Nowadays you will recognize my name as a Class Ambassador and Greek Ambassador helping raise funds to support our beloved university. I can be seen at all of the home football games still cheering on the Tribe and tailgating with family and friends. It is always great to be back on campus!

Hopefully we can all gather in the ’Burg for our 20th reunion this year at Homecoming & Reunion Weekend (save the dates for Oct. 7-10, 2021) and show our Tribe pride!  

I hope you all are doing well. Please send me updates on your personal and/or professional life at WM2001ClassReporter@gmail.com so we can share the news with our class members. 

Go Tribe!

Hi classmates! What a year. I know Homecoming 2020 won’t bring us all to the ’Burg like normal. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed that our 20th reunion at Homecoming & Reunion Weekend 2021 will be quite the celebration! Also, 20 years? When did that happen? In the meantime, I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe. Can’t wait to hopefully see many of you next year!

Keisha Hill M.Ed ’99, Ed.S. ’01 received an M.S. degree in foundations of behavior analysis from the University of Cincinnati in December of 2019. She writes that “after 20 years of working in adult education, school psychology and teaching English overseas, I decided to give human resources a try! As such, I contend I am using the same skills in a different setting. I recently accepted a position with the Kroger Co. as a recruiting and retention specialist in Milford, Ohio (Greater Cincinnati). This is a store-based position where I serve as the hiring manager and am responsible for the adjustment and training of new employees. Lunch time is interesting as I have so many choices of purchase to pick from! Otherwise, I love visiting the Cincinnati Art Museum, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and attending Cincinnati Reds games at Great American Ball Park. Last season I worked as a seasonal suite ambassador for the Cincinnati Reds, collecting tickets and giving directions, and being friendly. However, this year, I decided I want to be in the stands!”

Congrats to Mike O’Kelly and his wife, Sara N. Kollien, who were married on April 28, 2018, outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. There was a great deal of W&M in attendance with: Brendan Harris ’02, Robert Jones ’00, Jennifer Smith ’00, Steve Booker ’02 and

Cory Jones. In addition, Mike and Sara welcomed their daughter, Kendall O’Kelly, on Sept. 30, 2019. 

As of July 2019, Eric Galvez has been promoted to senior intellectual property counsel at Fujifilm Holdings America Corp.  

Marriages

No note submitted.

Marriages

Jamie Elizabeth Thompson to David M. Chowning, 9/08/18.

No note submitted.

Births

Marriages

No class note submitted.

Hi classmates! Just a quick update this time around.

Congratulations to Leah Johnson who received a National Science Foundation CAREER grant to improve mathematical and statistical models to help fight deadly diseases. Leah is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Statistics in the Virginia Tech College of Science. Her work targets vector-borne diseases such as dengue in humans and citrus greening in fruit trees.

I hope some of you were able to make it back to the ’Burg for the W&M Women’s Weekend as well as Homecoming & Reunion Weekend!