Kudos! December 2025

December 5, 2025
By W&M Alumni Magazine

Congratulations to William & Mary alumni who are making moves in the world! This is where we celebrate awards, job changes, promotions, recognition and other career and civic engagement news we collected between Sept. 8 and Dec. 2. For more updates from your classmates, check out the Class Notes at magazine.wm.edu/class-notes and in the print edition of the W&M Alumni Magazine!

If you would like to submit an item for Kudos, email the W&M Alumni Magazine staff at alumni.magazine@wm.edu. We will also share your news with your class’s reporter.

Awards and Recognition

Peter Atwater ’83, P ’17, P ’20 talked with Marketplace Morning Report in November about how the COVID-19 pandemic still affects the economy.

Ifeoma Ayika ’21, a student at Duke University School of Law, won the 2025 Jessup Cup, Duke Law’s intramural tournament based on The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.

Joy Lawson Davis M.A.Ed. ’92, Ed.D. ’08, is the recipient of the National Association for Gifted Children’s (NAGC) 2025 Distinguished Service Award. This past summer, she was inducted into the 2e Center Hall of Fame at Bridges Graduate School for Cognitive Diversity in Education and will be recognized this year in the NAGC Legacy series.

Philip Forgit ’89, M.A.Ed. ’95 was profiled by the Virginia Gazette for his forthcoming documentary on the war in Ukraine, “Assurance,” an intimate portrait of Ukrainian soldiers and the civilians supporting them as they fight to repel Russia’s incursion into the Donbas region. The documentary is set for release in January 2026 by Forgit Films.

Jon D. “Doug” Klein ’84, J.D. ’87, P ’18 was recently named to the 2025 Class of the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Hall of Fame.

Jenn Lodi-Smith ’01, M.A. ’03 was featured in Audubon magazine for the Spark Bird Project, a community science research initiative collecting “spark bird stories” from nationwide to understand why people get hooked on birding.

Lamar Shambley ’10 was the inaugural honoree of the Beacon Award from the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Foundation. This award recognizes achievements by a recent Algernon Sydney Sullivan or Mary Mildred Award recipient.

Job Changes and Promotions

Elizabeth Armistead Andrews ’84, P ’20, previously director of W&M’s Virginia Coastal Policy Center and now at the University of Virginia, was appointed in October by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to serve on the Hampton Roads Sanitation District D) Commission. This eight-member board is charged with managing and controlling the functions, affairs and property of the Hampton Roads Sanitation District.

Kelly Porell Cannon ’05 and Laura Dillard Lafayette ’87 are co-chairs on Gov.-Elect Abigail Spanberger’s transition team. Former U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton J.D. ’95 is serving as an honorary co-chair.

Gabe Dorsey ’25 signed with the two-time defending Slovakian League Champions Patrioti Levice, joining his brother Caleb Dorsey ’25 in Slovakia’s top basketball division.

Amaya Jones ’25 started a position at the University of Richmond as assistant director of alumni networks.

Andrea Snarr LaBarge M.Acc. ’01 has been named managing partner at Firley, Moran, Freer and Eassa CPA, P.C. (FMF&E), a leading accounting and advisory firm headquartered in Syracuse, New York. She is the first woman to hold this position in the firm’s history.

Heather Fleniken McFarlane ’94 has joined JAMS, the largest private provider of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services worldwide, as a mediator, arbitrator and neutral evaluator.

Arielle Newby M.Ed. ’21 founded EmpowerED Pathways Consulting Inc., a consulting firm specializing in higher education exploration and advising.

Katherine Perriello ’25 has been accepted into the Peace Corps. Perriello departed for Vietnam on Oct. 2 to begin training as an English education teacher. Kendal Vorous ’25,has also been accepted into the Peace Corps. After graduating with a degree in psychology from William & Mary, she began her tenure on July 12 in Costa Rica, working as a youth development facilitator.

Will Platt ’01, P ’26 is spearheading a new financial planning practice tailored specifically for professional and collegiate athletes with the firm Momentum Advisors, one of the largest minority-owned Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) firms in the country, where Platt serves as head of financial planning and managing partner.

Shianne Randolph ’21, J.D. ’25 joined Christian & Barton, LLP, a broad-based business and litigation practice located in Richmond, Virginia, as an associate focused on energy, telecommunications and other public utility regulatory matters.