Kudos! November 2022
November 1, 2022
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. 22 and Oct. 22. 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.
Awards and Recognition
Three alumni have been selected for The Virginian-Pilot’s Inside Business Top Forty Under 40, which honors young professionals who are successful in their careers and involved in the Hampton Roads, Virginia, community. Jamaila Barrantes Melchers M.B.A. ’13 is business process management director at Segra, one of the largest independent fiber network companies in the Eastern U.S. Cory Jessee ’11 is co-owner of OnPoint Building Services, a commercial cleaning company he acquired in 2015. Kristopher McClellan ’10 is assistant city attorney for Norfolk, Virginia.
Job Changes and Promotions
Stuart Chaffee ’96 was appointed executive chairman of Olaris Inc. Chaffee is a 20-year veteran in the biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Olaris, Chaffee was most recently chief business officer at Affinivax Inc.
Tony Cortinas ’01 was appointed president of Marathon Consulting, which specializes in serving mid-tier businesses, nonprofit organizations and local municipalities in the mid-Atlantic region and beyond. He previously served as vice president.
Cliff Creech M.B.A. ’04 was promoted to vice president of customer engineering at Phillips Connect. Creech joined the company in 2018 after a 20-year career with Norfolk Southern Corp.
Lisa Lentz Cuba ’02 was appointed executive vice president, chief risk officer and will oversee enterprise risk management, compliance and Bank Secrecy Act compliance at Forbright Bank. Cuba is a career banker with over 20 years of risk management experience, including at both community and midsize banks. She was most recently senior vice president and director of enterprise risk management for Atlantic Union Bank.
Kevin S. Elliker J.D. ’14 has returned to Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP as counsel in the firm’s Richmond office. Elliker, who was an associate with the firm from 2016 to 2019, most recently served as investigative counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
Brian Golden J.D. ’92 launched a real estate practice at Keegan Werlin LLP. Prior to working at Keegan Werlin, Golden served for more than eight years as chief executive of the Boston Planning & Development Agency, managing the largest building boom in Boston’s history.
Robert R. Gunning ’90 was appointed to the 20th Judicial District Court in Colorado. Gunning is a mediator with Accord ADR Group and part-time of counsel at Silverstein & Pomerantz LLP. His practice consists primarily of civil mediation matters and tax litigation.
Lauren Kloss Jacobson ’07 was appointed as the chief investment officer of Hamilton College, managing its more than $1.3 billion endowment. Jacobson currently serves managing director and co-head of marketable assets classes at Columbia Investment Management Co.
Crystal Roberts Jezierski J.D. ’97 joins Guidepost Solutions as senior managing director. She recently served as associate general counsel and assistant secretary for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Past roles include senior vice president for global ethics at Walmart, partner at the global law firm Baker McKenzie, and chief counsel for oversight and investigations with the judiciary committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Osborn J.D. ’97 will serve as district election officer in Maine to oversee complaints about voting rights concerns, threats of violence to election officials or staff, and election fraud for the Nov. 8 general election. Osborn joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2011 and is the chief of the civil division.
Alla Vysotsky Schay ’95 was appointed global chief operating officer of Makosi, a leading variable workforce provider. She brings with her 15 years as an executive at Sterling, a $700 million-plus global industry leader in employee background screening and identity solutions.
Dr. Cynthia Martin Southern ’96 has been elected and installed as president of the Virginia Dental Association. Southern has been a member of the VDA since 2000 and has served in multiple leadership positions, including treasurer and director for the Southwest Virginia Dental Society.
Brooke Stephenson ’19 took a job with Cardinal News as digital engagement editor. As a student at W&M, Stephenson wrote for the student newspaper, The Flat Hat, interned at Trail Runner Magazine and won the Glenwood Clark Fiction Prize. She came to Cardinal News from ProPublica, where she recently completed a Scripps-Howard fellowship.
Corey D.B. Walker Ph.D. ’01 was named interim dean of the School of Divinity at Wake Forest. Walker joined the Wake Forest faculty in 2020. As a distinguished scholar of African American social, political and religious thought, he will continue to serve as Wake Forest Professor of the Humanities and director of Wake Forest’s African American Studies Program, which he established.
Sarah Weber ’22 joins Andrews & Cole LLC as a recruiting assistant. Weber is a recent graduate of William & Mary, and her new role will give her exposure to a variety of functional areas including recruiting, marketing, business development and consulting.