8. Stephanie Geller

Several of the alums featured between now and reunion were degree marshals for their respective colleges during our commencement ceremony in May 1995, an honor awarded to the two students in each college with the highest GPA.

Baltimore, Maryland · Architecture, Art, and Planning

Name at Cornell
Stephanie Lessans

stephaniegeller@hotmail.com


Tell us about what you're doing with your life.

I live in Baltimore with my husband, Jeff, and my two sons, Henry (age 12) and Ira (age 9).  Although I’ve changed jobs several times since graduating from Cornell and obtaining my MSW several years later, my professional goal to help revitalize our nation’s distressed urban areas has not changed.  I’m particularly passionate about catalyzing out-of-the-box, community wealth-building models such as worker-owned cooperatives to create quality, empowering job opportunities in low-income areas.  Outside of work, I love reading, games, and spending quality time with my friends and family.  I also love hiking, especially around waterfalls (which definitely has roots in my years at Cornell).

What is your favorite memory of your time at Cornell?

My favorite times were those spent with dear friends—first, hanging out on the 3rd floor of U-Hall 3 and then at “The Brick,” a dilapidated house on Eddy Street, where we spent many nights playing hearts, laughing, and just relaxing together!  I spent too much time at Uris Library, but even when I think back to those long days and nights of studying, my memories are quite happy ones—sitting next to good friends (we spent so much time in one area that we deemed certain desks to be ours) and taking breaks to enjoy stir-fries and cookies at the Straight.

·  How has your time at Cornell influenced you since you graduated?

As an Urban & Regional Studies major at Cornell, I learned about the interconnected nature of the systems, institutions, policies, attitudes, and many other factors shaping our communities and oftentimes resulting in severe urban challenges.  My classes helped me develop a “macro-lens”—an ability to recognize the interrelated forces that have left so many of our nation’s neighborhoods facing severe disinvestment and stress.  As someone now working to revitalize some of Baltimore’s poorest areas, this lens has helped me better understand the complex challenges facing this city and formulate the type of systemic-level solutions necessary to affect positive, sustainable change.  

What are you most looking forward to at Reunion 2015?
First, I am so excited to re-connect with my friends.  Our four years together at Cornell helped us become so close—I know that even though it has been so many years since we’ve seen each other, we will jump right back in where we left off—laughing, sharing, and catching up!  I also am looking forward to sharing one of my favorite places in the world—Cornell—with my sons, who are now 9 and 12.  They had a blast at the last reunion, and now that they are 5 years older, I know will get even more out of the experience.

59. David H. Quigley

Brookeville, Maryland · Agriculture and

Life Sciences

dhquig5@gmail.com

Tell us about what you're doing with your life.
My wife, Angela ('96), and I spend our days trying to keep up with our two kids, Hannah (9) and Elliot (3). We live in a small town in Maryland about halfway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and fortunately well within within striking distance of Hershey Park. I am a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, where I have practiced environmental law since 1998. My practice covers an array of environmental matters, including transactional, enforcement litigation, regulatory compliance, lobbying and legislative development, so it is never boring.

What extracurricular activity or hobby from your time at Cornell was the most meaningful?
The speech and debate team gave me my life, quite literally. I met my wife there. The skill set I picked up there got me into law school and helped build a career. The people who came before (and some after) have become mentors and sounding boards and probably once a month I turn to that network for advice or assistance. Most importantly, I am fortunate to have so many friends (and family) that I owe to that team. I enjoyed so much about my experience at Cornell, but nothing has had the lasting impact that team has had.

What was your favorite class at Cornell, or the one you found the most useful?
Certainly the one I found most useful is Intro to Public Speaking (Comm 101), though not just because my career relies on that particular skill set to a great extent. Through that class, I got involved with the speech and debate team, which is where I met my wife. If you can find a class that prepares you for your career AND your marriage, I would say that is pretty useful. I suppose it should also make it my favorite, as well.

What random or surprising encounters with Cornell or Cornellians have you experienced since you left?
At a point when my wife and I had started to fall out of contact, we got a visit from Sharon Detzer of the Ag School's alumni affairs/development office. Meeting Sharon really reconnected us with the community, and she has facilitated my being on a panel at an entrepreneurship event, guest lecturing at a Dyson School environmental class, and getting to work with graduating students on career path questions through the development office. It has been amazing to reconnect in that meaningful way, and I love the opportunity to give back to the school that has given me so much.

What is your favorite memory of your time at Cornell?
I lived at 509 Wyckoff with 11 of my closest friends sophomore year. That year had a number of ups and downs, but that house and the camraderie that lived within it was a big up, despite the fact that you could look through the holes in the walls in some of the rooms, and we had to share the house with a raccoon who lived in our oven, the weather (the walls did not always reach the ceilings), and a mole-man who lived in our basement.

67. Jared Genser

Bethesda, Maryland · Human Ecology

info@perseus-strategies.com
Twitter: @jaredgenser
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jared.genser

Tell us about what you're doing with your life.
I am an international human-rights lawyer and my work takes me all over the world—something I enjoy less and less over time. After being a partner at a global law firm, I left to start my own law firm, Perseus Strategies, and founded and serve on the board of a non-profit group, Freedom Now (www.freedom-now.org), which works to free prisoners of conscience around the world. I've been tremendously honored and challenging by representing such clients as Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Aung San Suu Kyi and Liu Xiaobo. I also teach a seminar at Georgetown Law School about the UN Security Council. Personally, my wife Lisa and I have two beautiful children Zachary (5) and Alexandra (2). To blow off steam, I play ice hockey in an adult league. I've never been all that good, but keep thrashing away!

What is your favorite memory of your time at Cornell?
There are so many wonderful memories from my time at Cornell. They include, among others, Thursday night "group therapy" at Dunbars with my fraternity brothers; a Spring break road trip to New Orleans and Panama City, Florida; some really inspiring faculty and classes; and having the luxury of time to build deep friendships.

How has your time at Cornell influenced you since you graduated?
I have wonderful memories of my time at Cornell. It was just a fabulous time of my life. In many ways, the kinds of things I studied and the extracurricular community service activities that I was engaged in at Cornell in HumEc put me on the path to where I've ended up today. I never could have imagined exactly where I've ended up or how I would have gotten here, but the foundation that was laid at Cornell has had a profound impact on my life.

What extracurricular activity or hobby from your time at Cornell was the most meaningful?
Hockey. I never would have imagined how much the PE requirement from college would have a positive effect on my well-being. I took ice skating to meet the PE requirement, then starting taking hockey lessons, and ended up playing intramural hockey at Cornell. I later played in grad school and law school and for a few years after that. And now that my five-year-old son is on the ice, I've returned to playing. It is just a fabulous sport and I love to play. Ironically, I married a Canadian who can barely ice skate!

75. Erin Harty

Baltimore, Maryland · Agriculture and Life

Sciences

eharty@gmail.com

Tell us about what you're doing with your life.
After working as a staff writer/editor for an equestrian magazine and an online pet magazine, I went freelance in 2002. I've done a mixture of writing, editing, and online community management, mostly for equestrian magazines, but also for a lacrosse magazine here in Baltimore. In 2008, I wrote a book on horse care for the Humane Society of the United States.

Those jobs took me from rural Virginia to Phoenix to Annapolis, then finally to Baltimore, where I bought a decrepit 100-year-old rowhouse that has now been completely gutted and redone. I can see Camden Yards from my house!

I still ride horses, although my current horse, Chief, is older and semi-retired now—his show name, when he was still competing, was Ithaca! I also do a lot of volunteering in animal rescue, and currently have a pit bull and an ever-rotating gang of foster cats.

Which Cornell classmates do you keep in touch with?
Through the magic of Facebook, most of U-Hall 3, 4th floor. The folks I actually make a point of visiting with whenever the opportunity arises: my senior year roommates (Thelma Romano Kranyak, Erica Chapman, Aylin Ozmelek Lewallen, James Boglioli), Elana GIlaad, Jennifer Keene, and Concert Commission cronies Tom Lyon, Sanjoy Biswas, and Erika Eason.

What random or surprising encounters with Cornell or Cornellians have you experienced since you left?
Even though none of us were really "runners" while at Cornell, my senior year roommates (Erica Chapman, Aylin Ozmelek Lewallen, Thelma Romano Kranyak, and James Boglioli '94) and I are all now into long-distance running. In 2012, we all got together for the first time in a decade to run a half marathon, and it's given us a reason to meet up periodically for races. James and Erica also convinced me to run my first full marathon in Baltimore in October, and Thelma and her whole family came to cheer me on!

What are you most looking forward to at Reunion 2015?
Besides the obvious -- catching up with old friends -- I love spending time on campus and in Ithaca. As much as it has changed (and holy cow, has it changed!), it always feels like home.

83. Erika Eason

Rockville, Maryland · Arts and Sciences

erika.eason@gmail.com

Tell us about what you're doing with your life.
I'm currently working as the Instructional Technologist at an independent school in Washington, DC. This is my third year in that position; prior to that, I taught middle and upper school Spanish for 14 years (ten at a private school in Baltimore, my hometown, and four here at my current school). My job is to help teachers integrate technology into their curricula, and to train my colleagues to use tech tools they are unfamiliar with. It's a great job, and I'm glad I was able to transition into something that marries all of my years as a classroom teacher with learning and using technology. Speaking of marriage, I got married almost four years ago to my awesome husband, Mark. No kids, but we do have a crazy cat. I recently began studying belly dance and am enjoying learning more about that expressive art.

What advice would you give to a student starting at Cornell this year?
Take advantage of the opportunities that being at Cornell can provide. Go outside of your comfort zone and try something new and scary. If you are having problems in a class, talk to your professor—it doesn't mean you're stupid. And in the name of all that is holy: whenever the sun decides to make an appearance, take the time to sit there and soak it in... it might be days (or weeks) before you see it again.

What does being a Cornell alumnus mean to you?
It means I get to annoy my husband frequently with the celebration I do every time I hear about someone or something from Cornell doing something great. In all seriousness, I feel connected to something much bigger than myself, to an institution that was founded on such a simple yet almost revolutionary principle—and I am a part of its legacy.

What are you most looking forward to at Reunion 2015?
While Facebook has been a godsend because it allows me to stay in touch with far-flung Cornellian friends, I am most excited about seeing people in person, getting to know their kids, meeting some new people, reacquainting myself with the campus, and just being in the real, physical world, together. There is no substitute for face-to-face time.

88. Justin Berk

Baltimore, Maryland · Agriculture and Life Sciences

berk@justinweather.com

Tell us about what you're doing with your life.
After over 17 years on TV as a meteorologist, I started my own business primarily developing apps. My first one, Kid Weather, was the idea of my oldest son when he was in Kindergarden. He is now entering second grade and we have downloads in 28 different countries. I am also a college professor and developed a video series for local ski areas.

How has your time at Cornell influenced you since you graduated?
Most importantly I have always tried to keep my mind fresh. Either learning or creating new ventures rather than fitting in the mold.

If you could change anything about your Cornell experience, what would it be?
I wish I had planned ahead better to spend at least one full summer at Cornell. I tried it one year, but didn't have a job lined up so I had to eventually go home and work. Experiencing Ithaca without the hustle of classes is highly advisable.

What random or surprising encounters with Cornell or Cornellians have you experienced since you left?
Anytime I meet someone who has any connection to Cornell, there seems to be an instant bond regardless of what year the graduated or courses they studied.