68 | LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN | CLASS NOTES vows at a private beach villa in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Then, in May 2023, they welcomed daughter Elyse Jean Caffrey to the world. In March 2023, Maddie H. Scheler married Evan James Schapiro. Alexandra (Fehring) Schickli shares the happy news of several new family members: Kit in June 2023, preceded by Ezra in July 2021 and Ansel in December 2018. She and Eric married almost 10 years ago, in November 2014. In August, Marlena Sarunac and her husband, Cruz, greeted their baby girl, Inez. Martina Tibell announces that Niklas Axel Hesser was born in August. Since 2021, Martina has been working as the senior director of treasury for Rivian Automotive. She lives with her husband, Ted Hesser, in Salt Lake City. Matthew Schaner and family announced the birth of their daughter, Lucy, in October 2023. Mom and baby are doing well, and big brother Archer could not be more excited. Matthew says: “See you at Le-Laf next year!” In November, Christina (Deaver) Lawless announced the arrival of her daughter, Liliana. The Class of 2008 also has several professional life updates to share. Rakesh Amin works as an attending musculoskeletal and intervention radiologist at Eastern Radiologists. He is also an associate professor of radiology at East Carolina University Medical School. Agata (Strzelec) Mejias wrote and illustrated a children’s book, “Chester’s Big Splash,” self-published through social media accounts (@chasin_chester). Josh Senior continues his work as an executive producer of the brilliant broadcast “The Bear,” which received many awards and accolades: 27 wins and 60 nominations. Finally, we have an impressive report from Maj. Douglas R. Moquet, a U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate (JAG). His dispatch recounts public service in sites not far from my current abode in Abu Dhabi: “From May to October 2023, [Douglas] served as the legal adviser to the Combat Operations Division, 609th Air Operations Center, Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. During this period, he delivered real-time legal guidance facilitating 12,500 sorties, resulting in 36 enemies killed-in-action, including a high-profile [Islamic State (ISIS)] leader, as well as 117 enemy combatants captured. Additionally, he was the primary legal adviser for highrisk Strait of Hormuz operations, successfully thwarting an Iranian attempt to seize a commercial tanker. “Further, [Douglas] developed defensive guidance for air crew and operators in response to unsafe Russian intercepts of MQ-9 Reaper aircraft. His guidance boosted the protection of critical counter-ISIS assets while minimizing escalation with a strategic adversary, safeguarding 53 aircraft worth $1.6 billion. Finally, he was the lead legal adviser to the Combined Forces Air Component Commander while a Turkish drone presented a threat to U.S. forces in Syria. His timely guidance enabled senior leaders to navigate a complex situation and provided the legal foundation for an air-to-air strike by a United States F-16.” ’09 Bobby Buckheit, lehighclass2009@ gmail.com Hello, classmates! I didn’t get too many updates this round (likely due to technical issues in soliciting the class column). If you have updates that you would like to share, please send them to Lehigh Class2009@gmail.com. Two very important updates for the president of our class: (1) Scott Wojciechowski and his wonderful wife, Ashely, welcomed a daughter, June Louise Wojciechowski, and (2) Scott also graduated with his Ph.D. in December 2023. In other exciting baby announcements, Courtney Ronan and her husband, Philip, welcomed their first baby, Christian Ronan Tefarikis, in June. Amy Hussey and husband Charles welcomed their first baby, Eloise Harper Black, in August. And last, but certainly not least, Morgan Biancamano welcomed her first baby, Brendon Biancamano Boyle, in February. In other news, Reunion is right around the corner. Please save the dates June 6-9, 2024, and we look forward to welcoming many of you back to campus! ’10 Nick Anderson, Nick.Anderson@ alum.lehigh.edu Happy 2024! Here are a few updates from your classmates: In baby news, Marielle (Soboti) Heaton and husband Dennis welcomed their third child, Wesley Sullivan Heaton, in October. In wedding news, Hillary Stires married Alex Andrews on Oct. 21 in Vienna, Va. Between family and friends, they had quite a few Lehigh alumni in attendance! Jeff Zelin married Lauren Moses in November. The couple is currently living in the TriBeCa neighborhood of NYC, where Jeff works as the chief operating officer and chief compliance officer of a hedge fund. Mike Johns got married in June, finished his surgical fellowship in August and has moved back to the Lehigh Valley, working as a colon and rectal surgeon at Lehigh Valley Hospital. In career news, Nina Patrick moved from Berlin, Germany, to Lisbon, Portugal, last year and started a new job working as the innovation lead at the Champalimaud Center for the Unknown, a world-leading neuroscience and cancer research institute and cancer clinic. As always, keep the updates coming! Stay safe, Nick ’11 Sri Rao, sridevi211@ gmail.com Class of 2011! I don’t know about you all, but the years seem to be flying by for me. I cannot believe we are in our mid-30s. It feels like just yesterday we were living it up (in between late nights at Lindy and FML) at Lehigh. Here are some accomplishments and milestones achieved by our classmates: Samantha Banks joined Fox Rothschild LLP in Philadelphia as a partner in the litigation department. She advises employers regarding workplace issues, negotiating employment and noncompete agreements and helping with personnel decisions. Samantha also provides pro bono legal services to the Support Center for Child Advocates and has previously served as pro bono counsel for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Prisoner Civil Rights Panel and the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. Lauren Dykstra, former women’s lacrosse player, was inducted as part of Lehigh’s Hall of Fame Class of 2023. Lauren earned four different Patriot League major awards and still holds the school and Patriot League record with 257 career goals. Paul Gancitano married Kevin Fish on Nov. 17, 2023, in Washington, D.C. They spent their honeymoon in South America exploring Columbia and Peru. Brittany (Dickinson) Russell and Andy Russell welcomed their second child, a baby girl! Riley June Russell was born on Nov. 3, 2023. Congratulations on all the life updates, Class of 2011! Make sure you are following us on Instagram @Lehigh2011 and on our Facebook page: Le-
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