CLASS NOTES | SUMMER 2026 | 47 Speaking of caring and support, I was fascinated to learn what Hilary Cohen has been up to since school days. After earning her master’s in social work, she went on to work for 14 years in a Level I trauma center in Florida, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, helping children and parents in crisis. For the last 20 years she has worked in oncology at Emory University Hospital in Georgia. Hilary introduced pet therapy there and gets to work with dogs. She loves rock climbing, and for the last 10 years has been an open water swimmer, currently training for two 10k swims and a 10-mile swim in the Tennessee River. I will be cheering her on from afar. I was happy to learn that our classmate James Maida was recently selected as chair of the Lehigh board of trustees. His term began on July 1. I’ve spoken to him a couple of times over the years regarding this column and his efforts at Lehigh. I can say that he cares so deeply about our school, and it will be in good hands. He has had the parent experience as well, having had two children graduate from Lehigh. I didn’t realize until recently that his father and two siblings, Joseph Maida ’83 and Jeannette (Maida) Brick ’86, also attended Lehigh, and that he and his wife Sharon met on campus. Sharon served as an advisor on the Dean’s Council for the College of Education in the past, holds a doctoral degree in education, and has done pioneering work in orientation and mobility for children with visual impairments. As I write this, my husband, Mike Sheehan ’83, is driving up to Lehigh to serve on the Advisory Council for the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. He recently met up with a large group of Chi Psis, and the “report” will be in the Class of ’83 column of this issue. Mike and I got together with Unchu (Lee) Tobia ’86 and her husband, Alfred, this past weekend. Unchu and I have been friends since school, roommates in New York after graduation, had summer shares as couples in the pre-kid years and have traveled together. We share a love of art history and have spent lots of time studying and looking at art together. Roy Borgeson is living in Boynton, Fla., where he’s been for a few years now. He fishes offshore for tuna, mahi, wahoo and sailfish. He has two children and two very young granddaughters all living in New Jersey, so he makes the trip back and forth often to spend time with them. ’86 Dave Polakoff, 400 E. 71st St., #3K, New York, NY 10021, david@dpolakoff.com. “Every time I think of you, I know we have to meet. And I just can’t get enough.” (Depeche Mode) Thrilled to have another Gayle (Fay) Higgins ’88 and TJ Higgins update, as TJ’s retirement prioritizes time for ’86 column updates, with remaining time for travel, most recently, Switzerland, and for new grandson, Miles. TJ and Miles’ mom, Shannon, ran a half-marathon at Disney World, leaving young Miles with babysitter, Spanky McFarland, his glue and a birdcage, no doubt. Similar to the previously reported post-retirement travails and travels of TJ, Lisa and Todd Griesemer haven’t wasted time watching the paint dry. Places visited included San Francisco, Yosemite and Napa Valley last autumn, followed by Christmas and New Year’s at Disney and the Outer Banks with daughter, Heidi. Heidi, a baker who takes her cues from Nazorine and Enzo, is also a Special Olympics athlete, competing in bowling, basketball skills and dance. Mid-winter included a visit to the Dominican Republic, and this autumn’s plans: Scotland and Edinburgh; then British Columbia and Banff. Forged in Bethlehem continues beyond the steel era, as Kathy (Duggan) Trimble ’87 and Dave Trimble’s daughter, Elizabeth ’20, married Eric Greenwood ’20 at Packer Chapel last autumn. ’86ers attending: Jim Burke, plus Dave’s Phi Kappa Theta fratres, Erik Soderberg, Jonathan Olsen and Leon Nigohosian. Leon, a metallurgy and materials engineering major and graduate of the University of New Hampshire’s Franklin Pierce School of Law, recently marked 20 years as Bethlehem’s Minerals Technologies’ chief patent counsel. Living in Nazareth with wife Tina, two of their triplets carry on the Lehigh engineering tradition. Electrical engineer Stephan ’25 pursues a Ph.D. at CREOL at the University of Central Florida. Michael ’25 attained his Lehigh master’s in materials engineering, and is now pursuing a materials science Ph.D. at the University of Virginia. And John works with materials, presumably, leveraging his Penn State graphic design degree. Careful, Leon, I think Nittany Lions can devour Mountain Hawks. Brenda Mullen Sampiere was in Santo Isidoro, Portugal, for her professional surfer and content creator daughter Elle’s (@ elle_sampiere) spring wedding. Kevin Fitzpatrick and wife, Beth, live in Fairfax, Va., and have two daughters, one contending with post-doctoral work for NOAA in Seattle, and one working as a registered nurse. Outside of work as a defense contractor, and when not bicycling, Kevin will officiate at his youngest daughter’s wedding. Sigma Phi remains an active brotherhood as John Pallone, Dave Garner and Alf Kennedy attended the annual Flagship Banquet dinner last spring, at Philadelphia’s Racket Club. Alf is chair of pediatric surgery and trauma with Danville, Pa.’s, Geisinger Health System’s Janet Weis Children’s Hospital, where he’ll perform surgery in French or English as you prefer. Alf’s own pediatric and not-so-pediatric roster includes: U.S. Marine Parker; recent geoscience major, now LSAT studier, Penn State grad Alexis; anesthesia tech, fellow operating room collaborator, Amber; and rounding out the poop-sheet is Francis (“Frankie”) enjoying her twos. “Leaving so soon, it’s like we just arrived. Did I play the right tune for your pleasure tonight?” (War and Treaty) ’87 Laura M. D’Orsi, 26 Falcon Ridge Circle, Holmdel, NJ 07733, (732) 241-5229 (H); lauramdorsi@yahoo.com It was a brutal winter and finally summer is here. Enjoyed my daughter’s junior year at Lehigh. We were fortunate to visit her while she was studying abroad in Madrid. She and her Lehigh friends enjoyed touring Madrid, Paris, Edinburgh, Morocco, Lisbon and others. Not like when we backpacked and got our Eurail Passes, they now fly to different excursions every weekend. We missed attending Lehigh basketball games this winter, but I was lucky enough to attend the men’s game where they won the Patriot League Championship, and we watched the NCAA tournament. Stu Seltzer released a book, “Brand Licensing for Dummies,” on May 28, 2025, and has been doing a lot of fun podcasts and press for it (including this Lehigh podcast, shorturl.at/qvPPu). He had a book launch event in Las Vegas, which you can see in this video at the 1 minute, 50 second-mark: shorturl.at/UGTx1. Stu was at Lehigh in June teaching the MBA class on brand licensing again and hand-delivered a few to the Lehigh bookstore for their shelves. Of course, it is also available on Amazon: a.co/d/gX3D66G. I know many of us enjoyed celebrating our big birthdays this year. My DG friends and I had a big trip to Charleston, S.C., where we enjoyed touring and escapades around town. I keep in touch with Carrie McGan, and she and her Gamma Phi friends enjoyed a similar girls’ trip to Nashville. Tom Cassidy reached out to inform me about his daughter’s wedding. There were over 30 Lehigh alums in attendance, including many of Tom’s Theta Chi brothers, wives and children. His daughter Alexandra Cassidy ’18 was an AOPi, and many of her friends and other family members were in attendance. ’88 Jamie Sorcher Pitzer, jamiesor cher@gmail.com, 908-415-9471 “For we are always what our situations hand us/it’s either sadness or euphoria.”—Billy Joel Gen X is called the “sandwich generation” for a reason—we are
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