52 | LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN | CLASS NOTES Safiya also shared that she is married to her Lehigh love, Enrique Simmons Jr., and the two celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary last year. Congratulations! Their family recently relocated from Richmond, Va., to southern Maryland, where they are busy with three children, along with three dogs, two guinea pigs and a rabbit. Their oldest will graduate from high school in 2027 and has her eyes—and heart— set on Lehigh. Safiya noted that as Lehigh’s first legacy student of color, nothing would make her— or her mother, a member of the Class of ’77—prouder. Thank you for sharing, Safiya! It’s always a joy to pass along news from our classmates! If others in the class have news to share, I’d love to hear from you and include it in a future update. ’04 Michael Zurat, 202-549-2222; mzurat@icloud. com. Class of ’04, no news is good news? While my inbox remains quiet, I’ll provide you with some poetry for inspiration. Summer of oh-four / Brown and white on the mountain / Engineers take flight. The Class of Two-Thousandand-Four Left Lehigh’s great hilltop with roar / They tossed up their caps / Unfolded their maps / And went out to conquer and soar! Kids’ carpools, gray hairs / Still engineers at the core / Zoom calls, then rosé. The Class of Oh-Four’s pushing fifty, Their careers have turned out pretty nifty / They’re coaching youth leagues / And paying mortgages, And somehow still think they look nifty! Yours in haiku and limerick, Michael Zurat ’05 Jessi (Schimmel) McMullan, jessi. mcmullan@alum. lehigh.edu It’s been quiet on the news front, but I know Class of 2005 members continue to hold Lehigh in their hearts because we came in fourth place in the annual Giving Day + March Mania challenge for most participants from the class. Together, the university raised over $3.2 million in 48 hours to support Lehigh and the student experience. Please reach out and let me know what you’ve been doing so I can share the news with the class. All updates—professional, family, far-flung adventures, volunteering close to home, catching up with college friends, etc.—are fun updates to read here. I will lead. I was recently recruited to join the local library board of directors by its president, none other than Nate Golub ’04. And I often see Mike Psathas ’06 as we coach our kids’ soccer teams on adjoining fields. ’06 Kevin Frost, Kevin.Frost@ alum.lehigh.edu Hello 2006, I’m back with a short update. I stay in touch with many of you outside the official column update channels. Twenty years out, there are lots of unofficial updates every week via texts, pictures and videos, heavy on fun things like our kids’ sporting events, vacations (plenty of Disney trips—including the Frosts in Disneyland this January) and check-ins from airports around the world due to work travel. That said, I am sure this column will be heavy with official updates next time following our 20th Reunion. Drew Gomer is making a big move—trading San Antonio, Texas, for Tulsa, Okla., alongside his wife, Lexie, and 5-year-old son, Lincoln. The relocation comes with an exciting new chapter professionally, as Drew has joined Williams Companies as an HSEI Advisor, bringing his deep oil and gas expertise to one of the nation’s leading energy infrastructure companies. The Gomer family is thrilled to put down roots in the Sooner State. I’ve been lucky to attend the Masters the last two years. Both coincided with a Rory McIlroy victory. Considering it is one of the most difficult tickets to get, maybe I can convince Rory that I need to be there in 2027 to help his chances. Otherwise, it’s up to the whims of the ticket lottery. ’07 Brian Roth, Lehigh classof2007 @gmail.com Mallory Griffin recently relocated from Pittsburgh, Pa., and is now living and working in NYC as northeast water market leader and NYC metro leader for GHD. Mike Gioia and Ashley welcomed their third baby, Leo, in March. He is joining his two brothers, Rocco (4) and Antonio (2). Tyler Susko founded Cadense, which is doing awesome things. “We created a variable friction shoe, now registered with the FDA as a medical device for people who experience difficulty walking, specifically people that have had a stroke, MS, CP, neuropathy, Parkinson’s, etc. We’ve been able to help over 30,000 people in the first two years, looking to double that this year,” he reported. Just before Christmas, Dylan Smith and his wife, Sarah, became foster parents to a 12-month-old boy and a 2½-year-old girl. AJ Plummer has been living in Guangzhou, China, since 2021 with his wife and daughter. “I was recently promoted to enterprise technologies director for China at Mars, Inc., where I have worked since 2013,” he said. “I also continue to be an adjunct professor at Centenary University in New Jersey, where I teach in their Social Media Marketing program. My wife works for an insurance company here, and my daughter recently entered the first grade. Recently, my daughter was chosen for her primary school’s baseball team, which is exciting as baseball is an up-and-coming sport here.” Tess Szuhany sends lots of love and congrats to Ash (DeBarba) Magda! Jen (Rego) Mundie lives in Manasquan, N.J., with her husband, three kids and two dogs. She was an eighth-grade language arts teacher and has been a stay-at-home mom since her first child was born. She keeps busy doing activities with the kids, traveling as a family, spending lots of time at the beach and serving the community as a Girl Scouts troop leader, PTO vice president and AYF cheerleading coach. She and her husband bring the kids up to Lehigh every year for a football game! ’08 Olivier Lewis, olivier.lewis@ alum.lehigh.edu This summer, the Class of 2008’s news is sparse, but splendid. In September 2025, Denise (Trio) Rasku married Doug Rasku. In the following equinox, she and Melissa Montalvo celebrated their 40th birthdays. Career-wise, in January 2026 Jon England was promoted to partner at Blank Rome LLP. Congratulations to Denise and Jon for these magnificent milestones. We also received an update from Mike Ballanco: “In the spring of 2011, Patrick Murphy ’09 married Summer in Guiyang, Guizhou, China. Later that year, their son, Levon, was born. The trio returned to Arlington, Va., in the fall of 2012 to attend the wedding of Mike Ballanco and Emily (Schulman) Ballanco. Patrick and Summer had a daughter, Lia, several years later—around the same time that Bradley White married his husband, Scott, at a beautiful Manhattan courthouse. Emily and Mike now have three children together: Colin (9), Lucy (7), and Annie (4). Pat and Summer, and Brad and Scott now live in Atlanta, Ga., and Emily and Mike in Reston, Va., outside of Washington, D.C. “Last July, this legendary crew reunited at New River Gorge, W.V., for a trip filled with whitewater rafting, hiking and rock climbing. It was truly ‘good vibes only,’ and they are all looking forward to getting together again very soon.” If you have news to share, please email me at the email address above. ’09 Bobby Buckheit, lehighclass2009 @gmail.com Thank you so much to everyone who submitted an update, we will get right to it. Noel McLaren reports, “After taking a nearly eight-year power pause to be home with our two boys, Mac (8) and Ace (4), I’m getting back to my journalism roots, launching a podcast called
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