On January 9, multiple alumni came back to campus and participated in panels aimed at helping current students prepare for various aspects of college life. The Athletics Panel featured Victor Pham ’15, Chris Xi ’16, Jess Houghton ’17, and Kristin Sellers ’18. The Arts Panel featured Angela Curotto-Pierson ’07, Nicole Wolf ’11, Austin Tamaddon ’12, and Arianna Tamaddon ’14. Finally, the Gap Year Panel featured Nico Carrino ’13, Sam Frenkel-Popell ’16, Jamie Holmstrom ’17, and P.J. Frantz ’17. Thanks to all the alumni who shared their experiences and insight! Look here for a fuller summary of the panels.

Also on January 9, Jason Moon ’17 gave a violin recital in Spieker Ballroom. Jason is currently a music major at Juilliard.

David Tracy ’53 recently sought to sell at auction a painting of Ivan the Terrible that had been left behind in a home he bought more than 30 years ago. But one day before the auction, a researcher discovered that the painting had been stolen from a museum in Nazi-occupied Ukraine during World War II. The Associated Press published a story about what happened next.

Leonard Edwards ’59 wants the Class of 1959 to know there are plans in place to hold its 60th reunion the evening of October 10th, to coincide with Homecoming. The location is yet to be finalized, but will most likely be at his home or at the home of Larry Brookes ’59.

In May, Bill Porter ’61 received the Thornton Wilder Prize for Translation from the American Academy of Arts in New York City. Bill translates Chinese poetry under the pen name Red Pine. His local newspaper in Washington state, the Peninsula Daily News, caught up with him and he described his journey from dropping out of Columbia University for a language-study fellowship in Taiwan, to a radio journalism career there, to how a popular television show in China recently gave his books an unexpected plug.

Taleen Alexander Houck ’03 and her husband, Ryan Houck, welcomed their first baby, a boy named Davit “Dav” Alexander Houck, born October 11, 2018. Everyone is healthy and happy. This was an eventful year, with Taleen and Ryan moving back to San Francisco after a year in Chicago. Taleen wrote an essay about her time in Chicago that was published in The Bold Italic, titled “Where I’m (Not) From”.

Nikita Carney ’04 is completing her doctoral degree in Sociology at UC Santa Barbara and will be an Assistant Professor of Sociology and African & African American Studies at Louisiana State University starting this fall. She is excited to start her new job, and she and her wife are looking forward to making the big move to Baton Rouge.

In July, Kathryn Brownstone ’05 graduated from London Business School with an MBA. She now lives in London.

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