2000

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Yes, ladies and gentlemen and lurkers of all ages, it has been a while. But I am back after a long hiatus ─ kind of like Tony Soprano, except I’m cuter. (And apparently a lot less modest!) Anyway, what we need is a year in review.

Weddings: My first order of business is to clear up what has turned into the longest and increasingly unfunny joke in history regarding my nonexistent romance with one Anthony Elarth. Elarth and I are not married. Or engaged. Or dating. Or doing ANYTHING that would get us dragged in front of a Senate subcommittee. That whole engagement rumor started because I felt I deserved some new flatware, so Elarth and I thought it would be funny to register at Crate & Barrel and see if there are just random people out there who go around filling people’s registries to make the world a better place. The story became plausible because Elarth moved in with me for a few months when he first got to Chicago, before settling into his own place. But playing house notwithstanding, we are just friends and always have been only that. However, if you would like to buy us something off our registry, we would be really grateful. Anthony is a fan of the Scrubby Sponges, blue, whereas I would rather have the Fake Pumpkin, large. And we will be sure to send you a lovely handwritten thank-you card outlining how much we love our [insert gift here] and how we will have you over soon so that we can show you how we prominently display our new [insert gift here].

As much as I would like to get gifts for no other reason than just being my fabulous self-involved self, there are several people who have actually done something meaningful like make a lifetime commitment to another person and are probably more deserving of a celebratory set of Fiesta Red Pebbles in a Lead Crystal Vase, medium.

Susanna Allshouse and Steve McLaughlin married June 28 in Chicago. This is a particularly special one for me because I had the privilege of being in their wedding party, and it was wonderful to watch the evolution of the relationship of two of my dearest friends culminate in this incredibly special day. After a beautiful ceremony, with an even more breathtaking bride, Kellogg friends from all over, including Andy Jacobson, Corey (Holloran) Jacobson ‘01, Andy Ford, Emily (Hazlett) Ford ‘01, Cheryl Schwartz, Missy McCready, Matt McGinnes, Kendra (Stearns) Drozd, Tim Drozd ‘01, Mary Briggs, George Watson, Kim Baldini, Greg Barber, Liz Kaiser, Bob Dold, Anthony Elarth, Tom Behan, Marc Oppenheimer, Shawn Makhijani, Matt Langdon, Sarah (Hadl) Langdon ‘99, Rick Meyers ‘99, and Krista (Kaur) Meyers ‘99 celebrated with the couple until the wee hours. There was an unfortunate incident with the post-reception bar not believing that the fully clad bride was, in fact, over 21, but I am sure that an Aluminum Cheese Grater, large, would go a long way toward making up for the hassle.

Jeff Miller married Mary Massey in Fond du Lac/Kohler, Wis., on Aug. 9. The bride was absolutely stunning, and the couple could not have been more adorable and in love. It has come to my attention that Jeff almost missed the ceremony due to no less a celebrity than Kevin Costner cutting in front of Jeff’s golf group that morning, and then playing slowly ahead of them. Apparently the pro shop thought that free T-shirts would make up for it, but somehow I think that would have been a tough argument to sell to a bride on her wedding day. The Kellogg gang included Emily (Gellady) Rakowski and John Rakowski, Jeff Jones, Doug Doughty, Will Hawthorne, Andy Ford and Emily (Hazlett) Ford ‘01, Susan Donahoe ‘01, Joe Spano, Keith Pelt, and Eric Weissman. They all enjoyed dairy country and indulged in lots of chocolate milk and frozen custard. Also, there seems to be no better place to see the dazzling array of Kohler brand fixtures and faucets. Joe, Keith and Eric opted to relax at the hotel after their golf game rather than make it to the ceremony, but somehow appeared for cocktail hour and the reception. (I believe this kind of social gaffe means that, at the very least, they should each be required to buy Jeff and Mary a set of Calphalon One Infused Anodized Cookware, With Bonus Steamer.)

Eric Ranta '99 married Euni Kown '00 in November.

Ben Huang and Dora Lee were married Oct. 11 in San Francisco. It was an amazing day, with friends and family joining the couple from all over the world! They even had the U.S. Navy Blue Angels join them overhead with one of their breathtaking air shows. Kellogg friends made their day even more special, specifically Michelle Arnau made a beautiful bridesmaid and Tak Imada made a special trip from Japan to join the festivities! The ceremony looked out onto the redwood trees, and afterwards, they celebrated with a 10-course Chinese banquet. Ben even performed a surprise musical number at one point! And for those Kellogg folks still missing late nights at the Deuce, 50 of their guests took over the top floor of a local restaurant to continue the party after the formal celebration had ended. (Sounds like Dora and Ben could use some Art Deco Cocktail Shakers, Silver Plated.) Kellogg friends attending included Aaron Bernstein, Allison Don, Andrew Young ‘01, Brad Spielman, Cindy Lee, David Chow ‘01, Drew Edwards ‘01, Eric Ranta ‘99, Euni Kown, Han Pham, Jason Rhee, Jody Johannessen, Jon Cho, Ky Vu, Melissa “Rosie” Rosenthal, Michelle Arnau, Mikey Kahn, Nelson Hsu ‘99, Nicol Davis Irvin, Reema Shah, Tak Imada, Ted Chi, Veena Rau, Warren Hayashi, and Zeene Chang ‘01.

And because no column would be complete without yet another mention of Doug Beekman’s wedding, let me fill you in on the details, finally. (However, don’t feel compelled to buy them a really expensive gift if you have already bought them a gift after the other two mentions. A Copper Pepper Mill, small, is fine.) Doug’s wife’s name is Brandy and she actually likes Doug’s Kellogg friends, but admittedly she hasn’t met Joe Taylor yet. Doug and Brandy were married Jan. 11, 2003. As a 2002 graduate of the University of Georgia, half of Brandy’s sorority turned up for the event. Doug tells me that although he can’t say with absolute certainty, he is pretty sure he has never been asked, “dude, is she dating anyone?” more often in one evening. (He may have even heard that from Peter Solomon, but I’m not sure.) Doug tried to piece together the post-reception activities of certain guests using the skills he has learned watching “CSI.” But absent any forensic evidence, he had to use rumors and half-truths, and fill in the gaps with outright lies. And since the final product would have been yanked off the press faster than you can say Janet Jackson, we’ll just leave it to your imagination.

In the my-heart-is-breaking-so-maybe-you-should-buy-me-a-Cuisinart-Ice-Cream-Machine-White-With-Hot-Fudge-Attachment category, Pat Brubaker got married to Jessica Ginter (who is so smart, lovely, and fabulous that we will overlook the fact that she is a second-year at HBS) on June 7 in a small ceremony in Bermuda. They then spent their honeymoon in Italy. Both went very well, and they couldn’t be happier together. (So that makes me very happy. OK, I’m over it. You can send the ice- cream maker to Pat and Jessica.)

The wedding ceremony of George Alva '00 and Edith Mendoza reflected the couple's cultural heritage.

George Alva married Edith Mendoza in Los Angeles on Aug. 30. Reflecting his heritage, George peppered the wedding with cultural and culinary delights from Peru, Mexico, and L.A. (believe me, it’s a whole ‘nother country). Peruvian pisco sours and Cusquenas danced the night away drinking Mexican tequila and Coronas (Have we found good candidates for Calypso Margarita Glasses, aqua?); the mariachi band serenaded the bride down the aisle and entertained guests at the reception. Kellogg was represented by home boys Adam Koontz, Eric Goldberg, Javi Carballo, Jose Luis Villanueva, Greg Merage, and Francisco Aguilera.

Against a beautiful, heavily wooded backdrop of lush mountains not far from the mighty Pacific Ocean, Jonathan Muhtar married Camille Ryan in Carmel, Calif., on Aug. 31. Jonathan broke more than a few hearts, as the Smoothy King of Miami Beach stomped the glass and performed the chair dance with his new bride. The tasteful wedding would have made Martha Stewart feel inadequate. Attendees at the wedding were Greg Merage, Nicolas Gentin, Piali Bhattasali, Jonathan Muhtar, Jose Luis Villanueva, Rupesh Shah, and Adam Koontz.

Babies: OK, I have been giving this whole baby measurement thing some thought and I have decided that it is really not as helpful as it could be. I mean, I don’t tell people I am 69 inches long, right? Because, let’s face it, you couldn’t eyeball the difference between 21 inches and 22 inches if your life depended on it. No, you need things put into terms you can really understand. For example, if you like vegetables, it is much more meaningful to say that your baby is five rutabagas long than it is to whip out your pocket Stanley tape measure and say to yourself, “AH, so that is what 22 inches looks like.”

So I think it would be cool to personalize the information a little more, to really make it relevant to our fellow classmates (as well as the growing league of lurkers from other classes). Also, the metric conversions I keep having to do for our international classmates are killing me since my HP 12C went caput. Thus, I have decided that instead of using silly things like ounces and inches, we are going to evaluate babies in TG cups and corporate finance textbooks.

	Kazuto Hirose '00 with daughter Kanako, born Nov. 28, and spouse Mitsue

Heather (Abel) Walch and her husband welcomed Daniel Weston and Owen William on Aug. 26. Daniel was two Principles of Corporate Finance, while Owen was more like a slightly abridged version at 1.8 Principles of Corporate Finance. Thankfully, both boys were three TG cups long, so there won’t be any fighting over that. Everybody is doing well, and fully recovered from a bit of pneumonia that, unfortunately, Daniel had at birth. Kudos to the whole Walch clan.

Treena and Jamie Rivera welcomed their son, Bryan Miguel Rivera, on June 12. Bryan was 1.6 Principles of Corporate Finance, and although he broke his collarbone when he came out, he is now completely healed and will probably be at least five TG cups long before you know it! The whole Rivera clan is living in Stamford, Conn., and Jamie is still working for Kraft in New York.

Sanjay Chauhan and his wife Somya welcomed little Aanya on June 27. “Little” Aanya might have been a relatively modest 2.6 TG cups, but at a whopping three Principles of Corporate Finance, she’s no wilting paperback Real Change Leaders. This is their first daughter, so they are really enjoying settling into life with their new love.

Hiroko and Tak Imada welcomed Emari to the world June 3. Her name uses a Chinese character meaning “smile,” so they hope she will smile a lot in her life (with a dad who smiles as much as Tak, I don’t see how it would be possible for her not to). Life with Tak’s little three-TG Cup, two Principles of Corporate Finance princess has been great, and they are psyched with every move she makes.

Stephanie and Paul Judy welcomed Katherine Elizabeth on Christmas Eve 2002. She’s a great baby, even if she screams (with excitement, they think) through every meal. Their son William is almost 3. He recently started preschool, and now his pat answer to everything is that he learned everything he knows at school. For example, “William, you shouldn’t really jump from the couch to the dining room table. Where did you come up with that idea?” “I learned it all by myself at my school.” Perfect. Steph is home with the kids and very busy, but doing great. Paul is now a full-timer at Tommy Bahama, on a noble crusade to clothe the masses in Hawaiian-print silk shirts.

Liz Bhatt '00 with daughters Kayleigh and Megan

Ramesh and Liz Bhatt are now the proud parents of two little girls (not twins, just a very late announcement on one!). Megan Elizabeth (3.2 TG cups, 2.1 Principles of Corporate Finance) joined them on June 27. Her big sister Kayleigh Olivia was born Aug. 31, 2001, and weighed in at 7 pounds, 12 ounces and 20 inches. The whole family is doing great, and as one would imagine, their house has been taken over by Fisher Price, Little Tykes, Graco and the like. Ramesh and Liz both work at Eli Lilly. Liz will be starting a new job in the corporate strategic planning group when she returns from maternity leave.

Andrew Boyle has written to tell me about his love affair with another woman besides Keri: Riley Jane Boyle. Born on May 28, she dribbles left, she dribbles right. She is projected to dunk cookies within the first nine months. And when a man is in love he will find himself learning about shades of pink that he never knew existed. Riley is also very good friends with Catherine Friendly (daughter of Kelly and Andrew Friendly) and both families celebrated Catherine’s 1-year birthday party on Cape Cod in August. It was kind of like the cheesy wine party, but different.

Julia and Dave Works have a new daughter whose name is Rachel Nicole, and she was born Aug. 4. (1.8 Principles of Corporate Finance, 3.3 TG cups). Everybody, including older siblings Grace and Matthew, are doing great. Dave is still at McKinsey’s Chicago office, and Julia is still a partner at a small law firm in Evanston. Overall life in NW Evanston is great.

Hong (David) Wu received a special Thanksgiving gift on Nov. 27, 2002, when his first daughter, Claire Ruojia Wu, was born in New York, 7 pounds and 3 ounces in weight and 20 inches in length. As a result, he joined his classmates, Ray Leihe, Shun Zhang and Christopher Swenson, among others, to become a proud dad in this baby-booming year. He recently earned the CFA designation after successfully completing three levels of rigorous exams. He is currently a credit risk manager at RBC Financial Group in New York.

Jennifer (Scheff) and David Ransburg ‘98 celebrated the birth of their first child. Cecilia Emily Ransburg was born Feb. 6, 2003. She’s destined to receive some degree at NU in the future. Both her parents are pursuing their second degrees from the university now, in education and counseling therapy, respectively.

Deena and Doug Shefsky welcomed Jordan Louis on March 16, 2003. Life is hectic, but really great nonetheless, the family reports. Also, since I have had the pleasure of photographing Jordan (as well as his entire extended family), I can tell you that he is an amazing little guy. I loved Deena’s response when I told her how great Jordan was. She said, “Why thank you. We made him ourselves.” (1.9 Principles of Corporate Finance, 3.2 TG cups. No Palm Pilot belt clip yet, though.)

Ari Sherwood and Michal Elovitz had their second daughter, Elliana Noa, on July 28. Maya is enthralled with her new baby sister, Ellie, and is preparing her for her future at Kellogg.

Mimi (Green) and Robin O’Connell welcomed Brooke on Oct. 12. Mimi and Robin can’t wait for everyone to meet her in person!

Dragana and Jason Laky welcomed Maximilian “Max” Laky on Sept. 28. As for vital stats, Jason doesn’t remember exactly, so we’ll just say two Principles of Corporate Finance, give or take a supplemental reading section, and however many TG cups it takes to get to the end of Jason’s forearm.

Other Fun Stuff: Well, let’s just say it: We all realized sooner or later someone we knew would be on a reality television show. And since it, hopefully, wasn’t going to be “Cops,” it likely was either “The Bachelor” or “Survivor.” Thankfully, our very own Burton Roberts was a contestant on “Survivor.” (Frankly, I just can’t see Burton saying, “Will you accept this rose” with a straight face.) In case you have been living under a rock, the premise is this: Sixteen contestants stranded on a desert island with no provisions, save for what they can beg, barter or steal. Every three days, they vote someone off the island. Interspersed are physical and mental challenges to complicate the elimination process.

There is so much that I need to say about the 13-week show that I can’t possibly get it all in here. But let me say this: It was way cool. And Burton did a great job on the physical challenges, and even worked some good strategy (well, up until he chose dinner with Johnny Fairplay over the million bucks). Remember Burton, girls talk!

Justine Dube told me about the adventures of three fabulous woMMMen (sic) at their fourth annual Girls Spa Weekend in NYC. After three great years spa-ing in Chicago, Chicago, and San Fran, the three fabulous woMMMen (Tanya Dragan, Kate Downes and Justine) descended upon NYC for a few fabulous hours of pampering at the Red Door Salon in Midtown. (And yes, it really has a giant red door.) After four hours of frenzy on nine floors of Elizabeth Arden, they pranced around Midtown and concluded their evening with a fabulous MMMan (George Gauthier) and his gorgeous wife Ingrid, dining at a chic Cuban/Latin establishment, then finishing off the night with drinks in a less-noisy pub.

Marcie Vu met up with Tom Winegar, who was traveling in Spain for two weeks. Ivan Espinosa graciously organized all of the Madrid Kelloggians (Carolina Castillo, Beatriz Puente, Oscar Ruiz, Andres Franco) for a feast of homemade tapas, fun and catching up at his home.

Siri Eklund recently attended Ballroom Dance Camp in Las Vegas. (I couldn’t make something like that up if I wanted to.) She has also been taking advantage of some free time to perform in an “off-Broadway” production, “Smokey Joe’s Café.”

The assembled Kellogg School Class of 2000 group at Leonard Chan's, Mathios Kallios' and Amelia Wong's annual Sunday night roof deck party.

On July 27, Leonard Chan, Manthos Kallios (Did you think I would go a whole column without mentioning my favorite guy?) and Amelia Wong had their annual Sunday night apartment roof deck party. Kellogg attendees included Jon Cho, Jody Johannsen, Siri Eklund, Janelle Hoekstra ‘99, Guy Raviv ‘99, Alina Fridman ‘99, Eric Goldberg, Julie Oh ‘01, Sanjib Kalita, and Gurmeet Ahluwalia ‘01. When it came time for the Kellogg group picture to be taken, nobody could find Manthos despite checking all dark corners.

Job Changes and moving: Ole Obermann left Walmart.com and is now general manager/vice president of Liquid Audio (which might not be as cool as being the manager of Hooters, but certainly more respectable). They’re working on building a service that is even more successful than Apple ITunes so that Ole can appear on the cover of Fortune with Shakira on his arm. (Steve Jobs settled for Sheryl Crow.)

Ky Vu left Charles Schwab and traveled for nine months before beginning a new job as a teacher at Leadership High School in San Francisco. Ky is teaching ninth-grade math and twelfth-grade AP calculus. LHS was San Francisco’s first charter public high school, and offers a rigorous college preparatory program, including the first comprehensive high school leadership program in California. A large majority of its 400 students are Hispanic, African American and Asian American. Ky, you are such a cool guy and if it’s possible, this makes me love you even more.

After a year stint as a wannabe-VC, K.C. (Sunshine) Kim has recently joined Samsung SDS America as a director, international recruiting. Surprisingly, KC finds a lot of similarity between VC and HR work. It all boils down to people and a whole lotta OB stuff. Yup ... KC is hiring. He is looking for experienced professionals in IT consulting, business process outsourcing, and Web services fields. Wife Minhee is an account manager for a Korean daily newspaper (has been supplementing KC’s income for the past three years to offset the high cost of living in Silicon Valley). Son Daniel is now entering middle school and daughter Hope is now entering fifth grade. KC’s family just returned from a week of vacation in Hawaii where Daniel, unlike his dad, has shown a fearless attitude toward coral while snorkeling.

Siri Eklund has been doing some marketing consulting work for a gourmet Spanish olive oil company on label design, name, bottle, etc. The great news is that the company is up and running. Aceites Aguibal just launched its Web site with online sales, and recently received kudos from Oprah and her chef, Art Smith! Current distribution is in Northern California and Pennsylvania, with plans for NYC and Chicago in the near future. Visit aguibal.com.

Niraj Singh moved to Mumbai, India, on an expat assignment for two years with Lucent Technologies. He is looking forward to reading this column, as he feels that it’s the best way to catch up on our class news. (Niraj, don’t you know I make half this stuff up?) Anyway, he is enjoying his expat celeb status there and, God bless him, mentioned that if Elarth and I want to honeymoon there, he would be happy to help us find our way around. (I hope the offer is still open anyway!) Lots of Kellogg visitors, as Mumbai is a great transit point, including Sanjay Kumar, Sanjay Chauhan, Salim Ali and Nikhil Khosla ‘99.

In Memoriam: Finally, it is with deep sadness that I report the death of one of our classmates, Achal Sahrawat. Achal passed away in an unfortunate accident on Nov. 26 while on vacation in Brazil. His death was untimely, unexpected and extremely traumatic for his family and friends. Achal is survived by his wife, Namrata, his mother, brother, Nischal, sister-in-law, Shalini, and everyone who had the privilege of knowing him. One of his closest friends at Kellogg, Sumant Mandal wrote some special memories about knowing Achal:

“Achal Sahrawat (1968-2003) It is with a very heavy heart that I write this. Achal and I met in 1985, when he joined my high school in New Delhi, India, and was assigned to share my school bench. Within days, we were inseparable, and he became one of my closest friends. Coming to Kellogg was very special for Achal. He had worked hard to get there, and then worked and played even harder to ensure that he experienced his time to the fullest. I know many of you will have fond memories of him from Section 68, KOA trips to Spain and Ireland, or TechVentures. For my wife, Mallika and I, Achal was an integral part of our life at Kellogg. In fact, Mallika maintains that the only reason I made it through school at all was because of Achal ─ every night he was there knocking on our door dragging me to study groups or to do some extra work. It was my great privilege to have Achal as a friend and brother in my life for close to two decades. He leaves a void that cannot be filled. For those of us who knew him, Achal will be remembered as a fun-loving, honest, very loyal and trustworthy friend. And he will be sorely missed.

“Three years ago, Achal married the love of his life, Namrata Sharma. After his death, Namrata found a UNICEF calendar among his personal belongings. In his memory, she has asked that any donations you would like to make on Achal’s behalf be donated to UNICEF programs in India. Checks can be sent to: U.S. Fund for UNICEF, 333 East 38th St., New York, NY 10016. Please reference Achal Sahrawat on your check.”

I am reminded yet again how truly blessed we are to have such amazing people in our midst, and that we are better people for having been touched by their lives.

Warmest regards, Rosalind