A toast to newlyweds Mike and Dee Farrell EMP-50

EMP-50

OK, since yours truly was negligent in getting our updates into the last few additions, we have had a large number of changes. It was fun to read all of the news this time around. Everyone has been quite busy. These are presented in the order I received them; there is no particular meaning to where your update may fall.

Our own resident expert on the healing powers of rhinoceros horn, Dan Paterra, has accepted a position as the vice president and general manager of European operations and Dualtronic transmission for Borg Warner and will be relocating to Heidelberg, Germany. In addition to the Dualtronic transmission product growth, he will have four plants under his responsibility. It is an expat assignment for two to three years and will start April Fool's Day. (This is no joke, though it does seem appropriate.)

Chris Clawson became vice president of business development with Stamina Products in Springfield, Mo. He and Beth have relocated to Missouri.

Dee Keyser has huge news. She got married last April to Mike Farrell. Her two children, Wesley and Emily, walked her down the aisle. The Penguins were there, as well as Jane and Mike Suter, and Tim Duitsman. The Kellogg School's Rob Wolcott was there, too, and, after giving a lecture on why innovation is not confined to technology firms, did an incredible Frank Sinatra imitation.

EJ Dougherty accepted a new position in Naperville as EVP/COO of Hawthorne Bank and now lives in Oswego, Ill., with his wife Debbie and their kids. The big question is: How close to the bathroom will his new office will be?

In March 2004, Wayne Rothschild left WMS Gaming and founded Innovation Management LLC, a global network of inventors, scientists, engineers and business executives focused on the commercialization of intellectual property. Wayne still lives in Northbrook, Ill., with his wife Marilyn, children Max and Morgan, and their 95-pound puppy, Huck. In true Wayne fashion, he actually proactively sent me a bio and several follow-ups. Love it!

Colin St. Clair has resigned as secretary of state and accepted a promotion to vice president for PepsiCo Foodservice-new business. He is responsible for leading the national foodservice sales organization and is living in Plano, Texas.

I know that Ron Davidson is alive and well from his fine use of expletives in an email to me recently. Ron is back in Chicago and tells me, in part, that he is out of jail on bond and is writing a tell-all book about his experiences at Kellogg. This is seriously what he sent me for an update, going to show you that you have to be careful what you send. What I know to be true, however, is that Ron and his lovely wife Rebecca (yes, we're still questioning her judgment) recently had a baby boy on Oct. 30. Word has it that Nicolas can already solve all and any problem using a mathematical formula, showing that the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

Doug Yakola-Wismer is at ATA Airlines and has taken on the role of restructuring officer in addition to his responsibilities as operations VP. He'll be working with the CFO to restructure the entire ATA organization to coincide with its new business plan to exit bankruptcy. Carrie and Doug are living in Indianapolis, but are still up in Chicago weekly on business. Their annual fun trip this year was to the Amazon, where they hiked, explored, fished for piranha and tried to avoid snakes and mosquitoes.

Andy Cherna and family moved to New York after the JP Morgan/Bank One Merger. Andy is a managing director on the asset-backed syndicate desk in New York. Andy is still working on his ability to cut people off from a phone conversation with no particular explanation, only to call back two months later to continue the exact same conversation as if he never hung up. It really is the strangest thing the first time it happens to you. We've formed a support group to help those through their first time. Just contact Sarita for details. We love you, Andy!

Jane, Jane, Jane (Just Jane) Karpinski came out of retirement and her resultant tennis career and is now senior vice president at Podesta & Co. Though she is busy with her new job, she still has time to spend on her favorite charities and host the occasional party at the Karpinski mansion.

Holly Barnhart's husband, Scott Barnhart, was recently promoted to senior VP of customer service with Diageo. We still don't know what that means, since as great customers of some of Diageo's best brands (Guinness, Cuervo, Johnny Walker, etc ...) we haven't really received any side benefits. Scott and Holly recently visited Chicago to join the group to celebrate Sam Coady's 40th birthday.

Cynthia Downes moved from the city (of Chicago) to southwest suburban Willowbrook so that she and Bill could enjoy Chicago's fabulous expressways. Why?

Bill O'Connell, John O'Connor and Brigid Mattingly ran the Chicago Marathon again this year. John did have the benefit of the Secret Service staff knocking other runners, and the occasional spectator, out of the way.

Roland Wikstrom and his wife Yvonne had a baby boy, Taje, last fall. All are doing well in New York. Word has it that Roland and The Donald are working on several rental real estate deals on the Upper West Side.

Rochelle Michalek left Motorola last year. After taking a break for a few months, she joined the not-for-profit sector, working as operations director of PAWS. This job apparently doesn't require as much coffee.

Wadah Attasi has been busy. To help make ends meet, Wadah will be opening a coffee and bakery shop where customers can take their cake from the shop back to the office with a napkin draped over it for protection.

Stephanie Ruyle is now vice president, field and national marketing, for MTV. Her responsibilities (and this is verbatim — remember my warning under Ron Davidson's write-up?) include identifying opportunities to increase the perceived value of the MTV Network's brands with key customer field offices and improving measured perception of the brands with field office key personnel, while supporting MTVN's distribution and revenue goals (breathe); developing strategies and tactics to support key clients in promoting the power and influence of MTV Networks through the development and implementation of marketing programs (breathe); creating and executing multipronged marketing programs to achieve the sales goals (short breath) and communicating strategic support to the leadership of MTV Networks (whew). Funny enough, that is what Chapter 2 of our textbook from Professor Tybout's marketing strategies class says. Sorry, Steph, we're all susceptible to my really bad sense of humor. Congratulations on your promotion.

Steve Douglas left Calgary and moved to Pittsburgh. Canada has formed a holiday to mark the occasion. He is responsible for all field welding, machining and blading that Siemens-Westinghouse does in North and South America. I have no idea either, but keep in mind that for most of you, Steve's company keeps your power on. OK, I'm worried too, but because he's bigger than me, I just accept it and move on.

Claudia Temple is director, risk management, of Brunswick Corp. She and her husband Steve live in Vernon Hills, Ill., with their two dogs, Skittles and Pebbles. I always knew that Claudia liked fruity, sweet foods, but come on now, Skittles and Pebbles?

Sam Coady is donating all of his free time to Gay Games VII. As a member of the board and co-director of sports, Sam is working to enhance the games, which will be hosted in Chicago in 2006.

Last and certainly least, yours truly finally stayed around PricewaterhouseCoopers long enough that they admitted me as a partner last July.

As a reminder, keep Saturday, May 14, open for our class reunion in Chicago. We are still working on the details, but hope to have something out soon. For those of you seeing this for the first time, please take a minute to update your email profile in the Kellogg alumni database. It's the best way to keep you informed about what's happening.

On a serious note, a member of our family lost a loved one this past year. Scott Halliday's wife Mia Lewis Halliday, 37, of Naperville, Ill., died from breast cancer on Oct. 2 at Edward Hospital in Naperville. She was born July 27, 1967, in Middletown, Ohio. She graduated from Middletown High School, Class of 1985, and from Ohio State University in 1989, with her bachelor's degree in finance. Please keep Scott and their two children, Bridget and Kellyn, in your thoughts and prayers.