EMP-56

Attention Class of EMP-56: If you are interested in learning more about your five-year Reunion, please contact Patrick Hankey at 847.467.1307 or p-hankey@kellogg.northwestern.edu.

	Brian Bancroft EMP-56 and brother Jon are onsite to cheer their Philadelphia Phillies on to World Series victory
	Brian Bancroft EMP-56 and his family are enjoying the holidays and beautiful weather at Hollywood Studios in Orlando.
	Scott Corley EMP-56 and lovely wife Melissa are enjoying the Christmas holiday season and their growing family.
	Deb Robbins EMP-56 celebrates her marriage to Andrew England on Oct. 10 in Washington D.C., with stepsons Alex and Jonathan.
	Shumin Wang EMP-56 and her family in front of the Piano Museum on Gulangyu Island

Hello Class of EMP-56!

The year 2009 opens with a challenging economic environment across the globe, no doubt impacting everyone's business by offering new opportunities and putting all of our Kellogg skills to work. Now also is the time to leverage our Kellogg network, sharing experiences and advice, continuing our own research and learning and providing support and connections when in transition. Reflecting back to our EMP-56 experience, I am reminded of the truly innovative and collaborative class we enjoyed. Truly, the right foundation for today's demanding business and rebuilding our economy for the future.

As we would all expect, our classmates have been busy. Here's our news:

David Gambino is enjoying his work as the director of product management at Oracle Corporation, living in San Francisco and most recently, working through a software product acquisition. David, wife Mary, and daughter Ciara are all doing very well and it's amazing to realize that three years have already passed since she was adopted from China.

Scott Corley is embarking on his third year as director at game development studio Wideload Games. Scott's most recent project at Wideload is a game called Texas Cheat'em, a poker game that, you guessed it, lets you cheat. Texas Cheat'em will be available for PlayStation 3 and XBox 360 in April and for Microsoft Windows at a later date.

Brian Bancroft has been working hard at Oil Dri for the last four years and appreciating their solid ethics and long-term view in these challenging economic times. He's also been finding time to play hard, traveling to cheer on his hometown Phillies in games three and four of the World Series. Being the ultimate sports nut, Brian also snuck in an Eagles game while there. It must have been quite the season for Philadelphia fans in the Bancroft house. Over the holidays, Brian and wife Jackie took a long vacation in Florida with the kids. After spending a week on Sanibel Island, they hit Orlando for a week of Disney and theme parks. The kids had a blast and Brian and Jackie got to spend some relaxing time together. Brian is headed to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on a mission trip to help orphaned children. It is always rewarding to see so many of our classmates putting their Kellogg education and personal energy toward philanthropic work. Hard to keep up with Bancroft (and Christy Wistar), but I'm going to try. Who else is in?

Shumin Wang continues to enjoy her work as the chief technology officer for Anji Microelectronics Corporation in China. She has also been trying to find a bit more work-life balance and made two exciting family trips in 2008. They visited Bali in May and Xianmen (the closest city to Taiwan on the mainland side) during Christmas. The family really enjoyed the trips, especially an excursion to Gulangyu, Taiwan, where cars and bicycles are not allowed. The city is crowned as "The Home of Piano" for producing famous pianists, despite a population of 20,000.

Ping Yu's work for Motorola continues to take him to China and he has been leading the integration of an acquired business in Hangzhou.

Brett Cumberland (my KTEG buddy) has taken a new position with an old company. Returning to Abercrombie and Kent, the world's premier luxury travel provider, Brett is the chief information officer and will be spending his time working between Boston and Downers Grove, Ill. Needless to say, his career transitions after Kellogg have been an adventure (pun intended) and he is very happy to be back at A&K. Congratulations, Brett!

As for me – Deb Robbins continues to evolve both personally and professionally. Most important, I married Andrew (Drew) England on Oct. 10 in Washington, D.C. We enjoyed a truly stunning fall day in the capitol and celebrated with a small gathering of family and friends on a dinner cruise along the Potomac. Many of you know that I've always wanted a family and am now fortunate to have two handsome and intelligent stepsons, Alex (16) and Jonathan (11). Work at KONE is both interesting and challenging and my global travels continue with most of my time being spent in Helsinki (my official office location), China and Switzerland.

Class of EMP-56, it is sometimes surprising to realize that nearly five years have passed since we graduated from Kellogg. Looking back on all that we have experienced and achieved in the last years, I am personally motivated to keep our positive impact on the world moving forward. I hope that you all are working the calendars to attend this year's Reunion, as I am truly looking forward to seeing you all there. Happy New Year of the Ox!