EMP-70

Attention Class of EMP-70: If you are interested in learning more about your one-year Reunion, please contact Patrick Hankey at 847.467.1307 or p-hankey@kellogg.northwestern.edu.

It seems that with all the newfound spare time on our hands, there are several of us who have welcomed new additions to the EMP-70 clan. Sachin Piplani and his wife Kompal welcomed Saara to the world on Aug. 21, 2008.

George Kucera and Olena celebrated the birth of their third child and first daughter, Rachael, on Nov. 9, 2008.

Julia and Peter Hammond EMP-70 celebrating prior to their July wedding in Boulder, Colo.
Chris Hopkins and Jeffrey Hoss, both EMP-70 on their nautical voyage in the British Virgin Islands in October
Rich Weatherford, Jeffrey Hoss and John Greene, all EMP-70 at Peter Hammond's wedding in July

Elizabeth McGee, who announced her pregnancy on capstone evening, rang in the new year with her husband Kevin with the birth of their first child, Grace, on Dec. 29, 2008.

Adam Wilson has a double shot of good news to share. He and his wife Quyen welcomed Hank Gavin on Sept. 16, 2008. I recently had the privilege of spending an evening with him on a recent trip to Las Vegas. I learned that he has been promoted senior vice president and general manager of a new acquisition, Applimation, at his company, Informatica. Adam will be traveling back and forth from Chicago to handle his new role. The acquisition will allow Informatica to expand into a new growth category of information lifecycle management. Our evening, for those of you familiar with Adam and his many dinners with him in the Allen Center, included some great wines and some very good conversation.

Sharon Ritchey was honored as one of six winners of Women in Insurance Leadership awards.

Bhaskar Deka joined Informatica in September last year as director of product management and marketing in the data integration business unit. Bhaskar, wife Monmi and daughter Anna relocated to the San Francisco Bay area and live in Palo Alto, Calif.

Varaprasad Manne accepted a job with Baxter Healthcare after graduation. He is manager of operations and oversees the U.S. service center for the infusion systems side of Baxter medication delivery. He is expanding his role from operations into sales and marketing. Glad to see a fellow Group D member that finds the benefits of marketing and decides to pursue that path.

In July, Peter Hammond and Julia Fornaca were married in Boulder, Colo. In attendance were fellow Group C groupies, John Greene and Rich Weatherford. Tag-alongs from other groups included social committee members Jeffrey Hoss, Chris Hopkins and Vijay Kotte (like we would miss a party). This was Vijay's second wedding in the month as two weeks earlier he witnessed Kantesh Ahuja's wedding. Given that both Kantesh and Peter's laughs could be heard from anywhere, one could guess that a good time was had by all. Also, no word was given to reporting members of any late night visits to the local BK lounge after last call at each wedding. Given the attendees, my guess is all restaurants saw a spike in sales around 3 a.m.

At Peter's wedding, Jeff and Chris decided to continue their tradition of globetrotting. In October, they sailed the British Virgin Islands for seven days on a 41-foot catamaran. Minus a small medical emergency, a good time was enjoyed by both. To Jeff's surprise, Chris possesses quite the nautical skills and the two of them are already planning another sailing adventure in the near future. I am sure that more of their adventures will come in future Kellogg World editions.