1998

Dear 98ers,

Oh the sympathy I have with those who wrote to me telling of house-hunting woes. It is, er, reassuring to know that the housing market is crazy everywhere, though in London it is madness! Yes, for those of you who have asked, London will become my permanent home for the foreseeable future. However, I still get massively homesick and am looking forward to my trip to Cape Cod this summer. New England now seems so ... exotic to me. Six days on the beach will be followed by a whistlestop tour of Boston, including a Red Sox game on a sultry August afternoon. Rubbery hot dogs, watery beer, $6 peanuts --- what a way to spend a day! Cricket just isn't the same --- tea breaks, five-day matches, scores in the hundreds ... and what the heck is a Test? There are certain things here I will never understand. Luckily, I understand YOU and your Class Notes ...

	Steve '98 and Stephanie Farsht '97 with new addition Samantha

Steve Farsht '98 and Stephanie Gordon Farsht welcomed their first child, Samantha Gordon Farsht, in November. Steve is already training her for the Kellogg basketball team as she was off the charts in length! Everyone is healthy and doing well. On the job front, Steve was promoted to partner at Norwest Equity Partners, a middle-market private equity fund with $1.8 billion under management. Stephanie returned to Target Corp. after maternity leave as a part-time finance manager. The couple welcomes visitors.

Mark Taber writes: "Evelina and I had another baby girl. Lydia Giselle Taber was born on March 14, almost a month early, but at a healthy 6 pounds, 10 ounces. Evelina was a champ --- she even offered to let me continue watching the Duke-Maryland ACC championship game during the event. (I was smart and declined.) Evelina and Lydia are doing great, and Anna has been surprisingly loving to her new little sister, even after she realized we were actually going to keep her. I am still working at Great Hill Partners in private equity and Evelina is still consulting to consumer goods companies. Boston has been great (although that's easier to say now that summer is approaching). Hope to see some visiting classmates in Boston soon.

Doug Runte joyfully sent this note: "My first note since graduation --- a close call with a happy ending. In August, while hiking in upstate New York, I fell off a steep trail and landed on my head a long way down. I managed to break a bunch of things, including my neck in a couple of places and had to be evacuated. I spent four months in an elaborate scaffolding called a 'halo' brace while my neck bones fused. Fortunately, there was no lasting nerve damage and I am now fully recovered. My wife and delightful 4-year-old child David were terrific help during this difficult period, as were the tremendously supportive Kellogg alums who heard of my troubles. I am still at Morgan Stanley, which I joined right out of Kellogg. I work in fixed-income research, covering the airline sector and was named a managing director in December."

After 2 1/2 years in NY in brand strategy consulting, Philippe Meyersohn has decided to move back to the client side. He writes: "I have taken a position with Neilson Dairy as VP of marketing, based in Toronto. Neilson Dairy is part of the George Weston group, one of the largest Canadian companies, with $16 billion revenues. It is nice to be back in Toronto, and it seems that the Kellogg alumni network is growing by the day in this city. I have already been in touch with Mathias Galarce, who moved to Toronto with his wife a few months ago. Apparently there are four or five of our class in this city. I have also met here with Golan Pratzer, who was in town for a few days to visit his family (he must had had enough of the Israeli sun), and expect quite a few others to come by in the next few months."

Judy Chambers received a Kellogg Alumni Service Award on May 13 at a ceremony in Evanston (pictures on the alumni Web site). She writes: "While in Evanston, I attended the Kellogg entrepreneurial conference and the Kellogg Alumni Advisory Board meeting, where I ran into Rob Webb (who has been appointed to the Alumni Advisory Board), John Hoesley, Lincoln Singleton, Michael Johnson TMP '98, Ivy Webb and Alfred Reed. It was great to see so many classmates and everyone is doing well."

Pankaj (P.J.) Jain sent in this update: "I am finishing my residency this June and will be going into private practice in Scottsdale, Ariz. I was married in 2002 to a wonderful woman named Janaki."

Mario Maza and his wife Cecilia welcomed their second child, Ana Lucia, on April 9. They write: "Marcelo is 2 years old and we feel our house is already crowded, although for Matias and Paz Galarce, our situation most be a walk in the park when compared with raising triplets. Congratulations, Matias! We are building a house, so our friends are welcome to come to El Salvador and explore some of the beautiful 'Ruta Maya' (Mayan culture temples and museums) and the gorgeous volcanos and forests of Central America. Other than our family news, I am still at Shell working in global projects for retail operations and channel management and accruing more air miles than most consultants. I guess my friends may recall how many times I said, when we were at Kellogg, that I wouldn't do consulting due to the lifestyle. Well, life is full of surprises. Let's just hope this one doesn't last too long."

James Smith and wife Chelsea welcomed their first child on Mother's Day. James Zachary Smith made his debut on May 9 at 9 pounds, 3 ounces and 21 inches.

David Ransburg graduated from Northwestern's master's program in counseling psychology in June. David says: "I've been awarded a two-year postgrad fellowship at Northwestern's Family Institute (right across the street from Kellogg!). I'll be combining my business and counseling skills to do work with family businesses."

Titi (Falusi) Cole writes: "Lots of changes in our household since my last report. I finally left McKinsey last March after five years in the Chicago office and joined Harris Bank in Chicago as a senior vice president responsible for personal lending products. I am excited about the challenge and very happy to spend less time at O'Hare airport. We welcomed our second son, Olufemi Cole, into our lives Jan. 9, 2003, and he is 30 pounds of trouble following in his big brother Ayodele's footsteps. We also moved houses to be closer to the city, and now live in Elmhurst. We have lots of space for fellow Kelloggians needing a place to stay and willing to cope with two high-energy little boys."

Fellow (for now) Londoner Mark Strauch writes: "Laurie and I (and Carter and Alex and new baby Kate, who is 2 months old) are moving back to San Francisco in August. I am taking on the COO job at Business Engine. Bittersweet because we love London but looking forward to some sun ..."

Troy Andersen sent in this update: "First, my wife, kids, friends and former Kelloggians have been very supportive as I have been writing a book on the strategic underpinnings of business, politics, sports, martial arts, war and Go, with lots of emphasis on the latter! It's due out sometime in August, but already have some great blurbs from Kellogg alums, profs, etc. You can pre-order now on Amazon or Barnes and Noble --- The Way of Go."

Curt Jennewine writes: "It's hard to believe that five and a half years have already passed since coming to Japan with Guidant. Those years were filled with challenging assignments in marketing and sales management, exciting travel through Asia and fun visits by friends from the Class of '98. The visitors who I entertained, or more accurately who entertained me, included Gregoire "the knife" Johnson, Tony Jeff, Walt Ling, Craig Michaels (and his pal Bowzer), Jim Reddinger (never had a night that big again!), Nancy Photpornpitak Fearon, Sachin Mithal, Homer Luther III (I still owe you, man), Porter "That's Shanghai" Erisman and Pete J. Jedrey with his wife and two adorable kids. I will also miss visits by Jason Ayroso, Akira Kokubu and family, Ken Ohashi and family and Masa Kawasaki '99 and family to my yearly Tokyo Bay fireworks party, and will miss working with Kazuko Matsuda Nakada, who recently joined me here at Guidant Japan. In June and July I'll be backpacking around Laos and Tibet. In August, I plan to join Guidant's vascular intervention team in Santa Clara. I look forward to re-establishing connections with all of the Kelloggians in the San Francisco area then. Thanks to everyone for the fun in Tokyo and I hope to see you all soon in SF!"

Longtime reader, first-time writer Mark Van Genderen says: "I am guessing that I may be one of the last of our class to still be with the same company since graduation, but I have to tell you that working for Harley-Davidson has been great. Last year the company celebrated its 100th anniversary, and at the same time, my product line launched four all-new motorcycles. Very busy --- but great experience. And besides, I really can't leave a job where part of my 'training' includes product-testing motorcycles in such locales as the Swiss Alps and the Japan seashore! Laura (Neiss) '99 and I got married just more than two years ago now. It was convenient for many of the Kellogg folks in attendance, as we were married at Fourth Presbyterian in Chicago by Sarah Sarchet Butter (now the official pastor of '98). A highlight was when Laura and I, in full wedding attire, left the church on our Harley and rode down Michigan Avenue --- causing a little more of a stir than we expected! Since then we have been remodeling a country house in a rustic Wisconsin town called Cedarburg (just north of Milwaukee). We own just over an acre and have adjusted to country living and four-wheel-drive winters.

"Laura is a product manager for Kohler (the bathroom fixture company), which has helped our remodeling efforts immensely. Another reason for writing is to let you and all of our classmates know that a group of us has been purchasing Northwestern football season tickets for a few years now --- and in true Kellogg fashion we make sure to have great tailgates before every game. Attendees include Kim and Mike Moran, Allison and Jim Reddinger, Lauren and Rob Adams, John and Sarah Butter, Jennifer and Danny O'Shaunessey, Graeme Jack, John Hoesley, M'Liz and Tim Simonds, Laura, and me. Even Jim Walsh had been known to make an appearance when Notre Dame isn't playing at home! We always have extra food and kids are encouraged, so if anyone is in town for a game let one of us know."

Emily McNeal says: "I just thought I'd drop in a quick update for the Class Notes. So it may have taken me a bit longer than others to move on from my first job post-Kellogg, but I finally made the move. I left Morgan Stanley's M&A group in Menlo Park, Calif., to join up with a new bank that is starting up in San Francisco, called Perseus Group. It's a partnership started by some ex-Robertson Stephens and ex-Morgan Stanley folks, based in the city, with a plan of focusing on more of the mid-market companies that are being left behind due to some of the changes in the securities business post-bubble. I'm still working in mergers and acquisitions, but instead of focusing just on technology companies, I'm working in a number of different industry sectors, including tech, telecom, e-commerce and biotech.

"It's been a big change to be at a start-up compared with my experiences at Morgan, but it's been a lot of fun to test out some of the entrepreneurial and organizational behavior teachings I picked up at Kellogg. On the personal front, I moved back into the city from Menlo at the same time I changed jobs, which has been great, although I'm still looking to find a permanent home. The crazy real estate market out here is making that a bit challenging. One thing though, whoever said changing jobs and moving were two of the most stressful events in a person's life was totally on the mark. I certainly wouldn't recommend doing both at the same time. In addition, I'm training for another triathlon with Team in Training for the summer, since I had such a great time doing that last year. I upped the distance from the Olympic tri to the half-Ironman just to shake things up a bit. So if anyone is in the Bay Area or just dropping by, and is interested in a bike or a run (or a drink for later in the day) drop me a line at emcneal1998@alum.kellogg.northwestern.edu.

That's it for this edition. A big shout out to the lovely Brian Coleman and uber-fab Mark Manuel, who just wrote in to say "hi" to me. I could take creative liberties and make stuff up about you, but we'll just leave it at that. I'm just too nice. XXMelanie