Marzia Floden, Svein Floden EMP-64, and their son, Aksel, born Feb. 20
John Potter, Mitch Myers, Brayton Knotts, Dave Mohr, Claudio Valera, Mike Palumbo and Steve Downer, all EMP-64, pose with the Churchill Downs Mascot.

We are excited to share updates on the class after a much needed break following graduation. First, we have career news. Several classmates have job updates. Let's start with two classmates from Sears. Angela Talton and Steve Sunderland have teamed up to work on a strategic initiative at Sears Holdings Corporation. Steve, formerly responsible for operations for the Northeast region, has been promoted to vice president, and he wisely recruited Angela, former DVP of inbound services and operations, to be a DVP in the newly formed organization. Steve, Angela and about 18 other Sears executives are part of a cross-functional team that will focus on leading change in both the Sears and Kmart formats at SHC.

You can all stop hoping Sandeep Gupta will wield his influence at Cingular/AT&T to improve cell phone coverage in your area. He didn't do it for us in the vault Allen Center during the two years we were there, and he won't be doing it for you now. Instead, he's off to New York to take a new role in the organization. When contacted for details, an out of office reply came back with no details on when he might respond. Clearly Sandeep is hard at work transitioning his role.

Scott Stevens has decided to follow the mantra, "If you can't beat 'em, work insane hours for 'em," and has joined William Blair as an investment banker. We received the update from Scott during dinner reunion weekend. He also shared the joys of working multiple late nights, a few all-nighters, and the prospect of continued trips to Asia all in his first month. William Blair is known as one of the best places to work in Illinois. Vicious rumors abound that Scott moved into banking to one up classmate John Potter, to spur the friendly rivalry that is the hallmark of their relationship. Potter promptly responded by buying a bigger house in a nicer neighborhood than Scott's in Chicago.

Svein Floden recently updated us as he was on the verge of three major life events (and in the final analysis it was actually four). Svein is now a proud father of his son, Aksel, who was born Feb. 20. He and Marzia married and are enjoying life in their new home in Geneva. Also, Svein is now in a new role at Deutsche Bank in their hedge fund investments group.

Hosanna Johnson shares news of her new role as the president of the Atlanta Education Fund and subsequent move to Atlanta. The purpose of her new organization is to monitor, support and advocate for Atlanta's public schools. The organization was formed by leading CEOs in Atlanta and Mayor Shirley Franklin. Hosanna's organization will offer investment advice, launch new strategies and monitor performance. Hosanna reports the nonprofit is off to a great start. They have already received a $10-million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She says her new role is clearly aligned with her career goals and adds, "Kellogg connections were instrumental in helping me secure the role. Brayton Knotts and Steve Downer were instrumental in helping me prepare for my interviews with board chair John Rice, GE vice chairman and CEO of infrastructure. Yolanda Daniel provided support and encouragement and Rob Dillon recommended the community where I eventually purchased my new home."

After graduation, Russell Walker founded Walker Bernardo, a consulting practice that advises companies in risk management, business analytics and business development. He has also co-founded Calexus, a company offering specialized data mining tools geared toward understanding customer preferences and customer segmentation. Look for Russ back in Evanston, Ill., where on June 1 he joined Kellogg as a visiting clinical assistant professor. He will be teaching statistics and developing new courses in risk management, operational risk and analytical-driven marketing. With summer ahead, Russ offers a few tips on wine selection: "Explore the new and exciting red wines coming from the Jumilla, Toro and Campo de Borja regions of Spain. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is a great patio pleaser, but also ask for a Bordeaux Graves, same grape, different taste, and about the same price. Feel free to contact Russ about his new adventurers or wine recommendations.

Joe Mase sent the following update. "I accepted a job as the global director of marketing for a well funded start-up pharmaceutical company called Sagent Pharmaceuticals, based in Schaumburg, Ill. We focus globally on mostly difficult to formulate and manufacture injectable generic and some proprietary pharmaceuticals for the U.S. market. Our goal is to be one of the fastest growing non-proprietary injectable pharmaceutical companies in the history of the pharmaceutical industry. We have one of the most experienced pharmaceutical teams focusing on this area. We expect to have the largest number of injectable products ever approved in one year by the Food and Drug Administration, three years from now." Joe looks forward to leveraging his Northwestern "network" if the R&D group finds itself in need of trial subjects.

In other EMP-64 news, there have been a few gatherings. In January, a few members of 64 got together for dinner in Chicago. Among them were Russell Walker, Carolyn Amato, Jon Pace, Ravi Rawat, David Summers and Sandeep Gupta. Following with Reunion weekend, a study group D dinner expanded to include Scott Stevens, Dave Mohr, Stephanie and John Potter, Sandeep Gupta, Mitch Myers, and only two hours after the dinner started a surprise appearance by Jonatan Laiter.

Travis Monke writes about a March gathering in China: "Jason Chen and I had a chance to get together while I was in Beijing. It was great to catch up. Jason also kindly invited me to join him as he hosted the EMP-66-70 while on their GIM trip in China. The class came to GE Healthcare in Beijing and it was nice to see Sharon Kucera there, while on her GIM trip."

In late May, Brayton Knotts and Steve Downer, in response to yet another Kellogg event scheduled during the Kentucky Derby, offered to host an alternate Reunion weekend for the class. The group included Claudio Valera, Mitch Myers, John Potter, Mike Palumbo, Dave Mohr and a few spouses. Brayton and Steve rolled out the red carpet and everyone had a terrific time visiting Churchill Downs, the Muhammad Ali museum, General Electric's Appliance Park and a few late nights in Louisville's "4th Street Live" and the Caesar's riverboat casino. Dave Mohr helpfully sent pictures, including one of Mike Palumbo taken at 11:30 Friday night. Dave added the night ended at 6:57 a.m. on Saturday, which may or may not explain the hat.

Finally, here is baby news. Jonatan Laiter, his wife, Jimena, and son Allen welcomed a new boy, Johaan, to their family. They have also recently moved to Lake Forest, Ill.

Cristina Sierra is gathering data for class notes from her new home in Fort Worth, Texas. OK, I'll drop the third person now. I would like to thank everyone for writing in with updates, and in particular John Potter and Dave Mohr, who provided a lot of information. Please send more information to share. I look forward to catching up with everyone, and please let me know if you are ever in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.