TMP 2002

Lots to report!

Bryan Rupprecht began working for Merrill Lynch Capital in its health care finance group in May. He is focusing on providing corporate finance products to health care companies. He, his wife, Sandi, and 18-month-old son, Chase, moved from Chicago to north suburban Lake Bluff this spring.

Kenneth Mathieu recently joined the financial and claims practice of Navigant Consulting in Chicago.

Jennifer Moore married Marc Marier in Chicago on May 10. Jennifer was recently promoted to marketing brand manager on AXE at Unilever.

Melissa Schudt and husband Dr. Karl Schudt were blessed with a baby girl, Sarah Theresa, on April 19. Melissa continues to work in corporate communications for Bank One.

In a belated report, John Vosicky and wife Kathi are happy to announce the birth of their son, Peter, in Aug. 2002. The Vosickys moved to Elmhurst, Ill., this year, where John is working as the director of financial reporting for IMC Global Inc.

David Hedlund was married to Julie Ostergren on May 31. David is the senior international distribution specialist for Akzo Nobel Chemicals. The couple live in Oak Park, Ill.

Manuel O. Mendez was recently promoted to DBO Director Asia/Pacific Abbott Laboratories- Tokyo, Japan. Manuel, his wife, Letty, and daughter Isabella are enjoying Japan and hope that any TMP 2002 alum who travels to Japan for business will be sure to look them up.

Mike Hanley, wife Lynn and son Will recently welcomed a new addition to the Hanley family, Theodore Ryan. Mike is working as associate manager, new product planning, for Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc.

Wendy Shields TMP 2002 and Kyle Freimuth TMP 2001 tied the knot, with many fellow TMP alumni attending the wedding.

Wendy Shields and Kyle Freimuth (TMP 2001) were married in Chicago on Aug. 10. The event was a mini-reunion for many TMP alumni. Wendy and Kyle met in the Southeast Asia GIM class in the Winter ’01 quarter — a GIM team that has become a “class” in and of itself, as this group now travels together annually on Presidents Day weekend to international destinations that have included Belize (2002), Costa Rica (2003) and Grenada (2004). Kyle is a vice president with LaSalle Bank in commercial lending, and Wendy is vice president with Goldman Sachs in mutual fund operations.

Ron Papcun accepted a position in late 2002 in the Los Angeles area as the director of logistics for Falken Tire Corp., a subsidiary of the Japanese trading conglomerate known as Sumitomo. In this $200 million company Ron has responsibility for all supply chain, warehousing and distribution in North America.

Nicole Smith married Christophe Merriam on Aug 2. They live in San Jose, Calif., where Nicole is working for Gap Inc. in its corporate IT finance department as a senior analyst overseeing spending on all capital IT projects.

Chad Gallentine, wife Jennifer and daughter Greer relocated to Atlanta, Ga., to be closer to Jennifer’s family. Chad’s company, Superior Graphite Co., was kind enough to let him move out of the corporate office. In fact, he says, “they probably welcomed it.” Chad remains in his role as sales manager for the industrial products division, but says he’s had to make a few changes in lifestyle since moving south and into a home office, such as “wearing shorts and sandals to the office instead of a suit and tie, drinking sweet tea instead of coffee and having lunch with my daughter instead of going to Lou Mitchell’s. All is well.”

Tom Clarke and wife Julie welcomed their first child, Sean Patrick, on April 23. The Clarkes now live in Grosse Pointe Park, Mich., where Tom works for Carlisle & Co. Inc., an automotive consulting firm.

Bharat Kakar is a self-described “man on the move,” specifically to Columbus, Ohio. He moved to the Buckeye State to work in a consulting role at Verizon Wireless. He claims there is much to do in Columbus (in a day) and that all TMP 2002 alums should come visit him when they get the chance.

Zachary and Malia Kirk Mixon welcomed their second son, Nathan Conrad, on May 9. The Mixons have moved to Dallas, where Kirk was promoted to COO of the Partsmaster Division of NHC Corp., and Malia is using the negotiating skills she honed at Kellogg with subcontractors in overseeing the complete remodeling of their home.

Upon graduation in June, Kathy Ryals worked in the oil trading business of BP, located in Warrenville, Ill., where she was a project manager and team leader in the U.S. crude marketing and acquisition business. In July Kathy accepted a transfer to Houston, where she became an asset controller in BP’s onshore exploration and production business. She currently has financial control responsibility for assets in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico. Kathy reports that she doesn’t mind Houston’s hot, humid weather and is glad to be back in the South where she is closer to family and lifelong friends. She also reports an unexplainable urge to buy a pickup truck.

Finally, Tim Askland, wife Sue and son Kyle moved to Maryland in August, where Tim has taken over as a distribution controller for Motorola. Best of luck in the new position and location, Tim.

That’s it for now. Please stay in touch and keep sending me your updates. I look forward to hearing from all of you soon. Contact me if you have time to share lunch or a beer in Chicago. Cheers.