1998

Happy autumn, everyone! It was 10 years ago this September that most of us were making our way to the sunny shores of Evanston. Some were preparing for the dangerous wilderness experiences of, erm, KOAs, some were moving family and home to the Midwest and others were busy trying to brush up on those quant skills prior to that first accounting class. Some had yet to join us as ETDTs and 4Qs. We were all in movement, in flux and in anticipation of the new adventures that lay before us. It is lovely to know that 10 years on from matriculation, that spirit has not changed at all. Your news is most certainly indicative of that. Enjoy!

Jodi Marcussen Coulter writes: "My husband and I packed up from Detroit and the auto industry and have moved to Bedford, N.H., just outside of Manchester and about an hour from Boston. I took the summer off to spend time with my children, Toren and Tally, which was really great. I am just now starting a job search and we'll have to see where I'm going to end up."

	Matt Holcomb with daughter Mary Magdalene, born April 19.

Brian Menzies and Janet Morrison '99 have been busy since birth of their second daughter, Molly, in May and the launch of Brian's new sales consulting business, Factor R. Nevertheless, they have been able to take some time to catch up with friends from Kellogg. In August they visited Los Angeles to catch-up with Martin Sansing and his twin boys and Leo Griffin and his twins (must be something in the water!). They also caught up with Ted Arnstein, Sergry Shneyerson, Rich Wolfgram and recently published author Craig Michaels at David Gussman's San Francisco wedding in September.

Christopher Tomseth sent in this update: "Our major news is that, after eight years in Atlanta, I have taken a job to manage growth in the Middle East for a major travel agency in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It's an exciting opportunity that we are really looking forward to. I'll head over there in the fall, with the family to follow at the beginning of the year. The assignment in Dubai is indefinite, but I imagine that we will be there at least for a couple of years. Kellogg visitors are always welcome — it's a fascinating place! I hope to see you there."

Charlie Wise writes, "I was just back on the Northwestern campus a few weekends ago to take my daughter to the Northwestern football game. They lost to Division II New Hampshire, but it was still fun and at least I only paid $20 for the tickets! My not-so-recent news is that I finally wised up and left consulting in December 2005 and joined Harris Bank here in Chicago, heading up the Customer Experience group. I am working with Titi Falusi Cole, who is also at Harris running the Consumer Lending group. It is great to be no longer travelling and get to see Kate and the kids every night. I was even able to join a local Wednesday night golf league for the first time in eight years! I don't know what took me so long to get out of consulting, but for those remaining holdouts in our class, I highly recommend it."

Molly Battin says, "Life is crazy but good in Atlanta. Ramsay and I just had our third child! Parker is 4, Baker just turned 2 in July, and we just had a baby girl, Campbell in May. We are doing great and busy busy busy. I am still a vice president at Turner Broadcasting doing branding/marketing for TBS. I am very lucky to have wonderful bosses and work a flexible schedule of three days a week in the office and a half day from home on Wednesdays. It seems to make having three young children and a career bearable."

Kristin Rothermel Pilant and her husband John welcomed their first child, Caroline Marjorie Pilant, on Oct. 14, 2005. "Caroline was born just blocks from campus in Evanston! We moved back to Chicago a couple of years ago after many years in Philadelphia and we are enjoying seeing old Kellogg friends." Kristin now works in marketing for PepsiCo in Chicago but still keeps in touch with all of her old J&J friends back east.

Carrie and Dain Bussewitz '98 welcomed baby Ronan on Oct. 4, 2005.

Carrie and Dain Bussewitz welcomed baby Ronan on Oct. 4, 2005.

Jane Wright Hunter writes, "We just had our third child, Mary Stewart. She is a good baby, and although it is busy, it is nothing compared to my sister's life — she just had triplets (and has a 4-year-old). Glad I am the aunt. I still live in Charlotte and work in marketing."

Cynthia Bowman was recently promoted to senior executive (partner) at Accenture: "I work in the human performance practice and am responsible for driving new work in the communications and high-tech operating group. I specialize in IT workforce transformation, HR transformation, training and communications. I've been with Accenture since I graduated from Kellogg. I also recently gave birth to my second son, Brandon Isaiah Bowman (9 months). My older son Amari is four."

Adriane Brigden McDermott writes: "We are still enjoying San Francisco. I have spent a year and a half almost at Banana Republic and am still traveling to Japan twice a year or so, and making the most of our time in the area. Maddie (5) just started kindergarten and is bouncing off the walls with excitement. Darcie (3) is managing well at preschool on her own. She's definitely the comic relief in our family. Dave's good too, fitting in quite a few mountain biking sessions every week."

Craig Michaels recently had his first book published. He writes, "Thirty to Wife: The Tell-All Groom's Guide to Weddings is a humorous, yet informative, wild ride through Craig's engagement that aims to teach guys a thing or two about surviving their nuptials."

Stasia Bourke and Charlie Huiner became proud parents of triplet boys on Aug. 29: "Born at 32 weeks, the boys are all in the NICU for awhile, but are healthy and doing incredibly well. Their names are Lucas, Max and Nico. It's nice for mom to recover and dad to get some rest before they all come home! We are starting to save now for their Kellogg education!

Bill Eldridge recently made partner at DiamondCluster. "I certainly enjoy the "1" portion of the "4-1" consulting week (and the weekends), when I get to see my wife Kate and four kids (Chatham, Eliza, Leah and Sawyier). I'm also going to a soiree at Rob Fawcett's house (who now lives with his wife Maria in my current hometown — Duxbury, Mass.) on Saturday night, so I'll try to get a picture. Christina (Tina) Sundstrom Rouleau '99 also lives in town, and I play golf with her husband Mike when I can.

Grillo Grimaldi writes: "After two hectic years since our twins were born, we are starting to have a social life again. We have moved to the suburbs where we built a nice house with double glazed windows (the issue is not the temperature but the possibility of casting the kids out to the garden and having some rest!). This year, Sari and Blake McConnell and Sukanya and Vijay Sankar were able to visit us and it was very interesting to see how things are going in other places on the planet."

From left: Truman Ren '98 and his girlfriend, John Yen '97 and daughters, Larry Ma '98 and his wife Yuming and daughters, Richie Lu '98 and his wife Amy and son and daughter, and Minghua Lu '98 and wife Helen and sons.

Minghua Lu, wife Helen and sons David and Thomas vacationed in China for one month this summer and met many Kellogg classmates and families there. Minghua had dinner in Beijing with Wendy Zhao and her husband David, Paul Ark (who was visiting Beijing that week from Thailand), Vivien Wang '99 and George Wang '02. In Shanghai, John Yen '97 organized a family gathering and dinner in the Shanghai Racquet Club. Attending the gathering were John Yen and his two daughters, Larry Ma '98 and his wife Yuming and two daughters, Richie Lu and his wife Amy and son and daughter, and Truman Ren and his girlfriend.

Minghua had worked for Booz Allen Hamilton in San Francisco and Shanghai offices and later for Amazon.com in San Francisco before founding his startup, Pacific Genuity, in late 2000 at the end of the Internet bubble. Minghua is based in San Carlos, Calif., but travels to China frequently. His company's China subsidiary, eChinaChem, is now the top Chinese chemical and pharmaceutical media and service company with businesses in the Internet industry portal, publications and strategic supply networks.

David Ransburg sent in this update on the funds raised to commemorate the passing or our classmate Beck Barendrick last year: "We reached our goal of $2,500, which will allow us to install a wooden bench in honor of Beck. The bench will be placed on the Kellogg grounds, and it will have a plaque bearing her name. I've recently been in touch with Beck's sister, Jamie, and this is an excerpt from her e-mail:

"Thank you so much for letting me know about the memorial for Becky! It is really uplifting to know that you, as well as everyone else who contributed toward the bench, wanted to do this for her."