1990 — Full-Time

Hello Everyone,

We've got a lot of great news this quarter thanks to those of you who took a moment to write in. If I haven't heard from you in a while (or ever!), drop me a note and give me some news. Don't self-edit yourself and think that no one wants to hear from you – we do!

Alex Chefetz ’90 and his two boys, Jack and Anderson
John Doyle’90, wife Elisa and their two sons
Sandy Haviland and Dennis Valdes, both ’90 connecting in Manila

I am compelled to open the column with news from Alex Chefetz. I shouted out to Alex at the end of the last column and he graciously responded. Alex writes: "Ask and you shall receive. Read your last piece in Class Notes requesting an update from me so I thought I could oblige once every 18 years. Here is my life in a nutshell. I'm coming up on eight years of marriage in November and hope to finalize my divorce at that time. The last two years have been difficult but we have reached a settlement that works for us. We have two great boys Jack (6) and Anderson (3.5). Both boys go to Claremont Prep in NYC."

Alex also adds that he has been with Thomas Weisel Partners LLC, a mid-size investment bank focused in growth companies, for 10 years. He was founding partner in the firm and it went public in February 2006. He managed the consumer industry banking practice for the firm and says that business is challenging right now.

Alex also mentions that he does endurance training and competition for fun. He finished his seventh marathon last year in New York and had his best time at age 44. He also completed his second New York marathon this summer and did a five-mile Cross Bay Swim from Fire Island. He completed a half-Ironman in Orlando in May. He writes that it was "a disappointing finish time but I finished five minutes ahead of Jeff Conine."

Alex also writes: "I see David Froelich and his family all the time as well as Craig Marino at Mets games. He is doing a great job running the team but has his work cut out for him this year. I miss Kellogg and the whole gang. Great times when I look back. I still go back once a year to recruit MMs for my firm. Ciao bella!"

Tim Staub connected with me via LinkedIn.com. Tim writes: "Here's a shout out to the 4Q's! I entered the demented world of entrepreneurship four years ago when I bought a small manufacturing company in Virginia. Since then, I've launched four new products (thanks, Dean Jain!), been granted one patent, filed two more patents and launched a new franchise company called Gutter Genius, a branded gutter services company. One of my first customers was Scott Williams, who had it installed on his palatial estate near Bentonville, Ark., where he heads up Sam's Club.com for Walmart. Entrepreneurship is a great quality of life . . . sort of like a monk (think poverty) with a social life."

My wedding announcement brought a quick note from Sam Sheagren. Sam writes: " Hi, Charlie, and congratulations on your wedding! I was delighted to read about it in Kellogg World, although sad that I didn't have a chance to pay you back for your organ-grinding efforts. I would have even found my own organ to bring. All the best to you both, and please get in touch when you're going to be out here again."

Shaila Bettadapur reports: "Jacquie, the boys and I are returning to Singapore. I left JCI and joined Laureate Education Inc. as SVP of finance and strategic investments, Asia-Pacific. Laureate buys and operates universities worldwide, mostly outside of the U.S. Asia is considered a big growth area (as with everything else). Our reason for returning to Singapore is strictly professional, although we loved our first tour there and escaping the Wisconsin winters is a great incentive too. We expect to be there for at least four years, but my guess is that it will be a little longer."

There is a "small world" story in that Shaila and Jacquie have connected (and I found this out via LinkedIn) in Singapore with an old friend of mine named Brad West. I met Brad when I was stationed in Singapore before I returned to the U.S. to attend Kellogg. Brad's unique personality and colorful character will keep Shaila and Jacquie entertained and on the edge of their seats for the remainder of their time in Singapore.

Kevin and Laura Lindner Sankey have very interesting news to share: "We're moving to Green Bay, Wis., as Laura has accepted a job to head the marketing for the Packers."

Bob Toy writes that he is "full of life in Omaha, Neb., – stretching job, three kids and a wonderful wife, as well as opening doors for God."

I connected with Pramila Jayapal when I wrote to her to let her know that I would be out her way soon. She writes: "My organization, WeAreOneAmerica.org (formerly Hate Free Zone), an immigrant rights nonprofit, keeps growing. Tough time to do the work but incredibly rewarding. Check out our Web site. Janak is now 11 and beautiful, of course. I got remarried last year to a wonderful guy that I've been with for five years. Alan Preston is good too; we're still good friends and see each other regularly over Janak, of course."

Another classmate from whom we haven't heard in a long time, John Doyle, writes: "Elisa and I have a new, second son. We named him Lavengood. Well, I named him Lavengood but that did not last long enough to get on the birth certificate so we settled on Michael.

"I maintain a small real estate consulting practice (Doyle Real Estate Advisors LLC) in Philadelphia and Saratoga Springs, N.Y., that specializes in litigation testimony and affordable housing. Taking my cue from Porter, I've designed a practice with significant barriers to entry so that the demand for my services is national, which only means that I serve the Utah clients in the winter and the upstate N.Y. clients during the summer and the Hawaii clients whenever I can get one. I ride the same Schwinn bike to the train every day that I rode between 1601 Orrington Ave. and Leverone Hall. As with many of our classmates, we undertook a major house renovation during which we closed and purged so many rooms that we incurred one permanent casualty: the TV. September marks two years without it. The wood burning stove also is getting us closer to getting off the grid.

"I wish you well on your recent nuptial; I am confident that I reflect the collective Kellogg '90 perspective that you will have a long and happy life now that sharing is omnipresent and unconditional. Oh, FYI, the ever-humble Scott Craig is doing great things at Eaton Vance in Boston. He has been charged with launching a REIT fund that is entering its third year and continues to outperform the benchmarks. Of course, he'll barely say more than, 'Oh, I'm just tracking some stocks.' Keep up the great service, and see you in 2010."

Here is a great suggestion to all of you who haven't writing in to this column: Whenever you connect either by phone, e-mail or in person with another Kellogg classmate, write to me and tell me about it. Better yet, take a picture and send it along. For example, Dennis Valdes recently wrote to tell me about his dinner with Sandy Haviland: "Sandy was in Manila July 21 and we had the chance to catch up with each other. It was great to see that 19 years after graduation, we're in similar stages in our lives — both about two years into new software projects. Of course, the software products themselves couldn't be more different. While Sandy's new software has great, socially responsible features, the one I'm championing is more socially irresponsible. The casino industry folks like to call our product 'entertainment' and it is indeed a useful euphemism when we have meetings with church leaders. If I get the chance to make it to our 20-year Reunion next year, I'll tell you how surreal those meetings can be. Congrats on your recent wedding. You're doing a fantastic job on those updates at Kellogg World. Keep 'em coming!"

Dennis and I connected when he was named one of the top 50 individuals associated with the gaming industry in Asia in Asian Gaming magazine.

One of my favorite Kellogg classmates is Dave Rohal. Dave has always been a solid guy. I was thrilled when he wrote with this update: "I stopped by Kellogg earlier this month and saw some old friends and professors at the Transportation Center, on my way to a corporate junket at Whistling Straits. There's a group of professionals and Chicago-area citizens who share an interest in railroading, and they invited me to spend an afternoon with them at the Transportation Center talking about the perspective of the industry from my current position. (I was named COO of RailAmerica and president of the Florida East Coast Railway, an affiliate, earlier this year.) It was both cool and odd to be back as a visiting professional. In many ways, it seems like I was just there eager to catch an insight from a business leader, but, heck, our CIM Week was 20 years ago. This has been a big year for my family, too. It is interesting to see some classmates, like Ginna Zinke, just launching their families, when my daughter, who spent many TGs chasing Kelly's son Ryan through Dean Jacobs' office, graduated from college, and my son, who was born the week we graduated from Kellogg, graduated from high school. We're not becoming geezers already, are we? Thanks for carrying the torch as class secretary. I'm looking forward to our Reunion in 2010."

Dave, I'm the only geezer in our class but I fully subscribe to the old adage: "You're only as young as you feel." My mom has this great expression: "I always think I'm young until I look in the mirror – so try to avoid mirrors!"

Since the last issue of Kellogg World, I've heard twice from Bill Driscoll who is still stationed in Afghanistan. I'm happy to report that Billy is well and full of observations of life on the ground. His letters are fascinating and contain some interesting photographs. The letters are too long to include in our column this quarter. I'll be happy to forward all of them to you if you'd like to read them, but you've got to write and tell me what's going on in your life. I am so proud of you Bill and continue to be amazed at your passion for serving our country. We know that you are risking your life and we pray every day that you finish this tour of duty safely and return home to Lisa soon.

To balance out the column, I thought I'd end the update (since I began it with Alex Chefetz) with a note from the other Alex in our class, Alex McKinnon. He writes: "My wife DeDe (O'Neil) and I have been in Orange County, Calif., for more than a year. We love the area, our new home, the great weather year-round and all the visitors we get. We've seen some NU folks here and would love to catch up with more Kellogg alums. I'm CMO for Hampton Products, a security and decorative hardware company and DeDe is a vice president/team leader in risk review for Wells Fargo. We also dabble in some entrepreneurial areas on 'nights and weekends.' We continue to enjoy travel and have Yellowstone, Tuscany, Buenos Aires, Palm Desert and New Zealand for '08 trips. Let's connect on Linkedin!"

In closing, I'd like to thank everyone who wished me and Stephanie the best on our marriage. Time flies as they say. We just celebrated our one-year anniversary and I continue to feel like the luckiest guy in the world. My wife has taken a job with Peter Miller's company Take Care Health and works at a clinic very near our home. I wrote two years ago about our meeting with Peter when he shared with us that he had started this company. Peter kidded Stephanie at the time the she should come work for his firm and now she has. From what Steph has told me, Peter and his colleagues have done a great job with the company. Congratulations, Peter, on the recent sale to Walgreens.

I am writing this column during a very turbulent week in the financial services arena with bailouts and bankruptcies rocking our economy. I hope that the chaos doesn't affect any of our classmates too deeply and that the economy recovers quickly.

Please write soon. Have a great fall, everyone!