1998

Greetings, 98ers, I have missed you. Thanks for keeping me in the loop and informed about your various goings on. Here we go ....

Alex Correa writes: “A quick note from Brazil. Since it’s my first note since graduation, a lot has happened, as I’m sure you can imagine … But the important things are that my wife Cristina and I had a beautiful baby boy, Gui (now 6), and I went back to banking some six years ago (fatherhood made me move back to corporate life). I am at Santander. I’ve enjoyed seeing Brazil blooming these last few years and one of the good things about Brazil’s current business environment is that many of you guys have been coming down here recently on business trips. I had the pleasure of being with Pyiush Dogra, Mike Lill and Denis Wellert. Anyone coming to Brazil, please give me a call.”

Willem Baralt and wife Lydia welcomed an adorable little baby boy, Rafael Luis Baralt, on May 1. The family resides in London.

Speaking of London, Beth Gertz joined our ranks. Beth writes, “I moved to London to join The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (ciff.org), as I have been working in international development with BCG and beyond. It’s great being back. Having lived here twice before, I didn’t know if it would feel as fun and fresh this time around. So far, so good!”

	Fay Zenoff ’98 with fiancé Adam Cummings and daughters Mimi (15), Victoria (10) and Sarah (10)

After a decade-plus in the nonprofit sector, Fay Zenoff joined Morgan Stanley Smith Barney as a private wealth manager in San Francisco. She writes: “I moved to Belvedere, Calif., (from two miles away in Tiburon!) with my fiancé Adam Cummings and our three kids. Eldest daughter Mimi (15) is a freshman in high school. Victoria and Sarah (11) are in the fifth grade. Also, I’m happy to report that I spent the afternoon in New York City enjoying the company of classmates Debbie Goldberg and Harley Ungar.”

Sanket Akerkar writes: “I accepted a new job at Microsoft as the managing director of Microsoft India. The girls and I moved to New Delhi and will be based here for a few years. Hoping to connect with any of the ’98ers that are in India!”

Stacey Moore-Schalk and husband Martin welcomed a baby girl on June 27. She comments, “Weighing in at 7 pounds, 12 ounces and 21 inches long, Ellery Renee Schalk was born in NYC. She is growing like a weed and making us smile every day.”

Mariano Franco is doing quite well with an ever-increasing platform of restaurants in Mexico. Upon graduation, Mariano has managed to create a platform of restaurants with an Asian flavor and a large spectrum of possibilities in ambiance, ranging from power-lunch business to classic lounge fanfare (if anyone visits Mexico City, go to Nick San for the best sushi in town). The next wave of growth will be on the family-focused market, so stay tuned.

Guillermo Irurita has become Mr. Logistics and Mr. Branding. Marinter has flourished into one of the largest distributors of exotic European wines, fine pasta, olive oils, generic gourmet foods and the finest “jabugo” you can find in Mexico (yes, Julia Roberts would love to have a bite of Guillermo’s pasta). In addition, he is making significant inroads in developing and launching his very own café. Marinter has become a household name in food distribution among Mexico’s largest retailers. Looking for fine wines in Mexico? Look for Marinter’s logo (a sailboat with a blue and yellow sail).

Juan Fonseca continues to thrive at Femsa while being in charge of investor relations. Femsa is one of the largest corporations in the Americas, with operations ranging from Coca Bottlers to one of the largest convenience store chains in North America. Although he is very far away from George Clooney ‘s Up in the Air character, he is a true globetrotter, convincing investors left and right as to the great benefits of Femsa. Juan is hard to catch, but if anyone happens to be in Monterrey, Juan will be happy to meet you in person or ... via video conference.

Chris Tomseth writes in from the UAE: “I’m still in Dubai and have joined a government-run free trade zone leading marketing and sales. It’s a different industry for me, so it’s quite interesting to get some diverse experience. I’ll be doing a fair bit of international travel as I try to court foreign investors, so hopefully I’ll be able to visit a few Kelloggians along the way!”

And finally, the One and Only Tereska Buzek sends in this note from the hallowed halls of Oxford University.

“In my new life, I am a writer who is working on two books and have published a few articles on topics varying from cross-country Internet dating to the pointlessness of the TSA (i.e., airport security) to the burq. I have trained as an executive coach and probably would have a thriving business now except that I decided to concentrate full-time on the Obama campaign while living in Miami, my new favorite American city. Today I write this letter from my college at the University of Oxford, England, where I am enrolled as a graduate student. I am on track to have my MSt in Theology in Sept 2011. What will I do with this degree? I’m not really sure. But I’m having a blast right now and that is all that matters.

“As Oxford makes the Kellogg workload look like child’s play, I recently did a quick U.S. tour to visit some friends and family before I effectively become a nun. I spent a weekend giggling with Sarah Berghoff and her FOUR BEAUTIFUL GIRLS (7, 5 and 3-year-old twins), cruising the mean streets of Wilmette in a minivan. I also saw Sue Jung and Julien Grant in Boulder, Colo. They are both doing well and are as attractive and athletic as ever. I visited Jenny Olsen at her swanky apartment in San Francisco in 2009, but feel as if I saw her more recently because occasionally she pops up on The Rachel Zoe Project. I love that Jenny fun fact!” For more of Tereska’s musings, visit the online Kellogg World Class Notes page.

On my side, I (Melanie) continue to manage Goldman Sachs’ investment banking business in Mexico and Central America. Mexico’s sustained growth (thanks to the rebound in U.S. manufacturing) has kept us quite busy in a number of fronts. I am thrilled to report that I was selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader into the class of 2010. This is a global program that brings together individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds and industries to increase the awareness of key global issues as well as to develop solutions for those issues by leveraging all constituencies of society. I am working on a toolkit for global leaders to help them approach youth to communicate and interact more effectively with them. Hopefully, I will be in a position to share it with you right after its presentation in Davos. Pepita, Alfredo Jr, Maria Jose and Santiago all are doing quite well. That’s all for now. Have a great autumn and fantastic holiday season!