2004

	Beautiful father-daughter bonding. David Mayer ’04 with new baby Madeleine Sophia Mayer
	Kevin Lev ’04, wife Evie and our son Yoav (1) in their new home in the town Yad Binyamin, Israel

The Class of 2004 is on the move this season. And we’re not talking bought a house, or moved to the suburbs, or even N.Y. to L.A. We’re talking Tokyo-London, N.Y.-Atlanta, Mexico City-San Diego, Madrid-Qatar. These are the kinds of moves that remind us not simply how diverse our class is, but how global our opportunities are, how internationally relevant our skills. The stuff that grad school brochures are always hyperbolizing, but one never truly believes — yet, here we are!

From Tokyo, Manabu Tanaka sends the following update: “On Sept. 7, some of Kellogg’s 2004s got together at a smoky and cramped izakaya (typical Japanese-style pub) near Ginza, Tokyo, to say farewell to Tak Nagai, who was moving to Manchester, U.K. to play for a local football club on a three to four year contract. Can’t believe Tak, also well-known as a drinky entertainer, acquired his work visa without no opposition from being the U.K. government!” Soccer fans, settle…Manabu clarified soon thereafter: “Well, how wonderful it would be for him if this could be real. The reality is, Tak was transferred to the English city to market chemicals throughout Europe, a move for which he has so long waited. He must still be optimistic, however, as maybe his sons will get a chance someday to play soccer there on a competitive level.”

Saucy Down South (aka, Chris Butler) tells of his kinda-recent move: “I left Time Inc. in December of 2010 and moved to Atlanta in February to get my three-year old closer to family (my wife grew up in Atlanta). In August, I started as the senior director of marketing at Equifax Inc. and have enjoyed my time thus far. We sell credit monitoring and identity theft protection products so in today’s market we have good momentum and a product that people need.” You heard it here first, folks. If your identity gets stolen, Chris is your man! He also handles general — and specific —  identity crisis issues, and those rare but important occasions when you wake up and have no idea who the heck you are (though you’re on your own when you wake up and have no idea how you got there).

Miguel Ramirez is back in the world of entrepreneurs. After selling his company (mediotiempo.com) to Time Warner in 2008, he spent three years in the corporate world. More than enough, he believes! Miguel just joined as a partner in an interactive marketing agency called lead2action to keep on developing digital projects in Mexico. For 2012, he plans to move and open an office in San Diego, Calif., and looks forward to meeting up with alumni in the area.

Most of us truly thought it couldn’t get any better than a marketing post at Real Madrid. But Ivan Bravo proves otherwise. He updates: “At a time where many things in the world of international sports are gravitating towards the small state nation of Qatar, the opportunity to lead their national sports academy, Aspire, is very exciting. As the new director general there, I am thrilled to try to help Qatar’s future football and Olympic sports stars reach international success for the country and to join the ranks of Kellogg alumni in the region. Molly, little Daniela and myself hope to get many visitors in Doha, hopefully much earlier than the 2022 World Cup!” If that ain’t a goooooooaaalllll!, I don’t know what is. We do hear of sandstorms, 37 degrees Celsius in the shade and chilled swimming pools, so we wish them a happy and rapid acclimation!
Three’s a charm for Dana Lee and husband Spencer. They welcomed new son Alden Couch Lee on Aug. 3. He joins big sister Eloise and big brother Turner.

David Mayer writes, “I’d like to introduce Madeleine Sophia Mayer who was born on July 2 and is growing up fast. Luckily she takes her looks from her mother!”

Kevin Lev, wife Evie and son Yoav (1) have moved to Yad Binyamin, Israel.

That’s in a smoky izakaya, not smokin’ in the izakaya. From right: Koji Miura, Nori Kubo, Tamae Takeda, Mikio Kawahara, Kent Nakagawa, Manabu Tanaka, Ichiro Aoyagi, and Tak Nagai, all '04