ALUMNI NEWS
The Bucknell Russian Spirit around the World

This page will be devoted to news from the graduates of the Russian Program — majors, minors, and all other students of Russian Studies around the world who have graduated. (For the university-wide alumni page, click here.) If you have lost contact, send us a message with your address and we will post it. Write and tell us who you know about. The people we studied Russian with were great and so were the times. Let's keep those friendships and connections alive.

How is the BRSP record in graduate schools? Check out the entries below on Michael Artacho (London School of Economics), Corry Babka (George Washington), Tracy Dennison (Oxford University), Andy Jenks (Stanford), Thyra Leslie (Indiana), Rebecca Peters (Syracuse), and Jon Wise (Kings College, London). Recent grads include Kadi Miller (Duke Law), Barbara (Meier) Mozdierz (Yale), Bob Foresman (Harvard), Troy McGrath (Columbia), Laurie (McCafferty) McTeague (Harvard). Bucknell Russian Program graduates compete among the very best in the world!

Toby Anderson '96 is still working on his law degree at Tulane. He landed a great job for the summer (for '98) with Global Securities in Istanbul, Turkey. It is a great deal: the company paid for Toby's ticket, housing, plus a decent wage on top of all of that. He anticipated saving a bit toward school from it. He traveled to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan in the first week of June for an investor's tour. I assume his spare room is still available for Mardi Gras. Contact him at:

1735 General Pershing St.
New Orleans, LA 70115
504-891-9194
tanderso@law.tulane.edu

Dawn Albert '89 WILL SOON BE A MOTHER! 3 weeks from September 18 she is expecting a little girl. PB (post Bucknelliensis) she went to DC for law school and is now practicing probate, trust and estate work for a DC firm. She intended to pursue an career in international law with the Certificate in Comparative and International Law from Catholic University but somehow that didn't work out. She thoroughly enjoyed the academic work and was a research assistant for one of the International Law professors in her third year, analyzing and comparing the new constitutions of Eastern Europe. But, as things would have it, the type of jobs available were all in international trade (anti-dumping, countervailing duties type work), and she preferred the theoretical policy work.

Dawn did have the occasion while in law school to accompany two Russian politicians on a visit here to DC. She communicated with them pretty well. The man was the spitting image of Lenin, only taller. They visited a number of political and legal types around town for 3 days, but the highlight of that trip was a visit with Supreme Court Justice Scalia. (Dawn gets a thrill from meeting a Supreme Court Justice, even if she doesn't always agree with his decisions.) Dawn is married to a lawyer and lives at:

5 Tom Fox Court
Poolesville, Maryland 20837
(301) 916-3039

  Michael Artacho '96 just called to tell me that he completed the graduate program at the London School of Economics and received a certificate of honor. Here is an except from his most recent letter: "I am living in New York with my sister. At the moment I am working for the Cisneros Group of Companies. (a Venezuelan conglomerate which has a great deal of television and telecommunications business). My Spanish is the reason as well as the fact that I studied at Bucknell and at LSE. It's great but New York is too much of a rat-race. Graduate school is becoming increasingly tempting." His e-mail is martacho@hotmail.com. Drop him a line.

Ken Ayers '96 just dropped me an e-line after checking the Russian Studies site. He is a legal intern in Scranton, PA this year but next year he enrolls in New York University Law School. He took a look at the Maslennica Party pages and encouraged us to maintain the tradition. His e-mail address this year is kayers13@prodigy.net. Drop him a line.

Corey Babka '96 just completed my Master's in International Affairs from GWU. To be more specific, his concentration was in International Marketing. Now he works at Infonautics, Inc., home of the Electric Library (elibrary.com), a popular tool for consumers, schools, and libraries. He is quite happy there.

Corey saw Karen Rockwell a while ago, and she is still teaching in Virginia. He visited Karen down there. He heard that Brenda Barron is somewhere back East again but doesn't mention where, and Ken is almost done at NYU law school. Corey has difficulty picturing Ken among the pierced noses in the Village.

Contact Corey at:

Corey Babka
3801 Conshohocken Avenue, #202
Philadelphia, PA 19131
Telephone 215.878.1508
cbabka@infonautics.com

Brenda Barron '96 was so offended that I claimed we had no news from her that she sent us some. Currently, she is living in Austin TX. She quit PIRG 2 months ago because of knee surgery and other factors. Now she is applying and interviewing for jobs with Gay Rights organizations in Francisco and in NYC. She is leaning toward a move to SF in the next month or so. She also passed on a 'Hi!' from Karen Rockwell.

New alum!Alisa Bland Bonsignore '95 isnow a freelance web advisor/writer/editor (welcome to the family), working for a variety of small companies. She's learning how to live the bicoastal life and racking up about a billion frequent flier miles. Her husband was transferred to Silicon Valley for a year so she shuttles back and forth between his apartment in California and their home in New Jersey. For some reason she is teaching herself Italian (Wow, what a come-down!). Maybe in her next letter she will tell us why.

Kristin Bradley will be entering graduate school at SUNY Albany in the fall of 1999 with a full tuition scholarship along plus an assistantship.  Albany is in a good central location, within two hours of various family members and the Adirondacks. The professor Kristin has been in contact with is hoping that she can continue with my Spanish on the side (Ugh! [RB}).  She is very excited about getting back into reading, learning, tests, and exams. (Oh, boy, do I envy her [RB])  She doesn't have regular e-mail access now, but promises to provide is with contact information as soon as she settles in at SUNY.

Ty Cobb '88 just got engaged and wedding plans are set for October '97. Ty is living in Boston with his fianceé and working for a bank. Where are you, Ty?

Sara Case Sara and Bobhas made contact. Last spring she completed her master's in Russian at American University where she had an opportunity to teach first year Russian. She loved it. She worked her way through grad school at a start-up Internet company and now works at USWeb managing Internet projects. Here is a picture of Sara trying to get the ring on the finger of Bob (I think) Snodgrass during their recent wedding. To see more pictures of the wedding, click here.

Kelly Corr '95 is now doing research on a vaccine against the AIDS virus at Duke University Medical School. She's loving the Old North State and the world's best college basketball. She came up for homecoming to get together with her Bucknell friends and seemed to enjoy the get-together despite the rainy weather. She joined Karen Rockwell '96, Corey Babka '96, Professor & Mrs. Beard for brunch at the Scarlet 'D' in Mifflinburg. We had a ball! Wow! Three Bucknell alums at homecoming--a new record! You all have to come to homecoming next year! By the way, you can contact Kelly at: kec1@acpub.duke.edu.

Recently updated

Sarah Danser '93 is traveling to Russia over New Year's/Orthodox Christmas *this* year. It's the best time for her to travel because it requires the least amount of vacation time from work, and she's dying to get back to Russia. She will be visiting the Mari-El Republic (city of Yoshkar-Ola with New Year's in St. Petersburg and Christmas in Moscow. This will be the first time she has been in Russia in winter, and since relations between Russia and the US are currently somewhat strained, she will be traveling with a group. Sarah has a new e-mail address, . Write her!

CONGRATULATIONS are in order for Tracy Dennison '92. She will be attending Oxford University in the fall! She has been accepted for the MPhil program inEconomic and Social History and will attend St. Antony's College, the college she had hoped to get into. It is a graduate college (mostof the others are undergraduates and graduates together) andthere are a lot of foreign students there. Apparently one of their buildings even houses a Russian Library. In her own words: "Of course, now I'm feeling very sad about leaving Russia. (Even though I know I'll be back fairly soon to do my research.) I was just starting to really get to know Moscow. And the language. On the other hand, however, I'm ready to get started on a real zadacha. One can only be "in limbo" for so long without getting a bit antsy."

For the past two years Tracy has been teaching and studying at the Russian State Humanities University (RGGU), a fairly new institution, only about 4-5 years old. It is now under the direction of Yuri Afanas'ev, one of Russia's leading historians. It is in the center of the city, on the grounds of the former Higher Party School. The oldest part of RGGU is the Institute for Historical Archive Studies (it existed before RGGU as an independent institute, now it is part of the university). So the History Department at RGGU -- especially the Department of Russian History -- is one of the better history departments in all of Moscow.

Marybeth Dretar ('89) married Tom D'Onfronio on May 16 in Hopewell Junction, N.Y. They honeymooned in Hawaii. Tom receivd his bachelor's in electrical engineering and an MBA from Farleigh Dickinson University. Marybeth received her MBA from SUNY Binghamton in 1996. They work as engineers for Lockheed Martin Federal Systems, Owega, N.Y. Their address is:

1132 Kevin Blvd.
Endicott, NY 13760

John Ellison (grad) and his wife Caroline have another adorable little girl! That's their first, Morgan, over to the right; no pictures of the baby, yet. They are still living at 1104 Broadfield Drive in Cary, North Carolina, 27511. E-mail John at: jmelliso@email.unc.edu

Speaking of babies, Heather (Newell) Gillies '76 '76 and her husband Chuck are the proud parents of the beautiful baby boy on the left, Charles. So beautiful is Charlie that Heather quit her job to be a full-time mother. Bucknell was kind enough to send Charlie a bib. Heather was hoping for a full scholarship but, oh well, maybe next year! Click the thumbnail image of Charlie on the left to see a bigger, better photo. Why is it Russian majors have such beautiful children? Must be something in the curriculum! Heather and Chuck live at
13710 Marianne Drive
Rockville, Maryland 20853-2732
Their phone number is: 301-871-5617.

Lyndsay Famariss is still in Martha's Vineyard, where she is now assists the singer, Carly Simon, and serves as a domestic violence counselor. Her current address is:

General Delivery
West Tisbury, MA 02575
508-696-8482

Robert Foresman '90 and Ludmila Samoilenko were married at 12:30 pm, Saturday, February 22,1997 at the First Baptist Church of Georgetown. How do I know so many details? Faye and I were there! It was a beautiful warm spring day despite the date. The service was beautiful and the reception a ball. Not only was Bob and his parents there (and Luda, whom Faye and I took out to dinner with Bob in Cambridge, Massachusetts 5 years ago), but I also met Josh Trager and Jeff Meyer, who took the Russian Cultural History Jan Plan with Bob in January of '88. Bob is still working with the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank, 1801 K Street, NW, Room K 11-108, Washington, DC 20433. Most recently he has been the director of their entire Ukrainian operation (60 employees). He plans to return to Kiev for two more years in May, so write him quickly before he moves. I'll try to keep his address fresh.

The back of the wedding program has the following story:

"July 1991. He was living in Moscow; she was working in a flower shop in Kiev. He was visiting Kiev, walked into the flower shop and saw her for the first time, and told his friends that she would someday be his wife. She was not interested in meeting him. He persisted, and returned to Kiev in August 1991 to take her on a date. They fell in love. The coup in Moscow started on her birthday, August 18. He returned to Moscow and soon left for graduate school in the US. June 1993. He returned to Kiev. They got engaged in December 1993. The got disengaged one month later. They stayed together. August 1995. She left for graduate school in Boston; he stayed in Kiev until returning to Washington in November. They broke up and prayed. And prayed. October 1996. Reunited again. Thanksgiving 1996. Engaged again. Today. Married at last, forever."

Sharon Harris '94, finished her master's degree at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University in December '97. She studied Russian, Eastern Europe, and Economics. After graduating from Bucknell, she spend two years living and working in St. Petersburg with Greg Martin. Greg was working for a tourist agency while Sharon taught English in a school, college, and nursery school. During the second half of their stay Greg worked in the US consulate. They had a fabulous time in Russia, but were happy to return to the comforts of the US. Sharon is currently in the process of moving to a new job in New York City. I will post her new address as soon as I have it. Her sister, Susan, is currently enrolled in Russian at Bucknell. (I love it.)

Guess what! Karen (Harrison) Vanushka '84 worked since graduation in Silicon Valley while longing to return to school to develop her writing skills--yes, novels. She dropped by a little over a year ago and we had a long chat about her life-long ambition to become a serious writer. She applied to the writing program of a St. Mary's College in Moraga, CA where she was accepted (no doubt on the basis of my recommendation). For more info on Karen, click her name above. You can contact her, too, by email at karenv@ix.netcom.com.

New news!Kimberly Herr '98 (music and Russian) landed a job as of Director of Operations for the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. Her first coup was signing up Mstislav Rostropovich as the soloist for the symphony's major fundraising concert, Opening Night. Another BRP graduate putting all of her skills to work after graduation. All she left was her e-mail address: kimberlyh@desymphony.org

Orpha & Stjopa are MARRIED! Steve Hoerter '91 and Orpha (Jean) Platt '92 were married September 7, 1996. We didn't even get to see Orpha in a wedding dress (or Stjopa in tails). We did receive an announcement which we genuinely appreciated. My, my how you all grow up so fast after you leave here (sigh!). Both are working for Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis. Steve is in international marketing for oncology and Orpha is in corporate affairs for Central & Eastern Europe, including Russia. Their address is: 5528 North Carrollton Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana 46220.

CONGRATULATIONS are also in order for Andy Jenks '86, who has returned to graduate school after working several years as a writer for technological magazines in DC and finally becoming editor of Tech News. Andy has been offered a lucrative 4-year financial support package by Stanford, where he began this fall. According to his latest report: "My studies are going well. I've found a wealth of great material at the Hoover Institute, which has an amazing collection. It looks like I'm gravitating toward the 1930s and industrialization as my main focus. I'm doing a number of seminar papers on the relationship - or rather, tension - between workers and the scientific and technical intelligentsia." You can write Andy at: 1177 Amarillo Ave., #4, Palo Alto CA 94303 or just click his name above and send him an e-mail message.

Leo Klementovich '84 is still working in Williamsport as a lawclerk to a county judge. He has been offered positions with several lawfirms but as yet is too comfortable working normal hours to want to give that up and begin working like a real lawyer! Russia's lack of the rule of law has effectively scared him away from any serious consideration of practicing there anytime soon. He promised Faye and me a nice dinner sometime soon. Promises, promises, Leo!

Thyra Leslie '90 is finishing up her coursework for her PhD at Indiana University this semester but the big news in her life is that she got married in June. Faye and I received an invitation but the wedding was held on the day I returned from a conference in Minsk, so we couldn't make it. But we wanted to. Congratulations, Thyra. May your marriage be a long and happy one. Her fiance is finishing up his PhD in math at Minnesota, and is applying for jobs, so she has no idea where I'll be in the fall. They met in Hungary and later discovered that he, Durwood, lives just outside DC, not far from Thyra's home in Maryland. Drop Thyra a congratulatory note at: TLESLIE@ucs.indiana.edu

Brian Long '95 taught first-year Russian for a year and a half as a TA at Michigan State. He was then offered a part-time assistanship. That course was an Integrative Studies course on culture: film, literature, history, etc. Professor Raskolnikov gave two lectures a week to about 100 students and Brian taught all the three recitations. He was very excited at the opportunity.

Brian's interest in Chekhov only increased at Michigan State but he is also heavily into Gogol and is doing research right now that will hopefully lead to publication. His interests seem to be more in 19th than 20th century lit. He told us that his main interest ceases after the Symbolists and 1917. He also has a web-page which needs up-dating but will send us the URL soon.

Brian was hoping to land a job with either a non-profit organization as a program manager in charge of academic and professional exchanges or land a private sector job in international banking, etc. He was focusing his job search in Washington, D.C. and N.Y.C. He had been doing a lot of research on the web and had compiled a list of companies with interest in the FSU.

Phil's TwoPhil Johnson '83 and his wife Louie now have two lovely children, Daniel, the spittin' image of his dad and Madelein, the spittin' image of her mother (Professor Beard's judgment). That's them to the left. Phil now lives at 18610 Carriage Court, Nassau Bay, Texas 77058.

Greg Martin is rumored to be planning some sort of internship in Moscow over the summer of '96, according to Tracy Dennison. Perhaps they'll manage to arrange some sort of mini-reunion.

Josh Lipton '95 has finally made contact. He and Rich Sosnowski '95 got on a plane in September of last year without jobs or even a place to stay and vanished. Rich promised to contact us as soon as he arrived but--nichevo. Josh did find a job and is still working in Moscow. Here are excerpts from his first email message.

"Life in Russia is not bad--I work 10-12 hours every day and sometimes on the weekends . . . I will be travelling to Kazakstan in the month of October to check out the job scene. I also plan to apply for a Fullbright scholar[ship] . . . to fullfill a project in Estonia. By the way if you have any information for me in terms of communicating with people(talk groups on e-mail, internet) especially regarding the Baltics I would be grateful . . . I am glad to be out of Bucknell but at the same time I do miss the academic lifestyle in many ways."
Does this mean he misses us? Click his name to send him an email.

Mike Markovich '93 couldn't resist the magic of the alumni page. After graduating, he moved to Washington, DC where he got a job at CDC--no, not that one--the Citizens Democracy Corps, a non-profit technical assistance organization serving Russia and Eastern Europe. We sent volunteers from the US business community over there for two-month assignments as consultants to new businesses in their fields of expertise. It was interesting work but his only exposure to things Russian was trips to the consulate for visas. He never made it back.

After about a year and a half of DC, he got 'the itch' and so he drove to San Francisco, where he now resides. His new gig is with a start-up Internet software firm called Citizen 1, which already has a viable product available as a demo. You can check it out at www.citizen1.com where a free download is available. The next release will be of the same product but geared toward healthcare industry professionals. He reestablished contact after using my Index of On-line Dictionaries as a more in-depth alternative to the Webster's page, which never seems to have what he needs. As you can probably tell, he doesn't use his Russian too much in everyday activity (all that course preparation I did--down the tubes!), but he lives in the most Russified section of the city, so trips to the bakery are a little livelier than you might expect.

Laurie (McCaffrey) McTeague '90 is still practicing law in Boston. She and husband Peter are doing well enough to purchase their first home last year. She remembers me each Christmas but she doesn't remember to send an address.

Shawn McCarthy started out working as a marketing analyst for a Fortune 500 paper company in York, PA and now is a sales representative covering 4 states and Canada, handling $15 million in sales a year. He has now decided to return to school, to law school this time. I'm writing his letters of recommendation this week-end. I'll let you know which one he picks. (Stay tuned for the next installment.) His address is:

1907 Fleet Street
Baltimore, MD 21231
(410)342-3825

Updated Troy McGrath '84 has left the Central European University in Prague and has returned to Columbia as a post-graduate. This spring he will be in Thailand teaching teaching basic IR and IPE and diplomatic history courses to Burmese student dissident opposition leaders, who have taken refuge in Thailand until the Burmese military dictatorship is overthrown.

New news!

The Chris Mitchell story is now in print! An entire chapter of Moscow Madness by Timothy Harper (McGraw Hill, 1999) is devoted to Tim's exploits as the driving force behind the distribution of Miller Beer in Russia. You HAVE to read it to find out about Bucknell's contribution to the success of the Russian economic system.

Updated Barbara (Meier) Mozdzierz '88 completed her PhD at Yale University in Slavic Linguistics and taught several years at George Washington University. Her husband, Bill, is in the diplomatic corps and they are currently posted in Zagreb, Yugoslavia. Barbara writes, Barbara's (Ira's) new baby."We are almost settled in here-- the kitchen renovation should be done by the end of the week and the gutter replacement on the roof some time soon thereafter. The place is thus pretty much ready for guests. Book your flight now--but avoid June. Ira is a mother! Olivia Martha Mozdzierz was born July 10, 1999. Contact Barbara at: william.mozdzierz@zg.tel.hr

Joe Meschino '79 returned for the 1994 reunion but we didn't connect. Joe's new company is located in his hometown of Doyelstown, PA; it sells medical equipment to Russian organizations and takes on the tasks of delivery, installation, and service. Right now there is just his partner, a secretary, and Joe (with his wife's help, he adds). While in Moscow recently, Joe ran into Nancy Galli, Assistant Professor of Russian at Bucknell from 1973-1977. She is now married and works out of a small office in Moscow as the exclusive representative of Picker International in Russia. The best way to contact Joe is via email. His address is: JMeschino@aol.com. For more information on Joe, click his name above.

We are in contact with Zareen Taj Mirza '79. Zareen is still in Falmouth, Maine. She is a very kind and welcome beneficiary of the Bucknell Russian Club, making several excursions to the Russian community in Brighton Beach, a Maslennica party in the Russian Gateway for current and prospective Russian majors, and a major concert and workshop by the Slavic folksinging group 'ROZMARIN' in May -- all possible through a generous contribution. Thank you very much, Zareen.

New! Kara Perlot and Fid moved into a house (yes, a HOUSE!) in North Arlington on May 30th. Here's the new info:

2531 N Glebe Rd
Arlington, VA 22207
Tel: 703.243.6738
Email:kara@westlake.com

Rebecca Peters '96 contacted me before Labor Day to let me know that she was coming to Lewisburg. Even though she only graduated last spring, it was good to see her again. We talked for an hour then went out to lunch. She is in the law school of Syracuse University and likes it. You can contact her at <rrpeters@mailbox.syr.edu>

Misha (Edmund Rhodes) '95) is still works for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) in Washington. NDI is a non-partisan organization designed to strengthen democratic institutions and pluralistic values in new and emerging democracies. NDI's Desk Officer for Armenia. He has just returned from a two-week trip to Armenia planning through the parliamentary elections which will likely take place in the spring-summer of 1999 (pending passage of new electoral legislation). This election will be of particular importance. While Armenia's political leaders have shown some progress in implementing reforms, they have yet to organize a competent, democratic election. Stay on them, Misha!

Updated

Karen Rockwell '96 is now the lead teacher at a school for 11-18-year-old wayward boys in Virginia. Karen is also taking courses towards her Masters in Special Ed, which she should be getting next year. She still lives in Farmville, not far from Charlottesville and teaches English, science, history and math.

Karen came up for homecoming in '97 with Corey Babka. Faye and I took them and Kelly Corr to the Scarlet 'D' in Mifflinburg for brunch. We had a wonderful time. Why don't the rest of you come visit? Free brunches for everyone!

Recently updated

Sally Ryman worked a while for the American Gastroenterological Association as an Editorial Assistant. But quickly moved up to the Education Publications Coordinator for the American Association for Clinical Chemistry. She does copyediting, proofreading, and desktop publishing for two continuing education publications: Diagnostic Endocrinology, Immunology, and Metabolism and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Toxicology. She loves the job even though she doesn't use her Russian (is that possible?). She has replaced her love for Russian with a love of science that seems to combine better with her love for the written word. Sally hasn't heard from Devon Webster. Have any of yall? Sally lives in the suburbs, between DC, Baltimore and Annapolis and can be found at the following address:

546 G Retreat Court
Odenton, MD 21113
Email: SRyman@aacc.org

Here's the latest word on Sally (in her own words): I'm not up to much. Work. Eat. Sleep. I'm really enjoying my job. I'm learning all about things like Cystic Fibrosis, Diabetes, and "oxygen-carrying blood substitutes". Oohh, Aahh. So exciting. Actually, it is really interesting. Who would have thought I'd end up working for a chemistry association? I certainly never envisioned this for myself. I recently took a 3-day copyediting class. It was a really good class, and affirmed that I already knew most of what I needed to know for my job. But now I get to put the course on my resume (along with the future ones I get to take). I spend a lot of time reading e-mail. The copyediting listserv is VERY chatty. I must read at least 50 messages a day just from them.

In my spare time I read and drink Black & Tans. I'm also considering the possibility of doing some freelance editing. We'll see.

Steve Swank has completed his MA in Slavic Literatures and Linguistics and the University of Kansas and, in view of the bleak job market in academia, has decided to forego the PhD. His new address is:

905 Christie Ct.
Lawrence, KS 66049
(913) 841-5211
swanker@lawrence.ixks.com
He has now completed a 3-month assignment with Block Financial Corporation in software tech support but, of course, is still looking for that Russian opportunity that most of us are craving.

Mike Troper '85 married Merry Moody on 9/1/90 and now has a son Samuel John on 12/5/95. He is currently living at 224 Colonial Avnue, Worthington, Ohio 43085 (614) 841-1989. (Worthington is a suburb of Columbus.) He received his MBA from OSU in 1989 and loves living in the hassle free midwest.

From September to December 1993 Mike was the Controller of the Moscow Country Club in Krasnogorsk, about 25km northwest of Moscow. The position was great but was terminated over problems between the Russian and American partners. The MCC was designed for western executive, diplomats and anyone who can afford the golf fees - $20K initiation for an individual. Mike's wife sold golf memberships and leased the dachas at the club. Her first travel experience outside the US was a thirty hour, often delayed and rerouted trip to Moscow; she flew over the day of the coup. They had a great time in Russia and visited St. Pete for Thanksgiving weekend. I visited my old dorm, it is still quite unattractive.

Merry and Mike have hosted an intern from Yaroslavl through the International Visitors Council in Columbus. He also tutored a few of the many Russian emigres to Columbus. His Russian language is doing OK. He and Merry are trying for child No. 2 and hope to return to Russia when the kids are 2-3 years old. He would love to hear from any alumni/ae who is doing anything in Russia. E-mail OAFC_TROPER@OHIO.GOV. He is currently employed as the Fiscal Director for the Ohio Arts Facilities Commission ( a state agency), which oversese construction and renovation of arts facilities and science centers in Ohio. Their big project is the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) -- a new $120 million science center in downtowm Columbus

Laurie (Skirkanich) Harrison '88 passed through Lewisburg, Tuesday, May 8 and we had a long talk on the telephone. She is completing her MBA at the University of Maryland and was conducting a workshop at the Lewsiburg Federal Prison. She has already landed a job with Arthur Anderson Co. in Washington but hopes to transfer to London, where her husband, Scott, has been assigned for two years. Over the past two years she has been lecturing about the internet around the country, including the Smithsonian Institute. I told her about her classmate, Troy McGrath and she told me about her WWW site (linked to her name above). She has already discovered that Arthur Anderson has an office in Russia and has an eye on helping out there eventually. She continues to use her Russia from time to time. Scott speaks several languages, including Russian. She also noted that Susan Holmes has finished her masters at, we think, Rutgers. We'll try to track Susan down for the alumni page.

Robert Shawn Streator '96 has finally checked in. Upon graduating, Shawn spent four months at Fort Benning, Georgia completing his infantry officers' basic course, then went on to Rangers' school. He is now the platoon leader for a 29-main air assault rifle platoon. Except for four months in Saudi Arabia scheduled to begin this September, he is now assigned to Ft. Campbell, Kentucky until the year 2000. In January he proposed to his Bucknell friend Amy Minifie and -- guess what? -- she accepted. The marriage is planned for sometime after his return from Saudi Arabia. Let Shawn know we still care; his address is:

Robert Streator
231 Pin Oak Drive, Apt. E
Clarksville, TN 37040

Tom Trimble stumbled onto our alumni site and was impressed enough to let us in on his recent doings. His year of Russian at Bucknell set him on his way, first to graduate school at the Harriman Institute at Columbia and then law school. He has been living in Moscow for the last 3 years as a lawyer with the firm Latham & Watkins, while his wife Shelly worked with ING Bank and Dialog Bank before that. They lived in a great apartment in Old Arbat on Setzev Vrazhek Street. Now he is back in D.C. with Latham & Watkins in their DC office but still flying back and forth to Russia and East Europe on a variety of transactional deals -- and having a blast.

New News!  Here is Will Wickham '88 in his own words; I couldn't write it any better.

I am currently the General Manager for Bristol-Myers Squibb in Ukraine.  I have been working here for a few months now.  For the past 5 years I have been living in the CIS, primarily in Kazakstan, but with extensive travel.  I established offices/distribution networks for BMS throughout Central Asia and the Caucasus and managed their offices/employees throughout that region. Primarily we are selling/marketing pharmaceuticals but some other consumer products also.

After leaving Bucknell I served in the Army for several years as an Intelligence Analyst and Linguist (Persian, not Russian!!) and served in Riyadh for a while.  I was based outside of DC.  As the military wound down, I worked the night shift and began studying Russian again at Johns Hopkins, after which I began attending Georgetown (Russian Area Studies).  From there I networked into a job to establish the BMS business in Central Asia and afterwards the Caucasus.

Business is fairly difficult over here right now, and my job at the moment seems to turn a large business in Ukraine into a small business.  Seems to go against usual practice but in this conservative mindset within the corporation, I am the hatchetman to reduce personnel, cut costs and meanwhile drive sales.  I can finally admit to being able to speak Russian.  My grammar is still atrocious, but my tongue flaps along fine and I conduct all my business without translators. 

In general, I enjoy the entrepreneurship of developing new markets and I have really enjoyed working in Central Asia and the Caucasus.  I am trying to get used to Ukraine but am finding it difficult to adjust to the bureaucracy.  I am a get it done guy in a country absorbed with processes without results.  However, Kiev is a beautiful city.  My wife, Cheryl (Cashin) Wickham '87 has been here with me.  She works with a USAID project assisting in reforming the healthcare system in Central Asia.  She was a chemistry major at Bucknell, but is now speaking Russian better than me!!  (Her grammar sounds very nice, but I roll the words out at a good clip better than her).  She has nearly finished her Ph.D. in Economics from UW (Seattle).

Paula Wiikin '74, Paula, Bob & the Boys her husband Bob Figoni, and two sons Jesse and Matt, spent their fall vacation 1996 in Zion National Park. Matt is 10 and in the fifth grade. He broke is leg this summer but it was doing well by the time of the annual Xmas letter. Jesse is 9 and 'roaring through fourth grade', to quote Paula. He was high scorer on his soccer team last fall. She and Bob took the boys on their first backpacking trip in June. It was all fun except for the first day, when, as Matt puts it, 'We almost died'. Paula says that backpacking isn't as easy as it used to be. After finishing law school, Paula became a financial planner and is now teaching a course in financial planning at the University of California. Her business is growing but she plans to keep it small and take on no employees. She must be on email but we haven't made electronic contact yet. The snailmail address is: 314 Howard Street, Petaluma, CA 94952. (I seem to have lost the 1996 letter Paula sent. I'll keep looking. Sorry.)

Besides the e-mail address (wickham@bmsukr.kiev.ua), he sent two telephone numbers in Kiev: (38) 044 229 3941 and (38) 044 462 0958 (fax). Call and catch up!

Jonathan Wise '94 is enrolled in the Boston College School of Law. In the summer of 1995 he served an internship with a US law firm in St. Petersburg, where he revised contracts in both English and Russian. Other tasks included organizing legislative files and indices and translating various documents. He spoke Russian approximatlely 85% of the day and would often go out after work with the Russian employees and enjoy the White Nights."

Last summer Jon spent in Moscow, working for the first half of the summer at an American law firm, Baker & McKenzie. He finds Moscow is teeming, energetic and full of life. There is such a stark contrast between St. Petersburg and Moscow, but he is growing accustomed to the pace of life here. Jon tells us that Greg Martin worked for a while for the Carrier Air-Conditioning Company. Sharon Harris spent the summer in Washington working on the Russian desk at the Department of State!

Jon now tells us that he is spending his final semester of law school in London studying (sort of) at King's College and working for an American law firm. He lives in central London - the Covent Garden area - with a friend from Bucknell (Drobny). He has been busy exploring London and hopes to make a trip to the continent soon.

Tom Yuschok is practicing medicine in Daytona Beach, Florida. (A tough posting, but somebody has to do it.) He writes that he is doing well and is in the process of buying a home. More importantly, he has joined the Society of Ukranian Radiologists and regularly receives the Zhurnal Ukrainiskoy Radiologii which is totally in Russian--not even any pictures which, according to Tom, put US radiologists at a severe disadvantage. We've asked for more info. If you don't want to wait, click his name and ask him yourself.

Guess who turned up for 1996 Alumni Weekend--the (in)famous email-allergic Chris Zapotocky '91! Chris is the executive assitant to the president of the Central European University in Budapest and loving the city. She plans to stay on for two more years. Her apartment looks out at the palace over the Danube, no wonder she loves it. Bombard her with email! Make her write. Her address is <zapotock@ceu.hu> Now she tells me that she is returning in 1997. I think she loves the food at Scarlet D--where we generally take returning graduates. However, anyone who has friends interested in doing graduate work (master's level only) in one of the most beautiful cities in the world should contact Christine, for she is actively recruiting on this trip.

 

So, what are the rest of you doing? Write and we will spread the word to your Bucknell friends. Don't you ever wonder what they're up to? SEND US PICTURES and we will post them! If you are online or receive e-mail we can connect electronically either directly or through this page.

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© 1996 Robert Beard