Submit your news to alumni.tulane.edu/news and follow @tulanealumni on Facebook to share your memories and join the conversation.

Photo by Kenny Lass

BRENDA SEABROOKE (NC ’63) has authored a second collection of pastiches titled “Sherlock Holmes: The Crimson Trail and Other Stories,” which has been published by MX Publishing in London.

HELEN STONE (NC ’63) was selected to compete with the United States team at the 2024 Funakoshi Gichin Karate World Championship Tournament in Japan. Stone, who is the oldest member of the team, competed in the kata competition in the 70 and older age group. Additionally, Stone produced the play “The Enigma of the Torah” at the Marigny Opera House in spring 2023.

STEVEN ZEGAR (A&S ’64), optometric physician, completed 50 years in private practice serving patients’ visual and medical needs.

CATHERINE NORR (NC ’66) has authored her second poetry chapbook “Goat Farm Road, Poems from the Adirondacks,” published by Finishing Line Press. The poems capture Norr’s time living off-grid in a wooded, little-populated area of upstate New York.

RONA SIMMONS (NC ’72) published the nonfiction book “No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944” with the University of Missouri Press. The book covers the day when 2,600 Americans perished in World War II.

DR. WILLIAM P. COLEMAN III (M ’74) received the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Tulane School of Medicine. Coleman has served as the editor-in-chief of the journal Dermatologic Surgery since 2001 and his son, DR. KYLE COLEMAN (M ’05), serves as assistant editor. Coleman is an adjunct professor of dermatology and surgery at Tulane and has authored 340 medical publications as well as 10 books. He practices dermatology in Metairie, Louisiana, with his son DR. PATRICK COLEMAN (M ’03).

JOE TRAHAN III (A&S ’76) was awarded The U.S. Army Ancient Order of St. Gabriel Award for his outstanding achievements and contributions to the U.S. Army public affairs community and practice.

RONALD L. BOOK (L ’78), Lauren’s Kids chairman, humanitarian and legal advocate, was nominated for a 2024 Nobel Peace Prize for his work addressing homelessness and preventing childhood sexual abuse.

JENNIFER BRUSH (NC ’78) has completed her Head of Mission assignment with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Parliamentary Elections Observation Mission in Mongolia.

LAURA STARKS (E ’80), who writes under the pen name L.A. Starks, has authored “Winner’s Curse: A Lynn Dayton Thriller” (Nemaha Ridge Publishing Group LLC), the fourth novel in her Lynn Dayton thriller series. The book, an “energy technothriller,” follows protagonist Lynn Dayton, who is the first woman to lead the drilling division of TriCoast Energy but faces undercutting by international power players and former executives who conspire to sabotage the company’s dealings.

ANDREW SHENKAN (A&S ’84) has accepted the position of general manager at WBRZ-TV, the ABC affiliate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Shenkan previously worked at the television station as a sales manager from 1984 to 2002.

BRIAN FITZPATRICK (A&S ’85) received a patent on AI gunshot detection technology.

DAVID HEDDEN (G ’85) resigned as chief scientific officer at BioDuro, a drug development company in San Diego, California, at the end of 2019 and became an independent pharmaceutical sciences/drug product development consultant. Hedden retired last July after a 37-year career in new product research and development in the pharmaceutical industry. Hedden and his wife are enjoying retirement in San Diego.

DR. JAVAD “SCOTT” MASHKURI (A&S ’86) received the National Association of Addiction Drug and Alcohol Counselors 2024 Davida Coady Gorham Medical Professional of the Year award for his work providing low-barrier access to addiction services in Vermont emergency departments. He has worked at the University of Vermont Health Network, Central Vermont Medical Center Emergency Department since 2011. He was director from 2016-2020 and is now the physician lead for the Central Vermont Prevention Coalition.

LAURENCE ALEXANDER (L ’87) was named the tenth chancellor of the University of Michigan-Flint. He previously served 11 years as chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. In 2022, former President Joe Biden appointed Alexander to chair the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development, an advisory board that ensures the United States Agency for International Development brings the assets of universities to bear on development challenges in agriculture and food security and supports their representation in United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programming.

LATRENDA KNIGHTEN (NC ’87) has begun her two-year term as president for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Knighten previously served as president-elect for the council for the 2023-2024 term.

LUCY KLAUSNER (NC ’90, B ’94) has been named vice president of resource development at Episcopal Children’s Services (ECS4Kids), which serves over 27,000 north and central Florida children and families. In this role, Klausner will be responsible for fundraising and development to build visibility, impact and financial resources.

DAVID GARDNER (B ’91) was named a visiting scholar and Industry Expert-in-Residence at Tulane’s A. B. Freeman School of Business. Gardner previously served as an adjunct professor in New York City and former chief information officer for a Fortune 100 company. Gardner continues to serve as a board advisor for multiple startups and part-time as a service quality assurance executive.

MARLA MORRIS (UC ’91), who holds a PhD in Philosophy from the European Graduate School, was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

LARRY WEISS (A&S ’91) was appointed chief legal officer of AngioDynamics, Inc., a leading medical technology company, in December 2024. Weiss lives in Andover, Massachusetts, with his wife CHARLY WEISS (nc ’91) and their two boys.

MARGARET FENTON (NC ’92) released “Little Blue Boy,” published by Aakenbaaken & Kent. The book is the latest installment in Fenton’s southern mystery series featuring child welfare social worker Claire Conover from Birmingham, Alabama.

JAN RAINES (NC ’92) has accepted the position of director of veterinary medicine at Black Beauty Ranch, a sanctuary for rescued exotic animals, equids and livestock. Raines previously served as a veterinarian at the Dallas Zoo for 19 years.

MARK TAYLOR (A ’94) was hired as a principal architect for DAHLIN Architecture, Planning and Interiors in its Bellevue office. Mark joins DAHLIN with 25 years of design and sustainability experience leading complex projects for large-scale retail and mixed-use development in the Pacific Northwest and nationally.

PATTY HEYDA (A ’95) has authored a book titled “Radical Atlas of Ferguson, USA,” which explores the structural forces that continue to lead to racial segregation, fragmentation, poverty and police targeting in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson. The book’s publication coincides with the 10-year anniversary of the Black Lives Matter uprising and national movement that followed the murder of teenager Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson.

DONALD TYER (E ’95) was awarded the Navy Superior Civilian Service Award for his role as director of logistics services of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The award, which recognizes employee contributions that are exceptionally high in value, is the second highest honorary award under the Department of the Navy Civilian Awards program.

REBECCA HELLER (NC ’96) earned her doctorate in education in Leadership & Innovation from Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. Her research focused on mindfulness and well-being of students from high-achieving schools.

EVAN MAROWITZ (A&S ’96) has been named one of the “Best Lawyers in America” for 2025 by the publication “Best Lawyers.” He was recognized for his expertise and experience as a medical malpractice defense trial attorney.

JAMIE VAN LEEUWEN (PHTM ’97, G ’99) has been named the managing director of the BuildStrong Education Foundation, a nonprofit focused on improving housing affordability and workforce development. Van Leeuwen previously served former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper for more than 15 years as senior advisor and deputy chief of staff, leading community partnerships.

JULIE HAFFNER (L ’99) has been named head of motion picture business affairs at talent agency WME, which represents numerous artists, creatives, actors and more across the entertainment industry. Haffner will oversee motion picture client deals and serve as an advisor to WME agents, executives and clients on structuring and negotiating motion picture and talent deals.

DR. NAVEEN PEMMARAJU (TC ’00) has been promoted to professor of medicine in the Department of Leukemia at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Pemmaraju, whose research focuses on ultra-rare blood cancers, led the clinical trial for a new drug to treat blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm, which led to FDA approval in 2019.

ASHLI ROSENTHAL BLUMENFELD (NC ’03), co-president of Standard Meat Company, and her brother Ben Rosenthal, CEO of the company, have been named national Entrepreneur of the Year 2024 winners, after winning the Southwest regional award last year. The award recognizes business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company, transformational CEOs who have infused innovation into an existing organization, and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model.

JESSICA HOPPE (L ’04) has been appointed as the president and chief executive officer of The World Residences at Sea, the largest privately owned residential mega yacht with 165 luxury residences. Hoppe, who previously served as chief administrative officer and general counsel at the company, will now oversee the company, which maintains personnel in a corporate office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and on board the yacht.

LEENA PRADHAN-NABZDYK (G ’04) is the CEO and co-founder of Canomiks, a life sciences startup company. Canomiks was awarded a nearly $1 million grant by the National Science Foundation to develop a testing platform to measure the biological effects of botanical ingredients and their impact on human health.

DR. TRACEY HENRY (G ’05), associate professor of medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, was selected for the National Academies of Medicine’s Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellows 2024-2025 cohort. Since 1973, the nonpartisan program has offered hands-on policy experience with the most influential congressional and executive offices in the nation’s capital, providing the opportunity for fellows to help transform the nation’s health care policy and practice.

JESSI KLEINMAN (SLA ’09) and Jonathan Byer welcomed their first child, Jacob Asher Byer, on May 9, 2024.

LEE P. GARY (PHTM ’10), a Fulbright Specialist, was appointed as a Visiting Faculty Research Scholar at the University of Makeni, located in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone for the 2024-2025 academic year. During summer 2024, he and his wife JENNIFER S. GARY (B ’91) visited Makeni and toured the former Ebola Treatment Center where he served as WASH Coordinator during 2015 with the International Medical Corps.

SAMANTHA GERLACH (SSE ’10), currently a tenured professor at Dillard University, has been working with a team at Brain Chemistry Labs on research around the brain disease glioblastoma. The team’s paper was recently published in the Swiss journal biomedicines.

HANNAH (B ’11) and JOHN (SSE ’11, A ’14) HUPPI will row the Arctic Ocean this summer as part of the Arctic Challenge. They will join a 4-person team on an unsupported row as they vie for a world record and raise money for charities supporting New Orleans youth.

STEELE M. HULL (B ’17), commercial director at Florida Marine, had a push boat named after him in summer 2024. The 2000 hp vessel was delivered by Steiner Shipyard in Bayou La Batre. Hull helps to oversee Florida Marine’s annual budget among other duties.

YVETTE BURCESCU (B ’21, ’22), who played volleyball at Tulane, was inducted into the Walter Panas High School Hall of Fame in 2024.