70 - 79
1970’s
Jane Webber, PhD ’71 is Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Counseling Programs at New Jersey City University, and a Licensed Professional Counselor. Jane is Chair of the International Committee of the American Counseling Association and is also a lead trainer for the NJ Department of Education Grant: Systemic Reform of School Guidance and Counseling. She lives in Bernardsville with her husband Dr. J. Barry Mascari, a Professor of Counselor Education at Kean University.
Pamela Wescott Djelidi ’72 says that “one advantage of attending Manhattanville is that she has had the confidence to constantly reinvent herself.” Pamela is now working for Edwardsville Publishing in Illinois a subsidiary of Hearst. She sells a blended print/on line product targeted to dealerships in the area for pre owned inventory. She has three children, and her husband Abdel is enjoying his recent retirement. The family is planning some vacations to Tennessee and Kentucky.
Mary Helen McCormack Dykes ’72 recently retired from her long time family business (Bobs Candies) back in 2005. Although retired, she has stayed involved in the community. Mary serves on the board of her local, not for profit hospital. She also serves on a 501C board called Albany Tomorrow, and she is going be an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention. In fact, her oldest son works for Senator Obama. Once a year, Mary and her five closest friends from Manhattanville get together for a reunion.
Mary McCartan Konwinski ’72 lives in Newark, DE with Frank, her husband of 34 years. They are the proud parents of three daughters and three grandsons. Mary is Manager of Public Relations and Marketing for Blood Bank of Delmarva and is also a busy freelance writer. She is a Rotarian who enjoys community service and is also a member of the Association of Donor Recruitment Professionals.
Christine Stiassni-Gerli MAT ‘72 hopes to finish her final project and one other course to gain her MAW (Masters in Writing) degree. She has really enjoyed the experience and has met so many talented and interesting graduate students, and the faculty, under Ruth Dowd's remarkable leadership, has been very inspiring.
Christine Germano Bonarrigo ’73 is working as an English teacher and Reading Specialist for New Canaan High School in New Canaan, CT. Christine has been married for 35 years to Domenick Bonarrigo, an attorney and Chief Operating Officer of a hedge fund. She and her husband have three children: John (RISD '01), an animator/graphic designer; Michael (Vassar '03), a business analyst; and, Lisa (NYU '10), a journalism major.
Andrew Dellava ’73 is happy to announce that his wife, Therese Fowler, had her first novel, Souvenir, published in 18 countries & 10 languages. Her second book, Reunion, will be out in the USA in March 2009.
Adele R. McDowell ’73 earned her Ph.D. She is a transpersonal psychologist, teacher and writer. She has a weekly online column entitled "wavelength" on United Press International website. In 2007, listening to her spirit Adele closed her twelve-year-old Greenheart Center to pursue more of the energetic and spiritual aspects of her work. In her new work, the prior 20 years of psychology does not get forgotten, but it has been expanded to include the permutations of the psyche, the mystery of the sacred, paths of energy and a broader, soul perspective.
In September 2007, Elizabeth M. Fahey ’74 was appointed an International Judge for War Crimes to the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. She will conclude her work in hearing war crimes cases from the war in Bosnia during 1992-1995 in the fall of 2008 and will then resume her position as an Associate Justice of the Superior Court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Maura McNulty ’74 lives in Los Altos, CA, and just returned from UC Santa Barbara Family Vacation Center with her 8 year old son Owen. She keeps up by email with ’74 classmates, Chris Smith and Rea Nolan Martin. Maura is having a ball consulting in hi-tech Marketing and Interactive PR in Silicon Valley after leaving the corporate world of Hewlett Packard and Sun Microsystems. If you're in town, you can contact Maura at mediahook@gmail.com.
Doreen Brand ’75 turned 80 years old this year! Much has happened to her over the years including raising children, burying a child with Cystic Fibrosis, burying a husband, teaching for 20 years, retiring to Florida and ending up in Berkeley, CA. On June 18th, I and my partner, Bev Hickok, of 18 years, got married in Martinez, CA. After the ceremony a small group of our closest friends celebrated at the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley.
Mary Louise Cox ’75 received her Masters in the Humanities in MCMLXXV! She attributes her good luck to having Sister Cora Brady as her advisor, who helped define what Mary believed was the theme for her choice of courses. Mary currently serves on a Committee at The Rye Arts Center and is a member of the Board of the Mamaroneck Village Arts Council. She has just been appointed by the Village of Mamaroneck's Board of Trustees as the first Poet Laureate of the Village and she serves on the Executive Board of The National League of American Pen Women headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Jose Cruz ’75 after working as assistant principal for the last seven years, is now in the NYC Leadership Academy Aspiring Principal Program. He has begun putting together a committee to write a proposal for a new transfer high school that will open in the fall of 2010. Jose also practices law part time, mostly pro bono and have been admitted to the New York and Connecticut Bars and to the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court. Jose is grateful for the years that he spent at Manhattanville because they have changed his life forever.
Mary Alice Dias Jerome ’75 and her husband retired last year from their jobs in the Government contracting sector in the Northern Virginia area. They moved to Sea Trail Plantation in Sunset Beach, North Carolina. They have been enjoying the beach and the golf and the other attractions this area has to offer. The couple is doing some volunteer work and catching up on reading and other hobbies.
Although Mike Walters ’75 didn't graduate from Manhattanville he has fond memories of the two years he did spend there. He finished college at Colorado State University in 1977 and for the past 30 years has been working at Excelsior Youth Center in Aurora, Colorado. He is married with two almost grown children and lives happily in Foxfield, Colorado.
Art Wenzel ’76 graduated with a BA in Political Science and Russian Area Studies in 1976 and MAT Social Studies 2004. He is currently teaching English as a Second Language and Spanish at Yorktown High School in Yorktown Heights, NY. He is living in Rye, NY, renovating the home he grew up in as a kid.
Danuta Karpinski Wenzel ’76 is active as a Realtor at Houlihan-Lawrence Inc., Rye, NY, and supporting/directing her husband Art's efforts to renovate their home in Rye and “isn’t afraid to pick up a paint brush herself!”
Dolores Santoliquido ’77 received her MAT Art Education this past May. It took her 8 years to complete the degree and she managed to do it with a 3.987 GPA. She also illustrated the National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Trees of North America just published by Sterling. Dolores was responsible for all illustrations included in the book. Also, she will have botanical paintings included in the faculty show in the new gallery space this September.
Geraldine Sorrells ’77 has owned Gemini House Bed & Breakfast for eight years on the idyllic island of Barbados. In her "mid-life" she enjoys windsurfing, biking and teaching a baking class at her local community center. However, she does miss - fresh peaches, real NY pizza, bagels and of course her friends.
After completing her MAT degree, Mary-Jane Handler Stanton MAT ’77 took what she thought would be a short break from teaching and assumed a temporary position selling real estate. But today she is approaching 30 years in the business. Though she did not return to teaching, she continued to value the knowledge gained in her course work from Manhattanville. Acting in an advisory capacity, Mary has often successfully assisted parents as they searched for the best academic program or setting for their children. And she still wholeheartedly recommends Manhattanville to students considering a career in education.
Alessandra de Bellegarde ’78 is working at IS 195 in Manhattan as a special education teacher where she teaches math and science. It wasn't until she took "Math for the Liberal Arts Student" at Manhattanville that she thought she'd ever understand math. She had a college day at her school and her classroom door, room, and bulletin boards were all decorated in Manhattanville colors with information about the school. She has not remarried...not met the right guy. Her son Connor is turning 20 and is in college. She keeps busy by reading, playing her guitar, and tutoring. They did a lot of traveling to England and Italy but travel funds now go for college!
Jeanne-Marie Jansen Lowell ’79 is singing the role of Donna Elvira in Mozart's "Don Giovanni" with the Delaware Valley Opera Company. So far she has played for sold out houses in Narrowsburgh, NY and at Sullivan County Community College.
Lee Rawiszer’s ’79 18 year old son Todd is entering his sophomore year at Drexel University in Philadelphia and his 8 year old daughter Rebecca starts 4th grade in the fall. Lee’s firm, Halper Rawiszer Financial Group was profiled in the Westport News in May as a top Wealth Management Firm in Fairfield County. Lee and his wife Eva will be celebrating their 21st Wedding Anniversary this month!
Gretchel Hathaway Tyson, Ph.D. ’79 was recently promoted from Director of Community Outreach to Senior Director of Campus Diversity and Affirmative Action at Union College, Schenectady NY. Gretchel is responsible for the implementation of a more strategic approach towards inclusivity and diversity in the campus community, and is presently on the Board of WMHT Public TV and Radio. Her Son Stephen Jr. is 23 and her daughter Rachel is 13.
Kathleen G. O'Neil is an alumna, but not a grad of Manhattanville. She went to Manhattanville for one year. After her year at Manhattanville she moved to Toronto to go to the University of Toronto, and graduated from there in 1972. Kathleen then went to a Canadian law school and now practices as a mediator and arbitrator of employment disputes, mostly with unionized workplaces. She currently resides in Toronto with her husband and 19 year-old daughter.
Barbara Stoffers Schulze-Frerichs only attended Manhattanville College for two years and never graduated. She had the greatest time of her life in the US for 4 years from 1976 to 1980. At home in Germany, she received professional training, so after returning in 1980, she went to a pharmaceutical school. She has been with the German head organization of pharmacists for 10 years, working on a pharmaceutical database with German and international drugs. She got married and has two teenage boys.
Updated by JB - 10/9/08