Class Notes

Four members of the Class of 1952 were recognized as part of Harpeth Hall’s first 70th reunion class at the Milestones Luncheon during Reunion 2022. We salute Georgeanna White Payne ’52, Jean Johnson Rippy ’52, DeLacy Phinizy Sarantos ’52, and Virginia Patton Saunders ’52. Anne Byrn Whitaker ’74 released her highly anticipated followup book to “The Cake Mix Doctor” entitled, “A New Take on Cake.” She revisits 50 favorites from “The Cake Mix Doctor” and introduces 125 new recipes utilizing all her favorite new ingredients, pans, styling techniques, and more. She writes, “There’s definitely something for everybody. I really wanted to update some of the classic recipes and make them work today with the cake mixes that are on the shelf. I think they’ll love seeing the breadth of things that you can do with cake mix. It’s very DIY.” Mimi Wallace ’75 was named to Forbes magazine’s list of America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors and Best-in-State Wealth Advisors for 2022. She is senior vice president wealth management at UBS Financial Services in Nashville. Tracy Caulkins Stockwell ’81 was appointed as the new president of Swimming Australia in February. She is the second ever female president of the organization, and she commented, “Swimming has played such an important role in my life, and I feel privileged to take on a role that will empower me to give something back to the sport that has provided me with so many opportunities.” Mary Laird Warner Stewart ’82 is the president-elect of the Vanderbilt Medical Alumni Association. She is a physician administrator, medical staff leader, and critical care and pulmonary medicine specialist in Denver, Colorado. She is the associate chief medical officer at Swedish Medical Center, a two-year training program designed to prepare her to become a chief medical officer. Amanda Oldham Slack ’84 was named as the first head of the lower school at Jackson Preparatory School, an independent, coeducational day school in Jackson, Mississippi. She received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Baylor University and her master’s degree in early childhood education from Vanderbilt University. Jacqueline Saturn Dakar ’86 was named to Billboard’s 2022 Women in Music Top

Executives. Jacqueline is president of

Virgin Music Label and Artists Services — the distribution services arm of Universal’s

Capitol Music Group, which partners with independent labels and artists.

Karen Doochin Vingelen ’88 was named as one of Nashville Business Journal’s

Women of Influence. Karen serves as president and COO of American Paper & Twine.

Anjali Upadhyaya Lewis ’91 was a featured alumna panelist at Harpeth Hall’s

Asian Pacific American Heritage month all-school assembly on May 2. Fellow panelists included Shirley Li ’02 and Emily

Tseng ’10. The program, hosted by Harpeth

Hall senior Camille Hu ’22 and themed

“Celebrating Culture, Elevating Tradition,” included a presentation by Better Together, the Middle School DEI leadership group.

Holly Whetsell Coltea ’94 is celebrating her eighth year of owning barre3 Nashville. She opened barre3 Nashville on a mission to teach people to be balanced and bodyempowered with the vision of redefining what success in fitness means. What Holly loves about barre3 is how, together, this community is rediscovering the joy in movement and is building a community founded on body positivity and inclusivity.

Holly can’t wait to welcome Harpeth Hall alumnae into this growing international community. If you have questions about barre3, email Holly at nashville@barre3.com. Reese Witherspoon ’94 and Hello Sunshine, the company she founded, are adapting Dolly Parton and James Patterson’s book “Run Rose Run” into a movie. Dolly will star in and produce the film. Reese also recently penned her own children’s book, “Busy Betty,” a picture book that encourages young readers to “celebrate what makes them unique and realize that anything is possible.” Vadie Turner ’95 returned to the Vanderbilt University’s art department as the Hamblet Artist in Residence. She worked with senior art majors as they developed their work for their thesis exhibition at the end of the

semester. Vadie’s solo exhibition, “Window Treatments,” was on display at Zeitgeist Gallery in Nashville this past February and March. The show was made possible with the support of a grant from the current art fund at Tri-Star Arts. Vadie’s textile megaliths were also featured at OZ Arts in collaboration with spoken word artists, choreographers, musicians, and media artists. Beth Waltemath ’95 wrote a touching article for Chapter 16 and the Nashville Scene in anticipation of fellow alumna Tallu Schuyler Quinn’s posthumous memoir “What We Wish Were True: Reflections on Nurturing Life and Facing Death.” Beth Sherrard Fernandes ’97 has been named associate director of advancement at Harpeth Hall. Beth worked for more than a decade at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. She returned to Nashville in 2013 and worked in fundraising for the Frist Museum for three years. For the past six years, she served as the campaign manager and major gifts officer for Nashville Public Radio. Amber Worrell Vermeesch ’97 became a Fellow in the American College of Sports Medicine and was inducted in June after a long pandemic delay. Additionally, she was inducted as a Distinguished Practitioner and Fellow in the National Academies of Practice. She has accepted the position of department chair of family and community nursing at University of North Carolina Greensboro so her family will make the journey back to the South after spending the past 14 living in Florida, Michigan, and Oregon. Grace Verner Woods ’97 earned her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Lipscomb University. She opened a private practice, Journey of Healing Counseling, in September of last year. Grace says, “It is an honor to hold my clients’ stories with dignity and respect, helping them navigate their struggles to find healing and freedom.” She thanks Harpeth Hall for instilling hope that Honeybears can go far with dedication, discipline, and belief in themselves. Amanda Brown ’99 will be the new elementary school principal at Lincoln School, Costa Rica, beginning with the 2022-2023 school year. Scottie Gambill Ryan ’02 has accepted a new role at Google as a senior product manager in Santa Monica, California. She will be focused on building out Google’s suite of customer success tools, utilizing AI, and machine learning. Artist Mary Stengel Bentley ’03 has entered a new dimension in the art world that is helping women shape the future of the metaverse and Web3. She is already known for her art that interacts with its environment and has brought her work alive in the form of NFTs. She has released her first project in this space called “Expressions”. Made intuitively, each drawing expresses emotive forces illustrated by shapes and forms found in nature. Mary’s artwork explores the themes of play, balance and connection, and she deploys these in ways that emphasize the exclusive

Mary Stengel Bentley ’03

nature of the sites where her work appears. Her work can now be seen using Web3 technology. Kendra Abkowitz Brooks ’03 received her Master of Business Administration from Middle Tennessee State University in May 2020. She is the chief sustainability and resilience officer for Metro Nashville/ Davidson County. Kendra was a featured panelist for Harpeth Hall’s virtual panel, “The Plaid Truth — Caring for Our Planet,” where she and fellow alumnae Jeanie Nelson ’65, Caroline Prince ’08, and Angela Park ’09 discussed their viewpoints on how to best take care of the Earth.

s Six members of the class of 2004 held a mini reunion over winter break in Nashville. Pictured left to right are classmates Jennifer Burn from Carbondale, Colorado, Sally Sawyer Myatt from Atlanta, Georgia, Meg Wright Hathaway from Phoenix, Arizona, Melinda Higgins Louden from San Antonio, Texas, plus Caroline Ramsey Rossini and Elizabeth Conrad from Nashville.

Class Notes

Ryan McLaughlin Wood ’05 has been named market head for UBS Financial Services South Central Market in Nashville. She joined UBS in 2009 as a member of the company’s graduate training program. She then worked for UBS in New York City in a variety of roles, including as a strategic analyst, lead for the premier marketing team, and head of client experience and business development. In 2018, Ryan was named branch manager for UBS in Greenville, South Carolina.

Murray Benson ’07 earned her national board certification. She teaches kindergarten at Percy Priest School in Nashville. Principal Russell Young said of the certification, “This accomplishment is a reflection of the high and rigorous standards Ms. Benson has for herself and her students. She is a reflective educator, always looking to improve her practice in order to best meet the needs of her students and our school.” Allison Dowdle Janeway ’07 was promoted to director of financial reporting at Nashville’s Silicon Ranch, a company focused on the renewable energy source of solar power. Claire Moll Juneau ’07 has been elected as the 2023-2024 president of the Junior League of Denver. She began her president-elect term on June 1, 2022. Laurie Spradley ’07 hosted “Make Your Own Goo Goo Chocolate Experience” for a Winterim in May class during reunion weekend. The class took place in Bullard Bright IDEA Lab’s teaching kitchen. It was a total chocolate-covered experience that included making candy bars, tasting a Goo Goo confection, and learning the science of how the bean becomes a bar. Caroline Prince ’08 is a senior philanthropy writer for the World Wildlife Foundation. She was a featured panelist for Harpeth Hall’s virtual panel, “The Plaid Truth — Caring for Our Planet,” where she and fellow alumnae Jeanie Nelson ’65, Kendra Abkowitz Brooks ’03, and Angela Park ’09 discussed their viewpoints on how to take care of the Earth. Samantha Williams ’08 is a new board member for Lutheran Social Services of New York (LSSNY). She is most excited about working with the LSSNY community to best support current programs and find creative ways to engage the at-large New York community about the organization’s mission and services. Currently serving as commercial counsel at ColgatePalmolive in New York, Samantha formerly practiced at two large law firms in Washington, D.C., and Houston, Texas. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in international relations from Brown University and her Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University Law School. Sabin Nettles ’09 received the Washington University Society for Neuroscience’s Pre/Postdoctoral Next Generation Award. She was a graduate student in the lab of Harrison Gabel, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of neuroscience at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. This honor recognizes the outstanding efforts of individuals who have introduced neuroscience to young students through outreach or communication efforts. Sabin led the Brain Discovery initiative, which brings scientists from Washington University into 4th to 6th grade classrooms for a six-week, hands-on course in neuroscience. On May 16, 2022, Sabin successfully defended her dissertation entitled “Elucidating molecular mechanisms governing neuronal transcriptome,” earning her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the Washington University in St. Louis Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences.

Angela Park ’09 is the sustainability manager for Lendlease. She was a featured panelist for Harpeth Hall’s virtual panel, “The Plaid Truth — Caring for Our Planet,” where she and fellow alumnae Jeanie Nelson ’65, Kendra Abkowitz Brooks ’03, and Caroline Prince ’08 discussed their viewpoints on how to take care of the Earth. Junie Welsh ’09 graduated from Trevecca Nazarene University in May with a master’s in clinical mental health and has opened a private practice in Tennessee where she will specialize in young women, trauma, and substance abuse. Lexi Zager ’09 started a new job as the vice president of financial planning and analysis at Belmont Village Senior Living’s corporate office in Houston, Texas. In the spirit of service, she also recently accepted a leadership role within the Junior League of Houston, as the Sing Along With Seniors placement project voordinator for 2022-2023. Christina Currey Chapman ’10 co-founded Brownlee, a company featuring a line of elevated leisurewear, that was recently profiled in Style Blueprint. Brownlee is named for Christina’s grandfather and grandmother who were the inspiration for the brand and, as she describes them, “the best-dressed people she ever knew.” Madison Longmire Fisher ’11 graduated from Wake Forest University in December 2021 with a Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She is working as a therapist at Evolve Counseling Associates, LLC, a private practice that provides services to women and girls in the Nashville area. Anne Elise Cain ’13 recently graduated with a Master of Education from Lipscomb University and will begin teaching kindergarten at Julia Green Elementary in the fall. Aidan Nettles ’13 was the featured speaker at Harpeth Hall’s all-school assembly recognizing the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Her focus was leadership and how important it is in today’s world. “Leaders get to choose how they handle fear. Leaders can either forget everything and run or they can face everything and rise. Dr. King is celebrated and remembered because of his leadership, because of his service, because of his advocacy,” she said, “and this is something to be cherished.” Emily Martin Terry ’13 joined the YP Board for The Next Door, Inc. in Nashville. TND is a nonprofit organization that has been successfully empowering women for lifetime recovery by providing evidence-based substance abuse and mental health services for 17 years. Emily is also the new CEO at Elevation Search Solutions, a Nashville-based search consulting firm specializing in organizational build-outs and critical leadership acquisition for early stage, high growth, and expanding companies. Kristen Barrett ’16 completed her second master’s degree in literature, film, and the arts in dialogue at the University of Edinburgh. Her first master’s degree is from the University of Oxford in English literature. Kristen has committed to Stanford University’s Ph.D. program in English literature this fall as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar. She says, “The Knight-Hennessy will empower me to chase my ambitions both inside and outside of academia. As a Ph.D. candidate in English literature, I will investigate Black science fiction in novels and contemporary film.” Keely Hendricks ’16 will join Harpeth Hall as a Middle School math teacher next year. She has been teaching 5th grade math at The Jewish Middle School of Nashville. Keely was Lady of the Hall, president of the Cum Laude Society, and an Elizabeth Pope Evans Award recipient. In addition, she was a Morehead-Cain Scholar at the University of North Carolina and is currently completing her Master of Arts at Bread Loaf School of English. Bailey McCarthy ’16 accepted a new position as an analyst at Bank of America in the Global Corporate Investment Bank. She joins the gaming, media, technology, and telecom team in Dallas, Texas. Vivian Herzog ’17 will be returning from Spain after completing the North American Language and Culture Assistants Program in Huelva, Spain. She will be moving to New York to pursue her interest in book publishing. Sophia Howard ’17 received the Distinguished Leadership and Service Award from the Bonner Office of Civic Engagement at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She is also a recipient of the 2022 Marshall-Motley Scholars Program. This groundbreaking pipeline program of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), will endow the South with the next generation of civil rights lawyers trained to provide legal advocacy of unparalleled excellence in the pursuit of racial justice. In exchange for a full law school scholarship and professional development, Sophia and other scholars commit to devoting the first eight years of their careers to practicing civil rights law in service of Black communities in the South. The program is named in honor of LDF founder Thurgood Marshall, a Supreme Court Justice and legendary civil rights attorney, as well as iconic civil rights litigator Constance Baker Motley, a former LDF attorney and the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge. Kat Trotman ’17 is a teaching assistant in Madrid, Spain. Her work in the classroom includes teaching about American culture and the English language. Rachel Brown ’18 started a new club at Auburn University called Advocates for Disabilities at Auburn and served as the treasurer and public relations manager. The club focuses on advocating for students at Auburn with any sort

Class Notes

of disability while also spreading awareness and educating others with a goal of improving accessibility on Auburn’s campus. After graduating from Auburn, Rachel will be working with fellow alumna Marcie Allen Van Mol ’92 as a coordinator at MAC Presents in Nashville. Elizabeth Carpenter ’18 earned dual degrees — a Bachelor of Science in biology and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology — summa cum laude at the University of Alabama. She will be attending Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Sydney Clayton ’18 earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and art history, with a minor in French, magna cum laude at Tulane University. After graduation she will be spending seven months with a teaching assistant program in Paris, France, teaching English to French students and working on her French language skills. Marguerite Coombs ’18 is a cum laude graduate from Miami University earning a Bachelor of Science degree in speech pathology with a minor in dance. She will continue her studies in speech pathology this fall in graduate school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Emma Farrington ’18 earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing with an emphasis in digital marketing from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. Following graduation, she will work as an associate district manager at ADP in Austin, Texas. Jennie Gaw ’18 graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in architecture and a minor in art and architectural history from Miami University. She has accepted a full-time position at CSO Architects as an architectural graduate in Indianapolis, Indiana. Margaret Gaw ’18 will be joining Massachusetts General Hospital as a clinical research coordinator at the Center for Women’s Mental Health following her graduation from Duke University. She is looking forward to moving to Boston for two years to contribute to the team’s impactful work at the intersection of reproductive health and mental health. Tricia Glenn ’18 graduated summa cum laude and with distinction from Syracuse University earning degrees in both public relations and rhetoric and composition/writing studies. Adele Grohovsky ’18 was a civil and environmental engineering major and dance minor at the University of South Carolina earning a Bachelor of Science degree. She choreographed a performance at the USC Student Showcase and also served on the board of directors for the USC Dance marathon, the largest student-run philanthropic organization in the state of South Carolina, which supports the Prisma Health Children’s Hospital in Columbia, South Carolina. Adele will be joining Skanska as a project engineer in Seattle, Washington. Mary Johnson ’18 earned a Bachelor of Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder in environmental studies and will be joining Kimley-Horn as a civil analyst in the Denver technology center office. Caroline Kiesling ’18 received her Bachelor of Science degree in computer science, engineering management, and mathematics from Vanderbilt University and started a new position as software engineer at Warner Bros. Discovery. Helen Rieke ’18 received a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas Christian University, having completed a double major in strategic communication and sociology and a minor in psychology, summa cum laude. She will be joining Fidelity Investments as a part of its Human Resources Associate Rotation Program in North Carolina. Aubrey Robinson ’18 earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and French and Francophone studies from the University of Tennessee and will be continuing her education at the University of Tennessee College of Law pursuing her J.D. this fall. Ashley Zhu ’18 will be moving to the Washington D.C.-area to join Capital One as a UX Designer within the Design Development Program (DDP). She graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in digital communication and media/multimedia. Caleigh Dennis ’19 is majoring in Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania and will complete a 12-week software development internship at Amazon in Washington, D.C., in their Amazon Web Services division over the summer of 2022. Holland Strang ’19 will join Caleigh in D.C. this summer as she studies Mandarin with the Chinese Language Academy. Holland is a history major with a minor in religion at Trinity College in Dublin and is planning to concentrate on modern Chinese history. Congratulations to Anne Earthman ’19 who was elected Miss Auburn at Auburn University in February 2022. Anne ran on a “Down to Earthman“ campaign of improving accessibility on campus for students with disabilities and expanding the University’s mental health programs. Anne will represent Auburn throughout the 2022-2023 school year. Ella Nelson ’19, Alex Walsh ’20, and Gretchen Walsh ’21 are members of the University of Virginia’s award-winning swimming and diving team that won the 2021 NCAA 800-freestyle relay, which included Ella and Alex. The victory marked the first NCAA Championship win in a relay in program history. Ella is also the first athlete in UVA Swimming program history to achieve the “black cap“ in all four categories. These categories include being team captain, a U.S. National Team member, a

CALL for NOMINATIONS!

NOW ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS FOR HARPETH HALL’S 2023 ALUMNAE AWARDS Harpeth Hall strives to recognize the extraordinary achievements of our alumnae with a variety of awards. From leadership and serving as an example for other women to outstanding service to excellence in athletics, these recipients deserve recognition from their alma mater.

Harpeth Hall/Ward-Belmont Distinguished Alumna Award The Harpeth Hall/Ward-Belmont Distinguished Alumna Award recognizes graduates who have achieved wide recognition for professional excellence and leadership. Candidates for this award are women who are trailblazers, display extraordinary gifts of leadership and organizational ability, are moving spirits in health, welfare, cultural, or civic affairs, have achieved wide recognition for professional excellence and leadership, serve as an example for other women, and have attained unusual success in highly competitive fields. Distinguished Alumna Award candidates may also be women who have been nationally recognized for vision, skill, and commitment to make things happen. Alumna Spirit of Service Award The Alumna Spirit of Service Award recognizes and celebrates outstanding service by a Harpeth Hall/Ward-Belmont alumna. The recipient of the award is a woman who has gone above and beyond the call to serve and who embodies Harpeth Hall’s mission to “develop responsible citizens who have global perspectives and make meaningful contributions to their communities and the world.” Award candidates are women who demonstrate an innovative approach to solving a problem or meeting a need, show a high level of commitment to their project, make a meaningful impact on the people or community they serve, inspire others through outreach and education, exhibit visionary and empowering leadership, and teach and mentor others interested in making a difference through service. Athletic Hall of Fame

(Awarded every four to five years) Established in 2013, the Harpeth Hall/Ward-Belmont Athletic Hall of Fame honors notable alumnae athletes, coaches, and administrators who have demonstrated outstanding athletic ability by competing or coaching at the state, national, or international level. Through their good sportsmanship, citizenship, and character, these outstanding women left a lasting impression of achievement and excelled within the school’s athletic family.

For more information and to find nomination forms visit HarpethHall.org/alumnae/awards

NCAA 1st Team All-American in an individual event, and having a GPA above 3.75. In addition, Alex won gold in the 200 IM at the World Championships in Budapest in June. Congratulations to all three former Bearacudas! Kate Pittman ’19 graduated summa cum laude from The University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English language and a minor in journalism. She is the new extended day coordinator and middle school cheerleading coach at Harpeth Hall.

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