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Alumni news and photos
class notes
Keep up to date on the lives of your classmates.
Alumni from all classes through 1997 are listed under the years they would have completed grade 8 at The Harker School, Harker Academy, Harker Day School or Palo Alto Military Academy (PAMA). For all classes after the Class of 1997, alumni are listed under the class years they would have graduated from high school, regardless of whether they completed high school studies at Harker. For unlisted classes, we invite you to email alumni@harker.org if you are interested in becoming a class agent or would like to nominate a classmate. All photos submitted by the subject unless noted.
For a list of Harker Academy class agents for the Classes of 1972-97, please contact alumni@harker.org.
notes class
1991
Raina Kumra currently runs a pre-seed fund in Los Angeles called The Fund LA, is an advisor to Google X and has founded a functional foods company during the COVID-19 pandemic called Spicewell. Previously she founded a solar training nonprofit and served at the Department of State. She resides in Santa Monica with her husband, son and daughter.
1996
Andrea (Nott) Miles and Lisa Hall recently met up with their children in tow! Pictured with them are Nott’s two children, Soren and Sivan, and Hall’s two children, Nora and Graham. “We met in Harker summer camp in 1990, and we’re still best friends!” Nott said.
2002
CLASS AGENTS:
Akhsar Kharebov axarharebate@gmail.com; Yasmin Ali yasminfali@gmail.com; Isabella Liu isabella.a.liu@gmail.com The Class of 2002 will be celebrating its 20-year reunion this year. The gathering will take place on campus on Saturday, Dec. 17. Please reach out to your class agents to RSVP.
2003
CLASS AGENTS:
Julia N. Gitis juliag@gmail.com; Maheen Kaleem maheenkaleem@gmail.com
2004
CLASS AGENT:
Jessica C. Liu jess.c.liu@gmail.com
2005
CLASS AGENT: Erika N. Gudmundson
erika.gudmundson@gmail.com
2006
Casey L. Near caseylane@gmail.com; Meghana Dhar meghanadhar@gmail.com; Jeffrey Le Jeff87@gmail.com
2007
CLASS AGENTS:
Cassandra Kerkhoff cass.kerkhoff@gmail.com; Audrey L. Kwong Audmusic@gmail.com
Since being featured in the archaeological journal “Antiquity” earlier this year, Jacob Bongers has “served as a postdoctoral researcher in the Sainsbury Research Unit at the University of East Anglia,” he reported. “I am now a Society of Fellows Postdoctoral Scholar in the Archaeology Program at Boston University. I am continuing to carry out archaeological research in Peru. My current project explores how communities in highland and coastal Peru manage risks of climatic hazards and conflict in everyday life.”
On Aug. 31, Chanelle Kasik married John Paul Dimalanta at a villa overlooking the hills of Tuscany. The newlyweds traveled with 80 friends and family for a two-week
Italian adventure, exploring six different cities: Florence, Arezzo, Lake Como, Rome, Venice and Milan.
2008
CLASS AGENTS:
Senan Ebrahim sebrahim@fas.harvard.edu; Stephanie J. Syu ssyu363@yahoo.com
This past August, Tanya Schmidt got together with longtime friend Jessica Liu ’04, college counselor Kevin Lum Lung and Harker Office of Communication director Pam Dickinson to celebrate the completion of her Ph.D.! The party was hosted by Tanya’s sister, Sylvia Schmidt ‘06. Additionally, Tanya’s essays on Jane Austen and William Shakespeare were recently published in “Persuasions,” the print journal of the Jane Austen Society of North America. Congratulations on both counts!
2009
CLASS AGENTS:
Stephanie J. Guo stephanie.j.guo@gmail.com; David Kastelman davidksworld@gmail.com
2010
CLASS AGENTS:
Adrienne Wong adriee@gmail.com; Kevin J. Fu kf800@yahoo.com
2011
CLASS AGENTS:
Hassaan Ebrahim hassaan.e@gmail.com;
Moneesha R. Mukherjee
rani.mukherjee18@gmail.com
2012
CLASS AGENTS:
Will Chang thewillchang@gmail.com; David Fang david.fang75@gmail.com
Bridget Nixon, who currently teaches English at the upper school, is engaged! She and her husband-to-be, Tomek, met by chance on a train ride in 2015, and the two have been together ever since. They plan to wed in his native Poland next summer.
2013
CLASS AGENTS:
Kathir Sundarraj kathir.sraj95@gmail.com; Nick Chuang njchuang@usc.edu; Nikhil Panu guruhounddawg@gmail.com
The Class of 2013 will be celebrating its 10-year reunion this coming year. Please reach out to your class agents to inquire about reunion gatherings. Daniza Rodriguez was inducted into the Harker Athletic Hall of Fame at Harker Day! See page 48 for details.
2014
CLASS AGENTS:
Adith Rengaramchandran adithram@gmail.com; Nithya Vemireddy nithya.vemireddy@gmail.com; Connie Li connieli32@gmail.com
2015
CLASS AGENTS:
Katy Sanchez ktlynnsanchez@gmail.com; Nikhil Reddy reddnikhil@gmail.com; David Lin david.lin210@gmail.com; Jeton Gutierrez-Bujari jetongutierrez@gmail.com
See our profile on Sid Krishnamurthi on page 40!
2016
CLASS AGENTS:
Stephanie Huang stephaniehuang17@gmail.com; Grace Guan guanzgrace@gmail.com; Michael Zhao michael.zhao@gmail.com; Mary Najibi mary.najibi@gmail.com; Edward Sheu edwardsheu.ca@gmail.com; Kurt Schwartz kurticus100@gmail.com
2017
CLASS AGENTS:
Emre Ezer emre.ezer10@gmail.com; Alex Youn ahsyoun@gmail.com; David Zhu david.zhu@gmail.com; Maile Chung mailchung.pb@gmail.com; Haley Tran haleyktran@gmail.com
Photo provided by Wellesley College art department Alexa Gross, who just graduated from Wellesley College with a double major in studio art and neuroscience, was awarded the senior prize in studio art with a series of multimedia pieces that “explore themes of intergenerational memory, relation-
ships, and identity through a scientific lens,” her statement on the exhibition reads.
See our profile on Alexis Gauba on page 14!
2018
CLASS AGENTS:
Amitej Mehta djamitej@gmail.com; Melissa Kwon mwjkwan@gmail.com; Gloria Guo gloria.jx.guo@gmail.com; Dolan Dworak ddworak@umich.ed
Nate Kelly is a realtor who works with buyers, sellers and investors interested in the Bay Area’s most desirable cities, with a particular focus in the Los Gatos, Saratoga and Willow Glen neighborhoods. Before entering the real estate field, Nate attended Chapman University where he studied business management and communication. In addition to serving as a Bay Area real estate professional, Nate is currently giving back and serving as the offensive coordinator on the Harker football coaching staff, where he once played quarterback and helped Harker to its greatest record in school history. Nate currently resides in Los Gatos with his high school sweetheart, Haley Keller, and their goldendoodle, Roxy.
ALUMNI GATHERINGS:
Teacher Victor Adler and his daughter Sydney, a senior, made a stop at Duke to have dinner with a few Eagles (from left to right): Arely Sun ‘22, Jason Hoang ’19, Alex Zhang ’22, Akhilesh Chegu ‘22, Erin Liu ’19, Michelle Si ’21 and Andrew Sun ’21.
2019
CLASS AGENTS:
Matthew Hajjar matthew.hajjar@gmail.com; Olivia Esparza oesparza@poets.whittier.edu; Mahi Gurram mgurram@colgate.edu; Riya Gupta gupta2001riya@gmail.com; Kelsey Wu kelseywu@college.harvard.edu
2020
CLASS AGENTS:
Lauren Beede 20blauren@gmail.com; Chloe Chen chloe.chen@bc.edu; Grace Hajjar gracehajjar@g.ucla.edu; Bennett Liu bennett.c.liu@gmail.com; Anika Tiwari anika.tiwari@gmail.com
Simar Bajaj, who was previously published in Nature and the New England Journal of Medicine, continued his pursuits in scientific journalism over the summer, publishing a slew of articles in a wide range of respected publications. For Smithsonian magazine, he covered the history of racial bias in the coverage of poxviruses. He also penned a story for The Washington Post on racism in the design of pulse oximeters, which do not function correctly with all skin colors, and wrote about pig-to-human heart transplants for The Guardian.
2021
CLASS AGENTS:
Kristin Tong kristintong@gmail.com; Olivia Guo olivia.guo@pepperdine.edu; Helen Zhu helen.c.zhu@gmail.com
2022
CLASS AGENTS
Alexa Lowe alexa.lowe@gmail.com Gigi Chan gc449@cornell.edu Irene Yuan irene.d.yuan@gmail.com
At the International Linguistics Olympiad in the Isle of Man in July, Rishab Parthasarathy received a silver medal and helped Team USA Red place first in individual competition and take the bronze with a tie for fourth in the team competition. More on this accomplishment can be found in this issue’s Top Stories on page 5.
class notes
Three athletes and one legendary team become Harker Athletic Hall of Famers
During this year’s Harker Day, three outstanding alumni – Alex Abarca ’09, Daniza Rodriguez ’13 and Amanda (Polzin) Sullivan ’06 – were inducted into the Harker Athletic Hall of Fame, along with the entire roster of the 2007-08 girls varsity volleyball team. A highly prolific scorer, Abarca was a four-time boys varsity basketball MVP for the Eagles and posted more than 1,700 points. In his junior year, he was named the Private School Athletic League MVP. As a senior he was named to the WBAL First Team, a San Jose Mercury News Athlete of the Week, declared Harker Athlete of the Year and received the Eagle Award, which is given to athletes who demonstrate extraordinary dedication and enthusiasm, expressed in their willingness to help their teammates, act as role models and offer their maximum effort to every task. In addition to being named co-MVP of the girls varsity basketball team in her senior year, Sullivan, who joined the ceremony via Zoom, received an honorable mention for the AllWest Bay Athletic League Team. While performing as a key member of the team, Sullivan – who was born with amniotic band syndrome – also dedicated her time to serving student athletes with disabilities. She began volunteering with the Special Olympics, which eventually led to her winning the top prize in the San Jose Sports Authority’s REACH (Recognizing Excellence, Adversity, Courage and Hard Work) Youth Scholarship Program, an annual award given to Bay Area high school student athletes who have met significant challenges in order to achieve in both athletics and academics. She went on to study human development in college and found a fulfilling career in social work. Rodriguez set a number of records in her time as a member of the girls varsity basketball team. She at one point held the record for most career points (1,214), most points in a season (511) and the best start to a season for any Harker athletics team (11-1). She received many accolades over the course of her upper school career, receiving Harker’s Female Athlete of the Year award in her sophomore and junior years, winning the Eagle Award in her junior and senior years and being named the WBAL Skyline League MVP and to the Skyline League First Team All League. The 2007 girls volleyball team remains one of the most successful teams in Harker’s athletic history. The team’s historic 38-5 run included a 12-0 league record, a win at the Maui Classic tournament and the first appearance Central Coast Section ranking ever achieved by a Harker athletics team. The season culminated in an appearance at the state finals against Santa Fe Valley Christian, in which the Eagles fell short but nevertheless left a permanent impression with their phenomenal talent, work ethic and record-setting performances. Featuring no fewer than three Harker athletics hall of famers — Candace Silva-Martin ‘09, Tanya Schmidt ’08 and Kristina Bither ’09— and coached by decorated Harker veteran Theresa “Smitty” Smith, this team stands as one of the deepest in Harker athletic history to ever take any field or court.
For the complete story, visit https://news.harker.org/athletic-hall-of-fame-inducts-three-new-athleteslegendary-volleyball-team/ .
In Memoriam
Lee and Brian Richardson at the 2010 Harker Fashion Show.
Brian Richardson
Former Harker parent and Board of Fellows member Brian Richardson passed away in September at the age of 67. Richardson joined the Harker community in 2003 with his wife, Lee, and their two children, Ian ’14 and Shannon ’16. In 2004 they joined the Parent Development Council, where they served for 13 years as very active members of the community. In 2021, he and Lee became members of The Harker Board of Fellows. A graduate of University of California, Berkeley, and Santa Clara University, Richardson was a prolific inventor with more than 60 patents to his name. He competed as a member of the United States bobsled team at the 1992 Winter Olympic Games, piloting the bobsled he designed and built. In addition to competing, Brian was also a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee Board of Directors from 1988-1992, during which time he also served on the Sports Equipment Committee and Athletes Advisory Committee. In his professional life, Richardson founded Imagine Designs, a lighting and display design company that was later acquired by Rambus Inc. He continued to work at Rambus as technical director until 2014. One of the most famous examples of the technology he pioneered can be seen in the LED lighting display atop the spire of One World Trade Center, which was completed in 2013. At Imagine TF, his most recent company, Richardson invented and developed microfluidics technology that has applications for water filtration, deionization, biotechnology and many more purposes.
CONCERT SERIES
2022-23
Donny McCaslin Photo provided by
Preschool I Summer Programs www.harker.org The Harker School 500 Saratoga Ave. San Jose , CA 95129
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