5 minute read
Briefs
1973 In the summer of 2019, David Lewis, Andy Forrest, Joe Mitchner, and Kimi Nakabayashi from Nueva’s founding first-grade class reunited with their teacher, Pat Robinson, in Menlo Park at a memorial service for Andy’s father. After meeting more than 50 years ago at the original Nueva campus in Menlo Park, the classmates and teacher have remained in contact. Pat, Joe, and David reside in the Bay Area, and Kimi and Andy live in Seattle.
2004 Emily Tow, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Olin College of Engineering. Her journal article was published in Elsevier in February. In collaboration with her colleagues at MIT, the article focused on redesigning the reverse osmosis process— for which Emily currently holds a patent—to desalinate water more energy-efficiently.
2007 During the 2019 holidays, Ann Masline reconnected with her 2007 classmates, Dana Chang and Camille Thompson, over dumplings. Ann lives in New York City and works at the JetBlue corporate office.
2010 Annika Bhasavanich
caught up at a rooftop bar in Times Square with her former teacher and advisor, Stephen Lessard, and classmate, Michelle Pereira. Annika said she continues to be very thankful to Nueva for the truly special relationships she nurtured there.
2011 Amelia RoskinFrazee will begin her graduate studies in UC Irvine’s sociology program as a provost Ph.D. fellow in the fall. She plans to research how incarceration affects LGBTQ+ youth.
2012 Joy Barrett is a senior at Barnard College and who helped to launch Columbia University’s inaugural Closet Concert series. Harnessing her love for music and festival production, Joy, the group’s co-president, and fellow group members created an intimate event to showcase student talent.
2017 Juliette Love, a Stanford junior computer science major, interned in the graphics department at the New York Times during the summer of 2019. One of her favorite projects was working on a front page graphic highlighting the popularity of baseball. Juliette is also an accomplished student-athlete and is a member of the nationally ranked Cardinal women’s squash team. ¶ Loreen Ruiz, a third-year theology major and American studies minor at Fordham University, was elected United Student Government president of the university’s Lincoln Center campus. In this role, Loreen will represent approximately 2,500 students. ¶ Swetha Tummala will begin medical school at Boston University this fall. With a deep passion for
→ June 2019: Pictured back row (l-r): Joe Mitchner, Andy Forrest and David Lewis. Front row (l-r): Kimi Nakabayashi, teacher Pat Robinson, parent of alumni Sheila Lewis. Flashback: Joe (bottom row, second from right), Andy (top row, second from left), David (top row, third from right), and Kimi (top row, far right) are pictured in their second grade photo from the 1968–1969 school year.
↑ Loreen Ruiz ’17 looks forward to serving the Fordham University community as United Student Government president during the 2020–2021 academic year.
→ Emily Tow, Ph.D. ’04 is an assistant professor at Olin, where her engineering research addresses sustainability through the study of transport phenomena at the water–energy–food nexus.
→ 2007 alumnae (l-r): Camille Thompson, Dana Chang, and Ann Masline reunited over dumplings over the 2019 holidays.
↑ Over the 2019 holidays, Thea Portnoy ’18 and her a cappella group, “The Amateurs,” performed at the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
↑ Eton Shon ’19 and the Harvard Krokodiloes performed at an Upper School assembly as part of the a cappella group’s winter tour.
← Annika Bhasavanich ’10 (left) and Michelle Pereira ’10 reunited with former teacher Stephen Lessard in the heart of Manhattan on March 5.
← Swetha Tummula ’17, pictured with younger brother, Rohan ’25, looks forward to beginning medical school at Boston University this fall.
working with children and families, Swetha spent the last year helping to launch Massachusetts’ new BabySteps Program at Boston Medical Center. As part of BabySteps, Massachusetts gives families $50 seed deposits if they provide their newborns with a 529 college savings account. In her role, Swetha educates and enrolls families in BabySteps during pediatric visits, and she has created multilingual program materials. Through her work with BabySteps, she hopes to help families save for college and unlock the immense benefits of education at the earliest stage of life.
2018 Thea Portnoy attends Washington University in St. Louis, where she is double majoring in music and PNP (philosophy-neuroscience-psychology). Thea is a member of “The Amateurs,” a student a capella group. She serves as the assistant music director and is responsible for the team’s social media accounts. During her time at Nueva, Thea developed a passion for photography, and she has plans to launch a photography website this year. ¶ Xander Hughes is a member of Olin College’s Electric Motorsports Formula SAE team. He is working on building an electric race car for competition, and his area of focus is on the drivetrain subteam, designing solutions for the transmission. Xander is enjoying balancing his time between school work, the SAE team, and playing club ultimate frisbee.
It was so “ validating to have these personal projects that I had always done for my own interest, recognized by the New York Times.
JULIETTE LOVE Quoted in the San Mateo Daily Journal “
2019 Eton Shon returned to the Nueva Upper School to take the stage this past winter, this time as a member of Harvard University’s oldest a cappella singing group, the Harvard Krokodiloes.
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