as Texas State Representative for House District 63. Paul Schemel, BA ’94 MBA ’96, is running unopposed for reelection as Pennsylvania State Representative for House District 90. Bobby Jivnani, D.D.S., BA ’96 ’99, launched a challenge last fall to earn his city of Richardson, Texas, the title of “Town With the Whit- est Teeth.” Lara (Simpson) Neri, BA ’96 MA ’01, and Marc Neri, MH ’08, started St. Anthonys Academy in Irving, Texas: “a school for 12- to 15-yearolds, uniting classical studies with experiential learning in the Byzantine Monastic Tradition.” Keith Glasch, MBA ’98, is the principal and president of ACI Mechanical and HVAC Sales.
2000s Regina Uhl, BA ’00, joined Sandler Law Group as a partner. Will Richey, BA ’01, celebrated the 15th year of DaVerse Lounge, a spoken-word initiative to elevate young people’s voices.
Core Discipline
You Can Do WHAT With a Degree? hortly after arriving at UD, Jonathan Cunningham, BA ’17, mapped out his plans for after graduation. His first step was to enroll in physician’s assistant school at Baylor College of Medicine, a career trajectory to which he had aspired since his early childhood as a brain cancer survivor. Nowadays, Cunningham is dedicated to the same vocational pursuit of comfort and healing at MD Anderson in Houston, among the largest cancer treatment centers in the U.S., where he was once a chemotherapy patient himself. “I have seen time and time again the benefits of studying the core liberal arts curriculum and having the opportunity to study in Rome,” explains Cunningham. “The depth and richness of the UD education is like no other.” Practicing in one of our country’s largest cities presents a range of Spanish-speaking patients with whom Cunningham can utilize his dual-language skill on a daily basis. “Having pursued a degree in Spanish at UD has allowed me to connect with more patients by not having to worry about a language barrier,” he continues. “Patients can feel more comfortable expressing themselves, can explain their health situations more accurately and are able to understand their health in a deeper way.” At UD, Cunningham adds, “I was given the unique opportunity to learn the riches of the sciences, the humanities and the continuous pursuit of truth, all of which come together in the field of medicine.”
1 2
Meroudjie Denis, BA ’03, recorded a podcast on special education law and advocacy in December. “I was so honored to have the opportunity to speak about a topic so near and dear to my heart,” she said. “Specifically, to help parents know their rights and how to advocate for their precious children.” Chrissy (Joseph) McGaha, BA ’03, is the staff trainer at Lone Star Credit Union. Marcel Antonio Brown, Ph.D., BA ’04, is the headmaster of Holy Family Cathedral School in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Duyet Tran, M.D., BS ’05, is the first full-time pediatrician at Community Health Center in Middletown, Connecticut.
1 After completing his M.S.
at Baylor at the end of 2019, Cunningham began his career at MD Anderson. “At times, I questioned whether I would struggle having to confront my own medical history throughout my career,” he says, “or if I was pursuing the medical profession to selfishly prove that I had finally defeated cancer.”
2 Read more about Cunningham’s journey at udallas.edu/YCDW-spanish.
David Azerrad, MA ’07 PhD ’15, is an assistant professor of government and a research fellow at Hillsdale College’s Washington, D.C., campus. Carrie (Scott) Van Nest, MBA ’08, is an associate project manager with Pinta in Cork, Ireland. Johanna Weston, BS ’08, discovered Eurythenes plasticus, which lives at 6,010 to 6,946 meters in the Mariana Trench. She wrote, “In this food-limited environment, they eat everything … even plastic microfibers. While discovering this species is a win in the biodiversity column, it does represent the ubiquity of plastic pollution. I hope that this species helps people connect their actions on land to impacts in the ocean.”
SUMMER 2020
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