Old Oregon
CLASS NOTES F L A S H B AC K
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The March quarterly of Kappa Alpha Theta, a publication of the first Greekletter fraternity established for women, features the story, campaigns, and public life of Betty Gram Swing, ’16, noted crusader, writer, and lecturer for the political and economic equality of women.
Hitting a High Note
T
he question isn’t what Kathy Saltzman Romey has accomplished over 30 years in choral music. It’s what hasn’t she accomplished? Saltzman Romey, BA ’79 (music), professor of music and director of choral activities at the University of Minnesota School of Music, has built a nationally acclaimed graduate program in choral conducting. She has prepared professional ensembles and mentored countless young conductors, educators, composers, and singers. She redesigned the Minnesota Chorale symphony chorus to provide opportunities for youth and to forge deep community connections. She has helped lead the Oregon Bach Festival at the University of Oregon since 1984 and has assisted with 11 recordings, including the Bach Festival’s 2001 Grammy Award-winning CD of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Credo. For her achievements, Saltzman Romey recently received a Distinguished Service Award from Chorus America, an advocacy organization for the choral field. “This award represents the many people who have impacted my life and work,” Saltzman Romey says. “From the University of Minnesota to the Oregon Bach Festival, from the Minnesota Chorale to the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, and beyond.” Saltzman Romey studied flute at the UO and took a conducting class from her father, Royce Saltzman, professor emeritus and director emeritus of the Bach Festival. “He was a great teacher,” she says. “I can say that as both a daughter and a student.” At the UO, she pored over music theory with classmate and friend Steve Larson, BA ’79 (Clark Honors College), MA ’81 (music), later Robert M. Trotter Professor of Music, who died in 2011. She met husband Patrick Romey, BA ’77, MA ’79 (German), in a German language seminar and led a children’s choir in a presentation of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass in McArthur Court. Throughout college, Saltzman Romey says, friends and professors were “dedicated, engaged, supportive, and collaborative.” The importance of being a global citizen, she says, was underscored through connections with international students and through the Bach Festival, which has brought musicians from around the world to campus each summer. Says Saltzman Romey: “I have tried to bring that same experience of engagement, collaboration, and support of global learning and partnership to my own teaching and work.” —Matt Cooper, Oregon Quarterly
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O R E G O N Q U A R T E R LY | A U T U M N 2 0 2 1
WESLEY CEDROS, BS ’94 (psychology), became assistant superintendent of human resources for Tamalpais Union High School District, Marin County, California.
GAVIN LINDBERG, BS ’95 (finance), was appointed chief financial officer of PDRVC, a consulting and engineering firm that develops artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions. STEVEN RATNER, JD ’95, was appointed chair of the board of trustees of Seacrest Village Retirement Communities, Encinitas, California.
SEAN MORRIS, BS ’94 (political science), principal and chief operating officer at Deloitte, a global professional services company, won the 2021 Chief Officer Award for Private Company COO from WashingtonExec, a private membership organization based in Washington, DC.
PAUL STAPLES, BS ’95 (economics), became director of commercial mortgage-backed securities sales and trading for Academy Securities, a disabled veteran-owned investment bank in capital markets, public finance, fixed income, and equity trading.
MICHELLE LIGHT, BA ’95 (Clark Honors College, history), was appointed associate university librarian for special collections and director of the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library of the Yale University Library.
LONNIE BRIST, MS ’96, PhD ’96 (economics), joined the Silicon Valley office of Andersen Tax LLC, a national provider of tax, valuation, financial advisory, and related consulting services, serving as managing
director of the US national tax practice. ELI KAY, BS ’96 (accounting), MBA ’12 (general business), was named chief financial officer of Unique Logistics International, a global logistics and freight forwarding company. MICHAEL McCORD, JD ’96, a senior foreign service officer with the US Agency for International Development, was assigned to the Pentagon as senior development advisor following 18 years of service in Ethiopia, Zambia, Afghanistan, South Sudan, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. MARC LESNICK, PhD ’97 (biology), joined the leadership team of Peptilogics, a biotechnology company based in Pittsburgh. SCHUYLER HARRISON, BS ’98 (business administration), and his wife, Auburn, became the owners
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
CLASS NOTABLE
became chief public affairs officer for Delta Dental Plans Association, an Oak Brook, Illinois-based nonprofit national association of 39 independent Delta Dental companies.
