In Action
Setting the Bar: new Columbia Law School alumnus, Florentino Salazar, MS ‘04, continues to impress as he recently passed the New York Bar Exam. Congratulations!
You can’t make it up: Diego Renteria, MS ‘07, is a contributor for a new book put together by journalist and author Sam Quinones, Tell Your True Tale. The book is a compendium of nonfiction stories that reflect experiences of seven first-time authors who grew up in East Los Angeles, and it originated from a workshop that Quinones put together with the goal of getting new writers working on stories about their own lives; true stories that read like fiction.
The windy galaxy: Erik Shirokoff, MS ‘98 will take his work in astronomy to Lake Michigan this June, as he joins the faculty of the University of Chicago as an Assistant Professor. Congratulations!
Presidential Advisory: President Obama’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans has a new member as Jason Young, MS ‘00, was recently appointed to help, “create lasting public-private partnerships that will empower young people throughout the country with financial capability skills.” Jason is the CEO and co-founder of MindBlown Labs, a financial literacy software company based in Oakland. Congratulations!
Think and Act Globally: Following her graduation from UCLA, Delaram Kamalpour, MS ‘10, has joined the Peace Corps and will begin a two-year deployment to Georgia in Eastern Europe this April.
Does Compute: Brent Yorgey, MS ’00, will soon add a Ph.D. to his list of accomplishments as he successfully defended his dissertation to the University of Pennsylvania. Brent will begin his second semester as a visiting professor in computer science at Williams College this spring.
Opportunities in Medicine: Dr. Joelle Simpson, MS ’95, is part of a team at Children’s National Health Systems in Washington D.C., that is establishing an innovative scholarship program to assist minority medical students in interviewing and completing a clinical rotation in pediatrics. The Minority Senior Scholarship Program (MSSP) will award eight fourth-year medical students a stipend to live in Washington D.C. while working at the hospital as well as mentorship and other networking opportunities.
Healing Hands. Catholic Relief Services program manager, Francisco Perez, MS ’02, recently returned to West Africa to continue the fight to staunch the Ebola outbreak. Last year, when the outbreak hit he was on the ground in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia before being evacuated. In October, he was featured in Catholic New York for his tireless and heroic work.
Life in Color: Nicole Villasin MS ‘02 is a Brand Manager at Starbucks Coffee Co where she successfully launched the innovative product, Starbucks Color changing cold cups that broke the internet in 2019! If you didn’t get your hands on one of these, you can read about the craze on USA Today.