Gretchen Baker: Gretchen Baker Named Director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History PITTSBURGH, Pa.—Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh announced that Gretchen Baker has been appointed the Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Currently managing director for museum experience at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, California, Baker previously served as vice president of exhibitions for the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC), which include the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park, La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park, and the William S. Hart Museum in Newhall, California. She began her career as a member of the scientific research staff at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, where she would eventually become deputy director of exhibitions. She will join the museum on April 1, 2021.
“Gretchen Baker brings to this key role an impressive range of experiences and interests that embrace art as well as science—an excellent qualification for leading a museum of natural history that shares its splendid facility with a distinguished museum of art,” said Carnegie Museums President and CEO Steven Knapp. “She also brings strong skills in communication, collaborative leadership, and community engagement. Under her guidance, this great institution will make new strides toward its goal of becoming the world’s most relevant natural history museum.”
Will Bardel: Our family continues to pass the time on our farm in the Hudson River valley as we wait for vaccine availability. It has been a time of reconnection with video calls among college and grad school classmates and we’ve thrown ourselves into gardening, building trails in our woods, and a rope course for our kids. A lot of cancelled travel plans, but we are thankful for open space, sunshine, fresh air and added time together. My design book Drawing Ideas was translated into Spanish and republished in Spain this past fall. Asia is next. And a cultural time capsule that I was a consultant on, called the MoonArk, will hopefully be headed to the Moon on a rocket this year–fingers crossed for a launch. Stay safe and well everyone!
Jamion L. Berry: I have missed “The Hill” this past year. Over the last decade it seems my Brothers and I would faithfully visit The Hill at least once a semester for Alumni Council, KFEC or African American mentorship duties, and since Covid there has been a void that I hope will soon be replaced. Our sister Barb moved back home to Cleveland and we no longer get to trash her house on our visiting weekends that we loved so much. What will our visits be like the next time we make it back up to “The Hill”? I am sure I am not the only one who has thought this over the past year. I am so glad we shared one last weekend at Barb’s mansion back in February before everyone’s life changed.
For me, the last year has been one of transformation holistically while on my journey as an entrepreneur. It’s been a year since McDonald’s and I broke up and I no longer look at it as being “Let Go,” but “Let Grow.” The things I have learned about myself and the importance of living in “The NOW” have me embracing each day as a gift because I am present. I am doing everything to maximize what I can to YOLO this life that I have. From Execumask to YouTube, I am really riding this thing until the wheels fall off. Check us out on YouTube at Motivated Matters, as I think you will like the weekly motivation that we are dropping, and for those that need some style and exclusivity with your mask apparel, come check us out at www.execumask.com.
Okay, I am done with all the plugs, but I just wanted to share that all of the BU crew are still bonding strong. We continue to start and end our days together with love, hate and more love and then some more hate and then laughs. We truly are brothers from other mothers and have unconditional love for each other. This will be my last submission for a while because I am calling each of them out personally to write to this update next semester. Love you guys.
We recently started an investment group with a small nucleus of our Brotherhood from the Classes of ’96, ’97, and ’00 called Brothers United Financial Partners (BUFP) and we are super excited to take our bond to the next level by building wealth literacy with the stock market and other alternative investment channels. We still have a dream of buying a street together before it’s all said and done where we all live on the same block with our families so that we can torment each other until our last days on Earth.
Wishing everyone peace, love, health, wealth, and happiness. If there is anything that I have learned over the last year, it is the importance of continuous growth in all areas of your life and to enjoy the small stuff cause again, it’s a gift. Peace from ChicagoLand.
John Cornely: On March 1, 2021, I was appointed the first Public Defender for Delaware County, Ohio. The County previously had exclusively used appointed counsel. I will be tasked with building the Office from the ground up.
Barbara Kakiris: It’s been a challenging year of changes, but I’m keeping that faith that everything’s going to be alright and can’t wait to see all of you next year when we can hopefully be together for our 25th reunion in May. Get ready for even more over-the-top affection than usual because I’ve been storing it up for far too long (I can feel Karin Boerger rolling her eyes now). One break in the pandemic social monotony was a virtual cooking class that we did recently to celebrate Nicole Dreyfuss’ birthday. Liz Witham, Meg (McDonald) Higgins, Jorie (Gibbons) Widener, and Erin McCarthy ’98 joined us to make Vietnamese Spring Rolls and Panang Curry with Pineapple Fried Rice, which were recipes far beyond my skill set, but ended up being a deliciously fun time (some of us ate dinner together on video afterwards and ended up having a great catch-up chat well into the night). I got my first dose of the Pfizer Covid vaccine at a Mass Vaccination Clinic created through a partnership amongst my employer, Cleveland State University, FEMA, and the Ohio National Guard, which was a very memorable experience. I’m looking forward to being fully vaccinated because I haven’t seen my nephews in over a year, so I plan to get on a plane to NYC next month. I hope that you’re all staying safe and well, and finding joyful moments. I miss you.
Kelli (Stebel) Schrade: Hello, Classmates! Hunkered down here in Chicago -- we caught the pandemic pet wave, and bought a fish, much to our cat's dismay. All is well otherwise -- for me, working at home and eating lots of snacks. Husband and 5th grader also at home, trying not to annoy each other. So one thing to look forward to: Our beloved Kenyon hasn't been able to hold an in-person reunion ... and I hope that by next year in 2022, we'll be in good shape, so our 25th (wait, 25th?!? how did that happen?) will be the most amazing party ever ... I am ready! Gambier or bust! Get the music going, Butch! Though maybe we can have our dance party in a bigger locale than the Mather lounge??
Kerry Sheldon: A bit of sad news this time: my husband Mark and I are divorcing. Pandemic isn't the cause but certainly didn't help... If I learned anything from 2020, it is to accept reality on reality's terms. The good news is, each of us (our son Jack included) is feeling relieved and hopeful about this next iteration of what our family is becoming, and I think it's safe to say we're working together well - in fact, probably more productively than we have for a while - to make it all happen. All is well, in other words, as weird as that sounds. Wishing all of you peace and forward progress as well - whatever that looks like for you, no matter how different that is from what you thought it would be.
Levon Sutton: COVID-19 has done a great deal to alter our natural rhythm of socializing in the world now one year since everything shut down. Still, I have continued to keep pace in my respective remote bubble home office with my wife Adrienne and I sharing office space, daughters Simone (16) and Charlotte (15) doing distant learning as high school students and yes, our family poodle Pepper chasing every squirrel, rabbit or fox that nest on the property! I’ve also been grateful for all the video conferencing platforms (Zoom, GoToMeeting and many others) along with the many hours logged on FaceTime connecting with family and friends. I’m just over 6 months into a new opportunity fully working from home these days for a small boutique law firm just outside Washington, D.C. I’m continuing to serve as pastor for a local congregation in Baltimore and was approved in January for commissioning as an Elder in the United Methodist Church. Overall, life has been a blessing even during the very challenging times. Through it all, I have continued to do my part in my community connecting with and serving people - yes, socially distanced. I’m ready to travel and looking forward to a chance soon to meet with folks in Ohio hopefully over the late spring/summer!
