William & Mary

College of Arts & Sciences

Alumni News: The World Wide 1990s

James (Jim) Welch 1990
Wendy Lewis (Layman) 1992
Mohamed Noor 1992
Angela Ridgel (Wonsettler) 1992
Kelly Weselman (Browne) 1992
Laura Romano 1993
Tonya McDonald 1994
Kristen Terrill (Albright) 1994
Patricia Yu (Houston) 1994
Catherine Derber (Forbes) 1995
Wayne Outten 1995
Logan Spector 1995
Renee Stokman (Flournoy) 1995
Krista Crider (Stimson) 1995 (M.S. 1998)
Matthew Memoli 1996
Mark Ryan 1996
Andrea Goodnight 1997
William Gwinn 1997
Joseph Leyda 1997
Kendall Powell 1997
Susan Hodges (Putz) 1998
Jennifer Jones (Ledbetter) 1999

James (Jim) Welch - B.S. Chemistry W&M 1990 - I'm an Associate Professor of Biology at Wittenberg University, in Springfield, OH. I came here in 1999, was tenured and promoted in 2006, and am beginning a three-year term as Chair of the Department of Biology this summer. I'm a larval ecologist and I study transport and settlement site selection of larvae, especially crab larvae.

Wendy Lewis (Layman) - B.S. Biology W&M 1992 - Graduated 1993 from George Washington University Radiation Therapy program. Worked as a radiation therapist ever since. Married in 2000 to Allen Lewis, had son Jay in 2003. Live happily ever after in Bluemont!

Mohamad Noor '92 Mohamed Noor - B.S. Biology W&M 1992 - I'm still following in the footsteps of Prof. Bruce Grant through research and teaching in evolutionary genetics here at Duke in Durham, NC. Biggest recent news is that I just got promoted to full professor effective summer 2008. Also trying to keep up with my kids, Megan (born 1999) and Adam (born 2004). Glad to see the Niche is back!

(See feature article on Dr. Noor's recent award)

Angela Ridgel (Wonsettler) - B.S. Biology W&M 1992 - I am a neurobiologist with an interest in the effects of exercise on aging and motor function in movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease. Starting in August 2008, I will be an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Exercise Physiology at Kent State University. My husband, Jason (class of 94), is a family practice physician with a small group in the Cleveland area. We love to get updates from W&M.

Kelly Weselman (Browne) - B.S. Biology W&M 1992

After W&M, I went to Baylor College of Medicine for medical school and stayed there for internal medicine residency. I completed a rheumatology fellowship at Emory and now am in private practice in rheumatology in Atlanta! I'd love to help any students interested in a career in medicine!

Laura Romano - B.S. Biology W&M 1993 - I'm an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Denison University. I teach several courses including Introduction to the Science of Biology, Cellular and Molecular Biology, and Developmental Biology. In addition, I conduct research in the interdisciplinary field of evolutionary developmental biology ("evo-devo"). Specifically, I study the evolution of genes that regulate sea urchin development in an effort to learn more about the molecular basis of phenotypic diversity. I'd like to thank all of my professors at W&M (especially Dr. Fashing ) for helping me to achieve my dream of being a biologist at a small liberal arts institution! (Pictured: Laura with Denison University biology students)

Tonya McDonald - B.S. Biology and History W&M 1994 - Have been living and working in Germany for over 4 years now as a civilian pediatrician with the Army. Will be living in Heidelberg starting in June, so come visit.

Kristen Terrill (Albright) - B.S. Biology W&M 1994 - It is so great to catch up with the Biology Dept! It seems like many moons ago that Millington was my second home! I went on to med school at Vanderbilt and finished my pediatric residency there as well. I attended on a Health Professions Scholarship with the Navy. I did my four year pay back time as a Lieutenant Commander at Naval Hospital Charleston in SC. During that time I married Justin Terrill and we had our first son, Jackson. Just after our second son, Cooper, was born, we moved to St. Louis, MO to be near family. I have been working part time in a pediatric clinic and I love it! We are expecting our first little girl in 4 weeks! I feel so blessed to have found a great balance in my life. I often think about my days at W&M and I am so thankful. I look forward to staying in touch!

Patricia Yu (Houston) - B.S. Biology W&M 1994 - I have been working at Howard University Hospital (since earning a Masters in Genetics at Howard University in 1996). I currently work part time as a Clinical Study Coordinator and Project Director on clinical research studies with pediatric HIV and sickle cell disease patients. I am married with a 5 year old daughter.

Catherine Derber (Forbes) - B.S. Biology and Psychology W&M 1995 - I graduated medical school and completed an internal medicine residency. I then served almost five years in the USAF. I am about to begin an infectious diseases fellowship. I am married with two children ... and a dog.

Wayne Outten - B.S. Biology W&M 1995 - After graduating from William and Mary, I earned my Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Northwestern University. From there I completed at post-doctoral fellowship at the Bethesda campus of the National Institutes of Health. In 2005 I started as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of South Carolina. I currently conduct research on iron homeostasis in bacteria. Along the way I also married another 1995 W & M graduate, Caryn Prairie (in 1997 at the Wren Chapel). Caryn is also an Assistant Professor in the Chemistry and Biochemistry department at South Carolina. We currently have two beautiful children and are doing our best to enjoy life with them.

Logan Spector - B.S. Biology W&M 1995 - I am an epidemiologist and assistant (hopefully soon associate) professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. My research area is the etiology of childhood cancers with a focus on leukemia, hepatoblastoma, and osteosarcoma.

Renee Stokman (Flournoy) - B.S. Biology W&M 1995 - Graduating 5/16/08, MS in Marriage and Family Therapy from University of Southern California.

Krista Crider (Stimson) - B.S. Biology W&M 1995 (M.S. 1998) - I now work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilites as a Geneticist (PhD Emory 2003). Anyone interested in epigenetics, epidemiology, Public Health, the CDC etc... feel free to contact me.

Matthew Memoli - B.S. Biology W&M 1996 - I completed a Masters in microbiology at Thomas Jefferson University, a medical degree at St. George's University, and am now running my own clinical/translational study on Influenza in Immunocompromised patients at the National Institutes of Health.

Mark Ryan - B.S. Biology W&M 1996 - Returned to Richmond to join a community health center on the south side of the city providing comprehensive primary care; led 2 international medical service trips with William and Mary undergraduate organizations.

Andrea Goodnight - B.S. Biology W&M 1997 - After finishing veterinary school and (a record-setting!) 3 internships plus a residency, I am currently employed as the Associate Veterinarian at the Oakland Zoo in CA. In zoo medicine, I have the wonderful opportunity to interact with some of the most interesting creatures on the planet, including a colony of 30 fruit bats! (Dr. Heideman is welcome to visit them...) I'm happy to advise anyone interested in veterinary medicine.

William Gwinn - B.S. Biology W&M 1997 - I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Lung Injury and Repair group of the Laboratory of Respiratory Biology at the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, NC. I received a Ph.D. in Immunology in May 2006 from George Washington University and then was a Postdoc for 18 months in the Department of Pathology at Duke University prior to coming to NIEHS.

Joseph Leyda - B.S. Biology W&M 1997 - Certified Professional Wetland Scientist; Natural Resource Division Manager, Alkai Consultants LLC, Silverdale, WA.

Kendall Powell - B.S. Biology W&M 1997 - Since graduating from W&M, I've collected 2 Master's degrees ( Cell Biology at UC, San Diego and Science Communication at UC, Santa Cruz). I also interned as a science writer at the Los Angeles Times and Nature . In 2003, I moved to Colorado to begin a career as a freelance science journalist. I live near Denver with my husband, a biology professor at CU, Boulder and our daughter Sally Jane (born Jan. 2008). She can't hold a pippetteman yet, but we're working on it!

Susan Hodges (Putz) - B.S. Biology W&M 1998 - Married Math major Craig Hodges in 2001. Graduated from Univ. of Maryland Dental School in 2002. Mom of 2 boys (John Derrick, born 2004 and Wesley, born 2007). Practicing at Capitol Hill Dental Group in Washington, DC since 2005.

Jennifer Jones (Ledbetter) - B.S. Biology and Env. Science W&M 1999 - I am currently employed as the Environmental Compliance Manager for the VA Dept of Military Affairs (VA Army National Guard) located at Fort Pickett, VA. After W&M, I attended graduate school at VCU and received a Masters Degree in Environmental Science. I am married and have 2 daughters, Laura 4 and Molly 2, and one more on the way in July 2008.