Class Notes, Summer 2023

1975

BARBARA VOGLINO published her new book, The Girl in The Red Dress and Sixty Years on The Rockpile.

1978

ROBERT OSIEJA, MED ’05, was inducted into to the Irvington 2023 Athletic Hall of Fame, after serving as a teacher, track, and soccer coach at his high school alma mater, Irvington High School, for 40 years. Osieja is also a member of the New Jersey Coaches Association Hall of Fame and now coaches at Mount St. Dominic Academy in Caldwell.

1980

BARBARA KRAJKOWSKI, MA, received a proclamation from Mayor James Barberio of Parsippany for her work as a founding member of the Women’s Theater Company, a non-profit professional theater organization. The theater company, founded in 1993, is based in the Parsippany Playhouse in the Senior Center. She was honored for her “example of service and accomplishment.”

1982

MICHAEL PALESTINA is a managing partner of People Intell Institute, which offers coaching, training, and consulting.  A certified executive coach, leadership consultant, and facilitator, Palestina has more than 15 years of experience assisting professionals in senior or executive level positions. He was the featured speaker presenting, “Job Seekers: Developing Your Personal Leadership Vision” at the Princeton Public Library.

1984

PAUL KOPPISCH has published his ninth novel, Who Knows Where the White Crane Flies? The book traces a young girl's journey after having been cast out to sea as a Vietnamese refugee. At the same time, his novel seeks to explore the concepts of identity and loss, of being and memory, and belonging and alienation. Koppisch, a consultant to the federal government, lives with his Korean wife in northern Virginia.

1985

LEONARD REITSMA gave a lecture, “Are Humans Destined to Commit Ecocide?” as part of Plymouth State University’s 2022-23 Saul O Sidore Lecture Series. Reitsma, a Plymouth State professor emeritus, is an avian ecologist and has conducted research on bird populations since 1986. Reitsma has been honored with two of the university’s most prestigious awards: the Distinguished Teacher Award and the Distinguished Scholar Award.

1986

DANIEL BREEMAN joined the editorial team of Vision Monday and VMAIL, an industry-leading source of news in ophthalmology, as senior editor. He is responsible for news and feature coverage on the retail professional eye care areas. Breeman was most recently a senior editor at All Medx, a physicians' search engine…SANDRA D. YOUNG recently completed a PhD program in nonprofit management and leadership at Capella University. In December 2022, she defended her dissertation research study, received the dean's approval of completion to graduate, and attended the Commencement and hooding ceremony on March 3, 2023.

1988

JOSEPH A. VESCE has moved on to his next chapter after more than 31 years in information technology at multiple Fortune 100 companies. His IT career included 21 years at UPS, from which he retired; two years at Cisco; two years at VMware/Dell/EMC; and most recently, four years at KPMG, from which he retired in 2021. During this time, he earned a master of science degree in management from New Jersey Institute of Technology. Since retiring from KPMG, he has been a University Professor teaching IT project management and business strategy at Seton Hall University; he also teaches at Southern New Hampshire University.

1991

FLORENCE RACINE, director of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Belonging for the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, was named a member of the latest cohort of the Sankofa Institute for African American Executive and Emerging Leaders in Child Welfare. Racine started her career as a social worker for adults with chronic illnesses and has worked in the state’s child welfare system in various capacities for more than 30 years.

1992

JOHN JOHNSON has been named chief information officer of Savista, a healthcare revenue cycle management services company. He has 25 years of expertise in IT strategy and operations.

1994

ADAM FRIED has been appointed assistant dean of teacher education at Ramapo College. He previously served for 16 years as the superintendent of the Harrington Park school district…MABEL ARAGON LEBRON says unconditional love is what her parents taught her, and it’s what she had been seeking in a lifelong partner. In 2021, she met her soulmate and endless love, Edwin Lebron. They married on October 15, 2022 and are pioneers embarking on their new adventure!

1996

KEVIN GRANGER was appointed principal of Elizabeth Duncan Koontz Elementary School in Salisbury, NC. Granger joins the school after serving as assistant principal of Palisades Park Elementary School in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools. Granger began his career teaching social studies and has served as an assistant principal working with every grade level. He is a Future-Ready Leadership Cohort member for the southwest part of North Carolina.

1997

THOM BROOKS has completed his term as president of the Society of Legal Scholars, the oldest and largest learned society for law professors in the world. He is the second non-European to be elected in over a century. He is professor of law and government at Durham University where he was its longest-serving dean (2016-21). He will be at Yale Law School later this year as a visiting fellow…DANIELLE L. GREEN was appointed chief operating officer at the Opportunity Network, a non-profit organization in New York City designed to provide access and opportunity and drive college and career success for students from historically underrepresented communities. She is also an adjunct faculty member in the organizational leadership psychology master’s degree program at William James College.

1998

JUDD SHAW has just published his first children’s book, Sterling and Nugget the Dragon, which teaches how kindness is mightier than the sword. Shaw is a personal injury lawyer and the host of the Judd Shaw Way podcast.

1999

JOHN PEREZ, former team captain of the Pioneer Football Team, helped coordinate a pro day on campus at William Paterson for Division III football players to perform for NFL scouts. Perez is the owner of Perez Sports, a full-service player representation agency focused on professional football.

 

2000

MARIA RODRIGUEZ, MA ’02, is the founder of Care Counseling Center in Somerset, which provides mental health counseling to individuals, children, families and couples, all dealing with different emotional support needs and traumas. Her company also offers immigration and social services.

2001

CHRISTOPHER KRAWTSCHUK was named chief financial officer and treasurer at Bluebird Bio, Inc., a pharmaceutical company that focuses on the advancement of gene therapy.

2004

ANGELA FIELDS is the executive director of Family Promise of Hunterdon County and former director of community outreach at Eva's Village in Paterson. Fields has been an integral part of advocating for a church annex to become Hunterdon County’s first homeless shelter for families in need.

2005

MICHAEL GIGLIO worked on a documentary that was nominated for a 2022 Daytime Emmy Award. He served as editor and post-producer for Dark Shadows and Beyond—The Jonathan Frid Story, which was nominated for "Outstanding Daytime Special.” He walked the red carpet and attended the awards show in June 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

2006

SEAN LANGO is the owner of Secret Pizza LA, a new pizza shop that was recognized by the Los Angeles Times as one of the best new pizza places in the city. Lango, a guitarist who moved to Los Angeles in 2019, began selling his pizzas on Instagram from his apartment in 2020 during the pandemic…MAURICE PARAMORE is a filmmaker, writer, and producer. His third feature film, Kodak, was released in 2023. His 2021 feature film, Regrets, was selected to be a part of Comcast/Xfinity’s Black Experience and can be streamed on Xfinity on Demand and Peacock TV.

2008

STEVEN SCHMITT has merged his investing company, The Schmitt Group, with Raymond James & Associates (RJA) to form The Schmitt Group of Raymond James. As a financial advisor, he manages a diverse group of clients including members of the LGBTQ community.

2012

JAZMYN GILLIARD ALLEN was named as principal of Bedwell Elementary School in Bedminster, part of the Somerset Hills School District. She credits William Paterson for instilling grit and pushing her creativity.

2014

BRIAN SCHIESS has been promoted to senior financial advisor and has become a principal at Modera Wealth Management, LLC. Schiess is a certified financial planner and serves as an enrolled agent with the IRS. He joined Modera in 2014 and has been a passionate leader for various firm initiatives. He is an active member of the WP alumni community, including volunteering with the Career Development Center and the Pesce Family Mentoring Institute.

2015

ROSE OELKERS is a fifth-year PhD candidate at the Columbia Climate School’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and has conducted research analyzing tropical tree species in Bolivia and Peru to characterize their growth patterns and responses to changes in the environment. Her work was featured in State of the Planet, the news site of the Columbia Climate School, which covers research coming out of the school’s centers and programs.

2016

JESSICA REINER was promoted to media relations director at FischTank PR In New York City.

2018

ASHLEY BUJALSKI, MA, PsyD ’20, received the Young Professional of the Year Award from the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare. She is the mental health director and lead psychologist at the Mercer County Correctional Facility in Lambertville, where she provides most of the clinical services within the jail and supervises a team of mental health clinicians.

2019

CECIL ALEXANDER, MM, has been named one of 10 young guitar players to watch by Premier Guitar. He is an assistant professor at Berklee College of Music, his undergraduate alma mater, and will be releasing an album, Introducing Cecil Alexander, on the Heartcore label. He has won numerous awards, including the 2017 Wilson Center Jazz Guitar Competition and the 2018 Lee Ritenour Six String Theory Competition, and was a finalist at the 2019 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Guitar Competition.

 

  06/14/23