Monday, January 21, 2008

Mystery Classmate 124

Congratulations to Maria Wojtaszek Romanelli, Kelly Sauer Mazon, John Lees, Kira Kenyherz Bartlett, and Colleen O’Connor Casey, all of whom correctly identified John Kun (’82) as Mystery Classmate #124 and are listed in the order that their responses were received.

In case you were wondering, Dr. John Kokai-Kun is Director of Microbiology at Biosynexus, Inc., in Gaithersburg, MD. Biosynexus is a biopharmaceutical company that is commercializing a portfolio of products for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. The company has focused its initial efforts on developing products for the prevention and treatment of hospital acquired – nosocomial – staphylococcal infections.

John Lees shared fond memories of John. He wrote, “I wanna say this is John Kun ('82), but it has been 20 years! I think it's the smile and the eyes. If it is him, I need to talk to that guy!! He kind of disappeared from my life after college! I remember the many, many laughs in high school, starting a band, practicing in his house with his mom critiquing the musicianship. The parties, OH! The parties!! I need to chat with this boy!”

Mike Kuzy guessed Lloyd Richard, or maybe John Smozski’s uncle.

Mystery Classmate 123

Congratulations to Carrie Schadle, Beth “TGIF” Chufo Nichols, Milton Koutavas, Jack Horner, Marc Schanfarber, Tracey Lucchino McDonough, Maria Wojtaszek Hughes, Brian “S.D.” Stevenson, Tabitha Husted Riggio, Paul Rodgers, Bill Stout, Dave Holmes, Pam Matthews, Andy Moss, Robin Carey Seddon, and Rebecca Canobbio Abel, all of whom correctly identified Aarti Gurnani (’85) as Mystery Classmate #123 and are listed in the order that their responses were received.

In case you were wondering, Aarti Gurnani Krentz and her husband Jeff Krentz live in Rowayton, CT. They have a handsome little son named Bennett. Aarti works for Cisco Systems, Inc. as a Consulting Principal for their Internet Business Solutions Group in the Cable Practice Area and in July moderated a discussion at the Customer Care Committee Forum in Philadelphia on self care systems, including specific recommendations and best practices for improving service through customer friendly automation.

Several classmates shared fond memories of Aarti. Tabitha Husted Riggio remembered that she was a nice girl. Robin Carey Seddon called her a “color guard extraordinaire.” Dave Holmes and Pam Matthews spelled Aarti’s name correctly and added, “She was such a burnout.”

Bill Stout wrote, “In physics, Mr. Nagy made Aarti sit next to me. We laughed some, but I mostly just dragged her down. To this day the only vector that I understand is a straight line to the fridge for another cheap beer!”

Marc Schanfarber remembered Aarti from computer science class. Andy Moss corroborated this, noting, “She was a good friend through the Churchill years. Probably one of the brightest, sweetest people I knew. We had good times on Rifle team but I also remember working with her on computer programming (Fortran 77) with Marc Schanfarber.”

Amy Petrina Tarantini and Paula Recchio Joseph guessed Shernaaz Kapadia, who previously appeared as Mystery Classmate #41. It’s probably not a coincidence that when Shernaaz was pictured no fewer than five contestants guessed Aarti. It must be the “double A’S” in their first names that has gotten some classmates confused.

Wendy Silverman Calfe guessed Anthea Papazis. Keith Shipley guessed Ria Callas. Jim Davliakos guessed Risa Glick.