Thibaut de Chassey: I am again happy to report the birth of my fourth child (and first girl !) Quitterie on January 2, 2006. Mother is doing well although the baby was a heavyweight mammoth (4.5 kg). Home is fairly messy these days and I find a great deal of rest … at the office. See attached picture of the jewel after a week.

Jeff Kiker: I am at Pitney Bowes directing our internet postage products and strategy. So far, that consists of two live products, one integrated with eBay and one you can see here: http://www.zazzle.com/stamps . So if everyone has not already gone to zazzle.comand ordered stamps with their kid’s (or dog’s, or whatever you hold dear) picture on them, do it today! We have a bunch more coming in 2006, so it should be a busy year.

Curtis Glovier: I recently attended a Wharton Connect two day event back on campus– a great way to learn and see what’s going on at Wharton today. You even get to take some classes, with some of our former professors such as Shell for Negotiations. I’m still at Perseus, LLC in NYC, doing middle market buyouts. We’re raising another private equity fund now and it’s going well so far; 2005 was a very busy year in terms of companies we bought and sold. I’m also still looking for the chance to back a fellow classmate in buying a business in the branded consumer products, business services, media, etc. space. I look forward to seeing people at the upcoming 15th reunion!

Christopher Cowan: I received the Vice Chancellor’s Achievement Award from the University of the West Indies at its 9th annual gala at Cipriani in New York on February 2, 2006. The Award honors people of Caribbean heritage who are rising stars within U.S.organizations. I work for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, where I execute infrastructure and other project financings in the emerging markets of Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. I live in Washington, D.C. with my wife Lynne and our sons, Maxwell, 4 and Drew, 1.

Diane McGrath: I married fellow Wharton/Lauder grad Vincent Toolan (WG/G 96) in two separate ceremonies, one in Illinois and a second in France. On June 25th, we married in an outdoor ceremony at the home of my parents near White Heath, Illinois. On July 16th, we held a second ceremony just outside Paris, France, in the 12th century church of Saint Martin at Plailly. The ceremony was followed by a champagne reception, ball and fireworks display at the 1100-year-old castle, Chateau d’Ermenonville.

 

Present from the Wharton community were: Janette (White) Hollingbery (WG/G 91) and her husband George Hollingbery (WG 91), Mike de Vegvar (WG 91) and his wife Sybille, Noreena Hertz (WG 91) who gave a reading, Nicholas Caron (WG/G 91)

Lorrie King (WG 91), who was a witness, and her husband Edbert, Ranjit Kohli (WG 91) and his wife Rohini, Ted Bissell (WG/G 91) and his wife Titta, Sir Paul Judge (WG 73) and his wife Lady Barbara Thomas Judge (CW 66), Christine Bourron (WG/G 95) and her husband Ilia Tchelikidi (WG 94), John Bachmann (WG 94) and his wife Kathy Bachmann (WG 99), Axl Piutti (WG/G 96), Katalin Horvath (WG/G 96), Mike Jackson (WG 96) and his wife Marjorie Stern (WG 97), Olivier Thierry (WG 96) and his wife Ayse, Rory McGregor (WG 96) and his wife Brenda, Roy Martins (LBS/WG 96 exchange student) and his wife Anita, Sebnem Erol (WG 96), Seth Faler (WG 96), Steve Hayne (WG 96).

Vincent organized a surprise ‘around the world’ honeymoon starting on a private island off Lake Malawi in East Africa, followed by safaris in Zambia and Mozambique, before travelling for a horse trek in Kyrgyzstan and a trip along the Ancient Silk Road in Uzbekistan, Central Asia. After covering 4 continents in 6 weeks, we returned to London, England where we reside.

Jack Karakelian: After a career in corporate America (WL Gore and HP) doing marketing and corporate development as well as a start up venture that we sold to a “dot-com” company, I decided to switch my career into something more fulfilling and allows me to stay close to home. I joined Merrill Lynch Global Private Client in 2001 as a Financial Advisor. In a short period of time, I’ve built a successful and growing practice that now manages about $40 million in assets for individuals and businesses across the country. Clients are mainly business owners/entrepreneurs as well as some corporate executives. I earned the Certified Financial Planner designation about two years ago and recently assumed management responsibility for local recruiting and training for Merrill. It’s not your typical MBA career role, it’s quasi-entrepreneurial and one that I’m finding very rewarding both personally and professionally. Best part is I’m doing something I actually enjoy, see more immediate results of my work and don’t have to live out of a suitcase anymore.

On the personal front, I’ve been married for 14 years. My wife, Haigoush, is a former accountant, now full-time homemaker. We have two beautiful children, a daughter Tsoline (age 9) and son Tomas (age 5). We’re both active locally in various civic and church related organizations. Among other things, I stay busy supporting the National Exchange Club, a prominent and growing service group devoted to the prevention of child abuse, where I serve as President-Elect. If anyone happens to be in Philly and wants to connect, my home number is 610-429-1865, cell is 484-678-0947.