Alumni Class Notes

  • Marisa Drew ’86, Chief Sustainability Officer at Standard Chartered, has been recognized as one of one of 20 Trailblazing Women in Climate for 2024 by Reuters’ Ethical Corporation Magazine. She also participated in The Economist’s World Ocean Summit & Expo in Lisbon March 11-13. The summit emphasized how the ocean ecosystem can be collectively restored by bringing innovative solutions to scale, coordinating sovereign efforts and leveraging mechanisms like blended finance to catalyze investments in the blue economy. In addition to acting as a mentor for the Ocean Changemakers challenge, she spoke on accelerating blue investments.

  • Chase J. Overton ’22 has joined Guidehouse, a global business consulting and services company headquartered in McLean, VA, as a Data Science Consultant. Previously, he was a Risk and Compliance Consultant with Protiviti.

  • Patrick McCormick (A&S ’22, M.S. in Commerce ’23) has joined at Colliers International as an Associate on the Virginia team. Patrick is based on the Peninsula, servicing Newport News, Hampton, York County, Poquoson, and Williamsburg to expand the Colliers presence in the area.

  • Henry Legard ’17 and Niel Ketkar (Engineering ’19) have founded Verisoul, a platform that identifies fake accounts and bots by using AI to analyze email, network, device, and user behavior. The product prevents sign-up promotions from being abused, reduces cybersecurity risk, improves user experience, and more. The two have raised $3.25 million from investors and are always looking to connect with fellow ’Hoos—either customers or potential employees.

  • Frank Macgill ’91 has been honored as a 2024 Super Lawyer in the practice areas of estate planning and probate. Attorneys are selected based upon peer review, professional achievements, and independent research. Macgill is a Partner with HunterMaclean, a business law firm with offices in Savannah and St. Simons Island, GA.

  • J. Carney Hawks ’96 was appointed as a Director of Invacare Holdings Corporation in February 2024. Mr. Hawks was a Founding Partner of Brigade Capital Management, a multibillion dollar asset management firm, from its inception in 2007 until his retirement from the company in December 2019. At Brigade, Mr. Hawks was the Head of Special Situations, sat on the firm’s Investment Committee, and helped oversee many of Brigade’s restructured equities as a board member or board adviser. Prior to Brigade, Mr. Hawks was a Managing Director at Mackay Shields in its High Yield Group. Since his time with Brigade, Mr. Hawks has sat on the boards of numerous companies following their restructurings, including Cenveo Worldwide and Extraction Oil and Gas. Mr. Hawks is currently the Chairman of the Board of Cornerstone Chemical Company and also a Director of Ferrellgas Partners LP. Mr. Hawks also serves as Treasurer and a board member of the Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation and is on the Advisory Board to the McIntire School of Commerce.

  • Gananath “Gana” Moharir (M.S. in MIT ’04) has authored and published a novel titled Raaz Mahal—The Palace of Secrets, a well-researched suspense thriller penned on the backdrop of the famous world heritage Taj Mahal monument. The Booklife Reviews called the work “a tribute to the power of science and pursuit of truth in the face of politics and superstition.” Released in print, eBook, and audiobook formats, the BookFest Fall 2022 award-winning book has already been translated into two other languages, and Gananath even has a pen name—Neal Nathan! On the professional side, Gananath works with a Washington, DC, area not-for-profit systems engineering advisory firm, and in 2016 earned another master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration from Northwestern University. With two UVA daughters, Shreya (UVA ’22) and Shevany (UVA ’25), the Moharirs are a UVA family.

  • Lisa Hamilton ’91 is President and CEO at The Annie E. Casey Foundation, where she oversees the programmatic, operational, and investment decisions for one of the largest foundations in the United States focused on improving the lives of low-income children, families, and communities. There, she leads a staff of 190 employees and is responsible for stewardship of a $3.5 billion endowment. Her board memberships include the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, the Baltimore Community Foundation, Baltimore’s Promise, East Baltimore Development Inc., Living Cities, and StriveTogether. She was a recent guest on the “UVA Legends Podcast” with host and fellow Hoo Julian Brown (A&S ’88, Law ’91).

  • Gillian Almeida ’10 has joined [solidcore] as Vice President of Strategy and Insights. Gillian’s passion for [community], shared values, and love for fitness drew her to the [solidcore] team. She brings over a decade in strategy consulting, including seven years at McKinsey & Company.

  • Erin Smith (M.S. in MIT ’04) is CEO at Ocean Sole. The social enterprise upcycles washed-up flip-flops found along Kenya’s beaches and waterways and provides steady income to nearly 100 low-income Kenyans in the company.

  • Matt G. Seely ’18 has been promoted to Vice President at Liberty Hall Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused exclusively on investments in businesses serving the global aerospace and defense industry. Mr. Seely currently serves on the board of directors of Comply365 LLC and has played an active role in Liberty Hall’s past investments in Bromford Group and Onboard Systems International. He joined Liberty Hall in 2021 from First Reserve Corporation, where he was an Associate. He began his career as an Analyst with Simmons & Company International in the Energy Services and Equipment group.

  • Shiv Sharma (M.S. in Commerce ’10) has been promoted to the position of President and General Manager at trader-focused social networking site Stocktwits. Shiv has been based in Singapore for Stocktwits for the past four years, serving as VP International and India Head. He joined Stocktwits in 2020 from Amazon Web Services, where he worked in senior business development roles focused on the Far East. Shiv has also worked at Cisco Investments, Fidelity, Palisade Capital Management, and RBC Capital Markets.

  • Mark Straub ’04, CEO of Smile ID, spoke with CNBC Africa last month, predicting more synthetic identity fraud in Africa this year as attacks combine hyperrealistic deepfakes with stolen ID credentials obtained via the web or data leaks. He also shared insights from the company’s recently released Identity Fraud in Africa report.

  • John W. Moore CFA, CAIA (A&S ’16, M.S.in Commerce ’17) is Director of Investments at STRATVIEW, where he chairs the Investment Committee and guides its portfolio construction, asset allocation, and investment selection processes. Before joining STRATVIEW in 2022, he was a member of PNC Asset Management Group’s Investment Strategy team, which was responsible for developing financial market views and transforming them into strategic and tactical asset allocations in client portfolios. In addition, he collaborated frequently with PNC’s Advantage Equity team before joining full-time as an Equity Research Analyst. In a Feb. 8, 2024, post on CFA Institute’s “Enterprising Investor” blog, Moore suggests five questions to ask to better understand the markets without having to speculate about the larger economy.

  • Thomas Henry Payne ’67, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away Feb. 7, 2024, at age 78, surrounded by his family. He is survived by his wife of over 50 years, Susette Payne nee Barbee, and their children: Jeannette Payne (Matt Landahl), Susan Payne O’Brien (Tim O’Brien), Heather Lindh-Payne (Kristofer Lindh-Payne), Rebecca Portugal-Payne (Emily Portugal), and James Payne. He was known as Tom Tom by his grandchildren, who treasure and adore him: Josephine O’Brien, Luca Payne, Thomas O’Brien, Jonah Landahl, and LIllian Lindh-Payne. Tom’s steadfast commitment and love of his family as well as dedication to his faith have been the guiding principles of his life. Born in Cincinnati, OH, Tom was raised in Manassas, VA, with two brothers. He graduated from the University of Virginia and got his MBA from the Michigan State before being drafted to the Vietnam War. He became CEO of Market Facts International, where he worked for 30 years. Afterward, he served as an addictions counselor, mentoring others for many years at Resurrection Healthcare and within the larger community. He has been a parishioner of St. Nick’s since 1971 and a proud member of Holy Name Men’s Club. All of his children attended Pope John the 23rd. Tom was a giver and put new meaning into the phrase unconditional love. He lived with and helped to raise one of his grandchildren, Luca, for the first eight years of Luca’s life. He loved loved loved all of his grandchildren. Always by his phone and at the ready to be a listening ear to family and friends, he was also a big sports fan, avid golfer, lover of horse races, trickster, and candy enthusiast. He drove fast, with the windows rolled down and the music turned up. Deeply empathic, wise, and loving, he will be greatly missed.

  • A.J. Dudley ’91 is featured in the February 2024 edition of Rolling Stone, in a six-page article about a murder case he prosecuted in his former role as Commonwealth’s Attorney for Franklin County, VA.

  • Virginia Sharma ’99 has started a new position in Reston, VA, as Head of Marketing Google Cloud Public Sector at Google. She previously was Head of Marketing Google Cloud India.

  • Meredith Shields ’05, Managing Director, Head of Citi Impact Fund, discusses how the fund provides capital for early-stage companies by a range of traditionally underserved founders whose companies are seeking to make a positive social impact on an “Electric Ladies” podcast titled “Investing In Companies For Social Impact.”

  • Viktor Josefsson ’04 has started a new position as Head of Nordics at Forensic Risk Alliance.

  • Bradley E. Singer ’88 has been appointed to the board of directors of Crown Castle Inc. Mr. Singer previously served as Chief Operating Officer and an Investment Partner at ValueAct Capital, Chief Financial Officer of Discovery Communications and CFO and Treasurer of American Tower Corporation. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Sweetgreen Inc. and Redfin Corp.

  • William Meyers ’03, Partner at Hill, Farrer & Burrill LLP, has been named to the Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2023 Leaders of Influence: Thriving in Their 40s list. This yearly accolade highlights prominent professionals in the Los Angeles area who are in their 40s and exhibit continuous success in both their professional sphere and community involvement. Meyers is a trial lawyer specializing in complex business litigation, trade secret disputes, and legal malpractice defense. He has extensive trial, arbitration, and appellate experience, and has advised an array of corporate clients on transactional matters, including the selection and formation of business entities and the negotiation and drafting of various commercial contracts. Meyers was admitted to the California Bar in 2009. He has spent his entire legal career with Hill, Farrer & Burrill and manages the firm’s accounting and finance operations.