Alumni Class Notes

Ed Deng ’00 is Founder and CEO at Health2Sync, which has been named one of Taiwan’s top 100 startups by the Taiwan Venture Capital Association. Health2Sync provides a comprehensive health management platform, enabling patients to connect with family, friends, and care providers. The company’s flagship product is the Health2Sync mobile app that allows patients with diabetes to track their blood sugar, along with factors that influence it.

David Meredith (M.S. in MIT ’03) has been appointed to the board of directors of Riskified, a leader in ecommerce fraud and risk intelligence. Meredith has spent three decades serving in senior executive leadership and board director roles across both multibillion dollar public companies as well as private equity-backed technology-focused firms. As CEO of Everbridge, the global leader in software to provide resilience to organizations, Meredith led during a period of rapid growth that moved the company into the large-cap Russell 1000® Index and earned him the award for Top 50 “Best CEO 2020” in the Largest Company Category by Comparably. Prior to Everbridge, Meredith held leadership positions at Rackspace, CenturyLink, VeriSign, CGI, and Capital One Financial Corporation. In his role as CEO at integration-software leader Boomi, Meredith was also named as a “Best CEO 2022” for his work related to the spinout of Boomi from Dell to become a stand-alone global company. Most recently he served as Board Director and Committee Chair for digital transformation leader SADA (an Insight company).

Oliver Edelmann (A&S ’18, M.S. in Commerce ’19) has started a new role at SpaceX as Global Government Affairs Manager.

Greg O’Brien ’08 has assumed the role of CEO at Dubai-headquartered offshore drilling contractor Shelf Drilling. O’Brien was the company’s Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer since March 2016. Previously, he also served as Director of Strategic Planning, overseeing the company’s corporate development.

Philip Lee ’03 started a new position in August as Head of Customer Success, APAC at LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group).

David Karasek ’12, Olympic Swimmer and Motivational Speaker, joined fellow UVA alum Jim Harshaw Jr. (A&S ’99), Executive Coach, Speaker, and Podcast Host on Harshaw’s podcast “Success for the Athletic-Minded Man” Aug. 19 discuss to actionable tips on using visualization techniques and conscious breathing exercises that have helped Karasek stay calm under pressure. Karasek revealed the mindset strategies and sports psychology tips that took him to the world stage, how he conquered performance anxiety with the help of Michael Phelps’ mindset coach, Jim Bauman, and how these techniques can skyrocket performance. He also talked about the power of self-talk and how building mental toughness can help in overcoming failure.

Viktor Josefsson ’04 started a new position in August as Head of Investigations—Europe at Ericsson.

Jay Jacquin ’98, Managing Director at Configure Partners, authored a July 19 article titled “Choosing the Right Path: Transactions Involving Lender-Owned Businesses,” featured on abfjournal.

Raymond Liu ’03 started a position in July as Vice President, International at Major League Baseball.

Natasha Subhash ’23 (M.S. in Accounting ’24) is one of two student-athletes nominated by the ACC for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year award. Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors graduating female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves during their college careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence, service, and leadership. Subhash emerged as one of two ACC 2024 NCAA Woman of the Year candidates after a vote of the league’s member schools.

Sahand Dilmaghani ’13, Founder and CEO at Terra Kaffe, is pleased to share that the Terra Kaffe TK-02 Espresso Machine has received two accolades as part of the Fast Company 2024 Innovation by Design Awards, in the General Excellence and Products categories.

Athena Ng ’03, General Manager, Corporate Finance Department & Corporate Communications Department, at China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd, has been appointed as a Council Member of The Hong Kong Institute of Directors. Ng joined the HKIoD Training Committee in 2016 as a facilitator for Board training and since then has co-curated the HKIoD Global Directorship Program and served as Steering Committee member of The Climate Governance Initiative Hong Kong Chapter.

 

Bryce (Land) Schmidt ’20 and Emily Schmidt (Education ’20) were married in Plymouth, MA, July 26, 2024, with many Hoos in attendance. Sarah Snow (Education ’20), Emily’s first-year hallmate in Watson-Webb, was the maid of honor. Emily and Bryce met second year, when Emily lived two floors above Bryce in Lambeth Field Apartments. Bryce proposed to Emily on the Lawn last year.

Lauren Thi Nguyen ’15 has joined The National Aquarium as Controller and Vice President of Finance, overseeing the organization’s finance and accounting functions, including accounts payable, grant reporting, audit and tax filings, and financial reporting. She also plays a crucial role in developing the aquarium’s economic strategy and sustainability planning. Nguyen is a licensed CPA, with previous experience at EY and 50CAN, an education advocacy nonprofit. The National Aquarium is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to connect people with nature to inspire compassion and care for our ocean planet. One of the top three aquariums in the United States and the largest paid cultural attraction in Maryland, the aquarium generates more than $430 million annually in economic impact to the state.

Brad Singer ’88 has been appointed as a new Independent Director to the Warby Parker board of directors, effective Aug. 1, 2024. Mr. Singer is a prominent business leader who most recently served as Partner and Chief Operating Officer of ValueAct Capital, where he retired in December 2021. Prior to joining ValueAct Capital in 2012, Mr. Singer was the Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Discovery Communications Inc. and the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of American Tower Corporation. Prior to American Tower, Mr. Singer worked as an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Mr. Singer currently serves on the boards of directors of Castle Crown Inc., Sweetgreen Inc., and Redfin Corp. Mr. Singer also serves on the national board for the Posse Foundation and is a member of the board at the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia. Mr. Singer is a former director of Citizens Communications Corp., Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc., Motorola Solutions Inc., and Rolls-Royce Holdings plc.

Dominic Inglot OLY ’09, former professional tennis player now working as a Tennis Commentator and Coach, provided commentary and analysis for BBC during the Wimbledon 2024 Championships.

David Locala ’89 joined SEDA Experts LLC, a leading expert witness firm providing world-class financial expert witness services, as Managing Director. Locala spent his entire career of over 30 years in investment banking, with a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions and financing/capital markets transactions for companies in the technology sector. He completed over $200 billion in transactions, including buy-side and sell-side M&A for publicly traded and private companies, leveraged buyouts and contested transactions. In 2021, Locala was named to the list of “The Top 100 Harvard Business School Alumni in Finance and Investing.” He is a world-class testifying expert in valuations, corporate transactions, deal structuring, and due diligence. Locala most recently served as Citigroup’s Global Head of Technology M&A, based in San Francisco. He provided M&A advice to companies in the software, semiconductor and internet sectors, handling negotiations, valuation analysis, due diligence and other aspects of transaction origination and execution. He also served on Citi’s Fairness Opinion Committee. From 2005 to 2015, Locala worked at Deutsche Bank in San Francisco, most recently as Co-Head of Global Technology M&A, where he also served on the Fairness Opinion Committee. Earlier in his career, Locala worked in New York, Hong Kong, and San Francisco in the M&A groups of Lazard, Morgan Stanley and Montgomery Securities. He serves as a Director of a privately held software company and also acts as the Chair of the Finance Council of a nonprofit middle school serving students in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District.

Luyi Zheng (M.S. in Commerce ’10), Managing Director at ShawKwei & Partners, spoke at the Citi 2024 Asia Industrials Summit July 5, 2024, in Singapore. Zheng joined a panel on “Unpacking 2024 Investment Trends,” providing insights into the future of industrial investments and the key trends impacting in the sector. This summit, hosted by Citi Commercial Bank, gathered senior executives from leading industrial companies across Asia to discuss smart technology, sustainability, globalization challenges, and the implications of the U.S. election.

Anna Peck ’13, Founder and CEO of Chia Smash, is pleased to announce that the product has hit every single Whole Foods Market nationwide, and with a 12-SKU full shelf lineup. Chia Smash was launched into a single Whole Foods store in Manhattan four years ago.

Datuk Amran Hafiz Affifudin ’97 has been appointed as a Non-Independent and Non-Executive Director at UEM Sunrise Bhd, effective July 19, 2024. Amran is currently the Executive Director and Head of Asset Development Group, overseeing Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s Malaysian Investments. He started his career in 1997 at PETRONAS, focusing on corporate finance and treasury. He later moved into private equity before joining Khazanah in 2011. Amran was appointed to the board of UEM Group Bhd in 2022 and was subsequently re-designated as Chairman on Jan 1, 2023. He currently sits on the boards of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, UEM Edgenta Bhd, UEM Lestra Bhd, PLUS Malaysia Bhd, PLUS Expressways International Bhd, Projek Lebuhraya Usahasama Bhd, Cement Industries of Malaysia Bhd, Cenergi SEA Bhd, UEM Builders Bhd, Iskandar Investment Bhd, Konsortium ProHAWK Sdn Bhd and several private entities.

Ben Rosenthal ’05 was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 Southwest Award winner by Ernst & Young LLP. Rosenthal is Co-President and CEO of Standard Meat Company in Fort Worth, TX. Entrepreneur Of The Year is a competitive awards program for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies.