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1963

J. Edmund Mullin ’63 CLAS, ’66 CWSL of the law firm Hamburg, Rubin, Mullin, Maxwell & Lupin was selected to the 2024 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers list in the area of Land Use and Zoning.

1965

Patrick J. Mandracchia, Esq., ’65 CLAS, ’69 CWSL retired in 2023 as a Catholic deacon and, after practicing law for 53 years, as an attorney with the Defender Association of Philadelphia.

1970s

1970

James A. Anderson, PhD, ’70 CLAS, the founding president of the �鶹�� Black Student League and chancellor of Fayetteville State University from 2008 to 2019, published a memoir spanning the first 30 years of his life, including his time at Villanova, titled The Miracle on Corcoran Street.

1975

Named 2024’s Nursing Legend by Main Line Today magazine for her significant achievements in the field, Jo Ann Flounders ’75 FCN, ’02 MSN has made a lasting impact through more than half a century of service in health care. Starting her career as a lieutenant in the US Navy Nurse Corps, Flounders eventually found her calling in the 1980s caring and advocating for those diagnosed with cancer. As a nurse practitioner for the past 23 years with Consultants in Medical Oncology and Hematology in Broomall, Pa., she makes it her mission to ensure her patients have the best possible quality of life. In her personal life, Flounders has shown that same dedication and commitment as a mother of 10 children.

1977

Gaetan J. Alfano, Esq., ’77 VSB, ’80 CWSL, a partner at the law firm Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti LLP, was appointed in April to a five-year term as a member of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

1979

Donna DiPalma Cassidy ’79 FCN ���Ի���Joe Cassidy ’79 VSB welcomed a grandson, Roman Louis Cassidy, in January 2024.

Marc Stephen Raspanti, Esq., ’79 VSB, partner at Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti LLP, was ranked Band 1 by Chambers and Partners USA in the areas of False Claims Act: Plaintiff in the USA–Nationwide and Litigation: White Collar Crime and Government Investigations in Pennsylvania.

1980s

1980

Leeanne Rebic Hay ’80 CLAS delivered a talk at TEDxVillanovaU, held at the John and Joan Mullen Center for the Performing Arts in March 2024. Her talk, “How I Lost My Identity and Found Empathy from a DNA Test,” was based on her personal experience and professional work as an author.

Susan Stabler-Haas ’80 FCN, ’85 MSN and Eden Zabat Kan, PhD, ’94 MSN co-authored the fourth edition of Fast Facts for the Clinical Nursing Instructor, published by Springer Publishing in June 2024.

1981

James S. Kane Jr. ’81 CLAS, ’05 MA was promoted to chief human resources officer at The Haverford Trust Company.

1982

William Gorman ’82 CLAS, a lecturer in the Department of History at Monmouth University, published the second edition of his book, American Economic Development From Historical and Contemporary Perspectives.

To help bring positive change to the city he was born and raised in, electrical engineer Stefan Roots ’82 COE entered into local government. A native of Chester, Pa., he served on the city council for over two years before running a successful campaign to become Chester’s 33rd mayor. Having taken office on Jan. 1, 2024, Roots is committed to bringing the city—one of the poorest in Pennsylvania—out of bankruptcy and restoring pride in the Philadelphia suburb. Married with seven children and 10 grandchildren, Roots also runs a blog titled ChesterBlog.com, which he started in 2010.

Denise Venneri ’82 VSB created and hosts the podcast My Curious Colleague, which elevates and celebrates the consumer relations function in consumer product goods companies.

1985

Ann (Odorski) Cannoni, Esq., ’85 COE has been elected chair and president of the Licensing Executives Society USA and Canada.

Alice O’Neill McLoughlin ’85 MS, the eldest of 11 children from an Irish farming family, has written a memoir, More Precious Than Gold: My Enduring Connection With John McShain—the Man Who Built Washington. The book celebrates her American education, including her time at Villanova, which was made possible through a scholarship from a building contractor responsible for some of the most significant public buildings in the US.

1986

Adriana Falco ’86 CLAS, a 30-year marketing veteran, launched Pickle Diva Sportswear, an apparel line dedicated to pickleball.

1987

Greg Acken ’87 VSB had his fourth book, Through Blood and Fire: The Civil War Letters of Major Charles J. Mills, 1862–1865, published by Kent State University Press.

1988

Kim Bilott ’88 FCN earned a 2023 Excellence in Nursing Award for Pediatrics from Baltimore magazine.

Pamela Coyle Brecht, Esq., ’88 CLAS, partner and chair of the Qui Tam and False Claims Act Practice Group at Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti LLP, was ranked Band 1 by Chambers and Partners USA in the area of False Claims Act: Plaintiff in the USA–Nationwide.

1989

Joseph T. Black Jr. ’89 CLAS, a passenger rail expert with nearly 40 years of experience in the public and private sectors, has been appointed to the US Surface Transportation Board’s Passenger Rail Advisory Committee as an at-large member. Black began his rail career selling SEPTA tickets at the Villanova Station.

Courtney Jones ’89 CLAS left UBS Financial Services Inc. in San Francisco to found Credo Wealth Management LLC, an independent financial planning firm, in 2019. Last summer, after living in the San Francisco Bay Area for 30 years, Jones and her family returned east to Newtown, Pa.—visiting 14 states and traveling more than 4,000 miles on their cross-country trip.

David Pacitti ’89 CLAS, a former Villanova Football player who was inducted into the Villanova Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 2006, welcomed four Wildcat student-athletes as interns this summer at Siemens Healthineers Americas headquarters in Malvern, Pa., where Pacitti serves as head of Americas.

1990s

1990

Roger Kent ’90 VSB, a wealth management advisor and senior vice president at Merrill Lynch in Wayne, Pa., was named to Forbes’ 2024 Best-In-State Wealth Advisors list. Outside of work, Kent is a board member for the Blue White Scholarship Foundation at Villanova and coaches CYO basketball.

Pete Ruggiero ’90 VSB reached a new milestone in his 27-year career when he was promoted to president and CEO of Crayola LLC—the Pennsylvania-based company with a mission to help parents and teachers raise creative children.

Andrew Willis ’90 CLAS, a wealth management advisor and senior vice president at Merrill Lynch since 2001, was named to Forbes’ 2024 Best-In-State Wealth Advisors list.

1992

Michael Cuttita ’92 VSB was named a 2024 New Jersey Five Star Wealth Manager.

1993

Precie Alvarez Schroyer, PhD, ’93 CLAS, ’95 MA was promoted to executive dean of Northampton Community College’s Pocono Campus in Tannersville, Pa., in December 2023. She previously served as associate dean and associate professor of English.

1995

The Rev. Joseph W. Bongard ’95 MA was appointed pastor of St. Helena Parish in Blue Bell, Pa., and parochial administrator of St. Titus Parish in East Norriton, Pa. These appointments conclude 31 years in the educational apostolate, having served the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in roles that have included Theology Department chair at Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic High School; assistant principal of Academic Affairs at Cardinal Dougherty High School; principal at St. Pius X High School; vice rector at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary; and rector at Roman Catholic High School.

1995

Joel F. Fitzgerald Sr., PhD, ’96 CLAS was elected president of FBI-LEEDA, a Malvern-based nonprofit organization providing the training needs of law enforcement agencies worldwide. Fitzgerald began his career in policing in 1992 with the Philadelphia Police Department, serving in various ranks over 17 years. He has held the rank of chief of police five times and has made history as the first African American to hold the rank in each organization. Over the coming year, Fitzgerald will lead FBI-LEEDA in advancing the best law enforcement leadership practices for its 60,000 members worldwide.

1997

Megan Starace Ben’Ary ’97 CLAS, ’01 CWSL was elected to the law firm McGlinchey Stafford’s executive policy committee, which has 10 equity members representing diversity in career stages and tenure with the firm. Ben’Ary also serves in the leadership role of office managing member for the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. Her practice focuses on complex commercial litigation and consumer financial services litigation.

1998

Robert J. Iannozzi Jr. ’98 CLAS, ’01 CWSL of the law firm Hamburg, Rubin, Mullin, Maxwell & Lupin has been recognized as top-rated in the areas of estate and probate on the 2024 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers list.

2000s

2000

Douglas K. Rosenblum, Esq., ’00 CLAS, ’03 CWSL began a three-year appointment as a Hearing Committee member serving the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Rosenblum, co-chair of the Government Enforcement, Compliance and White Collar Litigation practice group at Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti LLP, was ranked by Chambers and Partners USA in the area of Litigation: White Collar Crime and Government Investigations—Pennsylvania.

Fred Willecke ’00 CLAS, a senior defense acquisition professional, graduated from the prestigious 10-month Army Senior Service College Fellowship in May 2024.

2001

John J. Iannozzi ’01 CLAS, ’04 CWSL of the law firm Hamburg, Rubin, Mullin, Maxwell & Lupin has been selected to the 2024 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers list in the areas of State, Local and Municipal, Land Use and Zoning, and Family Law.

2002

Colleen Cingel ’02 CLAS was commended by the Professional Women in Construction New Jersey Chapter at its annual Women of Achievement event in May. Cingel was one of four Women of Achievement honorees for her excellence in the architecture, engineering and construction industries and her role as director of Business Development at A Royal Flush.

Edward Sharpe ’02 MBA, senior director of operational excellence at Bristol Myers Squibb, joined the board of directors of Musicopia and Dancing Classrooms Philly.

2003

Christopher Knoerlein ’03 CLAS was named the new chief advancement officer for The Arc Baltimore. Knoerlein, who previously served as The Arc Baltimore’s director of Development and Communications, joined the disability services and support organization as a program coordinator in 2005.

Kevin Mahoney ’03 MS was promoted to director of Airborne Electronic Warfare at Lockheed Martin’s Rotary and Mission Systems division in January 2024.

2004

Matthew Boyce, PhD, ’04 CLAS was appointed Emerson College’s vice president of Enrollment Management after serving as vice president of Enrollment at the University of Puget Sound for four years.

Beth Chaville-Fuller ’04 MA won an election as a school board director at the Owen J. Roberts School District in Pottstown, Pa., in November 2023.

Bruce O’Neill, PhD, ’04 CLAS, associate professor of Anthropology at Saint Louis University, published Underground: Dreams and Degradations in Bucharest with the University of Pennsylvania Press as part of its The City in the Twenty-First Century book series.

Sean Ryan, Esq., ’04 VSB, a partner at Bardsley Law LLC, was appointed national general counsel by the Society of American Registered Architects. In his position, Ryan will utilize his experience representing and advocating for the design professional community to provide legal guidance and support to the National Board of Directors.

2006

Stephan A. Cornell ’06 CLAS has joined the Center City Philadelphia law firm of Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck. He was formerly a partner at Fox Rothschild LLP.

Tshiams Katala ’06 MS has joined the engineering firm Garver as drainage leader in Atlanta. An award-winning drainage expert with 20 years of experience in engineering practice and eight in academia, Katala has worked in the private and public sectors and is a licensed professional engineer certified in municipal stormwater, floodplain management and erosion control compliance.

William G. Roark ’06 CWSL has been elected president of the board of Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania, a nonprofit offering free legal representation to low-income and vulnerable people in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties.

Darla Henning Wolfe ’06 MBA, a member of the Villanova Board of Trustees, in partnership with Associate Professor Hezekiah Lewis, MFA, '99 CLAS, ’02 MA, Assistant Athletic Director for UNITAS Leashia Lewis ’00 CLAS and Assistant Director of Industry and Professional Networks Priscilla Jackson ’98 CLAS, sponsored Soul Food Sunday and the first Mitchell Creative Alliance Award Student Film Competition on April 14, 2024, at Villanova. The festival theme was “What You Don’t Know About Villanova,” and three winners were chosen from more than 10 entries.

2007

Emmett Fitzpatrick ’07 CLAS and his wife, Katie, welcomed their third child together, a baby girl named Mary, in January 2024.

2008

Kacy (Sellers) Lawrence ’08 CLAS earned her PhD from Virginia Tech in Educational Research and Evaluation.

2009

Jamie Kapalko, Esq., ’09 CLAS has been promoted to vice president and general counsel of Jersey Mike’s Subs after joining the sandwich chain in 2015, most recently serving as deputy general counsel. In her years with the franchise, Kapalko has played an important role in its expansion in the US, Canada and international markets.

Bret L. McCabe, Esq., ’09 CWSL, a partner within the Construction Law group at Forchelli Deegan Terrana LLP, received the Subcontractors Trade Association’s 2024 Emerging Leaders Award in April 2024 for his commitment to improving and enhancing the role of subcontractors in New York’s complex construction industry.

Lynn (Anczarski) Mescia ’09 CLAS and Mauro Mescia ’13 CLAS welcomed twin girls, Lana and Maisie, on June 2, 2023.

Diana Mergiotti Nagel ’09 CLAS and her husband, Robert, welcomed their third child, Remy Travis, who joined big sisters Ellie and Grace on Feb. 6, 2024.

2010s

2010

Kaitlin (Worden) Caldwell ’10 COE, and her husband, Thomas, welcomed their third child, a girl named Saoirse Lily, on April 18, 2024.

2011

Daisy Ayllón ’11 CLAS has been named partner at Romanucci and Blandin, a national personal injury firm primarily based in Chicago. Ayllon is a member of the Sexual Abuse and Hazing, Medical Malpractice and Institutional Negligence teams. Outside of work, she volunteers with several civic organizations, including Casa Central, which provides culturally responsive social services to young children, families experiencing homelessness and elderly individuals.

Cory Cuffley ’11 MAC, of the accounting firm SEK, has completed the certification process with the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries to earn the Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA®) credential. Cuffley has more than five years of experience as a corporate retirement plan advisor. Before that, he dedicated more than seven years to a successful career in public accounting at SEK. Cuffley also serves on the board of directors and as endowment committee chair for Bell Socialization Services.

Carine D’Angelo Janos ’11 FCN and her husband, Trent Janos, welcomed a baby boy, Dean, in December 2023., and her husband, Thomas, welcomed their third child, a girl named Saoirse Lily, on April 18, 2024.

Jordan Shipley ’11 CLAS, and her husband, Josh Henderson, welcomed their first child, Holly Marie Henderson, on Jan. 17, 2024.

2012

A former postdoctoral researcher in the Villanova College of Engineering’s Center for Analytics of Dynamic Systems, Dieter Bender ’12 MS, ’21 PhD received the Resuscitation Science Symposium Early Career Investigator Award from the American Heart Association in 2023. Dr. Bender is investigating data from the commonly used pulse oximeter (a small device that detects how much oxygen is in your blood) to determine whether it could indicate the effectiveness of CPR, specifically in children. “Coming from an engineering background and diving into a realm largely led by health care and medical professionals, this recognition is particularly poignant for me,” Dr. Bender said. “Being acknowledged by an authoritative body like the American Heart Association reinforces the significant role that diverse expertise, like engineering, plays in progressing the field of resuscitation science.”

Jeffrey Savio ’12 VSB and Victoria Niche ’14 CLAS were married on Aug. 5, 2023, at St. Thomas of Villanova Church. Among the guests were 40-plus alumni representing class years from 1967 to 2020.

2013

Vincent Cannizzaro III ’13 CWSL has joined Delaware law firm Morris James as chair of the newly formed Corporate/Merger and Acquisitions practice.

Diana Chiavetta ’13 COE and Sagar Parikh ’13 VSB welcomed a son, Lokan Lambert Parikh, on Feb. 24, 2023.

Laura (Barnard) Gulmi ’13 VSB and Robert Gulmi ’13 VSB welcomed a daughter, Eleanor Gulmi, on Jan. 17, 2024.

Nicholas Mataya ’13 MA was tonsured a reader for the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Cathedral in Chicago on May 19, 2024.

2014

Christina Martin Schaff, MD, ’14 CLAS and Mark Schaff ’14 COE welcomed a daughter, Isabella Schaff, on Jan. 25, 2024.

2015

Emily Antenucci Struss ’15 CLAS, ’21 MBA self-published her first children’s book, Little Girls in the Big, Wide World, in February 2024. The book invites young readers to explore the vastness of our planet through the eyes of three adventurous young girls. Struss fell in love with travel when she was one of Villanova’s Vatican interns in Rome in 2014.

2016

Daniel James Gorman Jr. ’16 MA successfully defended his history PhD dissertation, “Phantom Luminaries: Frederick Willis, Spiritualism and Paranormal Investigators in the Age of Disruption,” in December 2023 at the University of Rochester, where, in July 2024, he became a postdoctoral associate.

2018

Deanna (Passaretti) Dolan ’18 CLAS married Matthew Dolan at St. Thomas of Villanova Church on May 11, 2024.

2019

Katherine DiMeo ’19 FCN and Mikey Sesay ’19 COE, ’25 MBA were married on June 15, 2024, in Wayne, Pa.

2020s

2020

Valerie N. Bustillos ’20 MS was named executive director of Financial Aid Systems and Operations at Lone Star College in Houston in September 2023.

Madeleine Coppersmith ’20 CLAS, ’22 MA and Erik “Jack” Sherwood ’20 CLAS, ’22 MA, ’26 MBA were married in June 2024 by University President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD, ’75 CLAS at Holy Family Church in South Pasadena, Calif.

Aaron B. Hodges ’20 MS, a retired US Air Force master sergeant, was promoted to technical publications lead at SURVICE Engineering Co. in May 2024. He serves as editor-in-chief of the three domain journals of the Department of Defense’s Information Analysis Centers, which are focused on defense systems, cybersecurity and information systems, and homeland defense and security.

Agnes Hwang ’20 CLAS has achieved a Villanova first. The 2022-23 Fulbright English Teaching Assistant grantee received the USAID Donald M. Payne International Development Graduate Fellowship. Candidates who apply for this prestigious program are interested in pursuing careers in the Foreign Service of the US Agency for International Development, which provides the funding. As a Payne Fellow, Hwang plans to pursue a graduate degree in International Development and aspires to support democratic grassroots movements as a USAID contracting officer. Hwang’s interest in foreign service was sparked during an internship in Shanghai through the Freeman Foundation Scholarship and further developed during her study abroad experiences in Copenhagen.

Brendan Mullen, Esq., ’20 CLAS, ’23 CWSL passed the July 2023 Pennsylvania Bar Exam and is a deputy attorney general in the Civil Litigation section of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.

Nicole Reynolds ’20 MBA and Brendon Wilson ’21 MBA welcomed a son, William James Wilson, on Nov. 8, 2023.

Hannah Weiss, MD, ’20 CLAS graduated from Creighton University School of Medicine in May 2024 and will complete her pediatric residency at Creighton University/University of Nebraska/Children’s Nebraska. She married James Ahlgren in Omaha, Neb., on May 31, 2024.

2021

Football season is a busy time for Makenna Higgins ’21 CLAS. The former Villanova Dance Team member is marking her second year as a cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles. Although it’s a part-time job, her responsibilities are year-round and include appearances at community events and participation in youth cheer camps.

When Higgins isn’t on the sidelines of Lincoln Financial Field cheering on “The Birds,” she’s in the lab studying pediatric cancers as a full-time research technician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Hoping her work could pave the way to new treatments for childhood brain cancer, Higgins, who majored in Biochemistry and Spanish, plans to return to school and earn her doctorate.

Sam Knehans ’21 MBA received the 2024 College Sports Communicators Rising Star Award in recognition of his work at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, Southern States Athletic Conference, Ivy League and Sun Belt Conference, and his service and dedication to the profession of athletic communications.

2022

Tony Huerta-Apanco ’22 CLAS completed a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship grant to the Czech Republic for 2023–24, and then earned his master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in May 2024.

2024

Mark “Cooper” Lemley ’24 COE joined the Institute for Defense Analyses as a research associate in the Information Technology and Systems Division of the Systems and Analyses Center.