USD Magazine Summer 2007

[ 2 0 0 4 ] MARLENE BALAOING (M.A.) married Ryan Fisher in August 2006. She is a licensed insurance agent in San Diego. WILLIAM FORBES (M.S.) recently accepted a position on the advisory board to USD’s Supply Chain Man- agement Institute. LAURA FREEDMAN (B.B.A.) opened her own retail jewelry store in Brentwood, Calif. ERIN MCCARTNEY (J.D.) recently returned from spending five months in Baghdad, where she was advising the Iraqis on a new permanent secu- rities law. Erin has rejoined the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Enforcement, in Washing- ton, D.C. SARAH (GILLIS) MCPHERSON (B.A.) and her husband, Kevin, were married on Sept. 30, 2006. USD alum- ni in attendance were roommates Lisa (Roehl) Walle, Natalia Clark, Melissa Herrera and Tiffani Fitzsim- mons. Sarah has worked for a large homebuilding company for two and a half years and is considering going back to school. GEORGE MURGA (M.A. ) was recently promoted to lieutenant commander. He is currently serving as chief engineer onboard a mine sweeper deployed in the Persian Gulf. [ 2 0 0 5 ] ERIC LAZARUS (J.D. ) lives in Pasadena and is a “California govern- ment drone,” he says. TIMOTHY LUIKART (B.A. ) and Melissa Merdes ’05 were married on July 21, 2006. RALPH MICHAEL (M.B.A. ) was recently promoted to software archi- tect of Intuit Inc.’s TurboTax division. LAURA TAYLOR (M.A.) is a pro- gram officer working on the Nepal project at USD’s Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice. [ 2 0 0 6 ] ILEANA OVALLE (M.A.) is the government and community rela- tions manager for Cox Communica- tions in San Diego. Ileana was direc- tor of government and public affairs at Public Solutions, assisting clients

through the governmental process and advocating their causes at the decision-making level. She also worked at San Diego Grantmakers to strengthen philanthropy in the San Diego region. She is a graduate of the 2006 LEAD San Diego class and the recipient of the San Diego Union Tribune Emerging Leader Award, an advisory board member for USD’s Nonprofit Leadership and Manage- ment Program, and vice chair of the board of directors of the Aquatic Adventures marine science education program. MATT SHOWLEY (M.B.A.) mar- ried Alex Kent ’03 on Oct. 7, 2006, in La Jolla.“It was an amazing day, after which we honeymooned in Kauai,”he says. JOHN A. TUCKER (M.ED. ’75) has passed away. In Memoriam Send class notes to one of the follow- ing addresses and we’ll get them in USD Magazine as soon as possible. Class notes may be edited for space. Engagements, pregnancies, personal e-mail addresses and telephone numbers cannot be published. E-mail: classnotes@sandiego.edu Web site: www.sandiego.edu/usdmag U.S. Mail: USD Magazine Class Notes, Department of University Marketing and Creative Services, University of San Diego, 5998 Alcalá Park, San Diego, CA 92110. Send Class Notes

spends a lot of time with her nephews, three boys her brother adopted from Ethiopia. She also trains for breast cancer walks/runs, raises funds for the Susan G. Komen Foundation and is working on certifi- cation in geographic information sys- tems at Mesa Community College. EMILIO MAGANA (B.A.) is in his last year of seminary formation at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, Calif. He is scheduled to be ordained as a priest on June 1, 2007, in San Diego. JILL (CARLAND) MCCANSE (B.A.) earned a J.D. in 2006 from Marquette University Law School. She and her husband, Michael, met in law school and were married on Oct. 7, 2006, in Paradise Valley, Ariz. Both work at a corporate defense litigation firm in downtown Phoenix. ASHLEY RAY (J.D.) practiced law in the area of pharmaceutical defense for about a year and then started her own company, Ray Residential Properties. Through her firm, Ashley partners with a local developer working on downtown revitalization through residential condominiums in Raleigh, N.C. WENDY SHIMOHARA (M.A.) and her husband, Cruzado, welcomed their first baby, Kyle Joshua, on Jan. 13, 2006. MICHELLE (GARDNER) TOMA- LONIS (B.A.) and her husband, Brian, were married on Aug. 27, 2006, in Burlingame, Calif. Kimberly Welters and Ashley Guggia were part of the bridal party, and alumni in atten- dance included Erin Hanekamp, Meagan Santos, and Dominic and Jenn Marquis. Michelle is an investi- gator for Lerach, Coughlin, Stoia, Geller, Rudman and Robbins. CHRISTOPHER YANOV (M.A., M.A. ’04) is the executive director of Reality Changers, an organization that serves San Diego inner-city teens by helping to improve each member’s relationship with God and assisting each member in going away to a four-year university upon com- pletion of high school. Since 2001 the teens have earned more than $2.5 million in college scholarships. “If you would like to tutor these moti- vated high school students, please visit www.realitychangers.org,” says Christopher.

The foundation supplies communica- tions and entertainment equipment, software and services to small, over- seas, remote U.S. military bases. Brett is an attorney with Computer Systems Center Inc. He and his wife, Lara, live in Virginia with a large black Labrador retriever named Parker. JOSEPH CUNNINGHAM (M.S.E.L.) and his wife, Amy ’03, recently purchased My Gym, a fran- chise children’s fitness center. “Our program is a gymnastics-based fitness program for children from 3 months to 13 years old,” Joseph says. Since graduating from USD, they’ve had two children: Quinn, 3, and Chloe, 18 months. Joseph and Amy have both started their own corporations. Amy is a part-time consultant, but primarily a stay-at- home mom, Joseph says. ANNA DEYOUNG (B.A.) is earn- ing a master’s degree in anthropolo- gy at San Diego State University, with a concentration in business anthro- pology. She works on projects throughout San Diego County, study- ing the culture of various workplaces and making recommendations to help businesses resolve issues relat- ing to human behavior. DAVID GIRARDIN (M.A.) is the senior chaplain at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Va. He was pro- moted to captain in the U.S. Navy and credentialed through the Ameri- can Association of Pastoral Coun- selors. He and his wife, Barbara, and children, D.J. and Emily, are enjoying the Tidewater area of Virginia. MICHAELA HANEY (B.A.) is com- pleting her second year of medical school at the University of NewMexico. CHERYL KURTZ (M.S.) is a marine ecologist with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in San Diego. As part of the new professional pro- gram, Cheryl has worked with the Marine Mammal Program and the Marine Environmental Support Office, where she accepted a perma- nent assignment. Cheryl works most- ly in environmental compliance and toxicity testing in labs, and she pro- vides technical and regulatory sup- port to scientists working on permits for future sinkings of Navy ships as artificial reefs. She also has co- authored several scientific docu- ments. Cheryl has two cats and

Please note that Class Notes submitted after May 1, 2007, will appear in the Fall 2007 issue of USD Magazine .

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