Santa Clara Magazine

Chantel Waterbury ’97, founder and CEO of chloe + isabel, was listed in "More 40 under 40" by Fortune magazine. Although the 37-year-old didn't make the main list of business' hottest rising stars, she was nevertheless recognized as being among the latest players on the direct-sales jewelry scene, helping sellers set up virtual store fronts and offering them a range of jewelry to hawk using their social networking savvy. Waterbury has more than 14 years of experience developing jewelry for retailers like Macys, Old Navy, and LVMH's DFS Galleria.

Danielle (Martinez) Sempek '97 welcomed daughter Kathryn McCullough Sempek into the world on Jan. 10, 2011 and son Noah James Sempek into the world on April 2, 2012. She is happily married and working as a registered nurse in Tallahassee, Fla.

Laura Lee Norris J.D. ’97 has been named founding director of the new Entrepreneur’s Law Clinic at Santa Clara's School of Law. 

Yan Yuen Brenda Lao MBA ’97 writes, "I am working at Hong Kong Baptist University now."

Birgitta Delurgio Hughes ’97 and husband Allen Hughes—their second child, a daughter, Faith Marie Hughes, on Oct. 22, 2012. She joins brother Rhys Delurgio Hughes, 2. The family lives in Kirkland, Wash. outside of Seattle.

Joe Frontiera ’97 and Dan Leidl have completed their first book, Team Turnarounds. The book is distributed through publisher Jossey-Bass. Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner (the Accolti Professor of Leadership at the Leavey School of Business) have written the foreword.

Russell Dahl ’97 is an associate professor of medicinal chemistry in the Departments of Neuroscience and Pharmaceutical Science at The Chicago Medical School of Rosalind Franklin University, in North Chicago. Dr. Dahl is the author of more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and an inventor on over 20 patents in small molecule therapeutics. He also directs the Laboratory for Molecular Design and Drug Discovery.

Colleen Blake ’97 was named one of Silicon Valley Business Journal’s “100 Women of Influence.” As sr. director, Global People Operations, Brocade Communications Systems Inc., Blake is a key partner in driving the company’s involvement in community initiatives for young girls and women, and is responsible for the company’s diversity and inclusion strategy, including the expansion of Brocade’s Women In Networking (WIN) initiative across the globe. Blake was named to the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s 2012 "40 Under 40" list, and she is active in youth and women's organizations.

Imelda Wong ’98 married Jediah Kortens on June 23, 2012 at Northstar, Lake Tahoe. In attendance were fellow SCU alumni Jeff Prentice ’98, Amy Pearsall ’98, Angela (Wang) Fisher ’98, Meilissa Lum ’98, Malissa (Pena) Goldstein ’98, and Mary Grace Barasi ’98. Imelda is a teacher in San Jose, and Jediah works in HR.

Clark Stone J.D. ’98 joined Hogan Lovells as a partner in the intellectual property practice, based in Silicon Valley. Stone's practice focuses on litigation relating to patents, trademarks, Internet privacy, trade secrets, and business disputes for high technology clients, in federal and state courts and the ITC. He has handled cases involving semiconductor devices, manufacturing processes and equipment, electronic circuitry, global positioning systems, cellular handsets, patent licenses, commercial contracts, online trademark issues, software, electronic mail, and trade secrets misappropriation.

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Stone worked in both technical and managerial positions for various semiconductor manufacturing equipment companies, including Applied Materials, Inc., and Novellus Systems, Inc. He has an extensive knowledge of semiconductor devices and manufacturing techniques, plasma etching and deposition, and Internet-related technologies.

A past president of the Santa Clara County Bar Association (2007), Stone has served as a volunteer arbitrator for the Santa Clara County Bar Association's Attorney-Client Fee Dispute Arbitration program since 2002, and also serves as a volunteer arbitrator for the State Bar of California's Mandatory Fee Arbitration program.

Robert P. Rutila J.D. '98 has returned to Ridenour, Hienton & Lewis in Phoenix, Ariz. He practices commercial litigation and is focused on construction law, landlord/tenant disputes, creditors rights, real estate, banking and general-contract issues.

Rachel (Palmer) ’98 and David Plut ’97 welcomed their third baby girl, Charlotte Sunshine, on August 20. The family lives in Spokane, Wash.

Jill Cardoza Painter '98 and Al Painter '95 welcomed Lilly Hannah Painter to their family Aug. 17, 2011.

On July 7, 2012, Steve O'Brien '98 wed Julianne (Visbal) O'Brien '04 in the Santa Clara Mission Church with over 40 fellow Broncos in attendance. It was truly a great day to be a Bronco! Today, the couple resides in Annapolis, MD, where Julianne works as a civil engineer with Bay Engineering, and Steve serves as the Naval Academy Athletic Association's Associate Athletic Director-Development at the United States Naval Academy. The O'Briens enjoy regularly returning to the Mission Campus for a variety of SCU events and are looking forward to making their next trip back this October for Steve's 15-year reunion.  

Front row: Anthony Zamora '98, Matt McNelis '98, Frank Lico '52, Julianne (Visbal) O'Brien '04, Steve O'Brien '98, Bill O'Brien '70, Chris Brady '98, Stephan Vernaelde '05, Fr. Art Liebscher '69, M.Div '84  Second row: Tom McDermott '52, Lisa (Sacco) Swendsen '98, Matt Giudice '98, Jack Grimes '98, Ryan Dunn '98, Joe Delucchi '98, John Maloney '85, Francisco Zepponi '05 Third row: Lauren Prehoda '03, Damien Swendsen '98, MA '00, Erahm Machado '98, Keith Marshall '98, Dan Romanski '98, Chris Yamashita '98, Barbie Graver '98, Brandon Kitagawa '98, Aaron Uchikura '05, MA '11  Fourth row: Paul Neilan '70, Kimarie (Reasons) Manfre '79, Sallie Krochalis '04, Rebecca (Levy) Corwin '04, Steve Heyn '98, Jason Sarich '98, Nicole (Tung) Sarich '98, Cinde Quint '73, Mike Quint '72, Teddie Page MA '98, Tom DeNatale '73, MS '79, Cynthia (Page) Teeple '96 Fifth row: Nick Livak '59, J.D '63, Rich Giorgetti '70, Terry Giorgetti '71, Jim Obot '77, Lynsey (Yeakel) Kehrli '04, Bob Kehrli '04, Dan Turner '98, James Dallosta '04, Jeff Herbage '04, Jen Zamora '98, Paul Page MA '95

Tina (Hughes) Nelson '86, M.A. '98 and Thomas—the adoption of their daughter, Antonia (Toni) Rose Nelson, on May 18, 2011. The family resides in Willow Glen/San Jose, Calif. Tina is currently the school library coordinator with the San Mateo County Office of Education while Tom is a senior system engineer with Lockheed Martin.

Meredith McKenzie J.D. ’98 was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown ’59 to the Dental Board of California. McKenzie has been vice president and deputy general counsel at Juniper Networks since 2012. She was senior director of intellectual property at Symantec Corporation from 2006 to 2012, director of litigation, licensing and IP for Cypress Semiconductor from 2001 to 2006 and corporate counsel and director of IP at Enuvis Inc. from 2000 to 2001. McKenzie was an associate for Howrey LLP from 1998 to 2000 and patent agent and design engineer at Intel Corporation from 1993 to 1998.

Jill Layfield ’98 contributed “The Trail to the Top” to The New York Times column "The Boss," about her career path. Layfield is the chief executive of Backcountry.com, an online retailer of outdoor gear based in Park City, Utah.

 Imelda (Wong) Kortens '98 and Jediah Kortens welcomed their first baby boy, Jackson Robert Kortens, into the world on April 30, 2013.

Cathy (Miller) Justl '98, M.A. '01  and David Justl '99 live in Wisconsin and are pleased to announce the arrival of Katherine Yeon Emma Justl, born March 17, 2011, in Osan, South Korea, home forever on August 30, 2012. She joins big sister, Kiya, age 4.

Olga Diaz ’98 was named Civic Leader of the Year at U-T San Diego’s second annual San Diego Latino Champions Awards ceremony.

Jason M. Caskey ’98 is an attorney in the Intellectual Property and Information Technology group at Kutak Rock LLP, specializing in technology licensing, copyright, trademarks, and commercial transactions. His wife, Kirsten, and he welcomed their son Daniel Patrick on December 26, 2011, joining big sisters Grace (6) and Claire (4). The family lives in Omaha, Nebraska, but Jason makes it back to the Bay Area to visit with clients and friends as often as possible.