Santa Clara Magazine

Debbie A. Klis '90 has been named to Maryland's Top 100 Women list by The Daily Record. The list recognizes the accomplishments of women who have achieved professional success and making a difference through their leadership, community service, and mentoring.

Ms. Klis, of counsel in Ballard Spahr's Bethesda office, concentrates on transactional matters in an array of business, securities, and tax issues. She is known for her work with investment management companies, including the formation and operation of EB-5 immigration investment funds, hedge funds, private equity funds, SPACs, real estate funds, oil and gas funds, and international master-feeder structures.

Nicholas Murphy, eldest son of Brendan ’91 and Nina ’91, graduated from Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, Calif. in May 2013. His brother Matthew completed his freshman year at the same school.

Xavier Romano M.A. ’92 writes, "After taking on a consultancy in Saudi Arabia during the 'Arab Spring' near the Yemen boarder, and witnessing one Tahrir Square protest in Cairo, I found myself back in California in April 2012 taking on the role as Fresno campus director of Alliant International University. After more than a year in Fresno I have a newfound respect for Silicon Valley, the Bay Area, and a dozen years in the 'wilderness' of Illinois while at Knox College! Good to be back in California—and my time in the Middle East prepped me well for the heat of Central California.  ;-)"

L.A. County Deputy Public Defender Luis Rodriguez ’89, J.D. ’92 is running unopposed for president of the State Bar of California for 2013-2014. Rodriguez, the current vice president, was admitted to the State Bar in 1994 after attending college and law school at the University of Santa Clara. He is a former president of the California La Raza Lawyers Association, the Mexican American Bar Association and the Latino Public Defenders Association. MABA, which Rodriguez headed in 2001, issued a congratulatory statement calling him “an exemplary role model for the next generation of Latino/Latina lawyers in the State of California.”

Patricia L. Sullivan '93 is an assistant professor of international relations in the Department of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her book, Who Wins? Predicting Strategic Success and Failure in Armed Conflict, was published by Oxford University Press in July 2012.

Patricia (Aquino) Magolske '93 and husband John Magolske—a daughter, Stella Rose, on Jan. 5, 2013. The family resides in San Francisco.

Keith Jordan ’89, J.D. ’93 writes, "I work for an amazing company that is a disruptive game-changer for the betterment of business and employees. I partner with other companies and look for ways to bring value to their business with a measurable ROI. I determine how I can improve a company's 'PIERS': Productivity, Image, Expenses, Revenue, Safety, Security, Stability."

Lara E. Zientek Colvert '93 writes that she is pursuing psychology in the form of massage therapy. Over the years, her bodywork studies have taken her to Oakland and Hawaii, where she spent a very relaxing four weeks learning Lomi Lomi massage. She currently works as an on-call therapist in Campbell, stays involved with her two beautiful children, Tia and Stephen, sings with Ladyesong Vocal Ensemble, as well as another small group, and occasionally gets to perform with her husband, Bill Colvert, who is the trained "real" singer in the family. She also loves to spend time with her amazingly supportive friends, hiking, biking, singing, and taking her children to Santa Clara University every now and then to see all of the changes.

Thomas E. Bertelsen Jr. MA ’93, a longtime benefactor and board member of the Jesuit School of Theology, has helped launch a $230,000 endowed scholarship fund for the Berkeley-based school, in honor of Oakland Bishop Emeritus John S. Cummins.

Joanne Bannan Vogt '94 and Erik Vogt welcomed daughter Regina Virginia Vogt on September 30, 2012.

Kelly O'Brien J.D. ’94 married RJ Sebrasky on Feb. 4, 2012.  She is expecting her third baby boy on May 24, 2013.

Jim Fleming, S.J., M.Div. ’94, executive VP of Wheeling Jesuit University, has been appointed the institution’s tenth president by the board of trustees, effective July 1, 2013. He will succeed Mr. Richard Beyer, who has decided not to seek a second term. 

Mariah (Youngkin) Baughn '94 has completed a pathology residency at U.C. San Diego and a hematopathology fewlloship at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, Calif. She has accepted a position as a staff pathologist at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla. She resides in San Diego with husband Jeff Baughn MBA '03 and son Evan (10).

Kelley Wall ’95 has been named a director at Rose Ryan, a finance and accounting consulting firm based in Silicon Valley. Wall, who has worked at RoseRyan since 2005, will add the responsibility of creating new-product strategy to her current role of leading the firm’s Technical Accounting Group.

Amy Brydon Rapp '95 and Toby Rapp welcomed their son, Andrew, on Feb. 21, 2013. Amy works for Nike and the family lives in Portland, Ore.

Ron Hansen M.A. ’95, M.Div. ’04 is this year’s recipient of the Evil Companions Award, which honors a writer who hails from the West or writes about it. Hansen is an Omaha native who teaches literature at Santa Clara University. He has earned numerous honors in his four decades as a novelist, essayist and short-story writer, including the status of creating one of the longer and more intriguing titles in contemporary fiction: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Ken and Leanna (Porter) Deaton '95 joyfully celebrate the adoption of their son, Samuel Addisu Deaton on January 1, 2013. The family resides in Hayden, Idaho.

Bernard Zanck ’67 writes, "My son, Bernie Zanck ’96, just graduated from University of Chicago with an MBA on March 22, 2013. He was also the Director of Recruitment for the university's MBA program, and during his time as director he spent 3 years in London recruiting for the program."

Mike Betz '96 and Alisa (Harmon) Betz '97 are pleased to announce the birth of their third (and final) future Bronco, Charles Donald Betz on Oct. 14, 2012. Charlie joins his siblings Alice and Henry and has the distinct privilege of being the proud owner of numerous articles of hand-me-down SCU gear! Here's to hoping they all get in to SCU! Third one's free, right?