Santa Clara Magazine

Suzanne Yost J.D. ’00, a Los Gatos resident and broker associate with Alain Pinel Realtors, was installed as president of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors, along with the 2012 board of directors, on Jan. 12 in Saratoga.

Yost was active in organized real estate long before becoming a member of the local trade association in 2009. She was named Realtor of the year in 2006 by the Santa Cruz Association of Realtors and salesperson of the year in 1982 by the San Luis Obispo Board of Realtors.

Joe Wlad MBA ’00, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Designated Engineering Representative(DER), recently gave a free webinar, answering questions and offering insight and advice to avionics developers about RTCA’s DO-178C objectives. Also a senior director of Aerospace and Defense at Wind River, Wlad is responsible for all safety-critical and secure products in the aerospace and defense markets. Wlad has more than 25 years of safety-critical systems design, development, test, and evaluation experience including work at LynuxWorks, Intermetrics Inc., McDonnell-Douglas Aircraft Company (in the MD-11 Test and Certification organization), and United Airlines' B747 Fleet engineering and modification organization. 

Wlad has also worked for Trimble Navigation as an Engineering Manager in development and FAA approval of military GPS sensors. He is a FAA DER for Systems and Equipment and Software, is an active private pilot and has co-authored three patents on Global Positioning System integrity functions. Mr. Wlad holds a B.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Buffalo and a MBA from Santa Clara University.

Kelly (Brown) Wissolik ’00 was married to Michael Wissolik (University of Colorado, Boulder) on Jan. 15, 2012, in Santa Cruz, Calif. Her sisters shared the role of Matron of Honor, and her high school friends and college friend Rebecca Eisenman Subity ’00 were her bridesmaids. Kelly and her new husband are happily settling into married life in Los Gatos, Calif.

Judiana (Somilleda) Viruet ’00 and husband Jose Luis Viruet welcome their first child, a girl, Annabella Viruet, born on February 19, 2012, weighing 6 pounds 3 ounces. The family resides in Houston, Texas, and are loving every minute with little Annabella.

Jason A. Thompson '00 and Merrin L Thompson welcomed the addition of their first child, Daughter Zoe Ella Thompson, on March 30th, 2011.

Elizabeth Thompson '00 married Shyam Krishnan June 10 at Moonridge Vineyard in Glen Ellen, Calif. The ceremony was presided by Ashley Cronin '00 and Kabir Sheikh. Additional SCU grads in attendance: John Thompson JD '01, Erica (Cervantes) Rodriguez '99, Kara (Hartz) Yoshikawa '00, Adam Rausch '01, Deepa Duvvuru '00, M.S. '03, Christy Souhrada '00, Elspeth Rossetti '75, M.A. '96, John Ryan '62, MBA '66, and Joanie (Colby) Bronzini '96.

Jill E. Thomas ’00 and husband Curt Douglas welcomed their first child Alden Zinn Douglas on February 12, 2012. Since both of his parents are teachers, Alden was named after Howard Zinn, who they consider a revolutionary educator. The family resides in Oakland.

Tony P Santos '00 recently opened Lunch with Tony, a lunch cafe and caterer, in the Alviso neighborhood of San Jose, Calif. Tony and his wife, Laura Anderson-Santos '00, reside in San Jose.

Kristin (Waldram) Russo '00 and Thomas Richard Russo on Oct. 17 at St. Mary's Cathedral in Portland, OR. Erin (Fuller) Betker '00 served as a bridesmaid. Other alumni in attendance: Nick and Jen (Kogen) Albertini '00, Bryan Bayless '99 and Erika (Johnson) Bayless '00, Eric and Katie (Hansen) Canaday '00, Dave and Tracie (Waldram) Gonyea '93, Adam Harrington '00, Annemarie (Alvistur) Kelley '00, Joe Menning '01, Brian Murphy '00, Jill Scherffius '00, and Kim Stetson '00.

Katherine Rendler '00 and Ben Roxborough were married September 25, 2010 at Mission Santa Clara. The couple resides in Los Gatos.

Myra Ramirez-Geronimo '00 and her husband Marc welcomed a baby girl, Emma Grace, on September 1, 2010. Emma joins big brother Nicholas. The family lives in San Diego.

Matthew Powelson J.D. '00 of LaRiviere, Grubman & Payne, LLP has been elected to the Officer Track of the IP Section of the California State Bar. In this position, he will become Secretary in September 2009 and the Chair of the IP Section in two years.

Gina N. Policastri '00, J.D. '03 was recently certified by the California Board of Legal Specialization, State Bar of California as a Family Law Specialist. Ms. Policastri is a senior associate at Lonich & Patton, LLP, where she has worked since 2003.

Jessica Perry ’97, J.D. ’00, was among this year’s winners of the San Francisco Business Times’ 40 Under 40 award, which honors “the best and brightest young leaders who are shaping our region’s vibrant future.” Lawson is a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. Read full article here.

Colette (Meyer) Perachiotti '00 and Tony Perachiotti '00 welcomed a baby boy, Dominic Charles, on April 9. They live in Marin.

Tony Perachiotti '00 and Colette (Meyer) Perachiotti '00 welcomed their second son, Tyler, on November 20. Their first son Dominic is three years old, and the family lives in Marin County, in Novato.

April (Valenzuela) Paye '00 is working with fellow Ann Linthacum ’83, MBA ’90 in a new dance studio, Allegro Performing Arts, in San Jose.  The studio opened this summer to host dance camps and prepare a ballet conservatory program for pre-professional dancers. April has also performed recently with South Bay Musical Theatre in its 2011 production of 42nd Street and has been cast as a showgirl for the upcoming 2012 production of Funnygirl.

Jill (Blasi) Olmstead '00 and husband Zack welcomed their first child, Micah Paul, on Oct. 8, 2008. The family lives in Sacramento.

Jill (Blasi) Olmstead ’00 and Zack Olmstead—their daughter, Eleanora (Ellie) Grace Olmstead, on May 27, 2011. Micah (3) loves being a big brother. The family lives in Sacramento, Calif.

Jeff Nishita MBA '00 was named a principal at Novogradac & Company LLP, a national CPA and consulting firm headquartered in San Francisco. Mr. Nishita is one of the founders of the firm’s LIHTC Working Group, a membership organization that addresses technical issues in the low income housing tax credit program, performs numerous services in the affordable housing and renewable energy industries, including audit and tax services, consulting, forecasting, and training.

In addition, he is in charge of maintaining the firm’s Financial Forecast Model on CD-ROM. Mr. Nishita also works in the defeasance industry, providing services to borrowers and lenders. He speaks at various affordable housing conferences throughout the year and is a technical editor for the firm’s various Special Reports. Prior, Mr. Nishita worked with several start-up companies and small businesses in various executive positions. He is licensed in California as a certified public accountant.