Class Notes

Alana Schachtel, B.A., Fairhaven interdisciplinary concentration, and Erik Fure, '16, B.S., psychology, are musicians who used to jam together at Western and are now in Chicago as creating music as Immaterialize. Their songs "blur the lines between indie rock, dream pop, and experimental textures."

Sam Wallin, B.A., theatre, also goes by Crash Solo works for the Whatcom County Library System helps organize the Salish Sea Poetry Festival. He's also a judge for the 2026 Sue C. Boyton Poetry Contest. 

Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor, B.A., English, M.A., English, performs as a storyteller specializing in stories based on Filipino folktales and Filipino-American history. She is also a judge of the 2026 Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest. 

Libby Hale, B.A., Fairhaven interdisciplinary concentration, recently became the marketing coordinator for the architecture firm McGranahanPBK in Tacoma

Charmaine Riley, B.A., journalism - public relations, is communications director at American Beverage, the trade association representing the non-alcoholic beverage industry, and just began her term as the 2026 president of Washington Women in Public Relations.

William L. Kerns, 97, on Nov. 5, 2023. 

Scott Cassidy, 44, an officer for Port of Seattle Law Enforcement, on March 12, 2025. 

Rick Reichert, B.A., history, is a major gifts officer for Yale New Haven Health in Connecticut. He also runs a tax practice, Taxwork. Rick would love to see fellow Vikings in the NYC area. 

Gabrielle Kazuko Nomura Gainor, B.A., journalism, is senior director of communications for Plymouth Housing, the region's largest permanent supportive housing provider. They were recently included in the Puget Sound Business Journal's 40 Under 40 list of honorees.

Tanya Bjornsson, B.A., French, was named "A Washington winemaker to watch" by the Seattle Times Pacific NW Magazine. Tanya's label, Esja, is named after a mountain range in Iceland, where her parents are from, and specializes in "minimally intervened Washington wine, that is funky, fresh, and fun." 

Matthew Maury, B.A., '89, business administration - international business, was appointed as the CEO for the Australian Council for International Development, the peak body for the international development sector in Australia. Matthew's wife Susan Connelly Maury, B.A., English - writing, earned her Ph.D. at Monash University in Australia, and after several years leading the Research Fellows portfolio at the Victoria Health Foundation she has recently started as the Policy and Advocacy director for MND Australia. Both Susan and Matthew worked for 18 years in Africa in the international development sector before moving to Australia several years ago.

Matthew Maury, B.A., business administration - international business, was appointed as the CEO for the Australian Council for International Development, the peak body for the international development sector in Australia. Matthew's wife Susan Connelly Maury, '88, B.A., English - writing, earned her Ph.D. at Monash University in Australia, and after several years leading the Research Fellows portfolio at the Victoria Health Foundation she has recently started as the Policy and Advocacy director for MND Australia. Both Susan and Matthew worked for 18 years in Africa in the international development sector before moving to Australia several years ago.

Kris DeBruine, B.S., visual communications and '11, M.Ed., educational leadership recently retired after 22 years in public education, most recently at Burlington-Edison High School where she taught computer science. Kris also served for 14 years as a Chi Alpha campus pastor, some of those years with Campus Christian Fellowship at Western.

Julia Tatum, B.S., environmental science - freshwater ecology and '21, M.S., environmental science, is working toward her Ph.D. studying forest ecology at Northern Arizona University. 

Leanna Bridge Rezvani, B.A., French, is a lecturer in French in the Global Languages Department at MIT. The University of Delaware Press just published her monograph, "Hagiography in Marguerite de Navarre's Heptaméron: Saints and Debates in Renaissance France." 

Paola Merrill, B.A., English - literature, and her husband recently purchased Trail's End, a treasured community bookstore in Winthrop. Paola is an artist and videographer whose YouTube content, "The Cottage Fairy," went viral during COVID.

After a career working in ocean conservation and public policy at the national level, Deborah Atwood, B.S., marine biology, recently wrote a children's book, "The Secret Life of Lulu: The Enchanting Kelp Mermaid," to share her love of the ocean with young readers. 

Darby McDevitt, B.A., English - writing, has a new "gripping, twisty mystery" set in Seattle, "Halter," a near-future sci-fi novel published by Diversion Books. 

Carol V. Davis, B.A. Fairhaven interdisciplinary studies, has a new book of poetry, "Hovering." Davis was twice a senior Fulbright bright scholar in Russia and is the author of four books of poetry plus one bilingual book and several shorter books, including this new one.

Adolfo Capestany, B.A., speech communication and '90, M.A., communications, retired Nov. 1, 2025, after 42.5 years in public affairs and media relations roles for the state of Washington. Most recently he spent the past 12 years as the senior director of Communications and Government Affairs for the Department of Social and Health Services, the state’s largest agency. During his time at WWU in the early '80s he was a graduate teaching assistant in the Communications Department and also served as the public address announcer for Vikings men’s and women’s basketball in Carver Gym. He also recently married Maria Rogers on October 18, 2025.