Class Notes

Will Dorton, LA05, joined Dickinson Wright PLLC as of counsel. His practice involves counseling companies on complex corporate transactions, including leveraged finance and general mergers and acquisitions. Previously, Dorton was corporate and securities counsel at Tempur Sealy International.

Jonathan Gass, BU04, sold Nomad Financial, a  New York City financial services firm that he founded in 2013 to serve high-growth venture-capital and private-equity-backed companies.

Kristen Ehrenberger, LA04, completed a residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and joined the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine faculty as an assistant professor of internal medicine. Ehrenberger teaches patient care and medical history.

Chad Kaffer, LW03, was named a partner at Taylor English Duma LLP. Working in the firm’s corporate and business department, Kaffer focuses on business, real estate and commercial law.

Jesse Cook, LA03, co-founded Watsi in 2011 to raise money via crowdfunding for patients’ health-care costs, focusing on low-cost, high-impact treatments. Cook left the nonprofit in 2014, but the organization has grown to fund health-care costs for over 20,000 patients in 25 countries. Another WashU grad, Mackinnon (Webster) Engen, LA04, currently serves as Watsi’s executive director.

Aaron Chait, LA03, with his wife, Meghan, and their two daughters, welcomed a son and brother, Clark. The family lives in Chicago, where Chait is a lawyer with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights as well as an adjunct law professor. 

Liz (Connolly) Zimmerly, EN01, relocated with her family to the Chicago area and now works with ComEd managing new-construction energy-efficiency programs. Previously, she worked eight years with the nation’s greenest utility, Seattle City Light.

Kacey Cordes, LA01, vice president at U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation, was named chair of Urban Land Institute (ULI) St. Louis District Council. She was also named to chair the national ULI Public-Private Partnership Council. Cordes’ goals are to tap thoughtful leadership, prioritizing partnerships and social justice to drive equitable development throughout St. Louis.

Karen Budell, LA01, joined SurveyMonkey as vice president of brand marketing. She works at the survey software company’s San Mateo, Calif., headquarters and lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains with her husband, Joel. Previously, she worked four years at Google.

John Hollman, GR00, is a professor of physical therapy and director of the program in physical therapy at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Rochester, Minn. He also was appointed assistant dean of student and faculty affairs in the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences in 2020.