Class Notes

Viola Bordon, BFA ’18, was selected by the Sam Fox School as a winner of a 2025 Stone & DeGuire Contemporary Art Award. The awards are open to BFA and MFA alumni of WashU working in sculpture, painting, printmaking, photography and/or time-based media. Winners, chosen by a faculty and alumni jury, each receive $25,000 to advance their artistic practice.

Rachel Youn, BFA ’17, was selected by the Sam Fox School as a winner of a 2025 Stone & DeGuire Contemporary Art Award. The awards are open to BFA and MFA alumni of WashU working in sculpture, painting, printmaking, photography and/or time-based media. Winners, chosen by a faculty and alumni jury, each receive $25,000 to advance their artistic practice.

Yvonne Osei, MFA ’16, had an exhibition of new works, The Mess Is Us, on display at the Bruno David Gallery April–June. The show investigated systemic violence against Black bodies and communities. She transformed her own photographs and historic images of St. Louis neighborhoods, landmarks, residents and beyond into intricate textile patterns.

Eric Willis, MBA ’15, was named to Joybound People & Pets board of directors. Joybound is a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening the human-animal bond through rescue, adoption, service animal training, vocational programs and community outreach. A marketing executive with over two decades at Nestlé Purina PetCare, Willis brings extensive expertise in brand strategy, business leadership and communications to the board. He also serves as a United Way division chair and is a member of WashU’s Olin Business School Alumni Board.

Evan Weller, MBA ’15, JD ’15, was promoted to special counsel at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP.

Chun Liu, MArch ’15, was promoted to senior associate at CO Architects, a national design firm specializing in health care, education and research facilities. Liu is a project manager and architect with a diverse background in large, complex health-care and academic projects throughout the United States and abroad.

En Li, PhD ’15, and Jeffrey Beckett, AB ’08, met at WashU in a Japanese history seminar in spring 2008 and were later married. Li also wrote Betting on the Civil Service Examinations: The Lottery in Late Qing China (Harvard University Asia Center, 2023). Li is assistant professor of modern East Asian history at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Mariah Cushman, BS ’15, is a senior manager of grid innovation and performance at Southern California Edison in Los Angeles. She married Lane Wenner, BS ’15, in 2019 and graduated from Harvard Business School with an MBA and MS engineering dual degree in 2023.

Vanessa Gravenor, BFA ’14, was selected by the Sam Fox School as a winner of a 2025 Stone & DeGuire Contemporary Art Award. The awards are open to BFA and MFA alumni of WashU working in sculpture, painting, printmaking, photography and/or time-based media. Winners, chosen by a faculty and alumni jury, each receive $25,000 to advance their artistic practice.

Kathryn Dinolfo, MBA ’13, was named vice president of the Above & Beyond Children’s Museum board. She joined the board in 2023 and assisted in the creation of the organization’s next strategic plan. The museum was established in 1993 and has served the children and families of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and surrounding communities for more than 30 years. Dinolfo is a senior product manager at American Orthodontics.