Class Notes

Julia L. Bienias, AB ’86, MA ’86, was named a Fellow of the American Statistical Association in 2021.

Jeff Lefton, MBA ’85, was selected to do his “Murder by Magic” show last month in Melbourne, Australia. Lefton has been performing magic professionally since he was 12, starting at children’s birthday parties. He has gone on to perform at Hollywood’s Magic Castle, in Las Vegas, and on a three-month national tour for General Motors. Using his WashU MBA, he founded and sold two St. Louis companies devoted to magic and entertainment — Lefton Promotions and Abra-Kid-Abra.

Michelle Gralnick, AB ’84, after a successful 30-plus year career as executive director for local and international nonprofit organizations, “recreated” herself as a resident rights advocate and private care manager, providing support and services to individuals living in residential care communities. Gralnick has authored articles and blogs, spoken at conferences, and testified in Jefferson City, Missouri, to address and improve quality of care, and she recently served as a resource to KSDK-TV as part of their ongoing investigation of abuse and neglect in nursing homes.

Leonard Chanin, JD ’84, accepted a position as chief counsel to the president of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, which provides support and guidance to all state bank commissioners.

Michael Ivy, AB ’83, was appointed chief medical officer of Gaylord Specialty Healthcare in Connecticut. Previously, he was health deputy chief medical officer at Yale New Haven Health.

Nathan Byers, BS ’82, is semiretired from a career in engineering consulting and working three days per week (more or less). Despite having more time, he is still as busy as ever. Byers and his wife, Page, are empty nesters and are experiencing the paradox of both loving the quiet house and missing their daughters, Hallie and Harper.

Thomas Berthoff, AB ’82, retired in January 2021 after a 25-year career in information technology and has been devoting himself to his Buddhist path.

Peter Tao, AB ’79, was featured in 2023 by St. Louis CITY soccer club and Enterprise in their Exceptional Neighbor recognition program for his work and commitment in the St. Louis community. Tao is working with the Missouri Historical Society on its Chinese American Collecting Initiative, where he is chair of the advisory committee. He is board president of OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, a civil rights and advocacy organization for the Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander community. Peter’s father, William Tao, MS ’50, DSc ’97, a former emeritus trustee of Washington University, helped found the OCA St. Louis Chapter and the national movement back in 1973.

Bonnie-Belle K.C. Chun, AB ’78, retired in July 2018 after 37 years of public service with the County of Los Angeles. She then relocated to hometown Honolulu, Hawaii.

Khan Zahid, MA ’75, retired and moved to the Charlotte, North Carolina, area. He has had many adventures. After WashU, he earned a doctorate in economics at Columbia University where two of his advisers won the Nobel Prize in Economics. Zahid started his career teaching, moved to life insurance research, and then took a position with the U.S. Treasury Department as an economic adviser with the U.S.-Saudi Joint Economic Commission in Saudi Arabia. After living there for 17 years, he returned to the United States before moving to China to teach college courses. Afterward, he returned again to the U.S. and got a job as visiting assistant professor at High Point University in North Carolina.