Class Notes

Mark Shvartsman, LA09, has grown his business, Retro Gear Shop, from a startup in his garage into a boutique music store that is a top destination worldwide for rare, vintage, high-end recording equipment, synthesizers and effects. His clients include Martin Gore (Depeche Mode), David Bryan (Bon Jovi), Jonathan Cain (Journey), Ray LaMontagne and Gotye. Shvartsman has also assembled a collection of high-quality archival photography of rare equipment.

Biyu J. He, GM09, a research scientist at NYU Langone and a professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, was awarded a Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for her research leadership in the field of cognitive neuroscience and for groundbreaking work on the biological bases of perceptual cognition and subjective experience. The annual $50,000 award recognizes young foreign-born scientists who demonstrate outstanding early achievement. 

Rob Friedman, LW09, was promoted to the rank of major in the U.S. Air Force. Friedman, who served many years on active duty as a legal officer (JAG), is currently an active drilling reservist with the 913th Airlift Group in Little Rock, Ark., where he serves as deputy staff judge advocate. Friedman was also recently awarded the Armed Forces Service Medal (with two service stars) for his work protecting the constitutional rights of service members during the COVID-19 pandemic. In his civilian capacity, Friedman serves as corporate counsel for a regional public utility company based in Tampa, Fla.

Simeon Papacostas, LW08, an intellectual property attorney with litigation experience in federal courts, was promoted to partner at Benesch. His practice focuses primarily on patent litigation in federal courts and post-grant proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He has argued matters in federal district court and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and has represented clients in bench and jury trials.

Anne Wynter, LA06, wrote her fourth children’s book, Nell Plants a Tree (Balzer + Bray, January 2023), illustrated by Daniel Miyares. The book received four starred book-trade reviews, including one from Kirkus, which wrote: “Gorgeous images and text chronicle joyful childhood experiences — a future classic.”

Donald Wunsch II, EMBA06, completed two years as a National Science Foundation program director in December 2022. Returning to Missouri University of Science and Technology, the AI expert was appointed founding director of the Kummer Institute’s Center for Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems. Wunsch was recently tapped by the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society for its 2023 Neural Networks Pioneer Award.

Kalyan Gorantla, LA06, has joined Franciscan Physician Network Surgical Specialists in Crawfordsville, Ind. He was most recently on staff with North Indy Surgical and Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis.

Shannon Puopolo, LA05, a stockholder at Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt, P.A., in the business litigation department, was sworn in as secretary of the Southwest Florida Bankruptcy Professionals Association in March.

Maggie Sullivan, GR04, was named the first president of the newly formed Rosati-Kain Academy, the successor to the 112-year-old, Archdiocesan-sponsored Rosati-Kain High School. She took over her post at the only remaining all-girls Catholic high school within the St. Louis city limits on May 1. Sullivan previously was assistant principal of mission at St. Joseph’s Academy.

Nick Borgmeyer, AR04, has achieved a career milestone by becoming a co-owner of SOA Architecture. He has been with the firm for 20 years, guiding clients including Capital Region Medical Center and Special Olympics Missouri on their projects. Borgmeyer is a LEED-accredited professional through the U.S. Green Building Council.