Class Notes

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.

Ethan Bell, BSBA ’13, JD ’16, was promoted to partner at Faegre Drinker. Bell focuses on intellectual property in the Denver office. His technical knowledge spans several industries, including computer software, telecommunications, computer networking, content distribution, cloud computing, electronic circuits and mechanical inventions.

Monica Smith, AB ’11, joined the firm Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP as counsel in the antitrust practice group in the Washington, D.C., office. Smith guides U.S. and foreign companies in gaining clearances for complex multibillion-dollar deals, often involving international investigations and second requests by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice.

David Schwartz, AB ’08, MA ’09, co-chaired the 2025 Jewish Educators Assembly conference in March in Chicago.

Aryeh Kaplan, JD ’08, was named partner at Sidley Austin in the Miami office. Kaplan has extensive trial experience, having led over 30 trials across various sectors, including consumer class actions and complex international disputes. He was previously at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.

Steve Degnan, MBA ’08, was elected board vice president at Joybound People & Pets, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening the human-animal bond through rescue, adoption, service animal training, vocational programs and community outreach. Degnan is a human resources executive, having served as chief human resources officer North America for Nestlé Purina PetCare (2004 to 2023). A U.S. Army veteran, Degnan played a pivotal role in developing Joybound’s Shelter to Service program, which trains shelter dogs as psychiatric service animals for veterans, first responders and others in need of support.