Class Notes

Andy Chen, GR14, shares that his piece titled “Where I Am White” appeared in Ploughshares (Winter 2021–22), an award-winning literary magazine that has helped cultivate voices in contemporary American literature. Chen’s poems have appeared in december, The Offing and Denver Quarterly, and his reviews appear in Hong Kong Review of Books, Hyphen and Colorado Review. Chen teaches at John Burroughs School in St. Louis.

Olivia Cosentino, LA14, co-edited The Lost Cinema of Mexico: From Lucha Libre to Cine Familiar and Other Churros (University of Florida Press, February 2022). The book challenges the dismissal of Mexican filmmaking during the 1960s through the 1980s, an era long considered a low-budget departure from the artistic quality and international acclaim of the country’s earlier Golden Age. Cosentino’s interest and research in Mexican cinema and culture were sparked by her adviser at WashU, Ignacio Sánchez Prado.

Harry Kainen, LA14, joined I Do It For Her,a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides college scholarships to underprivileged young St. Louisans. Scholarship recipients come primarily from single-parent households and typically are the first in their families to attend college. Kainen encourages inquiries from WashU alums who would like to help promising St. Louis students access a college ­education through individual donations. For more ­information on the organization, visit
https://idoitforher.org/.

Abhishek Kothari, GB14, was promoted to senior vice president of U.S. personal banking and wealth management at Citigroup. In his new role, Kothari leads business growth ­initiatives through partnerships, innovation and new-product development.

Marco Pinheiro, AR19, GA21, is project ­manager at Studio PHH Architecture PLLC, a growing Brooklyn, N.Y., firm founded by Pierre-Henri Hoppenot, AR09, GA12. ­Christina Batroni, GA20, SI20, also is with the firm, and a student at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts is working as an intern this summer. The firm was recently honored with a 2022 AIANY Design Award for a school it designed in Ganthier, Haiti.

Jeffrey Czajka, SI21, recently received the 2022 Linus Pauling Distinguished Fellowship. Awarded by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the fellowship supports recent and upcoming doctoral graduates who are performing research in the areas of energy, ­environment and national security. In 2020, Czajka won a research award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science ­Graduate Student Research Program that allowed him to conduct part of his ­doctoral research at Lawrence Berkeley National ­Laboratory.

Veronica Dols, EN21, a chemical and ­environmental engineer on paper, says she identifies as an artist, outdoor enthusiast, cook, traveler and much more. She writes that her long-term goal is to be part of the shifting sustainable processes, while her passions include circular fashion and textiles, green building design and sustainable alternatives to items such as paper products and packaging.

Zachary C. Serotte, EN21, SI22, recently joined World Wide Technology as a cloud solutions analyst in the St. Louis office.

Patrick Grindel, EN22, EN22, a member of the Gateway Battalion Army ROTC, was named a Distinguished Military Graduate. Grindel achieved this honor by ranking in the top 20% of Army ROTC graduates nationwide, ­maintaining high scholastic standards and ­successfully completing ROTC Advanced Camp at Fort Knox, Ky. In fact, Grindel bested these requirements by ranking fourth among ROTC graduates nationwide. 

Kyle Melles, LA22, a member of the ­Gateway Battalion Army ROTC, was named a ­Distinguished Military Graduate. Melles achieved this honor by ranking in the top 20% of Army ROTC graduates nationwide, ­maintaining high scholastic standards and ­successfully completing ROTC Advanced Camp at Fort Knox, Ky.