Class Notes

Marissa Barnathan, LA12, is pursuing a master’s degree in fine arts in the directing program at Arizona State University. She has performed in plays and musicals throughout her life and has served as a director, assistant director, choreographer and performer in a variety of shows.

Christian Clerc, GA11, GA11 (architecture and urban design), is chief of data and design innovation at McMahon Group, a St. Louis consulting firm serving private clubs in all aspects of their planning, clubhouse, golf and membership needs. Clerc, who joined McMahon Group in 2015, assists communities with strategic and facility planning, gathering input from all constituencies and then creating plans that balance interests, opinions and constraints.

William Beggs IV, LA11, was promoted to vendor manager at Jones Lang LaSalle for Bank of America in June. He manages outsourced cleaning and janitorial vendor performance and leads special initiatives that have cleaning and janitorial impact, such as return-to-office activities and sustainability for the client’s 47.8 million square feet of real estate.

Betty Bayer (Elizabeth Jane Gibson), LA11, opened Betty’s Books in Webster Groves, Mo., in October. The bookstore offers comics, graphic novels, children’s literature,  Japanese manga and more in a family-friendly, welcoming environment.

Siena Baldi, FA11, was one of 100 artists whom Loew’s commissioned to paint murals in 100 cities across the United States in celebration of its centennial. Baldi, who was invited to paint two murals, featured the natural beauty of Kona, Hawaii, from its sunsets to its coral reef. Website: sienabaldi.com

Daniel Cozzi, LW10, a partner with Donohue Brown Mathewson & Smyth, was named to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin’s 2021 list of 40 Illinois Attorneys Under 40 to Watch from a field of more than 1,200 nominees. Cozzi practices in the medical malpractice and mass tort defense area. When not in the courtroom, he tutors underprivileged ­­grade-school students and mentors University of Chicago undergraduates interested in a law career.

Mary Bartling, GR10, GR18, launched thisbookisbanned.com, an online literary community that revolves around the close reading of books that have been banned or challenged. The website also provides tools that help readers discover everything a book may have to offer. Website: https://thisbookisbanned.com

Nikhil Agrawal, LA10, specializes in reconstructive plastic surgery with an additional focus on hand and nerve surgery at Long Island Plastic Surgical Group. Before joining the practice, Agrawal completed a Hand and Peripheral Nerve Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Earlier, he had a residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery in the Texas Medical Center at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine.

Vir Singh, LA09, achieved board certification in emergency medicine by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and was named co-director of the Emergency Medicine Clerkship at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine. Singh was also named medical director of Rio Grande Regional Hospital ER 24/7 in McAllen and San Juan, Texas, and assistant medical director of the hospital’s main emergency department.

Andia Augustin-Billy, GR09, GR15, GR15, was granted tenure at Centenary College of Louisiana, the first Black professor at the college to achieve the standing in its 196-year history. An award-winning associate professor of French and Francophone studies, she leads students on trips to Paris and to Haiti, where she grew up as the daughter of missionaries. Augustin-Billy’s  other research interests include analysis of gender and sexuality in 19th- and 20th-century French literature and travel literature.