Class Notes

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.

Ameen Ayoub, GA04, is principal architect with Ameen Ayoub Design Studio, a leading contemporary design firm in Los Angeles. Rooted in modern architecture and contemporary detailing and design, the firm’s projects connect to the surrounding environment with responsible design emphasizing simplicity and oneness with respect to materiality, structure and space. Ayoub trained in St. Louis, South America and Los Angeles

Atia-tul Thurman, SW02, transitioned from her role as associate director of the Clark-Fox Policy Institute at Washington University to full-time lecturer in the Brown School. Thurman has more than 20 years of professional and leadership experience in social work education, engaging citizens in public projects and translating research to inform policy. In her current role, she facilitates field curriculum and experiences for graduate candidates in the children, youth, and family and social impact leadership concentrations.