Class Notes

David A. Shapiro, LA09, shifted fields in his legal career, leaving the Maryland Office of the Public Defender after almost seven years to join the Maryland Energy Administration as an assistant attorney general. Shapiro is excited about the opportunity to help combat climate change.

Fiona Turett, EN09,was selected as one of four flight directors for NASA in 2021. ­Following training in technical ­information and ­leadership skills, she will work in the ­Mission Control Center of NASA’s ­Johnson Space Center to lead teams of flight ­controllers, engineers and other ­professionals. Turett will oversee human spaceflight ­missions to, from and aboard the space s­tation, as well as the lunar missions of ­NASA’s ­Artemis ­program.­­

Sarah Kendzior, GR12, wrote They Knew: How a Culture of Conspiracy Keeps ­America ­Complacent (Macmillan, September 2022). The book unearths decades of buried ­American history, providing an essential and critical look at how to rebuild our democracy by confronting the political lies and crimes that have shaped us. A co-host of the “Gaslit ­Nation” podcast and an independent ­political journalist with over half a million Twitter ­followers, Kendzior was named by Foreign Policy as one of the “100 people you should be following on Twitter to make sense of ­global events.”

Sarah Buchardt, LA13, is piloting a new role as a corporate financial consultant for Charles Schwab. In this capacity, she has been tasked to build a better connection between the firm’s institutional clients and retail branches. Buchardt previously worked for five years at Edward Jones.

Kevin Fritz, LW13, joined Gusto, an ­automated payroll and employee benefits company, as employment counsel and thought leader on the future of employment technology. ­Previously, he was an attorney at Seyfarth Shaw LLP for 10 years.

Werner R. Holtmeier, LW13, GL13, was named a partner at Tenenbaum & Saas, P.C., where his practice focuses primarily on commercial real estate and general business transactions. Previously, Holtmeier worked for Crady Jewett McCulley & Houren LLP.

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.