Maxwell Class Notes
Deniece O. Laurent-Mantey ’09 B.A. (IR)
Michele C. Lee ’02 B.A. (PSc)
Danique G. Masingill ’13 B.A. (Hist)/ ’14 E.M.P.A.
Christopher R. Sponn ’20 M.P.A.
John W. Stefanski ’14 M.P.A.
Alfred J. Sweeney ’19 B.A. (PSc)
Ugur Altundal ’22 Ph.D. (PSc)
received the best dissertation award in the American Political Science Association’s “Migration and Citizenship” section in 2023 for his dissertation, titled "The Right to Travel: Toward an Ethics of Short-Term Mobility.”
Kafui Attoh ’08 M.A. (Geog)/ ’13 Ph.D. (Geog)
has co-authored the book “Disrupting D.C.: The Rise of Uber and the Fall of the City,” with Katie Wells ’08 M.A. (Geog)/’13 Ph.D. (Geog) and Declan Cullen ’13 Ph.D. (Geog). The book is an analysis of the deep social divisions and urban politics that gave rise to the gig economy in the U.S.
Damyre Benjamin ’18 B.A. (PSc)
has become an assistant district attorney in the Trial Division of the New York County District Attorney’s Office.
Brian Bertsch ’99 B.A. (PSc)
was recently appointed head of global communications for StoneX Group, a financial services company. Bertsch is responsible for developing the overall internal and external communications strategy at the corporate level and across regional business segments.
Phillip Burke ’07 B.A. (Soc)
was a top 13 finalist out of 850 submissions for his play, “He’s the First,” in the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival. Based in New York City, the festival promotes emerging directors, performers and producers. He also earned a B.F.A. from the College of Visual and Performing Arts in 2007 and is an inaugural fellow with The Latinx Playwrights Circle Summer Jam Fellowship.
Kimberlin Butler ’03 M.P.A.
recently completed the Leadership Greater Washington (LGW) program. Based in Washington, D.C., LGW offers career-building skills and leadership training to mid-level professionals.
Thomas Constable ’04 M.A. (PA)
has joined the Whitman School of Management as the associate director of defense programs.
John Crandall ’10 B.A. (Anth)
has recently defended his Ph.D. dissertation, "The Bioarchaeology of Labor Exploitation: Overseas Chinese Workers, Ethnic Violence, and the Burdens of American Progress (~1860-1930)” at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His research on migrant laborer health and anti-migrant violence contributes to the Chinese Railroad Workers of N. America Project at Stanford University.
Declan Cullen ’13 Ph.D. (Geog)
has co-authored the book “Disrupting D.C.: The Rise of Uber and the Fall of the City,” with Katie Wells ’08 M.A. (Geog)/’13 Ph.D. (Geog) and Kafui Attoh ’08 M.A. (Geog)/’13 Ph.D . The book is an analysis of the deep social divisions and urban politics that gave rise to the gig economy in the U.S.
Katalin Fábián ’93 M.A. (PSc)/ ’99 Ph.D. (PSc)
received the 2022 Heldt Prize for best book in Slavic, East European and Eurasian Women’s Studies for a book she co-edited, “Routledge Handbook of Gender in Central-Eastern Europe and Eurasia” (Routledge, 2021). Fábián is professor of government and law at Lafayette College.
Paul Finkelman ’71 B.A. (AmSt)
has been named the Robert E. and Susan T. Rydell Professor at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn. In this role, he will serve as a distinguished scholar on campus, meet with students and provide a public lecture.
Katherine Frega ’16 B.A. (PSt)
has accepted a faculty appointment as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at SUNY Upstate Medical University, where she will also complete her residency in OB-GYN in June 2024.
Christopher Friday ’92 B.A. (IR)
graduated from the University of Florida with a doctorate in business administration. He works as a lecturer in the Business Analytics and Economics Department at the University of New Haven.
Joseph Gale ’17 M.A. (IR)
serves as the assistant defense attaché at the U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He held the same position in La Paz, Bolivia. He has worked for the U.S. Department of Defense since 2017.