Maxwell Class Notes
Vance M. Spears ’95 M.P.A.
is a lead ramp agent with Southwest Airlines.
November 6, 2025
Tracy A. Reid ’95 B.A. (PSt)
leads L’Oreal’s sustainable business solutions team for North America. The team focuses on creating sustainable and profitable solutions to reduce waste and improve environmental and community impacts. Reid has worked at L’Oreal for over 20 years.
November 5, 2025
Peter G. Bine Jr. ’95 M.P.A.
recently married in Guadalajara, Mexico. Bine and his wife live in Raleigh, N.C., with their dog, Bonnie. He previously served as the president and owner of Red Hippo Events, a retail marketing business based in North Carolina.
November 3, 2025
Susan T. Gooden ’95 M.A. (PSc)/ ’96 Ph.D. (PSc)
received the American Society for Public Administration’s 2025 Dwight Waldo Award, which honors sustained, influential scholarship in public administration. She serves as dean and professor at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University.
November 3, 2025
Michael N. Rosen ’94 B.A. (PSc)
has been named chief revenue officer at Origin, a New York City based technology company. He leads revenue growth and market strategy while helping scale Origin’s innovative approach to modern brand storytelling.
October 30, 2025
Michael L. Owens ’91 B.A. (PSc)
co-authored "Deadly Force: Police Shootings in Urban America" (Princeton University Press, 2025) with Tom S. Clark and Adam N. Glynn. Owens is a professor of political science at Emory University and was awarded the Emory Williams Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award for Social Sciences in 2023.
October 29, 2025
Melanie L. Rottkamp ’91 B.A. (PSc)
was elected as board president of Hudson Valley Tourism. She is the president and CEO of Destination Dutchess, the official destination marketing and management organization working to drive tourism and visitor spending for Dutchess County, N.Y.
October 29, 2025
Robert S. Needham ’88 M.A. (IR)
recently returned to Washington, D.C., from overseas assignments in Italy, Ukraine and Norway. He has served as a foreign service officer for the executive office in the Bureau of European Affairs for the U.S. Department of State for over 30 years.
October 28, 2025
Diana F. Dwyre ’88 M.A. (PSc)/ ’94 Ph.D. (PSc)
recently co-authored "The Fundamentals of Campaign Finance in the U.S.: Why We Have the System We Have" (University of Michigan Press, 2024), a book that analyzes the American financial system through historical, transactional and institutional perspectives. Dwyre has taught political science at Chico State University for over 20 years.
October 27, 2025
Victoria S. Ekstrand ’88 B.A. (PSc)
received a Fulbright-Schuman Innovation Award for the 2025–26 academic year. Ekstand is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She will study artificial intelligence governance in the European Union and examine what U.S. media undergraduates need to know about new and evolving regulations.
October 27, 2025
Marc L. Nicole ’86 M.P.A.
was named Maryland’s acting budget secretary in October 2025. He joined the office in 2001 as deputy budget director and was named deputy budget secretary in 2015 under then-Gov. Larry Hogan.
October 23, 2025
Thomas J. Reno ’85 B.A. (Econ)
recently joined New York Public Radio, the largest public radio group in the country, as chief operating and financial officer. He previously worked at Precision Strategies, a Washington, D.C.-based strategic communications agency.
October 23, 2025
Ferlanda (Fox) Nixon ’85 B.A. (PSc)
has joined the board of directors of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE), an organization comprised of more than 9,000 professionals who work for and with more than 1,300 chambers of commerce. Nixon serves as president and CEO of the Newark Regional Business Partnership.
October 22, 2025
Robert A. Spiegel ’84 M.P.A.
was recognized by Who’s Who as an Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Awardee in 2023 for his achievements in law, policy and social advocacy in a federal government career that spanned three decades. The award recognizes demonstrated leadership, excellence and longevity within honorees’ respective industries and professions. Spiegel retired in 2007 as a special assistant for equal employment opportunity with the U.S. Department of the
Treasury and continued to serve for several years as a pro-bono, public interest attorney.
October 20, 2025
Geoffrey A. Johnson ’83 M.P.A.
and spouse Avon Hart-Johnson authored "Children of Imprisoned Parents: A Guide to Holistic Caregiver and Child Well-Being" (McFarland & Company Inc. Publishing, 2025). The book and its companion workbook illuminate the hidden challenges of parental incarceration and help caregivers to understand children’s stress response systems.
October 17, 2025
Rocco D. Chiappetta ’83 M.A. (PSc)
recently celebrated his seventh year as the chief executive officer of the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, the nation’s oldest and largest physicians’ union. With the union since 2002, he previously served as the director of political and legislative affairs.
October 16, 2025
Susan N. Becker ’82 M.P.A.
serves as a member of the leadership team of the Sisters of the Divine Compassion, based in White Plains, N.Y. Prior to joining Divine Compassion, she served as a staff social worker in hospitals and volunteered in numerous charities.
October 15, 2025
Mahboob A. Khawaja ’81 M.A. (PSc)/ ’00 Ph.D. (SSc)
has published three books: "Wars on Humanity, Ukraine and Palestine and the Role of Global Leaders" (OVI Magazine, 2025); "We, The People in Search of Global Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution: Global Peace and Conflict Management" (2025) and "Global Humanity and Remaking of Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution for the 21st Century and Beyond: Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution" (Barnes & Noble Press, 2025).
October 15, 2025
Michael L. Paller ’77 B.A. (AmSt)
co-edited John Guare’s book, "Plays" (The Library of America, 2025). Paller was the dramaturg and director of humanities at the American Conservatory Theater and is the author of "Gentlemen Callers: Tennessee Williams, Homosexuality and Mid-20th Century Drama" (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2005) and "Tennessee Williams: the Playwright in Context" (Smith & Kraus, 2010) as well as several essays on Williams’ work.
October 14, 2025
Kathleen Small ’79 M.A. (Geog)
published her fifth book, "Letters from Shadow Oaks" (Carousel Acres Publishing, 2025). The novel follows three women from different generations who are affected by an act of vandalism and poison pen letters. Small is a judge for the Royal Palm Literary Awards.
October 14, 2025