Class Notes Category: Career

James Peterson ’00 was hired by Townsend Public Affairs (TPA) to direct their offices in Washington, DC and Southern California. Peterson will be responsible for leading advocacy efforts on behalf of TPA’s federal and state clients. Peterson joins TPA after a long and distinguished 15-year career as a senior aide to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein,…

Trish Halsey-Munroe ’70 retired as a Colonel in the U.S. Marines Corps as well as a civilian attorney for the U.S. Coast Guard. In May 2015, Halsey-Munroe was elected to the League of Women Voters of California (LWVC) board of directors and the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund. Prior to serving as…

The Philadelphia intellectual property attorneys of Panitch Schwarze Belisario & Nadel LLP are pleased to announce that Jifang Tao recently joined the firm as a scientific advisor to support the firm’s patent work on behalf of clients in biotechnology, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Tao will assist in the preparation, filing and prosecution of patent applications, as…

Greg Kochanowski has been promoted to Principal Architect at Rios Clementi Hale Studios in Los Angeles, Calif. He joined the firm in 2007 and combines the techniques and strategies of architecture, landscape architecture and urban design to create forward-thinking environments. Kochanowski was a recipient of the prestigious Young Architects Forum Award presented by the Architectural…

Margaret Grignon ‘72, a retired justice of the California Court of Appeal, Second District, and her daughter Anne Grignon have opened a boutique appellate law firm in Long Beach, Calif. Prior to founding Grignon Law Firm LLP, both were members of the Appellate Practice Group of Reed Smith LLP in Los Angeles: Justice Grignon as…

David Port ’93 was announced as a new partner at William Blair, a global investment banking and asset management firm. William Blair is an independent and employee-owned firm based in Chicago with offices in 19 cities across the globe. Port will work from William Blair’s Chicago office.

Artist Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik ’93 was commissioned by the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to create an art piece for the new Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation Interfaith Center. The work is titled “Tree of Life” and is a vast collage of superheroes – both from comic books and the hospital staff. The tree depicts many well-known…

Edward “Ed” Batts ’95 has joined the Orrick firm as Global Co-Head of its M&A and Private Equity Practice. Ed focuses on M&A and corporate governance for leading public technology companies. He joins the firm from DLA Piper, where he co-chaired the Northern California corporate group. Ed will be based in Orrick’s Silicon Valley office.…

Karen Fukuhara ’14 plays the role of Katana in the Warner Bros. feature “Suicide Squad” (2016). Fukuhara studied both sociology and theater while attending UCLA, and was a member of the UCLA Medleys a cappella group. She is also a martial arts champion. Katana is Fukuhara’s first role in a major motion picture. She is represented…

Brandon Schindelheim ’00 purchased Saxe, Roth, Dokovna, Schwartz & Lynskey, an accounting firm in the San Fernando Valley. Schindelheim acquired the firm from Aran Dokovan, a certified public accountant and attorney, after meeting and bonding at a UCLA football game in 2012. Saxe, Roth, Dokovna, Schwartz & Lynskey provide tax and accounting services for a…