Weddings, births and gatherings
Dominique Pesco 鈥14, 鈥19 and Scott Taylor 鈥15 are engaged. The couple is currently celebrating their eighth year together and plan to marry on May 21, 2022, with seven Rider alumni in the bridal party.
Steven Santos 鈥17, 鈥20 and Angela Del Collo 鈥18, 鈥19 were engaged on Dec. 21, 2020, while returning to New Jersey for the holidays. They met during a Residence Hall Association meeting in 2015 and are planning on a January 2023 wedding.
Sophie Harper 鈥16 and Elena Martinez 鈥20 are engaged. Harper and Martinez met in 2013 at Rider鈥檚 Spectrum Pride Alliance. After losing touch over the years, they reconnected in 2016 and have been together since early 2017. On Jan. 9, Martinez proposed to Harper at a vineyard in northern New Jersey. On Jan. 16, Harper proposed to Martinez back where they met on Rider鈥檚 campus. The couple is forever grateful for 小优视频. They look forward to their wedding in the spring of 2022.
Hunter Morgen 鈥16 proposed to Cora Mandy on the National Mall during a picnic, something the couple always talked about doing. They met in 2016 in Trump Tower working on the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump. Soon after they met, they moved to Washington, D.C., where they had an incredible experience working at the highest levels of the U.S. government.
RahQuan King 鈥19 celebrated the birth of his son Kyrie King on Dec. 15, 2020.
Michelle Nick 鈥14 and Bill Bundenthal are engaged. Nick received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a minor in health administration from 小优视频. She is currently working at ADP TotalSource as a human resources business partner. A 2022 wedding is planned.
Roger Alvarado 鈥03 and Lindsay (Walter) Alvarado 鈥06, 鈥09 welcomed a new addition to their family, Abigail, on Dec. 14, 2020. The couple resides in Ewing, N.J., and has another daughter Annabel, age 3. Roger is currently a vice president at Merrill Lynch Bank of America. Lindsay is a career advisor and adjunct instructor within the Norm Brodsky College of Business at 小优视频.
Marie McGarr 鈥15 and Nick Rapisarda 鈥15, 鈥16 were engaged on Aug. 8, 2020. McGarr, a sister of Alpha Xi Delta, and Rapisarda, a brother of Sigma Phi Epsilon, first became friends in 2013. The couple began dating in 2016 and hope to marry in 2022.
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Dominick Karp 鈥64 sends his best wishes to all Broncs past and present, especially those who knew him at Rider. After graduating with a bachelor鈥檚 in management, he was drafted into the Army. He served a tour of duty in Vietnam with the 25th Infantry Division. After being discharged in 1966, he had a management position with the W T Grant retail company until June 1973. He then began his career as an internal revenue agent with the Internal Revenue Service auditing corporations. 鈥淚 was glad I had my Rider education because it prepared me well for my IRS employment. I have fond memories of my days on the Rider campus and of my multitude of experiences performing IRS examinations,鈥 he says. Karp retired from the IRS in January 2005 and remains healthy and happy in New Hope, Pa.
Alvin Hower 鈥65, 鈥68 published the book No Greater Service in August 2020. The memoir explores his service as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines from 1969-74.
Maggie Kline 鈥66, 鈥69 celebrated the release of her third book, Brain-Changing Strategies to Trauma-Proof Our Schools: A Heart-Centered Movement for Wiring Well-Being, by presenting it at the Harvard/MIT/Johns Hopkins Joint Virtual Conference on Learning and the Brain in November. Published by Penguin/Random House, the book provides tools to identify and reverse trauma-driven behaviors so students feel supported and safe. Kline is a
family therapist, trauma specialist, school psychologist and former teacher. She studied secretarial science and distributive education at Rider.
Dr. Richard R. Young 鈥68 published the book Intermodal Maritime Security: Supply Chain Risk Mitigation. The book is a collection of chapters authored by leaders in the fields of maritime operations, insurance and physical security, cyber threats, port operations and global supply chains. Young is a retired distinguished professor of supply chain management at the School of Business Administration at Penn State鈥檚 Capital College.
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Bill Mate 鈥71 was elected president of the Jupiter-Tequesta-Hobe Sound Realtors Association. The association is a division of the Miami Realtors Association, the largest local realtor association in the U.S. Mate is also a member of Miami鈥檚 corporate board and is a director of the Florida Realtors Association and the National Realtors Association.
Michael Bruno 鈥75 was named to the advisory board of Gaind Capital Partners. He received a bachelor鈥檚 in elementary education from Rider and a master鈥檚 in human resource administration from Columbia University. He currently serves as the CEO and founder of New Directions for Grads (ND4G), a progressive executive search and advisory services firm.
Cheryl Mihal 鈥78 created an e-commerce platform called You鈥檙e Special to help consumers maintain a happy and healthy lifestyle from their own home. The initiative grew out of the efforts of her company Sew Special, which expanded to assist the health care community by providing access to PPE at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Sew Special provides hotels, restaurants, nonprofits and other organizations with personalized logo merchandise. Cheryl majored in sociology and psychology at Rider, where she met her husband, James Mihal 鈥78, who majored in management and organizational behavior. They met while working as bartenders at the Pub and were married in 1982.
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Charlene Vogt-Gerbig 鈥83 recently completed a year of study, discourse and collaboration in the New Jersey Education Association鈥檚 Teacher Leader Academy. She and her colleagues are among the first in New Jersey to earn the teacher leadership endorsement.
Al Altomari 鈥86 was named the No. 9 top biotech CEO of 2021 on a list compiled by the Healthcare Technology Report. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of Agile Therapeutics. He has more than 39 years of pharmaceutical experience and also currently serves on the boards of directors for several organizations, including TASK (Trenton Area Soup Kitchen), Insmed, Inc., and Baudax Bio, Inc. Altomari received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance from Drexel University and a Master of Business Administration from Rider.
Maryann T. Mannen 鈥84, 鈥93 was named the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Marathon Petroleum Corp. in January. Marathon operates the nation鈥檚 largest refining system. Mannen received a bachelor鈥檚 in accounting and a master鈥檚 in business administration from Rider.
Linda Corbacho Trapani 鈥88 graduated from Florida Institute of Technology with a Master of Arts in Professional Behavior Analysis and passed the certification examination to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). She works for the Barnegat Township School District as a behaviorist in the preschool program. Her husband, Santo Trapani 鈥88, recently started up a general contracting business, RMA Improvements, LLC, after working in the cosmetology education field for many years. The couple has three grown children and lives in Forked River, N.J.
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Michael Tucker 鈥92 was named director of business development of Maplewood Senior Living in Princeton, N.J. Maplewood at Princeton offers assisted living, memory care and short-term care options to the greater Princeton area. Tucker graduated from Rider with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.
Gregory M. Smith 鈥93 was promoted to president of commercial banking of Peapack-Gladstone Bank. His previous roles include working as a group sales executive for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions for Capital One and senior regional vice president for Summit Bank. Smith received a bachelor鈥檚 from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a master鈥檚 in business administration from Rider.
Richard Torres 鈥93 became a member of the Kean University Board of Trustees. A senior attorney in the real estate industry group at Goodwin Procter LLP, he received a bachelor鈥檚 from Rider and a law degree from Cornell. John Mittler 鈥97 has started doing voiceover recording at home focusing on audiobook narration. He now has four audiobooks available on several major platforms including Amazon and iTunes, with more in the works.
Heidi (Kenschaft) Vass 鈥98 and Emma Grace (Dunbar) Roche 鈥09, graduates of Westminster Choir College, recently created the new classical sacred quartet, Seraphour. The all-female quartet is on a mission to spread light and hope while cathedrals and concert halls are silent this year.
Jessica Battaglia 鈥99 was named the new in-house corporate counsel of Larken Associates, an integrated real estate company. Battaglia is admitted to practice law in New Jersey and the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. She received a law degree from Seton Hall University School of Law and a bachelor鈥檚 in political science and English literature from Rider. Craig Carpenito 鈥96 joined King & Spalding LLP as a partner in the firm鈥檚 special matters and government investigations practice group in its New York office. He previously served as the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, overseeing all federal criminal prosecutions and civil matters in New Jersey.
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Michael Amoroso 鈥00 was promoted to chief executive officer of Abeona Therapeutics, a leader in gene and cell therapy. Amoroso received a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from Rider and an Executive Master of Business Administration in Management from the Stern School of Business, New York University.
Peter P. Pfreundschuh 鈥00 was appointed chief financial officer of Frequency Therapeutics, Inc., effective Dec. 1, 2020. A certified public accountant, he received a bachelor鈥檚 in accounting from Rutgers and a master鈥檚 in business administration from Rider.
Shawn Scannell 鈥01 was named teacher of the year for Absegami High School in Galloway Township, N.J. Scannell is a certified special education teacher. He graduated from Absegami and returned in 2003 to teach full time. Scannell earned a bachelor鈥檚 in journalism from Rider.
Harold Laudien 鈥03 planned an ambitious running challenge for himself this spring. In April, he ran a 267-mile virtual race put on by AdventureCORPS. In May, he ran 100 miles, from Key Largo to Key West in Florida, in the Keys 100 Ultra marathon and also completed an Ironman competition in Tulsa, Okla. The recent races continue Laudien鈥檚 efforts to raise awareness and money for Team PHenomenal Hope, a nonprofit that assists people diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, an incurable disease of the heart and lungs that leaves people short of breath, fatigued and in pain. Laudien is the founder of Mercer Wealth Management, a firm dedicated to serving those who have traditionally been undervalued or underserved in personal finance.
Dr. Jason Dungee 鈥05 was appointed an assistant professor of music and director of choral activities in the University of North Carolina at Charlotte鈥檚 Department of Music.
Jessica (Kopetsky) Morello 鈥05, 鈥08 was recently appointed director of COVID and risk management for the Children鈥檚 Home Society of New Jersey. The organization has offices throughout New Jersey and is headquartered in Trenton and Toms River, N.J.
Rob Morello 鈥05 was recently promoted to partner at the law firm of Hoagland, Longo, Moran, Dunst & Doukas. He is a certified civil trial attorney. The firm has offices in New Brunswick, Red Bank and Hammonton, N.J.
Cathleen Palace 鈥06 successfully defended her dissertation, 鈥淭he Awareness and Impact of Action Logic for Post-Conventional Women: A Phenomenological Study,鈥 in December 2020. She now holds a Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership from Stockton University. In addition, Cathleen and Michael Palace 鈥05 welcomed their second son, Rhys Aiden Palace, in August 2020.
Dr. J.D. Burnett 鈥07, a graduate of Westminster Choir College, was named artistic director of Orpheus Chamber Singers, a professional 24-voice mixed adult choir. The position is effective Jan. 1, 2022. Burnett
is currently associate professor of music at the University of Georgia and is the founding artistic director of Kinnara, Atlanta鈥檚 premier professional choral ensemble.
Michael DeTuro 鈥08 was named the new superintendent of Mahwah Public Schools in March. He was previously the district鈥檚 director of curriculum and instruction. DeTuro received a bachelor鈥檚 from Albright College, a master鈥檚 from Rider and a doctorate from Seton Hall. Douglas Ferguson 鈥09 was named a partner in Eisenberg, Gold & Agrawal, P.C., a growing Cherry Hill, N.J., law firm. He received a bachelor鈥檚 in political science from Rider and is also a graduate of Widener University School of Law.
Rick Sando 鈥09, who studied behavioral neuroscience at Rider, is beginning his first year as an assistant professor of pharmacology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. In 2014, Sando received a doctorate from The Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, Calif., where he studied synaptic plasticity in the mammalian brain. His postdoctoral studies took place in the laboratory of Nobel laureate Thomas S眉dhof at Stanford University where he continued his research on the brain鈥檚 neural circuitry.
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Richard 鈥淩icky鈥 Hutton 鈥11 was appointed the director of The Carson Chamber Singers. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Philosophy from Loyola University and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College.
Steve Spinner 鈥12 was appointed chief development officer of the Indiana region of the American Red Cross in February. He is now in his ninth year with the organization. Spinner is responsible for personally raising nearly $30 million in support of national and statewide programs. He received a bachelor鈥檚 in business administration from Rider.
Eric Marion 鈥14 recently passed the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) exam. The ChFC program prepares professionals to meet the advanced financial planning needs of individuals, small business owners and others.
Petra Gaskins 鈥15 was named the new chief of staff for Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker, who represents New Jersey鈥檚 16th district. Her previous roles include serving as the director of outreach and programming for Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman and an aid to Gov. Phil Murphy.
Samantha Ricchiuti 鈥15 was hired as the business development coordinator, a newly created position at the book marketing firm Smith Publicity. Ricchiuti received a bachelor鈥檚 in musical theatre from Rider.
Melissa Cunningham 鈥17 graduated from Rutgers-Camden with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She will be working at Cooper University Hospital in Camden in the neuro-orthopaedics unit.