Class Notes — Harker School 1992-present –Harker Quarterly Spring 2016

This article originally appeared in the spring 2016 Harker Quarterly.

1996

Jeremy Kerr and his wife, Jennifer, had a baby. Please see the Celebrations section for details.

1997

In January Will Jarvis was featured in an article in the Napa Valley Register about Jarvis Estate winery, which he runs with his father in the Napa Valley. To view the article: http://bit.ly/1oXw48Y. 2003 Amit Saxena got married. Please see the Celebrations section for details.

2004

Neil Bhalerao is getting married. Please see the Celebrations section for details.

2005

Kristen (Hulberg) Hunsbedt got married last May. “My husband (Mark) and I got married in the Santa Cruz Mountains near our home. I also got my M.A. in counselor education in 2014 from San Jose State, and I’m working as a college and career counselor at Monte Vista Christian School in Watsonville,” she said.

Liat Noten started an abstract art and photography business, using digital photography to create art that she said is full of heart, energy, vibrancy and wonder. “I’m interested in abstract and conceptual photography because it allows me to play and imagine even before I’ve picked up my camera. I’m always on the lookout for new ways to create digitally,” she said. Check out her website at: http://www.artislifeitself.com/.

The Class of 2005 held its reunion on Dec. 22, 2015 at The Old Pro in Palo Alto. Classmates enjoyed catching up over a nice dinner.

2006

Amit Mukherjee, a senior associate at New Enterprise As- sociates (NEA), was included on Forbes magazine’s prestigious “30 Under 30” list of of the 2016 young movers and shakers in the venture capital category. Amit has worked at NEA since 2012, overseeing more than $500 million of invested capital. A leading source for reliable business news and financial information, Forbes is well known for its annual lists and rankings. The “30 Under 30” list prides itself on predicting the brightest and most ambitious young adults to watch in the coming year. Congratulations, Amit!

In the winter 2015 issue of Harker Quarterly, we ran a note about Steve Boyle designing and directing a show called “Matthew Briar and the Age of Resurrection.”

Steve is a graduate of Harker’s Conservatory program and has produced several shows recently. In early March he returned to the upper school to speak with performing arts students about his career and life in the arts.

Rohini Venkatraman began working as a business designer at the award-winning global design and consulting firm IDEO last year. She recently helped arrange a visit to Harker’s middle school by IDEO representatives who were interested in observing classrooms there. For more information on the IDEO visit to Harker, see page 28 for a feature story on the middle school’s new “moveable classrooms.”

Michael Hammersly, a materials and processing engineer at SpaceX, was the official announcer for the SpaceX launch! Check out the webcast at http://bit.ly/1Ph7CXS. The video was streamed live on Dec. 21. SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. With this mission, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket delivered 11 satellites to low-Earth orbit.

Arvind Ravinutala and Nirav Chitkara stopped by the alumni relations office to say hello while visiting with former teachers on the upper school campus.

2009

Anu Ramachandran was one of two Johns Hopkins University students selected to spend next year pursuing a graduate degree in the United Kingdom after winning the highly competitive Marshall Scholarship. A third-year Hopkins medical student, Anu will study public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She was among 32 U.S. students selected as Marshall Scholars out of 916 applicants this year. Funded by the British government, the prestigious scholarship allows high-achieving scholars to undertake postgraduate studies in the U.K. program of their choice, with the goal of nurturing future leaders and strengthening British-American collaborations.

2010

The Class of 2010 held its reunion on the evening of Dec. 26 at BJ’s Restaurant in Cupertino. A great time was had by all!

2011

Harker Conservatory graduate James Seifert appeared in a Stanford University play. Seifert was also active in speech and debate, sang in the All-National Honor Choir in Washington, D.C., in 2011, and earned the President’s Volunteer Service Award from President Obama in 2011.

To read an article about him that appeared in the Palo Alto Weekly: http://bit.ly/21E3kTM.

The Class of 2011 held its five-year reunion on Dec. 26 at Tied House in Mountain View. The evening was filled with fun filled memories and delicious food.

2012

Govi Dasu started a consultancy (abhigoviconsulting.com) that helps entrepreneurs build Web and mobile applications for their early startup ideas. “It’s pretty amazing how Harker has a business department now. At Harker, I didn’t really understand the value of the Harker network, but after Stanford, I realize how powerful both schools’ networks are. Harker is actually more powerful because it so tightly knit,” said Govi, who is offering a 5 percent commission on all project referrals. So far, several of his clients have come from the Harker community!

2013

Joe Wang is studying real estate finance at New York University and also raising funding for a food curation startup on the East Coast. Joe recently moved and is now living in Brooklyn. He is in touch with Caroline Lai, who also attends NYU. Joe stopped by to visit the alumni relations office and volunteered to become an alumni mentor for seniors interested in learning more about NYU and New York.

Lorraine Wong, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, joined other women representatives from the private research university to talk to local middle school girls about engineering. They discussed examining DNA from a strawberry that clumped and separated from an extraction process, among other topics.

Maverick McNealy is a regular in Harker Quarterly for his breaking golf news. In January the Stanford golfer made a guest appearance at a mandatory upper school spring sports meeting for parents and athletes. He spoke to them about his athletic experience and the lessons he has learned from playing sports.

Molly Wolfe was a White House intern last summer and is now at the London School of Economics for her junior year at Vanderbilt University.

A number of alumni from the Class of 2013 had a great time playing an informal pickup game during one of Harker’s varsity soccer team’s practices over the holiday break. Joining in the fun were several other alums from the classes of 2012, 2014 and 2015.

2015

Corey Gonzales took a gap year to travel around South America by motorcycle. While home for the holidays, Corey returned to Harker to present to an upper school Spanish 4 class. Corey plans to attend Harvard in the fall.

April 25, 2016Tags: Alumni, class notes, Harker School