1987

I hope you all had a great summer. The mail has been stacking up, so let's get to it:

I was notified that Lisa Sweeney Caputo has joined Citigroup as president of Women & Cos., but wasn't given any further information about the company or the job. Wed love to hear more about it, Lisa!

Ashland Distribution Cos. has named Mike Portland vice president and general manager of its new service businesses division. Mike joined Ashland in 1996 as vice president of marketing. Ashland is the largest distributor of chemicals, plastics and fiber reinforcements in North America.

Busy on Capitol Hill these days is our own Peter Gunas, who was recently promoted to workforce policy counsel on the Education and the Workforce Committee. Gunas has served on the committee staff since 1996, following a one-year stint as communications director for Sen. Paul Coverdell. From 1990 to 1993 he was an attorney with the firm of Ford and Harrison in Atlanta. Peter earned his J.D. from SMU in 1990 and also holds a masters in journalism from the University of Maryland.

Bill DeWitt was up for election to the Seekonk (Mass.) School Committee this spring. He lives there with his wife, Mary, and children Zeke and Ellie. Bill is currently a vice president with Arnold Communications, and has previously worked at Citizens Financial Group and Fidelity Investments.

The news arrived in April that Tim Bernardez was elected to the board of directors of the Port Townsend Paper Corp., where he has served as the chief financial officer for the past two years. The company, based in Port Townsend, Washington, is one of the nation's largest independent manufacturers of unbleached Kraft pulp and paper. It also produces more than 50,000 tons of converted paper products (such as grocery bags) each year. Tim has a master's in biochemical engineering from Thayer and an M.B.A. from Stanford. Previously, he was director of corporate strategic planning at Weyerhaeuser Cos. and a management consultant on corporate strategy at Booz, Allen & Hamilton.

Ed Boyle writes that he has left American Express to become managing director of PM marketplace.com, a B2B marketplace for the real estate property management sector. The company is a subsidiary of New Yorkbased eMarketplaces.com, a pre-IPO company that develops and operates vertical trading hubs for fragmented and traditionally low-tech industries.

Another classmate embarking on a dotcom adventure is Rob Engelman, who has joined Sure Payroll.com as vice president of marketing. Sure Payroll provides a new Web-based payroll system, and Rob will oversee the company's integrated marketing efforts and strategic direction. He has spent the past six years in several marketing positions at Citicorp Diners Club.

Ken Beck is much too busy with his new business to write to me, but fortunately, his wife, Maria, has passed on some news. Ken recently started his own consulting engineering firm, BLW Engineers, which specializes in the design of HVAC, electrical, plumbing and fire protection systems. Ken and Maria welcomed their first child, Jakob William, last October

As long as we re on birth announcements, here are two more: Stephen Crystal and wife Pamela welcomed their third child, William Foster, on April 5. Stephen is managing partner of the Washington, D.C., office of Armstrong Teasdale L.L.P. Abdhish Bhavsar is a new dad as well, celebrating with his wife, Mary, the arrival of their son Nirayudh in March. The Sanskrit name means courage, strength and bravery. Abdhish is serving as president of the Minneapolis Ophthalmological Society this year.

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