2007

June 2007

One group of alums from 1987 have been meeting annually in a different location since their graduation. This year they decided to celebrate their thirtieth anniversary of graduation from Richmond by meeting in London and joining in the reunion.

Nelly Senyonga 1987, Noha Abdel Aziz 1985-87, Faika Zaki 1987, Abeer Fakhiddin , Nada Fadlallah 1985, Reem Kuwatly 1988, Hulya Soufrakis 1985-87 gather for a 30th reunion photo. They came from Egypt, Kuwait and London to meet together on campus.

Claudine Hakim-Dedeyan, Class of 1987, joins in the 1987 class group.

Alums arrived at the Hill about noon, signed in and mixed and mingled with each other with drinks until the buffet lunch opened. The menu included Mediterranean Chicken with Tomato, Fresh Herbs & Olives, Lentil & Vegetable Biriyani and Penne Pasta In Tomato Sauce along with several salads.

BUT the best part was the dessert! For the second year in a row Abigail Athaide '94 made a huge trifle to add to the lunch treats. This year's cognac trifle disappeared in minutes to the sounds of lip smacking and loud appreciative yums! What a treat!

After lunch, Dan Parisi made presentations to the faculty being honored for their academic research. John Dwyer, Chair of Department of Arts & Sciences and Professor of Computing, Hind Zantout, Associate Professor of Computing and Assistant to Co-ordinator of Academic Advising and Eric Nummela, Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Mathematics were each honored.

Dr. Nummela retired this summer after serving seven years as Director of Acacdemic Advising, Dean of Academic Affairs and Registrar.

Dr. Jos Hackforth-Jones, Provost was also honored by alumni for her exhibition in Spring 2007 at the National Portrait Gallery. Jos escorted a group of alumni around the exhibition of which she was Lead Curator. Called "Between Worlds", the exhibition recounted in paintings, etchings, and personal items displayed the stories of nine diverse men and women who were drawn from regions with which Britain had a colonial relationship: North America, the South Pacific, Africa and India.

In her words of welcome to alumni, Jos announced that Dr. Norman Smith President 2002-2007, was leaving Richmond this summer and that she had been appointed to serve as President until the Search Committee finds a suitable candidate to appoint as permanent President. She emphasized her commitment to the alumni and her interest in talking to and meeting alumni as much as possible.

Dr. Hackforth-Jones will continue to serve as Provost in a combined role with that of President of Richmond. The alumni applauded her announcement with genuine happiness, and wished her well in this important role.

The raffle prizes were drawn by Dan Parisi, and Alex Couto, Class of 1998 was the lucky recipient of four of the six prizes!

A tour of the campus and all the refurbishment began, led by Jennifer Line, Class of 2004. Jennifer is working in Boston, MA recruiting American students for Richmond. Alumni visited the new library, the refurbished Common Room and gym, new bedrooms and classsrooms as well as the dining hall, cafe and other buildings on campus---the cottage, Longley House.

Volleyball aficionados gathered on the lawn to challenge one another and more bottles of beer and wine were opened for alumni to celebrate friendships and the opportunity to be together on the beautiful Hill campus on a perfect summer's day.

Alums who attended the reunion included:
Noha Abdel Aziz, 1985-87 from Egypt.
Christopher Aguilar, 2007 from USA.
Celia Allaert Scholtz, 1999 from London.
Lee Alley and his wife Vikki, MBA 1999 from London.
Austin Amusu,200 and his son Oliver.
Abigail Athaide, 1994 from London.
Lisa Bajardi, 2005 from London.
Elisa Bennaton, 2002 from London and her sister visiting from Honduras.
Kelly Caruso, 2006 from London.
Alex Couto, 1998 from Portugal.
Rohit Dhawan, MBA 1995 from London.
Nada Fadlallah, 1985 from London.
Abeer Fakhriddin 1985-87 from Kuwait.
Bettina Gronblom-Hammerich 1994 from London.
Claudine Hakim-Dedeyan, 1985 from London.
Justine Hales, 2002 from London.
Dina Hammam, 1999 from London.
Saida Hasanagic Stanford, 1999 from London.
Yuko Inoue 1993-94 from Japan.
Irina Iordachescu, 2007 from Roumania.
Miguel Izquierdo 1994-97 from London.
Ibrahim Jalo, 2006 from London.
Reem Kuwatly 1985-88 from Saudi Arabia.
Jennifer Line, 2004 from USA.
Daniel Parisi, 1997-99 from USA.
Marco Amaral Pereira 1999 from Portugal.
Jitesh Puri, BA 1997 and MBA 2000 from London.
Cem Sayer and his wife Feza, 1989 from Turkey.
David Scholtz, 1999 from London.
Nelly Senyonga, 1987 from Egypt.
Hulya Soufrakis, 1984 from London.
Emmanuelle Versmessen, 1999 from London.
Faika Zaki, 1985-87 from Egypt.

Wolfgang Deckers meets Alumni in Doha, Qatar

Dr. Wolfgang Deckers, Professor of International Relations and Political Science, visited Doha in mid January, 2007. He met alumni in Al Sayyad restaurant at the Diplomatic Club in West Bay, Doha.

Many alumni came to meet Dr. Deckers and enjoy catching up on the news from Richmond.

London Alumni first reunion for 2007 takes place in Builders Arms

To start the reunions for 2007, the London Alumni Leadership Committee chose to return to the Builders Arms. There have been many changes in this pub since Patrick, the previous publican left to open up his own pub in Southfields.

Ricardo Jurado 1991-93 was in London on business from Sevilla, and joined Justin Weddle 1994, Dan Parisi 1997-99, Kelly Pertzsch, 2005 Imran Mirza 2001, Tyler Roman 2005, Daisy Sarkis 2005, and Cristina Haraba 2006.

The London ALC continues to plan monthly reunions on the first Thursday of each month. The remaining reunions in March, May, and June took place in the Builders Arms, in Covent Garden, at International Night and at the Hill campus.

Everyone is invited to join the group if you live and work in London or are visiting on London for business or pleasure.

Reunions in Jeddah and Riyadh

Ghazi Lashab, Admissions Officer, met alumni when he was travelling in the Middle East for recruitment purposes.

In Riyadh, on 9 February Ghazi met for afternoon coffee with Bassam Oueida 1991 and Hisham Ali 1992 at Al Faisaliah Hotel. See photo

In Jeddah, two days later, he met Nabil Sahli 2000 for coffee in Cafe Vienna Plaza in the Hilton Hotel.

We hope that the next opportunities for reunions in Saudi Arabia will have more alumni attending.

Social Science Alumni meet at The Builders Arms

Social Science alumni from over the years met with faculty past and present at the Builders Arms on the evening of 1 March, 2008. Peter Leuner, former Chair of Social Sciences, joined Professor Alex Seago, Chair, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Dr. Wolfgang Deckers, Professor of International Relations and Political Science. Dr Maurice Pearton had planned to be there, but at the last minute was unable to join in.

Some of the alumni present included Suparna Malhotra 1997, Amanda Sarkis 2007, Daisy Sarkis 2005, Arezoo Rezaei 2007, Soleil Nuguid 2007, Matthew Wakefield, Isaiah Behnke 2007, Christina Bize 2007, Cristina Haraba 2006, Goobi Kyazze 1998.

Vice President Mark Kopenski meets Alumni in Abu Dhabi

Mark Kopenski, Vice President and Dean of Enrollment, visited Abu Dhabi on Friday, 2 March and held a reunion of alumni with George King, Richmond Trustee, and parent of a current student, Mr. Samir Suleiman. Everyone met at Oceans Restaurant in Le Royal Meridien Hotel in the center of Abu Dhabi.

For more information about Richmond in Abu Dhabi go to

Richmond in Abu Dhabi