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Department
Class Notes
News and Notes from Rice Business Alumni
1982
Richard Cook ’82
After 35 years in commercial real estate development, Richard has retired and moved to Mt. Crested Butte, CO, with his wife, Ann.
Rick Reinhard ’82
Rick was delighted to attend the wedding at St. James Episcopal Church in Roanoke, Virginia, of Francis D. “Doug” Tuggle to Anthea Smith. Tuggle was dean of Rice Business from 1981-87. Former Rice Business Director of Admissions Joe Buccheri was also in attendance.
1997
Mark Williamson ’97
Fourteen years serving the U.S. onshore upstream oil and gas industry has led Mark to an opportunity in the clean energy, zero emissions space. He is now COO for a green hydrogen storage entity, which holds patented and proven technology that circumvents the issues facing all alternatives for energy storage and transport.
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2000
Lisa Beckman ’00
Lisa was inducted into Temple University’s Athletics Hall of Fame in October 2021 as part of Temple’s 1992 NCAA champion fencing team. The team had a record of 17-1 and won the only championship title for the sport.
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2007
Kim-Kay Randt ’07
The pandemic changed so many things, including international travel. So Kim-Kay was blessed in January 2022 to visit Saudi Arabia with the World Affairs Council of Houston. It was an overwhelming experience, from the history to the buildings, all with the backdrop of strong faith drawing pilgrims all over the world to Mecca and Medina. Yet it was also humbling, as she met such kind and accomplished people, from the family in a cafe, the former Saudi Ambassador and his family, the Chamber’s Women’s Council, the Minister of Trade, the artists at the gallery, and even Princess Noura and embassy leadership. This was country #120 for Kim-Kay but one of the best experiences of her life.
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2010
John Davies ’10
John and his wife Holli welcomed the birth of their daughter Ivey James Davies in December 2021.
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2013
Mosha Zhao ’13
Mosha and her family moved from Houston to Shanghai at the end of 2021. They already miss Houston, where they stayed for over 12 years; both of her daughters were born there. Mosha recently joined a fast-growing Chinese company in the chemical industry. Marie inspired Mosha to start an alumni group in Shanghai. Please feel free to contact Mosha on LinkedIn, and stay in touch!
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2014
Danilo Alvarado ’14
Danilo has recently been named head of Texas market development for startup electricity provider OhmConnect Energy, based in Houston. OhmConnect Energy (OCE), which recently launched in Texas, pays its customers to conserve energy when the grid is stressed and power prices spike. In return for their energy-saving efforts, OCE gives its customers reward points that can be turned into cash, converted into credits on their electricity bills, entered into prize drawings or used to buy smart devices that further reduce their energy use. This saves customers money while relieving pressure on the Texas grid.
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Laurel McQuilling ’14
Laurel and Stephen McQuilling ’14, both PMBA (Evening), were married on Oct. 10, 2020, in the presence of immediate family. They celebrated with extended family and friends on Aug. 21, 2021. From classmates to friends to spouses: Thanks to Rice Business for bringing us together!
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2016
Tom Divine ’16
In October 2021, Tom left the oil and gas industry to take on the role of vice president for investor relations at Argo Blockchain, a publicly traded bitcoin mining and blockchain infrastructure company with operations in Quebec and Texas.
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Katy Roach ’16
On Nov. 30, Katy welcomed her third child, Anneliese Elizabeth Roach. Older siblings Thomason and Louisa are thrilled with their new baby sister.
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2017
Lydia Mabry ’17
PMBA classmates Lydia and Hays Mabry ’17 married in October 2021. They met on the first day of school, learning about each other through impromptu standup speeches in Dr. Tobin’s communication course. Neither was keen to date a classmate. Regardless, Hays sensed she was interested after she asked for help with Professor Crane’s finance homework and pursued her from there.
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Margaret Schneider ’17
Margaret has taken a new role as a customer value manager at Crowdstrike. In this role, she supports cybersecurity customers through executive business reviews.
Gregory Surabian ’17
Gregory got engaged in January 2022 on a beach in Malibu, Calif.
2018
Amanda Haywood ’18
Amanda welcomed the birth of her second daughter, Everly Rose Haywood, on Nov. 5, 2021. Big sister is very proud of her new title!
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Sean Marshall ’18
Sean and Rice Business classmate Danny Rehg ’18, the co-founders of Criterion Energy Partners, have closed their first outside investment. The company was founded while they were students in 2018 and they participated in the first cohort of the Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator last summer. Criterion EP is a geothermal energy company developing co-located renewable combined heat and power systems along the Texas Gulf Coast for commercial and industrial companies.
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2020
Stacy Fish ’20
Both Rice Business grads, Stacy (MBA ’20) and Conor Callahan (Ph.D. ’19) got married in November. They now live and work in Chicago — Stacy for United Airlines and Conor as a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago.
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Nicholas Harris ’20
Nicholas was recently promoted to senior analyst of investments at Humphreys Capital.
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Raj Kankaria ’20
Raj and his wife Karely welcomed their baby girl, Mia Kankaria, on Feb. 11, 2021. They are so excited to watch their future Owl grow!
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Patrick Ray ’20
Patrick and Sophie Randolph ’22 are getting married! They met while Patrick was in his first year at Rice Business, and now they're making it official. Wedding festivities will be held in Sophie's hometown in the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts, with a satellite celebration at Valhalla for all the Houston folks who don't want to make the journey.
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2021
Trey Sinkfield ’21
Trey is negotiating his first real estate investment!
