Alumni News & Profiles
Kevin Truitte co-authored an article for Foreign Affairs, "Filling the Vacuum in Libya."
Baj Ahtchi ’12 – is currently a PhD candidate at the William E. Boeing School of Aeronautics & Astronautics at the University of Washington. He is also an adjunct researcher at the RAND Corporation and works on Middle East and space policy issues for the DoD.
Matt Swaim ’12 – graduated with a Masters of Arts in International Affairs from the GWU Elliott School of International Affairs in 2016. He is currently a Business Development Manager for the Asia and Afghanistan portfolio of Chemonics International, the largest implementer of international development programs for the United States Agency for International Development programs. He has traveled to over 10 countries for work in South and Southeast Asia, including Afghanistan and specializes in democracy and governance and agriculture and food security programming.
Michael Sinacore ’08 - Legislative Assistant, Office of Congressman Dave Trott (R-MI) and MBA Candidate, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Ed Golden ’11 – graduated from Harvard University class in 2013 with a Masters in Middle Eastern Studies, and is currently an engagement manager with Mercer.
Kathryn Turlo '13 – graduated with an MA from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, with a concentration in strategy and a minor in Middle East studies. Currently interning with the Scowcroft Group, an international consulting firm in Washington, DC. Former positions include program coordinator at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington, DC.
Isaiah Sterrett '10 - completed a Master's degree in comparative politics at BC in 2012; currently pursuing a doctorate in History at BC.
Andrea Gordon ’10 – received a law degree from University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2014; practices in Washington, DC in the field of securities defense litigation and internal investigations, specializing in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") cases involving multinational companies and issues of corruption and bribery. Also worked as a Law Clerk in the House Committee of Homeland Security and at the U.S. Department of State, Officer of Legal Adviser, Treaty Affairs. She also takes immigration cases and has worked with the International Refugee Assistance Project ("IRAP") and Kids in Need of Defense ("KIND").
Jonathan Makransky ’14 – Currently enrolled in a Masters program in Comparative Religion (Islam and Buddhism) at Harvard Divinity School and hoping to turn it into a PhD program after 2 years.
Christopher Maroshegyi ’09 - is a Director at Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG), where he helps clients navigate markets in Europe and the Middle East. Prior to joining ASG, he served as founding Director of P3 Intelligence at the Concordia Summit. He also spent two years with the UNESCO Iraq Office, where he worked closely with the Government of Iraq and the private sector to develop and manage scientific and environmental initiatives. Chris holds an M.A. of Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University. He was a Fulbright Fellow in Budapest, Hungary. He currently serves as a 2017 Marshall Memorial Fellow at the German Marshall Fund.
Luke Tarbi ’05 - served as an officer in the U.S. Navy in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa. From 2008 to 2009, he served in Afghanistan as part of the police training mission. In 2011, he deployed as part of Operation Unified Protector during the Libyan Civil War. After leaving the military, he received his Masters degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and his MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University. Currently, he is the Vice President of Marketing at EnergySage, a solar energy technology company backed by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Sandra Williams ’10 – graduated from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts with a Master's in Art History, followed by Hagop Kevorkian Curatorial Fellow in the Art of the Middle East Department of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Currently serving as Assistant Curator at LACMA; responsibilities include organizing shows related to the permanent collection of Islamic art and contemporary Middle Eastern art.
Alexander Guittard ’11 – former Army Officer, U.S. Foreign Service Officer; currently Director of Governance & Strategic Communications at M&C Saatchi.
Matthew DeMaio ’13 -- is currently pursuing his PhD in Anthropology from the George Washington University. He also holds an MA in Palestine Studies from SOAS, University of London. After graduating from BC, he completed a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Amman, Jordan.
Kate Lueba ’14 –following graduation, joined DAI, a USAID Implementing Partner, serving in the Asia and MENA divisions, and currently serving as Associate Project Manager in DAI's Center for Secure and Stable States, overseeing a USAID program in Myanmar that focuses on the country's ongoing peace and reform processes. While at DAI, she has supported and visited projects in the West Bank, Myanmar, Tunisia, and Pakistan.
Chris Asmar ’12 -- worked as a consultant to the Palestine Liberation Organization's mission in Washington DC, helped to organize joint events with American Arab and Jewish organizations to promote a peaceful, political solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Then joined the team at NationBuilder, a Los Angeles based tech company that helps leaders in the political, nonprofit, and business sectors connect in a more human way with their communities and accomplish their goals.
Brooke Braswell ’12 -- received a Fulbright Research Scholarship to Tajikistan and graduated from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs with a Masters of International Affairs. She is currently based in Cairo, Egypt and Washington D.C. working with the World Bank on poverty in Egypt.
Tara Foley ’05 – graduated from University of Chicago with an MA in International Relations, currently serving as Foreign Service Officer in Egypt, with past postings in Iraq, Geneva.
Emily Neumeier ’08 – received a Fulbright Scholarship to Istanbul, and a PhD in Art History from the University of Pennsylvania; she is currently ACLS Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of the History of Art at Ohio State University. Her research concerns the art and architecture of the Islamic world from the early modern period until the present day, specializing in the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey.
Maggie Sullivan ’08 – received her Master’s in Policy Analysis at Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs; she received both a Boren and FLAS Fellowships to study in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and works for the Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia.
Dorothy Smith Ohl ’09 – received her PhD in Political Science at George Washington University, focusing on military cohesion, military effectiveness, and social unrest. Her dissertation draws on more than 100 interviews with soldiers and conflict witnesses to explain military defection patterns amid unrest in Jordan (1970), Iraq (1991), and Syria (2011). Her research has been supported by the Boren Fellowship. She is currently working for RAND Corporation.
Wajiha Ahmed ’06 – graduated from The Fletcher School and is employed by the World Bank as an Associate at Bankable Frontier Associates. She is an advisor to banks, MFIs, and entrepreneurs aiming to better understand the intersections of user experience and financial services in emerging economies. She uses human-centered design/user-experience (UX) and other research methods to design appropriate and effective solutions. She managed the CGAP Smallholder Diaries project and led the project’s research in Pakistan.
Brian Jacek--graduated from BC in 2010 with a degree in Political Science and ICS. I graduated from Seton Hall Law School in 2013, and then was an attorney at the law firm Nixon Peabody. In 2016, I began clerking for a federal judge in Rochester, NY.
Nathan DuBois '11 – received his Master’s of Development Policy from Korea Development Institute School of Public Policy and Management, and is currently employed at the U.S. Department of Defense
Chelsea Kress ’11 – is currently employed at the US State Department as a Foreign Affairs Officer
Claire Marinello ’13 –is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at The New School for Social Research at NYU. After AmeriCorps, she taught ESOL and citizenship to immigrants and refugees, then joined New York Cares, where she organizes tutoring programs for ESOL, citizenship, adult literacy, and high school equivalency.
Amber Glavine ’17 – is pursuing her Master's degree in Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University.
Kathryn Tsantes ’13 – is an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School and SIPA. She worked as a consultant at Deloitte Consulting.
Kate Harriso ’04 –currently employed at the Department of Defense.
Alison Grieco ’14 – received her MA in International Development Practice from Sciences Po and is currently based in Paris.
Clay Westrope - REACH Assessment Specialist (Design and manage humanitarian emergency needs assessments and impact evaluations to inform and improve humanitarian aid planning, coordination and delivery, www.reach-initiative.org) 50% Washington, DC / 50% in the field (South Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Tajikistan, etc.)
Greg Fortunato
Political Affairs, International Franchise Association
Washington, DC
Leah Maloney
Law Student, George Washington University Law School
Washington, DC
K. Morgan Rood
PhD Student (Theoretical Linguistics, Semitics), Georgetown University
Washington, DC
Jeff Skowera
Program Assistant, CRDF Global (Promote peace and prosperity through international science collaboration, www.crdf.org)
Arlington, VA
Maggie Schneider
CNN Journalist
Atlanta, GA
Michael Weston-Murphy
Campaign Manager for the Restoration of St. Patrick's Cathedral
New York, NY
Sean Korb
Mergers and Acquisition Advisory (Consulting)
Chicago, IL
Luke Hagberg
Masters Student (International Relations), University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Brendan Kennedy
Off-Campus Student Life and Civic Engagement Graduate Assistant in the Office of the Dean of Students at Boston College
Boston, MA
Elise Moussa
Founder & CEO of BE, www.whatisbe.com, facebook.com/whatisBE
Cambridge, MA (Kendall Square - Cambridge Innovation Center)
Mary Kayyal
PhD Student (Psychology), Boston College
Needham, MA
Craig Noyes
Higher Education Administrator, Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA
Alison Fahey
Masters Student (Public Affairs), Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
Jessica Sobrino
Communications Coordinator, Brookings Doha Center
Doha, Qatar
Ryan Folio
Fulbright Student Researcher
Amman, Jordan
Sarah Grebowski
International Elections Observer with the International Republican Institute (IRI)
Batumi, (Republic of) Georgia
Sophia Moradian
Masters Student (International Development), Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom