Maxwell Class Notes
Blake Neumann ’19 M.P.A.
has joined the Adirondack Council’s conservation team in the newly created role of clean water advocate.
Michael Nitzky ’98 B.A. (PSc)
was appointed to Mercury as managing director of its New York office. Mercury is a global, bipartisan public strategy firm located in all 50 states.
Brandy Oakley ’05 B.A. (PSt)
was elected as state representative for the 12th Suffolk district in Massachusetts and was sworn in on Jan. 6, 2021. Prior to her appointment, Oakley earned an M.A. in education at Johns Hopkins University and attended law school at Emory University. Oakley became a public defender with the Committee for Public Counsel Services in the Boston Municipal and Chelsea District courts.
Kent Olson ’83 M.P.A.
retired after 37 years of local government financial management. He served as finance director for two suburbs in the Chicago region and Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Howard Palley ’63 Ph.D. (SSc)
professor emeritus in the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, published three articles in 2021. “Review of Health Care in Switzerland: A Closer Look at a System Offered as a Model for the United States” was published in the Journal of Medicine and Surgical Sciences, while the Open Journal of Political Science featured two pieces: “The White Working Class and the Politics of Race in the United States and Race and Caste: Its Impact on the American Political System.”
Krista Peyton ’95 M.A. (PSc)
was appointed associate circuit judge for St. Louis County in the 21st judicial circuit in the greater St. Louis, Mo., area.
Kevin Porter ’18 B.A. (PSc)
was promoted to Congressman Kurt Schrader’s communications director in March 2022. Schrader represents Oregon’s 5th congressional district.
Kate Powers ’02 J.D./M.P.A.
was appointed assistant deputy superintendent of life insurance at the New York State Department of Financial Services.
Joseph Ralbovsky ’11 B.A. (PSt)/ ’14 M.P.A./M.A. (IR)
became an energy technology program specialist for the U.S. Department of Energy in October 2021.
Richard Ramacier ’89 M.P.A.
retired on Jan. 1, 2022, after 25 years of service to County Connection, a public transit agency based in Danville San Ramon, Calif.
Diana Rocco ’02 B.A. (PSc)
is co-anchoring News 4 San Antonio Today, a broadcast based in San Antonio, Texas.
Maryangel Rodriguez ’16 B.A. (IR)
manages the Washington, D.C., office for the Obama Foundation and is in the liberal studies master’s degree program at Georgetown University.
Lauren (Hill) Rose ’14 M.P.A.
was promoted to assistant city manager for the city of Sachse, Texas.
Stasha (Fyfe) Santifort ’02 B.A. (PSt)/ ’06 M.P.A.
was selected as one of City and State New York magazine’s Responsible 100. The award highlights those who are dedicated to helping others and exemplify the optimism and idealism that make New York a national leader, especially as partisan gridlock hinders the nation’s ability to contend with an unending pandemic, heightened racial tensions and a rising climate crisis.
Brooke Schneider ’21 M.P.A.
was appointed senior public information officer by Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh ’05 M.P.A. in November 2021. In this role she is responsible for planning, preparing and communicating critical information on government activities, services, programs and projects to Syracuse residents.
Brian Selmeski ’02 M.A. (Anth)/ ’07 Ph.D. (Anth)
was named associate vice president for learner success for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.
Layla Mahdieh Sharaf ’17 B.A. (IR)
has begun a new position as director of the Civic Leadership Program at the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans, a Washington, D.C., organization which seeks to include Iranian Americans at all levels of the democratic process.
Peter Simmons ’98 M.P.A.
was named chief administrative officer of the town of Amherstburg in Ontario, Canada.
Stephen Soble ’72 B.A. (Hist/PSc)
is on the board of directors for TerraScale, an organization which aims to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable planet through large-scale green infrastructure and technology development globally. TerraScale is located in Culver City, Calif.
Bree Spencer ’11 M.P.A.
was confirmed to the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission. Spencer was previously the policing program manager for the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a national coalition of civil rights groups.