Claudia C Cotca, Class of ’93,’00,’04, Founder of The Washington Institute For Dentistry & Toxicology, Clinical Practice & Think Tank in Washington DC, has been appointed to the Board of Trustees of the American Academy of Oral Medicine.

was elected vice president of the North Central Region of Pi Delta Phi, the national
honor French society.

Our first grandson Sebastian Spiguel was born on July 15th 2007 in New York City. There are not enough words to describe the WONDERFUL feeling that this event brings. Some say that if we had our druthers, we should go straight to grandchildren without passing through the children phase…
We spend part of our retirement time in Brazil, so we follow Sebastian’s growth closely using Skype, a great technology… yesterday we saw him wearing a Wolverine outfit that we gave him, so I got thinking about the Wolverine legacy…
His father, Artur Spiguel, is a Wolverine as well (CSE, class of 99). Hopefully one day Sebastian will also be in lovely Ann Arbor, one more reason to go back to our old stomping grounds.

I am writing in response to your article titled Teen drivers would benefit from greater restrictions (Feb 2008). I couldn’t agree more, and that is why my husband and I founded SAFETY 101, Inc. We are the makers of the Magnetic Permit Driver Signs and we believe they can truly help to save young lives.
Today in Michigan teenagers are starting drivers training at the young age of only 14 years, 8 months old. They have approximately 6 hours (and this is debatable) of actual on the road drive time with an instructor. Driving Instructors have the following safety features in their cars when training young drivers: an additional brake, extra rear view mirror and signage! But what does the parent that must log in an additional 50 hours of drive time with their child have? Nothing, until now. These Magnetic Permit Driver Signs come in a set of three and are placed on both sides and rear of whatever vehicle your teenager is driving. For more information, please visit our website at: www.permitdriversign.com

After years in corporate finance, private banking, and finance for environmental conservation, I’m engaged in nationwide executive search for The Rankin Group. I consult with and place senior finance executives for high net worth clients and wealth management firms.

After graduating from the U of M I worked at The Chase Manhattan Bank, Bank of America, Banker’s Trust and The Nature Conservancy. I’m helping with the Washington DC 2008 U of M fundraiser, and can be contacted at mary.mcclellan [at] cox.net.

My first book, “Grand Obsession: A Piano Odyssey” (Scribner, 2008) has just been published. It’s a memoir, piano mystery/thriller, and immersion into an international subculture of piano aficionados. The book has received rave reviews from the New York Times Book Review, Washington Post Book World, The Los Angeles Times, Kirkus Reviews, Publisher’s Weekly, and was made a New York Times Editor’s Choice. To learn more about the book and read excerpts, visit www.grandobsession.com.

Robert Smith, AIA, of Lansing-based Hobbs + Black Architects, was presented with the President’s Award at the 2007 American Institute of Architects Mid-Michigan chapter (AIA Mid-Michigan) Design and Recognition Awards Celebration.

The event recognized the University of Michigan alum for his outstanding contributions to the profession and service to the community through education and corporate practice.

Smith has more than 35 years experience in the industry, serving as a project manager on a variety of projects, including office, banking, educational, retail, healthcare, residential, religious, recreational and government facilities. During that time, Smith has earned a reputation for his project management skills and for safeguarding clients’ interests.

Jill B. Berkeley, Class of 1972, was named one of Illinois’ Top 100 Super Lawyers of 2008. She is a partner at Howrey LLP’s Chicago office and co-chair of the national Insurance Recovery Group.

Dr. Rupa Patel, an alumnus of the University of Michigan’s undergraduate economics program, will extend her medical practice to provide treatment to post-cyclone Bangladesh with International Medical Corps (IMC), a leading humanitarian aid organization that provides sustainable health care, support for women and children, mental health care, and disaster response. IMC selected Dr. Patel for the position from an extensive volunteer roster to not only satisfy the need for a female doctor in Bangladesh, but also to benefit from her cultural understanding of the region from her heritage and travel in India. She will put her skills as an internal medicine doctor to use caring for some of the hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi people left homeless and without sufficient medical care, food, or supplies following the November 15 tropical cyclone Sidr.

Immediately following the cyclone, IMC deployed an emergency team in response to the projected three million people affected from the storm’s 155-mile-per-hour winds. On the ground in Bangladesh, Dr. Patel will join the IMC team and its local NGO partner, Friendship, to provide non-food supplies, medical treatment, nutrition support, and sanitation. Without sufficient help, aid officials fear that inadequate supplies and hygienic conditions will lead to outbreaks of infectious-disease. Dr. Patel will be a crucial element in IMC’s efforts to decrease that likelihood through a wide-reaching medical treatment program aboard Friendship’s mobile hospital boat, traveling south to north to aid Bangladesh’s isolated and dispersed populations.

After returning from Bangladesh, Dr. Patel will begin her fellowship with the Mount Sinai Medical Center’s division of infectious diseases in New York City to study HIV and its associated complications and treatments. Since her time at the University of Michigan, Dr. Patel received her medical doctorate from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, and completed her residency in internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. She hopes to continue her practice with medically-underserved communities throughout the world and pursue a master’s in public health in epidemiology.