Class Notes

In 2024, Dan Smolnik ’86 JD published an in-depth analysis of the econometric drivers of the Connecticut municipal real property tax in Volume 46, Issue 3, of Western New England Law Review. The piece is entitled The Connecticut Municipal Property Tax: A Closer Look at the Historic and Evolving Landscape. While nominally focused on Connecticut, the methodology is applicable anywhere.

In July of 2024, Smolnik published a blog post to the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ as part of an ongoing series of observations of spiritual life. This particular post finishes with an ending intended to honor his Valpo roots.

Sheila E. Schroeder ’86, Ph.D., was the executive producer/director and editor for Breaking the Turfgrass Ceiling, a 14-episode series that explores everything from the origin of the Women in Turf Team to the last day of the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament. It features the tournament’s all-female turf team and is designed to create opportunities for women who make up just 2% of golf course superintendents. The series is part of Project DU F.I.L.M., a mentorship program she started in 2015 to change the face of filmmaking in front of and behind the camera. Sheila recently completed her 25th year at the University of Denver

Kristi Moe ’86 Hope recently launched an executive coaching business in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband, John Hope. She is the first female Master Certified ILEC coach, and they are the first husband and wife team to serve as ILEC coaches. Learn more at leadingwithhope.intelligentleadershipec.com.

Al Tamburrino ’86 retired from his position as principal of Kimball Middle School in Elgin, Illinois. His kids celebrated with him in a tunnel of cheers. Kimball is a National Demonstration School for the AVID curriculum.

René Steinke ’86, novelist, editor, and educator, has been named a 2016 Guggenheim Fellow. Guggenheim Fellowships are intended for men and women who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts. René’s most recent novel, “Friendswood,” was named one of National Public Radio’s “Great Reads” of 2014, was shortlisted for the St. Francis Literary Prize, and was an Amazon Book of the Month. Her essays and articles have appeared in The New York Times, Vogue, O Magazine, Redbook, Houstonia, Salon, Bookforum, and in anthologies. René is currently an editor-at-large of The Literary Review and the director of the MFA program in creative writing at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Joseph P. Kreoll ’86, ’89 J.D., successfully petitioned before the New Jersey Supreme Court and obtained the reversal of the Appellate Division’s decision on a major redevelopment case in which the Supreme Court agreed with the Planning Board’s designation of property as being an “area in need of redevelopment” because of its blighted condition.