Class Notes

Hillary Knipstein ’05 serves as a coach for Girls on the Run in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Girls on the Run is an international organization that teaches healthy lifestyles and life lessons to young girls, with the end goal of running a 5K. Meeting twice a week in small groups, the girls learn life skills through interactive lessons and running games. They cover topics relevant to preteen girls like peer pressure, choosing good friends, rumors, and bullying.

Adam Lefever Hughes ’05 earned his doctor of musical arts in piano performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with his dissertation entitled “Assai: Historical Contexts of a Contested Musical Term.” Adam is currently the director of music at St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he lives with his wife, Valerie Lefever Hughes ’05, and their children, Nicholas and Samuel.

Rebecca L. Loeffler ’05 J.D. joined Littler’s Indianapolis office as counsel. She joins the firm after serving as the government litigation section chief in the Office of the Indiana Attorney General.

John “Chaz” Weber ’05 joined Tucker Ellis LLP in January 2018 as counsel in the firm’s finance practice group. John represents regional and national banks and other capital providers on sophisticated financing transactions. He is experienced in a wide array of secured transactions and has particular expertise in the financing of hospitality properties. John also regularly represents financial institutions and corporate borrowers on asset-based, cash flow, acquisition, and other commercial transactions. He previously worked at Jones Day, where he concentrated his practice on real estate finance.

Matthew Ries ’05 received his Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of South Florida in August 2016. His research focused on the practices and attributes of sustainable U.S. urban water utilities. Matthew is the chief technical officer at the Water Environment Federation near Washington, D.C., where he has worked since 2005. During his doctoral studies, Matthew was also a senior research fellow at the Patel College of Global Sustainability at the University of South Florida. Matthew lives in Falls Church, Virginia, with his wife, Lora Grandrath ’03, ’06 J.D. Ries, and their children, Alexandria and William.

Kelly Linebrink ’05 David is the recipient of the Lutheran Education Association’s 2018 Distinguished Lutheran Elementary Teacher award. Kelly teaches third grade at Zion Lutheran School in Georgetown, Texas, where she is co-leader of the garden club and National Junior Honor Society, assists the coach of long jump in track, and is currently writing a third grade math curriculum for public schools. Prior to Zion, Kelly served at two other Lutheran schools in Texas, Immanuel Lutheran and Salem Lutheran.