Mike Sela

Hello class of 1986! As I scan through these pages that Jeff posted I'm struck with how many of you have nice glossy pictures of yourself. I am impressed!

Meanwhile, I am some sort of troll, the kind who trots out unshaven pictures of himself taken with his laptop. (Sorry, ladies, I'm taken!)

So, what have I been up to (in addition to hiding under bridges during daylight hours)?

I graduated from UC Berkeley in 1990 with a degree in electrical engineering and then promptly ignored that degree to pursue a career in software. I worked for Hewlett Packard for 6 years and then jumped ship to become one of those software start-up millionaires that seemed to be bubbling up everywhere in Silicon Valley. That plan sort of worked. I believe I was a millionaire on paper for a week. That was a pretty cool week. Since then I've worked for incrementally larger companies as each successive one bought the previous one. I'm about ready to jump ship and go work for a start-up again.

Somewhere during that journey I tricked a remarkable woman into marrying me and bearing me a delightful daughter. She has forgiven me for the former because of the latter. We're now in our 12th year of marriage and our daughter will be entering 4th grade next year. We live in the fabulous Glen Park neighborhood of San Francisco.

In my spare time I've been running the occasional marathon, playing absurd amounts of Scrabble, teaching my daughter how to become a social outcast, and practicing writing in anticiption of the day when someone would ask me to write a short bio for NGHS Class of 1986 blog. mikesela AT gmail.com

Matt Carter

Matt Carter works at MSDN, a Journal for Microsoft Developers

Matt Carter, Group Manager. Matt Carter has been at Microsoft for four years. Prior to joining MSDN/TechNet, Matt was at Microsoft Learning, where he managed the portfolio management and product engagement team for Microsoft Press, Microsoft Certified Professional Program, Official Curriculum and e-learning. Before that, Matt created and managed various print and online products for developers and ITPros at Fawcette Technical Publications and DevX.com. Matt lives in Sammamish WA with his family. In his spare time, he likes to play tennis and bicycle, experiment in the kitchen, and try to broaden his knowledge of wines beyond California.
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Also, I heard from my brother that Matt's brother, Tim (NGHS '88), is a drummer for the re-formed Bay Area ska band The Uptones

Pizza Party

Sue Lockyer sends along another snapshot. I know this is from after our Sophomore year, and before Senior year. Darren could probably fill us in more specifically. From left, Jeff Amato, Chris Bowhay (seated), Beth Schutz, and Darren Whittaker, delivering the pizza! Looks like we were good tippers...

Tom Camp

Tom Camp writes in. Tom, don't forget what Buck Owens said:

"I've done a thousand miles of thumbin'
I've worn holes in both my heels
Trying to find me something better
On the streets of Bakersfield"

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I spent some time yesterday taking a look at the site. It is a great idea and nicely executed.

Hell's Bells...what have I been up to???? Aside from working on a cure for cancer and trying to bring peace to the Middle East?...I've pursued my own selfish personal gain, got married and had .8 too many children, lost almost as much money as I have made and gained 40 lbs.

I'm now a corporate soldier, fighting at the edges of the empire in Bakersfield, CA. Someday I'll earn my way back to a metropolitan area and cooler temperatures.

All kidding aside, I'm married and have three boys (2, 4, and 7). I really don't get out much and try to travel twice a year with the family. We like things quiet around the house, as our kids supply all the noise we can handle and sap our strength, so I can understand why my neighbors hated us in W.C.

My dad has an old prep school buddy living in Las Cruces, NM. I understand it is a great place to live. Congratulations on your baby girl. It is great to hear from you and I really appreciate your putting this site together.

Tina Cassano

Yes, hot on the heels of our Romanian Correspondent, we now hear from España! Tina Cassano, in her own words:

Thanks again, Jeff, for setting this up for us. After NGHS I went to UCLA and graduated with a BA in Political Science and International Relations. I had done my junior year in Madrid, Spain and during my time abroad I met my husband Julio. After completing my degree, I moved back to Spain and have been here ever since. I have been working in organizing International Study Abroad programs at a private university and then at a small private company. Now I work from home and am also involved in organizing a European Symposium called Innovate!Europe for start up tech companies. I work closely with a San Francisco consulting company called Guidewire Group. Julio runs his own business which is a do-it-yourself warehouse (www.oriaskit.es).

I have two beautiful daughters (who are arguing as I write this); Victoria is 11 and going into 6th grade, and Sofia is almost 8, and will start 3rd grade next year. Both are involved in swimming and karate and LOVE to ski. Victoria plays tennis, and Sofia just made the competitive city rhythmic gymnastic team. Next week I am going to celebrate my 40th climbing Mt. Blanc (4808 meters). You can always find us doing something outdoors….scuba, mountain or road biking, hiking, skiing, a 5k or 10k for charity and even short distance triathlons.

I am always in WC in August visiting my family for the entire month (nice European vacation!) and happy to host any visitors who are in Spain…the least I can do is pay for drinks so don’t be shy if anyone is my way. tina AT csdi.es

John Engstrom

Well folks, we have our first (but not last!) European respondent. John Engstrom writes:

It is fun to read up on everyone. What great stories and what a group of talented and successful people. Seeing the pictures reminded me that the reunion was far too short and hurried. There was absolutely no way I could talk to, let alone see, all the people I wanted to. Let me be the first to register a vote for a reunion weekend for the 30th.

Your e-mail finds me just finishing up my first year in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Yup, you read correctly. Aside from the usual vampire jokes...people are just dying to be here... it is a beautiful country. I am here with my wife Kathy and our three small children Cole, Callan, and Luke (8, 5, and 19 months). I re-upped (sounds very military doesn't it?) with Bechtel and am currently the field engineering manager for the Autostrada Transilvania. You can check it out at www.autostradatransilvania.ro if you are at all interested. It is a basic highway project made very difficult by the mess of local politics and 60 years of communist thinking. A local town just re-elected the dead incumbent...what more is there to say?

After Northgate I went to Arizona State University where I eventually got a degree in civil engineering after first getting one in English Lit. I think it took a few years to shake Mr. Friss' influence. In any case, with that I went to work in Boston for a few years where I met my lovely wife and then promptly dragged her back to San Francisco where I went to Stanford [go Cardinal! -ed.] for an MS in civil engineering. We settled in the City for a few years and then moved out to Pleasant Hill. I worked for a local general engineering contractor until last August when the opportunity to work in overseas came up.

We were both looking for a change in venue and figured that there could be worse places to take your family so we packed everything up, sold the house, and moved to Romania. Our home is always open to anyone who happens to find a need to wander through. engstroms AT hotmail.com

Mike Radakovich

Just heard from Mike. Note to all Cal fans: Stanford currently has the Axe!

"Still single and living in SF, running a small employee benefits brokerage called KBI Benefits and enjoying life as much as possible: skiing quite a bit during the winter and golfing not as often or well as I would like during the rest of the year?! Also, religiously support Cal Bear football & hoops and attend many Giants games as well."

Comments Welcome

I have now made it possible for people to comment anonymously, so you don't have to register. Still, it would be nice if you signed your comments so we know who you are.

Bounced emails

I had emails from 140 people. I think we had 368 in our class. My graduating class in college only had 400 or so. Anyway, of those 140, I had bounced emails from the following people. If anyone has updated contact info let me know, and forward them the link to this site. Note that these are only the people that had valid emails a couple of years ago.

Mike Bonetti
Peter Corsa
Gary MacVicar
Kristin Matthews
Adam Miles
Dave Lincoln
Jessica Morgan
Kevin Plazak
Jim McManus
Laura Moran
Pam Watrous
Leanne Poynter

More reunion photos

Heather shares these reunion photos...keep them coming! Let me know if I get your name wrong.

(1) From left, Jeff Sykes, Teri Ross, Tom Jones, Chris Rymer


(2) From left, Mike Sela, Michele Bockstein, Ludwig Salvador


(3) From left, Tina (Buschiazzo) Kane, Heather (Darnsteadt) DeWitt, Ludwig Salvador, Paul Hohlt, Kathryn (Johnson) Bolt

Heather (Darnsteadt) DeWitt

Just heard from Heather, here's her update:

Jeff, I am so glad someone was able to but this website together. So what have I been doing with my life… that is the big question… I graduated in 1991 from CSU – Fullerton with an Art Degree –Graphic Design. (If Mr. Schwerin only knew, I heard he’d retired 5 years ago or so..) after college - I worked in the glamorous field of Graphic Design (and Medical Billing - to pay the bills.. ) In 1993 - I married my husband of 15 years - Mike DeWitt. We have lived in Highlands Ranch, (a suburb 20 miles south of Denver), Colorado for 10 years with our two children, daughter - Skyler 12- she will be in 8th grade and son –Logan 9 who will be in 4th grade. I currently working as a teacher for a private preschool, an Education Assistant at a local public elementary school, and I run a small sewing business. With that and all the competitive sports my kids are in I am always running around. I do love to travel, take photos, scrapbook, read and test my bravery riding my new dirt bike. Oh and I’m thinking of taking up golf!

Whatever happened to Martin Iglesias, Matt Burris, Jay Fallon and Tiffany Worboy?

Class of '88 Reunion?

My brother Dave, who was in the Northgate class of '88, is working as a musician in San Francisco. He visited this weekend and mentioned that although this year is their 20th anninversary of graduation, he has heard nothing about a planned reunion. If anyone knows anything about something in the works, please let me know. But kudos to our class and the organizers (I only remember that Tom Camp was involved, but thanks to everyone who worked on the event) for getting it together. Still looking for more reunion photos!

Name Hall of Fame

We had some great names in our class, including:

Hummer and Gass
Dull and Sharp
Martini and Rice
Mower and Plummer
Glass and Tubb
Wright and Wong
and Wait!
Don't forget Janelle Dwinell!

It's really too bad that our alumni didn't band together to start the Law Firm of Hummer, Plummer, and Tubb.

Clint Stewart-Where are you now?

Clint Stewart went to UC Berkeley and eventually got a law degree. I last saw him in Salt Lake City in 1997, where he was working as a lawyer involved with Safeway and property (or something like that). He has since moved and I haven't heard from him in awhile. If anyone knows his whereabouts, please let me know. Feel free to email me with other "lost alumni" requests and maybe we can track some people down.

Brad Giacobazzi

Well, there can't be too many Brad Giacobazzi's, can there? Especially in the East Bay. So it looks like Brad is now a Detective in the Crimes Against Persons Unit of the Concord Police Department. Let me know if you can confirm or deny!

Brian Duckering

Brian Duckering is (or was? that's why I need you guys to write in!) a Senior Director of Products and Alliances for a company called Appstream, who apparently were acquired by Symantec. They do video streaming for the web.

Don Dornblaser

Don Dornblaser has a website. He went to UC Santa Cruz and then got a MFA at Loyola Marymount University in 1998. He was an Engineering Manager for TiVo from 2000-2005 and then after a year at Yahoo! is now an Engineering Program Manager at Ambric in Beaverton, Oregon.

Sharon Krejci Mowat, MD

My dad played golf with Sharon's dad last week, and Mr. Krejci mentioned that Sharon was a doctor. Sharon is working at Kaiser Permanente at the Walnut Creek Medical Center Department of Inpatient Pediatrics and has a web site bio that I'll share with you here. I wonder how many other grads are still in Walnut Creek? We hope to hear from her soon:

I come from a long line of physicians, starting with my grandfather. My mother and father were incredible role models as parents and as physicians planting the seed of desire to one day become a doctor. However, like all children I needed to pave my own way.

I grew up in Walnut Creek, California, and have returned home to practice pediatrics. I received my undergraduate degree in art and art history from Colgate University, Hamilton, New York. After exploring my artistic side and working in the “real world” for a year, I decided to follow my passion for medicine and return to school. I studied at Columbia University for a short time in New York City and then was accepted to Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois. My pediatric training was completed at University of California, San Francisco where I also served an additional year as Chief Resident. Besides my role at Kaiser Permanente, I also serve as Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California, San Francisco. I am a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

My decision to become a pediatrician was based on a combination of helping people as well as my love of science. I was especially drawn to the preventive medicine aspect of pediatrics, leading to my passion for sports medicine and nutrition. I love educating and being educated by my patients, providing a real team-based approach to the care of children. Fortunately I found a coveted position at Kaiser Permanente where I am able to concentrate on the care of my patients and not be overwhelmed with paperwork.

Outside of work, my time is consumed with my family. My husband, Rob, and I met in San Francisco while I was in training. Rob is a landscape architect in San Francisco. Marrying Rob also came with a beautiful daughter, Danielle, who is loved by all her parents. My parents and my sister and her husband live close by, which makes family get-togethers commonplace. The rest of our family includes our three cats, Toby, Zoe and Charly, our bunny Cuddles, and our new puppy, Pepsi Cola Mowat.

My other passions include cooking, horseback riding (jumping and dressage), hiking, mountain biking, snow skiing, and pilates. Safety is important so I always wear my helmet. I expect my patients to do the same!

Travel is also very important in our lives. My husband and I are visiting all 50 states. We only have five more to go. Besides our travels in the United States, we also love going to Mexico and Europe.

20th Reunion Pictures

I'm sure many others are floating around out there. Send me your photos!

1) Sue Lockyer and Bart Hummer

2) Mike Radakovich


3) Kerry Breen

Greg Parikh

One of the first respondents! Greg Parikh

Hi Jeff,
Thanks for putting this together. Such memories...

Quick Blurb:

Went to College in So Cal, BA in Bus Mgtm
Did an acting and modeling stint, got cast in Soap Opera pilot (did not get picked up!).
Pictures included (I think I beat your mullet!)

Came back to Walnut Creek in 1990 and opened up a Health Club (Body by Jake Fitness Center).
Met my wife at the club (Acalanes and Cal Poly/St. Mary's grad). Married now for 16 years, two lovely daughters (8 and 11 years old), and we live in San Ramon. Picture of my three girls included.

Sold the club a few years later and worked for various companies as an Operations Analyst, Controller, Business Manager, Asst. Regional General Manager, and finally I have been with PeopleSoft/Oracle for 8 years now, as the Dir. of PeopleSoft Information Development. I love working for the company, even after having to endure the 18 month hostile takeover. I have teams here in Pleasanton and in India. I travel occasionally, but not too often, which is good because I would miss my daughters way too much. It was great getting back to India, as I had not been there since a childhood visit back in 1980.

We are complete suburbanites, and I even coach my daughters Lacrosse team. Wouldn't have it any other way!




greg.parikh AT oracle.com

Amato, Yesterday and Today

So as to encourage people to send me some now and then photos, I just scanned this one from Senior Prom 1986 and another from Valentine's Day 2008. See below for my update, aka 20 years in two paragraphs. The prom one is on the top, in case you couldn't tell. My wife assures me that my former haircut qualifies as a mullet.

Facebook Alums?

I'm not on Facebook, so I can't see the content, but Google shows that Reid Stevens has a Facebook page. It says he is living in Monterey Bay. So does Mollee Murphy, now Mollee Murphy Johnston, who is living in Sacramento. If any one has contact with these or other Facebook people, please send them this website and tell them to send us their stories...

Alums at Schwab

Scot Kobashigawa, Greg Bertoldo, and Dave Devoe all (at least recently) were all working at Charles Schwab. We hope to have another update soon.

Sathvik Krishnamurthy

Sathvik (nobody called him Srinivas, despite what our yearbook staff thought) appears to have done well. Sathvik Krishnamurthy was appointed President and CEO of Voltage Security in March 2003 and brings over 17 years of computer networking, messaging and security software experience to the company.

Prior to joining Voltage, Sathvik spent four years as Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at ValiCert, a leading provider of secure file transfer and authentication software. While at ValiCert, Sathvik created and implemented the company’s global strategic marketing and partnership initiatives, helping to drive revenues from zero to $24M and a successful IPO in July 2000.

Before ValiCert, Sathvik spent six years in various capacities at Worldtalk Corporation. As Vice President and General Manager of their security division, Sathvik led the company into the secure messaging marketplace which ultimately resulted in the company’s $200M acquisition by Tumbleweed.

Prior to Worldtalk, Sathvik held engineering positions at various data communications companies including Retix, TITN, and Touch Communications and is co-inventor of US patent number 6609196, “E-mail firewall with stored key encryption/decryption” which he conceived of while at Worldtalk.

Torsten Kimura

Torsten Kimura, a former neighbor of mine (along with Billy Alpert: we all lived on Creekmore Ct.) is a Principle Manufacturing Engineer at XTENT, Inc. They make medical devices, I think stents for treating clogged arteries.

After Northgate he went to Harvey Mudd College and then in 1994 got an MS in Engineering at Tufts University.