Class Notes

Catch up on classmates, housemates, faculty, and friends.

We Want Your Class Notes

Marking career and personal achievements, special milestones and the birth of future Queen's alumni - Class Notes helps you stay in touch with former classmates, housemates, and faculty.

Submit
  • Michael Green and Taylor MacPherson and their child, classnotes

    2010s

    Michael Green and Taylor MacPherson

    – Artsci’15, MA’16 and Artsci’15, ConEd’16

    Michael Green and Taylor MacPherson recently celebrated their marriage on Jan. 20, 2024. The ceremony took place at the McMichael Art Collection in Vaughan. They were surrounded by family and friends (and quite a few Queen's alumni!) for the joyous occasion.

    The couple first met living on the same floor during their first year in residence at Waldron Tower. Over the years, their friendship evolved into a deep and lasting relationship. They became close friends, housemates, and even served as residence dons together. They started dating just before embarking on their graduate school experiences at Queen's.

    They are now proud parents in Kingston with a beautiful family and a home they cherish. Both have found careers within the Queen's community: Taylor currently serves as the coordinator, student leadership and development in the Student Experience Office, while Michael works as the coordinator, global engagement projects and events in the Office of the Vice-Provost, Global Engagement.

  • 2000s

    Angie Vanderwees

    – Artsci’09

    Winter 2023

    Angie is the author of Fostering Resilience: Anecdotes and Affirmations from a Therapist and Fellow Human. Angie is now a local registered psychotherapist, yet she has always aspired to be a writer, beginning as an English major at Queen's. Angie is a former creative writing student of Dr. Carolyn Smart. In Fostering Resilience, Angie reflects back over her life to recount personal struggles, noteworthy experiences, and remarkable adventures, while embarking on a new journey to become a psychotherapist. Valuable lessons from training and practice — including quotes from various other works — and healing strategies from her own personal therapy are shared in this inspirational piece. The book includes eight positive affirmations that are expanded on through strategies based in acceptance and commitment therapy and positive psychology, which can easily be adopted by the reader in a self-help format.

  • 1970s

    Simon Leibovitz

    – Artsci/Ed’79

    Winter 2023

    After a 44-year career, mostly in education, Simon has recently retired from RTOERO, the provider of exemplary insurance plans, advocacy, social networking, and communications for retired members of the educational community in Canada. Simon retired on Dec. 15 as the Chief Administrative Officer at RTOERO, after a 22-year career with the 55-year old organization. He and his "new" wife Mary — they were married July 2022 — are looking forward to travelling and spending more quality time together. Simon will also have more time to spend with his father and stepmother and his twin adult sons.

  • 1990s

    Scott Reeder

    – Sc’91

    Winter 2023

    Scott Reeder, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist in the Department of Radiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he has been on faculty since 2005. He joined UW after completing his residency training at Stanford, and medical and graduate school at Johns Hopkins. In addition to his clinical and administrative duties, Scott leads the UW Liver Imaging Research Program, an NIH-funded group developing and translating advanced imaging methods, particularly quantitative MRI biomarkers of diffuse liver disease, into clinical practice. In January 2024, Scott was appointed the John H. Juhl Professor and Chair of Radiology at UW, and is excited to take on this new challenge.

  • 1990s

    George Jeffrey

    – Artsci//Ed’92, MBA’03

    Winter 2023

    George Jeffrey is the new CEO of Canadian Orthodontic Partners. He has been in this post since September.

    “George is a gifted leader with a remarkable track record who has thoroughly impressed us since day one,” said Brian Chambers, COP Board Chair. “It’s no overstatement to say he’s given us reason for great big smiles since joining our passionate and talented team. We’re delighted to have him on board and act as a founding co-chair of our Doctor Advisory Council.”

    Experienced in scaling up businesses and fostering strong cultures of performance, purpose and team spirit, George recently helped launch Laser Clinics Canada, part of the world’s largest network of advanced medical aesthetic clinics. Before that he was Senior Vice President at McKesson Canada, where he oversaw the growth and development of a network of more than 2,600 pharmacies – a $3.8+ billion business unit. Prior to entering the healthcare sector, he played similar roles at leading international brands in retail foodservice and food processing industries.

    “I could not be happier,” said Jeffrey. “I have always focused on delivering smiles inside and outside of the organizations for which I’ve worked. The only difference is that now it’s official – I’m joining a team that builds self-esteem, one beautiful smile at a time. I’m wholly aligned with our purpose, values, and our mission and see clearly that docbraces is blessed with a strong team of doctors, clinic, and administrative teams, who share a common passion for the field of orthodontics, service experience, and innovation.”

    The creation of a Doctor Advisory Council, the brainchild of both Jeffrey and Dr. Robert  Hatheway, serves the purpose of reinforcing the company’s mission and its nature as a patient centric, doctor partnered operating network. 

  • STEPHEN BRODSKY, CLASS NOTE

    1960s

    Dr. G.W. Stephen Brodsky

    – Arts’69

    Winter 2023

    Steve Brodsky, CD, MA, Victoria; DPhil (Litt.) York (U.K.) savoured condolences from his loving and beloved spouse Kit and family for passing his 90th birthday in November 2023. Following his military and pedagogical academic careers, he has continued to write and publish in his areas of specialty (ample online entries). He has recently embarked on a nonagenarian project: a last book, Intimations of Joseph Conrad, in which “sightings” of Conrad’s presences attest to his preeminent place in Eastern Europe’s political conscience and in the broadened literary canon. The book explores Conrad’s abiding modernist influence internationally on 20th century and current postmodern novelists, as well as on screenwriters, playwrights and craftspersons in marine, manual, and plastic arts. Nearing completion, Intimations will be a coda to a creative life, which truly began 60 years ago when the gates of academia at Queen’s opened for a soldier who knew only of “ignorant armies that clashed by night.”