Arthur N. Chagaris (CAS’70, CGS’68) of Mahwah, N.J., was named one of the state’s top attorneys in the New Jersey edition of Super Lawyers magazine for the second year in a row. Arthur is a board-certified civil trial attorney at the law firm Beattie Padovano, where he heads the litigation department. He also served as a grand marshal of the Greek-American Day Parade, which marched up Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Lawrence Werlin (CAS’70) of Irvine, Calif., a fertility specialist, received a Physicians of Excellence Award in the field of obstetrics and gynecology from the Orange County Medical Association and Orange Coast magazine. Lawrence is the founder and medical director of the Coastal Fertility Medical Center and cofounder of Genesis Network for Reproductive Health.

David B. Adams (CFA’71) of Mountain View, Calif., teaches in the Palo Alto school district. He also directs the Foothill Symphonic Winds (www.windband.org/foothill), arranges music for brass groups, and plays trumpet professionally. He writes that he has “a wonderful wife and a fantastic 10-year-old son.”

Gary Larrabee (COM’71) of Wenham, Mass., published his seventh institutional history volume, Far Above the Neighboring Hilltops (Commonwealth Editions, 2007), a 100-year history of St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers, Mass. E-mail him at gary@sevilant.com.

Jane (Besserman) Trigere (CFA’71) of South Deerfield, Mass., exhibited her art at the Yeshiva University Museum at the Center for Jewish History in New York City this past winter. Her collage Encompassing Sukkot — Collected Memories brings together anecdotal memories and images of the Jewish holiday Sukkot from around the world. Jane is the founding director of the Hatikvah Holocaust Education and Resource Center in Springfield, Mass. E-mail Jane at jane@trigere.com, or visit www.trigere.com.

Peter H. Bloom (CAS’72) of Somerville, Mass., is a flutist and a historical performance consultant for museums in the United States and abroad. Peter recently consulted on exhibitions for Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), where he recorded musical excerpts and voiceover commentary for an audio tour of historical woodwinds; the New York Historical Society; and the American Museum in Britain. He also frequently performs with composer and trumpeter Mark Harvey (STH’71, GRS’83) on Mark’s Aardvark Jazz Orchestra recordings. They can be heard on two new CDs, No Walls/A Christmas Concert (Aardmuse, 2007) and American Agonistes: Music in Time of War (Leo Records, 2008). Mark, Peter, and other orchestra members appear in the award-winning DVD series Treasures from the American Film Archives, which the New York Times called one of the best sets of the year.

Hyman Darling (CAS’72) of Longmeadow, Mass., a partner in the Springfield-based law firm Bacon & Wilson, gave presentations at two national seminars: the Special Needs Alliance conference in Clearwater, Fla., and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys conference in Memphis, Tenn. Hyman is an expert on estate planning and probate and elder law.

James R. Carroll (CAS’73, MET’82) of Alexandria, Va., a reporter at the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal, was part of the paper’s team named a 2007 Pulitzer Prize finalist in breaking news reporting. James and his colleagues were cited for their “clear and authoritative reporting” on the crash of a Comair jet that killed 49 people in Lexington, Ky., in 2006. In July 2007, James received the National Press Club’s Robin Goldstein Award for regional reporting for his coverage of Washington as well as the organization’s Washington Correspondence Award for his coverage of coal mine safety. E-mail James at jcarroll@gns.gannett.com.

Linda J. Cook (DGE’73) of Providence, R.I., a professor of political science at Brown University, published the book Postcommunist Welfare States: Reform Politics in Russia and Eastern Europe (Cornell University Press, 2007).

Kathy Fitzgerald (COM’73) of Short Hills, N.J., executive director of KPMG, was recently given the additional title of global head of corporate communications for KPMG International. In her new role, she leads a global team providing communications strategy for the KPMG network of firms.

Jane Wilcox Hively (CFA’75) of North Conway, N.H., released an album of traditional Irish songs with harp accompaniment, Irish Companions (Mountain Streams Music, 2007). Jane writes that it was inspired by her recent trip to Ireland, where she took her parents for their 60th wedding anniversary. Jane teaches harp and voice and performs solo and with her husband, Jon, as Mountain Streams Music.

Julie Kane (GRS’75) of Natchitoches, La., coedited a collection of essays, short stories, and poems about the late New Orleans poet Everette Maddox. Umpteen Ways of Looking at a Possum: Critical and Creative Responses to Everette Maddox (Xavier Review Press, 2006) was one of four finalists for the 2007 Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Book Award in poetry. Contact Julie at kanej@nsula.edu.

Stephen Marcus (LAW’75) of Los Angeles, Calif., received a Lifetime Achievement Award from VIP Mentors, which recruits attorneys and judges to be advisors, friends, and role models for parolees from state prisons. Stephen is a supervising judge in the Los Angeles Superior Court and has been a national leader in creating collaborative justice courts, such as the Drug Court.

Risë (Zywotow) Birnbaum (COM’76) of Bethesda, Md., recently was honored with Washington Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business Award. Her company, Z Communications Co., was recognized by the same publication as one of the top 15 public relations agencies by revenue in the D.C. metro area. Contact Risë at rise@zpr.com.

Jim Marcellino (GSM’76) of Milton, Mass., is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Jim has almost 40 years of experience as a trial lawyer in business, employment, and intellectual property law. As an adjunct faculty member at Boston College Law School, he teaches a course on legal skills and ethics.

Steven Perlman (SDM’76) of Swampscott, Mass., received a Special Spirit in China Award of Excellence at the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai. Steve, an associate clinical professor of pediatric dentistry at BU, was honored for 14 years of commitment to the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes program. In 1993, Steve founded Special Smiles, a subset of the program that provides free oral health screenings to Special Olympics athletes around the world. He serves as global clinical advisor to Special Smiles, which, along with other Healthy Athletes programs, has helped 500,000 athletes with disabilities in the past decade.

Jill O’Mahony Stewart (COM’76) of Oak Park, Ill., recently completed a three-city tour of China as part of a People to People delegation. She and other American delegates met with Chinese women business leaders and observed how the country’s rapidly changing business climate affects women. “Our female business counterparts are struggling with the same work-life balance issues that working women in the U.S. have faced for decades,” she writes. Jill is president of Stewart Communications, Ltd., and an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University’s College of Communication. Contact her at jills@stewcommltd.com.

Pamela Cooper-White (CFA’77) of Philadelphia, Pa., was appointed a professor of pastoral theology, care, and counseling at Columbia Theological Seminary, where she will begin teaching in July 2008. She is a professor of pastoral theology at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and is a recipient of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors 2005 national Distinguished Achievement in Research and Writing award.

Richard Jones (CAS’78) of Los Angeles, Calif., a private wealth advisor with Merrill Lynch, was named one of America’s Top 100 Advisors in the magazine Registered Rep’s annual financial advisor ranking.

Helen Becker-Cerbone (CAS’79, CGS’77) of Howell, N.J., has reentered the workforce after raising three sons, the oldest a Rutgers graduate. Helen works for AMEC Earth and Environmental, an environmental consulting firm in Somerset, N.J. E-mail Helen at legolas5plus1@yahoo.com.

C. J. Lori (Brenner) Elliott (COM’79) of Brookline, Mass., exhibited her paintings at the BAAK Gallery in Harvard Square last fall. In addition, three of her paintings were selected for the national exhibition Paint! at the South Shore Art Center in Cohasset, Mass. Visit www.cjlori.com.

Jeffrey M. Goldfarb (SED’79) of Buffalo, N.Y., presented the paper “Mission-Based Investing to Bridge Donor Intent and Organizational Usage” at the 2007 National Conference for Planned Giving last October. He runs Jeffrey M. Goldfarb & Associates, a financial advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc.

Deborah Katchko-Gray (SED’79) of Ridgefield, Conn., a cantor, recently performed a concert at the Florence and Chafetz Hillel House at Boston University. “What a thrill to be able to relive some wonderful memories of BU Hillel,” she writes. “Rabbi Polak is as brilliant, dedicated, and compassionate as ever. I sat in on my mentor Elie Wiesel’s class, and 30 years melted away as I was transported back to those magical days in his classroom. My work today is a result of those classes and the encouragement of Rabbi Polak.”

Karen (Meyer) Koproske (SAR’79) of Simsbury, Conn., writes, “The highlight of 2007 was attending the BU pep rally at Madison Square Garden and watching BU Hockey’s victory over Cornell. What a perfect day with my daughter, Kristen, her friend Alexis, and another alum, Doreen Stiskal (SAR’81). It ended with Kristen’s and Alexis’ BU-painted, red-and-white faces on the JumboTron, celebrating victory!”