Alumni Stories
View videos from John Glasgow ’17, Myhana Kerr ’18, Eun Shin ’17, Lucas Myers ’17, and Iris Parshley ’18 and learn more about how studying Asian Languages and Cultures impacted their education, their careers, and their lives.
Recent graduates who have focused their studies on Asian Studies, or Chinese or Japanese language and culture are in great demand in fields such as education, international banking and commerce, law, foreign service, studio and design art and journalism. Others have gone on to professional schools or to graduate programs in Asian Studies, Japanese language and culture, Chinese language and culture, linguistics and teaching English as a second language, history, economics and international business.
Zhenxiao (Victor) Wang ’22 will be working as a research technician in Dr. Takeshi Egawa’s lab at the department of pathology and immunology at Washington University School of Medicine.
Ben White ’21 is studying Law at the University of Minnesota Law School
Daphne Iskos ’21 is a Diplomatic Assistant in the Japanese Embassy
Jingyi Guo ’20 is studying Public Policy and Data Analysis at the University of Pennsylvania
Andrew Taylor ’20 is studying at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, Monterey.
Jane Acierno ’20 is working as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the University of Minnesota
Reese Bresson ’20 is an Information Technology Solutions and Services Provider at CDW
Caroline Norfleet ’20 is pursuing a PhD in Chinese Linguistics at the Ohio State University. Caroline completed a Fulbright Fellow, teaching English in Taiwan
Rina Morisawa ’20 is a Curatorial Assistant at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology
Anisha RajBhandary ’20 is a Fulbright Fellow teaching English in Taiwan
Natalie Mitsumoto Hoffman ’19, has a new book: How to Talk to the “Other Side”: Finding Common Ground in the Time of Coronavirus, Recession and Climate Change
Andie Wilhelm ’18, Haruka Yuminaga, and Shintaro Iwai, work for the digital company “Flywheel” as retail specialists.
Yi Ren ’17 has begun her Ph.D. in Japanese Linguistics at UCLA
Megan Dietly ’17 works in Tokyo for “YTA” as an event manager. (But she is currently looking for a job as a translator in the Tokyo area.)
Connor Boyle ’17 holds a master’s degree in East Asian Studies from Yale University. He is pursuing a masters degree in Computational Linguistics at the University of Washington.
EunGyeong Shin ’17 is a Product Policy Manager at Tik Tok
Lucas Myers ’17 holds a master’s degree in Security Studies from Georgetown University. He works at the Wilson Center, a public policy institute, as the program coordinator for Southeast Asia.
John Glasgow ’17 is the Program and Partnerships Manager at the Rural Schools Collaborative. He holds a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies.
Amy Rapp ’17 is a UX/UI designer living in Paris
Lucy Woychuk-Mlinac ’17 is a Research Consultant at Harper Global
Tara Cayton ’15 is pursuing an MD
Samson Bialostok ’15 is working as an Associate Account Manager for Convey Compliance Systems
Yang Zhang ’15 has been accepted to the Master of Public Health program at Yale University.
Lina Mistron ’14 will start her Ph.D. program as a Japan specialist in the Department of History at the University of Chicago Fall 2017.
Daniel Timm, Benjamin Eagan-Van Meter, Jill Romero and Nicole Miller, all Class of 2014 are working at various locations in Japan through the JET program.
Lena Paulsen ’14 is pursuing an MA in Japanese Studies at Heidelberg University in Germany.
Grace Sullivan ’14 is a 2020 JD Candidate at The George Washington University Law School
Jiajun Liang ’13 is at UCLA in the PhD program in Japanese Literature
Louis Hendrix ’13 is a PhD candidate in Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Todd Skauge ’13 received his JD in 2020 and is an Associate Attorney at Winthrop and Weinstine P.A.
Sam Frost ’13 received a FLAS fellowship to study in China and is now in the MA program of East Asian Studies at Georgetown
Alex Vega-Byrne and Tiffany Lee ’13 are working in Japan with the JET program.
Devon Kristiansen ’12 is in the MA program at the University of Minnesota and has been offered a summer research project in Beijing, gathering Chinese census data.
Evan Coles-Harris ’10 is a graduate student in linguistics at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Hae Yeon (Alice) Jeong ’10 is working/studying at Korea Development Institute in Seoul, South Korea, researching inter-Korean economic development and pursuing an MPP in International Relations and Political Economy.
Kevin Johnson ’10 owns a translation company in Osaka.
Cryxine Costanzo ’10 is working with H.I.S. International Tours in New York city
Maureen Leeds ’10 finished grad school at the University of Minnesota and is now an Epidemiologist at the Minnesota Department of Health.
Erin Meitzner ’10 works for Nintendo America as an IT Manager.
Lexi Lepler ’10 is working in China.
Molly Gaines ’09 began studying Asian Art History in the Columbia program of Art History and Archaeology, in fall 2012.
Keaton White ’09 received a Fulbright and traveled to Japan to study consumer preferences and country-of-origin bias. He was employed with Capcom, a video game developer and publisher in Osaka, Japan. Keaton is currently in England, where he released a video game City of the Shroud, through his independent video game company Abyssal Arts Ltd.
Monique Murphy ’08 is in the doctoral program in French Linguistics at the University of Texas-Austin. Her research plans include comparisons of French and Japanese.
Kristyn Martin ’08 graduated the Japanese Language and Linguistics MA program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and has been accepted into the PhD program.
Raven Parsons ’08 worked on the JET program as a Coordinator of International Relations for three years and is currently working at a recruiting company (En World) in Nagoya, Japan.
Wes Robertson ’08 received a PhD in Japanese Linguistics at Monash University in Melbourne Australia. His dissertation focused on the indexical use of script to create meaning within Japanese texts. He previously received the Endeavour Postgraduate Award which enables study, research and professional development in Australia. His book is here.
Matthew Rosenbaum ’07 received his M.D from Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University. He previously received a Fulbright Scholarship to study health and longevity in Japan.
Naomi Rubin ’07 (Valley Village, Calif.) is an assistant to the CEO at Japanime Company, Ltd., in West Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan
Ben Livingston ’07 is working for Reliable Sites LLC, a web designing and programming company.
Elena Kamenetzky ’06 teaches Japanese language courses at Eastern High School in Louisville, KY. She received the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages’ 2021 National Language Teacher of the Year Award for her excellence in teaching.
Mashal Saif ’06 is pursuing a PhD in religion at Duke.
Laura Bower ’06 has been studying law at the University of Virginia Law School.
Sasha Kirschner ’06 is attending Seattle University School of Law.
Kate (Cohen) Maruyama ’05 manages study abroad programs in Japan, Vietnam, and China with CET Academic Programs as the Asia Programs Officer. Previously, she spent three years on the JET Program in Osaka.
Michael Tobin ’04 is currently employed at Daitec Ltd. in Fukuoka, Japan. He is working as a technical writer — writing and translating technical manuals
Ethan Bushelle ’03 is pursuing a Master’s Degree in the Regional Studies East Asia (RSEA) program at Harvard. His primary research interest is Japan: Buddhism, especially of the medieval period, and its relation to language.
Brian Steininger ’03 is associate professor of East Asian Studies at Princeton University
Colleen Laird ’02 after one year on the JET program, Colleen is now a PhD candidate in Modern Japanese Literature and Film at the University of Oregon.
Erik Slivken ’02 received a Fulbright scholarship and traveled to Japan to do mathematical research. After completion, he started working at a Japanese software company called q-games as a video game programmer. He is now attending the University of Washington studying Mathematics.
Bailey Eder ’02 is the campus director for the Gold Coast Holmes Institute in Australia
Matthew West ’02 received the Bridging Scholarship to study abroad in Tokyo, Japan. He is currently working as the manager of the Interactive Learning Center (language lab) at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR. He and his wife, Jennifer West ’01, have a daughter, Olivia Marie, (Dec. ’05).
Gretchen Wolf ’02 entered law school at Hamline University concentrating on International Law with the intention of practicing Japanese Business law. She has since graduated, and is currently an attorney practicing in the Twin Cities.
Matthew Healy ’01 received a Fulbright scholarship to travel to Japan to do research in economics.
Eric Kosinski ’01 worked as a Coordinator for International Relations through the JET program sponsored by the Japanese government for two years, and then received a JD from Temple University Law School. He is currently working at a law firm in Tokyo.
Yukiko Norton ’00 presently works as an Advanced IT Analyst for 3M.
Dave Bernotas ’99 entered the University of Illinois after graduation and is pursuing a PhD in economics.
Jessica Blythe ’99 works in the international travel industry for Carlson-Wagonlit Travel.
Lei Bryant ’97 received PhD from the University of Pittsburgh in ethnomusicology and is now a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Music at Skidmore College.
Heather Schlesinger ’97 and Ardis Burr ’97 worked in Japan as a Coordinators for International Relations through the Japan Exchange and Teaching program, sponsored by the Japanese government.
Lisa Kerszencwejg ’96 is an Associate Attorney with the practice of Reed Smith, Shaw and McClay, LLP
Harry Kobrak ’94 received a Fulbright fellowship for one year of study in Japan after graduation. After finishing an MBA program at Georgetown University, he has been working for Shin Caterpillar Mitsubishi Ltd.
Ben Rosenthal ’94 received a PhD in Japanese Linguistics from UCLA in 2006. He is currently working as an in-house translator/interpreter for the videogame publisher THQ. Published “The Japanese Aspectual Construction-TE I-: A Context-Free/Context-Sensitive Approach” in 2008.
Yan Qiu ’94 works for Imagineer Co. Ltd in Japan.
Jenny Nagaoka ’92 received a Fulbright fellowship for one year of study in Japan. Following that she received a scholarship to attend the University of Chicago where she pursued a PhD in Public Affairs.
Erika Schneller ’92 studied law at Indiana University and is now Assistant Attorney General for the State of Minnesota.
Brian D. Landberg ’91 received a two year Rotary Foundation Japan Program Scholarship that allowed him to research alternative energy sources at Hokkaido University.
J. Robert Magee ’91 lives in Japan and has completed three books on contemporary Japan.
Jeff Bayliss ’88 received a PhD in Japanese history from Harvard in 2003. His research focused on minority groups in prewar and wartime Japan. At present, he is a postdoctoral fellow at the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard, but as of September, 2004 he will join the faculty of Trinity College.
Michael Bourdaghs ’87 received both Mellon and Fulbright scholarships. He continued his education and was awarded a PhD in Japanese literature from Cornell and is now teaching Japanese literature at the University of Chicago.
Kenneth Port ’82 was a Fulbright Scholar to the University of Tokyo twice. He is now is a professor and Director of Intellectual Property Law Studies at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul. Ken is recognized worldwide as an expert on Japanese law, in particular, Article 9 of the Japanese Consititution.
Aileen Gatten ’69 finished a PhD from the University of Michigan and is now an independent researcher specializing in classical Japanese literature. Her work as a translator is highly respected in the field.