Alumni Notes: Stories from the March 2026 Visit

By Bart Gummere, Associate Head of School

On a trip last week, I had the good fortune to spend time with 9 alumni spanning the classes of 2021-2025. Below you’ll see pictures of me with Krithika Gopalakrihna (EPS 2022, Case Western University 2026) and Marisa Mulye (EPS 2021, BA Ohio State 2024).

Krithika graduates in a month and is returning to Seattle for the coming year. She is already prepping for the arduous task of applying to Med School. MCAT’s are coming up soon/. Additionally, Krithika has spent the year volunteering at the Cleveland Clinic as a Patient care Nursing Assistant. She goes to class full time during the week and then does two 12-hour shifts as a PCNA, working each Saturday and Sunday from 7AM to 7PM. She credits EPS with much of her success, specifically noting leadership, public speaking and the ability to communicate well with faculty as skills that still serve her well.

In Cleveland I also met Nolan Haeger ’23.  Nolan is a combined Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering major at Case. He loves it and is completely enthralled with all he is studying. This coming summer he was asked by his professor to stay and continue working on a research project. I would try and explain it to you but it might be beyond you all. (OK- it was totally beyond me!) Hyper speed air flow is all I can really share.

Marisa was admitted and enrolled at The Ohio State University in the Combined Degree program in the College of Pharmacy.  Through the program she earned her BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 3 years and is now in her second year of Pharmacology PhD program. She has loved everything about the program and is approaching the time when she needs to refine her specialty areas and ultimate direction. Marisa also shared with me that her brother Damon is engaged to Alena Kane. Both are 2018 EPS graduates. As far as I know, this will be the first marriage of two alumni!

While I was in Pittsburgh, I also caught up with Carnegie Mellon students, Cadence Ching ’24, Seamus Fu, Ryan Li, Rishay Puri and Dylan Wu all ’25. I also saw Chloe Hua ’24, who is at U Pittsburgh. They are all doing well. The first-year boys are navigating the adjustment and all report the work as very demanding. Cadence and Chloe, each in their second year, are more settled and involved. Especially entertaining is a CMU tradition called Buggy. Cadence is on a team. You can learn more here: https://www.cmu.edu/buggy/.