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view . spring 2009
Julie Di Ponio-Roy BA ’98
Julie Di Ponio-Roy is the owner and
executive director of The Children’s
House Montessori Schools in LaSalle
and Windsor. She opened her first
school in 2001, adding two more
since then. Di Ponio-Roy designed
the curriculum for autonomous development, lifelong study
skills, self-motivation and a positive, helpful attitude. The
schools employ 150 trained individuals with more than
400 students enrolled. Recently, the Windsor and District
Chamber of Commerce honoured Di Ponio-Roy with the
Business Excellence Award for Large Company of the Year.
Kriston Gene BA ’97
After graduation, Kriston Gene
completed an Educational Glass
Program in Oakville, standing out
among his peers. Today, Gene
owns Tsunami Glassworks with
his business and life partner, Eva.
Tsunami Glassworks, now in its fourth year of business,
specializes in hand-blown glass, and architectural glass tile.
The company wholesales to more than 100 galleries and
showrooms across North America – and hopes to expand
into international markets, as well as the hospitality and
design area. The designs have been showcased in such
publications as Canadian House and Home, Chatelaine,
Elle Décor, Metropolis and Azure.
Shannon Hughes BFA ’03
Shannon Hughes is the head of
Dramatic Arts at the Kampala
International School in Uganda,
where she combines her passion for
acting with a desire to help those
in need. While working in Egypt
in 2005, she staged productions that highlighted personal
stories of refugees to educate the audience and to help the
refugees begin to heal. In Uganda, Hughes uses the arts to
improve the quality of life for those less fortunate. Shortly
after arriving, she joined a group of people in a shantytown
to work with children and create community change
through the arts, especially theatre. She says she hopes to
change the world – “one group at a time.”
Pierre Jraiche BSH ’96
Pierre Jraiche is a consulting actuary
and business leader in retirement
affairs. He moved up quickly in
his profession, accomplishing in
three to four years what typically
takes an accomplished actuary
eight to 10 years to achieve. Jraiche has distinguished
himself as a team leader, exhibiting outstanding capability
and achieving remarkable results. Additionally, he is a
sessional instructor with the Department of Mathematics
and Statistics at UWindsor, teaching courses that are ideal
preparation for the current Society of Actuaries exam.
Gregory Luciani BA ’00
Gregory Luciani’s business,
TravelOnly, has grown from a
grassroots travel agency into one of
Canada’s top-rated travel franchises.
TravelOnly has created more
than 450 new jobs across Canada,
currently recruiting 10 new agency owners a month.
Luciani expects to have more than 2,000 agents within
the next three years. TravelOnly has won several awards
including Canada’s Travel Agency of the Year in 2006
and 2007, The Vacation.com Travel Agency of the Year
for North America in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and, in 2004,
Canada’s Top Job Creator and the 45th Fastest-Growing
Company by Profit Magazine.
Chris Schembri BA ’92,
MBA ’05
Chris Schembri oversees media
planning and buying for AT&T’s $3.2
billion account. Now vice president
of media services with AT&T, the
second-largest advertiser in the U.S., Schembri oversees
media planning and buying, working closely with the
company’s media agency to deliver inspired messages that
build on the company’s existing marketplace momentum.
In addition, he lectures in UWindsor’s Executive Weekend
MBA program and has been honoured by his students as
Professor of the Year for the past three years.
IT’S A MATTER OF PRIDE – ALUMNI ASSOCIATION’S ODYSSEY AWARD
THE ODYSSEY AWARD IS PRESENTED TO ALUMNI WHO, IN THE EARLY YEARS OF THEIR CAREERS, HAVE
DISTINGUISHED THEMSELVES WITH NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS IN THEIR COMMUNITIES, OR THROUGH A
SIGNIFICANT OR INNOVATIVE ACHIEVEMENT IN THEIR PROFESSIONAL OR PERSONAL LIFE. THESE ARE
JUST A FEW OF OUR RISING STARS:
