Category: Members (Page 2 of 28)

Born and raised in Maryland, Peter Knipp attended Princeton University before pursuing graduate studies at the University of Chicago. He began his professional life teaching physics, first at the college level and later in high schools. He subsequently embarked on a second career as a web-development software engineer and has now moved on to what may—or may not—be his final career, as a pickleball instructor.

Peter raised his two daughters in Virginia. One now lives in Seattle, while the other resides in Brooklyn with her husband and their young daughter. Peter is currently single.

After moving to the Northeast in 2009, Peter settled in Fairfield County in 2014 and moved to his current home in Norwalk in 2023. Despite his years in the area, he remains somewhat uncertain about precisely where Norwalk ends and Darien begins. Much of his connection to the Darien community has developed through his enthusiasm for tennis and pickleball, where he has come to know many local residents on the courts.

Basil first became acquainted with Darien during his college summers, when he taught sailing at Noroton Yacht Club. Raised in Larchmont and New Rochelle, New York, he eventually made Darien his permanent home with his family after returning to the United States in the mid-1980s following several years in London.

A graduate of Ohio University, Basil earned his MBA from George Washington University and pursued a career in marketing and sales of enterprise information technology and software to the financial services industry. He retired in 2017.

While attending Ohio University, Basil met his wife, Leslie, a proud Pittsburgh native. Together, they raised three daughters—Kate, Kerry, and Leah—all of whom attended Darien public schools. In a remarkable display of consideration for their parents, all three chose Colgate University, although each has since pursued her own distinct path. The family has grown to include two sons-in-law and five grandchildren.

Basil remains an active sailor, continuing to race Sonars at Noroton Yacht Club, and enjoys winter skiing in Steamboat Springs. Since retiring, he has devoted more time to travel, taken on the continuing challenges of golf and learning French, and serves as a docent at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

Bob Lindberg and his wife Pamela have lived in Darien since 1990. Their 2 daughters went through the Darien school system, K-12. Their oldest daughter lives in Portland, Oregon and is the mother of 2 lovely grand daughters. Their 2nd daughter is a successful architect and designer based in Providence, RI.  Pamela is an artist with a studio in Norwalk.

Bob grew up in Valhalla, NY just north of White Plains. He attended Dartmouth College with aspirations of becoming a physician. Conveniently, New York Medical College moved their campus from Manhattan to Valhalla during Bob’s sophomore year. It was within walking distance of his family home and the chairwoman of admissions moved in down the street. This deus ex machina was instrumental in Bob realizing his career aspiration. After graduating from NY Medical College and completing his residency, plus a 2 year stint in the National Health Service, Bob began his practice in Internal Medicine in Darien in 1986. One attraction to this area was Stamford Hospital which was the most impressive and well run hospital Bob had witnessed in 7 years of training in multiple institutions up and down the east coast.

Bob retired in 2022 from the Stamford Health Medical Group. He is grateful for his wonderful family, community and a stimulating career embedded in an era marked by astonishing advances in clinical medicine. In particular he treasures the experience of developing thousands of long term collaborative relationships that are so unique to primary care medicine. He was mentored by many wise and considerate patients. One consistent piece of advice was ‘When you retire and have more time…join the Darien Mens’ Association.’

Mark McCarthy grew up in Springfield, Mass. He met his wife Leslie while attending graduate school in Chicago. They have lived in Darien for 32 years, and raised their three sons here. All three, Connor (32), Brad (30) and Ryan (27), attended the Darien public schools and were active in Post 53, lacrosse and golf throughout their school years. Today, they live in Manhattan, and Mark’s oldest son Connor is engaged, with a wedding date set for July 2027.

Mark and Leslie spend winters in Bonita Springs, Fla. and are members of the Bonita Bay Club. They are also members of Woodway Country Club, where Mark is an avid golfer and Leslie plays on the tennis team.

He has been a member of the Darien Boat Club for more than three decades and enjoys boating and fishing on Long Island Sound. He’s an avid music fan and plays guitar.  In addition, Mark has been a board member of the Lincoln Center Real Estate Council in New York.

Mark spent most of his career in commercial real estate in New York and recently retired from Shorenstein Properties after 27 years. His responsibilities included real estate acquisitions, dispositions and debt capital markets.

Mark graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a B.B.A., and from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with an M.B.A. Mark is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Allan Andersen was born and raised in Denmark, where he lived until 1997. A competitive swimmer and squash player in his youth, he remains an avid scuba diver today.

He holds a Master of Science in Economics. He began his career in management consulting before finding his calling in high-tech software, focusing on product management and strategy. In 1991, he co-founded a software company with a friend, which was acquired in 1997 by Long Island-based Computer Associates (CA). Following the acquisition, Allan relocated to the United States to support the integration.

It was through the CA acquisition that Allan met his future wife, Ina Ghaznavi, who was part of the deal on the US side. Ina was born in Switzerland to an Iranian family and moved to the United States at a young age. Ina and Allan are passionate about Africa, education, and technology and have traveled to Africa nearly twenty times since 2010, working to bring advanced learning technologies to children in rural communities.

In 2021, they relocated to Darien, Connecticut, to be closer to Riverside, where their three grandchildren live — a move they say they only regret not having made sooner.

For the past eleven years, Allan has focused on advancing artificial intelligence, specializing in automation and conversational AI — technology now widely recognized as Agentic AI.

Jim Baclawski and his wife, Rebecca, maintain their primary residence in Amherst, New Hampshire, but have also made Darien a second home. They feel particularly fortunate that all three of their children live here in Darien—Diana Turowski and her husband, Edward; John Baclawski and his wife, Brittany; and James Baclawski and his wife, Christy—along with their nine grandchildren. With their entire immediate family in one town, having a place of their own here was an easy decision, as they spend a great deal of time with family.

Jim was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and attended the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and swam on the varsity swim team. He later earned an MBA from Babson College in Boston and began his career with Pricewaterhouse on the audit staff.

Jim spent the balance of his career in energy finance. He worked at Prudential Capital as a senior lender to investor-owned electric utilities, financing power plants, fuel and utility fleets, and energy projects using a variety of fuel sources. He subsequently worked in energy finance at Heller Financial, later acquired by GE Capital, and as an equity investor with Lakeside Energy. Jim eventually formed his own company, Emerald Renewable Diesel, to develop projects in the renewable fuels sector.

Jim’s primary interest in Darien is family, and he especially enjoys watching his grandchildren participate in Darien sports, including football, lacrosse, basketball, field hockey, and baseball. Jim is joining the DMA to get to know more of the guys in town and take part in the many activities the Association sponsors.

Outside of family, Jim is an avid snow skier and works hard to ski 30 days a year in New England, the Rocky Mountains, and Europe. He is always looking for a ski buddy. During the offseason, he works out at the YMCA to stay in shape for the next ski season.

Jim is also a mediocre tennis player and golfer and has yet to try pickleball—but that may be coming soon.

Ralph Corasaniti lives in Norwalk, CT, with his wife of 44 years, Laurie Corasaniti. Laurie is a retired registered nurse. He has three grown children and six grandchildren – soon to be seven. Four of the grandchildren live in Monroe, CT, and two live in Delray Beach, Florida.

Ralph was raised in Bayonne, NJ, and has lived in Norwalk since 1984. He attended Fairfield University and Pace Graduate School of Business. He has worked as a senior tax and financial advisor for a family office based in Darien for the last thirty years. The family office owns operating businesses and has a sophisticated investment subsidiary. Ralph retired from the operating arm of the company in 2022 but remains active as a trustee/advisor to the family office principals.

Ralph is a member of Silvermine Golf Club and plays golf regularly throughout the year. He is also an avid runner, bicyclist, and enjoys reading, listening to music, and playing guitar. Ralph is a longtime active member of the Norwalk Exchange Club. He is a past president and board member of the Exchange Club, participates in several fundraising events a year, and ran its golf outing for over ten years.

He looks forward to engaging with the DMA as both a passive member attending meetings and an active participant in committees and fundraising.

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Chris and his wife, Tricia, have lived in Darien since 1986, where they raised their four children and now enjoy spending time with their four grandchildren.

Chris grew up in Pittsburgh as one of eight children and remains a loyal Steelers fan. Tricia grew up on Long Island as one of seven. With such a large extended family, there is always something going on—and always someone to visit.

Chris earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Health Administration from Duke University.

He retired after a 40-year career in municipal finance. He began as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers before moving into asset management and private equity, where he helped launch several businesses that created high-yield municipal investment funds for institutional investors. He concluded his career in private equity investing in high-yield and distressed municipal bonds.

Chris and Tricia are members of the Middlesex Club and keep a boat at the Darien Boat Club. Chris enjoys paddle and pickleball and, with his siblings and cousins, is working on a project to research and document their family history.

David Miller moved to Darien on Memorial Day weekend of 2004 and lived in Noroton Bay for the last 22 years. He retired in January 2026 from a 35-year investment banking career, culminating as CEO of Credit Suisse First Boston Investment Bank.  He and his wife Lisa relocated to Paradise Valley, Ariz but will spend summers in Darien.

David married Lisa in California in 1998, where their first two children, Lauren and Michael  were born.  After moving to Darien, Beck arrived!  All three children were raised in Darien. The Millers’ favorite family activities are traveling and eating out. David enjoys golf at Wee Burn Country Club and more recently, pickleball at Cherry Lawn Park and The Sports Haus in Norwalk.

He graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1987  and an M.B.A. in finance in 1988.  Go Big Red!