The chemistry of courtship: Meet three of Emory’s cross-campus couples

With Emory University and Emory Healthcare boasting a combined total of more than 50,000 employees, meeting couples who both work for Emory isn't uncommon. In honor of Valentine's Day, three of those couples share the stories behind how they met, when they married and what keeps them going strong.

Viola Vaccarino and Doug Bremner: Combined cultures and worldwide travels

Their story began on a summer evening at her sister's house.

Viola Vaccarino had just arrived in Connecticut from Italy - her first time in the United States - planning to explore epidemiology training programs and visit her sister in New Haven. "The very first night I arrived at my sister's house, I found this very tall young man," she recalls. "I had no idea who he was and why he was there."

The tall fellow, Doug Bremner, was a psychiatry resident at Yale with Viola's sister and had wanted to meet Viola since seeing a photo of her.

A few obstacles to beginning a relationship existed for Viola, now an epidemiologist and the Wilton Looney Professor of Cardiology Research at Rollins School of Public Health.

"Having learned British English at school, initially I could not understand much of what Doug was saying," she says, laughing. And she was a bit put off by his pink shoes.

But he was persistent, traveling to Milan, buying more fashionable shoes and immersing himself in Italian literature, art and cinema.

"He was able to understand me and appreciate me for what I was," Viola says. "And he was not afraid to show himself for what he was."

They've been married for 35 years.

"Viola is very bright and capable and has a lot of leadership qualities," says Doug, who is a professor of psychiatry and radiology at Emory School of Medicine and a staff psychiatrist at the Atlanta VA Medical Center.

And Doug is "highly creative, educated, bright and ambitious," says Viola, "but at the same time, he possesses a sort of fragility that makes him unique."

Both ultimately built careers in academia. Over 25 years, they've co-authored more than 200 publications and shared countless projects.

"We clearly benefited from each other in our professional trajectory," she says.

They have a cat, Luna, and are parents to two "wonderful people we are very proud of" - Sabina, an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dylan, who teaches English to Italian school children in Rome, Italy.

They agree that things are less hectic now than when the children were small. Raising a family alongside demanding careers wasn't always easy.

"If Doug and I ever fought about something, it was about sharing family responsibilities and chores," Viola says. "Things became easier when our careers became more established and the children got older."

Doug says they enjoy biking and walking Atlanta's nature trails, watching movies and getting together with friends. And they treasure spending time at their house in Tuscany.

"We restored an old farmhouse and often go there to relax," Viola says, "and take care of the olive trees."

Liesl Wuest and Bill Wuest: Long-distance persistence and heart-shaped pizzas

Liesl and Bill Wuest met as first-year students at the University of Notre Dame, where she majored in graphic design while he studied chemistry and business. It wasn't exactly love at first sight.

"Bill was the pursuer," says Liesl, director of learning design and technology in the Emory Center for Faculty Development and Excellence. "I found him a little bit annoying. These were the days before texting. The second I'd show up on Instant Messenger, he was there. He's just so persistent."

"I deal with failure very well," adds Bill, Emory professor of chemistry, explaining why he never gave up.

The two are both New York natives - she is from upstate New York and he is from Long Island. Although they never dated as undergraduate students, they shared some friends and activities that occasionally brought them together. They played intramural soccer and he served as referee for her games. He didn't show her team favorable treatment, she recalls.

After they graduated, Bill entered the University of Pennsylvania for his PhD in chemistry while Liesl moved to Corning, New York, to work as a graphic designer.

"We started dating almost immediately," Liesl says. "When Bill was gone, I missed hanging out with him and I would go down to Philadelphia to visit. I appreciated that he's very dedicated and reliable. He knows what he wants and he goes for it."

"We're very alike in the ways that we approach life and problems," Bill says. "We both like sports. We have similar interests across the board. We often know what each other's going to say before they say it."

Liesl moved closer, to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to pursue her interest in education, earning a master's degree in instructional design from Lehigh University. During his third year of graduate school, Bill popped the question while the two were walking on the beach of Chincoteague Island off Virginia, famous for its wild ponies.

He pulled a box out of his pocket and presented her with a one-carat round diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds, set in platinum. The ring was custom made.

"It's pretty heavy, actually," Liesl says. "I was definitely surprised. The main diamond belonged to his great-grandmother, who lived to be 101."

The couple married in 2007 and moved to Boston, where Bill completed a postdoctoral fellowship, before returning to Philadelphia when he became a chemistry professor at Temple University.

In 2017, the couple moved to Atlanta with their growing family to forge careers at Emory. Their children now include Max (14), Simon (8) and Lucia (3).

Their Emory roles complement one another and occasionally overlap, including co-teaching a class where graduate students learn how to teach undergraduates about STEM research.

"Designing a course should not be a guessing game," Liesl says. "We teach strategies that have been well-researched for achieving longer retention rates among students. It's a lot more efficient and effective than just trying to figure out how to teach on your own."

She recently completed a doctorate in education at the University of Georgia to enhance her efforts of system-level support for faculty success.

Bill, who taps his wife's expertise to improve his teaching, helped her navigate her first research publication as a doctoral student.

They keep joint calendars to juggle their busy work and family lives.

"One of us is always on call for the kids," he says. "We pick the days that are non-negotiable based on our schedules."

Sports continue to be a bond for the couple. "I coach Simon's soccer team and Bill coaches his basketball team," she says.

The couple also enjoys playing golf together and taking walks. They sometimes make fancy cocktails and talk over their day during at-home happy hours.

"We also like to cook," Bill says, who smokes food on his Big Green Egg.

"He'll follow a recipe," Liesl says, "and I'll just put together whatever is in the fridge."

A family Valentine's Day tradition, she says, is to make heart-shaped pizzas. "The kids all join in, too."

Jessica Howard-Anderson and Joseph Carpenter: Chemistry class and Costco runs

Jessica Howard-Anderson and Joseph Carpenter met after an organic chemistry test while at Brown University. Their "first encounter" stories differ because she says they met briefly a year before, but they agree their connection was undeniable.

Married in 2014, the two exchanged "I dos" on the beach in Santa Barbara, California, and again in Jessica's parents' backyard.

Joseph, the medical director of Emergency Medicine Addiction Services for Emory Healthcare, and Jessica, an epidemiologist and assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Emory University School of Medicine, fell in love with medicine and research before each other.

"I love both the science of medicine and my interaction with people," Jessica says. "I get to connect with people on a very deep level daily."

Joseph says he believes his wife knew she wanted to become a doctor long before he did.

"I was a biomedical engineering major and thought for a while that I'd go into basic science research," he explains. "I worked part-time as an emergency medical technician and became surprised by my love for patient care. It wasn't long after Jess and I started dating that I decided to apply to medical school."

When the two take a break from researching methodologies or potential pandemics, they love to travel the world and explore restaurants in Atlanta.

"One of our recent highlights was a trip to Barcelona," she says. "Now that we have kids, it can be hard to find time to travel, but we still try and take one trip a year together, just the two of us, to a new place we haven't been."

The couple says the best part of their lives is their six-year-old daughter, three-year-old son and an 11-year-old dog who keep their weekend calendars booked with birthday parties, time at parks, and more money than they care to admit spent at Costco. They manage their demanding schedules with the help of family and childcare.

"Our kids are more amazing every day, and it's incredible watching them learn new things," Joseph says. "Managing our schedules is an adventure, to say the least. Jess usually has to tell me about a potential conflict at least three times, write it on our family calendar, and send me an Outlook invite before I remember."

True to his last name, Joseph likes to carve out time in his woodworking shop. He is proud of his creations, including some furniture in their home and an attic transformation that is now their daughter's secret playroom.

Although they live in the Atlanta area, the couple always thought they would live near an ocean. Joseph grew up in South Florida, and Jessica, a former National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I swimmer, grew up in California.

Now they surf through life the only way they would want to - together.

"Her commitment to the things she cares about is special. She's a person who will never give up on something she's set her mind to," Joseph says.

"Joe is incredibly kind, intelligent, supportive and is a dedicated husband and father," Jessica says. "I can ask him almost any question, except what to wear."

Written by Carol Clark, Mary Loftus and Jennifer Phillips.