Mollie Elizabeth Van Lieu and Benjamin Edward Kessler were married Nov. 3 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington. Mary Beth Stanton, a friend of the couple who became a Universal Life Minister for the occasion, officiated, with Cecil Swamidoss, another friend, taking part in the ceremony.
The bride, 32, is the senior director, nutrition policy, at the United Fresh Produce Association in Washington. She graduated from McDaniel College in Westminster, Md.
She is a daughter of Lou Ann Van Lieu Lawrence of New Oxford, Pa., and the late Phil Van Lieu. The bride’s mother is a florist in New Oxford. Her father was a designer and salesman of dairy facilities for King Construction, a company in New Holland, Pa., that constructs barns and other housing structures for dairy cows and horses. The bride is also a the stepdaughter of Dean Lawrence.
The groom, 33, is a second-year law student at American University in Washington. He graduated from Amherst College.
He is the son of Paulette S. Kessler and Dr. David A. Kessler of San Francisco. The groom’s mother retired as a lawyer in Washington. His father is a professor of pediatrics and epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, where he was dean of the medical school from 2003 to 2007. He was previously the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration who served from 1990 to 1997 in the administrations of Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
The couple met in 2014 while working on food policy issues at the Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, and began dating two years later.
