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| JAN./FEB. 2004 VOLUME 106 NUMBER 4 | Class Notes |
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60 | Classmates in the New York area, and those from elsewhere who want to join in, are invited to an exciting event, a new Broadway show, Never Gonna Dance, produced by Jay Harris. The event is planned for Friday, January 23, and Gale Jackson is making the arrangements for tickets and a pre-theater supper. For details about locations and prices, contact her at gale.jackson3@verizon.net. Hope to see many of you there!
Logan Cheek had an adventure when he visited Peru in March and April and trekked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, which he says was “a spectacular experience. I must have set a record for the oldest gringo to do it,” he adds, though he’d be interested to know if any Cornellians of the “over-age-64 ilk” have hiked the trail. Logan’s one regret is that lack of time and warnings about danger in the vicinity prevented him from visiting Hacienda Vicos, where Sociology professor Alan Holmberg and other Cornell faculty undertook a land reform project during the years we were undergraduates. If any classmate is thinking of trekking in Peru, Logan will be happy to share his notes and contacts; email at him at lmc42@cornell.edu.
Dick, MBA ’62, and Susan Jobes Thatcher sent word from Gwynedd Valley, PA: “We recently did a great Italian trip—wine country, Lake Como, Venice—with our good friends Peggy and Charlie Streeter ’61.”When not traveling, Dick serves as managing director of Investment Banking at Invester Inc., where he focuses on capital raising and mergers and acquisitions for emerging growth technology companies, and Sue continues to be involved in church and charity activities, along with “grandmothering” the Thatchers’ six grandchildren. Patty Mahool Thayer writes from Kew Gardens, NJ, that she is an Extension educator in Workforce Development at the Cornell Cooperative Extension in New York City. She develops programs, she says, “for youth who are out of school, dislocated workers, and those striving to get off welfare,” as part of an “educational initiative to grow food industry businesses and create a trained workforce” for those businesses.
Jack Sarfatti sent word from San Francisco that he published two books in 2002, Destiny Matrix and Space-Time and Beyond II, and is a producer for National Music Theater Networks, which is overseen by Tim Jerome ’65. Not surprisingly, Jack’s Web page describes him as a “theatrical physicist.”After receiving his PhD in physics from the U. of California, he taught for four years at San Diego State, followed by stints at the U. of London and the International Centre of Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy. Jack subsequently left academic physics, co-founded the Physics-Consciousness Research Group, and served as president of the Internet Science Education Project. Busy with his yacht chartering business in Merritt Island, FL, Don McNair notes that he is also “enjoying the Florida sunshine and finding time for golf,” as well as sailing. He and wife Kim are home-schooling their 12-year-old son.
Don Frei writes from Cincinnati that he has plans to “retire from the law firm where I have been practicing patent and trademark law for 37 years and will move to Incline Village, NV (Lake Tahoe), where Cindy and I have a home. We expect to do much hiking, biking, skiing, and tennis.We have been spending ten weeks a year there since 1995, and love the area.” In Nevada, the Freis will also be much closer to their children and grandchildren in San Francisco, Sausalito, San Diego, Salt Lake City, and Denver. Let us know when you make the move, Don.
Also announcing plans to retire is Brian Finger of Damascus, MD, who points out that his wife Joan “retired in October 2002 and is enjoying herself.” Brian projects a departure date of January 2004. Dave Dresser retired in May 2003 after spending 35 years in higher education, “most of them,” he says, “as a dean at Eisenhower and Ithaca colleges.”He and Judy plan to continue living on Cayuga Lake in Ovid, and he invites classmates to “come and see us.”He can be reached at ddresser@ithaca.edu.
Diane Dietz Broadhurst sent along the sad news that in January 2002 her husband Ron died, just six months after they moved to the farm they had spent several years restoring in Adamstown, MD. “I hope to remain here,” says Diane. “So far I’ve coped with drought, a three-day power outage, snow, and ice.” On a happier note, early in 2003 Diane’s new granddaughter Valerie was born, joining her sister and two cousins.
The Class of 1960 and the Ackley family suffered a terrible loss when Ken Ackley, ME ’66, our energetic and very competent Reunion Chair, Class Council member, and Webmaster died of cancer on Oct. 7, ’03. The organizer of our 35th and 40th Reunions, Ken was working on plans for our 45th when the cancer he had been battling for several years reappeared in the summer of 2003.When Ken received the Frank Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award in 1999, the accompanying news release praised the “vital role” that Ken played for Cornell as both “volunteer leader and classroom teacher.” During his long and successful career as CEO of Innovation Packaging Inc., Ken found time to participate regularly in the manufacturing seminar course in the College of Engineering, and after he stepped down from his industry leadership post, he became a full-time senior lecturer in the School of Chemical Engineering.
Along with organizing reunions, creating the class Web page, and serving as a class officer, Ken was also a member of the University Council and closely involved in fund-raising efforts for the undergraduate computing laboratory and the College of Engineering. He served, too, as president of the Cornell Alumni Association of Greater Rochester. Ken is survived by son David of Rochester, daughter Jennifer Bobalik of Cologne, Germany, and his wife Miriam of Pittsford, NY. A memorial service for Ken was held on October 25, during Homecoming Weekend. In the words of Carrie Warnow Makover, who has posted a tribute to Ken on our class website, www.alumni.cornell.edu/org/ classes/1960/kenackley.htm), “We will all remember Ken for his devotion and dedication to his family, our class, and the university.” Send news to v Judy Bryant Wittenberg, 146 Allerton Rd., Newton, MA 02461; e-mail, jw275@ cornell.edu.
61 | Larry Bortles attended the 35th reunion of his Harvard Business School class in October. Based in the Philippines, Larry also took advantage of his visit to the US to enjoy a fall vacation in Vermont. The webtech company he started in the Philippines, Amphil Tech Inc., has carved out a niche specializing in the development of custom Web-hosted applications that are making the Web such a rich resource for companies. For mostly US clients, Amphil writes “open source applications” running on reliable US-based Linux Web servers. These include Supply Chain, Purchase Order, Process Flow, and Client Relations Management applications.
Marv Amstey and wife Freddie (Herrmann) ’62 were reunited with his AEPi fraternity brother Charlie Arkin after not having any contact with each other in nearly 25 years. Charlie and Marv dropped out of Cornell in 1960 after completing their junior year to attend different medical schools. He thought at the time that “another year of fun and games at CU didn’t seem worth it then: probably a mistake; the last year would have been great.”Marv is working part-time as an ob/gyn after being made professor emeritus at the U. of Rochester in 2000. Last year, he was part of the CDC’s Working Group on the use of smallpox vaccine, a current hot topic that keeps him traveling and lecturing. Marv writes that none of it is as much fun for him and Freddie as their four grandchildren.
Jon Greenleaf arbitrates disputes between Ford and its dealers on the one side, and consumers on the other as a member of Ford’s L.A. Arbitration Panel. It’s “fascinating”work, according to Jon. Following the sale of their home in Pinehurst, NC, he and Barbara are living in Santa Barbara full-time. He continues to serve on the board of the Music Academy of the West, while Barbara is on the Board of Trustees of Jewish Federation. Both Greenleafs continue to work on their golf games. It appears that Barbara is rapidly advancing her game, leading Jon in the hole-in-one department two to none. As always, Jon and Barbara are involved with family: daughter Cat, an on-air reporter for RNNTV in NYC, married Michael Rey, an assistant producer for “60 Minutes II.” Three-year-old Megan, belonging to their other daughter, is “a wonderful, happy, verbal, gorgeous terror!” Like many others, the Greenleafs are finding grandparenting to be a lot easier than parenting, and much more fun.
As the chief lawyer for Holocaust victims and their survivors, Burt Neuborne announced an agreement with the Swiss banks that will give investigators limited access to 4.1 million Naziera accounts that had been shielded by bank secrecy laws. The agreement will be important in returning lost deposits to victims as part of the implementation of a $1.25 billion settlement with the banks reached in 1998.
Bob Lurcott, MRP ’68, notes that our class may have set records in terms of service and contributions to Cornell.With so many significant alumni offices in the hands of classmates, he may very well be right. Bob also remembers the wonderfully enjoyable mini-reunion class members had in Carefree, AZ, in 2000.
An overcast Saturday in October set the mood for a tour of one of the world’s foremost collections of medieval art at the Cloisters Museum in Upper Manhattan. The tour attracted 19 classmates and 12 guests. Following the tour, the group dined at a nearby cafe set atop the cliffs overlooking the Hudson River. Attending were: Kerstin and Garry Codrington, Ed Goldman and wife Judith Riven, Elizabeth and Gerrit White, Marshall and Rosanna Romanelli Frank, Mike, PhD ’66, and Linda Goldfarb Roberts ’62, Peggy Thomas and her guest Allen Kelley, Barbara Byrd Wecker ’62, Carol Gittlin Franklin, Debbi Robbins Wolf, Ellie Browner Greco, David Kessler, Bobbi Horowitz, Neila CruickshankWerner, Lew, MD ’65, and Anne Klein Rothman, Ray and Judy Gubman Goldfaden, Peter Engel and his wife, Peter Greenberg and wife Elke, Steve Geffen ’60 and wife Susan, Larry Hoard and wife Patti, and Gary and Marilyn Schur Hellinger ’63.
Mike Roberts is in what appears to be the decisive final stages of a multinational, intergovernmental negotiation to proceed with ITER, a large-scale fusion energy research facility (see www.iter.org). The project began more than 17 years ago at the time of the 1985 US-USSR Geneva Summit. ITER has been Mike’s focus for most of this time. He leads the US delegation at the working level, supporting the policy level negotiations. According to Mike, this activity is distracting him from his real work, which includes gardening, photography, writing, and traveling.During the past several years,Mike has traveled to Antarctica, China, and the Galapagos.
Attendees at last summer’s Adult University (CAU) programs included: Gerald Fleming (Green River Rafting Expedition), Peter Gemeinhardt, MS ’64 (Web Page Design), Sam Greenblatt, MD ’66 (Moments & Lapses in Architecture), Carol Keon (Personal Essay Writing Workshop), Jack Neafsey, MBA ’63 (The Western Front, WWI), Lew and Anne Rothman (Town & Country Walking Tour of Sicily), Jane Sessler (Wall Street 2003), Richard Snyder (Italian Cookery), and Irene Su So (The Middle East Struggles).
Happy New Year to all class members and their families! v David S. Kessler, dsk15@cornell.edu.
62 | Happy new year! Third-generation Cornellian Roger Neel ’02 is the son of H. Bryan Neel III and grandson of May Bjornsson ’34. Bryan (neel.bryan@mayo.edu) noted that a highlight of Cornell for him was the Glee Club, and he was pleased to report that the group recently performed in Minnesota, led by Tom Sokol.“He is as vibrant as ever!” Bryan has completed two terms on the U. of Minn. Board of Regents.
We mentioned in our last column that Helen Rabinowitz Anbinder (HMAnbinder @aol.com) was considering retirement. She writes, “I’m about to take the big plunge. After 14 years as director of Inter-Village Continuing Education, I am retiring.Husband Paul ’60 and I love to travel and will now be freer to be away on longer trips and to travel on the spur of the moment. We are going to southern Italy in October and will be celebrating our 40th anniversary in February on a cruise to the Panama Canal and southern Caribbean (including Aruba, where we spent our honeymoon).”
Dr. Terry Baker (reteyedoc@aol.com) reports, “It’s been three years since I retired and I’ve never been busier.” Lynne and Terry spend most of the year at their Lake Tahoe home, skiing all winter and golfing and boating in the summer. They have enjoyed travel in their RV: the first trip was a three-month journey from California to Newfoundland. Another retiree is pediatrician Marion Balsam (mjbalsam@aol.com), who retired from the US Navy Medical Corps as a rear admiral.Marion spent 20 years in the Navy and initially moved to London, but has returned stateside to Bethesda, MD, to be closer to her four children and three grandchildren. She is involved with issues of children and terrorism, is studying photography, and would like to hear from classmates in the DC area.
After retiring from Exxon after 35 years, David Hill (dhh1@cornell.edu) began studies in physics at Rutgers and received his BS in May. His plan is to work at Rutgers part-time, with Cornellian Robert Bartynski ’80. David and Judy’s son Doug ’99 lives near their home in Basking Ridge. The Hills enjoyed a visit with Bill and Evelyn Spieske Dufur at the men’s ECAC hockey tournament in Albany, and again for the Cornell-Columbia game. The e-mail address says it all for Karen Palmer Anderson. Karen and Einar (7continents@earthlink.net) are admittedly “travel junkies” who visited all seven continents by 1991 and are “in hot pursuit” of their second 100 countries. The Palmers visited Duke and Patty Padgitt Wellington in their Venice, FL, home last year. Home base for the Palmers is Morgan Hill, CA.Wedding bells rang for Morgan Colyer, daughter of Robert and Lynne Williams Colyer, in San Diego last August 30.
Bob ’59 and I were delighted to be parents of the bride on that same day on the other side of the country. Daughter Valerie was married in Alexandria,VA, to Navy Capt. Charles Fowler III (aka Chip).Her brothers and their wives and all five grandchildren were wedding participants, including an impromptu 3-year-old “flower boy” who decided that his flower girl sister needed someone to walk down the aisle with her! We were thrilled that John ’60 and Helen Zesch Ward, Bob and Karin Nielsen McNamara, Ben and Sandy Lindberg Bole, both ’57, Don ’61 and Gay Heppes, and David Heber ’96 were able to be there to celebrate with us!
Hotelie Rudy Muenster (rwmconsult@aol.com) continues to serve Cornell as chairman of international programs for the University Council. He is past president of the Cornell Hotel Society and is a hotel consultant based in Berlin. Rudy’s wife Annelie is a painter working in oils in both their Berlin and Berchtesgaden homes. Grandson Jeremias is fluent in French and German. v Jan McClayton Crites, 2779 Dellwood Dr., Lake Oswego, OR 9034-6721; e-mail, jmc50@cornell.edu.
63 | Fall is setting in all over the country at an early pace, and by the time you read this it will be winter. How time flies at this time in our lives!
Ed Butler, MS ’65, is our new class president. Ed is now retired after a career with Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies. He and wife Nancy (Taylor) ’64 are parents of three and grandparents of two. Ed has been deeply involved in Cornell alumni activities, including 22 years with the Alumni Admission Ambassador Network (CAAAN) as area chair, local Cornell Club board (currently co-president), and Cornell Council, where he chaired the Admissions and Financial Aid Committee. Ed’s enthusiasm is catching and I think he will do a wonderful job as class president. He wanted us to know that our class made a reunion gift of $15,000 to the Cornell Council on the Arts/Distinguished Artist Program.He is advertising the class officers/ council meeting on the weekend of January 23, 2004 as part of the Assn. of Class Officers (CACO) annual meeting in New York. If any of you want to get involved, information is on the CACO website, www.caco.alumni.cornell.edu.
According to a press release, Martin Dollinger, LLB ’66, a partner in the Woodbridge office of Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith, Ravin, Davis, and Himmel LLP, has been ranked among the top attorneys in real estate in New Jersey, as listed in Chambers USA, a guide based on research in over 20 areas of commercial law. Barbara Zinsmeister White writes from New Falmouth, MA, that she and William ’61 sold their business, the Sjoholm Inn in West Falmouth on Cape Cod, at the end of 2001. Barbara is currently working for Museum Enterprise Partners, the entity that runs the gift shops for the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. She and William bought a two-family dwelling in the area. Evelyn Chadwick is retired and living in Ft. Lee, NJ. Her twin 27-year-old children, Chad and Nicole, were both married this past summer. Bob Ulrich is a busy man.He attended the Final Four in New Orleans in March and skied in British Columbia last winter.He enjoys coin collecting, pistol club, ski club, and serving on area boards, as well as music history classes at Juilliard that get him into NYC on a regular basis. Daughter Corey ’93 is married to Dr. Mark Sprague ’93 and they have two children. Bob’s son Spencer recently graduated as a physical therapist and lives in NYC.
Susan Meyers, M Ed ’67, lives in Mt. Kisco, NY, where she was a public school teacher until 1995. She spends her time sightseeing, combined with bridge tournaments, in interesting cities. Sharon Klig Krackov had some interesting trips to Copenhagen and southern Sweden. The visits included work and pleasure. Sharon also has a 1-year-old granddaughter! Carmine Lanciani, PhD ’68, retired from the U. of Florida in Gainesville in June. He and wife Grace moved to their “retirement home” on a golf course. Rather than golf, they spend time bird-watching. They travel to Amelia Island and have summer vacations in Sanibel Island. They also take an annual fly-fishing trip and family visit to Leominster, MA. There are two grandchildren.
Albert and Marilyn Epstein Berger ’65 have been married for 38 years and live and work in Seattle. Albert has been on the faculty of the U. of Washington School of Medicine— the number one NIH-funded public medical school in the country—for 25 years as professor of physiology and biophysics.He runs a research lab focused on neural control of breathing. He has also joined the medical school administration as Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education. Albert and Marilyn have one grown son who is a Harvard graduate working for Microsoft. Kenneth ’62 and Carole Nelson Beal moved to Frederick, MD, in January. Carole retired from the Monroe County (NY) Health Dept. as water quality planner. The last two years they have visited Asia, but moving took over for vacation in 2003. Their son Doug ’89 is a financial consultant for international companies in Hong Kong; daughter Patricia ’91 is a pediatrician, and David ’95 received his PhD from MIT in June. Kenneth and Carole have had several visits with Seth and Dorothy Hall Ross in Newark, DE.
J. Roger and Barbara Allen Guilfoyle live in Ridgefield, CT, where both of them continue to work full-time—they enjoy their careers and have no interest in retiring. Barbara is assistant administrator for Patient and Family Support Services at Calvary Hospital. A lot of news came from Mari BinghamWesche. She and husband Rolf live in Ottawa.Mari is still teaching at the U. of Ottawa, the oldest and largest bilingual university in North America. She took a year off to build their house on a lake north of Ottawa where loons not motorboats are prevalent. Mari’s mother celebrated her 100th birthday in Florida last year. Son Stefan, an avid percussionist and music student and snowboarder, entertained.Mari and Rolf visited England last year to see their daughter Sonia, who completed her master’s at Imperial College in environmental management. During the same visit, they visited Jose Ochoa ’64, MBA ’67, and his family at their heritage rural home in Sussex, England.
That’s it for this column. Don’t forget that you can always e-mail me! vNancy Bierds Icke, 42 Campus Ct., Racine, WI 53402; e-mail, icke@execpc.com.
64 | This is it! Our 45th Reunion year! So let’s begin with a formal invitation from our Reunion Co-chairs Don McCarthy, Susan Mair Holden, and Barbara Lutz Brim:
“You are all invited to our 40th REUNION this June 10-13.We are well under way in planning a fun, exciting, and interesting reunion. It will feature a Rock & Roll party, a class forum, fabulous meals at beautiful campus locations including the Plantations, a reading group, hikes—just to name a few. Cornell will also provide its usual extensive program of events, speakers, flora, athletic activities, and affinity group receptions. We will also remember the classmates who are no longer with us. The chance to visit Cornell and with each other, and to enjoy what Cornell has to offer, comes to us once every five years.We hope to see as many of you as can make it next June. GO BIG RED!”
So start making plans. Between now and then, I’ll keep you up-to-date on classmate news. Let’s begin with three classmates who are recent honors recipients. Virginia Bottone Burggraf, a nursing professor at Radford U., Radford, VA, was selected for fellowship in the American Academy of Nursing, one of the highest honors in the profession. She will be inducted at the Academy’s annual meeting in San Diego this month. A criterion for Academy membership is recognition by one’s peers of outstanding contributions to nursing. Ginger is the Marcella J. Griggs Endowed Chair in Gerontological Nursing at RU. She also was a senior policy analyst, grant writer, and program coordinator for the American Nurses Foundation, is widely published, and serves on the editorial review boards of the Journal of Gerontological Nursing and Geriatric Nursing. In Radford, she is active in local community groups and writes a column, “Senior News,” for the local newspaper. She also has received grants for the RU gerontological nursing program.
Ronald Aungie, BEP ’65, ME AESP ’66, manager of advanced technology at Elliott Turbomachinery Co. Inc., has been named a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Int’l. The Fellow grade is conferred upon members with at least 10 years’ active engineering practice who have made significant contributions to the field. Ron lives in Greensburg, PA. Carl Bender, a physics professor at Washington U. in St. Louis, MO, was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to spend a year’s sabbatical at Imperial College in London, England. Carl’s sabbatical is also supported by an Engineering and Physical Science Research Council grant from the UK.Wife Jessie (Waldbaum) retired from being a speech/language therapist in time for the year abroad.
Charles Robinowitz, a long-time resident of Portland, OR, where he is a trial lawyer specializing in serious injury and death claims, as well as consumer fraud claims, reports spending a day last April with Mike and Fran Friedman and George Yankwitt, LLB ’67, and wife, who were en route to San Francisco from Seattle, where they attended the wedding of Randy Odza, LLB ’67’s son. Last May while attending his 35th law school reunion at U. of Virginia, Charles spent an afternoon with Bill and Lindsay Freedman. Bill is a cardiologist in Charlottesville. Charles, who is still running despite a related injury requiring surgery last spring, and wife Selene have two sons, one in college and the other in high school. Paul Lyon writes from his home in St. Augustin, Quebec, that he was invited to France in October 2002 to sing in the Cathedral de Blois. Then last winter and spring he participated in nine major concerts. Paul still works as an independent translator (“a fun job”) and is still married to wife Louise (“luckily for me”).
Alice Anderson Rapasky writes that she may come to reunion and would love to be in Risley again, but that her husband “would revolt” against staying in a dorm, so she’s shopping for a hotel. Alice also wants to know if any Tri-Delts will attend. Peter Jessel, MS EE ’66, reports that theirs is currently a “three Cornell” family, with son Matt in grad school (civil engineering), daughter Rebecca in A&S (pre-med), and himself teaching in the Electrical Engineering department! Peter and wife Rhonda live in Scarsdale, NY.Warren Bowman, ME ’66, sends no news but notes he’s a market development manager. He and wife Arlene live in Wilmington, DE. Avid marathoner Norbert Roihl, a radiologist at Martin Memorial Medical Ctr. in Stuart, FL, won the third place divisional trophy in the Tampa Bay Marathon early last year. He and wife Janis live in Palm City, FL, from where they journey to their second home in Cambridge, MA, as often as they can to visit their son and daughter who both live in New England.
Toby Kleban Levine continues to consult for various educational organizations and public television producers from her and husband Andy’s retirement home in Stockbridge, MA. Toby is still heavily involved in the PCCW (President’s Council of Cornell Women) and is working to start a Cornell Club of the Berkshires. She reports that its first event was held in August 2002 at Tom ’63, MBA ’64, and Nancy Williams Clark ’62, M Ed ’64’s “fabulous” sheep farm in Old Chatham, NY, an event that drew 177 people. Toby was planning a reprise for last August, but I have not heard whether it occurred. She also reports that daughter Amy ’92 is working for Bright Horizons Family Solutions, which is owned by Linda Mason ’76.
Hope to see you at reunion! Meanwhile, don’t forget our website: http://classof64.alum ni.cornell.edu. v Bev Johns Lamont, 720 Chestnut St., Deerfield, IL 60015; e-mail: blamont@tribune.com.
65 | Classmate news is a wonderful mix of children and grandchildren, career changes, achievements, and retirements. Judith Rosuck Fox, head of Princeton Day School since 2001, married Dr. David Loomar this past June. The happy couple vacationed in Sicily and enjoyed a honeymoon in Alaska. Judy’s daughter Lisa presented her with granddaughter Julia, moments after power was restored following the infamous August 2003 blackout.What timing! Still trying to write the “great American novel” is Julianna Ricci of Derby, NY. Though semiretired, she teaches writing to incoming frosh at Canisius College in Buffalo. Spare time sees Julianna subbing at a local high school teaching Latin I and II, being an art gallery docent, volunteering at Graycliff, a Frank Lloyd Wright house, and traveling. Her last two trips were to Paris last October and Budapest in May.
Susan Lehrer Jones tells of son Morgan graduating from Middlebury College in 2002 and now working for the NBA in NYC, while son Cooper is a junior at the Potomac School in Virginia. Evie Brandon Schechter and husband Stuart sent news of their daughters. Younger daughter Rachel ’03 graduated from Cornell last May, and older daughter Kate graduated from Cardozo Law School in June. Kate was married in Palm Beach in December 2002. Classmate Natalie Teich attended and shared in the festivities. Wedding bells also sounded in Meri Klorman Schreiber’s family. All three sons married within one year. Son Michael is CTO for United Way of America, son Matthew is a doctor in rural Georgia, and son Jeremy is a marketing analyst for Citibank.Meri teaches an elementary school multiage class in Massachusetts.
The Arts and Sciences newsletter reports a new book from John E. Conklin, Why Crime Rates Fell. He is also the author of other books on crime and criminology. After six years as a dean, Faye Duchin was on sabbatical this year and has been a visiting professor at Yale, Tufts, and the U. of Vienna. She returns this fall to being a professor of economics. Her research is about sustainable economic development, household lifestyles, and international trade. Faye’s most recent book is called Structural Economics: Measuring Change in Technology, Lifestyles, and the Environment.
Bruce Bennett, professor of English at Ohlone College in California, celebrated his father’s 90th birthday last year in Camarillo, CA. Dad (Alfred Bennett ’33) is also a Cornell alum. Bruce spends leisure time hiking with wife Ellen, writing poetry, cycling, and enjoying classical music. Leaving the world of photography to get a master’s in teaching for K-8 is Bradley Olman. Brad’s daughter Emily is going into high school this year and son Charley is 9. I had some fun attending what will be commonplace for us all—a 60th birthday party! Husband Stephen Rogow ’63 and I enjoyed the festivities at Marcia Goldschlager Epstein ’64’s milestone. Other Cornellians present were Michael Wachter ’64 and Len ’89 and Amy Epstein Feldman ’91.
Brad, BA ’67, and Phyllis Friedman Perkins keep busy with family and career interests. Brad has a monthly commute to China, where he has an interesting mix of ongoing architectural projects. He has written and coauthored three architectural texts during the last three years. Phyllis has been teaching cooking. Daughter Rachel ’92 is married and a conservator at the Smithsonian, daughter Judith is married and teaches school, and daughter Rebecca is a special effects makeup artist. Two major interests these days keep William Hill busy. He helped start the California Lichen Society and is now president. His other interest is “alternative archives,” which he initially attempted as the “Library for Social and Technological Alternatives.” This has evolved to mostly an archive on gay and lesbian periodicals collected over the last 30 years. Bill is seeking to donate these to other archives around the country. He previously worked as an electronics technician in the development of new products.
Peter Bloom is the Chairman/CEO of the Connecticut Surgical Group. He is also a Professor of Clinical Surgery at the U. of Conn. Medical School. His daughter Stephanie does neurosciences research at U. of Pennsylvania, and son David is an architect in Washington, DC. Relaxation for Peter includes travel, gardening, and furniture-making. Relaxation for Charles Bucknam includes boating, canoeing, and biking. He is president of the Lyndonville Savings Bank and vice chairman of the Caledonia County Republican Committee.He and wife Deborah still call Walden, VT, home. The 2002 Clinician of the Year at the Medical College of Virginia of Virginia Commonwealth U. was awarded to Robert Leshner, MD ’69. He and wife Debbie will spend the academic year of 2003-04 in Seattle. Bob plans to learn more about molecular genetic strategies for his research on childhood muscular dystrophies and also update his knowledge on the neurobiology of autism. They will spend time with their grandchildren as well.
Grandchildren galore for class president David Roitman and wife Linda (Lomazoff) ’66. His three newest grandchildren are a grandson from son Brian ’90 and wife Sonia (Lees) ’90, and twins from son Mitchell ’92 and wife Jamie. Making the move to NYC in the fall from Seattle are Debbie Dash Winn and husband Richard. Daughter Allison was married in March ’02, and son Randy married last January. The Winns spent three months in Nepal. Debbie volunteered for several organizations, teaching and tutoring two mornings a week at a school for orphans run by Maiti Nepal. On their way home, they golfed in Thailand and hiked in Hong Kong. Keep sending us news! Send to: v Joan Elstein Rogow, 9 Mason Farm Rd., Flemington, NJ 08822; tel., (908) 782-7028; Dennis Norfleet, 3187 State Rt. 48, Oswego, NY 13126; tel., (315) 342-0457; e-mail, dpn5@cornell.edu; and Ronald Harris, 5203 Forestdale Ct.,West Bloomfield, MI 48322; tel., (248)788-3397; email, rsh28@cornell.edu.
66 | Ron Goldstock (Larchmont, NY) writes that Richard Katz, MD ’70, celebrated the wedding of his daughter Jordan in San Diego the first week of August. Attending were Dick’s Cornell roommates Mike Levy, Dave Rempell ’67, and Ron. Also there were Stu Oremland ’68, MBA ’71, and Marty Schwartz, ME ’67, and wife Roberta (Bernstein) ’68. Ron and Mike took the opportunity to play the Torrey Pines golf course. Ron and wife Judi Friedman then went north to Napa, where he hung out with Roger Hayes ’65 and wife Sophia Liang, then on to an ABA meeting in San Francisco, where he had drinks with Hawaii’s Richard Turbin and wife Rai St. Chu.
Congrats to Judy Kurtz Polcer and husband Ed (Princeton ’58), step-daughter Karen, and son-in-law Nick, who all completed the NYC Marathon. Their motto is, “Without a pack of the pack there is no front of the pack.” Judy is still working in marketing at Malcolm Pierre Environmental Engineers and is currently back in school completing a certificate program for teaching English as a Second Language.When not running, working, or studying, Judy finds time to travel with Ed’s jazz band and spent three weeks in Europe last summer at Ascona Jazz Festival in Switzerland and traveling in Europe.
Judy Burke Stephenson writes from Westwood, MA, that she continues to teach appellate advocacy at Boston College Law School.While husband Scott served as president of Common Cause in Washington, Judy commuted and enjoyed seeing classmates Linda Bernstein Miller and Mike and Paula Haimila Levy ’67. Judy’s three daughters all live in San Francisco: Tenley is a lawyer, Cameron just graduated from the U. of Michigan with an MBA/MSW, and Annie manages a clothing boutique in Presidio Heights. Judy went to Cuba for several weeks in April to study architecture and hopes to visit Ann Weigel in London this year.
Bill Wilson (St. Michaels, MD) wrote to inform us there was a terrific gathering of Cornell football players of the ’60s at last year’s Homecoming game against Yale. Some of our classmates attending were Marty Sponaugle, Ted Sprinkle, DVM ’69, and Fred Kaiser. Bill is very active in the Cornell Football Assn. Lee Lindquist writes from Coeur d’Alene, ID, that he and Joan (Buchsbaum) ’68 are proud grandparents again. Daughter Kristin LindquistWallace ’92 gave birth to her second son, Luke Robert, on Sept. 13, ’02. They spent last Christmas in Boise with son Kevin, MBA ’99, and Rochelle Spandorf Buchsbaum ’73. Lee says his medical practice continues to grow.He also says they live in such a glorious place of supreme beauty that they haven’t had the urge for too much travel lately. They can be reached at (208) 699-7498 for any classmates passing through. Bruce Mansdorf, living in beautiful Pacific Palisades, CA, sent a quick note that he recently visited daughter Lucy ’06, and sends a big thank you to Alice Katz Berglas for taking Lucy to dinner on Trustee/Council Weekend.
We heard interesting news from Kenneth Dormer, MS, PhD, FAHA, who writes that he co-invented an implantable middle ear hearing device for sensorineural hearing loss suffered by 19 million Americans, many of whom are probably in the classes of the ’60s at our alma mater. He co-founded SoundTec Inc., and 500 devices have already been implanted with FDA approval. He and wife Karen (Kyne) live in Edmond, OK. Congrats to Bobbie and Bill Kilberg, who had grandchild number one when daughter Sarah and husband Scott gave birth to little William Jackson (“Jack”) on Oct. 27, ’02. Jack was named for Bill’s dad, who had passed away a few months earlier. Karen Schmidt Johnson writes from sunny Phoenix, where many of us might like to retire, that she and husband Norman ’67 are now living in the same state as both their daughters. Karen is politically active in the Arizona League of Conservative Voters, League ofWomen Voters, and swim club. She also got a master’s in teaching English as a Second Language at ASU. She is now taking a post-master’s class in educational language policy.
Some quick flashes! Carla Meisel Schwartz informed us that she and Stephen, MBA ’67, have two granddaughters, Nell, 3, and Maddy, 4. “We spend half of the year at Addison Reserve with a lot of our friends, and the rest of the year in Connecticut and traveling. The two granddaughters are the most wonderful part of our lives.”Ken Hamlet invites any Cornellians in the San Diego area to call (858) 737-0200, although he and Carolyn do a lot of traveling—biking in Italy,Hawaii,Napa, and the UK, and lots of trips to NYC. Stuart Peterfreund is still teaching and is graduate director of the English department at Northeastern in Boston.He runs the De Bois Program, structured to help inner-city adults attend college. v Bill Blockton, rbsfabrics@aol.com; Susan Rockford Bittker, ladyscienc@aol.com; and John Miers, John_Miers@nih.gov.
67 | Anne Nosworthy Fischer (Morganton, NC; nfischer1@msn. com) “traveled to Egypt to anchor feminine energy on the planet after 9/11, and also went to Finland and Norway as a participant in the International Federation of Home Economics Council, also an NGO of the UN.”Anne reports that Kathy Koklas Rohlfs moved back to Charlotte, NC, after many years in Texas and is now a grandmother of five. Kathy’s youngest daughter, Kristin ’00, was in grad school getting her MMH in Hotel Administration.
Rick Weisman, PhD ’73, reports from Bethlehem, PA (rnw1@Lehigh.edu). “I’m still associate dean of engineering at Lehigh and recruiting students away from Cornell when I can!” Jeffrey Chesky (Springfield, IL; chesky.jeffrey@uis.edu) has been appointed a “senior scholar in aging studies” at the U. of Illinois, which sounds like the right field to “go senior” in. Robert Morse,Washington, DC, reports that his son Alan graduated from Cornell in ’02 and is a deckhand on the schooner Sultana. “I could not make reunion because my daughter Danielle was graduating from MIT. She is currently a grad student in meteorology at Florida State U. I continue to teach physics at St. Albans School and to organize workshops for teachers in the DC area.”
Class president Margie Greenberg Smith (mgsmith13@aol.com) reports on her two Cornell progeny. Son Brian ’95 (MBA Fordham ’00) is working in Florida for PRS Group; and daughter Robin ’96 (JD Georgetown ’99) is working in New York for the Sonnenschein, Nash & Rosenthal law firm. Margie adds a big thank you to everyone who helped in the planning of our 40th Reunion and to everyone who attended.
Sad note from Jane Borin Grayson (Shelburne, VT; rgrayson@adelphia.net): “Our daughter Sara graduated from Brandeis U. in 2000. One year later, at the age of 23, she became mentally ill and died of suicide.” Sharon Argus Paschos (Dortmund, Germany; paschos fam@gmx.net) writes that husband Emmanuel, PhD ’67, was inducted into the elite Athenian Academy of Science and was a visiting professor at the Japanese High Energy Physics Laboratory in Tsukuba, near Tokyo.
Jeff Benjamin (New City, NY; jeff.ben jamin@group.novartis.com) is vice president and general counsel of Novartis Corp., also serving as ethics and compliance officer. Last year he joined the Advisory Board of the Brennan Center for Justice, “promoting human dignity via legal services in the areas of democracy, criminal justice, and poverty.” Daughter Lily ’00 received her master’s in the clinical psychology PhD program at Albany, where she has been a presidential fellow; son Ross graduated this year from Vassar.Wife Betsy is a psychotherapist in private practice who also does volunteer counseling. “Too bad work interferes with vacations,” writes Phil Scheff, MEE ’68 (Sherman Oaks, CA), who with wife Jan spent several weeks in Turkey, Egypt, and Israel. His daughter Stefanie is at U. of Sydney in veterinary medicine, and son Scott received a master’s in the “human factor of engineering.”
This column comes to you from Pristina, Kosovo, where I’m engaged for a few weeks in organizing a project for the next few years to help design a workable justice sector and court system for this province once the UN pulls out, whenever that may be. v Richard B.Hoffman, 2925 28th St. NW,Washington, DC 20008; email, rhoffman@erols.com.
68 | Greetings! Jim Keen, PhD ’76, has been named Dean of the Jefferson College of Graduate Studies at Thomas Jefferson U. in Philadelphia. Jim is a professor of microbiology and immunology at Jefferson Medical College and director of the school’s Cancer Center. A note from Adult University (CAU) reports that Henry and Ellen Schaum Korn, David Maisel, and Merry Runsdorf Mendelson and husband George ’67 attended programs at CAU during the past year.
David Yesner, BA ’71, and wife Kristine Crossen live in Chugiak, AK, and are both professors at the U. of Alaska, Anchorage. David, Kris, and their son Dan, 9, continue to undertake research projects in Alaska and the Russian Far East. Kris was a participant in a recent reenactment of an 1899 expedition to Alaska sponsored by Smith College. David has continued his archaeological research studying the early sea mammal hunters of the Russian Far East. Dan attends local schools. David also serves as president of the Cornell Club of Alaska.
Elizabeth Cadbury and her husband Arthur Borror live in Canada, not far from Montreal. Elizabeth is a professor at a French school and sings every Sunday. She has a daughter studying communications at Concordia U. in Montreal. Art is a retired professor of biology and ornithology at the U. of New Hampshire. In addition to their home in Canada, they have a colonial farmhouse in Pittsfield, NH, and divide their time between the two residences. Sue Selton Benjamin was “New Mexico State Teacher of the Year” in 2002.Her picture was taken with the President in the Oval Office, and she attended an international space camp with the other state Teachers of the Year and a group of international representatives. Sue reports, “It was a blast.”
John Gross, JD ’71, is an attorney in Commack, NY, and has been appointed treasurer of the New York State Free Press/Fair Trial Conference. John is also a member of the New York State Bar Assn. Executive Committee, which is the governing body of the association. Joe and Judie Allen Moore live in Lake Forest, IL. Joe is a retired tax partner with Pricewaterhouse-Coopers. Vera Kubie Balluff and husband Robert live in Granite Bay, CA.Vera is a teacher and enjoys playing a lot of bridge. She tutors Spanish, French, German, and English as a Second Language and enjoys visiting her family in Prague, Czech Republic.
Fred Scholl, PhD ’76, and wife Gladys Waltemade live in Rye, NY. They recently bought a house in Rye, which they are remodeling. They have two 5-year-old children in nursery school and a 15-year-old at Riverdale Country. Fred’s professional work includes network testing and forensics. Frank Moss and wife Nancy Sills live in New York City. Frank is a lawyer practicing labor law, representing entertainment unions such as Actors’ Equity, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, and the Writers Guild. Frank and Nancy were married in 2003. David McAleavey, PhD ’75, is a professor of English and director of creative writing at George Washington U. in Washington, DC. He has a new book of poems appearing later this year. David and wife Kathy Perry live in Arlington, VA. Their daughter graduated from Stanford and son Andrew attends Brown.
Adam Drobot is moving to New Jersey after 27 years in Washington, DC.His daughter Clare attends Carnegie Mellon. Adam’s new assignment is managing applied research at Telcordia, a subsidiary of the company he has been with since graduate school in 1975. Tom Bodden was recently honored as Lawyer of the Year by the Maui County Bar Assn. of Hawaii. He was also featured in a recent article for his 21 years of writing a weekly column on taxes, estate planning, and real estate law, and for service to the community. In 2002, Tom was diagnosed with ALS/Lou Gehrig’s disease. He presently can no longer speak or swallow, but can still work some, and communicates by e-mail and typing.
Kathleen Maney Fox and husband Gary live in Cortland, NY. Kathy is a second grade teacher at the Groton Elementary School. Her outside activities include serving on the local Democratic Committee. Gary retired and is currently working as an admissions counselor at SUNY Cortland. Her daughter Melissa Toner ’97 was married in Sage Chapel at Cornell. Kathy reports having dinner with classmate Terry McKeegan Davis. Charles and Marilyn Brownlie Roll ’69 live in New Jersey, where Charles works as a massage therapist treating pain and orthopedic problems. Steve Steinhardt is an attorney in Albany, NY. Rob Swersky, Great Neck, NY, is a doctor practicing vascular and cardio-thoracic surgery. Rob practices at St. Francis, Long Island Jewish, and North Shore hospitals. He also started a company that manufactures wind blockers for convertibles (made out of unbreakable Lexan). Arthur Bernstein lives in Boca Raton, FL, and works in investment banking. Charlie Kohn lives in Needham, MA, and has recently started an electronics company. Jay Goldstein and wife Laura live in Newton, MA. Jay is a dermatologist. Their daughter is a freshman at Johns Hopkins U., and they have two younger sons in elementary school.
I look forward to hearing from you. v Gordon H. Silver, Putnam Investments, 1 Post Office Square, Boston, MA 02109; fax, (617) 760-8349; e-mail, gordon_silver@putnaminv.com.
69 | Adam, MPA ’71, and Laurie Haynes Sieminski were transferred from Baltimore to London by Adam’s employer, Deutsche Bank. Adam works as the bank’s global oil strategist and Laurie teaches American patchwork-style quilting. They claim to be living “in a garage on an alley (Londoners call them mews houses) in an area of the city called Belsize Park.” From Charleston, WV, Martha Sue Woodward Forsbrey tells us about her experiences in 2002. A nurse educator, Martha received a BS in nursing from the U. of Charleston and was promoted from Program Coordinator to the department chairperson. Son Kevin welcomed a beautiful new daughter Hannah into the family that already includes Alex, 3. In addition, Martha enjoyed a trip to Ireland and Scotland. “Traveled to China in spring 2002 to show Lea that it really did exist!” says Marguerite Waller. Daughter Lea Xiaopeng Waller is 6. Back in the US,Marguerite, along with Frank Burke, co-edited Contemporary Perspectives on Federico Fellini.
Brett Klein e-mails that he lives in Los Angeles and “still plays trumpet.” Brett also has “a day job as a Superior Court judge.” Passco Capital Inc., a firm that specializes in tenant-incommon 1031 real estate exchanges, promoted Thomas Jahncke to be its president. Harvey Leibin is president of DuBose Associates and relates that the Hartford, CT, architectural firm was awarded a Connecticut Art Design Award for Hartford’s Camp Courant. Harvey lives in Avon with wife Florence, who teaches in the Farmington school system. Son Brad graduated with honors from Washington U. in architecture, daughter Kate is a senior at American U. studying education, and daughter Kara attends the U. of Wisconsin.
Press releases inform us about several classmates. Peter Kutner, who is the Hugh Roff Professor of Law at the U. of Oklahoma, has received a second Fulbright award in Japan. During the 2003-04 academic year, he will be in Tokyo teaching at Waseda U. and Japan Women’s U. The U. of Delaware writes that Charles MacArthur is a coeditor of the Journal of Special Education, which publishes research, scholarly commentary, and reviews covering all disabilities and issues in special education. Charles also researches in the field, particularly writing instruction and the use of technology to support learning-disabled students. Case Western Reserve U. has named Ellen Landau, a professor of art history, the Andrew W.Mellon Professor of the Humanities. In addition, she has been awarded a fellowship at the Inst. of Advanced Studies at Princeton beginning in 2004. Ellen is an internationally respected expert on American abstract expressionism.Another classmate with a passion for art, David Boxer, Director Emeritus and Chief Curator at the National Gallery of Jamaica in Kingston, was presented with the Gleaner Honour Award for Excellence 2002. A native of Jamaica, he has distinguished himself by tirelessly developing and promoting Jamaican art since 1975 when he received his first appointment at the National Gallery. As Assistant Secretary for Information Technology, John Gauss serves the Veterans Affairs department as its chief IT officer. His responsibilities include overseeing the computer and telecommunications systems. In 2001, John retired from the Navy with the rank of rear admiral after 32 years of service.
The Cornell Chronicle reports that the Johnson Graduate School of Management has formed a fund, BR Ventures, to invest seed money in start-up companies. The current investment capital comes from donations made to Cornell, but the student-run fund hopes to use profits from its investments in the future. Robert Ryan, the former chief executive of Ascend Communications and 2002’s Cornell Entrepreneur of the Year, is one of the fund’s advisors. Linda Tatelbaum, PhD ’72, has been entrepreneurial in her own way. In 1974, after the college where she was teaching went bankrupt, Linda and her husband moved to Maine to build a solar-powered house and raise their own food. Her career developed from her decisions on how and where to live. Ultimately, Linda became a professor of English at Colby College and a novelist. Yes and No, a coming-of-age story about a young woman who moved to Paris to escape the ’60s student unrest at Cornell, is Linda’s latest work. It deals with the need for young women to be mentored by women, a belief Linda holds strongly.
Please return your news and dues cards soon. If possible, include a business card so that spellings will be accurate. vArda Coyle Boucher, 21 Hemlock Hill Rd., Amherst, NH 03031; email, aboucher@airmar.com.