March / April 2024

Columns compiled by your class correspondents

1940s

1948

If you read my January/February Class Notes column, you will recall that I shared an excerpt from an essay I wrote about my time at Cornell, originally written for and published by my fraternity, Alpha Delta Phi. That essay is continued here:

Returning to Cornell in the fall of 1946, after a summer working for Standard Oil of Ohio, I occupied the former alumni suite at Alpha Delt with two others. My roommates were Jim Sliger ’49 and Bob Engelbert ’49. Don Knowlton ’49 occupied the single room on the hall across from the bathroom. Don was studying electrical engineering, Bob was in civil engineering, and I was in chemical engineering. I was still on a tight budget, even with the scholarships and the GI Bill, so the chapter very generously gave me the job of house manager and my room rent free. My main duties were to collect the monthly checks from the members living in the house, all under the guidance of Jim Rice ’30, BS ’33, the alumnus mainstay in the stability of the Cornell chapter for many years. I was also the “official” contact with our houseman, Reggie, and our cook, Rose Reber. Reggie seemed to have been there forever—and I think Rose was somewhat new.

By the fall of 1946, most servicemen were back on campus. We had quite a group of Alpha Delt married vets—a few even with children. Cornell had built “Vetsburg” on the Ag campus, which was a group of apartments for returning married vets to live in. On each Wednesday evening, we had an expanded dinner, where the married families could join us downstairs in the dining room. Dinner was preceded with a cocktail hour in the library. It was very well attended by all, and my memory is of everyone standing around with their beers or martinis (or what have you), toddlers wandering around among us, and the occasional squeal when a too-full drink got spilled on one of the toddlers.

I think that fuel supplies must have been still tight then, because we set the main hall thermostat to take the temperature of the whole house down every night to maybe 55 degrees. That worked for a while, but there were complaints. Then the complaints stopped, and it took me a little while to figure out that someone was coming down later in the evening and cracking open the window closest to the thermostat so it got below 55 there quickly while the whole upstairs got warm and comfortable! Very creative, but we had to stop it!

On each Wednesday evening, [Alpha Delta Phi] had an expanded dinner, where the married families could join us downstairs in the dining room.

Ray Tuttle ’48

As to social life with the opposite sex … pre-war, Alpha Delts were not allowed to date coeds. That must have meant you either abstained until house-party time, went up to Wells College for your dates, or dated a “townie” or Ithaca College girl. After the war, that custom also faded away, probably because the veterans had had enough abstinence overseas in the service. Post-war, everyone I had known had graduated, so I dated around and eventually went rather steadily with a girl from Alpha Omicron Pi. We had a few who still went up to Wells College, but there was only one (!) automobile in our large parking lot, and I remember it as being something like a cross between a Jeep and a truck. I think it was called the “green machine” and belonged to Thomas Wells ’43.

The women’s dorms and sorority houses all required the coeds to be back in their rooms every weekday night by 8 or 9 p.m., and I believe on Saturday it was 11:30 p.m. The University was still in loco parentis in those days (which I guess means Cornell was your parent). Coeds could “sign out” when their parents were visiting or for an approved house party on campus.

A date frequently meant going downtown to Zinck’s, to the Dutch Kitchen in the basement of the Hotel Ithaca, to a bar on Stewart Ave., or to one of several other bars in Collegetown. The back end of Zinck’s had the shields of the “big six” fraternities around the top of the walls above the molding, and Alpha Delta Phi’s was one of them. The Dutch Kitchen was famous for its wooden tables, completely covered with carved signatures of students and (mostly) former students. On trips down there, I marveled at how people in these two crowded bars would get the urge to go to the other bar at the same time, and the crowds would pass each other on the main street between them!

At a later date, I was shocked to go back to Ithaca and find that Zinck’s had moved to a new location a block away. I was more shocked to go inside and see a television over the bar! It had totally lost the atmosphere I remembered. This was not the bar of “Give My Regards to Davy.”

At Alpha Delt, the arrangement for a house party was to completely block the second-floor hall about halfway down and to give the back half of the house to the visiting dates. Two adult couples were required to be present as chaperones (a happy task that Peg Wilharm Tuttle and I performed several times after we were married). ❖ Ray Tuttle (email Ray) | Alumni Directory.

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1949

Happy spring! Please take a moment to write to us. What is a typical day in your life like? Is anything new happening with your family? Have you read any good books lately? We’d love to hear from you. ❖ Class of 1949 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1950s

1950

This column is a follow-up to my January/February 2024 column in which Betsy Alexander Weis suggested I might feature succinct biographies of outstanding female members of our class.

This sounded like a dandy idea, but as I started to work on it, I encountered several problems. First, most of those about whom I might write are deceased and thus not available for interviews. Second, my information would have to be drawn almost exclusively from the book by our classmate Marion Steinmann, Women at Work: Demolishing a Myth of the 1950s. Moreover, Marion’s book is 20 years old, and focused primarily on the then-employment experiences of our accomplished women classmates.

However, I decided to see what I could do and for this column provide succinct but revealing bios for Betsy, two former class officers, and three class members currently serving as class officers. These short bios are not intended to be comprehensive life bios—rather they are intended to reveal the extent to which our women classmates demolished a myth of the ’50s that women were not welcome in the workforce, particularly in the professions.

Betsy Alexander Weis raised eight children—seven girls, one boy. All are college graduates and hold 11 graduate degrees among them. After her husband died and her youngest went off to college, to “open up her brain” she enrolled in Gogebic Community College, in Ironwood, MI, and earned an associate’s degree with honors. At the age of 60, four decades away from Cornell, she went on to law school. Betsy then worked until age 75 as an attorney in Wilmington, NC, specializing in elder and disability law, with a focus on estate and retirement planning. Betsy twice received the Pro Bono Award for New Hanover County and served as chairman of the Elder Law Section of the North Carolina State Bar Association.

Ruth “Midge” Downey Crone (MA 1978, Virginia Tech) is our current class secretary. For four years after graduation, she taught home economics; then, until 1965, she was a stay-at-home mom with four kids. Energized by a love of early childhood education, when the youngest became age 9 Midge embarked on a successful, rewarding career in a variety of roles in the profession of education including kindergarten teacher, reading specialist, and curriculum developer of reading and writing programs for kindergarten through sixth grade.

At the age of 60, four decades away from Cornell, Betsy Alexander Weis ’50 went on to law school.

Mary Holcomb Haberman (MA 1978, New York University) serves on our class advisory council. Mary had a varied career, teaching high school theater arts, co-authoring books on poultry farming and veterinary medicine with her husband, and managing a consulting group for technology transfer and patents in the life sciences area for university clients. Her love for teaching also actively engaged her as a volunteer for many community theater organizations.

Marjorie Leigh Hart was an amazing pioneer, one of only five female engineering graduates of 256, and one of only two in chemical engineering, a recognized challenging academic field. From Cornell she went directly on to a high-level career as an engineer and corporate planner and marketing executive in Exxon Corporation (formerly Standard Oil). Marjorie was the first professional woman that Exxon sent overseas, first in Tokyo and later in London. Marjorie was also the first woman to be permitted to dine in the corporate dining room! In 1966 she married, and writes, “Continuing to work was a given of a late marriage.” Marjorie served on Cornell’s Board of Trustees and is a Lifetime Presidential Counselor. She and husband Gurnee endowed the Marjorie L. Hart Chair of Engineering.

Pat Carry Stewart had a 42-year career in the top levels of business and finance including (remarkable for its time) as president of a New York Stock Exchange firm and board member for multiple firms. After graduation she worked one year as a foreign correspondent for Irving Trust, where she experienced gender discrimination. From 1951 to 1960 she was employed by Eliot Janeway, which gave her responsibility and authority for economic consulting and forecasting. In 1955 she was elected corporate secretary and treasurer. As she has said, “a remarkable achievement for a young female.” In 1961, Pat joined Buckner & Co., served for 12 years, and rose to president. Along the corporate way she served three times as our class president, 25 years on Cornell’s Board of Trustees, and six years as vice chair.

Nancy Hubbard Brandt (MA 1980, Loyola of Chicago) is deceased but was class co-president from 2000–05 with husband James. When the youngest of her four children was off to college, Nancy earned a master’s degree and went on to a 15-year career in banking. “Half my time was banking, the other half was giving money away.” From 1980–87, she was an investment-banking specialist assisting school districts and other public entities to access the financial market. From 1987–95, she was manager of education programs in the community relations department of the Bank of America. Her career was built on an early interest in the League of Women Voters, particularly in the structure, function, and funding of state and local government. At the time of Marion’s book, Nancy reported that if she were in college today she would have majored in government and gone on to law school. ❖ Paul Joslin (email Paul) | 13731 Hickman Rd., #4207, Urbandale, IA 50323 | tel., (515) 278-0960 | Alumni Directory.

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1951

“I have no idea how I got so old so fast,” writes Janet Armstrong Hamber. “I can remember clearly at about 12, wondering what it would be like to be as old, old, old as 60! And here I am at 94!

“I had a wonderful party put together by my ‘other daughter,’ Liz, my Nancy’s best friend and the woman I’ve just included as part of my family. Since I only had two children, other men and women have come into my life as major individuals, so I call them my other children—that includes two more sons and two more daughters, plus my daughters-in-law and two grandchildren. Blended families are common now and make for a grand addition. On my actual birthday, Liz, daughter number two, set up a table on her patio and invited my family and a few friends for shish kebab dinner.

“Another birthday party was held a week later, put together by my son at a new Mexican restaurant. This one had all five of my family at the table except my one grandson who lives in Boulder, CO. I’m still working with the California Condor Archives but not out in the field now. I’m in pretty good health so I may make it in just six more years to 100!” ❖ Class of 1951 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1952

Lewis Ward-Baker writes from Rochester, NY: “I’m happy to report that I’m still singing! Our quartet plus piano, the Voices of the Spirit, participated in the annual meeting of the New York State Universalists in Binghamton in October. And I’m in the large Eastman-Rochester Chorus. We’re working on a ‘Mass in D’ by Ethel Smyth to be performed in Kodak Hall. If you’ve never heard of her (like me), you can look her up. Also, I had great joy when 26 members of our family convened for a glorious week in New Harbor, ME, in August. I’m so grateful.”

Helen Pellman Marsh writes from Middlebury, VT: “Living in the Residence at Otter Creek gives great satisfaction. I own my condo and have many friends I dine with and partake in many activities, including weekly discussions of articles from the New Yorker magazine. I helped my late husband, Charles Sabukewicz, publish two books of poetry and will get another published posthumously this winter.” Helen had a nice trip to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick last August and is glad she is able to travel. While hard to pick a favorite memory from her time at Cornell, she recalls the Beaux Arts Ball, theater presentations, and “sneaking out of the dorm at night and returning without being caught.” She also had special friends at Telluride. ❖ Thomas Cashel, LLB ’56 (email Tom) | Alumni Directory.

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1953

’53 class president Bill Gratz was looking forward to the midwinter Cornell Alumni Leadership Conference to be held in Baltimore in February. In November 2022, Bill went to NYC to attend the Russekoff Lecture at the Cornell Club, presented by Associate Professor Jesse Goldberg, the Robert R. Capranica Fellow in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, College of Arts & Sciences. The lecturer discussed his research studying behaviors in songbirds. “Research into songbird behavior sheds light on core functions of human brain regions that go awry in numerous disorders, such as Parkinson’s, dystonia, and ADHD,” he reports. The annual lecture was established by David Russekoff ’89 in honor of his mother, Mitzi Sutton Russekoff ’54.

Since his recovery from a broken leg early in 2023, Bob Neff, JD ’56, is savoring mobility. Fifteen family members, ages 8 to 92, celebrated Christmas together at the Yellowstone Club in Montana. Then he and his wife, Julie, left for a month of sailing among the Pacific islands. “Since 2024 is our 50th anniversary year—we met in May and married in November—we are filling it with memory joggers,” he reports.

’53 readers who had classes or activities at McGraw Hall will be interested to know that it has now been targeted for restoration beginning in 2024–25. Built in 1872, McGraw is currently the home to both history and anthropology and was previously home to the government departments, symbolizing Cornell’s liberal arts core. The renovation will transform the space into a modern facility for students and faculty with a brand new interior complete with active learning classrooms and state of the art technology.

Bob Neff found McGraw just the place to escape the distractions of the campus. “While I was attempting to catch up in calculus as a freshman, I couldn’t concentrate in the dorm or the main library. But I found a small room in McGraw with reading ‘stations,’ where you put your book on a lighted board and viewed it through a stereopticon, which wrapped around the eyes. Everything else was shut out! It worked, and nobody ever said I couldn’t co-opt the room in the evenings. (This may have been a residual problem from attending a boys-only boarding school and then being surrounded with Cornell’s coeds. You ladies were distracting!)” ❖ Caroline Mulford Owens (email Caroline) | Jack Brophy (email Jack) | John Nixon (email John) | Bob Neff, JD ’56 (email Bob) | Alumni Directory.

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1954

As you read this, our 70th Reunion will be three months away! Dave, PhD ’60, and Mary Gentry Call have been planning and working to make it a memorable weekend. Here is their message: “Plans are in place for a great 70th Reunion for the Class of 1954, June 6–9. Information on housing and other details has been sent by Alumni Affairs. Still to come are the registration materials, which are scheduled to be sent in late March or early April. We will have meals in the Statler and other locations that are handicap accessible. Transportation will be available from the Statler to various venues for lectures, forums, and music. Spouses, caregivers, and friends are welcome at all events. Come on, classmates. Join us for a great Reunion!” We hope for your presence to make it a resounding success!

You can be present either in person or by message. Of course, coming in person is best. We hope to have more classmates with us than ’53 managed in 2022: 10 (with caregivers making a total of 20). Registrations are accepted at the Statler at (800) 541-2501. Another option is the Best Western University Inn at (607) 272-6100. If you can’t join us, please submit an online news form so we can hear from you. As always, you may email Bill Waters, MBA ’55, or me, Ruth Carpenter Bailey. Jan Jakes Kunz, who has managed our class website for years, will share your news with everyone who reads there.

We encourage you to contact old friends and encourage them to join us. If you need help in locating contact information, go to the Alumni Directory. You may also update your own contact information here.

Age is taking its toll, and we understand none of us will escape that. Two of our class officers are dealing with illness. President Chick Trayford, MBA ’60, has asked Jack Vail, vice president, to carry on while he undergoes treatment, and Jim Settel has turned over duties as treasurer to Mary Call. We think of them and those who are dealing with the challenges of living in aging bodies, theirs or those of loved ones. That is ALL of us!

Yesterday I bought the RBG stamps. One more honor for Ruth. I still send some snail mail and look forward to using them.

Yesterday I bought the RBG stamps. One more honor for Ruth.

Ruth Carpenter Bailey ’54

By the way, you may have read that the print edition of Cornellians has been discontinued. The staff strove valiantly to create a quality magazine. They spent nearly as much time doing that, which reached 394 subscribers, as preparing the digital version, which reaches 43,857 average monthly users. It is a sad but necessary decision. However, Bill and Ruth will continue to piece together a column as long as you keep sending news and views.

Speaking of which, Ed McDowell sent a copy of their holiday letter, which covered their lives during 2023. Ed and his wife, Joyce (Dudley) ’57, remain very active, though the letter admits to the help of a wheelchair now and then. They live in Kilauea, HI, and travel frequently. After a Pacific cruise in the fall, they flew to Paris in the spring. They met their son and his wife and enjoyed touring in Lyon. They learned about the large textile industry in Lyon since the Middle Ages, and they saw demonstrations of weaving and silk screening. Then they cruised up the Rhône on the Scenic Sapphire. Highlights were the Abbey at Cluny and the 2,000-year-old Roman bridge at Avignon. In Houston, encouraged by their son’s interest, they viewed a collection of Escher at the Houston Museum of Art. Later they flew to Tahiti and sailed to Chile. Surprise! “We found we are not as agile as in the past and had trouble entering and exiting the Zodiac boats in heavy swell.” Ed, we admire your extensive travels and definitely expect you and Joyce to join us in Ithaca!

Somehow Ed finds time to read. Two recommendations from him: The First Congress (Congress was about evenly divided between Federalists and anti-Federalists) and A Woman of No Importance (an American spy who helped build the French resistance in WWII).

We look forward to seeing some of you in June on the Hill, and we hope to hear from many more of you as you send news from wherever you may be. ❖ Ruth Carpenter Bailey (email Ruth) | Bill Waters, MBA ’55 (email Bill) | Class website | Alumni Directory.

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1955

Richard Bump writes, “I was Cornell freshman stroke and JV stroke for three years. My favorite memory of Cornell was stroking the JV boat to their first victory at the international rowing regatta in 10 years against the unbeaten Naval Academy. We had a full three-page spread in Life magazine. I also remember singing a solo in the Glee Club. I remember Tom Tracy, our great director, who, like me, had no music degree and a degree in engineering. By the way, I went to Germany to sing, as first tenor soloist, 29 full-length operas in three prestigious opera houses. Sharon Flynn ’57 was with me. We had 20 years married, then I was alone for 20 years, and now I’ve had 20 years with my husband, Trevor Hunter. I’m 90 now, and still singing!”

Rob Stotz has been keeping busy with many projects at his retirement community. He is drama club chairman, making stained and fused glass art, enjoying social interactions, and writing, producing, and directing plays. Elinor Rohrlich Koeppel writes, “I guess I’m the oldest of the old, but I don’t feel it. I’m still playing tennis. I was big on ice skating, but when I fell and this time broke a bone in my hand I got spooked and gave it up.”

Joan Groskin Promin writes, “After many years of living in the countryside (and caring for all those dogs and horses), I simplified my life and moved to lovely Ocala, FL. I have supported the University of Florida Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and served on their advisory board. More recently I’ve continued my painting and have been active in Fort King Presbyterian Church’s Art For All program. We reach out into the community providing multiple kinds of art projects for all ages. Sadly, my husband, Dick, died last year. He practiced medicine in Ocala for almost 30 years.” ❖ Class of 1955 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1956

“I wonder if any classmates in the tri-state area would like to join me for one of those great Wednesday night lobster dinners at the Cornell Club,” writes Carole Rapp Thompson. She adds, “There are other menu items available besides lobster.” If you’d like to write to Carole, email Alexandra Bond ’12 and she will put you in touch!

Carol Skidmore Cuddeback is enjoying her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She writes, “By April I will have 30 greats!” Carol’s favorite memory of Cornell? “Meeting my future wonderful husband, Chris ’55, BME ’57, who died 10 years ago.”

Barbara Travis Osgood, PhD ’80, writes, “Although I wasn’t able to persuade my granddaughter to attend Cornell, I am still very proud of her. She graduated from Penn State in May 2023 with a degree in meteorology. Since then, she has been a meteorologist on News Center Maine, the NBC affiliate in Portland, ME. Every weekday at 5 p.m., I tune my iPad to News Center Maine and watch my granddaughter do the weather. It is the high point of my day!”

Richard Veron was recently featured in a Cornellians story about how he takes ice skating lessons from a fellow Cornell alum, former national competitor Jaclyn Klein Walker ’07, BS ’06, MPA ’08. Fifty years apart in age, the pair initially struck up a conversation when Richard noticed Jaclyn’s Cornell jacket, and they have been skating together for 13 years since. You can find the story here, and see photos of Richard and Jaclyn—and even watch a video of them skating together! ❖ Class of 1956 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1957

We can only be amazed at the directions our lives have taken since our time on the Cornell campus. Let’s look at some of those. Ted Engel, MBA ’58, MS ’64, chose to enroll in the Ag College after serving in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. His life experiences were different from most of his male classmates, yet when he double-registered to earn his MBA, he found other veterans who were likewise double-registered. Ted remained on campus as a research assistant and added an MS degree to his resume. His career turned to retail grocery sales and culminated as a regional director for the Kroger Company.

About 35 years ago, Ted added an avocation: he races and breeds horses. The training of these horses begins in January and the races run through November. He has bred Thoroughbred horses in the past, but now he concentrates on his Standardbreds. His great enjoyment comes as he cheers when one of his horses wins a race. He admits to having five sons and one daughter, yet the closest one of his offspring came to attending Cornell was when one of his sons attended Colgate. Ted keeps up with all the changes that have taken place as the College of Agriculture evolved into CALS—without the farm-related requirement, which was in place in our era.

After graduating from Cornell, P. Beach Kuhl headed to Stanford University and earned his law degree. After completing his military obligation as a lieutenant in the Coast Guard, he planted his roots in the San Francisco area. His career was as an attorney, and he was recognized as the Defense Attorney of 2001 by the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association. He also served as the pro tem judge and arbiter of the San Francisco Supreme Court.

Since July 2013, Beach has served as mayor of Ross, CA, a suburban town in Marin County, north of San Francisco. There, he is recognized as the voice of calm reason, especially in a recent situation when the private college prep school Branson School sought town approval to expand from 320 students. His leadership ultimately brought approval to add 100 students. When he visited the school, he found that “Beach for President” posters had been hung to honor him. Imagine his surprise soon after to find folks wearing T-shirts with his likeness and the same logo. His term on the Ross town council ends in 2024, giving him more time to relax and read. Each summer his family gathers for about a month on their home on Lake Tahoe. Still vibrant among his Cornell memories are the many hours spent working and writing for the Widow.

Since July 2013, P. Beach Kuhl ’57 has served as mayor of Ross, CA, a suburban town in Marin County, north of San Francisco.

Robert Chatterton, PhD ’63’s Cornell experience began as a student of animal science. He followed his Cornell bachelor’s degree with a master’s in nutrition from UConn and a PhD in 1963 from Cornell in animal science and physiology, topped off by a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard. A job in NYC beckoned as a research associate at the Institute for Steroid Research. At the end of the ’60s he began his career in academia as an assistant professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago, quickly followed by a promotion to associate professor. In September 1979 he became a full professor at the Northwestern University School of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. His research interests were in breast cancer and other endocrine-related tumors. Also, he had an interest in investigating stress as it affects the endocrine systems. Robert is cited as an author in a multitude of publications related to his research. He says he has been retired since 2018, yet still tutors small groups of medical students in basic medical sciences at Northwestern.

Bill Seymour reports his total laid-back enjoyment of his retirement. His post-graduate degree was an MBA from Harvard. His career was in the financial side of the travel industry and took him from marketing for United Airlines to Budget Rent-A-Car to CitiGroup-Diner’s Club. Eventually he was responsible for card acceptance and marketing programs, including lodging and rental cars, at all U.S. airlines. After retiring from this, he was asked to be staff support for the nonprofit Hospitality Technology Next Generation. Bill treasures his time singing second bass in the men’s Glee Club and being a member of the Savage Club. Because he was a fifth-year engineer in ME, he experienced the transition from longtime director Tom Tracy to Tom Sokol’s first of many years as director.

Just a note that the Class of 1957 has a unique relationship with the men’s Glee Club, the oldest student organization at Cornell. Our late class president Charles Stanton had also been the treasurer of the Glee Club. In 1988 he initiated the publication of a new version of the Songs of Cornell songbook. The publication was underwritten by our class. Some of you must remember how we sang from it at our class Reunions. At our class annual meeting in 2014, Marj Nelson Smart brought the request from the Glee Club that we fund the publication of the CD of the “Songs of Cornell.” The Glee Club, the women’s Chorus, and the Cornell Symphony Orchestra were in the process of recording 14 of our beloved Cornell songs. With the class council’s approval, $20,000 was donated for the completion of the recording. We were very proud to give the CD as a souvenir at our 60th Reunion in 2017. ❖ Connie Santagato Hosterman (email Connie) | Alumni Directory.

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1958

We have notes from several ’58ers to share this round. Karen Shannon Tafuri and Bill ’59 write, “We both have been retired since we were about 70 and have been traveling from our home in Framingham, MA, spending time with our two daughters, and enjoying our friends at local clubs.” Sonja Kischner Wilkin remains active with her Chi Gamma sorority sisters and was a significant presence in the forum related to that sorority at Reunion last June, as reported by Barb Avery, MA ’59. Sonja says she is also involved in her Clayton Valley Village community in Clayton, CA, her biking club, women’s chorale, and socializing with many friends and family, especially her recently married granddaughter. Saul Presberg and his wife, Helen (Sugarman) ’59, still reside in Rochester and most enjoy gatherings with people and watching their grandchildren grow. Saul recalls his favorite times at Cornell were with his brothers at Watermargin.

Lew Futterman writes from Marina Del Ray, CA, where he lives with his wife, Starla Caldwell. He says, “I work, building small residential projects, work out, bicycle, watch sports, and hang out with my wife and family. I got pretty sick last summer, for the first time in my life, but have now fully recovered. My youngest daughter, Kale, has become a successful screen and TV writer and was on the picket line.” Lew adds that his favorite memories at Cornell were “the comradery in football and track and making friends from all over the world.” Bob Mayer, still in Linwood, NJ, says that he has similar fond Cornell memories of time spent with friends on the Hill. “I am glad to be upright and shooting my age in golf, while gardening a bit with nine vegetables and 12 herbs and having great meals with even better wine.” Bob and his wife, Susan, are celebrating 60 years together. “We give some time to charity work, but are slowing down, and also spend four months a year in Florida.” His final word: “Don’t buy wine that needs aging.”

Kathryn Starr McCulloch wrote that she has a new address in Harleysville, PA, a suburban town near Philadelphia. Further south, in Southern Pines, NC, Dorinda Larkin McNamara lives in a senior independent residence, Belle Meade, and says she would love to hear from classmates.

And that’s all the news in hand at this writing. Please send in your news and we’ll get it out to your classmates online, now that the hard copy issuance of the Cornellians digest has ended. Cheers for now. ❖ Dick Haggard (email Dick) | Barbara Avery, MA ’59 (email Barbara) | Alumni Directory.

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1959

“I’m thrilled that our class correspondent and I have snagged a room at the Statler Hotel for June’s Reunion,” writes Carole Parnes. “Sure looking forward to being on campus and chatting with classmates.” This will be Carole’s first trip of the year, a big change from 2023 when she wandered a good part of the globe, trying to catch up on travels postponed due to the COVID pandemic.

Carole writes, “Early March saw four back-to-back cruises to cover various Caribbean Islands hitherto unvisited. Unfortunately, COVID caught my partner and me in the middle of the third voyage, so the fourth was canceled as we recuperated in a Florida hotel until it was safe to return home. By mid-April it was off to Europe: a 15-day tour of Sicily, then San Marino, Switzerland (mountains, valleys, lakes, chocolate, and cheese), and a slow boat from Venice to Barcelona. In early July, we flew to London for a month-long sail to Iceland, Greenland, and Scandinavian countries. Our last splurge of the year was to Asia—a cruise along the coasts of Japan followed by a flight from Tokyo to Hanoi to explore Vietnam and Cambodia, floating down the Mekong River, then visiting fish farms and temples and huge markets selling items that Americans can hardly imagine.” End of year thoughts? “It was all fabulous (except for that bout with COVID), but other than visiting the East Coast in June, the need for travel has left me for the time being!”

“I’ve booked my room at the Statler, too,” comments Al Newhouse. His most recent Cornell-affiliated adventure was last autumn’s trans-Canada trip sponsored by Cornell Alumni Travel. “A brilliantly organized tour with a very knowledgeable guide,” says Al. “We traveled on VIA—the Canadian equivalent of Amtrak—living in the last three cars on the long train. We had our own sleeper rooms and our own observation car, a double-decker car used for lectures, drinks, naps, and swapping stories about our days on the Hill. We stopped at some small towns and ‘big’ cities, passed lots of grain elevators, came down mountain valleys, crossed numerous rivers, and learned a lot about the flora, fauna, and history of the land. A nice way to spend a week in October.”

Reunion chair Jerry Schultz is doing a great job prepping for our 65th, arranging events, choosing meal caterers and locations, holding Zoom meetings with other class officers, and sending out emails to all classmates. He notes that an added pleasure of (finally!) having the Statler as our Reunion base is the chance to interact with the older classes that are also staying there. “Talking with folks celebrating their 70th and 75th reunions was one of my favorite pastimes at last year’s Reunion,” he says.

In Seneca Falls, we stayed in a B&B and slept in the same bed as Aretha Franklin did when she was in town to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Carole Kenyon ’59

Carole Kenyon, who has also booked a room for Reunion, was on campus to visit with grandsons Sam Fulmer ’25 and Chad Popik (PhD grad student in astrophysics). She reminds Reunion attendees who plan to spend extra days in Upstate New York that there’s lots to do in the area—wine tasting all ’round the lakes, museums in Auburn, the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls (“we stayed in a B&B and slept in the same bed as Aretha Franklin did when she was in town to be inducted into the Hall of Fame”). Carole, a graduate of Rutgers Law, is still doing some legal work with her husband, Ralph Kline. “Interesting what has walked in the door, including a case involving the rather notorious Menendez brothers. Yes, the usual wills, estates, trusts, and real property matters, with hopes to soon wind up a long-lasting will probate (more than eight years).”

“A delightful little book.” “Super read.” “The author’s love of the circus and joy in music is evident.” These readers (and your class correspondent) are delighted with The Amazing Adventures of Karnival Kat and Eight Musical Mice, a new book written and illustrated by artist George Ladas. The inspirational tale, geared toward parents and their children, follows the adventures of a skillful cat, who joins forces with eight mice to form a highly successful carnival act.

How many chemically lined paper cups do you use annually? How many are used at Kendal at Ithaca, the senior living community that is home to Hank Stark and several other classmates? “More than 45,000 in 2023,” says Hank, at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars. Hank, well known in Ithaca for his 600+ restaurant reviews published in the Ithaca Times and Ithaca Journal, has added a new writing gig to his repertoire: working with staff members, he’s been writing articles for the monthly Kendal newsletter on “Kups at Kendal” and other food and dining-related topics. Hank’s articles on grains are coordinated with the Kendal chef, who features related meal items. For example, when the article on buckwheat was published, that month’s menus included a Mediterranean buckwheat salad and vegan buckwheat chocolate cookies. Yum! ❖ Jenny Tesar (email Jenny) | Alumni Directory.

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1960s

1960

Writing from Greensboro, NC, Barbara Baillet Moran shares, “What brings me the most satisfaction at this time of life is family, good health, friends, and the various kinds of writing I have been able to publish for the past 30 years. In retirement, I have published poems, essays, and three books, including Voices of the Silent Generation and Elvira: Behind the Curtain. I also made a lot of marmalade, having started a small business called MoranJam (my Home Economics degree at work). Jars were sold locally, and I have also given away hundreds of jars of cranberry marmalade. Having been involved with an international agency for 60 years, all my profits from books and MoranJam go to the support of children in the world’s poorest countries.”

Queried about her favorite memory of Cornell, Barbara responded, “One that springs most often to mind is that of climbing out the window of the room I shared with Rosine Vance Turner and Barbara Thiessen MacMahon. A fire escape served as a balcony for studying on balmy spring days. The view from the fire escape was lovely, so we probably did more gazing and daydreaming than studying.” She also reports, “Two of our sons live in Aspen, CO, and our whole family enjoys the benefits of mountain living for weeks at a time. Our daughter and third son live in Washington and New York, so we enjoy frequent visits to those cities as well as other family travels in Europe and the U.S. Barbara MacMahon was not technically a family member, but we remained close friends for over 60 years. In November 2021, Barbara died peacefully at home in Portland, ME, where her four children expressed devotion to their amazing mother in a beautiful memorial service.”

In retirement, I have made a lot of marmalade, having started a small business called MoranJam (my Home Economics degree at work).

Barbara Baillet Moran ’60

Our class treasurer, Susan Cowan Jakubiak, reports that she is still experiencing the loss of her husband, Henry, but says, “Luckily, I have family and friends here on Long Island. Now I am very active in several women’s groups and have continued traveling widely. I went to Croatia with a group on a yacht along the coastline. Later that year, I went to see the Palio horse race in Siena, Italy, this time along with a group that had access to a pre-race dinner, the trials, and the procession, along with the race itself, where I sat in a balcony above the crowds on the ground. And most recently I had a wonderful trip to Morocco. Life is good, though I notice that I am not as spry as I used to be.”

I had a brief discussion the other day with Tom Dandridge, MBA ’62, who is still housed in Rockford, MI, but also—like so many of us who would prefer to spend some winter months each year on Sanibel Island—is hoping that the formerly splendid but now quite devastated island can be restored fully to its original condition. Tom keeps in touch with other classmates such as Jim Van Fleet and Roger Kaufman, often just by phone. He says, “We are all fortunate to still be here. My wife, Lynn, has some health challenges, but she is as active as ever, almost. Last summer, for the first time, I ‘shot my age in golf’ and have also been awarded Life Master in duplicate bridge.” Tom reports that he has now found a rentable room at a Sanibel hotel and again looks forward to visiting this very special island. Many of our classmates would undoubtedly agree. ❖ Judy Bryant Wittenberg (email Judy) | Alumni Directory.

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1961

“Cornell’s Department of Athletics and Physical Education has announced plans to build an indoor sports and recreation facility on Tower Road. The facility will be called Meinig Fieldhouse, in memory of former Board of Trustees chair and university benefactor Peter Meinig ’61.” This announcement is wonderful news for all of us. Pete was tireless in the giving of his time, his assets, and, above all, his leadership. Along with his wife, Nancy (Schlegel) ’62, they set a standard for all alums.

Many notes have come from all of you. I will start with Nancy Paull McKeever, who is active in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport, CT, and is president of her condominium board. “I have great memories of Cornell, especially the Clinton Rossiter ’39 course in the American presidency. I’m still active in hiking, kayaking, and travel and spend time with close friends.” Barbara Hasenzahl Eckelmeyer wrote from Skillman, NJ: “I’m enjoying life with my family, not working, and our retirement community.” Dee Palmer Kaplan, MEd ’62, from Shrewsbury, NJ, writes, “I recently moved to an assisted living home and enjoy the new activities while I am able to visit with nearby family. Finally sold the big home. I have fond memories of the music room at Straight Hall and some fine Spring Weekends.” Joel Blatt reports he is still living in NYC. “My work continues as a professor of history at the Stamford campus of the University of Connecticut. I have fond memories of my Cornell classes with Edward Whiting Fox and Walter LaFeber.”

Gerald Schneider recently published A Practical Guide to Progressive Values: Libertarian Solutions. Released by Page Publishing, this book “suggests realistic and ethical solutions to many world problems that invite dialogue. It bridges the gap between progressives and conservatives in a divided America. Readers will find it original, thoughtful, lucid, concise, and reasoned, as well as provocative.” The book includes ironic and humorous quotes that keep readers turning pages.

Another classmate with a new book is Edward Goldberg. “With the arrival of COVID, and resulting quarantine and isolation, I had time to write the book that had been percolating in my mind. I combined my love of American history and my 30 years spent as a primary care physician. The result was Presidential Health Matters, published by Konstellation Press and available on Amazon. The book relates how medical history and politics have been intertwined over the years. There are presidents who contributed to medical advances—e.g., FDR and the March of Dimes. Some presidents used their knowledge of medicine to further their politics—e.g., Teddy Roosevelt, yellow fever, and the Panama Canal. Some presidents were overcome by medical events—e.g., Wilson and the 1918 influenza. My Cornell teachers were a great source of inspiration for me. Thank you, Andrew Hacker, Walter LaFeber, and Clinton Rossiter. Hopefully, I will be worthy of your input.”

One of my favorite memories of Cornell in 1961 is seeing my first play produced there as winner of the Heermans-McCalmon Competition for Dramatic Writing.

Joanne Schapiro Koch ’61

Jim Keenan wrote from his home in Reno, NV. “My favorite memories of Cornell involve managing all the food stands at home football games throughout the stadium. Now I am retired, cooking my own meals. I am a 100% disabled Vietnam veteran, which limits my activities—but then so does my age!” Gail Kweller Ripans commented, “I am very saddened to hear of the death of Carol Gittlin Franklin. Our senior-year boyfriends lived together so we got to spend a lot of time together. Carol was beautiful and talented and generous. We are fortunate she led our class. She will be missed.”

And we received a lengthy note from Marlene Alpert Tein: “It was rough last year. My husband of almost 57 years passed away in March 2022. I sold the house in Boca Raton and moved to an independent living facility in Kendall, FL. I am now closer to our children: son Michael and daughter Naomi ’90. Big changes in lifestyle, but I’m getting used to it and doing okay. While living in Boca Raton, I was able to get together with Dale Abrams Adams every week. We do so now by FaceTime. I live in the Palace Suites in Kendall and it is like being on a cruise ship with lots to do, good food, nice people, etc. (but the ‘ship’ doesn’t sail!). It has been a year of adaption, but with the help of family and friends I made it.”

“I am now professor emerita,” writes Joanne Schapiro Koch. “I served as professor and director of the master’s in written communication program at National Louis University in Chicago for 22 years. Children, grandchildren, and playwriting are bringing me the most satisfaction in my retirement. I’ve had two staged readings of the new play Good Trouble at the City Lit Theater in Chicago and continue to work on the play about unsung civil rights champion and Presidential Medal of Freedom winner Fred Gray. The musical American Klezmer will have a pre-New York presentation in L.A. I’m also looking forward to a production of Belle Barth Musical, for which I wrote the book; Grammy nominee Ilya Levinson wrote the music and Owen Kalt wrote the lyrics. The show had its premiere at the Landmark On Main Street theater in Port Washington, NY, to raves and will be touring this season. Finally, one of my favorite memories of Cornell in 1961 is seeing my first play produced there as winner of the Heermans-McCalmon Competition for Dramatic Writing. I’ve written and seen produced 18 plays and musicals since then, but nothing was quite as thrilling as having noted New York producer Norris Houghton comment after my Family Dinner that he expected to see ‘more wonderful plays from Joanne Schapiro in the future.’”

I’ll end this column with a tribute to our longtime class officer and Reunion chair Pauline Sutta Degenfelder. Pauline passed away November 16 following a lengthy illness. Our sympathies go to her family and her husband, Joe ’60.

Please keep your news flowing to us. ❖ Doug Fuss (email Doug) | Susan Williams Stevens (email Susan) | Alumni Directory.

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1962

This Class Notes column that you are now reading was written in mid-December. Column deadlines for Cornellians are two months ahead of the publication date and two months after the prior deadline. In translation, that means I wrote the January/February entries that you read in the last issue in October, and this spring column was written just before Christmas. However, everything I receive from you (including photos) is posted virtually instantly on our class website, so be sure to check it out and bookmark that page!

Presumably many of you were caught up in your holiday and winter activities last December, which accounts for the lack of news I have on hand as I write. I hope that by the time you read this, you will have some time to share all those goings on. Right? Right!

That said, we do have one bit of news to share. Neil Schilke, MS ’64, and Frank Quirk and their wives, Ro and Betty, were in France last fall where they visited Paris and took a memorable river boat cruise that started in Bordeaux and included miles of vineyards and other sights in that region. Neil writes that he was particularly awestruck by the Bassins des Lumières, a huge, digital art center located in a former WWII submarine maintenance facility near the coast of Bordeaux.

While on the topic of art, you might like to know that photographs from the class collection at the Johnson Museum of Art are being put to good use—not just on exhibit but in teaching for a variety of classes such as “Intro to Judaism,” “Surrealism and Apocalypse,” and “Spanish for Heritage Speakers.” In the fall semester, for example, Bruce Davidson’s Time of Change, Selma, Alabama, 1965 was installed in the Sukenik Teaching Gallery as part of an installation put up concurrently with the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection exhibition “Fashioning the Bounds of Free Speech.” And, last spring, Olivia Parker’s Still Life was used for the class “Monuments, Museums, and Memory: Introduction to Public History,” and Foto Ada’s Untitled halftone collage was used in two classes: “Negrismo, Négritude, and Surrealism in the Caribbean” and “Empire and Vampires.”

The 37 outstanding images in the class collection were purchased through your gifts to the Class of 1962 Gift Fund. According to Annie Abernathy, curatorial assistant at the Johnson Museum, our “continued support and generosity makes such an impact here, as you can tell just from this handful of examples.” Consider making a gift to the Class Gift Fund when you pay your dues or at any time.

Hope to hear from you soon. Have a lovely spring. ❖ Judy Prenske Rich (email Judy) | Alumni Directory.

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1963

“Hello from your class president, Paula Trested Laholt. I sincerely hope all our classmates and their families had celebratory and joyous holidays, despite the increasing negativism and sadness in the world. The class council and I wish you a productive year of personal and professional accomplishments. Keep Cornell and our special 1963 class in mind as we continue to look ahead while enjoying memories of the past.”

Marty, BEE ’65, and Dianne Flannery Lustig ’66 returned from a three-week visit to Paris, Naples, Assisi, Venice, and Milan. The trip was organized and paid for (!) by their son and daughter-in-law. “David and Stacey handled all the flights and logistics, carried all the suitcases onto and off of trains, and planned every detail. While in Assisi, we got to try out Italian emergency medicine, as Dianne fell down some stone steps in a beautiful old home in the ancient hill town. (She is ok!) We’ve always wondered what would happen if we had a bad accident while out of the country. Turns out it was not much different than had it been here in Kansas City, other than calling 112 instead of 911. Emergency technicians were great. The ambulance made it up tiny streets in Assisi, and they immediately did CT scans, etc., plus she spent a few nights for observation. Medical care was what one would expect here, except the hospital didn’t want insurance info—only our home address. We’re still waiting for a bill! Unrelated to the trip, we are starting to research our ‘next place to live’ when we can no longer stay in our home, if that time comes. I would like to hear from any classmates who have made the change from having a home to moving into ‘senior living’ to discuss lessons learned.”

From Phil Newfield: “My wife, Nancy (Guttman) ’65, and I, along with Michael and Marilyn Ratner, just came back from our first CAU trip focused on D-Day. Wonderful professor, fascinating sights and museums, and a very nice group of Cornellians. We live in Rockland County, NY, where I practiced pediatrics for 44 years, and we have three children (two Cornellians) and five grandchildren, including Olivia Newfield ’26, our first fourth-generation Cornellian. We’ve loved visiting her on campus. We’ve had a home in the Berkshires since 2000 and enjoy evenings at Tanglewood and spending time there with other Cornellians, the Ratners, Michael, ME ’65, and Joan Simonson Ury ’65, Zach and Laura Fluhr, and Marty and Hilda Lichtenstein Levine ’66.

My wife and I just came back from our first CAU trip focused on D-Day. Wonderful professor, fascinating sights and museums, and a very nice group of Cornellians.

Phil Newfield ’63

John, MBA ’65, and CeCe Kennedy live in Apex, NC. John writes: “I believe I am the quintessential lucky Irishman. In addition to earning two degrees from Cornell, which led to good jobs, I had a wonderful and fruitful marriage to Marylou, mother of our nine children, who sadly died in 2007. I am proud to say all of my children are college graduates, with the predominant university being the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Two grandchildren attend UM today. In 2014 I married CeCe, and I have been blessed again. We split our time between our home in North Carolina and a second home in the Sarasota area of Florida and are fortunate to have a very active life together. I stay in touch with fellow Cornell FiJis Dave Costine, Blair Crum, Fred Gaston, Whip Gunn, and Punch Smith. I am a lucky Cornell grad!

The very sad news that I have is that our friend and classmate Neil Kochenour, MD ’69, passed away last month. He was in the hospital for over a week, though most of the time he wasn’t alert as to what was going on. Jim Dauber, MD ’69, classmate and doctor, visited Neil on a regular basis and kept his family and multitude of friends informed of what was happening. Neil was at our Reunion in June, so many of you saw him there. A very bright man and always full of interesting stories. Luckily we spent time with him through these last 17 years, since he has also lived in Tucson.

Please send your news. ❖ Nancy Bierds Icke (email Nancy) | 12350 E. Roger Rd., Tucson, AZ 85749 | Alumni Directory.

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1964

It’s almost springtime! That said, the prevalent weather where you’re located might be anything but spring-like, given weather peculiarities. So instead of dwelling on those peculiarities, read what your classmates are up to, then make plans for our 60th Reunion.

We begin with a first-timer to this column: Denis Knowles, who lives in the Bahamas. “I have a large collection of native trees and orchids, a vegetable garden, and a large fish pond. I’ve spent my lifetime collecting Bahamian butterflies.” Denis otherwise notes, “I’m fussing with wife Violet still after 64 years! Caring for five dogs, 10 laying hens, and 100 homing pigeons, plus a fish pond full of koi.”

William “Hank” Ritchie has been retired for the last 28 years and still lives with wife Pamela in South Orleans, MA, where he says he’s an “avid gardener with seven 40-foot raised beds for mostly vegetables and some flowers.” The Ritchies’ last, pre-COVID trip was to Russia, where they went from Moscow to St. Petersburg via the Volga River. The Ritchies have two sons and four grandchildren.

Anita Apeseche Heller lives in Yonkers, NY, and writes, “For the past decade and a half, I’ve been spending winters in Florida, at our house in Lake Worth with my significant other and two dogs. I spent the year writing a memoir from weekly questions sent by my daughter-in-law. Friends find some of the essays helpful in understanding themselves.” Anita has taken up pickleball, which she finds to be “new and lots of fun.” She also still plays tennis and swims, “especially in Florida’s ocean,” plus rides her bicycle a lot, which is “very easy because it’s so flat where I live, not like Westchester.” Anita’s last “big trip” was on an African safari with classmate Barbara Lutz Brim. She’s also gotten through health issues, lymphoma and a brain tumor, and is “now healthy and going on a Viking cruise to Alaska.” About the cruise, she notes, “We will see how it compares to my Antarctic trip in 2005.” She also has two grandchildren, the older of whom, Kaitlyn, 6, will be in her school’s audience when Anita gives a talk about growing up in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

That’s all for classmate news for this issue. Let’s now see what’s in store for our 60th Reunion, June 6–9, from our Reunion chairperson, Carolyn Stewart Whitman.

I’ve spent my lifetime collecting Bahamian butterflies.

Denis Knowles ’64

On Thursday, June 6, check-in begins at Barbara McClintock Hall, a new contemporary and spacious residence hall on North Campus, where you will enjoy air conditioning and private parking close by. Catch up with classmates and relax after a long day of travel at our dinner at Appel Commons, just a stone’s throw away from our headquarters. Enjoy a casual buffet—including a make-your-own sundae station with famous Cornell Dairy Bar ice cream.

Class activities will allow for many opportunities to simply relax and interact with friends, old and new. For example, the breakfast every morning in the dorm is not only delicious but provides a casual setting to socialize with fellow classmates and guests. When not attending a scheduled campus event, enjoy time relaxing in the McClintock common area working on a 1,000-piece puzzle designed by classmates Bob, PhD ’69, and Alice Dannett Friedenson, MA ’71. It features photos taken at previous Reunions, as well as photos of iconic campus buildings.

On Saturday afternoon, attend a special presentation on the history and future of the JFK Memorial Award for Public Service. Our class founded this award and has funded it since graduation! Past recipients and members of the Class of 1964 JFK board will take part. The new board was formed this past year to ensure that the Class of 1964’s simple idea thrives in perpetuity.

Look forward to a Saturday reception and dinner at the Statler Hotel, including a special performance by the Sherwoods. (It wouldn’t be a ’64 Reunion without them!) Other Reunion favorites will include a conversation with President Martha Pollack, Cornelliana Night, the Olin Lecture, and the Chorus and Glee Club concert. And don’t forget that every Reunion day will begin with breakfast in whatever dorm you are in.

That’s it for now. On behalf of our class officers, we hope to see you at our 60th Reunion on Cornell’s campus on June 6–9, 2024. As for your news, please keep it coming! Update me by email, regular mail, our class website, or our class Facebook page. ❖ Bev Johns Lamont (email Bev) | 720 Chestnut St., Deerfield, IL 60015 | Alumni Directory.

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Now we are in full planning mode for our wonderful Reunion, June 5–8, 2025! Please mark the date on your calendar!

Judy Kellner Rushmore is again gathering those who live in Florida or who are there for the season for the annual luncheon at Seasons 52 in Naples, FL. We always have a wonderful time and please email Judy if you’ve never been and want to join us!

On November 3, 2023, Alan Lockwood, MD ’69, was presented an award for lifetime achievement, from Physicians for Social Responsibility. His recent educational efforts have focused on the adverse health effects of the climate emergency. His book, Heat Advisory: Protecting Health on a Warming Planet, published by MIT Press, came out in 2017.

One of our treasured classmates, Sharon Hegarty Williams, died after a long illness in December. She was a wonderful friend and we “go back” many years, having met at a Cornell Reunion co-chairing the welcome desk with Bob Kessler. She is remembered as a wonderful, intelligent, and caring person. We cruised together, traveled to Cornell and back, and visited together in our homes in Massachusetts and Florida and her home in East Greenwich, RI, and shared a fun week at her daughter Kristin and husband’s home in Westerly, RI. At Cornell Class Council meetings (she was co-president with Barry Cutler and also treasurer in recent years) and at the Cornell Alumni Leadership Conference (CALC) everyone appreciated her insightful commentary and wisdom. Classmates applauded her initiative, leadership, and follow-through on our Reunion gift projects and everything Cornell. Events in Boston and Sarasota were filled with joyful smiles and laughter. Sharon graduated magna cum laude in sociology, captained the women’s sailing team, and was a passionate alumna and president of the Philly Cornell Club when she lived in Pennsylvania. I will miss her and carry memories of her indomitable spirit.

Many of us in the class council are attending CALC 2024 in Baltimore, MD, February 23–25. This is always a fine event and I’ll report news from the conference in a later column. ❖ Joan Hens Johnson (email Joan) | Stephen Appell (email Stephen) | Alumni Directory.

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1966

Bob Feldman, PhD ’75, enjoyed reading the latest ’66 Connecting newsletter. “A special smile came on my face when I read this comment: ‘The good thing! The Chimes are still the Chimes.’ We all miss the Chimes (well, technically, it’s a chime), but for those alumni like me who played the bells, there’s a special longing. I missed the annual chimesmasters reunion in 2023, but I hope to get back to campus in 2024 to climb the 161 steps and play the bells again. Meanwhile, I am satisfying my bell addiction by playing two chimes in church towers near my home in Framingham, MA—one in Newton, one in Lowell. I play some Sunday mornings and on special occasions, such as Christmas, Easter, and St. Patrick’s Day, and have organized a series of summer evening concerts. Several alumni chimesmasters join me in playing these chimes, and a few alumni have been in the audiences. We have been able to adapt many pieces from Cornell (21 bells) to fit on these chimes (11 bells), including the ‘Alma Mater,’ ‘Evening Song,’ and ‘Jennie McGraw Rag.’ So, if you’re in the Boston area, let me know; I’d love to serenade you from a bell tower. I am retired. When not bell ringing, I volunteer in various organizations, including the Cornell Club of Boston. I sing in the Wellesley Choral Society. I am lucky to have my daughter’s family nearby, including two grandsons, 6 and 10, on whom I dote.”

Now for news from some of the ’66 class leadership team. VP Bruce Mansdorf emailed, “Rebecca and I took a trip to NYC from our L.A. home in late September to spend time with our London-based daughter, Lucy Mansdorf ’06, and her family while she attended her Cornell freshman roommate’s wedding. Most of our job was minding 3-year-old Penelope, showing her off to friends and family in New York. We had a great time rolling around the park, zoo, Met, and High Line, and eating well. A week later, I headed to Ithaca for the Trustee-Council Annual Meeting (TCAM), where I visited the young, quite successful, head lacrosse coach, Connor Buczek ’15, MBA ’17. I planned to reminisce and be sure he recognized that Cornell’s great lacrosse tradition began over 50 years ago with our 1966 team. I really didn’t have to say much, though, as he had a photo of our championship team prominently displayed at the entrance to the lacrosse offices. I was mighty pleased.”

From VP membership Judy Kurtz Polcer: “In October I attended my first TCAM event at Cornell. This was quite special because I spent several days in person with some fellow class officers whom I had only met via Zoom—Bill Maxfield, Bruce Mansdorf, and Ralph Janis. I reconnected with Mary Jansen Everett, Ivan Wolff, Jeanne Brown Sander, and Alice Katz Berglas. We sorely missed our class presidents, John Monroe, PhD ’70, and Rolf Frantz, ME ’67. Instead of the formal kickoff to TCAM, Class of ’66 attendees had a memorable, casual dinner and really got to know each other. I felt quite lucky to spend time with this interesting, unique group of Cornellians.”

If you’re in the Boston area, let me know; I’d love to serenade you from a bell tower.

Bob Feldman ’66, PhD ’75

My wife Ruth Dritch Salinger ’67 and I (Pete Salinger, MBA ’68) recently had dinner with Darry and Susie Pressman Sragow ’67 at their home in Los Angeles. 2023 was a significant year for Darry—he retired from Dentons law firm, where he served as the Los Angeles office managing partner; he also retired after working for 23 years as an adjunct assistant professor of political science, first at Berkeley and more recently at USC. Darry and I attended Naval Officer Candidate School at the same time and were both assigned to positions in Washington, DC. The four of us have remained in touch all these years. Darry spent much of his earlier career in politics, working in the U.S. Senate and managing high profile campaigns in California and elsewhere. Susie recently retired as a licensed social work consultant to skilled nursing facilities and was an adjunct professor in the MSW program at Cal State University Long Beach. Their daughter, Lara ’95, is a Cornellian.

We heard news recently of classmates who have passed away. Jonathan Dolgen died in Encino, CA, on October 9, 2023; Jon was an entertainment industry executive and pioneer in cable television. He was a veteran, philanthropist, and member of numerous business, education, and nonprofit boards. He was active in community, humanitarian, and alumni affairs. At Cornell, he was in Alpha Epsilon Pi. Jon is survived by his wife, Susan, daughters Tamar ’93 and Lauren, and three grandchildren. An ILR building was renamed Dolgen Hall in his honor in 2008. Jon’s words then: “It hadn’t occurred to me, before I went to Cornell, that everything is possible. If I could compete and thrive here, I would be able to compete and thrive anywhere.”

Gary Crahan, ME ’67, and John Monroe sent a note that Phi Psi brother Nick Zettlemoyer passed away last fall after a short battle with cancer. Nick and his wife, Jan, lived in the Woodlands, TX, where they raised sons John and Luke. Nick received an MS in architectural engineering at Penn State University in 1969, served in the Civil Engineer Corps of the Navy, then earned a PhD at Lehigh University in 1976. Nick worked at ExxonMobil in Houston for more than 30 years, working on the design, repair, and strengthening of offshore platforms. Phi Psi Bill Maxfield, a fellow civil engineer, sent this warm memory: “Nick and I would be in the same afternoon labs. I would often fall asleep during the lecture but would have studied the lab procedure the night before. I would do most of the lab setup; Nick would take all the data points and notes. Then, we would share the data for the reports required for the next lab. Both of us supported the other.”

Stay in touch. Send dues—and your news! Everyone wants to know what you’ve been up to. (They really do!) ❖ Pete Salinger, MBA ’68 (email Pete) | Susan Rockford Bittker (email Susan) | Alumni Directory.

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Jim Johnston (Arlington, VA) describes his retirement: “In 2018, a friend persuaded me to assist, essentially pro bono, inmates at the military’s maximum-security prison at Fort Leavenworth. The prisoners need support in applying for parole and clemency. When I was chair of the Air Force Clemency and Parole Board, I rewrote and revised the Department of Defense regulations for these matters. Hopefully, that knowledge has helped me to assist them.”

As for what else has been happening in his life, he says, “Lots of surgeries to mend injuries incurred while on active duty with the Air Force.” What brings him satisfaction? “Travel, reading, and friends. A lot of our planned travel was canceled by world events. COVID canceled a trip to the Antarctic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine canceled a Baltic cruise, and our Israel tour at the end of 2023 was canceled too. Fortunately, the year before the pandemic, my wife, Peggy, and I cruised the Southern Hemisphere for four months, beginning in Miami, traveling south around Cape Horn, and then west around the world. Viking’s hospitality for four months provided us a lifestyle to which we could be accustomed … for a lifetime.”

Toby Tucker Hecht (Bethesda, MD) reports: “For almost 45 years, I have been working at the National Institutes of Health and am happy to keep working at 76. I am now the deputy director of the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis at the National Cancer Institute. One of the projects I enjoy most is the clinical study of pet dogs with spontaneously derived tumors as models for human cancer. We have worked with staff at the Cornell Vet college in the past, as well as other veterinarian medical schools, to conduct clinical trials of these canine patients.”

For almost 45 years, I have been working at the National Institutes of Health and am happy to keep working at 76.

Toby Tucker Hecht ’67

Doug Shore (Atlanta, GA) writes: “Just returned from Entrepreneurship at Cornell’s Eclectic Convergence conference at Cornell Tech November 3: fireside chats with six alumni entrepreneurs, pitches from five startups at Cornell Tech, and 26 pitches from Cornell eLab startups down from Ithaca. Plus, networking with members of the Cornell and NYC entrepreneurship ecosystems and two busloads of undergraduates coming from Ithaca for the day. Congratulations to Zach Shulman ’87, JD ’90, director of EaC, and his team for an inspirational event. If you are interested in entrepreneurship, I recommend getting involved with EaC.”

Sharon Argus Paschos (Dortmund, Germany) thanks a classmate: “Just have to report about the gracious hospitality of my sophomore/senior roommate Rita Ratner Levin and hubby Chuck during my visit to Santa Fe in October. I felt like a member of the family and truly enjoyed every minute. Santa Fe is a lovely artsy town, and I was treated to visits to art studios and museums and enjoyed seeing the annular solar eclipse from their balcony in the hills over Santa Fe. Another highlight was a visit to the Los Alamos National Lab, a real tourist attraction since the Oppenheimer film. A great wrap-up to the visit was a day at the Ojo Caliente Spa near Santa Fe. Closer to home, my husband, Manny, PhD ’67, has been retired from his professorship at the Technical University of Dortmund for several years, leaving free time to spend with our three children and five grandkids who are spread out from Southern Germany to Italy and Greece.”

We—my wife, Eileen Barkas Hoffman ’69, daughter Vanessa Hoffman ’07, grandsons Ethan and Alex, and I—spent a wonderful Thanksgiving in the North Country of New York State outside Saratoga Springs with my son-in-law Dave Weiner’s family in Charlton. Our hosts were Keith Payton, DVM ’88, and Stephanie Todd ’83, DVM ’87 (whose veterinary practice, Harmony Veterinary Clinic, is in Ballston Spa, NY), son Erik ’25, and daughter Katrina ’27, as well as “Friday chef” Ben Weiner ’88, based in Ithaca. ❖ Richard Hoffman (email Richard) | 2925 28th St. NW, Washington, DC 20008 | Alumni Directory.

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1968

As we look forward to the spring and warmer weather, we have news to share from our classmates! Post-COVID, Alan Altschuler has renewed his acting career! He recently performed in the Bedlam Theatre Company’s Off-Broadway production of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia, which ran from October 27 to January 7 in Manhattan. In 2019, prior to COVID, among other performances, Alan played the role of Francis Nurse in Bedlam’s Off-Broadway hit production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.

Clemont Austin reports that he and Penny (Smith) ’69 reside in Erie, PA, where Cle continues to run the family’s five-generation construction business! He now serves as chairman. Prior to that, Cle did graduate work at Stanford, where he received both MSCE and MBA degrees. He and Penny lived in the Palo Alto area from 1968–76. They have two children and six grandkids, but sadly their oldest son, Rob, died in March 2022. Cle received the Edward C. Doll Community Service Award in 2020 in recognition of his years of philanthropic volunteer work in their Erie community. His activities have included serving as a trustee of the Erie Community Foundation and as a board member of the United Way of Erie County and of the Erie-Western PA Port Authority. They are both grateful to Cornell for the education they received and lifelong friends they made on the Hill.

On a closing note, a reminder that your class officers are: Henry Siegel, president; Susan Mascette Brandt, VP and membership chair; Mary Hartman Schmidt, secretary; Beth Deabler Corwin, treasurer; Corinne Dopslaff Smith, website community manager; Jay Waks, JD ’71, Cornell Annual Fund representative; Nancy Nystrom Frantz, immediate past president; and, of course, me, your class correspondent, Steve Weinberg, MBA ’70, JD ’71. We are in the process of developing plans for our Class for 2024 and beyond. Your input for class activities is most welcome, so feel free to contact any of us with suggestions.

I look forward to receiving news and updates from all of you! Please email me about you and your family with news you want to share with our classmates. ❖ Steve Weinberg, MBA ’70, JD ’71 (email Steve) | Alumni Directory.

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1969

As of this writing, the holiday season is in full swing. I was reflecting the other day that I always felt Thanksgiving was the best holiday as it was not about presents and commercialism; it was all about family, food, and football. How things have changed! Now it may be the most commercial, with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and on and on. Oh, for the good old days.

Speaking of the good old days, it’s almost time to revisit them, June 6–9, 2024, for our 55th Reunion and a chance to see old friends, make new ones, and tell tales of our exploits on the Hill; trudging through waist-deep snow to take a critical prelim, camping for days in sub-zero weather outside Lynah for hockey tickets, and rock sliding in the gorge in 34-degree water—in June. Time seems to enhance the details a little, but so what?

Please consider staying with us in the fantastic new North Campus at Morrison Hall. It will be the easiest way to connect with classmates and by far the most convenient, with regard to accessing events, etc. Our Reunion chairs, Cindy Nixon DuBose and Sally Knowlton, have a lot more information about the weekend that will be coming out shortly. On to the news!

Scott Abramson of San Mateo, CA, retired in 2020 after 40 years as a neurologist at Kaiser Permanente in the San Francisco Bay Area. He focused on teaching communication skills and last year Covenant Books published his book, Bedside Manners for Physicians and Everyone Else: What They Don’t Teach in Medical School or Any Other School.

David Zimet of Boca Raton, FL, is enjoying grandchildren, travel, and riding his bike. He works several hours a week at his restaurant and volunteers/chairs at Oasis of Hope of Pompano Beach. He’s been enjoying an annual family gathering for Passover in Western Europe with grandchildren ranging from 28 years to 8 months! He remembers pinball at Noyes Lodge, the Chapter House, the Heidelberg, and the Royal Palms and walking the gorges.

Don Verdiani, ME ’71, of Westtown, PA, has been volunteering, traveling, and having fun with grandkids and hobbies. He’s the president and an EMT with the Good Fellowship Ambulance Club and remembers “traying on Libe Slope” and Johnny’s Big Red Food Truck.

Philip Callahan ’69 and his wife, Judith, took the trip of a lifetime last February to Angkor Wat and the Taj Mahal, seeing tigers, the pyramids, and Petra.

Judy Lyke Clarke of Milton, NY, has been transitioning the farm from wholesale production to “pick your own” and adding a distillery. She’s been promoting their town with an organization of farms and wineries but manages to spend two months in Pine Island, FL, in the winter. She remembers her friendships from Phillips Hall residence and acting as an RA in Dickson Hall.

Timothy Jones, MPA ’71, reports moving from Virginia to West Jordan, UT, in order to be closer to his youngest son and three teenage grandsons.

Chuck Kluga of Chelmsford, MA, has been working on obtaining a private pilot’s license and playing pickleball with his wife when he’s not providing guidance in understanding Medicare choices as a SHINE counselor. He also is a member of the Saint Vincent DePaul Society, which provides counseling and short-term financial assistance to needy families. He remembers dance parties at Theta Chi and narrowly missing the light poles at the bottom of Libe Slope on a food tray.

Stephen Goldberger has a new significant other in Ellen Bloxsom and has added bridge and tennis to his repertoire, in addition to enjoying golf in Midlothian, VA.

Philip Callahan of Pasadena, CA, has been “semi-retired” from JPL for two and a half years and plans to really do it as of this spring, in order to be able to focus on security planning for his synagogue. (Have you noticed how many of us refuse to fully retire or do so only to start something else?) He and his wife, Judith, took the trip of a lifetime last February to Angkor Wat and the Taj Mahal, seeing tigers, the pyramids, and Petra. They then went to Israel for two weeks in June and will be heading to Barcelona and Northern Spain for another two weeks. Philip is amazed at the differences in his six grandchildren and enjoys that they are “turning into real people.” His favorite memory of his time at Cornell is the senior engineering physics lab.

My exploits will wait for someone else’s future column, but I will mention that I officiated at the AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships in Orlando, FL, last June, and seeing about 180 volleyball courts playing simultaneously in the Orange County Convention Center was quite a sight! Controlled chaos! ❖ Robert Tallo (email Robert) | Alumni Directory.

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1970s

1970

As I wrote last time, it is always a challenge to find something broadly interesting with which to begin this column—but maybe not this time. I have mentioned before the uncovering of boxes from the past. Digging deeper into another one revealed several treasures such as various issues of the Cornell Daily Sun, the freshman class directory for ’70 and ’71, various programs for football and hockey games, a blank prelim booklet, and two “borrowed” (and unused) triangular ashtrays, one marked “BOXCAR” and the other “Warehouse.” You may remember that just beyond the intersection of Routes 13 and 366 there was a “hangout,” a bar if you will, in an actual boxcar that had been moved to there. Over time it grew, and was always (as long as it was open) a place to go if someone had a car. Things were different when we were at Cornell, as the New York State minimum drinking age was still 18. As is said (briefly) in an alumni version of the “Song of the Classes,” “But, oh, to be 20 and back at Cornell.”

Having moved along in our lives, classmate Howard Rosenof (Newton, MA) responded to my November/December column in which I asked engineering alumni whether they stayed in the field. He writes the following: “I did stay in engineering, and while from time to time I had other job functions like manager or director, I never got too far from technical issues. After military training and graduate school (MSEE, Northeastern) I focused on control systems (Professor Pottle would have been surprised), eventually specializing in applications of artificial intelligence in industry. While never an academic, I wrote and spoke extensively and taught several continuing education courses. In the late 1980s I co-authored a technical book, Batch Process Automation: Theory and Practice, and in the early 2000s received an international award in that field. Early on I developed an interest in career issues, and it continued through the decades. Once I retired, I had the time to consolidate my thoughts. This resulted in my second book, Engineering, Your Career, which I published in late 2022.”

Robert Keller (Wilmette, IL) reports that this has been a year of 50th anniversaries for him and his wife, Elizabeth (Mt. Holyoke/Duke ’73). They celebrated Liz’s 50th college reunion at Mt. Holyoke in South Hadley, MA; Bob’s 50th from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law in May; and their golden wedding anniversary in August in Chicago. Their motto was “celebrate early and often” with trips to New England, the Canadian Maritime Provinces, the Southwest National Parks, the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, and the American Club in Kohler, WI. One highlight of their trips was reconnecting in person with Liz’s close classmates, who she Zooms with weekly since COVID.

We live in our dream house on six sylvan acres of forest, wetlands, gardens, and a small orchard and think that this might be our last move—that is, unless we relocate to Ithaca.

Fred Chanania ’70

Neal Weinstein (San Jose, CA) writes, “It’s been quite a while (decades actually) since I’ve shared any info for our Class Notes, though I’m a diligent reader of the Notes. To pick up where I left off … I’ve been in California since 1974 and in San Jose since 1976. Retirement came a bit early and now I’m 13-plus years into it and enjoying every minute! I probably spend more time on physical fitness than at any time in my life—and this is a good thing. Two adult children and four grandkids in different parts of the country keep us busy, in addition to travel, gardening, reading, theater, and the symphony. I’m a co-leader of a meetup group and lead about three hikes each week, generally in the Bay Area, but occasionally we travel for a week. Since retirement I’ve also been a consultant, mentor, and class instructor for SCORE Silicon Valley, helping small businesses, both for-profit and nonprofit, succeed. It’s exhilarating to work with people of all ages and learn about their businesses.”

Fred Chanania (West Newbury, MA) writes as follows: “Having retired in 2012 from teaching science to high school teenagers (the best job ever!) in the Northern Virginia area, my wife, Elisa, and I retired to West Newbury, a small semi-rural town of 4,000 on the North Shore of Massachusetts. We have only one stop light in town, which is activated only when a car pulls up to it. We live in our dream house on six sylvan acres of forest, wetlands, gardens, and a small orchard and think that this might be our last move—that is, unless we relocate to Ithaca. I have been busy starting a town tree committee, chairing the library board, and becoming a Massachusetts Certified Arborist. I also have to admit, a bit reluctantly, that I am teaching about oceans and forests at the Harvard (gasp!) Institute for Learning in Retirement and was recently named a distinguished member of HILR. Even so, my allegiance to the Big Red and CU remain paramount, and I take great pleasure in wearing Cornell hats and jackets when I am in Cambridge—just to tweak the Crimson crowd. My love of nature and teaching about it began at Cornell in the late ’60s in walks around Beebe Lake but was brought to fruition in the 1980s by Richard Fischer, PhD ’53, much-beloved professor of environmental education, during a Cornell’s Adult University summer course. I stay in touch with some fellow Cornellians from the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity, including Charlie Adelman, JD ’73, Arthur Litowitz, and Allan Reich (roomie), as well as Cornellians Kent Hewitt ’59, Ellen Glanz, Fred Davis ’62, and Harvey Makadon ’69, who are among the HILR crowd. Go Big Red!”

As always, you may contact me directly (see below) or you may use the University’s online news form. (Just a request for the future … If you mention other Cornellians by name in your note, and they are not 1970 classmates, it would help a lot if you listed their class after their name.) ❖ John Cecilia, MBA ’79 (email John) | Alumni Directory.

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1971

Richard Immerman sent us this review of the conference honoring Walter LaFeber that was held in the fall on the Cornell Tech campus in NYC: “The entire conference was spectacular, from beginning to end. Including the contributors to Thinking Otherwise—the tribute volume to LaFeber—some 15 other alumni participated, and that excludes the dozens of others who attended the sessions (attendance altogether was 125–150) and expressed their warm appreciation for what they learned from Walt and how much they valued his humanity and humility. Remarkably, many commented that they still have their notes from decades ago, especially from his survey of the ‘History of U.S. Foreign Policy.’ Many remarked how they desperately wish that Walt could provide his insights and offer his wisdom with regard to the current crises in both domestic and international affairs. Walt’s identification of the ‘Tocqueville Problem’ was cited frequently as particularly applicable to today’s challenges to America’s ideals and institutions as well as its security.” In addition to Richard, Bob Hannigan, and Andrew Tisch (the participants in the conference from our class), attendees included classmates Dale Cohen, Martha Coultrap, and Mayo Stuntz.

On November 25, the Cornell men’s hockey team prevailed over Boston University, retaining the Kelly-Harkness Cup, as the Big Red scored its fourth consecutive victory over the BU Terriers in the biennial Red Hot Hockey game. The game was close until the third period, when Cornell asserted itself to pull the team into a hard-earned victory. Several classmates shared the excitement of the “edge-of-the-seat game” at NYC’s Madison Square Garden, with some attending a preparty at a nearby watering hole for the classes of the early 1970s. Attendees included Gilda Klein Linden (together with her son and grandson), Mitchell Weisberg (and wife Randi), Mike Kubin, Marty Michael, Fred Iskowitz, and James Pfeiffer (and wife Gay).

Poet Lisa Malinowski Steinman, MFA ’73, PhD ’76, and her husband, poet Jim Shugrue, call Portland, OR, home. After graduating with our class, Lisa continued her studies in English at Cornell, earning both an MFA and a PhD. After graduation, she headed out to Reed College to become an English professor. In August 2022, after 46 years of teaching and “half a year of clearing from my office decades of saved books, papers, photos, letters, and such,” Lisa became a professor emerita. In addition to teaching, she has filled her life with writing, readings, and publishing. Together with her husband, Lisa cofounded and edited the literary magazine Hubbub. Lisa writes poems “to make sense of myself and the world.” To learn more about her poetry and career see “In the Presence of a Poet,” a 2014 article about her in the Reed College Magazine, or read and enjoy one of her several poetry collections. Now that her retirement has arrived, Lisa and Jim are looking forward to traveling—heading first on a return trip to Spain.

Together with her husband, Lisa Malinowski Steinman ’71, MFA ’73, PhD ’76, cofounded and edited the literary magazine Hubbub.

Rodo Sofranac and his wife, Susan, live in Phoenix, AZ. Rodo learned English as his third language after immigrating to the U.S. at age 8 from the communist dictatorship in the former Yugoslavia. Prior to retirement, Rodo had a varied work and philanthropic career serving as the first executive director of Phoenix Habitat for Humanity, and working as a banker, teacher, college instructor, program director for Arizona LeaderForce, Cub Master, and national chair of Workforce Development Councils. He is still in love, after 48 years, with Susan, a cognitive coach and reading specialist. Today, Rodo and Susan jointly write colorful, whimsical, and lesson-driven books for children from infancy to age 14. They spend their life frequenting schools to read their books to children. They use 100% of the profits from book sales to produce, purchase, and donate more books to schools, libraries, and nonprofit agencies working on literacy. So far, they have nine books published that help kids of all ages become better readers. See his website for more details.

The Class of 1971 History Project is continuing to develop during Zoom meetings held monthly. Fifteen classmates joined the November Zoom conversation centered on life during our junior year. The meeting focused on three topics: 1) the impact of the Draft Lottery on us 20-somethings, our career choices, and the continued repercussions of those decisions throughout our lives; 2) the Cambodian bombing in the spring of 1970, which led to a shortened semester and uncompleted exams and grades; and 3) the beginning of the feminist movement and the evolution of new roles for women. Please watch for notices of the next meeting and consider joining the conversation and bringing along friends. If you have not received notices of the meetings and are interested in joining, contact history chair Naomi Katz Mintz.

A small gathering of classmates joined the excitement of Cornell Tech’s fall 2023 Open Studio event. Attendees saw presentations and demos of student startup ventures, providing a close-up view of real-world products being built by the Cornell Tech community. A special Class of 1971 gathering followed the event at the Anything At All Restaurant at the Graduate New York hotel adjacent to the Tech campus, where classmates welcomed the holiday season and raised a glass to Cornell (and each other!).

Please replenish our coffers with news—we are running low and would love to hear from you! ❖ Cara Nash Iason (email Cara) | Elisabeth Kaplan Boas (email Elisabeth) | Alumni Directory.

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1972

Fellow classmates, this is Wes Schulz, ME ’73, one of four class correspondents who produce this column. We appreciate your input.

Many thanks to those who have contributed to the Class of 1972 50th Reunion Yearbook. The virtual yearbook has been a great success, with over 565 classmates entering pages. The album closed at the end of 2023 for additional entries; but it continues to be available online to those who have joined the book. It is a great source of updated information from our classmates about what they have been up to since graduation.

A previous column mentioned the Adirondack 46ers club, which consists of those people who have climbed all the major peaks in the Adirondack Mountains. Gene Weber wrote that he was a member of this organization. During his Cornell years, he spent summers in Keene Valley, NY, which greatly facilitated hiking in the High Peaks area of New York State. He started climbing in 1971 and completed the last peak in 1977. Gene was assigned 46er member #1417. He now lives in San Francisco and has been there for 40 years. He is an avid outdoorsman and is passionate about fly fishing, which has taken him all over the world.

I took a bit longer than Gene to complete my Adirondack 46er quest. I started in 1963 and did 85% of the peaks before graduating from Cornell. However, I did not finish until I was eligible for Medicare. I was assigned 46er member #9698, which shows how popular mountain climbing has become in the 40 years since Gene finished.

I noted that some classmates, including Nancy Roistacher (our indefatigable class president), attended the Red Hot Hockey game between Cornell and Boston University at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Thanksgiving weekend. (The good guys won.) By the time you are reading this, the hockey playoffs will be starting. Hope that both the men’s team and the women’s team did well.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to write in. Please keep the news coming! ❖ Wes Schulz, ME ’73 (email Wes) | Susan Farber Straus (email Susan) | Frank Dawson (email Frank) | Alex Barna (email Alex) | Alumni Directory.

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1973

Donald Partridge and wife Patricia continue to run the farm in Batavia, NY, milking the cows, making hay, selling sweet corn, feeding the pond fish, and occasionally catching them. And let’s not forget the sleepovers with the grandchildren. Each of their three kids has a boy and a girl. As a grandpa myself, who has trouble keeping up with just two, to host a sleepover AND milk the cows sounds like a full-time job all by itself.

Donald’s favorite memories include Stan Warren 1927, PhD ’31’s last farm economics class and, of course, Marching Band. He references the Daily Sun’s legendary headline: “Cornell Marching Band Gets Censored.” Yup—I was there, too. With a clarinet in my hand, trying to look innocent.

Susan Kennedy Cox lives in Faribault, MN, with husband Donald ’71 and is busy with grandkids, quilting, and a hyper-energetic puppy. I’m guessing most puppies in Faribault have to be hyper-energetic since it can get very cold there.

George Mitchell II lives in North Rose, NY, with wife Becky. He’s semi-retired but is still in the apple business and coaches track at the local high school.

Leah Bissonette, MS ’76, is living in Encinitas, CA, where she works to preserve bird habitats and enjoys identifying and tracking birds all over the world. She has a cyber-powered bird-identifier called a Haikubox, which mounts outside and sends real-time alerts to your phone when it hears a bird call—an amped-up version of Cornell’s Merlin app (which I highly recommend). Her most recent travel destinations include Egypt, Paris, and Lake Como, and she’s planning a West Coast visit. Feel free to look us up in Seattle! With any luck we’ll still have a few spotted owls left when you get here (and they could use your help).

Donald Partridge ’73 and wife Patricia continue to run the farm in Batavia, NY, milking the cows, making hay, selling sweet corn, and feeding the pond fish.

Jon Shure, although officially retired, still serves on the board of New Jersey Policy Perspective—a think tank he founded in 1997 after a career as a reporter, press secretary, and communications director for New Jersey Governor Jim Florio. He lives in Ewing, NJ, with wife Janice and stays busy as a freelance writer and editor for nonprofits.

Mona Deutsch Miller lives in Los Angeles with husband Steve and, having retired from her law practice, is pursuing her second career as a writer, including stage plays, screenplays, short stories, essays, and poetry. Her favorite Cornell memory is the natural beauty of the campus: “Once, I was walking across the Arts Quad at night and felt as if I was everywhere in the sky all at once—it was a beautiful experience. One of the students in my Russian poetry seminar said that was ‘oceanic feeling.’” I count 17 plays on her Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights page. Looking for the one that ends with a quiet nighttime walk across the Quad.

Rich, MBA ’74, and Lynn Rosenbluth Saltz ’75 have great news. Their daughter, Marcy ’06, got married last fall to Andrew Ogulnick. Their wedding date happened to be Rich’s birthday as well—but he is glad to have it be Marcy and Andrew’s anniversary from now on! The newlyweds live in Sunnyside, NY. Rich and Lynn’s son, Ted ’12, got engaged in August 2023 to Aly Stein ’13; they live in Cambridge, MA.

My own news involves improv sessions with 3- and 5-year-old granddaughters (one here in the Seattle area, the other in Connecticut) and getting my wife to read books to me. I’m still hosting the morning news on KIRO-FM and writing daily commentaries, but retirement is looking more and more appealing, especially after hearing from so many blissfully retired classmates. Although, as my dad used to say, “They pay you to talk, son! Don’t be an idiot!” ❖ Dave Ross (email Dave) | Pam Meyers (email Pam) | Phyllis Haight Grummon (email Phyllis) | Alumni Directory.

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1974

Before you read on about classmates, double-check your calendars to be sure that our 50th Reunion, June 6–9, 2024, is highlighted and that your plans to attend have been made or are about to be made! This website has our 50th Reunion information, so please check it out!

A wonderful Cornell story was sent in by classmate David Schiller of Westfield, IN. One of David’s favorite memories from his time at Cornell occurred during Professor L. Pearce Williams ’48, PhD ’52’s class. In front of the class, Professor Williams offered the following stern advice: “Nice essay, David. Too bad you had the wrong answer. I had to give you a D.” As David goes on to say, “That taught me one important lesson: get the correct answer!” I gather David has favorite memories of his senior-year class with Professor Michael Kammen too, but that story about Professor Williams is hard to beat! David is still working selling and leasing industrial and office real estate, as well as selling investment real estate in both Western New York and nationally. He gets a lot of satisfaction these days “helping my 95-year-‘young’ father, volunteering with my wife, Beverly, and having fun too!” He goes on to report, “Frequent flyer miles abound. We have children and grandchildren in Los Angeles, Indianapolis, and Jerusalem, Israel.”

From Perry Jacobs, a delicious memory jogger about the Hot Truck, complete with a photo of a PMP! Take a look at this 2020 article about Bob Petrillose’s Hot Truck. While Bob passed away in 2008, Perry reports that his grandchildren are still working on the Hot Truck documentary and asks that if you have any stories or photos to share, they should be sent to hottruckproject@gmail.com.

Ron Pies and his wife, Nancy Butters, live in Lexington, MA, where Ron is “mostly retired from psychiatry, but still teaching and writing.” In fact, he “recently authored a novelette called The Unmoved Mover, which involves a school tragedy and its aftermath. There is a dark start to this short work, but it moves toward love and redemption.” Not surprisingly, then, Ron reports getting the most satisfaction these days from writing. His favorite Cornell memory is of the class co-taught by Professor M.H. Abrams and Professor Max Black. As he says, “This was world-class learning!”

Another classmate, Ron Berger, also wrote in from Massachusetts. “I’ve been living in Longmeadow/East Longmeadow, MA, for the past 45 years with my wife, Carol (a retired school psychologist). I have two sons, Michael, a cancer researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC, and Rob, PhD ’09, a chemistry professor at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, along with four wonderful granddaughters, ages 4 to 12. I retired from primary care internal medicine about four years ago when it felt like too many outside forces were impacting practice in ways that not only made it less enjoyable but also threatened the quality of care I thought I could provide. Since then, I have been a volunteer in a Springfield middle school, teaching sixth-grade math. I have seen just how profoundly COVID and remote learning have affected all children but in particular those who are economically disadvantaged. I’ve also gained enormous respect and admiration for all those talented teachers out there.” Ron then adds, “I have never attended any Cornell Reunions and I haven’t really remained in close contact with any former classmates; however, I feel like I should attend our 50th this year. I hope many others will consider it as well.”

Beverly Evans ’74’s favorite Cornell memories come from her time in the fall of 1970 as a member of the first group of women in the Big Red Band.

Reading the news from Florence Higgins, DVM ’81, of Rush, NY, makes me yearn for a walk in the English countryside and a happy collection of dogs and cats to enjoy indoors and out. Florence says, “I retired from practicing small animal medicine two years ago, but I work three or four half-days a month from April through October to keep my hand in. Don’t want to have to drive to work in the winter. I went hiking in the English Cotswolds for eight days last August with my husband, John Lebens, PhD ’88, and two other couples. We have a cat and two Border Collies, one of which I show in agility and obedience. I run an occasional 5K very slowly (but sometimes get an age group ribbon, as not many old ladies run). Older son Greg is a public defender in Rochester, NY. Younger son Zach works for a company in Seattle that makes imaging equipment. We visited him and his wife in June.”

Beverly Evans lives and works in Geneseo, NY, where she writes that she is “distinguished professor of French and chair of the Department of Global Languages and Cultures at SUNY Geneseo. I have also been executive director of the National French Honor Society, Pi Delta Phi, since 2011. I enjoy my research, which is currently on women composers, conductors, and musicians in Paris during the interwar years.” Beverly enjoys travel and spending time with family and friends. She notes, “My great-nephew will be starting college at Swarthmore in fall 2023 to pursue a degree in Japanese. I hope that he’ll go on study abroad to Japan so I can visit him there!” Her favorite Cornell memories come from her time in the fall of 1970 as a member of the first group of women in the Big Red Band. She recalls, “In addition to marching, I became a rank leader and also the band’s librarian.”

To close, here is news from Marilyn Krinsky Price, who reports, “I retired from my law firm in 2015 to move to Louisville, KY, to be close to (at the time) one grandchild (and son and daughter-in-law). I did not expect to continue practicing law, but two New York clients begged me to do work for them and I agreed that I would do it remotely (an original concept at that time).” This “retirement” involves being “general counsel to the Crest Group, a commercial real estate company located in Port Jefferson Station, NY, and also leasing counsel to Valley East Management Company, located in Westbury, NY.” Marilyn and husband Michael moved to Kentucky in 2016 and they now split their time between Kentucky and Florida, “where we inherited my mom’s home in Boca Raton in 2021. As both of our sons—Wayne Price ’98 and Andrew Price ’01, ME ’02—live in California, we travel there several times a year. Wayne lives in Pleasanton with his wife, Michelle, and they have three adorable sons; and Andrew and his husband, Sean, live in San Diego.

The Prices are finding that “there’s nothing better than spending time with our grandchildren! We are actively involved on an almost daily basis with our two grandchildren here in Louisville. Our eldest, Billie, is 11 and is our only girl. Billie is following in her dad’s footsteps as an actor (he was an Equity actor who now teaches drama at a public magnet school here in Louisville). Billie starred this year as Belle in Beauty and the Beast and as Horton in Seussical Jr. The other four are grandsons who are much younger; the two oldest are beginning kindergarten this year, and the youngest is 5 months.”

As for her favorite memory of her time at Cornell, Marilyn writes, “I loved everything, so it is difficult to pick a favorite memory. However, one of my favorite memories is my 21st birthday, where I was honored to have been given three separate celebrations! One was at the Taughannock Inn with my sorority sisters, one was in Skaneateles at the Krebs with a good friend, and the third was with other good friends at a local Ithaca restaurant.”

Wishing you all memorable birthday celebrations in the coming year and a super memorable 50th Cornell Reunion in June. ❖ Molly Miller Ettenger (email Molly) | Jim Schoonmaker (email Jim) | Alumni Directory.

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1975

Mark your calendars for June 5–8, 2025, as we’re only one year away from our 50th Reunion. That seems like such a BIG number! Can it really be possible that we have been away from college for that many years? As you read about our classmates this month, you will realize that while some have stepped back from full-time employment, it’s apparent that we are all still busy with a wide variety of endeavors.

A chemical engineering major at Cornell, Elyse Byron has been tapped for a new career totally unrelated to her professional training. She has been “discovered” and is now a print model with LOOKS Pro Model Scouts, sporting her stylish gray coiffure and exciting new fashions and products for trendy adults. Even with her new career, Elyse still finds time for dancing, live music, taking an acting class, serving as a parent mentor with Strong Families, and travel from her home base in Chicago. Marianne Curd Oliva is also in Chicago, reporting that she has been “retired forever.” Marianne and her husband recently traveled to Spain and Portugal.

New grandchildren are also frequent news items. Life is indeed busy for Mary Alice Curry Bankert in Ann Arbor, MI, who just welcomed her seventh grandchild. She works for the University of Michigan School of Art & Design. Congratulations to Susan Corner Rosen, whose daughter had twins last year. Susan and Robert now have two set of twins and an 8-year-old grandson whose championship chess skills rival those of Bobby Fischer. For her 70th birthday, Susan was treated to a special party in Italy.

From sunny California, we’ve learned that Valerie Novak Sheline has begun to enjoy life beyond her 40 years as a physician. Val is happy to pursue a variety of hobbies such as hiking, embroidery, her six grandchildren, a two-week trip to Japan, and a visit with Sandy Ward ’76 over the summer. Her youngest child is currently an intern, following in Val’s footsteps in the medical field. Val’s former roommate, Rosanne Mayer, also retired from her legal firm after 40 years. Travels for Rosie and husband John Siliciano take them from their home in Ithaca across the country to Colorado and California and up the East Coast to visit their seven grandchildren.

The German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America has elected Katrin Higgins Tazza ’75 into the Hall of Fame for making a lasting impression on the breed.

While in private legal practice, Julia Loeb Aurigemma was appointed to the judicial bench in 1990. Julie has also taught evidence at the University of Connecticut Law School and was a coach for the Xavier High School Model Court team. Upon retiring from her judicial position in 2022, boredom set in, so Julie returned to legal practice—until she was elected to the town council in Cromwell, CT, in fall 2023. Congratulations! Julie has lived in Cromwell with her husband, Andrew, for 45 years, and has two sons. Another classmate who pursued a career in law, Eileen Nugent, is now a retired partner from the international firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. During her 30-plus years with their Manhattan office, Eileen focused on mergers and acquisitions and was co-head of their private equity practice. In 2018 she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award, with her firm honoring Eileen by writing, “While her client counseling alone would have enabled Eileen to make a profound impact, her tireless commitment to thought leadership and the development of the mergers and acquisitions bar has influenced practitioners globally.”

With her dogs and horses, Katrin Higgins Tazza lives on 43 acres in Washington, CT. When not serving as senior portfolio management director for Morgan Stanley in nearby Ridgefield, Katrin competes in field trials with her German shorthaired pointers—which has in turn led her to develop a new skill of driving a 31-foot gooseneck trailer while trying not to hit anything else on the road! The German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America has elected Katrin into the Hall of Fame for making a lasting impression on the breed. She has acted as president of two clubs and has run and judged bird dog trials for many years. She worked with the veterinary hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for 10 years to develop a genetic test for lupoid dermatosis, a fatal disease in German shorthaired pointers. She says her greatest accomplishment has been to produce 23 dual champions—dogs that are both field and show champions.

Also involved with raising animals is Joanne Bicknese, DVM ’78, in Cream Ridge, NJ. Her objectionable experience of having to go the barn in the middle of the night to check on pregnant goats has enticed her back into the horse business with a new broodmare, an American Saddlebred rescue horse, and a top stallion. Jo is also expanding her business by offering Saddlebred driving lessons with the purchase of a training job cart. She was looking forward to attending her 45th Reunion with the Cornell Vet College. Reed, the son of friend and classmate Laurie Clemente Milnor, has received early acceptance into the College of Veterinary Medicine, and Jo will meet with him on an upcoming visit to Ithaca to share her experiences at Cornell.

There is also sad news to pass along, the death of our dear friend Stephen Bigalow in October 2023. Upon learning of the return of his metastatic melanoma, nearly 40 of our close Cornell friends, including his Delta Upsilon brothers, gathered with Steve and his wife, Sandy, in August at their home for a weekend reminiscent of many joyous get-togethers during past years. What a heartwarming way to celebrate 50-plus years of friendship that began at Cornell our freshman year. Sandy aptly described Steve’s entertaining approach to life by saying, “Heaven is about to get a lot of laughs when he arrives.”

Please take a few minutes to send us highlights of your life after Cornell, college friends you’ve seen, and memorable moments on campus, and we’ll share the news in our upcoming columns. ❖ Joan Pease (email Joan) | Karen DeMarco Boroff (email Karen) | Deb Gellman, MBA ’82 (email Deb) | Mitch Frank (email Mitch) | Alumni Directory.

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1976

Wayne Stokes wrote that he and wife Kristi are alive, healthy, and living in Ithaca. He has resigned as a special ed school social worker and as a NYS licensed therapist and is close to opening a part-time private practice in Ithaca. Also, he is about to begin co-coaching a second season with the Cornell club hockey team. As a volunteer with the program, Wayne has taken a 47th nationally ranked team and finished 17th. A favorite memory of his is having the opportunity to play on the hockey team and enjoy all the “fun madness” that surrounded it. Plus, being a brother at Chi Psi.

Still teaching at the SUNY College of Optometry, Ann Rosovsky Beaton heads up academic advising along with teaching microbiology and molecular biology. Helping students succeed has been very satisfying. Ann and husband Neal love spending time with their five grandchildren ranging in age from 3 to 10, either in NYC or at their weekend house in Connecticut. They have become tennis fanatics and played a lot during the pandemic and are much better players now than in their youth!

Pam Coulter Mason retired in September 2020. She is now “trying not to be so stinky at golf.” Some satisfying activities are taking French conversation, painting classes, and adopting a Springer Spaniel. Pam enjoys traveling with classmate Peggy Myers and their husbands; next up will be a trip to New Zealand and Australia. Favorite memories of her time at Cornell include leaving the library at night and standing at the top of Libe Slope, looking out at the lake and starry sky. She remembers Straight breaks, running to where they sold hockey tickets, Jim Maas, PhD ’66’s psych 101 class, and working at WVBR.

After living and having a successful career in Mississippi, David Dzielak is thrilled to be back where he grew up in Upstate New York. He was a research scientist, medical educator, and administrator in Mississippi for 42 years. Today he has a 56-acre farm and is a licensed adult cannabis cultivator. He loves driving a tractor and using farm equipment. At Cornell, a favorite memory was walking the campus in the winter when it snowed.

Wayne Stokes ’76 is about to begin co-coaching a second season with the Cornell club hockey team.

Ned Gerstman says living and breathing bring him satisfaction these days! He is the retired chief investment officer of the Chubb Corporation. Ginny and Ned are snowbirds living in Warren, NJ, and Naples, FL. Their son, Ethan, just got married. Favorite memories of Cornell are walking around a beautiful campus, great concerts, and Carl Sagan’s astronomy class.

Practicing tai chi several mornings a week in the park, Lynda Gavigan Halttunen also rides her bike six miles three times a week. She attends plays, hosts meals in her home, tries new restaurants, visits with friends, and stays active and engaged. Her son is now a tenured professor at a local college. At Cornell, she participated in consciousness-raising women’s groups with Lin Farley. This helped her to speak her truth. Sadly, Lynda lost her partner of 20 years, who had Parkinson’s for 17 of those years. He passed away last year. I send my personal condolences to Lynda, and I am sure our classmates do, too.

Wayne Muromoto enjoys doing his own art projects and spending time with pets. He is retired and now volunteers by dog walking for the Hawaiian Humane Society. He also practices the Japanese tea ceremony and does traditional martial arts.

Retired in 2016, Bruce Crispell travels, plays tennis, paints, visits museums, and spends time with family and friends. Nothing major is happening in his life, he says, but he recently replaced his roof, and other house maintenance activities are ongoing.

Howard Greenberg gets satisfaction from his dog, Bosco, and volunteering for Cornell—at the Botanic Gardens, as CAAAN chair, on the Cornell Council—and with other non-Cornell organizations in an arboretum and at the Animal Alliance of New Jersey shelter. Howard still works at Janssen Pharma LLC as medical safety officer, though he is shifting time and energy to volunteer activities. He reconnected with freshman roommates Phil Gans, BS ’78, and Tad Myre after almost 50 years. From his time at Cornell, he remembers finishing final exams, spending summer on campus, and playing intramural ice hockey at 5 a.m. ❖ Lisa Diamant (email Lisa) | Pat Relf Hanavan (email Pat) | Alumni Directory.

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1977

We have more news to share that came in at the end of 2023. Gerard Liebrand lives in Duluth, MN, with his wife, Cheryl. He gets the most satisfaction in his family garden, playing racquetball, and leading an adult Bible study. Retirement also includes photographing weddings, family portraits, high school senior portraits, and youth action sports. His family, including his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and grandson spent eight days in Kauai. Likely a welcome change from Duluth’s weather. His favorite memory from Cornell is his farm finance class with Dr. Robert Smith. One anecdote is when another class and their professor entered the classroom early, interrupting Dr. Smith’s class. The other professor asked, “What are you doing in this classroom?” to which Dr. Smith responded, “Having a class.” The other professor responded, “Since when?” To which Dr. Smith adroitly responded, “Since 1946.” The other professor left in a huff.

John Longstreet gets the most satisfaction from lake life on Cayuga Lake with his grandchildren and children. He is mostly retired but also is coaching CEOs and serving on boards. He is spending a lot of time with family and friends. He is also serving on the Cornell Hotel Society global board. He reports that all of his Cornell memories are great.

Mitchell Kirsch lives in Setauket, NY, with his wife, Iris. He gets the most satisfaction these days from exercise and working out. As Mitchell says, “The fountain of youth is a pool of sweat.” He has worked (and is still working) as a nephrologist since 1986, though he now spends more time in the office and less time rounding in the hospital. He no longer takes night calls, nor does he work weekends. His favorite memory from Cornell is his first time on the Arts Quad. At that point, he says, “my horizons expanded from Brooklyn, NY, to the whole world.”

Stephani Wilson Humrickhouse lives in Raleigh, NC, with her husband, Scott. She retired in 2022. She has been traveling and has been in Italy, Ireland, and France. Travel, along with visiting friends and family, give her the most satisfaction. She plays bridge and mah-jongg and volunteers at church and food banks. Her son and daughter-in-law both practice medicine in Wilmington, NC, which is two hours away from Stephani. She enjoys visiting them and watching them in their careers. Her favorite memory from Cornell is her friendships with Elise Epner, Dana Eisenman Sherwin, Ruth Raisfeld, and Susan Gould Rehe. They worked hard but laughed a lot (seems to be a Cornell thing).

Patricia O’Brien ’77 and her husband walked 160 miles on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail from Porto, Portugal, to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, over a two-week period.

Lynn Mandelbaum lives in Atlanta, GA. She enjoys reading, walking/hiking, family, and friends. She is currently involved in social justice and cultural volunteerism. She has traveled to Boston and Charleston, SC. She plans to travel to Paris and Italy in the near future. Her favorite memory from Cornell includes the fantastic concerts featuring Jackson, Bruce, Paul Simon, Yes, and Loggins and Messina, and being a research assistant for Urie Bronfenbrenner ’38.

Kenneth John Myers lives on Riverside Drive in New York City and is married to Marianne Elrick. Kenneth is currently head of the American art department at the Detroit Institute of Arts. His daughter, Sarah Myers ’13, is a forester for the U.S. Forest Service, living in Hot Springs, SD. His favorite memory from Cornell is drinks with Dave Van Leer ’71, PhD ’78, at the Palms (beer for Kenneth, Coke for Dave).

From north of the border, Patricia O’Brien reports that she is living in Toronto, ON, and married to Vassos Hadzilacos. Patricia retired from the University of Waterloo in 2020 and is enjoying retirement immensely. In May 2023, the Cornell Office of Alumni Affairs offered her a gratis ticket for the Dead & Company show at Barton Hall in gratitude for her “vital role in producing the legendary concert at Cornell on May 8, 1977. (She was Cornell Concert Commission chair in 1976; thank you for your service.) She “gratefully” (Patricia’s pun, not mine) accepted and enjoyed a fantastic show. She got to relive her glory days with Barb Lang ’78, MPS ’04, and other members of the Class of ’78. But the fun doesn’t stop there. The same month, she participated in a 100th anniversary celebration for her PhD program at the University of Chicago. After that, she set off to Portugal, where she and her husband walked 160 miles on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail from Porto, Portugal, to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, over a two-week period. Impressive. After this, they spent six weeks resting their feet at their place in Greece, which fortunately was unscathed by the wildfires and floods that devastated Greece last summer. One can readily see why you are enjoying retirement immensely.

Than Mehlenbacher, MAT ’93, lives in Castile, NY, with his wife, Debra. He gets the most satisfaction getting together with his two children and their families. He also enjoys riding his motorcycle, meeting customers while selling strawberries, and going to local coffee shops. He is currently growing June-bearing varieties of strawberry on four-plus acres. He travels mainly in the winter (timed for the strawberries), visiting South Carolina where his wife’s sister and brother-in-law live. His favorite memories from Cornell are his Alpha Zeta friendships, enjoying the discussions about similar interests and camaraderie. He has kept in touch with a couple of the brothers.

Please keep all of your news and views coming in! ❖ Howie Eisen (email Howie) | Mary Flynn (email Mary) | Alumni Directory.

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1978

Since I am writing this column during the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference, which took place last December, Doug Young’s news is especially timely and welcome. Doug is currently partnering with Johannes Lehmann, Rebecca Nelson, and Chuan Liao, PhD ’16 (three CALS faculty members) to install the first-ever pyrolysis kiln on a dairy farm in New York State. Doug explains that the kiln will turn dairy waste (cow manure) into biochar, which is used for carbon sequestration and can then fertilize his crops at Spruce Haven Farm in Auburn, NY. This smaller version of a “circular bio-nutrient economy” (circular economy) could hopefully be scaled to be used in many dairy farms across New York State and the world. Eventually, the hope is to implement it with human wastewater treatment plants—allowing human waste to be converted to biochar and used to fertilize the soil and crops, which he says, “could have huge potential public impact.” The kiln was expected to be turned on in September. This is not Doug’s first joint venture with Cornell. He has been partnering with CALS researchers since graduation.

Gary Holcomb and wife Julie’s big news is the birth of their first grandchild, Thomas Gabriel. Gary is “four years and counting” into his latest venture as CEO of Charlotte-based Compass Precision. They now live in Wilmington, DE, down the street from classmate Elaine Zajac Jackson and around the corner from Mary Bowler. Gary missed Reunion because of his grandson’s birth but hopes to make it to our 50th!

After 32 years, Laura Howes retired from teaching medieval literature at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she served as founding director of the Marco Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Although she stepped down from that post, Laura is continuing her research on Middle English, focused especially on Chaucer and on the anonymous Gawain Poet. She gives a shout-out to Professor Wetherbee, whose Chaucer class planted the seed for her lifelong obsession with the author and poet more than 45 years ago.

Doug Young ’78 is partnering with CALS faculty members to install the first-ever pyrolysis kiln on a dairy farm in New York State.

Cornell is well represented in Creighton ’77 and Marianne Basarab Marcott’s family. Daughter Jennifer ’18 married Joey Khoury ’18 in Santa Barbara, CA, where the pair live and work. Daughter Jacquelene ’11 wed Benjamin Robinson in Camarillo, CA. Jacquelene earned her JD at Southwestern Law School in 2015, and the couple lives in Sherman Oaks, CA.

Hector Lanauze says he’s been working hard for the past four decades while his family has been “growing beautifully every day.” Hector fondly remembers Cornell as a “Shangri-La.”

Since the news is light this time around, I’ll add some of my own. My main retirement project has been “Speaking up for animals”—the slogan of CT Votes for Animals, the animal advocacy organization where I’m on the board. We work to pass legislation to improve life for all animals in Connecticut—domestic animals, farm animals, and wildlife. Our volunteer army of advocates fights against animal cruelty, bear hunting, and rabbit farming while supporting laws that ban greyhound racing, the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores, and the use of second-generation rodenticides.

Cindy and I—and your classmates—would love to hear from you! Send us your updates. ❖ Ilene Shub Lefland (email Ilene) | Cindy Fuller, PhD ’92 (email Cindy) | Alumni Directory.

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1979

Greetings from NYC. Several classmates have written in, including some with updates to recently published Class Notes entries. Here is their news.

Marcy Wachtel reports that she is still working as a law partner at Katsky Korin LLP, where she chairs the matrimonial and family law department. She enjoys spending time in Los Angeles with her daughter, Allison Hartel ’13, who works in the entertainment industry there. Marcy says that she “loves her book clubs and gobbling up fiction,” and appreciates the shared passion for film and TV that she has with her daughter. Her best memories of Cornell include writing her honors thesis, Pancake House breakfasts, Straight breaks, and the “All My Children” watch group at the Straight.

Cathy Schaefer of Bethel, CT, retired in June ’22 from her careers as a nurse and science teacher. She stays busy as a member of her local board of education and as an occasional substitute teacher. She’s happy to have time to do the things she enjoys, including visiting friends, writing, taking walks outdoors, and reading good books. Her recent travels include trips to Greece last June and family birthday trips to Asheville, NC, and Florida this past September. Cathy says her love of walking outdoors to enjoy the peace and quiet of nature goes back to her days at Cornell, when some of her favorite memories include quiet walks around Beebe Lake or Sapsucker Woods.

Although Robert Lipman, ME ’81, retired in October 2022 after doing engineering research work for the federal government for over 41 years, he remains involved in his field with some “very part-time consulting.” As a bladder cancer survivor for more than 18 years, he also volunteers with the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network. He reports that his wife, Nancy, retired in April ’23 and they “immediately went on a great two-week trip to Italy with Debbie Klein Goldberger and her husband, Gary,” where all enjoyed “lots of pizza, pasta, wine, and gelato!” Robert says while he knew Debbie from before Cornell, “she just happened to be in the room next to me freshman year in Sperry.” He mentions that Debbie and Gary and their two daughters were also at his son’s 2022 wedding the summer before in Holualoa, HI. He also caught up with them in Florida, months after their Italian journey, where all were visiting relatives.

Keith Kozlowski sold his government contracting company this past summer. He is now enjoying retirement in Florida with his wife, Jennifer, and two kids. Keith’s fondest memories of Cornell are of his time as president of the Cornell Weightlifting Club.

David Langbart of Arlington, VA, relays an exciting experience with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy back in September 2021. After Zelenskyy addressed the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, he and his wife visited Washington, DC, to deliver a joint speech in the rotunda of the National Archives Building. Beforehand, the Ukrainian president examined several documents from the holdings of the National Archives focusing on Ukraine and other highlights of U.S. history. David had the honor of being part of the three-person team that showed and discussed these documents with Zelenskyy, “who expressed great interest, asking questions and making comments.”

Cathy Schaefer ’79 says her love of the outdoors goes back to her days at Cornell and quiet walks around Beebe Lake or Sapsucker Woods.

Susan Schapiro Caplan relays the news of her retirement in January 2023 from her position as chair of the University of Northern Illinois School of Nursing. She and her husband, Gary ’62, now live in Connecticut, where she enjoys hiking, painting, audiobooks, and time with friends. She also volunteers for Ball & Socket Arts in Cheshire, CT, and for AARP. Her favorite Cornell memory is leaving secret messages in the President’s Garden for her best friend, Elizabeth Hyde.

Jeff Berg, ME ’80, MBA ’81, is happy to report that his son Lowell got married to Jordan Mayer in Miami Beach in January 2023. Jeff serves as president of the Men’s Golf Association at his golf club on Cape Cod and member of the grounds and greens committee at his club in Arizona. Cycling, including long-range trips, is another interest. This past June, Jeff participated in a three-day ride in the Albany, NY, area, followed in July by the “Cycle the Erie Canal Bike Tour”—a five-day ride from Buffalo to Syracuse—along with over 700 other riders.

Marcie Gitlin updated her recent Class Notes entry, mentioning that since her February 2023 trip to Cambodia and Laos (her 10th Asia trip since 1990), she passed her one-and-a-half-year anniversary at Search and Care, the social services nonprofit where she’s been employed since February 2022. She was also excited to have a letter published in the New York Times, responding to the guest essay “College Is Not a Job. That’s the Whole Point.” She is looking forward to reconnecting with classmates at our 45th Reunion and welcomes those passing through NYC to “feel free to get in touch.”

Leslie Bulion of Durham, CT, reports that her husband, Rubin Hirsch, fully retired in January ’23 from his family medicine practice in Middletown, CT. Their two adult daughters both live in California, and residing with Leslie and Rubin is their 1.5-year-old Cobberdog, “a breed no one has ever heard of.” Leslie keeps busy writing science poetry books for children, the latest of which, Galápagos: Islands of Change (as previously reported here), was published in March ’23.

Please update us on your travels and other personal and family news; without your contributions, we have no column! Submit your news via the Share Your News form, the online news form, or emails sent directly to any of your class correspondents: ❖ Danna Levy (email Danna) | Linda Moses (email Linda) | Cynthia Ahlgren Shea (email Cynthia) | Alumni Directory.

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1980s

1980

Please put down your pickleball paddle and send in your news! Fire up your modem and email any of your class correspondents at the links below or submit a news form here.

Roberta Walter Goodman reports that she and her husband, Lenn, celebrated the birth of their second great-grandson, Miles, in May; he joins his 2-year-old big brother, Aidan, as his happy but exhausted parents juggle their law and economics careers with parenthood and renovating a house in Washington, DC. Roberta and Lenn also got to celebrate the bar mitzvah of their youngest grandson, Theo, in August in Newton, MA. Between family celebrations, they were able to make an incredible trip to Casablanca, Morocco, for the dissertation defense of Lenn’s Fulbright student. The trip was extended to include Fes, Larache, Rabat, and Marrakech. Roberta and Lenn found Morocco to be a beautiful, diverse, and welcoming country and report they had an amazing time.

Back at home, Roberta is an all-around volunteer pinch-hitter for her synagogue, having run their annual fundraiser, selected finishes for a bathroom renovation, sat on their security committee, and revised their cemetery policy and purchase contract during this past year. She also enjoys spending time with her horses, working on her equestrian skills, and just being with these wonderful creatures and barn friends. The horses also brought her back in contact with Cindy Hahn ’79; turns out they both own Trakehner horses and are members of the American Trakehner Association.

D. Kevin Dean reports he continues to live in Charlottesville, VA. He retired earlier this year and enjoys the freedom to travel and generally have fun playing outdoors with his (also retired) wife, Chris. Kevin and Chris have two granddaughters and another grandchild on the way. They are in great health and feel very blessed.

To those U-Hall dwellers who remember the Hot Truck (“What’s a U-Hall?” today’s students might ask), the grandchildren of Hot Truck founder Bob Petrillose are working on a Hot Truck documentary and would appreciate any stories you have to offer (but only after you submit something to the Class Notes). You can read more about it here.

I (Chas Horvath, ME ’81) have been in the Boston area since graduation. My wife, Mary, and I raised our two sons in Concord, MA. In recent years, it felt like our sons were trying to get as far away from us as possible, though having them both in California was an improvement over having one of them in China. We’re thrilled our oldest has just moved back to Boston! ❖ Chas Horvath, ME ’81 (email Chas) | David Durfee (email David) | Leona Barsky, MS ’81 (email Leona) | Dik Saalfeld (email Dik) | Alumni Directory.

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1981

Greetings, classmates! Here’s to a fabulous and fun springtime for one and all. In my house, as I write this, we are anxiously waiting to hear from various colleges/universities for my daughter, Ella. My work with Hadassah Hospital is extremely busy and very fulfilling these days. The emergency campaign supporting Israel has kicked off in full force since October 7, and, fortunately, the rehabilitation center at Hadassah Hospital should be fully ready in the first quarter of 2024! That is very exciting. I recently saw Howie Borkan in NYC, where we had breakfast and a good chat. On the heels of that visit, I went to a comedy show with Susan Levitt and we enjoyed some great conversations as well. I always love seeing my Cornell class friends!

Scott Forbes tells us he’s still at Catalis, working on solutions for governments. He took a 10-week sabbatical to hike about half of the Appalachian Trail, from Harpers Ferry, WV, to Springer Mountain, GA. In Herndon, VA, Roger Mann has been happily married for 35 years and has three daughters and two grandchildren. After the Navy, GE, and Lockheed Martin, he began his encore entrepreneurial career in 2015—launching and growing societally beneficial companies. As CEO of GlobalFlyte Inc. and vice chair of IJIS Institute, his mission is to save citizen and first responder lives. Daniel Ludwig is retired and sailing the world!

Anthony Maione (Endwell, NY) is CEO/executive senior consultant at Core America. Also Upstate is Christine Glazier Mandel, who is raising two Cornell daughters and working in the horticulture industry. She’s volunteering with husband Barry, ME ’82, with the Joe Wilson Science Consultant Program at RMSC in Rochester, NY. They bring hands-on science lessons to students in the Rochester City School District. She continues her love of gardening on their 10 acres in Penfield. Roderick “Sam” Kryger (Binghamton, NY) has been married for 40 years and has two children and three granddaughters. He assisted with the development and construction of Hope Lake Lodge, Indoor Waterpark, European Spa, and the Adventure Center at Greek Peak Mountain Resort. He is currently VP of operations for Vista Hospitality, which owns and operates numerous hotel properties. Bill Nesheim has been a senior vice president, software development at Oracle and VP, software development at Sun Microsystems. He currently is living in Holderness, NH.

Neil Reig, who grew up in Ithaca, NY, is an attorney and lives in Mount Kisco, NY. He has some great memories of his time at WVBR, the Cornell Concert Commission, and Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity! After Cornell, Michael Yaffe did MD-PhD training, a residency in general surgery, and a fellowship in critical care, trauma, and burns. Then he did a postdoc in signal transduction and cell biology in Lew Cantley’s lab at Harvard Medical School. He has been at MIT and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School ever since, other than a few tours of duty with the Army Reserve Medical Corps. He transitioned into a new job as director of surgical oncology at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD. He is blessed to have two amazing boys and a fantastic wife, also a physician-scientist (pediatric hematology/oncology and immunology). Raymond Stilwell lives in Buffalo and has law offices there as well!

A whole group of classmates went to South Africa on an 18-day trip!

Markos, MS ’83, and Susan Chandler Loizias ’80 have two children, one daughter and one son. Markos is continuing a long career designing long-span bridges throughout the U.S. and overseas. I can’t even imagine what that is like! Speaking of exciting, a whole group of classmates—Jennifer Read Campbell and husband Ron, Theresa Kronik Wrobel and husband Jay, PhD ’83, Audrey Long O’Connor, and John and Laura Dake Roche—went to South Africa on an 18-day trip! Highlights included the ostrich farm in Oudtshoorn—Jen loved spending time with the ostriches and learning all about them! She shares that ostrich was delicious; she thought it would be like chicken, but it is dark and much more tender than any cut of beef. She wished they sold it in the States, but they were told the beef lobby is keeping them out of the country! The group left Cape Town along the garden route via bus and stopped at the Victor Verster Prison near Paarl, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned from 1988–90. They then cycled to the cute/quaint Dutch town of Franschhoek. Their morning bike ride was 13.1 miles with an elevation of 595 feet—and very windy! After a light lunch and wine tasting at Holden Manz Wine Estate, buying wine, and meeting “Big G,” one of the owners for whom one of his wines is named, they rode another 7.2 miles. It sounded like a trip of a lifetime. Good friends, good food, and good cycling! What more could you ask for?

Now on Long Island, Bernadette Mullins Burns lives in Islip, NY. She was the superintendent of schools (retired) at West Islip Union Free School District. Derrick Adams has reflected on President Rhodes’s Commencement speech, when he encouraged us as we went out and pursued success to get down off our high horse and remember to smell the roses. This advice has helped Derrick to ground himself as he has experienced life.

Antonio Anselmo, PhD ’87, president at ChemBioPower Ltd., lives in Edmonton, AB, Canada. He loves his memories from Willard Straight Hall and Trumansburg! John Walsh grew up in Rochester, NY, and lives in Port Orchard, WA. He is an account manager at Epic Technical Sales. Rob Neenan lives in Sacramento and is the president at California League of Food Processors.

Please, folks, let us know how you are! We want to hear what’s going on in your life! Drop a line. ❖ Betsy Silverfine (email Betsy) | Alumni Directory.

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1982

Our class continues to remain busy and active into 2024. We receive news from classmates from all around the globe and encourage you to spend a few minutes to send us information regarding your latest adventures and accomplishments. It is a great way for all of us to remain connected to Cornell and re-establish ties with old friends.

We recently received news from Joseph Molloy and his wife, Dana (Lichtman) ’83. Joe and Dana have retired from Northwell Health and relocated from Long Island to the Albany, NY, area. Joe is busy establishing a new consulting business and working part time as a licensed school bus driver. He notes that he gets a great deal of satisfaction from his work with the Albany Medical Center, his Newfoundland therapy dog, Molly, and volunteering at Joseph’s House in Troy, NY. Joe and Dana have two grandchildren in addition to their two adult daughters. Their older daughter, Jennifer Molloy Martinez ’07, resides in Niskayana, NY, and their younger daughter, Rachel, is a special education teacher in New York City. Joe notes that he has great memories of his time and the friendships he made at North Campus dining and catering.

We also have news from Stephen Kagan, who now resides in Atlanta, GA, with his wife, Caryn Lobel. Stephen has a new position as the lead for professional development at Pfizer Medical Affairs. He has been at Pfizer for 16 years after having spent 16 years as an infectious disease practitioner in Atlanta. He notes that he would love to hear from his Cornell friends.

Christopher Metz (Chesterbrook, PA) reports that he and classmate Julie Vargo recently purchased the Village Tavern Restaurant & Inn in Hammondsport, NY. He encourages classmates to stop by and ask for the Cornell discount. Chris has four adult sons including Christopher Metz ’18, with whom he recently celebrated his 5th Reunion in Ithaca.

One of the many authors in our class, Henry Herz, reports that he recently completed a contemporary middle-grade anthology about Hanukkah featuring 14 stories. Henry notes that he continues to write children’s books and adult short stories. Information on Henry’s works can be found on his website.

Another author from our class, Maggie Mouscardy, writes that she has published a children’s book titled Blue Earth, Blue Sky. Maggie resides in Simpsonville, SC, with her husband, Edgar Berrias. Maggie notes that she has fond memories of the many concerts at Cornell and can still remember the sounds of the Doobie Brothers concert at Barton Hall.

Bonnie Mion has contacted us from New Baltimore, NY, where she reports that she has been busy storytelling during her retirement.

Thank you for sending us your news. It is great to hear from classmates and read about your Cornell memories, your career and retirement activities, and the latest family news. Please continue to stay in touch and stay safe. ❖ Doug Skalka (email Doug) | Mark Fernau (email Mark) | Nina Kondo (email Nina) | Alumni Directory.

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1983

Hello, classmates. It has been a few years since I, Alyssa Bickler, have been your class correspondent, and I am back as part of the team. So we don’t have to write about ourselves, please submit a note on what you have been up to over the last 40 years! I have been involved with our class for the last 20 years and have really enjoyed planning and attending Reunions. Our 40th in June was one for the record books, with the most in attendance for a 40th Reunion. A great time was had by all that attended. Our class dinners, tent parties, an officers’ cruise on Cayuga Lake, and social time at our headquarters were some of the highlights. For me, rooming with one of my best friends from our time on the Hill, Jane Mosey Nicoletta, was so meaningful for both of us. Please join us in 2028—you have lots of time to plan!

I currently live in Venice, FL, with my fiancé, Mike, and his two youngest children. The girls are in middle school. My daughter Alexandra graduated from the University of South Florida in 2020 (with honors!) and is currently working for UnidosNow, a nonprofit in Sarasota. For the last several years, I have indulged my travel hobby with several trips in the U.S. and to Italy, Spain, and Portugal. So many beautiful sights and memories. I still love my career as an executive recruiter (since 2006) and plan to work for at least another five years. I am a member of the Cornell Club of Sarasota-Manatee and enjoy the local events and engaging with the Cornell community throughout the year. I took up motorcycling in 2017 and ride my Harley on weekends with Mike and my motorcycling girlfriends, the Diva Angels!

I took up motorcycling in 2017 and ride my Harley on weekends with my fiancé, Mike, and my motorcycling girlfriends, the Diva Angels!

Alyssa Bickler ’83

Red Hot Hockey was a stellar affair this year for the Class of ’83. Kudos to class VP Lynn Leopold, who has led the charge to distribute our class tickets for about the past 10 years, including 100 tickets this year and last. The Big Red did not let us down, beating BU 2-1 in a thriller. A few of us talked afterwards, saying that this might have been the most exciting Red Hot Hockey ever. Stewart Glickman enjoyed running into Dick Cornell and his wife, Connie, who made the trip from Massachusetts, Steve Fitzpatrick and Laura (Bellamy), who came down from Connecticut, and Bill Johnson ’82 and wife Audrey, who journeyed from across the Hudson. Lovely to see fellow Interfraternity Council member Ken Balick, first time for me since graduation. And always fun catching up with fellow Brooklynite Eric Messinger.

Please stay in touch with us! Any news you would like to share? Please submit an online news form or write to any of your correspondents. You may also post news on our class Facebook page. Be well, everybody! ❖ Alyssa Bickler (email Alyssa) | Tom Helf (email Tom) | Jon Felice (email Jon) | Stewart Glickman (email Stewart) | Nancy Korn Freeman (email Nancy) | Alumni Directory.

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1984

We are ramping up excitement to attend our Reunion in June 2024! Please make sure to visit the Cornell Reunion webpage for information on lodging and other details on what promises to be a weekend to remember! Don’t forget to send your news to your class correspondent: ❖ José Nieves (email José) | Alumni Directory.

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1985

Happy spring, Class of ’85! We hope this message finds you well, and we hope you will take the time to write to us! Others from our time on the Hill would greatly enjoy reading what you’ve been up to since graduation! ❖ Joyce Zelkowitz Cornett (email Joyce) | Alumni Directory.

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1986

Hello, ’86 friends! I was lucky enough to get to Ithaca this past October for a Finger Lakes bike tour with Ciclismo Classico, owned by Lauren Hefferon ’83. Got to visit with Jenny Graap, who is heading into her 28th year as women’s lacrosse coach at Cornell, and Dave Roberts ’87, ME ’88, who is now a professor in the SC Johnson College of Business. My husband and I rode with a group of friends from Boston through the Watkins Glen, Seneca Falls, and Geneva area—so many fun breweries and distilleries in addition to wineries now! I’d never been to Watkins Glen State Park, which was phenomenal even in the rain.

I teach an indoor cycling class here in Boulder, CO, where I’m joined by Annette Stancliffe Kissinger ’84 and Diane Hirschhorn ’87. I blast the Clash’s “Rock the Casbah” and “The Heart of Rock & Roll” by Huey Lewis ’72, and we dream of being back on the light-up tiles of the North Forty dance floor.

Speaking of lacrosse stars, Kate Howard-Johnson Jones writes, “After 37 years of working and raising our kids, my husband, Bill, and I have retired. Bill has sailed his whole life and always dreamed of extended cruising. Last spring, we bought a catamaran in St. Thomas, sailed back home to Marblehead, MA, and spent the summer getting ready for living aboard for months at a time. In September we left home and sailed south. We passed by NYC via the East River, which was absolutely amazing, especially sailing right by Lady Liberty. In early November we left the U.S. coast from Hampton, VA, and made an 11-day (challenging but pretty uneventful) passage at sea to Antigua. So far, we are loving life in the Caribbean—what’s not to love? Our plan is to sail home every summer and explore different southern climes in the winter. Feeling very, very fortunate to have the health and ability to chase this adventure.”

I was lucky enough to get to Ithaca this past October for a Finger Lakes bike tour with Ciclismo Classico, owned by Lauren Hefferon ’83.

Ellen Nordberg ’86

Kate worked for P&G for 15 years. In 2001, she founded Provisor Marketing LLC with Julie Doig McPeek ’83. She adds, “We ran it together for 22 years and now Julie is running Provisor on her own with her daughter, Brenna McPeek ’13.” Kate added one final P.S.: she loves following Cornell women’s lacrosse and ice hockey, especially since the coaches are Cornellians.

Inspired by Let’s Engineer!, the afterschool program she launched in New York City in 2011, Sheryl Haft has published her fourth children’s book: Mazie’s Amazing Machines. Starring a little girl inventor, the book encourages young children to be inventive, creative problem solvers. Sheryl celebrated her new book and her eldest daughter’s wedding this year with Leesa Storfer, Laurie Greenberg Goldheim, Laurie Miller Brotman, Janet Weissman Pfeffer, Merrill Rudin, Mara Block Bernstein ’85, Barbara Kaufman Seeley, Cindy Kaufman, Linda Scall Ragin, and Allison Passer Ostern, her beloved Cornell “sisters.”

If you’d like to hear more about what your classmates are up to, and less about me and my bike rides, please send us some news! ❖ Ellen Nordberg (email Ellen) | Lori Spydell Wagner (email Lori) | Michael Wagner (email Michael) | Toby Goldsmith (email Toby) | Alumni Directory.

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1987

Dear classmates, we hope that you all had a good start to 2024 and will soon be enjoying the early days of spring.

Richard Friedman shared with us some very sad news from last year. In July, Jemae Breunissen Hoffman lost her battle with pancreatic cancer. She lived in Seattle with her husband, Ray, and child Aspen. Rich and Jemae were both meteorology majors. Rich said that Jemae was “an amazing spirit and soul … so kind and full of smiles.” Rich is the founder and president of Friedman & Partners, a marketing and management consulting firm serving the U.S. and Canadian architecture, engineering, environmental consulting, and construction industries.

Nadia Schadlow Murphy was elected to the RAND Corporation’s board of trustees in September. She has served in numerous leadership positions in government and the private sector, including the National Security Council and the U.S. Department of Defense. As deputy assistant to the president for National Security Strategy, she was chief architect of the 2017 National Security Strategy. In addition to her bachelor’s degree in government and Soviet studies from Cornell, Nadia has master’s and doctoral degrees from the Johns Hopkins Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.

In late November Shari Brasner and John Won presented a webinar on “Hormones at Midlife and Beyond: Everything You Want to Know! (a.k.a. Menopause and Manopause Essentials)” as part of the Class of 1987’s E-Learning Series. Shari is an ob/gyn in New York City and is affiliated with Mount Sinai Hospital, where she did her residency. She is married to classmate Jeff Cohen and has adult twins, one of whom graduated from the College of Arts & Sciences in 2018. John is a urologist with a specialization in urologic oncology. He practices in New York City and is a volunteer faculty member at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medicine. One of his two sons will graduate from the College of Arts & Sciences this year. The webinar was recorded and can be viewed here.

Please do not hesitate to send us your news! While we happily share news of new jobs, promotions, and books being published, your news does not have to be of that nature in order for it to appear in the class column. ❖ Liz Brown, JD ’90 (email Liz) | Whitney Weinstein Goodman (email Whitney) | Alumni Directory.

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1988

Greetings, Class of 1988! It’s Pam Darer Anderson, your class correspondent, with updates from several of our classmates. First, I met up with Christine Russo in Burlington, VT, where my youngest daughter, Katie, is a freshman at the University of Vermont. Christine was visiting her daughter who lives and works in Burlington. A small world. Christine resides in New York City and is involved with retail technology solutions for the consumer industry. She is a consultant and a leading voice for retail.

Kelly Smith Brown, MBA ’92, chimes in from Cincinnati, OH, where she is busy with her twins who are now juniors in high school. She recently visited Cornell with her dad, George Smith ’56, MFS ’57, to see her daughter, Sarah Brown ’26 (mechanical engineering). They enjoyed a lovely walk through the Cornell Botanic Gardens and even had time to drop in at her dad’s fraternity, Phi Delt. In her free time, Kelly volunteers in the community and serves on a few for-profit boards. She spends most of the summer in Hilton Head, which, she says, “has become a second home to us.” Kelly stays in touch with fellow Tri Delt sisters Jill Fields and Nanci Hawkins Paroubek as well as Chris Haldopoulos Staffin, MBA ’92.

Moving west, Lauren Mukamal Camp wrote her seventh poetry collection, Worn Smooth Between Devourings, which focuses on ecological devastation and national and global tragedy. This new collection has received lots of praise. Lauren is the poet laureate of New Mexico. Her poetry has often been entwined with music and art.

On the West Coast, Joel Fetzer wrote that he is still teaching political science and writing books at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. Last summer, he says, “I conducted research in London and Oxford for a project on church-state history in Hong Kong and Taiwan.” Then he went to Paris, France, to visit with his home-stay mother who he stayed with back in 1987 when he attended the Cornell-in-Paris program with Sean Robin ’87, BA ’89. Joel’s son Isaak is graduating from Pepperdine this spring and is set to begin his doctoral work in physical therapy at Hawaii Pacific University.

In November 2023, Ramon Reyes Jr. was appointed by the Senate to the position of U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of New York. Congratulations, Ramon!

Alison Minton ’88 is very busy managing her pet cockatoo’s career as an animal actor, model, and influencer.

Mark Podgainy has “Cornell” on the brain after watching the Big Red hockey team defeat Boston University at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He attended our 35th Reunion and recently toured the Ithaca campus with his youngest daughter, who is considering Cornell. His oldest daughter recently graduated from Grinnell College and is working full time in New York City. His middle daughter is a senior at Case Western and has already accepted a job after graduation. Mark has been with the same company, Getzler Henrich, for 16 years, doing restructuring with underperforming, stressed companies. Mark had the pleasure of reconnecting in New York with fellow Hotelie Paul Kitamura, who was visiting from Singapore.

Sending a warm “Hello” from Denver, CO, Larry Goldman wrote in that he has been working in technology marketing for almost 30 years. He loves hosting fellow Cornellians: a few people who have dropped in for a visit are Traci Nagle, Kris Tassone Webster, Mike Gilbert ’87, and Jill Fields. This past summer, Larry went to Bangalore for work and explored the Deep South with his daughter Jane, who is a freshman at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Lisa Sotir Ozkan is enjoying motherhood and “having tons of fun” since giving birth to her son Paul in October 2018. She resides in Arlington, VA. She has been the general counsel of the National Education Association Member Benefits for the past 18 years, working on behalf of teachers. On occasion, she sees fellow ’88s Sheryl Lindros Dolan and Jill Fields and stays in touch with Judi Burton Gaines, Julie Merritt Pacaro, William Sangrey ’87, PhD ’94, James Habron ’85, BA ’87, and Jake White.

Meanwhile, in Northern Westchester, Alison Minton is caring for her mother, who has Alzheimer’s and can no longer live alone. Alison is also very busy managing her pet cockatoo’s career as an animal actor, model, and influencer. For the past holiday season, Alison created a collection of holiday merchandise with her pet’s image. He has over 300,000 followers across his social media accounts on Instagram and TikTok. I look forward to seeing him in commercials or a feature film.

That’s all for now. Happy spring, everyone! Please send your news to: ❖ Pamela Darer Anderson (email Pam) | Alumni Directory.

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1989

Hi, Class of ’89! Please send us your news! We have a very short column since we haven’t received much news lately. So please take a few minutes now and email us an update about yourself or fellow classmates.

Here’s an update from fellow class correspondent Kris Borovicka Gerig: “I got together with Carol Borack Copenhaver and Lisa Spellman Porter in Fayetteville, WV, for a weekend in June. We picked Fayetteville as it was relatively equidistant from each of us (Lisa in Pittsburgh, Carol in Arden, NC, and me in Athens, OH) and promised some nice little hikes around the New River Gorge. We enjoyed good walks, good beer, good food, and great friends—as well as a preview of some of the Reunion plans via Carol, who had already started work preparing for the event in June.”

Here’s some news from me, too, since we have room: I (Stephanie Bloom Avidon) met Jamie Platt Lyons for dinner while I was on a business trip to Atlanta in June. It was great catching up with her and reminiscing about our days at Cornell!

We hope to see you at our 35th Reunion in Ithaca, June 6–9. If you haven’t already joined our Class of 1989 Facebook group, please do so you can stay up to date. Watch for more information about registration and housing!

Please send us your news! You can submit an online news form or email us. Thank you! Hope to see you at Reunion! ❖ Stephanie Bloom Avidon (email Stephanie) | Kris Borovicka Gerig (email Kris) | Anne Czaplinski Treadwell (email Anne) | Lauren Kidder McGarry (email Lauren) | Alumni Directory.

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1990s

1990

If you read only one column in the Class Notes, I hope it’s this one! We’re not only going to find out how our classmates are “getting better,” we’re also going to prevent our brains from getting hot-wired.

First up, congratulations to Dolly Chugh for achieving an incredible milestone with her TED Talk. A little over five years ago, she presented a talk that captured a key idea from her first book, The Person You Mean to Be. “I spoke of my research on the psychology of good people and argued that being a good-ish person—someone who is always learning from mistakes and getting better—is better than being a good person.” Dolly is currently a professor at the NYU Stern School of Business as well as a popular author, speaker, and researcher. And that TED Talk? It has hit over five million views. To quote Dolly, “Well, knock me over with a bookmark.” You can find that talk here.

Continuing the theme of improving ourselves, Cecile Bouchardeau Weiland deserves all the congratulations for taking a huge leap and landing … in France! Last summer, Cecile was an executive producer at Warner Bros. Discovery during their tumultuous adjustment period and found herself, like so many others, laid off while still at the top of her game. No matter. She started her own production company, Experience Next Films, and began development on several new true crime, paranormal, and other unscripted projects with the hopes of getting them picked up by a studio, while also making arrangements to move with her family to France for an eight-month adventure. “One of many reasons is to be near my 90-year-old mom and sister and family.” The prospect was daunting, however. She didn’t have a steady income, her son Luca would be switching schools, and her husband, Scott, doesn’t speak French. Nonetheless, she landed “an amazing job in Paris with French television and an awesome new boss working on French and English unscripted shows. Luca has been admitted to a prestigious IB school, and Scott started our business about retiring in France.”

Meanwhile, I’m sure you heard or read in the news about COP28, the 28th annual U.N. climate change conference, where representatives from across the world met in Dubai to discuss limiting and preparing for future climate change. Our own Ian Kline, BA ’92, participated as the president and CEO of the Cadmus Group. “It’s critical that we invest both in aggressive mitigation measures AND in the resilience efforts necessary to protect our communities and our natural systems.”

And how are they doing that? His team recently won phase two of the inaugural American-Made Digitizing Utilities Prize. “We used load modeling to help correctly forecast future power demands, specifically addressing the dynamic nature of weather-sensitive loads for residential and commercial buildings.” Given how this year started with record-breaking temperature extremes that tested the power grids across North America, this work clearly has powerful real-world implications.

Congratulations are also in order for Caroline Misciagna Sussman, interior designer extraordinaire, who took home the Rising Star Award at the most recent Ethan Allen National Convention. “I’m feeling grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this fantastic organization and honored to receive this recognition for doing something that I so thoroughly enjoy.”

[In my TED Talk] I argued that being a good-ish person—someone who is always learning from mistakes and getting better—is better than being a good person.

Dolly Chugh ’90

Likewise, kudos to Amy Wang Manning, who started off the year in a new volunteer role as VP of internships for the Asian American Journalists Association, Portland. Their internship program “provides paid summer internships in Oregon newsrooms to college students from groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in journalism.”

This brings us to my recent conversation with Penny Smith Eifrig. Like our classmates mentioned above, she’s been directing her efforts to help make the world a better place. She founded and is the executive director of Random Acts of Reading, a nonprofit intended to create “an excitement for reading through inclusive books that are distributed through cool book vending machines in elementary schools.”

She recently posted on Facebook a story that profoundly resonated with me. While my occupation has frequently involved cybersecurity concerns, I’ve usually looked at it as more of an academic exercise. To a person who is targeted, however, predatory scammers can reach into your life with a very personal, visceral attack. “It’s an amygdala hijack. They trigger your fight-or-flight instinct by giving you information about yourself that’s really scary. From that point on, they hook you in deeper and deeper until your efforts to help yourself actually leave you exposed.” Penny notes that we often think along the lines of people ‘falling for’ a scam, when instead they are being attacked. These scams can be thorough and very well coordinated; the perpetrators research their intended target to learn their pain points.

“We are the product of generations of humans who survived because they developed a fight-or-flight response to threats. That instinct evolved to help us, but these scammers use it to their advantage by getting us to react without stopping to think. If you grab a hot coal, you don’t stop to think about it. You drop it now.”

As an author and a publisher, Penny has turned to the tools of her trade to talk about her own experience with such an attack. Using the Kindle Vella platform, she has published “How the Hell Could I Get SCAMMED? Understanding Amygdala Hijack: You Aren’t Stupid, You Are Human.” The platform allows her to post updates and add new resources and tips on how to defend yourself from these kinds of scams, and the first three posts are available for free.

Do you have any news about a classmate or yourself that you’d like to share? Please feel free to drop us a line with your news for the class column. ❖ Allan Rousselle (email Allan) | Rose Tanasugarn (email Rose) | Nancy Solomon Weiss (email Nancy) | Class Facebook page | Alumni Directory.

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1991

Greetings from southern Maine! We don’t have much news to share, but we do have an update from Todd Kennett, head coach of heavyweight rowing at Cornell. He shared that the team recently competed at the Henley Royal Regatta, a race with a rich history dating back to 1839, held in the quiet English river town of Henley-on-Thames. Although the format and course were not typical, Cornell’s team had a good showing, beating University of Surrey and Durham University (in the best race of the week), and finally falling to University of Washington in the quarterfinals. If you want to watch the Cornell-Durham match up, you can see it here.

I hope you all had a beautiful winter and stay healthy in the spring. When something happens in your life, think of your classmates and your correspondents and submit it! ❖ Wendy Milks Coburn (email Wendy) | Joe Marraccino (email Joe) | Evelyn Achuck Yue (email Evelyn) | Susie Curtis Schneider (email Susie) | Ruby Wang Pizzini (email Ruby) | Alumni Directory.

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1992

As I write this, another class of early decision candidates just received news from Cornell Admissions. I hope some classmates’ kids were accepted. It is so amazing to share the Cornell experience with another generation and see the Hill through their eyes. I wish everyone could have that opportunity! During freshman move-in and Family Weekend last fall, we had fun reconnecting with my freshman roommate Karen Schanzer Goldberg and her husband, Phil, MD ’96, as well as my sorority sister Anita Lee, JD ’88, and her husband, Philip Hsia, MBA ’99. Our kids have become friends and it’s so cool!

Another Red Hot Hockey took place at Madison Square Garden the Saturday after Thanksgiving. My family has made it an annual “holiday” tradition. Last year, we randomly ran into Lisa Everts and Allison Bergstrom in the concession concourse right before the game. According to our class Facebook page, Amy Sachs Yam, DVM ’98, was there too! Feel free to check the Cornell Athletics schedule to see if an away game is being played in your area—or make a trip to campus to Yell Cornell at home! Concerts and shows (on campus and on tour) are other great opportunities to show your Big Red spirit.

Another way to stay connected is to keep in touch with alumni friends. Do any of your affinity/friend groups get together outside of Cornell Reunions? My sorority sisters are great at organizing weekends away. Recently almost 40 Tri-Delts spanning different classes (mostly ’91, ’92, and ’93) got together in Kiawah, SC. Our ’92 classmates who attended were Sela Missirian, Catherine Kim Kumaradas, Meredith Quigley Lambert, Corinne McKamey, Cindy Cheney Wian, and Lisa Camesano. I wish I could have joined them! My husband, Todd Kantorczyk, and his Rockledge (Alpha Sigma Phi) fraternity brothers have been getting together as well—annual trips to Las Vegas, as well as MLB games, and even foosball weekends. Recently Chris Hove joined Todd and some brothers in Ohio.

Recently almost 40 Tri-Delts spanning different classes (mostly ’91, ’92, and ’93) got together in Kiawah, SC.

Like my family and many others, Alison Miller is officially an empty nester and says life is good. She runs the Dissertation Coach and the Academic Writers’ Space with her husband of 25 years and lives in Los Angeles. The Academic Writers’ Space is a virtual coworking community for academic writers that began during the pandemic. Alison has learned so much and plans to write a book based on what she has learned “about a self-honoring path of productivity.”

Carter Wilson lives in Colorado and has written psychological thrillers for the past 20 years. His ninth book, The Father She Went to Find, will be out on April 2, 2024 (Poisoned Pen Press). Additionally, his 10th novel, Confess to Me, recently sold and is scheduled for publication in early 2025.

Another author, Tish Oney published her second book, Jazz Singing: A Guide to Pedagogy and Performance, in 2022 (Rowman & Littlefield) and serves as the Greenville (SC) Jazz Collective director of education. An active touring musician and symphony soloist, she headlined as the holiday pops vocalist with the Aiken Symphony Orchestra last December. Tish is married to George Gábor ’89.

The creative and prolific Dylan Willoughby, MFA ’95, had a 10-photograph portfolio published online in On the Seawall. His poetry has recently appeared in Conduit, Notre Dame Review, and Coalition. Dylan fondly remembers Cornell rugby football club and Victory Club at Alpha Delt with Kristen Krzyzewski ’91.

Please share your news with us via email or use the online news form. Be well and take good care. ❖ Jean Kintisch (email Jean) | Sarah Ballow Clauss (email Sarah) | Wilma Ann Thomas Anderson (email Wilma Ann) | Alumni Directory.

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1993

Happy spring, Class of ’93! We hope this message finds you well, and we hope you will take the time to write to us! Others from our time on the Hill would greatly enjoy reading what you’ve been up to since graduation. ❖ Mia Blackler (email Mia) | Theresa Flores (email Theresa) | Melissa Hart Moss, JD ’97 (email Melissa) | Alumni Directory.

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1994

“I recently wrote a cookbook, (Serious) New Cook, along with my sister, Cammie Kim Lin,” writes Leah Puidokas Quiroga. “I graduated in 1994 with a degree in psychology and then went on to the Culinary Institute of America, before working/cheffing at Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Our cookbook is written for 16- to 24-year-olds, or any new cook. We also just won the 2023 Best Cookbook Award in the children, youth, and family category by the International Association of Culinary Professionals.”

Jeanne Ramage Rentezelas has been appointed first VP and COO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. She has worked there since 2010 and was most recently senior VP and general counsel. Congratulations! ❖ Dineen Pashoukos Wasylik (email Dineen) | Jennifer Rabin Marchant (email Jennifer) | Dika Lam (email Dika) | Alumni Directory.

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1995

In early November, I received a lovely note from Jeff Earickson ’77, MS ’80, who shared with me that he attended his 50th high school reunion at the Albuquerque Academy at the end of October and discovered that the current head of the school is our classmate Julianne Puente. She has been at the helm there since July 1, 2020.

Last month, I asked for updates on how you all celebrated the big 5-0 birthday and Lisa Powell Fortna was happy to oblige, sharing that she celebrated Rob Smith’s 50th watching the Bills beat the New York Jets in Buffalo. Writes Lisa, “Rob and I were born in the same small hospital one day apart but didn’t get to know each other until we were at Cornell. We were lucky to move back to the same small area in Western New York, and our daughters became close friends. I wasn’t able to be with my freshman roommate, Susie Su, but definitely appreciated the champagne she sent for the celebration!”

As I write this column (mid-December 2023), Shalaine Wang McLaughlin is doing her birthday Hawaii 5-0 style. Yes, she went to Oahu, along with Suzanne Hee Chen, Diana Barr ’96, and Stephanie Cha Ratliff ’96 (Shalaine’s college roommate, who is an Oahu resident), where their impeccable timing allowed them to also enjoy the Cornell Hotel Society luncheon.

Suzanne Ehlers shared her celebration story too. At Cornell, she had a group of 10 girlfriends who lived together (in different permutations) both junior and senior years. These relationships have stood the test of time and they all gathered to celebrate their 50th birthdays, collectively, in May in the Hudson Valley. Attendees were Dana Kroll Carlos, Lauren Schaevitz Rosenthal, Leah Santoro, Andrea Forgacs, Jennifer Huang, Sonya Olshan, Angela Liang, and Laura Garrity Li, BA ’97. Unfortunately, Suzanne wrote, Joanna Moresky caught COVID, so they missed their 10th roomie!

Suzanne also shared some updates about her own journey. After leading Malala Fund through and out of the pandemic, she made a job change and is now the CEO of USA for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. In this role, and as the U.S. national partner to its global agency, she raises awareness and funds for the work UNHCR does around the world with 110+ million people who have been forcibly displaced. Her first year has taken her to Bangladesh, Mexico, Ethiopia, the Rio Grande Valley, and Thailand. But what brings her the most satisfaction these days is baking with her teen daughters, long walks with her dog, Frijole, and cocktails on her COVID-era-redesigned terrace with her husband.

That’s all we’ve got this time. Please send more stories of how you celebrated your milestone birthday—or anything else you’d like classmates to know. In the meantime, stay connected and safe, classmates. ❖ Alison Torrillo French (email Alison) | Class website | Class Facebook page | Class Instagram page | Alumni Directory.

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1996

Happy spring, fellow Cornellians! I hope everyone has had a great start to the New Year. Clay Carol writes that he got married this past October. He and his wife, Liza Ng, celebrated their big day with many Cornellians, including James Mallios, Derek Van Straaten, and Andrew ’97 and Holley Vantrease Cavanna ’95. The couple currently reside in NYC.

Paul Kuo met up with several other classmates to celebrate Kerwin Kam, ME ’97’s 50th birthday in NYC. Attendees included Clifton Chang, Dan Lin, Dave Wu, ME ’97, Connie Chin, JD ’00, Howard Yen, ME ’97, Ingrid Kuo, and Wendy Horng ’98.

Keep your news coming! ❖ Catherine Oh Bonita (email Catherine) | Janine Abrams Rethy (email Janine) | Marjorie Polycarpe Jean-Paul (email Marjorie) | Alumni Directory.

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1997

We don’t have any news from classmates to report this issue—but we hope that will change in the future! What are you doing for work? What are your favorite hobbies? What brings you the most satisfaction these days? If you have a moment, please send an email to: ❖ Sarah Deardorff Carter (email Sarah) | Erica Broennle Nelson (email Erica) | Alumni Directory.

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1998

Did you realize that, for most of us Class of 1998 members, 2024 marks 30 years since we graduated high school and were fresh-faced freshmen “high above Cayuga’s waters”? As a class, we have certainly left our mark and continue to do so after our years at Cornell. Here’s what’s new!

Charbel Zreik shared, “I’m grateful and humbled to be awarded the Wharton Teaching Excellence Award for the 2022–23 year—this is quite sweet, especially since it was the first time that my co-professor Jim Vesterman and I taught this class, after having created it very recently. I’m very grateful for this opportunity and the students’ support!” After Cornell, Charbel received his MBA in finance and entrepreneurship from Wharton School of Business and held leadership positions at JPMorgan and McKinsey. In 2018, he sold his data and communications technologies company, which he acquired and built over the course of seven years. Charbel adds, “I am very excited to keep equipping the Wharton MBAs with the skills to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true by acquiring and building a company of their choice.”

Congratulations to Dan ’96 and Jaimee Schreiber Loewy on their second-born son having been accepted into the Class of 2028 at Duke University! Congratulations also go out to Tiffany Leadbetter Donato, who was appointed the first ever chief investment officer for Marcus Hotels & Resorts. With a proven record of more than 25 years of leadership and strategic acquisitions in the hotel management and hospitality industry, she is a proven leader, recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of the “Top 40 Under 40” young executives.

Please share what’s new with you! You can email me or fill out our online news form. ❖ Uthica Jinvit Utano (email Uthica) | Alumni Directory.

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1999

“I’ve gotten a kick out of seeing the faces of old friends in the 25th Reunion chatter,” writes George Hunter. “It got me thinking that I’d like to share my PBS documentary with our Cornell family. Sakura & Pearls: Healing from WWII is about Hiroshima atomic bomb survivors meeting the Pearl Harbor attack survivors at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. You can see the trailer on PBS’s website here. It was also featured in an NPR interview. The next stop for the documentary is Amazon Prime later this year.” ❖ Class of 1999 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2000s

2000

Greetings, friends and alumni! I hope everyone is doing well. I have some news of two of our fellow classmates: Lisa Pinsker Munoz and Juan Felipe Santos.

Lisa recently released her book, Women in Science Now: Stories and Strategies for Achieving Equity. The book features first-person accounts of scientists on their career journeys, paired with social science-based data on the obstacles still facing women in science and solutions on how to remove them, to make the scientific enterprise more equitable for everyone. (She recently wrote a personal essay on the topic for Cornellians.) Lisa’s book has garnered rave reviews from authors like Ann Druyan, Peabody Award-winning writer/producer/director, and Vanessa Bohns, department chair and professor of organizational behavior at Cornell. You can find the book on Lisa’s website.

Juan Felipe Santos, a Jackson Lewis attorney and Cornell graduate, has been featured in the 11th edition of the “Best Lawyers in Puerto Rico.” Jackson Lewis is a national law firm focusing on labor and employment law, and Juan was recognized for his work in labor and employment law and litigation. Lawyers on the “Best Lawyers in Puerto Rico” list are reviewed by their peers on the basis of professional knowledge and undergo an authentication process to make sure they are in current practice and in good standing.

It’s encouraging to read of alumni making a difference in the world around them. I’m sure the stories are plenteous, so share yours with me! ❖ Denise Williams (email Denise) | Alumni Directory.

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2001

Spring is in the air! It didn’t seem that long ago that a huge group of Cornell alums (and a few BU alums …) sold out Madison Square Garden in New York City to watch the Cornell men’s hockey team play BU in the annual Big Red Hockey event the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It was a great night with an arena filled with red and white apparel and a huge win for Cornell hockey over the #6 ranked team in the country (at the time). But now hockey season is wrapping up—with the ECAC championship taking place in Lake Placid, NY, at the end of March. I was there with my family around the time for my son’s 13U hockey tournament, as well as the chance to take in the sights of the Olympic facilities. We also squeezed in a day of skiing. Time to put all of that winter equipment away and get ready for summer!

Now on to our classmates. A belated congratulations to Erin Tobin on completing a Half Ironman at Jones Beach—in a tropical storm no less! Erin had a knee injury going into the grueling 70.3-mile race, but she gritted it out. That’s a combined 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride, and 13.1-mile run, for anyone curious about attempting (or avoiding) this test of endurance. Erin said it was the hardest race she has ever completed due to the weather conditions. Another great accomplishment in the books!

Keeping with the race and general athleticism theme, Lauren Wallach Hammer ran in the Philadelphia Marathon late last year. She completed the 26.2-mile run in an impressive 3:51:54. You can’t run that far that fast without plenty of training. Lauren put in the work, running more than 500 miles over the course of approximately 80 hours across 18 weeks leading up to the race. Congratulations on your determination and marathon success!

Traveling further afield, Erica Chatfield took a vacation to Guatemala. Despite the unfortunate situation of being quite ill during the vacation, she made the most of it. Erica shared some great pictures on Facebook of a private bike tour through Guatemala City. It looks like a beautiful place.

My fellow class correspondent, Nicole Neroulias Gupte, will be adding to her collection of higher education degrees and school mascots with her recent admission to San Jose State University for their library and information science master’s degree program. “I’ve been a bear, a lion, and a Husky … now it’s time to become a Spartan!” she writes, adding that she credits her happy memories of working in Mann Library throughout her Cornell years for helping inspire this decision. Nicole will be taking the courses remotely as she lives in Delhi, India (and occasionally in Seattle, WA); she found that this program was most optimized for international participation. Congratulations, Nicole—and best of luck!

A belated congratulations to Erin Tobin ’01 on completing a Half Ironman at Jones Beach—in a tropical storm no less!

Speaking of international, Nicole has helped organize multiple Cornell alumni events in Cyprus (including with Deniz Birinci and Haris Iacovidou ’00) and India in the past year. She and her husband, Salil, recommend looking up the local Cornell alumni group whenever you plan to travel to a new country, especially around October (Zinck’s Night) or July/August (new student sendoff). Official contacts can be found here.

Jason Babcock shows his support and connection to Cornell in a permanent fashion. He was mentioned in a recent Cornellians story about Cornellians with Big Red-related tattoos. Jason opted for the Cornell “C” and bear logo, while others featured in the article have a variety of designs including the clocktower, Uris Library, and even their Net IDs. (Remember ‘Bear Access’? We lived the early days of email.) It’s an entertaining article and another example of alums’ dedication and passion for Cornell.

Did anyone see Alison Gilmore Carr on the NBC nightly news in November? Ahead of Thanksgiving, NBC produced a feature on the fall cranberry harvest across Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and the Pacific Northwest. Alison’s family has been cultivating cranberries in Rochester, MA, near Cape Cod since the 1800s. After living in New York City for a period of time, Alison was drawn back to the farm. You can thank her and other cranberry farmers when you enjoy cranberry relish at Thanksgiving this year!

Congratulate Mike Kahn on his promotion to counsel at law firm Mayer Brown. Mike appreciates the support of his clients, family, friends, former co-workers, and colleagues at Mayer Brown. All the best!

To share news and get back in touch with classmates, please email either of us, visit our website, like the Class of 2001 Facebook page, join our Class of 2001 Classmates Facebook group, and/or follow us on X (@Cornell2001). ❖ James Gutow (email James) | Nicole Neroulias Gupte (email Nicole) | Alumni Directory.

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2002

Happy spring, Class of ’02! We hope you will take the time to write to us! We’d love to know what you’ve been up to. ❖ Class of 2002 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2003

Spring is here, which means it’s time to get out and explore! If you happen to travel to the Berkshires this year, check out the “Spotted Owl Mosaic” at the Berkshire Botanical Garden, which was created by Peter Gerakaris. Peter also had an owl painting on display this winter at the Hudson River Museum as part of the “Un/Natural Selections: Wildlife in Contemporary Art” exhibit. Congratulations, Peter!

Amy Jo Burns recently published her second novel, Mercury, which came out in January. Amy Jo’s writing has appeared in Ploughshares, the Paris Review Daily, Elle, Literary Hub, and Good Housekeeping, among other places. She was interviewed about her debut novel on NPR’s “Weekend Edition.” Congratulations, Amy Jo!

Please send us your news. We love hearing from you. ❖ Candace Lee Chow, PhD ’14 (email Candace) | Jon Schoenberg, ME ’03, PhD ’11 (email Jon) | Alumni Directory.

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2004

Greetings, Class of ’04! Please send your updates to us for future columns. What have you been up to? Did any classes at Cornell impact your trajectory? What brings you the most satisfaction these days? We’d love to hear from you. ❖ Jessi Petrosino (email Jessi) | Alumni Directory.

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2005

Erica Healey-Kagan ran the NYC Marathon earlier this year and saw lots of Big Red spirit along the route—especially at mile 25, where some Cornellians volunteered together at the aid station!

What have you been up to? Let us know! ❖ Jessica Rosenthal Chod (email Jessica) | Hilary Johnson King (email Hilary) | Alumni Directory.

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2006

Hello, Class of 2006! I hope everyone has been enjoying the winter season. A hot cup of coffee or cocoa will get you through these colder days. We hope you’re doing well in your careers and personal lives, accomplishing new things, visiting new places, taking on new hobbies, and spending quality time with family and friends. We’re pleased to share the latest classmate news with you.

Kimberly Dowdell was inaugurated as the 2024 American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) 100th president. Kimberly is the first Black woman to be AIA president and the first Millennial to hold the position. “This is both an honor and responsibility that I embrace wholeheartedly,” she said. “My journey in architecture, from my roots in Detroit to this influential role, has deepened my conviction that design has the power to transform communities and elevate the human experience.” Currently a principal at HOK, a global design, architecture, engineering, and planning firm, she has been a LEED-accredited professional since 2007. “This opportunity to serve my profession beautifully aligns with my overarching mission to improve people’s lives through design, fostering a shared vision of a future built environment that nurtures progress, equity, and sustainability for all.” Congratulations, Kimberly!

Georgia Guthrie, senior user researcher at Vanguard, welcomed her second baby boy in December 2022 and reflects on her time at Cornell, noting that working as “stage crew for the Concert Commission” was a real highlight for her. Some of those shows were truly fantastic!

Please keep the updates and memories coming! We’d love to hear about your favorite moments at Cornell, and what you’ve been up to lately. Please share with us! ❖ Kirk Greenspan, MBA ’22 (email Kirk) | Alumni Directory.

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2007

Hello, Class of 2007! I’m very excited to share some updates from you all—thank you so much for your contributions!

This past November, I returned to one of my favorite annual pastimes: watching Cornell men’s hockey at Madison Square Garden. For anyone who had a chance to watch, you know it was an amazing game—I brought my son for the first time, and he had a blast! I was fortunate enough to sit with Meghan Cunningham ’05 and see Gabriel Ayache, his brother, Maurice Ayache ’05, and Will Hendrick with his wife, Carla.

Last year, Stephanie Fissekis, DVM ’11, of Acton, MA, joined a Cornell Alumni Travel group on a trip to the Galápagos, Mashpi Cloud Forest, and Machu Picchu. It was one of the best vacation trips she’s ever taken, and she highly recommends traveling with Cornell groups. 2023 was also the 50th anniversary of the Cornell Ultimate Frisbee club. A large reunion was held in August, where Stephanie joined with alumni and current members to play together and celebrate 50 years of competitive fun.

A cool update came from Keith Dickey about his life and travels since our graduation: “Following my graduation in 2007, I sailed a 31-foot sailboat to Australia with John Depenbrock, my freshman-year roommate, over 18 months. I then embarked on a career journey that led me to contribute to Deloitte in Australia and New Zealand in corporate consulting and healthcare IT, and then back to a graduate business school. Subsequently, I ventured into entrepreneurship, establishing and running my own business.

“Approximately three years ago, I decided to take a prolonged sabbatical from the business world to embark on another sailing adventure, this time with my wife. We’ve been navigating the seas on our 10-year circumnavigation timeline, and this summer we are preparing to cross the Atlantic to Europe.”

Looking forward to sharing more stories with everyone! Have more updates to share? Please feel free to reach out to me or submit online! ❖ Samantha Feibush Wolf (email Samantha) | Alumni Directory.

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2008

We hope that the winter has been going well for everyone and that 2024 continues to be a happy and healthy one for all of you as well as your family and friends!

We have some news from Branden Buehler, who is currently an assistant professor of visual and sound media at Seton Hall University. Branden has a new book out called Front Office Fantasies: The Rise of Managerial Sports Media, which, he tells us, “explores the recent ubiquity of sports media texts focused on administrative figures and bureaucratic duties. It examines, for instance, the increasing popularity of fantasy sports and the growing amount of sports television programming devoted to drafts and free agency.”

Samantha Sheppard, an associate professor of cinema and media studies and interim chair in the Department of Performing and Media Arts at Cornell, said the following about Branden’s book: “In this sharply written and impressive book, Branden Buehler provides compelling new insights into the social, cultural, and visual consequences of sports media’s preoccupation with managerialism, financialization, and quantification. A vital and necessary work, this sophisticated account of managerial sports media is a must-read for all sports, film, and media scholars.” Congratulations on this huge achievement, Branden!

Please continue to send your news in to us! We want all of your updates … Any exciting spring or summer plans? Write in and let us know about major life changes or how you’ve kept busy recently. We’d love to hear from you and give you your 15 minutes of Cornell fame! We also hope that some of you have been supporting Cornell and our class by paying your class dues and checking out Ways to Give—if you haven’t, now is your chance. ❖ Libby Boymel (email Libby) | Alumni Directory.

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2009

I hope everyone had a lovely start to 2024. Please keep your news and notes coming! ❖ Jason Georges (email Jason) | Alumni Directory.

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2010s

2010–13

We don’t have any news from these classes to report this issue—but we hope that will change in the future! What are you doing for work? What are your favorite hobbies? What brings you the most satisfaction these days? If you have a moment, please send an email to: ❖ Classes of 2010–13 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2014

Hello, Class of 2014! We hope you’re planning to join us at our 10th Reunion this June 6–9. Make sure your contact information is up to date and keep an eye on your email for registration information and updates.

Ken Kalynchuk was recently recognized by Crain’s Cleveland Business as one of Cleveland’s 40 under 40 for 2023 relating to his work in economic development finance and community involvement in Northeast Ohio. Ken currently works as a director and principal at Project Management Consultants in Cleveland, OH.

Please send me your news to be featured in an upcoming Class Notes column. ❖ Samantha Lapehn Young (email Samantha) | Alumni Directory.

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2015–17

We hope everyone had a lovely start to 2024. Did you see any classmates recently? Do you have any trips planned for the spring? What is new with you—in your work or your personal life? We’d love to hear from you! ❖ Classes of 2015–17 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2018

Hello, classmates! I am David Ticzon, the new president of the Class of 2018. I graduated from ILR with a minor in information science. Since then, I worked at BlackRock and then got a master’s in computer science at the University of Pennsylvania. I have been working in venture capital focused on high performance blockchains. Currently, I am leading decentralized finance and infra partnerships for a company that I had invested in a few years ago called Mysten Labs. They have built a new blockchain called Sui that is currently the fastest blockchain in the world.

Osei Boateng, MHA ’20, has been selected as one of the top ten CNN Heroes for 2023. Osei was honored for his focus on making healthcare accessible to rural and underserved communities.

I encourage everyone in the Class of 2018 to follow our Instagram (@cornell_2018). Please send us your news! ❖ David Ticzon (email David) | Alumni Directory.

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2019

Happy spring, Class of ’19! We hope you will take the time to write to us! We’d love to know what you’ve been up to since graduation. ❖ Class of 2019 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2020s

2020–23

We don’t have any news from these classes to report this issue—but we hope that will change in the future! What are you doing for work? What are your favorite hobbies? What brings you the most satisfaction these days? If you have a moment, please send an email to: ❖ Classes of 2020–23 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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Grad

Agricultural & Life Sciences

Claude André St-Pierre, PhD ’70, is enjoying retired life in Québec City. He says he’s “waiting for his grandkids to grow up,” and still remembers his Ithaca days fondly­—particularly his dear friends Ron, Ken, and Bob. Claude André just finished a project in which he wrote “the history of the hundred years of the Canadian Society of Agronomy.” He wished his fellow Cornellians a joyous holiday season and Happy New Year.

Emelia Timpo, MS ’79, writes in from East Windsor, NJ, to announce the publishing of her first book. In Perseverance, A Memoir: One Woman’s Journey From Ghana to the United Nations and Beyond, Emelia tells the story of her upbringing in Kumasi, Ghana, where—according to the publisher—she grew up in “a meagre but loving environment surrounded by strong, affirming women, most with limited education.” She says she wrote the book in the hopes that she can “share my resilient spirit with others and show that despite many challenges, people are able to achieve their goals and dreams.”

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Arts & Sciences

Elizabeth Blake, MA ’13, PhD ’16, recently published an academic book called Edible Arrangements: Modernism’s Queer Forms. According to publisher Cambridge University Press, Elizabeth “explores the way modernist writing about eating delves into larger questions about bodily and literary pleasure. Drawing on insights from the field of food studies, she makes dual interventions into queer theory and modernist studies: first, locating an embrace of queerness within modernist depictions of the pleasure of eating; and second, showing how this queer consumption shapes modernist notions of literary form, expanding and reshaping conventional genres. Drawing from a promiscuous archive that cuts across boundaries of geography and canonicity, Blake demonstrates how modernist authors draw on this consuming queerness to restructure a range of literary forms. Each chapter constellates a set of seemingly disparate writers working in related modes—such as the satirical writings of Richard Bruce Nugent, Virginia Woolf, and Katherine Mansfield—in order to demonstrate how writing about eating can both unsettle the norms of bodily pleasure and those of genre itself.”

Harvey Carroll, PhD ’69, wrote in with lots of life updates from Lake Forest Park, WA. He retired from the City University of New York in 2003 and during the pandemic spent a great deal of time revising and updating the 1989 version of his prep chemistry book published by Wiley, which is now called Chemistry for Success: Concepts and Calculations for General Chemistry. It was published in June 2023 and is now available in paperback or e-book version. Harvey writes that he presented a plenary lecture at the 24th International Symposium on Shock Waves, which was held in Beijing, China, in 2004. The talk, titled “The single pulse shock tube: its odyssey in chemical kinetics,” was supposed to be presented by Harvey’s Hebrew University of Jerusalem colleague Assa Lifshitz, but he could not go because of family matters. “My wife, Linda, went with me and we did do some touring around. But I did attend all the symposium lectures.”

Garth Drozin, GR ’78–80, retired in March 2023 after three dozen years as an attorney and judge in California, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC. In his retirement, Garth has circled back to his earlier career as a composer and ensemble conductor. His choral piece, Time for Christmas—which he also transcribed for brass ensemble and percussion—premiered in December 2023 by the Cerritos College Wind Ensemble. It was Garth’s first performance of his music since 1985, when the Los Angeles Philharmonic performed his work in Southern California. Aside from his doctoral studies on the Hill from 1978­–80, Garth graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh, where he majored in music and pre-law, before completing his Master of Music degree at University of North Texas College of Music in 1977. He earned his JD at Southwestern Law School. Garth is also a member of the SUNY Plattsburgh Sports Hall of Fame, into which he was inducted as a gymnast in 1994. He’s won several international and national music and academic prizes and awards over the years—among them, a 1983 Fulbright Senior Professorship, which brought him to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to work as the director of composition studies at the National School of Music. Garth was also the composer-in-residence at SUNY Binghamton from 1982­–83. In April 2024, he’s set to present lectures at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China, on the interdisciplinary approach to world contemporary music. Additional performances of Garth’s music are scheduled throughout 2024, both in the U.S. and abroad. On the Hill, Garth studied composition with Professors Karel Husa and Steven Stucky, DMA ’78, and musicology with Professor William Austin.

Mandy Gutmann-Gonzalez, MFA ’14—a poet, novelist, translator, and text-based artist who teaches creative writing at Clark University—announces that their poetry chapbook, A/An, was published by End of the Line Press in January 2024. By drawing on archival court records of the Salem witch trials of the 17th century, Mandy has set out to “uncover the power and violence residing within the language of the legal system,” according to the publisher. “As state-legislated violence, witch hunts were constitutive to the colonial order, reinforcing what was normal and what was aberrant. Rather than regarding the witch hunts as historical curiosity or speculating to fill the gaps, A/An considers the court examination as poetic form, a hybrid of legal language and lyric utterance.” Mandy is also the author of La Pava, published by Ediciones Inubicalistas.

Téa Obreht, MFA ’08, announced the March 2024 release of her latest book, The Morningside, which was named by Time as one of the most anticipated books of the year. According to the publisher, the book “is at once a sweeping tale of mothers and daughters, a haunting and atmospheric look at a world affected by climate change, and an enchanting folktale of the future. Like its predecessors, Obreht’s latest examines the way people thrive in their imagination (what she calls ‘the necessity of a space between the real and the possible’), and considers how myths shape our families, and our perceptions of the world.” Téa’s debut novel, 2011’s The Tiger’s Wife—about a young doctor in a Balkan country revisiting stories her late grandfather told her—earned an Orange Prize for Fiction and was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her bestselling second novel, a reimagining of the American West called Inland, was recommended by former President Barack Obama in his 2019 summer reading list.

Daniel Sinykin, MA ’12, PhD ’15, recently published Big Fiction: How Conglomeration Changed the Publishing Industry and American Literature with Columbia University Press. Named by The Millions as one of 2023’s most anticipated books, Dan “explores how changes in the publishing industry have affected fiction, literary form, and what it means to be an author,” according to the publisher. With readings from acclaimed writers like Stephen King, Joan Didion, Cormac McCarthy, and more, Dan examines how the consolidation of the book publishing industry by large companies like RCA transformed the business of literature, as well as literature itself. Dan works as an assistant professor of English at Emory University and is the author of 2020’s American Literature and the Long Downturn: Neoliberal Apocalypse. He’s written for various national publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Rumpus, and more.

Rebecca Thompson, MFA ’03, recently completed her PhD in applied intercultural arts research, with a focus on healthcare, the arts, and “the built environment,” she notes. In addition to her schooling, Rebecca works as a consultant for various arts and health programs, creates public art, and also assists community nonprofits serving families, children, and those recovering from substance addiction. She was thrilled to report that she returned to the Hill in 2023 to speak about the arts, research, and business to one of Roberto Bertoia’s classes in the College of Architecture, Art & Planning. “I’m very happy to share my 20 years of experience with other classes at Cornell,” writes Rebecca. “It’s a great time to learn about partnerships, conducting business, and being creative in any field of study.” Nowadays, Rebecca gets the most satisfaction working with community nonprofits helping those in need. Her favorite Cornell memory? “Designing and building the Cornell Centennial Garden at Mann Library,” she writes. “This was my first large-scale commission and a wonderful way to give back to the community where I started as an artist.”

Cheryl Walsh, MA ’91, writes from Iowa City, IA, that her debut novel was published in September 2023. Unequal Temperament, published by American Buffalo Books, tells the story of a meteorologist whose “carefully balanced life is thrown askew in the wake of her father’s death,” she writes. Cheryl spent much of 2023 preparing Unequal Temperament for publication and sharing it with the world. Currently, she’s at work on her second novel—“a family saga set on a 20th-century cattle ranch.”

Albert Yonas, PhD ’69, wrote in from Phoenix in hopes of connecting with other graduate students who worked with the Gibsons from 1964 to 1968. Albert and his spouse, Susan Phipps-Yonas ’71, report that their six grandchildren are growing up quickly. Nowadays, Albert gets the most satisfaction working with honors students at Arizona State University on “vision research.” Late night parties at the Gibsons’ home are Albert’s favorite memory from his time at Cornell: “Lots of drinking, and when all inhibitions were gone the faculty argued about perception.”

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Engineering

Erik Louie, ME ’20, writes in from Berkeley, CA: “Our family grew as we welcomed our son to the world in November!” Congratulations, Erik!

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Hotel Administration

E. Scott Slocum, MMH ’03, recently completed a book of what he calls “short short stories” accompanied by his own original photography. In The Trails We Travel, Scott introduces readers to more than 200 stories laden with poetic description—along with more than four dozen original photographs—to create “a series of moments and memories along the trail of life,” he says.

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Veterinary Medicine

Ellen Carlin, DVM ’07, announces the recent release of her book, Catastrophic Incentives: Why Our Approaches to Disasters Keep Falling Short, published by Columbia University Press. According to the publisher, Ellen and her co-author examined 20 years’ worth of disasters—from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, to the COVID pandemic—in order to “show how flawed incentive structures make the world more vulnerable when catastrophe strikes. They explore how governments, the private sector, nonprofits, and academia behave before, during, and after crises, arguing that standard operational and business models have produced dysfunction.” As stated in her author bio, Ellen is a veterinarian and policy expert who specializes in biological threats­—with a particular focus on infectious pathogens that move from animals to people. She’s worked across multiple sectors on issues of disaster preparedness and national security challenges, including past roles with the U.S. House of Representatives, the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, and Georgetown University.

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Top image: Photo by Jason Koski / Cornell University

Published March 1, 2024