Class Notes

November / December 2021

Columns compiled by your class correspondents

1940s

1940s

1946

I send greetings to all ’46 classmates reading this and am curious who I am addressing. It would be so enlightening to find out who you are. Ellen Vidal Hollmeyer sent me a lovely note. She is managing very well in her own home. Her large family watches over her and sees that she can relax and enjoy each day. Ellen creates gift cards, does jigsaw puzzles, and reads two to three books per week. She also watches “the good old movies” on TV. She attributes her long, healthy life to “enjoying gin martinis at 5 o’clock every day … with cheers to Cornell!” Now that is impressive!

Joyce Manley Forney would like you to know her email address is forneyjoyce4@gmail.com. Send her a message! She says that COVID has changed the lives of all. Her social life this year has centered around afternoons at the dog park. Her nearby granddaughter added twins to the household of three little boys, and one of the twins was a girl! Her biggest takeaway from living through COVID-19 is that “if you are immunized and behave responsibly, you will outlast the pandemic.”

Margaret Monteith Edelman, BA ’45, has been spending time at the doctor’s office. She is recovering from a broken back. She and her husband, John, are still living in their own home and being cared for by their four children and five grandchildren. She is mourning the death of her dear friend since college Nancy Mynott Davis. I also received notice that Harriet Parshall Wood passed away on December 27, 2020, just days before her 97th birthday. She is survived by her three children, seven grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren. Harriet was an avid golfer and talented artist.

You might’ve noticed that Paul Levine’s column is missing. He is recovering from a huge fall. We wish him well with a full recovery and look forward to seeing his newsy column next issue. Easy does it, Paul! Keep sending me news—it is really appreciated. ❖ Dorothy Taylor Prey, 1 Baldwin Ave., #501, San Mateo, CA, 94401; tel., (650) 342-1196; email, dmprey@aol.com. Class website. Online news form.

1947

Happy Holidays, Class of ’47. How are you planning to spend the winter months? Drop us a line to share an update with your classmates, or send your holiday letter to: ❖ Class of 1947, c/o Alexandra Bond ’12, abb83@cornell.edu. Online news form.

1948

Thelma Bush Blood reports that she and her husband, William, an Ithaca College graduate, no longer have an automobile and accordingly spend almost all of their time in their home. She observes: “Fortunately, spring brings good weather and allows us to spend a great deal of time in our beautiful backyard in Titusville, PA. And we have very attentive children watching over us—particularly our oldest child, who lives nearby. Enjoying company in our big house provides a lot of satisfaction.” Their biggest takeaway from the pandemic is how blessed they are for good health and the ability to live independently and to enjoy good friends. At the other extreme, David Prouty reports that his mother, Muriel Sacks Prouty, has dementia and lives in an assisted living facility in Nyack, NY. Bob McKinless gives us an update on his recovery from breaking his leg a year ago, stopping his extensive biking reported in some earlier issues. He spent the last year of leg recovery and COVID-19 living with his son and his wife but expected to return to his own condo and independent living over the summer. He enjoys visits by a great-grandchild who lives 15 minutes away and expects the arrival of more great-grandchildren. On the biking front, he has started riding his recumbent bike again and hopes for a trip this summer. About the pandemic and COVID-19, he reports that he hasn’t sung a note in a year and misses his three singing groups!

Murray Heimberg, MNS ’49, spent most of the COVID-19 year indoors and adjusted to it very well. He did “attend” a number of virtual meetings but comments that retaining his knowledge of biochemistry and clinical medicine has proved to be a hopeless task. His family is scattered from coast to coast, and, with the pandemic, he has not seen any of them for over a year. Time is fleeting in this area, though he is grateful for his longevity (age 96 when written) and good health. Margaret Smith Brown writes that she celebrated her 95th birthday on June 1 with all three of her daughters. She particularly misses the opportunity to have been with her late husband, Albert, PhD ’51, during this viral pandemic. He was a virologist who did his master’s thesis on RNA and could have explained fully the antiviral developments leading successfully to the vaccines (based on messenger RNA). Beverly Fortran explains that she is single and healthy. “I sent a copy of my ‘Cookey Cutter Cookbook’ to CU. It is a historical family volume, small and not published.” Beverly’s family history includes relatives mingling with some famous names including the Vanderbilts and Roosevelts, especially Eleanor—and not just mingling but serving them bread and butter pickles made from homegrown vegetables. “It was called ‘pickle diplomacy,’” she explains.

Your correspondent will close this on a personal note. Several years ago, I reported in these columns that I had reconnected with my steady girlfriend of 1942–43 at Cornell through her appearance in an adjacent Notes column for her Class of ’46 (would have been mine except for WWII). We were now 500 miles apart after 70 years totally out of touch. We had wonderful exchanges of letters, photos, and telephone calls over the period since. She was healthy, happy, and among family. In mid-July she passed away. For both of us, the renewed friendship was a bright spot in our lives. ❖ Ray Tuttle, 65 Oyster Reef Dr., Hilton Head Island, SC 29926; email, RayTutt@aol.com. Online news form.

1949

Classmates, please continue to stay in touch. We are all eager to hear from each of you! Please submit an online news form or send your news to: ❖ Dorothy Mulhoffer Solow, 50 Grant St., Wellsboro, PA 16901; tel., (570) 948-9107 or (412) 215-1435; email, winspeck@yahoo.com; or Class of 1949, c/o Alexandra Bond ’12, abb83@cornell.edu.

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1950s

1950

At this writing (August 15), we don’t yet know the exact format that our class columns will appear in. That set me thinking about the 20 years I have served as a class correspondent. For a bunch of reasons, my first class Reunion was our 50th in 2000. On campus I had been a zilch, an unknown country hick, though a WWII veteran. At the Reunion I was apprehensive, wondering how the experience would play out—and was surprised by the warm acceptance I received, the upbeat, pleasant camaraderie, little different than if I had been a BMOC (Big Man On Campus).

A surprise came when Bob Fite sent Jack Rose, MD ’54, to ask me to be a class correspondent. Bob had been serving as a correspondent and wanted to retire. I had a bit of writing experience, but how Bob knew about it, and why he recommended me, is still a mystery. As was my sudden, unexpected promotion from zilch to class officer. Ruth Downey Crone was my initial co-correspondent, followed by Marion Steinmann and Pat Carry Stewart, all the finest. Having separate male and female correspondents was a holdover from 1946–69, when there had been two classes, male and female. Since Pat’s retirement in 2019, I have been the sole author. It has been one life-pleasing experience.

It’s a pleasure to report on Dick Pogue (Cleveland, OH), faithful, active member of our Class of the Century, our class president, 2005–10, and currently a member of our class advisory council. In 1994 he retired as senior managing partner from Jones Day, one of the largest law firms in the US. In 2004 he was called back by the firm to promote civic activities in the Cleveland metropolitan area and for 17 years has reported daily to the office. Dick has an Iowa connection. His dad was a farm boy who didn’t attend school until the tenth grade. Somehow, he witnessed a high-visibility murder trial and decided on the spot to become a lawyer. That farm boy went on to the U. of Nebraska, then to Michigan Law School for a JD and Harvard Law School for an SJD. He joined a law firm in Boston, became chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, and later formed the private law firm of Pogue & Neal. (In 1967, Dick’s law firm purchased his dad’s law firm.)

Along the way, as his father’s career advanced, Dick lived in Boston, Paris, and New York City. At age 10, Dick and his family moved to Chevy Chase, MD, where he later attended a large high school in D.C., played center on the basketball team, was president of the student council, and graduated number three in his class. At Cornell, he played on the freshman basketball team, was the assistant manager of the varsity basketball team, was manager of his fraternity, and was sports editor, then managing editor, of the Cornell Daily Sun, the student-produced morning newspaper for the campus and the Ithaca community. After Cornell, he followed his dad to the U. of Michigan Law School, where he was president of the Barristers, a pseudo honorary society, and wrote an article in the Michigan Law Review that was quoted in a US Supreme Court decision.

After law school in 1953, he was commissioned in the US Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps and worked for three years in its patent division in the Pentagon. While working nights on an antitrust casebook, he met a lawyer with the Cleveland law firm of Jones, Day, Cockley & Reavis; he joined the firm and four years later became a partner. In the ’70s, Dick became chairman of the Antitrust Society of the American Bar Assn. and recruited major corporate clients for his firm. In 1984, he became the managing partner and took the firm to international status, growing it from 335 lawyers to 1,225. He was also very active in Cleveland’s civic scene and in 1989 was recognized as the most powerful man in Cleveland.

While in Michigan Law School, he met wife Pat, and they married in 1954. They have three wonderful children: Mark, a litigating partner in a law firm in Providence, RI; Tracy, former associate in a prestigious law firm in Manhattan; and David, a writer and entertainer in Westport, CT. Dick and Pat have eight grandchildren, five of whom are college graduates (the others will soon be), and, as of August 15, a great-grandson. While mild spinal stenosis has (at least temporarily) cut short his tennis game, he still loves golf. Except for 2020, for the past 18 years he and Pat have hosted an extended family gathering in August at Basin Harbor on Lake Champlain in Vermont.

CLASS INFORMATION: 1) With the new alumni news format, class dues for one or two related class members will be $25. Club class dues for one or two will be $100, to help fund our class operating account. Dues of either kind are now tax deductible on federal income tax returns. 2) President Jim Brandt and treasurer Ben Williams are working on plans for a 2022 Reunion to replace our lost 70th Reunion. Send suggestions to Jim at jabrandt2@gmail.com.

And lastly, Ann Leister Mayer (Anacortes, WA) continues to enjoy bird watching, a passion she acquired from her ornithologist father, Claude Leister, Class of 1917. ❖ Paul Joslin, 13731 Hickman Rd., #4207, Urbandale, IA 50323; tel., (515) 278-0960; email, phjoslin@aol.com. Online news form.

1951

Your correspondent is trying to remember the name of a faculty member that alumni recognized as being an enjoyable part of their heritage during a virtual Reunion event. The faculty member in question might be in Engineering; he was mentioned along with CU professors David Daiches, Milton Konvitz, PhD ’33, Vladimir Nabokov, and Harold Bloom. Does anyone out there remember that conversation?

When asked what brings him the most satisfaction these days, Chuck Warren, MBA ’52 (Shrewsbury, MA) wrote, “How well my three children, nine grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren have survived the financial and health challenges of COVID-19.” Edward Ryder (Salinas, CA) writes, “I have published two novels since retirement in 2003. I’m now working on a nonfiction book on the bleak outlook for our world: threats to survival.” He adds, “We are alive and in good health.” When asked about his biggest takeaway from the pandemic, he wrote, “We won’t know till it’s over!”

Theodora “Todi” Frizzell Frick says, “At 92, I have slowed down. I have seven children and steps who attended mainly southern colleges—none at Cornell, sadly.” Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic was the “feeling of being trapped!” Robert Temkin, MBA ’53 (Rochester, NY; nikmet@aol.com) says, “I met a charming New York woman while in Florida for vacation.” He retired for the second time after 20 years as senior director, Medicare counseling at Rochester General Hospital. “Retirement number one was from Bergen Brunswig (now AmerisourceBergen) Pharmaceuticals.” Robert says that “nostalgic memories of the past with emphasis on Cornell” bring him the most satisfaction these days.

Adele Mongan Fasick (San Francisco, CA; adelefasick@yahoo.com) says, “I have learned how to Zoom and have enjoyed many performances and meetings that are now virtual. I am maintaining my blog. We are all vaccinated now, so I can visit with my daughters and their families.” Adele adds that “being able to go outside and being able to Zoom with friends that I no longer see” gives her the most satisfaction these days. Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic: “We can put up with a lot more than we thought we could.” The main change for Frances Goldberg Myers involves “not eating out in pleasant restaurants or with friends, no opportunities for volunteering, and few socializations—masks and distancing prevail.” When she wrote, she said her “last in-person visit was her 90th birthday party—a big celebration with 50-plus friends and neighbors. It was the last opportunity for people to travel and they came from Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, and New York.” Frances gets the most satisfaction these days from “socializing with friends.” Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic: “Too many people have no sense of community or responsibility for others, have no respect or caring for those who have less and their suffering, or are only ‘me’ centered—their pods, their money, and what it buys for them. Has education failed?”

Joan Falconer writes, “I moved into a cooperative building two months before the pandemic hit. I’m trying to keep up with friends and former neighbors.” What brings her the most satisfaction these days? “Friends, music, and the care and feeding of two cats,” she writes. Mary Perrine Johnson (john97john@gmail.com) writes, “Before COVID moved into our lives, I did not have a need for Zoom. Now it’s a way of life. It has allowed me to engage in meetings, workshops, and concerts from California to Switzerland. Zoom classes have also taken the place of playing music with groups. Performing opportunities have disappeared. Not to worry—I am ready to enjoy what others are doing!” When asked what else has been happening in her life, she writes, “The usual ongoing health challenges, young ones leaving home, the arrival of my first great-grandchild—and zero travel.” Mary gets the most satisfaction these days from “being able to stay in touch with friends and family, new friendships with other ‘COVID prisoners’ I had not known well before, and coffee and meals on patios outside!” Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic: “We are all okay and grateful for each day more than ever. I am all right not seeing people as long as we can talk and have those family Zoom meets.” ❖ Brad Bond, email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12, abb83@cornell.edu. Online news form.

1952

We are online. I hope you found our column! There is also a page of alumni deaths that is somewhat more detailed than what was in the magazine. Of course, if you don’t have the link, I don’t know how you will get any of this information. I don’t know about any of the rest of you, but being 90 and post-pandemic (?) events have offered me some measure of confusion.

Let’s begin with news received in March. Ann Corbett Ayers has moved to Arlington, MA. She has six great-grandchildren. Her family has brought her the most satisfaction these days. Her takeaway from the pandemic: “Pay attention to the experts.” Joan Aten Beach writes from Lantana, FL, that Florida is a big COVID state. “I don’t eat out, do wear masks, and wash hands all the time.” Joan still plays golf but is otherwise careful about all activities. Son Jeffrey ’76 lives with her, and she walks a lot. “Widows don’t have a big social life!” These days she finds the most satisfaction in “Florida sunshine, reading, gardening, and this great house,” but she misses “travel and seeing my two [other] adult children and grandchildren.” Joan Schmeckpeper Richards Torelli (Boynton Beach, FL) sends tough news. She has been “battling bone marrow cancer for four years” and is on chemotherapy. On the family front, she has three children plus spouses, eight grandchildren, and five greats (the newest arrived in April 2021). These days, she has derived the most satisfaction from “talking on the phone to family and friends.” James Clarke (Columbia, SC) has recently seen “no real change, as we spent half the time on our farm in Chester County.” He is busy managing their tree farm. His biggest takeaway from the pandemic has been “going through the ordeal of getting the COVID vaccine.” Joan Cruthers Flood (Clearwater, FL) writes, “I have bought a house in Florida and now live with my son Tim.” In retirement, she has been “reading a lot, doing needlework, growing vegetables—what else in Florida. I have a mango tree in the backyard in full bloom; it will have to be supported or it will fall over.” Her husband, Walter “Bud” ’49, BEE ’50, PhD ’54, died. He is still missed. The accomplishments of the younger family members bring her great satisfaction. Joan’s takeaway from the pandemic: “Boredom. Anger at those who refuse to follow needed precautions and directions to get rid of COVID-19.”

Now to news received in April: Evelyn “Kris” Hoffmann Huffman is still in Kansas City. Because of COVID, Kris hasn’t seen much change. “Sadly, we can’t travel,” she says, but she has been cooking, cleaning, and gardening. What brings her the most satisfaction these days? “Retirement—sleeping late. Not having to drive across town to teach an 8 o’clock class to sleepy students.” Biggest takeaway from the pandemic? “Have lots of good reading matter at home. And Netflix helps too.” Tom Newton wrote, “No real changes. A year older with more old-age health issues! Still in the same house and town.” Dana Johnson (Pittsford, NY) wrote, “I have been playing clarinet and baritone sax in three bands for 30 years—since retirement.” In a new note, Ann Coffeen Turner checked the box that lets me share her email: harann52@yahoo.com. Ann, who has been tutoring at her home in New Hampshire, writes, “In two weeks I can see my grandchildren and my pupils without a mask.” These days, tutoring has brought her the most satisfaction. Her takeaway from the pandemic? “Murphy’s Law has gone international.” Harriette Scannell Morgan (Adamstown, MD) wrote, “Body at 90 not moving so well. Had to give up my car.” She is “taking one day at a time!” Of her children, she writes, “One in Afghanistan, one a research doctor, one an architect, and one unemployed.” Satisfaction? “I am archivist at the retirement community where I live.” Pandemic? “I do not like being in lockdown.” Ina Perlstein Loewenberg (Iowa City, IA) says “ha ha” to whether her life has changed recently. She continues, “My husband of 69 years died at the end of 2019. Then came the pandemic. Although I am active on email, phone, and Zoom, I haven’t seen my two children in person since March of last year.” Ina has been leading her poetry reading group on Zoom, and last year published a small book of poems for limited circulation. She says she is “getting older—and feeling it.” She finds satisfaction in “being more open, although remotely, with family and friends.” Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic: “We are all interdependent—more than we ever realized.” Jim Ling (Fort Collins, CO) sent in a brief note to say that he was “unable to travel because of the pandemic.” Jim is president of the local sanitation district and still volunteering with the program honoring veterans in hospice.

Closing notes: If your email is not here, it is because you haven’t checked the little box on the news form that allows your e-address to be shared online. If you find the news form that you haven’t sent in yet, please fill it in and send it to Cornell University, ATTN: Sarah Dymak, 130 E. Seneca St., Ste. 400, Ithaca, NY 14850. These forms give me your voices, and that is a gift. ❖ Joan Boffa Gaul, joangaul@mac.com. Online news form.

1953

Ann Woolley Banks, living in Gloucester, MA, has endured lockdown productively and with humor. She writes, “Lockdown—loved it. It’s legitimate to stay home and play with my toys.” Ann adds that she takes pleasure “digging in the dirt, growing veggies, and making a meadow (about 20’ x 20’).” Her takeaway from the pandemic: the importance of take-out food. From her time on the Hill, Ann fondly remembers an early morning field trip with Prof. Arthur Allen 1907, PhD 1911, of the Ornithology department to watch robins at a territorial barrier. As a result, she has become a birder. These days, she enjoys “two great-grands—boys, 4 and 7—to play with and make mittens for.”

Donald Derrick and his wife, Sally, have mostly stayed safely at home in LeRoy, NY. They both manage diabetes and are being treated by a Veterans Administration hospital. He comments: “It’s hard to keep up with the currency devaluation of inflation—government theft. I keep up to date listening to Fox News and get news in the mail from the Jerusalem Prayer Team and the Christian Broadcasting Network.” Donald has four great-grandchildren and remembers with pleasure “eating ice cream from the Dairy Bar near Wing Hall.”

Richard Hayes (richard.hayes32@gmail.com) and wife Jane moved into a condo in August 2020 and enjoy the new living quarters. The pandemic has necessitated “living with fewer social contacts, but we are staying healthy and keeping up on world affairs.” They are fortunate to have their daughter and family nearby in Kirkland, WA, with one son in Austin and the other with a new job remotely working from Orlando. Herbert Neuman (herbneuman@aol.com) writes: “2020 was a tough year. After 67 years of marriage, Stephanie passed in April after a battle with cancer. I, in turn, had COVID-19 in April and was able to fight it off without hospitalization.” On a positive note, Herbert is enjoying his three grandchildren and their successes, “and I’m still attentive to my real estate business. Keeping occupied is my secret to longevity!”

Neil Jones has finally been able to “retire” from church financial work and is happy to slow down and enjoy family and home. It is fortunate that he has the time to help with care for his wife, Ruth. He writes: “Ruth had a fall back in September, which broke some bones in her wrist/hand. Some bone is resting on a nerve, which causes severe pain when touched. Thus, rehab work has been delayed. We are now in a home healthcare program, with frequent visits by health staff.” Neil remembers with amusement: “Back in the early 1950s, I worked in Sage Hall in the food delivery system to the girls’ residence—the office confused my payroll with a lady co-worker who had almost the same name. The records got confused more than once.” These days he enjoys “watching grandkids (4 and 2) interact and play with COVID-19 toys and games.”

Alan Perlmutter (sandperl28@gmail.com) writes: “Our business, Big Sur River Inn, was dramatically overwhelmed by COVID. The restaurant closed almost completely. Lodging units diminished in availability. The market is missing thousands of national and international tourists—and we are still here, strong, healthy, and masked. We learned to love and thrive on Zoom with our widespread family—in San Diego, Portland, ME, Western Massachusetts, Israel, Canada, New York, and Los Angeles.”

Barbara Querze Weinreich, MEd ’54, writes from Orlando, FL, about her life during the pandemic: “My daily life changed when I started using Instacart instead of doing my own grocery shopping. The two bananas I ordered arrived as two pounds of bananas, leading to the necessity of baking banana bread. These unintended consequences are fairly common. I’ve had the time and leisure to notice things I never paid attention to before, like fabric design and birdlife in my backyard. I enjoy my independence. My family Zooms one evening each week. I enjoy seeing my grandchildren’s dorm rooms or apartments and hearing how that generation is managing now.” Barbara remembers with amusement that, at Cornell, “dogs had free rein on campus and in the classrooms. It was not unusual to have to step over a sleeping dog to access a class.”

Help classmates keep up with news about you. Send your news to: ❖ Ed Gibson, edwincosgibson@gmail.com; Caroline Mulford Owens, 53news.cornell@gmail.com; John Nixon, nixn1@hotmail.com; or Jack Allen, jwallen@msu.edu. Online news form.

1954

Please bear with me as I attempt to tell you about three very distinguished classmates. Two of them attended the Bronx High School of Science and then Cornell together. Untutored in physics and unable to communicate directly with them, I am presenting information from The 100 Most Notable Cornellians by Altschuler, Kramnick, and Moore.

“The son of Jewish immigrants who left Czarist Russia in search of opportunity and freedom from religious persecution, Sheldon Glashow rose to become one of the most famous physicists of the late 20th century.” His father built him a chemistry lab in the basement of their house. He and Steven Weinberg discussed physics while riding the subway to and from high school. Sheldon “loved billiards, which he viewed as an art of controlling motion. Thinking about billiard balls was one way into theoretical physics. In his senior year he was a finalist in the national Westinghouse Science Talent Search.” After Cornell, he “succeeded brilliantly in his graduate work at Harvard,” where he earned his PhD in physics in 1958. He “published something relevant to what became known as electroweak theory (the unification of electromagnetism and the weak force).” (You can see why a non-scientist must rely on the Cornell authors.)

In Copenhagen, Sheldon said, “I discovered the SU(2) x U(1) structure of the electroweak theory.” According to The 100 Most Notable Cornellians, “His insight needed more work, but the formula … stuck as the fundamental way to express the link between the weak force and electromagnetism.” Sheldon worked at CalTech, Stanford, and UC Berkeley. In 1966 he returned to Harvard, where he became the Higgins Professor of Physics in 1979 and later the Mellon Professor of the Sciences. “He was among Harvard’s most famous teachers, participating in its Core Curriculum Program and offering, in addition to his specialized courses, a course for non-scientists entitled ‘From Alchemy to Quarks.’” (That’s just what I need—right now!)

“In 1979 Sheldon shared the Nobel Prize in physics with Steven Weinberg and Abdus Salam. They were cited for their complementary contributions in formulating the electroweak theory…. Like Einstein, Glashow imagines a day when physics will have a theory unifying all four fundamental forces—the strong and weak subatomic forces, electromagnetism, and gravity—in a single mathematical framework…. The age of great discovery is not at an end, for ‘nature,’ he said in his Nobel lecture, ‘must still have some surprises in store for us.’”

Steven Weinberg died on July 23, 2021 in Austin, TX. On July 26, the New York Times published a full-page obituary describing his extremely significant contributions to physics. Our condolences to his wife and our classmate, Louise (Goldwasser). Steven once said, “I felt that if I could understand theoretical physics, I could understand anything.” He certainly showed that he understood a lot! But even he remained a “profound skeptic of all religious attempts to assign meaning to the universe.” He once said, “The more comprehensible the universe becomes, the more pointless it seems.”

After happy years at Cornell, Steven married Louise. After a year in Copenhagen, he began a PhD program at Princeton, where he “established his interests in particle physics and quantum field theory.” By age 31 in 1964, he was a full professor at Berkeley. In 1967, they returned, with a child, to the East Coast, where Louise entered Harvard Law School and Steven taught at Harvard and MIT. Louise became a legal scholar and an authority on the federal courts and taught at the U. of Texas Law School. Steven followed her to Austin as a professor of science in physics and astronomy, before winning the Nobel Prize with Glashow and Salam.

Steven believed “passionately in the simplicity of the physical world and shared with Stephen Hawking and Glashow the dream of finding a final theory that unites the interactions of all four fundamental forces of nature.” Steven received many honorary degrees and prizes and served on government and scholarly advisory boards. “His interest in communication led him to work tirelessly to promote an appreciation for science among the general population.” He wrote several books for educated laypersons. In 1999, he received the Lewis Thomas Prize, which is awarded to the researcher who best embodies the “scientist as poet.”

“In articles for the New York Review of Books, Weinberg has not been kind to religion. ‘With or without religion good people can behave well and bad people can do evil. But for good people to do evil, that takes religion.’ For Weinberg no god guarantees a happy ending for human projects…. The universe is pointless, a fact that leaves it up to human beings to make life worth living. They do that, he believes, by loving one another, creating works of art, striving to build peaceful communities, and seeking to understand the world they accidentally inhabit.” Let’s get to it! Please continue to share news of the notable people in your lives. ❖ Ruth Carpenter Bailey, rcbhtb@gmail.com; Bill Waters, billwaters@optonline.net. Class website. Online news form.

1955

We’re sending get-well wishes to Dave Schmidt, who wrote that he had “a medical winter,” with a new heart valve, stroke, and then seizure. “I’m getting back to normal, still not driving and no golf—but got my COVID shot early through the V.A. and doing lots of walking.” This was his report last spring, and we assume things are continuing to look up now! Dave and his fellow Cayuga’s Waiters of the ’50s Zoom together for cocktails on Friday nights.

Liz Rothermel Hopwood, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, FL, says that with a vaccination “life is easier and almost normal,” and she was planning a trip to see her grandson graduate from Vanderbilt. In 2020 she spent the entire summer in Florida and enjoyed getting together with neighbors who stayed, calling themselves the “driveway divas.” Normally she goes to her condo in McLean, VA, “but living by the ocean I usually had a breeze—and the temperature here was the same as the D.C. swamp.” Liz is busy with both the opera society and symphony society, plus volunteering as a docent at the art museum.

Philip Alkon, PhD ’74, reports, “COVID has restricted community and group gatherings, but we are not yet restricted by health or age constraints, which is a blessing.” He adds, “The world’s growing population and our misuse of our global ecosystem is catching up with us, and I’m not sure that we have wised up in time.” Jim Van Buren, MD ’59, and his wife, Mary (Martin) ’56, say, “Good news! We have survived the pandemic so far. We’re both fully vaccinated and are beginning to go out for meals. We took a five-day vacation with our daughters to Kiawah Island, SC, in May.” The Van Burens report “no acute medical problems beyond dealing with age-related issues. All in all, we’re doing well.” ❖ Nancy Savage Petrie, 85 Brook St., Noank, CT 06340; email, nancysavagepetrie@yahoo.com. Online news form.

1956

Carol Solomon Levine (NYC) officially retired in 2019. Her book, Navigating Your Later Years for Dummies, Portable Edition, was published in January 2021.

Nina French Glover (St. Petersburg, FL) is living in downtown retirement housing, which she says “is conveniently near everything” for her. Rev. John Maltby (Monmouth Junction, NJ) retired as a pastor in 2008. He continues as chaplain and historian for the Monmouth Junction First Aid Squad and provides opening prayers for the local Lions Club, Scout troop ceremonies, police and fire department events, the Masons, and the local grange. John hopes for a revival of the Big Red Band Alumni Assn. at our next Reunion.

Leo Convery lives in Edgartown, MA, with his wife, Alison, and spends the winter months in Naples, FL, where, he says, they were both able to get their COVID vaccinations. Leo is still engaged in the real estate business in Martha’s Vineyard.

I am in a book group here in NYC with our Reunion chair, Carole Rapp Thompson, and Judith Cohen Lowry. Judy picked the last book, a winner, The Island at the Center of the World, by Russell Shorto, about the history of the Dutch colony of Manhattan. ❖ Phyllis Bosworth, phylboz@aol.com. Online news form.

1957

Tom Itin has been presented with the coveted Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award for his leadership in the field of entrepreneurship. The details of the award include Tom having taken a number of ideas and turned them into projects, which developed into major Wall Street situations or closely held successes. It would be quicker to relate what Tom didn’t do to earn this award than to quote all the endeavors involved.

To get through the pandemic era, Emita Brady Hill (emita.hill@gmail.com) acquired a puppy. She is gathering with friends post-vaccine and continues to volunteer for worthy causes, one of which is becoming a great-grandmother. Emita also wrote a book last year that is currently a finalist in a distinguished competition. Martha Ballard Lacy (lacy.mardick@gmail.com) is also involved in significant volunteer opportunities and is clearing out paperwork and furniture that she no longer needs. During the pandemic she was Zoom-active and enjoyed phone calls from her three children (almost) daily. She has spent time at the Lodge at Geneva-on-the-Lake near Ashtabula, OH, a convenient location for her and children to convene.

Lou Heimbach, MBA ’58 (LHeimbach@silolane.com) continues as chairman of the board of Orange Bank and Trust in Middletown, NY. His duties must be so time-consuming that he included no other news. Bill Schmidt had two paintings of Washington scenes (views of the National Gallery of Art and Dupont Circle) at a D.C. gallery this summer. Too bad we missed it, because they were handing out complimentary glasses of wine, and dinner came with a 15% off coupon. ❖ John Seiler, suitcase2@aol.com. Online news form.

1958

Thanks for your news and dues. It’s good to hear from so many ’mates as we come out of this past unusual year and a half. Many report what they had, or had not, been able to do during that period and we’ll catch up with some of them here, in the new online column (which first posted in late July). Eugene Ceglowski, DVM ’67, up in Rupert, VT, says, “I’ve lived an isolated life for the past year—putting up 100 acres of hay, raising heifers, talking but not live-visiting with family, seeing how granddaughters, both juniors at Cornell, are doing, and being glad I’m not one of the [then] 530,000 who died.” Philip Dattilo Jr. writes a similar note from Mendon, NY, saying only, “I have cabin fever—no travel and don’t go to restaurants.” Anthony Mauro (coco141@msn.com) of East Amherst, NY, has gotten out somewhat in advising and assisting his son’s business, operating four restaurants in Western New York, and enjoying grandkids and family. He reports the loss of classmate Warren “Terry” Grinnan, his good friend and roommate. We also lost Carroll Blake last May, learned in a note from his wife, Georgiana. Carroll was an ME and Sigma Nu and, Georgiana says, always enjoyed Reunions.

Almeda “AC” Church Riley writes of radical change in her life “due to the unexpected death of my husband, John ’55, on January 30. We met at the Cornell’s Adult University election program in 1994 and celebrated our 25th anniversary in 2020. He was a kind, smart, wonderful man, loved and respected by all who knew him.” AC says she has many supportive friends at the Wesley Community in Saratoga Springs, NY, where she and John had been very glad they made the move. AC continues golfing, work at her church and in Planned Parenthood affiliation, following local politics, and “knitting more hats than I can count for the homeless.” She would like to hear from her classmates at riley5558@gmail.com.

Two ’mates live in Maine: Rev. Bob Beringer (beringermcb@yahoo.com) in Topsham and Ken Wing, PhD ’66 (wingke58@gmail.com) in Brunswick. Both have stayed close to home, Bob keeping busy at his life care residence giving weekly inspiration programs over Zoom and staying grateful for every day, and Ken “often in self-isolation, volunteering when I can with a Bath-Brunswick respite care group.” Ken has a special request for classmates: “I’m looking for a photo of the west exterior wall of the West End Candy Kitchen that displayed a huge sign stating ‘Behind this Wall are 365 Cases of Beer.’ If you have one, please send as an attachment to my email address above.” John Buchleitner, BEE ’60, feels that “our teenagers are taking the greatest hit with the lack of socialization during the pandemic; it will show in a few years.” John remembers when his EE class moved to Phillips Hall in our sophomore year and can’t believe the changes on campus since then.

William Cotton, writing from home in New Orleans, says that COVID restrictions were not particularly onerous for him, only eliminating fencing and badminton and allowing outdoor tennis four to five times a week. He admits to a lot of reading, however, along with usual video and online activities, especially via Zoom (a lifesaver for many of us). William believes that RNA-based vaccines should protect us from future viruses and recommends reading Walter Isaacson’s The Code Breakers. Mick and Joan Bleckwell McHugh still reside in Shawnee Mission, KS (whence, perhaps, the tornadoes hitting the East this summer came). Both have retired, Joan from social work and Mick from dentistry, and are keeping busy with usual local activities and later generations. Joan feels the biggest takeaways from the pandemic are “the loss of control of what we can do and the changes in the power of our nation in our personal lives and in our country.” Arthur Horowitz says, on that matter: “Follow the science, but we Cornellians have always known that.” He and Francine celebrated their 62 years together and Arthur is now 17-plus years retired from ob/gyn doctoring. Both are “fully vaccinated and trying to keep up with the kids and friends,” and he notes that “waking up alive” brings him great satisfaction! You can reach the Horowitzes in Hopkins, MN, at horow001@icloud.com.

Don Barber (donbarber301@gmail.com) writes from Plano, TX, and reports the loss of his wife, Gretchen, last year and a son, Andrew, in 2018. Both were UPenn grads. He derives much satisfaction “from my daughter and two lovely grandchildren, but I’m saddened by the loss of so many friends and loved ones from the pandemic. And yet, I’m trying to enjoy every day.” Muriel King Taylor, MD ’62 (jamur4321@gmail.com) writes from Lakewood, WA, and she too has been isolating at home, suspending her usual “out-of-the-house activities like weekly rowing, exercise classes, and group painting. I’ve been free to have few time restrictions, spending the better part of a week reading the Sunday edition of the New York Times.” Muriel takes “great pride in our Cornellian colleague Anthony Fauci, MD ’66, a wise man, consummate communicator, scientist, and humanist, all tempered with humility. We’re very lucky to have him functioning.” Muriel, like many of us, also looks forward to the availability of the hard copy of this publication. Holidays soon will be upon us, and we wish all continued safe and happy ones, and a better year in 2022. ❖ Dick Haggard, richardhaggard11@gmail.com; Jan Arps Jarvie, janjarvie@gmail.com. Online news form.

1959

It’s the newest edition of our digital column, and initial reports from the July/August column are positive. If you’re interested in seeing earlier print issues of Cornell Alumni Magazine, you can access issues going back decades at ecommons.cornell.edu, a service of the Cornell Library.

“We must better prepare for new stresses—pandemics, global warming, population displacements, etc.,” writes Alan Schechter (alannschechter@gmail.com), reflecting on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Alan continues to supervise a research group at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, that is studying the interaction of hemoglobin and nitric oxide, with the goal of understanding how nitric oxide is transported by blood and how it acts at distal sites, opening up the compound’s possible use in treating a variety of hemoglobin-related illnesses. The COVID-19 lockdown made Alan and his wife work from home and interact with family and friends primarily via Zoom. Two of their four grandchildren are now at Stanford U.; the younger two are in high school.

“Everyone seems to be so involved in interesting activities, while I try to figure out why I need eight sets of linen table napkins or several tablecloths that don’t fit either of my two tables!” comments Carole Parnes (caparnes@att.net). After eight years of dividing her time between Alameda, CA, and Green Valley, AZ, Carole has sold the latter house and is back in Alameda full time. She’s open for suggestions regarding continuing care retirement communities for the next phase of her life—“somewhere without snow,” she stresses. Hank Stark (hankstark1@aol.com), one of several ’59ers who lives in Kendal at Ithaca in Cayuga Heights (we know what the snow is like there), facilitates a current events discussion group at the county senior center. He has written over 400 reviews of restaurants in the greater Ithaca area for the Ithaca Journal and the Ithaca Times. You can read many of them here.

Unearth a browning New York Times clipping and travel down memory lane: The 1955 news article listed 1,500 students in NYC who received state Regents scholarships that year. Each scholarship carried a yearly stipend of $350 for four years and could be used at colleges within the state. Among those NYC recipients who chose Cornell were Neil Janovic, Ellie Applewhaite, Fred Brustman, Peter Yarrow, Phil Yarnell, Ron Demer, Carl Leubsdorf, Benson Simon, BA ’61, MBA ’62, and Marian Fay Levitt (marianfl1@verizon.net). “I came to the US from Budapest after World War II at the age of 8,” writes Marian. “Due to a complicated family history, my parents were already here and were citizens. I was then given the choice by my father to become a citizen immediately (as the child of citizens) or wait until I turned 18 and apply on my own. Hating everything that reminded me of Hungary and the war, I said ‘immediately!’ My parents dressed me in my best frilly outfit (which I disliked thoroughly) and took me downtown for a private interview with the judge. He cross-examined me privately to ensure that I was not being enticed into citizenship. After firmly convincing him that I indeed decided this on my own, he swore me in on his Bible in his chambers. Fast forward to high school, from which I graduated at age 17: to be able to receive a NYS scholarship, one had to be a US citizen. If I had not insisted on becoming a citizen at age 8, I could not have received the scholarship and could not have afforded to go to Cornell. There is a moral there.”

“If my brother is in my mother’s stomach, then where does the lentil soup go? My mother had just finished her bowl of hot soup, and I was staring at her swollen stomach. With each spoonful of soup she ate, I winced, thinking of my baby brother swimming for dear life in that cauldron called her stomach. I knew her stomach was really big, but was it big enough to hold a baby and all that hot soup?” So begins a recent essay by Tom Golden, available on his blog, which can be accessed via his website. After many years of spending most of his time in New Jersey, where he had his clinical psychology practice and was a frequent performer at a Hoboken venue, Tom is now living full time in New Berlin, NY, near the Golden Artist Colors manufacturing plant and the artists’ residence of the Sam & Adele Golden Foundation. He continues to work with several clients, and he occasionally sings standards known as the “Great American Songbook” at Empire House Hotel and Restaurant in nearby Gilbertsville—small, quaint, and with tablecloths and elegant wine goblets. ❖ Jenny Tesar, jet24@cornell.edu. Online new s form.

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1960s

1960

Having been hard at work in early 2020 with preparations for our big six-decade gathering, class council members Alan and Ellie Ross Garfinkel now say with regret, “We very much missed our in-person 60th Reunion, as well as our annual fall gathering in New York City at Sardi’s restaurant. Until COVID hit, we had been busy traveling, volunteering, and keeping in touch with our mostly grown grandchildren. Our youngest grandson started college in the fall, the oldest received a master’s degree from Columbia, and three granddaughters are now either working or finishing college. While these days we go to fewer social events, concerts, and plays, we have been able to spend the summer months at our place in Vermont playing golf, swimming, and seeing friends outdoors. Winter kept us from outdoor activities because we didn’t travel to Florida, where we’ve been going regularly to New Smyrna Beach.” Still, having been able to participate in Zoom classes, online bridge games, and family game nights, Ellie and Alan admit that “the pandemic without modern technology would have been more difficult.”

Katherine Beneke Lyle reports from Connecticut that she and Bob ’58 have spent “most of our days since COVID here in Vernon, but also still spend time at our cottage in Kennebunkport, ME. We’ve made lots of visits to doctors to care for ‘rusty parts’ but are really doing fine for two 80-plus people. I made 300 masks during the pandemic, and it looks like we are going to continue using them.” Remembering other classmates, Kathy says, “I speak with former roommate Sue Phelps Day, MS ’62, and her husband, Bill ’59, regularly but do not get to see them very often since they moved to California. I also talk about once a month with Mary Ellen Berger McDougal, who lost her husband, Dick ’58, MS ’63, in March but keeps busy collecting fabric and making beautiful quilts. Karen Gear Alliyuddin, MS ’65, who has lived in Malaysia for all of her married life, visited us about five years ago, but I have lost track of another roommate, Carol Dioguardi O’Sullivan, MA ’62, last known to be living in Oxfordshire, England. Our older son, Arthur, and his family live in Essex, VT, and our younger son, Aaron, lives in Pasadena, CA, where he is head of the film and photography department at East Los Angeles College. We are happy and healthy and glad to be Cornellians.”

Susan Shapiro Prohofsky, who lives in Sarasota, FL, sent the sad news that her husband, Earl, PhD ’63, who was a professor of physics at Purdue U. and to whom she had been married for 59 years, died in late 2019. About COVID, Susan writes, “Fortunately, my community has lots of safe places to walk, including conservation areas, so I have seen a great many birds and an occasional turtle on my daily walks.” Susan says she finds the most satisfaction “keeping up with my four children and my 11 grandchildren. Most recently, my grandson Liad graduated magna cum laude from the U. of Missouri School of Journalism and is now in Barcelona on an internship.” James DeGroff, MBA ’61, now in Whitehouse Station, NJ (jdegroff@formulatorus.com), sadly reports that he lost his wife, Susan, in 2020, and now stays busy working from home in his position as managing partner at Formulator Software. James has four adult children and says he gets great satisfaction from his eight grandchildren and one great-grandson.

From Voorheesville, NY, Cornell trustee emeritus Peter Ten Eyck reports that he is “not old enough to retire at 82” and gets much satisfaction from growing food on the large farm that has been in his family for several generations. He also asserts his biggest takeaway from the pandemic: “I have been labeled by my government as residing in unassisted living and being a nonessential person.” In North Thetford, VT, Marcia Dunning, BS Nurs ’77, is busy gardening in the summer and cross-country skiing in the winter. She has also been doing “lots of traveling with my husband, Bob Metzler, visiting California, New Mexico, Hawaii, Texas, Georgia, Washington, DC, and Washington State.” Jim, MST ’65, and Lois Lundberg Carter are happily continuing to live on Seneca Lake for eight months of the year and in Florida the rest of the time. Alan Fishman, still retired and living in West Palm Beach, FL, says that he is currently Zooming for Rotary Club meetings and his “Great Discussions Book Group,” along with weekly golfing, swimming, bike riding, and fitness training. He also has been meeting online every week with his daughter in Denver and his son and daughter-in-law in Santa Monica, CA. Alan lost his wife, Libby, in 2019 after she had experienced what he describes as “many years of illnesses of all kinds. Sometime later, I met and married Claire Barenholtz, who had been a widow for several years. She and I are still on our honeymoon, although we have not gone anywhere due to COVID.”

Please keep sending me your news via email. Our Class Notes will continue to be posted regularly online. ❖ Judy Bryant Wittenberg, jw275@cornell.edu. Online news form.

1961

Thanks to Lauren Coffey, who is our class contact in Alumni Affairs, I have learned that 115 members of our class participated in our virtual 60th Reunion. Good news—and thanks to all who enjoyed the experience. Meanwhile, all of us have suffered the effects of the pandemic in our lives. Keep strong and be patient.

In retirement, Judith Locker Adelson writes from Los Angeles, “My daughter and 6-year-old granddaughter have been living with me during the pandemic. Fun getting to know Fin, who is an actress (a little one), and watching her mom, Karen, being an incredible mother. I just finished a memoir, have begun a new project, and published a short story. Hopefully the memoir will also be published.” Linda Meyrowitz Salamon (Lindaros@optinline.net) lives in White Plains, NY, and writes, “I have taken several watercolor and drawing courses online—I’ve even improved! My granddaughter is a freshman at Cornell!” Linda is “thankful for family and dear friends and to be able to live not very differently than before. I’m more aware than ever how difficult life is for so many others.”

George, PhD ’62, and Jill Beckoff Nagy (nagyjill0@gmail.com) are “fully vaccinated and feeling quite energized.” Jill is tutoring math for Literacy Volunteers. “My first two students began with subtraction and got as far as solving simple linear equations. I’m gearing up to start with someone new. I also write for a couple of business newspapers and do a lot of puzzles! Both children are challenged teaching remotely, one at U. of Maine and the other at U. of Toronto.” Jill notes “a feeling of awe at nature run wild—and of science responding.” Our class musical writer in NYC, Bobbie Horowitz, has been part of many Zoom shows. She also gives Zoom color psychology/numerology classes that teach people how to dress to bring out who they truly are. Son David ’90, JD ’94, is doing well in the Zoom world with his theater and dance troupe. Bobbie has learned how to communicate a show through Zoom. “I also clearly see that we are all one species. That’s what my new musical is about.”

Humberto Cordero Jr., ME ’63 (humbertojrfl@cs.com) relates being prevented from traveling and “having to stay in Puerto Rico to avoid COVID. In retirement, I am spending five months in Puerto Rico during winter. I’m traveling the rest of the year and spending time with our children: Carla ’92 in Vermont with VMEC; Adrianna in London studying medicine; Joseph at UM studying music; Calvin at UVM in engineering.” What brings him satisfaction? “Watching pelicans dive in the Caribbean and playing golf four times a week at 81 years old.” From Minnesota, Mike Hoffman (myflightplan@gmail.com) stayed “close to home for a year, following the science, and paid close attention to Dr. Fauci. I continue to run my business strategies consulting practice for contractors and small businesses. Four sons (two with families) are in four states, one here in Minneapolis.” Mike enjoys “showing up and being spry enough to walk and work the Peloton!” He advises being adaptable, paying attention, and patience.

William Kadner (wjkadner@gmail.com) in Walnut Creek, CA, “has had minimal contact with people—Zoom took over. I play violin in a string ensemble every week and do a once-a-month book club on Zoom. My French bulldog shares my life with me. I’m learning to be satisfied with the situation.” From Mars, PA, Charles McChesney (charlie1939@hotmail.com) is “staying busy avoiding the coronavirus and spending time reading and following world and domestic news. Grandchildren are in or entering university. All are on a good trajectory for careers.” What brings Charles satisfaction? “Keeping my wife happy—remember, ‘Happy wife, happy life!’” He advises, “Listen to those who know, ignore the idiots, and take precautions seriously; your life depends on that approach.”

Having spent 1957–58 in the Class of ’61, Deanna Spitzer Nass (dnass39@optimum.net) wonders if anyone remembers her from Clara Dickson VI and Art History. She would “welcome any reconnection with the brief friendships sparked there. Technology has allowed me to gratify my lifelong interest in the arts, presenting me with a virtual reality of ballet performances, art exhibits, and concerts that comprise the current cultural scene of NYC,” her current home. Barbara Potter Sperry (bpsperry49@gmail.com) and husband Peter ’60 are in Doylestown, PA. Barbara appreciates “more time at home, much more time with my spouse, way fewer miles on my car, and increased daily appreciation of friends, family, technology, and PPE.” She volunteers with the League of Women Voters and the YMCA in Bucks County, and she notes “how blessed we are and have been throughout the pandemic to have food, shelter, and each other, all held together by the strength of family and Zoom.”

Madeline Riff Potash, wife of Arnold ’58, JD ’61, has checked in from Orange, CT. Diane Baillet Meakem (dbmeakem@aol.com) reports, “As of fall 2021, I will have four undergraduate grandchildren at Cornell! Very happy about that! I have grandchildren ranging in age from 5 to 28 (16 of them), so we cover preschool through graduate school. Thank God all are well.” News has come to us of the death of classmate Virginia “Ginny” Lucie Marshall on June 14 this year. She was a Biochem major. Send your news to: ❖ Susan Williams Stevens, sastevens61@gmail.com; Doug Fuss, dougout@attglobal.net. Online news form.

1962

Paul Marantz writes, “After Neil Krieger died of COVID-19 in April 2020, his two children, Hilary ’98 and Jonathan, came up with a novel way to remember him and his playful sense of humor that had its origins in his freshman year at Cornell in 1958–59. Neil’s first-year English class, which he and I took together, was given the assignment of inventing a new word that did not exist in the English language. Neil came up with the word ‘orbisculate,’ which he defined as being squirted in the eye or elsewhere by the contents of a grapefruit or other food. While my unimaginative made-up word was forgotten decades ago, Neil’s was destined to live on.

“Neil used the word orbisculate around his kids whenever misbehaving fruit made it appropriate, without ever letting on that the word was his creation. Hilary only found out that it wasn’t an official word when, a couple years after college, Alex Carey ’97, a friend of hers from the Cornell Daily Sun, visited. She used the word when he accidently got a squirt of juice from his orange. When Alex said he had never heard of orbisculate, Hilary was happy to bet $5 that it was in the dictionary. To her chagrin, she not only lost the bet but found out that her father had not let his kids in on the joke. Over time, this became one of the favorite stories that Hilary and Jonathan told about their dad. With his passing, they decided that a fitting way to remember his humorous side would be to launch a campaign to get orbisculate into the dictionary. They created a website and set 78 ambitious goals, one for each year he lived—such as getting orbisculate mentioned in a podcast, a word game, and a Hallmark card—and got to work.

“Given the losses that so many of us have experienced due to COVID-19, their story has resonated widely. The media in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and Israel have reported on their unique way of remembering their dad. With the help of friends and of people they have never met, orbisculate has appeared in poems, in a crossword puzzle, and even on a warning sign surreptitiously placed in a grocery store, cautioning customers that citrus fruits are known to orbisculate. Cornell has enriched all our lives in countless, varied ways. Every time I get squirted by a grapefruit, I think of Neil, and what we shared during our wonderful years at Cornell and through the decades that followed.”

Dave Nisbet writes, “I’ll always remember the stunning beauty and colors of the campus in the fall—unforgettable. My fondest memory was as just a sophomore, competing in only my third race as a member of the crew team; we won the big Eastern Sprints rowing championship, beating all the other Ivy schools for the first time in many years. I’m fully retired after a long career with several high-tech companies and living in Brookline, a close suburb of Boston, with Regina, whom I met in Berlin while serving with the Army in Germany in 1963. We’ve been married now for 57 years. We’ve had to cancel our annual trip to Germany this past year but hope to resume visits in 2021. In 2019, we visited along with Bing Carlson, MBA ’63, and wife Marcy and toured the Christmas markets in Bavaria. And we’re planning to hit the Oktoberfest in Munich on our next trip. Lastly, I enjoyed seeing members of our winning crew team in Ithaca in fall 2019 including Warren Icke, Bob Simpson, Don Spero ’61, and Dick Schwartz ’60, MD ’65; the latter two were being honored for their lasting contributions to Cornell crew.”

Helen Rabinowitz Anbinder (helen@14850.com) writes, “We are still in Dobbs Ferry, NY, after 51 years! I have many fond memories of my time at Cornell. The most special ones changed my life in wonderful ways. My roommate sophomore year, Marilyn Kleinberg Neimark ’61, convinced me to join her on a seven-and-a-half-week tour of Europe that summer, arranged through her father’s employer. It was what kickstarted a lifetime of world travel. The most special one, though, was meeting Paul ’60, a good friend while we were still at Cornell and my wonderful husband—and travel partner—for the past 57 years. Retirement paved the way for even more frequent and extended trips. The pandemic ended our travels, but we are grateful to have done so much traveling while the ‘getting was good.’ We have many beautiful memories and photos to help us revisit our favorite places. I pray that our classmates are safe and well and will come through this nightmare as survivors, ready to convene on the Hill for our 60th Reunion.” Liz Belsky Stiel writes, “My memories of Cornell, from the distance of almost 60 years, are all good. Met my dear husband, Lester ’60, there when he was working at my sorority, SDT. Enjoyed lots of wonderful courses and met terrific people. Of course the work was hard, but well worth the effort. No bad memories. Hope to go to a real Reunion in 2022!”

Barry Proner writes, “I graduated from A&S in 1962 in English. I very much hope to come to a Reunion one of these years. I am a psychoanalyst and child and adolescent psychoanalyst, having previously trained as a psychiatrist. I left Boston after completing those trainings in 1972 to train in psychoanalysis in London, and I have lived here ever since. I have two adult sons who live here as well. I have been happy to have lived most of that time in a pretty 18th-century farmhouse facing the River Thames in West London, and to have holiday homes in Provence and on Cape Breton Island, NS. If anyone is coming this way or that way, I would be delighted to get together.” From Bill Coggshall: “I belong to the unusual Los Trancos Woods Community Marching Band, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in January. Had the parades not been canceled, we would have had little trouble staying six feet away from each other as we sauntered, not marched, down the street. We began to recognize many of our neighbors who walked (or ran or talked on their cellphones) first thing in the morning. One day I was wearing my ‘Got Bees’ T-shirt, and we met a woman who did have bees. We even found a mask with pictures of honeybees.”

From Judith Shulman Weis: “I remember with special fondness my years with the Cornell Savoyards, singing in the choruses of Gilbert and Sullivan productions. Waiting in the wings while the orchestra played the overture before we came on was so exciting! I loved it so much that I have continued to do it throughout my adult life in community theater productions. I was sad to hear in the ’90s that the group had gone out of existence, but recently heard it has been reincarnated as the Ithaca Savoyards.” Cyrus Yeganeh (cyeganeh@hotmail.com) titled his memory: Amazon in Ithaca. “I spent my summers in Ithaca, taking courses and working in the Physics library. One of the happiest memories I have of those days is the heavy summer downpours while listening to Heitor Villa-Lobos’s ‘Bachianas Brasileiras’—the ‘Little Train of Caipira’ transporting my imagination to the Amazon jungle. I’m alive and kicking at 81 in Palm Beach County, FL, hoping to join everyone at a coming Reunion.” ❖ Evelyn Eskin, evelyneskin@mac.com. Online news form.

1963

Most of this column covers news from March and April of this year. That is the reason why the focus still seems to be on the pandemic lockdowns and restrictions.

Whin, ME ’68, and Joan Melville, from Pittsford, NY, wrote, “We have not been traveling except for a trip to Boston for the first birthday and baptism of our tenth grandchild, whose parents are Jeff ’09, ME ’10, and his wife, Siobhan. We were in Turks and Caicos in March 2020 for a six-week stay. After two weeks, the local government announced they were closing the airport. We left on the next-to-last day.” Whin’s biggest takeaway from the pandemic was that “too many people come to different views on the right protocols.” Martin, DVM ’66 (martinwolf105@gmail.com) and Debra Kirchner Wolf ’66 live in West Palm Beach, FL. Marty writes, “We’re at Ibis Country Club, a 365-day-a-year camp. I do a lot of art work—mainly mosaic art, some painting, and photography. We have two kids and six grandkids. Son Jeff is a pulmonologist on the front line. Daughter Michelle is CEO of an invitation company. Grandson Kyle Wolf was accepted early decision into the Class of 2025.”

Warren Walker, PhD ’68 (w.e.walker@tudelft.nl) is professor emeritus at the Delft U. of Technology. After living in the Netherlands for 30 years, he moved to Laguna Woods, CA. “I am an author/co-editor of a book, Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty, that has been downloaded over 400,000 times in two years. I am also chairman of the environment committee of Concerned Citizens of Laguna Woods Village. I have three children and five grandchildren.” William and Faith Birkhead live in Hamilton, GA. Faith (Moore College of Art ’64) writes, “Bill retired as head of the biology department of Columbus State U. in Columbus, GA, in 2013 after a long and rewarding career, teaching and doing fish research. Our daughter, Heather, is married to Joshua King, and both of their children are in college—David at Georgia State and Ashley at Georgia Tech. Our son, Roger, is married to a fellow biologist, Chelsea Ward, and they have three children. Bill has an advancing diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, which limits his mobility, and he is challenged in his cognition from time to time. He does not have the tremors, fortunately.”

Bob Ulrich (robertulrich121@gmail.com) writes, “I’m still teaching American history to all the lifetime learning programs and history clubs I can find. One of my grandkids graduated from Brown and one is a sophomore at Northwestern—they were both valedictorians at the same high school—with four more grandchildren to go. The most satisfaction I get in life these days is hearing my ‘students’ ask, ‘Why didn’t they teach history like this? I would have listened.’” David (dfsheaff@gmail.com) and Trisha Sheaff live in Harpswell, ME. When asked how his life has changed, David wrote, “Travel and visiting have been drastically reduced. No seeing friends and relatives on a regular basis. Being alert in public spaces to social distancing and mask wearing. I volunteered, before COVID, at the Maine Maritime Museum Boatshop and with veterans. Now I am doing lots of gardening and woodworking, as well as plenty of reading. The most satisfaction in my life is seeing grandchildren and friends via Zoom. Completing small pieces of furniture is a hobby.”

Timothy and Christina Dondero live in Athens, GA. “I retired two years ago from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an infectious diseases medical epidemiologist. We moved from Atlanta to Athens, where all our grandchildren live. I am a chef at our family restaurant and am teaching and writing about international cuisine and gardening. Christina is a deacon at St. Gregory Episcopal Church. Our biggest takeaway from the pandemic was that Athens was much more responsible with COVID restrictions than surrounding areas.” Dean (WPC95@aol.com) and Mary Williams (Ohio State ’63) live in La Canada, CA. Dean says, “We had a family reunion at San Diego Beach in 2021. I served on the water board of La Canada Irrigation District and served as deacon at the La Canada Presbyterian Church. The most satisfaction I get these days is being with my three children and nine grandkids and walking in the neighborhood. Grandson Sam is a right-handed pitcher for the Middlebury College baseball team. Three grandkids in Philadelphia play the violin.”

Jean Williams Peters writes from Evanston, IL, that she and her husband, Phillip, MRP ’64, worried most during the pandemic about their isolated grandchildren. Jean writes, “Our granddaughter Nina Pofcher ’24 is a sophomore in Human Ecology. I have been sewing masks—I am an Arts grad who likes to sew. I loved making them for family and friends.” Eric Jaffe “spent a great deal of time at home this past year. Rather than going out, we have become facile users of Zoom. One day a week, I am teaching internal medicine residents at Interfaith Medicine Center in Brooklyn.” ❖ Nancy Bierds Icke, 12350 East Roger Rd., Tucson, AZ 85749; email, nancybicke@gmail.com. Online news form.

1964

Well, I can certainly tell that the pandemic is still with us. How? All the classmate news I’m getting is written in longhand! Which of course takes time, which we all have on our hands. Wouldn’t surprise me if some of you are using a quill pen. Meantime, here are your notes in readable form.

Barbara Bova Hamilton, last in this column 31 years ago, reports she’s now doubly retired: from Oakland U. as professor emeritus of rhetoric, and from her own company, Test Preparation Services Inc. Barbara and her husband, Robert McGowan, have for the last three decades lived on Bittersweet Farm near Clarkston, MI, just north of Detroit and not far from Oakland U. She writes of that experience: “When we moved here, Bob said he wanted the farm to be productive, so he and I and a rotating group of volunteers have been raising organic vegetables and donating all of them to the Gleaners Food Bank here in Oakland County.” Barbara adds, “Love spending time with our daughter, Lucy, her husband, and our wonderful grand-girls. Doing some writing, much reading—and we are very much looking forward to our son Jason’s visit from Indonesia, where he is Google’s director of communication.” Barbara also notes that she and Bob “loved our trip to Greece and Crete two years ago with a USC alumni tour.” (Her PhD is from USC.) She can be reached by email at bbhamilt@oakland.edu.

William Klempner, last here 30 years ago, and wife Karen appear to split their time between homes in Stuart, FL (winter), and Saddle River, NJ (summer). Walter Smith, here for the first time in 28 years, just retired at the end of August as a professor at Texas Tech U. Still living in Lubbock, TX, he will stay active in the Metropolitan Lubbock Rotary Club. Walter and wife Kathy recently had family visits in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Connecticut, and planned to drop by Cornell on their way to Ohio from Connecticut. Walter also reports that his first wife died in 2018 after 52 years’ marriage, and he remarried last April. Walter would like his email address known: WalterscottSmith@gmail.com. Marshall Goldstein, last here four years ago, lives in Brewster, NY, and also wants to share his email address: marshallg@aol.com.

Elliot Gordon, who with wife Linda lives in Princeton Junction, NJ, is retired but active in the environmental commission for West Windsor Township, where he is “developing a ‘Safe Use of Pesticides’ course at a community college.” Elliot still enjoys playing the piano. As for travel, he says, “Ask again after COVID.” Last here 19 years ago, Stephen Platt, who lives in Hollywood, FL, with wife Paula, sent words of inspiration: “When a person sacrifices his integrity, nothing else really matters.” Tom Cayten, LLB ’67, last here two years ago, reports he’s retired and enjoying golf. Tom lives in Exeter, NH.

Bruce Waxman, last here 30 years ago, writes of a long, eventful journey he’s been on, which I here repeat in its entirety: “For many years, I have been involved in veterans’ activities. This is quite ironic because when I returned from Vietnam in 1969, I was active in the anti-war movement, including with Vietnam Veterans Against the War. On the other hand, my time in the military and later activities made it clear to me that the people who serve are not the elites but ordinary working people for whom military service often is an opportunity for self-betterment. Anyway, over the past decade or so, some of my representative activities have been lobbying and giving a variety of public speeches on behalf of veterans, appearing in political advertisements on TV as a veteran, being the immediate past president of Vietnam Veterans of America (Chapter 227 in Northern Virginia), and being a mentor in the Veterans Treatment Dockets in the Fairfax Virginia Courts (for veterans with substance abuse issues and PTS or TBI). I am also a trustee of the Commonwealth of Virginia Veterans Service Foundation, having been appointed to a four-year term last year by my friend Eileen Filler-Corn, Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates.

“Also, speaking of veterans, our classmate George Johnson, whom I met when we were freshmen in the same dorm, is writing a memoir about his military experience. An excerpt from his book, entitled ‘When One’s Duty and the Right Thing are Not the Same,’ appeared in Moment magazine. The article includes a picture of the two of us on the only occasion at which we met during our overlapping time in country. George and I were commissioned through ROTC at Cornell. He and I had been roommates in law school, as well as during post-Vietnam military assignments when we were at nearby bases in Maryland. Now we live less than an hour apart, so our friendship continues.” Bruce can be contacted at biwaxman2@aol.com.

That’s it for now. I could always use more of your news, so please update me by email, regular mail, our class website, or our class Facebook page. ❖ Bev Johns Lamont, 720 Chestnut St., Deerfield, IL 60015; email, blamont64@comcast.net. Online news form.

1965

Dianne Rosborne Meranus (diannemeranus@msn.com) and husband Philip, JD ’66, anticipate the arrival of their first great-grandchild! They’ve learned to use Zoom and are staying in touch with family and friends via texts, emails, and FaceTime. Dianne has been doing sewing/craft projects and jigsaw puzzles. She reached a big decision to retire from college teaching. Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic: “We can survive if we are financially secure and have a positive attitude and supportive family and friends!”

The most satisfaction in life these days for Martha Weiss Dobra, MS ’67 (MarthaAYoung@aol.com) centers around “sewing quilts for Lutheran World Relief and large, decorative pillows for my stepdaughter’s business. I also knit wool socks for family members.” Another source of joy is her vegetable garden, and she has extra produce to share with neighbors. Martha and husband David have enjoyed staying home and relaxing and watching the growth of flowers, trees, and the vegetables. The sentiment from John Gerich (john.gerich@aol.com) is most expressive, as his pandemic takeaway uses strong language about how Trump handled the situation. On a positive note, he writes, “Learning, reading, fishing with friends and family, and traveling to Europe and elsewhere brings much satisfaction.”

“You have to take life day by day and be grateful for what you still have” is the clarion call from Joan Myers Bondareff (jbondareff@erols.com). She is still working from home as a lawyer at Blank Rome LLP, Washington, DC, and advocating for offshore wind in Virginia as chairman of the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority (VOWDA). Day by day, she is caregiving for her aging partner, an NYU grad. Robert Freeman (r4freeman@gmail.com) has restarted his architectural practice in Astoria, OR. He is thankful for the miraculous views of the Columbia River and the bar at the mouth of the river! “Overall, the pandemic has tested individual and collective sanity.” Echoing the thoughts of many, Ed Nathan (nomorecall@aol.com), along with wife Sandy, shares, “My biggest takeaway is the frustration that this has become a political issue.” They are spending time in the summer in their Old Forge home. Ed has continued consulting, but his daily life has not changed much.

We are all feeling the sadness of the death of friends. One of our classmates, Inara Liepins Rymzo, died August 5, 2021, in West Hyannisport on Cape Cod, with her husband and sons beside her. Inara is particularly missed by Mike Duffy and others who shared classes with her at Cornell. The obituary in the Cape Cod Times details her amazing story. “Born in Latvia, she spent five difficult years at German displaced persons camps in the aftermath of WWII, before her family was sponsored to move to Brooklyn, NY, when she was 8 years old, with two chests of belongings and little else.” She earned a scholarship to Cornell and throughout her life loved theater and the arts. Her career included work in advertising, publishing, and Wall Street brokerages, and managing the office of her husband’s private medical practice. She will be terribly missed by her family, classmates, colleagues, and friends.

Loren Meyer Stephens (lorenmstephens@gmail.com) and husband Dana Miyoshi have spent an inordinate amount of time on Zoom. “My debut novel, All Sorrows Can Be Borne, published in May 2021 by Rare Bird, is available on Amazon and in bookstores.” Working with her son, Josh, Loren helps clients write their books through her company, Write Wisdom. Loren and Dana are planning an East Coast trip to Lenox, MA, and Newport, RI. Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic? “Don’t know—it’s not over yet!”

“That it does take a village, even if the villagers stand at least six feet from each other,” is the takeaway from Lawrence Lombard (L.B.Lombard@wayne.edu). He is still teaching philosophy at Wayne State U., finishing his 52nd year. “My wife, Nancy, and I spent the month of October 2019 in Paris. Luckily we didn’t put it off till 2020! Also, we acquired a Labrador retriever a year ago and the dog is a great joy—and it connected us to all the other dogs and their humans in the neighborhood!”

Vaccination is KEY for everyone, and I trust you all have been vaccinated unless a health condition prohibits the shot! We’re still somewhat backed up with a wonderful overflow of news submissions. The next column will catch us up, and please do keep the news coming to us! And a special request: submit by email following the topics suggested. At times, Steve and I struggle to read small handwriting. Thank you! ❖ Joan Hens Johnson, joanipat@gmail.com; and Steve Appell, bigred1965@aol.com. Online news form.

1966

We hope that you are doing well, and are well, in this time. Hope also that you are a member of a Cornell-related Zoom group.

Russell Lidman (lidmanr@seattleu.edu) wrote that he is “definitely retired. The last year that I taught was 2017. As a US Fulbright professor, I taught for a semester at ITAM in Mexico City. I am active in my local temple. Now that I am older, I chair the cemetery committee. I think the idea is I have more of a stake in how well it is run.” Russell wrote that he had no idea what he would end up doing post-Cornell. His Cornell degree was in Electrical Engineering; however, his subsequent degrees were an MPA and an MA and PhD in economics. Among other work, he taught, was a university administrator, and was a policy advisor to state governors. His recent travels were to the supermarket, the pet food store, and the wild bird store. His last out-of-town trip was with his daughter and her family to Long Beach, WA. He wrote that “the town is like a time machine: miniature golf, go-carts, unfancy food.”

Bryan Walley (bwalley@astound.net) wrote that he has been retired for 16 years and is really enjoying it. During his retirement, he has spent 15 years as a volunteer on the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team, ten years as a county reserve deputy, and eight years as a City of Orinda reserve police officer. He said that after his “retirement” from the sheriff’s department, he has been spending much more time with his family and babysitting his grandchildren. He is looking forward to his first European river cruise next year; it was canceled twice because of COVID-19.

Richard, PhD ’74 (rfr6@cornell.edu) and Nan Wendt Rideout (nwr2@cornell.edu) wrote a long, interesting catch-up note: “After retiring from our careers in Raleigh in the late ’90s, we spent almost 20 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, feeling blessed to be able to enjoy the next phase of our lives on an island across the Bay. Last year, the pull of family and growing grandchildren called us back to North Carolina, where we have moved to the Cypress of Raleigh Life Plan Community—which is full of neighbors with fascinating backgrounds. We enjoyed volunteering during our years in California: Nan in the Alameda Free Library and Richard with the Oakland Museum of California, repairing donated electronics. Over the years we have volunteered as Cornell ambassadors and on our class council. We also have recently funded a family garden in the Newman Arboretum in honor of both our families’ three-generation Cornell legacy. Nan is happy to be back gardening around our villa and in the community vegetable garden. Richard continues his lifelong love of all things automotive, helping son Will ’94 manage his automobile collection. We have fingers crossed that we can fulfill postponed travel plans to Spain and Hawaii this year and to Athens in ’22.”

Bob Kehr (rlk42@cornell.edu) sent us this video. The lead-in to the video states: “Gorge historian Dan McClure takes us on a short video tour of Hemlock Gorge, one of Cornell’s most iconic natural areas. The gorge lies just north of Beebe Lake and offers beauty, peacefulness, and a wealth of natural and industrial history.”

Alice Katz Berglas (alice.berglas@gmail.com) shared the sad news that Mary Loosbrock Miers passed away in May. “Mary was a wonderful classmate. Married to John, MBA ’68, our longtime class correspondent who died in 2011, they were a great couple, filled with Cornell pride and spirit. As a ’66 class council member, Mary’s input was ever wise, warm, supportive, and gracious.” Mary’s 30-year career at the National Institutes of Health was matched by her passion for travel and music and her commitment to social justice and community service through the St. James Episcopal Church in Potomac, MD.

Pete Salinger, MBA ’68 (peteRsalinger95@gmail.com) keeps busy as a board member of his local civic association and represents his community in a larger association of associations. He has flown every summer (except for the last two years) to Germany to visit with his former neighbors, whose older daughter he tutored in English vocabulary and pronunciation when she started first grade in the US. His “granddaughter” (now almost 14) visited Pete and his wife, Ruth (Dritch) ’67, in December 2019, flying without either of her parents, starting from Leipzig, Germany, to Bethesda, MD. Pete also volunteers at a soup kitchen once a month, participates in a men’s group that’s been meeting for over 20 years, and walks on a “Rails to Trails” path and the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal a number of times a week.

Looking back on our successful 55th Reunion year, co-presidents Rolf Frantz, ME ’67 (nrfrantz@verizon.net) and John Monroe (monroe.jw@gmail.com) and the ’66 class leadership team send their good wishes for wonderful holidays and a healthy, safe, and happy 2022. Stay in touch! ❖ Pete Salinger, peteRsalinger95@gmail.com; Susan Rockford Bittker, ladyscienc@aol.com. Online news form.

1967

We’re hoping that by now you’re getting to see these reports from classmates, even though the starting date for the new online Cornell alumni hub website was set back. Some email notifications were sent out by Cornell that provided a link to Class Notes and alumni deaths, but it’s not clear how much of our class received this alert.

John Alden has moved from the Berkshires, after having lived there for the past 28 years, to a condo in East Providence, RI. He’s “still working as president of East Northfield Water Co. Also doing financial consulting for 501(c)(3) not-for-profit entities.” Dan Hopson (Douglas, AK) reports for wife Martha and him: “Remarkably little change. We remain in good health. I recently published a memoir about the two most colorful decades of my life, My Twenties and Thirties (Blurb 2020). I still keep up my classical guitar repertoire, though I’m playing publicly less often. Our older daughter has two young children and our younger daughter recently married. Both live with us here in Juneau.” Most satisfaction: “Playing classical guitar and enjoying the grandchildren and the beautiful outdoor attractions around Juneau.” Takeaway from the pandemic: “On the plus side, I finished my memoir. On the minus, I’ve forgotten the names and faces of many friends.”

Richard Tunick (Palm Beach, FL) writes: “Usually spend approximately seven months in Palm Beach and five months in Greenwich, CT. Because of the pandemic, I spent 14 months in Florida, only returning north in late April 2021 to finally see family, friends, and my business partner. I continue to run two investment advisory firms, take long walks, do regular gym workouts, and golf two or three times weekly. Always trying to look beyond the horizon to find new investment ideas that make sense in a rapidly evolving world. Doing a lot of cooking. Wife Carole advises that the food is pretty good. I have very little social interface. Still have lengthy phone conversations with friends of long standing.” He notes his “appreciation of the special qualities in those I hold dear.” Biggest pandemic takeaway: “It reinforced the realization of the fragility of life and the importance to find the correct balance between doing good and making a difference in the world with which we interface—and deriving a little pleasure before departing to the great beyond.”

Frank Sprtel (Whitefish Bay, WI) retired after 30-plus years as director of risk management at Briggs & Stratton Corp. “We are looking forward to getting out of the government lockdown, doing more traveling, and being able to see our grandchildren again.” Takeaway: “Enjoy being with my wife and soulmate.” Allan Hauer, ME ’68 (Corrales, NM; awhauer@comcast.net) reports: “I continue to consult with my longtime employer Los Alamos Lab and its parent, the US Dept. of Energy. Before the pandemic, consulting took me to D.C. regularly, but recently only Zoom meetings have been possible. Watch out for the new DOE chief, Jennifer Granholm, a real ball of fire. I’ve gotten into a bit of science journalism and was the science editor of a magazine for several years. My wife, Wendy, and I have gotten into a large pattern of encouraging each other in ‘reading and writing.’ Our combined Kindle library is 1,400 books. Both of us published books on Amazon/Kindle recently: Wendy, In the Wild Garden (poetry); Allan, The Twilight of Ideology/The Rise of Science. As serious as the pandemic has been, it is only an alarm for much bigger challenges in the future. America must evolve its public planning structure to provide more balanced decision-making—not ideological extremes. Another way of expressing this is, ‘more scientific thinking combined with human compassion.’ A large array of multi-dimensional problems (climate, energy, etc.) await us and we need to be much better prepared—check out Bill Gates’s new book.”

Your correspondent is pleased to report the arrival July 7 of his second grandchild, Alexander, who joins older brother Ethan, 3, and his parents, Vanessa Hoffman ’07 and David Weiner, and grandparents Eileen Barkas Hoffman ’69 and me. I am still working half time representing crime victims applying for criminal injuries compensation. ❖ Richard Hoffman, 2925 28th St. NW, Washington, DC 20008; email, derhoff@yahoo.com. Online news form.

1968

John Grocki (arc.jmg@gmail.com) moved to golf heaven—Hilton Head, SC—to avoid the annual chores of shoveling and raking leaves. He now only has to constantly pick up pine cones. He’s still doing part-time work as a consultant for specialty alloys applications and fabrication inspections, and he gets great satisfaction helping business contacts with their materials issues. John says the pandemic actually had an upside, giving him more time with family and friends—and for the first time in 45 years he hasn’t been traveling, unpacking and packing his suitcase.

Richard Weir III and his wife, Paula, live in Oyster Bay, NY. COVID actually kept Rich quite busy. Though he’s a retired horticultural educator, he still does consulting, which has been in demand, and luckily he’s out-of-doors most of the time. He also appreciates the time he’s had to be with his family, which includes six grandchildren, and to be with his friends. Linn Jensen Smyth (linn.smyth@gmail.com) used her down time during the pandemic to find and purchase (all online) a new home in St. Louis, MO, where she moved from Houston. Now widowed, Linn’s going to use her time to get a much-needed knee replacement and then explore St. Louis’s many interesting architectural and cultural spots, and to look for volunteer work. Steven Steinhardt (ssteinha@nycap.rr.com) lives in Albany, NY. Having found his life partner, Sherrie, at Ithaca College, he is now a widower with fond memories of their time together and their long-term friendship with his Cornell roommates.

David Heiden (davidheiden@gmail.com) and his wife, Katherine Seligman, have lived in the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco since 1988. Dave is a part-time practitioner of ophthalmology—with a subspecialty of uveitis—while his wife just published her first novel, At the Edge of the Haight. Like all of us, Dave enjoys connecting with friends from Cornell. Bob ’66 and Joan Roth Saffa recently visited, Steve Schwartz is a local friend, and Dave recently Zoomed with David Hinden and Pete Zeldow (who is releasing his own record albums).

Constantine “Costis” Toregas, PhD ’71 (costis.toregas@gmail.com) and his wife, Chadley, live in Chevy Chase, MD. Costis still enjoys his work at a leading cybersecurity and privacy research institute. Part of his work is advising the Montgomery County Council on their technology requirements, and he serves on several nonprofit boards. Costis particularly enjoys spending time at their island home in Greece, when they have the time to get there. He feels that the pandemic further taught us all the importance of friendships. Richard Kasdan (Kasdanrbk@yahoo.com) lives in Pittsburgh, PA, where he is still a practicing neurologist and director of two magnetic imaging facilities. Rich is an avid cyclist who feels that the pandemic is a reminder of “how quickly things can change.”

Regarding change, you now have an online method of submitting your news items. Fill out an online news form, or send me an email. No need for paper transactions; save the trees. ❖ Chuck Levitan, CLevitan22@comcast.net.

1969

Ildiko Czmor Mitchell of Johnson City, NY, regrets not being able to go back to Cornell for Reunions and big weekends but is celebrating having “knocked off” the Pennsylvania Appalachian Trail last autumn and has a warning for Maryland: “Here I come!” If you are a fellow hiker of the trail, you might want to connect with her at imconfused1@juno.com. When not walking in the woods, she enjoys watching Hallmark movies with happy endings and being with grandchildren.

Peter Titus, BS ’71, of Princeton, NJ, reports he is still heading up an analysis group at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab and is collaborating with a lab in the Czech Republic. He still has time to work on antique cars, spend time with his three grandchildren, and take walks with his wife, Faye. Condolences to Emily Parke Chase of Mechanicsburg, PA, who lost her husband, Gene, PhD ’79, to COVID last year. She did, however, manage to complete her fourth novel in a series about the Gospel writers, despite also having contracted COVID and having three major spinal surgeries.

Michael Hogan of Delmar, NY, chose to spend January and February in Aruba instead of Albany. (Imagine that! Can you tray-slide on sand dunes?) He managed to work with two other consultants, including Henry Chung ’84, reviewing mental health at Cornell, and reports there is “much to be proud of and some work to do, such as improving prelim scheduling, which adds stress.” Sounds all too familiar, doesn’t it? Gail Papermaster Bender reports that a year ago they packed their car, picked up her mother, and left for their lake house in Minnesota and have safely isolated, remaining comfortable and healthy while reading and attending Zoom lectures and courses at the U. of Minnesota. Her youngest son is getting married in September and her oldest grandchild, Samantha, had a Zoom bat mitzvah last February. Special congratulations go to her mother, who was 101 in April, well, and still independent!

Wilfred Wege (fwege@sccoast.net) and his wife, Maureen, have relocated from New York to (slightly warmer) Conway, SC; Wilfred is still serving on the board of directors of Security Mutual Insurance Co. of Ithaca. Richard Hagelberg of Gary, IN, is enjoying 39 years as the CEO of Kidstuff Playsystems (commercial playgrounds) and reports that the pandemic gave him the time to play the French horn and publish “Tannhauser Suite for 4 Horns.” He’s hoping for a return to performances of the symphony and Broadway shows. He had a great time at Reunion 2019 (was our 50th really the last non-virtual one?) with Scott and Jean Euker Rigden ’70.

Sally Weisberg Goldberg Elam, MS ’71, of Fountain Hills, AZ, has a Zoom course called “Wellness, Parenting and You!” She says, “Another name for it is ‘Immunity with Impunity (without punishment).’” She writes, teaches, and presents “about helping parents make the most of their time with their children.” She advocates teaching about how the body works as part of basic education. “Children should start learning about it in the first grade and keep having more advanced concepts each year.” John Berkoben reports progress has been made! He had his gallbladder removed laparoscopically as an outpatient; he went in at 6 a.m. and was home by noon. He observes, “When I graduated from med school in 1973, such a thing was unheard of. So, despite how much our generation has screwed up the world, we have done a few good things as well!”

Please send your news via the online news form. We’d love to hear what has been happening in your world lately! ❖ Robert Tallo, rptallo@gmail.com.

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1970s

1970

Not too many days ago, an absolutely beautiful window envelope appeared in my mail. It was a wonderful view of West Campus, the sun setting, small groups sitting on a very green Libe Slope just to see the scene. Interestingly, on the back was a form to contribute. I am a consistent donor to Cornell, but I am not going to use this form. It is just too beautiful to mail back to them! It goes on my refrigerator door to remind me, instead.

As I write this, it is mid-August ’21. As I go through the many responses I have from all of you, what strikes me is how each one reflects so well the instantaneous mood when written, and how they have changed as the US goes through the various ebbs and surges of the pandemic. The current news form asks as its last question, “What has been the biggest takeaway from the pandemic?”

Martha Stuart Jewett (Washington, DC; mjewettrn@aol.com) wrote in March, “Got through 2020! Received second Pfizer vaccine—hooray!” She further wrote that she is the faith community nurse for her church, Christ Lutheran, in D.C., and is the vice president of the Alliance to Preserve Civil War Forts of D.C. She is the owner of a group home, where one of her tenants is a Cornellian. She finds satisfaction in visits to Williamsburg and the museums of Jamestown and Yorktown, where hardly anyone is in attendance. Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic is that epidemiology is an important study, and “yay for Anthony Fauci, MD ’66!” Martha ends with good wishes for Bill, ME ’71, and Gail Post Wallis.

Martha Mattus, PhD ’74 (Portland, OR; memattus@comcast.net) also wrote in March, letting us know that her husband, William Flynn, died in September 2019 after a short illness. “I was just starting the process of organizing my life without him when the pandemic hit, and everything got put on hold.” Being retired, all the plans to travel and reconnect with friends and family became impossible. She has been able to see her brother one time, yet traveling to the East Coast to see her sister was put on hold until they are both fully vaccinated. Martha is finding satisfaction in her ability to support charities, with a significant one being the regular donation of platelets to the Red Cross.

Two additional deaths of classmates occurred in this period. Joan Brownstein (Wiscasset, ME) succumbed to complications from Parkinson’s disease in late October 2020. Bruce Panas (The Villages, FL) died in early January 2020 from pancreatic cancer. Both are missed by their families and friends.

Russell Connor (Novato, CA) shares that Dorrance published the second edition of his Essays in the Foundations of Mathematics, containing an elementary three-page proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem, in 2018. Last September, his Evidence of Things Unseen, a volume of fiction comprising four stage plays, was also published. Toby Marion (Tiburon, CA; tmarion@gmail.com) starts his April-dated news with the observation that vaccines are changing the landscape. He gives special thanks to ChemE classmate Robert Langer, academic co-founder of vaccine maker Moderna. Toby is now enjoying three grandchildren who live nearby, while missing his daughter in D.C. He is also enjoying playing tennis and sailing often, and has reconnected with Dave Tepper, co-captain of Cornell tennis in ’70. Toby’s biggest takeaway from the pandemic has been the explosion of reconnection electronically, with friends from all walks and stages of life. He speaks of connection from elementary school through Cornell, working life and retirement, finding it “very interesting!”

Finally, for contrast, a note submitted in July. Maxine Wisbaum (Pittsfield, MA; maxinewisbaum@gmail.com) is “thankful that we had phones and Zoom to stand in for in-person contact, and more thankful that we can now abandon them. Can’t wait for Broadway shows to return.” She now finds herself as far from her psychologist role as possible, instead running real estate sales. Although she has no children, she has done well in the grandchildren department, with five girls and one boy, ranging in age from 1.5 to 22. The most satisfaction for Maxine now comes with quiet times with her favorite people. Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic is that less is more. Her great-nephew’s bar mitzvah of 30 guests was a delightful contrast to previous extravaganzas.

I still have a stack of notes from many of you, which will appear in future columns. Given all the uncertainty due to the pandemic as it surges and recedes, things will change. So keep sending your notes! You may contact me directly, at my email or phone below. If I don’t answer, leave a voicemail, and I will call you back. Or you may use the online news form. ❖ John Cecilia, jlcecilia96@gmail.com; tel., (312) 524-2912.

1971

Dear classmates: 50 years ago, with our newly minted Cornell diplomas in hand, we embarked on new, exciting, and perhaps daunting chapters in our lives—graduate schools, jobs, travels to exotic destinations, and homes in many different places. Most of us were no longer in the beautiful environs of Ithaca surrounded by the close friendships we had formed in our prior four years on the Hill. Now (which seems quite suddenly) we are no longer in our 20s enjoying the ’70s, but in our 70s dealing with the somewhat unfathomable ’20s. We would love to hear how you have spent the last five decades and how you are doing these days.

While we were deprived of an in-person Reunion for our 50th, it is our hope that you will turn to our column not only for updates on the lives of your classmates, but as a venue to reconnect with those with whom you have lost touch over the intervening years. In that spirit, we are happy to offer you several notes.

Maria Yurasek reports from Carbondale, CO, “I find myself happily retired after 42 years practicing infectious disease and internal medicine, including eight years in administration. My husband and I are about 30 miles from Aspen, where our daughter Christine, son-in-law, 3-year-old grandson, and 3-month-old granddaughter live. I’m totally smitten with them. Our younger daughter, Francesca, and hubby live in Boise, ID, together with the newest addition to our family, Lennon Lucca. So, I live in a paradise of hiking, golf, and skiing (more cross country than downhill in recent years). My husband, Rob Benedetti (Stanford ’73, U. of Washington School of Medicine ’77), retired from his nephrology practice. I read and travel voraciously. Thus far, I have been to 62 countries and counting. I am trying to catch up with Elisabeth Kaplan Boas. Post-vaccination I am planning trips to Spain (with Cornell roomie Karen Snider), Panama, Zimbabwe, and Ireland. Rob and I spend two to three months each winter in our home near San José del Cabo, Mexico. Life is pretty damn good! I would love to hear from my old friends and acquaintances.”

Class Reunion chair Kathy Menton Flaxman (kmf11@cornell.edu) writes: “Our family has been living a life that, as it turned out, was well-suited to the pandemic. Seven-plus years ago, our daughter, son-in-law, and two (now three) granddaughters left Ithaca and moved in with us. Luckily there was plenty of room for all! So when everything suddenly shut down, we found ourselves not short of money, food, nor even toilet paper, and with many hands to take on new roles. Two girls finished eighth and second grades via Zoom and then, unexpectedly, did another whole year of school at home. Daughter Marian (briefly Class of ’08) went back to college, also virtually. She also took on most of the cooking and baking for the household. Son-in-law Lucas saw many musical performances vanish but acquired many students via Zoom. My husband, David, and I sing in several choral groups, some together, some separately—all of which took a while to figure out how to operate virtually since it is impossible to sing together over Zoom, but we found other software to make virtual singing a reality, and David became the guru who got everyone properly set up. Meanwhile our several groups created ‘virtual choir’ videos in which each singer recorded his or her part separately and then they were combined into a single performance.

“My women’s club transferred its meetings and talks to Zoom but had a year of fundraising events canceled; we put together a group to sew face masks and, in a few months, made 5,000! We donated about 2,500 and sold the rest to replace our usual fundraisers. I myself have made over 500 for the club and 200 for friends and family. Currently we are all trying to figure out how to be ‘normal’ again. Is singing safe if everyone is vaccinated? Can we keep meeting on Zoom just because it’s easier? Should I consider eating in a restaurant? I had a chance to get together with the peripatetic Sally Clark Shumaker, who was in D.C. briefly with an Ithaca friend. Sally now lives half the year in Ecuador but returns to the States periodically, traveling coast to coast to visit family and friends.”

Alan Miller (astanley92@gmail.com) recently finished a book with two co-authors, Cut Super Climate Pollutants Now!, which is currently available. He also has a book proposal based on his career as a lawyer and consultant working on climate change that has been sent to agents and is awaiting a response. Alan and his wife, Susan O’Hara ’72, BA ’71, live in Rockville, MD, near daughter Joanna and son-in-law Lachlan Bell. Gary Gilbert writes that he retired in July 2020 after 47 years of service in the Army—26 years as a military officer (retiring as colonel) and 21 years as an Intergovernmental Personnel Act employee. Gary is now consulting on artificial intelligence and robotics applications for military medical missions. He spends his leisure time gardening, hiking, traveling with his wife, Dr. Trinka Coster, and grandparenting. Stephanie Bell Hill (sbh5237@verizon.net) continues to work with Hewlett-Packard as a business consultant in graphics. Stephanie is a grandmother of three children and three dogs and plays tennis in her free time.

Your class officers and council are working hard to create opportunities for reconnection—virtually and in person. All ideas are welcome and participation is encouraged. Watch your email for updates. Until our next column, stay well and happy. ❖ Elisabeth Kaplan Boas, ekb7@cornell.edu; Cara Nash Iason, cara.nash.iason@gmail.com. Online news form.

1972

REUNION, REUNION, REUNION. Just a subtle reminder that our 50th Reunion is scheduled for June 9–12, 2022. Keep your fingers crossed that the pandemic will not interfere with this historic event.

Anthony Provenzano, MD ’76 (drpro@drpro.com) is chairman of the Cancer Committee and Tumor Board, as well as director of clinical oncology at NewYork-Presbyterian Medical Group in Westchester. He says that his daily life is a whirlwind—still working as an oncologist during this pandemic, even though he is trying to slow down and retire. He has a new granddaughter and another grandchild on the way. When he does retire, he plans to play golf as much as his schedule and family allow. His son and daughter survived COVID when the virus swept through New York in 2020, despite some minor symptoms. Tony is trying to keep things simple these days and not worry too much about the “bad things.” What he learned from the pandemic is that we all have to keep our heads while everyone else is losing theirs. Good advice, Doc.

Rick Krochalis (rickkrochalis@comcast.net) lives in Seattle with wife Libby. He reports that after in-person meetings were dramatically curtailed during the pandemic, there is now a slow return to travel, dinner with friends, and shopping while keeping safety restrictions. Now retired, Rick does plenty of volunteer work, including working on transit-oriented development for the Urban Land Inst. and tutoring graduate students at U. of Washington. He is looking forward to our Reunion in June 2022. Rick says that his grandchildren and returning to normal activities like hosting friends for dinner and travel give him satisfaction these days. His takeaway from the pandemic is that there needs to be a commitment to educate our citizens on public health issues, how decisions are made, and community dialogue opportunities.

Ken Halpern of Newton, MA (home of the Fig Newton), is proud to report that his son, Ross ’23, completed his sophomore year as a Cornell student in Dyson. Next year he will be living on Dryden Road, a few houses from where Ken lived for two years. Ken hopes Ross will be fully able to enjoy being on campus. Contrary to most of us, Ken is still working. Sam Chiavetta (samchiavettajr@gmail.com) resides in Brant, NY, where he is a vineyard owner/operator. Sam loves interacting with his grandchildren and watching them grow up. Charles Efflandt (cefflandt@foulston.com) writes that he and wife Patti moved to Sarasota, FL. Charles is partially retired from the Foulston Siefkin law firm, located in Wichita, KS, and Kansas City. He practices environmental law remotely on a reduced-hours basis. Charles is learning the joys and pitfalls of transitioning from a life of working full time to retirement. He connects with Cornellians through the Cornell Club of Sarasota-Manatee. Charles enjoys connecting with old and new friends and neighbors. His takeaway from the pandemic is that humans are adaptable.

Cheryl Buckwalter Coniglio, MS ’74, and husband Richard ’73, ME ’74, live in Jamison, PA, where Cheryl is a watercolor artist and exclaims that painting is her passion. During the pandemic she learned to appreciate time in the garden. Robert Efron, DVM ’75 (Bobyak2@aol.com) of West Hartford, CT, is semi-retired, working about 15 hours per week doing relief work for a veterinarian. He would love to hear from U-Hall 2, floor two classmates and Phi Sigma Epsilon fraternity brothers. Bob says that these days, it’s all about his two children and four grandchildren. He and wife Sharon have a close, loving relationship with each other and the family.

Nancy Kollisch is retired and lives with husband Jeff Pressman in Rancho Santa Fe, CA, where she keeps busy with several activities, including walking. The pandemic taught Nancy to be thankful for having a roof over her head, food on the table, and good health. Clifford Hendry, BS ’71 (c.hendry@comcast.com) reports from Pittsburgh, PA, that he and wife Jeanie are fortunate to have all three children and nine grandchildren living locally, where they can spend time with them. Cliff works out daily at Lauri Ann West Community Center with exercise classes, swimming, yoga, and circuit training. He also plays pickleball three to five days per week. He loves the game. While Cliff is not working any longer, he is having fun delivering flowers for a friend who asked for his help. His help is much appreciated, and he does get paid. He finds this delivery work very flexible and fun. Cliff shares that all his family is vaccinated and healthy.

Bruce Hazen (hazen@threequestionsconsulting.com) and wife Jennifer Shirley live in Portland, OR. He started an update to Business Model You (Wiley) with co-author Tim Clark. Bruce is increasingly focusing on leadership coaching at a large teaching hospital and medical school. Jennifer continues to work as an animal behavior specialist with Oregon Humane Society. Bruce says that his behavior has really improved as a result. (So, who’s a good boy?) He gets increasing satisfaction from reducing suffering for doctors and nurses who are leading so many and saving lives as they lead. The pandemic taught Bruce that while he lives in a neighborhood of caring citizens, he realizes that most of the country is populated by people quite unlike this. Bruce thinks that we have created a land of consumers more than citizens. Don’t forget our 50th Reunion in June 2022. Send news to: ❖ Alex Barna, alexbarna@comcast.net; Gary Rubin, glr34@cornell.edu. Online news form.

1973

I hope everyone is doing well and had a more a normal summer. Lest we forget, our 50th Reunion is less than two years away! Be sure to keep up to date on our class website or on our Facebook page. Thanks for sending news! It has arrived from both coasts, the Midwest, and a location known only as “Congress Street.”

Don Partridge from Batavia, NY, reminds us that he’s still taking care of heifers (including an award winner this spring) and making hay—“no changes; still outstanding in my field!” When not out reaping, he’s building a pond so he can fish, and spending time with family. He now has six grandchildren to keep him and his wife entertained and busy. His biggest pandemic takeaway was that more people need to go fishing and hiking. David and Christine Dickieson Pesses sent news from Gloversville, NY, where the pandemic has them doing much more walking, which is keeping them in great shape. They walked every street in Gloversville and then walked in neighboring towns all year long. David is still working three days a week as a family practice doctor. Chris continues to volunteer at the local library and cooperative market. Their biggest pandemic takeaway: “We still enjoy each other’s company!”

James Hilderbrant and wife Anne have a great-grandson. Taking care of him brings James the most satisfaction these days. Otherwise, he’s been working around the house—getting it ready for painting, getting the garden ready for planting, and getting the driveway ready to be redone. Susan McIntosh Lewis wrote from Menlo Park, CA, to tell us that she had a new granddaughter this year, which helped lift the darkness of grief after losing her husband and mother last year. She’s also happy to be back in touch with Artie Sherman, who’s now at the NIH. Like many of us, Susan says that regular Zoom sessions with family have helped to bring everyone closer. She has also had fun picking up new languages on her phone app. Her daughter interviewed her on another app, and it’s turned into a memoir. Susan continues her daily enjoyment of playing the flute and piano.

Leah Bissonette, MS ’76, from Encinitas, CA, was glad she’d packed in international travel in 2019, including to Vienna, Barcelona, Paris, and the South Pacific islands of Fiji, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia. She hopes to travel to Ecuador soon. She’s been spending her time working on local politics, where she’s picked up skills for marketing on Facebook and created a puppet show using her phone! Leah felt wonderful about being a “senior” during the pandemic—no need to leave home to work and the beach was still delightful. Like all of us, she notes that being able to be vaccinated early made being older a very good designation. Carol Worman Nolan volunteers now that she’s retired. She’s involved in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s and the local pregnancy support center. Satisfaction comes from remembering all the blessings she’s received over the years. For Carol, the pandemic has brought home the reality we all like to avoid—we aren’t in control.

Fred and Viviane Thomas-Breitfeld ’74 live outside of Milwaukee in Brookfield, WI. Fred will be celebrating 40 years as the pastor of the Jackson Park Lutheran Church in Milwaukee this November. Lastly, Colleen Colbert has been busier than ever during the pandemic, practicing clinical psychology via telehealth resources. Colleen, who lives in Ithaca, has also devoted her time and expertise to helping the Cornell community and students navigate through the anxiety and depression that have come with the pandemic. She’s also helped her 96-year-old mother, Barbara Schaefer Colbert ’46, stay in her home, and also reached out to other seniors to assist them when we were all under COVID restrictions. Colleen has found that we have “amazing resilience as we cope with this!” She enjoys bird watching, gardening, and being at home with her menagerie of birds, a cat, and two dogs.

Thanks again to everyone who provided news for this column. I wish you all the best for the rest of the year and hope to see a great crowd at our 50th. ❖ Phyllis Haight Grummon, phg3@cornell.edu; Pamela Meyers, psmeyers73@gmail.com; David Ross, dave@daveross.com. Online news form.

1974

Thanks to all who sent news. Classmate Ron Pies recently published The Levtov Trilogy, a novel and two novellas, and Cornell is featured prominently in the plot lines. (The book can be found on Amazon.) Ron lives in Lexington, MA, and is mostly retired from psychiatry but still writing and teaching. He finds his most satisfaction these days comes from reading philosophy and dining out again. His biggest takeaway from the pandemic has been that “we are amazingly resilient creatures.” During her retirement from biotech, Paula Hochman “has been volunteering for ACIR.org, which aims to fast-track cancer immunotherapy research by helping researchers stay on top of the new fast-moving literature. Its sister site is UCIR.org, which aims to help those affected by cancer understand more about their treatment opportunities in the field of cancer immunotherapy.”

Ken Brown (kenbro74@gmail.com) and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Delray Beach, FL. Ken wrote, “The pandemic has put a damper on our usual international travel fetish, but we still managed to get to Kenya for five weeks this winter to see our daughter, and we’ve done a lot of road tripping in the US. We’ve used the time to write more and organize thousands of photographs and drawings.” Ken has joined a small private equity partnership (BlueKey Equity Partners) and has invested in a startup restaurant chain with a social purpose (Immigrant Food) in Washington, DC. Their children “are all engaged in trying to improve the world—one in Africa, one in grad school in international environmental policy, one a writer, one a social enterprise entrepreneur, and one a special needs teacher.” They also have three grandchildren. Most satisfaction for Ken these days comes from writing, reading, and traveling with Elizabeth to the “remotest corners of the world.” His biggest takeaway from the pandemic: “Life can be long, or it can be surprisingly short—best to do the most good you can as soon as you can.”

John Patrick Knuff (PKnuff@Segalco.com) lives in NYC and is VP, head of talent acquisition at Segal. James Connor in Annandale, VA, retired from his career as a tax attorney in 2013 and has since been a high school track and field coach, a cross-country coach, and a full-time math teacher. He and his wife, Kathleen, have two grandsons who bring them much joy. He finds that most satisfaction these days comes from teaching and coaching, and his biggest takeaway from the pandemic has been that “distance learning at the high school level is not successful in the majority of cases.” Lisa Morse (askprk@aol.com) lives in Mission Viejo, CA, where she “is in semi-retirement—kind of!” She works both as a psychiatric nurse practitioner and as a mental health attorney, and she is also enjoying the beautiful weather and year-round access to the beach and hiking trails. Most satisfaction: “It’s all about the grandchildren.” Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic: “It raised awareness about the importance of taking care of our mental health.”

Cathy Glick (drcathyglick@gmail.com) is in Jackson, MI, working full time as a cardiologist for Henry Ford Health System. She finds “hospital work is challenging and scary—always wearing double masks, face shields, gowns, and gloves.” Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic is, “Wear a mask and get vaccinated.” Most satisfaction comes from finally having time to join a book club, which takes her back to her undergraduate English major days of loving to read. Julie Kane (julkane@hotmail.com) from Natchitoches, LA, teaches part time in the low-residency MFA program at Western Colorado U. She is also earning a certificate in genealogical research from Boston U. Our congratulations are due as she reports that her latest poetry book, Mothers of Ireland (LSU Press, 2020), is co-winner of the 2021 Poetry by the Sea book prize and was a longlist finalist for the Julie Suk Award.

Mike Phillips, in Kalama, WA, retired in 2013 and now has the “best job ever.” He wrote, “I spend most days in my workshop making projects, then begging people to take them. I also help with people understanding Medicare, and I highly recommend this as a retirement activity.” Mike has been in one book club for ten-plus years, and now, since the pandemic started, is also in a Zoom reading group that has helped keep him connected. His biggest takeaway from the pandemic is “the realization that human contact is critical to our lives; no man is an island.” Linda Meyers Geyer (lindageyer20@gmail.com) was living in California when her husband, Gary, died of a sudden heart attack. She and her son Dash decided to build a home near Austin to be closer to relatives but found they hated the heat and made the decision to move back East. Tom ’79 and Carol McKenzie Moore enticed them to come to New Hampshire to look around, and they fell in love with the area. Linda wrote, “I sold my Texas home, and we bought an 8-ft. by 26-ft. trailer camper to move ourselves to New Hampshire (along with seven animals). Nevertheless, we survived and are very happy in our new home. Carol and Tom live nearby in the same town.”

It’s always nice to hear from classmates. Please keep sending news and updates! ❖ Lucy Babcox Morris, lucmor1433@gmail.com; Jim Schoonmaker, js378@cornell.edu; Molly Miller Ettenger, molly.ettenger@gmail.com. Online news form.

1975

Neal and Suzanne Heller Haber (ndhaber@optonline.net and shab2@optonline.net) reside in Croton-on-Hudson, NY. Neal has volunteered his time, now for 23 years, as a member of the Croton School District Board of Education. Suzanne’s volunteerism includes serving on the board of trustees for her synagogue and as chair of its LGBTQ Pride committee. Suzanne has worked at the Mount Pleasant Public Library for 20 years, and, like most of us have seen, libraries are now slowly coming back to normal after months of curbside pickups and virtual programming. While Neal continues his work as an attorney, he has shortened his commute to Manhattan considerably, working from home. Suzanne and Neal’s son Alex ’08 met his husband, Jordan, at the Telluride Assn. Summer Program in 2003. The couple was married in 2018 at Sage Chapel, and the newlyweds were feted with a Chimes concert played especially for them. Alex’s brother, Gregory ’12, earned his master’s in environmental management from Yale’s forestry school. Greg is now a forester in the Bronx, helping to keep the Big Apple green. Suzanne and Neal’s pandemic takeaways: “Maintain relationships with family and friends, and get outside regularly to breathe the air and enjoy nature!” They would love to hear from classmates.

Julie Ann Racino (jar329@cornell.edu) lives in Rome, NY. As she reflects on career changes, she remembers that ten years ago, she worked for the Clinton Global Initiative. Recently, she participated in Cornell’s Climate Change Seminar. Sadly, she reports the loss of her brother, Terrance, during COVID-19. Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic: “Mental health says it all!” Nearby, Pam Hanna (phannamenz@gmail.com) writes from Ithaca. Like most of us, she moved her offices to home in March 2020. She has been so impressed by Cornell’s response to the pandemic. She writes that she has enjoyed being a remote long-distance grandmother to Leo. She missed not getting together for our Reunion in 2020 and especially seeing her roomie of three years, Susan Fulton, and her ever-patient husband, Alan Burrows ’76.

We received an array of news from New England. Nadine Salley, MS ’79 (nadine.salley@gmail.com) lives in Kingston, RI, where she and her spouse live in an active 55-plus community, only three miles from the ocean. Jeanne Allen was recently awarded the Eileen Hayes Mentoring Award by the Massachusetts Coalition of Nurse Practitioners. Congratulations! Jeanne has worked for 33 years at the Holyoke Health Center. In Sandwich, MA, Cornellians were able to show off their sportsmanship in June at Heritage Museums & Gardens’ inaugural Bocce & BBQ tournament. Attending were hostess Patricia Gray, Diane Kopelman Verschure ’74, Ian ’70 and Pat Gallagher Orr ’70, and Susan Jaye Moran ’72. Patricia invites one and all Cornellians to heed the challenge call for upcoming intercollegiate fun at Heritage!

Margie Curtis-Cohen and Marc Cohen both retired in 2020 and had planned to travel and spend time with their three grandchildren. They say, “The travel is on hold for a while, but we have been able to enjoy our 18-month-old granddaughter, Melina,” daughter of Daniel Cohen ’12. Margie and Marc have also visited their daughter, Rachel, and her husband, Colin, parents to AJ and Elliot, and they spent time with son Michael ’04 and his wife, Rebecca, on Cape Cod. Dave and Jody Kraatz Paduch ’74 moved to the low country in South Carolina, after residing in Connecticut for 31 years. Their three children live, respectively, in NYC, Brooklyn, and London. Keeping them busy are seven grandchildren, six of whom are boys!

Dave Fischell, PhD ’80, our Reunion campaign chair and an inventor in his own right, is also a serial entrepreneur. Over the last 25 years, he has co-founded 14 biomedical device companies. After he earned his PhD from Cornell in Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering, Dave worked for Bell Labs for 11 years before deciding to work full time on medical devices. Dave has 178 patents to his name and has written numerous papers in the fields of telecommunications, cardiology, and radiation dosimetry. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Angel Medical Systems. From the other side of the Rockies, we hear from Susan Whiting (smwhiting@gmail.com) and Bruce Van Dusen. The couple retired just before the pandemic and moved from NYC to Idaho, but also now split their time between Boise and New Orleans. Like many of us, they enjoy spending time with their children and grandchildren. “Science saved us,” noted Susan, as she reflects on the pandemic.

Joel and I became grandparents on March 31! My son Alex, who was recently promoted to the rank of Major with the US Army, and his wife are proud parents of baby Alessandro. On the way other end of the time spectrum, as I was working in my garden in March, I found what turned out to be a fossil imprint of a brachiopod, some 400 million years old—that is 150 million years BEFORE dinosaurs roamed the earth. The Morris Museum in New Jersey gave me the genus and species of this form of marine life. It was the trending story in our local papers for a week, ahead of stories about Biden, Trump, Cuomo, Gov. Murphy, COVID, and more. We suspect that this rock story provided a pleasant respite to all! ❖ Karen DeMarco Boroff, Karen.boroff@shu.edu; Deb Gellman, dsgellman@hotmail.com; Mitch Frank, mjfgator@gmail.com; Joan Pease, japease1032@aol.com. Online news form.

1976

I appreciate those who sent some updates about your life! You can always send just a few lines (or more!) to keep in touch with our classmates. Pat Relf Hanavan and I, Lisa Diamant, will be happy to include your news in a future column.

Howard Greenberg wrote that his daily life has changed—but not drastically, all things considered. He has been working 100% remotely from his home office since March 2020 as a medical safety officer for Janssen Pharmaceuticals (Johnson & Johnson). His wife, Joanne, does the same for Merck, as a medical writer. Howard says that Joanne and their 11-year-old terrier, Bosco, have been his world for the past year, along with LOTS of Zoom meetings, for work as well as personal life, including his 65th birthday and his mom’s shiva service. Howard is closing out his full-time work for Janssen Pharma R&D in neuroscience products, not vaccines. He lectures periodically at Thomas Jefferson U. on drug safety and pharmacovigilance, as an adjunct faculty member. He says his 65-year-old body is showing signs of “wear and tear,” and he had a rotator cuff shoulder repair and Mohs surgery last year due to sun exposure. Howard is looking forward to, hopefully, an active retirement. Last year, his 96-year-old mother passed away due to COVID and dementia. As for satisfaction in life, he is busy with lots of Cornell’s alumni activities, including CAAAN chair and student and alumni mentoring. He became a council life member last year. Howard is also active with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bucks County, president of the board of the Animal Alliance of New Jersey animal rescue, and board member of Men Mentoring Men. Enjoying autos and audio as hobbies, time with his wife, and extended family Zooms for the past year, Howard says that most of his joy comes from walks and playing with “best buddy” Bosco. His biggest takeaway from the pandemic is that humans are resilient and adaptable, though sometimes illogical, and science is amazing, especially if followed.

I apologize in advance for any errors in this next news; it was handwritten, and my 66-year-old eyes are not as keen as in the past! Nathanael Greene Slater (ngs34@cornell.edu) remembers beginning a writing seminar in 1975 in the Temple of Zeus, and he is still writing at home. He writes and draws pictorial nonfiction describing historical art including WWII’s Normandy Beach landings. His older daughter is in her third year as an RN BSN in Maine, and his younger daughter is in her third year of a BArch program in Cambridge, MA. Nathanael recovered from a 38-day hospital stay in 2018 from cardiac-renal complications of septic shock. He now enjoys food prep, friends, waking up with happy legs after another good night’s sleep, reading, painting, naps, movies, Facebook, and Super Mario 64 on his Switch.

Gaston Cloutier (gastoncloutier@comcast.net) is closely involved with the Augustinians of the Assumption Catholic religious order in Worcester, MA, and has been since 1987. He appeared on Ted Koppel’s “Nightline,” which was very exciting! He has been doing volunteer work as a psychological counselor for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Dept. of Mental Health, Metro Suburban Area for the past 15 years. He and his wife, Christine, have many relatives who they have been keeping in touch with via gatherings and Facebook. Check our next column for more news from our classmates! ❖ Lisa Diamant, Ljdiamant@verizon.net; Pat Relf Hanavan, patrelf1@gmail.com. Online news form.

1977

Thanks to the efforts of the Alumni Office, my co-correspondent Mary Flynn, and many of our classmates, we have a treasure-trove of news. This will begin the first in our series, “Tales from the Plague Year+” (the + denoting that the plague has been going on for longer than a year, if anyone needed reminding).

Barbara Weed Poetzsch says that after practicing medicine for 41 years, she finally retired last year. The pandemic caused her to furlough starting in May, which was just two months prior to a planned retirement, so it all worked out! She is loving retirement and being a grandmother. During the early days of the pandemic, her daughter and her two grandchildren “sheltered in” with her, which was wonderful. Barbara has managed the pandemic quite well, adjusting routines, learning some new skills and activities, and enjoying the company of family whenever possible. She can’t believe how busy she is now that she is retired! She is spending time gardening, quilting, cooking and baking, traveling (yes, even during the pandemic—just keeping it local), and visiting with family and friends whenever possible. She was planning a trip to the Adirondacks in August and then a Road Scholar trip to Georgia in October. Barbara has some more ambitious plans for 2022, so hopefully the pandemic will be under control by then. Three cruises—Caribbean, Great Lakes, and Bermuda—are planned! Two years ago, Barbara reunited with friends from her time at Cornell who now live in Rhode Island, very close to one of Barbara’s daughters. They are now Facebook friends, and she hopes to be able to see them again in person next time she visits her daughter. She feels like they never really lost touch! The wonders and upsides of social media. Barbara loves Ithaca and lived there for 15 years after graduation. She had to move for her career, but she goes back often.

Lauri Grossman (lauri@drlaurigrossman.com) is now president of the board of the National Center for Homeopathy. She lives in East Hampton, NY, and is volunteering at Amber Waves Farm in Amagansett and creating collages at the Art Barge. She has three grandchildren who love Cornell Lab of O’s Merlin Bird ID: Noah, Amalia, and Zoe. Lauri hopes to see everyone in Ithaca next year for our 45th Reunion! Bob Edwards retired from Chevron in 2018 after 41 years, the last ten in Asia (Seoul, then Singapore). He enjoyed traveling on that side of the Pacific: Korea, China, Thailand, Indonesia (Bali), Cambodia, Australia, Saipan, and Tibet. It was fun when friends visited and he got to play tour guide. He and his wife now split their time between Florida and California, spending time with friends and family, playing golf, biking, walking the beach, and making improvements to their houses and gardens. One son is a ChemE (like Bob) working in the D.C. area; his other son will graduate next spring from Embry-Riddle in aerospace engineering. Bob likes reading the Class Notes, so he figured it was time to contribute something. Thanks, Bob. We are glad you did.

Maxine Borsuk Siegel is retired from 24 amazing years at Consumer Reports, but she is keeping very busy. She started on a whole new path learning about 19th-century local history as a part-time museum educator at the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. She also volunteers at the Edible Academy at the New York Botanical Garden and does literacy tutoring through LiteracyNewYork.org. All of this is very rewarding, but spending time with her two grandchildren, ages 5 and 20 months, is the most rewarding of all—and so much fun! During the long months of the pandemic quarantine, Maxine spent lots of time trying to get time slots for grocery deliveries, learned to play Mahjong online with friends, had lots of Zoom dinners and meetings with friends and family, and did a lot of reading, not to mention watching many TV series and movies. Besides missing her family and friends, she missed traveling. She has rescheduled for 2022 and hopes all will be well in the world. Maxine wishes that everyone be safe and stay well.

Barb Pirson Foisy just retired after 16 years at IBM and 19 years teaching math. She lived in Hopkinton, MA (26.2 miles west of Boston), for 34 years and just loved this quiet, suburban town. They have two children, one married in 2017 and one married this Labor Day weekend! They live in New Hampshire and California, respectively. She can’t wait to begin traveling again, to visit family and other beautiful spots around the world! Lorraine Molofsky Silsbee retired after 40-plus years! Her last 30 years were with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Inst. at the NIH. She has a beautiful granddaughter and looks forward to resuming travel. I ran into Lorraine several years back at a meeting at the NIH. Marc Swerdloff is working at the Marcus Neuroscience Inst. in Boca Raton, FL, as an attending physician, teaching a new set of newbie resident doctors the specialty. Every day, he still uses the skills and knowledge he learned at Cornell. Marc became a first-time grandparent, which, he says, “is an experience everyone should enjoy if they are so blessed.” He is working through another spike in COVID cases and hoping to survive this one intact. He says “hello” to all his fellow Cornellians. Congratulations on the new grandchild!

We have just read a whirlwind tour of life in the Plague Year+, with stories of coping, support, recovery, and resilience (with more to come in our next column). My wife, Judy Wolf, MD ’81, is an infectious disease specialist, and my son, Jonathan Eisen, MD, is a hospitalist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, caring for many acutely ill, hospitalized COVID patients. So beyond my clinical work, I very much live with this beyond the usual day-to-day exposure to pandemic news. The way to prevent spread is continuing to wear masks indoors, per the CDC recommendations, and to get vaccinated; if you are not vaccinated, please do so and make sure your loved ones, friends, co-workers, etc., do as well. Since I live in Philadelphia, where all things were founded by Benjamin Franklin, I’ll end with a quote from this venerable Philadelphian, which he delivered at the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776: “We must all hang together, or most assuredly, we will all hang separately.”

Here’s to renewed travel in 2022, including to our 45th Reunion. Please stay safe, be careful, and follow the science. Best wishes. Please keep your news and views coming in via the online news form, or write directly to either of us: ❖ Howie Eisen, heisen@pennstatehealth.psu.edu; Mary Flynn, maryflynn1@me.com.

1978

Greetings! I hope everyone survived the summer of record heat, virus surges, travel disruptions, and other weirdness. Thanks to everyone who responded to our email plea for news. The response was terrific. If you don’t see your name below, fear not. We’ve stockpiled the news for future columns.

Steven Colvin retired in January 2021 after over 40 years at the Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources. He and wife Alene have moved to Colorado to be closer to family. Steven did some volunteering to promote private well-owner water quality testing prior to the move. His biggest takeaway from the pandemic: “While we all share many common experiences during this COVID-19 journey, each individual’s personal journey is different. We need to respect that others are going through challenges we cannot even imagine.”

There must be something about Colorado that’s attracting ’78ers. Andrew Paul writes: “We had a busy last 12 months as Margaret and I moved to Aspen, CO, from New York. We are also planning weddings for our two oldest boys during the next six months. Hopefully the grandkids will come soon thereafter. I sold one of my investment firms and transitioned the CEO role in another to my younger partners. I still have one CEO role left with Sopris Capital. My third son, Cornell Class of 2018, works for a startup, and our only daughter is a rising junior at Cornell.”

Laura Howe Czekaj retired in 2018 after 25 years as an English teacher in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. She now substitute teaches at Newark Charter High School, and is fully vaccinated. Rachel Hall Sternberg, MA ’81, has a new book, published by University of Texas Press: The Ancient Greek Roots of Human Rights. The book “traces the origins of human rights beyond the Enlightenment to the evolution of humane discourse and empathetic thought in Ancient Greece.” Learn more here. Rachel’s on the classics faculty at Case Western in Cleveland.

Mark Rust (markrust@msn.com) is not the retiring type. He’s still playing music full time. He recently completed a four-week sailing class, and he raced on a winning crew on the Hudson River—not bad for a first-time sailor. Both of his daughters are in college: “That’s what I get for having kids in my 40s.” The pandemic has taught him patience and to let go of things not in his control. Speaking of daughters, Pat Reilly’s daughter, Erin Goers ’13, married Patrick Chamberlain ’13 on July 30 in a beautiful ceremony and reception attended by many of their fellow alums, including numerous members of the Chorus and Glee Club! Melinda Dower and Susan Shiebler MacDowell ’79 were also in attendance.

Steve Nojeim reports: “Like so many others in the Class of ’78, I turned the big 65 this year. I’m no longer the marathon runner I was at Cornell, but my tennis backhand is getting pretty good. I celebrated my 27th wedding anniversary in May and will reach my 35th year as a research fellow at Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. in September. Pat and I couldn’t be more proud of our daughter, Julia, who just earned her master’s in environmental management from Yale and was hired to be that university’s clean energy coordinator.”

Liebe Kazan Gelman (drgelman@comcast.net), a psychiatrist in Pennsylvania, also has three children, two of them West Point grads, one an Army dermatologist, and one an orthopedic resident who “was on the front lines during the pandemic doing trauma surgery.” Her daughter is a CPA working as a financial analyst for a fashion company. Liebe’s family adopted a rescue cat and a Cavalier King Charles spaniel during the pandemic. Jeff Lefkowitz (jlefkowitz55@gmail.com) reports that his daughter, Jaclyn ’14, was married to Ben Kalter, MBA ’19, on Memorial Day weekend. Jaclyn just graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School with a master’s in public policy. She will be working as a senior behavioral scientist for Vanguard. Son Matthew ’11 married in 2019 and is an attorney for Cadwalader in NYC, with a specialization in financial services.

My turn (Cindy Fuller, PhD ’92, here): To paraphrase the Grateful Dead, the last 21 months have been a long, strange trip. I’m working from home but have a landing space at my hospital for the time when I can resume face-to-face meetings with surgeons and anesthesiologists. I’ve learned much about public health initiatives and advanced life support strategies for COVID-19. My work group had its first in-person gathering since lockdown, at a Seattle park in August. That’s it for this issue. Keep the news coming and stay well. ❖ Cindy Fuller, cindy@cindyjfuller.com; Ilene Shub Lefland, Ilene.lefland@gmail.com. Online news form.

1979

As I write this, I find it difficult to believe that it’s another glorious fall in Ithaca and we have been living through this pandemic for a year and a half. Hopefully at least everyone enjoyed the autumn and all it offered and got outside for some air and exercise. We heard from a number of classmates who slowed down a bit during this time, although they continued to be active and enjoying life.

Jeffrey Berg, ME ’80, MBA ’81 (jeffrey.f.berg@gmail.com) and his wife, Debra Paget, said their daily life has pretty much remained the same during the pandemic, with the exception of not attending concerts and plays and not dining indoors. They are lucky that many of their outdoor activities continued including golf, tennis, pickleball, biking, and hiking. Jeff continues to volunteer for Cornell (including for our class, the Johnson School, and eCornell), for his golf club on Cape Cod, for his HOA/club in Arizona, and as chair of the endowed committee at his synagogue in Connecticut. Their son Blake married Meredith Machesney in September 2020 on Cape Cod, and their daughter, Samantha ’09, married Ryan Sigman in June 2021 in Sonoma, CA. Jeff gets the most satisfaction spending time with family, playing a good round of golf or a game of tennis/pickleball, and organizing an activity that friends can enjoy. He learned during the pandemic how selfish some people can be by not protecting themselves and their families, while others such as healthcare workers and essential workers selflessly go to work every day to serve or care for us.

Katherine Archodis Guzman said that her daily life hasn’t changed recently except for the addition of two more grandchildren. She teaches diabetic education and is a private health and wellness coach. Her brother and sister are cancer survivors. Katherine gets the most satisfaction from traveling, gardening, reading, relaxing with husband Virgilio Sanchez, playing and visiting with grandkids, and volunteering in her community, including administering COVID vaccines. Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic is that kindness, patience, and empowerment make our community stronger so we can survive any challenge.

John Wilkinson (john@bintobottle.com) and his wife, Peggy, are now spending half the year in their new home in Jupiter, FL, and the rest of the time in California. John hopes to see more Cornellians in Florida, where he has many Cornell neighbors. He is doing lots of cruising on a new downeast-style cruiser, playing pickleball and golf, and riding on a Peloton. He gets satisfaction from growing his wine and alternative adult beverage business and enjoying their new Florida home. His biggest takeaway from the pandemic is to enjoy your days as much as you can.

D. Lee Alekel (leealekel@gmail.com) is living in Gansevoort, NY, with her spouse, Ted Peterson. Recently their lives markedly changed because they moved from a suburban-urban area in Maryland to a more rural suburban area. They built a house during the pandemic while living about 450 miles from the build site—and lived to tell the tale(s)! Lee said it is wonderful to be living in NYS after more than 40 years! She is happily retired from the NIH and prior to that, from academia. There is so much more to life than working, she notes, as she’s settling into a new house with ongoing outside projects. Lee gets the most satisfaction sharing meals with friends, neighbors, and family in small groups—all vaccinated. She is so thankful for modern medicine and scientific advancements. Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic is that friendships are important to nurture, regardless of physical distance, and that we should live each day with gratitude and never forget those who are without resources.

Bruce Burstein is in Laguna Niguel, CA. COVID provided an opportunity to meet his neighbors, as they started a twice-a-week cocktail hour. Additionally, he got to tune in remotely to Cornell events that brought back memories. Bruce is still working for a software company implementing HR and payroll systems, and he celebrated his 25th anniversary in August 2021. His wife, Linda, discovered online bridge during the pandemic, and their daughter came home for a while. Bruce gets satisfaction from following his teams in the playoffs. His biggest pandemic takeaways are that he is appreciative of life and misses the human interaction that occurs through work and travel.

On a bittersweet note, in May my husband, Arthur Gurevitch, and I spent a wonderful week in Lake Placid and were so fortunate to visit with Brad and Mary Maxon Grainger, MPS ’87. It was such a gorgeous location that we can’t wait to return. When I was a child, my family spent some vacations there, so we shared our numerous photos and memories with my father, Dr. Arnold Moses. Sadly, he died in August and will be greatly missed by many, including his endocrine patients, his medical students, and the SUNY Upstate Medical community.

Your classmates would love to hear from you. If you have news to share, please send it to any of us: ❖ Linda Moses, lindakmoses@gmail.com; Danna Levy, DannaGOA@gmail.com; or Cynthia Ahlgren Shea, cynthia.shea@sothebyshomes.com. Online news form.

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1980s

1980

We hope that the Cornell Big Red spirit continues to endure during the pandemic, that you continue to enjoy virtual activities and connections, and that you and your families stay healthy and safe.

Cornell Big Red hockey is scheduled to return to Madison Square Garden for the game with BU on November 27. Please check our class website and Facebook page for information about purchasing tickets online in the class section, and for upcoming news about the pregame festivities (probably virtual).

After a long battle with cancer, Celeste Sant’Angelo died on June 10, 2021. She was surrounded by close family and spent the last few weeks at home on hospice care. She is survived by her husband, Stephen Koval, and their son, Luca ’22. Her Tri Delta sister and fellow class officer, co-chair of our 10th Reunion Nancy MacIntyre Hollinshead, attended the wake and funeral. In lieu of flowers, her family asked that donations be made to Memorial Sloan Kettering in her honor. We extend our deepest condolences and sympathy to her family.

Our classmates have been sharing news of their pandemic activities, professional accomplishments, and volunteer activities. Elizabeth Higgs Newton shared, “We recently adopted our foster son, Royal. He will begin kindergarten in August. Today we did a little craft project, which is an homage to Agriculture and Life Sciences.” Stephen Kohn (healtheap@gmail.com) is continuing to work hard on his business and enjoys his time with his three grandchildren. Scott Peer has been working from home for Virgin Orbit. Jim and Margo Randall Bittner have been hosting tastings at their winery for visitors at seated tables and have temporarily stopped bus and limo trips to accommodate pandemic health concerns. Jim serves as an ad hoc member of the CALS dean’s advisory committee and is farming Cornell fruit, including SnapDragon and RubyFrost apples, with his sons, Kevin ’04 and David (Purdue ’08). Daughter Janet Bittner Walker ’06 was recently promoted at her current employer, Bonduelle Group.

Kathy Dixon Leone (kathydleone@aol.com) has been mentoring teens living in group homes/foster care and working toward the reform of the Palm Beach County foster care system. She shared that the youngest of their four sons graduated from Cornell in May. Jack Glassman, MA ’82, reported that he has been enjoying his work with the National Park Service. His recent projects include the rehabilitation of a historic custom house in Salem, MA, and several renovation projects at Minute Man National Historical Park for the upcoming semiquincentennial celebration of the April 19, 1775 battle. Jack celebrated his 30th wedding anniversary with his wife, Chris, in a retro Airstream trailer park along a rail-trail bikeway on Cape Cod. Raymond Disch shared that he is CEO at Sourland Mountain Spirits distillery, located in Hopewell, NJ, and spends time being involved in his community. His son, Sage, and his wife, Erica, joined the family distillery in 2020.

Carol Treusdell Ottman (ottmans@jetbroadbrand.com) has been serving as a docent at Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson’s retreat, and received her certification as a master gardener from Virginia Tech. She celebrated her 40th wedding anniversary with her husband, and they are waiting for their semiannual Europe trips to resume. Serena Hu was named the 134th president of the American Orthopaedic Assn. (AOA)—the oldest orthopaedic association in the world—making history as the first woman president. Serena is also a professor, chief of the spine service, and vice chair of quality, safety, and value at the orthopaedic surgery department at Stanford, which proudly stated, “Dr. Hu brilliantly exudes a lifetime of education, research, experience, patient commitment, community involvement, innovation, and leadership in the field of orthopaedic surgery.”

While we continue to be physically apart, our class supports you and welcomes you to share your news for future columns to maintain our connections during this challenging time. ❖ Leona Barsky, LLB39@cornell.edu; Chas Horvath, chas@horvaths.org; David Durfee, drd225@cornell.edu; Dik Saalfeld, rfs25@cornell.edu. Online news form.

1981

Wow! Time is flying by. We had our Zoom 40th Reunion in June and now we look forward to planning over the next five years to see everyone on the Hill! I know I have had a very busy few months traveling. After my husband, Russ, and I dropped my kids off at Cedar Lake Camp in Milford, PA, we went on a three-week road trip from Milford, PA, to Albany, NY, to Marblehead, MA, to Paradox Lake, NY (think Lake George), and then to Asheville and back to Florida. It was extremely rejuvenating and was so needed after this crazy 18 months we all just experienced. Along the way, I got together not just once but twice with Karen Levine Whitman for coffee, and it was so wonderful to chat and laugh! I also saw my Cornell roomie, Sandi Goldstein Karlin, for lunch in Delmar, NY, and we caught up as well. I can’t wait to hear how each of you are doing—so please let me know! You can always email me directly or fill out the online news form. Let me know what you are up to.

We have a lot of news to share. Not far from me in Boca Raton, FL, is Michelle Goldstein-Dresner, MD ’85. She is an anesthesiologist at a same-day surgery center. Her son, Shmuel, is in West Palm Beach, FL, for a year doing a glaucoma fellowship at the Bascom Palmer facility. Daughter Rebecca finished her orthodontic residency at UConn and works in Florida too! She is very happy. Greg Allen in Connecticut recently retired after 33 years with IBM in corporate sales. During different seasons, he drives as a transporter for Hertz and delivers for UPS. He is so proud of his son, Michael, who graduated from UConn’s engineering school, majoring in computer science and cybercrimes.

Also retired are James and Anne Mancini Walrath. They loved family togetherness during the pandemic! On the same path, Mary Machamer in Toronto is about to retire. Her daughter is finishing her second year in textile science and fashion business at the U. of Alberta in Edmonton. During the pandemic, Mary learned to be patient, take deep breaths, and stay calm! Linda Kosobucki Mullen moved to Coeur d’Alene, ID, and is now retired. And over in Oregon, WI, Scott Sanford, ME ’84, is now retired after working for 18-plus years at the U. of Wisconsin, Madison as an outreach specialist/extension agricultural engineer working on agricultural energy issues. He is enjoying his woodworking, wine and beer brewing, and gardening, and wants to do more travel to visit national parks. He went on a mission to Zimbabwe with Carol Butler ’80 and continues to work with the mission on agricultural issues.

Leslie Camhi in NYC has a son who is now going to Cornell’s College of Arts & Sciences in the Class of 2025. Her translation (from French) of Violaine Huisman’s award-winning novel, The Book of Mother, came out from Scribner. Leslie also writes about culture and society for Vogue and the New York Times. She knows that she cherishes every day and is connected globally in ways that she could never have imagined after this pandemic. She also loved exploring her fascinating neighborhood, the Upper West Side of NYC, and deeper connections with her neighbors. Also on the Upper West Side is Fran Hoffinger. Her law practice continues to thrive, even by Zoom, and focuses on criminal and civil litigation and family law. Her sister is her law partner at the Hoffinger Firm PLLC in Midtown Manhattan. She loves her pro bono work for the various Bar associations (New York Women’s Bar, NYC Bar), for her synagogue, and on the First Dept.’s Committee on Character & Fitness, interviewing new lawyers applying for the NYS Bar.

Kudos also to Jeanette Brizel, as she is now the chief human resources officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art! Not too far over the river in Princeton, NJ, Mary Kieronski Brown loved working from home. It gave her more time to tend to things on their small farm. She is an associate director at Merck in global communications and change management. She loved that during the pandemic she saw how people were amazingly creative in finding ways to help others! In Baltimore, David Fisher adjudicates unemployment benefit disputes as a senior hearing examiner for the Maryland Dept. of Labor. He has really enjoyed his Zooms during the pandemic with Clifford Kirsch, Vinnie Gentile, and Jon Landsman. Also in Maryland (Ellicott City), Paul Gleichauf continues to consult for Maryland healthcare and human services nonprofits. He also volunteers for a nonprofit serving local seniors, which he loves. He loves his daily bike ride—good for the body and the brain! He is so proud to have welcomed a daughter-in-law recently. He writes, “Look for the silver linings—there are lots of them there if you search.”

Andy Schroer is a math teacher at Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, PA, and continues to golf. We also heard from Julio Caro, in California, that he continues to work in the film industry, producing films and series. His son, Javier, is a freshman at the U. of Edinburgh in Scotland, and his daughter, Isabel ’18, continues to work at Major League Baseball in NYC. We certainly have a lot to share! I wish you good health, happiness, and days filled to the brim with whatever makes you smile. Send me your news, please—I enjoy getting it, and others like to hear about it! ❖ Betsy Silverfine, bsilverfine@comcast.net. Online news form.

1982

As I write this in August 2021, our class, along with the rest of the country, is wrestling with trying to balance a return to some form of normal at the same time that the Delta variant of COVID has stubbornly continued to affect the health of many. Cornell is currently reporting that 96% of the on-campus population is vaccinated and they have lifted most restrictions but are requiring that masks be worn indoors. A welcome consequence of that status is that our “big 4-0” 40th Reunion in summer 2022 is currently being planned to happen on campus, June 9–12, and, if Cornell follows recent tradition, we can expect to be housed in one of the West Campus dorm complexes. We look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones, and we encourage as many of you who can to return to the Hill.

As part of Reunion, our class council has decided to sponsor the cost of creation and dissemination of a “digital memento” for the Class of ’82 in which all members of our class are invited to create a page online with a few photographs (current and/or past) and a simple write-up with updates on what you all have been up to in your lives. Participation is strictly opt-in, and only the information that you enter will be shared. We haven’t done such a collection in several decades, and we hope that everyone will share something of where they are in their lives, some highlights of how they got there, and perhaps what their retirement future (or present for some of us) will look like. Once the contribution period has finished, the “book” will be frozen, and the file will be available to all classmates. By now, you should have gotten information about the book and how to create your page, but if not, contact any of your correspondents and we can get you access details.

From Mount Horeb, WI, we heard from retired nurse Catherine Lott (cathlott@mhtc.net). Cathy says, “I’m so fortunate not to have been touched closely by the pandemic. I stayed connected by long walks with friends, and I reconnected via Zoom to others far away. My heart goes out to those who have suffered so much loss.” The pandemic has taught her to “get over yourself and worrying about what others think. Life is too short to wear uncomfortable jeans.” Nowadays she is once again hugging friends and enjoying the great outdoors together. In retirement she is enjoying the slowdown and the process of rebalancing: gardening, biking, decluttering, and (now) gathering with friends again. Cathy is brushing up on French because she wants to travel, and she has even picked up playing guitar again.

Neil Watkins, MD ’86, reports that he is still enjoying working in his solo medical/surgical practice as an ophthalmologist, and he particularly enjoys working with his wife, Desireé, who is the administrator of Neil’s practice. Desireé is a trustee in the village of Olympia Fields, IL, where the Watkinses reside, and she ran for mayor in spring 2021. When he is not working, Neil enjoys playing and competing in golf. His biggest takeaway from the recent COVID crisis has been “how the political party is so attached to power, and so few are standing up for the Constitution or solving the pandemic.”

Culled from the class Facebook group: Chiao Chang and his fourth-floor Donlon freshman roommate, David Post, met for breakfast in Ashburn, VA, in August to catch up on things. Giving hope to us all, Susan Ng Hill commented, “You two have not aged since freshman year.” Mark Stenzler continues to churn out the blues on the Swiss airwaves and online through his “Blues Zeppelin” show. ❖ Mark Fernau, mef29@cornell.edu; Nina Kondo, nmk22@cornell.edu; Doug Skalka, dskalka@npmlaw.com. Online news form.

1983

As I write this, it’s the dog days of summer in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, and I’m getting ready to send my youngest to college and transition to empty nesthood. I can’t believe it was 42 years ago this month that my folks dropped me off at U-Hall 4 to begin freshman year at Cornell. For those of you who still have school-aged children, I hope you and your families had a smooth beginning to the academic year and a safe and healthy learning environment.

James Orlando checked in from Sydney, Australia, where he has been living since 2004. James writes that he has been “working in various businesses as a director and CFO, most recently around medical and health technology. One company, Catapult Group International, provides sports performance and analytics to elite teams around the world; Cornell is a good customer. My family loves it here, and although we’re in COVID lockdown (again), that usually does not impact a good day out at the beach—appropriately socially distanced, of course. Our big news is that we’ve just bid farewell to our daughter, Isabel ’25, who is starting at Cornell in Arts & Sciences. She’s starting a year later than planned due to COVID, but she’s ready to make up for lost time! Sadly, due to travel restrictions in Australia, Isabel’s parents will not be able to embarrass her on her first day on campus, but she will be accompanied by her older brother, Zachary, who is currently living in Boston and working for the Federal Reserve. We are hoping to visit Upstate next year (both Ithaca and Owego, my hometown) when things open up again.”

My lifelong friend Roberta Paikoff Holzmueller (we grew up together in Syracuse) shared the following: “We discover Cornell connections in all sorts of places. In July, my son Aaron and I were volunteering at a kids’ camp for athletes with physical and visual disabilities, Dare2Tri Paratriathlon Club of Chicago. Aaron was one of the running coaches, and it turned out every running coach had a Cornell connection: Cornell Triathlon Team coach Tom Giannettino, and Triathlon Team members Avery Voehl ’21 and Warren Blood ’21. Together they taught the young athletes running techniques and drills and assisted them out on the racecourse.”

Dean Miller submitted the following update: “The Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi Awards for 2020 included several prizes for COVID coverage, and I’m one proud former Daily Sun staffer. With my colleagues at Lead Stories, we won the fact check category. I wrote most of those entries in mid-2020, shortly after joining Lead Stories, which is the most prolific of the ten third-party agencies doing fact checks for Facebook et al. in the US. By year-end, I had been promoted to managing editor, but I still write. In all, we’re about 30 people working on four continents and in almost a dozen languages. Those late nights down on State Street and trudging home in the snow taught lessons I still use. I can’t emphasize enough the value of working for the Sun, even if you’re not going to be a journalist. Here’s the link to the SPJ’s information on the COVID winners.”

Marti Reisman Sheldon and her husband, Mark, MS ’85, live in Huntington Beach, CA, and Marti wrote that almost a year after having been laid off from Boeing, she was rehired in May 2021 and hopes to spend the remainder of her career there. Combined with her tenure at Boeing predecessor Hughes Aircraft Co., Marti has been with the company for 38 years. She also recently completed the User Experience Design certificate program at eCornell.

My Sigma Phi fraternity brother John Gaines and his wife, Bonnie Cohen, moved back to Brooklyn in July after more than 20 years in the Bay Area. John recently began working for Boston-based healthcare administration startup Cohere Health as VP of marketing. Throughout the pandemic, John also hosted weekly Zoom get-togethers with a handful of fellow music geeks (myself included) to listen to and discuss all kinds of new and obscure music. In early August, John and I attended an in-person gathering of all of the Zoom participants in the East Village, joined by classmate Rob Smith, who still practices psychiatry in Midtown Manhattan.

Any news you would like to share? Please send an email to any of our class correspondents so we can include your news in future columns. You may also submit your news via the online news form or on our class Facebook page. Best wishes to all. ❖ Tom Helf, tomhelf@aol.com; Jon Felice, jbfelice@jbfelice.com; Stewart Glickman, stewartglickman@gmail.com.

1984

The year 1984 was the launchpad of our personal and professional growth as proud ’84 graduates from Cornell. And it all shows in the news we get from you! Thank you for sharing and continuing our alumni class fellowship.

Julie Helitzer Shubin (julie.shubin@gmail.com) shared the news that in March, she was appointed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to serve as a panel chair on the Foreign Service Grievance Board. When not working, she spends as much time as possible in Cape May, NJ. Congratulations to Julie on this accomplishment! Laura Abramson Winningham (laurawinningham@me.com) wrote to say that she founded City Harvest London, a food rescue charity, seven years ago. For her work delivering millions of meals during the COVID pandemic, she was awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for 2020. The work of City Harvest was recognized as an outstanding emergency response to the food waste and poverty before, during, and beyond COVID-19. This is indeed a great honor for Laura and truly amazing work. Thank you for your service!

Beth Butlien Ayres (bayres@comcast.net) says that her life has changed in every way after 30 years in business. She and her husband, Alan, sold their food service management company, moved to the coast of Massachusetts, and made many travel plans. A routine blood test revealed that her husband had lymphoma, which led to a 15-month battle until he passed away last summer. This has required Beth to do a lot of gear shifting. She is now retired, devoting her time to volunteer work and learning new hobbies and passions. Beth has set up a scholarship fund in her husband’s name, which is devoted to helping young people diagnosed with blood cancer. Both of her sons live in the Boston area. They are planning a trip to Alaska with their significant others. Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic is that she loves “home” and has found it very comforting knowing others were enjoying that time as well.

Anne Hoskins (aehoskins15@gmail.com) and her husband, Robert Zdenek, have bought a home in San Luis Obispo, CA, with hopes of retiring there someday. In the meanwhile, they loved spending time during COVID working remotely down by the Central Coast. She is the chief policy officer of Sunrun, a lending solar and battery storage company. Her youngest child completed graduate school and they are excited to have him return to California. Her biggest takeaway from COVID is to be thankful for her health, friends, and family. Rachel Bennett shares that she has joined Northwell Health Fertility. Her oldest son, Sam, works for Tesla in Reno, NV. Her second son, Michael, is an environmental activist attending UC Boulder. Her third son, Alex ’20, is an aspiring professional soccer player. Her youngest son, Joshua, just finished his freshman year at USC. From her news, it is easy to see why Rachel’s family brings her the most satisfaction in life these days. Her biggest takeaway from COVID is learning to stop and smell the roses. We can all learn from Rachel—life moves fast!

All of you contributing and reading our news column continue our proud tradition of being Cornell ’84 graduates. Remember! No news is too insignificant to share. The inbox of your class correspondent is always a welcoming one. Write to: ❖ José Nieves, jmn12@cornell.edu. Online news form.

1985

Hello fellow ’85ers! Many of you may be attending your 40th high school reunions this fall, and I wish I could get to mine. I work in healthcare, and we are so very understaffed that I cannot get away for even a weekend to hang out with friends from high school and those five that “followed me” to Cornell (LOL)! Hope you all can get a chance to reconnect and that, someday soon, we all as a class can get together again.

Fredilyn Sison (fsison@gmail.com) says her daily life has not changed much. A public defender, she writes, “Work has gotten harder because of the workaround with the pandemic and people teleworking or staying at home.” The most satisfaction in life for her is found in people continuing to be kind to each other. Fredilyn feels the pandemic has “brought out the best and worst—a good reason to really look at ourselves and figure out how we want to live the rest of our lives.”

Howard Gelb is an orthopedic surgeon in Florida. He has a daughter at Cornell and has recently been back to Ithaca, visiting campus. When asked what brings him the most satisfaction these days, Howard wrote, “Family and getting outside.” Howard’s biggest takeaway from the pandemic is that he has had the opportunity to spend more time with his children. Frederic Johnson (fredericjohnson@hotmail.com) continues to volunteer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, IL. He has been included as a co-author in a scientific paper involving night sky cameras on the topic of artificial light at night (ALAN). Frederic has sadly gone through a divorce and is adjusting to his new life. He’s focusing on talking with friends, working out, and cooking. His biggest takeaway from the pandemic is to value friendship.

Wishing I had more news to share this round. I know that we are all stressed, emotional, frustrated, sad, and wanting to get back to “normal.” We grew up listening to stories from our parents and grandparents of war, the Great Depression, and food lines. We practiced running into the halls and covering our heads for air raids that never came to pass. We, as a generation, have not dealt with anything like this (I know I haven’t). Essential workers are feeling the strain; non-essential workers who have been out of jobs have felt the fear of losing their homes, their medical care, and more. We have lost over 675,000 Americans to COVID-19, at this writing. It is devastating and sad. Please, if you are having emotional and/or mental stress, find help. This is a difficult time, and we all need one another. Continue, my fellow Cornellians, to be kind to one another, to take care of one another, and to mask up, wash your hands, stay six feet apart, and vaccinate. It’s about ALL of us. ❖ Joyce Zelkowitz Cornett, cornett0667@comcast.net. Online news form.

1986

Greetings, Class of ’86. I am going to dive right in with the news, including a few updates from some of your class board members.

Aruna Inalsingh (class council) has been happily ensconced in downtown Manhattan for “many” years, after moving up and down the Eastern Seaboard. She spent ten years at Parker Hannifin, and then, after getting her Duke MBA, she started her own marketing agency; now Aruna is looking forward to going back “in-house” to improve her work-life balance. She has mostly kept in touch with her TriDelt sorority sisters, going to their weddings and then occasionally escaping with them to girls’ weekends away. She still enjoys the life of a bachelorette, but she has been known to get a little distracted by a “special someone.”

After living in Toronto for 15 years, John Carnella (class council) and Mimi Joh-Carnella relocated to East Hampton at the end of last year. They have a trifecta of Cornell children. Tierney ’21 (Hotel) is working in D.C.; Nikki ’18 (Arts) is in medical school in London, Ontario; and Max ’16 (Arts) works in Toronto. John and Mimi are Cornell Council members, for which Mimi serves as vice-chair. Like everyone else, they are looking forward to connecting with friends and classmates when “someday soon” comes along.

Jeff “CJ” Biederman (class council) has meandered West since graduation. He lived in NYC, Atlanta, and Nashville, but has called L.A. home the last 16 years. He, too, has been educating his children on the Hill. His older son is a senior at Cornell and his younger son just started as a freshman. He and the boys drove across the country to move him into Clara Dickson. (Jeff’s wife had the good sense to fly.) Jeff is an entertainment lawyer who works in music, film and television, fashion and branding, and the digital media space. For four summers, the family lived in London while Jeff taught a class in international entertainment law.

Jon Moeller has climbed the ranks from his early days as a food analyst to become the public face of Procter & Gamble in recent years. Effective November 1, he became P&G’s president and CEO. John is active in Cincinnati’s civic and cultural affairs, having served as both president and chairman of the Cincinnati Art Museum’s board of trustees. In his “spare time,” John serves as a lecturer at the Johnson School.

Soprano, producer, and educator Eve Edwards is a much-sought-after soloist along the mid-Atlantic. She has performed over 50 leading roles in the operatic repertory including Mimi, Cio-Cio San, Violetta, Nedda, and many others. Companies and orchestras with which she has appeared include Boheme Opera NJ, Amato Opera, Pennsylvania Lyric Opera Theater, Buck Hill-Skytop Music Festival, Lansdowne Symphony, Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, and more. She enjoys an active schedule of concerts featuring both operatic and art song repertoire. Eve is the founder of Delphi Opera, producing operas, concerts, and educational outreach programs, and providing enrichment for future generations of arts lovers and participants.

Sudip and Joan Button Thakor (Annual Fund) are residing in Connecticut, where they have raised many Cornellians. The pair will be empty nesters since twins Lena ’25 and Maya ’25 will be starting at Cornell. Son Eric ’18 (CALS) works for an investment fund in Washington, DC, and daughter Anjali ’19 (ILR) lives in New York City and works for a consulting firm. Sudip has enjoyed his occasional guest lecturing stints in Environmental Finance at Cornell. While the house is empty, Joan plans to devote more time to her college counseling practice, but on Wednesdays she will continue to visit the Old Greenwich Farmer’s Market, founded and run by Dana Lee Evans. Joan is excited to spend some time in Central New York, dropping off her daughters. She is planning to spend time on Skaneateles Lake, seeing family and reconnecting with Michele Chandler from her U-Hall 2 days. Coincidentally, Michele (who splits her time between Toronto, where she is from, and Skaneateles), plays tennis with my sister when she is in the US.

Jeffery Weaver, MBA ’90, EVP risk at KeyCorp, was one of eight people chosen to serve on the Federal Reserve of Cleveland’s new Equity and Inclusion Advisory Council. Jeff will provide advice, strategic counsel, and feedback on matters specific to diversity, equity, inclusion, and opportunity for communities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky to reduce the racial wealth gap. Jeff lives in Shaker Heights, OH, with his lovely wife, Tracey (Forde) ’90, and is enjoying his pursuit of an empty-nester lifestyle, with one son in the working world and another as a rising junior at a Washington, DC, university.

My fellow class correspondents and I look forward to hearing from you soon. We’d love to hear about you, your partners and offspring (and even your offspring’s offspring), your careers and retirement, and your travels and hobbies. ❖ Toby Goldsmith, toby.goldsmith@gmail.com; Lori Spydell Wagner, loriwagner86@gmail.com; Michael Wagner, mwagner123@gmail.com. Online news form.

1987

Hello, classmates! You’ve probably heard by now that Cornell Alumni Magazine content has gone digital. Same column, different format. Same need for news. This is a great time to share what you’ve been up to and generate some excitement for our 35th Reunion next June 9–12 (how is that even possible?)!

Paul Smith (affectionately known to his friends as Paul TEEEE) wrote, “I am an infectious disease specialist in Manhattan. My life has been quite busy since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. I have been working with the Major League Baseball Players Assn. as a consultant for their COVID-19 joint committee.” Fred Barber had lots of news to share: “My daughter, Stephanie, will represent Arkansas at the Miss USA pageant in November. Stephanie is taking a gap year after graduating from U. of Arkansas before heading to law school. She will also model for Sherri Hill at New York Fashion Week in September. My company, response:AI, was acquired by Cygnal, a D.C.-based political and public affairs communications firm, in January. This summer I am visiting my old roommate, John van Gelder, in Ann Arbor. John and his wife run an Airbnb in a converted carriage house near the U. of Michigan campus.”

Jill Sullivan Cadogan and her husband, Zeke, moved to Victor, NY, after 30-plus years in Massachusetts. Their very first house guests were Terri Heusinger Carney and her husband, Brian, from Indianapolis. “We had a great little U-Hall 1 reunion dinner also, attended by Mike Durand and his wife, Ann. It is great to be back in the Finger Lakes area.” Jill Barnett Kaufman wrote to let us know that she and fellow classmate John Hastings were married in August. “We met at our 25th Reunion and we each have three children, age 18 through 27.” (Another plug for our 35th—maybe you’ll meet/re-meet someone?)

Jessica Marcus was scheduled to participate in the 112th running of the Race to Mac, a sailing race from Chicago to Mackinac Island. “Racers keep track of how many they’ve done, and this will be my 20th race. At 333 miles, it is one of the world’s longest-running freshwater races. I’ve been on the podium and hope to do so again this year. We’ve finished in as quickly as 44 hours—and as long as 72 hours.” World traveler Gligor Tashkovich, MBA ’91, told us that he just returned from the Republic of Moldova, his 100th country or territory visited. The only countries/principalities he has left to visit on the European continent are Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein, and the Slovak Republic. So if you live in one of those places, maybe offer him a couch to sleep on. It was also his 200th round trip across the Atlantic Ocean. Among the work he does on his travels are election monitoring and operations. He regularly donates his election-related materials to the Cornell archives.

Jay Bainbridge ’86, BA ’87, is a contributing author to a new book on the market. According to the publisher (University of California Press), How Ten Global Cities Take on Homelessness: Innovations That Work “takes on perhaps the most formidable issue facing metropolitan areas today: the large numbers of people experiencing homelessness within cities. Four dedicated experts with first-hand experience profile ten cities—Bogota, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Houston, Nashville, New York City, Baltimore, Edmonton, Paris, and Athens—to explore ideas, strategies, successes, and failures. Together they bring an array of government, nonprofit, and academic perspectives to offer a truly global perspective. The authors answer essential questions about the nature and causes of homelessness and analyze how cities have used innovation and local political coordination to address this pervasive problem.” You may remember Dan Dubelman performing at Oliver’s in Collegetown as well as other legendary Ithaca clubs like the Haunt and Captain Joe’s Reef. Well, he’s still touring, and his band, Doctor Dan’s Music Show, recently performed at two legendary Los Angeles clubs (the Cinema Bar and the Viper Club). Perhaps he will play us a set at Reunion!

Please mark your calendars for June 9–12, and please share your news with us by emailing any of us at the following: ❖ Whitney Weinstein Goodman, wwg5@cornell.edu; Liz Brown, etb29@cornell.edu; and Lisa Burns Griffin, LAG77@cornell.edu. Online news form.

1988

Hey there, Class of ’88! Lynn Berni here, writing from Salt Lake City, UT, to bring you the latest installment of classmate updates. Lots of good stuff from the “Share Your News” forms. Keep those updates coming!

Diane Weisbrot Nagle (dwnagle@icloud.com) has happy news to share. In January, she married Tom Nagle (Boston U. ’83) and moved to Clearwater, FL. After living in Redondo Beach, CA, for 26 years, she very happily relocated to Florida with her new hubby. Bonus, Mike Briggs ’76 was wintering in Florida in the condo directly below them! On the work front, Diane is “happily unemployed/retired and started writing a book—my father’s biography about surviving the atrocities of the Holocaust.” On the home front, being with her husband brings Diane the most satisfaction in life these days. Son David will be graduating U. of Southern California in December 2021, and daughter Kiana is in the pre-med honors program at a local junior college.

Pam Darer Anderson (pjanderson@sympatico.ca) is busy baking with Pamsweets, her home-based baking business in Toronto, Canada. She makes cookies, chocolate bark, gingerbread, and other sweet treats. Pam is also working part time as a manager for the Central Toronto Athletic Club. In addition to working from home, Pam has been home more in general due to the pandemic. She enjoys being outdoors, playing tennis, walking, and biking. Pam grew up in Connecticut and hasn’t been able to visit the US to see her parents and other relatives in over a year. Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic is realizing “how important family and my kids are and how much they mean to me, and having them at home or close by.” Pam and her husband, Graham, MBA ’88, have four girls. Her oldest daughter, Rebecca, is working on a two-year program in prosthetics after graduating from Western U. Her second daughter, Allison, is working at Nike in Portland, OR. Her third daughter, Sarah, is a sophomore at Connecticut College, and her youngest, Katie, is in grade ten and plays volleyball and runs. Katie attends school in person a few times a week, so she is at home more. Check out Pam’s bakery here. New on the menu: fresh baked muffins!

Bridget Martell (bridget.martell@gmail.com) is thankful that COVID reduced the travel requirements for her consulting work, as more time at home has allowed her to spend more time with her children. Bridget serves as a C-suite executive for startup to mid-stage biotechnology companies, to get them to their first meaningful value inflection point. She also serves as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Yale U. Bridget and her husband, Edmund Chung, are based in Guilford, CT, and she is excited to “establish a footprint out West” with a new home in Wyoming. “The beauty and simplicity of an early morning at home” brings Bridget the most satisfaction these days. “Life moves so quickly; it is up to us to make it slow down.” Bridget’s takeaways from the pandemic? “The human resolve and fortitude is strong; we are resilient and resourceful. As we emerge from this apocalypse and begin leading normal lives, it makes one even more grateful for friends and family.” Agreed, and nicely said.

Finally, John Zucker got in touch with an email. Ironically, his wife, Meg (Wisconsin ’91), has been more active at Cornell than he’s been. She was a guest speaker at the President’s Council of Cornell Women annual symposium in May 2019. Meg is the president and founder of Don’t Hide It, Flaunt It (DHIFI), a nonprofit organization that works to advance acceptance, understanding, tolerance, and mutual respect for a person’s blatant or invisible difference. DHIFI is collaborating with Cornell to create Alumni Flaunt, a platform for Cornellians to share their own life experiences with looking or feeling different. John keeps in touch with fellow Cornellians Jeff Greenberg and James Schaefer ’89. “Some of these friendships really do last,” he said. He and James got together in NYC in June, when James was visiting from Chattanooga. They also stay connected in a Zoom book club. What a great idea!

Please get in touch and let us know how you’re doing. Big news, small news—we want to hear it all. You can share your updates via the online news form, or send any of us an email. Thanks! ❖ Lynn Berni, smartymc66-cornell@yahoo.com; Debbie Kaplan Gershenson, dkgershe@gmail.com; Aliza Stein Angelchik, aangelchik@sonorusbrand.com.

1989

Hi classmates and family and friends of the Class of ’89! You’ll likely be reading this news column as we near the end of 2021. I hope the year has been going as well as possible for all of you. As I’m writing this in August, I know many of us have been lucky to fit in some summer getaways, celebrate milestones like graduations, and certainly plan for brighter times ahead. But I know we’ve faced a lot of challenges too, and I’m sending love and support, especially to those of you for whom things have been hard. Please let us know how you’re doing. You can submit news via the online news form or email us (our addresses are below).

I (Anne Czaplinski Treadwell) have been fortunate to be working from home with a not-quite-empty-yet nest here in beautiful Burlington, VT. I’ve been enjoying some summer activities with a Cornellian friend who lives nearby in South Burlington, Liz Des Cognets Champagne ’79. She constantly inspires me as she recently completed her first-ever triathlon (at age 63; woot, woot!) and is training for the Boston Marathon, which we’re both excited to run this October, after its postponement in April 2020 and again in April 2021. Liz also jumped in this year as a volunteer mentor for First Strides, a local couch-to-5K program for women of all ages. Also inspiring me is my daughter, Charlotte, 27 (dad is John Treadwell), who’s home for a bit after finishing her dual master’s degrees in history and information science at the U. of Maryland. She’s looking for a job in archives. Charlotte fenced épée at Wellesley College and still keeps up with her varsity-level weight-lifting routines, a great reminder for those of us who struggle to fit important fitness activity into our days! And as Charlotte arrived home, my youngest, Ethan, was preparing to leave; he’s matriculating at the College of Wooster, in Ohio. He graduated from high school in 2019 and has since been working in grocery stores and restaurants (I’ll miss his beet salad) and taking community college courses. He’s excited to finally get the away-from-home college experience. And I’m looking forward to parents’ weekend!

Plenty of classmates’ kids have headed off to campuses after embracing some hybrid, at-home, or gap year options over the last year, including Caroline Raymond, daughter of Catie Blackler and Derek Raymond, who’s starting at Santa Clara U. a year after graduating from high school in Skaneateles, NY. Catie reports that the whole family had a great trip to San Francisco in May to check out the area. Best wishes to Caroline and all the students this year! Jeffrey Spector writes that his son graduated from high school in June and is attending the U. of Maryland, and his daughter graduated from Colby College in May with a BA in psychology. Jeffrey wrote in July that he’d been working from home since March 2020 and was using the time he used to spend commuting to sleep more (I’m imagining a few others can relate!). He recently marked 15 years as an employment lawyer for Sodexo. He and Robin live in Bethesda, MD.

A few other graduation announcements I’ve glimpsed lately: Drew Doblar, ME ’91’s son, Dylan, received a BS from MIT and is continuing to work toward a master’s there. Parker Miller ’21, BS ’20, ME ’21, son of Howie and Karen Saul Miller ’90, earned his master’s in engineering last spring—from Cornell! Also graduating from Cornell in 2021: Jacob Arnold ’21, son of Mark ’88 and Marci Braunstein Arnold. From the photos I saw, it looked like those families were thrilled to celebrate their graduates in Ithaca, despite some typical rainy weather. Congratulations to all!

Some families are looking forward to future events that had been postponed by the pandemic. Ilissa Rubinstein Sternlicht wrote in August that she and her husband, David, were planning a trip—with fingers crossed—to Cornell for Homecoming and the in-person graduation ceremony for their daughter Rachael ’20, BS ’19, who’s now working as a planner for Horizon Media. As director of corporate real estate for Meredith Corp., Ilissa was busy this fall preparing the offices for the return of in-person staff. But she and David were psyched to sneak in some post-vaccination, pre-Delta travel: they went to Iceland in July. She reports: “We were lucky to be able to hike to see the extremely active Fagradalsfjall volcano outside Reykjavik!”

Fellow correspondent Kris Borovicka Gerig and her husband (fully vaccinated and continuing to monitor the situation regarding efficacy and boosters, she notes) were able to get to New Orleans in June, where they had a blast, and then in August enjoyed a low-key Hilton Head vacation. At the risk of leaning on Kris to write my column as well as her own (thanks, Kris!), I do want to sum up with her take on how many of us may be feeling: “The rest of life is just the same old same old,” she wrote, “which, all things considered, especially this past year, is okey fine.” Wishing you all fine days, whether they be ordinary or extraordinary. Keep in touch! ❖ Anne Czaplinski Treadwell, ac98@cornell.edu; Kris Borovicka Gerig, kgerig@columbus.rr.com; Stephanie Bloom Avidon, savidon1@hotmail.com; Lauren Kidder McGarry, laurenkiddermcgarry@gmail.com. Online news form.

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1990s

1990

With the pandemic and the ensuing economic shakeups, many of our classmates have been confronted by profound challenges while others have found opportunity. In most cases, we’ve all been experiencing change.

Lisa Lilenfeld has seen mental health needs go through the roof in recent times, so her part-time clinical practice specializing in the treatment of eating disorders and anxiety disorders has become full time, alongside her other already full-time job as a professor. Both jobs are now operating fully remotely from home. Lisa and her husband, Lawrence Riso, are raising their three teenagers (one of whom is already in college) in Virginia, and the entire family adores their rescue cat adopted at the start of the pandemic. Speaking of which, Juli Dritz Cialone operates an animal rescue based in South Salem, NY, which has experienced its highest number of adoptions as a result of the pandemic. “During the past year, due to the pandemic, spay and neuter clinics were closed. Therefore, kitten season 2021 has been epic! The number of kittens born is astounding and most rescues cannot keep up.” Rock N’ Rescue matched over 2,100 rescue cats and kittens with individuals and families in 2020, a 50% increase over the previous year.

Also in Virginia, Hope Robinson has found life to be much more electronic these days. “I love my worship time, but I miss being in church.” While she works as a government biologist, she has also been writing children’s books, one of which has been published and is available on Amazon.com: Ally’s Apple Days. Congratulations, Hope! Meanwhile, Michael Westlund took his engineering background and his entrepreneurial spirit to develop an all-in-one productivity app called Fabulist with his brother Ken and their partner, Ashley Todd. Michael was inspired by the rise of productivity apps following the onset of the pandemic. His goal was to take those ideas farther. “It was a massive design and technical challenge to say, ‘We’re going to take four or five different apps, we’re going to squeeze them down into one, we’re going to give it to consumers, and we expect them to actually use it.’” Classmates can check out his work by downloading the app from the Apple App Store and Google Play.

In other entrepreneurial news, Greg Manning launched a startup company, Pioneer Project Partners, a real estate project finance consulting practice in the Portland, OR, area. “It’s been a dynamic first year for my business in Portland,” writes Greg. “I remain optimistic at the opportunity and resiliency my hometown and region continue to demonstrate. Fortunately, I learned the ups and downs of startups by launching a desktop publishing venture while I was at Cornell decades ago!” Greg analyzes sites and projects, helps developers refine financial and budget modeling, and points out funding strategies. He says that he and wife Amy (Wang) have been active alumni in Oregon, as much as their parenting years have allowed. Congratulations to Albert Morales, who recently joined Malta Inc. as its CFO. Malta develops cost-effective long-duration energy storage (LDES) facilities. “LDES will be a critical component in facilitating the transition to a clean energy future. I am proud to work with the Malta team to bring that vision to reality,” he writes. For more information about the work they do, check out their website.

Also transitioning employment during these tumultuous times, Stephanie Marmelstein Gitlin joined the full-service law firm Halloran Sage as counsel earlier this year. “I represent national and regional healthcare third-party payers and insurers in healthcare provider overpayment cost containment matters. I also represent clients in contract disputes, franchise issues, and intellectual property matters in both state and federal courts, and whistleblowers in federal and state False Claims Act cases.” Asked how life has changed recently, Scott Beijer and his wife, Jo, report that they have only two kids left at home, down three from a few years ago. Scott currently works as sales director for Pepsico’s Quaker Division out in California, and he enjoys riding his road bike and listening to audio books in his spare time. “Being stuck at home isn’t so bad after all,” Scott notes.

Like many of the others noted here, Rachel Korn Goldberg also finds herself in a new job, starting her work at Thomas Jefferson U. Hospital in Philadelphia as a social worker last spring. “Similar to everyone else, my life has slowed down during the pandemic, and focus has been on my family.” Her oldest son is at Washington U. in St. Louis, while her younger son is taking a gap semester in Israel and then starting spring semester as a freshman at Boston U. Her twin daughters are freshmen in high school, and they celebrated their bat mitzvah last year via Zoom in their backyard. “It was challenging helping four teenagers navigating virtual school, but they have adjusted and are doing well overall.” Rachel says her biggest takeaway from the pandemic has been the importance of family. “The pandemic has given us time to slow down our lives and spend time together. My children have learned to cook and bake, and we have enjoyed family game nights together.”

How was your 2021? Please feel free to drop us a line with your news for the class column. ❖ Allan Rousselle, agr2@cornell.edu; Rose Tanasugarn, nt28@cornell.edu; and Nancy Solomon Weiss, nancyswm@outlook.com. Online news form.

1991

As we began to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, it came as no surprise that aviation economist John Heimlich led the way, by spreading his wings to visit classmates across the country. “Zoom got old,” John said in jest about keeping up with his circle of friends. “We recently migrated to group texting so as to avoid seeing each other’s faces.” Let’s follow John as he zooms out of his living room to see and report on his merry band of ’91ers. Travel is just what the doctor ordered for John!

John’s first non-virtual stop: Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. “I seized the miracle of flight to spend a few quality days with Tony Magnano and his beautiful family, celebrating Tony’s birthday and even spanking the fuzz at the local tennis club. After some serious perspiration, we left our racquets behind to enjoy a long walk on the beach, exchanging pleasantries and tales of the high seas.” John beamed, “Tony is a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist tending to the hearts of men and women in Jacksonville.” Tony enjoys spending his free time with his wife, two boys, and daughter doing things like playing guitar, biking, and family goat yoga. (Yes, it’s a thing!)

Just a hop, skip, and jump from there to Bonita Springs, FL, is Saurabh Patel, “the visionary who (cymbal crash) practices (well, perfects) ophthalmology as a vitreous retina macula consultant and surgeon,” John enthusiastically relays. “As if this weren’t enough, can you believe that this gifted physician couldn’t get access to N95 masks back when COVID-19 began? Not to be denied, this hardwired, one-time Cornell EE major and his daughter designed their own comparable mask.” The skilled curative engineer also built the prototype medical device to identify and help manage diseases like childhood blindness (amblyopia). Check out this website for more information.

John’s next stop via the friendly skies: the Princeton suburbs, “to see my pal Sameer Desai and his lovely clan. We waxed nostalgic, contemplated the future of Indian politics, and debated the merits of various crockpots, consumer electronics, and office technologies.” Sameer continues his vital work as an oncologist and says he is “living the dream with my wife and two daughters. I’m always up for a get-together with fellow Cornelians!” Good to see that Sameer is still smiling.

John’s last leg of his journey was to Rye Brook, NY, and Jeff Weintraub, MD ’95. “As an ER doctor in Connecticut, Jeff was one of the early heroes in the fight against the pandemic,” John said. Jeff admits, “It has been particularly difficult for me as an ER doctor to get through the pandemic. We tried our best and are looking forward to traveling and seeing friends again.” Jeff reports that he and his wife, Robyn (Lipsky), “are adjusting nicely as empty nesters,” as son Bryan ’21 and daughter Lauryn ’24 have flown the coop to Cornell. I will always picture Jeff as the zealous classmate running around the field and through the stands with the “Big Red C” flag cheering on our teams. Jeff’s Cornell roots continue to run deep, as he is part of several Cornell committees and chaired our most recent class Reunion.

John’s gleeful support of his classmates today reminds me of Jeff’s flag-waving for Cornell back then. After John landed at his home in Washington, DC, I asked him, “Why all the classmate friends who are doctors?” John laughed, “Well, I do have medical needs.” He assured me that he has other Cornell friends who are not doctors, “like Sanjeev Dhawan, the big cheese of critical construction projects, also part of this fun group.”

Good friends, travel, and laughter following an isolating pandemic … just what the doctor ordered for sure! More power to this one and all those other Cornell circles of friends. Do you have news to share? Submit via the online news form, or contact one of us directly: ❖ Joe Marraccino, joe.marraccino@wfafinet.com; Wendy Milks Coburn, wmilkscoburn@me.com; Ruby Wang Pizzini, ruby.pizzini@gmail.com; Susie Curtis Schneider, skc12@cornell.edu; Evelyn Achuck Yue, evelyn_yue@yahoo.com.

1992

Greetings, Class of ’92! Our column is as good as we make it—let’s look forward to 2022 and share our good stories and good fortunes with each other! To give us a start, here’s a bit of news from our class. Enjoy!

Audrey Van Voolen writes in from Skaneateles, NY, where she is a licensed child psychologist. She has a group psychology practice as part of Skaneateles Psychology Assocs. Her biggest takeaway from the pandemic is the realization that we are “social creatures” and that we “need one another.” No argument from me on that fact, Audrey!

That’s all for now. Please keep your updates coming so we can make 2022 the best news year ever for the Class of ’92! ❖ Lois Duffy Castellano, LKD2@cornell.edu; Jean Kintisch, jmk226@cornell.edu. Online news form.

1993

Hey there, classmates, and happy birthday! Many of us are turning 50, and it’s like we have all lived through Version 2.0 of Billy Joel’s anthem “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” where he sings about historic milestones and cultural icons. What have you done to celebrate this key birthday? As you [whispering tone] “age,” do you have any words of wisdom to impart? We would love to hear from you, and it would make our ’93 Class Notes column a better read. This is not to diminish the news we have this time: thank you to our classmates who sent us updates—and please, everyone else, join our party.

Congrats in so many ways to our beloved Reunion chair, Amy Miller Moore, who shared: “My daughter Leah ’20 graduated with honors from Human Ecology in May 2020. My younger daughter began Cornell as a freshman in 2020 and is starting her sophomore year in CALS. And lastly, I got married in February 2021 to Kobie Carter.” Elise Rosenberg made her own very cool mini-reunion: she traveled with Ana Gomez Chapman, Dave ’92 and Debora Cappucci Burke, MPS ’16, and Christa Fossee Johnson to the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole, WY. Elise was grateful they “had an amazing time hiking and catching up.”

A huge standing ovation to Steve Cohen, the highly acclaimed “Millionaires’ Magician,” on the triumphant in-person return of his amazing show, “Chamber Magic,” at the Lotte New York Palace in NYC. To celebrate this re-launch, Steve released a prestige version of his graphic novel, The Millionaires’ Magician. Steve describes this expanded edition as “a mystifying mix of truth and lies, fact and fiction, illusion and reality, all based on real experiences from my life.” For more information about Steve’s incredible show, see his website . Congrats also to Burton Tripathi, who recently joined the board of the Santa Barbara-based electric aerospace startup LaunchPoint. Burton is currently general manager and head of visualization R&D at Alcon. Prior to Alcon, he served as CEO and CTO at TrueVision Systems, where he guided the company to a successful exit coupled with a complex, simultaneous spinout of the company’s non-ophthalmology business. Burton is also a McKinsey & Co. management consultant veteran with expertise in advanced technology, life sciences, and corporate finance.

As I wrap up my first six months post-50th, I can honestly say that Cornell featured in many highlights. As part of marking the milestone, I decided to reach out beyond my comfort zone to two of my favorite professors to let them know how much their teaching resonated. One responded that she often wondered, as her students moved on, where her lessons actually “went,” if anywhere, and that hearing from me was very valuable. Another professor actually remembered me, even though I would never (ever!) have imagined that I stood out to her amazing self in any way at all. Reaching out during these isolating times definitely resonated, and I highly recommend it. I loved visiting Ithaca too. Our family brought Ruby, our dog, on several gorge hikes and then to the lawn of AEPhi, where the sisters loved to love her up, happy drool and all. Hopefully this finds all of you happy, healthy, and celebrating in some way. Take care and please share. ❖ Melissa Hart Moss, melimoss@yahoo.com; Mia Blackler, miablackler@yahoo.com; Theresa Flores, taf6@cornell.edu. Online news form.

1994

Hi, everyone! This is the first time I’m writing to you for the online communication portal that Cornell has launched to share content with alumni. I know that more and more of us are finding our way here as a new way to stay connected! We were so gratified to receive so many updates from you via our email solicitation in September. So without further ado, let’s dive in!

Scott Behson proudly announced the launch of his latest book, The Whole Person Workplace: Building Better Workspaces Through Work-Life, Wellness, and Employee Support. Scott writes that the book will “help leaders, managers, business owners, and HR professionals create workplaces that value and support employers with their work-life challenges.” Scott also noted that during the early months of COVID quarantine restrictions, he interviewed more than 50 employers to generate relevant content. He also works as a professor of management at Fairleigh Dickinson U. in New Jersey. Tulsa native Kevinn Matthews, an attorney with the Cochran Firm, was recently selected to lead its expansion into Oklahoma. Kevinn has more than a decade of experience working for various law firms since he graduated with his JD from Tulsa College of Law. Recently, he also helped launch the Buck Colbert Franklin Legal Clinic, which provides legal assistance to residents of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, just as its namesake did before and after the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Kevinn has won numerous awards for his service to others, including the “KOTV News on 6” Caring for the Community award earlier this year—for his work setting up legal outreach in the area, mentoring law students during the pandemic, and volunteering in the community.

Joe Basralian, who lives in New Jersey with his wife and daughters, shared that he spends his spare time “working for conservation and appreciation of our natural world through nonprofit work, and I’m deeply involved in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts as well.” Joe also proudly announced that his daughters recently completed their BSA Eagle Projects! Kiran Gaind wrote in about a new job as senior coordinator of educational equity for the Campbell Union High School District in Campbell, CA, working to close the gap in opportunity and achievement of the English learner and LatinX student population.

In family news, Andrew Ettinger writes that he and wife Rachel recently welcomed a baby boy in New York City named Isaac. Andrew hopes that he will be a proud member of the Class of 2043! On the other side of parenthood, Don, ME ’95, and Sandy Lean Patterson just sent their third of four kids off to college, “at some unmentionable school with colors orange and black!” Sandy noted that during COVID lockdowns, she took up a childhood hobby: roller skating! She also switched jobs and works as a student success coach at Westmont College in Santa Barbara. Betsy Wilson is another alumna with college-aged children, sharing that she sent her oldest to university in France through the dual BA program between Columbia U. and Sciences Po, Paris. With three more kids to go, Betsy writes, “Life is moving at a pretty fast pace right now, but I know the slowdown is just around the corner, so I am loving every minute of it!”

Some of our alumni have been living out of the country, including Sean Alexander, MBA ’01, who just celebrated his 20th year in Hong Kong. Sean writes, “The good news is alumni from the Hotel and Johnson schools recently hosted alumni events!” When there is personal time, Sean likes to be on the water sailing and paddling outrigger canoes. Shana Lory writes that she is living in Nyack, NY, with her husband and daughter and works as a coach/facilitator, partnering with executives and business owners looking to grow their business in a mindful, conscious way. When not working, Shana writes that she dances and hikes, enjoys time with friends, and leads an annual “theme camp” at Burning Man!

Lastly, Michael Madon reports some business news involving several Cornellians: “Roughly two years after selling my cybersecurity company to Mimecast LTD with the help of fellow Cornellians Matt Sitelman ’95 and Jann Yogman ’93, I have brought in Dan Spiegel ’96 to help launch Pretaa. For sales reps struggling to know what’s going on in their accounts, Pretaa seamlessly delivers tough-to-get answers so they can close more new deals, reduce churn risk, and keep customers buying.”

As always, I would love to share more from the Class of 1994! Please send news to any of us via the email addresses below, connect with our class on Facebook, or submit an online news form. Best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season! ❖ Jennifer Rabin Marchant, jar1229@yahoo.com; Dika Lam, dikaweb@yahoo.com; Dineen Pashoukos Wasylik, dmp5@cornell.edu.

1995

As luck would have it, I’m writing this installment of our class column from a beautiful house on Cayuga Lake. After two canceled Reunions, Matt French, ME ’96, and I decided we couldn’t stay away any longer and took the kids (Sarah, 10, and Benjamin, 8) up to the Finger Lakes to visit the old alma mater and enjoy everything the surrounding area has to offer. And, oh my goodness, I think I had forgotten how much there is to do here—and how insanely beautiful it is. When I think back to our time at Cornell, I realize how much simply passed me by. I was so tied to campus, between friends and studies and extracurriculars—not to mention lack of a car—that I rarely appreciated my surroundings to the fullest extent. It wasn’t until I spent a summer here between junior and senior year that I had the time to really explore and embrace even a small portion of the natural beauty of this region.

This week, we have not only visited wineries, including some old standbys like Lamoreaux Landing (which now requires a reservation!), but also tasted some fantastic spirits at the newer distilleries—if you’re back up this way, Myer Farm is a don’t-miss!—and hard cider at the Finger Lakes Cider House (along with Tom ’94 and Marisa Piliero LaFalce ’96 and their two younger kids). We also visited and fed goats at Lively Run Dairy, where we enjoyed an incredible cheese tasting, and alpacas at Cabin View Alpacas in Trumansburg. We hiked Buttermilk and Taughannock Falls and got Hot Truck at Shortstop and ice cream at Purity, Cayuga Lake Creamery, and—of course—the Cornell Dairy Bar.

Speaking of Cornell itself—it’s pretty amazing to go back and see how much the campus has changed while some parts have, happily, stayed the same. If you’re on our class Facebook page, you’ll see the photos I posted of the two new dorms on North Campus: the wonderfully named yet architecturally incongruous Toni Morrison and Ganędagǫ halls. Our visit was about a week and a half before the freshmen started moving in, and it appeared that the dorms were still in the final throes of completion—hopefully they were done by move-in day! It was also so odd to see Morrison Hall abutting my freshman-year dorm, Dickson—such a stark and somewhat disorienting contrast. The other big change we noticed was inside Uris Library, where my beloved sleeping bays in the Cocktail Lounge have been replaced by high-backed, futuristic-looking chairs (although I do like the new workspaces facing Libe Slope). During our visit to campus, we also enjoyed a leisurely stroll in the Botanic Gardens (forever known to most of us as the Plantations) and popped into the Cornell Store (still expensive LOL) and the Statler—although, sadly, we couldn’t get into Sage Chapel, which I was hoping to (re)show my kids, given how much time I spent there as an undergrad and how gorgeous it is inside.

But I know this column isn’t just about my trip or the changes on campus. So many of you answered the recent call for news that I’ve got enough now for at least two more columns—thank you for that! Not only that, but you also shared some incredible perspectives on life during a pandemic, which I want to be sure to include. As such, I’ll be spreading it out over time, so if you don’t see your news here, rest assured I have it and it will be published soon! First up is Indy Mukerji, ME ’96 (im16@cornell.edu), who writes in to let us know that—guess what?—his and wife Kerstin (Johnson) ’97, MS ’98’s oldest child just started as a freshman at Cornell! Additionally, after 15 years as a principal at Fish & Richardson, he recently joined Willkie Farr & Gallagher as a partner as its head of high-tech patent litigation.

When asked how her life has changed recently, Amy Parsons Jeffries (asp4@cornell.edu) similarly shared that her oldest, daughter Savannah ’24, is a Cornellian! “She survived her freshman year on campus ‘pandemic style’ and is excited to go back and have a more normal Cornell experience as a sophomore living in the AXO sorority house. She loves Cornell and I am thrilled to get to experience Cornell all over again through her eyes. She is a member of the varsity dance team and will be performing at all the home football and basketball games, so we’ll be making lots of trips to Ithaca this year!” To this end, Amy and husband Bill also bought a 110-year-old house as an investment property in downtown Ithaca to stay in during their visits, along with their other two children (ages 16 and 13), and to rent out as an Airbnb. “We fell in love with Ithaca all over again this past year and are so excited to have a second home there.”

Lynn Leitner Hickey (KevLynnH@aol.com) shares news from Ballston Lake, NY, that she continues to practice combined internal medicine and pediatrics as part of the Community Care Physicians group, and she and husband Kevin have a son who has just entered his sophomore year at the U. of Pittsburgh and a daughter who is a senior in high school. Last (for now) but definitely not least, Prof. Elizabeth Aherne (elizabethaherne@yahoo.com) is a candidate for the Sixth Judicial District of the New York State Supreme Court. At the time of writing, she was running unopposed, which could make her the first woman to hold a Tompkins County Supreme Court seat. The election will be held in fall 2021. Come back next time to hear more from your classmates! ❖ Alison Torrillo French, amt7@cornell.edu. Class website. Class Facebook page. Online news form.

1996

Hello, Class of 1996! How are you planning to spend the holidays? If you sent us your news in the fall, look for it in an upcoming column! If you didn’t, please take a moment to submit an online news form or send a message or holiday letter directly to any of us: ❖ Marjorie Polycarpe Jean-Paul, carpo129@hotmail.com; Janine Abrams Rethy, janine.rethy@gmail.com; Catherine Oh Bonita, catherine.bonita@gmail.com.

1997

Jessica Crolick Rolph, MBA ’04, is the co-founder and CEO of Lovevery, an early learning platform that offers information for parents and toys for children—all with a goal of helping babies’ brains develop. “The idea behind Lovevery began after Jessica read a doctoral dissertation titled ‘Current Research Findings on the Neurological Development of Infants,’” explains the company’s website. “Jessica learned that the human brain has about 100 billion nerve cells, all of which are present at birth but have few links between them. Babies’ brains develop by constructing an intricate communication network. The network’s structure is formed by experiences children have in the first three years of life. The research revealed the more you expose babies to how the world works, the richer the neural networks become. Jessica’s takeaway was that early development experiences wouldn’t just happen on their own; she had to create them.” Jessica will be a speaker at the Cornell Entrepreneurship Summit, hosted by Entrepreneurship at Cornell, in New York City in mid-November. ❖ Sarah Deardorff Carter, sjd5@cornell.edu; Erica Broennle Nelson, ejb4@cornell.edu. Online news form.

1998

We always look to celebrate our classmates’ successes and share our latest adventures in life. Here’s what some of the members of the Class of 1998 have been up to. Congratulations to our very own Cari Hills on being inducted into the Connecticut Field Hockey Hall of Fame in September 2021! Having been an All-American in both field hockey and lacrosse during her time at Cornell, Cari was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 1994 and was inducted into the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008, her first year of eligibility. She was, in fact, Cornell’s first-ever All-American in field hockey. Since graduation, Cari has been balancing career, motherhood, athletics, and community engagement, and remaining connected to the Big Red community. She is an executive at Accenture.

Amy Snyder Kaminski’s new book, Space Science and Public Engagement: 21st Century Perspectives and Opportunities, examines opportunities for public involvement in space science research. Amy started working for NASA in 2011 and she has been the program executive for prizes, challenges, and crowdsourcing since 2017. Marrying her passions for science, technology, and communications, she has built a career dedicated to opening the field of space science research to involve and include all people. Amy shared, “I believe strongly that space science is thrilling and should not be seen or kept as the province of credentialed ‘experts’ alone.”

Jonathan Laurence has a new book, Coping with Defeat: Sunni Islam, Roman Catholicism, and the Modern State, that delves into parallels between the two religious systems. In the book, he demonstrates how both Sunni Islam and Catholic organizations experienced religious reformation, the rise of the nation-state, and mass migration over hundreds of years. The Wall Street Journal noted, “This refreshing, provocative work explores how the two largest religious planets in the political solar system adjusted to the birth of an entirely new celestial body—the state.” Jonathan is a professor of political science at Boston College. We look forward to hearing from you! You can share your news via the online news form, or you can email: ❖ Uthica Jinvit Utano, udj1@cornell.edu.

1999

Software engineer Andy Monroe writes, “I’m currently working with a team of Cornell, Stanford, and Harvard alums on a company called Index Solution. We’re leveraging human capabilities and talents on data problems that machine learning can’t yet address.” Another Cornellian on the team, TJ Duane, adds, “The company has raised a sizable amount of venture capital and is backed by senior executives at Linkedin, Salesforce, Pilot, Stanford, etc. Our team is spread around the world.” TJ notes that any seasoned developers looking for a new opportunity should get in touch!

Charles Walter writes, “I started a new venture, Realifed, to assist friends in building stronger relationships and making more plans in the real world around shared interests.” How are you planning to spend the holidays? Please take a moment to share an update with your classmates, or send your holiday letter to: ❖ Class of 1999, c/o Alexandra Bond ’12, abb83@cornell.edu. Online news form.

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2000s

2000

Class of 2000, your fellow Cornellians want to hear from you! What have you been up to? Share it with us through the Class Notes. You can make your submission to me at ddw7@cornell.edu, or through the online news form.

Congratulations to Mark Rodman, MA ’00 (Lansing, MI), who was appointed as the State Historic Preservation Officer by Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “Mark’s unparalleled experience and expertise will help our state connect with its past,” said Whitmer. “Michiganders everywhere will benefit from Mark’s leadership and his commitment to identifying and uplifting historic places for future generations to enjoy.” Mark served as the executive director of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network and also worked as a managing member with Lynmar Group LLC for over ten years providing consulting services for historic rehabilitation projects. ❖ Denise Williams, ddw7@cornell.edu.

2001

Hello, Class of 2001. Summer has flown by, with kids and teachers off from school, heat waves, and renewed uncertainty as plans to return to offices and schools are met with Delta variant concerns. Speaking of summer, did you know that five Cornellians competed in the Olympics for Team USA across wrestling, rowing (x2), triathlon, and hammer throw? We cheered them on proudly, while also enjoying new sports like surfing and sport climbing.

Now for our classmate news. I’ll start by introducing myself, James Gutow of Manhasset, NY. I’m honored to be joining Nicole Neroulias Gupte as one of our class correspondents, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to reconnect with classmates and share your stories. My wife, Christobel (Lorie), and I—a Cornell ’01 couple—welcomed our third child into the world in March: Charlotte Fay, a happy baby girl who gets a lot of attention from her big brothers, Will, 7, and Max, 10.

For many of us, a silver lining of the pandemic has been the chance to work from home, avoid our daily commutes, and gain additional time to spend with family. Sharing meals at home, seeing Charlotte develop each day, and seeing our sons off to their activities have been my highlights. With the boys both playing ice hockey, I’ve had the chance to put my skates back on and help with practices. While summer has been busy, we took a short trip to Spring Lake, NJ, in July to visit (and surf!) with our Manhasset neighbors and look forward to some vacation time at the beach in late August. Reach out if you’re ever in the area! Also from Manhasset, my Long Island friend and neighbor Jeff Ciccone has kept busy over the last year: expanding a pain management practice at Mount Sinai in NYC, playing tennis, and completing a home music production and DJ studio. He’s excited to get back into mixing music live and producing, while at the same time continuing training and coaching his three sons: Danny, 11, for tennis; Ethan, almost 9, for soccer; and Justin, 6, for baseball. Jeff says: “While the last year has been a roller coaster, we tried to maintain our busy lives with family and our friends in the community. We must strive to look at the big picture through all this. Staying safe and healthy is important, but maintaining mental health and filtering out all the noise is the true test.”

Next door in Queens, congratulations to former Daily Sun cartoonist Ali Solomon Mainhart, now illustrator of a humorous new book, I Am “Why Do I Need Venmo?” Years Old: Adventures in Aging. As the blurb explains, “It’s the perfect book to buy yourself, your friend, or your sister as a reminder that we’re not alone in this journey toward ergonomic backpacks, getting excited about home renovations, and becoming our mothers.” You can learn more here. Down in D.C., what have Martine Combal and Patrick McDonald ’02 been up to? In their own words: “Our daughter turned 6 in July and somehow managed to finagle multiple birthday parties in multiple states with friends and family. It was a drastic change from a year of neighborhood ‘pod’ birthdays on the front sidewalk with cupcakes and piñatas. Our puppy, a German shepherd named Axel, also turned 1 year old, but with less fanfare. Patrick has finally been able to get back on skates in the Laurel, MD, adult ice hockey league, and Martine is preparing for her first ten-mile race in two years. We have managed to catch up with Andrew Emmett, Patrick and Lauren Tingey Smith, and Justin Matthews ’00 this summer and hope to get back together in the coming weeks. On the professional front, Martine is senior VP, public institutions, with Jones Lang LaSalle, and Patrick is with Cava. Eat more hummus! Our takeaway from the pandemic: it is not over. Get vaccinated!”

Cornell’s alumni website recently featured Julie Morikawa, profiling her college experience, career journey, Hawaiian values, and desire to help Hawaiian middle and high school students by founding the nonprofit ClimbHI nine years ago. The program exposes students to various career paths, primarily in the hospitality industry, with a curriculum exclusively developed in partnership with Cornell’s Hotel school. “The program brings together Cornell’s world-renowned hospitality curriculum with aloha and the aloha spirit law.” Read the full article here. One of our new class officers, Tara Benedict, has shared some great photos from a campus walking tour on our “Cornell Class of 2001 Classmates” group on Facebook. Don’t miss her views of the gorge from the suspension bridge, the perspective looking down Libe Slope to West Campus, and pictures of buildings new (i.e., after our time) and old. While you’re on social media, you can also check out our Class of 2001 Twitter account (@Cornell2001) and let us know if you’d like to be added to our classmates list there, too.

Hopefully everyone is doing well—we’d love to hear what you’re up to these days! To share news, please email either of us, visit our class website, like our Facebook page, join our Facebook group, and/or follow us on Twitter. ❖ James Gutow, james.gutow@yahoo.com; Nicole Neroulias Gupte, NicoleMN6@gmail.com. Online news form.

2002

Ryan Silbert’s latest audio project with Audible, Stan Lee’s Alliances: A New Reality, stars Wil Wheaton and debuted at the top of the science fiction charts this summer. Ryan co-created the new Alliances universe alongside the legendary late Stan Lee and Luke Lieberman. The previous installment, A Trick of Light, starred Yara Shahidi and is a New York Times bestseller.

Ryan Hudson is co-founder of Honey, a program that aims to help online shoppers save money by automatically finding and applying coupon codes at checkout. The company began as a simple browser extension, and last year it was acquired by PayPal for $4 billion. Ryan will be a speaker at the Cornell Entrepreneurship Summit, hosted by Entrepreneurship at Cornell, in New York City in mid-November. ❖ Carolyn Deckinger Lang, cmd35@cornell.edu. Online news form.

2003

Bryan and Anne Marie Murphy Rivard wrote in to share their experience during the pandemic. “Our 10-year-old daughters have done their fifth-grade year virtually. Anne Marie is working mostly from home as a transplant dietitian at Yale New Haven Hospital, and Bryan is fully remote as a program director at Pratt & Whitney.” They added that they have had “a lot more family time together, which is wonderful since we added a baby boy to the family in August 2020. It has been so fun to watch him grow.”

We look forward to hearing about the great things our classmates are doing via news and notes submissions; until then, all the best. ❖ Jon Schoenberg, jrs55@cornell.edu; and Candace Lee Chow, CJL24@cornell.edu. Online news form.

2004

Hello to and from the Class of 2004! Adil Ahamed was promoted to managing director and dealer principal with the family business, Destination Auto Group. Adil oversees the dealership operations, which includes four stores representing Toyota, Honda, and Mazda, and a staff of more than 320. Adil also serves on the board of LIFT Philanthropy Partners, and as an executive member of the Young Presidents Organization’s British Columbia chapter. He was recently recognized as a 2021 national top 40 honoree by Auto Remarketing Canada and as a 2019 top 40 under 40 by Business in Vancouver. Adil and Zarina have three amazing kids: two boys, age 6 and 3, and a girl, 1. He enjoys spending time with family, reinventing the auto business, and giving back to the community.

We hope that you all are well and look forward to reading more news from classmates. Continue to send notes and updates to me at the address below, or submit an online news form. ❖ Jessi Petrosino, jessi.petrosino@ey.com.

2005

Greetings, Class of ’05! In July 2021, David Hahn was elected partner of Davis Polk. He is a member of the firm’s finance practice in New York, principally advising financial institutions and direct lenders in connection with various transactions. He also has substantial experience representing borrowers on a broad range of finance-related matters. DeVon Prioleau also recently joined a leadership team—at Macro, as director of project management. Macro, a real estate and project management firm, serves as an advisor to many clients, from nonprofit organizations to Fortune 100 companies, to help budget and oversee a wide range of capital projects, including relocations, expansions, and modernizations. DeVon says, “I’m excited for this next segment in my professional journey!”

Please keep all the updates coming. We love to see them! ❖ Jessica Rosenthal Chod, chodjlr@gmail.com; Hilary Johnson King, hilaryaking18@gmail.com. Online news form.

2006

Rishabh Gupta, president of the Cornell Club of Mumbai, let the Cornell community know about an interesting new venture: “India’s COVID-19 crisis is in the headlines. Desperate requests for oxygen cylinders, concentrators, and hospital beds are flooding our WhatsApp groups and social media platforms. Helping hospitals save lives is the need of the hour,” he wrote. “In this context, a group of startup founders in New Delhi launched an ambitious initiative, Mission Oxygen. On April 23, 2021, a leadership team of around 15 startup founders came together to procure oxygen concentrators from China and donate them for free to the neediest hospitals. Within a week, the first 1,000 oxygen concentrators arrived in India, each saving a few lives every single day. Varun Godha, co-founder of Diamondère, is on Mission Oxygen’s fundraising and procurement team, playing a critical role identifying vendors via the Cornell network. To date, Mission Oxygen’s crowdsourcing platform has raised over $4 million and pre-paid an advance for another 5,000 oxygen concentrators.”

How are you planning to spend the holidays? If you sent us your news in the fall, look for it in an upcoming column! If you didn’t, please take a moment to submit an online news form or send a message or holiday letter to: ❖ Kirk Greenspan, kag62@cornell.edu.

2007

Classmates, as we head into the holidays, I want to thank you, once again, for allowing me to be part of your journeys. I look forward to hearing more from you. Happy holidays—I wish you all well!

Gary Rosenberger, ME ’08, and Afraz Zafar are growing their business venture together: Cordatus Resource Group. Cordatus serves businesses of all sizes as a strategic consultant and operations partner. Learn more about Cordatus here.

What does it take to make it as a writer in television? How do you know if you’re really advancing or if you’re stuck? Get the answers to these questions and many more on a recent episode of Fresh from the Hill: Inside Stories of Noteworthy Cornellians featuring award-winning writer, producer, and director Dawn Kamoche. Learn how Dawn—who is known for her work on projects like “Sharp Objects,” “The Gifted,” and “Cloak & Dagger”—was able to find success despite graduating during one of the worst recessions in our country’s history, how she was able to persevere through depression and sadness, and her thoughts on whether film school is really necessary. Check out the episode here.

Looking forward to sharing more exciting stories with everyone next year! Have more news to share? Please feel free to reach out to me or submit online. ❖ Samantha Feibush Wolf, srf29@cornell.edu. Online news form.

2008

We hope that the end of the year goes well for everyone, and that this year has been a happy and healthy one for all of you, as well as your family and friends! We also hope that you plan on ending 2021 on a high note by supporting Cornell and our class by paying your class dues and checking out Ways to give. If you haven’t yet, now is your chance.

Please also continue to send your news via the online news form! We want all of your updates—any exciting plans for the holiday season or upcoming new year? Write in and let us know about major life changes or how you’ve kept busy this fall. We’d love to hear from you and give you your 15 minutes of Cornell fame! Also, be sure to stay tuned for news of great upcoming class happenings and events via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. ❖ Libby Boymel, lkb24@cornell.edu; Elana Beale, erb26@cornell.edu.

2009

Happy holidays, ’09ers! How are you planning to spend the winter months? If you sent us your news in the fall, look for it in an upcoming column! If you didn’t, please take a moment to submit an online news form or send a message or holiday letter directly to: ❖ Jason Georges, jag243@cornell.edu.

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2010s

2010

As Cornell’s new school year is in full swing, we would love to hear what is new from you!

Vik Kohli, MBA ’10, was recently promoted to VP of safety and reliability at Enbridge, working on company-wide safety, environment, and lands services for both operations and projects. He resides in Ontario, Canada, and can be reached at vikeshbkohli@gmail.com. Submit your updates via the online news form, or write to: ❖ Michelle Sun, michellejsun@gmail.com.

2011

Dear Class of 2011: My name is Nate Houghton and I’m pleased to be serving as your president for the next five years, culminating in our 15th (!) Reunion. Along with the rest of your 2011 class officers, I’m excited about the possibilities to grow and develop relevant content and programming for a fascinating stage of our lives as alums.

There are more than 3,000 members of our class and, after a decade away from Cornell, more than 3,000 different stories and paths in the world. Some of us have started families and are raising children. Others are launching companies and nonprofit organizations. Many of us went on to graduate school, and others have completed prestigious fellowships. A few of us have done all of these things! Our class includes doctors, lawyers, engineers, professors, and leaders in every field. We’re a true representation of Cornell’s “any person, any study” ethos, as well as a reminder of our alma mater’s affinity for an education that positively impacts communities and the world.

To that end, our leadership team (listed below) is focused on connecting via communications and (both virtual and in-person) events, but with personality and flair befitting Cornell and the Class of 2011. We’re still working on the specifics (and we’ll be asking you for your ideas as well), but rest assured that Zoom happy hours are too boring for our ambitions. Most of all, we aim to become a significant piece of your connection to Cornell as an alum. I am happy to connect individually to hear your thoughts and ideas. Feel free to reach out anytime: my NetID is ndh8.

Class of 2011 leadership team: president, Nathaniel Houghton; VP, Hannah Jurkowicz; secretary, Cecily Pulver; Cornell Annual Fund representatives, Amy Abeloff, Alexandria Sun; treasurer, Scott Schechter, ME ’12; Reunion chairs, Christopher Mejia, Lindsay Peterson, BS ’10, Jeffrey Stulmaker; and Class Council members, Aleksandra Mroczkowska, Amy Murro, BS ’10, Andrew Bridson, Ashley Jeanlus, Jordan Smith, and Rosalind Usher. Looking to get involved? We’re still on the hunt for a class correspondent. If you’re interested, you can contact me directly!

I look forward to working together for the next five years to deepen our affiliation with Cornell as we continue to better the world around us. ❖ Nathaniel Houghton, ndh8@cornell.edu. Online news form.

2012

2013

With the new school year underway, it’s only fitting that we highlight a star teacher among our classmates: Carly Neumann Santangelo, MAT ’13, was named the 2022 New York State Teacher of the Year! She teaches agriculture at the Cuba-Rushford Central School District in Allegany County, and she earned a Master of Arts in Teaching with a dual certification in Agriculture and Biology at Cornell. By earning this award, Carly will be the New York State nominee for National Teacher of the Year and will serve as an ambassador to teachers throughout the state. Congratulations to Carly on this incredible honor! If you have news to share, please email me at: ❖ Rachael Schuman, RASchuman@gmail.com. Online news form.

2014

Hello, Class of 2014! We hope you are all having a happy holiday season! Elyse Frank celebrated her marriage to Jonathan Peterlin on July 31 at the Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland. There were three Big Red alums in the bridal party: Talia Fiano, April Aviles ’13, and Elyse’s brother, Jacob Frank ’11. Other Cornell guests included Elyse’s parents, Tom ’81 and Wendy Kibrick Frank ’81, Alyssa Banks, Alan Schuller ’81, and Elyse’s uncle Howard Kibrick ’87. The Peterlins honeymooned in Antigua before returning to work in Cleveland, where Elyse is in advertising and Jonathan is a sports radio host.

Kelly Parness and Sean Hawthorne were married on August 14 at Fortune Valley Manor in Saugerties, NY. Kelly’s friend and former Cornell Elderly Partnership co-president Meghan McDarby served as a bridesmaid alongside Kelly’s childhood friends and sisters, while several of her Jameson Hall suitemates were in attendance as guests. After finishing her pediatric residency at Westchester Medical Center earlier this year, Kelly relocated to Plymouth, MA, where she and Sean recently purchased a house. She began working as a pediatrician in a primary care clinic earlier this fall.

Madeline Farber recently published her first book of poetry, less on that later. She describes it as exploring “themes related to queer identity, love and loss, and coming of age. This book is, at its core, about relationships—platonic, romantic, and chosen family. So many of these relationships for me were borne of my time at Cornell. One of my favorite benches on the Arts Quad states: ‘Cornell was a time and place that changed our lives. May it be for others as it was for us.’ It certainly changed mine, and I believe that comes through in this book.” Please reach out if you or any of your 2014 friends have any news to share. ❖ Samantha Lapehn Young, SRL76@cornell.edu. Online news form.

2015

Hi, everyone! While it is the end of another glorious Ithaca summer as I write this, most of us are looking forward to the temperate weather of fall. Not a lot of news this round from our classmates, but we are looking forward to hearing from all of you next time!

Don’t forget to buy your Red Hot Hockey tickets! Cornell hockey takes on Boston U. at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, November 27, 2021. Let’s Go Red! ❖ Caroline Flax, csf79@cornell.edu; Mateo Acebedo, ma698@cornell.edu. Online news form.

2016

Happy Holidays, Class of ’16. How are you planning to spend the winter months? Drop me a line to share an update with your classmates, or send your holiday letter to: ❖ Meghan McCormick, mcm324@cornell.edu. Online news form.

2017

How are you planning to spend the holidays? If you sent us your news in the fall, look for it in an upcoming column! If you didn’t, please take a moment to submit an online news form or send a message to: ❖ Class of 2017, c/o Alexandra Bond ’12, abb83@cornell.edu.

2018

Hey, Class of 2018! I hope the start of winter has been treating you well. I’m looking forward to what 2022 will bring us! As always, let me know if you or any of your classmates have any exciting life updates you’d like to share, and follow us at the Class of 2018 Instagram (@cornell_2018) for more news. ❖ Stephanie Yan, smy43@cornell.edu. Online news form.

2019

“From the Brooklyn housing projects, to private Catholic school, to a near-17-year incarceration at Five Points Correctional Facility, to Cornell University, Darnell Epps is not your typical Cornell senior.” So reads the description of an episode of the podcast Fresh From the Hill: Inside Stories of Noteworthy Cornellians, which originally aired in 2019 but was rebroadcast this fall. “Hear Darnell’s fascinating and inspirational story about taking the wrong path in life, lessons learned, and coming out the other side.” You can also check out Darnell’s op-ed in the New York Times. Please send your news to: ❖ Class of 2019, c/o Alexandra Bond ’12, abb83@cornell.edu. Online news form.

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2020s

2020

Did you come back to campus for our postponed Commencement ceremony this fall? We’d love to hear your recounting of the event—as well as what you’ve been up to since our unconventional graduation. Please take a moment to submit an online news form or write directly to: ❖ Shruti Juneja, sj453@cornell.edu.

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Grad Notes

Arts & Sciences

Jerrilyn McGregory, MPS ’85, a professor of African American folklore at Florida State U., has a new book out. One Grand Noise: Boxing Day in the Anglicized Caribbean World explores the regional celebrations and traditions surrounding the holiday and traces its roots from Egypt and British colonialism into the 21st century. Jerrilyn is also the author of Wiregrass Country, a regional folklife study of the South.

Alejandro Cortese, MS ’16, PhD ’19, is co-founder and CEO of OWiC Technologies Inc., an early-stage startup that spun out of doctoral research on microscopic optical wireless integrated circuits (OWiCs) he did at Cornell.

Johnson Graduate School of Management

Rick LaBerge, MBA ’11, is the executive VP and chief operating officer of HARIBO, the number one gummy candy producer in the US. Under his leadership, the company has doubled its growth in the last five years through establishing operations infrastructure, producing innovative confectionery treats, increasing distribution, and launching engaging media campaigns. Before joining HARIBO, Rick was with Johnson & Johnson for more than 20 years.

Tom Gibson, MBA ’19, is the senior development manager at Community Preservation Partners (CPP), a national affordable housing developer committed to creativity, performance, and purpose. Recognized as a “40 Under 40” honoree by the Chambers of Commerce of both Alexandria and Arlington, VA, Tom has earned a reputation in affordable housing within the D.C. metro area. He is a veteran and current artillery officer in the US Marine Corps Reserve. After returning to civilian life, he consulted for the Housing Authority of Prince George’s County.

In her new book, Lessons from Thor, retired Army captain Kimberly DeFiori, MBA ’20, explores the PTSD and mental health struggles that ultimately caused her to retire. Throughout the memoir, she offers important advice that she learned from her service dog, including to enjoy the present moment, try new things, lean on others when you are struggling, and be a good listener.

Liz Urbanski-Farrell, MBA ’21, was recently named CEO and president of Total Senior Care, a program of all-inclusive care for the elderly in Olean, NY. “For me personally, this position brings together my extensive education and experience in healthcare with my lived experience as a family member who has seen hospice in action in the care of my own father, father-in-law, and additional family and friends,” Liz said. “It is a high honor to be working with Community Care of Western New York’s volunteers, donors, and employees—in particular our aides, nurses, physicians, and therapists who have worked under unusually challenging conditions these past two years to ensure that our critical homecare, PACE program, adult day program, and hospice care services continue to be provided throughout Cattaraugus, Allegany, Wyoming, and Genesee counties.”

To be included in a future Grad Notes section, send your news to cornellians@cornell.edu.

Top image: Jason Koski/Cornell University

Published November 1, 2021