CLASS OF 1979 | 2026 | SPRING ISSUE

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Hi all. Here is the news that our classmates shared.

Anand Cousins ’80 (who was originally in the Class of 1979, but graduated in 1980 with a degree in physics) submitted this update for inclusion in our 1979 notes: “After a career in teaching, doing R&D, and product development in mechanical engineering, I retired a few years ago and am working on spreading information about how to fight climate change effectively at the household level. Many of us are reading the news and feeling that we are helpless to affect the course of events (see the recent COP30 conference and the backlash against renewable energy in the U.S.). However, after looking into the issue in a quantitative way, I believe that individuals and households actually have a large amount of leverage in reducing North American greenhouse gas emissions. I invite those interested in reducing their carbon footprints to read this recent article, where I discuss our family’s experience with reducing emissions: https://medium.com/the-environment/how-we-reduced-our-co2-emissions-and-met-the-paris-climate-goals-da41a1224515.”

Such happy news from Jono Cobb,whois getting married on Martha’s Vineyard to Julia (Hollander) Campbell ’80. Julialost her husband just a few months before Jono’s wife, Suzzanne, passed away. On behalf of the class, I wish you both much happiness.

Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre report that despite federal defunding of public media, their program Afropop Worldwide is airing on 110 stations in the U.S. and on afropop.org. Initiatives include active discussions withWesleyan regarding partnering on the 40-plus-year Afropop Archive. They invite folks to join them for the Afropop Music and Culture Tour of Senegal in January 2027. Past Afropop Tour participants include ’79 classmates Rich Sussman, Debbie Mincer, Ralph Maltese, Matt Jarvinen, and Sheila Peck ’81 (honorary ’79er). More info: sean@afropop.org.

John Tjia sent this update: “I finally retired in September 2024, at age 71; 2025 has been the first full year I did not have a paying job in nearly 50 years, and it’s great. (My week is now one Sunday and six Saturdays.) My 40-year career in financial modeling in banking, which I loved, is happily closed. I am doing oil painting and sold my first painting to a local restaurant— it’s on display there; another is now on exhibit. I got a little better at table tennis. Attempts to learn piano got sidelined by a new discovery: I hate homework (practice); I’ll pick it up again later. Since late 2024, I am chair of the board of directors of a spiritual nonprofit called Subud New York, and one main task is shepherding the membership through the sale of our building in Manhattan, closing maybe in nine to 12 months’ time. I keep in touch with Wesleyan buddies Vinod Busjeet ’73 and Arthur Paterson ’75 through weekly Zoom calls. All is well!”

Willie Jones tells us that “after a wonderful trip to Italy and visiting Venice, Vicenza, and Torino last fall, I returned to Charlotte last November. I was able to sell my house quickly, and I now live in Lancaster, South Carolina. Retired life is good. I’m reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. I’ve discovered the joy of being a grandfather and spending quality time with family. [This year] will be a year of domestic travel for me, and hopefully, I’ll have the chance to see parts of the U.S. that I never have. Perhaps I will run into some ’79ers along the way!”

Finally, as for me, your class secretary, whereas this issue seems to be awash with news on retirement, I’ll share similar updates about my own. My husband and I have been retired from our careers in finance for almost seven years and enjoying it. Board service is part of the mix as is international travel to far-flung areas of the globe that are on our bucket list. Have met a lot of wonderful folks on our trips, fellow travelers and locals alike, and enjoy that part almost as much as learning about the countries we visit. Our two adult children, Matthew (Princeton ’13) and Wes alum Megan Dolan ’17, are gainfully employed in professions they find meaningful, are happy in their personal lives as well, and are just really good young people. Parents can’t ask for better than that. My husband and I enjoy donating our time to help our communities in New York and California and to volunteer initiatives in the UCSD community, where we also attend classes. All is well! And I am thoroughly enjoying my work as your class secretary.

That’s it for this issue. Thanks everyone!

DIANE M. LAPOINTE | dmlapointe28@gmail.com