CLASS OF 1960 | 2019 | ISSUE 3

Congratulations to Dan Freedman who is co-recipient of the 2020 Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for the invention of supergravity, a deeply influential theoretical blueprint for unifying all of nature’s fundamental interactions. He will share the $3 million prize with collaborators Sergio Ferrara of CERN and Peter Nieuwenhuizen of Stony Brook University. Dan is an emeritus professor of applied mathematics and theoretical physics at MIT while currently a visiting professor at Stanford University.

Since 2008, Bruce Dow has been working as a psychiatrist (psychopharmacologist) on Cape Cod with a program for assertive community treatment. Their team consists of one psychiatrist plus nurses, social workers, and psychologists. They provide outpatient care for 80 clients referred to them by the state department of mental health, due to serious mental illness and heavy use of state services. They are salaried employees of a nonprofit corporation, Vinfen, funded by state and federal contracts.

Bruce lives in Osterville while his girlfriend, Rae Edelson, lives in Jamaica Plain and runs a studio arts center in nearby Brookline. They get together on weekends either at her place in winter or Bruce’s in summer. Several years ago, Bruce and Rae became couple friends with Dan and Miriam Freedman. Rae and Miriam were classmates at Barnard (’64). Social contact between the couples is less frequent because the Freedmans currently live in California.

Nici and John Dobson sold their condo in Big Sky, Mont., and moved to a small home in Ocala, Fla. They appreciate their new location in a warm climate that is closer to family.

Adrienne and Roland Bassett celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary. Their three sons, daughters-in-law, and grandkids all live nearby, and they see them almost daily. They have survived their share of major illnesses, medical treatments, and surgeries. They enjoy traveling a lot. This year they finally checked off their 40-year-old wish list item of touring Israel. They report that “life has been good to us.”

The highlight of my summer was being a participant in Orcas Summer Camp where we contra-danced on each of three successive evenings. At this event, some of us play music while others are the dancers or callers. During the day we are free to swim, canoe, or explore picturesque Orcas Island. It was a fun communal celebration in the Pacific Northwest.

Our 60th Reunion will take place in May 2020 so consider making plans to attend the event.

SAL RUSSO | salandjudy@hotmail.com
2700 Kentucky St., Bellingham, WA 98229

CLASS OF 1960 | 2019 | ISSUE 2

John Dobson has not skied the past two seasons in his hometown of Big Sky, Mont. In January, he underwent a complicated lumbar spinal fusion that required 12 screws and two long rods. Walking has been his physical therapy after the operation. He has some physical restrictions. In May, he had a prostate operation and is doing well after the surgery. John and Nici invite you to come for a visit: johndobson4@gmail.com.

Peg and Dave Hale are trying to “age gracefully.” They had a nice cruise in February from Barcelona to Lisbon with stops in Spanish ports, Tangiers, and Gibraltar.

Pam and Tom Mansager finished their 11th season as junior varsity girls tennis coaches at their local high school and have announced their retirement from coaching. Although they did not have a winning record this past year, working with the girls was a joy for them.

Bill Walker had total ankle surgery and appreciated Janet’s great support during recovery. They celebrated his return to good health with a May week in California wine country that included an enjoyable evening with Sharon and Jay Levy. He returned to the golf course that same month.

Bill is the author of two popular and highly respected novels of inter-war Europe, About Danzig and About a Spy in Vienna. For more information, consult authorwilliamwalker.com. He is working on political intrigue novel number three.

Bob Williams has written an autobiography, From Away: The Maine Origins of a Russian Historian. He urges others to do likewise for their children and grandchildren before most of it is forgotten.

February in Bellingham was the coldest recorded in the past 70 years. I am glad that we are past that.

SAL RUSSO | salandjudy@hotmail.com
2700 Kentucky St., Bellingham, WA 98229

CLASS OF 1960 | 2019 | ISSUE 1

Charles W. Smith Class of 1960 Scholarship
Joseph Ellis ’19, Government, Film Studies

Richard H. Huddleston ’60, P’90 Wesleyan Scholarship
Glenn Smith III ’21, Roxbury, MA

Nici and John Dobson are having a small home built in Trilogy Ocala Preserve, Fla. They look forward to enjoying some warm weather in that location. In early January, John underwent lumbar spinal fusion surgery and is doing well while complying with requirements for very restricted activity. Our best wishes to him for continued recovery.

We are fortunate to have Dave Hohl as our new class agent, since he has always been a strong advocate of Wesleyan. Dave continues to teach two classes in the Baruch College (SUNY system) Great Works Program as an adjunct associate professor. He would like to retire, but recent losses in the stock market and maintenance on his six-bedroom beachfront house in the Hamptons are straining his budget, so he will wait at least another year. Wife Anne continues as director of the French program at Seton Hall University.

Harvey Hull passed away peacefully at Connecticut Hospice on Dec. 17 at the age of 81. He retired after 35 years from the Lillian Goldman Rare Book Library at Yale University School of Law. After retirement he assisted the staff of the Guilford Keeping Society in cataloging their library collection and volunteered at the Guilford Free Library book sales. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Sara, four children, as well as 10 grandchildren.

Mimi and Rob Mortimer arrived in Hanoi on Rob’s 80th birthday last October to begin a visit of Vietnam and Cambodia. Rob commented as follows: “The U.S. war in Vietnam was one of the great issues along with civil rights facing our class in the decade after our graduation. In some sense the trip was a vindication of my opposition to that war. The good news is that Vietnam is today a dynamic society with a growing economy and beautiful landscapes. Traveling north to south from Hanoi and the lovely Bay of Halong to the pre-colonial capital of Hué and on to Ho Chi Minh City (ex-Saigon) and the Mekong Delta, the names of battle places became the sites of a grand culture. Then we flew on to the longlost Khmer kingdom of Angkor Wat, surely one of the wonders of the world. We crossed paths with Buddhist bonzes, remembering their sacrifices in protest of the war. We returned assured that our activism against the war was the right thing to do in that first decade beyond Wesleyan.”

Ira Sharkansky recently celebrated his 80th birthday. All four of his children and most grandchildren came to Jerusalem from their homes in the States and elsewhere in Israel to join Ira and Varda. It was a time of memories, pictures, and looking forward.

In June 2018 Janet and Bill Walker moved from New York, where they had spent the past 40 years, to Cape Cod. They are both very active and have a large ground-floor apartment that suits them. It is not really retirement, as Bill is actively tracking projects in the Middle East. Janet and Bill will celebrate their 58th wedding anniversary in June 2019. He encourages us to “savor the gifted life we’ve all been privileged to experience since that long ago welcoming address by Vic Butterfield in the chapel in September 1956.”

The big trip of the year for Ann and Bob Williams came in August, when they joined their Russian surrogate family, Elina, Sasha, and two children, at the seaside town of Murter on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. Their relationship started at Davidson, where they were Elina’s host family in ’94, and they have remained very close. Despite the heat and humidity, it was a marvelous look at another culture where the eastern half of Europe likes to play in summer.

Back in the States, Bob had a scary car accident on Sept. 1, in Maine, when he somehow drove off Route 1 into a signpost, which resulted in a bruised sternum and ribs, and a totaled car. Despite that they managed to have two weeks in Lovell on Kezar Lake at their family camp, Birch Lodge, where they honeymooned in 1960. Time does fly by.

Bob has written a timely book, Useful Assets: The Trump Family, the Russians, and Eurasian Organized Crime (Dorrance Publishers), which will soon be available at Amazon.com.

My deceased wife left an IRA that has been used to fund the Sal and Judy Russo Biochemistry Research Endowment at Western Washington University. It honors my contributions to the early development of the biochemistry program. In addition, it honors the memory of Judy and her devotion to family. The endowment funds will be used for the education of future biochemistry students.

SAL RUSSO | salandjudy@hotmail.com
2700 Kentucky St., Bellingham, WA 98229

CLASS OF 1960 | 2018 | ISSUE 3

Congratulations to Rick Garcia on being reelected for another four years as president of the Bolivian National Academy of Economic Sciences. Academic celebrations are being planned for 2019 since that will be the 50th anniversary of the organization.

John Richardson shared his thoughts: “Having just passed my 80th birthday, I find myself with conflicting reactions and emotions. First and most important, I don’t like being 80. Once you reach 80, society gazes past you—if it notices you at all. In my case, even more variables are in play, since by general account I appear to be 10 or 15 years younger than my chronological age. Luckily, I am fully mobile and reasonably energetic, although two replacement joints and arthritis are part of the aging story. Add in a heart valve replacement, and the story comes a little closer to being real. Psychologically significant, I don’t feel 80.”

Mike Rosen’s research at Columbia that focused on the causes and possible prevention/treatment of cardiac arrhythmias has ended. However, he still teaches graduate students and is deriving great satisfaction from helping them hone their skills in reading, understanding, critiquing, and presenting. Mike and several of our generation of Alpha Delts meet fairly regularly for food, conversation, and sometimes music, thanks largely to the organizational efforts of Rod Henry ’57. Mike’s wife, Tove, has retired and is professor emerita of pediatrics at Columbia. Daughter Jennifer Rosen Valverde ’92 is clinical professor of law in the Education and Health Law Clinic at Rutgers. Daughter Rachel was formerly a member of the hardcore bands Indecision and Most Precious Blood and now has a day job as a pathologist in a hospital in California. Tove and Mike spend time on Cape Cod, where he can kayak and revel in the contrast with NYC. They have traveled extensively over the years to every continent except Antartica, both for their work and for the adventure.

In late August, I accompanied my daughter, son-in-law, and grandson on a visit to Paradise at Mount Rainier National Park. We were fortunate that smoke from wildfires was not present during our visit. We were delighted to identify 18 different wildflowers on our walks.

SAL RUSSO | salandjudy@hotmail.com
2700 Kentucky St., Bellingham, WA 98229

CLASS OF 1960 | 2018 | ISSUE 2

Nici and John Dobson have bought a home in southeastern Tucson, Ariz. They plan to keep their house in Big Sky for several more years.

Peggy and Dave Hale were in Peru for two weeks in February. They visited Lima, Iquitos, and were on a boat on the Amazon River.

Barry Lorch passed away on March 12. He was my fraternity brother at Delta Sigma and had a zest for life. He spent 36 years working for New York State and retired in 1996 as director of the classification and compensation department. Barry and his beloved wife, Brenda, spent their retirement years traveling the world seeking new birds, as Barry was an avid amateur birder. He is survived by Brenda, four children, and nine grandchildren.

Rob Mortimer wrote the following: “A few words from Paris, where Mimi and I have made a practice of spending a few months during the spring. As francophone literature and French politics have been central to our academic careers, we feel pretty much at home here where we have many friends. No one can exhaust the cultural riches of this fabulous city: music, theater, museums, outdoor markets, and parks. We are still jogging in the Bois de Vincennes, which keeps us happy and healthy. Where else can one see a magnificent white peacock while out for a run?”

Ira Sharkansky wrote a blog titled “Wesleyan and Me” that appeared in the Feb. 7 issue of The Jerusalem Post that tackles the contentious topic of support of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel movement on campus and academic freedom.

Jeannine and Myles Standish continue to be blessed with good health, enjoying retirement on the shores of Lake Keowee, about 10 miles from Clemson University in the northwest corner of South Carolina. Their community is extremely sociable; everyone’s from somewhere else and they arrive looking to make friends.

Myles still gives popular talks—on not only astronomy, but also on Shackleton, Robert Peary, Panama Canal, and the Brooklyn Bridge. Three sons are sadly far away in Hollywood, Portland, and Boulder. Upcoming 50th anniversary will be on the beach in San Diego and then visiting old friends in Southern California.

Paul Tractenberg and coauthor, Ryan Coughlan, released a major report, under the auspices of the Center for Diversity and Equality in Education (CDEE), titled The New Promise of School Integration and the Old Problem of Extreme Segregation: An Action Plan for New Jersey to Address Both. Paul established CDEE as a home base for his ongoing research and advocacy after retirement and serves as its president. He has a contract with Teachers College Press of Columbia University for a book about the Morris school district, a longtime project of his, along with three young research collaborators. Morris is the only school district in New Jersey, and quite likely in the U.S., that resulted from an order of the state commissioner of education merging two adjacent school districts for racial balance purposes. The merger occurred in 1971, and the Morris district remains one of the state’s most diverse, stable, and successful school districts. Paul and his colleagues have been awarded a $50,000 Chancellor’s Seed Grant from Rutgers-Newark to support ongoing work in the integration of New Jersey’s public schools for the next academic year.

Ann and Bob Williams are active singers in the Highlands Chorale. Bob participates in the Uncalled Four barbershop quartet. They are active at Midcoast Senior College as faculty, students, and administrators. The liberal arts curriculum there is reminiscent of Wesleyan.

The North Cascades Highway was closed for the winter and then opened in early May. Several hiking friends and I traveled to Washington Pass (elevation 5,500 feet) on May 16 for our last snowshoe of the season with a stunning view of Liberty Bell Mountain on a gorgeous sunny day.

SAL RUSSO | salandjudy@hotmail.com
2700 Kentucky St., Bellingham, WA 98229

Jan S. Hogendorn ’60

Jan S. Hogendorn, Grossman Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Colby College, died Oct. 10, 2017, at age 79. A member of Delta Tau Delta, he received his degree with high honors and with distinction. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship. After receiving a master’s degree and a PhD from the London School of Economics, he joined the faculty of Boston University briefly before moving to Colby. Born in Hawaii and evacuated by flying boat after Pearl Harbor, he grew up in Oskaloosa, Iowa, where he was a champion high school debater, won the 1956 Voice of Democracy contest, and addressed that year’s Democratic convention. In 1958 he was in the inaugural group of students to visit Africa as part of Operation Crossroads Africa. Inspired by the promise of economic growth in Africa, he decided to major in economics. His PhD subject was British colonial agricultural policy in northern Nigeria. In 1966 he became assistant professor of economics at Colby. He later served as chair of the economics department and was appointed the Grossman Professor of Economics in 1977. He visited Nigeria and Britain several times, including a visit to Oxford University on a Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. During his career he published more than 50 articles and essays; multiple editions of textbooks in introductory, international, and developmental economics; and three books on the history of agriculture, slavery, and abolition in West Africa. Later, he participated in local politics, serving several times as moderator of the Vassalboro (Me.) Town Meeting. He is survived by his wife, Dianne Hodet Hogendorn; his son, Christiaan, associate professor of economics at Wesleyan; his daughter-in-law, Erika Naginski; and two grandchildren.