CLASS OF 1979 | 2017 | ISSUE 1

NEWSMAKERS | 1970s NEWSMAKER JIM FRIEDLICH ’79 Jim Friedlich ’79, P’14 was appointed the chief executive officer of The Lenfest Institute for Journalism in Philadelphia. This newly formed Institute has an endowment for investment in technology and innovations that advance the future of journalism. The Institute is also the parent company of The Philadelphia Inquirer, a winner of 20 Pulitzer Prizes and now the largest newspaper in America operated as a public-benefit company. Cable mogul and philanthropist H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest said, “The hiring of Jim Friedlich—one of the most talented and capable thinkers in the business of journalism—will help propel our mission: developing effective models for powerful public-service journalism on a local and regional level in the digital age.” An English major at Wesleyan, Friedlich was chief executive of digital media advisory firm Empirical Media which was purchased by Lenfest. He worked as group publisher of The Wall Street Journal International and was a seed investor in Business Insider.

NEWSMAKERS | 1970s NEWSMAKER ELLIS NEUFELD ’79 Ellis Neufeld ’79, M.D., PhD., was appointed clinical director, physician-in-chief, and executive vice president of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, an internationally renowned center that pioneers research for and offers treatment to children with catastrophic illnesses. St. Jude President and Chief Executive Officer James Downing, M.D., said: “Dr. Neufeld’s leadership and experience will help steer St. Jude clinical operations as we expand our patient care programs, increase the number of patients treated and work to set the standard for pediatric cancer care delivery.” A biology and chemistry major at Wesleyan, Neufeld earned his doctoral degrees at Washington University in St. Louis, with specialty training in pediatrics and medical genetics at Boston Children’s Hospital and in pediatric hematology/oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s.

Class of 1979 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship Fund

Julian Carraway ’18, Sociology

Gary here, wishing everyone a healthy and happy new year from snowy Holliston, Mass.

It was great to see the DKE house packed once again with revelers for the annual Homecoming post-game party. It was well-attended by alumni from the class of 1964 to 2016 including George DuPaul, Joe Britton, John Papa, Bill Conley, Jack Buckley, Tim Fitzgerald, Dennis Archibald, Scott Karsten ’74, Dave Thomas ’77, Vanessa Burgess ’77, Ralph Rotman ’78, Bill Ahern ’78, Jeff Gray ’77, Steve Imbriglia ’77, Matt Hoey ’78, Shawn McKeown ’77, Gary Sturgis ’77, Peter McArdle ’77, Steve McArdle (legendary DKE chef), Dave Bagatelle ’86, Michael Ruderman ’11, Jeremy Edelberg ’14, Bob Bourne ’80 (my DKE “little brother”), Jack Meier ’69, and Frank Judson ’64, among a plethora of others I’m forgetting. Before the post-game festivities, we watched the Wesleyan Cardinals win the first leg of the Little Three title by beating Amherst before they traveled to Williams a few weeks later to officially capture the crown for the second time in four years. Congratulations to Mike Whalen ’83 and to the many DKE undergraduate brothers who played their hearts out in those games. Well done.

A great time was had by all in celebrating the 60th trip around the sun for John McDermott ’78 in New Jersey with Joe Britton, Tim Fitzgerald, Ralph Rotman ’78, Jeff Gray ’77, Dave Thomas ’77, and Paul Nelson ’78. Many of us will be joyfully embracing? Stoically facing? Unconditionally surrendering to? The milestone this year. I keep reminding myself it’s only a number. How the heck did we get here?

Ellis Neufeld writes: “I actually have news this time, after decades of doing more or less the same thing. Come March, I will move to Memphis to become physician-in-chief at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.” I have tremendous respect for people doing work that makes a significant difference in people’s lives, especially children’s lives. Kudos to you, Ellis.

Jodi Daynard writes that she is still writing: “Hi, there! I’m doing very well! Quit teaching last year. My third novel, A More Perfect Union, is coming out this May (Lake Union). It is the third of a trilogy that began with The Midwife’s Revolt.”

From John Tjia (originally Class of 1976, but took a three-year “gap year”): “I’m at the point in my life and career (executive director at Ernst & Young in New York) where I am starting to think about retiring. My daughter, Leonore, is on her own in San Francisco since graduating from the University of St. Andrews in 2011. My son, Alex, is in his sophomore year at Skidmore College, and my wife, Charlotte Okie, teaches the Alexander Technique in the drama department at the Juilliard School. I am writing the third edition of my book, Building Financial Models, for McGraw-Hill, and I take time out on the weekends to do some oil painting. Does anyone know where Anne Morningstar ’76 is?”

Jim Friedlich was named CEO of the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, a non-profit foundation dedicated to the future of sustainable local news. Hong Qu ’99, a digital media entrepreneur, serves on Jim’s board. Jim and Alberto Ibargüen ’66, CEO of the Knight Foundation, announced a major national partnership between their respective organizations to help transform newsrooms around the country by more effective use of digital, mobile, and social platforms.

Joy D’Amore writes: “I head up global talent acquisition at Everest Group, a strategy consulting and research firm focused on global services. I moved to Dallas for the role a year and a half ago. We have offices in Dallas, Toronto, London, and Gurgaon, India. I’d love to connect with others in Dallas: damorej@gmail.com.”

Anne Wilson update: “Moved to San Diego Calif., in 1991 for a job and, to my surprise, stayed. Learning to surf helped. I am proud to be SVP of real estate development at Community HousingWorks, a nonprofit that develops, renovates, and owns apartment homes affordable to low-income working families, seniors and people with disabilities (almost 3,000 apartment homes across the state of California). I regularly hire recent grads with liberal arts degrees because they know how to write, think, research, and analyze problems. I just wish more of them would take a few courses that require quantitative work like statistics and economics.”

Bill Levinson update: “Julie and I finally pulled the plug on the Northeast. We’ve left New Hope, Pa., and moved to Key West. I’m still playing piano full-time down here.”

Gary Breitbord | gbreitbo@aol.com

Ann Biester Deane | abdeane@aol.com