CLASS OF 1981 | 2015 | ISSUE 2
Greetings from Atlanta airport, as I (Joanne) finish this one last “to-do” item before heading out on a family vacation to Germany and France with my husband and two of my three sons. My youngest son, Christopher, is a rising high school senior who keeps busy playing tennis, ultimate Frisbee and jazz sax and piano. My middle son, James, just finished his sophomore year at Indiana University, where he is majoring in Informatics with a cognate in music and has been interning this summer at the University of Augsburg, Germany—and doing some traveling on the budget airlines. My oldest son, Alex, is a computer science engineer. After an 18-month stint at Microsoft, he is now back in Indiana and happily working for a company that specializes in software for the travel industry. They do grow up and spread their wings!
I have many interesting tidbits to share—our classmates continue to achieve, accomplish, and give back. I am running out of adjectives to describe all this success!
Exciting news in from Dave Coombs, who was presented his 10th (yes, you read that correctly!) annual award for excellence from The New York State Broadcasters Association. Fans who have missed Dave’s humor might want to check out his blog. In addition, Dave also has a podcast, CoupleTake, which he and his wife, Beth, launched; it is available on iTunes here: http://apple.co/1GGQl9H. Enjoy—and congratulations!
Peter Gryska wrote to let me know that he is living in Houston, still actively working in the food service distribution chain, and mercifully high and dry (at the time of this writing) from the flooding that occurred in June. He enjoys the frequent Wesleyan gatherings in Houston when professors and administration come to town, and he keeps an ongoing exchange going with both Laurey Richter and Sean Moran. Peter says, “Both daughters have graduated from law school and college and are off the payroll.” He adds, “We are increasingly spending time in West Texas at our 110-year-old family ranch, building a ranch house, running cattle, and expanding the farming operations.” (Sounds like a great place for a Wes alumni gathering.)
More congratulations are in order, this time going out to Chris Graves. The biggest news, Chris modestly writes, is that his daughter, Julia Graves ’17, is at Wesleyan.
rofessionally, it appears that Chris is at the top of his game. Recent achievements include: a promotion to global chairman (from Global CEO) of Ogilvy Public Relations as well as elected chair of the industry association, the PR Council; being elected as a trustee of the Institute for Public Relations, where he co-leads the behavioral and neuroscience communications initiative; being published as a contributing author in three books edited by McKinsey, the latest a business bestseller called Reimagining India. Chris has also been named as a United Nations adviser to a group called the Private Sector Leadership Advisory Council to UN Women, in which capacity he has addressed the UN on communications and behavior change related to enlisting men into the cause for gender equality for women and girls—a most worthy cause! If all that hasn’t been enough, Chris adds, “I have been writing for Harvard Business Review occasionally such as this story on why communications around the ‘vaccination wars’ in America have been so ineffective (https://hbr.org/2015/02/why-debunking-myths-about-vaccines-hasnt-convinced-dubious-parents).” I’m out of breath just writing this! It’s been quite a year for Chris Graves.
My dear friend Kaylie Jones has several items of import to report, the most exciting being that her daughter, Eyrna, will be attending the University of Texas, Honors College, at Austin as a Jefferson Scholar. Equally noteworthy is the publication of Kaylie’s newest book (available on Amazon.com) entitled The Anger Meridian. At a book reading in June at the Huntington, Long Island, library, Kaylie was surprised by the librarian organizing the event. After Kaylie texted me a pic of the handsome librarian, I immediately recognized our classmate Tom Cohn. We had a very quick chat with no time for catching up, as Kaylie was getting ready to give her talk, so I hope Tom will be in touch soon. In addition to writing, Kaylie is also very much involved in the publishing side of her imprint, Akashic Books. One of her newest laudable acquisitions is a forthcoming novel by Patty Smith ’82, to be published in the fall of 2015 with the tentative title, The Year of Needy Girls. Both Patty and Kaylie expressed great excitement at being involved in this endeavor together. Hats off to the two of them on the publication of their new novels!
On June 18th, Rick Rome was recognized by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. In accepting the award, Rick (a non-lawyer) noted that he will continue to work hard to support the efforts of this organization. “This is the time for all of us to focus on civil rights, ending discrimination and drastically reducing poverty.” Rick became interested in civil rights issues as a young boy. He writes, “My dad, Lew Rome, led the drive to desegregate the public schools as Mayor of Bloomfield, Conn. The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs has been fighting discrimination, civil rights violations and poverty for years. In recent years I have been building corporate support for the Committee, saying that not all civil rights activists became lawyers and we who care deeply about the issues should support the lawyers who take on cases for those in need and for the community at large. I received an award as a non-lawyer for contributing to the efforts of the organization. My goal is to significantly increase the percentage of contributions from non-lawyers.” Rick also expressed his great appreciation to Professor Emeritus John Grumm, and his creative and caring fellow students. “Unfortunately, civil rights is once again front and center as a critical issue we must all pay attention to. We came along after the heroic freedom riders and the marchers in Selma.” Congratulations, Rick, on this well-deserved honor! Rick lives in the Washington, D.C., area with his wife Joanne and their three talented sons: Jack, a rap artist; Sam, a singer songwriter; and Max, an actor.
Dave Robertson, a professor of practice at the Wharton School in Philadelphia, wrote in to tell me that he now has a radio show on SiriusXM (channel 111) called Innovation Navigation that is recorded live every Tuesday between 8 and 10 a.m. It is also a podcast on iTunes. How cool is that? One of Dave’s recent guests (on May 19th) was “old friend and fellow alum Matthew McCreight, who does innovation consulting for Schaffer Consulting. We had a wonderful conversation about the meaning of ‘innovation’ and how companies can become more innovative.” You can download the podcast here: bit.ly/innonavipod. For more on the show, see the website: www.innonavi.com.” In addition to his radio work, Dave is also the author of the book Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry.
Richard M. Locke, a professor of political science and international affairs and the Howard R. Swearer Director of the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University, has been named Brown’s 13th provost. He began his duties July 1, 2015. As provost, Rick will serve as the University’s chief academic officer, second in rank to the president, and the senior officer in charge when the president is away from campus. Many of the University’s senior positions report directly to him. Brown University President Christina Paxson said in her official announcement, “Rick Locke is a highly respected scholar, has positioned Watson as a prominent center for international and public affairs, and emerged as the leading choice among outstanding candidates to lead the University’s academic programs. Rick’s appointment will sustain the momentum we have built as we advance the goals outlined in the Building on Distinction strategic plan.” Warmest congratulations to Rick as he embarks on this new and exciting journey.
My freshman year roommate, Martha Arntzen Bockian, dropped me a line from Chicago. She has been very busy doing neuropsychological testing and brain maps on former NFL players, as well as consulting at a residential treatment facility for young adults with mental health problems, doing brain maps and neurofeedback. Her husband, Neil Bockian ’83, continues to teach and write, in addition to seeing patients part-time in his private practice. The most exciting news though, writes Martha, is that the family went to Israel in July for daughter Chaya’s high school graduation, followed by a celebratory trip to Barcelona. Martha also writes that son Yaakov is really enjoying school and has been working closely with his math teacher to use mathematical principles to further his interest in the world of fashion design.
For the past year, Chrissi Winkelbauer Kelly, who lives in England, has been working with “Fifth Sense,” a charity for people with taste and smell disorders. She lost her own sense of smell completely after contracting a virus in 2012 and is now experiencing some recovery. Chrissi writes, “The highlight thus far has been speaking at the UK Semiochemistry Network Conference at the University of Cambridge last year. It is estimated that five percent of the populations suffers from some sort of smell loss… Smell training promises to be a useful tool for those who are fortunate enough to get even a small amount of recovery from anosmia.” Chrissi encourages us all to take a deep breath on that next walk in the woods or when sitting down to your next meal, and most importantly, to appreciate your sense of smell, the least understood of the senses. Thank you for sharing your story, Chrissi—and we hope you continue healing.
In conclusion, it is with a heavy heart that I report the death of our classmate Paul Lenkeit, Babson Capital Management’s head of derivatives and insurance investments, whose more than two-decade career in markets began as a self-taught day trader in his spare time. He died unexpectedly on March 25 at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, during a vacation, said his wife, Lori Lenkeit. “Paul took great pride in his work and enjoyed a successful career,” his family wrote in an online obituary. “Paul was a kind, caring, devoted and selfless husband, father and brother.” Paul, an economics and math major, also had a passion for jazz. He regularly attended music festivals in Hartford and Newport, Rhode Island, near a summer home. In addition to his wife, survivors include their three children, Paul, Michael and Christine. He will be sorely missed by those who loved him and the many whose lives he touched. Our deepest sympathy goes out to his family in South Windsor, Conn.