Tag: 1978

Gary Friedmann, vice chair of the Bar Harbor, Maine town council, has launched a project, A Climate to Thrive, the goal of which is to make Mount Desert Island energy-independent by 2030. In this program, six committees with dozens of volunteers work on climate solutions that strengthen the local community through initiatives in alternative energy, building efficiency, transportation, zero waste, local food, and public policy.

Geoff Ginsburg reports, “Life is good here in North Carolina,” where he continues his work in precision medicine and engineering as director of the Center for Applied Genomics and Precision Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. He has also started a company, Host Response, to bring novel disease diagnostics to the market, and a nonprofit company, Global Genomic Medicine Collaborative, an international organization aimed at fostering global partnerships to advance genomics in the practice of medicine. Geoff is “always happy to have visitors who are in the area” (twitter: @PersonalizedMed).

Tim Hollister’s daughter, Martha, is starting her senior year at Hampshire College, where she is studying video game design. His book, His Father Still, was an Oprah Book Club recommended summer read this July. The second edition of his previous book, Not So Fast: Parenting Your Teen Through the Dangers of Driving, will be published next September.

Lisa Landsman writes from Cabin John, Md., that she received her master’s in public heath from Johns Hopkins University and is heading back into the job market as a public health lawyer. Additionally, “my three kids are all doing well, and I have two adorable little grandkids.”

Mark Laser took a seven-week break this year from his obstetrics and gynecology practice in Trumbull, Conn., to participate in the ARC Europe sailing rally. He sailed across the Atlantic in his own boat with a crew of three, taking first place in all three legs. Preparation included obtaining a Coast Guard Master Captain’s license and learning celestial navigation, and the adventure included “30-knot winds and 20-foot seas, flying fish, dolphins and even a whale or two…one more item checked off the bucket list.”

Susan Loonsk has moved from Wisconsin to Shepherdstown, W.Va. She welcomes anyone regionally to contact her at art@loonsk.com.

Lucy Mize reports that she continues to love her work at the Asia Bureau of USAID, managing “a very strong health team” with programming in 17 countries. She traveled to Denmark and Bangladesh this year, making that “72 countries I have visited in the course of work or play.” Her son, Thaddeus  ’17, is a senior at Wesleyan where he is co-captain of the crew team. Her daughter, Belle, is a high school junior, and her husband, Tim, continues traveling extensively for the World Bank (they are hoping for his next assignment to be Mozambique). Her father, David Mize  ’51, continues to stay active traveling despite the passing of Lucy’s mother last year. Baseball is Lucy’s “best diversion.” She enjoys following her hometown Washington Nationals with Bill Tabor  ’79.

David Nussenbaum reports that “after 30-something years in the business world” he has assumed responsibility for the Bronx Arts Ensemble (bronxartsensemble.org), a nonprofit organization teaching music, dance, theater and art in more than 40 public schools, and producing professional concerts. He welcomes classmates to attend the shows, which have included Wesleyan music professor Jay Hoggard  ’76. He says that his wife, Betsy, and his daughter, Julia, “make me very happy and proud.”

George Raymond writes that, for the third year in a row, he and his wife took the TGV in June from their home near Basel—where they have lived for 27 years—to spend a weekend in Provence with his former Wesleyan economics professor, Peter Kilby and his wife. “We’ve managed to keep in touch ever since I handed in my last CSS paper.”

Harvey Silberman has just finished his 12th year on the bench in LA, where he serves as a judge of the Superior Court. He also directs and distributes indie films. His son graduated from Colorado College and now works for Disney Productions. At a Wesleyan event this past year in Beverly Hills, Harvey saw Peter Heller ’84 and Dana Delany, “whom I directed in Lion in Winter so many years ago…great to see them!”

Marisa Smith and her husband, Eric Kraus, have owned Smith and Kraus Publishers for the past 25 years, specializing in theater-related books, with over 650 titles in print. In recent years, “on a lark” Marisa began writing plays as well—which has turned into an unexpected second career perfectly timed with empty nest-hood. Her comedy Saving Kitty starred Jennifer Coolidge last summer in Cambridge, Mass., and Mad Love has been at Northern Stage in Vermont and the New Jersey Repertory Company. Sons Luke and Peter are, respectively, a law student at Wake Forest and a sommelier/chef in LA.

Jim Washington relays an overdue update, as “I think it might be nice for some and vex others that I’m still alive.” He and his wife, Mary Lu, celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary this year with a summer trip to Amsterdam followed by a cruise along the North Sea, stopping in Norwegian villages and crossing into the Arctic Circle. Jim continues to work in Dartmouth’s admissions office and will soon begin his inaugural year of board service for Boston Prep Academy, a charter school that draws students from urban areas familiar to Jim, such as his hometown of Roxbury, Mass. In the spring, Jim will return to the classroom in pursuit of a second master of arts degree as a student in Dartmouth’s MALS creative writing program. His latest published poetry can be found in the Main Street Rag summer 2016 edition.

Dave Wilson continues his work as a jazz saxophonist, band leader, and composer. His latest album, There Was Never, was released in November 2015, reaching #18 in the Nationwide Jazz Radio Countdown. Dave lives in Lancaster, Pa. with his wife, Lisa, and their four cats.

Susie Muirhead Bates | sbatesdux@hotmail.com 

Ken Kramer | kmkramer78@hotmail.com

Greetings classmates! Hope these notes find you all heading into a summer with sunny skies and plenty of time to relax and enjoy time with loved ones. Here’s what’s up with a few of your classmates:

Jennifer Atkinson lives in Virginia where she is a professor at George Mason University in the MFA/BFA programs in poetry. Her fifth book of poems, The Thinking Eye, is newly out. More details are at www.parlorpress.com/freeverse/the-thinking-eye. Jennifer lives just outside the Beltway and would love to catch up with old friends. If you are in or visiting D.C. she invites you to look her up.

David Weild IV contributed that he “had the wonderful experience of teaching two economics classes at Wesleyan for Prof. Abigail Hornstein in February: Investments and Corporate Finance from the perspective of how the evolution in low-cost electronic trading and capital markets structure is impacting these disciplines.” Among the students in his class was Paul DiSanto ’81.

Ruth van Eck-Rotholz sent a thoughtful, reflective letter, which began by describing Wesleyan as “a place for her to discover.” She felt its small size and flexibility allowed for “focus on the development of individual ideas.” She continued, “With this naive energy I continued to fulfill my dreams in my first years in the triptych of my life.” At 30, Ruth left the USA and became “an architect for the Supreme Court in Jerusalem where she met and fell in love with Swedish geophysicist Torild van Eck.” They moved to the Netherlands, had two beautiful daughters, Miriam and Rachel, and lived in the summers in Sweden. Sadly, Torlid died in his sleep in 2014, just days before his 65th birthday. Ruth reflected that “this was my own private earthquake and I still feel the aftershocks” and “feels that another transition in her life is occurring now” as she turns 60.

She advises all of us to “Listen around you, be patient, remain humble, and gather strength from Nature, and not from titles, prestige, degrees, or status. See the world as a whole and not divided by political forces but by moving plates. Imagine communicating what is essential without language. Realize that ultimately it is the forces of the earth and how we respect them that will prove to be our ultimate guides.” Ruth, thanks for your openness. I’m sure our classmates join me in wishing you all the best.

Mark Laser is preparing to leave on a challenging sailboat race across the Atlantic as part of the ARC Europe Rally on his boat, First Light. There will be a satellite tracker on board, tracking their progress in real time. Mark has done a lot of work in preparation for this “bucket list” item. He’s been Coast Guard certified as a master captain, 50-ton rated, as well as learned the ancient art of celestial navigation. To learn about the boat and crew and follow the journey, go to firstlight.deligent.com. Bon voyage, Mark!

Cheers to Pat and Nancy McCabe who in April celebrated their 150th Birthaversary; two 60th birthdays and a 30th anniversary all in one night. In addition to Pat and Nancy, other ’78s in attendance were Moira McNamara James and Jodi Wilinsky Hill. Other Wesleyan grads at the festivities were Nancy’s father, Herb Kendall ’48; Nancy’s brother, Richard Kendall ’74, Ellen Gerken ’77, and John Bennett ’79. “Wished we could have been there” came from other ‘78’s Jamer Breene, Hank Mathieu, Bill Tabor, and yours truly.

We know the Class Notes are most of your favorite part of the reading Wesleyan, but are the notes rather a disappointment if we don’t have anything to print? Please don’t be shy or bashful, e-mail us what’s new in your lives so we can share it with your classmates.

Until next time, wishing each of you all the best,

SUSIE MUIRHEAD BATES | sbatesdux@hotmail.com

Ken Kramer | kmkramer78@hotmail.com

Class of 1978 Endowed Scholarship Fund

Vera Benkoil ’18, New York, N.Y.

Nancy Chen is enjoying life in Boulder, Colo., where she is establishing a marketing strategy coaching business. Her daughter, Ariane, will be graduating this year from Chapman University in Orange, Calif., where she is majoring in environmental science. Her other daughter, Isabelle, is studying communications at Seattle University.

Glenn Heinmiller was inducted into the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) College of Fellows. Glenn is a principal at the architectural lighting design firm LAM in Cambridge, Mass. His expertise is in the production of high-quality electric and day-lighting solutions minimizing energy use and environmental impact, and he serves as chairman of the IALD energy and sustainability committee. He has received numerous awards for his lighting design work, about which he has written and lectured, and has taught at Boston Architectural College.

David Weild IV continues his work in the financial sector as CEO of Weild & Co., and continues his public policy working stemming from his contributions to the creation of the JOBS Act, as well. He was at the White House as a participant in the I Have a Dream Summit, and his work travels also took him to the G20 meeting in Istanbul and the Budapest Economic Forum. Dave will be doing some teaching in the Economics Department at Wes this semester; his sister actually teaches in the drama department. His children (“the joy in my life”)—Dave V, Michael, and Kelly—are all avid lacrosse players.

Bobbie (Barbara) Spellman recently published an article in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, about “the current crisis of replicability in the social and life sciences.” She proudly reports having, in its acknowledgement section, thanked no less than 11 of her Wesleyan professors “for influencing my thinking oh-so-long ago.” Bobbie has also recently published a book, The Psychological Foundation of Evidence Law.

SUSIE MUIRHEAD BATES | sbatesdux@hotmail.com

Ken Kramer | kmkramer78@hotmail.com

“Hola amigos!” These notes are being penned in Spain where my husband, Nick, and I are walking the Camino de Santiago/The Way of St. James, in the northwestern province of Galicia. As pilgrims, or peregrinos, we are walking the last 105 km of the Camino through lovely, lush, verdant countryside (made so by healthy doses of rain each week), Along the way we are walking with and meeting fellow peregrinos. In early September, we welcomed our first grandchild, Benjamin. We are also blessed to have him and his parents living just 10 minutes away in Duxbury. We are thrilled to begin the exciting life chapter of grandparenting!!

Pat McCabe, with two partners, is starting Beacon School for Boys in Los Angeles. Scheduled to open next September, it will be the only secular boys school in Los Angeles. There are many independent girls schools in L.A. but none for boys. The school will start as a middle school with a grade added every year until they reach 6–12th.

Sydney Francis sent in a first-time class note announcing she just authored her first book, Steps To Ascension. Sydney lives with Monte Henry ’80, a financial adviser with Dominick & Dominick. Her daughter, Kalina Meilan, a graduate of the Annenberg School of Communications at UPenn, works in communication and public policy for the U.S. Treasury. Sydney describes herself as “a lawyer by training, business affairs manager by design, and artist by choice.” Her book “is the outcome of 27 years of her involvement with meditation and channeling.” She started her metaphysical journey during her Wesleyan junior year abroad in Ghana, an experience that influenced this book. She also co-owned the entertainment business affairs management company, Gracia, Francis and Associates, for many years and currently has a NYC company, New Public Media.

Pete Lewis was smiling after a September jaunt to Middletown and was inspired to contribute these words to our notes: “I try to get to campus a couple of times a year and recently hit the Middlebury football game. Campus looks great; lots of building upgrades and lots of energy. Later, I had a great time in New Haven at the 150th anniversary of the first Wes-Yale baseball game. We had more than 60 Cardinal baseball alums on the field for pre-game ceremonies. Lots of friends to visit with, including Kevin Rose. Remarks were made by former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent and everyone wore throwback uniforms. Wesleyan beat Yale 6–3! He and Kevin Rose teed it up later that week in a golf match against their baseball teammates Chris Vane ’75 and Rick Burpee ’75. These were just a few of the many lifelong friendships that Pete said came from his Wesleyan experience. He lives in Wake Forest, N.C., from where he regularly visits his dad, George Lewis ’53, in New Jersey and his daughter in New Hampshire. He closed with, “Hard to believe we are coming up on age 60. Lots of life chapters behind us but looking forward to many more going forward.”

William Frear checked in from Juno Beach, Fla., with a comment that probably resonates with many of us: “Wesleyan was a great experience and has enhanced my life. The older I get, the more appreciation and gratitude I have for a liberal arts education.”

Gail Marcus, CEO of Calloway Labs, a toxicology lab based in Massachusetts, sent news that she has been appointed to the CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) Advisory Panel on Diagnostic Laboratory Tests. She is one of 15 members providing expert input to help advise the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The main input from the panel will focus on the establishment of payment rates for new clinical diagnostic lab tests and the factors used in determining coverage and payments. Gail has received numerous awards and has appeared on the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley, the Home and Family Show on the Hallmark Channel, and Kyra Phillips’ Raising America on HLN.

That’s all for now. Please send us your news!

SUSIE MUIRHEAD BATES | sbatesdux@hotmail.com 

Ken Kramer | kmkramer78@hotmail.com

Ken writes:

Elizabeth Bachman continues her work as a presentation skills trainer (“The Starmaker for Speakers”)—along with her role as an international opera director, in which she has worked with the likes of Luciano Pavarotti. In the summers she runs TOP Opera, an operatic training program in the Austrian Alps.

Nancy Chen has made the move to Colorado (Fort Collins) from New York’s Long Island. She’s enjoying her active outdoor life there, and continues her leadership coaching and seminar business. She will be an empty-nester this fall, when daughter Isabelle begins at Seattle University, where she plans to pursue women’s studies. Her daughter, Ariane, will be a senior at Chapman University (Orange, Calif.); Nancy is looking forward to visiting her in New Zealand next semester while she studies environmental sciences abroad.

Gary Friedmann lives in Bar Harbor, where, as vice chair of the town council, he has been moving the town toward a sustainable future. Bar Harbor has just approved the first municipally-approved solar farm in Maine as an energy source for its operations, and additionally allows its residents to buy into a photovoltaic array to power their own homes.

Andy Futterman and wife Amy Wolfson are moving from Worcester, Mass., “after 25 wonderful years as professors in the psychology department at Holy Cross,” to Loyola University in Baltimore, Md. She will serve as their vice president of academic affairs; Andy will continue as a psychology professor there. He reports that they are quite excited about the move and look forward, as longtime St. Louis Cardinals fans along with their son, Noah, to rooting for the Orioles against both the Red Sox and Yankees.

Tim Hollister’s book for parents of teenage drivers, Not So Fast, will be published in Spanish this September (Chicago Review Press) in an effort to reach the large Spanish-speaking populations of 10 states now licensing undocumented residents. In October, his book, His Father Still: A Parenting Memoir, will be published by Argo Navis; it is “the story of parenting my son before and after his fatal crash, and how I learned much more about him, and rebuilt our parent-child relationship, after his passing.”

Lucy Mize reports that “my son Thaddeus Brown ’17 is halfway through his Wesleyan experience and enjoying every minute of it, including being on the crew team.” Lucy has recently returned to the States after 20 years abroad, to take on her new job as health team leader for the Asia Bureau of USAID. The new position nonetheless involves extensive travel from the U.S.; she will next be sailing from Fiji to Papua New Guinea on the USNS Mercy, serving as a trainer for the Defense Department in development issues.

Ruth Pachman writes: “I had a great experience serving as chair of the Wesleyan Fund for three years—it got me back to campus a lot and gave me the chance to connect with students, faculty, administrators, and alums from many classes while raising money for financial aid. I’ve also been involved with Union Settlement, a vital nonprofit for East Harlem, and just transitioned into the role of board chair. My day job continues to be as a managing director at Kekst, where I focus on strategic and crisis communications and corporate governance. Don Fallati ’76 and I are now empty-nesters, with our son Mark having finished his first year at Swarthmore where he plays on the tennis team. We now eagerly follow college tennis stats at two schools!”

Racheal Pine’s two “amazing daughters” have done some amazing traveling this past year: one studied abroad in Mongolia this past spring, while the other journeyed throughout Southeast Asia during a gap year (“…to be that age again!”).

Robert Poss reports that his two primary pursuits, experimental music and location sound, have been going well in recent months. In December he performed on electric guitar in Paris and London, and also spent time in Miami working at Art Basel on a documentary film about the Dutch artist Theo Jansen. In June he performed his original score with the Alexandra Beller/Dances company, at La MaMa theater in New York City (“The New York Times called my music “meditative,” a rather far cry from my wall of noisy guitars group, Band Of Susans, it would seem.”)

Lynn Thomas reports continued success in her consulting business, which focuses on “increasing company profits through client and employee retention, loyalty, engagement, and delight!”—and has just published her book, Wow! Your Way to Profits. She continues to love Boston, along with her new home (“my 14-year-old daughter, my 25-year-old nephew and our 18-month-old pooch Bentley are all settling in well”)—and is always eager to connect with Wes alums.

Susie writes: As I pen this missive, I’m gazing out at an historical amount of snow on the ground—six-foot drifts, colossal piles from plows, and a general depth of ground covering not before seen. We New Englanders, especially those of us in the Boston area, will remember the winter of 2015 for many years to come! Although these notes will be published in the springy month of April, there will most likely still be snow on the ground.

Doug Hardy sent in his first ever news for our class notes. He married Roselyn Romberg ’79 25 years ago. Although they had dozens of friends in common, they did not meet until 10 years after graduating from Wesleyan. Their mutual friend, Alice Dunn ’79, married Doug’s twin brother, Gordon Hardy, Williams ’78. Roselyn and Doug live in Concord, Mass. They adopted three siblings from Russia in 1998, followed by 17 years of family life that Doug says “you can safely describe as eventful—those of you who have raised kids with PTSD know what I’m talking about.” He is a former editor at Alfred A. Knopf (books), the New York Times Co. (magazines), and several Internet firms (last one was Monster.com). Since 2002, he’s been writing full-time, mostly books and mostly “human capital” subjects—management, labor, recruiting, and career. Roselyn was a management consultant at several firms and currently coaches fellows at Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative and helps nonprofits get under way through her consulting firm, Vision Accomplished. The Hardys have stayed close to Joe Keneally, Mary Rindfleisch ’77, Elizabeth Sanders ’79, Elizabeth Bachman, and all the pals at Mark Ginsberg’s ’79 pre-Thanksgiving dinner, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year! They would love to hear from more friends.

Kevin Rose shared the happy news that his son, Danny, was recently accepted ED1 to Wesleyan and will be attending this fall. The Rose family looks forward to returning often to campus.

In January 2015, Bill Adler moved to Tokyo, where he continues his career as a writer. but now he’s doing it with a diet of ramen, nabe, and, of course, sushi. His bedroom view of Mt. Fuji is proving to be inspirational to his writing. His older daughter works in book publishing in New York, and his younger daughter graduates from college this year. If any classmates visit Tokyo, please let him know and he’ll show you around his new town.

George Raymond has entered his 12th year as an independent consultant based in Basel, Switzerland. He is helping market a system that lets small European railways exchange data with big ones along with a cool machine that lays fiber-optic cables along railway tracks.

Jon Spector is continuing to enjoy his move to Woodstock, Vt., and the commute to NYC via Cape Air. He is still working for The Conference Board, along with other Wes alums, Dick Cavanagh ’68 and Alan Dachs ’70, who serves as the chair of The Conference Board.

Besides continuing to peddle/play/curate concerts in the US and France (MistralMusic.org), Julie Scolnik and her husband, Michael, bought a little maison de village in one of the most beautiful villages in Provence. “The closest thing to heaven I can imagine,” she writes. It is available to rent on vrbo.com/300210, and they have special rates for all Wes alums.

Andrea Gabor wrote: “In January 2015, I led 11 Baruch College/CUNY journalism students to Cuba as part of a class on covering emerging entrepreneurship in that island nation. The purpose of the trip was to report on the recent economic changes instituted under President Raul Castro, especially in the new small-business sector of so-called cuentapropistas, which now number close to 500,000 Cubans, triple the number in 2010. We arrived just weeks after President Obama and President Castro announced their historic détente, which will open Cuba to more American goods and visitors and which established formal relations between the countries. These changes are likely to have a profound effect on the Cuban economy. Whether they will spread to the political arena is less clear.

“My students learned about the emerging entrepreneurial sector and the vagaries of being an entrepreneur, or cuentapropista, both through Cuba Emprende, a private nonprofit that helps train entrepreneurs in Cuba, and from small family-run businesses. These businesses ranged from restaurants to companies like Nostalgiacar, which operates a car service and refurbishes vintage automobiles, to a party planning company. We stayed at Casa Vera, a guest house for foreign students and at La Finca Marta, an experimental sustainable farm that supplies many of Havana’s top paladares, or private restaurants. The lessons learned for both me and my students were profound.” (See a photo of Andrea and her students: classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu/class-of-1978/.)

Please e-mail Ken and me updates on your family, projects, volunteer service, career, travel, adventure—any news you’d like to share. Maybe there are others of you like Doug Hardy, who will send in your first-ever news!? We hope so. Wishing everyone the very best from snowy Duxbury,

SUSIE MUIRHEAD BATES | kmkramer78@hotmail.com

Ken Kramer | sbatesdux@hotmail.com

Ken writes: Bill Adler divides his time between Washington, D.C., and Tokyo. He’s still writing books and learning Japanese. His daughters are “growing, growing, and mostly grown,” his oldest having graduated from Tufts a year ago, then teaching English for a year in France, and his youngest to be graduating from college in May… “hard to believe.”

Elizabeth (PepPep) Bachman works as an international opera director, and presentation skills trainer, using her operatic background to help public speakers with their stage presence. She is based in San Francisco but spends much of her time in Austria, where, as founder of TOP Opera (Tyrolean Opera Program)—a summer training program in the Austrian Alps—she provides young singers with business, voice, acting, dance, and language skills. She and Gisela Beckermann are married in Austria and are considering a marriage in the U.S. as well.

Geoff Ginsburg and his wife, Pam Douglas, are living, with their two Maine Coon cats, Mombo and Simba, in Durham, N.C., where he is professor of medicine, pathology, and biomedical engineering, and director of the Center for Applied Genomics at Duke University. They enjoy the mix of southern living and the university community. Geoff has fond memories of Wes and welcomes any Wes visitors.

Suki Hoagland sends greetings and well wishes from sunny California. After nine years of living in Switzerland, she and her husband, Jim, have moved back to the States, where both are at Stanford, she as a visiting scholar in the Earth Systems Program, an interdisciplinary undergraduate and co-terminal master’s degree program, and he as a consulting professor at the Woods Institute for the Environment. Their older son is a graduate of the Naval Academy and a captain in the Marine Corps, their second son a Cornell graduate who works as a transportation engineer specializing in green transportation—light rail, high-speed trains, ferries, and bus transit. They love life in Palo Alto, where they ride their bikes to campus, “rarely need a car…have no mortgage, no commute, no pets, no kids at home, just lots of freedom and sunshine.”

Tim Hollister continues to do great work in promoting teen driving safety, for which he has received the 2014 Peter K. O’Rourke Special Achievement of the Governors Highway Safety Association, a national award recognizing his multifaceted contributions. Tim maintains his national blog, “From Reid’s Dad,” named in memory of his son, which serves as a an important educational resource for parents of young drivers. His blog led to the publication of his acclaimed book, Not So Fast: Parenting Your Teen Through the Dangers of Driving, in 2013. The awards committee specifically notes the extent to which Tim’s research, writing, and public appearances have been done on his own time and without financial support.

Gail Boxer Marcus is CEO of Calloway Labs, a clinical toxicology laboratory in Woburn, Mass. She is married to Peter Marcus ’77.

Lucy Mize and her husband have returned to the States this past year after a 20-year stint overseas in her capacity as a public health adviser, the last 18 having been spent in Indonesia. They are based in Washington, D.C., but she will still be traveling extensively (32 countries) in her new post as senior health advisor for the Asia Bureau of the United States Agency for International Development, while he travels to Africa for the World Bank. Their son Thaddeus ’17 is involved in crew, is an RA, and is in search of a major. Their daughter Belle is a high school freshman (“adjusting well to the culture…although doesn’t understand the rules of football”). Lucy is liking being back, going to ball games with Bill Tabor and gardening with his wife, Elise Fulstone, also seeing Sara Margolis ’81, who is a friend from Mali… “nice to have Cardinals all around.”

Wolfgang Natter sends his hello to all classmates and is pleased to report that his son, Joseph ’17, is enjoying his studies and his involvements in the campus community at Wesleyan… “a special joy to me.” Wolfgang began a new position, as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, Penn. He can be reached at natterw@chc.edu.

Julie Scolnik continues her role as artistic director of Mistral Music, a chamber ensemble in Brookline, Mass., which she founded 18 years ago. It’s described as “chamber music the way it’s supposed to be…shrugs off old traditions…with plenty of high jinks and personal connection to the audience.” Julie lives in Brookline with her family; her daughters, Sasha (cello) and Sophie (piano), are students in the Harvard/New England Conservatory Program.

Jonathan Spector and his wife are moving to Woodstock, Vt., after 20 years of life outside Boston, now that their four boys are at college or beyond. They’ve had a ski house for many years in Woodstock, which provides the attraction of Vermont with reasonable flight access to New York City, such that Jon will be able to maintain his work there at The Conference Board.

David Weild continues his work in stock market reform aiming to support economic growth, recently starting IssuWorks, Inc., a business designed to broaden securities distribution for investment banks and corporate issuers. His wife, Christi, is an avid martial artist, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a student of Krav Maga, and a realtor. Their kids—David (13), Kelly and Michael (twins, 11)—are all busy in the Bronxville school system, active in sports. Dave frequently sees Kaylie Jones ’81 (he is her daughter Eyma’s godfather) and Seth Gendler ’79 (he is Dave’s daughter Kelly’s godfather).

Jim Kurose has been chosen for a significant leadership role by the National Science Foundation, as its assistant director for the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE). Jim has had a long and productive career as a researcher and educator in the field of computer science. He is Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at UMass Amherst, where he has also served as chairman of that department and dean of the College of Natural Sciences. Jim and Julie ’78 live in Northampton, Mass., where they have raised three kids—including a Wes grad (Charlie ’10).

Regards to all,

SUSIE MUIRHEAD BATES | sbatesdux@hotmail.com 

Ken Kramer | kmkramer78@hotmail.com

Greetings, classmates! Thanks to your overwhelming response to the request for updates, we have a full column plus more news and photos online.

Bob Kalb is a professor of neurology and pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine where he is primarily involved in research. His NIH-supported lab is working on two main projects;­—one with relevance to childhood intellectual disabilities and autism, and the other focuses on childhood and adult motor neurons diseases (Spinal Muscular Atrophy and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS). Rob and his wife have two sons in their 20s pursuing careers in business and film.

Mary White Giffin sends a shout out to the “other” Mary Frances, Joel, Kate, Anne, and Monica. She splits her time living in both D.C. and Rhode Island, working for the federal government on health policy.

Tim Hollister’s new book for parents of teen drivers, Not So Fast, has had a successful national launch, nsfteendriving.com. Proceeds are going to the Reid Hollister Memorial Fund, which helps low-income families in Greater Hartford with infant and toddler education costs, and several national traffic safety programs.

Marian Read Place reports, “I’ve just published Slowing Down in a Speedstressed World: Practical Skills & Kindly Advice (2014, Amazon), integrating my background as a psychotherapist with the wisdom of numerous interviewees. Offering small steps toward changing a stressful, over-hasty pace of life, my book reveals the connection between slowness and calm, identifies faulty thinking that accelerates our pace, and provides skills for working with the anxiety that inevitably arises when we downshift in our hurry-up world. Readers, whether employees, retirees, parents, or job seekers, will find chapters specific to their challenges. Here’s hoping the book is helpful to busy Wes folk. Questions and networking ideas welcome. marian@slowlutions.com.”

Joe Haddad is excited that his son, Caleb ’17, is enjoying his freshman year at Wesleyan. Joe’s work is good and he spent a week in Lesotho last year, where he’s helping Columbia start the country’s first medical school.

Bill Friedler’s boutique law firm, Friedler Law Group, has joined the firm of Conn, Kavanaugh, Rosenthal, Peisch & Ford LLP in Boston. He will keep himself busy managing the trusts and estate planning and probate administration matters of this new firm.

Lisa Landsman sends her best to all Wesleyan folks and writes that she lives just outside D.C., with husband, son, and standard poodle. After spending the fall planning her daughter’s wedding (which went beautifully), she may consider becoming a wedding planner! Wes folks at the wedding included Diane Burstein and Lisa Halberstadt. Before becoming a wedding planner, she’s finishing up an MPH at Johns Hopkins so she will look for a job doing law/public health first.

Rich Kozlowski, who lives in Gales Ferry, Conn., made a fairly dramatic career shift from a systems analyst in the Navy R&D field to an armed guard at Millstone Nuclear power plant in Waterford, Conn. He loves the job, but not the long hours. He lives in a multi-generational home where the “grandchildren are a hoot, but very active, and his energy level has a hard time keeping up.”

Nancy Chen has moved to Fort Collins, Colo., from Long Island, N.Y., for the mountain lifestyle. Her older daughter, Ariane, is in college at Chapman University in Orange, Calif; her younger daughter, Isabelle, is a junior in high school. Nancy is working on her first book, an autobiographical memoir, and seminars for her professional and personal development business.

Bruce Phillips still enjoys working as a family doc and also practices a lot of yoga, plays tennis, and takes singing lessons. He’s still happily married to Judy and his two daughters are graduating from college. He thought Cheryl Cutler might be amused to know that he performs in a musical once a year and this year he choreographed most of the numbers.

David K. Greenwald is the marketing and production adviser for the upcoming movie project Sammy-Gate, a dark, political satire, that asks the question “Might Sammy Davis, Jr. have been the catalyst that caused Watergate?” Director Noel Lawrence ’93 and his co-screenwriter have unearthed the clues to keep conspiracy theorists up at night. You can get a sneak preview of Sammy-Gate at facebook.com/sammyfilm.

Tom Bledsoe, his wife, Lexi Turner ’83, and family live in Newton, Mass. He and Lexi met after Wes, at the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership where they were both working and which Tom ran from 1990–97. For the past 15 years, he has built and run the Housing Partnership Network (housingpartnership.net), a cooperative of the nation’s top social entrepreneurs in the housing and community development field. They help nonprofit leaders and organizations collaborate through peer learning and shared business platforms. Their teams in Boston and Washington, D.C., include Wesleyan grads Danielle Samalin ’00, who runs their homeownership initiatives, and a partner at Wells Fargo, Megan Teare ’91.

Their daughter, Maddie, has just been accepted into next year’s freshman class. The proud parents look forward to spending more time in Middletown and traveling the NESCAC circuit to watch Maddie and the Cardinals basketball team play throughout New England. Tom is trying to keep up better with classmates and recently had lunch with David Karnovsky and Sue Kaplan in NYC, where David is moving into private law practice after many years in city government and Sue is working on community health issues at NYU.

Our family reached several milestones in the last year: Our 25-year-old daughter married her high school sweetheart last June (fully honing my wedding planner skills), our youngest went off to college in the fall, and Nick and I celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in May. I’m continuing to enjoy life/wellness coaching as well as the freedom to travel more now that we’re empty nesters. But, we love that our kids are still home often, in fact, several have announced they’ll be around “for the summer”…so much for the empty nest!

Renny Smith, Julie Scolnik, Elizabeth Weiss Ozorak, and Jeff Nesson all sent photos along with their news which can be found at magazine.wesleyan.edu. Click on “Class Notes” and go to 1978. Wishing you all a wonderful summer. Please keep sending us your news, especially if we haven’t heard from you in a while.

SUSIE MUIRHEAD BATES | kmkramer78@hotmail.com

Ken Kramer | sbatesdux@hotmail.com

Casey Blake, a professor of history at Columbia specializing in modern U.S. intellectual and cultural history, is senior historian for The Armory Show at 100: Modern Art and Innovation exhibit at the New York Historical Society. The 1913 Armory Show has been considered by some to be the most important exhibition ever held in the United States, “an important marker of New York’s ascendancy as the cultural capital of the United States and, indeed, the global capital of modernity.”

Paul Chill was named associate dean for clinical and experiential education at the University of Connecticut School of Law, from which he graduated in 1985, and where he has been on the faculty since 1988. In his new appointment he will oversee the school’s innovative program designed to provide students with supervised real-life legal experience as part of their standard education. Paul has previously held positions including associate dean for academic affairs at the school, and serving as an original member of the Connecticut Commission on Child Protection.

Moira McNamara James, Wesleyan Trustee Emerita, has been named chair of the board of the Landmark School in Pride’s Crossing, Mass., an institution which specializes in educating students with language-based learning disabilities. Moira’s son, Scott ’10, graduated from Wesleyan; daughter Madeline ’16 is still on campus.

Julie Scolnik “apologizes for being out of touch for so long.” She and husband Michael Brower, a wind energy consultant, have recently moved to Brookline, Mass., after 18 years of raising their kids in Andover, Mass. Their son Sasha, a cellist, is a freshman in the dual degree program of Harvard and the New England Conservatory, while their daughter Sophie, recently having graduated from Harvard College, is a pianist in the master’s program at the conservatory (at age four, wanted “to be a musician like Mommy but smart like Daddy”). Julie is a flutist with an active performance schedule both here and in France, spending the summers in Provence. She runs a chamber music series in the greater Boston area (MistralMusic.org) and would love to hear from alums at julscol@me.com.

David Wilson continues his professional career as a jazz composer, saxophonist, and music teacher, residing with his wife, Lisa, in Lancaster, Pa., but frequently on the road to New York City, Washington, D.C., “and beyond” for his performances. His most recent CD, Spiral, received numerous accolades in reviews in JazzTimes and Downbeat magazines as well as on the Jazz Weekly website. He recalls “fond memories of his Wesleyan experience and credits it, and in particular his teacher, Bill Barron, for laying the groundwork for where he is today,” as well as of his friendships with such Wes folks as Stuart Abramson ’79 and Kenny Wessel ’79. Dave welcomes hearing from any and all, at djazwilson@aol.com.

SUSIE MUIRHEAD BATES and KEN KRAMER
KMKramer78@HotMAIL.com
sbatesdux@hotmail.com