HOPKINS SCHOOL MAGAZINE Spring 2021
V I E W S FRO M T HE HILL Views from the Hill is published biannually by Hopkins School for the purpose of fostering ongoing engagement with and among alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff, and friends of Hopkins. Editor’s Note: The Spring 2020 edition of Class Notes, a section of Views from the Hill, was distributed digitally in the summer of 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. This Spring 2021 issue of Views is the next issue to be printed and distributed, again due to the circumstances of operating a school during the pandemic. Hopkins School does not discriminate on the basis of religion, race, color, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or national origin in the administration of its educational policies, scholarship, athletic and other school-administered programs. The text body of this issue of Views from the Hill is printed on 100% recycled paper.
HEAD OF SCHOOL Kai Bynum
EDITOR John Galayda
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS John Galayda
CLASS NOTES EDITOR Donna Vinci
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Lauren Reichart
MANAGING EDITOR Jemma Williams Nussbaum
DIRECTOR OF ENROLLMENT AND STRATEGIC MARKETING Pamela McKenna
DESIGN Marcellino+ Inc.
CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER Thomas Diascro, Jr.
inside
Spring 2021
VIEWS F EATURES
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A Letter from the Head of School Pathfinder: The Way Forward
Embracing Change in a Time of Uncertainty Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives Hopkins Heroes Distinguished Alumni and Fellows Commencement
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DEPA RTMENTS Class Notes Milestones In Memoriam
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OPENING SHOTS: Taking a photo of the entire Class of 2021 for the 2020–2021 Yearbook proved a challenging logistical feat in this year of hybrid school. Taking into consideration 6-foot physical distancing and the class being divided into two cohorts, we developed the idea to shoot the class from above on Parr Field. The image printed here is a composite aerial photo taken on two separate days in October and November, with the Maroon Cohort on the left, and the Grey Cohort on the right.
F OLLOW US facebook.com/HopkinsSchool @HopScores
PHOTOGRAPHY Johnathon Henninger OFC, IFC, 30 John Galayda 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 31 Highpoint Pictures 13 Jemma Williams Nussbaum 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 Harold Shapiro 71
hopkinsschoolct hopscoresct drkaibynum linkedin.com/edu/school?id=164078
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OPENING SHOTS: Faculty and staff welcomed Hopkins seniors back to campus on May 22, 2020 for a celebratory motorcade. The evening was filled with cheers, tears, horns, some cowbell, music, and gifts. This emotional event was a testament to our community’s creativity, and punctuated a school year that was shaped by the pandemic, but defined by the ingenuity and resilience of our 145 graduating seniors.
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OPENING SHOTS: Director of Choral Music Erika Schroth leads a choir practice outdoors in the Thompson Hall Amphitheater this past fall. Hopkins teachers have been incredibly resourceful in teaching their classes through the School’s Hybrid Learning Model this school year. Weather permitting, Schroth wheels out a keyboard, speaker, and flatscreen monitor so students can practice singing together. Students at home participate synchronously via Zoom as their voices, from afar, join the voices of students singing on campus.
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OPENING SHOTS: Adjusting to the limitations posed by the pandemic, the Hopkins Volleyball Team set up shop on a corner of Smilow Field this past fall. As a sport that is customarily played indoors, the Hopkins athletes adjusted by learning to play on the grassy terrain beside a soccer field.
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A L E TTE R FRO M T H E H EAD O F SCH O O L
Dear Hopkins Community, Many of you have heard me speak one of my father’s favorite adages:
“If a task has once begun, never leave it until it’s done. Be the labor great or small, do it right or not at all.” Over the past year, my trust in this maxim has deepened. It’s also a sentiment seemingly shared by colleagues and students alike, whose collective commitment to the task and labor of operating a school during a pandemic, while simultaneously working to create a more equitable community at Hopkins, is nothing short of remarkable. Their actions exude hope and inspiration—stories of which you’ll read in the next few pages. Our faculty and staff continue to gracefully demonstrate an incredible care for and commitment to our students. Even though circumstances have dramatically altered plans for teaching, they have shared a unified wisdom, working swiftly and tirelessly to reimagine this place called school. Their efforts have been extraordinarily meaningful to our students, who, themselves, have shown the resilience and courage to live and think as distinct individuals and embrace their responsibilities in the larger world. While the work has been hard at times, I’m constantly reminded that our students create a sense of hope, spirit, and energy. Look no further than the cover of this magazine for proof. When it became apparent that the senior class photo, a long standing tradition, would not be captured in similar fashion to past years—friends standing shoulder to shoulder on risers as a photographer solicits smiles—our yearbook team, class advisers, and students adapted. Through a complex scheduling between cohorts and agreeable weather, the use of a drone camera and some editing, we persevered. The full aerial composite can be found on the first two pages. You’ll also see in this magazine how we reinvented our school for this pandemic year—from the launch of a hybrid learning model to evolving some of our traditions, such as commencement. Back In 2018, during his commencement speech, Dylan Sloan ‘18 cited the proverb at the beginning of this letter, and adapted a stanza of his own. He contributed,
“But stop and think along the way, be in the present every day. Embrace the path as much as the goal. Labor not just with effort, but also with soul.” After the year we’ve experienced, I believe it’s high time to add another:
“And when obstacles appear in our path, we pause and pivot, we do the math. For our hope at Hopkins will carry us through; we rise to the challenge and are revived anew.” Thank you to all for rising together to guide our community through the challenges during this past year.
Sincerely, Dr. Kai Bynum Head of School
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Path nder A Chat with
E
Executive Director Errol Saunders
rrol Saunders said he is not “busy,” but rather, he is “scheduled.” “I would never describe myself as busy. Because by doing that, I think you’re actually obscuring your commitments.” Semantics aside, let’s just say that the supremely organized new Executive Director of Pathfinder Hopkins School, an enrichment program for New Haven–area public and parochial school children, doesn’t let the grass grow under his feet. A doctoral student at Columbia University Teachers College, a 15-year member of the Hopkins history faculty teaching two sections this year, and a Hopkins Junior School adviser, Errol is a passionate educator whose long history with Pathfinder has gained him deep experience with every aspect of the program. He has served as a Pathfinder teacher, as Dean of Students, Assistant Director, Instructional Coach, Co-Director of the Summer Program and now, Executive Director. Originally called Summerbridge New Haven, Pathfinder was founded in 1992 as a six-week, tuition-free summer enrichment program on the Hopkins campus for highly-motivated 7th and 8th grade public and parochial school students from New Haven, taught by talented high school and college students. It was later rebranded
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as Breakthrough New Haven and expanded to include after-school core courses as well as summer enrichment, offering rigorous academic preparation and high school placement counseling. Errol joined as a Teaching Fellow in 2004, while studying political science at Yale University. “In the fall of my sophomore year, I decided I would love to be able to stay in New Haven and do something for the summer,” said the California native. As it turns out, he stayed a lot longer than that. In fact, he never left. “At the end of my first summer, I was talking to my mom about all the work I was doing. She said, ‘You know, Errol, you have never worked so hard. I listen every day when you call and tell me what you did that day and what the kids are doing. You’re excited about what you’re going to do tomorrow.’” She suggested he might want to consider being a teacher.
And the rest, as they say, is history. “I just love what I get to do. One of the things I realized in grad school is that it’s really easy to get up in the morning when your job is teaching—when I know I’m going to work with students that day.” Hopkins disaffiliated from the national Breakthrough Collaborative in 2017 and changed the program’s name to Pathfinder Hopkins School, expanding to a four-year program by adding 5th and 6th graders, and deepening the school’s role in the academic development of middle school students. Professional educators were also introduced to teach core academic subjects, with assistance from high school and college-age Teaching Fellows. That is the model that exists today. “The Breakthrough Collaborative model of students teaching students was not meeting our needs,” Errol said. “We felt strongly that students needed more time with dynamic, professional teachers, and we also realized that we could actually make the experience of the Teaching Fellows more enriched.” Core courses in the program are now taught by a team that includes a professional teacher and a Teaching Fellow. In this way, the program doubles as an intensive teacher training workshop for talented high school and college students who are either considering or pursuing a career in education. “The way we are educating teachers to develop personal judgment is on the cutting edge,” he added. “Our summer teachers are able to experiment in thoughtful ways, receive mentorship, and take those learnings into their home schools. Pathfinder is an incredible place to be mentored, to develop a common language to talk about what it is we want for our students, to be culturally responsive in our teaching, and to work for racial and socioeconomic equity.” VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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A SENSE OF BELONGING In addition to academics, Pathfinder places a strong emphasis on cultivating a sense of belonging among its scholars, many of whom are students of color and/or from low-income families. During the summer program, Pathfinder students are welcome the moment they arrive on campus. “We greet the kids every day at the bus, yelling and screaming because we’re so excited that they’re here,” Errol said. The children also meet and eat lunch with their adviser group every day, have classes taught by their advisers in the afternoons, and get recess twice a day. “During the after-school program,” Errol added, “we make sure to include social time at the beginning and end of each session so students can talk to their friends, their teachers, and their Teaching Fellows.” Last summer, though the COVID crisis
posed major challenges, Hopkins was able to maintain all aspects of the program, including community-building activities, by hosting them in virtual format. Through the Pathfinder Hopkins budget, scholars who did not have access to a computer, or to the internet, were provided devices and internet “hotspots.” The Hopkins tech team also provided ongoing technical support. Errol believes the community-building activities that create a sense of belonging at Pathfinder are critically important to students’ academic success, and one of his primary objectives as Executive Director is to maintain these experiences as the program expands. Head of School Kai Bynum has committed to increasing the number of students in the program from the current 120 to at least 200 over the next several years. “One of my goals is navigating that transition, and core to that goal is maintaining that family feel,” he said. “School relationships are particularly important for brown, black, and low-income students. The more marginalized you are, the more important it is for your education to be inviting. One of the things that Pathfinder kids can say they love most about the program is their peer group. It’s a great thing to be in a school where it’s cool to be smart.”
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I
n the Spring of 2020, as the coronavirus swept through our nation, schools faced a crisis that few could have foreseen. As faculty, staff, and students prepared to leave for spring break in March, Hopkins closed its doors amid safety concerns. During those two weeks, a team of faculty and staff reimagined school amidst a pandemic. Upon return, the community quickly adapted to a remote learning model for the remainder of the spring term—a seismic moment in the School’s history that would shine a light on the extraordinary commitment and character of the community. Classes, along with events, were re-created virtually, save the Class of 2020 Commencement Exercises, which were reimagined, through extensive planning, as a limited capacity, socially distanced, in-person event on July 31, 2020. (Experience for yourself the many inventive ways Hopkins virtually celebrated the Class of 2020 by visiting hopkinsseniors.com.) During the summer months, administrators worked in consultation with local, state, and national experts on public health and education to develop three learning models (hybrid, fully remote, and fully in person) to
EMBRACING CHANGE in a
Time of Uncertainty
prepare for our return to school, along with mechanisms to seamlessly pivot between them as public health guidelines evolved. A comprehensive look into these models, along with our current health and safety protocols, campus alterations, and new learning technologies, can be viewed online at hopkins.edu/reopen. In September 2020, our community returned to campus in the hybrid model with the student population divided into two cohorts—grey and maroon—that alternated being on campus weekly. The cohort not on campus joined their classmates virtually. Since September, the School has pivoted to fully remote days as needed, a total of 20 days. Beginning in November 2020, weekly COVID-19 tests have been administered at school to those on campus, a practice that will continue as long as we remain in hybrid mode. The following is a series of snapshots illustrating what a typical day looked like for a Hopkins student during the Fall 2020 semester. These students were selected from an open call to share their perspectives and experiences of hybrid school. Through submissions from these eight students, we’ve reconstructed a typical school day in the life of learning through a hybrid model.
(From top) Drew Slager ’21 Vivian Huang ’26 Demi Adeniran ’21 Josie Lipcan ’25 JJ Drummond ’22 Arin Bhandari ’23 Aerin O’Brien ’26 Orly Baum ’22 VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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DAY LIFE
AERIN: My mom wakes me up. The room is still dark and the sky outside my window is just starting to get light. I make my way to the kitchen, and after I am done with breakfast, I go back to my room to get ready for the day. My bag is already packed. The last thing I have to remember to grab on the way out is a mask. This is the new normal. My mom is already waiting for me in the car and we get on the road.
IN THE
of HYBRID LEARNING
JJ: On an in-person day, the first thing that is on my parent’s mind is filling out the Magnus Health Questionnaire, which is required to be filled out by 7:30 am every morning that you are coming to campus.
During This Past Fall and Winter
ON CAMPUS
VIRTUAL
6:00– 8:00am ARIN: This week, I am participating in classes remotely, so I can get a little more shut-eye. I wake up at 7:00, and I get ready for school, logging on to my first class a few minutes before 8:15.
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DEMI: My alarm goes off at 6:00 am, and I make an attempt to get up. I then go through my stretching routine, brush my teeth, and take a shower. I look through my homework to make sure I did not forget to do anything. Eat breakfast and read through news articles (sports, politics, etc.). Then at 8:00 I arrange my desk for class.
VIVIAN: Science 7: As I entered the classroom I saw that all of my classmates were already in their seats that are spaced six feet apart. I rushed to my desk in the front of the room, while Mr. Clark explained what we were going to do today. We were going to start a new unit on Earth’s Structure! The first unit was on the Scientific Method. We also got to work on a germinating bean project where we use multiple water sources each with different amounts of salt and see how the seeds germinate with them.
8:15– 9:10am ARIN: My first class of the day is French with Mr. Lytle. We started class with an activity where we were shown pictures of different weather events, and we had to give the French word for them. These warmups are always my favorite activities of class because all of us race against each other to type the word in on the shared Google Doc.
JJ: My first class of the day is English 11, the Writing Semester. Our class is currently rotating through Rhetoric Presentations. Depending on which day you present, you could either be online or in person. I think these are two very different learning opportunities and presenting in front of the owl camera is a bit more nerve-racking than from the comfort of your own home.
DREW: Free: Even though I have C Block free, I arrive at school at the regular time because I have a meeting with my college counselor, Mr. Patel. In our meeting, we go over my college application and essay supplements as I get ready to apply to six schools by November 1st. After our meeting, I head up to Upper Heath where I work on my computer until the end of the block.
ORLY: First period was concert choir! Although concert choir is tough virtually, Ms. Schroth makes it work. Oftentimes the routine on Thursdays is to sing each piece and go over trouble spots. We start the rehearsal with a few announcements and a quick warmup, and then we practice some of the clicks and rhythms for one of our songs, “Kwaxabana Oxamu,” which is in the isiXhosa language and has clicks on the x and the q consonants. We then solidified one of our new winter songs, “Stars Over Snow,” which will be recorded for our virtual Winter Concert. It’s gonna be awesome and I hope the videos come out well and show how we adapted to the hybrid model and still made beautiful music together. Watch the Winter Arts Festival online at hopkins.edu/winter2020 VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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AERIN: It’s time for volleyball with Coach Gleason and Mr. Clark. I quickly change and walk out to the field. After warm-up, we practice some fundamental skills and passing. Unfortunately, the grass is still wet from the rain, so every time I drop the ball, it gets covered in wet grass. Even though my arms are now covered in tiny green dots, it is still fun to be outside. Plus, we got to learn a new pass.
JJ: ACIII: The structure of our class is always discussionand participation-based through analyzing documents. This style of learning has been very beneficial to me, but because of hybrid learning, it is very difficult to have a smooth flowing conversation. The few seconds of lag over the computer make it easy to accidentally interrupt someone. So that has definitely been an adjustment for my class, along with my teacher to manage.
9:20– 10:15am DEMI: I have Jazz Band this period, so I practice at home. It is hard to play as a group over Zoom, to play in tempo and in sync. So we all mute ourselves and play along with a back track that Mr. DeVona has for the music. During class, Mr. Devona gives each instrument group tips on how to improve, and we work on other technical aspects of jazz. 16
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JJ: Italian: In-person learning is definitely easier in class for learning a language. Pronunciation among other things is very hard to grasp and comprehend from home. VIVIAN: My next class is Latin in Baldwin Hall, which is at the lower part of the hill. I like how we have to memorize a lot of words and learn how to use them in sentences. We even got Latin names, which is cool. Mine is Octavia. Today we have our Chapter 3 Latin quiz, which I was well prepared for.
10:25– 11:20am ARIN: I log onto my Physics class. Our homework was a bit challenging since it was on Newton’s Laws with Connected Objects, but Dr. Wessel did a great job explaining the key concepts and what the problems’ objectives were. Then, we watched some demonstrations, such as a spring scale and pulley, connected trains, and pushing a box, to demonstrate the forces involved in each situation. This is where being in school would be an advantage because it is difficult to experience it through a camera. JOSIE: My science teacher put us into breakout rooms and my friend and I played some music while finishing our lab on Electro-Magnetic Waves.
ORLY: Next I have Physics and today we have Lab Period, which means we have an extra 20 minutes of class. Today we end up doing a lab about friction. We measured the angles and the frictional coefficients of surfaces and it was so fun going around my house and finding things that could slide off surfaces and calculating the frictional coefficients. We did the in-person portion of the lab the next on-campus day. Even though AP Physics I is a lot of work, it’s really rewarding and applying math to science is super cool.
DREW: AP Calculus: We had a pop quiz on derivative rules and formulas for trigonometric functions and also worked on solving example problems using the formulas we had studied. While I like both AP Stats and Calculus, they are back to back and in the same room, so my brain gets tired very quickly, especially when I can’t refresh my surroundings with a different room.
VIVIAN: I head to the tents near Thompson to see all my friends in my advisory group. We always meet there to work on any extra homework or just to play a round of Among Us. Then we have our adviser group meeting in Thompson with Dr. Brant. Adviser meetings are just a fun time to talk to your adviser or get to know what’s going on. Every Wednesday, we watch the weekly assembly online. Dr. Brant is always super nice and lets us go out early for lunch after we spray down the desks. After getting lunch, I head to the quad near Thompson and have lunch with my adviser group. AERIN: This is my first week of community service. Thankfully, the rain has stopped and the sun is out. My friend Josie and I are at the croquet station for Columbus House. Before heading to lunch, we take an adviser group photo outside of Thompson Hall. I am grateful to be able to eat outside and talk to my friends.
DREW: I went to adviser group, where we watched the virtual assembly from Wednesday. We didn’t watch the virtual assembly on Wednesday because we were taking our senior class photo out on the football field. I then ate lunch and hung out with friends before working on a bit of homework for an hour or so. JJ: I usually have adviser group for 30 minutes, but this week Maroon Key, of which I’m a board member, was having a fundraiser for Columbus House. So, for the entire week, I spend my adviser group and lunch helping out with the event. The Maroon Key Board has had to adjust a lot of our annual fundraisers due to the school and state regulations, but we’ve found a lot of ways to brainstorm ideas to help our community.
11:30am – 1:20pmGroups,Adviser Lunch,
and Free Time
ARIN: I have a free period this block, so I head downstairs to grab a snack (crackers with peanut butter and pesto). Then, I start some homework so I have less to do after school ends.
DEMI: After my Chemistry class, I arrange my desk to get some homework done during the next block of time. I also eat lunch and read some more articles.
ORLY: When I’m at home, I usually take a longer lunch break. Sometimes I watch TV, but sometimes it’s best if I get off my devices after three hours on Zoom. Today I decided to watch an episode of Duncanville, before doing some catch-up English work because I have an essay due next week!
ARIN: On the weeks that I am home, I typically eat lunch later, at around 1:00. Today, I had leftover pasta from last night’s dinner and I watched the last few overs (pitches, in baseball terminology) of an exciting cricket game during my down time.
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AERIN: I have English with Mr. Harpin. He assigns us our reading groups and we have a discussion about the Robert Frost poem from The Outsiders. The poem is about growing up.
VIVIAN: Today I have Math. Since my teacher Ms. Chiu is at home, we each log in to join her Zoom room. For the first ten minutes of class, we would review over what we had for homework and ask her questions if we had any. For the rest of class, we would learn about the new unit she was teaching us or just work on worksheets in breakout rooms. AERIN: Science is my last class for the day. We watch a short video about how the amount of salt in water affects crops. Ms. Stauffer shows us how to make different concentrations of saltwater, so we can set up an experiment where we are supposed to see how the saltwater will affect the growth of seeds.
VIVIAN: At one-thirty on Fridays, I usually have a study hall for the second-to-last period. I like to finish any extra homework during this time or just listen to music and read.
1:30– 2:25pm ARIN: During this time, 9th and 10th graders on campus have sports if they are doing informals, but because I do an independent (swim outside of school), I get this period free. I spend some time catching up on some homework.
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ORLY: English with Mr. Mel! This semester is Writing Semester so we’ve been reading a lot of essays and writing our own! Today I prepared for my braided essay, which included an ekphrasis study on an object in my house, a solution to a community issue I’m passionate about, and a story of a decision I made. Over the next two weeks, I will braid the three together and write a 2,200-word essay!
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2:35– 3:30pm ARIN: Last period, I had English 10 with Mr. Mel. We spent some time going over what we wrote about for homework on James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues.” We each had to read an excerpt from our writings aloud, and I read about how the arc of the story reminded me of a pyrrhic victory (a victory that comes at a great cost).
DREW: At 2:30, I went into the basement of Lovell to help scavenge supplies for decorating Heath in lieu of the Lovell Haunted House this year. The other HDA heads and myself worked with StuCo people to decorate Heath for both cohorts Halloween spirit day.
DREW: I head back over to Lovell for rehearsal of the Maroon week show “Boxes.” My scene was only supposed to rehearse 3:35–4:05, but because the scene after us was missing people, my scene was able to have an extended rehearsal. After working on mask techniques and running our scene a couple of times, I walked back to my car and left campus around 5:15.
AERIN: My mom picks me up and we drive home. I take some time to change and unpack my bag. I try to get as much homework done as possible during my study halls, so I don’t have too much to do for the next day, and when I am finished I FaceTime with my friends and we play Among Us. After I practice piano, it’s dinner time at 7:00 pm. Before COVID, I’d be just getting home from theater rehearsal, we’d eat a quick dinner, and I’d spend the rest of the night doing homework. But now, we have dinner as a family and watch The Good Place together. My mom calls this a “blessing in disguise.”
3:30– 8:00pm ORLY: When I’m at school, I have fitness during H block, but when I’m at home I have free time. Usually, I go on a walk during that time anyway because I love my neighborhood and the leaves were turning colors and it is so beautiful.
ORLY: I had Spanish, English, and History homework in the evening, as well as practicing my voice and the piano. I got most of that done before dinner and had time to read and hang out with my family after, which was really nice.
VIVIAN: School ends at 3:30. This is also when my parents come to pick me up at Forest Lot.
DEMI: After my last class of the day, Math, I start an hourlong Track/Soccer workout; I’m on the Varsity Track team, so coach wants us to stay in shape on our remote weeks. After the workout, I stretch, take a shower and then a nap before doing homework, eating dinner, doing some chores, and finally hanging out with my family watching TV.
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DI VE R SIT Y, EQ UIT Y, AND I NCLUS I ON INITIATI V ES
Hopkins School has engaged in the following Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. These initiatives are aimed to bring about meaningful change to our institution and culture. We understand that these initiatives are just the first steps toward building and sustaining an anti-racist school community at Hopkins. We recognize this journey is ongoing and will continue for as long as it takes to bring parity to the experience of each and every Hopkins community member. As of this printing of Views from the Hill, these are the School’s initiatives and their current status:
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INITIATIVES
We will re-examine our curriculum to incorporate a social justice lens, de-center Anglo-European voices, and elevate all voices. This will also include a race and representation audit in our English and History departments. Additionally, we will create a new interdisciplinary course on social justice.
STATUS The English department is conducting a two-phased audit. English faculty are reviewing every course and text taught through the department in order to comprehensively understand authorial representation in our curriculum. An outside facilitator is leading the English department in three sessions of professional development centered on culturally relevant pedagogy. In the second phase, the English department will evaluate representation of the texts’ protagonists, the stories our authors tell, and differences/commonalities in the ways we teach our texts. The information collected will guide text choices and proposals for new courses for subsequent academic years. In the History department, faculty members are examining the Atlantic Communities curriculum and our electives, as well as conducting a representation audit of the Middle School offerings. The data collected will inform changes to the curriculum across grade levels. An interdisciplinary Social Justice course will be added to the curriculum for the 2021–22 school year. The Calarco Library engaged in a DEI audit of their fiction collection, and has made their findings available in an online report, which can be reviewed at hopkins.edu/calarcodei
We will continue to invest in financial aid so we can enhance the socio-economic diversity on our campus. We commit to awarding a minimum of $5 million in aid in the 2020–2021 school year, and increase that aid each year moving forward.
We will establish a Fund for Social Justice, which will provide annual grants to projects in four broad categories: student research, activism and internships, campus-wide events and speakers, and long-term programs with community partners.
In January 2021, the Board of Trustees approved a budget for the 2021-2022 school year, which includes $5.3 million designated for financial aid.
The Fund for Social Justice is helping to expand Hopkins’ programming. Anti-racism, equity, and social justice work are critical to understanding ourselves and the world in which we live. The fund is supporting a broad range of efforts in our community this year, including curriculum and pedagogy development, affinity groups, social justice programs, assembly speakers, and travel to and participation in conferences and workshops. Donasia Gray ’18 joined the Office of Equity and Community (OEC) team as a Fellow for a 6-week period to learn, observe, organize, and support the work of the OEC. She was compensated through the Yale Educational Studies Program, and was invited to stay on through the remainder of the year, with compensation from the Fund for Social Justice. If you’re interested in learning more about this Fellowship, please contact Becky Harper, bharper@hopkins.edu. To donate directly to the Fund for Social Justice in support of this work, please visit hopkins.edu/giving. VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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INIT IATIVES
We will implement the recommendations outlined in a comprehensive report produced this year to improve the recruitment and retention of faculty of color. Key objectives of the report include Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training for hiring committees, an equity audit, and utilizing new recruitment networks.
We will provide training and professional development to all employees (administrators, faculty, staff, and coaches) on cultural competency and culturally responsive teaching practices. We will also evolve our disciplinary process to include restorative justice practices.
STATUS
We have begun an equity audit, which includes an examination of both our hiring processes and our engagement with candidates of color. We have engaged consultant Martha Haakmat, who has led training on bias and cultural competency for employees involved in faculty and staff recruitment, as well as advised on best practices in creating job descriptions, application review, candidate visits and follow up.
Professional development for faculty during school-opening meetings was led by local educators of color and focused on anti-racist teaching practices and pedagogy. This collaboration is continuing throughout the school year. All faculty and staff read and were asked to actively reflect on Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum before the start of the school year, facilitated by the Hopkins Coalition of Anti-Racist Educators (CARE). The Teachers’ Enrichment Cohort Professional Development Program has been expanded to include more faculty and has focused on culturally responsive teaching pedagogy for the 2020-21 school year. The program, which includes two different cohorts of teachers across grades and disciplines, developed a foundation of cultural competency in the Fall of 2020 and is transitioning to one-on-one coaching with a trained facilitator this Spring of 2021. The group continues to meet and discuss culturally responsive teaching to better understand how culture shows up in the classroom with students, in lesson planning, etc. if unaware of cultural archetypes and biases. More professional development programming is being developed for the 2021–22 school year, and the OEC is working to incorporate DEI questions into the annual Career Review process. The OEC is also working with the Athletic Department to integrate DEI into the athletics program.
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INITIATIVES
We will encourage and support our Student Diversity Board, along with our affinity groups on campus (Black Latinx Student Union, Asian American Student Association, Students United for Racial Equity, Sexuality and Gender Advocates, and the Multi-ethnic Student Association) to create more spaces for association, affirmation, and connection. We will also support our Employees of Color Affinity Group, as well as our faculty and staff Coalition for Anti-Racist Educators.
STATUS Student interest in joining the Student Diversity Board (DivBo) has increased, and the group has tripled in size. Student leaders from DivBo helped facilitate discussions with student athletes on the topics of homophobia and racism in the sport of soccer. DivBo has begun multiple subcommittees to address various issues and topics on campus, and is collaborating with various groups on campus to help raise awareness and support our community. DivBo, SURE, and BLSU collaborated to host a rich and informative weekly program for Black History Month. The Asian American Student Association hosted a three-day Virtual Campus Summit around the theme of colorism and understanding anti-blackness within the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. The keynote speaker was Diana Khoi Nguyen. The School is supporting faculty and student participation in the National Association of Independent Schools’ People of Color Conference. Eight people attended the 2020 POC Conference virtually, and participated in workshops and affinity spaces, and attended keynotes and master classes. The Hopkins attendees also engaged in check-ins throughout the week and debriefed our experiences and steps forward. The Employees of Color (EoC) group gathered post-election to check-in and support each other. The group meets at least once a month, to be in community with each other.
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The Hopkins Coalition of Anti-Racist Educators (CARE) has organized meetings with faculty to discuss and support each other in implementing anti-racist pedagogy. CARE has grown in size since it was established in spring 2020. For the remainder of the year, the group will work on building community, training, and gathering anti-racist resources to ultimately continue help guide our community. They are in a period of growth.
We will more publicly and explicitly recognize the history surrounding the founding of the School, including the role slavery played in that history. We will examine this history and include our findings at hopkins.edu.
Our work in researching and recognizing our own institution’s connection to slavery is currently underway. Real progress will require both personal and institutional honesty and humility, as change will only come when we confront our own foundational truth. While we cannot erase this history, we can continually confront it and learn from it. Our approach in telling Hopkins’ history emphasized the importance of multiple perspectives. We will be engaging with and learning from a diverse group of historians (i.e. Native and African American voices) in order to share the history in a multi-faceted way that honors and elevates historically marginalized voices. The team of historians will examine the general history of what was going on at the time of the School’s founding, and the context of who Edward Hopkins and John Davenport were. At this moment, our preliminary research tells us this: Our school was founded amidst the beginnings of a great paradox in American history—one in which liberty and slavery were intertwined. Slavery in Connecticut was practiced until 1848. Hopkins School’s relationship with slavery can be traced back to its benefactor, Edward Hopkins. Upon his death in 1657, his estate listed an enslaved person as property. At this point of research, it is unclear if this enslaved person was of Pequot or African descent. Reverend John Davenport, who was also instrumental in the founding Hopkins School, is also believed to have been a slaveholder. VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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8
STATUS
INIT IATIVES
We will work with the Hopkins Black Alumni Network (HBAN) to create more spaces for alumni to connect, promote mission-focused programs for the School, and deepen the mentor relationships with our current students.
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We will work with our Director of Community Engagement to strengthen Hopkins’ partnerships and relationships with the City of New Haven through targeted educational enrichment programs and community outreach.
We will expand Pathfinder, our after-school and summer outreach and educational enrichment program focused in New Haven and Bridgeport, so we can broaden our impact on the children in the greater New Haven area. The four-year, tuition-free program currently serves 120 students. We will devise a plan to fund a minimum of 200 students within five years.
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Through our Office of Diversity and Equity, we will design and launch educational and community-based workshops for current Hopkins parents, which will focus on race, identity, and diversity. NEW INITIATIVE: We will examine the particular mental health needs of our students of color and create tangible structures to support them.
The Hopkins Black Alumni Network will expand their networking capacity by using the online platform, Hopkins Net@Work. The group will host online gatherings to bring the HBAN community and current students together, including a virtual event at Reunion 2021. If you identify as African/American and/or Black and would like to be involved in HBAN, please contact Katey Varanelli at kvaranelli@hopkins.edu. In addition to HBAN, the Development Office has also established two new affinity groups in which alums can engage: LGBTQ+ and Alums of Color. If you would like to be involved, please reach out to Katey Varanelli at kvaranelli@hopkins.edu or Becky Harper at bharper@hopkins.edu.
In progress.
We have hired Errol Saunders, a longtime Hopkins History teacher and New Haven resident, as Executive Director of Pathfinder. Under his leadership, the Pathfinder program will focus on four areas aligned with our expansion efforts: Organizational Structure, Programming, Donor Relations, and New Haven Partnerships. The Pathfinder staff has begun reviewing and revamping the program with an eye for increasing instructional quality for Pathfinder students, enhancing the experiences of Summer Teaching Fellows and schoolyear volunteers, and supporting program faculty, staff, and volunteers in understanding and enacting the program’s equity-focused mission. Additionally, the program is reevaluating how it recruits new students, tells the stories of its alumni successes, and partners with other organizations around the city in order to be a greater force for educational equity in our communities. The School hosted a series of four Parent CommUnity Conversations on Diversity, Race, and Inclusion at Hopkins this year. The sessions were led by Lynn Sullivan, Principal of Diversity Benchmark Consulting. Looking ahead, we plan to develop a DEI Parent Council within the Hopkins Parent Association, as well as a DEI-focused orientation program for new parents, to set the tone and expectations for the community each year.
In progress.
As stated in the introduction, the status of these initiatives were current as of the printing of this issue. For updated statuses of these initiatives and any additional information, please visit hopkins.edu/dei
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LAN LIN
DR. FRANKLIN SYLVESTER ’10
Teacher & Parent
Pediatrics resident at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, treating COVID-19 cases during the NYC outbreak in March
Organized thousands of PPE donations from China for first responders
BEN ’17 & WILL ’16 COLLIER
Made hundreds of fabric masks for neighbors and essential workers
Parent Infectious Disease Physician, Midstate Medical Center, Meriden, CT
ANDREA BOISSEVAIN ’78
Started a nonprofit connecting farmers with produce going to waste with food banks in need
CARLY SLAGER ’21
DR. STEPHEN SCHOLAND
Director of Health for Stratford, CT
A
s the United States began to feel the effects of the surge of COVID-19 cases throughout March and April of 2020, the Hopkins School Alumni Office began to hear stories of alumni, parents, faculty, and students who were stepping up and doing great things to help in their community. An open call for nominations was put out to the wider Hopkins community to recognize a Hopkins Hero. The individuals on this page represent essential workers, medical professionals, home sewers and makers, volunteers, and entrepreneurs who were featured on Hopkins’ social media and website throughout April and May of 2020. Please visit hopkins.edu/hopkins-heroes to read their stories in full. Turn the page to read the stories of three more Hopkins Heroes.
DAVID JUDD ’20 Volunteered to deliver food to families in need from the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen in New Haven, CT
DR. PAIGE ARMSTRONG ’02 Epidemiologist tracking the spread of COVID-19 in the United States
TODD RAGAZA ’93 Used 3-D printing skills to make PPE for first responders nationwide
DR. RICHARD CHUNG ’96 Director of Adolescent Medicine, Duke Children’s Hospital
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PEDRO SOTO ’95
I
t’s been quite a year for Pedro Soto ’95. In October 2019, the New Haven native purchased Hygrade Precision Technologies, a precision grinding/lapping and CNC machining company that manufactures parts for the aerospace, medical, and defense industries. His years of experience working in his father’s company, Space-Craft Manufacturing, gave him a leg up in the business, and he was excited about his new venture. Little did he know that a looming worldwide health crisis would soon alter life as we know it, and that he himself would play a vital role in fighting a pandemic. Just a few short months after Hygrade opened its doors, coronavirus swept rapidly through the country and particularly the tri-state area, upending businesses and sending healthcare organizations and workers into overdrive. Hospitals were being flooded with COVID patients, and critical protective equipment was running dangerously low. As President of the Aerospace Component Manufacturers (ACM) Association, Pedro became a pivotal force in helping to secure this desperately needed equipment. As early as March 2020, the ACM began fielding calls for help from multiple healthcare organizations, including Yale New Haven Hospital, in obtaining plastic face shields that could free up the limited supply of N95 masks for coronavirus-related care. Pedro immediately began spreading the word to the ACM’s member companies, getting dozens on board to tap their supply chains and pivot their assembly lines to manufacture the urgently needed items.
Meanwhile, he continued at the helm of Hygrade, deemed by Gov. Ned Lamont as an “essential business” for its role as a key supplier of aerospace and medical industry components. The company was flooded with rush orders from its existing medical supply customers, and had to prioritize very quickly to get the items out the door. At the same time, one of the major challenges was maintaining a safe work environment. “We followed every single guideline, every day,” Pedro said. Thanks to those careful measures, all of the employees on the company’s manufacturing floor remained healthy. That April, however, Pedro was among four Hygrade front office personnel to contract the virus. Fortunately, all of them recovered, and thanks to his work in the COVID effort, Pedro was tapped to participate in an advisory group for the state’s Reopen Connecticut initiative. Needless to say, since March 2020, it’s been a wild ride at Hygrade. The COVID pandemic’s impact on the aerospace industry led to a collapse in commercial aviation, which has “definitely affected our customer base, and caused us to have to rethink our opportunities,” Pedro said. Still, he considers himself fortunate, and is optimistic about the company’s forward direction and continued growth.
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U DR. NIKKI TAYLOR ROBERTS ’89
nderstanding, honesty, courage, perseverance... all the qualities and skills that Marietta, Georgia, pediatrician Dr. Nikki Taylor Roberts ’89 has in abundance, were tested as never before last spring, as she and healthcare workers across the country found themselves on the front lines of the pandemic. Since that time, she has continually adapted her multi-layered practice and expanded her role in the community to meet the evolving needs of her patients and their families during this unprecedented health crisis. In addition to seeing patients for regular visits, Dr. Roberts’ day-to-day has included educating families on the importance of mask wearing, social distancing, and hand washing. Not all are willing to listen. On those occasions, persuasion, tact, and above all, patience, become paramount. “It is also a challenge to promote consistency, since we have been fighting this for several months,” she says. “Pandemic fatigue is real and people have a tendency to let their guard down.” Parents looking to her for advice, and for answers to difficult questions, has also been a challenge. In the fall and winter, children often present with symptoms that can mimic COVID. Telling the difference between a cold, the flu, and COVID-19 had been difficult until point-of-care testing became available this fall. “None of us wants to be the doctor who sends a child back to school too early or because of a faulty diagnosis, causing an outbreak in the schools.” In addition to physical care, Dr. Roberts has paid close attention to the emotional needs of her patients. “With the isolation caused by social distancing and virtual learning, we are seeing more depression and anxiety,” she says. “Kids are being challenged academically. And even down to the little ones, we are trying to identify safe, creative ways of providing social interaction, or allowing a baby to experience the smile of a stranger (which is a challenge with the masks), so as not to hamper the social development of young children.” Meanwhile, she adds, “parents have been in the difficult position of choosing between in-person education versus protecting their children from health risks by keeping them home. They have looked to us to help weigh the risks and benefits for their child.” The pandemic has undoubtedly presented Dr. Roberts with many challenges, both personally and professionally. She herself contracted COVID last spring, but recovered fully in about three weeks. Another challenge that she anticipates will be convincing parents to vaccinate their children once one becomes available. She stressed that before promoting a vaccine, she needs to be sure that it is, in fact, safe. At that point, she will do all she can to educate parents on the benefits of vaccinating versus the risks of not doing so. “In the anti-vaccination era,” she says, “this will be a formidable challenge.”
H
opkins Trustee and past parent Don Kendall (P ’20, ’17) has never encountered a challenge he hasn’t tried to solve. Don serves on countless boards around the state and volunteers as an EMT in his DON KENDALL hometown of Weston. As the co-founder and chairman of Social Venture Partners-Connecticut, Don has been working since 2013 to bring a venture capital mindset to local nonprofits with the goal of providing them with sustainable partnerships for funding and strategic support. When the COVID-19 crisis hit the U.S. and Connecticut, it comes as no surprise that Don was among the first to look for a way to help provide funding for those in our state who need it most. In March, Don partnered with Ted Yang to create 4-CT, the Connecticut COVID-19 Charity Connection. 4-CT is a nonprofit that “unites donors with statewide programs that will help make an immediate impact.” 4-CT has raised more than $12M that has directly impacted our local communities by providing childcare for frontline and healthcare employees, funding for the Connecticut Food Bank, and access to educational tools for our state’s children. Visit 4-CT’s website for a full picture of the incredible work they are doing, and to get involved: suggest a charity that might benefit from their partnership, make a donation, or submit a solution to a current challenge. 4-CT.org VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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D IS T IN G U I SH E D A LU M N I AN D F ELLOW S
PHOEBE ELLSWORTH ’61 DPH HOPKINS’ 2021 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA
D
r. Phoebe Ellsworth, Ph.D. ’61 DPH, one of the founding scholars of contemporary psycho-legal research, will be honored this year as a Hopkins Distinguished Alumna. Dr. Ellsworth was one of the first researchers to systematically apply psychological theory and method to the empirical study of the legal system, conducting pioneering studies on death penalty attitudes, eyewitness performance, and juries. She has focused some of her research on the causes and consequences of false convictions in the U.S., including the psychological processes that can lead police and investigators to mistakenly decide that a person is guilty and to stick with that assessment despite evidence to the contrary. Dr. Ellsworth, who retired in 2018 as Frank Murphy Distinguished University Professor of Psychology and Law at the University of Michigan, is one of the originators of Appraisal Theory of Emotion, which suggests that emotions are extracted from our “appraisals,” i.e. evaluations or interpretations, of events. These appraisals lead to different specific reactions in different people. Emotions that are often thought of as basic categories, such as happiness, sorrow, and anger, are actually combinations of more fundamental appraisals such as novelty, valence, agency, and control. So, for example, if something bad happens and the person thinks some other person was the agent, the person feels angry; if they think they themselves caused it, they will feel shame; and if they think it was caused by circumstances beyond anyone’s control, they will feel sorrow. She has also worked on projects that examine how cultures shape emotional experience, expression, and behavior. She is the author of more than 130 articles, books, and commentaries that have received more than 25,000 citations. Her book Emotion in the Human Face (with P. Ekman and W.V. Friesen), has been cited alone more than 4,500 times. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she has received many honors in her career, among them the Psychology’s Career Contribution Award and Legacy Award; the Society for Experimental Social Psychology’s Distinguished Scientist Award; the Cornell University Lifetime Achievement Award in Law, Psychology, and Human Development; and the American Psychological Foundation’s Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Science of Psychology. The annual Phoebe Ellsworth Psychology and Justice Symposium was established in her honor in 2001.
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Two Class of 1997 alumni will share the spotlight next year as 2020–2021 Hopkins Fellows: Dr. Candice Norcott, Ph.D., and Dr. Aneesh Garg, M.D. Although each was scheduled to visit campus this fall and spring, their visits have been postponed and will be rescheduled in the fall of 2021.
CANDICE NORCOTT, PH.D. ’97 SELECTED AS A HOPKINS FELLOW
C
andice Norcott, Ph.D. ’97 is a licensed clinical psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago, where she is an assistant professor and behavioral health liaison to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Norcott is also a national consultant and public speaker. Her work encompasses providing trauma-informed reproductive health services to adolescent girls and young women. She was also recently appointed as the Director of Graduate Medical Education Wellness for the University of Chicago. Dr. Norcott speaks internationally on issues related to trauma, gender, and race. She was recently featured on the Lifetime docu-series “Surviving R. Kelly,” and was twice a guest on Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk as an expert discussing the impact of sexual abuse on girls and young women, and the intersection of race. Throughout her career, Dr. Norcott has been committed to trauma-informed and genderresponsive services for girls and women, minority advancement in psychology, and cultural responsiveness in the health field.
ANEESH GARG, M.D. ’97
SELECTED AS A HOPKINS FELLOW
A
sports medicine and non-surgical orthopaedic physician at Hughston Clinic Orthopaedics in Nashville, Tennessee, and team physician for USA Hockey and U.S. Soccer, Dr. Aneesh Garg ’97 is a specialist in concussion treatment and management, acute muscle and tendon injuries, and non-surgical fracturecare. In addition to serving on the sports medicine teaching faculty at numerousuniversities and hospitals, Dr. Garg is also the Medical Director of Sidelined U.S.A., a nonprofit organization that reunites permanently sidelined athletes with their passion in sports and inspires them to find a meaningful way forward. A graduate of Trinity College, Hartford, and A.T. Still University of Health Sciences, Dr. Garg completed his residency in internal medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital.
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C 0 MMEN CEMEN T
O
n the evening of July 30, 2020, the Class of 2020 returned to the Hopkins campus for a unique commencement ceremony, one never before seen at Hopkins. The socially distanced, limited capacity event was held on Pratt Field, with 145 chairs for the graduates, spaced six feet apart, laid before a stage. Behind the chairs, the families of the graduates sat in parked cars to watch the proceedings on four large video screens. The ceremony began with a recorded performance of “Pomp and Circumstance” by the Hopkins Orchestra, while the Class of 2020 processed from Smilow Field into the assembled chairs, to the honks and cheers from the gallery of cars. Speakers included Rev. Thom Peters, Priest-in-charge of the Christ Episcopal Church of Bethlehem, as well as Hopkins School Archivist and History teacher, who gave the invocation. C. Burton Lyng-Olsen ’20 gave the Salutatory address and presented the Class Banner. Kyle Shin ’20 gave the Valedictory address before Head of School Dr. Bynum addressed the class and their families. The Presentation of Diplomas was conducted by Dr. Bynum; Vince Calarco, President of the Committee of Trustees; and Scott Wich ’89, Class of 2020 Head Adviser. Each member of the Class of 2020 received their diploma by walking across the stage, celebrating the culmination of their hard work and perseverance in a school year like no other. The ceremony also included several recorded performances by the Hopkins choir groups, accompanied by live soloists. To watch this unique ceremony in full, please visit hopkinsseniors.com
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C L A S S N OTE S
HOPKINS GRAMMAR
1660–1972
MRS. DAY’S
1916–1938
DAY
1938–1960
PROSPECT HILL
1930–1960
DAY PROSPECT HILL
1960–1972
HOPKINS SCHOOL
1972–PRESENT
1948 HGS
1950 HGS
Marvin Arons msarons@optium.com
Robert DeFeo rhdefeo@att.net
1949 HGS
Since the worst pandemic in our long lifetimes has descended on us, we have spent the last months avoiding contact with others, and that includes classmates. Hopefully, as this year wraps up and we find ourselves in 2021, we will once again be able to join together for what has been our totally enjoyable annual brunch since our pal Harry Adams got us together at the Graduate Club for lunches so long ago; hopefully when restrictions are lifted, we will once again happily restore this tradition. Good wishes to you all. –Bob DeFeo
Robert Archambault thearchambaults@optonline.net Hopkins tells me that our latest class list has been sent to all of you. We are down to one page! Not a good sign! If you don’t receive one, please call Donna Vinci at Hopkins at 203-397-1001 x429, or call me. Hopkins was notified that Jim Brouwer had passed away in 2018. No other information was given. Al Gordon died this past August in Southbury, Connecticut. He came to some of our early reunions, but stopped for some unknown reason. Al ran a plumbing supply business in New Haven, and also a realty firm. He is survived by a daughter and several grandchildren. I called Art Youmans recently to say “hello.” He left Hopkins in January 1947, but we kept him on our records and he attended some of our reunions. He lost his wife four years ago and, more recently, one of his legs due to a blood clot. His spirits were good and I’m glad I called him. For years, I have been thinking of our unknown classmates Joe Aitro and Bob Miles, and have some ideas I wish to share with you. Many years ago, a very successful softball/baseball league run by the Aitro brothers was frequently reported on in the sport pages of our local paper, the New Haven Register. They received very good coverage, which indicates it was a well-run league. Were these brothers related to our Joe? I can’t answer this! Maybe you can, or give me a lead to pursue. As for Bob Miles, I also have a lead, but will have to hold off until my next report to follow up on it. We are down to a head count of 14, which I think is pretty good when you realize that we are in our late 80s in age. I think the first classmate we lost was Steve Foster. Any thoughts on the last? Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it, and I hope it includes more exercise!
1950 DAY & PHS Alumnae interested in serving as correspondents for The Day School Class of 1950 or Prospect Hill School Class of 1950 may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
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Al Mongillo writes on the passing of Edward J. Onofrio: A Man For All Seasons—“Edward, or Eddie, as he was known on the Hill, returned peacefully to his Maker on December 10, 2020. He is gone, but his legacy will last for many of us, for a very long time. Coming from a humble, hard-working family background, Eddie excelled at whatever he chose to do. At Hopkins, he found his talent for leadership, in addition to his workload at the family market. He took on every challenge that came his way. He became our Class president, captain of both the football and fencing teams, while never refusing to serve on committee when asked. Eddie embodied these talents throughout his life. He became a devoted family man, a successful businessman, a true friend, and an inspiration to those fortunate to cross his path. Eddie’s life will be remembered for his kind generosity and the many good deeds he did for the people he touched. A true Hopkins legacy. May he rest in peace.” Bob DeFeo also writes on Ed’s passing: “As his obituary in the New Haven Register on December 20, 2020, pointed out, he was truly a ‘Giant’ among men. Over the past decades, his height diminished as he was afflicted with debilitating arthritis. But despite those afflictions, he continued to operate the businesses he co-founded with his brothers: Onofrio’s Market, Onofrio’s Catering Service, Onofrio’s Fresh Cut, and Onofrio’s Ultimate Foods. At the same time he provided love and support to his family, particularly in support of his great-granddaughter Mia who has been struggling with heart issues since birth. His inspiration in providing guidance and counsel to those who knew him was legendary and his loss will be felt not only to his family, but to the food industry in the region. On a personal note, Judy and I will miss his Sunday visits to our home always carrying in this trademark–food. Sundays will never be the same for us and for everyone who knew and loved him. His inspiration and guidance was truly exceptional.”
1951 DAY Alumnae interested in serving as correspondents for The Day School Class of 1951 may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
1951 HGS John F. Sutton johnfsut@aol.com I have little news to report. I am sure that you are aware that 2021 marks the 70th anniversary of our graduation from Hopkins, an event deserving a special celebration. The School is not sure at the moment about what form 2021 reunions may take—in person or virtual—but the weekend of June 4–5 has been set aside for them. Please mark your calendars. If you have thoughts about our reunion or would like to serve on a planning committee, please let me know. The principal ’51 news, which was previously sent to us all, was the announcement of the deaths of Paul Brown and Don Risberg. As your class secretary, I sent condolences to their widows, Maxine Brown and Sally Risberg. I have been unable to generate more news, because in late August I tripped over a curb and fell, breaking my right arm and leg. Since then, I have been cared for in three different hospitals here in Maine. I have struggled to learn to get along with only a left hand. Restrictions of the pandemic have precluded my seeing Dorothy face to face for all that time, though our home is nearby, and we are blessed that our daughter and son-in-law live close enough to us to provide help. Also, our granddaughter is home from the Peace Corps—she had been serving in Mexico until she was sent home because of the pandemic. I trust my next column will have happier news to report.
1951 PHS Joan Haskell Vicinus joanvicinus@yahoo.com Generally speaking, our classmates are all responding to the pandemic in careful and measured ways. Sukie Hilles Bush tells me that she has spent six months with a son and wife in Arlington, Massachusetts, and time in Westport, Connecticut, and with other family in her condo in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ann Coleman Mandelbaum writes to describe a whole houseful of family, a son and his wife, a granddaughter and her long-term boyfriend. She says, “lots of food to cook, lots of laundry to schedule, but mostly it’s good to have them all around.” On the other hand, Susan Adams Mott and husband Paul have spent these months of restrictions enjoying being together in their home in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Their children are far-flung: California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas… so they stay in touch by phone, the internet, and gift packages. Susan Myers Jacobs remains very cautious, living in the Washington Heights area of New York City. She loves the view of the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge. Her daughter and husband live downstairs, and they visit either distanced apart or by phone almost every day. Susan keeps involved by reading and discussing books in Spanish, and Zooms with a monthly book group. She also finds pleasure by walking regularly about the neighborhood. The situation in California is a little different for Nancy Mueller Holtzapple. One of her granddaughters, a fresh graduate of NYU Abu Dhabi, came to live with her from August to mid-October. Her original plan was to take a year off and travel and then move back to her Washington, D.C., home to
pursue the next step. Instead, grandmother and granddaughter are having a lovely time going out for drives, visiting friends in the community, and cooking. Nancy’s retirement community in Walnut Creek, California, is safe from the fires—south of one of the large fires and north of another. Smoke has been ever-present, however. Janie Karlsruher Shedlin is in a Vitas facility in Stamford, Connecticut. Her son, Stanley, lives nearby, as does her daughter, Toni, and they visit frequently. She is strong and positive and if anyone wants to get in touch with her, call yours truly at 419-297-9973. I think that Lavinia Schrade Bruneau in France has the best arrangement. She still lives in Lyon, and although she bemoans the political scene, she gets out to the local theater and dance and can visit her children. Her eldest granddaughter has given her her first great-grandchild so she goes to Paris to visit the newborn boy and visits another daughter in Bordeaux. Elizabeth DeVane Edminster and I live in similar retirement communities—Lizzy in Washington, D.C., and I in Exeter, New Hampshire. Both our places are super cautious about keeping us safe, and for months we were closely restricted. Finally, in July or August, we could drive off the campus but were still not able go into restaurants or have visitors in our own spaces. Our staff works hard to keep us informed, healthy, and entertained. She admits that during this time of political and virus-induced turmoil, it is not easy living in our nation’s capital!
1952 DAY & PHS Alumnae interested in serving as correspondents for either the Class of 1952 DAY or the Class of 1952 PHS may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
1952 HGS Matthew Smith elmatt56@msn.com This issue’s news is thinner than usual, possibly owing to the emotional malaise currently prevailing in the world. We did receive a few responses to the customary email prodding, but it’s like pulling teeth these days. Some comments included off-the-record medical situations and inferences, not really conducive to upbeat, bright-eyed reporting. We’re all between about age 85 and 88, having beaten the odds so far, and I guess no one wants to say anything that could jinx that! Brief communications confirm that Dave Steinmuller and Steve Mongillo are alive, well, and articulate. Roy Wells is in touch from time to time with Bill Cramer, and Roy reports that Burt Brockett is looking forward to our 70th (yes, that’s mathematically right) reunion in 2022! We hope by then we can all be immune to COVID-19! Regards to all, and please keep those calls and emails coming in! –Matt Smith
1953 DAY & PHS Alumnae interested in serving as correspondents for either the Class of 1953 DAY or the Class of 1953 PHS may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
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1953 HGS Wayne Downey twdowney@comcast.net Hello Class of ’53! I’m taking over for the late Hal Hochman after his many devoted and diligent years as class scribe. Hopefully by the next newsletter the silence that followed my initial attempt at gathering our items of interest will be broken. My own report is that in July, after 50 years of psychoanalytic practice, privately and as a clinical professor at The Yale Child Study Center, I retired. I continue teaching and writing, most recently on artificial intelligence and psychoanalysis. Joan and I have been married for 62 years. With my arthritis, some of which goes back to my football days with Bear Lovell, our trips to the family compound in Maine are history. We now split our time between home in Guilford and a cottage two miles away on Long Island Sound. That’s my update. Just after the deadline, news came in from David Beers. He and Peggy are staying at their waterside cottage in Lewes, Delaware, as long as the weather permits. Then it’s back to their home in Washington, D.C. Both are in “pretty good shape. I practice law on a reduced basis because it continues to interest me and I’m thankful that I can. I wonder if that sounds stubborn?” What do you think? Gary Sochrin and Phyllis have retired. They are well and rearranging their living situation, having sold their home in Connecticut and closing on the sale of one of their condos. After golfing indoors and out for 10 weeks in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, last winter, they are returning there for a fall golf outing. If the pandemic subsides, they hope to also return to Costa Rica for a winter rental in 2021. “We may winter in a different locale every year.” Fore!
1954 DAY & PHS Alumnae interested in serving as correspondents for the Class of 1954 DAY or Class of 1954 PHS may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
1954 HGS Jess B. Davis jbdavismd@metrocast.net
1955 DAY Alice Watson Houston alice.houston@yahoo.com After sharing eight romantic winters in Paris, I, Alice Watson Houston, returned to Stonington, Connecticut, to wait out the current pandemic. Nancy Kushlan Wanger, Marie Sibley Scudder, and Anne English Hull have written they’re staying safe. The Hopkins email with Mrs. Betty Benedict ’40 DAY’s obituary reminded me that in 1946, during her first year of teaching when I was in the fourth grade at the Day School, she was my math teacher. Thanks to her, I know how to balance my checkbook.
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At the wedding of Bill Branon ’55 HGS and Lolly Branon on September 13, 1958: (L–R) George Hodgetts ’55 HGS, Bill’s brother Dave Branon ’58 HGS, Bill, Lolly, and Woolsey Conover ’55 HGS.
1955 HGS Woolsey S. Conover, Jr. woolcon@aol.com News received from Peter Goldbecker: “Moving between Connecticut in the summer and Florida the rest of the year… nice work if you can get it, even if currently disrupted by COVID-19 and its associates.” Peter wishes all classmates a healthy balance of 2020 and beyond. Joe Gianelli called to report that life goes on apace in Wallingford, Connecticut, with Carol and himself both adjusting to the slings and arrows of advancing years. Daughter Leslie, a senior attorney for a Connecticut-based health care company, also now resides in that Silver City upon the Quinnipiac, while their son lives in Massachusetts. Joe sends his best regards to all ’55ers with hopes of convening once again to celebrate our 65th reunion. Bill Branon relates that good frau Lolly was recently jogging in the Las Vegas, Nevada, heat, and joined two other runners, one of whom had lived in Connecticut for a while. She told him that she had married a Hopkins guy and he replied, “My best friend went to Hopkins in the ’80s and told me that he learned more in two years at Hopkins than he did in four years at Yale.” Wow! That’s quite an endorsement for the Old Grammar School! And while on the subject of Branon, I recently happened upon the accompanying photo taken at Lolly’s and his wedding on September 13, 1958. On a personal note, Bea and I recently celebrated our 60th anniversary, are enjoying relatively good health for creaky mid-80s people, and continue to savor life here on Golden Pond. Our youngest grandchild, Nell, is a junior at the aforementioned Yale University, taking her classes virtually, another casualty of COVID-19. She would most likely not agree with the assessment of the desert jogger, possibly suggesting that the heat was confusing him just a bit. Please, classmates, keep in touch, tell the rest of us how you are and what you are doing… we want to know the details!
1955 PHS Lucie Giegengack Teegarden teegarden_lucie@comcast.net Dear classmates: This class column was originally submitted in March, but Hopkins, understandably, did not publish a fall magazine. An online Hopkins newsletter included a link to class columns, but those I’ve checked with didn’t see that, nor did I. So, what follows has been updated, but unfortunately begins with two losses: our classmate Louise Christian, and Lew Knight, husband of Anne Haskell “Pickle” Knight. Both Louise and Lew passed away in September 2019, each surrounded by loving family, friends, and caregivers. Louise had been living in Newton, Massachusetts, and Pemaquid, Maine. She was predeceased by her sister, Edith Christian Minear ’56 PHS, and is survived by her daughter, Anne, and son, William. Louise graduated from Smith College and received her Ed.D. from Boston University in 1979. She was assistant director of Simmons College Counseling Center from 1980 to 2009 and held a psychotherapy practice in Brookline, Massachusetts until 2017. She loved her home in Maine and frequented the local library. Donations in her name can be sent to the Bristol Area Library to enhance their large-print section (P.O. Box 173, New Harbor, ME). Anne/Pickle’s holiday letter included the sad news of Lew’s passing. As we know, he had been coping for some time with his Amyloidosis heart condition. He set his goal last summer to make it to a grandson’s wedding September 1, and was able to do so, with extraordinary personal effort and help from family and his hospice nurse. Lew was a highly respected math teacher in high school (Winchester, Massachusetts) and colleges, especially in a long career at the University of New Hampshire. When he retired, a scholarship fund was established in his name to support creative math teaching. If you care to join others to extend Lew’s legacy, contact UNH Foundation, c/o Lewis Knight Scholarship Fund (Elliott Alumni Center, 9 Edgewood Rd., Durham, NH 03824). Pickle says the celebration of his life packed the local church and gave her enormous comfort. She sold their beloved lakeside house in Holderness, New Hampshire, in fall 2019, but continues to be active in Durham as a library trustee and volunteer. Plans for 2020 included travel, three grandchildren’s graduations, skiing and tennis in season, and following the activities of Julie, Catie, and Chris, and the 10 grandchildren. I have received updates from a few more classmates. Cathya Wing Stephenson is now a step-great-grandmother (!) of a baby girl named Skylar, whose Russian mother, Sasha, was 11 when she joined her father, Vladimir, when he married Cathya’s daughter Margaret. Sasha attended the Washington International School (WIS) and has stayed in Washington. Margaret’s son, Nicholas, at age 21, is majoring in cybersecurity at the University of Maryland, doing most of his classwork online, as he has a full-time job with a book publishing firm. Cathya has ceased being an emerita trustee at WIS after 50 years of serving. In February 2019, Judy Bassin Peknik completed a production of an off-Broadway play, Edwin Farnsworth, with her partner and playwright, Alex McFarlane, at the Strawberry One-Act Play Festival at the Riant Theatre in New York City. This was their sixth collaboration. Judy notes that feels like a lifetime ago, with both the theater and the art world shut down. She sees Emily Mendillo Wood on a regular basis and has started painting again. Judy Buck Moore is signed up for a birding trip to Texas in spring 2021, recycled from a canceled trip this year. She is hopeful but not optimistic. I, your correspondent Lucie Giegengack Teegarden, follow the exploits and adventures of six grandchildren in various colleges
plus three still in high school. I am also still editing various books and recently completed work on a 600-page catalogue raisonné of a Hudson River painter, William Hart. Amid all the confining changes of the pandemic, it has been great to have an ongoing project. I am sure we’d all like to know how our old friends from more carefree days are doing. Please send a note to me at the email address above and let us know how you are. No news really is good news right now.
1956 DAY & PHS Alumnae interested in serving as correspondents for either the Class of 1956 DAY or the Class of 1956 PHS may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
1956 HGS Stephen Raffel raffel@post.harvard.edu Dave Bluett reports: “Our local wine store tells us that business has never been better. I have been getting some shop work from a nearby plastics company, making plastic bushings, rollers, pulleys, and bearings for local sawmills. Sharon has been helping me in the shop and becoming a pretty darn good lathe operator. We had a diamondback rattlesnake coiled in our driveway a short time back. Sharon ran for the house to get our .22 loaded with birdshot, and we popped him a few times. A close look the next morning measured him out at five feet.” Here are the highlights from Steve Fulton’s newsy email: “I attended Navy Officer Candidate School (OCS) and was commissioned as Ensign. I participated in the undersea recovery of a lost H bomb off Palomares, Spain, and in Suez Canal mine clearing. I retired as a Navy Commander after 28 years. After retirement, I took a senior position with consultant agency Booz, Allen and Hamilton, in charge of selling and refurbishment of ex-U.S. Navy ships to foreign navies. Now fully retired, I reside in Virginia Beach. Having recently lost my wife of 50 years, it’s me and my dog, Koko. Love to hear from anyone. fultonbah@aol.com, 809-679-5714, 1101 Buenos Aires Court, Virginia Beach, VA 23454.” Peter Knudsen passed this on: “Pidgie and I have not been to a restaurant for indoor or outdoor dining since March. We have become more regular hikers in Sleeping Giant State Park (in Hamden, Connecticut). In addition, I ride my bike 12 miles most days at the Linear Park. Finally, ironically, I am helping a development stage company that has a prototype product that purifies air and kills the virus to raise $400,000 for product launch in January.” Dick Walton emailed this recently: “Two reliable ingredients of my day include my practicing tai chi and running through a routine of exercises prescribed by a great physical therapy (PT) place I went to in Florida. I’ve been practicing tai chi for over 20 years now. It never fails to make me feel better to run through the form. If I’ve managed to get myself riled up over something a half-hour practice of the form calms me right down. Physical therapy exercises usually follow the tai chi. The PT usually loosens me up and energizes me a bit.” Reminders: After the virus has passed, we resume our Class of ’56 lunch twice a year in the New Haven area. It is an informal gathering with no politics and no fundraising. Also, I am missing some email addresses. If you do not get occasional reminders, please email your address to raffel@post.harvard.edu so I can add you to the list. –Steve Raffel
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1957 DAY & PHS Alumnae interested in serving as correspondents for either the Class of 1957 DAY or Class of 1957 PHS may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
1957 HGS Alan Cadan alancadan@mac.com For those of you who may not be aware, we recently received the sad news that our classmate, Howie Harrison, passed away on November 16. With such a small, tight-knit class as ours, many of us can recall fond memories of Howie during our Hopkins years together— academically, athletically, socially, and, more importantly, as a friend. He will be missed. Mike Apuzzo: “(An interesting note to remind us of the times in which we octogenarians are blessed to live:) On Tuesday, October 13, I gave the opening keynote address for the Annual Meeting of the Combined Italian and European Neurosurgical Societies in Naples, Italy, from my kitchen table on the Connecticut River. It was entitled: Neurosurgery 2050: In the Realm of Ideas. (The wonders of Zoom!) Alan Cadan: “Political strife, exacerbated by extreme journalism (I shudder to use that word), has forced me to turn off the news when I am driving, preferring instead to listen to the uninterrupted music of Sirius radio, particularly ‘50s on 5’ where the only emotional involvement is remembering the words to sing along. To my benefit, Lynn remembers them all, even after all these years! Television, originally dubbed the ‘vast wasteland’ by Newton Minnow (former FCC commissioner 1961–63) has fortunately evolved and now offers multiple areas of interest for us that don’t involve ‘picking sides’: National Geographic Wild, History Channel, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Lynn’s favorite, ‘American Pickers!’ While Lynn and I have been safely quarantining ever since COVID-19 had been detected, two sons did come down with it, one originated from his gym in Atlanta, Georgia, the other from his emergency room hospital work in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Both recovered nicely but are adamant that the effects from this virus are nothing to take lightly! As with many of you, I am sure, main topics of conversation among our friends revolve around looking at life differently—in most cases, what was important materially pre-pandemic has taken a back seat to the more lasting value of personal relationships.” Ed Cantor: “Despite the reality of COVID-19, the summer worked well. I was able to swim laps every day and have a few friends over for food and drinks while social distancing outdoors. I do not look forward to the indoor season, when those activities will be curtailed. I am part of a committee planning our 60th reunion at Yale, either in person or virtually, and am co-chair of the Yale Class of 1961 Cancer Endowment at the Yale Cancer Center. Established five years ago, the endowment has raised over $1.7 million and is awarding two $50,000 grants, annually, to junior faculty members for cancer research. Life is not boring with the numerous offerings of history, art, and webinars available on the internet. I have also done lots of reading in the area of American history and learned that our history, as it was taught to me at Hopkins, and as an American Studies major at Yale, was created and written by White American Men in Power, which isn’t really the complete history of our country at all. It failed to reflect the lives, status, constraints, and suffering of many Americans, including women and people of color. Two of the landmark books that opened my eyes were White Rage, by Carol Anderson, and Caste, by Isabel 36
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Wilkerson. I learned that I could still be educated, even at our ripe old age.” Ford Daley: “I am still working supervising the cafe at good ole Hanover High School. We, Elaine and I, are there four days a week and one virtual day. The kids are really handling it well and the teachers are working like mad. Back in April, being an optimist, I came up with the following hopeful wishes to potentially come out of this COVID-19 crisis (would love your reactions): 1.) We will realize anew how connected we all are. 2.) We will realize what is important and what is not. 3.) We will change our thinking that government is the problem…or not. (this is really up for grabs, isn’t it?) 4.) We will take the profit motive out of our healthcare system and send the insurance companies packing; health care should not be based on gambling. 5.) We will appreciate anew the importance of our families irrespective of what we want our children to become and to achieve. 6.) We will have gained more appreciation for schools and teachers, recognizing their importance and the contribution they make to our society. 7.) We will once again honor, respect, and adequately compensate the working people of our country.” Peter Hart: “Just finished the excitement of Fat Bear Week. Here’s the link: https://explore.org/fat-bear-week#vote. Other major activity is following the weekly COVID-19 journey of our three college-age grandkids. So far three quarantines and releases, one positive with antibodies, and currently, two in the clear and one on full campus lockdown.” John Lunt: “Jane and I are supremely thankful that we are living in Maine, not that Maine has escaped the effects of COVID-19, but the sparse population has helped significantly in avoiding its spread when/where it has appeared. Through it all, Jane and I have felt comfortable enough to continue working with a core group of volunteers in our weekly community Food Pantry, and when Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens re-opened in June practicing stringent health guidelines, we both resumed our summer volunteer time at that location. The result was that we had commitments four out of the five weekdays, making our week seem quite ‘regular.’ We have also had several family dinners—quite different from the past—using three tables separated as necessary. Even so, having family in the same room is a vast improvement over gathering through Zoom.” Dave Opton: “I wish that I could contribute the insights and ‘learnings’ of the likes of Ford, Ed, and others, but the limits of my intellect make that unlikely. What I can say is that this year has been a challenge for MaryAnn. She has had two hospital stays (the first began with experiencing what it is like to get there after calling 911). The first incident was due to a severe asthma attack and after an eight-day stay, she was on oxygen at home for the better part of a week. Trip #2 turned out to be a heart attack. In any case, she returned home after another three days and medically seems fine but is a camper who still tires easily (a common experience from what we’re told). Like everyone else, our lives these days are driven by Zoom meetings and streaming, and in my case, trying to play golf despite plenty of evidence that shows this to be an exercise in futility.” Steve Ryter: “My son-in-law and his wife couldn’t find a home in the crazy Bend, Oregon, market after selling theirs and have been in our house for more than a year. While in Arizona last spring, we bought a Minnie Winnie, went back to Oregon, and ‘lived in the RV down by the river.’ We went west again for my son’s wedding in the high country near Pagosa Springs, Colorado, in September and are now back in Gold Canyon waiting for temperatures to get out of the high 90s. The Chinese curse has come to life: ‘May you live in interesting times.’” Dana Murphy: “Returned to working the front desk at the West Haven, Virginia, Medical Center following a six-month
suspension of volunteer services due to the novel coronavirus. Back to doing my own grocery shopping (July), relieving a niece who was handling the chore. American Legion Department Executive Committee meetings are being held in person, with social distancing. Connecticut Hospice Transportation is going through a revival, as I’ve gotten three requests for ‘missions.’ I’ve become adept at Zoom meetings with various organizations, dialing all those numbers. I’ll be attending the monthly open mic sessions again to entertain and keep my vocal cords in shape. And I’m scheduled to work the polls again, a 15-hour day, November 3.” Joe Schwartz: “With regard to Dana’s activities, his energies, interests, and dedicated involvement in community affairs are truly without parallel. It’s reassuring to learn that age itself does not limit one’s productive facilities. You are an ongoing inspiration to the rest of us who also commit to making life a bit better for others less advantaged, as well as to pursue uplifting activities.” Skip Borgerson: “Gerry and I are surviving the COVID-19 virus and looking forward to a ‘normal’ life before too long. I am recovering from a spinal fracture inflicted upon me a couple of weeks ago. It was no fun when it happened, but the discomfort is gone and the injury is ‘self-healing’ while I walk and move around very carefully with a back brace on and off. I do not recommend the experience for anyone. But it was very revealing what modern medicine and emergency services can do, and God bless those people who rise to the occasion when needed. My best wishes to you all. Stay cool, stay safe, and #65 is coming soon.” As noted in the New Haven Register (September 8), S. James “Jim” Rosenfeld died on September 2, 2020, of natural causes in Seattle, Washington. His wife since 2017, Maria R. Rosenfeld, survives him, as do his sisters, Sheila and Susan, sons Seth Warren (wife Erika) and Howard Phillip (wife Heather), and three grandchildren, Isaac Robert Rosenfeld, and Zoë and Solome McPherson. He was previously married to Susan Rosenfeld (Katz). Jim was raised in New Haven by Robert and Elise Rosenfeld and graduated Hopkins Grammar School in 1957.
1958 DAY & PHS Alumnae interested in serving as correspondents for either the Class of 1958 DAY or the Class of 1958 PHS may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
1958 HGS Dan Koenigsberg dkoenigsberg14@gmail.com We live in interesting times. Who would have predicted the persistence of the pandemic through 2020, and more important, the way in which it has changed our way of life? Going forward, activities from doctor appointments to arts performances to college interviews will be increasingly virtual events. On the plus side, there will be more virtual family reunions as we get more comfortable with the technology. Unfortunately, the virus prevented the semiannual gathering of the ’58 clan this summer, and we will have to wait until social distancing becomes a memory to reconvene. Dave Branon retired in 2001 and was the recipient of the 28,000-member PGA Lifetime Contributions Award the following year. He went on to do consulting for Callaway, Bridgestone and Greg Norman, but it “was something I did not enjoy.” This was followed by the publication of three novels, all of which were “brilliantly written and none of which sold more than a couple of hundred copies… so much for that second career!” Impressive nonetheless IMHO. Dave went on to remark
that, “in our vulnerable 80s, we are dutifully sheltered in place and reading scads of novels, none of which have been as brilliantly written as mine but all of which have probably sold thousands of copies.” And a modest man at that. He also forwarded some remarkable photographs of Japan, which were of interest to me having lived there for three years whilst in Uncle Sam’s Navy. Jim DeLucia and Bonnie observed that “with social distancing, things are not quite the same.” He added that they are doing well and were hoping to have lunch on the Hill with the ’58 group in the spring. Gordon Daniel has been hiking up East Rock while Gayle keeps busy with Zoom meetings. Chris Doob felt fortunate to spend time with his daughter and family while they were renting in Milford, Connecticut, this summer. Peter Meehan looks forward to seeing everyone at some point “if only on paper, but you never know!” He and Prue enjoy reading about their classmates in the Class Notes. Dick DeNicola weighed in with “all is well here” and has enjoyed visits from his family in California. Dave Hummel continued his quest as the most highly traveled person west of the Mississippi, and he and Cindy have now checked off every country in the Western hemisphere. Meanwhile, he was “making the rounds of various art shows and auctions” to enhance his collection of Western art. Skiing is “now limited to a few easy days with sons and a granddaughter,” but helicopter skier Dave’s interpretation of “easy” may be different from mine. Yours truly had an active summer playing golf, biking, and pickleball (look it up), and am now once again auditing Yale undergraduate courses via Zoom. So stay safe and we’ll assume that this too shall pass, so we can “reconvene on the Hill.”
1959 DAY & PHS Alumnae interested in serving as correspondents for either the Class of 1959 DAY or the Class of 1959 PHS may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
1959 HGS William F. Dow III wdow@jacobslaw.com Well, welcome back to the Septuagenarian Semi-Annual Memory Meeting. I’m writing this in mid-October, some eight months since Covid-19 began, before the Presidential election, the vote on the Supreme Court nominee, the almost-artificial World Series, the full-scale re-opening of schools, churches, movie theaters, and, above all, Applebee’s; and well before exhaustion of the endless video drivel available on Netflix. So, as we wallow in a sea of uncertainty layered with an oil slick of anxiety, it is, to paraphrase Dickens, even worser than the worst of times. All this a rather long way of saying there’s not much to say that will make any sense when this is published and perhaps even read by some bored parent waiting in Hopkins’ Admissions Office gauging whether a substantial contribution will be required to secure a spot in next year’s seventh grade class. Undaunted, I labor on. There is, miraculously, actual news from our classmates and near-classmates. Bob Dickie reports that the American Bar Association has published the third edition of Financial Statement Analysis and Business Valuation for the Practical Lawyer, this time with a co-author. Bob assures that, while not yet green lighted, it has generated substantial interest from many Hollywood heavy-hitters. Al Rogol, unsurprisingly, has not let grass grow under his endocrinological feet. He is, or has, by the time you and that anxious applicant-parent read this, published VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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a heavy-duty paper entitled “Emotional Deprivation in Children: Growth Faltering and Reversible Hypopituitarism,” which reports on how growth in children can be negatively impacted by emotional conditions even if nutritional needs are met. [Did I get that right, Al?] And, as to near-classmates, Rives Fowlkes Carroll ’61 PHS, Frank’s sister and wife of Dickson Carroll ’58, has published a book about their father entitled Chaplain: The World War II Letters of Army Air Corps Chaplain Pasqual Dupuy Fowlkes. It is available from Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C. If I were talking to you today I’d say, “Wear a mask.” Hopefully, when you are reading this, that admonishment will be but a memory stored somewhere in a bin with recollections of letter sweaters, book covers, and Third Form Proctors. Pax.
1960 DAY & PHS Tricia Swift TSwift@grubbco.com Our 60th “Reunion” didn’t happen in June, but by Zoom, eight of us have gathered together virtually! We missed all those who couldn’t join in or whom I failed to be able to contact. If you haven’t heard from me by email, PLEASE send me and/or the Hopkins Alumni Office your current info so we can stay in touch! Best method may be by text. On October 4, Bobbie Garson Leis DAY from Framingham, Massachusetts, Phyllis Ross PHS from New York City, Tita Beal PHS, also in New York City, Mary Louise “Weesie” Long PHS in Stamford, Connecticut, Carole Pfisterer Hart PHS (with Peter making an appearance as well) in Fort Myers, Florida, Ursula Goodenough PHS in Chilmark, Martha’s Vineyard, Ruth Osterweis PHS in Washington, D.C., and I in Auburndale, Massachusetts (suburb of Boston), had a rollicking hour-long catch-up. Some of us had not seen each other in 60 years, and some did not recognize each other, but we had a marvelous time making up for lost time. We are committed to a repeat and we hope more will join us! Tita Beal has had a stunning online reading of her newest play, The Veils of Justice, done innovatively and brilliantly with the actors all working remotely, by the Riant Theater. Carole and Peter Hart (who can forget their budding romance from our earliest days at Prospect Hill?) have moved from the Adirondacks to the warmth of Fort Myers, Florida, and Carole is happy shelling on the beaches of nearby Sanibel Island. They remain as in love and devoted to each other as ever, a great achievement. Roberta “Bobbie” Garson Leis is also long married and happy. Bobbie is the executive director of the New England Association of Drug Court Professionals. She and her husband have three adult children: Peter, Shoshana (formerly Caroline), and Jenny; and four grandchildren. She has since written, “We had a heartfelt conversation about our personal lives, health and wellness, and it was so uplifting just to discuss things candidly—I am so glad that I joined the Zoom meeting and encourage others to do so and keep in touch in this crazy time we are living through!” Phyllis Ross is writing yet another book in conjunction with Design Works of Bedford Stuyvesant, in Brooklyn, New York, founded as part of an economic development initiative conceived by Senator Robert F. Kennedy to renew the majority Black district of Bedford Stuyvesant. Her book is the story of Design Works, an African American textile design studio and production company that licenses designs to major manufacturers of consumer goods, giving it a national profile. Weesie Long had just opened a new show of her paintings in Stamford, and is planning a move farther up the Connecticut coast. 38
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Ursula Goodenough and Ruth Osterweis discovered that they both knew Rabbi Rachel Cowan, whose book Wise Aging: Living with Joy, Resilience, & Spirit (co-authored with Dr. Linda Thal) has started a movement. Ursula continues with science and is polishing her newest paper for publication. Ruth, among other accomplishments, is a trained “Wise Aging” facilitator. In addition, Ruth continues her affiliation with the Smithsonian and with “Twinless Twins.” In August, I had a great visit with Ursula in Martha’s Vineyard in spite of COVID-19. A highlight was visiting the Polly Hill Arboretum. For me, the fall began with the resumption of classes (all virtual), and I am happily swamped. COVID-19 may have restricted our travel, but it has brought us a blessing in the form of Zoom. We’ll meet soon again! Not with us by Zoom, but sending happy news, Ellen Stock Stern DAY welcomed her first grandchild, Daisy Martin, on April 3. Ellen and Daisy and Daisy’s parents, Katie Stern and Kyle Martin, are COVID-19 sheltering in a country house near the Berkshires, in Massachusetts. There was a report from someone that Fran Levin Goldstein DAY, who lives in San Francisco, California, was COVID-19 sheltering in Hawaii. On a sad note, Liz MacKenzie PHS has written that her beloved 48-year-old daughter, Christine, died suddenly of cardiac arrest in July. Our hearts go out to Liz, to Christina’s husband, Stephen, and three children, and Christina’s sister, Rika, at this time of shock and grief.
1960 HGS Alumni interested in serving as correspondents for the Class of 1960 HGS may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
1961 DPH Valerie Banks Lane capecodwoman43@gmail.com When I wrote our last DPH column, we were just beginning to learn about the coronavirus and its effects. Now as I write, we have been in a new lifestyle for eight months and I think it may continue for much longer than we have anticipated. In spite of this, we are still interested in your lives. Carol Miller Rand wrote that she and Larry weathered the past months at their home in Sharon, Connecticut, very happily. She said that the pleasure of being in their home with the feeling of being outdoors with many glass windows helped to get them through the pandemic. Carol has caught up on reading, 25 books by October, and more for her three book groups, which meet on Zoom very successfully. She is also taking a Zoom course on Wallace Stevens by her favorite local professor. Plans to go to Australia and New Zealand were canceled for this year, and they hope that by next fall, they will be able to travel again. Finally, she and her husband have a weekly Zoom meeting with all of their children, and sometimes grandchildren too, so they remain in touch with their family even when they can’t get together in person. Martha Porter Haeseler wrote that after being far too busy as the market manager of the Dudley Farmers’ Market for two years, she retired into her crafts, family, gardening, and her new puppy, Beauty. Then came COVID-19 and she gave up vending in the market and retreated with her husband into a “bubble of isolation,” broken only by walks with Beauty. There were occasional distanced outdoor visits from adult family, and gardening, but a broken arm reminded her of her mortality once again, and limited the gardening. Her arm is now healed and she is pulling out exuberant grasses from the beds in time for winter. A few of her fiber arts can be found in the Guilford Art Center.
She is glad to see the increased activism in the world, particularly on the part of her grandchildren, and does long to see more of her family, but finds it easy to get used to a more contemplative life now. Ellen Powley Donaldson wrote, “Having sold my place on Cape Cod in 2019, I returned there mid-pandemic for a brief stay this past July. I had a lovely lunch with Valerie and wish we had more time together. It was wonderful to be back in that beautiful spot—gorgeous marshes, osprey, and blue herons making every day memorable. I returned to Palm Springs, California, in August to record-setting heat. The wildfires here have been heartbreaking. As summer ends, I am working on helping students in the local school district apply for college and scholarships. The students are wonderful. I am hopeful for their futures and love getting to know and appreciate them.” Ellen came to my home here in Craigville, Massachusetts, and, in lieu of going to a restaurant, we ate in our side garden, lobster rolls and chilled white wine, outdoors and socially distanced. It was great. I thought she was going to be here at the Cape longer than she was, so we weren’t able to get together again, but she did say that she is going to come east for the 60th reunion next year, if we are able to hold it. Anita Fahrni-Minear wrote, “The 10,000 copies of my first book for Mongolian young people learning English are now being distributed free of charge to all 10th graders in six provinces of the Mongolian countryside. The second story will soon be ready for publication and a similar distribution, while I seek funding for the third and fourth. Because the border was closed tightly in March, and is still closed, the books are being distributed by friends in my network there. The two-month lockdown here in Switzerland and the cancellation of almost all events since then has given me lots of pleasant time to write.” Sally Hendrickson Shaw came to the Cape for a vacation in August and we got together for lunch here at my home in Craigville. We had a lovely time in my side garden eating lobster rolls and a glass of chilled white wine! (Same menu. Delicious!) And this time, Sally brought some wonderful French pastry from a bakery near her. Sally had a great trip last fall to Sweden, met many new friends, and had some good stories to tell me. She said the trip was fabulous and she is so glad she went when she did before everything shut down. She and her husband live in Marblehead, Massachusetts.” Phoebe Erickson responded, “As of August 21, I’ve finally joined the ranks of all you grandmothers. Both of my daughters now live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and we are in a COVID-19 pod with them and their husbands, and now the baby—Hugo! So during these awful times of uncertainty, we are about as lucky as anyone.” Congratulations, Phoebe! Flora Dickie Adams said that she sold her little rental bungalow in North Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., to exchange for something in Monterey, California, closer to her daughter and her family. Then came the California fires. Flora then had some health issues which ended with her being hospitalized. Now after many tests, Flora is going to have surgery in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile she is writing postcards to urge people to vote! She said, “I’ve figured out that getting old is simply a process of learning to live with one new irritant after another.” We all wish you a speedy recovery, Flora. And now after all that news, I, Valerie Banks Lane, have little to tell about the last months except to say that I enjoyed being in my wonderful little house in Craigville Village, the most charming place to be on earth, and that I read, puttered, and kept in touch with friends. We created Tuscany here at home in our side yard for the summer with lights hung and a long table and chairs. We had been planning to travel there this summer and were not able to do so, of course. We were happy to have friends for
dinner, which I had missed, and we had socially distanced fun while staying safe outdoors. Jim and I have kind of gotten into a routine since the pandemic began, and we have led a calm and quiet life enjoying the simple things. Gardening has taken up a lot of time in the warmer months and baking bread and cooking will probably do so for the fall and winter. This may go on for another year, so we may have to settle in and just endure. I think I’ll start knitting. I want to make some colorful socks. In the meantime, I hope by the time this alumni magazine arrives we have a new President. Finally, I am so sorry to report that Joy Haley Rogers’ husband, Lawrence, passed away peacefully in February after a long battle with Lewy Body Disease and Parkinson’s, right before the pandemic hit. Laurie was 78 years old. He had a Ph.D. in numerical analysis from the University of Waterloo and worked for over 35 years in computer research and development, opening research labs in Europe, Israel, and Japan. He and Joy lived in Del Mar, California, for many years. Laurie contributed to NASA’S GRAIL mission satellite launch, which included Sally Ride’s Science MoonKAM experiment to engage school children around the world in lunar exploration. After an early retirement, he and Joy, “the Admiral,” sailed on their boat, Freelance, for more than five years along the coasts of North and Central America, making many friends along the way. He was enormously accomplished but never changed from the kind and gentle man that we always knew when we visited with each other over the years. I extend our very deepest sympathy to my good friend Joy and her family. Remember that if everything cooperates, our 60th reunion will be held next June on the Hopkins campus. I hope you can make it. If so, please email me and we can make plans. Until then, take care of yourselves!
1961 HGS Bob Kessler bobkesslerib@gmail.com
1962 DPH Judith Parker Cole judithparkercole@gmail.com Suzie Ferguson Nicolino writes, “Because of COVID-19, my neighbor and I painted a pickleball court on our cul-de-sac. We play at least twice a week right outside our houses.That’s my house in the background of the picture. We play only with people who are as careful as we are about socially distancing. The five houses on our cul-de-sac have Happy Hour Saturday evenings. It has been a GREAT way to get to know each other, with ages from 33 to 81.” Roz Farnam reports from her home in Golden, Colorado, where she is sheltering in place with her family, which includes her husband Jim, daughter Laura and grandson Julian, age 6. “We are homeschooling, which is a challenge. We did take a trip to Sand Dunes National Park in June, pictured here. Great to play in the sand and creek. I also want to report that I do have a major health issue. In June 2019, I had a seizure and was eventually diagnosed with a glioblastoma brain tumor. I have reached the median survival date and am doing very well so far. I have had no particular symptoms or side effects. The details of my treatment can be found on CaringBridge.com as well as pictures and movies from my 75th birthday party on November 9. My brother, Jim, made a movie of my life and DPHS is mentioned! So look it up and wish me well.” We do indeed, dear Roz. Her Caring Bridge page gives you a great opportunity to wish her well personally. VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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(ABOVE) Home and COVID Pickleball Court of Suzie Ferguson Nicolino ’62 DPH. (RIGHT) Roz Farnam ’62 DPH with her grandson, Julian, at Sand Dunes National Park. Ann Carter-Drier’s modus operandi sounds so familiar: “I’m staying home… ordering take-out with friends and sitting 12 feet apart on the grass. We do this weekly to stay sane!” Terri Petrillo Connolly wrote, “We returned from Florida in early May, have stayed well, and have stayed somewhat hunkered here. Three of our children and their families, all in the Washington, D.C., area, are working from home; our Connecticut state trooper and our personal trainer sons in Florida cannot work from home and are safe so far. The hardest part for us is not being able to see our grandchildren up close and personal, especially the two- and four-year-olds who change daily, and missing our Florida son’s wedding. As for myself, Judy Parker Cole, I was sad to hear of the passing of our dear math teacher, Betty Bradley Benedict ’40 DAY, in October 2020. Many of us who attended our class reunions at Hopkins over the years were thrilled to see her there, and in recent years, traveling from her retirement home in Vermont to be with us. She enthusiastically endorsed my nomination of Ellen Patterson Brown for the Distinguished Alumna Award and helped it become a reality. Please keep in touch here, and may you all be well.
1962 HGS Marshal D. Gibson mgibtax@aol.com From Thomas Fiorito: “It’s been a long time since I provided class notes. In fact, to my embarrassment I’m not sure I ever have. (My long term memory is competing with my lackluster short term memory for most facts forgotten.) So at the risk of redundancy, here goes. I spent 30 years in the investment banking and private banking businesses before switching gears and starting a sports video boutique. We produced highlight reels for high school athletes who wished to use their superior athleticism to enhance their chances of being accepted to their college of choice. It gave me the opportunity to use my creativity and was much more fun than listening to CFOs tell me how much more they knew about the securities business than I did. I sold the business in 2010 and moved from Darien, Connecticut, to New Hampshire to be closer to my two daughters. The eldest has three children, ages 11, 8, and 6, whom I see on a regular basis. My younger one was finishing up at UNH and now is a bartender and aspiring ‘life coach.’ I also have a son, Tom, Jr., who practices radiology in Zurich, Switzerland. Sadly, I don’t see 40
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him and his two daughters as often as I would like. If you all had been more prescient you would have voted me ‘most likely to have poor health.’ So far, I have had a quadruple bypass, prostate cancer, and my colon removed. Now, with COVID-19 around, I await the fourth shoe to drop. Hopefully not, and I hope you all have successfully escaped it as well. Notwithstanding, I remain hopeful and enjoy chasing my three grandchildren around and fly fishing. That’s it for now. Be well.” Marshal Gibson’s son, Graham ’97, left his position at the White House with President Obama and has continued doing IT work for President and Mrs. Obama in their home and offices. Marshal’s daughter, Laura, is concluding her last effort to complete her Ph.D. in history at American University. Dick Gutman’s son, Paul, and Graham have remained fast friends and continue to see each other frequently. Buzz Poverman continues to spend a portion of the year in Tucson, Arizona, and the balance of the year in San Diego, California.
1963 DPH Carol Stock Kranowitz carolkranowitz@gmail.com Three themes occur in our column: the death of Elizabeth “Betty” Bradley Benedict ’40 DAY, COVID-19, and our world’s future. Caroline “Bunny” Stancliff Fazekas writes, “Betty Benedict, a strong and sunny woman, was a well-loved teacher! She gave me Speed Math—a very handy skill with a checkbook—so I didn’t need to know how to use a calculating machine. Though, when I got to grad school in biostatistics, I had to learn, but now I don’t remember and prefer Betty’s way. We need more role models like B3. I had foot surgery due to arthritis (who ever heard of that?), and am non-weight-bearing for eight weeks, hopping on one foot with a walker. If that doesn’t slow life down even more than COVID-19, what does? While there is a great deal of wariness and sadness this year, I have hopes in the innate goodness of people and especially for the next generation and their plans to keep our planet clean. Rangeley is going full speed ahead opening Saddleback Mountain, with remodeling of the lodge, an explosion of condo and home sales, crowds of tourists
who respect mask wearing…all very exciting. Not everything is doom and gloom, and I am glad to be part of this community.” Mary Kittredge Mlady concurs that B3 was a splendid teacher who taught us to use our best judgment in everything we do, not just in math. “Speed Math is how I have kept my checkbook, forever! Glad to be able to do it without a calculator’s help.” After reading B3’s obituary, Sarah Robbins Jenks Coate comments, “Wow! A long, influential, and well-lived life.” Nancy Boldt Vicknair says, “She was such a nice lady!” Patricia Fiorito Oakes writes, “I worshipped (Betty) and loved every minute of her classes—or even just being in her presence. What an extraordinary teacher and person, and weren’t we so fortunate to have been her students! Seeing her was always a highlight of reunions. I’ve been self-isolating since mid-March, and haven’t been in any store since then. Although my school has opened up, I have the option of working either on campus or from home. (Choice B.) I have kept my sanity by weekly visits with my Brooklyn, New York, family, who welcomed a baby girl in June. Who had even heard of Zoom before March?? A silver lining is getting in touch with people I haven’t connected with in a long time, and renewed friendships have blossomed. Swims at a nearby beach and occasional socially distanced lunch dates round out my suffering social life. I miss pre-COVID-19 life, but am grateful for what I have, which so many in the world do not: safety, food, shelter, health care, financial security, loving family, etc. So much that I thought was important absolutely isn’t. I think we are all on the same page.” Lynn Davis Lyons writes, “Betty Benedict was my favorite teacher and incredibly patient with me, math-challenged as I was. I’m so glad she was at our reunion! I have been fortunate during this pandemic that my family and I have been well, although we miss socializing. Staying home has meant more time for reading, and I have been consuming books about race, especially two by Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste, both of which I strongly recommend, as well as fiction by African-American writers like James McBride and Angie Thomas. We just watched the first Presidential non-debate, and it’s hard not to be anxious about the coming election and its aftermath. On a lighter note, my husband, Mark, wrote a brief log of a day in his life during the pandemic for The New York Times’ Pandemic Logs: ‘Lynne hosted Mah Jongg. Picked up new glasses. Spaghetti carbonara for dinner.’ (His spaghetti carbonara is terrific!) I hope all of our classmates have been well and safe so far this year!” Mary Anne Barry Cox sends “greetings from Guilford, Connecticut, where nothing is new since March 2020, when I became an ‘indoor cat’ in a duplex house with my daughter and daughter-in-law, an arrangement that allows independence but keeps us close. Connecticut was hard hit as a neighbor of New York and New Jersey in the early pandemic days, so life took a strange turn as a result of restrictions that canceled travel and vacations. We hope to continue the traditions next year. I continue with Coursera courses—Roman Architecture, the French Revolution, and a Happiness Course—and lots of reading—These Facts (Jill Lepore) and Front Row at the White House (Jonathan Karl)—and lots of news watching! I know it’s not good for me, but I feel like a witness. A call for six-word memoirs from NPR prompted the following: ‘Worries from democracy to disinfectant oppress.’ I once bought an apron with a checklist of things that mothers worry about. I checked all the boxes and wrote an article for The New York Times called, ‘Call Your Mother.’ Now those worries seem like a huge waste of time. I never worried about a pandemic, except when I was the Incident Commander for my agency during H1N1. Our plan was to send everyone home, transition to distance learning and working from home, and await
further instructions. Some things never change. Now I worry about grandchildren who are starting college all over the globe or in bedrooms trying to learn from a distance and change a ‘lost year’ into a ‘gap year.’ The asterisk athletes in the group are practicing in bubbles. I would be worried about them no matter where or when. The most hopeful thing I can think of is Betty Benedict’s advice to me as a non-math type: ‘If things don’t always add up (and nothing is adding up right now), try a new start.’ And so I hope we will all try a new start. Be safe and well, everyone.” Meg Bluhm Carey says, “Regular life came to an abrupt halt in March. For 93 days, tuning into Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s daily coronavirus briefings were essential. All in all, we have fared well, and in fact, my gardens have never looked so beautiful because of the extra time I could spend in them. Being at home also meant we could no longer put off cleaning out the 35 years of stuff in our storage shed. We do visit outdoors with a few friends and family members but anticipate a more limited social life as the weather gets colder. Since we do make trips out for necessary shopping, we are definitely planning on early voting, in-person. I hope for an overwhelming turnout in the election.” I (Carol “Bonnie” Stock Kranowitz) spent this historic summer collaborating with a colleague, Joye Newman, to create 10 webinars for early childhood educators about our “In-Sync Child” philosophy and sensory-motor activity program. The webinars will be marketed internationally by two companies, and we are excited about putting some fun and functional products out into the universe. A last word about Betty Benedict. Circa 1962, she gave us a pop quiz with a formula to use as needed. Five questions required it. The sixth question was something like, “What is seven minus two plus three?” Pell-mell, I applied the complex formula. (Oops!) Mrs. Benedict took me aside the next day, and I’ll always treasure her beautiful rebuke: “Bonnie, before you act, think.” Be safe and sane, my friends!
1963 HGS Ron Groves groves18@gmail.com It goes without saying that when Jim Scialabba passed away this summer, we lost one of the most respected members of our class. A true gentleman, Jim was everybody’s friend. He and Frank Loehmann were the closest of pals, first meeting way back in kindergarten and nearly inseparable thereafter. Also in that kindergarten class was Fred Martz, who must think he’s still in kindergarten—playing with his electric trains. While sheltering in place for the most part, he has enlarged his layout with Lionel equipment of 1920s vintage as well as a 2005 Pennsylvania Railroad CG1 model electric locomotive. “If I ever retire,” wrote Mark Sklarz, “I will seek to embark upon a second career as a wannabe chef.” “IF” you’re going to retire? Come on, Sklarzie, who are you kidding? You know you aren’t ever going to retire. Nevertheless, while home due to the pandemic he baked challahs and chocolate babkas with his wife, Judy. “Most recently, I assiduously barbecued and smoked a brisket on a charcoal grill. It took seven hours but was delicious,” he unabashedly claimed. Most important, he won the praises of his granddaughters. So how do the rest of us old folks pass the time these days? Well, Alan Silberberg bought a dog. “A corgi,” he said. “Glad we did. No kids around, so the dog is our kid, and frankly the dog is more pleasant than our children.” Don’t worry, Alan. I won’t tell them. Man, if you can’t laugh at yourself at this age and take things in stride, you’re missing some of the finer things of senior citizenship. I know I sure laugh at myself a lot, mostly after missing two-foot putts. Like all of us, Gordon Allen VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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and Penny have changed their routine. “We have made it a rule to eat out once a week. Who would have thought that would be a big deal?” he asked. In August, the Allens visited their infant grandson in Massachusetts. “After one morning temperature hit 37 (degrees), we shortly fled south to get warm again.” By the way, Alan, if you need any advice on raising your corgi, Gordon and Penny can tell you all about making their pups their children. Another Floridian, John Crowther, remarked, “We hunkered down at home in February. We were required by the State of Florida to shut Margaret’s day spa and my karate dojo in March, but the law office remained open (an ‘essential’ activity) even though the courthouses were closed.” Since reopening the dojo, John has been running karate classes three times a week. “Thankfully, there have been no instances of COVID-19 involving any of our businesses or properties,” he reported. Dana Blanchard gave a cold shoulder to his Connecticut roots this time around. “We decided to bypass Connecticut this year due to COVID-19,” he said. “We flew directly from Florida to Utah at the end of May and sheltered in our place in south Utah for the summer. Being in a rural area, social distancing was not a problem.” Poor Dana was only able to play golf one day a week in Utah, so he couldn’t wait to get back to the Sunshine State. And how come I always hear from the Floridians? Inquiring minds want to know what’s going on in the rest of the world. And now for the big deal. I bet you never expected that we would have a movie star in our class. In Justice On Trial: The Movie, two civil rights attorneys sue the U.S. Department of Justice for reparations and damages done to African Americans. According to the movie’s publicist, the lead civil rights attorney who represents the African American people “is an older, distinguished looking, white fellow portrayed by John Gesmonde.”
in August. This feature-length documentary presents a radical reframing of the use of disabled characters in film. Using hundreds of clips spanning over 100 years of moviemaking, and a cast of disabled artists, scholars, and activists, it’s a scorching critique of some of Hollywood’s most beloved plots and characters. Distributed by Kino Lorber: kinolorber.com/film/code-of-the-freaks. In the spring Class Notes 2020 Salome was looking forward to the screenings of her movie and it is very exciting to hear she was able to follow through with her plans. Congratulations, Salome. Jane Bradley Herlacher shares, “In January, my husband, Larry, and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary by visiting the Northford Congregational Church, where we were married. Later, we enjoyed a cruise through the impressive Panama Canal. Next we shared a Florida Keys vacation with our two children, their spouses and five grandchildren. Then the pandemic arrived. As Larry worked from home, I focused on long-delayed gardening projects in a little nearby park, along my neighborhood’s roadway and around our yard. We celebrated family milestones with outdoor gatherings, six feet apart with masks, although it was difficult not to hug the grandchildren (ages 3–12). While coping with way too many Zoom meetings, we’re making plans for our Massachusetts home to age-in-place. Maybe construction can start next year? Right now, we are all well and hope everyone else is too.” Michelle “Mady” Milikowsky Harman writes “Goodness, but DPH seems so long ago, so far away. My husband, Sandy, and I have been hunkered down in Westport, Connecticut, and my daughter, her husband and two children settled in with us in March. That was when New York schools went remote. My son and his family live in New Jersey and they visited twice… we ate outside, wore masks inside. What a bizarre new normal. But we are all well, staying home (now between New York and Connecticut). Classes online, bridge online, Zoom visits and holidays… just like everyone. And so we are safe and wait for the world to recover. My best wishes to all.” I have always loved the expression, “life is good,” which it is, but life has become a bit more challenging as we move through 2020. I hope everyone is finding a way to navigate through our unusual present. Be well. –Mary
1964 HGS Michael Adelberg mga@aya.yale.edu
John Gesmonde ’63 HGS (center) portrays a civil rights attorney in Justice On Trial: The Movie.
1964 DPH Mary Stevens Rider gringastevens@gmail.com Thank you to everyone who was able to get back to me on short notice. News or no news, it was great to hear from you. Salome Chasnoff’s most recent film, Code of the Freaks, began screening in festivals in March 2020 and was released on DVD and VOD 42
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Fred Smith: “I am coming down the stretch in my effort to move to Portugal, but I’m not quite there, yet. I am waiting for my visa to be stamped on my passport and returned to me. In the interim, I have become a packing fool (some would say just delete ‘packing’ to provide a more accurate description), and I’m on the last leg of that. I will be back in contact once I make my way to my apartment in Cascais, a medium-sized city about 15 miles west of Lisbon on the Atlantic Ocean.” John “Bearcat” Walker: “During the house arrest of the past six months (or is that seven now?), I’ve been doing house stuff, by which I mean working on motorcycles, working on my workshop, sitting in my hot tub and/or pool (a little tiny aboveground pool with a bungee cord arrangement that lets you swim in place all day long—surprisingly no more boring than swimming laps at the ‘Y,’ which has been closed lately anyway). Took a few camping trips up in the Sierras, but I think the forests are all closed right now because of the fires in California. A few months ago, the area called Kennedy Meadows was partially open—one campground was open and dispersed camping was allowed outside the campground—but no
campfires. My plan to escape from California has been on hold since February or so… so many accommodations were closed that house hunting trips became more difficult than I cared to deal with. So maybe next year, unless I’m just too old to move house. We’ll see. One nice thing about being an old geezer is that I’ve reached a level of contentment that escaped me in my younger years. I have found that happiness depends not on having what I want, but on wanting what I have. I don’t remember where I read that a few years ago, but it nicely sums up the present situation for me. It’s hard to imagine how miserable going through the present lockdown/open up/lockdown again would have been in some previous parts of my life—living in a one-room apartment or in a motel room for instance—many moons ago. Now not only do I have a nice place to be but at my age I also don’t mind staying home anyway—within limits, of course. I am planning a road trip for this fall to visit family back east, if the rate of fertilizer hitting the ventilator doesn’t skyrocket again. Time will tell.” John Morgan: “Greetings, fellow old codgers, from little Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, my home of 48 years.While each season has its appeal out here, I think fall is the most beautiful. The majority of summer residents have headed home to Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and other scattered places, so the town population is down to about 700 folks. My lifestyle hasn’t really altered since the start of the pandemic. I never have ventured far from home, even during the best of times, and wonder dog Jack and I can safely hike around town and up the mountain trails without bumping into crowds. I still shoot lots of pictures—just not to make a living. So, except for the unfortunate fact that I can’t safely see my daughter, son-in-law, and two little grandsons who live in California, life is good. Be well and be a blessing, everybody.” Mark Blumenthal: “I’ve written in this column before about my bridge-playing passion. With COVID-19, bridge has gone online, and there are many more games scheduled than before. So, I get to play much more, with no commute time to a bridge club. Back in early March, just before COVID-19, I was playing in a tournament in Orange, Connecticut. I sat down at a table and tried to introduce myself. One of the opponents said, ‘I know who you are.’ I figured my visible name tag helped him discern this, but there must have been more to his answer. ‘I’m Jon Clark, Hopkins Class of ’62.’ I don’t recall ever having met him, but he knew about me from reading these Class Notes. Imagine that… fellow alumni actually read this. Who’d’a thunk it? Now I’ve got a new (old) friend to add to my bridge world acquaintances.” Robert K. Guthrie: “Hi all. Things are pretty much as you would expect here. I’ve discovered Zoom courses and have been enjoying those, having taken one on the urban history of New Haven and another about the mythic trickster. Ancestry work continues to be fascinating. I discovered that an ancestor owned both Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, so I’m thinking of putting in a claim. Another was hanged as a witch in 1692 (Rebecca Nurse of The Crucible). Scottish prisoners of war, Quakers who were banished, and numerous men who participated in the Native American genocide. If I had known this as a young man, I would have paid more attention to my history classes. Lots of reading, walking, and 16 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy. Hope you are all well.” Chris Fenger: “Notes from a fogbound peninsula, September 28, 2020. Fog, fog, and more fog here in Cushing, Maine. Foggiest fall I can remember. It’s also an accurate description of my mental state as well as a good metaphor for my Magic 8-ball prediction of the outcome of our November 3 election. Continue to be in touch with old HGS pals, Steve Barrett, John Braman, and Jim Seymour. Had a nice text with Bearcat Walker after reading his Bulletin submission. Fondly
remember playing pool with him in the basement of Yale’s Berkeley College where his dad was Master back in the day. Wish we had been able to share our love of motorcycles. Looking forward to ski season. Old farts like us get a free pass at the Camden Ski Bowl, plus halfprice tickets at places like Maine’s Sugarloaf and Sunday River (and soon to open after a long hiatus: Saddleback). As always, my door is open to any classmates who can tolerate hanging out with an IPAaddicted hermit.” Bill Ablondi: “… I’m not retired yet, as I’m still enjoying what I do. I’ve been working from whatever home I’ve lived in for the last several decades, so the ‘lockdown’ didn’t affect that part of my life. It did, however, put a temporary end to my travels for business with pleasure appended on. So it’s been a bit boring, but that’s a ‘Champagne’ problem. My family and I are very fortunate as we’re all doing fine. The weather this summer here in Westchester, New York, has been great for outdoor entertaining and we’ve had several small dinner parties on our back deck. So not all social activity has been curtailed for us. Plus, we’ve taken to going on long walks around the neighborhood (we’re not in the mountains so we can’t call them hikes) and gotten to know it much better. Seeing things we’ve always overlooked. Unfortunately, I’ve not been in touch with any of you this past year, so I’m enjoying reading about your activities. Best to all, be well.” Fred Southwick: “So great to hear about everyone. Kathie and I are sheltering in place as Florida’s governor opens the bars and restaurants and tells our college students to go back to partying. I tried to stem disinformation about COVID-19 by creating a Coursera course ‘COVID-19: A Clinical Update’ | University of Florida, coursera.org/learn/covid19clinicalupdate. It is aimed at the lay public, but many of our politicians have refused to follow the facts outlined in the course. Very frustrating. I remain on the faculty doing e-consults and telemedicine. Also for the last month, I am training to row in the virtual Head of the Charles. Hoping not to come in last. Kathie and I are enjoying our three grandsons with FaceTime and periodic visits. Also, I am working on the campaign with our medical students called VoteHealth to get out the vote in Florida. Florida will be very very close. If anyone wants to help virtually, let me know. Be careful and wear your mask. Predictions suggest the pandemic won’t quiet down until the third quarter of 2021. Love you guys and am so thankful for you and Hopkins.” Paul Thim Sr.: “I am writing this update a month before the 2020 Presidential election, and, like many others, I am concerned about the future of our country and of the COVID-19 pandemic, trying to keep a healthy perspective on both issues, while not forgetting that they are both quite serious. It’s not always easy. It helps to realize that, as a retired couple, my wife, Sandy, and I belong to the group of people who may be having the easiest time adapting to COVID-19. We have friends and relatives, especially younger adults, dealing with job losses and furloughs, adapting to working at home and managing day care, being front line workers, trying to contend with serious illness and aging relatives, and moving ahead with weddings and childbirth. Compared with so many others, we are fortunate to be dealing with adapting to retirement and the natural process of aging. It is good to stay in touch with Hopkins classmates, remotely and, eventually I hope, in person.” Neil Hiltunen: “I’ve started Fred Southwick’s excellent COVID-19 course and have also enjoyed reading everyone else’s input. It certainly is an interesting time. A new NASA post-COVID-19image of the world is attached. Throughout our lives, planning and setting goals has been foundational. This strategy for living was predicated on predictable events and patterns. With the world turned upside down, that all has VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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had the ball/socket of my ’97 hip replacement replaced. Walked out of hospital on foot 18 hours later. Waiting for a few other replacement replacements… and ski season!” Michael G. Adelberg: “My little mom-n-pop (medical) business was enabled to stay open because Unq sent me a $135K check to cover two months’ payroll. On behalf of those paid-up employees, I thank you all very much for that! We here in Sacramento are directly in the path of all the smoke from California wine country wildfires. With each breath, I do my part in removing very large numbers of particulates from the ‘air.’ This leaves no room for any COVID-19 virus that might want to enter. I thank you all for keeping us all in touch with each other!” –Michael
1965 DPH Alumnae interested in serving as correspondents for the Class of 1965 DPH may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
1965 HGS Tom Delaney tfed3rd@gmail.com
Neil Hiltunen ’64 HGS offers his class a new NASA post-COVID-19 image of the world. changed, and I don’t know what to think any more. Planning barely extends longer than a week, and more predictable is today’s lunch. I DO know that I was uncomfortable trying to deliver excellent dentistry to patients with layers of Personal Protective Equipment separating us. Impaired visibility and communication along with overheating took the joy away from the dentistry I knew and loved. So, on June 30, I retired. The needs of our children and grandchildren have taken priority as my wife, Gail, and I stay two days each week with three grandsons in Brookline, Massachusetts, to help our daughter and her husband manage their work/daycare/‘school’ schedules. We try to understand this ‘remote learning’ idea. (I think this means that the chances of learning are remote.) Changing schedules and protocols seem to require more attention than the subjects being presented by instructors who seem to have little to no training in this method of ‘teaching.’ I suppose the bright side is that these changes and new ways of living are more easily managed the younger one is. Our grandson, wearing his mask, got off the school bus and came into the house still wearing his mask as if he still had his shirt on. There was little thought about whether or not he was wearing a mask, and he seemed to be totally comfortable with it. (I take mine off at every opportunity I can.) Dental licensing exams have changed too, and I continue examining for the Commission on Dental Competency Assessments (formerly the Northeast Regional Board of Dental Examiners). However I don’t travel long distances anymore and stay within New England and Long Island. Seeing what dental students are facing helps me appreciate being at this end of my career. Artificial teeth are quickly becoming a standard tool for measurement of competency rather than having patient-based exams. This report is certainly shorter than it could be, and perhaps we could consider a virtual happy hour if anyone is interested. I hope all our classmates are staying well.” Steve Barrett: “I’m game for Zoomy thing! Only news is that I’m glad to be back in my Hopkins-size jeans, plus, for all of you ‘Old Bones’ arthritic peeps, 44
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It is with sadness I wanted to let you know that Michael Lopez passed away in May 2020 from complications associated with COVID-19. He leaves behind his wife, Nga Lopez, daughter and son-in-law, Caroline and Nicholas Miranda, and beloved granddaughter Eleanor Miranda. Michael’s wife may be reached at ngalopez2@gmail.com. Tommy Burkhard has nothing to report from North Carolina other than that his 99-year-old father contracted COVID-19 but sailed through it. He’s on to 100. Off to the golf course. Gordy Clark is now fully retired, and is enjoying biking, boating, and golfing, much of which he can do through the fall in Maine. But, he’ll have to figure out what to do with himself during the dead, cold, dark days of winter! John Cherniavsky’s big news this past year is that he and his wife, Maria, have retired from the National Science Foundation. They had planned lots of travel, but COVID-19 killed those plans. Their son, Peter, is taking all remote classes from George Mason University, with plans to graduate this academic year with a Computer Science major. Recent news from Gregg Cook is that his employer, nonprofit Promare, Inc. has launched the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS), which it built in Gdansk. They incorporated Promare’s autonomous bridge system that was developed over the past 15 or more years using their proprietary software, to provide auto-heading and depth keeping for their submersibles. Promare added AI software including target recognition capabilities with close to a million images of ships, buoys, rocks, submerged sea containers, etc., and international rules for navigation and safety at sea. They partnered with IBM to enable the crunching of vast amounts of data with their supercomputers. IBM owns the weather channel, enabling Promare to access in real-time weather info enabling the MAS to operate safely in foul weather conditions. Promare had planned for the MAS vessel to sail on September 19 from Plymouth, United Kingdom, where our company MSubs Ltd is, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, with a stop on the Cape like the original Mayflower 400 years ago. COVID-19 pushed that event back a couple of months, so Promare launched the vessel and had her christened by the U.S. and Dutch Ambassadors and the U.K.’s First Sea Lord at the launch. The BBC coverage was the second most watched segment the next day when it was aired. It even made the Hartford Courant. More information on autonomous ships is available on Google. Promare is the only company to have actually built one. The formal sailing date has been
delayed until April 2021. Check promare.org, and also mas400.com, which IBM put up the day of the launch. Robert Jose has nothing out of the ordinary to report. Just golf, socially distanced dinners outdoors, small groups visiting on patios or porches, hiking with the dog, and swimming in Long Island Sound. Fortunately, no one in Bob’s neighborhood or circle of friends has contracted COVID-19. Bob’s son, Tyler, who lives in Sacramento, California, has had to deal with poor air quality due to the wildfires. Bill Kneisel and his family have remained in semi-quarantine in Manchester, Massachusetts. He sends his best wishes to us all. Sandy Kurtz commented that Michael Lopez was a gentle soul. John Mordes reports that he and Sunny are well. He continues to work and see patients, some in person. He also still has research funding, but things are very tight. The sad news of Mike Lopez’ death has given him pause. The election gives him hope enveloped by dread. But, he does look forward to a new beginning and the chance to have a Zoom reunion, perhaps in November, that will be followed by a vaccine. On a much lighter note, Dr. John was involved in a wonderful video made in Jay Leno’s garage in Burbank, California. It seems that Dr. John’s Dad kept a ’59 Oldsmobile Rocket ’88 in immaculate condition over the years and then passed it along to him. John in turn continued to maintain the car garaged and still in showroom condition in Worcester, Massachusetts. Ultimately, John connected with Jay Leno and they arranged for John’s car to be shipped to the west coast to be included in Jay’s famous car collection. Word is that Jay made a modest donation to Hopkins as a result of John’s gift. Never expected the car story to go viral! Check it out at the link: youtu.be/P2X9085liVk After several years of hiding quietly in the background, Ken Ralph finally decided to check in once again. He and wife Wendy have been retired now for close to 16 years. They have continued to enjoy living on the lake, boating, and teaching grandkids various water sports. Until this past spring, his wakeboarding (actually more wake surfing now) friends and he have remained pretty active. However, COVID-19 stopped that along with most of their other group activities. For most of their retirement years, Ken and Wendy have traveled extensively in Europe, South America and the Pacific, but the virus and Wendy’s back surgery brought that to a screeching halt. So far, they have canceled four trips this year; the two planned for next year aren’t looking hopeful. Fortunately Ken was able to manage making his annual ski trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, last January. For the past six months, he has found refuge in riding his motorcycle(s) throughout the Blue Ridge and Appalachian mountains, mostly solo, but on occasion with one or two friends (masks required). Their son Tim, a perpetual bachelor, finally found the right one at age 40. Now, three years later, he is married, has children ages 1 and 3, a dog and seven cats! Weekend visits from the little ones always brighten their spirits and give Ken and Wendy something to look forward to. Ken’s other two grandkids are now teenagers and so involved with their own activities that they rarely see them. Life threw Ken a curveball in August when he was diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer. After multiple trips to both the local hospital and Duke Cancer Center for tests, minor surgeries, and consultations he is now on a schedule of chemo treatments through January. He’s in the first cycle of chemo (three weeks on, one week off, with one infusion a week). The plan is to go through four of these cycles and hopefully end with surgery to remove the tumor, probably in February. If the tumor does not shrink or the cancer spreads, he has a Plan B. In any case, the prognosis for surgery is good at this time since scans, endoscopy, and laparoscopic surgery have all shown negative results. Ken has not been in contact
with any of our classmates in several years, but some may be interested in his health issues. Ken welcomes all the prayers that may come his way. Ken sends his regards to my classmates. He hopes the New Year will be a brighter one for all of us. This has been a quiet year for Doug Romero. The COVID-19 hasn’t come knocking at his door. He meets up regularly with Bob Jose for an occasional round of golf (or has it been for an occasional round at the 19th hole?). Billy Walik and Kathy are doing well. Their barge, Sterna, is still afloat, but alas, their annual winter-over in France may not happen this year.
1966 DPH Elisa Reisner reisnercpa@aol.com Barbara Bailey Sala writes, “I’m doing tons of volunteering in my little city of Lemon Grove, California. We’re just east of San Diego. I’m involved with the Lions and we are distributing food in partnership with the Food Bank, every week to our community. We have been helping since April. We also have two grandchildren! I love watching my grandkiddos grow—they are 7 and 9 now. Such a blessing! Hope you are all well, take care.” And Martha Hoadley Clark writes: “Jeff and I were very fortunate to spend four months at our seasonal home in Essex, New York, in the Adirondacks. We spent most of our time outside, which is a good antidote to the inside quarantine of the late winter and spring. We had a visit from one son and family and drove to Colorado to see our other son and his family. We are now back in Connecticut. I trust all of our classmates are enduring the wide variety of experiences and events we are confronted with!” And Elisa Korsi Reisner writes: “Alan and I have been quarantining at home due to ‘you-know-what!’ The house is cleaner than it ever was before (with three children, who could never catch up), finally indulging in our reading, and meditating to keep a smidgen of inner peace. What a different world than the one we grew up in! I still miss the graham crackers and milk at 10:30! But we got a wonderful ‘send-off ’ for the rest of our lives from DPH.” Our email for Barbara Maltby was returned, if anyone has a new email. Thanks! Lisa
1966 HGS Charlie McClure cnmjr132@gmail.com This is being penned at the end of October 2020. Hopefully, by the time this is being read, we will be in a very different place. Keeping in mind that our class had our college graduation either modified or canceled due to the moratorium, and our 50th college reunion canceled due to the pandemic, we are either very resilient or just numb to the goings on. All have restricted activities, some claim to be hanging on by a thread or are surprised to still be alive, but all have kept on keeping on. Brad Benedict has spent time with his adult children in beautiful spots like Norwich and Stowe, Vermont, and Gloucester, Massachusetts. He has been in touch with Tim English and Don Crane. He said Don would definitely win the prize for the youngest looks in our class, and that’s after a more than 70-mile bike ride from Trinity Pawling, New York, to Madison, Connecticut. Fred Schueler and his wife, Aleta Karsted, have been awarded the Glen Davis Conservation Leadership prize of $10,000. They live and work in Canada and intend to use the prize money to fund their nonprofit called Fragile Inheritance Natural History. As he has reported in the past, Fred has more irons in the fire than can be listed VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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here. Ed Woodyard reports that he hopes that we will get to reune for our 55th, and put 2020 in the rear view mirror. In the meantime he has just been named to the Revolutionary Westchester 250 Committee and will be inducted into the 2020 Class of Westchester County Senior Hall of Fame. He modestly states that this is because he is on Medicare and Social Security, but we know better. Peter McLaughlin notes there are a number of our classmates who are conspicuous by their absence, most particularly Steve Clifford, who is the only person from our class that he has actually run into in the “real world.” Bill Fogle reports that education is a lot more fun without final exams, so has taken 17 of The Great Courses, including one called Multivariable Calculus: Problems, Solutions and Tips. He has found he can only kill so much time with whiskey and sex (I suggest he try harder). Hervey Townshend continues to work, spend time at his home in Montana and with his grandchildren, and, most important, getting his hips replaced so that he can resume his greatest passion— cycling. John Turnier is a retired pathologist living in Burlington, Connecticut. He says COVID-19 has him staying homebound after a lifetime of international travel including living in the Netherlands. He and his wife, Jane, of 52 years have three children and seven grandchildren. Unfortunately he let it slip that his son, Charlie, is a manager with Comcast so we now have the name of someone to complain to; although I suggest you don’t take your complaint directly to Charlie since he is a bruiser at 6’5” 260 lbs.—better to use him as a reference. Mike Swirsky reports that he and his wife, Jane, are splitting time between their homes in Pleasantville, New York, and Boyton Beach, Florida. He has been an associate professor of Clinical Radiology at New York Medical College for 20 years, and is currently an attending radiologist at White Plains Hospital. He spends time with two grandchildren in Armonk, New York, and one in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mike Piccolo, who is healthy and living in good weather (it’s what we would expect in San Miguel de Allende), says that he is helping the local school resume classes on January 1, and figuring out how to reestablish quarterly spay/neuter clinics. One of our classmates above states that “all change is bad.” But he is very funny and writes very well. Since I do neither, he shall remain anonymous. But I can assure you it was a very funny sign-off to a letter. Stay well and keep laughing.
1967 DPH Alumnae interested in serving as correspondents for the Class of 1967 DPH may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
1967 HGS Alumni interested in serving as correspondents for the Class of 1967 HGS may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
1968 DPH Alumnae interested in serving as correspondents for the Class of 1968 DPH may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
1968 HGS Alumni interested in serving as correspondents for the Class of 1968 HGS may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
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1969 DPH Susan Ward jcnynlnds2@aol.com Last summer and fall, large patches of the West were either on fire or in the path of choking smoke. This prompted me to check in with Susan Amatruda Forrester and Cindy Saranec Livermore, both living just north of San Francisco, California, and Cinda Skinner Zemel, in Bellingham, Washington. All reported that their homes were out of harm’s way, but that smoke from the fires was thick. Susan wrote: “I am in Mill Valley in Marin County. The fires were about 60 miles away…We had very, very poor air quality, but no fire damage. I live in a wildlife urban interface (WUI) area just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, and we are not only terrified of fire, but we are also worried that we will lose our fire insurance… I still have family in Guilford, Connecticut, and my sister had a huge tree fall on her home during the last storm that went right through her roof and through a bedroom and into her dining room. It took a crane to remove the tree. Fortunately, although they were home, no one was injured. I spend half my year in Hawaii, but I still love Northern California, and it breaks my heart to see what has been happening with the fires these last few years.” On August 27, the woes of the West were briefly mirrored on the East Coast, when a tornado blew through parts of Hamden, North Haven, North Branford, and Branford, Connecticut, just weeks after a tropical storm hit parts of the coastline. Attempts to reach local classmates in time to meet the deadline for this column were unsuccessful, so here is what happened at my house. High winds drove heavy rain against the windows so hard I thought the glass would break, and I expected to find shingles torn off my roof, but I was lucky. My house was fine. I lost one large tree in the backyard, while some of my neighbors lost many. It was all over in a few minutes here in Branford, the town that sustained the most damage. We lost our power for 14 hours, when many utility poles were snapped in half. Trees, branches, and live power lines lay across streets. Some houses sustained severe damage. But fortunately, no one died… And in a year characterized by bad news, we’ll take the good wherever we can find it.
1969 HGS
Bruce Jacobs bjacobs@jacobs-jacobs.com Happy to report that my cajoling has paid off and I have a lot of news to report. Thanks to everyone who responded. Jere Licciardello writes: “I am writing a book. I intend to keep writing as long as I live. Otherwise, nothing. Hope everyone is safe and sound.” From Jim Berrie: “I’m now officially retired from the news business, after WorldNews.com decided to disband its North American team. I’m now working part-time as an interpreter at Nemours Estate and Gardens. Karen plans to retire at the end of this school year, so we plan to downsize and move to the Delaware shore.” Bob Klatskin writes: “I’m enjoying the fifth year since my retirement after a long career at Hughes Aircraft/Boeing. We moved out to our Palm Desert, California, house from Los Angeles, and sold our place there last year. The lockdown has been pretty severe in California, but at least only two of the fires are near us; lots of smoke in the air. In our county (Riverside), things are starting to reopen; I can go back to the gym every day as of Monday, and some of the restaurants are reopening. I got my hair cut for the first time in two months last week! We took a
Bruce Jacobs ’69 HGS with granddaughter Mika in Colorado. chance, and did the four-hour drive to Las Vegas, Nevada, last month twice for three-day stays. Lots of masks, lots of plexiglass at the card tables, every other slot machine turned off, but you could eat inside of restaurants. No menus though, only QR codes to be scanned. Also, no newspapers and elevators limited to four people. That’s pretty much our vacation(s) for this year, since our cruise was canceled. Now just spending my time watching politics. :)” Mike Tobin (being Mike Tobin) chimed in: “Howard Koh is on CNN and MSNBC quite often. He seems very knowledgeable about COVID-19 and medical issues in general.” Editor’s note: my wife, Irene, who is a judge, wanted to rule this out of the class notes as hearsay but, since I have also seen how good Howie is on TV, I allowed it. Fran Kuttner’s entry includes an offer we can’t refuse: “I thoroughly enjoyed our 50th reunion. Here in Cremona, Italy, life goes on, albeit fully masked. This part of Italy, the province of Lombardy, was hit very hard with COVID-19 last spring. I’m sure some of you saw the PBS Frontline program on the hospital here. I continue carving violins, violas, and cellos. Most of my work is sold through my dealer in Paris, so unfortunately I have to go there every once in a while. Anyone who still likes to travel is welcome to visit me in Cremona. There are really good eats here, washed down with delightful Lambrusco.” Editor’s note: what about the fava beans, Fran (and a nice Chianti)? Charlie Goetsch responded with: “In another sign of how COVID-19 forces us all to improvise, after being repeatedly postponed from June, my daughter Megan ’05’s traditional wedding for 150 at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut, morphed into a floating wedding on a charter boat anchored off my summer home on High Island in the Thimble Islands. On September 4, Meg was married to Brendon Maxwell Whalen while standing on the deck of the Volsunga IV surrounded by a flotilla of boats filled with family and friends, along with others standing close by on shore. The ceremony was livestreamed, allowing family in California to be present remotely. The event caught the eye of The New York Times, which ran a piece in the Sunday Vows section entitled ‘A Big Day for a Thimble Islands Romance.’ And we thought the 1960s were crazy.” Charlie,
allow me to add my congratulations to you and your family on this wonderful and creative event. I’ve known your new son-in-law, Max, since he was a boy. He’s a great addition to your family! Also, loved the Times article. Art Baldwin, never at a loss for words, writes: “My wife, Mary, and I are doing well. My family is pretty scattered (mom and sisters in Connecticut, son Tim in Mexico, daughters Allison in Indonesia and Carrie in Raleigh, North Carolina), so we haven’t seen any of them since January, when we met with our son and Carrie in Mexico. This was going to be a year of travel (Indonesia, visits to family, and somewhere in Europe), bike riding, and volunteering (tutoring algebra at a Seattle, Washington, high school and being a docent at the Burke Natural History museum). After a long hiatus, we were able to do some remote tutoring, but everything else is by the boards. Fortunately, Allison left us her dog, so each morning I take her up to the local park with the chuck-it and a tennis ball. Today was 58 throws. The bike trails were closed in April, so my bike riding has been around the block (actually, two blocks). It’s a mile, with an average grade of ~7%, so it’s downhill at 20 mph with both hands on the brakes, then uphill in granny gear at 3–4 mph. A lap takes about 10 minutes, allowing for a water break at the top. The most I’ve done is eight laps. The trails have reopened, but I’m not wearing a mask (fogs bike glasses) so I’m a bit skittish about trying my luck. I’ve done more projects around the house in the past six months than in any three- or four-year period previously. We had landscape work done, and invited my nephew Nate Clark ’05 and his wife, Jane Hu, over for socially distanced takeout from our favorite restaurant and to see it. Let me know if you’d like to hear about the T-Rex skull at the Burke, or how mammoth teeth are different from mastodon teeth, or why the recent discovery of an entire Revueltosaurus skeleton was so important.” As for me, I braved the outside world and drove, by myself, out to Colorado for my oldest granddaughter Mika’s fifth birthday (I haven’t missed any yet). The motel rooms on the road were immaculate, and people seemed to be pretty good about wearing masks. Otherwise, I’m staying busy enough at work, enjoying my two local granddaughters (Noa and Oren), and managing care for my 94- and 91-year-old parents, who still live in the house where I grew up. Finally, the Class of ’69 extends its sincere sympathies to Ben Benedict and the entire Benedict family on the loss of his incredible mother, Betty Bradley Benedict ’40 DAY. I got to know Betty when we sat together, pretty much every year, at the Hopkins volunteer recognition dinner. In addition to being a trailblazer for women who wanted careers, she was a delightful and engaging person, who will be missed. Hopkins has a scholarship fund in her name. A donation would be a great way to honor her memory. Thanks again for the submissions. As an incentive to send photos next spring, it will eliminate the risk of having to see more pictures of me.
1970 DPH Anne Bennett studentstrategies4growth@gmail.com Susan Becker writes from Vienna, Virginia: “I’m in my fifth year of teaching ESL for adults as a volunteer. The students—from all over the world—are wonderful, and I’m sure I get more from the class than they do.”
1970 HGS Brian Smith bcsmitty@gmail.com VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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1971 HGS
1976
Brian Smith bcsmitty@gmail.com
Alumni interested in serving as correspondents for the Class of 1976 may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
1972 DPH & HGS
1977
Richard Hehre richardhehre@gmail.com
Diane Kolligian Shannon dshannon925@gmail.com
1973 Michael P. Finnegan mfinnegan218@gmail.com It is hard to believe that it is 2020 and the Class of 1973 is going to be 65 (except you, Joe Peg). This is the age that we were supposed to retire. How many of you have retired or are planning to retire? Personally, I did it for one year and went nuts. Write me your stories and tell me how you are doing it.
1974 Anne Sommer anne.sommer.editor@gmail.com Hello all. I’m hoping that you and yours have been safe and well since March. What a hugely challenging time it’s been for so many people, here and across the globe, in so many ways. Thanks to those who sent in news and those who replied just to say hi. Some news from Tony DeLio: “I will be retiring at the end of February and moving from New Jersey to Naples, Florida. Taxes in New Jersey are too high for a pensioner, and my dad is now mostly also down in Florida. We have a condo in Chicago, Illinois, that we will also maintain, as it is close to my younger son and his wife. My other son lives in California and had a son last year at this time—so I am officially very old. So, some big changes for me. After going 150 mph for 43 years, I will be shifting gears, moving, and playing too much golf.” Jim Perito writes: “What a crazy time, not only a pandemic but the wildest election year I have ever seen. Hope we all live through all of it. In my world, my wife and I had to cut short our trip to Ireland when we got calls from our kids at 2 a.m. in Galway that our borders were closing, so we drove back to Dublin and booked a flight back to Hartford, Connecticut. After self-quarantine, we returned to our nowCOVID-19 life. I soon needed a hip replacement, which I fortunately was able to get done at MidState (Medical Center in Meriden) in May. In and out in one day, and now I am bionic. Having used up my deductible, I decided to have the carpal tunnel repaired. Working remotely from our cottage in New Hampshire, I completely recovered and am now back in my office in New Haven. So since we can’t travel, I have to be satisfied biking from brewery to brewery along the Farmington Canal Trail. Not bad—try it.” And Susan Spielvogel shares this news: “My family and I are doing well despite the pandemic. Everyone remains employed. My husband, Fred, still works at the FDA. He is currently evaluating medications for the treatment of COVID-19. Hope all our classmates are doing well.”
1975 Alumni interested in serving as correspondents for the Class of 1975 may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
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Thank you to those shared news and we look forward to hearing from many others in the next edition. David Monde sent the following after being inspired by the many notes from classmates over the years: “I am about to start my 34th year as a product liability defense lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, all with Jones Day, and will celebrate my 30th wedding anniversary in September. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to represent companies across the country and traveled extensively (2 million+ miles on Delta)… until that all came to a halt on March 13 due to COVID-19. While there are no trials going on, we lawyers have had to adapt to conducting hearings by Zoom, which after a while, have now become routine (even though I’m probably the only person left walking around with a Blackberry!). And yes, while I wear a suit and tie, I now attend court barefoot. My family is healthy. My oldest son, Max, has cerebral palsy and lives with us. He is staying busy with swimming, adaptive horseback riding, and skiing in the winter, and the most positive life outlook that keeps the rest of us sane. My middle son just graduated from Elon University, and lost his first job before his first day at work because of virus-related downsizing. Chris has bounced back and has been hired to teach skiing at Vail this winter (following his dad’s steps many years ago) and then lead youth adventure travel trips for a company called Moondance next summer. My youngest, Madeleine, turns 15 next month (and here in Georgia that means a driving permit) and starts high school today. She is a pitcher on her school and travel softball teams and generally runs the family. She has really come of age in the face of the social injustice we’ve endured the past several months and is a passionate advocate for a variety of groups. In the Winter 2019–20 edition of the Hopkins magazine, an article appeared about Beyond the Wall, a nonprofit organized by a Hopkins alum to build bonds between residents along the U.S.-Mexican border through the use of puppetry art. This resonated with me because this past January, I had my most impactful and meaningful experience as a lawyer representing two Cuban refugees who had fled the Castro regime, repeated beatings and death threats, and sought asylum in the United States. I represented each in their asylum hearings in a tent court literally on the banks of the Rio Grande River in Laredo, Texas. Their stories are each a profile in courage and against great odds, I am happy to say each is now in the United States and thankful beyond words. One of them, Yusneilis, had been denied the chance to go to university in Cuba because of her anti-regime protests. When the judge ruled in her favor, I asked her what was the first thing she would do with her freedom. Without missing a beat, she said, ‘learn English and go get my university degree.’ Truly, this was gratifying work. I hope all of my Hopkins classmates are well, and I look forward to the day when we can safely gather in New Haven to catch up.” Joe Cogguillo shared the following: “Hope everyone is surviving this very strange, and often difficult, year of 2020. Time keeps marching on, however, and I know many of us are now in, or looking towards, the next phase of life. I am counsel for Travelers in Hartford, Connecticut, specializing in workers’ compensation law. My wife, Shelly, is a financial analyst, also working in Hartford.
My oldest son, Jake, is an administrator at Boston University, and has been there for about five years now. My youngest son, Isaac, is working in construction in Connecticut, very much of a hands-on guy. We moved to Durham, Connecticut, in 2016 and have been enjoying this lovely little town quite a bit. Previously, we were down on Summer Island in Branford, and we also enjoyed living there quite a bit. Summers find me mostly up in the Mount Sunapee area in New Hampshire, where I do a lot of fishing. Eventually we hope to spend full summers up there, and perhaps winters down south/Florida. I am in fairly frequent contact with Charlie Glassman, Rick Trowbridge, and others, and always enjoy any interaction with Hopkins folks who happen to come about. Could be 2020, or the nostalgia of entering a new decade, but wanted to say a heartfelt hello to everyone out there. I truly hope you are all doing well, and must say I was so appreciative of having you all as friends and classmates at Hopkins. Those were wonderfully formative and happy years for me, and I hope for you all as well.” Charlie Glassman wrote: “On Saturday, October 3, I met up with Ellen Peck at a fundraiser for the Rockland County Farm Alliance in New City, New York. By coincidence, Ellen, from its inception, has been very involved in its development, and it just happens to be in the county where I live.” This is an update from Jim Riley: “I’m still working for Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts, but probably won’t be working full time much longer. Other than that, with social distancing and working remotely, I’ve spent less time commuting and more time on the ocean, having tons of fun kiteboarding.” It is with great sorrow that I write about the passing on August 23, 2020, of our dear classmate Dianne Hodgetts Bladon following a brave battle with cancer. It was wonderful to see Dianne at our last reunion. She looked beautiful, always smiling, poised, friendly, and engaging. Dianne lived in Boston, Massachusetts, and leaves her husband, four children and one grandson. After graduating from Wharton, Dianne became an associate partner at Accenture and most recently, a senior director for Dell Technologies. A gathering for Dianne will be held at the Trinity Church in Copley Square (Boston) sometime in 2021. As for me, prior to my move to Naples, Florida, I was fortunate enough to spend time with Cindi DeLuca Gagnon in Madison, Connecticut, and to meet Holly Clifford Grossman once it was safe for us to travel between Connecticut and Rhode Island. I then, quite literally, bumped into Ken Kreiger and his wife, Joan, who were sitting at a table next to me at a restaurant in Milford. Everyone looked great and is doing well, as I hope you are too. Thank you to those who shared news and we look forward to hearing from many others in the next edition.
1978 Alumni interested in serving as correspondents for the Class of 1978 may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
1979 Jeffrey A. Arons jeff@jeffreyaronsmd.com Much going on in the world, but not so much to report from a relatively quiet class. In these unusual times, perhaps no news is good news. And the news we have is indeed good. Scott Fisher proudly reports that he and his wife, Maura, welcomed another grandchild into the world: Leo Alvan O’Brien. He writes, “Leo was born on July 10 to our daughter, Kara, and her husband, Luke. Leo’s middle name (Alvan) was also my Dad’s middle name, which is a touching
memorial to him. My Dad passed away in 1976 and is missed greatly.” Jay Angeletti enjoyed a great thrill this summer when he bumped into Tyler Chase ’69… a.k.a. Top Cat. “So many great memories of him— fantastic coach and mentor to so many of us. Also enjoyed continuing to connect with Mark Healey and Stu Goldberg; we met on the first day of seventh grade, and our friendship continues to grow with each year.” Howard Etkind sent this: “We are all experiencing COVID-19 in different ways. My wife works inpatient as a psychiatrist, so our twoweek quarantine restarts every day around 6 p.m. I do the shopping and leave our mountain retreat about twice a week. My work with the Defense Contract Management Agency has been very busy on the blast and explosive effect analysis end of things, but my normal travel routine has thankfully gone by the wayside. We recently bought out our only neighbor, now we own an entire ‘holler.’ A major rehabbing of the adjoining house is planned, with drawings ready to parse out to the subs, one for structural and underground, one for roofing and siding, I will do the ductwork for the new HVAC, electric, plumbing, drywall, and interior fit and finish. Not bad for a hobby. Since we own property and are surrounded by national forest, long walks in the woods, with dogs, often in the rain, is great entertainment.” And both my (Jeffrey Arons) kids chose a pandemic to get engaged and both are planning weddings next year, hopefully—one in Laguna Beach, California, and one in Mobile, Alabama—depending on quarantine restrictions. My wife and I are thrilled. We have also been visiting my 89-year-old dad, Marvin Arons ’48 HGS, one of the few remaining members of the Hopkins Class of 1948, every weekend since March for a socially distanced lunch in his driveway. Fortunately, he has remained well. And hoping that all of you and your families are also well.
1980 Pierce Tyler ptyler@gmail.com Pierce Tyler: I’ve learned a new acronym since moving to Southern California. It’s called the AQI (air quality index). With all the fires we’ve seen this summer, you can’t help but pay attention to the quality of the air. That said, neither the AQI nor COVID-19 has prevented my wife, Dia DuVernet, son James Tyler, and me from getting out and enjoying socially distanced, safe activities over the past several months. From Yosemite National Park to the coast of Oregon and as far south as San Diego, California, we’ve managed to stay sane by getting out of the house and enjoying outdoor activities. It sounds like you all are likewise finding ways to adapt to these crazy times we’re living through. Edwin Welles writes that he and his wife, Liz, still went to Alaska for the commercial fishing season. They missed their two boys, Benson and Colman, who didn’t join them this year for the first time ever. However, when they got back home to Takoma Park, Maryland, they discovered that Benson had built them a sauna in their backyard. That seems like a pretty nice consolation prize, if you ask me. Chase Welles also sounds like he’s taking the pandemic in stride. He writes, “Annette and I are hunkered down here in South Bristol, Maine, eating oysters, yachting, playing golf, watching Netflix… and working.” Seafood is also on the menu up in “the Atlantic Bubble of Maritime Canada.” Jenny Burwell made the following offer: “When this is over, I would love to see everyone up here for a sail and a lobster!” I also got an update from Trey Ellis, who has found plenty to keep him occupied. He writes, “I’ve been busy since returning to Connecticut, Westport, to be exact, nine years ago VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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from Manhattan and before that almost 20 years in Santa Monica. I’m a professor in the grad film school at Columbia and my latest HBO documentary, True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality, won us an Emmy and a Peabody. I have what seems like a ton of kids, the oldest just graduated Columbia and is working now, the second is a sophomore at Harvard, my stepdaughter is a high school freshman at the local high school, and we adopted a newborn three years ago, so Pamela is running us all happily ragged.” Like many of us, Gigi Bruggeman wishes the 40th reunion hadn’t been canceled. She writes, “I was looking forward to seeing classmates. We are all well. Our youngest, Andrew, graduated from NYU with honors and is living in Brooklyn, New York, now. We are enjoying our time with Matthew in Sherborn, Massachusetts, as we know it will end soon enough. Mentally and emotionally, this is a challenging time. Very isolating and collaboration is clunky albeit doable. No substitute for physically being with others. Hoping everyone is healthy, happy and fulfilled.” Kate Higgins, who has an insider’s view of campus, has this to share from the Hill: “Like everywhere, things at Hop are different this year. Hopkins at this moment is in a hybrid model. The School is split in half, and the kids are one week on campus and one week at home. The School invested money in technology for synchronous learning and safety measures, and so far things are going as well as they possibly could. The Admission process is now all virtual. We just had a very well attended and well received all-virtual Open House last weekend. Thank God for younger colleagues who do not flinch at technology!” Using technology to deliver remote learning is something Sylvia Schafer has become more than a little familiar with. She writes, “Teaching my UConn history courses from home and spending a lot of time on the foam roller to undo the damage from all that computer time. Distance teaching makes me think especially fond thoughts about the excellent classroom teachers we had when we were at Hopkins. This fall, my thoughts go especially to the recently departed Betty Bradley Benedict ’40 DAY, who brought so much life and humor into the classroom with her every day. I still remember those geometry classes! As the younger sister of two Day Prospect alumnae, I also very much valued her commitment to female excellence in mathematics. A very inspiring teacher!” Well, that’s it for now. Stay safe everybody, and here’s hoping things start to improve for a change in 2021.
1981 Alumni interested in serving as correspondents for the Class of 1981 may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
1982 Diane Lifton diane.lifton@hugheshubbard.com
1983 Andrew Levy alevy@wywhp.com This has been the most difficult Class Notes I have ever written. There is not a lot of great news to share in 2020. They are also a hybrid of notes that were written during the spring and then updated. Given the daily changes in our world during the coronavirus pandemic and knowing there is a period of time between when I submit notes and when they are published, I can only hope everyone is now safe, 50
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healthy, and things are back to normal. COVID-19 has no doubt upended life as we knew it, and each of us is coping the best way we can. In support of our classmates, Katie Van Sinderen Tucker shared her own thoughts on dealing with the crisis and life’s myriad challenges: “Here is a note that I recently sent to family and friends to remind them what really matters, coronavirus or not: A word of encouragement during this tough time. While this is a serious pandemic and we need to take the warnings and precautions seriously, we must also remember we are not in control—God is. Our health, our money, our families, our occupations—all come from Him and we must turn to Him during times of confusion and suffering. We also have a huge opportunity to serve Him and others right now, especially those who are His followers: give blood, make masks for hospitals, pick up groceries for elderly neighbors, love our families in more intentional ways, etc. Although this should be our mindset all the time, we are often distracted by the things of this world. Ultimately, it is not about us or our kingdoms, it is about Him and His kingdom. This is evident in the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9–15) and in His words to the disciples on Matthew 25:35–40—what we do for others, we do for Him (and vice versa…). So, rather than focus downward and inward, let us look upward and outward—that is what Jesus did as he walked to the cross. Let us also be thankful for His many blessings, most especially His resurrection, which gives us ultimate hope and comfort, especially during suffering. I will be praying for you and your families.” Lisa Haury has opened a vintage/ second-hand clothing shop in Montpellier, France. She shares, “It has been a dream for many years and now with the kids all grown up and a stable homestead, my project finally came to life. A passion for personal style and recycling textile are at the forefront of the business. In the past, my career path took many different directions so my skill set and experience has helped me launch BRAD… short for braderie! I am a proud, small, independent business owner thinking about my Dad and how he would be proud of me following in his footsteps. Take a look and come visit me and BRAD! BRAD Boutique: brad.boutique, Instagram: @brad_boutique_mtp, Facebook: Brad Boutique.” Sadly, as a class, we express our condolences to Robert Jaffee, whose wife, Barbara Jean Jaffee, passed away on September 3, 2019. The night before, Robert read Barbara a story he wrote (Thrive Global, September 3, 2019) about Hopkins, Mrs. Giamatti, and Mrs. Dawidoff. Robert said, “I am grateful that I got to be with Barbara, my angel, for 23 years. Barbara was my Muse, a writer herself, and a former public school teacher.” There is a link to Barbara’s eulogy (Thrive Global, September 10, 2019) as well as all of Robert’s stories, which can be found on his website robertdavidjaffee. com. Robert reports that he recently wrote an article (Thrive Global, March 16, 2020) on Matt Lieberman ’85, and currently running for the United States Senate in Georgia. In that piece, he praised Mrs. Feinberg, who was the adviser to the Razor. Dennis Donahue and his wife, Amy, are in their first year of empty-nesting and would be glad to host classmates who are visiting St. Louis, Missouri. Dennis writes, “For the second year in a row, my law firm, CreatiVenture Law, has been ranked in the top 5% of best performing patent prosecution law firms in the U.S. Wishing all peace, blessings, and love!” Marva Jeffery Walting reports, “As of the end of March, my enlarged family is observing the isolation and quarantine practices. Along with my four-person nuclear family, I am hosting two additional college kids, one a friend of my son’s whose family just relocated across the country, and another the son of friends living in Italy and on complete lockdown so he can’t possibly return home! In addition, we
are caring for my elderly mother-in-law and have advised her to remain isolated. So far, we are all healthy and actually having a lot of fun with various after dinner games and discussions. (I highly recommend Telestrations if you have a good size group! I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time!) I am hoping that the combined creativity of four talented young adults will result in some interesting film and art projects. It is tough for them to focus on schoolwork without direct peer interaction but it seems standards may be relaxed due to the technology challenges (six people on one temperamental WiFi connection!). My youngest is a senior in high school and has been accepted to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. I admit to a lot of trepidation, given how this pandemic has highlighted the instability of culinary careers. The potential lack of milestone events for high school and college seniors is another concern for many as we worry about launching our kids without the traditional ceremonies. I just hope this generation proves resilient and adaptable and this will not be the defining event for them. Sending positive karma to all along with hopes for health and happiness!” Adam Perlmutter writes, “I married Erica Roseman on February 2, 2020, at Congregation Ahavas Israel, in Brooklyn, New York. After two quick trips to Antigua for sailboat racing and time with my new bride tacked on after 600 miles offshore, we canceled our end-of-April honeymoon in Portugal and Morocco and flew back to New York City into the teeth of the pandemic. Ever since, I have been presiding in New York’s courts through the shutdown of in-person proceedings and into the launch of virtual operations. Due to the public nature of our work, many people in the court system have gotten sick, including a few judges who died. We are keeping safe and healthy, however, and wish everyone is doing the same.” Melissa Cannon Guzy submits, “Since graduating, I don’t believe that I have ever sent any class notes, but perhaps the time has come. When I packed my suitcase at the end of January and boarded a flight leaving my home in Singapore to LAX, I never imagined that I would not be able to go home for an indefinite period. In fact, Singapore Airlines has just rescheduled my return for September 23. Fortunately, at Arbor, we manage a global fund and prepared early based upon our experience with SARS. I have now watched the waves of the coronavirus spread maliciously across the globe since January. I am currently in the U.S. with my mom and it is nice to be with family during this period. We arranged a Zoom link so that the family can connect every evening. I am an optimist. I know that we will be dealing with this pandemic at varying levels of intensity, for some unknown period of time. The uncertainty is hard. The economic consequences around the world are brutal. The rapidity with which many western countries have been overwhelmed is frightening. The COVID-19 is not an emerging market problem but a global issue. I find comfort in a quote from a Hong Kong government newsletter: ‘The human spirit is resilient. Epidemics have shaped society for centuries—think about the Black Death, plague, cholera, Spanish Flu, HIV/AIDS and SARS. Our forefathers survived two World Wars in the past century. Economies recovered and life bloomed again afterwards. The new coronavirus will most probably be added to this list and become part of our collective memory as an event that changed the world.’ To the Class of 1983, stay safe and vigilant and there is a bright future ahead.” Carolyn Tesh O’Doherty writes, “What does anyone have to report except: Corona? Working remotely with a problematic connection, alternating between bored and scared, trapped with my nearest and dearest, and watching lots of TV. These are neither interesting nor unique updates. All I can
hope is that by the time the newsletter comes out, this will be old news. Hope you’re all holding up OK.” David Keck and his wife, Karin, have just welcomed a new member of the family, Milo, a pit/lab mix puppy. Two things to note: first, this is delaying the urge to be grandparents, and second, the universe clearly has a sense of humor. A few months back, we said, “It would be great to have a dog again. Only no puppies and no pit bulls.” And here we are with our new, beloved handful. Lynn DiGioia Cone reports on her son: “Brian goes to the Pierrepont School in Westport and it was their inaugural basketball season as the school hadn’t had an organized sports program prior. He played on the middle school team, 6th–8th graders, and took a pretty severe loss to the Hilltoppers. Despite that, he loved being there to play in such an incredible facility, see the campus with all its changes since we were there, and have an added bonus of being able to meet Rocco DeMaio ’86 and his son too!” Nora Colliton shares, “Thought I’d be re-careering by now, leading student and adult tours of Boston, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., and licensed in New York City. But life has a way of ensuring that you don’t do something that, deep down, doesn’t align with your true self. In our case, COVID-19 rearranged the world and eliminated those tours I was to lead. So now, I am continuing my previous career as IT project manager, which I absolutely love; making face masks for our local assisted living, food pantry and front line workers, and spending family time playing games and getting back to the simple times. Again, sometimes, life happens differently than planned. Stay safe.” While we never seem to find the time in New Haven, prior to the pandemic, Bonnie and Tom Pinchbeck and I were able to have dinner in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with his daughter, Ellie, and my niece, Serena Sachs, who are both currently enrolled at my alma mater, Lehigh University. Tom also shared that the Pinchbeck Greenhouses are now being used to grow hydroponic lettuce by H2O Farms. He will be sure not to give keys to David Amendola and Rich Ridinger. I did have an unscheduled meeting early this year at the old Rudy’s restaurant (currently named “Three Sheets”) with Rich, Dave, and his wife, Karen. Other than the phone booth finally being removed and the classic photos removed from the walls, the place hasn’t changed at all. It seemed like we were in a time warp. Bob Bua writes: “I enjoyed seeing Seth Stier, John Miller, and Laurie Ades Penney at my little band’s gig in Needham, Massachusetts—Laurie will sing for us at the next event I hope! Looking forward to another fun ice cream season in Maine. Adding a 71st homemade flavor—Nutella with peanut butter swirls. If you’re ever in Boothbay Harbor, I’d love to see you (DowneastIceCreamFactory.com). Stay well and healthy.” Betsy Chapman adds, “I rejoined Microsoft as a senior program manager in Security and Compliance at the end of February 2020; relocating back to my house in Redmond, Washington, because they wanted me local, only to be sent to work from home eight days later. To further complicate matters, I joined to work on something I love— policy—but due to an unexpected turnover in personnel, I ended up leading one of the highest visibility initiatives for our business, which then (naturally) tanked and I had to dig it out while being pinged by executives and managers… oh joy. Anyway, I survived that and am now really enjoying the role. It’s a great team, and a great organization during this trying time. Microsoft has done everything in its power to accommodate and assist its employees. It’s really great to see the changes that Satya has implemented. In sadder news, I lost Wicket, my darling white German shepherd who many of you have met at our reunions. The only comfort was that he was fine in the morning and it was all over before the next dawn. Hang in there VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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Photos from Nina Kruger Davis ’84 on “Nina’s Pandemic Facebook Tour 2020.” 1) Beth’s children, Beth Milles ’84, and Nina Davis ’84. 2) Haven’s daughter, Haven Tyler ’85, Nina Davis ’84. 3) Carolyn Hax ’84, Nina Davis ’84. 4) Nina Davis ’84, with Bethany Showalter Appleby ’85 5) Karen Krieger (Hopkins teacher/coach) and Nina Davis ’84. 6) Mandy Burwell Young ’83, Nina Davis ’84. 7) Marva Jeffery Walting ’83, Nina Davis ’84 everyone, and hopefully you all got out to VOTE! XOXO” Diana Lawson Goldman and I flew down to Atlanta, Georgia, in December for Lesli Greenberg’s son Zachary’s Bar Mitzvah. Although Diana arrived a day late due to her “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” experience with JetBlue, we were still able to share a lot of laughs reminiscing about our days at Hopkins while we celebrated and enjoyed the Greenberg family southern hospitality. Lesli has started a new career in real estate with Keller Williams. While visiting my niece, Alyssa Sachs, during her senior year at Wheelock College of Education & Human Development at Boston University with my girlfriend, Luisa, we were able to connect with Jen and Seth Stier for dinner. It was great seeing them and as close as we are, we never get enough opportunities to do that, so it was very nice catching up in person. It was at that time, I learned Seth is still not a banker in Boston. All kidding aside, however, at the time of writing these notes, many, if not most of us joined Seth and were not doing what we were once doing and certainly not in the same manner. Everyone has hit a bump in the road. Let’s really appreciate what we have when the current crisis passes. We are always the Class of 1983, and hopefully everything is back to normal and the days ahead are much smoother. Stay safe and stay healthy! 52
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1984 Kathleen Hager Tasonis Oogg66@yahoo.com Nina Kruger Davis writes that it occurred to her in this season of epidemic strife that a little “walk-about” was in order. Sometimes referred to as Nina’s Pandemic Facebook Tour ’20, she is eternally grateful for the hospitality given to her by all these Hopkins alumni: Bethany Schowalter Appleby ’85 and Kim Jennings Oliver, Marva Jeffery Walting ’83, Mandy Burwell Young ’83, Haven Tyler ’85, Carolyn Hax, Emily Smith-Lee, and Karen Krieger (teacher/coach). “I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this tribe of extraordinary women. Thank you for taking me in on this mini odyssey. It was humbling and heartwarming. Love, Nina.” Nancy Sharp is a certified instructor in Guided Autobiography (GAB) and teaches workshops online called Tell Your Resilient Story™. GAB was developed more than 45 years ago by a leading psychologist and gerontologist at USC as a means to help seniors reduce isolation and build connection and community. Today, it is taught worldwide for diverse audiences, young and old. Nancy’s programs align with her life’s work in resilience, which means that the themes, prompts, and exercises she
uses are designed to help audiences reflect on their life experiences and stories in a whole new way. “No writing experience is necessary,” says Nancy, and “GAB makes a great gift for families who want to share their stories.” Learn more at nancysharp.net. In May, Jonathan Kaye was profiled by The New York Times in its interview column, “Who Made My Puzzle?” Five of his crosswords, all edited by Will Shortz, have appeared in the Times over the past several years. “There are some big changes in the Kleeman family” according to Jay Kleeman. “Thankfully, everyone’s healthy. Eldest son Jackson ’15 is living in Austin, Texas, working as an engineer for Oracle. Aaron ’19 is a sophomore at Indiana studying math and statistics. And, after 20 years with the same orthopedic practice in Norwalk, my wife, Courtney, and I (and our Brittany, Django) are moving to Colorado. I will join the University of Colorado School of Medicine and will practice at two hospitals near Boulder. It’s a big change mid-career but should be a great move for the whole family. Please look us up if any of you are out there.”
1985 Cristina Benedetto lucysmom1@optonline.net Hi Everyone. While some of us haven’t made it out of our sweatpants in over six months, others of us have started our own law firms! Bethany Schowalter Applebyannounced that she launched a new franchise boutique law firm with alawyer she worked closely with at Subway. They do general business transactional (contract review and drafting) and dispute resolution (litigation, arbitration, negotiation) work in addition to franchise law. She reports it has been great so far, and hopes everyone is doing well. Laurie Stevens Dray wrote that she and her family are also doing well and had the joy of having their young adultsons (22 and 19) and their older son’s girlfriend living with them for 10 weeks this past spring. It was a wonderful silver lining. Laurie continues her psychology practice in Madison after a three-month hiatus during COVID-19’s first (and hopefully only) peak in Connecticut. Her husband has gone from living during the week in New York City to working full time out of their basement office. Their boys are both in Boston, Massachusetts, working and on internship so they get to see them fairly frequently. Laurie says she feels so lucky not to have lost anyone close to COVID-19, and is working hard to continue to count her blessings, knowing the coming winter may make this more difficult! Best wishes to all of you to stay healthy. Keep the notes coming.
1986 Jennifer Hulford Odell jhodell2@yahoo.com Hello from the Class of 1986! It has been quite a year since our last notes, with coronavirus, lockdowns, online school, wildfires, wildfire smoke, protests, riots, hurricanes, etc. It was great to hear from folks. In addition, Alex Lewin is working with me to help clean up our alumni email list so we can be sure to connect with everyone in the class. As he so eloquently and humorously said, “We don’t want anyone to miss out on any of the shenanigans!” So true! Mercedes Sherman writes, “I am in my specialist year of completing an MSW program—so, well on my way to becoming the LCSW I desire to be. I transitioned recently (two years ago) from working professionally as an HR director to overseeing program operation for the youth
division of my agency. I fell in love with the work, enough to return to school, and I’m more than halfway to my goal now. I bravely traveled to California back in August to visit my daughter, who is also a Hopkins alum (2015) and we actually went to Santa Monica Pier for the first time (with masks donned of course and being sure to social distance). We enjoyed ourselves and it almost felt like pre-COVID-19 times. And here’s what I’m most proud of—recently celebrating eight years of being an ordained minister.” Mark Volpe writes, “You have summoned the Kraken, dearest Jennifer Hulford Odell, a nightmare who hits ‘reply all’ and attaches a fun anecdote of the time Greg Dubno, Christopher Cook, and I totally destroyed a maroon school curtain on Pumpkin Bowl. And I did include a superfluous Oxford comma or two, for you know I am from Oxford, Connecticut.” (Mark attached a wonderfully written anecdote, for all our class to read, about the time he and Greg portrayed Laurel and Hardy on Pumpkin Bowl. And their pie throwing routine accidentally did not hit each other, but rather the stage curtain, given to the school by the Class of 1982. There were many warm thank yous for the walk down memory lane from Joanne Hoffer, Alex Lewin, Michelle Gottlieb, Diane Wyckoff, Lisa Skuret, and Andy Chepaitis.) Mark also writes, “I also (have) instructions for anyone who has an Oculus Rift-S, Occ Quest, or Occ Quest 2 to beta-test my game ‘City of Eternity’ on the SideQuest. Writing virtual reality video games with old programmer buddies is what I did to deal with Coronavid-ennui. (If you would like directions to this game, please email Mark at mark_volpe@me.com, and he would gladly share them.) I ALSO wrote a novel called Exit Mile High, in which ‘The City Of Eternity’ and other VR rides turn deadly. It is going out to Kindle this time next month. My wife and I live in Encino, California. You’d like Nadine. She speaks French. And Arabic. And has culinary superpowers. And visiting her rellies is always the Mos Eisley Cantina scene, where I sit in the corner with a Wookiee. But you know, life is like that, so why not relax. Who can stop us from celebrating!” Michelle Gottlieb writes, “Thanks to Facebook, two ’86ers connected on a much bigger hill… at nearly 8,000 feet. Rob Lattanzi and I found ourselves here in Park City, Utah, during the spring of 2020 (I am still here and he should be back soon). We met for a socially distanced outdoor beer, and sadly could not hug after so many years… but it was great to catch up and I am looking forward to ski lessons from Rob this winter. We are out here for my husband’s work but just can’t seem to leave.”
1987 Megan W. Holbrook meganwh@gmail.com Wow… well, that was unexpected. 2020 has given us not only a serious, life-threatening pandemic, but also new experiences with Zoom, virtual learning, and a deep appreciation for those who are serving on the front lines. Jen Howland writes, “Can’t avoid adding to the pandemic impact stories. I, too, have absorbed a college kid coming home with no year abroad, a social high-schooler remote learning and new anxieties of the unknown that felt so foreign to my normally easy-going demeanor. As most know, I am a cardiac nurse, still working in acute care. In March, our hospital put out the request for volunteers to staff the rapidly emerging need for COVID-19 units. I thought about what I wanted my story to be decades from now, and within 24 hours I was reassigned and cycling through a power orientation of ventilators and equipment I hadn’t used in years. I found it odd, even at the time, I had no fear. It was an amazing wave VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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(ABOVE) Dan Tamarkin ’87 relaxing, glassing, and joking around—before the Yeti arrived. (RIGHT) Susan Wingerter and Dan Tamarkin ’87 on Crab Lake, on a beautiful Monday afternoon. of camaraderie and ‘can do’ spirit. We were learning as we went, debriefings multiple times a day. The rhythm of patient care unlike anything we had ever done, with no formal treatment plan. We were a global leader in research for the Remdesivir and plasma-infusion trials. Your heart ached for the scared patients and families. We’d come into the room with a deafening air filter running, in many layers of PPE, with only our eyes visible for human connection. My new Zoom skills facilitated powerful, touching moments that will be the highlight of my nursing career.” Chris Hayes writes, “I am now teaching high school math at an inner city charter school in Oakland, California. Distance learning is a very poor substitute for in-person learning, especially for the vulnerable population at my school. There is no doubt that the pandemic is increasing the education gap between rich and poor students. We have students who come to us out of Oakland public middle schools with very low skills, and over the years, my school has figured out a way to get these students to graduate high school and attend college. However, to do this, we need to teach between 1.5 and two years of content knowledge every year. We’ve estimated that at our current pace, this year we will teach about 0.3 years of content. On a personal note, my son is back at school at Colorado College—he has to go in person to take lab classes. I’m a little worried for him. My daughter is a senior in high school, so in normal times we’d be visiting colleges—now we’re doing so virtually. I spent the first six months of the pandemic sheltering in place with my girlfriend. The last couple weeks, I’ve been living with my kids. I will join my girlfriend again in a couple weeks.” Dan Tamarkin had a chance to get out into nature during the pandemic, and writes, “Everything gets wet, there’s always a 20% chance of rain no matter what the weather says, and at some point you’ll curse me for bringing you here and in the same breath, likely, offer up to the gods your first born child and a fistful of cash in trade for being removed—or magically transported—from this forsaken place. Wait and see. Oh, and watch out for the Yeti…” These were the words I said to Susan when we decided to take a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (a.k.a. Voyageurs National Park) in the Superior National Forest of Minnesota. We were trying to evade the staggering boredom of quarantine. We packed way too much 54
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stuff, despite my having made this journey numerous times before, and had a miserable mile-long portage. Easily the longest portage in the nearly 350-square-mile park, we braved it twice each way—once with the packs and again with the canoe, during which times I’m sure she cursed me under her breath. We ate and drank well (all the gear and food float once you’re on the lake) and enjoyed wonderful weather. On two clear nights we watched the Milky Way emerge from the inky blackness. Each day we encountered red squirrels and chipmunks galore, woodpeckers at every turn, a beaver who swam by our camp twice daily, bald eagles and an array of ospreys and hawks, snowshoe hares and pine martens, who chased the hares around our site playing noisily and without a care for us. I cut my finger badly with my new axe, caught only one fish (a beautiful striped bass too small to keep) and ran out of the medicinal whiskey on the last day. Susan says all of these were most assuredly the handiwork of the Yeti… We did it all; it’s not a trip to the BWCA unless there is a miserable portage, some medical mishap or trauma, a sky full of stars, a seemingly endless supply of firewood, and soaked socks and shoes at one point or another. We hit all the marks, and had the most wonderful time. Join us next year—there’s more than enough room, and we’d love to have someone else carry the canoe…” Dan Appelquist writes, “Sent my first born to University (in Manchester, United Kingdom, in the middle of a pandemic); voted absentee in the Presidential election (for avoidance of doubt: Biden, of course); working from home (still at Samsung) since February and mostly loving it but missing international travel so much that I’ve started buying tiny Jack Daniels bottles to pretend I’m in a hotel room.” Jeremy Kasha writes, “My family and I are doing well. I work remotely from home, like many people these days. Nothing to report, but doing fine. Hope you are well, and hi to everyone.” Bill Jaffee writes, “My middle guy B.B. who was at HOP for a few years and left to study Japanese is now a freshman at RISD.” Matt Black writes, “What is there to say about 2020? So much I’d like to forget, but on the whole we really made it through unscathed (so far), although I did learn how much I hate teaching on Zoom. No real Hopkins-relevant news this year, other than our little Hopkins Pigskin Invitational fantasy football league continues into its second decade (including
Doug Millen, Bruce DelMonico, and Rick Mangi from the Class of ’87, and a fun bunch of other late-’80s vintage alums), complete with spirited trash talking that sometimes veers off into discussions of The Canterbury Tales or memories of taking a Karl Crawford map test. I’m enjoying seeing the 21st century version of New Haven through the eyes of my daughter, who’s a junior at Yale—it seems like there are a lot more places to go for late munchies than there were way back when. Hope everyone’s well, and if we can ever travel again, please pop in for a visit if you’re in Paris!” As for me, Megan Holbrook, pretty much everything I was excited about in 2019 was upended in 2020. I was set to run for State Assembly, but the person who needed to win in an April election to open up the seat, lost their race by a heartbreaking 1,039 votes. In May, I was elected to be a Biden delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which should have been thrilling in any normal election year, but ended up involving a nice bag of swag, a 30-second vote by email and four days and nights of watching the convention virtually on my computer. I made the decision to move from a PsyD program to a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling to have more flexibility, but the university I chose decided to hold most of its classes in person, so rather than share breathing space with 20-somethings of unknown COVID-19 status, I postponed matriculating for a year or until there’s a vaccine. But my husband, parents, siblings, in-laws, and cats are all well, so I have much to be grateful for. I wish all of you a happy and healthy new year!
1988 Jordan Schwartz jordan@hive-mind.com The overall theme of “Class of ’88 during the pandemic” was back to basics. Peter Nickowitz, for example, wrote that “we cooked all our meals and streamed a lot of movies. I replaced the gym with long, early evening walks in downtown Manhattan. And I learned I could cut my own hair.” Daniel Wilkinson apparently has the same barber, as he wrote that he has “learned how to cut my own hair (what’s left of it)” and is counting down days to the election. Kristen Tsolis “learned to never underestimate the healing powers of marshmallows for breakfast, weeks of tumbling in the surf, and a Nintendo Switch.” Stacey Murray “watched Hamilton like five times and listened to part of the soundtrack on a daily basis.” Gail Lerner “got certified to be a foster/adoptive parent. Getting to know a really sweet 13-year-old girl. Fingers crossed we’ll be a family soon.” Oh, wait. That’s not basic. That’s huge. Love from all of us to you, please let us know how it works out. OK, back down to earth. Melita Curtis wrote, “I turn 50 this month, and since we can’t really have a party or take a trip to celebrate, my husband bought me the next best thing on my birthday wish list: a pair of rollerblades! I’m so excited to get back into it. Raquy and I used to take the train to Central Park on the weekends and skate around. That might have been the last time I was on rollerblades. Wish me luck. And yes, the present did come with pads and a helmet, hah!” Good luck, Melita, and speedy recovery. Nancy Dow Nowalk says, “I did not write a novel or train for a marathon, but I did create a CoronaTimes Coffee ritual by posting my mug selection every workday on Facebook, March 17–June 9, with no repeats. I’m not sure if that is impressive or absurd or both, but it’s the only routine I’ve managed to establish, so it’s what I got.” Nancy, you are a hero in my book. Kathleen Doehla has been “running a sports medicine PT clinic out of my home with three teenagers doing
virtual school and a husband running a trading floor in the kitchen, all of us all together all the time, in Stowe, Vermont, during the pandemic!” Pretty good, Kathleen, but it’s no mug selection photo series. Alexis Smith Kalikman says her “pandemic achievement was sending my youngest child (of three) off to college in September. Now I am knee deep in a home make-over that would make Marie Kondo proud.” Less is more! Monica Powell is “still living in North Carolina with my husband and four children. My sons are 8 and attend a private school which has, fortunately, been open five days/ week with masking and social distancing. My 5-year-old is in public school and is currently in school in-person two days/week and virtually three days/week. My 2-year-old is home with us. Hoping we can get coronavirus under control so that we can get everyone in school safely at some point.” You and me both, Monica, you and me both. Alex Demir wrote and is producing an album. Rock on. Adam Ruben’s son had a Zoom bar mitzvah. Mazel tov! Wei Cui “watched a lot of online webinars by really creative scholars, many of whom I would not have known about before everything moved online!” See, there’s an upside. Shieva Ghofrany works as a full-time OBGYN but started a new company during the pandemic: “No, I didn’t have free time, I just got motivated by doing a lot of Instagram posting and seeing changes with telehealth. It’s called tribe called v (check us out on tribecalledv.com).” Kirk Mettler, on the other hand, “spent more days at home with my wife, Lyn, and my daughter, Shaw, home from university, than I have in five years.” Al Bruno has “been at the law firm of Berchem Moses in Milford in the litigation department going on five years and practicing with the indomitable Jon Berchem. I have learned much from him and my colleagues and am grateful. I am also in the middle of my fifth term on the Town of Seymour Board of Selectmen. I enjoy volunteering for the little town we live in and helping to move it forward. I never thought I would ever get involved with local politics… but here I am!” He adds that “one bright spot of the pandemic is that we were able to eat dinner as a family every night and really connect with each other. A house rule we have always had in place as parents is no television on during dinner or electronic devices at the table. My son, Anthony (age 19), was forced to come home in the midst of the spring semester of his freshman year at Tufts and rejoin the Bruno bunch (my wife, Kristen, daughter, Katie, age 16, and me). I am not sure if people are aware, but 19-yearold independent young people love coming home to the structure of a house run by firm Gen X parents. However, despite my internal reservations and Anthony’s clear verbal reservations, everything went well from March to early September. We were impressed how the boy handled the disappointment of being back home too soon and embraced the time with us, especially the ‘found’ time with his little sister—who absolutely adores him and vice versa. So, while my wife and I built puzzles in the evening, among other nerdy pursuits, our kids would roll their eyes and crack wise about ‘the old people’. It was all good. That said, we fully appreciate that we were fortunate that no one in our family tested positive for the virus. We knew a handful of local elderly people that contracted the virus and passed. So, it has been a very difficult time for our country as everyone is well aware. I am simply grateful for wonderful friends and family. Yes, that even includes Jon Berchem, who is technically my boss. God help me. In all seriousness, I wish the Class of ’88 good health and good riddance to this nightmare that is 2020. May our 2021 be a vast improvement.” I want to thank Al for writing the most extensive class note of this lot, but also express my frustration that he uses two spaces after a period. This, I cannot abide. Rachel Goldstein also dealt VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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with the “college student returning home” syndrome, and writes “like many of us, I dealt with an expanding household: my oldest daughter came home mid-March from college, my middle daughter had 24 hours to leave Spain, where she was spending her junior year of high school, and my youngest son transitioned to Zoom school and Zoom orchestra. My husband, Allan, was consumed with scenario planning and managing a department at Mass General Hospital (fortunately now he is back doing elective surgery and his lab is open). Meanwhile, I continued to do executive coaching, supporting my individual clients via Zoom and working with Harvard Business School’s Executive Education as they transitioned their Leadership Programs online. I became so bored cooking family dinners every night that I decided to go through the alphabet. Last night we had jambalaya for J and tonight it’s going to be kebobs. While my family seems to enjoy the theme, I soon realized that it’s just more shopping and cooking for me. Can’t wait for L, which I have already announced is going to be leftovers. Any suggestions for X?” Whatever you make, just make it eXtraordinary. Cally Shea Bybee has “checked the pandemic boxes: got a puppy, made a lot of bread, about to remodel basement. Still in Atlanta, Georgia. I jumped ship from the advertising world and now work as a creative director and writer at Brighthouse, a part of the Boston Consulting Group that helps companies discover their purpose. My kids are somehow teenagers, so I spend most weekends at fencing and soccer tournaments. It’s been fun catching up with classmates on our 50ths!” Jon Shaywitz is “still living in LA LA land… busy as a medical director overseeing several large behavioral health care facilities and trying to navigate virtual learning with my 6-year-old daughter. Miss the crisp weather of the fall back East as my daughter, growing up in SoCal, believes 70 is cold.” On a grander note, Mindy Gesmonde Daria wrote that, “One thing I did during the COVID-19 pandemic was watched my father, John M. Gesmonde ’63 HGS, star in Justice on Trial: The Movie, which premiered on July 4, 2020. It’s a powerful film that examines justice for Black Americans, featuring time-traveler African American icons Harriet Tubman, Emmett Till, and Medgar Evers. My father plays the lead civil rights attorney who represents the African American people arguing for rehabilitative reparations. You can view the movie on Amazon Prime, Vimeo, Hulu, and Ruko. I am immensely proud of him! And to think this was going to be the year he began his semi-retirement status! More information can be found at the official website justiceontrialthemovie.com.” (A promo picture of Justice On Trial appears in this issue adjacent to the Class of ’63 column.) “And then, for my part, it’s been a wild ride of a year. The software company I founded 13 years ago, Pathable, served the conference and tradeshow industry. It wasn’t doing very well, and then when COVID-19 hit, I saw my entire clientele disappear overnight. We were certain we were going to have to fold, let the whole staff go and file for bankruptcy, but decided to take a hail mary pivot instead. We worked through March to retool our offering to produce ‘virtual events’ online and rolled it out to a bewildered but eager market. It worked, the company grew by 2,000% over the next few months, and we sold it at the end of September. I’m as flabbergasted as you are. Oh, and my family and I moved out of the Seattle, Washington, house I’ve lived in for the past 27 years, and we are now living a 35-minute ferry ride away, on Bainbridge Island. I went sailing today for the first time in years; hoping to get a boat of my own next year.
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Anadri Chisolm Noel ’88 and her husband, Terry, relaxing in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
1989 Curtis Groves curtis.groves@gmail.com We got a puppy and a Peloton. We thought we were clever. Turns out we were just a cliché. But we were way ahead of the curve on the patio heater, for our socially distanced winter gatherings. Bur Franz squeezed in a trip to Juarez, Mexico, shortly before travel became something we used to do. Bur’s church group, including Michael Thomas ’87 and Bur’s kids Zane ’21 and Sylvia ’23, built a home in four days. “Building a home for a family in need really helped me appreciate how comfortable things are for us here in the United States,” Bur said. Missy Robbins is adapting to the restaurant industry’s incredible challenges by launching Misipasta, MP Grocery and MP Specialties. “This is our way of getting our pasta and other specialty items into the homes of our guests to cook as easily as possible,” Missy said. “It has been so amazing to see many Hopkins alums buying from us and picking up at different locations throughout the tri-state area. Cynthia Carroll Donaher, Pam Crawford Paulmann, Scott Fine ’88, Gillian Blake, Sheiva Ghofrany ’88, and Sarah Marchesi Callahan ’88 have all shown incredible support.” Missy is on the web at mpnewyork.nyc. And Pam confirmed “MP makes farm fresh deliveries and great meals from steak to pasta to prepare at home. Her food is so delicious!” Hana Schank is the Director of Strategy for the Public Interest Technology team at New America. Although New America is a Washington, D.C., think tank, Hana works from home in Brooklyn, New York. In July, she testified before a congressional committee on federal IT modernization. “Even though I testified remotely and some of the members of Congress got into a fight about wearing masks, it was definitely a career highlight,” Hana said. Her next book, about how government should think about solving problems in the digital age, is due this spring. Hana’s kids are in public school in Brooklyn, and she visited with Amoreena Hartnett O’Brien a while ago while driving through Saratoga Springs. Hana’s middle-school daughter’s creative writing/journalism program is giving Hana flashbacks to Dana Blanchard ’63’s creative writing class, which she said “was one of my favorites. He was probably the first teacher at Hopkins to tell me how much he liked my writing.
Mr. Blanchard, if you’re out there, thank you.” Kara Naiman Roberts captured 2020, observing, “I guess we are all just getting used to a new normal that makes us appreciate normal milestones just a bit more.” Kara’s son, Ethan, celebrated a Zoom bar mitzvah this summer. “While it was very different from what we imagined his bar mitzvah to be, it was still very special, and almost 200 people were able to Zoom in, including Rachel Greenberg and Jennifer Romer.” Kara’s daughter, Emma, became the first of her friends to drive. “Otherwise we are taking it day by day and enjoying more family time and a more slowed down pace.” Speaking of a slower pace, Dave Lynch wrote in while “relaxing on the back patio, smoking a cigar, and enjoying my first adult beverage of the night watching some decent college football… and loving every minute of it!” That sounds great, Dave, but I hope you’ve got a patio heater. Dave’s regular Zoom calls with Scott Wich and Jake Weinstock have included some surprise “Zoom bombs” from Sondra Lender and Phil Noto. But despite Scott’s hard-core recruiting efforts, Dave’s son, Jackson, started his freshman year at Fairfield Prep, where he’s loving it. Dave’s daughter, Brooke, started 8th grade in Fairfield, and “thanks to her mother’s athletic ability, continues to play soccer year round and looks forward to lacrosse starting back up in the spring.” Finally, I recently crossed paths with Danya Perry, who reports, “After many years in federal and state government and then as in-house counsel, I thought that 2020 seemed like a good time to start my own law firm. Luckily for me, individuals and companies are still getting into all kinds of trouble, so it has been a fun and crazy ride so far. Recently, I got to partner up with Ben Wizner to score a great win for the rule of law against the government. Otherwise, I am juggling single-parenting my three kids, running virtual marathons, and Zooming old friends like Gillian Blake to try to stay sane. Would love to hear from any of you in my ongoing uphill battle to maintain sanity!” Trust me, Danya, we’re all fighting that battle.
1990 Brock Dubin bdubin@ddnctlaw.com
1991 Alumni interested in serving as correspondents for the Class of 1991 may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu.
1992 Sam Ozeck samhome@juno.com Alicia Bromfield’s son, Jay Dusza ’24, was excited to start at Hopkins this fall albeit in a partially virtual environment. He (knowingly and unknowingly) saw the children of other ’92 (and other) alums. Like many of us, Tory Hayes Grigg has been restricted by COVID-19, but she and her family took a road trip from their Bay-area home to Malibu, California, over the summer. Although she was disappointed not to see Jennifer Garner in person, they had a great time and beautiful weather. Monica Brenner was proud of her son Charlie’s recent bar mitzvah. Taylor Platt has relocated to Greensboro, North Carolina, and enjoys having four seasons again. Eric Kutcher was promoted to Chief Financial Officer of McKinsey.
1993 Tara Cook-Littman taracook.littman@gmail.com Hello Class of ’93. More than ever before, it was wonderful to hear from you all and learn that so many of you are doing well despite these scary and uncertain times. I love hearing from you so please feel free to send me updates at any time. Don’t wait for me to ask! Like everyone, we are navigating the pandemic and trying to stay grateful for our blessings despite the world being so heavy right now. We got baby chicks during the quarantine and are now happily eating eggs from our backyard every morning. I had been running a campaign to ban a toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos, but that campaign has been sidelined for now. To keep busy, I’ve started selling organic wines, which we have also been enjoying ourselves! Eric Kabakoff has been working with ratings and audience development at ABC for more than 17 years. He is currently working with the most-watched TV station in the country, WABC-TV. He lives with his wife, Chrissie, and 4-year-old son, Henry, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where he says they “spend many hours playing in Central Park.” Jeni Kaplan has lived in Amherst, Massachusetts, for 20 years now, which she describes as “Happy Valley living.” She has two high schoolers, a 6th grader, and two adult stepsons. Jeni recently left the federal judiciary after 10 years of clerking, and is now working for the Center for Public Representation, a civil rights firm that focuses on advocacy for individuals with disabilities. Jeni goes on to say she “would generally not recommend starting a new job in the middle of a pandemic, but this has been a rewarding transition. All in all, we’re managing as best we can during this weird time, experimenting with all the new hobbies everyone has. We tried a sourdough starter, but that didn’t stick. But we did raise chickens and are finally starting to get eggs.” Heather Mokotoff Paul has two children at Hopkins now! She has a 7th grader, Olivia ’26, and an 8th grader, Jackson ’25. Her 7th grade daughter is in the same adviser group as Todd Ragaza’s son. She says, “What a small world! Both of my kids love Hopkins and are adjusting well to this challenging school year being half on campus and half virtual.” It sure is a small world! As I’ve mentioned before, my son, Spencer ’21, now a senior, and Jason Pfannenbecker’s daughter, Ava ’21, have been good friends since 7th grade at Hopkins. Through good communication, Jason and I have been able to keep them honest! Jason has some exciting updates. His eldest, Logan, is a freshman at Manhattan College, currently a business major and playing baseball. His middle daughter, Ava, just committed to Wesleyan University to continue playing softball in college and chase her dreams of film and screenwriting. His youngest, Sofia, is a junior at Cheshire Academy, where he says she is “loving life, school, friends, and field hockey. Her college search is just beginning, but she will definitely be in a city campus somewhere. All three are dealing and coping with COVID-19. They are all missing out on so much.” “But we’re all healthy and that’s all that matters,” says Jason. “As for Brie ’94 and me—well let’s just say we’re loving life and each other but hating that our three birds will be flying the coop very soon.” Andy Dow reports that “Elizabeth, Zack (12), Emi (8), and I (old) are all enduring the quarantine in Portland, Oregon. We are lucky that summers and falls here are beautiful and we’ve been able to spend much of our time hiking, mountain biking, and playing in the sun. Unfortunately, and much to the kids’ dismay, we were unable to make our annual pilgrimage to New Haven this year. More than anything, I miss my fix of Frank Pepe’s. Thankfully, we are all well and healthy. On another VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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note, my sister, Becky ’01, and her husband, James, are expecting their first! We are all extremely excited and eagerly awaiting the 10th Dow grandkid!” Joseph Evenson moved to Houston, Texas, about six years ago for work, and is managing a team for a company called Alight. “We are consultants and benefit administrators for quite a few Fortune 500 companies you would recognize (I’m assisting Starbucks currently). Most of our day to day work is online, so working from home hasn’t changed my schedule much (for better or worse).” Joseph sends his best wishes to the entire class and reflects that “time does pass so quickly!” Ethan Sack and Ted Lundberg spent a socially distanced Labor Day together with their families. Ted’s oldest daughter, Rosie ’25, is now in 8th grade at Hopkins and Ted says she is really enjoying it!
1994 Christian J. Sauska cjs.nola@me.com Adrienne Betz Oliver adriennebetz@gmail.com My family and I (Adrienne Betz Oliver) have settled in nicely in Woodbridge, Connecticut. We moved less than two years ago and have had a few wonderful summers at the Woodbridge Club. Reach out to me if you are local and interested in joining! I am the new Tennis Chair on the board. Also, I am in my 12th year at Quinnipiac University (gasp!) and I still love my job! I run a robust neuroscience research lab and get to teach undergraduates and graduate students. Dana Watnick reports that after nine years, she completed a Ph.D. in public health in December 2019, just in time before COVID-19. She is starting a new faculty position in Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York. Congrats, Dana! Amanda Pagar Wein is in her second year in the role of Dean of Students at Athol High School. She is completing a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Educational Leadership and Management. She writes. “COVID-19 was an interesting year to become an administrator. The second year has been equally as adventurous as the first. One bonus is that my son, Noah, is now a freshman in my school. Eli is starting 7th grade. We bought a small cabin on a lake in Vermont two summers ago. It’s been a perfect retreat from everything. We hike, kayak, walk, fish, snowshoe in one of the most beautiful places around!” Let’s all go visit Amanda! Bill Manke wrote to say he is living in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, Lauren, son Jack (3), and daughter Addison (9 months). He works at Luria Academy of Brooklyn as the Director of Operations. Chaiya Laoteppitaks says there are not many changes for him. He still oversees the emergency medicine rotation for the medical students at Sidney Kimmel Medical College. He reports, “It’s been an interesting few months seeing how the medical school has adapted pre-clinical studies to remote learning and how we’ve had to adapt teaching our students in our Emergency Department. I’m grateful for the support we on the frontline received during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stay healthy, everyone, and mask up!” Agreed, and Chaiya, thank you for your service! Thomas Moore, reporting from London, U.K., says he has felt the distance from friends and family this year as political events and otherwise unfolded. He reports that London was a better place than many big cities to spend the spring lockdown and misses the ability to hop on a plane whenever he wanted. Professionally, his wife, Erin, recently qualified as a clinical hypnotherapist, and he co-manages one of Invesco’s largest mutual 58
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funds. Brie Dellacroce Pfannenbecker is excited to announce that she was awarded the Natural Stone Institute’s “Women in Stone Pioneer Award” for 2021 for her ongoing work in recruiting, retaining, and advancing women in the stone industry. She continues to serve on the Women in Stone Steering Committee as a past chair with a focus on developing a natural stone curriculum that can be used in trade schools and community colleges. Awesome, Brie! We have another Class of 1994 natural and influential leader, Adjoa Asamoah. She is a doctoral candidate at George Washington University and leading the CROWN Act movement to outlaw hair discrimination. She was swamped serving as the National Advisor for Black Engagement for the Biden-Harris campaign.Thank you for your service, Adjoa! Check out her website for more details: adjoabasamoah.com. Eric von Stein is entering year two with his toy and craft company, Bright Stripes. He reports it has “been a crazy roller coaster wearing every hat in this organization, but we’ve been thrilled with the response.” Eric encourages us 1994 Hilltoppers to check out iHeartArt, a line of art sets developed in partnership with an organization called Art Feeds. He mentioned that you can find his items in FAO Schwarz, the Paper Store, and this spring at Target! Since I have three kids and three dogs, I am at Target a lot, and I am excited to find Eric’s products! Finally, Melinda Banquer Blanch sent in a photo and reported “before COVID-19 ruined 2020, Felicia, Maier, Tiffanie, Venice, Steve, Katie, and I and our families had a nice lunch meetup.” I will also add that Melinda has joined me in the ranks of being a hockey mom! Welcome to the club.
1995 Michaelangelo Palmieri michaelangelo_44@yahoo.com Luretha McClendon Tolson Lmctolson@gmail.com
1996 Ellyn Black ellyn@campfernwood.com
1997 Theo LeCompte theo.lecompte@gmail.com Even in the midst of a global pandemic, the Class of ’97 (and in some cases their offspring) have been up to some amazing things. But Greg Slawsky insisted we keep this update real with all the challenges we’re facing during the COVID-19 pandemic and online schooling. He reports that he nearly strangled his 10-year-old during homeschooling because schools teach division in a new and terrible way. Now, he’s excited “to catch the coronavirus on the 4/5 subway,” since he’s going back to the office because he didn’t want to get fired for blowing off his job for six months. Good luck, Slaw! Thomas Leaf’s son, Caio, doesn’t need to worry about division though since he’s become a YouTube star! Caio has his own weekly Youtube Vlog called Caio Ninja News (caioninjanews.com). He was featured on John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight and Governor Ned Lamont called him his “favorite telecaster.” Caio’s focus has been on autism awareness and COVID-19 safety during quarantine. He’s made huge strides in his own personal growth and people in the community have been loving his content. Go, Caio! We heard from Laina Cox, who reports that
she is staying sane by keeping up a daily text chain with Rashanda McCollum and Risë Nelson. Risë continues as an assistant dean and Director of the Afro-American Cultural Center at Yale. She recently moderated an interview between Hillary Clinton and Senator Amy Klobuchar during Yale’s “50 Women at Yale’s 150” celebration. And over the summer, Laina, a middle school principal in Washington, D.C., served as a panelist for The Center for American Progress’s series on Quality Education: Charter School Policy & Equity. She was also highlighted in the book, Unconscious Bias in Schools: A Developmental Approach to Exploring Race and Racism and was recently interviewed with the author of this book on The State of Us, a nationally syndicated podcast. In January, Rashanda was named the Executive Director of Students for Educational Justice and is creating a statewide anti-racist teaching and learning collaborative. She is also busy working hard with the New Haven Chapter of the NAACP during this election season! I, Theo LeCompte, have also made my way back into politics, having left Uber earlier this year to help the Democratic National Convention and Biden campaign with their COVID-19 safety programs. Meanwhile, Eric Hersh and his wife, Danna, are celebrating the birth of their son, Benjamin Eitan Hersh, born September 5, 2020. Eric and the whole family will be moving to Boulder, Colorado, in 2021, so I hope that baby gets used to the elevation! Congrats to the Hershes all around! Less momentous, but still worth reporting, Kevin Betz reported a high drama situation in his house with a flying squirrel at 3 a.m. “No joke. Woke the whole family up. Eventually, we cornered it in the upstairs bathroom and I trapped it with a basket and a squash racket and then threw it out the window. How it got in we still don’t know.” Well done, Mr. Betz. Mike Dudas reported that the highlight of 2020 was moving back into his childhood home in Madison, Connecticut, for four months. Mike and his family fled New York City amid the pandemic and bunked up with Mike’s parents. Merrick Rosner picked up a new sport this year: paddle tennis. After breaking all of his old tennis rackets (apologies to old tennis coach Mr. Ewen), Merrick picked up some new gear and won his first paddle tennis tourney this September. Brian Skope used the summer camp budget to buy an RV trailer to get his fam out on some summer adventures. He’s been appreciating the silver lining of daily sweatpants and camping in the new rig. Brian has also been working with a nonprofit started by a Northwestern friend, called Helping Hands Community—a platform geared to help those in need during the pandemic. If you want to volunteer to help the cause, email Brian at bskope@whizbang.io. Thanks also to Brian and Laina for helping pull these notes together. I always love to hear from folks—so reach out anytime!
1999 Erica Schwartz erischwa@gmail.com Allison Grady alligrady2@gmail.com Hello all. Erica Lynn Schwartz here. I’m writing this during month seven of the pandemic—what a challenging time. I personally found that during this time it has been great to take a breath and reconnect. So, as has become the norm these days, I put the call out for a Class of ’99 Zoom. Dileepan Ganesan, Mark D’Agostino, Derek Greten-Harrison, Kevin Colleran, Jamie Rubinstein Taber, Alex Farrill, Elena Giordano, and Peter Mack all joined. It was really fun to see so many faces all together again. Amongst the many children and/or pet interruptions, we had a blast sharing what was the latest in our lives (pre-pandemic) and all shared a new (well, at least new to me) appreciation for Kirkland brand liquor! Hopefully we can do this again and I invite you all to join! Some exciting additions to announce: Annie Berman and her husband, Seth, welcomed their newest addition, Haley Brooke Greenstein, born August 14, 2020. Their older children, Olivia (8) and Nolan (6), are thrilled to have a new baby sister.
1998 Misha Body mishabody@gmail.com Tina Chen tina.chen02@gmail.com Eamon Griffin grifbear@yahoo.com Knock knock. Who’s there? Just Tina, Eamon, and Misha… No updates for this issue! I know many of us are healthcare workers, teachers, or frontline workers. Thank you for all that you are doing! I hope everyone stays safe and healthy.
(TOP) Annie Berman Greenstein ’99’s children Nolan (6) and Olivia (8) hold new baby sister Haley. (BOTTOM) Brooke Lyons ’99’s children Bash and Lark. VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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Last year, they relocated from the San Francisco Bay Area to Westport, Connecticut, and are happy to be back on the East Coast after many years in California. From Brooke Lyons: “Some happy news: Max and I welcomed our daughter Lark Lyons Osswald in April! Big brother Sebastian (3) is very excited to have a new playmate.” Lindsay McPherson Batastini writes, “We moved back into our home after a five-month renovation just two weeks before the stay-at-home order in Massachusetts began. It was a chaotic spring with two kids at home full-time with two parents working from home full-time, but we made it through and are thankful for our health and safety. On July 24, we welcomed Peyton Joy, who weighed 8 lbs. 5 oz. and is an easy-going baby. Her big brother Jack (6) and big sister Addison (3) adore her. I feel lucky to be on maternity leave this fall, so I can help Jack with his first-grade remote learning.” Oh Lindsay, I hear you—the remote learning struggle is real. On that note, I hope you all are doing well, most importantly that you are healthy and remain strong during this time. Always feel free to reach out to me –Erica
months with Sarah’s parents in Branford, Connecticut, enjoying Pepe’s takeout and the beach while trying to run a hedge fund from a bedroom. Sarah came and went from the COVID-19 floors at Montefiore/Albert Einstein, where she works as a hospitalist and in patient safety. They are now back in New York, spending time with Andrew Gustafson and his wife, Cindy, in Prospect Park and finding every last outdoor option in New York City! Dave Wynne and his wife, Katrin, moved to Ridgefield, Connecticut, in June and hope to reconnect with Hopkins folks in the area. Since his last update, Dave joined WINFertility as CFO. WIN is a PE backed healthcare company in Greenwich, Connecticut, that helps people start families with clinical management of fertility and other family building services. This year, Alycia Huckabey Powell ’03 celebrated the third anniversary of Champions for Philanthropy, the company she and Michelle Mays co-founded to help athletes and other influencers build, launch, manage, and promote their philanthropic interests! championsforphilanthropy.or
Class of 2000 alums Erica Wishnow, Harper Mates, Vaani Panse Garg, and Stephanie Herbert in Sicily.
2001 Lindsay McPherson Batastini ’99’s children Jack (6) and Addison (3) holding Peyton Joy.
2000
Robert Curry rccurry01@yahoo.com Stephanie Herbert moved from New York to Milan, Italy. She took on a new challenge as the Director of Operations, Outlets EMEA for Versace. Italy has been a second home for Stephanie for a while now and it is wonderful for her to call it home. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Stephanie Herbert, Harper Mates, Vaani Panse Garg, and Erica Wishnow all took a short trip together to Sicily. Junta Nakai has discovered a silver lining to the pandemic: after traveling over 200,000 miles last year for work, he is now home every night with his kids! Ian Shedd is enjoying lots of extra time with his daughter, who was born last year. Robert Curry spent the pandemic quarantine building a chicken coop and running with his kids. He now has eight hens and one rooster and collects six to eight eggs per day. Sarah Baron and Jeremy Kahan got a chance to relive their childhood during the pandemic. Jeremy, Joanna (7), and Elliott (4) spent six 60
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Marissa Black blackmarissa@gmail.com Daniel Zlotoff zlotoff@gmail.com Emily Mantell writes, “We just had our second child in July, a little girl named Avi Jude Weymer. We also moved to a new home in Somerville, Massachusetts.” Courtney Adkinson Finley reports: “On April 5, as Boston ramped up to our (first) COVID-19 peak, we had a very quick trip to the hospital to welcome our son Rhys to our family. Big brothers Graham and Hugh were excited about the new addition (see photo). We are currently navigating the world of kindergarten by Zoom.” Josiah Kaplan continues to work on international humanitarian issues. He began a new role this summer with UNICEF, based out of Florence, Italy, where he heads a research program on child protection issues linked to migration and harmful forms of labor. Outside the UN, he also works with a consortium of U.S. government and academic partners working on issues related to humanitarian civil-military coordination. He adds, “In my spare time, I’m trying to learn Italian and become a halfway-passable cook (questionable progress on both). Would love to reconnect with Hopkins ’01 classmates online, and definitely let me know
healthcare providers in these trying times. Your work and sacrifice is truly the “public service of the country in future times” that we were instructed to pursue 20 years ago as Hopkins students. Thank you and your families so much for all that you are doing. And now, on to the notes: Kharim Jones wins fastest response, writing in from home base in the Elm City. He sent a photo of himself and Rachel Stone at their remote outdoor co-working digs, a patio in New Haven. It looks awesome. Rachel came up to New Haven from Texas for the month—she’s getting back in touch with this thing called “fall.” Elena Grewal also reports that she has returned to the Elm City, starting a
(L–R) Rhys, Graham, and Hugh, sons of Courtney Adkinson Finley ’01, pictured in July 2020. if any of us have wound up in Italy!” Brian Cook lives in Boston, Massachusetts, with his family; they welcomed their third child in July. He continues to work as a litigator for the law firm Goodwin. Alex Reger works as a policy analyst in Hartford. He has two kids (7 and 3, both boys). He writes, “I was keeping up with soccer at a local league here until the pandemic. Now working from home for the foreseeable future, so my wife and I and the boys are getting a really great opportunity to spend a lot of time together.” It’s hard to believe, but it will be 20 years since our Hopkins graduation this spring! We will keep everyone updated on reunion plans as they develop.
Rachel Stone ’02 and Kharim Jones ’02 at their remote outdoor co-working area, a patio in New Haven.
2002 Aaron Zelinsky Aaron.Zelinsky@gmail.com I hope this note finds you and yours safe and healthy. I’m sure I speak for all of the Class of 2002 when I express my thanks and deep admiration to the many members of our class working as
Graham Myrick, son of Danielle and Andrew Myrick ’02, celebrated his first birthday on October 14, 2020. new organization called Data 2 the People (data2thepeople.org) last January, that uses data science to help elect Democratic candidates. Andrew Myrick writes in that he and his wife, Danielle, will celebrate their son, Graham’s, first birthday on October 14. Mazel tov! Drew reports that Graham is already practicing the Michigan fight song and sends along this great picture to prove it. Tucker Frawley recently left Yale after 12 years as Associate Head Baseball Coach to become the Minnesota Twins Director of Skill Acquisition and Assistant Field Coordinator. He’s “fortunate to be able to still live in Fairfield while working remotely and occasionally traveling to Minnesota and the team’s minor league affiliate locations in Florida, New York, and Iowa.” Gayley Woolston and Bion Piepmeier report that they are adjusting well to being a family of five, Greta now joining Alice (5) and Arthur (3). Gayley is at Mastercard in the Digital Consumer group and Bion is in-house counsel at Nestlé Waters. Hallie Mueller writes in to say that all is going well out in the great American Southwest, where she continues painting and teaching. Kyle Wirtz reports that all is good with him, and that his son, Hunter, just turned 7 and Brody will be 5 in February. Alan Blank and his family of five are doing well in the Windy City. He recently received a large cancer research grant investigating bone cancer, and was named as Crains 40 under 40 in Chicago. Congrats! He also enjoys consulting with fellow doc Jono Berliner, currently an orthopedic surgeon in Connecticut, about interesting or difficult cases. Miguel Katigbak (who accurately VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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2003
Courtney Hart courtneyleigh.hart@gmail.com Arielle Traub arielle.traub@gmail.com Even in the midst of a global pandemic, the Class of 2003 is
staying optimistic and busy in these bizarre times. Jeff Juger updated us that he’s still in San Jose, California, working at JinkoSolar, the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels, and is also Chair of the Yale School of Management Alumni Advisory Board. He has two daughters—a toddler and a baby approaching her first birthday. Also in the Dad Club is Teo Ifrim—Teo started working at Atlantic 57 in March as a senior project manager, and he and his wife, Marci, welcomed their second child, Gabriela Eden DeGrace Ifrim, in June. Another new baby that joined us this year is Georgia Marie Smith, Katie Platt Smith’s sweet daughter, who entered the world on January 18, 2020. Check out cute pics of these adorable nuggets! With tons of people taking to the road lately, business is booming for Aaron Silidker, who designed a drop-in battery/power system to replace the Winnebago Revel’s factory-issued one. He’s assembling them at his business in Branford, Connecticut, and shipping them to installers across the country. Aaron writes, “My business (roamrig.com) has absolutely exploded since midsummer due to a perfect storm of factors: COVID-19 driving camper van popularity through the roof, finding a fantastic niche (lithium-based power systems) within a niche (Winnebago Revels) that are part of the growing camper van niche. Weekends and days
At the wedding of Katherine Goodrich ’02. (L–R) Melissa Feldsher ’02, a friend of the bride, Katherine, and Liz Fortune ’02. notes that I last buttonholed him for in-person updates in Jerusalem’s old city 12 years ago) writes: “after getting married and completing my MBA at Cornell, I pursued a career in marketing—I’ve worked on everything from Popsicle to Axe Body Spray and am currently the Director of Marketing for SunnyD. It’s an invigorating challenge that forces me to stay on the edge of digital/social media and Gen Z pop culture. On the home life side of things, I have a son and daughter (Enzo, 4, and Aria, 2), which is plenty to handle these days!” And Katherine Goodrich gives her first update in what she believes is 14 years! “I got married March 14 in New Haven, barely 24 hours before Lamont’s shutdown order limiting large gatherings. My partner is a professor of mathematics, so the Pi Day date was very much a deliberate choice (although he will deny having had any hand in selecting that date)! I feel obligated to note that our small wedding did not seed a cluster/outbreak. Melissa Feldsher and Elizabeth Fortune were in attendance, and while it remains unclear whether City Hall ever processed our paperwork due to the shutdown, I feel lucky to have seen my closest friends and family for one last happy gathering before heading into lockdown. Professionally, I’m continuing my adventures through the wild world of adtech as head of legal and privacy operations at a startup in New York.” Mazel tov, Katherine! Until next time, be well and stay safe. Off to class. 62
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Teo Ifrim ’03 with his wife, Marci, and their two children.
off no longer exist for me. It was nice having them for 35 years. Maybe I will meet weekends and days off again in the future.” We’re thrilled you’re getting tons of leads, but we hope you get a day off soon, Aaron. Emily Corwin updates us from Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she is located for a Nieman Fellowship in journalism at Harvard. Emily shares, “I feel incredibly lucky in this difficult time, auditing courses across the university and participating in seminars with extraordinary journalists (even if it is all on Zoom). Most of my cohort of fellows moved to Cambridge, too, which means we’re getting to know each other in person despite the virus (outdoors with masks on, of course).” Huge kudos, Em! In other media-related news, congratulations are also in order for Julia Edelstein, who was named editor-in-chief of Parents Magazine in October. (We knew she was destined for editorial greatness from her days as EIC of The Razor.) Like a total boss, Julia has been leading the brand remotely since March, due to the pandemic, from her childhood home in Fairfield, Connecticut. Julia writes, “It has been an exciting and challenging career moment. Andrew spent March and April 2020 living in Manhattan without us, working on the frontlines of the pandemic. He is now commuting to New York City daily for work at New York Presbyterian/Weill-Cornell Medical Center. Our boys—Joey, 6, and Gabriel, 3—are thriving in their new Connecticut schools for the time being.” To Andrew and all of our other frontline classmates—thank you for the immense load that you’re shouldering right now, and stay safe. Another career-crushingit update from Alycia Huckabey Powell: She and Michelle Mays ’00 just celebrated the three-year birthday of their consulting agency, Champions for Philanthropy. Per Alycia, “We work with professional athletes in the charitable space, helping manage their nonprofit foundations and other philanthropic endeavors. Our clients include NBA champion Markieff Morris and Heisman trophy winner Charlie Ward, among others.” Alycia’s organization has an incredible mission and heart—go check out championsforphilanthropy.org to read more about what she’s created! Our resident classmate-in-the-skies, Andrew Soberman, has relocated to Bremerton, Washington, to finish out his Navy career. He’s attached to the USS Nimitz and he’ll be in a non-flying billet: Assistant Strike Officer. He’ll be departing the Navy
Clararose Voight ’04 and her husband, John Schott, welcomed Simone Petra Schott in August 2020. around May 2022, and then, as he says, the world is his oyster. By the time he finishes, he’ll have accrued 25 search and rescue missions and have rescued/MEDVAC’ed at least 20 people. No big deal. (Andrew, that’s awesome.) We hope that you and yours are well and safe and that our next Views update finds us in greener pastures.
2004 Erin Johnson erin122@gmail.com Kimberly J. Lewis kimberlyjlewis@gmail.com
Georgia Marie Smith, daughter of Katie Platt Smith ’03.
Well, Class of 2004, it’s been quite a year. When we last wrote to you via the spring/summer class notes, your faithful class secretaries were—as we are now—working from home (in Chicago and New York, respectively) due the continued impact of the pandemic. We know this year has been challenging for all, but there also have been some incredibly bright spots in this otherwise very unusual year. We are honored to be able to share some of this good news with you here. We are happy to report that the ’04 family has gotten a little bigger since we last wrote. Congratulations to Clararose Voigt, who wrote in from Silicon Valley to share that she and her husband, John Schott, welcomed Simone Petra Schott to the world on August 8, 2020. Also to Kelly Ruby and Jeff Musante, who welcomed their second daughter, Colette Jean Musante, into the world on March 2, 2020. Colette joins older sister Evelyn (who is now 2!) and the family dog, Swisher, who are both excited for the newest addition to the family. Meanwhile, classmates continue to transform the world through their work. Despite the impact of COVID-19 on theater productions, Jessica Kaufman is staying busy. She wrote to share that she has been passing the time working for the political arm VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), writing ads and overseeing communications in Florida and Nevada on work to reach and mobilize infrequent voters of color for a record turnout this year. Thomas Lipp, who is now in his sixth year at SpaceX, wrote in from California. “Although writing the algorithm that lands the Falcon 9 rocket was pretty exciting, launching humans into space gave it a run for its money. If you watched the May 30 Demo-2 launch (the first manned orbital launch by a private company), you may have heard my callouts to the astronauts: ‘Trajectory Nominal.’ After being on console for a score of missions, I am moving on to determining how to land our new Starship vehicle.” We hope this column finds you healthy and safe and that you continue to find comfort and company among family and friends, including your fellow members of the Class of 2004. We look forward to hearing from you when the next column rolls around.
2005 Courtney O’Brien Yakavonis courtneyyakavonis@gmail.com Pamela Soberman pamela.soberman@gmail.com We hope that the Class of 2005 is staying safe and healthy. Ben Zlotoff is living in Hanover, New Hampshire, indefinitely with his wife, Sarah, and daughter, Emma. He has been enjoying the outdoor recreation and also taking advantage of the plentiful childcare provided by Emma’s grandparents/Sarah’s parents. Emma Mueller Fedor recently signed a book deal with Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Her debut novel, At Sea, is scheduled for release around summer 2022.
2006 Corey Briskin corey@coreybriskin.com TiffanyAnn Johnson tiffanyannjo@gmail.com Lucas Kelly-Clyne lukekellyclyne@gmail.com Lucien Harlow-Dion is one year into his MBA at Bard with a focus on Sustainability in Business. He interned at The Capital Institute, a think tank focused on aligning the finance industry with the UN’s sustainable development goals. On the home front, he and his wife have been in Connecticut for most of the summer riding out the worst of the COVID-19 wave. Lucien is happy to report that his mom, Ms. Harlow, has returned from Greece and is working at Hopkins again. Like Lucien, Zachary Prusoff also recently shifted career paths and is now investing in commercial multi-family real estate. He lives with his wife, Danielle, and three kids, Aurora, Isabelle, and Jeshua, ages 8, 5, and 3, respectively. Speaking of kiddos, Tom Lambert and his wife, Sarah, recently welcomed the newest addition to their family. Tom reports that mom and baby Eleanor are doing great, but that the jury is still out on dad! James Ringold and his wife, Chelsea, continue to practice law. Aleks Romano and her spouse, Stephen, moved to Fresno, California, so that he could start a new job at Fresno State. When the pandemic struck in March, Aleks was sent home from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she was gearing up to sing Carmen with Pittsburgh Opera. Sadly, all of her contracts since then have 64
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been canceled, so she decided to pursue an MA/MBA in Design Leadership at Johns Hopkins and MICA. She is also doing some project management work with Atlanta Opera so that she can stay connected to her opera family. Kate Lupo moved in July 2019 from Brooklyn, New York, to Greenville, South Carolina, and is now known affectionately by some as a “Yankee in the South.” In May 2020, she married Rand Fowler, an HR executive, in a COVID-19 courthouse wedding. She is now stepmom to Rand’s wonderful 8-year-old son, Milo. Kate serves as an executive communications liaison to the CEO of Crawford Strategy, a marketing agency. A lover of “living history,” Kate recently joined the Board of Directors for the Friends of Connemara (a.k.a., the Carl Sandburg House) in Flat Rock, North Carolina. Outside of work, Kate continues to support local theater, history, arts, and culture. Alexis Sharpe spent a large part of the year working in the ICU during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. On a more positive note though, she recently married her husband in an intimate family ceremony in her parents’ backyard in Connecticut. Luke Kelly-Clyne made the most of the lockdown by co-creating an at-home workplace comedy sitcom for CBS with The Office’s Paul Lieberstein and Ben Silverman. And as for Corey Briskin, he and his husband, Nicholas, have been home in Brooklyn, New York, since COVID-19 struck. As a prosecutor, Corey is considered an essential worker and was required to report to work until late March, which was just long enough for him to get the coronavirus. Thankfully, his case was very mild, and he has made a full recovery.
2007 Becky Harper bharper@hopkins.edu Eric Emanuelson eric.emanuelson.jr@gmail.com Hello, Hopkins Community, the Class of 2007 hopes everyone is doing well and staying safe in the midst of a truly strange year. As the world around us appears to burn (and for our West Coast friends, actually burns), we are here to provide this autumn’s column as a salve—ok, maybe more of a distraction—from any difficulties you may be facing. And now, the news! This year, we asked our classmates to share new updates and (1) their favorite quarantine pastime, (2) things we can do six feet apart, (3) any COVID-19-related volunteer or social justice work, and (4) where they would like to move if the election does not go their way. Without commenting further on how it relates to the questions above, your Class Correspondents are happy to report several of us have faced the pandemic by switching into full “baby mode.” Dana Traub Solomon and her husband, Garhett, welcomed their first child, Isaac Lane Solomon, on September 3. Dana was kind enough to send us a photo and we can confirm that Isaac is SO cute! Everyone is healthy and adjusting to this new stage at the Solomon home in Needham, Massachusetts, including their Bernedoodle, Nala. (Yaaaas Lion King). Phil Bernasek and his wife, Sarah, also welcomed their first baby, Amelia, just two days ago! Phil and his wife are “excited (and a bit nervous) to figure out how to be parents.” They are living in the San Francisco Bay Area and are hoping to spend lots of time outside with Amelia over the next few months once all the smoke from the wildfires dissipates. For what it’s worth, Phil, we all know you both will be great! Carla Katigbak Swaim says, “I finally found my calling—motherhood!” Carla and her husband, Kyle, had a baby girl, Greyson Rose Swaim, on August 28. The new mom added, “I’m pretty in love, not gonna lie.” Carla also let
us know that her favorite quarantine pastime is “baking lactation cookies,” and suggests that everyone “get a penpal” while staying six feet apart (any takers, Class of ’07?). Carla contributed to the fight against COVID-19 by “staying home pregnant AF,” which we all agree was a good choice because #safetyfirst. Finally, Carla has decided that should the election go the wrong way, she will be moving to Norway. Also joining the new parent club is Emma Kennely Klein, who after a few years in Virginia, moved up to Trumbull, Connecticut, with her husband, Matt, over the summer. Emma and Matt just welcomed their son, Oliver Thomas, on October 9. Maybe a future Hilltopper? Several classmates also got married this year. Natalie Mathews and her partner, Joseph Longo, were able to tie the knot on September 26 in Montreal. Nat shares that it was a short-notice, but picture-perfect park wedding after COVID-19 delayed the couple’s initial plans. Nat still resides in Toronto, Canada, and is training to be a pediatric hematologist/oncologist. She will begin her special training in bleeding disorders and blood clots next year, before she and Joseph move back to Montreal. Nat sends much love to the Class of 2007 from north of the border. Jane Baldwin, currently in New York City, will be moving out to California by next summer, to begin an assistant professorship in Earth System Science at University of California Irvine (just south of Los Angeles in Orange County). She will be joined by her fiancé, Eric Wengrowski, whom she met at a masquerade a few years ago when Jane was working on her Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science at Princeton and Eric was working on his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering at Rutgers. Jane reports that she and Eric both share a love of winter mountain sports and got engaged at the top of Stratton Mountain back in March. We wish these lovebirds safe travels and the best of luck with the new job. Tim Eisen has also had a busy year. Tim recently moved to California, got married, and started a new job at UC Berkeley. He encourages any classmates visiting the Bay Area to look him up if they want to hang out or ride the waves! Emily Shaw recently wrapped up a job as a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Harlem Hospital’s outpatient child and adolescent psychiatry unit on July 1. As we might expect, the hospital was a “pretty crazy work environment” during the pandemic, especially when all of her patients (most of whom have ADHD and/or other learning disorders) need to transition to remote learning! However, although it was very stressful, Emily says she is glad to have had the opportunity to support her patients and their families in one of the hardest-hit areas in New York City. Later this month, Emily will begin a new job at a collaborative care practice, meaning she will be one of the mental health providers at a primary care clinic. Thank you, Emily, for being one of our very own healthcare heroes and good luck on whatever new challenges your new job might bring! Cameron Bloomer has spent the quarantine investing professionally in the future of medicine, specifically in “genetic medicines” through the U.S. public equity market. In terms of socially distant activities, Cameron recommends transcendental meditation. He also reminds everyone that the widespread use of masks for the next four months would save 100,000 American lives, and that Black Lives Matter. We agree! Finally, it looks like should the election go the wrong way for him, Cameron will be either joining Carla in Norway, or Nat in Montreal as both have submitted their case, but really anywhere that he can help lead the American resistance will do. Our friend John Peck has enjoyed perfecting his own recipe for soufflés during quarantine. He says it took him about six months to nail down the perfect technique, but assures us it’s the move. In terms of what you can do while six feet apart—obviously,
you can make soufflés! John has also been doing as much legal advocacy work as he can. He explains that with the criminal courts all but closed in Boston, Massachusetts, there are tons of people who do not have an opportunity to get out of lockup. John encourages everyone to call their DA and end cash bail! (YES!) If the election does not go his way, John is moving to France. He says, “I’d like nothing more than an actual French person to savagely critique my soufflé. God knows I’m trying.” Kristin DeLuca reports that this year has been a bit of a whirlwind but has led to some positive changes! Because COVID-19 had a huge (unfortunately negative) impact on the fashion industry, Kristin decided to pursue a brand new career path and is now working toward her Certificate of Interior Architecture and Design at UCLA. Although the program is currently entirely online, she is hoping to get back to school in-person by next year (fingers crossed). In other good news, Kristin’s cake baking side business (@cakebykiki) also took off for a bit in quarantine, which has been great while she is taking classes! Kristin is still based in Los Angeles, California, where she is cohabitating with her boyfriend, Tim, in the Silver Lake area. Kristin still sees Heather Wegner quite a bit and her brother, Doug DeLuca ’06, is close by in West Hollywood. Like many of us, Kristin has been enjoying a lot more outdoor activities during the pandemic (hiking, tennis, bouldering, and attempting to learn the arduous sport of golf ), which she says is refreshing! Kristin hopes anyone who swings through Los Angeles will come say hi. She misses everyone and hopes everyone will VOTE! Finally, after another brief stint in New York City, Eric Emanuelson has moved back to Washington, D.C., where he continues to work as an associate practicing employment law. After saying hello to John Peck in Boston, Massachusetts, at thebeginning of October, Eric and his girlfriend picked up a golden retriever puppy, Ruth (Bader Gins-paw), who is adorable and currently chewing on his laptop. Playing with the puppy has quickly become Eric’s favorite quarantine pastime, though Ruth makes it difficult to stay socially distant on walks because she wants to say hello to everyone. Thank you to everyone who wrote to us for this season of Hopkins Highlights. We love you, miss you, hope you are well, safe, and taking care of yourselves. Stay in touch and keep up the swagger!
2008 Marguerite Paterson margueritewp@gmail.com Ben Sperling is enjoying the last year of his MBA program at NYU, despite most of it being virtual. He has accepted a full-time offer to work at Mars Wrigley after graduation as an associate brand manager and looks forward to working on those iconic brands that we all know and love! Brian Weisman started his own hedge fund this year. Gigi Clark has adapted to working full time from home, bringing MLB Network and NHL Network into the world of esports (follow them on Twitch!). Gigi also was nominated for and won two more Sports Emmys, one for her work on MLB Network’s flagship program MLB Tonight, and one for Outstanding Social TV Experience, which they won with an idea that Gigi came up with called #SandlotToTheShow, where their Hall of Fame analysts break down fan-submitted videos of youngsters playing baseball and give them tips on how to get better! Emma Fox graduated with a Ph.D. in Ecology and Environmental Science from the University of Maine and moved to Massachusetts to work for a Cambridge firm called Industrial Economics, Inc. doing program evaluations for government VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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contractors and regulatory economics on the impact of state and U.S. federal environmental policies. Emma’s move to Massachusetts has been a highlight of my year—it is so nice to be able to keep in touch on socially distant walks instead of on the phone! Also nearby, Stasey Vishnevetsky and David Zackheim are engaged and living together in Cambridge, Massachusetts (after reconnecting at our Hopkins reunion in 2018!). Stasey is finishing up her neurology residency at MGH-Brigham, and David is a consultant
at Bain & Company.
2009 Allison Lyons allison.c.lyons.1@gmail.com Rajeev Mehrotra rmehrotra@wustl.edu In June 2020, Becca Bagnall won the Greater Boston School Counselors’ Association Counselor of the Year Award! She is in her fifth year as a counselor at Marblehead High School. Also in Boston, Massachusetts, is Ted Clark—Ted and Becca are neighbors in Charlestown! 2020 marks season four of Ted’s history tour small business, Hub Town Tours. He does not recommend working in tourism during a pandemic! After shutting the business down through June, he reopened and has perfected leading tours while wearing a mask. As he waits for tourism to pick up, Ted started working on a political campaign for a state representative north of Boston. In between history tours and campaign calls, Ted Clark escaped the city for a camping trip with Conor Duffy, Eric Coffin-Gould ’10, and Luke Lamar. Alana Friedlander received her master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and is continuing on to her doctorate (expected graduation 2023). Alana is interested in focusing on women’s reproductive and sexual health. As part of her training, she is currently a neuropsychology intern at Northwestern University. She also adopted a rescue pup, Tucker. Let her know if you’re in Chicago! Jane Reznik started at Bryn Mawr’s Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research in fall 2020. She is working on her master’s in Social Science. It’s a two-year program and has been completely remote thus far. In March, Caroline Rogers moved from Vietnam to Singapore. She volunteers with a local organization called ItsRainingRaincoats, where she manages a program that provide one-to-one English lessons to migrant workers by connecting them with volunteer teachers from the community. Caroline is happy to talk to fellow Hopkins alums about her time living abroad and her line of work. Nathaniel Zelinsky is working remotely from Connecticut. This summer, he finished clerking for a judge and started a new job at a law firm in Washington, D.C. Congrats on the new job!
2010 Allie Briskin alliebriskin@gmail.com Molly Levine mollyhl@gwmail.gwu.edu
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2011 Matt Pun poonee_11sbcglobal.net Cailin Gillespie cgilles1@nd.edu Callie Ferguson is working as an investigative and enterprise local news reporter for the Bangor Daily News, a newspaper in eastern Maine. Emma Gleeman is living in Valdivia, a coastal city in southern Chile, where she’s running a citizen science project on climate and meteorology with a wetland conservation center. She’s also doing some English teaching, academic translation, and working on a few other ecology projects through Universidad Austral de Chile and the U.S. Embassy. During these last few months, she’s been grateful for frequent FaceTime work sessions with Isabelle Levin when they both need to study.
2012 Luke McCrory lukemcrory16@gmail.com Amanda B. Fath amandafath@yahoo.com Throughout the pandemic, the Class of 2012 has managed to keep busy in their academic and career pursuits. Sanam Rastegar is continuing to work for the Biden-Harris campaign. Sanam joined the Biden team in June 2019 and has been a deputy state finance director on the Finance Team for the past 16 months. Sarah Carlow graduated from BC Law this past spring and is now starting a two-year fellowship with the Boston College Innocence Program. Sarah had already been working at the BC Innocence Program throughout law school, and is very excited to continue her work there. Most recently, Sarah had a client who was exonerated after spending 17 years in prison for a crime she did not commit. Jay Sullivan finished his Master of Philosophy degree in Development Economics at the University of Cambridge remotely this summer and deferred further plans for grad school due to COVID-19. In the meantime, he is volunteering with the Biden campaign in North Carolina through the election. In addition, keeping in touch with Nolan Paige, Vijay Kodumudi, and Lucas Hausman has been a great quarantine respite for Jay. Hannah Johnson is completing her final year of her Master of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is concurrently working for a nonprofit that provides trauma-focused treatment to children who have experienced sexual abuse. Upon graduating with her MSW, Hannah plans to continue training in clinical work with the intention of obtaining a licensed clinical social worker degree. Nicole Wolfe is teaching special education at a middle school in Nashville. She is teaching both in-person and virtually as her school continues to navigate the circumstances of this school year. This fall, Erin Rosenberg began graduate school at Boston University, studying biomedical sciences. Prior to starting grad school, Erin spent three and a half years working at Integral Molecular, a biotech company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At Integral, Erin was part of the Antibody Discovery Team, where she focused on developing therapeutics for diseases with limited or no treatments. Amanda Fath recently commenced her doctoral studies in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at M.I.T. In addition to starting her Ph.D., she is very excited to be in the Boston, Massachusetts, area and living near Hopkins alumnae Grace Baldwin, Emory Werner, Emily Hall, and Erin Rosenberg, among others!
2013
2016
Leili Azarbarzin lazarbarzin17@gmail.com
Eric Kong eric_kong@brown.edu
Alex Dillon alexbaileydillon@gmail.com
Sophia C. Cappello sophia.cappello@yale.edu
Eli Lustbader e2lustbader@gmail.com
Emmanuel C. Chinyumba emmanuel.chinyumba@uconn.edu
2014
The Class of 2016 continues to migrate across the U.S. and the world as members prepare to graduate, further their education, begin new careers, or simply prepare for the next chapter that life has to offer to them. Max Kargin is currently on active duty orders in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and is known as 2LT Kargin in the Military Police. Maya Zanger-Nadis has been interning as a research assistant at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute. Maya will be graduating in the spring of 2021 and is making preparations to move to Israel post-graduation! Michael Zhou has spent time traveling from Tokyo to Hawaii and will be settling down in New York City. Kami Chin graduated from CMU this past May and will be starting a new job as a technology analyst at Accenture in New York City as well. Elliot Eisenberg relocated to Verona, Wisconsin, and is working as a technical solutions engineer at Epic. Mollie Seidner currently works for Stryker Orthopedics in New Jersey as a post market intelligence engineer and has officially (unfortunately) retired from swimming. However, Mollie will be pursuing her master’s in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on robotics and will be completing this degree part time while continuing to work for Stryker. Omari Caldwell accepted a job offer from Fidelity, where he will work as an associate within their Emerging Leader Program; he’ll be relocating to West Lake, Texas. Lauren Hagani recently returned from a two-month-long road trip, where she had the opportunity to hike and camp down south. She currently lives in New York City and recently started working full time, remotely, as a researcher at the Center for Policing Equity. Lauren also works as the research director of a grassroots organization called The Confined Arts, where she creates research-informed arts-advocacy programs for people impacted by the criminal justice system. Thomas Rosiello moved to Boston, Massachusetts, after graduation, where he resides with his older brother. He recently began an investment banking job at Barclays. Thomas relayed that he’s taken up baking as a hobby to pass the time during these strange times. He also relayed how “it goes without saying that this is such a strange moment to graduate into. It’s forced me to confront my identity.” I think Thomas echoes a statement that we can all resonate with in some way. None of us expected this year to go the way it did. From the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, adapting to life during a national pandemic, to the upcoming presidential election, the year has been full of changes. Thus, transitioning into our roles, whether it be as a student or new employee, this fall has been challenging. We’re all adapting to the new normal while simultaneously making sense of our surroundings. All things considered, members of our class have found unique ways to address some of the issues that have been emphasized during this time of great societal change. Will Collier, along with brother Ben Collier ’17, and a handful of other college students from Brown University, Stanford, and the University of Southern California, founded a nonprofit organization, The Farmlink Project, back in April. The group originally set out with the mission to connect surplus produce in California to a food bank
Jack Greenberg jbg3@williams.edu Just one update from the Class of 2014, but a very exciting one. Mary Imevbore raised $2 million for her startup, Waeve, from VCs and angel investors, and then quit her job. So she’s now the full-time CEO. Susana Hawken ’13 is also a co-founder and the company’s Head of Product. Congrats, Mary! Michael Kravitz was working on now President-Elect Biden's campaign, and is applying to law school.
2015 Griffin Smith smithg2@union.edu Although the Class of 2015 was not able to have our five-year reunion, members have found new ways to catch up and remain as close as ever. We are still hopeful to be able to come together in person this spring, but until then, these notes have been a great way to remain connected. Victoria McCraven completed her master’s degree in History of Art at the SOAS University of London in the spring of 2020 and is now doing great work at the Saint Louis Art Museum as a Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellow. She is definitely making all of her history teachers back at Hopkins proud. Roommates Mairead O’Brien and Courtney Gilroy have continued their impressive careers in New York City. Mairead was promoted in October to Research Manager at Guidepoint and Courtney is still going strong as a financial services business consultant at Ernst & Young. Brian Kitano is still working at Amazon Web Services as a software development engineer and recently moved to San Francisco, California. He’s looking to catch up with anyone else in the Bay area, so if you are nearby, make sure to give him a ring! Prior to the pandemic, Alex Liu had become very involved in his local CrossFit and is hoping to get back into the swing of things soon. Walker Schneider finished up his Master of Philosophy in American History at the University of Cambridge last spring, and has now made the move back to the U.S., where he is a first-year law student at New York University. A lifelong Lakers fan, Kofi Adjepong was thrilled to see them win the first NBA championship in a bubble. It is rumored that he may be receiving a championship ring due to his superfandom, so stay tuned for an update in the spring edition. Down in Austin, Jackson Kleeman has fully adopted the personality of a dog dad with his new pup named Walter. Hoping to see everyone back at Hopkins this spring for a much deserved reunion, but until that is possible, I hope everyone in the Class of 2015 continues to excel and I look forward to getting even more updates for the spring edition.
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that a few members of the group had grown up working at. Will writes, “We started in April after the news was flooded with articles about immense food waste and food loss on farms due to a lack of demand from restaurants, stadiums, schools, etc. These articles were juxtaposed with stories about food banks facing more demand than they had ever seen before and lines that stretched for miles. After a few hundred cold calls we finally got our first hit, and in mid-April, we did our first two transports of 50,000 pounds of onions and 10,800 eggs to communities in Los Angeles, California. We realized that we could do this at a much larger scale and set out to expand our impact. Since then, we have rescued and transported over 14 million pounds of produce, dairy, and eggs to communities in over 40 states around the country. Our mission does not end with the pandemic, as food waste and food insecurity are not unique to the pandemic, they have simply been exacerbated by the circumstances; we want to systematically change the way that surplus food is handled, as well as democratize access to fresh produce and nutritious food across the United States.”
2017 Sanaea Bhagwagar sanaeazb@gmail.com
2018 Leigh Melillo kmelillo@fordham.edu Emily Calderone spent her summer teaching literature to 7th graders through Hopkins’ Pathfinder program, and has been living in New York City and commuting to campus this semester. She is also pleased to report that she convinced Kieran Anderson to climb a tree with her, which went “better than expected.” Since the last report, Samantha Dies has completed an amazing Data Science internship with Pitney Bowes. Deciding to continue pursuing her interest in data science, she accepted a research position at the Massive Data Institute, where she’ll spend the semester attempting to correlate social media data to policy reform regarding the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements. Jennifer Horkovich is doing an internship at Congressman Himes’ office. While this semester was meant to include a New York City directorial stage debut for Leigh Melillo, the state of the world has obviously led to a change in plans. Instead, she is spending the entirety of her fall semester writing, directing, and editing a modernized, transmedia adaptation of Volumes III–V of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. The adaptation utilizes the dual mediums of YouTube and Instagram content to explore the capabilities of digital, interactive storytelling in this new artistic frontier we’ve found ourselves in. Also dipping his toes into the realm of digital theater, Drew Mindell recently had virtual performances of his written work through the Horizon New South Young Playwrights Festival, and directed a production of Jaclyn Backhaus’s You on the Moors Now, which streamed in June. He is currently working on an independent study with playwright Kimberly Belflower, and will be working under the instruction of Lauren Gunderson to create theater for a virtual format. He is also a content creator for the web series “Sex Ed Queeries” and a production assistant for Theater Emory. Unique Parker had her first internship this summer with Transform Films, a documentary production company dedicated to uplifting the voices and stories of underrepresented groups and individuals. Over the course of this internship, she did research for multiple projects the company had in development, 68
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sat in on weekly meetings, and engaged with great people working in all corners of the film industry. Andrew Roberge has fully embraced the liberal arts, and is double majoring in archaeology and theater, whilst pursuing a minor in Medieval Studies. He continues to play baseball and is on the campus EMS squad at Bard College. Neal Sarin writes: “I had long black hair. Then I had long blonde hair. Then I had short blonde hair. Then I had short black hair. Then I had short blonde hair. Now I have short red hair. It has faded to pink.” Dylan Sloan has had an eventful fall already, taking the semester off to ride the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, a 2,300-mile unsupported bike trip from the Canadian to the Mexican border. He notes that, “it was an awesome trip and I’m looking forward to taking it much easier for the rest of the fall before classes start back up again in the spring.”
2019 Alumni interested in serving as correspondents for the Class of 2019 may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu. Connor Hartigan spent a gap year in Toulouse, France, working as a volunteer English teacher and singing in the choir of the Basilica of Saint-Sernin. After spending the summer working at the Book Barn in Niantic, Connecticut, he’s beginning his (virtual) first year at Georgetown University, where he especially enjoys studying French, government, and theology, and is a member of the Concert Choir, the Pep Band, and the French Cultural Association. Sarah Lopez reports: “I am studying international relations and just recently, political science. I am the Chair of Community Service for Delta Phi Epsilon, an international business and foreign service fraternity—Gamma Chapter at Boston University. Most recently, I am writing a book on the evolution of advocacy in the 21st century set to be published in April of 2021. (I’m very excited about this recent project!!)”
2020 Alumni interested in serving as correspondents for the Class of 2020 may contact Donna Vinci at dvinci@hopkins.edu. Eva Illuzi is on campus at Kenyon College out in Ohio. She is planning on majoring in Molecular Biology with a minor in Studio Art and is also now a college rugby player. She is working in a lab studying antibiotic resistance, and working in the art gallery on campus. Griffin Congdon is taking a gap year to farm in Hawaii before he heads off to school next year. Blake Harrison writes in: “I decided to create an Instagram page to start posting the cinematic video montages I have been creating out here in Colorado. It’s @blkeswrld on Instagram.” Gunnar DeSantis reports: “After working all summer, I’m at UVA now where I still have virtual classes but at least I’m there!” Chloe Smith worked at Camp Hazen this summer and is now at Boston College majoring in Applied Psychology and Human Development. Elizabeth Roy moved in with her grandparents in Boston, Massachusetts, since Dickinson College is virtual this fall. She joined the student theater group and applied to be a tutor in the Writing Center while being a prospective American Studies major.
MILE STO N E S BIRTHS
MARRIAGES
IN MEMORIAM
1997
1983
Eric Hersh and Danna Hersh welcomed Benjamin Eitan Hersh on September 5, 2020.
Adam Perlmutter and Erica Roseman on February 2, 2020
Elizabeth Bradley Benedict 1940 DAY d. September 17, 2020
1999
2002
Annie Berman and Seth Greenstein welcomed Haley Brooke Greenstein on August 14, 2020.
Katherine Goodrich and Stephen Zito on March 14, 2020
Brooke Lyons and Max Osswald welcomed Lark Lyons Osswald in April 2020.
2005
Lindsay McPherson Batastini and Matthew Batastini Megan Goetsch and Brendon Maxwell Whalen on September 4, 2020 welcomed Peyton Joy on July 24, 2020.
2000 Ian Shedd and Stephanie Shedd welcomed Juliana Sofia Bechtold Shedd on June 23, 2020.
2003 Teo Ifrim and Marci Ifrim welcomed Gabriela Eden DeGrace Ifrim in June 2020. Katie Platt Smith and Sean Smith welcomed Georgia Marie Smith on January 18, 2020.
2006 Kate Lupo and Rand Fowler in May 2020 Alexis Sharpe and Marc Weinstein on September 13, 2020
2007 Natalie Mathewsand Joseph Longo on September 26, 2020.
Paul M. Weissman 1948 HGS d. September 30, 2020 James M. Brouwer 1949 HGS d. 2018 Alvin David Gordon 1949 HGS d. August 8, 2020 Edward J. Onofrio 1950 HGS d. December 10, 2020 Jane Karlsruher Shedlin 1951 PHS d. November 20, 2020 Harold M. Hochman 1953 HGS d. July 25, 2020 Howard Raffel Harrison 1957 HGS d. November 16, 2020 S. James Rosenfeld 1957 HGS d. September 2, 2020 Gail Brandriff Tarantino 1960 DAY d. October 24, 2020
2004
James Peter Scialabba 1963 HGS d. July 8, 2020
Jeff Musante and Kelly Ruby Musante welcomed Colette Jean Musante on March 2, 2020.
Michael Lopez 1965 HGS d. May, 2020
Clararose Voigt and John Schott welcomed Simone Petra Schott on August 8, 2020.
C. Andrew Buck 1968 HGS d. March 14, 2020
2006
Arthur Henry Woodard, Jr. 1968 HGS d. October 4, 2020
Tom Lambert and Sarah Schaitkin welcomed Eleanor in October 2020.
2007 DanaTraub Solomon and Garhett Solomon welcomed Isaac Lane Solomon onSeptember 3, 2020.
Kathryn E. Toensmeier 1971 DPH d. October 7, 2020 Dianne Hodgetts Bladon 1977 d. August 23, 2020
Phil Bernasek and Sarah Deming welcomed Amelia on October 13, 2020. CarlaKatigbak Swaim and KyleSwaim welcomed Greyson Rose Swain on August 28, 2020. Emma Kennely Klein and Matt Klein welcomed Oliver Thomas on October 9, 2020.
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IN ME M O R I A M Remembering BETTY BRADLEY BENEDICT 1940 DAY Ask anyone what makes a good educator or a great leader, and you will get many different responses: guide, adviser, mentor, role model, inspiration, friend to many. Faculty Emerita Elizabeth “Betty” Bradley Benedict ’40 DAY, who passed away at her home in Shaftsbury, Vermont, on September 17, 2020, was all of those things, and more, to generations of students, faculty, staff, and administrators at Day, DPH, and Hopkins School over the past 50 years. Betty began her life in New Haven on January 22, 1924, the daughter of Franklin Curtis Bradley, a small business owner, and Natalie Allen Bradley. From an early age, she possessed determination, ambition, and at a time when such thinking was less common among women, the utmost conviction that she could do whatever she set her mind to do. After graduating from Vassar in 1944, Betty went on to teach math at the Brearley School in New York City. In 1946, she returned to New Haven, married Henry W. Benedict, and joined the mathematics faculty at her alma mater, The Day School, eventually rising to Mathematics Department Head, Assistant Head of School, and Director of Studies at Day Prospect Hill. During that time, she also raised two sons, Bradley ’66 HGS and Ben ’69 HGS. Betty’s gifts as an educator and administrator who led firmly, but with open ears and an open heart, gained her the admiration and respect of her students, colleagues, and school leaders, not only at DPH but also at Hopkins School, where she held administrative positions as Dean of Faculty and Head of Scheduling—the only woman at DPH to continue in an administrative role beyond the 1973 merger with Hopkins. In this edition of Class Notes, several alumni and former students contributed their thoughts and memories of their beloved Mrs. Benedict. “Thanks to her, I know how to balance my checkbook!” writes Alice Watson Houston ’55 DAY, echoing the words of many other DPH and Hopkins alumni who have Betty to thank for their numerical dexterity. Betty’s scholastic advice was often imbued with subtle life lessons. “The most hopeful thing I can think of is Betty Benedict’s advice to me as a nonmath type: ‘If things don’t always add up... try a new start,’” Mary Anne Barry Cox ’63 DPH mused in her entry. As a woman who pursued her dreams without reservation in a traditionally male STEM field, Betty also inspired her students. Sylvia Schafer ’80 writes, “As the younger sister of two Day Prospect alumnae, I also very much valued her commitment to female excellence in mathematics!” It was said that Betty was a calm and reassuring presence, and that her leadership was always informed by her kindness and empathy. “Not only was Betty an outstanding educator, but she was also one of the most caring and genuine people I have ever met,” said Hopkins Faculty Emeritus Bill Ewen. Betty retired in 1989 after more than 40 years at Hopkins, yet continued her involvement with the School, serving on the Distinguished Alumni Committee for several years, and on the Hopkins Committee of Trustees from 1992 to 1996. She was awarded the school’s highest honor, the Hopkins Medal, in 1996. A letter, copied here, that Betty wrote to new teachers in 1983 in her capacity as Hopkins Dean of Faculty, shows how deeply she cared about people, and why she will be cherished and remembered by so many in the Hopkins community. 70
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Remembering PAUL WEISSMAN 1948 HGS Paul M. Weissman 1948 HGS, former member of the Hopkins Committee of Trustees, recipient of the Hopkins Medal, and visionary philanthropist who believed deeply in the power of education to change the world, passed away on September 30, 2020. A graduate of Harvard and the Wharton Business School, Paul made it his life’s work to support institutions and create programs that could help young people fulfill their greatest potential. At Hopkins, he established the Paul M. and Harriet L. Weissman Scholarship Fund in 1973, which has so far enabled more than 20 students to attend Hopkins, who have each in turn established themselves in the fields of medicine, education, social sciences, and the arts. He also served as a member of the Hopkins Committee of Trustees from 1981 to 1986, during which he worked on the Finance, Development, and Arts Committees. In 1998, Paul was awarded the Hopkins Medal for his “unparalleled commitment, devotion, and loyalty to Hopkins and its students.” In addition to establishing the Weissman Scholarship, he also funded the Weissman Room in 1986 to help enhance the facilities at Hopkins. Paul believed that whatever blessings had been bestowed upon him should be shared with future generations. Along with his wife, Harriet, he lived out that belief through his lifelong commitment to many important causes for the betterment of humanity. He pioneered and endowed countless educational programs, among them the Weissman International Internship Program at Harvard, which provides grants for full-time overseas internships in professional nonprofit and for-profit organizations; the Weissman Family Financial Aid program for undergraduates, the Weissman Leadership Center at Mount Holyoke College, which offers leadership tools and mentorship to students; the children’s section at the White Plains Public Library; and EL Education, a leading K–12 nonprofit empowering teachers to transform schools in diverse communities across America. Paul’s dedication to Hopkins School and support of our students was exemplary. He will be greatly missed by the Hopkins community, and the many people whose lives he touched through his vision, warmth, and generosity.
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SAVE THE DATE TO JOIN US VIRTUALLY JUNE 4–5, 2021
ALUMNI WEEKEND 2021 Reconnect with longtime friends and former faculty members and take time to recognize the impact your time at Hopkins had on your life. If you would like to serve on your class’s Reunion Committee, please email Katey Varanelli, Director of Alumni Engagement, at kvaranelli@hopkins.edu.
FRIDAY
JUNE 4
Anytime VIEW THE REUNION KICKOFF VIDEO 7:00–8:00 PM ET AFFINITY GROUP VIRTUAL GATHERINGS 8:00–9:00 PM ET ALUMNI SPORTS VIRTUAL GATHERINGS
SATURDAY
JUNE 5
Anytime TAKE A VIRTUAL CAMPUS TOUR 4:00–5:15 PM ET BACK TO CLASS SESSIONS 6:00–7:00 PM ET FACULTY HOUR 7:00 PM ET CLASS GATHERINGS
For more details and information, visit hopkins.edu/reunion
Golf Tournament FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 2021 Join us for a reimagined take on a classic Hopkins event. We are pleased to partner with Orange Hills Country Club to host a golf outing for alumni, parents, and friends, following all state Covid protocols. Event subject to change based on those guidelines. Tickets to play are $125 per person.
For more information and to register, please visit hopkins.edu/golf 72
Spring 2021 | VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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Faculty and staff greeted new students and their families to campus in a “Welcome Drive Thru” in August 2020.