Loomis Chaffee Spring 2014 Magazine

MAGAZINE

SPRING 2014

Culturally Speaking Centennial Essay: George P. Shultz ’38 Q&A: To the White House and Back

Spring 2014/ Volume LXXVI, No. 2 ON THE COVER Sophomore Kieu Anh “Eliza” Hoang writes on the board in a Chinese language class.

ON THIS PAGE Juniors Danielle Comorre and Claire Foran move the puck for the varsity girls hockey team, which played to a 14-6 regular-season record and earned a berth in the Division I New England Tournament for the first time in three years. Photo: Tom Honan DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING | Lynn A. Petrillo ’86 MANAGING EDITOR | Becky Purdy DESIGNER | Patricia J. Cousins, Missy Pope Wolff ’04 CLASS NEWS | James S. Rugen ’70 OBITUARIES | Rachel Allen CONTRIBUTORS | Rachel Allen, KeriAnne Travis, Timothy Struthers ’85, Alexandra Muchura, Lisa Salinetti Ross, Karen Parsons SUBMISSIONS/STORIES AND NEWS Alumni may contribute items of interest to: Loomis Chaffee Editors The Loomis Chaffee School 4 Batchelder Road Windsor CT 06095 860 687 6811 magazine@loomischaffee.org PRINTED AT LANE PRESS Burlington, Vermont Printed on 70# Sterling Matte, an SFI sheet SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE POSTMASTER Send address changes to The Loomis Chaffee School 4 Batchelder Road Windsor CT 06095

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INSIDE

LoomisChaffee

22 | Culturally Speaking

Learning a new language at Loomis Chaffee extends far beyond mere translation to authentic communication, cultural competence, and acceptance of others.

34 | Centennial Essay:

A Better Energy Future In an excerpt from his book Issues on My Mind: Strategies for the Future, George P. Shultz ’38 outlines a U.S. energy policy for the years ahead.

37 | Q&A with Diana Farrell ’83

The global head of the McKinsey Center for Government, former deputy director of the National Economic Council, and upcoming Commencement speaker discusses her career, her life, and her intense two years on President Obama’s economic team during the Great Recession.

DEPARTMENTS 2 | HEADLINES | Learning and Unlearning 3 | AROUND THE QUADS

10 | THE BIG PICTURE 15 | ISLAND ARRAY

18 | OF NOTE | FACULTY & STAFF

19 | READERS’ VOICES

2 0 | ATHLETICS 43 | OBJECT LESSONS | Entrance Exams 45 | ALUMNI NEWS 57 | IN MEMORIAM 64 | THE LAST WORD | Learning to see Beauty

40 | The Write Stuff

Our annual update on alumni authors features poet Patricia Boudreau Fargnoli ’55.

Go to Loomis Chaffee online at www.loomischaffee.org for the latest school news, sports scores, and galleries of recent photos. You also will find direct links to all of our social networking communities. For an online version of the magazine, go to loomischaffee.org/magazine.

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HEADLINES | BY SHEILA CULBERT

Learning and Unlearning

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suspect that many of you have seen and read the recent New York Times interview with Google’s Senior Vice President of People Operations Laszlo Bock on how Google hires. The company was famous for the impossible brain teasers with which it used to test job candidates, such as how many golf balls does it take to fill an airplane, but Google apparently has now realized that such an approach does not actually help them in distinguishing successful candidates, nor apparently do resumes or transcripts. So what does help? Bock responds that Google now looks for four main criteria in its job candidates: Cognitive ability and, in particular, intellectual humility; Emergent leadership ability, where individuals may not have actual leadership responsibilities, but they jump in when needed and step back when the job is completed; Cultural fit and comfort with ambiguity and the amorphous nature of a large company; Finally, role-related expertise, although Bock warns that this sometimes proves to be the least useful of the four.

The interview is fascinating even though much of what Bock says falls into the category of good common sense. Those of us in academia who are champions of the liberal arts recognize many of the skills that we hope to imbue in our students, so it is good to see a major company embracing the core of what we do.

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I like how Bock combines cognitive ability with humility because two of the most important lessons our students learn here are not only to be open to new ideas, but also to challenge and change long-held assumptions and truths. For these reasons, Bock puts expertise fourth among his criteria for hiring.

Sometimes, people who are sure of the truth can be blind to other possible answers to a problem. When our students are surrounded in the classroom or laboratory by other bright young people who have different approaches, outlooks, and answers, it forces them to question what it is they believe and why.

They learn in an array of classes and venues to be intellectually flexible and creative, and it is hard not to be humble when surrounded by smart people.

Emergent leadership is a skill that students practice everywhere, most obviously perhaps in the classroom and in their academic group work, but also in the arts, athletics, and student government. I enjoy working each year with the Student Council members on their proposals. They learn pretty quickly that they need to prioritize and delegate if they are going to accomplish anything, and they learn patience because it can take a number of years for the faculty to pass a student proposal. This year’s early graduation is a case in point. First proposed several years ago, successive Student Councils picked up the initiative and worked with the faculty to get it approved. Without their LEARNING | continued 18

Sheila Culbert sits with Hobbes and Max. Photo: John Groo

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When our students are surrounded in the classroom or laboratory by other bright young people who have different approaches, outlooks, and answers, it forces them to question what it is they believe and why.

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AROUND THE QUADS

The Arctic and the Tropic of Cancer

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group of students and faculty journeyed to the Arctic Circle during March Break to delve into the science of climate change while another group traveled to the Dominican Republic to help build a house for a family in need. Both trips, coordinated by Loomis' Center for Global Studies, enabled the student participants to learn by doing and to immerse themselves in another culture.

The Arctic group, led by head of the Science Department Elizabeth Conger and Outdoors Program and Work Program coordinator Peter Gwyn, accompanied a team of research scientists from Earthwatch,

an international nonprofit organization that engages people in scientific field research and education to promote a sustainable environment. During their 10-day visit to the top of the world, the students conducted field and lab research and worked with the scientists to examine the effects of climate change on the Arctic and the rest of the world. They also experienced life in an environment they’d never before encountered, where temperatures dipped to 50 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, where the aurora borealis kept them up late at night, and where sled-dog races highlight ARCTIC AND TROPIC | next page

Bundled up: (back) junior Sam Adler, freshman Nate Blumenthal, senior Tate Knight, senior Cameron Nelson, and senior Alexandra Attanasio; (middle) junior Emma Gwyn, junior Maddy Richmond, faculty member Peter Gwyn, junior Zach Coutu, and faculty member Elizabeth Conger; (front) sophomore Arn Khunpinit, sophomore Yuwi Yamashita, and junior Allison Yeh

Pete Gwyn, up close and frosty

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AROUND THE QUADS

ARCTIC AND TROPIC | continued from 3

Majora Carter and the City

the season in the town of Churchill, Manitoba, the group’s home base on the banks of Hudson Bay. “The Arctic is a unique trip because of its landscape that’s continually disappearing,” explained Marley Matlack, associate director of the Center for Global Studies. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

A far different climate, but equally worthy adventure, greeted the students and faculty who traveled to the Dominican Republic, led by history teacher Elliot Dial and Rachel Nisselson, head of the Modern and Classical Languages Department. Working with Cambiando Vidas, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization, the group helped to construct a cinderblock house for a family near the city of San Juan de Maguana. Students also worked on their conversational Spanish, learned about local customs and traditions, and explored the Caribbean nation’s countryside while gaining a deeper understanding of development work and nonprofit organizations.

After a long day of labor, two of the students on the Dominican Republic trip wrote the following: “Seeing everyone enjoy their meal at one time and place reinforced the Cambiando Vidas’s mantra of love of community, which coincides with what Loomis teaches us. It was great to see the correlation between the bonds that tie people together at Loomis and that of a totally different country.”

To read the student blog from the Arctic trip, go to loomischaffee.org/magazine.

Majora Carter Photo: Patricia Cousins

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RBAN revitalization strategist Majora Carter visited campus in January to talk about her mission to champion social justice through community development initiatives. She also shared her successes in transforming the South Bronx into a community with green spaces, job growth, and hope.

Her visit was part of a week-long school celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. that included student performances, a “hot topics” discussion, and a performance by the Yale Gospel Choir.

Ms. Carter grew up in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the South Bronx in the 1970s. “I played in abandoned lots because those were the only playgrounds we had,” she recounted. “Child obesity and diabetes kept rising, and [pollution from waste facilities in the area] caused the highest hospitalization rates for asthma amongst children.”

Students and faculty on the Dominican Republic trip gather with the local family whose new home they helped to build.

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Ms. Carter attended the Bronx High School of Science and Wesleyan University. While in graduate school at New York University, she moved back to Hunts Point to live with her parents because she could not afford suitable housing in Manhattan.

“After receiving an education and having some distance,” she said, “it became clear the place I grew up believing destroyed people was a place destroyed systematically. I wanted to do something to make a difference, and that's when I first identified the need for open space.”

Aware of a plan for construction of a waste facility on the waterfront, Ms. Carter applied for and received a seed grant for restoration instead.

With volunteers, equipment, and an eventual $3 million appropriation, the national award-winning Hunts Riverside Park was completed in 2006. Taking an environmental angle, Ms. Carter tackled other issues, including traffic calming, storm water management, and job creation. She also began working as a consultant, offering assistance to communities similar to her own.

To promote economic diversity, Ms. Carter identifies "hinge" sections of communities where residential and industrial zones intersect — areas ideal for mixed-income housing, affordable workforce housing, and businesses that provide the community with fresh produce, good coffee, cafés, and other goods and services that residents previously sought outside the neighborhood.

A Social Role in Disaster Relief

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OCIAL media can help humanitarian organizations mobilize when the worst crises hit, explained Patrick Meier, a pioneer in the field of crisis mapping, who spoke at a convocation in February.

Mr. Meier discussed the concepts of social computing, crowd sourcing, big-data analytics, and machine learning, and he showed how these approaches are aiding rescue and relief operations in such natural disasters as the 2013 typhoon in Southeast Asia and 2012’s Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast of the United States.

The density of social-media interaction around the globe enables humanitarian organizations, with the help of data-gathering volunteers, to see relevant, real-time, eyewitness accounts from individuals on

the ground during disasters. Using such social media sites as Twitter and Facebook, the data volunteers sift through photos from disaster areas and tag the photos depending on the severity of the depicted damage.

“You don’t need to be a superhero to be a digital humanitarian; you can make a difference,” Mr. Meier told students.

For accuracy, every image from a disaster area is shown to three volunteers, and an assessment is deemed correct only if at least two of the three volunteer evaluations match. Another platform under development will use computer algorithms to assess accuracy.

The social media-fueled system sprang into action after Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines in 2013.

“We monitored and collected Tweets posted within the first 72 hours of the typhoon hitting and, from there, identified infrastructure damage and mapped geographically where severe incidences had occurred to send relief to areas needing urgent help,” Mr. Meier said.

Director of social innovation at the Qatar Computing Research Institute, Mr. Meier co-founded and co-directed the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s Program on Crisis Mapping and Early Warning and served as director of crisis mapping at Ushahidi. He has consulted for several international organizations, including the United Nations and the World Bank.

His visit to Loomis Chaffee was made possible by the school's Center for Global Studies.

Presenting at a convocation, Patrick Meier discusses crisis mapping.

Photo: Patricia Cousins

Retracing Marco Polo’s Journey

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EVEN hundred years after Marco Polo made his famous trek from Venice to China and back, photographer Denis Belliveau and former marine Francis O’Donnell decided to retrace the legendary traveler’s steps. The 1993–95 sojourn is the subject of Mr. Belliveau’s Emmy-nominated film In the Footsteps of Marco Polo and was the basis for the filmmaker’s visit to the Island this winter.

Denis Belliveau answers questions during a class visit. Photo: Patricia Cousins

“Marco Polo is infamous for his tall tales, and some believe he never actually made the journey,” Mr. Belliveau said during a convocation talk in the Olcott Center. “We wanted to prove he actually did travel the route, and we wanted to do it simply because no one had done it before.”

During his talk, interspersed with clips from the film, Mr. Belliveau recounted some of the larger-thanlife adventures that he and Mr. O’Donnell encountered on their journey. Carrying the 13th-century travelogue The Travels of Marco Polo, written down by Rustichello da Pisa, the pair began their excursion where Marco Polo began his own.

And over the course of 24 months, they traveled 25,000 miles through more than 20 countries moving solely by land and sea. Along the way, they forged their visas, hid in the backs of trucks under blankets as they illegally crossed borders, went through various bouts of illness, and traveled through some of the most repressive areas of the region. Mr. Belliveau said they

spoke broken Turkish, Chinese, and Russian, making communication difficult at times.

“We wanted to be able to say we traveled just as Marco Polo had,” said Mr. Belliveau, whose visit to Loomis was sponsored by the school’s Center for Global Studies.

“We wanted to feel what it was like to step off the path of the world not knowing if we’d come back.”

Mr. Belliveau is an award-winning photographer whose career has taken him to more than 60 countries. His work has been published in numerous periodicals, including Photographic Magazine and Smithsonian Magazine. Footsteps received an Emmy nomination in 2009.

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AROUND THE QUADS

Gwendolen Hall

It’s the Celebration of the Century

Cutlers Fund Dorm Project

Join us on campus for the Centennial Celebration on September 20. The event is free, including dinner, and the day’s schedule is packed with fun for all.

$3 million gift from Alexander M. Cutler ’69 and his wife, Sarah S. Cutler, of Cleveland, Ohio, will enable Loomis Chaffee to renovate Gwendolen Hall and transform it into a dormitory for at least 22 students and two faculty families.

Sandy and Sally will rename the building Cutler Hall, honoring the three generations of the Cutler family that have graduated from the school.

Morning

Classes for current students and their teachers

1–5 p.m.

Family Fun Fair — Activities for all ages

1:30 p.m.

Dedication of Richmond Hall

2 p.m. Athletics contests begin. Most Loomis teams will compete against Andover. The girls varsity field hockey game will take place Friday night.

2 p.m. Reception for “Many Voices” authors who contributed pieces to the Centennial Book 2:30–3 p.m. Joe Hill ’93 — 3D Art Experience — “Meet the Artist.” A world-renowned artist who creates giant optical-illusion pavement art, Joe will spend the week before the Centennial Celebration in the Richmond Art Center's Mercy Gallery creating a 3D work of art in honor of the school's first 100 years. The interactive work will take over the gallery, and visitors are welcome. To see examples of Joe's work, go to loomischaffee. org/magazine.

3:30 p.m.

ootball game, including special halftime and F postgame shows

6:30 p.m. Centennial Celebration Ceremony outside the Homestead 7 p.m. Dinner and music on Grubbs Quadrangle. All are invited.

9 p.m.

Fireworks over the Meadows

9:30 p.m.

Dance for current students

Centennial Celebration invitations will be sent in June to all alumni, current and past parents, current students, and current and former faculty and staff. Bring your families. We will be asking for RSVPs so we can plan accordingly.

The schedule will continue to evolve. Stay connected through the Centennial website: www.loomischaffee.org/100.

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Gwendolen Hall currently houses the Health Center, which will move to the new Richmond Hall in the fall of 2014 and retain the name that honors Nathaniel Batchelder’s first wife, and the College Office, which will move to Chaffee Hall.

In making their commitment, Sandy and Sally explained, “We believe strongly in the benefits of the boarding experience Alexander M. Cutler '69 and are eager to support [Head of School] Sheila Culbert’s vision for an enlarged boarding community at Loomis Chaffee. As frequent visitors to the Island over the years, we are delighted to have this opportunity to enrich the boarding facilities on the school’s magnificent campus.”

The Cutler family’s association with Loomis began with Sandy’s father, Richard W. Cutler ’34. Sandy’s son is William Cutler ’05, and his nephew is Peter McGoohan ’00.

“We are thrilled to have a three-generation family represented on the campus in this way and are deeply appreciative of the Cutlers’ generosity,” Sheila said in announcing the gift in March.

“Cutler Hall will meet critical strategic objectives by expanding our residential options for both students and faculty.”

Sandy is the chairman and chief executive officer of Eaton Corporation, a global technology leader in diversified power management solutions. The company has approximately 102,000 employees and $22 billion in sales. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Sandy earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a master’s degree in business administration from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College. Sandy has twice served on the Loomis Chaffee Board of Trustees and will celebrate his 45th Loomis Reunion in June 2014. Also a Milwaukee native, Sally graduated from Albion College in 1975.

Winter Construction: Cold Never Bothered Us Anyway

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HE Island bustled with construction activity this winter as Richmond Hall, a new dorm for underclass boarding girls; an elegant set of stairs to the Meadows; new, brick baseball dugouts; and renovation of the SNUG all took shape.

a parent, grandparent, and alumnus who trekked down the grassy — sometimes slick and muddy — hill to watch games through the years. Bill Buchanan, father of Charlotte ’11, decided to fill that need, and with additional funding from Michael and Cassandra Matteo, parents of junior Erica; and John and Mary Margaret Trousdale, parents of Elizabeth ’12, the project started last fall and is complete except for plantings that will be added this spring.

The projects began in late May when Loomis broke ground for the school’s 11th dormitory, Richmond Hall, named in honor of Howard S. Richmond ’35.

The building, slated to open in the fall, will house 50 students, four faculty apartments, and the Gwendolen Health Center. To enable construction to continue through the frigid winter, tarp enwrapped the building's shell for several months. By March, work crews were completing the roofing and brick work, and the building was unwrapped, making way for scaffolding.

The need for stairs to the Meadows has struck many

The project to build baseball dugouts on Sellers Field also advanced this winter and was on schedule for April completion.

Meanwhile, the SNUG received a facelift over March Break, including new hardwood flooring, carpeting, paint, and furniture.

Richmond Hall will open September 2014; the redecorated Snug; and the baseball dugouts Photos: Missy Pope Wolff ’04

To see time-lapse photography of the Richmond Hall construction, go to loomischaffee.org/ magazine.

Keith Cowan ’74 Joins Board of Trustees

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t its January meeting, the Loomis Chaffee Board of Trustees elected Keith O. Cowan ’74 of Atlanta, Georgia, to his first term on the

board.

Keith joins the board having most recently served as president, strategic planning & corporate initiatives for Sprint Nextel Corporation. Previously he had been an executive at BellSouth Corporation, where he had held various senior positions over an 11-year span, including vice president of Keith O. Cowan '74 corporate development, chief planning and development officer, president of interconnections services, president of marketing and product management, and finally

chief field operations officer. His career began at the law firm of Alston & Bird in Atlanta, where he worked for 14 years and was a partner.

A four-year student from Windsor, Keith went on to the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill as a Morehead Scholar and graduated in 1978. He earned his juris doctorate at the University of Virginia in 1982. Keith’s father is the late John D. Cowan ’42, and his brother is John C. Cowan ’69. Keith and his wife, Ann, live in Atlanta and have three children: Elinor, William, and Jane. The Cowans have served as the school’s alumni reception hosts in Atlanta on multiple occasions.

Among many volunteer roles that Keith has had over the years, he currently chairs the Morehead-Cain Scholarship Fund Board at the University of North Carolina.

Filling the Bill

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N March 4, the school celebrated the generosity of donors by marking the symbolic date when gifts to Loomis Chaffee fill the gap between tuition and the full cost of educating its students. On the second annual Philanthropy Day, students and faculty members took time out of their Winter Testing schedules to write thank you notes to 773 donors during a study break organized by the Alumni/Development Office.

The thoughtful celebration of donors’ impact also strengthened awareness of the importance of gifts to the school. If the school were to spend tuition dollars first, it would operate from March 4 through June 30 solely on the generosity of alumni, parents, and friends through gifts to the school’s Annual Fund and income from the endowment. “Philanthropy Day is a tangible way to acknowledge the tremendous impact that donors have on the Island,” says KeriAnne Travis, director of the Annual Fund.

The school hopes to continue the tradition of Philanthropy Day for many years to come.

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AROUND THE QUADS

The Remarkable Lives of Loomis and Chaffee Women

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OW would the women of the Loomis and Chaffee families in the 19th and early 20th century define “complete and successful living”? This was the central question that Karen Parsons, Loomis Chaffee archivist and history teacher, investigated and discussed with a crowd of more than 40 people at the Windsor Historical Society on March 2. Karen’s presentation was the first in a series of events hosted by the historical society and coinciding with the school’s Centennial.

In introducing her talk, Karen explained that the phrase “complete and successful living” came from the 1937 Chaffee School Course Catalogue and was part of a longer statement about the school’s purpose in educating young women. “The progressive nature of the school’s commitment to helping young women develop an approach to their lives is apparent here,” explained Karen. “It’s much more than classroom learning and preparation for college.”

For this inaugural Centennial presentation, Karen focused her research on Abigail Chaffee Loomis, mother of the Founders; her daughter Abigail “Abby” Loomis Hayden; and Nancy Toney, a domestic worker in the Loomis household. From ages 12 to

14, Abigail Chaffee attended the Moravian Female Seminary in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, known at the time as the premier boarding school for girls in America. The school’s core values included frugality, humility, compassion, inclusivity, and kindness, and the students, who came from New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Georgia, South Carolina, and St. Croix, studied a broad curriculum, including reading, writing, German, history, arithmetic, grammar, and geography. How did Abigail’s education inform her values? And did those same values ultimately inform the inclusive nature of the Loomis Institute, where the Founders emphasized religious and political freedom and welcoming students from many backgrounds without regard to state or nation?

“I now have more questions than when I started this research,” Karen admitted. “But I also see coming into focus pictures of these women’s lives.”

To listen to Karen’s full presentation, go to www.loomischaffee.org/magazine.

Karen will discuss another aspect of the school's history on September 28 with a walking tour of Evelyn Longman Batchelder’s artwork on campus.

Abigail Chaffee Loomis. The original pencil and ink drawing, by itinerant artist T.H. Wentworth in 1823, is stored in the Loomis Chaffee Archives.

School Hosts Community Service “Unconference”

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N a cold winter Sunday morning, more than 30 dedicated students from Loomis Chaffee, Kent, Northfield Mount Hermon, and Ethel Walker gathered in the Hubbard Performance Hall to participate in the first Loomis community service “unconference.”

Entirely student-driven, the unconference allowed organic dialogue to take place as participants

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brainstormed and developed sessions based on interest in specific topics. The format fueled interactive, thoughtful, and honest conversation. Each session sparked lively dialogue on such topics as community service as a career, dealing with pressure and expectations from parents, and favorite moments in community service.

“I’m so glad that we had this

event,” Loomis senior Victoria Smith said. “It was really great to have our peers from other schools come and discuss what community service means to them, some of the issues they’ve faced, and exceptional moments they’ve had.”

The cast of Urinetown: The Musical.

Photo: Wayne Dombkowski

Song and Dance Amidst Corruption and Revolution

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HE Norris Ely Orchard Theater this winter produced a satirical tale of greed and corruption, of love and revolution with the performance of the Tony Awardwinning musical Urinetown.

Directed by theater teacher David McCamish with musical direction by music teacher Susan Chrzanowski, the play featured a cast of 24 student actors and dancers and a production crew that included 14 student technicians.

On the final day of performances, the Loomis Chaffee Parents Association hosted a theater brunch with a special meal in the dining hall followed by a matinee performance of the show.

The production brought audiences to a town battling a 20-year drought where every-

one was forced to use public toilets. A private company — Urine Good Company — controlled all public amenities and kept prices high, forcing those less fortunate to use one of the filthiest urinals in town. The play satirized everything from the legal system and capitalism to municipal politics and even theater, and combined humor and heartache to address societal issues of large monopolizing corporations and the hope, or lack thereof, of the oppressed.

With drought as its central conflict, the musical also touched upon this year’s all-school theme of climate change and water conservation.

To see the playbill, which includes David's reflections on the school theme, go to www.loomischaffee. org/magazine.

Officer Lockstock (senior Sam Verney) and Officer Barrel (sophomore Derek Martinez) apprehend assistant custodian Bobby Strong (junior John Kim). Photo: Wayne Dombkowski

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AROUND THE QUADS | THE BIG PICTURE

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INNER FOCUS Students in Bobbi Moran’s yoga class, a winter sports option this year, prepare for Trikonasana, Triangle Pose. With an enrollment of more than 40 students, the class convened in the Loomis Dining Hall four afternoons a week. Photo: Patricia Cousins

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AROUND THE QUADS

H2O: Thinking Outside the Bottle

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Shalini Kantayya

Photo: Courtesy of 7th Empire

A Lens on Drinking Water

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ilmmaker Shalini Kantayya saw a desperate need for change in the world’s consumption of water. In response, she created a futuristic sci-fi film, A Drop of Life, that addresses the mounting global water crisis. The film, which she shared during a visit to campus in February, turned heads.

The movie tells the fictional story of two women, Mirabai, a teacher in a rural town in India, and Nia, an executive who works for a water corporation installing pre-paid water meters as a pilot project in Mirabai’s town. When Nia travels to the village to demonstrate the project, she finds herself in need of drinking water without a pre-paid card, and she realizes the dire consequences of privatizing water distribution.

While pre-paid water meters are a seemingly futuristic concept, they

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already exist in 10 countries, including parts of the United States, Ms. Kantayya said during a convocation address after the film viewing. An estimated four billion people will not have access to clean drinking water by 2027, she shared, and less than 1 percent of the Earth is made up of clean, potable drinking water.

She warned that water prices will increase with the rising demand of a growing world population.

FTER several months of research and teleconferencing with their counterparts halfway around the world, two groups of students from Loomis and the Sanskriti School in New Delhi, India, in January proposed local solutions to global drinking water problems. The project was part of the National Association of Independent Schools 20/20 Challenge, which encourages students to work together to solve global problems created by an increasingly crowded and interconnected world.

Change, she asserted, starts with education, a story, and the power of youth. “I’m giving this talk to all of you today because I’m being strategic,” she told students gathered in the Olcott Center. “All of you sitting here have enough tools to make a difference.”

The seven Loomis students who participated determined that there is an abundant supply of drinking water in the United States. However, they discovered, the fact that the majority of this water is bottled has a negative impact on the surrounding ecosystems, displacing water from its natural environment and causing shortages.

The Sanskriti School students discovered that the global water deficit applies more directly to their community since New Delhi does not receive treated, piped water and the daily supply of water falls 20 percent short of the daily demand for the resource.

Her visit was made possible by the Hubbard Speakers Series and the Ralph M. Shulansky ’45 Lecture Fund.

“In the United States, we are supplied with plenty of clean drinking water, which we waste thoughtlessly,” sophomore Katie

Warner says. “Meanwhile, the people of New Delhi are trying to find solutions for allowing everyone in the country access to safe and clean drinking water.”

In response to the issue, the Loomis group proposed to lead a local Think Outside the Bottle campaign, which encourages the use of tap water instead of bottled, and promoted the installation of low-flow shower heads, energy-efficient washing machines, and rain barrels in private homes.

“As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, our students need to learn how to work in this reality,” says Jeffrey Dyreson, sustainability coordinator and advisor to the Loomis group. “The project drew new students into sustainability, which is always exciting.

Not only do they want to see real change happen here on campus, but they are engaged and eager to learn about issues surrounding water.”

As their local solution, the Sanskriti School students proposed development of biological blocks that maintain clear, odor-free urinal traps and pipe work to minimize water use in washrooms; regular water audits; and education of the school community about its water footprint.

The Aquatic Life

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ach winter as we all dream of diving into the clear, warm waters of the Caribbean, several students do something about it: They prepare. An annual scuba training program at Loomis' Hedges Pool offers the chance for students to earn Professional Association of Diving Instructors open-water diver certification.

Three students participated in the Sunday morning extracurricular program this year. Brought to Loomis in 2001 by freshman dean Michael Donegan, the program is a collaborative effort between the school and Scuba Shack, a scuba shop in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. The course, which usually draws three to seven students, includes an academic component, pool dives, and open-water certification dives that are held over two days at Brownstone Park in Portland, Connecticut.

“Diving is something everyone can do,” Mike said. “Even if you’re only in 10 feet of water, you have the ability to see 100 different things in only one minute. It really opens your eyes to a completely new world you might have never known existed.”

The interactive online academic program covers a variety of subjects, including dive equipment, physics, physiology, the principles of buoyancy, and gas absorption. A course instructor supplements the online coursework with interactive presentations, and students apply what they have learned during practical sessions.

The scuba course will be added to the Loomis Chaffee Summer Program this year, enabling students to become certified in five weeks.

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LO Sophomores Aurelie Liu, C.C. Lutz, and Madeleine Fargis took the scuba course this winter. Photo: Patricia Cousins

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Gilchrist Fellowships Announced

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ROPOSALS for seven sustainability ventures received Gilchrist Environmental Fellowships this year.

Students, faculty, and staff who want to pursue projects that advance environmental efforts at the school can apply for sponsorship and funding through the annual Gilchrist Environmental Fellowship program. The fellowships enable recipients to immerse themselves in their projects and watch them come to fruition — from formulating the idea and proposal to analyzing costs and coordinating with vendors.

This year’s projects and recipients, announced this winter, are: • Aquaculture project in the school greenhouse: sophomore Arn Khunpinit, senior Hark Kanwal, and senior Owen Dumais • Permaculture project: sophomore Ruthie Kornblatt-Stier • Funding for visiting speaker Majora Carter: faculty member Elizabeth Parada for the Office of Multicultural Affairs • Water dispensing trial in the residence halls: senior Justin Morales • Recycle bicycle: junior Jim Oakes and senior Andrew Jones • Installation of low-flow shower heads in the residence halls: seniors Keara Jenkins, Noah Verzani, and Alida Ratteray • Funding for participation in the Center for Global Studies trip to the Arctic Circle: junior Emma Gwyn and senior Cameron Nelson

loomischaffee.org | 13

AROUND THE QUADS

brilliant!

Students Tour Alumnus’ DNA Sequencing Lab

A

group of six life science students learned about DNA sequencing when they traveled to Courtagen Life Sciences in Woburn, Massachusetts, this winter, and visited with co-founder and Director of Manufacturing Timothy “Tip” Olcott ’98.

Courtagen is a leader in next generation sequencing and, through past life science initiatives, has sequenced millions of DNA samples, providing results and insights doctors can use in guiding patient care for neurological and metabolic disorders.

Tip gave the students an overview of Courtagen and its history, and the group took a tour of the DNA sequencing lab and saw the platform Illumina MiSeq, which can sequence a human genome in just a few days using Beckman Coulter pipetting robots.

“Mr. Olcott said he was in this business because it aids others in difficult times, and that was something that stuck with me,” senior Christian Blais says. “I want to make a difference in the lives of others while doing something that I love, and Courtagen is a perfect blend of the two, so it was a really great experience.”

14 |

 The annual Mardi Gras Benefit Dinner, organized by the Pelican Service Organization, raised more than $1,850 in February. The money was donated to the Ryan’s Well Foundation, which aims to bring safe water and sanitation to various underprivileged communities. More than 150 students, faculty, and staff attended the dinner in the Wilbur Dining Hall and enjoyed more than 25 different homemade, festive dishes prepared by Loomis parents, faculty, staff, and students.  The Class of 2014 reached 100 percent participation in the Senior Dollar Drive this year, the first time since 2011 that a senior class has achieved this goal.  Sophomore cellist Ruthie Kornblatt-Stier this winter won the Springfield (Massachusetts) Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition and will be the featured soloist in the Springfield Symphony Youth Orchestra concert on May 18.  Five Loomis Chaffee students received honors this year in the 25th Annual Connecticut Scholastic Art Awards. Senior Lily Zhang received a Gold Key Award for painting, junior Dania Haughton received a Silver Key Award in sculpture, senior Harriet Cho received Honorable Mention for sculpture, and junior Maddy Richmond and sophomore Emilie Szemraj received Honorable Mentions for painting. Lily and other Gold Key winners from each region of the country moved on to have their art works reviewed by a panel of judges at the national level in March.  Senior Suzie Jung was named a semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent Search, the nation’s most prestigious pre-college science competition. Working with chemistry professor Abel Navarro at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, Suzie researched the use of tea leaves to decontaminate dye-polluted water. From the 300 semifinalists in the Intel competition, 40 were to be selected for the final judging this spring, when the finalists will display their work for the public, meet with notable scientists, and compete for the top award of $100,000 in Washington, D.C.  Loomis Chaffee students fared well in Model United Nations conventions sponsored by Yale University and Boston University this winter. A delegation of 24 Loomis students participated in the four-day Yale Model U.N. in January, and eight were honored for their outstanding contributions. Representing various countries’ positions, the conference’s 1,700 student delegates from around the world engaged in committee sessions on the conference theme, “Think Globally, Act Locally,” which emphasized social responsibility, engagement with one’s community, and the fostering of greater global awareness. Twenty Loomis students attended the Boston Invitational Model U.N. in February, and seven earned special recognition. The three-day academic simulation, which drew 1,400 student delegates from 75 schools, tackled such topics as corruption in developing nations, Internet censorship, North Korean nuclear aggression, and cyber-terrorism.  At the 32nd Loomis Chaffee School Debate Tournament, two Loomis duos, seniors Leah Rubin and Karen Cha and junior Billy Holloway and freshman Chris Eun, both won the exhibition round, designating them as the top two advanced pairs. In addition, the team of freshmen Laurie Zielinski and Gloria Yi were undefeated in the novice category.

AROUND THE QUADS | ISLAND ARRAY Winter happenings, night and day, inside and outside, at Loomis Chaffee INSIDE

Senior Dollar Drive reached 100 percent participation.

Benefit concert for Typhoon Haiyan relief, in Hubbard Performance Hall

Winterfest sweets

Chinese New Year celebration in the SNUG

Viva Quetzal performance in Hubbard

Students participate in a day of computer coding

Yale Gospel Choir

Hal Mayforth Art Opening in Mercy Gallery

NIGHT

Mark Oppenheimer ’92 (second from right) with faculty members James Rugen ’70, Jane Archibald, and Curtis Robison before a Common Good Dialogue led by Mark

Student performances during MLK Week

DAY

Writing thank you notes on Philanthropy Day

Crossing Rockefeller Quad

Founders Hall through the snowflakes

Waiting for spring

Savage/Johnson Rink at dusk Batchelder Road

OUTSIDE

Photos: Patricia Cousins, senior Harriet Cho, Mary Coleman Forrester, Jeuley Ortengren, senior Sarah Regan, and Missy Pope Wolff '04

loomischaffee.org | 15

AROUND THE QUADS

Countdown to Outer Space

“E

VER since I was a little kid, I wanted to be an astronaut,” junior Charles Kenney says. “And now, metaphorically, I’m going to space.”

Members of the Loomis Chaffee robotics team control their robot in competition at the LC Shakedown. Photos: Patricia Cousins

Engineering a Robotics Shakedown on the Island

R

OBOTS took over Olcott Gym during Head’s Weekend in February as the school hosted 24 robotics teams from around the state to compete in the LC Shakedown, a Connecticut FIRST Tech Challenge Qualifying Event.

In the packed gym, the student teams shared robot design, creativity, and innovation while competing for berths in the state championship. Each team’s robot tested its ability to complete a variety of tasks within a two-minute period. The robots’ tasks ranged from carrying and emptying blocks into baskets on a balance beam to hoisting themselves onto a bar from a raised platform. Volunteers, mentors, coaches, and spectators cheered on their teams as they competed in alliances with other teams.

“It was great to see all the teams together in one room,” says Ewen Ross, LC robotics coach and science teacher, who organized the tournament. “At the heart of it, I hope every student gained confidence in themselves and what they can accomplish. Robotics requires a lot of hands-on problem solving, and the tournament promoted interaction between students on different teams, and taught them gracious professionalism and interpersonal skills.”

16 |

Charlie was part of a small group of Loomis students who, during the fall and winter terms, designed an experiment that will be launched to the International Space Station in April. The experiment will test whether a protein called lysosome — from chicken eggs — will aggregate similarly in space as it does on earth.

With the guidance of NSL, an Israeli-based space technology and education company, the students explored a variety of topics related to the study of space, supplementing their own research and learning about microgravity and its effects.

Based on this knowledge, they designed and constructed the experiment.

Number 40, a.k.a. Loomis Chaffee's robot

Team Hax, Loomis’ robotics team, fared well enough in the home tournament to advance to the Connecticut State Championship on March 8, where the team received the Innovate Award and upset the No. 1 seed in the semifinals but lost in the finals. The team also competed in the Vermont State Championship on March 1, where Team Hax advanced to the Finalist Alliance and received the Rockwell-Collins Innovate Award.

To watch a video of a Team Hax brainstorming session, go to loomischaffee.org/magazine.

“Our guess is that the aggregation will occur in space at a faster pace and there will be a difference in size,” senior Elizabeth Lee says.

“We learned from NSL that a previous experiment tested crystallization, and we think that it will be the same effect.”

The project will be placed aboard the U.S. National Lab, part of the International Space Station, and astronauts on the space station will conduct the experiment.

Artists at Work

P

OTTER Christopher Vaughn, painter Susan Stephenson, photographer Stephen Peterson, and humorous illustrator and watercolor painter Hal Mayforth each spent a week on campus sharing their crafts with Loomis Chaffee students through the Visiting Artist Program.

Mr. Vaughn demonstrated the technique of silk screening on clay to ceramics students. Mr. Vaughn works primarily in functional forms and is inspired by the idea that pottery becomes ritual.

“I took wheel throwing on a whim, and it just kind of clicked for me,” he says. “I’m so thankful to the folks who taught me to throw. Ceramics has a real tradition of passing on, and I’m always more than happy to share my craft with anyone who has a willingness to learn.”

Ms. Stephenson shared the art of curvilinear painting — a form of painting characterized by curving lines or edges — through a slide lecture for students. She also invited school community members to stop by and watch her work on campus. Ms. Stephenson depicts scenes from everyday life, painting on location to bring an authenticity that can be lost by painting from a photograph. “I really enjoy being in the element and seeing the natural relationships that exist between certain objects,” Ms. Stephenson says.

Visiting artists: painter Susan Stephenson, photographer Steve Peterson, and potter Christopher Vaughn.

Photos: Patricia Cousins

oversaturated with imagery, I try to take simple, everyday images and transform them by using various tools in Photoshop, using it the same way as a darkroom,” he says.

“My work comes from something I’m discovering in everyday life that’s often taken for granted like the lines on the road, street signs, post office boxes, and reflections.”

Mr. Mayforth paints a range of subjects and draws from whatever piques his interest at the time. “I don’t really draw from life,” he says. “My concerns are a lot broader. I just want to put a smile on someone’s face, and if I’m able to do that, then I consider my job done.” His paintings have been featured in exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the United States, and he is a nationally recognized humorous illustrator with work published in national magazines and newspapers, including Rolling Stone, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Boston Globe.

Mr. Peterson taught students about alternative photographic processes, through which a produced image takes on a drastically different look from the original. He creates series of one-ofa-kind prints. Oftentimes his work derives from serendipitous accidents that happen when he makes technological adjustments. “In a society

loomischaffee.org | 17

AROUND THE QUADS | OF NOTE | FACULTY & STAFF

 Loomis Chaffee admission publications won silver and bronze awards in the 2014 Council for Advancement and Support of Education District I Excellence Awards.

The viewbook received a Silver Award in the category for print independent school viewbooks.

And the full admission package, including the viewbook, a tri-fold publication titled “Explore Loomis,” and a financial aid piece, received a Bronze Award in the category for print admissions packages. Members of the school’s Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing, including Design Director Patricia Cousins, Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing Lynn Petrillo ’86, and Associate Director of Communications Becky Purdy, working with their colleagues in admissions, created the publications. The pieces featured photographs by Robert Benson, Wayne Dombkowski, and John Groo.

 Four faculty members attended the National Association of Independent Schools’ People of Color Conference at National Harbor, Maryland, in December.

The three-day conference included workshops, speakers, affinity group discussions, and featured speakers, among other activities.

Dean of Juniors Patricia Sasser, Director of Multicultural Affairs Elizabeth Parada, history teacher Elliot Dial, and counselor Kenneth Green participated in the three-day conference. Patricia also attended the pre-conference Adult Leadership Institute for People of Color and Women.  Head of the Visual Arts Department Jennifer McCandless has an especially busy spring ahead of her as an artist. A piece of her

LEARNING | continued from 2

persistence, this change likely would not have occurred.

Bock’s third criterion calls for a comfort with ambiguity and reminds me of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck’s work on growth mindsets. Students—and in Bock’s case, employees—who have a growth mindset are more likely to embrace the hard work of problem solving. They understand that while they may not currently have the answer they are seeking, they have the skills and the mindset to 18 |

Haiku and block print by faculty members Stanford and Mary Forrester

ceramic artwork has been selected for exhibition at the prestigious 20th San Angelo National Ceramic Competition in San Angelo, Texas, April 11–June 29. And Jennifer received a fellowship to be a resident artist at the Vermont Studio Center for a week in April. The fellowship brings together artists and writers at the center’s Johnson, Vermont, campus. Jennifer also had a ceramic piece juried into the 2014 Connecticut Women Artists Member Show, which ran from March 1 to 28 in East Hartford.

“The Line Up,” stoneware sculpture by Jennifer McCandless, head of the Visual Arts Department

find a solution. They are open to learning and unlearning, to adapting ideas and best practices, to problem solving and brainstorming—all qualities that lead to imaginative and creative thinking. Bock says, “You want people who like figuring out stuff where there is no obvious answer.”

We try to encourage just this quality in our students.

Bock does not emphasize several attributes that I would argue are equally important, and they include integrity, an ability for self-reflection, and persistence.

 Artwork by 17 faculty and staff members lined the walls and halls of the Barnes & Wilde Gallery in the Richmond Art Center this winter for the annual Community Art Show. Pieces on display included the show’s first film submission, an audio artwork, a recording of an orchestra, pottery, photography, a photo book with narration, knitting, poetry, and jewelry, among other pieces that showcased the array of talent across the community. The exhibit, organized by photography teacher John Mullin, enables faculty and staff to share their talents outside of their everyday roles at the school. “The show brings out a lot of surprises,” John says. “Most people aren’t aware of some of the passions that the community has for art, and all of the sudden the rest of the community is able to see another side of this individual that they might not have expected. It’s always fun for students to discover that their favorite faculty or staff member also paints or knits, writes poetry or creates jewelry.”

I began my teaching career at Phillips Exeter Academy, and Exeter founder John Phillips’ statement regarding education has always stayed with me, “Goodness without knowledge … is weak and feeble, yet knowledge without goodness is dangerous. … Both united form the noblest character and lay the surest foundation of usefulness to mankind.” At Loomis we express the same idea through our exhortation that our students strive to be their best selves and to serve the common good.

READERS’ VOICES

Good Read

E Remembering Adrian Bronk

I

am sorry to hear about the passing of Adrian Bronk. He was a good man, and I am sure that his friends and family miss him very much.

When I read the sad news, I went immediately to my Loomiscellany 1973, and there he was, on page 10, just as I remember him. Yes, he was the varsity cross country coach! I was a member of the cross country team, and he was our leader, who drove us in the Loomis school van all over New England to train and compete. I remember him as all smiles, always positive and encouraging — a stopwatch around his neck.

I didn’t have him as a teacher or advisor. I was just a runner on his team. Funny, I haven’t thought about Mr. Bronk much through the years, but now that he is gone, I miss him.

He was a kind and caring man. He cared about me, and I am eternally grateful.

Peter J. Anderson ’73

ver since leaving Loomis Chaffee in 1975, after 25 years with the English Department, I have looked forward to the arrival of the Loomis Chaffee Magazine so that I could keep up not only with the activities at the school but also with the graduates who were there during my tenure. In recent years, however, I also have found the magazine a repository of interesting and enlightening articles, especially in the most recent issue (Winter 2014) that focuses on sustainability.

But as the school has grown and benefited from the largesse of its alumni, I am especially impressed with the increased catholicity of the Loomis Chaffee experience that not only provides the students with a first-class education but also introduces them to and involves them in matters of worldwide significance.

The abilities and the accomplishments of today’s students and of the alumni amaze me. But the expertise and dedication of the current faculty leave me awestruck, making me relieved that I do not have to attempt to measure up to them.

Thanks for keeping abreast of life at the institution that always has fulfilled the vision of the Founders but today would amaze them.

Spencer Grey We welcome and encourage your opinions and reactions.

Although letters may be edited for clarity, length, and accuracy, they always reflect the opinion of the writer and not necessarily that of the school. Please submit comments to Loomis Chaffee Editors, The Loomis Chaffee School, 4 Batchelder Road, Windsor CT 06095; or magazine@loomis.org.

CORRECTION: The feature story “Earth Works” that appeared in the Winter 2014 issue of Loomis Chaffee Magazine misidentified the latest book

by Sajed Kamal ’65. His most recent book is The Renewable Revolution: How We Can Fight Climate Change, Prevent Energy Wars, Revitalize the Economy and Transition to a Sustainable Future (Earthscan, 2011). The book Sustainability and Well-Being: The Middle Path to Environment, Society and the Economy is by Asoka Bandarage.

Where the wonders of summer meet the joys of learning

S

P

U M M E R

M R O G R A

June 29–August 2, 2014 | For Girls & Boys Grades 7–12 Our classes are small and our faculty — experts in their respective disciplines — offer a broad curriculum that includes science, mathematics, history, robotics, writing, literature, public speaking, and the arts.

Learn more about our program at www.loomischaffee.org/summerprogram

loomischaffee.org | 19

AROUND THE QUADS | ATHLETICS | BY BOB HOWE ’80

Loomis Hockey: A Season to Remember

A

surge of positive news emanated from the Savage/Johnson Rink early this winter for the first time in many years. Both the boys and girls varsity hockey teams were winning games and building great seasons. As the winter progressed, the chances for both teams to qualify for their post-season New England tournaments looked increasingly promising — a trend that was good news on its own.

The girls team hadn’t played in the postseason for the two previous seasons, and the boys team hadn’t done so in 20 years. Both teams came close to earning tournament berths in the 2012–2013 season, but both fell short. Loomis hockey fans wondered: Could this be the year?

The story that unfolded over this fourmonth season marked an exciting and longawaited rebirth of Loomis hockey success.

Let’s begin with the girls program, which over the years has achieved a reputation as being one of the more consistently strong teams in girls New England prep hockey.

This year, behind the leadership of the team’s only senior player, Hannah Oganeku, the team posted a 14-6 regular-season record and earned an eighth seed in the New England Division I Tournament. The Pelicans’ 1-0 loss in the quarterfinals against powerhouse and No. 1 seed Nobles demonstrated how determined and confident this young team has become. Head coach Liz Leyden has moved the program back to the level it had achieved a little more than five years ago.

The boys program had a remarkable year.

Three years ago, Loomis endured a 2-24 campaign. The team last played in a postseason tournament game two decades ago, and the program had not tallied back-toback winning seasons since the 1994–95 and 1995–96 campaigns. With a 14-11 season in 2012–13, this year’s team still had much to prove to itself and to the New England Prep League. Winning in this league has never been easy, with a schedule filled with perennial powerhouses like Salisbury, Avon Old Farms, Choate, and Kent. But third-year 20 |

The boys varsity hockey team, coaches, and managers celebrate after winning the Division I New England Championship at Ingalls Arena at Yale University. Photo: Anja Mutschin

head coach J.R. Zavisza has worked tirelessly in his short tenure with the program to attract the right kind of student athlete to move the team to a new level.

Throughout this year’s season, the team had its ups and downs. But despite some earlyseason disappointing losses and injuries to key players, the players believed that every time they stepped on the ice against an opponent, they could win the game. This confidence proved valid time and again, but most significantly during a two-game weekend series early in February against the No. 1- and No. 2-ranked teams in New England, Kent and Salisbury. On Friday night of that weekend at Kent, the Loomis boys put together their best effort of the season and won the game 5-4. Less than 24 hours later, they faced off against Salisbury at home.

With the score tied 1-1 with less than three minutes remaining in the game, the Loomis spectators witnessed a level of hockey the Savage/Johnson Rink hadn’t seen for a very long time. The score didn’t go the Pelicans’ way in those remaining minutes, but the final score didn’t dampen the mood that

evening. The fans had witnessed a magnificent hockey game.

Resilience and playing with urgency were the hallmarks of both the boys and girls teams in the final two weeks of the season.

In their last four regular-season games, the girls outscored their opponents 10-0 to win all four games and earn their place in the post-season tournament. The team relied on junior Brittany Bugalski to play her best in the net, and she responded by earning four consecutive shutouts. Injuries to key players could have hampered the results, but Hannah Oganeku and the coaching staff kept the team’s focus on playing better every day and letting momentum lead the charge.

The girls team has a terrific nucleus of talent returning next season, and for many of the younger players in the program, this year’s experience culminating with a playoff appearance is money in the bank for seasons ahead.

In the remarkable final two weeks of the boys’ season, each victory brought the unthinkable closer to reality, but the march to

Senior Patrick Dickert

a championship was no casual stroll. After their exciting weekend playing Kent and Salisbury, the Pelicans lost close games to Westminster and Northfield Mount Hermon. With their end-of-season momentum challenged, the Loomis team had to win or tie in the remaining three games of the regular season against Deerfield, Choate, and Avon Old Farms in order to earn a berth in the tournament. At Deerfield, Loomis scored in the waning seconds of regulation time to earn a 2-2 tie. Two days later at Choate, the Pelicans earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory. And three days after the Choate game, still needing a win to qualify for the post-season, the team traveled to Avon for the traditional Saturday night matchup between these neighboring teams. Loomis won again, and this is when the real excitement of the season began.

The Pelicans’ regular-season record of 1210-3 earned a No. 6 seed in the Large School New England Tournament. In the quarterfinal round, Loomis faced Northfield Mount Hermon, a team that had beaten the Pelicans 5-3 just 10 days earlier. This time, Loomis was victorious, taking a close contest 3-2. For the semifinal round, the boys hit the road again, traveling to No. 2 seed Andover for the Saturday game. Scoring two goals in the final three minutes of

the game, the Pelicans won 2-1 and earned a spot in the finals the next day against topseeded St. Paul’s.

On the day of the tournament finals at Ingalls Arena at Yale University, the team played with the composure of a champion.

Junior Alex Esposito scored twice, and senior Matt O’Donnell scored once while junior goalie Nick DeSimone stopped 20 of the 22 shots he faced, giving Loomis a 3-2 victory over St. Paul’s and the Pelicans’ first-ever New England championship in boys hockey.

“Our success has awoken a dormant Pelican nation,” Coach Zavisza said moments after the dramatic win. “I have received so many emails in the last week from alumni who are so excited to see Loomis hockey back on the map. Loomis won the Founders League in 1994, and that’s the last significant achievement until this year. As I told the boys, our work now is to be sure that this isn’t the last championship for another 20.”

“The speed at which we have been able to do this — three years — demonstrates that we’re doing something pretty special,” J.R. added. “We had a great group of kids who came together and peaked at the right time.”

VARSITY SCOREBOARD SPORT

Junior Stephanie Jones, who scored her 2,000th career point this winter

RECORD ACCOLADES

Senior Jeremy Bogle, who set four new school records this year, two in individual events and two on relay teams

Boys Basketball 7-13 Girls Basketball 19-3 * Founders League Champion

* New England Tournament Quarterfinalist Boys Hockey 15-10-3 * New England Tournament Champion Girls Hockey 14-6 * New England Tournament Quarterfinalist Boys Squash 8-8 Girls Squash 6-12 Boys Swimming 10-2 * Founders League Champion

* 5th place in New England Championships Girls Swimming 5-7 Wrestling 16-3 * Founders League Champion

* Class A Tournament Champion

* 4th place at New Englands

* Senior Zechariah Harris (182-pound weight

class) earns All-America honors at nationals Skiing 13-13 Senior co-captain Alexander Smith

loomischaffee.org | 21

LANGUAGE LEARNING AT LOOMIS CHAFFEE PREPARES CITIZENS OF THE WORLD

Culturally

Speaking

22 |

Story by Becky Purdy

& Photos by John Groo

If

you find yourself on a street in Dakar and don’t speak the language, like magic, you can pull out your smartphone and communicate with the locals. You approach a friendly-looking stranger on the street. “Where is the nearest bank?” you say into

Sophomore Tina Choi gestures during Chinese class.

your phone and choose the local language, in this case French. The phone speaks your question in translation: “Où est la banque la plus proche?” The helpful stranger responds in her native tongue, “Tournez à droite puis allez un bloc. Il est sur la gauche à côté du marché,” and your phone Bo Zhao teaches a lively Chinese language class.

translates the answer for you: “Turn right and go one block. It’s on the left next to the market.”

Freshman Kollatat Thanajaro practices writing Chinese characters on the board.

LANGUAGE | continued next page

23 |

loomischaffee.org | 23

LANGUAGE | continued from previous page

Why learn another language if your smartphone can translate for you? For one, your desired conversation might be longer and more complicated than asking simple directions. Maybe you want to haggle for a rug in Istanbul or conduct a business deal in Beijing. Perhaps you want to discuss philosophy with an Italian octogenarian in a village café or learn the rules of a schoolyard game from a 10-year-old in Argentina. Your phone can’t do that. Complicated phrasing, differences in accents and dialects, and the interference of background noise — not to mention poor cell reception — can stymie a smartphone translator. Technological shortcomings aside, conversing with another person is more than the mere exchange of words, and translation is not the same as the rich experience of communicating in another language and engaging in another culture, the rich experience for which Loomis Chaffee’s language program

prepares students.

No one understands the value of learning another language more completely than the men and women who teach in Loomis' Modern and Classical Languages Department. Ask them about the Google Translate app, and they take a deep breath before answering. But before we hear what they have to say, let’s ask a former student.

Tyler Earle ’09 studied Chinese for eight years, first at Loomis and then at Middlebury College, where he graduated in 2013. He also lived and studied in Hangzhou, China, for four months Tyler Earle ’09 when he was in college.

The experience changed his world view and inspired a sustained interest in everything about China.

“Talking to people in other countries speak-

Sabine Giannamore leads a French class.

24 |

ing their language opens cultural doors,” Tyler says. Before living in China, Tyler studied the language mostly to enhance his economics major and prepare himself for a possible career in finance where fluency in Chinese might provide an advantage. But living with a Chinese student roommate in Hangzhou, engaging in enlightening conversations with his roommate about everything from the Chinese education system to politics, and talking to people he met about all aspects of the country, in their native language, sparked in Tyler a much broader and more intensive interest in China politically, socially, culturally, and economically. Tyler keeps in touch with his Chinese roommate through Skype, and he continues to follow developments in China.

“Any time I read anything China-related, it just seems to jump off the page,” he says.

“When I started studying the language, I never thought it would be something I would be so passionate about.”

Katheryn Hewitt ’12, a sophomore at Northeastern University, is planning a bilingual career and life. An advanced Spanish student at Loomis, she placed out of the four beginning- and intermediate-level Spanish courses at Northeastern.

This spring she is taking Advanced Spanish 2 for International Business Majors, which focuses on using the language in Katheryn Hewitt ’12 the business world. “We have created our Spanish resumes and cover letters, completed mock interviews in Spanish, and even constructed business plans in Spanish as part of the curriculum,” she says.

Rachel Nisselson guides Spanish 1 students sophomore Paul Douglas and freshman Evan McDonagh through a lesson.

Beginning this summer, Katie will spend a full year abroad, first on a summer travel and study program in Spain and Morocco, then studying for a semester followed by LANGUAGE | continued 28

"Our students are growing up to be citizens of the world in many ways. My hope is that when [her students] do travel to the Middle East, they will not only be able to speak the language, but also to have cultural competence."

Junior Maisie Campbell practices speaking French in the Language Learning Lab during an AP French class led by Sabine Giannamore (inset).

— Arabic teacher Ludmila Zamah

25 |

loomischaffee.org | 25

Language At Loomis Chaffee by the numbers

5

Languages taught

8

6

1

3 5

7 2

4

16

Teachers in the department

LANGUAGE FACULTY AT LOOMIS CHAFFEE BY THE NUMBERS

1 Harriet Borriello Latin

26 |

2 Marc Cardwell Spanish

3 Rachel Nisselson Spanish, French

4 Katherine Ballard French

5 Genevieve Rela French

6 Bo Zhao Chinese

7 Michael Anderson Latin

8 Courtney Carey Spanish

47

4

Language courses this year (plus Independent Studies)

9

Years of Arabic offered

15

12

11

14

16 10

68 9 Charles Bour (with Lila) Spanish

27 |

10 Naogan Ma Chinese

13

Students taking Chinese this year

11 Delphine Robison French

12 Lilian Hutchinson Spanish

13 Ludmila Zamah Arabic

14 Kathleen Peterson ’72 Spanish

15 Sabine Giannamore French

16 Elizabeth Parada Spanish

loomischaffee.org | 27

Lilian Hutchinson draws a response from a Spanish student.

LANGUAGE | continued from 25

working in a marketing job for six months — all overseas. The combination of language and cultural immersion and an experiential learning internship are part of Northeastern’s international business major program. After college, she hopes to work in marketing communications and public relations internationally.

Latin teacher Michael Anderson

“With the strong written and oral language foundation I built in high school at Loomis Chaffee and the skills I am gaining in college, I can really see myself developing a true bilingual lifestyle that will be essential in my day-to-day work environment,” she says. Language learning opens doors to broader fields of study and a whole range of careers, she notes. “Language has always been a part of school that I enjoyed, and this heavily influenced my decision to study international business, both as a major and at Northeastern University specifically.”

Tyler, Katie, and many other alumni illustrate some of the most tangible benefits of pursuing a different language as a complete cultural experience, not a mere exercise in translation. Back at Loomis, their teachers love to hear their stories, outcomes of the “communicative approach” that the department takes to teaching languages.

Rachel Nisselson, head of Loomis’ Modern and Classical Languages Department, explains that the communicative approach emphasizes interaction in learning to speak and write in the target language. A typical lesson, for instance, would start with an overview: “Today we are going to talk about what we did last weekend.” Next, the teacher would instruct students in the use of the past tense. The students then would practice using the past tense, at first in structured exercises and then in less controlled exercises. Finally, the students would communicate with each other about what they did last weekend using the newly learned past tense.

Sophomore Derek Pang, sophomore Jason Li, freshman Elizabeth Herman, and sophomore Adora Nwokike react to a lesson in Michael Anderson's Latin class.

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Loomis language students use the language learning lab extensively, practicing speaking in the target

language, listening to recordings of native speakers, and recording their speech for evaluation. By allowing students to practice their skills simultaneously in the lab, each student engages in more repetition and more use of their skills, essential strategies for mastering another language. The department this winter added a remote capability for the language learning lab with a program called SansSpace, allowing cloud-based, mobile access to the learning lab’s tools.

Students in Sabine Giannamore’s French 3 classes are involved in a virtual exchange with students in Cugnaux, France, this year. Like pen pals of old, the Loomis students are paired with French counterparts who are learning English.

Communicating through blog postings, letters, emails, and Skype chats, the students on both sides of the Atlantic are practicing communicating in their target language and learning about the lives and cultures of their new friends.

Language classes also watch movies in the target language and respond to the films’ themes and imagery, much as they do with written literature. Rachel says she often uses music videos with her French and Spanish students as well as interviews with movie directors and other audio and video materials to expose them to the spoken language. The website zacharyjones.com plays Spanish songs, and students fill out worksheets that ask about aspects of what they have heard.

With interaction at its core, the communicative approach trains students to put the language to use in ways that a translation app never could replicate.

As a result, students learn to communicate authentically in another language, which means, when they travel to other countries, they can have richer experiences with the people they encounter, Rachel says.

A Loomis convocation speaker earlier this year talked about his travels in Marco Polo’s footsteps, through many lands previously unfamiliar to him. Rachel says she loved hearing him mention how much people he

encountered appreciated his making an effort to speak their language and how forgiving people were of mistakes he made in trying to speak to them.

The experience of traveling with a phrasebook, or a mobile app, in hand differs significantly from visiting a country where you have some ability with the local language, points out Ludmila Zamah, who teaches Arabic at Loomis. More importantly, she says, “our students are growing up to be citizens of the world in many ways.

My hope is that when [her Arabic students] do travel to the Middle East, they will not only be able to speak the language, but also to have cultural competence.”

Teaching and learning cultural competence extends beyond the language itself. In Arabic 1, for example, students learn the Arabic alphabet and the basics of the Syrian dialect, including fundamental sentence structures.

They learn colloquial expressions in Syrian. In addition, Ludmila emphasizes some of the cultural norms in the Arabic world, such as the custom of saying some kind of greeting whenever you enter a room. When her students enter the classroom or join a group of other students around a table, she reminds them to abide by this custom.

The cultural aspects of learning another language also touch on a deeper benefit that the department, and Loomis Chaffee as a whole, values: acceptance of others.

“More important than the meaning, being able to understand the words, is teaching tolerance … and accepting cultural differences,” says Spanish teacher Charles Bour. He often points out to his students that what seems “normal” in their everyday lives might be “abnormal” elsewhere, and vice versa. Charlie incorporates dance into all of his Spanish courses, in part for the cultural lessons and in part to take his students out of their comfort zones.

He begins by teaching them some individual steps for a Latin dance, and then he pairs up the students to dance because in Latin culture, dance usually takes place with partners. Charlie switches the partners often to keep the students experiencing the unfamiliar.

Laughter accompanies these lessons.

In much the same way, Charlie pairs and shuffles students in conversation 29 |

Arabic teacher Ludmila Zamah

Ludmila Zamah's Arabic II class with sophomores Emily Esposito, Benjamin Rosenblatt, and Alexander Lawson

loomischaffee.org | 29

groups in the classroom. These uncomfortable situations and Charlie’s use of laughter and humor not only disarm students’ inhibitions, but also teach students not to fear making mistakes or risking the unfamiliar. In the process, they learn about themselves as well.

Acceptance and integration of people with different backgrounds is part of the Loomis tradition, points out Bo Zhao, who has taught Chinese at Loomis for 15 years. Learning languages supports this mission. “It’s a great way of having people understand each other,” she says.

Language learning also sparks intellectual curiosity. In addition to appreciating and exploring differences in lifestyles and customs, language study reveals

differences in the ways different people think. There is no word for privacy in some languages, Ludmila notes. In Arabic, there is no single word meaning “cousin.” Instead, she explains, the phrasing shows the importance of lineage: “my father’s brother’s son” or “my mother’s brother’s daughter” and so on.

In Japanese, the character for “love” is a combination of the characters for “mother” and “child,” Ludmila says, because the connection between mother and child is seen as the highest form of love in Japanese culture. “I remember being very struck by that,” she recalls.

Reading literature in its original language also offers a unique intellectual journey, one that translation cannot provide, language teachers say. The innate beauty of a language emerges

The cultural aspects of learning another language also touch on a deeper benefit that the department, and Loomis Chaffee as a whole, values: acceptance of others.

from the literature as it does from fluently spoken dialogue.

Neurologically, scientists are still just beginning to discover how the human brain learns.

But experts have understood for years that learning languages early in life portends greater facility with language. Some believe that children must learn to say certain new sounds by the age of 12 to be able to achieve fluency in a language.

And while Loomis students are already past that threshold, experts also say that learning different grammar systems and vocabulary and the mental gymnastics involved in thinking in a second or third language helps even the older brain to develop new pathways for complex thought. Rachel and her husband, math teacher Adnan Rubai, are raising their tod-

The communicative approach to language learning encourages dialogue in the target language, as freshman Isaac Guzman discovers in Spanish 1.

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dler son in a tri-lingual environment.

Rachel speaks to her son in French, Adnan speaks to him in Bengali, and he is immersed in an English-speaking world outside of home. The family knew that this approach would mean their child would begin to speak at an older age than in a one-language environment, but they feel this tradeoff is well worth the benefits to his development. “Everything we read about brain development and living richer lives led us there,” Rachel says.

If the app on your iPhone still seems the path of least resistance, consider another major benefit of language learning: employment. “International companies are … looking for people who can speak a foreign language,” Rachel states simply.

Sophomore Paul Douglas and classmates have the answer in the "bolsa" in Rachel Nisselson's Spanish I class.

Spanish teacher Kathleen Peterson ’72

Alumni like Katie Hewitt and Tyler Earle agree. They continued their language study in college and beyond not only because they enjoyed the field, but also because they understood the global nature of the world economy and the advantage that language skills will give them.

Unfortunately for Tyler, the Chinese economy slumped just as he was graduating from Middlebury in May 2013. For now, he is not able to use his language fluency in his work as a business associate at Fidelity Investments in Boston. But he hopes some day that his language skills will find direct applications in his work. The chances are very good. In the meantime, Tyler plans to take classes in Chinese or work one-on-one with a native speaker to maintain his language abilities.

Although his job today does not relate to the language or country of China, Tyler believes that studying a language as intensively as he did also prepared him in less overt ways for his career. The hard work of initially learning Chinese at Loomis, amplified in Middlebury’s Chinese program, in which freshmen and sophomores meet eight times a week for Chinese classes and through which Tyler took a summer language immersion program, all trained him for intense, unrelenting mental work. “Nothing is too demanding,” he says.

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As students Emma Gwyn and Christina Wang know, humor plays an important role in Charles Bour's Spanish instruction.

Take Two: Conversation flows in the Modern & Classical Languages Department.

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Š

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loomischaffee.org | 33

CENTENNIAL ESSAY | BY GEORGE P. SHULTZ ’38

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A Better Energy Future EDITORS NOTE: Over the next few years, Loomis Chaffee Magazine offers its readers a special feature: the Centennial Essays. These pieces have been commissioned from Loomis Chaffee graduates who have made their marks in various fields.

They offer perspectives derived from their work at this, the school’s centennial moment. Some make connections between the writers’ years at school and the experiences that have shaped their views.

Some focus on a national or global crisis. All present cutting-edge ideas. Most importantly, all bring to bear on their subject the insights gained from years of study and action, and from a compelling need to deepen understanding, shape opinion, and provoke commitment.

George P. Shultz, U.S. secretary of state from 1982 to 1989, is the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

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Adapted from Issues on My Mind: Strategies for the Future, by George P. Shultz, with the permission of the publisher, Hoover Institution Press. Copyright © 2013 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.

New Options on the Scene

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ODAY we see new opportunities of global significance developing in the field of energy. We have a chance to leave behind the roller-coaster policy dilemma that began in response to the disruptions of 1973. We are on the cusp of important advances that may shift the security and economic dimensions of energy in our favor. Other developments are in progress that will contribute to improving our environment by addressing global warming issues and providing cleaner air and water.

These desirable outcomes can be achieved if we use thoughtful strategies and sensible energy policies.

Two key developments are at the forefront of the conversation on energy these days. One is the hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” technology that has rapidly and radically changed the availability of natural gas in the United States, with a consequent decline in price and the prospect of greatly increased supply here and elsewhere. Using the well-developed technique of horizontal drilling, this technology involves the injection of highly pressurized fracturing fluid into shale or sandstone formations. The fracturing of the rock creates channels for the release of oil and gas. Fracking is already being used in North Dakota and south Texas to develop tight oil from fields that were previously inaccessible. Many in the industry predict that this technology will dramatically change the oil picture, just as it has the natural gas situation.

Developed in the United States, fracking technology is now being introduced in other parts of the world. The result may be a massive rearrangement of the global geopolitical power structure. From the standpoint of the United States, the prospect of near energy independence for North America with a strengthened base within our borders is now in sight. And

“

From the standpoint of the United States, the prospect of near energy independence for North America with a strengthened base within our borders is now in sight.

”

energy imported from Canada or Mexico does not need to go through the Strait of Hormuz or any other choke point.

Debate on the use of fracking must be based on science and experience. Potential environmental risks associated with this technology, including methane leaks and groundwater pollution, led the Department of Energy to convene a special panel in 2011 to study the process and create a regulatory structure to ensure that it does not result in harmful unintended consequences. Much of the effort to regulate this industry should be done at the state level, as conditions can vary significantly. In addition, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has identified problems associated with the technology as well as ways of dealing with them.

EDF has made five sound recommendations for shale gas management: (1) transparency in operations, (2) high-quality well construction and maintenance, (3) attention to the water cycle, (4) effective management of methane emissions, and (5) engagement with the communities where operations take place.

The stakes are high, so responsible use of this ENERGY FUTURE | continued 36

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loomischaffee.org | 35

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ENERGY FUTURE | continued from 34

new technology is essential. It behooves the fracking industry to use proven techniques with great care. In addition, effective regulations must be put in place and strictly enforced.

Strategy for the Long Run The second major development is the emergence of impressive work on a wide variety of alternative sources of energy by highly talented scientists and engineers. Solar and wind energy are close to being economically competitive with grid electricity. Batteries for electric cars, already far superior to those available only a decade ago, are being further improved. Also at hand are biofuels as well as long-term and reasonably scaled storage technologies that will alleviate problems associated with solar and wind power fluctuations. Energy-saving techniques are coming into play, with real progress being made in the construction of more energy-efficient buildings. These research and development efforts are currently financed — though by no means as well as they should be — by private as well as public resources.

The civilian effort toward energy efficiency is mirrored by work being carried out by the U.S. military. Each branch of the armed services realizes that war-fighting capabilities can be sharply improved by developing alternative ways of producing and using energy and by being able to create more energy at the point of use. Attacks on U.S. military convoys carrying oil to the troops in Afghanistan underscore the vital importance of this effort. It is clear that there should be a focus on more distributed, secure, and adaptable energy alternatives for civilian as well as military activities.

Here are my ideas for the policies that will capitalize on present opportunities for a better energy future — a future that bolsters our national security, helps our economy to flourish, and improves our environment.

First, let’s put in place sensible, clear stan36 |

In summary, the massive energy industry is entering a period of radical change and great opportunity. We need to think strategically about these potential changes and develop policies, research, and investments in order to take full advantage of the vast and promising prospects for a better energy future.

”

dards and appropriate regulations so that fracking technology can proceed confidently. We will gain handsomely in terms of greater security of supply, lower and more stable prices, and movement toward greater reliance on natural gas, the most benign of fossil fuels. The United States will also attract manufacturing activity and jobs as use of this technology increases.

Second, the roller-coaster history of energy policy suggests that greater availability of oil and natural gas will divert funding from the innovative activities now under way to seek cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels. The result would be a serious setback for the development of alternative forms of energy that can operate at scale and have a beneficial effect on our environment. It is imperative that we engage in a major political effort to produce substantial and sustained funding for energy research and development. I am confident that such support will be greater if the government leaves funding for commercial enterprises to the marketplace.

Third, we should rearrange the policy mix so that different forms of energy can compete on a level playing field. For example, we should mandate that new cars with internal combustion engines have a flex-fuel feature so that alternative fuels can compete effectively for use in these vehicles.

Fourth, the cost of capital required to deploy an energy technology ought to be structured on the basis of a level playing field. Currently, coal, oil, and gas have access to low-cost private capital through master limited partnerships (MLPs). All forms of energy should have access to these financing developments.

Fifth, the playing field will be leveled only if each source of energy bears the full cost of its use, including its effect on the environment. The solution I advocate is a revenueneutral carbon tax, and the most efficient way to impose this tax would be to collect it at the point of production. Revenue neutrality comes from distribution of the proceeds, which, of course, could be done in a great variety of ways. On the grounds of ease of visibility and application, I advocate for having the tax collection and distribution administered by the IRS or the Social Security Administration. The principle of transparency should be observed. Money collected should go into an identified fund and the amounts flowing in and out should be clearly visible. The Social Security Administration could make payments, identified as “Your carbon dividend,” in equal amounts to each current recipient of Social Security or to everyone either paying in to the system or receiving benefits from it.

I have been conducting an energy experiment of my own since having solar panels installed on my house on the Stanford University campus several years ago. By now, the savings from my lower electricity bills have exceeded the cost of those solar panels. And as I commute to work in my electric car, I am driving on sunshine that is plentiful — and free — in California.

In summary, the massive energy industry is entering a period of radical change and great opportunity. We need to think strategically about these potential changes and develop policies, research, and investments in order to take full advantage of the vast and promising prospects for a better energy future. ©

Diana Farrell ’83: To the White House and Back

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his year’s Commencement speaker, Diana Farrell ’83, has spent her life considering global issues. Growing up in Latin America in a bicultural family — her father is American and her mother is Colombian — along with her four brothers and sisters, Diana says she always has appreciated having strong roots in more than one culture. Her experience at Loomis Chaffee and subsequently at Wesleyan University, where she graduated in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a multidisciplinary major in government, history, economics, and social philosophy, fueled an interest in different countries’ approaches to governing and economic development — themes that have carried through her distinguished career. As a director at McKinsey & Company and the global head of the McKinsey Center for Government, Diana helps to move governments and individuals toward an understanding of, in her words, “what works and why, what doesn’t work and why, and how it translates properly into different contexts.” President Barrack Obama tapped Diana to serve as a deputy director of the National Economic Council at the beginning of his first term, and in this role she helped steer the country through the tumultuous economic times of the Great Recession. She was the White House point person on the Dodd-Frank Act, working with the Department of Treasury,

Diana Farrell ’83, right, Neal Wolin, and Michael Barr led President Obama's team that pushed for financial reform, including legislation that was signed into law in 2010. Photo: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times/Redux

Congress, and external stakeholders to gain passage of the financial reform bill. Returning to McKinsey after her two-year stint in the White House, her experience continues to inform her work leading research and dialogue on effective government. Diana and her husband, Scott Pearson, who is head of the District of Columbia Charter School Board, live in the Washington, D.C., area with their children, Sonia, 16, and Jasper, 14, both of whom attend a bilingual international school in Washington.

In a telephone interview in March, Diana spoke

about her life and career with Loomis Chaffee Magazine Managing Editor Becky Purdy.

Q: A:

When you were a Loomis Chaffee student, what did you imagine your future would be and how close has it come to your life today?

I don’t know that I had a particularly clear vision of what my future was, but I probably knew that the fact that I was bicultural and was interested in what was happening around the loomischaffee.org | 37

Q: A:

world would play some role in my life. I never felt fully American or fully Latin American. It was a great experience to get to be in multiple worlds. I had always had an interest in — I’m not sure I would have characterized it this way then — in economic development issues and the notion of governance of societies. You live in different countries and see that the fabric of societies is quite different. What works and doesn’t work and why it works and doesn’t work were things that preoccupied me even at a very young age. It went on to fuel my interest in economic development, fuel my interest in policy, which sustained me even when I was more squarely in the private sector.

On paper, your career looks like a steady progression toward where you are today. Would you characterize it that way?

Not at all. I approached my career in two-year stints that eventually became three- to five-year stints but always with the sense of “I don’t really know what the long-term destination is, but if I am feeling very good about what I’m doing in the next while, that’s good enough.”

Coming out of college, my top preoccupation was making sure I was going to get good on-the-job training. I was very fortunate because in my junior year in college, when I had no idea what I wanted to do but thought I might as well try some experience, I was recruited by the Financial Women’s Association of New York, whose mission was to get more women on the boards of directors of financial institutions.

They realized that there wasn’t enough of a pipeline of women who knew about finance and that they needed to reach back into colleges and get women involved in finance so that they would then become future leaders of, or at least board members of, financial institutions.

In that wonderful vision of theirs, I was recruited that summer to go and work at Goldman Sachs in New York as a summer intern, and it was wonderful. I learned so much and I was imparted such a great set of skills, so I returned after I graduated from college to Goldman Sachs.

And I went on to business school

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Q: A:

from there. Coming out of business school, again, I had no clear view of exactly what I wanted to do, but I did know that I wanted to be in a great organization that was going to teach me a lot, where I was going to continue to develop professionally.

I came to McKinsey with the full expectation that I’d be here two or three years and then I’d move on.

But every time we hit the two-year mark, I’d find a new path that I would be excited about. I’m amazed still that I’ve been at McKinsey as long as I have, except for my stint in government. It’s really been, not a progression that I saw from the beginning, but more a set of decisions that had initially a shorter time frame and then became slightly longer as I took on bigger projects and bigger aspirations.

What is your role today at McKinsey?

I founded the McKinsey Center for Government. It’s a center for excellence for research, for classification of best practice, and for a real understanding of all the work that McKinsey does with governments but also that governments are doing around the world. There is the proposition that most governments are solving the same problems over and over again. Some of them are solving the problems in better ways than others, but they’re not learning as much from each other as they could. I think that we can really play a role in helping crystallize what works and why, and what doesn’t work and why, and how it translates properly into different contexts. Of course the center’s work supports the consulting practice that McKinsey has with governments, but it’s also a center in and of itself — of research and convening of experts to try and push the dialogue of effective government.

Before I had my stint in government, I had run the McKinsey Global Institute, which is McKinsey’s global economics research group — a global enterprise trying to take the window that McKinsey has on the world, which is working with companies and industries in over 70 countries, and developing what we always characterize as a microeconomic view of macroeconomic

Q: A:

problems, trying to explain the process of globalization. [The Global Institute and the Center for Government] are linked in important ways because a big part of the effective government agenda is operating within the economic constraints and the challenges that globalization has put on governments.

Is there much overlap between the work you did at the White House and your work at McKinsey?

Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that, I think one of the reasons that I was tapped to join the economic team at the White House was that I had been at the helm of developing this very detailed view of what is happening on the ground that gives rise to the macroeconomic impact and outcomes that we see. And as we were going into the financial crisis in the summer of 2008 and then deep into the economic crisis at the end of that year and the beginning of 2009, it was pretty clear that the sort of traditional approaches in economic thinking for government intervention were just not going to work. We hadn’t seen anything like the chaos that ensued since the Great Depression. There was an understanding that we were going to have to approach this with a relatively blank sheet of paper. We didn’t really know how things operated in this environment: 0 percent interest rates, the complete paralysis of the credit markets, even the sheer magnitude of the job losses every month, and ultimately it was really the breakdown of the natural mechanisms of economic activity. It was helpful that I had a very on-the-ground microeconomics understanding of what interventions would or wouldn’t work and why and how they played out in different countries and different contexts.

So it was a lot of the same tools, and it was a lot of the same sets of questions and issues. But otherwise it was quite different because the operations of the private sector were very different than the operations in a government context. When I was at McKinsey running the McKinsey Global Institute, it was a think tank. It was a research group. It was ultimately about explaining the way the world works, documenting

Q: A:

“

the way the world works, writing papers about it, giving speeches about it, and helping others use that understanding for their own strategies. That was quite a different thing than being on the council that ultimately poses for the president what are the key economic decisions that the president needs to make and makes recommendations and a rationale for the recommendations. In a think-tank world, you think about the optimal answers in a wonderful, unconstrained environment. [In the government world], you really have to address options in the context of the political economy, what’s possible, what’s politically feasible.

… it was pretty clear that the sort of traditional approaches in economic thinking for government intervention were just not going to work.

How different are the working environments of those two worlds?

It’s hard to compare them because the situation when I was in government was so extreme. We had a monthly loss of 700,000 jobs month after month after month. We had the credit constraints where even General Electric couldn’t get credit.

We had the entire banking [crisis].

We had to pass an $800 billion recovery act. We were pushing three major legislative initiatives — health care, financial reform, and the climate change bill. The sheer intensity of that experience, even though I think working in government at those levels is always intense, was an order of magnitude greater than normal. McKinsey’s always been a very dynamic and challenging and very hard-working place, but [the Economic Council work] was just an order of magnitude difference in terms of what was required and what we were all doing, which was getting very, very little sleep seven days a week, 30 days a month for certainly the first 10 months of that term. I was surrounded by very dedicated, hard-working people who were serving their country.

In that way, the two environments were really similar in the sense that McKinsey has a very values-driven, mission-oriented attention as well.

But in one case you get paid very well and you get treated very well, and in the other case, you do all of that with all the values and all the nobility and 10 times the work, and the conditions are much, much harder. I have a lot of respect for people

”

Q: A:

who, especially, are disrupting their family lives and their opportunity costs to serve in government.

Was it your plan all along to stay on at the White House for two years?

Yes. I was clear with the president and with the transition team when I came on that I would come [for two years], and we all hoped that we would stave off the worst of the crisis within the first two years. And that was my commitment, mostly because my children were still very young, and they were used to having a mother who worked and worked hard and traveled, but not a mother who was completely missing in action, which I was for a while.

Q: A:

What’s your impression of the president?

I have utmost respect in regards to the president. I think he was handed a very, very difficult set of cards, and I think that history books will treat him very, very well.

Q: A:

McKinsey has a large initiative that promotes opportunities for women.

What has been your experience in a field that still is male-dominated?

My personal experience has been extremely positive. I was blessed by having some really good mentors early in my life, male mentors as it

Q: A:

turns out — there weren’t that many women. But they really helped me, and I progressed in a traditional way very fast and happily and felt very well supported. I also had a lot of flexibility when I embarked on this wonderful adventure that is motherhood. I took a leave when my daughter was born. I took an extended leave when my son was born — I took a year-and-a-half off. And throughout it I felt very supported to be on leave and on full benefits before I came back. And I was very fortunate — maybe even more so than in the workplace — in having a husband who helped make it all work, a real partner in it. So I have a personally very positive story to tell, but I would not want to underestimate just how difficult it is because it’s both long working hours and an extraordinary personal commitment and a lot of travel and things that make it hard. When everything’s sailing smoothly, everything sails smoothly, and it can all be made to work. But there’s not a whole lot of cushion for if something goes awry. McKinsey has done a terrific job of trying to address this, and I just wish the outcomes were better, both here and in many other places, than they really are.

What advice would you give to a young woman, say a Loomis student or a recent alumna, who’s interested in following the kind of path that you have?

I’d say go all in. Marry the right person. I don’t underestimate just how important it is to have a real partner on your side because if you’re fighting both battles — at home and at work — then it’s just over. I think that there are many stages to one’s life, and recognizing that gives you a lot of freedom to focus on different things at different times. Coming out of Loomis and certainly coming out of college, that’s the time to be all in, all in to exploring the world and figuring out what you want to do, recognizing that it won’t always have to be that way, but that’s a particularly good time to really dedicate yourself. © To read the full interview with Diana, go to www.loomischaffee.org/ magazine.

loomischaffee.org | 39

THE WRITE STUFF | BY JAMES S. RUGEN ’70

FEATURED WRITER: Patricia Boudreau Fargnoli ’55

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ATRICIA FARGNOLI’S latest collection of poems, Winter (Hobblebush Books, 2013), compels the reader to experience the mature observations of a narrator pointedly alert to beauty, often transient — and truth, often painful. The collection ranges over a wide variety of experience, but a prevailing aesthetic and outlook lead the reader to conclude that all the poems share a single narrator, one who has experienced considerable loss, nurtures a keen observant eye, and controls literal and figurative language deftly to mirror experience and convey the interior workings of a subtle and sensitive mind. In these poignant and moving poems, “Your dreams tell you what you want,” “truth is found in silence,” and “ … at the end we all become/ marsh grass, cumulus, sky.”

Many poems in the collection express sorrow, loss, and isolation. In “The Weight,” an old widow cares for an old, sick dog, carrying him up and down the stairs to her apartment, knowing that she will soon have to have him put to sleep: “She says she’s fighting off grief/ and not for the first time,/ then stretches her back,/ Tired as it is, and bends to Patricia Boudreau Fargnoli ’55 lift him again,/ soothing his long fur/ with the practiced strokes of a lover.”

In “Notions,” the narrator recalls working at the Sage-Allen store in Hartford, in 1957 — unmarried, pregnant, and with nothing in common with her co-workers, old ladies who “reeked of Emeraude and Evening in Paris,/ their powdery faces like wrinkled cotton.”

In “Father Poem: A Collage” (in memory of Edouard Henri Boudreau, 1906–1947), the narrator recalls the suicide of her father when she was 10: “Wasn’t I enough to keep you here?/ Didn’t you ever think of me?”

A counter-effect to the pain, loneliness, isolation, and sorrow expressed in many of the poems in the collection is the narrator’s perception of the material world’s exquisite visions: A fox running down a snowy winter hill is a “flame/ among the dancing skeletons of the ash trees.” In another poem, “overnight snow/ illumined by the sidewalk lamp/ … turns to a blue radiance as the icy dawn light slips in/ from the east, a chimeric light, a veil made of nothing.” Ultimately, it is the narrator’s sensitive recognition of transcendence that gives to the collection its prevailing emotional power. “Father Poem: A Collage” ends with the narrator’s childhood memory of riding a carousel horse with her father standing by and the calliope playing “Till We Meet Again.” The narrator concludes: “Father who will not be made small in me ever.” The narrator in “Dreamwork” experiences a dream in which she loves a stranger “because he was dying.” “Bellows Falls” depicts a town “in ruin,” but the 40 |

narrator recognizes, “Life’s still here for sure — and history,” at least in the fossils “found on the river bank.” In “The Guest,” the narrator remembers the “summer after our mother died,” when she and her brother were rowed on a “mile-wide lake” by a “French woman/ who came to stay every summer/ for two weeks,” leading the children “in the songs she had taught us to love./ ‘Blue Moon.’

‘Deep Purple.’”

We sang as she rowed, not ever wondering where she came from or why she was alone, happy that she was willing to row us out into all that beauty.

Of her work and influences, Patricia writes: “My interest in poetry began when, as a very young child, my Aunt Nell (who cared for me after my parents died) regularly read me poems from One Hundred and One Famous Verses and a book of poems about fairies titled Silver Pennies. I wrote my first poem at six, the year after my mother died, because I wanted to send her a Mother’s Day ‘card’ in heaven. But it wasn’t until my Chaffee years that my interest in writing poems blossomed. Mrs. Britton (Josephine M. Britton, who taught at Chaffee and at Loomis Chaffee, 1935-1937; 1943-1973), the English teacher and my favorite teacher, encouraged my writing and I had a number of poems (very bad ones) published in The

Chaffee Chiel, the school newspaper. Then poetry shrank into the background as I raised my children. It re-emerged in midlife when I enrolled in a poetry class with Brendan Galvin at Central Connecticut State University. I became very serious about it then (as I am now) and spent years learning the craft, reading books by other poets, attending workshops and conferences. I published my first book, Necessary Light, when I was sixty-two.

“These days, since Winter was published, I am waiting to be shown what direction to take next. It’s always been the case, when I’ve published a book, that there is a fallow period — as if whatever it is (the muse, the unconscious) needs time to regenerate. A very close and dear thirty-year-long friend died last July and, in my grief, all I could write for months were elegies and letters to him. But now that impulse seems to have lessened and I’m finding it hard to write new work.

“Still, every morning (which is when I write) I am at my computer reading the various ‘poems of the day’ on the Internet, writing in my journal, thinking about poetry and trying to write drafts of new poems. At seventy-six, I think I may never have another new book, but I can hope, and meanwhile poetry is the spiritual core of my life. I think of it as prayer, and I can’t imagine ever giving it up.”

Winter is Patricia’s seventh poetry collection. Her previous book, Then, Something (Tupelo Press, 2005), won the ForeWord Magazine Silver Poetry Book of the Year Award, co-won the New Hampshire Poetry Club’s Sheila Mooton Prize, and was an Honorable Mention for the Erik Hoffer Awards and a finalist for the New Hampshire Literary Awards. Duties of the Spirit won the 2005 New Hampshire Jane Kenyon Literary Award for an Outstanding Book of Poetry. Patricia’s first book, Necessary Light (Utah State University Press, 1999), was awarded the 1999 May Swenson Poetry Award judged by Mary Oliver. Her chapbook, Small Songs of Pain (Pecan Grove Press, 2003), is a collection of poems triggered by Chagall’s illustrations of LaFontaine’s fables. In addition, Patricia has published two other chapbooks.

The New Hampshire Poet Laureate from 2006 to 2009, Patricia has been the recipient of a MacDowell Colony fellowship and has been a frequent resident at the Dorset

“

I wrote my first poem at six, the year after my mother died, because I wanted to send her a Mother’s Day ‘card’ in heaven.

”

— Patricia Boudreau Fargnoli ’55

Writers’ Colony and Wellspring House. A past associate editor of The Worcester Review, she has been on the residence faculty of The Frost Place Poetry Festival, and has taught in the Lifelong Learning program of Keene State College and privately.

She’s been the recipient of an honorary bachelor of fine arts degree from The New Hampshire Institute of Arts, has won the Robert Frost Foundation Poetry Award, and has been a semifinalist for the Glasgow Book Award and three times a semifinalist for The Discovery The Nation award. She is a graduate of Trinity College, The Hartford College for Women, and the UCONN School of Social Work; and she has worked as a research analyst for the state police, as a Y.W.C.A. program director with adolescents in trouble with the law, as an actuarial analyst and supervisor with Aetna Insurance Company, and most recently, for 10 years prior to her retirement, as a psychotherapist in family service agencies. She has published more than 300 poems in anthologies and literary journals such as Poetry, Ploughshares, North American Review, MidAmerican Review, Harvard Review, Alaska Quarterly, Barrow Street, Images, and Rattle, among others. A touring artist for the New Hampshire Arts Council, she is member of the New Hampshire Writers’ Project and The New England Poetry Club. Patricia resides in Walpole, New Hampshire.

“Winter Grace,” first published in Poet Lore is included in Patricia’s collection Winter, and is included here with the author’s permission.

WINTER GRACE If you have seen the snow under the lamppost piled up like a white beaver hat on the picnic table or somewhere slowly falling into the brook to be swallowed by water, then you have seen beauty and know it for its transience.

And if you have gone out in the snow for only the pleasure of walking barely protected from the galaxies, the flakes settling on your parka like the dust from just-born stars, the cold waking you as if from long sleeping, then you can understand how, more often than not, truth is found in silence, how the natural world comes to you if you go out to meet it, its icy ditches filled with dead weeds, its vacant birdhouses, and dens full of the sleeping.

But this is the slowed-down season held fast by darkness and if no one comes to keep you company then keep watch over your own solitude.

In that stillness, you will learn with your whole body the significance of cold and the night, which is otherwise always eluding you.

THE WRITE STUFF | continued next page loomischaffee.org | 41

THE WRITE STUFF

Recent Books by Alumni Authors These books have been published or have been brought to our attention in the last year. The editors ask alumni to send updates and corrections to magazine@loomis.org for inclusion in this annual list.

George P. Shultz ’38 Issues on My Mind: Strategies for the Future

Ralph Sawyer ’63 Conquest and Domination in Early China: Rise and Demise of the Western Chou Zhuge Liang: Strategy, Achievements, and Writings

Thomas A. Foster ’87 Sex and the Founding Fathers: The American Quest for a Relatable Past Mark Oppenheimer ’92 The Zen Predator of the Upper East Side (Kindle “single”)

Alan Rabinowitz ’44 Middle Way: Freedom & Progressive Social Change Since World War II Henry P. Traverso ’50 The Art Lover’s Pocket Guide: Where to View the World’s Great Masterpieces

Richard W. H. Bray ’94 Salt & Old Vines: True Tales of Winemaking in the Roussillon

Susan Schwartz Jhirad ’60 Dickens’ Inferno: The Moral World of Charles Dickens Robert G. Kaiser ’60 Act of Congress: How America’s Essential Institution Works, and How It Doesn’t Ward Jones ’61 The Way Up

Suzanne Sherwood Cane ’64, translator and editor (with Janet Chapple) Jules Leclercq, Yellowstone, Land of Wonders: Promenade in North America’s National Park R. Kevin O’Malley ’69 The Difference in the Game

Patricia Boudreau Fargnoli ’55 Winter Herbert C. Hallas ’55 William Almon Wheeler: Political Star of the North Country

David Wilbern ’62 The American Popular Novel After World War II: A Study of 25 Best Sellers, 1947–2000

Matt Henderson Ellis ’87 Keeping Bedlam at Bay in the Prague Café

42 |

OBJECT LESSONS | BY KAREN PARSONS

Entrance Exams

S

TUDENTS applying today to Loomis Chaffee take the SSAT test, an exam created in 1957 by the Secondary School Admission Test Board. A little more than 60 years ago, a group of independent school admissions directors recognized the need for a common admissions exam. Hull Maynard ’19, Loomis’ then-director of admissions, was instrumental in developing this test and served as the SSATB’s first executive secretary.

When Hull applied to Loomis in 1915, the admission process was quite different. He and other prospective first-year students — boys and girls — sat for Loomis’ own tests in grammar, composition, memorizing, arithmetic, and geography. Mr. Batchelder weighed in on students’ applications. The school Catalogue for that year notes, “All candidates for admission must convince the Headmaster that they have the mental, moral and physical qualities which will fit them to profit by the instruction of the school; and, to this end, whenever possible, applicants will be expected to meet the Headmaster, or his representative, for personal conference.” Students also submitted names of two references and a school transcript.

The arithmetic entrance exam for 1917 was recently discovered in a group of nearly century-old school records. We invite you to dust off your algebraic skills and take on these questions. Compare your answers with solutions computed by junior Maddie Lapuk, math faculty members Barry Moran and Curtis Robison, and head of the Mathematics Department Joseph Cleary. The solutions can be found on page 44. © Karen Parsons is archivist and teaches history.

Illustration: Missy Pope Wolff ’04

loomischaffee.org | 43

44 |

Answers: 1.) 5,530 2.) x= 10/59 3.) 6.9 4.) $2,025 due at maturity 5.) $5.15= new price 6.) x= 400 7 .) Partner A= $1,598 Partner B= $1,802 Total Gain= $3,400 8.) 11.13 tons of coal 9.) .318 battery average 10.) a.) x= 16,000% b.) x= .625% Illustration: Missy Pope Wolff ’04

OBJECT LESSONS

20 Reunion 14

ALUMNI NEWS | EDITED BY JAMES S. RUGEN ’70

1939

John A. Benson Jr. writes: “Blessed by good health aided by new body parts, I can enjoy grandchildren (no ‘greats’ yet), travel, some interprofessional medical school teaching, a getaway place in the Napa Valley, and a caring, active, healthy wife of 10 years. No classmates in Oregon and rare visits to Connecticut.”

1943

“I think there were 111 in our class, and I’m happy to be amongst the living!” writes Bill Kolodney.

1948

George James and his wife, Gunilla, live in Old Lyme, Conn., and are active in town affairs and church activities.

Daughter Kristina James White ’84 lives in Lyme, and her son, Nicholas, is a middle school student active in sports and music. George’s older daughter, Anna-Karin James Li ’79, lives in La Quinta, Calif.

Her daughter, Karina, graduates from Macalester College in May. Both Kristina and Anna-Karin plan to attend Reunion in June.

1949

Composer and retired radiologist Albert Hurwit premiered his latest composition, Are There Still Bells, December 22, 2013, during morning services at Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford. The piece is scored for chamber orchestra and choir, and nearly 100 people took part in the performance. Alby is working on an expanded version of the piece, which is based on the Longfel-

low poem “I Heard the Bells at Christmas.” Alby’s Symphony No. 1 “Remembrance” was premiered by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra a decade ago and has been recorded by the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of former HSO director Michael Lankester.

1950

Bert A. Engelhardt writes: “My wife, Claire, and I are now living in a retirement community in northwest Virginia.

She is in the assisted living section because of a stroke and aphasia, and I am in independent living; but I can visit her several times a day since we are about 100 yards apart.”

Evie Smith moved last fall from her condo in Windsor to Seabury Retirement Community, Bloomfield. For more than a year, she was a “day kid” in the Seabury At Home program, and now she is “on campus” as a “boarder.” “Who would have guessed?” she writes. “I love it!”

1951

Last August, John F. Foster was named one of three runners-up in a nationwide contest for the 2013 Teacher of the Year award sponsored by The American Bridge Teachers Association. At the 2013 convention of the Florida State Poets Association, where contest results were announced for poems in 25 separate categories, John earned more awards than any other Florida poet. He enjoys giving poetry readings and workshops throughout west central Florida and is at work on his fourth collection of poems.

1952

June 13–15, 2014

News from Stanley D. Hayward: “Have very much enjoyed getting to know Gordon Thomas ’45 and his wife, Alice. We’re all living in the same retirement community in Oregon. Small world!”

1953

Richard H. Goldman writes: “I enjoyed catching up with old friends Dan Wilkes ’54 and Bob Hurwit at the 60th Reunion. Am now fully retired, enjoying grandchildren Louis, 3, and Rosalie, 6 months, and pursuing hobby of photography.”

“I’m busy with my two amateur theater groups: The Amateur Comedy Club (men’s group founded in 1884) and The Snarks (women’s group founded in 1909),” reports Francine Berth Myles. “I am their Bellman (i.e., president) — mostly in the producing end (that means backstage generally.)” Francine also keeps busy with two grandchildren, one 4 years old and the other 8 months, and her 5-month-old puppy. “Gotta run!” she adds.

George C. White recently received a distinguished public service award from the commandant of the Coast Guard.

Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr. presented the award at the Coast Guard Academy, New London, Conn., on January 8. George

CLASSES ENDING IN 4s AND 9s!

Loomis Chaffee wants YOU to celebrate this year! Join classmates, friends, and faculty for your 5th or 60th or any other Reunion in between.

Look for your invitation this spring.

Be sure to receive electronic updates by sharing your email address with the school.

Update your information at www.loomischaffee.org/reunion or call 860.687.6273.

loomischaffee.org | 45

Chaffee

BOOK CLUB SAVE THE DATE: Wednesday, May 7, 2014 6 p.m. Dinner 7:30 p.m. Discussion Burton Room, Athletics Complex The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story

by Lily Koppel Discussion Leader: Lori Caligiuri, History Department

has held numerous positions in the Coast Guard Auxiliary for 20 years and has given his time and resources to help cadets at the academy develop as leaders. George was among the first auxiliarists to qualify as quartermaster-of-the-watch on the barque Eagle, and he helped coordinate its overseas engagements. He served in several auxiliary leadership positions, including flotilla commander.

He helped establish a drawing course for cadets through the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts and started an art scholarship that has provided 16 cadets with the opportunity to spend a week in Italy. George is a former director of The Day (New London) and is the founder of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. He and his wife, Betsy, live in Waterford, Conn.

1955

Herbert C. Hallas is the author of a new book, William Almon Wheeler: Political Star of the North Country, released last December by SUNY Press.

Wheeler was a five-term congressman and the 19th vice president of the United States.

46 |

English teacher Sally Knight led discussion of the novel Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie during the February gathering of the Chaffee Book Club. Back: Kate Butterworth De Valdez ’67, Anne Schneider McNulty ’72, Sue Fisher Shepard ‘62, Sally, Suzanne Nolan ’69, and parent of alumni and Assistant to the Director of Development Donna Burrall. Front: Mims Brooks Butterworth ’36, Gretchen Schafer Skelley ’45, Priscilla Ransom Marks ’66, and Elaine Title Lowengard ’46.

Often referred to as “the New York Lincoln,” he was a poor boy living near the Canadian border who later achieved fame and fortune as a lawyer, banker, railroad president, state legislator, congressman, and vice president under Rutherford B. Hayes. Herb examines Wheeler’s role in shaping state and national policy and his role in helping to found the Republican Party as well as his involvement in transcontinental railroads, the creation of the Adirondack and Niagara Falls state parks, the extension of voting rights in New York, the termination of racial civil war in Louisiana, and the curtailment of unnecessary government spending.

Herb is a retired high school teacher and lawyer.

1956

Quentin Regestein writes: “Decades of tranquillizers and anti-depressants have given psychiatric patients unreliable results; therefore, I am setting up a facility for transcranial direct current brain stimulation, which shows remarkable results for mood and cognitive disorders. I am also involved

with an EEG feedback treatment facility.” He adds: “I just got my genes read. My Parkinson’s disease risk is less than expected for the general population, but my Alzheimer’s disease risk is greater. I’d rather not be so mortal. Better I should be grateful for the little respite from oblivion God granted me.

Yesterday was the first day of the season I commuted in winter conditions. Commuting on my bicycle might pose a risk as big as the genetic risk. All any of us can do is to remain alert and adaptive.”

1957

For The Episcopal Diocese of Arizona, John Hurlburt serves as a member of the Diocese Council and a convener of Adult Education. He is also a convener for Sustainable Rim Country: Green Economic Initiative.

1958

Lee Bishop Howard and John Howard ’56 report that life in California continues to be full and happy. “Five of our seven shared kids are out West … plus five of our eight grandkids. Had a four-day camping reunion

with 11 family members in Yellowstone. Still work on disaster response programs in two towns. Busy with local Lions Club.” John is president and Lee is secretary.

“Retired in June!” writes John Sabin.

1960

“Barbara and I are well and happy here in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies,” reports Marshall Hoke. “We ski, hike, and canoe a lot. Our kids are up and out, and we like visiting each other, especially doing outdoor activities together. Come visit us, for a few hours or days!”

Larry Katz reports: “Still practicing labor and employment law in Phoenix. Still married to Ellen Katz after 48 years. Four grandchildren, two each to sons Andrew and Jed. Still playing men’s league basketball. No signs of slowing down …”

A program of music by Barry O’Neal will be presented in Middletown, Conn., in the spring. His music includes works for string quartet, large orchestra, symphonic band,

ALUMNI NEWS

1961

Bill Brown recently retired after 48 years with the Detroit Tigers. Just out of Dartmouth, he began his career with the Tigers’ scouting department in 1965. He went on to serve as the general manager of the Lakeland team, then worked in the public relations office in Detroit.

He became the team’s traveling secretary in 1979, then travel adviser, and director of travel.

1963

Ralph Sawyer recently completed two more books. Based upon traditional historical literature, extensive archaeological materials, and contemporary bronze inscriptions, Conquest and Domination in Early China:

Rise and Demise of the Western Chou analyzes the strategy and actors instrumental in the Chou’s (Zhou’s) astonishing rise from an obscure peripatetic clan to their surprising conquest of the mighty Shang at the decisive battle of Mu-yeh in 1045 BCE, their subsequent three centuries of dominance, and finally their ignominious collapse. Zhuge Liang: Strategy, Achievements, and Writings examines the life and career of the third-century “wizard general” long known for his strategic inventiveness, arcane wisdom, and geostrategic insights. Complete translations of all his probable writings are included.

1968

On March 1 and 2 at The Palace Theatre in Stamford. Conn., a National Historic Landmark, Jane Weiner Freeman conducted the Stamford Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Mozart’s Overture to The Abduction from the Seraglio. A Stamford attorney with the firm of Cacace, Tusch & Santagata, Jane has served for six years on the board of directors of the Stamford Symphony, serves on the Chairman’s Council, and chairs the Legacy Society. As high bidder at a silent auction at the symphony’s gala last year, Jane won the opportunity to conduct the orchestra

MY PELICAN

TALE

MARK S. NUSSBAUM ’70

Certified financial planner, certified investment management analyst Senior Vice President-Investments, Wells Fargo Advisors

“

I am the oldest of five, and all of us went to Loomis. My parents owned a restaurant in Wethersfield, and they wanted us to have the very best education, which is exactly what we received.

The faculty at Loomis changed my life.

These guys were tough, but passionate.

Bill Eaton would never let you give up — even through three-a-day practices.

Grim taught me the most important skill in life — never be afraid to ask a question and then dig for the answer. In essence, Loomis taught me how to think and how to persevere.

2013–14 ANNUAL FUND

vocal ensembles, and solo instrumentalists and vocalists.

His setting of God’s Grandeur (Gerard Manley Hopkins) for chorus and wind ensemble was commissioned by Angelo State University and premiered in Texas in 1979. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was a finalist in the New York City opera’s one-act opera competition and was premiered in 2009 by the Center for Contemporary Opera in New York City. Many of Barry’s vocal settings have been presented in major New York churches, Weill Recital Hall, and Alice Tully Hall. Since retiring from a career in the music publishing business, Barry has written articles and music reviews while continuing to compose.

The spring concert will take place Saturday, May 3, at 2 p.m., in the Hubbard Room of Russell Library, 123 Broad Street, Middletown, Conn. Included on the program will be a variety of short chamber and vocal works.

I credit the school with giving me so much, and I think it’s important to give other kids those same opportunities.

That’s why I support the Annual Fund, and I hope you’ll join me!

”

www.loomischaffee.org/giving

loomischaffee.org | 47

’64

’68

Jane Weiner Freeman ’68 had the opportunity to conduct The Stamford Symphony Orchestra on March 1 in a performance of Mozart’s Overture to The Abduction from the Seraglio.

Photo: Hildi Todrin, Crane Song Photography

in the piece, an add-on to the symphony’s regular program conducted by Eckart Preu. The Stamford Symphony Orchestra is the only orchestra in Connecticut fully comprising professional musicians, many of whom play additionally in the New York Philharmonic, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra, and Broadway productions.

As Founding Board Chair, Kathleen Boscardin Morrison ’64 was recently honored at the third annual gala of KidZNotes, a Durham, N.C.-based nonprofit that provides free instruments and classical orchestra music instruction to low-income children. The program, serving over 250 children in Durham and Raleigh, is inspired by Venezuela’s famous El Sistema program.

’69

’75

Sean Ryan ’75 performed a civil affairs mission in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, in 2009. This was his second trip to the country, the first one in 2003.

“Fortress of Their Dreams” is a new work by artist Lene Gregersen SchmidtPetersen ’69, from her new series Skagen, named for the Danish seaside town in Jutland. During a 2013 scholarship stay at Klitgården, in Skagen, she was inspired by the seaside to a new color scheme. Of the new series, Lene says, “At first sight they look non-figurative, but there are faces in most of the pictures.”

’76

48 |

’78

Jonathan Kline ’78, nominee for New York Road Runners’ Runner of the Year in his age group

’81

’75

Ken Werner ’75 and Bill Bogle ’75 met up in Florida in January.

1969

Steven Strogatz ’76, recipient of the 2014 Euler Book Prize and the 2013 American Association for the Advancement of Science Public Engagement with Science Award

As a member of Team CRI (Cancer Research Institute), Peter Coley ’81 ran the 2013 ING New York Marathon on November 3, 2013, with a time of 4:13:31.

Team CRI runners participating in the 2013 Marine Corps Marathon and the ING New York Marathon raised more than $76,000 for the Cancer Research Institute. Peter’s great aunt, Helen Coley Nauts, founded the Cancer Research Institute in 1953. Her father, Peter’s great-grandfather, William B. Coley, was a leading pioneer in cancer immunotherapy.

“My son, Cameron, has joined my law firm as an associate lawyer practicing in Boston, Mass.,” reports Michael Merrill.

James Parton III reports that he enjoyed an evening in Los Angeles with Brian Rooney ’70 and Kevin O’Malley celebrating the 60th birthday of Mary Lowengard ’71. Kevin reports, “Among other things, we talked about favorite past teachers.

Any words I am capable of putting together in lucid fashion, I owe to Sam Pierson.”

Artist Lene Gregersen Schmidt-Petersen lives in Odense, Denmark, with her family. She paints acrylic paintings with particular focus on people, birds, houses, and models; but some of her works are non-figurative. Her works have been commissioned by corporations and institutions, and she has been elected Artist of the Year several times by

ALUMNI NEWS

Danish companies. She has had 10 of her paintings exhibited in the Vatican gallery, La Pigna, in Rome, and has had shows in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, and Sweden.

Lene was artist in residence at Loomis in 2000. She has two daughters and four grandchildren. See more about her at www.leneschmidtpetersen.dk.

1973

Veterinarian Scott MacLachlan recently concluded a three-year Timber Rattlesnake telemetry project. “My role was to surgically implant transmitters to allow biologists to track their movements. These were later removed. I had the opportunity to track snakes afield.” Scott notes that the Timber Rattlesnake is an endangered species.

1975

News from Jeffrey Gartzman: “I am still practicing tax law in Atlanta. I have three kids in college now — Nolan at Emory, Tyler at Georgia State, and Olivia at the University of Alabama!”

1976

The Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics at Cornell, Steven Strogatz has been named the recipient of the 2013 American Association for the Advancement of Science Public Engagement with Science Award for his “exceptional commitment to and passion for conveying the beauty and importance of mathematics to the general public.” Steven has contributed widely to the popularization and public understanding of mathematics through newspaper articles, books, radio and television appearances,

documentaries, and public lectures. In nominating Steven for the award, Alan Zehnder, Cornell professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, noted the range of interests in Steven’s many interviews with National Public Radio: “Known for his clarity, humor, and exceptional teaching ability, he has introduced the public to such issues as the statistical likelihood of Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak, the importance of horizontal gene transfer in the evolution of life, and the significance of chaos in Tom Stoppard’s play Arcadia.”

The Public Engagement with Science Award was established in 1987, and noted Cornell astronomer Carl Sagan was a previous recipient. In addition, Steven also has been awarded the 2014 Euler Book Prize by the Mathematical Association of America. The prize is awarded to authors of “exceptionally well-written books with a positive impact on the public’s view of mathematics,” and Steven’s book The Joy of x: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity was cited for making mathematical subjects “relevant, personal, important, far-reaching, and fun.” Directed mainly at those who claim they never understood the mathematics they studied, The Joy of x addresses such subjects as grade-school arithmetic, high school algebra and geometry, and undergraduate-level math, with humor and empathy for anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed by mathematics. It also offers something for mathematicians: 45 pages of notes with mathematical arguments, sketches of proofs, anecdotes,

JOHN METCALF TAYLOR SOCIETY

“L

Planning Ahead OOMIS CHAFFEE has been instrumental in making me who I am today. There is a sincere commitment on the part of everyone at the school to de-

velop our best selves, and I am proof of this. I remember people like Adrian and Jane Bronk, and Glover ʼ48 and Jane ʼ49 Howe, each of whom helped to steer me in the right direction and gave generously of their time to students like me. When I began my estate planning, I wanted to support the organizations that had the greatest impact on making me who I am, and Loomis Chaffee is first on this list. I am proud to provide a planned gift via the John Metcalf Taylor Society, and I hope my gift allows others to have the same opportunities I had on the Island.”

— Sean Wheeler ’84

Sean Wheeler ’84 lives in Dubai and is a partner at Booz & Company

The John Metcalf Taylor Society honors more than 550 alumni, parents and friends who have remembered Loomis Chaffee in their estate plans through bequests, trusts or other provisions.

To learn more about how you can join Sean and fellow members of the JMT Society, please contact Tim Struthers ’85, chief philanthropic officer, at 860.687.6221 or tim_struthers@loomis. org or Katherine Langmaid, associate director of development, at 860.687.6822 or katherine_langmaid@loomis.org.

loomischaffee.org | 49

’90 annotated references, and overviews of such contemporary subjects as statistics, probability, Markov chains, and group theory. “It means the world to me that my colleagues appreciate my attempt to help the wider public see what our subject is all about and why we love it so much,” Steven notes.

Elizabeth Hallas ’90, recently elected secretary for the Board of Directors for 2014 of Colorado Preservation Inc.

1977 ’06 Emily Moellentine Nelson ’06 and Alex Nelson were married October 26, 2013, in Pebble Beach, Calif. They live in San Francisco.

’13 Lauren Yue ’13 was named Rookie of the Year for the Wesleyan University field hockey team. At Loomis Chaffee, she was a three-sport varsity athlete in field hockey, ice hockey, and lacrosse.

’08

’79

’09

David Hakim ’08, Jeff Scanlon ’79, Jacob Zachs ’09, and Eugene Mironets ’09 meet at the final home game of the season for UConn’s men’s basketball on March 5.

Five alums gathered November 22, 2013 in Los Angeles to celebrate the 21st birthday of Spencer Richmond Schulman ’11: Jason Richmond ’99, Bailee Rad ’00, Spencer, Briana Rad ’02, and trustee Elizabeth Richmond ’80 hold up a total of 21 fingers.

Annie Ferreira ’13, Bob Ferreira, Mark Galiette, and Claire Galiette ’07 enjoyed a friendly father/daughter tennis match at the Old Black Point Tennis Club, Niantic, Conn., last summer. Mark reports: “In true Pelican spirit, good sportsmanship and high-level athleticism were abundantly enjoyed!”

50 |

’99 ’13

’00 ’11

’02 ’07

’80

“After 30 years in Europe and a wild ride starting and running a business there, I’ve now returned to the U.S.A. – south Florida,” reports James Diack.

“I spend as much time as I can in Umbria, about 90 minutes north of Rome. I run a farm and two rental properties there with my longtime girlfriend. We make nice red wine and truly super organic olive oil.”

Search Podere Calzone online for more information.

James’ son Matthew is an architecture student at Roger Williams College, soon to graduate; and his daughter Sydney is in her second year in a comparative literature program at Goldsmiths, a part of the University of London. “She is a gifted writer,” reports her proud father.

The University of California Chamber Chorus, under the direction of Marika Kuzma, embarked on an East Coast tour in March, performing in New York City with two other choirs at Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall) and in a full concert of their own at St. Luke’s in the Field in Greenwich Village. They also performed at Memorial Hall on the Harvard University campus, Cambridge, Mass. The chorus presented colorful music from the mid-20th century to the present from various parts of the world and in various styles. They performed music with Ladino, Spanish, Tagalog, and Ukrainian texts as well as pieces in English by Paul Brantley, John Tavener, and Eric Whitacre.

1978

Jonathan Kline was recognized by Running Times Magazine as being among the top 12 runners in his age group nationally for 2013. Each year, runners placing higher than 85 percent age-graded are evaluated, and Jonathan was one of only nine runners to receive Honorable Mention among men aged 50–54.

In 2013, Jonathan ran seven New York Road Runners races, taking first place (age-graded) five times. He also created and edits the Dashing Whippets Running Team blog. Jonathan is a nominee for New York Road Runners’ Runner of the Year in his age group.

ALUMNI NEWS

CALLING ALL Loomis Chaffee “Fac Brats” 1979

For news of Anna-Karin James Li, see her father’s 1948 newsnote.

1984

Darcy A. Fillmore Fiano received a 2013 Outstanding Dissertation Award from the International Reading Association. A manuscript of her dissertation, “Primary Discourse and Expressive Oral Language in a Kindergarten Student,” is published in the January/February/March 2014 issue of Reading Research Quarterly.

For news of Kristina James White, see her father’s 1948 newsnote.

1987

Andrew Collins provides this update: “I live in Needham, Mass., with my wife, Kristen, daughter Rory, 8, and son Kiernan, 6. I run a large private jet company called Sentient Jet. After Loomis, I went on to Union College, and my last stop was an M.B.A. at the Sloan School of Management at M.I.T. Would love to hear from any classmates in the Boston area or beyond. Reach me at acollins@alum. mit.edu.”

A new book by Thomas A. Foster came out, appropriately, on Presidents Day. Sex and the Founding Fathers: The American Quest for a Relatable Past (Temple University Press) examines how biographers, journalists, and satirists have long used the subject of sex to define the masculine character and political authority of America’s Founding Fathers.

Tracing these commentaries on the Revolutionary Era’s major political figures, Tom shows how continual attempts to reveal the true character of these men instead exposes much more about Americans and American culture than about the Founders themselves. Tom is associate professor and chair of history at DePaul University, the author of Sex and the Eighteenth-Century Man (Beacon), and editor of Long Before Stonewall: Histories of Same-Sex Sexuality in Early America (NYU); New Men: Manliness in Early America (NYU); and Documenting Intimate Matters: Primary Sources for a History of Sexuality in America (Chicago).

Barnaby W. Horton is a senior vice president at Merrill Lynch and a premier retirement benefits advisor, specializing in 401(k)s and group corporate clients.

1989

“I’m teaching sixth grade English in Madison, Conn., and remembering all the wonderful teachers I had at Loomis,” writes Beth Micciche. “Looking forward to seeing everyone Reunion weekend!”

1990

A partner in the firm of Anderson Hallas Architects, Elizabeth Hallas has been elected secretary for the board of directors for 2014 of Colorado Preservation Inc., a statewide organization dedicated to promoting and advancing historic preservation throughout the state. Rebecca Goodwin, chair of the board of directors, notes: “As Colorado Preservation Inc. celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2014, we are truly fortunate to have someone as talented and committed as Liz in a leadership role.” Elizabeth specializes in preservation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings, which has led her to work throughout Colorado on many awardwinning rehabilitation projects. She was a founding member and past president of the Rocky Mountain chapter of the Association of Preservation Technology. An early believer that preserving historic buildings is the first step towards a sustainable future, she has presented on the topic of sustainable preservation in numerous forums.

Save the dates of JUNE 21–22 for the first official Fac Brat Reunion All former faculty children are invited to the event, part of the school’s year-long Centennial celebration.

Check out the planned activities and other details at www.loomischaffee.org/facbrat For more information, contact Seth Beebe ’78 (current faculty member and proud fac brat) at seth_beebe@loomis.org or 860.687.6274 or The Loomis Chaffee School, Alumni/Development Office, Windsor, CT 06095.

REGISTRATION COMING SOON! Connect with other fac brats before the event on our Facebook page: “Loomis & Loomis Chaffee Fac Brats.” loomischaffee.org | 51

MacLean Family CHALLENGE 37%= $370,000

37

Participation is

POWERFUL. If

37% of alumni

give to the Annual Fund

by June 30, the MacLean Family (Duncan ’90 and Gillian ’91) will contribute an additional

$370,000

to the school’s endowment.

Your gift, no matter what the size, will make a difference. Please give today! www.loomischaffee.org/giving 52 |

1992

“Glad to be back in New England!” writes Allison “Allie” Bruch. “I moved from San Francisco, after 16 years out West, ready for the renewal of seasons and the beauty of winters. I’m setting up my own interior design business in Connecticut and looking forward to bumping into old Loomis friends. Spread the word!”

1994

Richard W. H. Bray’s first book, Salt & Old Vines, was published in the United Kingdom in March. From the Amazon website: “(The book) is the story of wine, a portrait of some of its people, and a biography of the place it comes from. Inspired by his own experience making wine at Coume del Mas and Mas Cristine in the Roussillon, Richard Bray gives readers a real taste of the winemaking process.”

1997

Candace Taylor is a reporter for the Mansion section of The Wall Street Journal. She is a graduate of Amherst College, and she obtained her master’s degree from the Columbia School of Journalism. Her work comes out each Friday in the WSJ, and you can see her videos on the WSJ website. (Enter “Mansions” and “Candace Taylor.”)

1999

Timothy Carmon and his wife, Kristin, welcomed their son Luke Billy on October 31, 2013.

Tim and Kristin live in South Windsor, Conn., with their newborn and his older siblings, Drew, 5, and Emily, 3.

2001

Last June, Kate Noonan Brochu and her husband, François, welcomed their second son, Finnian. Kate writes that Liam loves being a big brother.

2003

“I’m still living in Santiago, Chile, working for the Apaltagua Vineyards,” reports Blair Anthony.

2004

“I’m excited to be graduating from architecture school this spring,” writes Mary Burr.

“Looking forward to seeing everyone at Reunion!”

2006

Molly Davis has been promoted to the position of editor of Oxford Handbooks Online (Oxford University Press). As editorial lead managing the content development team in reference, she is the principal point of contact for improvements to editorial procedure and the primary project liaison with content operations.

2007

Jim Gordon has returned to Fort Campbell, Ky., from a seven-and-a-half-month combat deployment to Afghanistan, where he led an infantry rifle platoon of the 101st Airborne Division in Paktiya Province.

2010

In February, Boston College senior lacrosse player Kate McCarthy was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Week. In the season opener against Notre Dame, she led the Boston College defense with

ALUMNI GATHER

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Head’s Holiday Receptions 2014

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HO says Head's Weekend is only for current students? Not the 175 alumni who celebrated the mid-winter break at receptions in four cities on Thursday, January 30, just as the dorms on campus were clearing out for the holiday weekend. The festive gatherings took place in Boston, Hartford, New York, and Washington, D.C.

NEW YORK: Courtney Ackeifi ’06, Lindsay Hoffman ’06, and Ariel Williams ’06

BOSTON: Timothy Cahill ’08, Gregory Zuboff ’08, Ali’s fiance Mike Weng, and Ali Hard ’08 BOSTON: Christopher Toppin ’09, Marco Schooley ’09, and Jason Morris ’08 HARTFORD: Kevin McEleney ’00, Jessica Selden Hackney ’00, and Kurt Malec ’00

HARTFORD: Dana Nestor ’06, Michael Shulansky ’06, and Shrina Faldu ’06 DC: Edward Kirkland ’97 with wife Sala James Kirkland ’95

loomischaffee.org | 53

ALUMNI NEWS | EDITED BY JAMES S. RUGEN ’70

The boys varsity basketball team matched up against a team of alumni in the annual Bennett Meyers Varsity/Alumni Game on January 11. Participants, who posed together before the game, were (back): varsity head coach Jim Dargati ’85, Nigel Richards ’93, Franklin Perry ’00, Dan Trompeter ’12, John Cagianello ’02, Dale Reese ’13, Chris Smith ’08, Adrian Perry ’93, Tim Diehl ’00, Dave Brown ’00, and alumni coach John Lusa ’77; and (front): senior Austin Cave, junior William Hanson, junior Chris Torres, sophomore Mark Byrne, senior Isaac Simons, senior Austin James, senior Liam Farley, senior Malachi Hoskins, and senior captain Patrick Dickert. The varsity team pulled out a four-point win in the closely contested game.

four draw controls and four groundballs while pulling the assignment of defending Notre Dame’s leading scorer, Courtney Fortunato. Fortunato had recorded seven points in Notre Dame’s win over Cincinnati, but Kate held Fortunato to one goal on three shots.

Abby Ostrom, senior left wing for Trinity College’s ice hockey team, was named the college’s Athlete of the Week during last season. For the Trinity Tripod News, she was interviewed following her honor by fellow Bantam and former Pelican athlete Brian Nance ’12. A two-sport Division III athlete at Trinity (hockey and softball), Abby is an American Studies major; she works as an admissions assistant, serves on the college’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee, and is head coach of a U14 summer travel softball team.

Kai Wilson graduates from Ma54 |

calester College this year with a degree in political science. He serves as student body president and last year spent a semester abroad in Istanbul.

2011

Wesleyan junior Erin Cohn captained the university’s men’s club water polo team last fall.

She was the lone female starter in the league and the only woman to play a significant role on any competing teams. Additionally, Erin had an outstanding season with the women’s swim team.

This past school year, James Crawford enrolled in SEA Semester, a study abroad program through Sea Education Association (Woods Hole, Mass.), while away from his studies at College of the Atlantic. He completed the SEA Semester’s six-week shore component, earning academic credit for curriculum in oceanography, nautical sci-

ence, and marine policy. At the program’s Woods Hole campus, James developed a research project to be tested and completed aboard SEA’s 134-foot sailing school vessel, the Robert C. Seamans, one of the most sophisticated research-equipped vessels under sail in the United States. With a number of intermediary destinations, James sailed on the tall ship from San Diego, Calif., to Papeete, Tahiti, a journey of about 3,000 nautical miles. During his six weeks at sea, James collected data for a research project, helped provide weather observations for a national database, learned to chart the course of the vessel using celestial navigation, and served as the junior watch officer, taking full command of the vessel during a watch.

Middlebury College junior Emily Fluke was a mainstay on the Panther women’s hockey team last season. She earned a goal

and two assists in a 4-1 victory over conference foe Wesleyan on January 11 and notched a goal in the team’s 5-5 tie against Amherst on January 18. She scored three goals in a pair of road wins against Hamilton and was named the New England Small College Athletic Conference Player of the Week. Emily is joined on the Panther ice hockey team by Laura McConney and Katie Mandigo ’12; all three played field hockey, ice hockey, and lacrosse as Pelicans.

A major track and field invitational at Boston University in February brought together eight alumni competing for their college track teams. The David Hemery Valentine Invitational featured Division I, II, and III teams from throughout New England on B.U.’s fast, banked indoor track, February 7–8.

Former Pelicans competing at the meet included Chris Lee ’10 (Williams College), LaDarius

ALUMNI GA THER

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Young Alumni Brunch 2014

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windy, rainy day — almost tropical for January — didn’t stop recent alumni from returning to the Island for the annual Young Alumni Brunch on January 11. Alumni from the classes of 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 joined the senior class, faculty, and friends for camaraderie, conversation, and a delicious brunch. More than 100 guests packed the East Annex of the Wilbur Dining Hall, and one special guest — the Loomis Pelican — even made an appearance to welcome alumni back. After visiting with friends, alumni traversed the campus amidst the downpours to cheer on their former schoolmates on Loomis’ athletics teams for a fun-filled Saturday on the Island.

Junior Richard Ochefije, Thatcher Gleason ’13, Nick Sailor ’13, AJ Poplin ’13, Dale Reese ’13, Paul Lee ’13 Pim Senanarong ’13, Esraa Sabah ’13, Rebecca Scanlon ’11

Claire Hard ’13, Rehka Kennedy ’13, faculty member Rachel Engelke, Kath Kryuchkova ’13

Baxter Wathen ’12, Riley Clark-Long ’12, Jake Bosee ’13

K.J. Picou ’13, Demarco Palmer ’13, Darius Moore ’13

Dan Wade ’13, Kevin Sears ’13, Helena Murray ’13

loomischaffee.org | 55

ALUMNI NEWS

Middlebury sophomore Katie Mandigo helped the women’s hockey team defeat Elmira College on January 4 when she ripped a shot into the goal to lift the Panthers to a 3–2 win. Katie streaked down the left side and sent a laser beam into the top left corner of the Elmira goal, giving Middlebury the one-goal edge. The game marked the 17th meeting in the all-time series between the two schools, with Middlebury leading 10-6-1.

Katie’s father, Bill Mandigo, has been the head coach for the Middlebury women’s hockey team for 26 years.

• Update your alumni profile and biographical information through the password-protected online directory • Search the directory for fellow alumni by: — Geographic area — Industry, company, or organization — Class/school • Access your password-protected LC giving history • Make an online gift Access or update your profile today! spark.loomis.org

his wife, Nancy. Retired Loomis music teachers Mary and Bill Sand also attended. “It was an incredible experience to perform this concert,” Paul told his former teachers following the performance. ©

2013

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Cellist Paul Lee is a member of the Yale Symphony Orchestra.

On February 22, the orchestra, Yale Camerata, Yale Glee Club, and soloists Janna Baty, mezzosoprano, and Claudia Rosenthal, soprano, were conducted by Sir Gilbert Levine in a program at Woolsey Hall featuring Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection.” The program opened with Yale President Peter Salovey as narrator for a performance of Washington Speaks by Richard Danielpour.

“It was a thrill to see and hear Paul in this magnificent and moving concert,” reported Loomis music teacher James Rugen ’70, who attended with

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William Lewis transferred to Rochester Polytechnic Institute last year and is doing well in the pre-med program and on the basketball team.

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Alexander Lafrance writes: “Never have I worked so hard as I did at Loomis Chaffee, but never have I received so much reward for hard work. The Island is home to a community for the motivated, the curious, young women and men looking to better themselves and

Visit Loomis Chaffee’s updated online alumni community at spark.loomis.org

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Michael Danielczuk, an electrical engineering major at Princeton, was one of six students to receive a certificate and award for the Dorothea vanDyke McLane Prize (for finest freshman achievement in Italian). Michael studied Latin and French at Loomis Chaffee.

LC ONLINE IS REBORN!

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2012

the community around them.

Thank you, LC, for such a wonderful four years; the memories and experiences will stay with me for a lifetime.”

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Drew (Wesleyan University), Caleb Harris (Colby College), John Abraham ’12 (Dartmouth College), Christian Bermel ’12 (Brown University), Austin King ’12 (Providence College), Michael Horowicz ’13 (Bates College), and Kendra Waters (Wellesley College). All eight were Pelican captains in their senior years. Chris competed in the 5,000 meters, running a time of 15:02.26. LaDarius ran the 60-meter dash in 7.19 seconds. Caleb raced in the 400 meters with a time of 50.49 and on his team’s 4 x 400-meter relay. John ran the 60-meter dash in 7.09 seconds and the 200-meter dash in 23.06 seconds. Christian and Mike both ran the 800 with times of 1:55.96 and 1:59.19 respectively.

Austin raced in the 400 with a time of 49.75. In the women’s competition, Kendra raced the 500, improving her best time in the event by two seconds with a time of 1:19.18, and contributed to her team’s distance medley relay.

R GLOBAL

Renee Provost ’89, AnnMarie Krupski ’89, Kathleen Dumpsey (spouse of Douglas Karp ’66), Doug, and faculty member Alexander McCandless unveiled a familiar banner while hiking in Costa Rica. The trip was the first for the Alumni and Parent Travel Program sponsored by the Center for Global Studies.

IN MEMORIAM | BY RACHEL ALLEN

Mist over the Meadows

1938 John R. Barber, on January 8.

Jack, as he was known, was a four-year student from Hartford, Conn. He was involved with the Radio Club and Allyn soccer, and he was the assistant track manager. He was also active in basketball. Following Loomis, he earned a bachelor’s degree at Trinity College. Jack served in the U.S. Army/Air Force during World War II and the Korean War. He was a past master of the Masonic Lodge, a Shriner, a member of the Old Time Fiddlers, and a barber shopper. He was an avid musician; “ham” radio operator; 57 |

and traveler who, with his wife, Ruth, owned a travel agency in Connecticut before moving to the state of Washington in the 1980s. Predeceased by his wife, Jack is survived by his brother, James; his children, Janine and Cindi; his grandchildren, John and William; and great grandchildren Maya, Madison, and Kai. Services were to be held on February 8 at the Brown’s Point United Methodist Church in Tacoma, Wash.

Edwin Brainerd, on November 25, 2013, at his residence.

A four-year student, Edwin was involved in The LOG and was the president of the Table Tennis Club, and a member of

the wrestling team and Allyn senior football. He earned his pre-med degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., and his doctorate at Tufts University College of Dentistry in Boston, Mass. He was a captain in the U.S. Army and was a dentist attached to “Merrill’s Marauders” in Burma. Following his honorable discharge, he established a dental practice in Willimantic, Conn., and served the surrounding community for 42 years. He spent his free time at his summer home in Madison, Conn. boating, fishing, and cruising in Long Island Sound. Predeceased by his son, Richard; Edwin is survived by

Photo: Missy Pope Wolff ’04

his wife of 70 years, Marjorie; his two other sons, Edwin and Jeffrey; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Arrangements were to be made under the direction of the Forest Hills Funeral Homes Palm City Chapel, Palm City, Fla.

1942 William Woodruff Betteridge, on November 20, 2013, at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Mass. Bill was a two-year student born in Barrington, Ill., and raised in Short Hills, N.J. He was involved with the Political Club, Glee Club, and Choir. He served loomischaffee.org | 57

Wilson Wilde ’45 1927–2013

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challenge to be the “best” school. Within the Richmond Art Center, the Wilson Wilde Gallery, given by the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company in Bill’s honor and dedicated in 2000, exhibits student works each term; track and field athletes and community members enjoy competing and running on the synthetic, eight-lane Wilde Track that replaced the cinders in 2003; and within the endowment, the Wilde Family Fund for Faculty Salaries reflects Bill’s belief in the importance of excellent teaching. In the words of John Ratté, “No one has ever matched Bill in his love for the school, his confidence in its bright future, and in his faithfulness to its mission.”

ILSON WILDE, chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1988 until 1998, died peacefully at his home in East Boothbay, Maine, on November 25, 2013, surrounded by his children, grandchildren, and devoted spouse Joan. True to the school’s mission of inspiring in its students “a commitment to the best self and common good,” Bill embodied that ideal through the combination of great personal success and a generous spirit.

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Bill attended Loomis for four years, serving as vice president of the senior class and secretary-treasurer of the Student Council, participating as a member of the varsity tennis team and Wolcott football and basketball teams, and providing his leadership and enthusiasm to a number of extracurricular committees, including Junto, the Executive Committee, and the Commencement Committee.

Immediately following his graduation from Loomis, he entered the U.S. Navy Air Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida, serving during the end of World War II, before attending Williams College and Swarthmore College. He later served aboard an aircraft carrier during the Korean War. With commitment, dedication, and ambition, Bill enjoyed a successful career in the insurance industry, working for more than 40 years at HSB Group Inc., a worldwide property casualty insurer headquartered in Hartford. He joined the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company’s investment division in 1953 and rose to become the company’s chief executive officer in 1971 at the age of 43. Leading HSB as CEO for 23 years, he oversaw the company’s rise and sustained leadership in the property casualty industry. In 1990 Financial World magazine named him the insurance industry’s “CEO of the Decade,” and a 1994 editorial in The Hartford Courant praised him and his vision for the company: “In the 23 years that he has headed Hartford Steam Boiler, the once narrowly focused firm has increased its assets by almost 500 percent, its revenues by more than 850 percent and

58 |

Wilson Wilde

Photo: Wayne Dombkowski

the return on its stock by almost 2,000 percent.”

Bill devoted much of his life to community service initiatives and organizations in Connecticut and in Maine, and Loomis Chaffee was perhaps the most fortunate beneficiary of his generosity of time and support. A Trustee of Loomis Chaffee from 1970 to 2000, Bill served in every imaginable capacity. He sat on many committees during that tenure — offering his wise counsel concerning planning, fundraising, budgeting, investing, building, and school-keeping — and led the board as chairman for a decade. During those 10 years, working closely with heads of school John Ratté and Russell Weigel and with his colleagues on the board, Bill oversaw the expansion of the school’s endowment and facilities and the strengthening of its reputation. Through the construction of Carter, Kravis, and Harman halls, he and his fellow Trustees shifted the boarding/day ratio, returning the school to the original path envisioned by the Loomis family in 1874. Through the construction of the School Center, the Richmond Art Center, and the Kohn Squash Pavilion, the board pursued excellence in residential life, the arts, and athletics, responding to Bill’s constant

In addition to his service to Loomis Chaffee, Bill served as chair of the board of the Connecticut Historical Society, the Advisory Council of the Florence Griswold Museum, the Greater Hartford United Way, The Connecticut Governor’s Residence Conservancy, and the Old State House Association. He also served as a director on the boards of Shawmut, Hartford National, The Phoenix, General Re, Genrad, and Emhart. Devoted to the arts and antiques, Bill built a highly regarded collection at HSB of Connecticut impressionists and cabinetmakers. The Florence Griswold Museum now exhibits the paintings as part of its collection.

Having spent every summer of his 86 years in East Boothbay and having retired there full time with Joan, Bill had many friends in the region and was a passionate fan of the Boston Red Sox, enjoying immensely the team’s 2004, 2007, and 2013 World Series Championships. He is survived by his wife, Joan, of East Boothbay, Maine. His eldest son, Stephen Wilde ’73, predeceased him in 2006. He is also survived by his son David W. Wilde ’76 of Hollis, N.H.; his daughter Elisabeth L. Wilde ’77 of Farmington, Connecticut; and his son Richard A. Wilde ’81 of New York, as well as seven grandchildren: Tucker Wilde ’07, Skyler Wilde, Eben Wilde ’12, Kyle Johnson, Ryan Wilde ’14, Tyler Wilde, and Christopher Johnson.

Photo: Loomis Archives

as the chairman on the Handbook Board, was a member of the Dining Hall Committee, performed in H.M.S. Pinafore, and was a study hall supervisor. Bill was active with the Ski Club, first team soccer, first track squad, and the first wrestling team. Following Loomis, he served in the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant in World War II, and he went on to earn his bachelor’s degree from Yale University and master’s degree in business administration from New York University. He worked for 35 years at AT&T in various executive positions and retired as vice president in 1986. Throughout the years, Bill served in many organizations, including the Millburn Library Board, the Pingry School Board of Trustees, the Yale Alumni Club, the Millburn-Short Hills Republican Club, and the Millburn Old Guard. He was an avid golfer, frequent traveler, engaging conversationalist, and friend to everyone. Bill was predeceased by his wife of 55 years, Jane. He is survived

by his children, James, David, and Ann; nine grandchildren, including Katharine ’06; three great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Roger Burnham Colton, December 14, 2013, in the company of family, following a long history of heart-related issues. Roger attended Loomis from Windsor Locks, Conn., and went on to Yale University on an accelerated program in 1942. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943 and served in the Corps of Engineers, 3rd Engineers Special Brigade. He was transferred to the Headquarters Intelligence Section and served on the Goodenough and Biak Islands in the South Pacific; at Finschhafen, New Guinea; and on Luzon Island in the Philippines. Following his service, he returned to Yale and earned his master’s degree in geology. In 1949, after moving to Golden, Colo., he worked full time for the U.S. Geological Survey until he retired in 1988, becoming an emeritus volunteer until 2012.

Much of his life was spent in the field mapping landslides and glacial flows throughout Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Connecticut, and Colorado. He enjoyed traveling, photography, painting, collecting seashells, genealogy, and reading. Roger is survived by his wife, Eva; two sons, Steve and Tim; six grandchildren; and two greatgrandchildren.

and pension plans. He enjoyed hiking and mountain climbing in the Cascade Mountains and Columbia Gorge. During his lifetime, Tony made generous donations to the preservation of outdoor spaces throughout the Northwest. Per Tony’s request, no funeral or memorial services were held.

1944

John Henry Lese, on January 5. A student from New York City, John was involved in the Endowment Fund, Business Manager Stagehands Union, and Concert Orchestra. He was a member of the Glee Club, the Press Club, the Editorial Board for The LOG, the Business Board for Loomiscellany, and the Grounds Committee.

He also was active in theater, Wolcott intermediate football, winter track, Wolcott track, and Wolcott junior football.

Following Loomis, he attended New York University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree. He

Anthony Freeman Hovey, peacefully on January 20. Tony was a three-year student from New York City. He was involved in Student Council and was a member of the Executive Committee, Endowment Fund, Ping Pong Club, Jazz Club, Sophomore Reception Committee, and Nautical Club. Following Loomis, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University.

After working in New York, Tony moved to Seattle, Wash., where he provided consulting services for health care

1945

loomischaffee.org | 59

IN MEMORIAM

wife, Yvonne, in May of that year. He and Yvonne lived for 17 years in Saudi Arabia, where Edward worked for the Arabian American Oil Company — Aramco — and the Saudi Arabian Oil Company in finance, until retiring to Cedar Crest, N.M., in 1987. In retirement, he enjoyed working for the local neighborhood association and water co-op and playing poker, cribbage, and duplicate bridge. He loved being a grandparent and was an avid reader of The Wall Street Journal. Predeceased by his wife, daughter Gaele, and brother Russell ’49, Edward is survived by his daughter Robin; and grandchildren Jason, Joshua, and Sara. Services were held January 11 at the Aspen Ridge Retirement Home in Bend, Ore.

1948 Photo: Loomis Archives

was a general’s aide in the National Guard and went on to be a real estate developer of quality homes and apartments. John was predeceased by his brother, William ’43. He is survived by his wife, Linda; his children, Jon ’78, Andrew, and Carolyn; and grandchildren Michael, Katie, Rachel, Jordan, and Jack.

Services were held on January 8 at Congregation Emanuel in Rye, N.Y.

1947 Edward Colton Rhodes, on December 22, 2013, in Bend, Ore. A four-year student from New Britain, Conn., Edward 60 |

was a study hall supervisor and a member of Student Council, the Chess Team, and the Chemistry Club. He served on the Senior Scholarship Committee, Committee of Review, and Editorial Board of The LOG, and he was the secretary of the senior class and a cast member of Macbeth. He was active with first team football, first team hockey, and Wolcott senior tennis. Following Loomis, Edward earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Yale University in 1951 and received his master’s in business administration from Harvard University in 1959. Edward served in the U.S. Army from 1955 until 1957 and married his

Elizabeth Ann Stewart Taylor, on November 3, 2013, at Willow Valley Communities in Lancaster, Penn. Betty Ann, as she was known, was a native of Windsor. She graduated from Katharine Gibbs School in Boston and went on to work for Meade Alcorn, Republican National Committee chairman during the Eisenhower administration, in his law offices in Hartford, Conn., and Washington, D.C. For 25 years, she was a noted caterer and cooking school conductor in the Washington area. She is survived by her husband of 56 years, Daniel; three children; and eight grandchildren.

1949 Timothy F. Brewer III, peacefully on January 31, in Tucson, Ariz. Timothy was a four-year student from Hartford, Conn.

He was a volunteer medical aide and a member of the Senior Scholarship Committee, Founders Committee, Nautical Club, Ping Pong Club, Ski Club, and Sportsman Club. He was active in first team soccer, Ludlow senior basketball, Ludlow senior tennis, and Ludlow junior baseball. Timothy went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Yale University followed by a medical degree at New York Medical College. His cardiology fellowship was at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. He practiced cardiology in Middletown and Old Saybrook, Conn., associated with Middlesex Memorial Hospital. He was a fellow of the American College of Physicians and American College of Cardiology. Before starting a practice at Middlesex Cardiology, he was a medical director at Pfizer and Miles. He was a lifelong golfer, oenophile, and gourmet cook. He loved to travel, debate, and sail. He is survived by his beloved wife, Barbara; his children Donna ’75, Raymond ’73, Timothy, Kevin, and William; grandchildren Duncan, Peter, William, Benjamin, Jeremiah, and Ryan; and cousins Edward ’73 and Robert ’51. Services were to be held in Old Saybrook, Conn.

Richard Robin Palmer, on August 20, 2010, at Cayuga Medical Center. Robin had an eclectic career background as a teacher in Harlem, a diver with the International Underwater Contractors, a weatherman

in the 1960s and 1970s, a tree surgeon, and a local television host and producer. He enjoyed being a Kiwanian for almost 20 years, a member of the Tompkins County Veteran’s Committee, and a member of the Gay Men’s Chorus. He was a diehard Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Robin was predeceased by his parents, Ephraim and Katherine; and his brother, Lawrence. He is survived by his beloved wife, Mimi; and his children Christopher, Tina, and Cindy. He also leaves a “grand-dog,” Rajah.

1950 Edmund Lyon Kidd, peacefully, on November 18, 2013. A four-year student from Webster, N.Y., he was a member of the Student Endowment Fund, Entertainment Committee, Executive Committee, Ski Club, and Bridge Club. He served as chairman of the Chapel Committee and the Warham Dormitory Committee. He was the business manager of the Stagehands Union and actively involved in first team tennis, Wolcott senior football, and Wolcott senior basketball. Following Loomis, Edmund earned a bachelor’s degree in geography from Dartmouth in 1954 and served in the U.S. Army.

Edmund sang barbershop with the early Chorus of Genesee and was a member of the Rochester Ad Club, Genesee Valley Club, Country Club of Rochester, Seneca Lodge, and Friends of the Antique Boat Museum. He enjoyed boating, skiing, tennis, hunting, fishing, and his dogs.

A celebration of his life will be held in the spring.

1958 Boyd Paterno Brown Jr., on June 16, 2013, at the Maine Veterans Home in Scarborough, N.Y. Boyd attended Loomis from Port Chester, N.Y. He was the stage manager for the Stagehands Union, co-chairman of the Key Society, a cheerleader, a member of Loomiscellany and the Northfield Religious Conference, and chairman of the Senior Supervisory Committee. Boyd was active with Allyn soccer and first team rifle, and he coached Ludlow junior baseball. Following Loomis, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and served in the U.S. Navy, having one tour of duty in Vietnam as operations officer. He went on to serve in the Navy Reserve as a lieutenant commander. In 1972 he settled in Augusta, Maine, where he sold real estate and was a member of the Maine Board of Realtors. Boyd later worked in computer technical support for Occupational Health Research in Skowhegan, Maine. An avid outdoorsman, he loved to spend time at his camps on Millinocket Lake. He enjoyed hunting and fishing and was a registered Maine guide.

Boyd was predeceased by his brother, Gary. He is survived by his two children, Beverly and Boyd; and four grandchildren. A memorial service was to be held in Millinocket under the care of Jones, Rich & Hutchins Funeral Home located in Portland, Maine.

Photo: Loomis Archives

1960 Roger Wilson Hackstaff, on November 27, 2012. A student from Huntington, N.Y., Roger was a member of the Circulation Board of The LOG, the Dining Hall Committee, the Glee Club, and the Senior Library Committee. He was active in first team soccer, first team baseball, track, and Wolcott senior baseball. Private services were to be held.

Thomas Snyder Turgeon, on January 9. A two-year student from Amherst, Mass., Thomas was involved in the Darwin Club, Loomiscellany, various theater productions, and the

Senior Library Committee. He was a manager of Allyn soccer and was active in Allyn tennis and in rifle. Thomas went on to attend Amherst College and the Yale School of Drama.

He taught at Mary Washington College in Virginia before joining the faculty of Kenyon College in Ohio, where he was a professor of drama for 36 years.

He presided over the opening of Bolton Theater in 1977, and he directed more than three dozen plays at Kenyon, including Macbeth, Twelfth Night, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Taming of the Shrew, The Fantasticks, and Don Juan. Thomas was an avid loomischaffee.org | 61

IN MEMORIAM

cook and enjoyed friends, good food, and wine. His wife, Peggy, remembered him as a partner who helped her with chores, loved to host dinner parties, and was a very gentle and thoughtful person. Tom is survived by his wife; their children, Sarah Turgeon and husband Frederick Perry, and Charles Turgeon and wife Rosemary; a brother, Charles; a sister, Nan Turgeon White and husband Stephen; and six grandchildren.

1961 Michael Cannon Lawrence, on November 12, 2013. A student from West Hartford, Conn., Michael was the editor-in-chief of The LOG and a member of the Press Club, the French Club, the Foreign Policy Association, Loomiscellany, the Senior Scholarship Committee, and the Dining Hall Committee. He was active in Allyn soccer, Allyn intermediate baseball, and Allyn senior baseball. He graduated cum laude and won the journalism prize as well as the Samuel C. Suisman Prize for an outstanding history student. Following Loomis, he earned a bachelor of arts from Yale University and went on to receive a master’s degree in business administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1971. After serving as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve, Michael and his wife, Nancy, moved to Clearwater, Fla. They were both longtime owners of Ace Liquor stores. He enjoyed cold beer, Bucs games, Yale athletics, and attending many Clearwater Central Catholic sporting events. When he wasn’t following sports, he 62 |

was cheering on his daughter at horse shows or playing board games with his granddaughter.

Predeceased by his brother, John ’64, Michael is survived by his wife; his daughter, Jennifer; his granddaughter, Caroline; his sister, June; and nephews and nieces. Services were to be held on November 23 at Capogna’s Dugout in Clearwater, Fla.

1963 John Walter Davis, on September 3, 2013, from cardiac failure. A student from Arlington, Va., John was a member of the Chapel Committee, Jazz Club, Crackpot Committee, and the 5:10 Club. John, nicknamed “The Kingfish,” went on from Loomis to become a character actor in Los Angeles. He appeared often on Roseanne, played an assassin in Network, and also appeared in Starman.

John’s main charity and fundraising was for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and any contributions in his memory can be made to the society.

1967 Robert L. Reynolds, on February 17, surrounded by loving family at Yale New Haven Hospital. A five-year student from North Granby, Conn., Renz, as he was known, was a member of the Dance Committee, Senior Library Committee, and the Senior Scholarship Committee. He was active in Wolcott senior basketball, varsity baseball, and club soccer.

Following Loomis, he earned a bachelor’s degree from UConn in 1971. He was employed at van Zelm, Heywood, and Shadford

in Hartford, Conn.; owned his own woodworking business; and went on to create the Porter-Hillstead building firm in Farmington, Conn. Most recently, he was employed as a project manager at Caulfield and Ridgway in Essex, Conn.

Renz was a member of the Kingdom Game Club in New Hartford, Conn., for 23 years, serving as president from 1998 to 2000 and secretary from 2000 until his passing. Renz loved animals, cars, and golfing.

Renz is survived by his wife, Barbara; his mother, Edith; his brother, Gary; step sons Jay Vann and Michael Vann; and four step grandchildren. He was predeceased by his father, H. Lee.

1972 Peter Edward Nightingale, on January 14. A student from Darien, Conn., Peter was active in first hockey and first soccer.

He later attended and graduated from Brown University and the New York University Stern School of Business. He was a banker and began his career with Manufacturers Hanover Corporation in New York, N.Y. He later worked for Chemical Bank in both New York and London; Chase Manhattan Corporation in New York; FleetBoston Financial in New York; Bank of America in New York; and NewStar Financial in Darien, where he worked from 2007 until his passing. He also served on the Board of Directors of Ring’s End Inc. Peter was a lifelong member of the Noroton Yacht Club in Darien and also was a member of the Silvermine Golf Club in Norwalk,

Conn. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of Person-to-Person, a charitable organization in Darien, and was a member of the congregation at St. Luke’s Episcopal Parish in Darien. Predeceased by his cousin Knight Edwards ’41, he is survived by his wife, Kim; his brothers, Stephen ’69 and David ’76; two sons, Andrew and Scott; and several nieces and nephews, including Benjamin ’01, David ’04, Caroline ’10, and Robert ’13. Memorial services were held on January 21 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Parish in Darien.

Charles S. Oppenheimer, on January 28, peacefully, at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford, Conn. Chic, as he was known, came to Loomis from Cromwell, Conn., and went on to attend Skidmore College and Wesleyan University. He was employed as a computer systems analyst at Yale University, Aetna Insurance, and The Hartford Insurance, all in Connecticut.

He was a member of the Jammers Wheelchair Rugby Team through Gaylord Hospital and competed in tournaments throughout the Northeast.

Predeceased by his mother, Jean ’47, Chic is survived by his beloved wife, Lynne; sisters Cory and Emmy; an aunt, Ruth; nephews John, Timothy, and Matthew; niece Heather; and great nephews Trevor, Connor, Mason, and Trenton. Funeral services were held on January 31 at Biega Funeral Home in Middletown, Conn.

Friend of the School

Former Faculty

Paul G. Hudson, on February 9, peacefully at his home surrounded by loving family. Paul was born in Plainfield, Vt. After graduating from Middlebury College in 1953, Paul went on to serve his country with the U.S. Army during the Korean War. For his entire 37-year professional career, Paul worked at UpJohn, now Pfizer, in pharmaceutical sales. An active member in the Windsor community, he was a member of First Church in Windsor Congregational and was involved in volunteer work with many local organizations, including the YMCA, Windsor Youth Basketball, Windsor Little League, First Church, Hartford Hospital, and the Mt. Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital. A lifelong lover of music, Paul sang in many choirs and choruses. He also was an avid New York Yankees fan. Four of Paul’s six children attended Loomis, and Paul was a beloved friend of the school and volunteer, serving as the chair of the Parents of Alumni Annual Fund for nearly three decades. “Paul’s leadership was unprecedented in both longevity and impact, and he established a rapport with his parents of alumni peers that often endured the full length of this volunteer tenure,” remarked Lisa Ross, director of alumni and parent relations and former director of the Annual Fund. “Many anticipated the annual call from Paul. His kind demeanor, his genuine interest in others, and his firm belief in Loomis Chaffee always made the call a pleasant one. And he was a successful fundraiser to boot. Paul’s relationships with his fellow volunteers were special as well. He led by example, earnestly and conscientiously, never asking of others what he wouldn’t be willing to do himself. He was very generous of his own time. Volunteers loved working with Paul; he was the epitome of a gracious leader, deflecting credit and extending it to the entire team. LC staff felt fortunate to know such a loyal, dedicated ambassador for the school.” Paul is survived by his wife, Corolyn; his children, Paul ’77, Marcus, Lisa ’78, Beth ’80, Nancy ’84, and Jane; and his grandchildren. A memorial service was held at the First Church in Windsor Congregational on February 12.

Robert J. Carabillo died December 5, 2013, peacefully, surrounded by family at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, Conn. Bob earned a bachelor’s degree from UConn and a master’s degree from the University of Hartford. He was a professional musician, composer, bandleader, and educator at various institutions. He joined Loomis in 1990 and served until 2005 as the director of the Concert and Jazz bands and the Jazz Improvisation Ensemble. As a musician, he often performed at the 880 Club in Hartford, Conn., and played at the Copacabana in New York City. He played trumpet for the Downbeats; tenor saxophone, trumpet, and flugelhorn in the Norman Gage 13-piece big band; was recorded by Capital Records for his Sunship album; and owned and performed in Mainstreet Band.

Predeceased by his sister Rosemary, Bob is survived by his sister Julie, his son Michael, and several nieces and nephews. A memorial service was to be held at West Hartford United Methodist Church with a private burial.

Former Staff Audrey Jean Bombard died February 16, 2013. Born in Hartford, Conn., Audrey was a graduate of Westbrook College of Women. She managed a dental office in East Windsor for 24 years and served at Loomis as the head bookkeeper for 10 years. While living in Windsor, Audrey was elected president of the Women’s Republican Club and served as a justice of the peace. She sang for many years as a soloist at the Trinity Methodist Church in Windsor and performed in many recitals at the Bushnell in Hartford. In her free time, Audrey was a seamstress, a Girl Scout troop leader and a Girl Scout summer camp manager. She will be remembered for her love of music, her lively spirit, strong will, keen intelligence, remarkable strength of character, and the love she shared with her family and friends.

Audrey is survived by her sons Mark and Keith. A memorial service was held on February 22 at the Hayes-Huling & Carmon Funeral Home in Granby, Conn.

More News The Alumni Office has learned of the passing of Elizabeth Pease Whitaker ’31, on August 15, 2013; Frank Pierce Morrison II ’36; Olaf Gayler Shipstead ’46, on November 11, 2012; C. Grant Warner ’52, on September 16, 2011, and Bruce G. MacDermid ’65, on March 28, 2014. More information, as available, will be printed in future issues.

loomischaffee.org | 63

THE LAST WORD | BY ELIZABETH McGEE ’64

Learning to See Beauty Editor’s Note: Elizabeth McGee ’64 shared her memories of learning about art and beauty in this 1996 letter to her much-admired Chaffee School teacher, Peggy Barnes.

“

Elizabeth McGee ’64 Photo: 1964 Epilogue

Dear Mrs. Barnes, Thirty-two years ago this month I was completing your History of Art course at Chaffee. … When I started your class in the fall of 1963, I knew almost nothing about art in any way. … Some time in the middle of the year you put up a slide of Vermeer’s Head of a Girl. Suddenly I had the classic aha moment, also a love-at-first-sight moment. … I was hooked! Slowly I began to expand my confidence in my own capacity to recognize beauty.

In the spring of that year I fell hard for Winslow Homer.

”

—Elizabeth McGee ’64

64 |

Peggy Barnes prepares to show slides in her art history class.

Photo: Loomis Chaffee Archives

The Loomis Chaffee School 4 Batchelder Road Windsor, Connecticut 06095

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A small replica of Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker contemplates the snowy scene from the window of a Founders Hall classroom.