MB Cupola fall 2014 / winter 2015: Design Thinking by Moses Brown School

Fall/Winter 2014-15

Cupola

Design Thinking Halsey Herreshoff ’51 Scion of Naval Architecture Jessica Fain ’01 Willem Van Lancker ’06 ...and more!

About Our Cover Halsey Herreshoff ’51 is shown in his Bristol workshop; he was interviewed and photographed by Guest Editor Adam Olenn ’91. This issue of Cupola showcases alumni utilizing design thinking in varied careers. See page 16 for more from Halsey and other creative alumni. Are you using design thinking, too? Let us know! (alumni@mosesbrown.org)

Moses Brown, a Friends school, exists to inspire the inner promise of each student and instill the utmost care for learning, people, and place. — Moses Brown School mission statement

Moses Brown School Board of Trustees 2014-2015 Paul Adler P ’14 ’16 Greg Baldwin ’87 Neil S. Beranbaum ’86 P ’22 ’24 Clerk, Enrollment & Marketing Committee

The next issue of Cupola will focus on Global Awareness. Do you have any alumni to suggest for this issue? Are there any former teachers we should include or get an update from? Suggestions welcome!

Amy Curell P ’14 Elaine Dickson P ’18 ’22 ’27 Ted Fischer ’83 P ’12 ’14 ’17 Gary Goldberg ’87 P ’17 ’19 ’20 Clerk, Campaign Steering Committee Brian Goldner P ’14 Habib Y. Gorgi ’74 P ’08 ’10 ’12 ’17 Clerk of the Board Clerk, Executive Committee Karen Hammond P ’10 ’14 ’14 David Holdt Lee Jaspers P ’11 ’14 Recording Clerk of the Board Gardner Lane P ’27 ’28 Kathleen Levesque P ’12 ’14 ’17 Assistant Clerk of the Board Rachel Littman ’87 P ’20 ’22 Frederick Martin Mike McGuigan Donald McNemar

Late-breaking news! School’s Closed! In January, MB Head of School Matt Glendinning announced that school was closed in humorous and lively fashion. Watch the video that went viral and that everyone’s been talking about — including NPR, the Today Show, Good Morning America, and the BBC. “School is Closed” got views and rave reviews in Dubai, France, China and the Ukraine! Be the first to catch our next viral video! Make sure we have your best email address, follow MB on Facebook.com/MosesBrownSchool or Twitter, subscribe to our Youtube channel, or visit www.mosesbrown.org for videos of MB today.

Kara Milner P ’19 ’21 Keith Monchik ’90 P ’24 ’27 Clerk, MB Alumni Association M. Willis Monroe ’04 Clerk, Nurturing Friends Education Mary Lee Morrison Elizabeth Morse Neal R. Pandozzi ’91 Clerk, Trustees Committee Lisa Rocchio ’85 P ’14 ’15 ’21 Clerk, Nominating Committee Martha Schwope Friends Coordinator W. Bradley Shipp ’83 Clerk, Buildings & Grounds Committee Liesa Stamm Nia Thomas

Take a look! Plans were unveiled this fall for MB’s new Woodman Family Center. Download the ARMedia Player from the iTunes or Android market and use this QR code to get a 3D peek at the Woodman Community & Performance Center! For detailed instructions, visit www.mosesbrown.org/woodman3d.

Heather Tow-Yick ’94 Dawn Tripp P ’19 ’24 Clerk, Parents’ Association Carl Weinberg P ’90 ’94 ’16 ’24 Treasurer of the Board Clerk, Budget & Finance Committee Cecily Ziegler P ’22 ’24 Matt Glendinning Head of School Jackie Stillwell Clerk of NEYM

Send comments, news, updates, address changes, photos or leads to alumni@ mosesbrown.org.

Expo 2014

page 8

Cupola A bi-annual magazine for Moses Brown School alumni Editor Adam Olenn ’91 P ’25 ’27 Managing Editor Kristen A. Curry Class Notes Editor Susan Cordina P ’16 Director of Alumni Relations Karin Morse ’79 Director of Development and Alumni Relations Ronald Dalgliesh P ’19 ’21 Contributor Emily Atkinson P ’14 ’18 Photography Peter Goldberg David O’Connor Onne van der Wal P ’10 ’11 ’17

Cupola

Designer Bridget Snow Design Printer Colonial Printing, Warwick, certified by the Forest Stewardship Council

Fall/Winter 2014-15

The Cupola is produced by the Office of Alumni Relations for alumni and friends of Moses Brown. Your feedback is welcome. Please send comments to: Cupola, Moses Brown School, 250 Lloyd Avenue, Providence, RI 02906. Send suggestions, class notes, and address updates to MB Alumni Relations via mosesbrown.org or alumni@mosesbrown.org; 401-831-7350 x114. Moses Brown School is a nonprofit institution.

Letter from Matt Glendinning

News from Moses Brown Today

MB Expo News

Photo: Onne van der Wal

www.mosesbrown.org

What I’ve Learned About Design Thinking

Gifts in Action

Alumni Profiles:

Halsey Herreshoff ’51

Jessica Fain ’01

Willem Van Lancker ’06

Grace Gouin ’06

Jason Smith-Vidaurre ’09

Justin Grant ’99

Kevin Stone ’73

MB Alumni Association Events & News

Class Notes

Moved by MB

In Memoriam

Essay: Laurie Center

Guest Editor: Adam Olenn ’91, page 15

Learning in Practice A letter from Matt Glendinning, Head of School

Design Thinking, it seems, is popping up everywhere. Is this just a fad, or is something else going on? And why is Moses Brown devoting this issue of Cupola to the topic?

This approach asks students to apply core skills like reading, writing and research to a real-world situation. Is it ever ethical to hunt whales? Could you tell the story of American Colonial history if you had just a single day in Boston? What are the best natural remedies for viral infection? These are just a few of the so-called Driving Questions shaping the curriculum at MB this year. Design Thinking also has become a business management strategy and here, too, Moses Brown is exploring its application to the field of education. How can we hire the most creative, passionate teachers? What’s the best location for the new Community &

Despite having reached near critical mass in public consciousness, Design Thinking isn’t especially well-defined. Generally it involves thinking and acting like a designer — finding solutions to significant problems through an iterative process of research, prototyping, testing and refinement. The method, popularized by design innovation firms such as IDEO, is human-centered, highly visual, and not only tolerating but encouraging of failure, all in an “I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand.” effort to reach best solutions as quickly as possible. Long the purview of “creatives” in product or industrial — Confucius design, Design Thinking is now being recognized as a Performance Center? And what’s the best way to showcase the powerful engine of innovation in a variety of fields, from medicine school for prospective families? These are examples of questions to engineering and even the military. tackled recently by MB’s administration using Design Thinking. Design Thinking also is emerging as a paradigm for classroom Readers of Cupola might be interested in some articles we’ve instruction — a 21st-century take, if you will, on constructionist published on this topic, such as this one in Design Management pedagogies advanced by Jean Piaget and others. The relevance Review last spring: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ of this approach in schools, I think, is that Design Thinking drev.10269/pdf. fosters skills that are valued and rewarded in a rapidly changing In this issue of Cupola we celebrate alumni who are using this and interconnected society: creativity, teamwork and complex creative mind- and skillset in their careers and daily lives, from communication. legendary boatbuilder Halsey Herreshoff ’51 here in Rhode Island In a world with instant and ubiquitous access to information, to Jason Smith-Vidaurre ’09 tackling energy challenges in Hawaii. what you know matters less than what you can do with what you To us, they are exemplars of how passion, creativity and expertise know. Consequently, at Moses Brown we are using Design often add up to more than the sum of their parts, which is Thinking (and its close cousin: Project-Based Learning) to engage precisely our hope for MB students today. students with real-world problems that are amenable to multiple solutions and demand initiative and collaboration.

News from Moses Brown Today

Campus speakers • T his fall, Moses Brown welcomed Dr. Greg Dale, sports psychologist at Duke University who spoke to parents about helping their children excel at athletics while keeping things in perspective for healthy long-term well-being and development. He consults with collegiate and professional teams and organizations around the world, including The World Bank and Habitat for Humanity International, and has been featured on Good Morning America and MSNBC. • M B also hosted Alison Park as its annual Diversity Scholar this fall. A graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Park founded California’s Blink Consulting to help independent schools create inclusive communities and rethink their diversity initiatives. • A uthor Eyal Press visited Moses Brown in December. He’s the author of Beautiful Souls, a compendium of people who have spoken truth to power in historically dark times. A Brown graduate, Press also is a contributor to the New York Review of Books, New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, and The Nation.

Congratulations, Carol! Lower School Science Teacher Carol Entin is the recipient of MB’s 2015-16 Joseph Olney ’32 Sabbatical. Carol will use her time to explore the junctions of science, math, art and engineering.

At the fifth meeting of the MB 2030 Forum, 60 participants tackled the question Matt Glendinning posed in September: How can we help students engage more actively in their communities, applying what they’re learning in school to make a positive difference in the world? Moses Brown welcomed leaders from several community organizations: Inspiring Minds, Reach Out and Read R.I., Dorcas International, Brown University, DownCity Design, Business Innovation Factory, MET Center & School, Social Enterprise Greenhouse, Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence, Outpost Journal, PASA, the Swearer Center for Public Service (Brown), Leadership+Design, Friends Council on Education, Rhode Island Foundation, American Friends Service Committee, URI Business Engagement Center, Phoenix House, and the Blackstone Academy.

Welcome, New Board Members MB welcomes five new members to the Board of Trustees this year (left to right): Kara Milner P ’19 ’21, Gardner Lane P ’27 ’28, Rachel Littman ’87, Michael McGuigan, and Dr. Liesa Stamm. 5

Go Quakers! Fall athletic news • T he girls’ field hockey team won its third consecutive Division I State Title this fall in a 1-0 victory over Barrington. Members of this team have only lost one game in the last two seasons. • M oses Brown’s boys’ varsity soccer team was awarded the 2014 season Sportsmanship Award from the R.I. Interscholastic League for the fifth consecutive year. • M B football returned to the Super Bowl for the second year in a row, winning the Rhode Island State Championship in their first season in Division 2.

Photo: John Romano P ’10 ’11 ’14 ’16 ’18

Ave atque vale* Longtime upper school Latin teacher Ruth Breindel has announced that this will be her last year teaching. Ruth has taught at MB since 1985 and has inspired many students with her inimitable style. Ruth says she’s tried to follow her father’s advice to “make the world a better place than it was before.” As a teacher, Ruth encourages each student to do his best and learn not only Latin but also about himself. Ruth has served on the board for the Mt. Hope Learning Center and is active with her local soup kitchen and library ESL program. She is the treasurer of the Classical Association of New England. Ruth was honored by students at the fall Halloween costume contest (shown above). * “Hail and farewell” — from a poem by Catallus. 6

Three seniors shared the results of last year’s Class of ’48 Awards, an annual program which supports rising seniors with initiative and creativity: Molly Freeman volunteered at a summer camp for pediatric cardiology patients, took a course on heart disease at Chicago’s Rush Medical Center, and shadowed a cardiologist; Charlotte Flynn danced at the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre Summer Intensive and with the Rockettes in New York City; and Andrew Fay travelled to France to commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

Expert Thinking: the MB PBL Design Template Some of the driving questions faculty are using this year in classes indicate impressive directions in classrooms. The MB PBL Design Template has been used to kickstart a year of project-based learning at MB. Faculty are using this approach to bring provocative driving questions to their classrooms: How can we increase female participation in positions of political power? How can we use our knowledge of geometric figures to design a new iLab in Alumni Hall? How do we raise awareness about the gap between the minimum wage and the living wage in Rhode Island?

In an effort to accelerate implementation of MB’s strategic vision and evolving institutional needs and plans, Moses Brown recently announced some changes to MB’s administrative team. Laurie Center, Debbie Phipps and Ron Dalgliesh will take on new roles this summer. Laurie Center will become MB’s new director of STEM education (see page 38). Debbie Phipps will become MB’s new assistant head of school for academic affairs. Ron Dalgliesh will take on a new role as assistant head of school for institutional affairs. “These changes will help the school to continue growing in the directions outlined in our strategic plan, MB Believes, supporting and accelerating the excellent work taking place in classrooms and offices every day,” says Head of School Matt Glendinning.

Many of the senior projects presented last spring exemplified project-based learning and design thinking. Students created graphic novels and original music, wrote poems and short stories, analyzed NBA playoff games from a statistical point of view, examined the relationship between the stock market and weather patterns, painted landscapes, sculpted glass, designed a prom gown, and studied hydrogen as an energy source. One rebuilt a 1970s motorcycle, another made a short movie featuring Quakerman, a pacifist superhero. Singne Brown ’14 (shown) designed and built a pair of skis and their accompanying graphics. Senior projects underwent an update last year and now students are required to present their projects for review and approval in front of a panel composed of community faculty and staff.

MBinRep presented two full-length plays this fall, under the direction of new drama teacher Steve Kidd: An Enemy of the People and La Bête. Tackling two full plays allowed MB to offer more to afterschool theater students. “Despite their vast differences, both productions share a similar thematic aim,” says Steve, “to examine the individuals’ passionate and daring pursuit for truth and integrity amidst opposition from figures of authority and the public.”

In October, upper school students collaborated with peers from Hope High to host “A Conversation about Education” with the Providence mayoral candidates. The students were featured on numerous TV stations and on the front page of The Providence Journal, modeling for an audience of 500 the civic discourse and engaged citizenship that Rhode Island needs. Moses Brown is appreciative of the time shared by candidates Vincent Cianci (Independent), Daniel Harrop (Republican), and winning candidate Jorge Elorza (Democrat). “Our city and state face challenges that will require long-term solutions,” said Matt Glendinning, Head of Moses Brown. “The people who will guide those efforts are today’s elementary and secondary students. The education they receive today will prepare them to lead Rhode Island. How will our political candidates prepare our children for this role?” Providence Journalist reporter and MB alumna Alisha Pina Thounsavath ’96 moderated the event.

Surprise! The football team challenged Matt Glendinning and Jim Skillings to take the popular “ice bucket challenge” at the start of school this year and they accepted — at Convocation. The event celebrated the life and contributions of Jake Bliss ’93, who battled ALS. A fun moment at a traditional ceremony, this was a fitting way to honor Jake. 7

MB Expo

Expo II unveils new plans for MB, shares update on progress This October, Moses Brown unveiled new plans for the school at Expo, our signature community celebration which combines Homecoming with fall Open House. Attended by more than 1,000 people, this year’s Expo highlighted progress on MB Believes, the strategic vision unveiled last fall. A Meeting for Celebration At Friday’s opening Meeting for Celebration, students and teachers told powerful stories of how, in one year’s time, MB Believes has impacted students’ day-to-day experience. This came in the form of student- and faculty-led presentations, skits and Moses Brown’s first-ever comic book, MB Believes — Year One!

A Home for Friendship Head of School Matt Glendinning announced an anonymous $1.5 million gift that will create a Moses Brown Sailing and Marine Education Center on Narragansett Bay. This facility will provide a home for the school’s championship sailing team, anchorage for Friendship, MB’s 36’ Union cutter donated by Dean Woodman ’46, and a waterfront classroom for studying marine biology and environmental science. (See page 13.)

October 2014 Woodman Family Center MB unveiled plans for the new Woodman Family Center, a multi-use space with seating for 500 that can be reconfigured for performances, meeting for worship, art and science exhibitions, social gatherings, and more. The community and performance center is made possible by a historic gift from Dean Woodman ’46, whose great-grandfather Augustine Jones introduced music to MB as headmaster more than a century ago. (See page 12.) As twilight settled over the campus, the community enjoyed an outdoor harvest dinner in the illuminated footprint of the new Woodman Family Center. MBe Welcome: Moses Brown UpClose On Saturday, more than 200 admission candidates joined alumni, current families, students and MB faculty for a day of artistic performances, athletic contests, and learning experiences. Jazz flowed on the Back Circle stage, young improv artists entertained a crowd of over 100 people, and students performed scenes from this year’s fall plays, La Bête and An Enemy of the People. Soccer, field hockey and football games took place across campus. One highlight of the day was the boys’ soccer match, in which keeper Ross Sigal ’17 saved a penalty kick with 10 seconds remaining to secure a 1-0 win against top-ranked Central Falls. Faculty opened their classroom doors for demonstrations, giving visitors a chance to explore Carol Entin’s science lab and Cathy van Lancker’s art studio, and to try engineering design with George Tsakraklides and Laurie Center. Visitors had the chance to experience a variety of classes and to create something tangible to take home. Parent volunteers and alumni led tours and shared their stories with families interested in joining our community. It was an inspiring celebration of Moses Brown students and an all-hands effort to ensure MB continues to be fully-enrolled. Thank you to all alumni, parent, student and faculty/staff ambassadors!

What I’ve Learned About Design Thinking How do current community members feel about changing ways of teaching at MB?

Emma Zubiago ’16

In their first challenge, Emma and classmates wrestled with the question: What skills do schools need to teach to prepare students for 21st-century success? The novice design thinkers interviewed the heads of upper, middle and lower schools, teachers, students, and parents to get their perspectives. “This experience really opened my eyes,” Emma says, “I look at school in a whole new way now.” For their school redesign project, Emma and classmates studied rainforests and coral reefs. “You don’t think about school being like a coral reef!” she says, but learned that One of the first things junior Emma reefs provide tools and support for the Zubiago learned when she signed up for animals living there to survive and Cathy van Lancker’s Design Thinking flourish as a community. Looking at course: it’s not actually about interior analogous situations like this can offer design! “I realized it was about posing inspiration or a fresh perspective, a way problems,” she says, “learning things we to get unstuck. Students in the class are encouraged to come up with one “pie in the sky” “I look at school in a whole new way now.” For idea to encourage them their school redesign project, Emma and classmates to think big. “This opens studied rainforests and coral reefs. “You don’t think your mind to increased about school being like a coral reef!” possibilities.” MB students who can use in everyday life.” Design thinking take this class also participate in an asks students to take the creative process annual challenge from Rhode Islandout of the classroom and apply it to realbased Hasbro; this year’s was “How can world problems. It can be integrated into we use the concept of ‘trickle-down many fields and follows five basic steps: technology’ to come up with a new understanding and research the problem, product that will positively affect lives observing, visualizing (building a protoin our community?” Students cite the type, writing a story, role-playing), Hasbro tour as a class highlight. synthesizing findings, and making recEmma has starting to use design ommendations for implementation. thinking in other courses and in her life: Often used in art classes, it’s a process “These problems really resonated with model in which students pursue multiple me. This course opened my eyes to “best” answers and all voices are heard. other ways of thinking.”

Student

Keith Monchik ’90 Alumnus, Clerk of the MB Alumni Association

Orthopaedic surgeon Keith Monchik sees a lot of parallels between MB and institutions of higher learning. “Medical school has changed dramatically over the past decade,” he says. “While fundamental knowledge will always be the foundation, medical schools have shifted to a problembased approach. The ability to work through a problem openly and in groups puts what you are learning in context and is practical for what will be expected of you.” Keith says that when he was at Moses Brown, this newer kind of thinking did not exist in the learning process. “Group projects were rare,” he says. “That kind of process happened in extracurricular activities like Model Legislature or UN, where we were given real-world problems and asked to solve them using collaboration and outside-the-box thinking.” Today, younger MB alumni and current students like Keith’s children are experiencing this process in the classroom. He reassures other alumni who learned in the traditional manner like him, saying, “Mastery of foundational material is not eliminated by this new approach. Design thinking lets students work in an open, innovative way where different ideas can flourish, and lets them master other skills. For instance, I see today’s students initiate discussions in a way that I could not have done as a student.” Keith appreciates the chance to share more about what’s happening at MB with other alumni: “The core values of community, social responsibility and world-class teaching still exist and are thriving in the spaces that we spent time in, even if the process has evolved.”

John Farber P’16 Parent

A recent participant in MB’s 2030 forum, John Farber has over 25 years experience building consumer home brands defined by innovative product design. Products from these brands have won major design award and citations, including Design of the Decade from Industrial Designer’s Society of America and Business Week magazine, inclusion in Metropolitan Home’s Design 100, and an International Design Prize from Design Center Stuttgart. He’s been part of the “idea teams” behind award-winning products in millions of kitchens and in museum collections, including the

including — different learning processes Smithsonian and the Museum of Modern and styles. “I’m a huge fan of what Moses Art. Most recently, John created the food Brown is doing and hope MB recognizes and housewares businesses of renowned the huge role that diversity plays in this chef Mario Batali, which he currently process,” he says, and lauds the school manages. He contributes to the community for considering what students will need, as a board member at Providence’s Social and for coming up with ways to challenge Enterprise Greenhouse, vice chairman of them to think. the board at Amos House, and is a mentor “The more resources and perspectives at the San Miguel School. you can draw from, the better the solution John grew up in a problem-solving you’re going to come up with,” he says. home: his father, an inveterate entrepreneur, invented OXO Good Grips at the age of 65 after “The more resources and perspectives you can draw seeing his wife struggle from, the better the solution you’re going to come up with cooking due to her with,” he says. “Every discipline has problems to be arthritis, and his greatsolved. Working in a group, trying ideas, honoring failure uncle started the Farberware line of cook— works in any environment. I hope this process helps ware. John says, “There is not only MB but also our greater community.” undoubtedly some genetic aspect to how my family “Every discipline has problems to be thinks that has influenced my career arc. solved. Working in a group, trying ideas, It’s no surprise that in all my career stops, honoring failure — works in any environincluding politics and investment banking, ment. I hope this process helps not only I have spent a good portion of my day MB but also our greater community. I’m thinking about ways to do things differgratified that Matt and the team at Moses ently.” Brown have identified the value to this John says creative thinking is an kind of thinking.” important tool in making institutional change, along with recognizing — and

David Wasser Faculty

‘Design, Program, Build’ is the imperative title of middle school technology teacher Dave Wasser’s new course. One of his main goals has been to begin to introduce more ‘making’ and ‘tinkering’ into the school’s curriculum. “I had visions of kids building things from cardboard and recycled computer parts,” he says, “learning to solder and create simple electronic circuits, experimenting with introductory programming of objects they would create out of various materials.” It soon became clear that this type of learning required a workshop rather than a classroom, so Dave helped transform the Orenstein computer lab into a mini-iLab, with tools and materials to support basic project development. Students in Dave’s class have built small ‘bristle-bots,’ robots made out of toothbrush heads that move around through vibrations generated by tiny pager motors mounted on top. They then scaled these up, using large scrub-brushes for the body and fans scavenged from discarded PCs. For Halloween, they used recycled cardboard packaging, paint, plastic tubing, LED and holiday-style light strings, glue guns and ethernet cables to create a luminous costume, à la Iron Man. Students even built their own switch mechanisms to turn its lights on and off. Future projects will involve building motorized cars and working joysticks, as well as programming and 3-D printing. “My overarching goal for ‘Design, Program, Build’ is to provide a space for students to creatively use technology to pursue projects that are personally significant, creative and useful,” Dave says. “We hope to encourage students to be active creators and producers rather than just passive consumers. Instead of asking, ‘What do I do with this?’ we want the question to be ‘What can I make with this?’” 11

Gifts in Action

Plans Unveiled and Fundraising Underway for Woodman Family Center $17,500,000 $17,000,000 Alumni Hall was built as the main gathering space for MB in 1867, when the total student body was 225. One-hundred and fifty years later — with 770 students, 17 different performance groups and a thriving middle and upper school theater program — the time has come for the Woodman Community & Performance Center. Plans for this historic project were unveiled during the MB Expo weekend on October 17, 2014, showcasing dynamic new spaces for our entire community to learn, play, perform, worship, and celebrate. Elegantly connected to a renovated Jones Library and located at the center of our 33-acre campus, this multifunctional facility is designed to be the new physical heart of Moses Brown School. To learn more, explore a unique video presentation on the Woodman Family Center at www.mosesbrown.org /woodmancenter or get a sneak peek via the QR code inside the front cover!

Help Us Get the Shovels in the Ground Consider having your name associated with a project that will be a cornerstone of the MB campus for generations to come. All gifts are welcome, and exciting giving opportunities ranging from $25,000 to $1 million+ are available. MB seeks to reach its $17.5 million fundraising goal in the next 6-9 months via outright gifts and multi-year commitments, so the school can get shovels in the ground and begin construction. For more information or a list of naming opportunities, please contact Ron Dalgliesh, Director of Development & Alumni Relations, at (401) 831-7350 x111 or rdalgliesh@ mosesbrown.org.

$16,000,000 $15,000,000 $14,000,000 $13,000,000 $12,000,000 $11,000,000 $10,000,000 $9,000,000 $8,000,000 $7,000,000 $6,000,000 $5,000,000 $4,000,000 $3,000,000 $2,000,000 $1,000,000 0

October 2013 $5 Million Lead Gift from Dean Woodman ‘46 Announced

December 2014 Community-wide Fundraising Effort Begins

October 2014 Architectural Plans Unveiled 12

Fall 2015 Target for Breaking Ground

Fall 2015 Target for Reaching Fundraising Goal

Winter 2016 Anticipated Project Completion

Progress as of January 2015 ($11.3M raised)

Unprecedented 2014 Senior Parent Gift Supports MB Believes Class of 2014 parents contribute $1.9 million with 87% participation This past summer, Moses Brown announced the largest senior parent gift in the school’s history — $1,941,167 — thanks to the generous support of the families of the Class of 2014. “The parents and students of this class are very cohesive,” says Senior Gift Co-chair Mary Jane Creamer P’14. “There was an overwhelming amount of participation and we received gifts of all sizes. The families really pulled together to make this happen.” Last year’s unique Senior Gift asked families to support priorities of MB Believes that were most important to them. While all priorities of the school’s vision received contributions, scholarship endowment, the Woodman Community & Performance Center, MB TRIPs, and the Moses Brown Fund garnered the most support. “It’s gratifying to have raised such an incredible amount for Moses Brown,” says Senior Gift Co-chair Ted Fischer ’83, “but the real satisfaction comes from

knowing the impact we’ll have on current and future MB students — from new scholarships and student travel opportunities to major facilities and resources for our teachers.” With 108 students, this was MB’s largest class ever. According to Head of School Matt Glendinning, “It’s fitting and inspiring that these parents provided an historic gift that embodies the principles of lifelong learning and stewardship of others that are core to the MB experience.” The gift will be recognized with the naming of the Class of 2014 Café, a prominent new eatery and social space planned for the first floor of the Woodman Community & Performance Center. To acknowledge the importance of every family and every gift, a plaque listing each member of the class will also be displayed in the Cafe. Moses Brown extends its appreciation to the Senior Parent Gift Committee, whose leadership made these historic results possible.

Moses Brown Plans Sailing & Marine Education Center $1.5 million gift supports new waterfront facility Moses Brown announced in October that it will establish a Sailing and Marine Education Center, thanks to a $1.5 million anonymous gift. The new center will provide a waterfront classroom for marine education and a home for MB’s championship sailing team and will accelerate a signature initiative called MB TRIPs — Travel, Research and Immersion Programs. “We couldn’t be happier that this gift will grow MB’s TRIPs and sailing programs,” says Head of School Matt Glendinning. When completed, the center will provide a home for the school’s sailing team, a program that counts Olympians and collegiate All-Americans among its alumni. “History, marine biology, and even poetry come vividly to life on the

water,” says Matt. “This new center will serve as a classroom for experiential learning right in our own backyard.” The center will offer anchorage for Friendship and a waterfront classroom for studying biology, environmental science, meteorology, marine history, art and literature, expanding opportunities for transformational travel and exploration of Narragansett Bay for students. “Travel, whether local or global, broadens perspectives, breaks down stereotypes and presents unforeseen challenges,” Matt says. “Travel by sea, in particular, demands improvisational thinking and enhances problem-solving skills, aptitudes that students will need to lead lives of success and purpose in our globally-interconnected world.” This project expands on the

summer sailing and maritime education program Moses Brown launched last June, thanks to the gift of the Friendship, a 36’ Union cutter donated by Dean Woodman ’46. 13

Design Thinking

Taking the Measure of Moses Brown One of the most exciting things about Moses Brown today — and about this issue of Cupola — is the incredible polymorphism of learning going on here. MB students and alumni are taking chances and asking bold questions: Can I reinvent the textile industry? Can I create a new paradigm for how readers and publishers interact? Can I overcome the one immutable law of sailing? From the accomplishments of our alumni, it’s clear that this intellectual boldness has been part of Moses Brown’s culture for a long time. And while it was often an unspoken part of our culture, recent curricular advances have brought real-world questioning and exploring into the classroom in ways that foster both the courage to tackle problems, and the humility needed when attempting something larger than oneself. As an alumnus who has recently returned to MB in a professional capacity, it’s eye-opening to realize all the ways Moses Brown influenced the course of my life and in many ways shaped it. It is both gratifying and humbling to see what our fellow alumni have accomplished in their diverse pursuits, and I hope you will enjoy reading their stories as much as I have, as well as learning about the exciting developments happening here on campus, in the shadow of the elms.

Adam Olenn ’91 returned to campus in July to lead MB’s communications efforts — and this issue of Cupola. In just a few months, he’s already launched a mayoral debate, produced an annual report, and delivered a creative update of MB’s strategic plan progress in comic book form. Previously a web content producer at Berklee College of Music, Adam is a consummate storyteller with many years’ experience helping organizations live and demonstrate their missions. Adam joined Moses Brown in fifth grade. At MB, he was an accomplished magician and a member of the wrestling team, Omnia, Chorus and Peer Support. A talented musician, he even scored his own version of “In the Shadow of the Elms.” Adam holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree from the Boston Conservatory. Adam now lives in Warren with his wife Jennifer and their three children. Say hello at aolenn@mosesbrown.org or stop by his office if on campus (follow the jazz beats). 15

How Do You Build a Boat? Halsey Herreshoff ‘51 — Scion of Naval Architecture Interviewed by Adam Olenn ’91 If there is a royal family of American yacht design, the Herreshoffs are it. The legacy begins with grandfather Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, who designed yachts that defended the America’s Cup six times, including Reliance, the largest of all. Next came Sidney DeWolf Herreshoff, a renowned naval architect in his own right. Born in 1933 was Halsey, Moses Brown class of ’51. In addition to being an America’s Cup champion bowman and navigator several times over from 1958-1983, Halsey has designed race boats and beloved family cruisers, pioneered the modern use of unstayed masts, and made long-lasting contributions to the sport of sailing through the establishment and growth of the America’s Cup Hall of Fame and Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol. And yet, despite many days spent in far-flung ports of call, he is still a diehard Rhode Islander with a deep love of the Ocean State and the things that make it special. Cupola: Right now Moses Brown is putting a lot of emphasis on project-based learning, which challenges students to synthesize different disciplines in an experiential way. Is this something you’ve done in your own education? HH: Oh, certainly. My father and grandfathers were great tinkerers, and my father encouraged that in me and my brother as well (Nathanael Herreshoff ’49). My grandfather had no excess ego, and would discuss a great success or a great failure with almost the same tone of voice. And my father was the same way; he always encouraged us to try things, to have the confidence to take a risk. 16

Cupola: It sounds like a bit of a balancing act between confidence and egotism. HH: Courage is the essential thing. You’ve got to have courage to take a risk, and that’s when you often come up with the best stuff. Cupola: Can you give an example? HH: Well, when I designed the Freedom 40, every boat had a stayed mast [wires connecting the top of the mast to the hull for stability. -ed.]. But Garry Hoyt, an advertising guy with Young & Rubicam, said he’d been to China and wanted me to design him a junk. I didn’t want to build a junk, because that’s what they are in my opinion — junk. But I talked it over with my father and he said that some people had been successful with unstayed cat ketches, so I gave that a try. I built the masts out of sections of aluminum and used a wishbone boom, which has the advantages of having a full-length luff, good outhaul tension, and a built-in permanent vang, all of which makes the sails easy to tune. That and the fact that there are two sails, with possible headsails or a mizzen staysail, means the rig is very flexible. You can sail it in light air or a heavy blow in the middle of the ocean. It doesn’t point great, but on a reach [perpendicular to the wind] it’s hard to beat.

teachers like Mr. Meserve, who would give two grades — one for style and content, the other for grammar, and then record only the lower grade. I was pretty good at grammar, so he pushed me on the other part. Whenever someone says, ‘Hey, you’re a pretty good writer,’ I tell them I learned that at Moses Brown.

Photo: Onne van der Wal

Cupola: Can you recall a time when taking a risk like that didn’t work out? HH: When I designed the ‘Duende,’ I paid too much attention to trying to take advantage of the rating rules. There are certain dimensions and things that give you a lower rating, and that gives you an advantage racing. But I paid too little attention to the fundamentals of good design. After all, rules or no rules, a boat has to fit in the water well, have stability, and be seaworthy. The boat was plenty seaworthy, but it just didn’t sail well. That’s a mistake I’ve always remembered and which has guided my design ever since. Cupola: It sounds like you have a cleareyed sense of what went wrong. HH: Well, that’s the other part of courage, isn’t it? If you’re going to take a risk, you have to be honest enough to say if it worked or if it didn’t. You’ve got to be able to experiment and decide whether it worked if you’re ever going to develop any confidence. I had confidence early because I had my father there and I knew I could trust his advice, and because he encouraged us to try things. And I had teachers like that, at the Webb Institute of Naval Architecture, and MIT, and at Moses Brown. I developed confidence in my writing at MB from Photos: Herreshoff Marine Museum

Cupola: So you focus your attention on the things that aren’t working? HH: That’s the only way to improve. Way back when the conventional wisdom was that you needed a keel that ran the length of the boat. But my grandfather discovered that using a deep fin keel with lead ballast instead of a full-length keel made the boat much better at low speed. It could turn more quickly without sacrificing the stability needed for strong winds. He also started out designing boats with fine ends, because that’s what everyone did back then. By experimenting he discovered that if you add fullness at the ends, it gives the boat extra speed to climb up a wave. Of course, if you overdo it the boat won’t handle well. Cupola: And you’re applying those lessons in your own work? HH: Yes, though of course we’re always tweaking things. I’ve recently started doing more designing and partnered up with a young guy named Adam Langerman. He was a student at Webb and we’d sailed together a few times and I asked him to come work for me. He thought about it and said, ‘how about we become partners?’ I said all right and it’s worked out wonderfully. He’s even smarter than I realized. And working with young people is refreshing. Cupola: And what are you working on right now? HH: We’re prototyping a new build of our Alerion 26, which has been very successful in the past, as well as other sail and power projects. I’ve just won my 17th election in Bristol and will serve two years on the town council, and am supporting Governor Raimondo in her quest to improve marine manufacturing. And I recently took the Herreshoff-designed powerboat Stiletto to Key Largo where we won ‘best boat’ at their Vintage Weekend event.

Photo: Adam Olenn ’91

Innovation at MB Halsey Herreshoff ‘51 demonstrates the unusual drivetrain of Ventus, which he designed while a student at Moses Brown. Halsey found himself in an argument with a science teacher about whether a wind-driven boat could go directly into the wind. “He said it couldn’t be done,” says Halsey, “so of course I had to prove him wrong.” His answer to the challenge was the Ventus, which uses wind-turbine like blades above deck to power a submerged propeller. “I built it at home in the boat shop,” he says, “though my father helped me carve the blades.” As to the craft’s success, Halsey says, “Oh it worked great. Except that it would only go upwind.” 17

City Planner

Jessica Fain ‘01 memorable discovery came during her iSearch project. “For most of us, it was our first big research project,” Jessica recalls. “I wrote about the house where I grew up, which was built in 1820. I did some cool research at Providence Preservation Society. I’d heard about a hidden room: we actually pulled up floorboards, based on rumors that it might have been a safehouse along the Underground Railroad! Looking back, I think this set me on the path to city planning: that connection between place, change and meaning.” At the University of Pennsylvania, Jessica majored in art history and political science. “I felt pulled in two directions. I loved art, but was drawn to do something in the public interest.” Her first job was coordinating neighborhood murals with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. After she moved to New York City, she became a capital projects manager for the Art Commission, which reviewed public art and landscape design intended for city property. “Every project had to be approved by a dozen purveyors of good taste: architects, artists and designers, representatives from the Met and the Public Library,” she recalls. “It was fascinating, but too narrow for me: these projects were finished, and I wanted to know the inspiration, the whole process from beginning to end. So I went back to school for city planning.” In her MIT master’s thesis, “Remediation by Inspiration: Artist-Driven Models for Environmental Cleanup,” Jessica found another opportunity to blend beauty and the public good: “Most people wouldn’t see a role for artists in environmental remediation. Artists can transform something dry and fenced-off into something everyone can experience. It’s social and eyeopening, the way art can engage us with ecological and industrial history. Art is a channel for community-building.”

How Do You Plan a City? December, 2011: Jessica Fain ’01 started a job with New York City’s Department of City Planning as a waterfront and open space planner. October, 2012: Hurricane Sandy barreled up the East Coast with a bull’s eye on NYC. “We talk about our work in terms of ‘B.S.’ and ‘A.S.’ — ‘Before Sandy’ and ‘After Sandy’,” Jessica says. “Everything changed. Five of us were working on a study on urban resiliency and adaptation. After Sandy, policy shifted and money poured in for planning, consultants and engineering studies. New Yorkers began to see the waterfront as an essential part of our island environment.” Jessica’s work is now devoted to balancing waterfront planning goals with climate resilience. Jessica’s interests lie at the intersection of urban planning, coastal zone management, ecology and creative practice. Her fondest MB memories are English and humanities classes with faculty like Ransom Griffin and Sandy Richter. “I remember a science field trip, wading around in the water all day,” she laughs. “I spend plenty of time on the waterfront now, but as an MB student, I really wasn’t thinking science.” A 18

Design thinking at work: “City planning is problem-solving. It isn’t one person’s vision. It’s messy. It’s a negotiation between collaborators with different perspectives and expertise. It’s extremely iterative: we work our way through multiple drafts until we earn the buy-in of all the stakeholders.” This happens through listening to everyone from community groups and politicians to regulatory organizations and engineers. “It’s exciting: there’s no right answer, no guidebook. We look at the future of the city, using projections about climate change. It’s new territory.” Advice to students: “Think about unusual jobs. There are so many careers — like urban planning — that no one knows about when they’re in high school. Ask adults how they got to where they are. And express yourself visually, even if you don’t think you’re artistic. There’s something empowering in putting pen to paper. We draw when we’re young, but we lose that habit, unless we’re in art class.”

E-Book Innovator

Willem Van Lancker ‘06

What’s the Next Chapter for Digital Books? As co-founder and chief product officer, Willem leads Oyster’s team of writers, designers, editors, marketers, and customer specialists. “From working with our engineers to plan future releases to setting the agenda for our presence on Instagram, we built our team to approach problems creatively, critically, and from an experimental point of view,” he says. While the term ‘design thinking’ has emerged in the last ten years, Willem notes that it’s always been part of every creative field: “It’s a way of seeing the world, bringing a critical eye to your work, empathizing with other perspectives, trying things that may fail, embracing the spirit of iteration. The best designers I know aren’t designers: they can be engineers, doctors or writers!” In the nine years since graduating from Moses Brown, Willem’s path from RISD to Apple, Google and Oyster is rooted in the experimentation he embraced as a young artist. In college, Willem even banded with other RISD students and

In our digital age, we get what we want, when we want it. Spotify, Netflix and Hulu stream music, movies and TV to our phones, tablets and laptops … but books? Amazon and iBooks download ebooks instantly, but you have to buy them first. Willem Van Lancker ’06 envisioned a better way: streaming for books. A book lover and designer for Google and Apple, he cofounded Oyster in 2012. A year after its launch, Oyster offers over one million titles representing most major publishers and independents, streaming to every platform from iOS to Android to the web. Its staff has grown from five to thirty. With a name derived from Shakespeare (“the world’s mine oyster”, The Merry Wives of Windsor), evoking convenience and portability, Oyster gives members unlim“Design thinking gives you unlimited options — there are so ited access to more than a million books for a $9.95 many places to go. An education based on process and thinking monthly fee. “Our aspiration is to be the best way to — not theory and memorization — made that a reality.” read digitally, to make books as accessible as the internet, to lower all barriers,” Willem says. “Amazon’s happy when you buy a book; Oyster’s happy when we Brown engineering/business students to launch the Better help you find the book you love.” World By Design conference, which is now in its seventh year What’s the pearl? Membership makes browsing possible. and attracts thousands of young designers, inventors, and poliEvery reader thinks What should I read next? Willem recalls: “One cymakers from all corners of the world. of the original inspirations for starting Oyster was to reimagine Willem interned with Apple and Adidas, creating icons and bookstore browsing for a digital device: endless shelves to emoji still in use, and brands for pro teams such as the Florida browse, no barriers to sampling, and knowledgeable booksellers Panthers. After graduation, he worked in communications and to give direct and personal recommendations. We wanted to put interaction design at IDEO. In 2010, he joined Google as a user this experience in your pocket.” experience designer, leading design and product vision for This guided approach to discovery is working, with recogniGoogle Maps. “Google entrusted me with way too much respontion by Wired magazine. Willem was even named to Forbes’ sibility!” he laughs, looking back. “I was 23, reimagining the user magazine’s 30 Under 30 list for consumer tech. Curated lists and experience and design for Google Maps, a product with great enticing editorial treats offer wide-ranging, irresistible recomhistory. They gave me a ton of opportunities. I was surrounded mendations. Willem calls Oyster’s engagement “off the charts,” by an incredible team of designers and engineers. Ultimately, with the average user on Oyster for over an hour every day, on that gave me the confidence and vision to go out and build par with Facebook. People tend to open about four books to each something from scratch.” book they end up going on to read — sampling and browsing are Willem believes that MB shaped his approach: “In a small welcome. Members can click to open a book and start reading, school where we knew each other well, the impulse to collabowithout having to buy or return it or worry about overdue fines. rate and cross boundaries sowed the seeds for entrepreneurial They don’t get stuck wondering if a book is worth $12.99 or if thinking.” they’ll like it enough to finish it.

Grace Gouin ‘06

Stitching together a start-up Those who remember Grace Gouin’s love for textiles at MB may not be surprised to know she’s started an ethically-driven apparel company in Asheville, North Carolina called Appalatch. Grace’s company was highlighted in The Huffington Post this past fall as one of “50 Ethical Businesses to Support on Black Friday.” She made her TV debut on PBS’ Start Up! and has seen Appalatch featured in New York Magazine, Treehugger, and The Washington Post. Initially, Grace wanted to start a company that would change how people relate to clothing. By working directly with suppliers, she and co-founder Mariano deGuzman have cut out the middlemen and retailers, which enables them to profitably sell clothes for less than what you would find in a store. Grace is passionate about reviving American apparel manufacturing. In the past 20 years, America has lost 80% of apparel manufacturing jobs and now only 2% of clothing bought in the U.S. is actually made here. “We are trying to rethink the way that clothing is made, sold, and used in the world,” Grace says. She also aims to reduce needless waste, saying, “Less is more; a few well-made, signature pieces will serve you much better than a surplus of poorly made garments.” Appalatch’s products are 100% American made and made almost entirely

within the Carolinas, where Grace runs machines herself and employs skilled local workers. When she first arrived in Asheville, Grace got a job making organic cotton clothing. Production sewing gave her a visceral understanding of its toll on a worker’s body and mind. “This hard work is happening at a breakneck pace across the world at incredibly low wages to keep up with the demands of microtrends that turn into disposable fashion,” she says. “The terrible treatment of garment workers, as well as the terrible environmental strain placed on the planet in the name of fast fashion is a completely unsustainable cycle that simply has to end.” Grace calls MB a significant point on her journey to Applatch: “I actually reference MB a lot in my life. As the years pass, I begin to realize what a profound effect lessons of human equality and the importance of honesty and service have had on my values and mission in work and life. I love that learning went beyond memorizing materials and made us question what kind of impacts our actions have on the world.”

Jason Smith-Vidaurre ’09 How do you go off the grid?

As an MB student, Jason Smith-Vidaurre knew how to operate a bandsaw, loved to surf in the dead of winter, and was committed to the environment (his Jamestown home was powered in part by windmill). Raised in a Quaker family, activism was important for Jason, and since earning his engineering degree from Stanford, Jason has been putting his beliefs into action as the renewable energy lead at Pu’u O Hoku Ranch, a family-owned biodynamic and organic farm and retreat center in Kaunakakai, Hawaii. As a working ranch, Pu’u O Hoku consumes its share of fossil fuels, and Jason aims to produce more power than they need and feed it back into the grid. Instead of just putting up one large wind generator or one massive solar array, Jason and his colleagues are opting for diversity with a combination of biomass gasification, wind, solar, and hydro-pump energy storage. Right now, they are in the prototyping, applying, and failing stages: “It is all a learning process,” he says. “Too often I see design thinking associated with a consumer culture and perpetuating a cycle of consumption,” Jason says. “For me, design thinking is less about bringing the next big product or service to market and is more of a pattern for problem-solving. The pattern goes something like this: identify problem, brainstorm, prototype, apply, fail, repeat until successful.” In a remote area like Kaunakakai, materials and equipment 20

are hard to source so Jason often has to get creative with what’s available. Recently, his team had to put a 2000-pound wind generator on an 80’ tower — with no crane available on the island. So they designed a system to raise the tower and haul the generator up, using four workers, a winch, and a truck. “This place pushes us to be self-reliant,” he says. “Energy usage has always been at the forefront of my consciousness,” says Jason. “For many users, the source of their electricity is out of sight, out of mind. Growing up with a wind generator in Jamestown made me aware it from the very start. When you can hear and see the energy transformation taking place, you are more conscious about your consumption.”

Justin Grant ’99

Turning concepts into reality Justin Grant sums up his career as “building offbeat one-of-a-kind things,” which could be an understatement — given that he’s re-created the Levi’s logo in sandblasted aluminum, had his work displayed in the Louvre and at Coachella, and created the “Run Happy” bus for Brooks (see page 3!). He even became a member of Oracle’s America’s Cup boat-building team. Like his days sailing with MB on Narragansett Bay, Justin found it exciting to support the winning boat. Justin attended MB for five years and left after freshman year, graduating from Barrington High. When he graduated, he was happy to be done with school and set out on the craftsman path — working hard and seeing tangible results at the end of each day. “The course at MB that did the most for me was woodshop,” he says. “That was the place I felt like I could really excel and set myself apart. What I got out of shop class was understanding the path from envisioning a creation to making it real. This has been invaluable at every step of my career.” Justin was in California building custom speakers and had worked with an artist friend making a beautiful outdoor stainless steel sculpture that played music. This led to a fabricating job at Performance Structures in San Francisco, producing largescale metal sculptures for artists such as Anish Kapoor, Richard Deutsch and Frank Gehry. It was the lucky break he needed: “Once you start working at a world-class level, it’s easier to move sideways through different jobs and industries than to move up or down.”

©ORACLE TEAM USA / Photo: Guilain GRENIER

And sometimes you just need to look out your window. In 2012, Justin saw that the Oracle Racing headquarters for the 34th America’s Cup had opened up just blocks from his house in San Francisco. He inquired and was invited to join the boat-building team, learning cutting-edge building techniques from modern masters. Justin is now working for a Bay Area tech startup company, Alion Energy, which is working to lower the cost of solar energy through robotics. In his career, Justin has built some truly amazing things, although this has meant giving up some stability — and not letting convention stop him from achieving his goals: “I’ve definitely been through some lean times, but the willingness to try new ideas, different directions, and avoid judging people has opened doors that I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to go through. If you want to be your own person and make your mark in this world, you’ve simply got to follow your own path. Don’t let anyone (including yourself) tell you it can’t be done.”

Dr. Kevin Stone ’73

How do you get out of a burning high-rise? When the tragedy of 9/11 occurred, orthopaedic surgeon Kevin Stone was shocked to see people holding hands and jumping to their deaths from the twin towers: “I could not believe an escape method did not exist. I remember thinking that if I could reel in a 400-lb fish, why couldn’t I reel a person out of a building?” Although Kevin’s job as knee doctor might seem to disqualify him as a building rescue expert, his creativity as a scientific thinker has already yielded 40+ patents. At his practice in San Francisco, Kevin has developed several novel surgical techniques, including a way to regrow cartilage in the knee, and techniques in cartilage transplantation which help patients avoid total knee replacement. Kevin also is the inventor of Joint Juice®, a glucosamine supplement drink that has sold over 1/3 of a billion cans, and spawned a Harvard Business School case study, for which Kevin was brought in to guest-teach. For the RescueReel®, Kevin sketched a design and contacted a local mechanical design firm to build a prototype. Difficulties in manufacturing, approval, and funding have delayed production, but he still hopes to introduce the Rescue Reel to the marketplace in the next few years. Kevin says his personal philosophy is summarized by the principles he imparted to his daughters: “If each day you educate yourself, be a good person, contribute to the world, and have fun, life will be rewarding and you will be happy. This philosophy has guided our family well and seems consistent with the Quaker education I received at MB.” 21

Alumni Connections Coast to Coast

The Alumni Association and Moses Brown have partnered to provide many opportunities for alumni to engage with each other and the school, locally and from coast to coast. If you would like to host an event or serve on the Alumni Association Board, please contact Karin Morse ’79 at kmorse@mosesbrown.org or 401-831-7350 x191.

Ted Winston ’74 proudly accepted the Service to Alma Mater Award with his wife (MB admissions staffer) Denise Winston, mother Gloria Winston, daughter Shannon Winston Ruff ’96, son-in-law Jeremy Ruff and grandchildren Joe, Stella and Scarlett. His son Dan Winston ’05 was unable to attend as he was a coxswain at the Head of the Charles Regatta for the Williams College alumni boat that weekend.

Rich White ’84, MB Connects speaker shown with colleagues, predicted key election results in D.C. in September.

Ambassador Chris Hill ’70 had lunch with team captains when here as the MB Connects speaker in November. Chris spoke about his experience abroad and his book Outpost: Life on the Frontlines of American Diplomacy: A Memoir.

Moses Brown Alumni Association

Providence The Class of 2014 was well represented at the August Young Alumni Reception.

Reed Fulton ’03, Brigid Conlon ’01, Kyle Rotelli ’04, Isaiah Osofisan ’04 and Ben Golden ’03 gathered at The Flatbread Company for the young alumni event in August.

Congratulations to the MBAA’s fall award recipients, recognized at Homecoming:

Photo: Joe Mazza

Ted Winston ’74, Service to Alma Mater Award Ted has a long history of service to MB. He has served on the board of the MBAA, including as president from 2004 to 2007, when he was a member of the Buildings & Grounds and Development committees. During his tenure, Ted helped build the alumni golf outing, expand the Athletic Hall of Fame and energize the alumni board. A member of the Class of 1974, Ted was honored as a co-recipient of the 25th Reunion Alumni Achievement Award. An MB parent (Shannon ’96 and Daniel ’05), Ted and his wife Denise served as chairs of the Annual Fund and of Moses Brown Day. Ted is a long-time Moses Brown supporter and active in our community, serving on the board of Temple Beth-El and as treasurer of Camp Jori and the Miriam Hospital Foundation boards. Ted is the product manager for WorkWise, LLC, a leading provider of enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management solutions. Chloe Johnston ’95, Outstanding Young Alumna Award Chloe is a writer, director, performer, and assistant professor of theater at Lake Forest College in Chicago. Her original plays and performances have been called “lively and affecting” by the Chicago Tribune, “inspired” by the Chicago Sun-Times, and featured in Time Out Chicago. Chloe has been an ensemble member of The Neo-Futurists since 2001, writing and performing in their late-night cult show, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, across the country. She has worked with theatres throughout Chicago, and worked on the world premiere of E. Patrick Johnson’s Sweet Tea. She served as assistant director to Tony Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman and renowned playwright and actress Regina Taylor. Chloe is a founding member of The Laboratory for the Development of Substitute Materials, a performance collective that blends literature, science, and architecture. She is co-author of 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, which has been performed around the world. Chloe earned her Ph.D. in performance studies from Northwestern University.

Alumni Connections Coast to Coast

Boston Boston November Alumni Reception at Mistral. MB will be back in Boston in February.

A Steele Blackall ’42, Emily Pariseau ’08 and Karin Morse ’79.

B Sarah Sholes ’06, Peter Scheidler ’96, Dave Murdock ’93 and Zach Florin ’94.

C Allan Sifferlen ’61, Doc Odell and Janice Sifferlen discuss Moses Brown’s October 2014 comic book MB Believes: Year One!

D Craig Sutton ’81, Adam Olenn

’91 and David Wilner ’83 were happy to pose.

E Former teammates John Lewis ’09, Alex Patch ’08, Brayden Puddington ’09 and Matt Brady ’08 caught up with Coach Tom Andrew.

Moses Brown Alumni Association

2015 Events January 12 January 14 January 15 February 2-3 February 12 April 16 May 8 & 9 May 9 May 9 June August September 17

Seattle Reception MBAA/PA Skating Party San Francisco Reception Miami and Palm Beach Receptions Boston MB Connects San Francisco MB Connects Reunion – for classes ending in 0s and 5s Athletic Hall of Fame Alumni Lacrosse Game New York Reception Newport International Polo Reception Quaker Classic at Newport Country Club

Class of ‘14 Gathering

Benji Pinsky, Karin Morse ’79, Carlin Lynch and Matt Romano check out the MB Connects App at November’s Class of 2014 gathering in the Walter Jones Library.

John Tosi ’06, Rachel Richardson ’08 and Kate Gorgi ’08 at the Boston Alumni Reception in November.

Turkey Tailgate

Alumni, players and families attended the annual MBAA Turkey Tailgate at McCoy Stadium.

Members of the Class of 2006, friends and family gathered to play and remember Evan Spirito ’06.

Class Notes

1952 Doug Richardson lives in South Carolina but summers in Westport and toured the recently-restored Quaker Meeting House in Mattapoisett, which was built in 1827. Doug attended Meeting for Worship and enjoyed a historical presentation about Quakers in New England. Doug golfs with Dick Fitton ’47: “My years at Moses Brown helped direct my life — wonderful memories.”

1953

MB tea dance, 1957.

2014-15 Alumni Association Board The mission of the Moses Brown Alumni Association is to foster lifelong relationships with the school and fellow alumni.

1951 Martin Cassidy presented on CO2 gas in the subsurface at the Geological Society of America convention in Vancouver. Martin was a session chairman. Now retired from his post as a research scientist at the University of Houston, he continues to work and volunteer in the field.

Keith Monchik ’90, Clerk George Panichas ’83, Assistant Clerk Brian Panoff ’94, Treasurer

Halsey Herreshoff ’51 shares for this issue on page 16.

Mike Geremia, of Brevard, North Carolina, writes, “It’s sad to see that so many friends are gone — especially Eddie Allin, my best friend. Our world was wonderful and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” Mike has fond memories of tea dances, Lincoln and Wheeler girls, Newport Creamery, East Side Diner, sailing on the Seekonk, lunch in the dining room, ties and jackets, and 1950s music. He recalls wonderful teachers — Mr. Raines, Mr. Paxton, Mr. Whitford, Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Oneal. Contact Mike at shirleygeremia@gmail.com.

1955 Tony Hindley met up with Bruce McInnes at the 55th Amherst College reunion. Bruce is an honorary member of Amherst’s Class of ’59 class due to his long service as a music professor at the college.

Albie Dahlberg ’87, Recording Clerk Bill Myers ’48 receives a U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Commendation Medal for his service from 2002 to 2013. Under his leadership, the flotilla completed over 1,750 public education sessions and taught more than 500 students about boating safety.

Taylor Rotondi Anderson ’02 John Baldwin ’94 Jason Engle ’98 Thomas Frater ’82 Gina Guiducci ’97 Adrian Hendricks ’58 Hugh Hysell ’83 Austin Jaspers ’11 David Keyser ’89 Jane Knowles ’81 Todd Machtley ’00 David Murdock ’93 David Murphy ’91 John Pariseault ’97 Joss Poulton ’07 Brad Shipp ’83 Ahvi Spindell ’72 Richard White ’84

Joan and Chuck Staples ’47, active retired travelers/volunteers from Chicago, visit with Matt Glendinning on campus last August.

Class Notes Alumnus Award in 2012.] After MB, John graduated from the Fessenden School, then St. George’s, Princeton, ROTC / Army and Universität Tübingen. He taught at German Gymnasien for 36 years and sends greetings to anybody who might remember him. From Switzerland, Sajjad Taqi wrote to remember Dave Abbott, Bob Chamberlain, Jeff Kalberer and Peter Stevens. “Learning that Dave Curtis and Pete Scull passed away hit me hard,” he wrote. “I was stunned to learn that Alan Rosenthal died decades ago.” Sajjad was delighted to learn that Doc Odell is still on faculty: “All those years of studying Spanish with Doc Odell, and here I am speaking and living in French. I recall the extraordinary teacher and coach Doc was, even then,

1960 Reunion 2015 Cliff Brown, a political science professor at Union College in New York, is writing a book about his time at MB in the 1950s. Cliff occasionally works with Moses Brown archivist Doc Odell in his research.

1964 John Kilborn from ElsdorfVolkensen, Germany responded to our Homecoming invitation: “I would love to join, but was booted out of MB after third

grade and at some point unfortunately ended up at St. George’s and Princeton.” John incurred a concussion after missing a sharp turn on the banister; the lower school headmaster told his parents that he was impossible to handle and had to leave MB, “meaning probably that I was the youngest student ever to have been booted out. I assume that I’m a distinguished alumnus in a negative sense.” [John’s brother Peter ’57 received the Distinguished

1965 Reunion 2015 Peter Rapelye, recently retired after a 40-year career in independent schools, has been taking classes at Princeton University, teaching in the Princeton Adult School, and recently joined the board of the Green Mountain Valley School in Vermont. “Returning to MB earlier this summer for Dave Burnham’s memorial service reminded me of the important influence of leaders and mentors in our lives and those of our children,” Peter says. “MB has certainly contributed its share.”

Photo: Jon Chase ’64

California realtor/landtrust advocate Richard Seiferheld ’57 (left) stopped by MB while visiting Providence, reconnecting for the first time in years. Richard had not been back to Providence or MB since graduation in 1957. A trustee of the Napa County Land Trust, he attended the Land Trust Alliance Rally held in Providence in September and toured MB while in town: “Drinks and dinner at the Agawam Hunt Club, hosted by Jerry Knowles (right), was a perfect part of the afternoon. I enjoyed hearing and sharing the stories of our journeys through life so far and hearing about long-lost classmates.”

when he must have been a very young man. I didn’t want to miss this opportunity to resurface — to say thank you and bravo. Bravissimo would be more appropriate.”

Larry Kilham ’59, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has published Winter of the Genomes, which explores how our economy and ecosystem will be impacted by artificial intelligence. He also recently hosted Art Goddard and his wife Mary Ellen, visiting from California — they were in good spirits, enjoying driving around the West. 27

Tad Jose ’78, a Department of Defense engineer living in Lorton, Virginia, stopped by MB while visiting family in Rhode Island last July. He was impressed with the campus and enjoyed visiting old and new spaces. Tad still plays hockey and wins the best attendance award for MB events in D.C.

Chris Hill ’70 is dean of the School of International Studies at the University of Denver and recently published Outpost, a memoir of his 14 years as U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Korea, Poland and Macedonia and as assistant secretary to East Asia. Chris visited MB this fall. See page 22 for more.

1973 Kevin Stone is an orthopaedic surgeon in San Francisco. See page 21.

1975 Reunion 2015 John Allen retired as a math teacher and is working for the Appalachian Mountain Club at the base of Mt. Washington. Last March, John was re-elected as a selectman for the town of Jackson. He writes, “Stop by if you are in the neighborhood,” and can be reached at johnsieallen@aol.com. A professional musician and owner of Round Snake River Music Agency in Wyoming, 28

Phil Round enjoyed reading about former teacher Phyllis Gunion (right) in our last issue: “My experience with her was a seminal moment in my career as a musician. She ‘forced’ a shy, reticent senior to participate in Guys and Dolls, telling me that I was good and had a responsibility to display whatever nascent talent I had. It was my first real outside endorsement that I could produce something of value to an audience beyond my family! She infused me with confidence. If I succeed with one of my students on a similar level, I will be gratified. I wish she were alive to know this.”

Spring 2014

Moses Brown Performing Arts

Cupola

Schoolhouse News | Perform ing Alumni | Alumni Events | Class Notes Commencement 2014 | In Memoriam: David Burnha m

Class Notes

1979 CDC Zimbabwe Director Peter Kilmarx went to Sierra Leone in September to lead an Ebola response team. Interviewed by the Zimbabwe Mail, Peter noted the number of children orphaned, saying this called for widespread interventions: “The situation is very challenging, putting a lot of strain on systems and services.” Peter acknowledged that despite these challenges, the teams there are committed to working towards ending infections. Peter has kept up with his classmates who commend him on his courage and dedication.

1985 Reunion 2015 David Mittleman lives in Kansas City. He and his wife Lisa have a daughter at Duke University and another at Elon, and their son is a freshman in high school. He plans to attend the 30th reunion in May. Tom Cotter ’82 performed at the Comedy Connection in September, with several alumni in attendance, including Katy O’Donnell McNamara ’87, Karin Morse ’79, Vin Porcaro ’83, Jim Stallman ’79 and George Panichas ’83. Brian Nichols ’83, shown with President Ollanta Humala, was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to Peru in June. At the ceremony he said, “Peru is an amazing country and I am very honored to further strengthen cooperation ties between our two countries, promote economic prosperity and social inclusion, improve education, protect the environment and foster safety for its citizens.”

The furthest travelled! Tanya Hill ’80 and Barbara Epps Baskerville ’81 came from North Carolina and New Jersey, respectively, for Homecoming Weekend. Tanya also connected with Rolando Campos ’79 in New York. If anyone knows where Sterling Scott ’79 is these days, they’d love to reconnect!

The fifth meeting of MB’s 2030 forum tackled the question: How can we help students engage actively in their communities, applying what they’re learning to make a positive difference in the world? Several alumni participated, including Russ Carpenter ‘59, Habib Gorgi ‘74, Frohman Anderson ‘80, Hugh Madden ‘84, Dan Kortick ‘85, Albie Dahlberg ‘87, Liz Newton ‘91, Adam Olenn ‘91 and Davide Dukcevich ‘92. 29

1988 Mark Lasser works at the U.S. Embassy in Macedonia managing the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement’s justice reform portfolio. Mark writes, “I learned that the former Ambassador to Macedonia, Chris Hill ’70, is an MB alumnus. He is a legend in the foreign service. His picture hangs on the embassy wall. Amazing!”

1989 Marc Patrick, vice president of global golf marketing for Nike, Inc., and a former advisee of Dave Burnham, delivered the keynote address for the first graduating class from Providence’s Paul Cuffee School, which Dave helped found. Marc’s mother Dorothy Patrick worked as Cuffee’s director of admission until 1995, and the Patricks and the Burnhams remained close friends ever since.

Classmates Veronica Assalone ’89 and Nicole Navega ’89 (far right) caught up with Doc Odell, Karin Morse ’79 and Perry Buroker over lunch last fall.

1990 Keith Monchik is an orthopaedic surgeon in Providence and president of the MBAA and offers his perspective on MB on page 10.

Adam Boaz ’89 proudly displays the 1988 Quaker soccer coverage.

Rachel Littman ’87 has joined MB’s board of trustees. She recently moved back to Providence with her family, and her children are now at MB!

2014 Alumni Soccer Game – October 2014 Back row: Coach Eric Aaronian, Coach Tom Andrew, Ted Widmer ’80, Matt Widmer ’84, Reed Fulton ’03, Chris Akelman ’04, Matt Akelman ’06, Alex Patch ’08, Matt Brady ’08, Halsey Fulton ’01, Isaiah Osofisan ’04, Tom Gagnon ’82, Mike Nugent ’98, Tim Bliss ’88, Ned Bliss ’98, Matt Slepkow ’88. Front row: Karin Morse ’79, Rich Bache ’06, John Lewis ’09, Brayden Puddington ’09, Neil Vasquez ’09, Jon Sigal ’13, Coach Rich Figueira, Albie Dahlberg ’87, David Ortiz ’97, Ryan Vaughan ’88, Adam Boaz ’87. 30

WHAT MOVES JILLIAN LOMBARDI ’19

“MB pushes you. The teachers here won’t let you coast: they challenge you to try new things—things where you know you’re not going to be the best. It’s like they’re telling you, ‘You can’t just be a sports kid—or a music kid, or a smart kid. You’re going to take a risk and try them all.’ “In making me try different things, I’ve realized it’s OK to be uncomfortable. And that there’s nothing like that feeling of confidence you get when you take a risk and succeed.”

HOW YOUR GENEROSITY KEEPS MB MOVING Your annual gift to The Moses Brown Fund places you in a unique partnership with thousands of others to make one of the largest gifts to the school each year—about $1 million—creating a powerful engine for growth, innovation, and sustained excellence.

M OV E D BY MOSES BROWN

WORLD-CLASS TEACHING AND ACADEMICS (40%) OPEN ACCESS: SCHOLARSHIPS (20%)

We invest your Moses Brown Fund contribution in four strategic areas to advance MB Believes:

ATHLETICS, THE ARTS, AND FRIENDS EDUCATION (20%) OUR HISTORIC CAMPUS (20%)

Give online: mosesbrown.org/onlinegiving

1991 Adrienne Schaberg Filipov and her husband Sergei welcomed the newest member of their family, Cole, in September. Max (4) and Sasha (2) are delighted to have a new baby brother. Adrienne recently started a new job as chief human resources officer for Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm based in New York, following 12 years as a banker and chief operating officer at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital.

Latin teacher Ruth Breindel, Emily Ellis ’91, and Emily’s student Michael Munsey, who also teaches Latin, at the Classical Association of New England Summer Institute.

Emily Ellis is a Latin teacher at Exeter High in New Hampshire. Adam Olenn is guest editor for this issue of Cupola; see page 15.

Kimberly Hurley Birmingham ’91 toured campus last August, with husband Bill and daughter Ainsley. They recently moved from Brooklyn to New Canaan, Connecticut and try to spend part of the summer in Jamestown.

Japanese movie star Takehiro Hiro ’93, subject of a recent documentary, returned to campus recently and was greeted by Tom Andrew, his former soccer coach.

Janine Shaghalian Donlan ’92 and Bart Donlan married in Providence in 2013. Following the ceremony they took pictures on MB’s Front Circle with her parents, Viviane and Walter Shaghalian ’64, and her brother Justin Shaghalian ’96 and his family.

Kate Heavers ’92 with new husband Frank Devine and stepson, Nathan, age 11. Kate and Frank were married in 2013 in Milltown, New Jersey. Welcome, Cole! (New son of Adrienne Schaberg Filipov ’91.) 32

Class Notes

1995 Reunion 2015

1997

Dave Williams is a recruiter for Bloomin’ Brands (parent company of Outback, etc.). He lives with his family in Lutz, Florida. Dave would love to hear from fellow alums, and can reached at davewill01@ hotmail.com.

Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo named Stephanie Ogidan Preston to her 13-member transition team. Stephanie is a vice president in commercial loan operations at RBS Citizens and a chairwoman of College Visions.

Culture Commentator: Daniel Gilbert ’94

Robin Romanovich ’95 and Amanda Silver welcomed their son, Isidor “Izzy” Aleksandr Romanovich, last July in Seattle. The family name, translated, mean Gift of Isis, Defender of Man.

Danielle Dupont Wyant ’97, of Durham, North Carolina, shares, “We had our second child, a daughter, Kate, last March. Big brother Ben is very excited.”

Outstanding Young Alumna Chloe Johnston ’95 accepts her award at Homecoming.

Dave Williams ’95, a corporate recruiter in Florida, with wife Nicole and their daughter Avery.

Alisha Pina Thounsavath ’96 returned to MB to moderate “A Conversation About Education,” at which over 500 audience members listened on as MB and Hope High students posed questions directly to Providence mayoral candidates. Alisha is an award-winning reporter for the Providence Journal.

Dan Gilbert ’94 has won the 2014 Baseball Research Award from the Society for American Baseball Research for his book, Expanding the Strike Zone: Baseball in the Age of Free Agency, and was featured on the nationally-syndicated NPR program “Only a Game.” Dan’s book explores what baseball can teach us about American history, asking questions like: Why have so many great players come from the Dominican Republic? How did a group of professional ballplayers build one of the most successful labor unions in history? Why do cities pour millions of public dollars into building ballparks? As an MB lower schooler, Dan fell in love with the game while playing in Fox Point / East Side Little League. Later, he was “fortunate to get to learn more about the game from wonderful MB coaches like Jim Skillings, ‘Doc’ Thompson, and Paul Donovan. Despite their best efforts, I was never a great ballplayer. I think my biggest claim to fame on the diamond was my strange knack for getting hit by pitches.” Dan majored in music at Wesleyan, writing his senior thesis on Coltrane and Mingus. Discovering a passion for the study of cultural history, he went on to grad school at Yale. Today, he teaches at the University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign and is planning his next book on the history and depiction of public sector workers: “My colleagues and students probably suspect it is just an elaborate excuse for me to watch old episodes of The Honeymooners, but I hope it will be a worthwhile contribution to labor history.” 33

1999 Chris Curran was still in Herat last year, regrettably missing Reunion. Chris spent three years living in Morocco, as a Peace Corps volunteer and Fulbright scholar. After joining the State Department, his Arabic and tolerance for risk led him to an assignment with a reconstruction team in Iraq in 2007. His next assignments included Embassy Rome, the UN in New York, and western Afghanistan, where he served as political advisor to the Italian Commanding General. Now stateside, Chris has started a new assignment at the State Department and recently got married — and shaved: “Facial hair was useful in Afghanistan, but folks look at me funny in the States!” Many in the MB community were relieved to know that Ashoka Mukpo is recovering from the Ebola virus, which he contracted this fall while covering the situation as a

journalist for NBC News. Ashoka took time to share some of his experiences and perspectives with students in Galen McNemar Hamann’s Medical Ethics class in November, and to have lunch with Karin Morse ’79 and Adam Olenn ’91. Now in Providence, Ashoka is continuing his work to bring focus back to those in need in West Africa by sharing news about the outbreak with the world. Justin Grant is on the West Coast and can seemingly build anything. See page 21.

2000 Reunion 2015 Congrats to Walter Donat on his recent wedding, with his sisters and Niverio Carvalho and Matt Preston in attendance. As for a group shot of MB alumni, “We didn’t get a good group shot because they were too busy dancing!” Walter lives in Narragansett and works as an engineer in Newport. Lindsay lives in Milford, Connecticut

Left to right: Nicholas Cross, Liz Donat ’02, Lindsay Clark, Walter Donat ’00 and Marcela Donat ’09. Walter and Lindsay wed last June in Narragansett.

and is finishing her fellowship in gynecology at Yale. “We see each other on the weekends — and we’ll be acting like a married couple starting in June!” he says.

Anna Cerilli Zitnay visited MB this past fall to share her experiences at Yale New Haven Hospital. Students considered the different patient experiences which she has handled there.

Ashoka Mukpo ‘99 talks to students at MB.

Anna Cerilli Zitnay ’00, a transplant coordinator at Yale New Haven Hospital, speaks with Galen McNemar Haman’s medical ethics class.

The State Department’s Christopher Curran ’99 (far left) meets with tribal elders in Ghor province, Afghanistan. 34

World-class soccer reunion: several MBers caught the thrilling USAGhana match together at last summer’s World Cup in Brazil — English teacher Tom Andrew, Hillar Schwertner ’06, Noah Davis ’01, Prabhat Dhar ’06, Andrew Silver ’01, and Geoff Nelson ’01.

Class Notes

Photo: Rebecca Arthurs

Elizabeth Sweitzer and Andrew Matson (’05) were married in Newport in August.

2001 Congratulations to Jessica Fain on her recent wedding; see page 18 for a career update.

2003 Chris Tonry lives in Somerville, Massachusetts. He works in market research with Communispace in Boston and still plays lots of ultimate frisbee. Jill Bache Downing ’03 and her husband Leo welcomed Hadley Frances Riley Downing in February.

2005 Reunion 2015

2006

Evan Wallick says life is “peachy keen” in NYC and he can’t believe the 10-year reunion is this year. After attending the University of Miami, Evan is now a marketing and sales associate at Tanya Creations.

Sarah Tonry works at the educational travel company Education First and recently returned to Jamaica Plain after a year and a half of traveling in Australia and Southeast Asia.

Newlyweds Elizabeth Sweitzer and Andrew Matson now live in North Carolina where Andrew is a second-year resident at Duke’s Medical Center and Liz attends grad school at UNC Chapel Hill. Their wedding party included Erik Matson ’13, Evan Wallick ’05, Ashley Silvestri ’05, and Sarah Pariseault ’05.

Kelly Evans recently joined the Radcliffe heavyweight crew staff as assistant coach. She previously coached at Noble and Greenough School. Willem van Lancker has launched a digital reading service called Oyster in New York — see page 19 for his post-MB path. Grace Gouin is still sewing and knitting and has launched a company named Appalatch! Learn more on page 20.

Morgan Street ’06 runs a mobile woodshop truck to teach woodworking to kids in L.A.

Sean McGuirk ’05 and his wife Hannah welcomed their first child, Keegan, in August.

Katherine Perfetto ’06 married Trevor Smith in October and came to campus for some wedding party photos. Eve Saucier Eder (far left) and Jason Perfetto ‘09 (third from right) were in the wedding party. 35

Alex Bloom ’09

2009 After Wheaton, Alex Bloom moved to Germany where he teaches kindergarten at the Berlin Cosmopolitan School. He has been to Prague and the Baltic Sea, and visited Spain and Italy before beginning his second year of teaching. He welcomes visitors and hosted Aidan Greer-Heffernan there a few months ago. Alex’s email is alexbloom90@gmail.com.

Sarah Engle ’07 teaches third grade at Uncommon School in Brooklyn.

Giuliana DeLuca ’14, daughter of Carl DeLuca ’78, was last year’s MBAA summer intern. She is pictured with Keith Monchik ’90, MBAA Clerk, and Director of Alumni Relations Karin Morse ’79.

Dominique Avila ’08, Maija Hallsmith ’11 and Elena Savigno ’12 at the Young Alumni Reception at Flatbread Pizza.

Maria Tonry is pursuing her exercise science degree at Butler University in Indianapolis. She then hopes to work in administration in the recreation/athletic field. Jason Smith-Vidaurre is living in Hawaii, working in renewable energy. See page 20.

Percussionist Peter Ferry ’09 joins the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra for a pre-concert performance in September at Veterans Auditorium.

In November, Matt Glendinning and Debbie Phipps welcomed several members of the Class of 2014 to the Walter Jones Library to share plans for the Woodman Center, review named space options, and then invite ‘14 graduates to rank their preference. See page 13 for more about the Class of 2014’s historic senior gift! Top left: Brooke Goldner, Gabby Garofalo, Nick Pohl. Top right: Sydney Harrington, Arianna Cohen and Andie Fortune. Left: Julia Zubiago, Brianne Drury, Margot Creamer and Leah Lombardi.

Photo: Gerry Szymanski.com

In Memoriam Moses Brown publishes memorial notes based on published obituaries. Please forward to Office of Alumni Relations, Moses Brown School, 250 Lloyd Avenue, Providence, RI 02906; fax (401) 455-0084; email alumni@mosesbrown.org.

Charles Isherwood, Class of 1940, a Brown University graduate, served his country during World War II with the 102nd Infantry of the U.S. Army. He was awarded three Battle Stars, including the Combat Infantry Badge. His professional career spanned over 35 years in the insurance industry at Starkweather & Shepley in Providence as a charted life underwriter (CLU). Chuck later retired to Florida. (6/22/2014)

records storage firm whose clients included Apple and HP. Reg was a passionate tennis player with two forehands, a keen explorer of West Marinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hiking trails, and an intrepid traveler who logged trips from Mexico to France. (9/2/2014)

John Brogden, Class of 1947, served in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines. He graduated from Brown University and Tufts School of Medicine and, after his medical residency at Yale University, practiced surgery for 35 years. Jack loved being on the water and remained an avid sailor, duck hunter, and retriever dog trainer, spending the later years of his life in North Bradford, Connecticut. (4/7/2014)

John Curtis, Class of 1950, served as a photogrammetrist and intelligence officer in a Tactical Air Control Squadron for the U.S. Naval Reserve. Having graduated from the University of Georgia, Jack then worked in the farming and mining industry in Athens, Georgia. For many years, Jack played an active role in his community, serving on a number of committees and organizationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; boards. Jack was a founder and charter president of the Oconee County Rotary Club and enjoyed singing in the Emmanuel Episcopal Church choir. (9/26/2014)

Reginald Weller, Class of 1947, graduated from Yale University and served as a Russian language specialist during the Korean War. Following his real estate career at Coldwell Banker in Belvedere, California, he raised venture funding and launched National Safe Depository, a vital

Kevin Bliss, Class of 1970, attended Rockford University. He volunteered at a local food pantry and loved to cook and bake. Kevin previously worked as a chef and manager for many area restaurants, and taught cooking and nutrition classes at Tri-Hab, a Lifespan center in

Woonsocket, whose mission is to help individuals with substance abuse problems and health disorders. (11/25/2014) Joelle Freeman, Class of 1979, was born in New York City and spent her childhood in Puerto Rico. She later moved to Rhode Island in 1972 where she remained a lifelong resident. (8/20/2014) Jacob Kornwitz, Class of 2009, graduated from Skidmore College and was attending URI. He was a lifelong Rhode Island resident. While attending MB, Jake ran cross-country, played lacrosse and served as the featured photographer for The Quaker. He enjoyed playing the drums, spending time with his labradoodle Ziggy, and had a growing passion for black and white photography, building his own darkroom at home. (10/25/2014)

Former Faculty/Staff Joseph Ciuryla taught chemistry from 1999-2000. He was a graduate of LaSalle Academy and Providence College and a former member of the U.S. Army Reserves. (5/3/2014)

A New Platform By Laurie Center, Academic Dean

When Laurie Center joined MB in 1983 as a computer teacher, there were eight computers on campus. One sported two parallel floppy drives so students could copy data from one 1.8 kilobyte disk to another. MB’s first network was ‘sneaker-based’ as employees walked data physically between buildings. Now we use thumb drives that hold up to 16 gigabytes and, in 2013, MB was the first K-12 school in Rhode Island to go active on Beacon’s 2.0 network with a bandwidth up to 150 Mbps. Left: Laurie in an earlier incarnation of the MB technology classroom (circa 2000). Recently, given the opportunity for a summer sabbatical, I jumped at the chance to re-kindle my interest in computer programming and STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). My sabbatical happened to coincide with the 50th anniversary of BASIC, a computer programming language created by my former teacher John Kemeny at Dartmouth to teach liberal arts students computer programming. In my sabbatical research on STEM, I realized how much more

ing — are a natural match to MB’s Expert Thinking Model which encourages student-centered learning by tackling and solving real-world problems. I used my sabbatical to develop two new courses — an upper-school engineering design elective that I now co-teach with George Tsakraklides, and a programming course that focuses on physical programming, teaching students how to program sensors and microcontrollers to interact with the real world. This course draws on the evolving inter“Technology has always intrigued me. Though I grew up without est in programthe Internet, email, instant messages or cellphones, I believe ming we have seeded in our technology creates an open learning environment, personalizes lower and instruction and empowers the learner. As a teacher, I integrate middle schools technology within my classroom to capture students’ interests through the and engage them in their own learning.” annual, national “hour of code” Moses Brown could offer with the ‘E’ of programming day in December. We hope engineering and the ‘T’ of technology, the to continue to expand student interest two interdisciplinary fields that incorpoin computer science and launch a new rate experiential learning and applications AP-level course, Principles in Computer to the real world. Both initiatives — engiScience, in 2016. neering design and computational thinkMB has even created a new position to

support these efforts: Director of STEM Education, to which I have been appointed. As honored as I felt to receive the sabbatical, this is a whole new level of commitment to technology and I am excited to be able to devote myself fully to growing this aspect of MB’s curriculum. We’re a long way from the days when I had to teach faculty how to use a mouse! I look forward to leading the community in this area and also encouraging active and on-going participation of girls. For someone whose recreational reading includes How Not To Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking and whose latest hobby toys are a quadcopter with camera and a build-it-yourself computer kit, this position seems like a perfect fit. Dr. Laurie Center most recently served as Moses Brown’s academic dean. She is the longtime coach of MB’s girls’ basketball team. Laurie used a Joseph Olney ’32 Sabbatical to explore her interest in computer programming and STEM education. She has her bachelor’s from Dartmouth, a master’s in education from Harvard, and her Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island-Rhode Island College.

Is there a faculty member you’d like to hear from in a future issue? Send suggestions to alumni@mosesbrown.org. 38

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Come on in!

Join MB faculty, staff, & classmates at Reunion this June. See www.mosesbrown.org/reunion for details.

Make plans now to hold on to your connections by attending reunion activities. Special events for classes ending in 0 and 5, though all alumni are welcome to attend, from any year, and former faculty, too! See friends and classmates. Reconnect with faculty. Attend class with MB students. Join an alumni game or cheer on the Quakers!

2015: May 8 & 9 ’40 ’45 ’50 ’55 ’60 ’65 ’70 ’75 ’80 ’85 ’90 ’95 ’00 ’05 ’10 To register, see who is coming, or get the latest MB updates, visit www.mosesbrown.org/reunion, contact alumni@mosesbrown.org, or call 401-831-7350 x288.