Andover Bulletin - Spring 2005

Spring 2005

ANDOVER

BULLETIN

Changing Scenery

Changing Scenery Members of the Andover community, as well as commuters along Route 28, have noticed a change in the skyline lately. But don’t worry: The transformation is only temporary. After more than eight decades, the Memorial Bell Tower and its venerable carillon have been razed as part of a meticulous reconstruction project. Dedicated in 1923 as a memorial to alumni who died in World War I, Andover’s central landmark was failing as a result of original construction flaws, and full restoration was needed.

Thanks to a towering fund-raising drive, though, the academy is now in the midst of a $5.15 million project that will reconstruct the building from the ground up. Also involved in the project are the cleaning and tuning of the English carillon bells, the addition of another series of bells from the Netherlands and the installation of an electronic carillon system with remote keyboard. Generous gifts for the project have come from Trustee Emeritus David M. Underwood ’54 and the Weaver family, Dorothy and David ’61, Christina ’89 and Andres ’92, as well as Otis Chandler ’46, F. Frederick Jordan Jr. ’43, Helen Donegan, Crosby Kemper ’45 and John Ryan ’45.

Completion is expected in winter 2006.

Cover: Progression (left-right) shows the careful removal of the cupola, top barrel and bells of the Memorial Bell Tower.

Right: Hard-hatted construction workers look over the 37 English- and Dutch-made carillon bells installed in 1922. Some of the bells will be repaired, cleaned and tuned, new bells will be added, and the carillon, silent since 1989, is expected to ring again in January 2006.

ANDOVERBULLETIN The ANDOVER BULLETIN is published four times a year, fall, winter, spring and summer, by the Office of Communications at Phillips Academy, 180 Main Street, Andover MA 018104161.

F E AT U R E S

7

Main PA Phone 978-749-4000

A SPIRITUAL VOICE IN A SECULAR SOCIETY

Changes of address and death notices: 978-749-4269; alumnirecords@andover.edu

by Theresa Pease

Phillips Academy Web site: http://www.andover.edu Bulletin Phone 978-749-4040 Bulletin Fax 978-749-4272 e-mail: tpease@andover.edu Periodical postage paid at Andover MA and at additional mailing offices. Postmasters: Send address changes to: Andover Bulletin, Phillips Academy, 180 Main Street, Andover MA 01810–4161 ISSN-0735-5718

Spring 2005 Volume 98/Number 3 Publisher Elizabeth Roberts Secretary of the Academy Editor Theresa Pease Interim Director of Communications Operations Art Director Ellen Hardy Director of Design Services Assistant Editors Jill Clerkin Sharon Magnuson Paula Trespas Class Notes Coordinator Maggie Carbone Contributing Writer Tana Sherman Design and Publications Assistant Jennifer Barcza Production Coordinator Linda Capodilupo

THE POWER OF ONE:

Father Joseph Champlin ’47 lives out a ministry that is both micro and macro.

5

RETIREMENTS 2005 10

Connecting the worlds of science and nature:

LYDIA GOETZE

by Vincent Avery

12

The American dream comes true at Andover:

C.Y. HUANG

by Tana Sherman

14

Fulfilling great expectations:

’CILLA BONNEY-SMITH

by Jean St. Pierre 26

16

Question, provoke and lead:

NAT SMITH

by Victor Henningsen ’69

18

So very French!:

MADAME SUZY JOSEPH

by George Dix

Photography: Lionel Delevingne, Neil Hamberg, Ellen Hardy, Richard Howard, Michael Lutch, Mark Teatum, Bethany Versoy

20

A Renaissance couple:

LESLIE BALLARD AND ROBERT PERRIN

All photos copyrighted Printed on recycled paper

by Tana Sherman

Cover: Photographs by Mark Teatum

28

24

A SLICE OF ANDOVER HISTORY:

D E PA R T M E N T S

THE STORY OF THOMAS PAUL SMITH

2 3 26 28 31 33

Exchange

by Benjamin Heller ’05

Dateline Andover

Andover lists T.P. Smith among its notable alumni, but who really knows anything about this early black separatist?

82

In Memoriam

IBC

Andover Bookshelf

Sports Talk Time & Treasure Alumni News Class Notes and Alumni Profiles

EXCHANGE

FROM THE EDITOR Spring is a bittersweet time here on the Andover campus, where—in addition to launching another class of graduates into their adult lives— we ready ourselves to say goodbye to retiring teachers. In most cases, these are individuals who have served the academy for decades and whose strengths, foibles and personalities have seemed to a generation or more of students to define the school. In the communications office, we glibly call them the Teaching Titans, and when you read a list of retirees with names like Leslie Ballard, ’Cilla Bonney-Smith, Lydia Goetze, C.Y. Huang, Suzy Joseph, Bob Perrin and Nat Smith, it may indeed seem as if the educational gods were foresaking us.

Not so, however. A careful reading of the Bulletin will show you the faculty pantheon is constantly regenerating itself, and newer to midcareer teachers are carrying the school’s excellence forward unabated. Evidence of this turns up on page 3, where you’ll discover that the College Board recently reported PA’s students are tops in the world in AP music theory and AP physics. And speaking of AP science, it’s no mere coincidence that there appears on page 29 a story telling how Andover students, under the leadership of teachers like Trish Russell and Jeremiah Hagler and with the help of an anonymously endowed research fund, are conducting more independent science research than ever. Then, on page 24, you’ll learn how another endowed fund helped support history scholar Ben Heller ’05 as, with guidance from department chair Vic Henningsen ’69, he researched the controversial career of an early PA graduate and black separatist.

In the life-after-Andover category, you’ll find profiles on such diverse professionals as Father Joseph Champlin ’47, upstate New York’s celebrity priest; Nora Johnson ’50, author of The World of Henry Orient and now, at 71, of a scintillating new memoir; Ruth Harlow ’79, who was named “Lawyer of the Year” in 2003 for successfully arguing the Lawrence v.

Texas case that led to the U.S. Supreme Court striking down antisodomy laws nationwide; and filmmaker Henry-Alex Rubin ’91, whose documentary Murderball was a sensation at the Sundance Film Festival.

Two things are new in this issue. At right you’ll find the first entry in our reborn Letters to the Editor column. We hope you’ll feel encouraged to share your responses to articles that appear in the magazine. Second, on the pages that follow is the new Dateline Andover section, which brings some campus news items to the front of the book, replacing the old News Notes section in the back. While these changes have come about in response to suggestions made on the random alumni survey reported in the winter issue, I hope you will not wait for a formal survey to share your opinions and suggestions with us.

2

Discussions strengthen academic communities To the Editor: I was very pleased to read recently that the Andover Bulletin will once again accept letters submitted to the editor. My household also receives the Swarthmore College Bulletin, Northwestern and the University of Chicago Magazine. These publications are proud to publish letters from alumni and members of the community—even when authors disagree with policies undertaken by their schools’ administrations.

Hearing and disseminating a diversity of views can only strengthen the academy.

And (inevitably) a request: Please, please stop referring to the young women and men who currently attend Andover as “girls and boys.”

Andrew Podolsky ’84 Montgomery Village, Md. Editor’s note: We have indeed begun considering for publication letters commenting on the content of articles in recent issues. Such letters may be edited for length, grammar and clarity. Disagreement with administrative policies will not eliminate a letter from consideration. However, letters characterized by personal invective will not be published. As to style, we follow The Associated Press Stylebook, a standard for newspaper and magazine journalists. By AP style, an individual is a “boy” or “girl” until his or her 18th birthday. Since most of our students have not turned 18, we often refer to them this way.

DATELINE

ANDOVER

Andover ‘leads the world’ in AP physics, music theory

T

he College Board says Andover students are tops in the world in Advanced Placement physics and AP music theory. A recent College Board report, AP Report to the Nation 2005, recognized the academy’s “unparalleled success” for the highest percentage of students who pass the AP physics and music theory exams compared with schools of similar size worldwide. The report named the schools that “lead the world in helping the widest segment of their total school population attain college-level mastery of each AP exam.”

Of the 1,083 students at Andover, 69 took the Physics Mechanics exam and 69 took the Physics Electricity and Magnetism exam in May 2004. They earned an average grade of 4.5 on a 5-point scale on the mechanics exam and an average grade of 3.9 on the electricity and magnetism exam. The 21 students who took the AP music theory exam earned an average grade of 4.95. A grade of 3 or above represents mastery of the subject.

Clyfe Beckwith, chair of the physics department, credits several factors with the school’s success in teaching college-level physics to high school students. “First are the students themselves,” he says. “Our program attracts extremely well-qualified science and math students.” A number of those taking AP physics courses at PA are 10th- and 11th-graders.

The academy’s faculty includes eight physics teachers. Many hold advanced degrees, including two Ph.D. degrees, and all are passionate about teaching physics to adolescents.

The academic curriculum offers 12 different physics courses. There are yearlong introductory courses: Introduction to Physics and College Physics. Seven electives include Classical Mechanics, Cosmology, Physical Geology, Meteorology, Electronics, Relativity and Quantum Mechanics and Physics Seminar. In addition, there are two AP physics courses— one based on calculus and the other on algebra.

The science facilities include the new Gelb Science Center, a 48,000square-foot state-of-the-art science building that opened in January 2004. In addition to an entire floor devoted to physics classrooms, laboratories and interactive space for students and faculty, the building also has an astronomy observatory with a telescope housed in its 18 1/2-foot dome.

Reflecting on the AP music theory exam, Elizabeth Aureden, chair of the music department, says, “Ultimately, the success of Andover students is due to the extraordinary preparation given in Peter Warsaw’s yearlong AP music theory and composition course. Peter starts with a group of students at varying levels of comfort and experience and gets them excited about this subject.”

Warsaw credits the students and the school. “This school is known as a place where students can study music, not just play it,” he says.

When students begin his course, they have heard a lot of music, but they don’t necessarily understand the language of music. “They are intellectually hungry to learn the language,” says Warsaw. “This speaks to their willingness to undertake academic rigor.”

This year he has 42 students taking the course. About half are seniors, while the rest are uppers and lowers. When Warsaw began teaching it in 1984, he had only three students. In all these years, he has never had a student score below a 3 on the AP exam.

3

DATELINE

ANDOVER

Alumna named PA’s first chief investment officer

P

hillips Academy has hired Amy Falls ’82, formerly a managing director and global fixed income strategist for Morgan Stanley, as its first chief investment officer.

Headquartered in New York, Falls will work with the Board of Trustees’ investment committee and with Stephen Carter, PA’s chief financial officer, to oversee management of the academy’s $620 million endowment.

With one of the largest endowments of any secondary school in the country, Andover is the first in its peer group to establish a full-time position dedicated to overseeing endowment assets. The endowment invests in a broad range of financial assets globally, including debt, equity, private equity and venture capital.

“As the markets continue to become more complex, competitive and global in nature, it is clear that having a chief investment officer on board to help us navigate these waters is increasingly critical,” says Carter. “Amy Falls’ deep financial markets expertise, combined with her knowledge of how macroeconomic trends and geopolitical events affect those markets, makes her the perfect person for the job.”

Falls holds a B.A. degree from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. She has more than 15 years’ experience in financial markets, most recently as a managing director and global fixed income strategist for Morgan Stanley, where she was also a member of the firm’s institutional and individual investment policy committees.

She was responsible for setting Morgan Stanley’s strategic and tactical investment themes for fixed income, foreign exchange and commodities markets globally. Previously, she ran the Emerging Markets Research group and was the global high yield strategist.

4

Hotchkiss math co-chair to lead (MS)2 program

F

ernando R. Alonso, co-chair of the mathematics department at The Hotchkiss School, has been named the new director of (MS)2, the school’s 27-year-old Math and Science for Minority Students summer program.

“Ferd Alonso is thoughtful, genuine and committed to education,” says Rebecca Sykes, associate head of school. “He has a demonstrated interest in providing opportunities to kids who have not had encouragement and challenging academic programs.”

Alonso will begin his full-time, year-round faculty position at PA this summer, working with the assistance of Elwin Sykes, who is currently interim director of (MS)2. Alonso also will teach math to students during the regular academic year. A graduate of Baldwin School of Puerto Rico, where he was a Presidential Scholar and class valedictorian, he received a B.S. degree in material science engineering from Cornell University. He returned to Baldwin School to teach mathematics, computer science, chemistry and physics and to serve as computer coordinator.

He later served the Westtown School in Pennsylvania as math department chair, director of student activities, computer coordinator, lacrosse coach and dorm head. At Hotchkiss, he co-chairs the mathematics department and heads an 11th- and 12th-grade boys’ dorm.

Expressing excitement at being named the next director of (MS)2, Alonso says, “The privilege of working with a diverse group of talented and highly motivated students makes this program every teacher’s dream. I look forward to meeting and getting to know the students and families from all over the country who contribute so much to the success of the program each year. I also look forward to meeting the hundreds of alums who have gone through the program. Their stories are the most eloquent testimonies to the success of (MS)2.”

Trustees vote on tuition, salaries, aid Former editors enliven Phillipian newsroom

Phillipian board members with their alumni counterparts critique the newspaper in the newsroom in February. Clockwise from left rear are: Clem Wood ’04, Elisa Harwood ’05, Gordon Murphy ’05, Melissa Chiozzi ’06, Betsy Gootrad ’74, Tom Strong ’82, Buzz Bissinger ’72 and David Schwartz ’72.

W

hile students lobbed snowballs at one another on campus in late February, the incoming and outgoing boards of The Phillipian were brainstorming with former editors of the school newspaper who are now either journalists, book authors or business professionals. Jenny Savino, assistant director for classes and reunions, hosted the event, sponsored by the Office of Alumni Affairs.

As she traveled around the country talking to young alumni, Savino was struck by the number who said what they missed most about Andover was their experience working on The Phillipian. Would she consider inviting former editors to meet with students who work on the newspaper today? Savino agreed, and when invitations went out to 20 former Phillipian editors she got an amazing response: All 20 wanted to be involved in a mentoring relationship with Phillipian staffers. Further, 13 of them—from every decade beginning in the mid-1940s—enthusiastically accepted her invitation. The February date she suggested coincided with the changing of the Phillipian guard: The 2004–05 board was being honored for its service, while members of the new board were having their names newly inscribed on the Phillipian masthead.

At a get-acquainted dinner in Commons with the alumni advisers and 42 current and future Phillipian staffers, Nina Scott, a PA English teacher and The Phillipian faculty adviser, recognized each outgoing board member. Later, in the newsroom in Morse Hall, the alumni engaged the students in a lively discussion on libel and the role of the faculty adviser. The former editors across the board reported they are impressed with The Phillipian and are pleased that today’s students are learning the craft of journalism.

Savino emphasized that the newsroom veterans comprise an affinitybased group that will talk with the board and give them journalistic tips and guidance. Noting that such input should be limited, participant Evan Thomas ’69, assistant managing editor of Newsweek magazine, pointed out, “In delicate or controversial situations, I don’t think that counting on alums for advice is a great idea. We don’t know the campus.”

The current crop of Phillipian editors has committed to return to campus every February for three years to share their ideas and experience with the paper’s staffers.

A

cting upon a mandate of the school’s most recent strategic plan, the Andover Board of Trustees in their meeting in February voted to increase the school’s financial aid budget by $1.1 million, bringing the total financial aid budget to $10.8 million.

The increase means 40 percent of students will receive some sort of financial aid. The trustees also voted to increase faculty salaries by 4.25 percent and set the tuition for 2005–06 at $33,000 for boarders and $25,700 for day students. The strategic plan can be accessed on the school’s Web site, www.andover.edu.

Bienvenidos a Andover

I

n support of the Strategic Plan’s goal of attracting youth from every quarter, the Phillips Academy Web site at www.andover.edu now contains a section of pages in Spanish.

By clicking on a button on the home page that says “¿Habla español? Haga clic aquí,” a visitor to the site can find information in Spanish on campus resources, facts about the school, frequently asked admission questions and driving directions to campus, as well as a Spanish version of the Parents’ Statement for the admission application. Although prospective students must be fluent in English, sometimes their parents struggle with the language. The new Web pages are intended to address their need for information.

5

DATELINE

ANDOVER PEOPLE

ANDOVER

Organist plays in Hong Kong

Change of leadership in Communications

Donald McNemar appointed to new post

Patrick Kabanda, the school organist, made his Asian debut on Feb. 12 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Kabanda, a native of Uganda and a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music in New York, came to Andover in 2004. He made his European debut at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London in 2004.

Theresa Pease, director of editorial services, and Andrew Gully, former managing editor of the Boston Herald, were named to a transition leadership team by Head of School Barbara Landis Chase in January. Pease is interim director of communications operations, while Gully is interim director of communications planning.

Pease, who preceded former communications director Sharon Britton as head of the department, is serving a dual role, continuing to edit the Andover Bulletin and other documents as well as overseeing the publications, public information and Web staff. A seasoned newspaper and magazine writer, she came to PA in 1994 after working for 20 years editing alumni publications and doing external media relations for Tufts University and M.I.T. A communications consultant, Andover resident and current PA parent (Jocelyn ’07), Gully is working part-time in the head of school’s office helping to formulate a long-range communications plan as directed by the academy’s strategic plan. He also is advising Chase on external communications initiatives.

Donald McNemar has been named coordinator of international programs at the Cronin International Center at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass.

McNemar, headmaster at Phillips Academy from 1981–1994, has taught at the business school’s Department of International Studies since 2002 and will continue to teach while undertaking new responsibilities at the center.

After leaving Phillips Academy, McNemar was president of Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C. He and his wife, Britta, live in Waltham.

Dalton awarded NEH fellowship Kathleen Dalton, co-director of the Brace Center for Gender Studies and instructor of history and social science, was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship to work on her next book. The nonfiction work is based on the diaries of Caroline Drayton Phillips, the wife of diplomat William Phillips and a friend of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt.

Dalton’s biography on Theodore Roosevelt was published in 2004.

Murphy named Summer Session director Paul D. Murphy ’84, instructor in mathematics since 1988, will assume the leadership of PA’s Summer Session program in June. Murphy was formerly dean of Flagstaff cluster. He will continue teaching in the math department during the regular session.

New department chairs, scheduling officer announced Margarita Curtis, dean of studies, and Temba Maqubela, dean of faculty, announced in January the appointment of new department chairs. They are: Peter Drench, chair of the history department; Kathy Pryde, chair of the physics department; and Max Alovisetti, chair of the psychology department and director of psychological services. Paul Cernota, instructor in chemistry and adviser for gay, lesbian and bisexual issues, was appointed scheduling officer. All appointments are for a six-year period.

6

Kip on Boston Classics Panel Instructor in classics Nicholas Kip ’60 was invited to be a panelist at the annual meeting of the American Philological Association, the most highly regarded professional organization of classics teachers and scholars in the United States. The meeting was held in Boston in January. He spoke on developing Greek programs. In a computer-generated presentation, Kip outlined the past 35 years’ worth of courses and innovations Andover has made in the classics department to encourage the study of Greek and give students an understanding of classical Greek civilization. Often cited as a leader in secondary school classics education, Andover has taught Greek since its founding in 1778.

Director of development named at Addison Maria Lockheardt has been named the Addison Gallery of American Art’s new director of development. She most recently worked as corporate program director at DeCordova Museum & Sculpture Park in Lincoln, Mass. Her responsibilities at Andover include engaging PA alumni and friends in philanthropic initiatives at the Addison, soliciting underwriting for the gallery’s exhibitions and programs and promoting special projects such as the Addison’s 75th anniversary 2006–07.

“Judge” Hardy Ellen Hardy, director of design services, was recently asked to be a judge for the annual NEMA (New England Museum Association) 2005 Publication Awards. Hardy, who is in her 10th year at PA, has won bronze awards through NEMA for design work she did for the Addison Gallery of American Art. She has also won two gold awards through CASE (Center for the Advancement and Support of Education) for her design work for the admission office and OAR, as well as a bronze for the Andover Bulletin.

THE POWER OF ONE

A Spiritual Voice in a Secular Society Father Joseph Champlin ’47 has spent half a century living out a ministry that is both macro and micro.

by Theresa Pease

S

trolling through downtown Syracuse, N.Y., with Joe Champlin is like marching at the head of a Santa Claus parade alongside Saint Nick himself. Some onlookers move aside to let him pass; many interrupt the procession for a precious moment of contact.

“Father, I loved your message yesterday,” they say. “Because of you, Father, my wife had a peaceful death”; “Father, thank you for praying with me”; and even, “Father, I am praying for you.”

The charismatic alumnus is not the patriarch of some enormous family. He is the Rev. Msgr. Joseph M. Champlin, who will retire after 10 years as rector of Syracuse’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception once he passes his 75th birthday this month. A popular radio personality and author of more than 50 books that have helped millions of Roman Catholics navigate life’s transitions, he is also a cancer patient who has shared his experience of the disease with the reading public, a celibate who has put an indelible stamp on marriage, a syn-

dicated columnist and lecturer whose strong, clear voice explicated the dramatic evolution of Catholic liturgy in the 1960s. He has taught at the Vatican, corresponded with novelist Jacqueline Susann and helped transform the future of minority kids from Syracuse’s depressed inner city.

Fr. Champlin is at once a celebrity priest and a humble pastor who baptizes babies, hears confession and comforts the sick and dying. He manages the cathedral’s business affairs. He takes time to greet the homeless people who sleep in the shadow of the 130-year-old Gothic landmark. He is a romantic who cries at sappy movies.

THE PULL OF THE PULPIT Champlin’s trip down the cathedral aisle was not, to indulge in a pun, preordained. He was raised as a Catholic, but no one in his family had ever taken Holy Orders. His father was an Episcopalian.

“In a very old issue of Fortune magazine, you can find a photo of a black-haired boy who was a great-

grandson of both the founder and the original winemaker of Great Western Champagne. That boy is me,” confides Champlin, who jovially declares he was born in a wine cellar and sent to boarding school from Cleveland, N.Y., because his stepfather and mother thought him an underachieving delinquent who could be redeemed by academic challenge.

But while his Andover friends were mapping out their careers in government, industry, education, law, medicine and the financial world, Champlin harbored a secret.

Even as he prepared to study engi7

calls “the injustice of apartheid, the poverty of Lesotho and the civil war in Rhodesia.”

Fr. Champlin pays a visit to firstgraders at the Cathedral School.

(Photo by Michael Davis, courtesy of the Syracuse New Times.)

neering at Yale, he felt the inner pull of the cloth.

“You ask anyone why he became a priest, and he might tell you it’s to help people, or to repay a debt, or to be close to God,” he says. “Ultimately you’re going to find he doesn’t really know. The truth is, he was called in his heart to be a priest. It’s an impossible feeling to explain. I first felt it when I was in third grade.”

During his freshman year at Yale, Champlin found he could no longer resist the magnetic power of his vocation. He transferred to Notre Dame briefly for a taste of Catholic education, then spent seven years in the seminary. He was ordained in 1956.

NARRATING RENEWAL After completing the first dozen years of his priesthood in upstate New York, Champlin was assigned to Washington, D.C., as a liturgy specialist for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

8

MESSAGES TO THE MILLIONS His first book, Don’t You Really Love Me?, responded to the hedonistic values portrayed in Jacqueline Susann’s Valley of the Dolls. It sold 200,000 copies. The dozens of volumes that followed cover contemporary social issues, plus topics like confession, being an altar-server, and the symbols inside a Catholic church. Champlin’s titles take up six screens on Champlin’s titles take up amazon.com, but most six screens on copies sell through religious stores, parishes and amazon.com, but most copies Catholic education prosell through religious stores, grams. Total sales number in the 20 million range. parishes and Catholic If you’re a married education programs. Total sales Catholic, chances are good you have owned a number in the 20 million range.

Champlin book. His top seller, Together for Life, is a workbook containing an array “I arrived there in 1968,” he of readings, prayers and blessings says, “right as they were changing from which to customize a wedding the Mass from Latin to English, ceremony. It features a mix-andturning the priest around to face the match menu with a tear out sheet people and involving parishioners the prospective bride and groom can more in the ritual.” share with their priest in preparaQuickly becoming a top U.S. tion for the sacrament of matriexpert on the church’s transition, mony. To date, it has sold more than Champlin logged 2 million miles 9 million copies. Champlin, who over the next 15 years, teaching the penned other books on marriage as new liturgy and penning a column well, has personally counseled and syndicated in 70 Catholic newspawed some 1,200 couples over the pers throughout the country. Other past 15 years. church-related travel has taken Champlin to Rome, where he taught and counseled seminarians at the Pontifical North American College, and to South Africa, where he had a front row seat to what he

TOUCHING THE COMMUNITY As a shepherd, Champlin defines his flock broadly. Some years back the diocese transformed its middle-class, white parochial school into a tiny

comment. “You know,” an acquainK-6 academy serving poor minority tance told him, “with your voice, you youngsters whose shot at even a ought to do radio. You ought to be a junior high education seemed spiritual voice in a secular society.” remote. About 80 percent of those Since then, the priest has created enrolled are not Catholic. Now it’s some 200 one-minute radio spots on not unheard-of for its graduates to topics ranging from “Violence in the attend prestigious universities with City” to “The Power of Prayer.” Each ample scholarships. Eight years ago, message airs numerous times on he formed the Guardian Angel WSYR-AM 570 and WHEN-AM Society to raise money for the 620. They cover “all things spiritual,” school. One popular fund-raiser Champlin says: grief, temptation, involves the slender, elderly cleric’s addiction, love, dying, nature. They running in 5K road races, gaining broad, affectionate public support. Each run nets about $30,000 for the school, which has amassed a While he doesn’t condone $1.2 million endowment.

He also lectures on conthe sexual improprieties that temporary issues. One talk, have come to light, he likes to “No Pain, No Gain,” addresses the current crisis in remind people, “The whole the priesthood: an aging Christian message is about corps of priests, declining interest in religious vocaforgiveness and starting over.” tions, controversy surrounding revelations of sexual abuse by the clergy and the church’s response to such claims. While Champlin finds such also provided the fodder for one of issues troublesome, he tries to take a Champlin’s most successful books, positive view of the situation, pointSlow Down: Five Minute Meditations to ing out that the tensions have given De-Stress Your Days. some priests the inspiration to When Slow Down came out in reflect more deeply on the nature of 2003—at $9.95, with Champlin’s the priesthood and to “notch up” money-back guarantee of its impact their spirituality. “Out of pain on the reader’s life—the author was comes gain. It is only by experiencinvited to the local Barnes and ing darkness that we are able to Noble, where 240 people showed up appreciate the light,” he says. And for his autograph. Because of while he doesn’t condone the sexual Champlin’s popularity on the radio, improprieties that have come to the store sold more than 1,500 light, he likes to remind people, copies in a month, achieving its “The whole Christian message is largest sale ever of a single book. about forgiveness and starting over.”

People tell Champlin Slow Down, Just over three years ago, which features 101 daily meditaChamplin’s community outreach took tions, indeed helps them relieve a quantum leap thanks to a casual stress and enhance their spirituality.

FACING ETERNITY Another Champlin title has a more poignant history. From Here to Eternity and Back, published in 2004, chronicles the priest’s struggle with Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia, an incurable but treatable form of cancer that robbed him of his strength, gave him a severe cough and caused him to think from a new perspective about life, death and spirituality. In it, he writes about his chemotherapy, dietary and drug regimen, about his questioning moments and about the enormous outpouring of love and support he received from throughout the Syracuse community when his illness became public. Letters alone totaled 2,500, he says.

During a visit with the Andover Bulletin, Champlin appeared well, energetic and whole. Having just seen the popular movie Shall We Dance? he was spiritedly crooning the Rodgers and Hammerstein song when we met. He had no cough, and he proudly revealed having completed a four-mile run the previous day.

“I asked the doctor my prognosis, and he said I have a five-year life expectancy,” Champlin told us. “At 74, you can say, ‘Five years; that’s pretty good; I’ll take it,’ or you can say, ‘Five years. That’s bad.’ I’m trying to keep focused on the good. I would certainly say that I have had a full, contented life. After all, how many people can say they’ve traveled 2 million miles, published 50 books and had a lifetime of pastoral experiences to look back on?” n

9

Lydia’s vision may well be her most lasting gift to the academy.

In the words of a science colleague, “She built the research atmosphere that sets Andover apart.”

LYDIA GOETZE:

Connecting the worlds of science and nature L

by Vincent Avery

ydia Goetze’s 25 years as a Phillips Academy instructor form but one phase in a life filled with curiosity about the natural world, strong self-reliance, love for personal challenges and enthusiasm for guiding and mentoring the young.

Lydia studied biology as an undergraduate at Harvard and at Johns Hopkins, where she received a master’s degree. She taught at 10

Newton High School in Massachusetts before joining the Phillips Academy science division in 1980. In her first few years, when the academy was adapting to the changing needs of faculty families, Lydia, recently widowed and with two young daughters, Lisel ’88 and Erica ’90, was one of two dormitory counselors for 42 girls in Stevens Hall. She also taught two sections of biology and an interdisciplinary course on food and hunger in developing countries. In addition, with

wide experience as a mountaineer and ocean sailor, she became the first woman to direct the academy’s Search and Rescue program. She also coached all three trimesters, rappelling down the Bell Tower, crawling through the sports field drainage systems and leading groups of students on winter camping trips in the White Mountains.

Above all, however, a passion for learning and teaching science filled her days and shaped the academy in new ways. Believing

RETIREMENTS 2005 from the first that “students should do science rather than just learn about it,” in the late 1980s Lydia introduced a laboratory research course in biology and fought for its continued improvement. As chair of the biology department from 1986–1991 and 1997–2003, she hired a series of young teachers with Ph.D.-level experience to expand the program, resulting in a growing tradition of active student research.

In promoting advanced science, Lydia was concerned with all students, not just the most able, and also with their teachers. She knew that talking with seniors about their firsthand experience conducting molecular biology lab experiments would do more to inspire and educate younger students about the relevance of their studies than almost anything teachers could do.

She knew an active laboratory program would also educate and inspire the faculty, many of whom had not been directly involved in their own scientific experiments since graduate school. Lydia’s vision in this area may well be her most lasting gift to the academy. In the words of a science colleague, “She built the research atmosphere that sets Andover apart.”

Collaboration with colleagues across many disciplines and a constant pursuit of professional development are also hallmarks of Lydia’s Andover career. Partnerships with teachers of history and social science, philosophy and economics gave rise to projects on writing across the curriculum and ecological literacy. Cooperation with the Annenberg Institute for School Reform introduced new models of peer mentoring to science instructors. Her long-standing interest in

agriculture, health and social science led to direct personal experience with non-violent social change and grassroots development efforts, first in a Hindu context with the Gandhi Peace Foundation in India, later in a Buddhist context with Oxfam and Sarvodaya Shramadana in Sri Lanka, and finally in a Muslim context with midwives in the Aga Khan Health Services in northern Pakistan. Lydia speaks of these ventures as life-changing experiences that enriched her teaching immensely.

More privately and in quieter moments Lydia has pursued her love for the natural world through largeformat landscape photography.

Spending long hours in the field and taking the time to learn archival digital printing techniques to craft art-quality prints, she forms contemplative vistas that express a strong spiritual relationship with the environment. These beautiful images call across cultures for respect and care for nature as a primary motive shaping scientific study.

With such a broad range of interests, clear vision and deep commitment to lifelong learning, it was no surprise that Lydia was appointed to Andover’s 1995 Steering Committee. Under the leadership of history and social

science teacher Tony Rotundo, 10 teachers undertook the most thorough review since the 1960s of the academy’s educational program.

Of Lydia’s contribution, Tony writes, “She brought boundless curiosity, an inspiring openness to new possibilities and a wide but well-grounded imagination. Like any good teacher, she showed all the qualities of a good student. She was passionate about ideas but reasonable in discussion.

She was a warmly integrative force.”

Precisely! That is the Lydia Goetze respected by students and valued by colleagues, the teacher who brought so much to a renewed science program and from whom others will now benefit as she changes careers. When Lydia moves back to her native Maine this summer, she will explore the opportunities for teaching and learning that photography may afford. From this new perspective her energy, curiosity and talent will continue to engage those around her. Lydia leaves behind in Andover a sure foundation for the academy’s science program and a school grateful for her joy in learning and her dedication to teaching.

Vincent Avery is an instructor of philosophy and religious studies.

Left: Lydia Goetze with Biochem 60 students in 1998; (right) she works with students rappelling from the Memorial Bell Tower in 1988.

11

CHENG-YU “C.Y.” HUANG

F

by Tana Sherman

rom China’s Cultural Revolution to the creative but tranquil classrooms of Phillips Academy, Cheng-Yu “C.Y.” Huang describes her life as “the American dream come true.” She is the first Asian-American to retire from the faculty of Phillips Academy as well as the first woman to retire from the math department.

“Phillips Academy helped me get my family reunited,” she says.

“For that I will be forever thankful.”

Growing up in China with six siblings, Huang was always good at math and knew she wanted to teach it. At Shanghai University, she learned English, earned a B.A. degree and met Yuan Han, who would become her husband and later the founding chair of Andover’s Chinese department.

Huang began her teaching career in China in 1965. The next year, when the Cultural Revolution started, the schools closed their doors, and Huang was sent to the countryside to be “re-educated.” Her husband remained in the city, where he raised their infant daughter, Joy, alone for 10 months. When Huang returned from what she calls “a time of forced separation,” she was pained to see little Joy hiding from the mother she no longer knew.

12

The American dream comes true at Andover

“She’s an imaginative teacher who has tremendous skill at sensing where a class is and adjusting the lesson to meet her students’ needs.

The kids trust her, love her and flock to her.”

RETIREMENTS 2005

In 1978, Deng Xiaoping started to adopt the “open-door” policy in China. Huang and Han, with her uncle’s sponsorship, came to the United States for their graduate studies in March 1981, leaving their children—now including a second daughter, Liz—behind temporarily in China. At Ohio State University, Huang earned an M.A. degree in comparative literature and a second master’s degree in teaching mathematics in secondary schools. Liz joined them in 1985. While at Ohio State, Huang converted from traditional Buddhist beliefs to Christianity.

She remembers fondly the day Kelly Wise, then Andover dean of faculty, visited Ohio State to recruit teachers. Many of her classmates weren’t interested when they learned being a dorm counselor was part of the job. But Huang, who missed her daughter Joy, saw this as an opportunity to be with and nurture children. “I did not know how famous Phillips Academy was,” she says. “When I visited the campus, I was not scared at all. I felt so comfortable.”

In 1986, she and Liz came to Andover, leaving Joy in China and Han finishing his dissertation at Ohio State. Huang became the third female faculty member in the math department.

When Huang’s colleagues saw how much she missed Joy, the school stepped in to help get a visa for the girl. Fred Stott ’36, retired secretary of the academy, shared the details of Huang’s situation with then vice president George Bush ’42, who referred the matter to an expert on visa issues in Barbara Bush’s office. In early 1987, Huang finally was reunited with the daughter she hadn’t seen for more than five years. “I left her as a little girl, and she came back as a young lady,” says Huang. In 1988, Han joined his wife on the PA faculty. Joy graduated from PA in 1989 and is now a marketing manager in California. Liz, a 1993 Andover graduate, is a gynecological surgeon in Texas.

Huang, who became an American citizen in 1996, has taught all levels of math, but likes teaching calculus the most. “The kids are more mature, and it’s easier to go deeper,” she says. When she taught AP calculus for School Year Abroad in Beijing, all her students got the highest grade of 5 on the AP calculus exam.

At Andover, one student called her “an awesome geometry teacher” and wrote in a note to Huang, “You never got annoyed when I asked you to explain things two and three

times, and you were always willing to offer me extra help.”

Outside the classroom, Huang started tai chi classes, which she taught for 19 years. She was a house counselor in Double Brick House for seven years, then a complementary house counselor in Bancroft Hall.

She has served as an adviser to both day and boarding students.

“In the classroom and in her life, C.Y. is not afraid to change course midstream,” says math instructor William Scott. “She’s an imaginative teacher who has tremendous skill at sensing where a class is and adjusting the lesson to meet her students’ needs. The kids trust her, love her and flock to her.”

That love goes both ways. “I’m not only their teacher, but also their friend and an adult who can give them some advice,” says Huang. “I love my students. They are very smart and respectful.”

Next year, Huang plans to return to Shanghai and live near her siblings. She hopes to use her free time to teach English classes, with the Bible as a text. Han will take a leave of absence to be with his wife.

13

“E

by Jean St. Pierre

ver the best of friends.”

Dickens used that phrase in Great Expectations, and it comes to my mind now. I am honored, after 35 years of friendship, to celebrate ’Cilla Bonney-Smith as she and her husband, Nat Smith, prepare to retire. I am saddened, as well, since the distance between their retirement home in Greensboro, Vt., and mine on Cape Cod, Mass., seems vast. But then, as Edna St. Vincent Millay reminds us in her poem “Renascence,” the world stands out “no wider than the heart is wide.” ’Cilla, Priscilla, daughter of New England, has a long and honored New England ancestry.

She speaks with great love of her childhood in Stratford, Conn., and East Sumner, Maine. Her mother and father, Ruth and Linwood, sister and brother-in-law, Barbara and Dennis, and she are all loyal graduates of Bates College. It is perhaps, therefore, appropriate to borrow a series of phrases from New England bard Ralph Waldo Emerson in attempting to evoke the essence of ’Cilla.

“To win the respect of intelligent people and affection of children.”

Surely, Emerson was anticipating ’Cilla as he shaped his definition of “success.” ’Cilla, who also holds master’s degrees from Brown University and Lesley College, arrived in Andover in 1970 after teaching for four years at Mount Greylock Regional High School in Williamstown, Mass. She and her former husband were the first “parents” at the Williamstown residence of A Better Chance (ABC), a program aimed at opening 14

Recently ’Cilla was awarded the Brace Center McKeen Award for “inspired and dedicated leadership in education” and significant contribution to the coeducational academy.

’CILLA BONNEY-SMITH:

Fulfilling great expectations

RETIREMENTS 2005 educational doors for talented minority youngsters. For the following three years she taught history at North Andover High School while creating a life as a faculty wife at Phillips Academy, where she raised two sons and became the spirit of Elbridge Stuart House, then Stimson House. How many students, then and now, are more confident because of her wise counsel and gentle patience? How many students have filled Farrar House, the Smiths’ current abode, on weeknights and weekends for meetings, as well as to bake, to play board games, to talk and to be regaled by Nat’s irreverent sense of humor? Nat, a PA math teacher for 40 years, completes the life ’Cilla has created here. Both ’Cilla and Nat’s children, Phillip ’91, James ’94, Scott ’81, Tina ’86, and their grandchildren are testimony to their shared lives.

“To laugh often and love much,” Emerson also reminds us. When I stayed with ’Cilla most recently, I saw her hasten from her office to make hot fudge sundaes and then welcome the students she advises in ADAAC, the Andover Drug and Alcohol Awareness Committee. A day later, I watched her leave to score a swim meet. College counselor Alice Purington, her partner in this endeavor, says ’Cilla’s enthusiastic cheering for the swimmers is the most significant part of this event. On Sunday morning, ’Cilla prepared her kitchen for two students who came to cook for an African-LatinoAmerican Society event. The camaraderie in that kitchen was as significant as the cooking.

“To find the best in others.” ’Cilla is the essence and quintessence of

the boarding school teacher. She has been house counselor and complementary house counselor; she has guided ADAAC and Freedom from Chemical Dependency week; she has helped create and teach the academy’s Life Issues course. She has been both associate dean of students in these past vital years and a counselor in Graham House. She has been academic adviser and day student counselor. She has been a guiding force and support in multicultural affairs. Quietly, she has been a guide and mentor to so many.

Phillips Academy, only 32 years after its merger with Abbot Academy, has many singular women in its pantheon. Surely, ’Cilla represents them well. So, too, does she represent Abbot Academy women.

The sisters McKeen, Philena and Phebe, were singular spirits. “To Abbot,” Susan Mcintosh Lloyd tells us, in her Abbot history book A Singular School, “Philena and Phebe brought the unquestioned assumption that ‘beyond learning was character. … and that all teachers and students should rejoice in the opportunity to serve others.’” ’Cilla embodies both of these women: Philena the visionary and Phebe the teacher. Recently ’Cilla was awarded the Brace Center McKeen Award for “inspired and dedicated leadership in education” and significant contribution to the coeducational academy. This was an important accolade, and only the beginning of many as she approaches retirement.

“To leave the world a little better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition,” Emerson’s definition continues. ’Cilla has grown gardens abundant in their beauty. She makes the

school and our lives more beautiful with flowers. At all-school meetings and at the quiet moments of the soul her flowers stand testimony.

Always there are the “nosegays” at Commencement: the elegant and individual flower bouquet for each of her advisees. Many the student testifies to the importance of her presence. And “redeemed social condition”? There are limitless examples. Phillips Academy is indeed a community, a village, in no small part because of ’Cilla’s presence.

“There’s no use trying,” said the heroine of Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wo n d e r l a n d .

“One can’t believe impossible things.”

“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen.

“When I was your age, I did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

Well, for many months, before breakfast and after, I have tried to imagine this school without ’Cilla.

Alice is right. It’s impossible.

How many lives ’Cilla has touched and enriched in these 35 years! We are all the richer for her presence.

Jean St. Pierre retired in 2004 after a lifetime of teaching English and theatre at Abbot and Phillips academies.

15

Question, provoke and lead NAT SMITH:

F

by Victor Henningsen ’69

or 40 years math teacher Nat Smith has been, to use his words, “yanking people’s chains.” Students who asked innocently, “Why are we studying this stuff?” got the classic response: “Three reasons.

Keeps me employed, keeps your mother happy and it’s good for your sex life.” Colleagues grew used to Nat’s challenging cross-examinations. (“They think my questions are rude,” he says. “I believe they’re penetrating.”) Every fall Nat reassured anxious parents: “Your kids are doing fabulously!” pausing to add, “not here, of course.”

Nat is famously full, fair, frank and direct—especially direct. From the head of school to the youngest ninth-grader, all learned to take Smith as they found him, but learned, also, that he would do the same. He was no respecter of rank: All got the same irreverent invitation to step up and show what they could do. All discovered the challenge was invigorating; they got better as they rose to meet it. And all saw the joy Nat took in their improvement. “He’s as pleased with

16

“He never took himself too seriously, but, boy, he took you seriously! I learned that what I thought mattered, and I learned to take responsibility for my own ideas.”

the shot you develop to beat him as he is with his own,” noted one of his squash partners.

“You know,” Nat observed once, “there’s a difference between instruction and teaching. Anyone can instruct.”

Nat taught. He began in 1957, fresh out of Princeton and, with the exception of two years of graduate work, never stopped. He came to

Andover in 1965 after stints at the Taft School and Athens College in Greece. At Andover he taught the length and breadth of the math curriculum, wrote three texts and chaired the department. Passionate about fairness, dedicated to racial equality and committed to international education, Nat reached well beyond Morse Hall as a teacher. He taught in the ABC (A Better

RETIREMENTS 2005

Chance) program, a program that helps educate minority youth; Andover’s (MS)2 Math & Science for Minority Students program; the Andover-Dartmouth Institute, a summer program for urban public high school math teachers; School Year Abroad; and PA’s International Academic Partnership (IAP).

Revered as the man who established Andover’s Search and Rescue program, Nat also coached football, track, tennis, soccer, hockey, cycling and wrestling, retiring as the coach of JVII squash and varsity golf.

Serving two decades as a house counselor, Nat was the dean of the West Quad North cluster for eight eventful years in the 1970s. As faculty adviser to The Phillipian he staunchly defended the good judgment and independence of student journalists. Active in local affairs, he retired this year after 35 years as president of the Andover Village Improvement Society (AVIS), the town of Andover’s extraordinarily successful land preservation trust. In the midst of all this activity he managed to raise four children and, with his wife, Associate Dean of Students ’Cilla Bonney-Smith, made their home a welcoming refuge for students, colleagues and alumni.

Throughout it all, Nat remained fiercely independent, impossible to

categorize and highly influential.

Nat loves to question, to provoke and, in doing so, to lead. His is a unique and good-humored blend of skepticism and enthusiasm that challenges all to think clearly, question assumptions, analyze rigorously and imagine creatively. He leaves a lasting mark on the institution through his work on policymaking groups like the 1988 Long Range Planning Committee, which inaugurated a new era of facultytrustee relations. He was a mainstay of the Curriculum Committee, where, year in and year out, Nat and his colleagues defined the purposes of an Andover education. Students and colleagues alike found that debating Smith was demanding but rewarding. More than one student has said of him, “He never took himself too seriously, but, boy, he took you seriously! I learned that what I thought mattered, and I learned to take responsibility for my own ideas.”

Nat has his own ideas, and they are powerful. “It seems to me,” he once observed, “that the only true measure of a school’s success—the only one that matters—is if every kid at some point makes an enduring connection with some adult at the place. It doesn’t matter who—teacher, house counselor, coach, a member of the grounds

crew. What matters is that the kid is touched, the connection is formed and it endures. Good schools do that; others pretend to. Good teachers want to be that adult. But, of course, schools and teachers never really know if we’ve done it.”

For 40 years Nat not only met that standard, he defined it. He touched countless students. He inspired his colleagues to be that adult and make Andover that kind of school. As Nat and ’Cilla retire to northern Vermont, we who remain must ask ourselves the quintessential Smith question: Can we measure up?

Victor Henningsen ’69 is an instructor in and chair of the history and social science department.

Smith readies ropes in the Search & Rescue room in Evans Hall.

17

Suzy’s teaching is notable for its theatricality, clarity and authenticity. Her goal is to bring French to life for her students.

A

by George Dix

So very French!

MADAME JOSEPH:

Parisian once told me that to understand the French one must appreciate their instinct to make the most of their circumstances. They somehow turn setbacks into victories and the mundane into something special, casting a sort of agreeable spell on others—all with verve, panache and imagination. Suzy Joseph, who retires this spring after teaching French at Andover for 25 years, fits that assessment. One of her students seemed astonished but delighted as he blurted out to her, “After so long in the States you’re still so French!” Indeed, Suzy is very French, and indeed she resolutely and positively exercises that Gallic magic touch which has charmed PA students and colleagues for 25 years.

At the height of World War II Suzy was born by candlelight in Fontainebleau, France, in the cellar of the family home because the American bombardment had destroyed the roof. The family survived the war and in 1945 moved to Paris, where Suzy attended the Lycée Victor Hugo and had, she says, “many models of rigorous and excellent teaching.”

These role models, as well as a family background, on both sides, of four generations of teachers, inspired her to choose teaching as her vocation.

Initially it was Suzy’s interest in the English language and American literature that brought her to the United States. Armed with a

RETIREMENTS 2005

master’s degree in English from the Sorbonne, she landed a Fulbright Fellowship to study at Oberlin College, where she met and married her first husband before moving on to Indiana University. It was there I first met Suzy in 1968, when we were both graduate students in French literature. After receiving an M.A. degree in 1970, Suzy taught French at DePauw University, Choate Rosemary Hall and Milton Academy before coming to Andover in 1980.

Suzy’s teaching is notable for its theatricality, clarity and authenticity. She is, frankly, a bit of a ham.

But there is method to the madness.

Her goal is to bring French to life for her students. “Besides,” she says, “I need to enjoy myself, and I guess it’s contagious.” If she is amusing, Suzy is also demanding and pushes students, she says, to “rise above their inherited self.”

Always curious and always seeking new approaches, Suzy has contributed several innovations to PA’s French department. She developed courses on French cinema and theatre, made student portfolios and personal experiences an integral part of the third-year course, and established a summer study program in France.

Suzy likes things to be festive, playful and humorous. She loves flowers, food and parties and enjoys making events, situations and people-gathering more than just routine. Today’s pop-culture mantra, “It’s no big deal,” makes little sense to Suzy. In her view we should live fully, should make most experiences a “big deal.” At her house lowly

Suzy Joseph’s other achievements included coaching tennis for many seasons and spending 12 years in dormitories as a house counselor. For her contribution to the French culture, she received the Palmes Academiques from the French government.

green beans metamorphose into elegant haricots verts, and a Bastille Day cook-out materializes as a gourmet event. She also loves to laugh, especially at herself. Her Blanchard House girls, who always referred to Suzy as “Madame,” capitalizing on the association that title has with the madams of American brothels, once conspired to dress up for their madame as outlandishly made-up prostitutes, lounging and pretending to eagerly host an open house to celebrate Mardi Gras. Madame found the occasion, she says, “hysterically funny.” In Suzy we see a touch of irreverence, an amusement in life’s absurdities, a Gallic spirit and great pride in her heritage. There is an assumption not of superiority, but of competence, a cultural confidence that is never arrogant.

Suzy’s enthusiasm and verve are much appreciated by her students.

They are indeed contagious, and even the students who wonder how she can still be “so French” are drawn into her orbit. One young man even

told me, “Madame Joseph speaks French with a very good accent.”

Suzy and her husband, Gérard Koerckel, will reside at their home in Biarritz, France, not far from her daughters Laura ’86 and Christine ’89, who live in Paris and London, respectively. Gérard, like Suzy, is a native of France and longtime resident of Andover who shares with his wife a passion for cooking and gardening.

Pursuing quiet interests like reading and doing flower arrangements, she will also guide international visitors through lovely Basque country, the Bordeaux wine region and Paris, her beloved city of origin.

Suzy longs for a special quality of life. This bon vivant, she says, will enjoy every day as if it were the last day of her life.

As one student said, “Oh, she makes you feel French!”

George Dix, now on sabbatical, teaches Spanish and French at Phillips Academy.

19

A Renaissance couple

I

by Tana Sherman

n a small Vermont farming village 30 miles south of the Canadian border, Leslie Ballard and Bob Perrin bought a piece of land and, with no experience, spent the next 28 years building their dream house themselves. Side-by-side they drew up plans, laid out boards and hammered each nail. That team approach is evident not only in their home, but also in their marriage and their 31-year teaching careers at Andover—Ballard in chemistry and Perrin in mathematics and physics—as they retire together.

Warmth and brilliance LESLIE BALLARD:

A

sk any member of the chemistry department about Leslie Ballard and the response will describe either her boundless energy or her intellectual passion. Throughout her PA career, she chose to teach courses at four different levels each term because she relished doing four distinct preparations each day.

“This was how I made sure 20

things were fresh for both me and the kids,” she says. “There’s enough repetition over the years. I love the stretch of teaching upper levels, but I also enjoy teaching young students who are brilliant but hate science.”

Temba Maqubela, dean of faculty, says Ballard changed Chemistry 250, usually a course for kids who are timid about science,

“from being a sieve that removes less talented students to being a pump that energizes all students. She transformed the vision of how science is taught.”

Ballard found her own way into science through art. After a childhood spent in Massachusetts, Germany, Holland, Switzerland and New York, she attended Sarah Lawrence College, planning to study art. “I soon realized art wasn’t serious for me,” she says. “My science courses were incredible. I wanted to go into science, where things could be analyzed precisely.”

RETIREMENTS 2005 “She was energetic, tenacious, supportive, intriguing, questioning and able to provide an interesting perspective. I was always learning something in our exchanges.”

After receiving a B.A. degree, she worked in the Harvard lab of renowned DNA scientist and Nobel laureate James Watson. Next, working in a lab at Rockefeller University, she injected large frogs with hormones, then collected their eggs and ran experiments. “I like to work with people,” she says. “I didn’t want to spend my time with frogs and test tubes.” She turned to teaching as a career and received an M.A.T. degree from Harvard.

When she joined the Andover science faculty in 1973, during the academy’s first year of coeducation, Ballard was the only female in her department, and she was teaching chemistry and biology mostly to boys.

“The girls were second-class citizens,” she says, remembering that one girl who wanted to start a girls’ hockey team was told by a female physical education instructor that girls would look horrible in hockey uniforms.

To encourage girls to pursue science, Ballard developed a project to bring women scientists to campus. She reports a few traditional faculty members called her program “overencouragement.”

“Things gradually got better, but we still have a problem with not enough girls in upper level Math 65 and Physics 580,” she says. Ballard also worked successfully to get the school’s science requirement increased from one year to two, with

three years of science now recommended.

Ballard and colleagues Walter Sherrill, Edith Walker, Stephen Carter and Maqubela developed a program that encouraged minority students to study advanced math and science. They invited African-American and Hispanic students who showed potential in math and science to meet with them weekly for challenging problems and one-onone advice concerning upper-level courses. Alumni of that early program have told Ballard it was important to their later success. She has kept a thank-you letter from one student, Kyra Williams ’96, who wrote, “You helped me go that extra mile.”

“I’ve had fun helping kids,” Ballard says. “At the same time, I had a reputation for being a demanding teacher.”

Of Ballard’s intellectual passion, chemistry instructor Cristina Kerekes says, “If she didn’t understand something, she would find books, do research on the Internet and delve until she understood. Then she would share that knowledge with her colleagues and students.”

Ballard was one of the first at PA to use computers in the classroom. “I think computers are magical instruments,” she says. In 1995, she hired a student to give her 10 lessons in

Facing page: Perrin and Ballard on their property in Vermont. Above, Ballard in the classroom.

computer graphics. Then she made a computer movie of a camera moving inside a diamond crystal.

During her career, Ballard was awarded a chair on the Emilie Belden Cochran Foundation, headed the chemistry department and then the science division, and served as a member of the Curriculum Committee and the Composition of the School Committee. She enjoyed mentoring new teachers. “She took me under her wing,” says Deborah Carlisle, instructor in chemistry. “She was energetic, tenacious, supportive, intriguing, questioning and able to provide an interesting perspective. I was always learning something in our exchanges.”

Maqubela remembers the day in 1986 when he came to Andover for a job interview. Ballard asked him which chemistry courses he would like to teach, rather than automatically assigning the new faculty member to teach lower-level courses. “She has institutional courage,” says Maqubela, “and we 21

RETIREMENTS 2005

share a passion for change.” As their friendship grew over the years, he also has been impressed with Ballard’s strong beliefs in human rights, as well as her great warmth and brilliance.

Outside the classroom, Ballard taught yoga classes for many years and was a house counselor, baking and cooking for her students. When school wasn’t in session, Ballard, Perrin and their daughter, Kimberly Ballard-Perrin ’98, took bike trips in France and England and went skiing in Switzerland.

In Vermont, Ballard paints and gardens. A strong proponent of fitness, she is doing lots of yoga, skiing, biking and walking.

Describing herself as “totally besotted” with British author Virginia Woolf, Ballard plans to walk with her husband on Woolf’s South Downs in England in May.

r toddler Ballard with he y. rl daughter, Kimbe

22

Understated genius ROBERT PERRIN:

W

ith a doctorate from M.I.T. and subsequent teaching positions at M.I.T., Harvard, Brandeis and Northeastern, Bob Perrin seemed on the fast track to becoming a college professor. But he disliked the fact he had little interaction with students when teaching math and physics in large university lecture halls. Besides, he had a black belt in karate, and he wanted to make sure he had time to practice his martial art every day.

His wife suggested he expand his search for a teaching position to secondary independent schools.

Visiting Andover for an interview, Perrin says, “The rhythm of the day—classes in the morning and athletics in the afternoon—was such a positive thing. But I had to convince the physics and math chairmen who interviewed me that I was interested in teaching at this level.” On the other hand, the athletic director was interested in hiring him to start a noncompetitive karate program.

On joining the faculty with his wife in 1973, Perrin says, “The oneon-one relationships with kids are so important and rewarding. That is the essence of teaching for me.

Every class period, my style was continually to ask questions to bring each student in.” His goal was to make math and physics as exciting for the students as it was for him and

to have the students be individually pressed to go a little further than they thought they could. By all accounts, he succeeded.

“There is no one like Bob in terms of understated genius,” says Temba Maqubela, dean of faculty.

“He is as close to an Einstein as we have ever had. He could solve a problem in three or four lines that would take a page for anyone else.”

Perrin’s colleagues describe him as a very private person, a man of few words and a good listener, thinker and processor of information. “You always get the impression his mind is going full tilt,” says Peter Watt, instructor in physics, who shared a Physics 580 classroom with Perrin for many years. “He wanted to make certain students saw the beauty and elegance of the physics he was teaching, as well as the nuts and bolts. He also was incredibly patient.

I often would see him working with students who were struggling.”

Perrin is as good a teacher of his colleagues as of his students, according to Don Barry, instructor in mathematics. “He was our go-to guy,” says Barry. “Math is humbling. There’s always a problem you can’t do. Bob would take it home, and the next day he would bring in the solution and explain it. He has great insight.”

Barry calls Perrin “a real Renaissance man” because he can go beyond the fields of math and science.

“He wanted to make certain students saw the beauty and elegance of the physics he was teaching, as well as the nuts and bolts. He also was incredibly patient. I often would see him working with students who were struggling.”

Perrin took the same problemsolving approach to building the couple’s home in Vermont. “Starting with no experience, we bought a lot of books on how to build a house and how to be your own architect.

We designed it from scratch and built it ourselves,” he says. “It’s one of the most exciting and satisfying things we’ve done—to have this idea and then transform it into a physical reality. At this point, I’m pretty professional and I could literally do anything in home building.”

In Andover’s classrooms, Perrin also proved he could do anything.

He taught all levels of physics and math, from beginning courses to independent projects. Going beyond the curriculum, he enjoyed the opportunity to develop courses.

Physics 650, a seminar that focuses on mathematical techniques in physics, covers material most students wouldn’t encounter until their junior year of college. He

created it for highly motivated students who already have finished Advanced Placement physics.

“What’s unique about Andover is the ability to do something like that,” he says. Perrin, who was awarded a chair on the Donna Brace Ogilvie Teaching Foundation No. 1, also served as chair of the physics department for a number of years.

Working one-on-one with students on their independent projects, mostly in mathematics, he says, “I’ve pushed those kids as far as they could go. That’s always been important to me.” At the other end of the spectrum, he worked in math study hall with kids who were in trouble in their math courses. “To work with these students and get them succeeding by asking them the

right questions and helping them along a little bit has been a positive experience,” he says. “The primary thing I have liked about teaching at Andover has been the opportunity to help each kid who’s been in any of my classes to gain as much as he or she can.”

Outside the classroom, he set up a successful karate program and ran it for 25 years.

Perrin has seen many changes at Andover since he arrived in 1973.

One of the most exciting to him in the past 10 years is how the dream of “youth from every quarter” is being realized. “Different cultural backgrounds are part of one’s everyday experience now,” he says. n

Top: Perrin oversees a lab experiment.

Bottom: He spins a bicycle wheel to demonstrate a physics principle.

23

A slice of Andover history:

The Story of Thomas Paul Smith

by Ben Heller ’05 n the night of Sept. 8, 1849, the name of one Thomas Paul Smith echoed from the walls of Boston’s Beacon Hill meetinghouse. As the 1838 Phillips Academy alumnus stood to address the raucous crowd, many greeted him with three resounding cheers. His voice rose above the throng, challenging the assembly to hear fair discussion where, he said, “confusion, discord and excitement” had reigned.

Smith was a minority within a minority—one of a handful of African-American abolitionists who believed the answer to educational equality lay in separate rather than integrated institutions. That night, he conveyed his ideas with such unremitting conviction that many of his integrationist adversaries responded with a virulent hiss. Yet the eloquence and cogency of his speech appealed to the presiding

O

24

school committee, which consequently voted to keep Boston’s separatist Abiel Smith School in operation, observing that if Thomas Paul Smith were representative of all Africans, then “differences in the capacities of the two races could no longer be seriously entertained.”

Smith was an incendiary spokesman, an intellectual eccentric and a rather dubious politician whose iconoclastic vision of racial equality energized Boston’s divided African-American community. As a native Bostonian who benefited from a superb education, Smith worked as a clothier while serving as a prominent advocate for the improvement of the status of the black community in antebellum Massachusetts. Though most wellknown for his work in the field of education, he also served time in jail for protesting the Fugitive Slave Act and campaigned to establish an

African-American political party.

His interest in education blossomed when his cousin, Thomas Paul Jr., applied for the position of headmaster at the academically elite and exclusively black Abiel Smith School on Belknap Street. Boston’s black community had founded the school in 1808, though a white benefactor named Abiel Smith provided its endowment. Thomas Paul Smith soon became spokesman for the Boston separatist movement and wrote frequently to William Lloyd Garrison’s integrationist Liberator in support of the Abiel Smith School. He wrote under the pen name “Justice” and sarcastically protested that the community’s antagonism toward the school was “a pretty dose … for anti-slavery to swallow!” When the Boston school committee began investigating the effectiveness of the Abiel Smith School in educating African-

American youths, Smith swiftly organized petitions defending the local schoolhouse. Though the school committee eventually decided to hire Smith’s cousin as headmaster, attendance at the Smith School dwindled until the state legislature finally integrated Boston public schools in 1855. After this date, Thomas Paul Smith’s name vanished from the Boston city directory.

Why would a man who had a major impact on African-American education disappear not only from his hometown, but also from history itself? Though Phillips Academy proudly claims Smith as a “notable” alumnus, his name carries little recognition beyond a small circle of scholars. Unfortunately, the scarcity of proper documentation regarding the activities of many prominent African-American intellectuals is not unusual. The eventual dissolution of the Boston separatist movement largely undermined the importance of Smith’s accomplishments. Though Smith might have preferred that history remember him for his brilliant and inspiring oratory, he is equally notorious for his questionable ethics and overbearing personality.

Distraught over the community’s

support for the integrationists, Smith and his followers once disrupted a school committee meeting by surrounding the building and launching stones through its windows. Such incidents suggest that Smith’s political adversaries might have strongly encouraged his 1855 departure from Boston.

Though Smith’s controversial ideas never took root in the Boston community, those ideas were undoubtedly shaped by his elite education, particularly at Phillips Academy. Not the first AfricanAmerican to attend Andover, the 11-year-old Smith transferred from the Abiel Smith School in 1838 during Samuel “Uncle Sam” Harvey Taylor’s inaugural year as headmaster at Andover. Academy Hill remained racially charged from the 1835 visit of William Lloyd Garrison, whose impassioned abolitionist oratory at Andover provoked a riot among local Irish railroad workers. Although life under the despotic rule of “Uncle Sam” was somewhat less than enjoyable, Taylor’s strong emphasis on the classics served as a foundation for Smith’s eloquent and persuasive prose. However, Smith’s antago-

nistic personality likely clashed with Taylor’s conservative administration, and Smith returned to finish his schooling at the Abiel Smith School after only one year at Phillips Academy. Still, his short stay at Andover profoundly influenced his views on integrated education. He suggested that those “burning with wrath against [exclusively black schools] should turn their crusade against white schools where exclusiveness prevails.”

Impelled by his Andover experience, Smith remained passionately committed to the betterment of African-Americans in Boston. In response to those who challenged his views, Smith noted that “we are colored men, exposed alike to oppression and prejudice; our interests are all identical—we rise or fall together.” Smith served as an example for generations of AfricanAmericans and stands as an overlooked forerunner to future black nationalists like Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X. n

Facing page: The Abiel Smith School (second building) in Boston, circa 1850.

Benjamin Heller ’05 is the first recipient of the Thorndike Internship in Historical Biography. Currently in a three-year trial phase, the new program will annually support the work of an upper-middler selected by the chair of the history and social science department for the purpose of researching, analyzing and writing a short biographical sketch of an alumnus or alumna of Phillips or Abbot academy.

The internship, given by John L. Thorndike ’45 and W. Nicholas Thorndike ’51, is a memorial to their brother Augustus “Gus” Thorndike Jr. ’37 honoring his lifelong passion for history. It also promotes history as a literary art and serves to help the Phillips Academy community develop a renewed appreciation for its rich and diverse heritage.

25

Sports Talk

Andover Nordic: An Experience in Team Chemistr y

by Andy Cline

Captain Kendra Allenby '05 glides across the Vermont snow.

M

any Andover athletic teams exhibit great team spirit, but it would be hard to find one with a greater sense of camaraderie than the Andover Nordic Ski Team. This coed band of serious athletes that trains and races for long distances on cross-country skis over challenging terrain in freezing temperatures is also a fun-loving bunch that spends a good deal of time singing, laughing and having snowball fights.

A recent conversation with several members of the Andover Nordic squad highlighted some interesting attitudes and attributes of this team.

First, the cold weather is not a big deal. Indeed, the skiers take considerable pride in the fact that they are the only PA team outdoors all winter with no one else, except 26

some annoying dogs in the Cochran Sanctuary, wanting to share their practice space. While the novice team members may need to stay indoors in the very coldest weather, the varsity-caliber racers are working up enough of a sweat that they need to take off rather than put on extra layers during practice.

What is a big deal to these athletes is the team. One after the other spoke of spending time together, of working hard but having a blast, and, most of all, of the tremendous team bonding that takes place during two- and three-hour rides in a rally wagon.

On most Wednesday afternoons the skiers pile into two rally wagons and, with coaches Keith Robinson ’96 and Lisa Svec ’81 at the wheel, head off to destinations such as

Putney, Vt., Meriden, N.H., and Bethel, Maine. Besides savoring their sack lunches from Commons, some do homework, and a few might nap, but it’s clear the primary theme of the trip is music, often with several voices singing along. This year’s captain, Kendra Allenby ’05, claims she wanted to be captain so she could ride shotgun and choose “the correct music.” Coach Robinson is glad he shares the athletes’ appreciation for hard-rock groups like Metallica, as he thinks the music helps them get fired up for the day’s race.

On the racing circuit this season, the PA team did quite well, particularly the girls. Although the boys’ team, led by Miles Canaday ’05, was often short-handed—they need four racers to score in big

meets—they were victorious over Northfield Mount Hermon, as were the girls, in their only dual meet of the season. The girls ended the season in terrific fashion with a third-place finish at Interschols.

Regularly competing against schools with larger squads and superior training facilities, the Andover team got a big boost from several lowers who joined a few key returning seniors this winter. Roxy Pierson ’07 of Jackson Hole, Wyo., and James Elder ’07 of Colorado Springs, Colo., had each spent a good deal of time on skis before, but Ben Bramhall ’07 and Arielle Filiberti ’07, recruited by Robinson from his science classes, had almost no experience. A distance runner in the fall and spring, Bramhall tried squash last winter and had never been on skis before this season. He made significant progress and finished 43rd overall at Interschols.

Filiberti, who plays field hockey in the fall and is a top cyclist in the spring, had done a good bit of downhill snowboarding, but made huge strides in her first season on cross-country skis.

“She is such a good athlete,” says Robinson, “that I knew she would be good, but I didn’t know she would be this good.”

In the relay race at Interschols, Filiberti’s blistering last lap helped secure third place for the team, while in the morning’s individual competition she had finished a remarkable 11th in New England.

In between waxing their skis— to music, of course—and playing in the snow, the team does practice, and it’s clear Robinson’s leadership is key to the team’s success.

Coach Keith Robinson ’96 (foreground) looks on as the team stretches before a race.

“Keith is the man,” says Allenby. “He’s the heart and soul of the Nordic program.” With good humor and a light hand on the reins, Robinson coaxes a lot of hard work out of his charges in what can be a grueling, demanding sport.

“He can be hard core when he wants to,” one team member says, “but he makes it fun.”

The coach’s own experience on cross-country skis began in his senior year at PA when an Achilles injury kept him from running indoor track. He took to the sport and planned to continue at Bowdoin, training all fall with the team, until a scheduling conflict forced him to give up competing.

Returning to Andover as a teaching fellow in 2002, Robinson had the opportunity to become the Nordic head coach. Several wax purchases and rally wagon trips later and after many hours riding the snowmobile grooming machine, he realized what a big job he’d taken on. “It was insane,” he says, but he has forged ahead with great energy and no regrets.

That first season, Robinson learned a great deal from assistant coach John Rich, and he has continued studying the sport through reading and watching

videotapes. He must work with his athletes on the classic style as well as the now more common skating style of racing. Each has its own techniques to be taught as the racers learn to negotiate hills without falling and to gain speed while maintaining control and confidence.

And, of course, he can only coach them on their technique when he is not busy grooming the course along the playing fields of “Siberia” or the bird sanctuary or chauffeuring their equipment to nearby Holt Hill for a Saturday workout.

The time commitment for both coaches and skiers is a major one, but they all seem to make it gladly.

The racers love the way the sport challenges them. Whether their goal is fitness or the finish line, they know they get out of it what they put in. They treasure the tough competition combined with great kinship that extends even beyond the PA team.

“At races,” says Filiberti, “everyone cheers for you.” Some spectators along the racecourse have been heard to say with a note of surprise, “Andover has a Nordic team?” Yes, we do!

Andy Cline is Andover’s sports information director.

27

t

&

w

Time

Treasure AN UPDATE ON ANDOVER PHILANTHROPY AND VOLUNTEER SERVICE

Northeastern VP takes on PA’s top fund-raising job

E

lizabeth Roberts, formerly vice president for development at Northeastern University in Boston, became Andover’s secretary of the academy in March. In this role, she spearheads the academy’s fund-raising and alumni relations activities through the departments of alumni affairs, annual giving, leadership giving and communications. An integral member of the academy’s senior leadership team, she works closely with the head of school and board of trustees. She leads the Office of Academy Resources (OAR), setting direction, priorities and expectations for the approximately 50member OAR staff.

“Libby Roberts comes to the position with a wealth of relevant experience, high praise from those who have worked with her and signal enthusiasm about joining the Andover community,” says Head of School Barbara Landis Chase. “She heads a very effective team in the Office of Academy Resources at a time of great opportunity and challenge as we work through the alumni, fund-raising and communications implications of the 2004 Strategic Plan.”

Roberts’ prior experience includes serving as director of individual gifts for the Boston Symphony, director of development at the DanaFarber Cancer Institute, director of the Harvard Law School Fund and assistant campaign manager at Milton Academy. A graduate of Dartmouth College with a religion major, Roberts is a member of one of Dartmouth’s first coeducational classes. She served as an alumna volunteer and returned to her alma mater as associate director of the Dartmouth Alumni Fund, holding the position for four years in the early 1980s.

Her volunteer activities also have included work at Trinity Church, Boston, and on the board of directors of the Boston Ronald McDonald House.

Elizabeth Roberts

Recognizing faculty talent At a February dinner for the Board of Trustees, board president Oscar Tang ’56 awarded two faculty foundations and one instructorship. Shown, left to right, are Tang; English teacher Randall Peffer, named to the Jonathan French Teaching Foundation; assistant director of athletics Kathryn Dolan, the John H. Porter Jr. Bicentennial Instructorship; and music teacher Christopher Walter, Independence Foundation Teaching Endowment No. 1.

Philanthropic gift expands access to hands-on lab experience

by Jill Clerkin

Determining the effects of guanosine tetraphosphate on the antibiotic-resistance of E. coli bacteria isn’t in the normal course of studies for most PA students, but it’s senior Jaclyn Ho’s favorite subject. E. coli bacteria can cause severe illness and even death, especially among Third World children, and some of the worst strains can no longer be deterred by common antibiotics.

“I am hoping my study of this compound that regulates important E. coli bacteria cell processes will help find an effective, natural way of reducing or even reversing E. coli’s resistance to antibiotics,” explains Ho. Thanks to the Gelb Science Center’s state-of-the-art facilities and an endowment gift from an anonymous donor, independent student science research is thriving at Andover.

“Before the Gelb opened last year, only five or six lucky PA uppers and seniors could be permitted to take on independent research each year,” explains Patricia Russell, physics and biology instructor and head of the Division of Natural Sciences. “But now, during the winter term alone, 18 students were working on advanced

Above: A regular at the Gelb Science Center molecular biology lab, Jaclyn Ho ’05 is researching a possible way to reduce the antibiotic resistance of E. coli bacteria.

projects in molecular biology.”

Ho’s project is a shining example of how seriously many PA science students approach their research—and just how significant their results could potentially be.

But earthshaking discoveries aren’t necessarily the goal.

“At PA you have the freedom to create your own project,” explains Helen Fitzmaurice ’05. “The faculty provides guidance, but you are the one who makes the calls, and, if you mess up, you learn from your mistakes. In the end, your results might not be stunning, but you come out with the ability to do proper lab procedures, take meticulous notes, make judgments and do the work independently.”

“Independent research is a powerful way for our really advanced students to go far beyond the classroom, and it’s a super jump-start for college,” explains Jerry Hagler, visiting scholar in molecular biology.

Many students hope to pursue careers in medicine and biomedical research or basic or applied research in molecular biology, microbiology, biochem-

istry, cellular biology, chemistry and environmental sciences.

Participating students aren’t the only ones who benefit from their lab experiences. “It makes a huge impression on younger students when they see their classmates doing significant work,” explains Russell. “They have a greater reason to be fascinated and engaged, much more so than if it were just their teacher doing the research.”

Along with lab equipment purchases, upgrades and maintenance, funds generated by the anonymous gift cover the many materials and services routinely needed by student scientists. These include restriction enzymes and DNA ligase used for DNA cloning; DNA primer, which contains bits of DNA used for genetic engineering; services to sequence DNA samples that PA students isolate or clone; and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) materials needed to amplify and clone specific DNA sequences.

“We are grateful finally to have a handle on the necessary lab space, 29

TIME & TREASURE

Above: Seniors Alexandre Bois and Helen Fitzmaurice (foreground) discuss the progress of their independent research projects with faculty advisers Jerry Hagler (standing) and Patricia Russell (right). Above right: Thameka Thompson ’05 reviews her lab notes before proceeding with her project.

equipment and materials to support our students,” explains Russell. “Our department’s greatest limitation right now? Faculty time to oversee student work.”

Russell and Hagler agree that an endowed “research mentor” is tops on their wish list. “A research mentor would be dedicated to overseeing student projects and experiments, thus allowing students to put in more hours each week on a more predictable schedule,” says Hagler, who will become a full-time science teacher next fall. “As ‘independent’ as these projects are, qualified adult supervision is always required.”

PA students may not save the world, but who’s to say that research for the next medical breakthrough, the next major cure or the next groundbreaking procedure won’t start right here? n

Recent student research in molecular biology HELEN FITZMAURICE ’05: After isolating DNA from several different corn products—including corn on the cob, corn chips and Taco Bell taco shells—Fitzmaurice tested the samples for a certain sequence of DNA that would indicate the presence of genetic modification. Positive results were found in some of the samples, including “organic” blue corn chips.

Fitzmaurice is currently investigating horizontal gene transfer between corn she planted last summer and surrounding weeds as well as bacteria living in the nearby soil. Horizontal gene transfer to bacteria is of special concern because inserted genes can be associated with antibioticresistant genes.

“I love working in the lab and being able to apply my knowledge,” says Fitzmaurice. “Thanks to my experience here, I was able to work at a laboratory at Boston University’s Department of Molecular and Cell Biology last summer.”

ALEXANDRE BOIS ’05: Bois’ project involves the observation and analysis of three ecosystems he created and subsequently sealed in large glass bottles. Each bottle contains food, water, air, and bacteria and other microorganisms extracted from “used” potting soil. “I periodically extract solution from these ecosystems and

grow them on LB agar plates— essentially Petri dishes covered in a moist, gelatinous food,” Bois explains.

“When bacterial colonies grow, I isolate them and attempt to identify them using a variety of different methods, including extraction and analysis of segments of their DNA. “Working in the lab is one of the most valuable academic experiences I have had at PA,” declares Bois.

THAMEKA THOMPSON ’05: By sequencing previously studied genes that have been shown to have some type of relation to geographic location or race, Thompson hopes to trace her family’s geographical origin or nationality. “So far, I have had success in isolating, amplifying, purifying and sequencing my own DNA and Melanocortin 1, a gene related to skin pigmentation and hair color, and thus a good factor in studying race,” explains Thompson. “I plan to continue the project using my parents’ DNA to help make my results more conclusive. The fact that Andover has the resources to allow me to do this in high school—for four terms— is just extraordinary. It has definitely taught me a lot about lab work and scientific research.”

30 30

ALUMNI N E W S Andover on the Road Alumni meet in Hanover, N.H.

F

orty-seven alumni, including those attending local universities, family and friends, attended a reception at the Hanover Inn in Hanover, N.H., on Feb. 15, hosted by the Office of Alumni Affairs regional associations and young alumni programs. Faculty emeriti Peter and Jean McKee came from New London, N.H., and past parent Kathy Smith-Lane came from Hanover. Guest speaker Susan McCaslin, instructor in philosophy and religious studies and assistant dean of faculty, discussed the history of Andover’s strategic plan. A dinner followed, hosted by Jenny Savino, assistant director for classes and reunions, at Molly’s Restaurant.

Maqubela hosts young alumni in California

O

n a recent visit to the West Coast, Dean of Faculty Temba Maqubela and Joe Goodman ’54 of Los Altos, Calif., hosted a young alumni dinner in Palo Alto.

Eighteen guests, including past parents Franklin Segall and Tien Tien, attended the event, held at the Blue Chalk Café.

Forty-eight Andover alumnae, representing classes from 1974–2000, who work in the media in New York attended a luncheon in New York on March 8.

The event, hosted by Lucy Schulte Danziger ’78, editor-in-chief of Self magazine, was held in a private dining room at Conde Nast Publishing Co. A panel that participated is shown above. From left, are Danziger; Head of School Barbara Landis Chase; Susan Chira ’76, foreign editor, The New York Times; Emily Bernstein ’86, producer, CBS News; Melissa Biggs Bradley ’85, editor, Town & Country Travel magazine; and Sara Nelson ’74, editor-in-chief, Publishers Weekly.

Non sibi event held in San Francisco

Chicago group attends play by Andrew Case ’90

S

P

ome 75 alumni and parents gathered at the Palace Hotel on Feb. 23 to welcome Head of School Barbara Landis Chase back to San Francisco. The reception featured displays by eight Bay Area nonprofit organizations, each hosted by an active Andover graduate.

Following an introduction from new trustee Peter Currie ’74, Chase applauded the non sibi spirit of the alumni who are involved with the nonprofits. She provided an update on campus philanthropy in the wake of the tsunami disaster and described upcoming renovations to Commons and the Memorial Bell Tower. She touched on several themes from the strategic plan, highlighting the renewed commitment to serving youth from every quarter, attracting and retaining a top-notch faculty and undertaking a thorough curriculum review. The reception was hosted by the Andover Abbot Association of Northern California.

acific, a new play by Andrew Case ’90, opened Feb. 24 at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, and 45 alumni and guests were treated to a preview performance and a postplay discussion with the playwright.

Case credited his Andover theatre instructor, Kevin Heelen, with helping him develop his passion for drama and encouraging him to pursue it as a career. Case was pleased with the enthusiastic turnout for the evening, which was sponsored by the Andover-Abbot Association of Chicago and organized by co-president Margie Block Stineman ’92.

CORRECTION: The Bulletin, in its winter issue, erroneously reported that Mark Efinger ’74 called the plays for the video broadcast of the Andover/ Exeter football game last November.

The person doing the play-by-play was Simon Keyes ’06.

Gabriela Ardon of the Office of Alumni Affairs compiles the news for this section.

31

A February storm that left a four-inch blanket of snow over Manhattan didn’t prevent several members of the Class of 1980 from attending a prescheduled event at the Greenberg Van Doren Gallery.

Alums socialized among the works of Lane Twichell, whose show “Here and There” was on display in the gallery. Shown, from left, are Afshin Pedram, Peter Liberman and his wife, Sarah Soffer.

Class of ’64 salutes George Bush inaugural

T

he wall-to-wall security officials lining Pennsylvania Avenue for this year’s inaugural parade in Washington, D.C., might have heard the rousing chorus of “Royal Blue” wafting from the nearby Hotel Willard, as an enthusiastic Bill Semple led his classmates in a pre-parade vocal warm-up. Some 40 members of the Class of ’64 and their guests enjoyed two days of festivities in the nation’s capital, including fireworks over the mall, prime parade seats next to the presidential box, and a first-class dinner at the Willard. Nat Semple and L.E. Sawyer were the prime organizers of the gathering, which drew classmates from across the country and world. Kyoshi Kondo and his daughter Akiko won the prize for traveling the farthest—from Japan—for the occasion.

Hockey players return to campus

O

n Saturday, Feb. 5, Friends of Andover Athletics (FOAA) hosted the annual coed alumni hockey game. Nineteen alumni players, their families and friends, representing classes ranging from 1978–2000, returned to the Harrison Rink for the game and luncheon. FOAA also hosts alumni baseball and lacrosse games. If you want to be included on FOAA’s mailing list, e-mail Jenny Savino at jsavino@andover.edu.

A reminder from the Addison Gallery

T

o celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Addison Gallery of American Art, the gallery’s director, Brian Allen, is asking alumni to write or e-mail him (ballen@andover.edu) to tell him about their favorite objects from the Addison’s collection. Send the name of the object you treasure and also a brief account of why it was significant to you. Allen plans to mark the Addison’s birthday in 2006–07 in part with an installation, 75 Favorites: The Alumni Choose.

32

Alumni hockey players line up. They are, first row, from left, Bill Slaney ’82, Katie Breen ’00, Susannah Richardson ’00, Steve Collins ’79, Bruce Grogven ’95, Danielle Sadler ’94, Leonora Thomas ’79, 6-year-old David Apgar and his father, Eric Apgar ’83. Back row, from left, Randy Wood ’82, David Constantine ’97, Ian Cropp ’01, Ryan Dempsey ’00, Bernie McKinnon ’79, Tom McDonough ’81, Mike Day ’91, Lee Apgar ’78, with his hand on his 6-year-old son Alex’s shoulder, Susan Warren Jenkins ’79, Dan Janis ’79.

Last call for reunions The 2005 Reunion Weekend is June 10–12. For alumni classes ending in 5s and 0s, it’s not too late to make plans to attend! If you have any questions regarding your reunion, please e-mail Pat Gerety at pgerety@andover.edu.

ANDOVER BOOKSHELF

Three Readings for Republicans and Democrats

Impressionist Cats and Dogs: Pets in the Painting of Modern Life

Beyond Choice: Reproductive Freedom in the 21st Century

by Carol Bly ’47 and Cynthia Loveland Bly & Loveland Press Three Readings for Republicans and Democrats attempts to bridge partisan politics and encourages open-minded empathy for ideological differences. Using story and essay, each reading addresses moral and ethical dilemmas that many Americans confront on a daily basis. The third reading, The Savage Stripe: How a Teenage Daughter Changed Her Dad, includes a playlet in which the characters represent three generations of Andover grads grappling with issues of wealth, privilege, ethics and corporate responsibility. The author of numerous books, short stories and essays, Bly is also a creative writing teacher and public speaker. She lives in St. Paul, Minn.

by James H. Rubin ’61 Yale University Press Rubin explores the presence, purpose and symbolism of cats, dogs and other household pets in a variety of famous impressionist paintings. Impressionist Cats and Dogs also provides insights into the devotion of certain artists to their pets as well as the growing acceptance of animals as family members and their allusion to middle-class prosperity in the mid- to late-1800s. A frequent traveler and current New York City resident, Rubin is the author of seven books and is professor and chair of the department of art at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

by Alexander Sanger ’65 PublicAffairs More than 30 years after the Roe v. Wade decision to legalize abortion, the battle over a woman’s right to choose continues. Beyond Choice offers a major re-thinking of the prochoice position, arguing that abortion is not only a morally acceptable birth control option, but is a natural offshoot of positive reproductive strategies and evolutionary history. “The fact that most Americans think abortion is immoral but also think it should be legal is not a contradiction,” says Sanger, “but an evolutionary reality.” Sanger, grandson of familyplanning activist Margaret Sanger, lives in New York City and is currently chair of the International Planned Parenthood Council and goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund.

Twentieth Century Sprawl: Highways and the Reshaping of the American Landscape

by Owen D. Gutfreund ’81 Oxford University Press Twentieth Century Sprawl examines how government-sanctioned and -financed highway expansion has steadily changed the American landscape, often for the worse, by undermining existing urban centers, fueling a nationwide dependence on cars and road building, increasing air pollution and causing irreparable ecological damage. The story is told via case studies of three very different communities: Denver, Colo., Middlebury, Vt., and Smyrna, Tenn. Gutfreund, a history teacher at Barnard College and director of Urban Studies Programs at Barnard and Columbia University, lives in New York City.

George and Belmore Browne: Artists of the North American Wilderness

by John T. Ordeman ’48 and Michael M. Schrieber Warwick Publishing This well-researched book chronicles the lives and adventures of two important painters of North American landscapes and wildlife, George Browne and his father and mentor, Belmore Browne. Both artists were avid sportsmen who enjoyed hunting, camping and hiking in the wilderness. It includes more than 50 paintings and sketches plus family photos and excerpts from letters and diaries. Ordeman has written numerous books on American sporting artists over the past 20 years. Currently retired after 40 years as a school master and headmaster of several independent schools, he lives on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Killing Neptune’s Daughter Winning Single Wing Football: A Simplified Guide for the Football Coach

by Ken Keuffel ’42 Swift Press Winning Single Wing Football provides the philosophy, techniques, tips and tricks of coaching the single wing, considered by many to be one of the soundest, most time-tested offenses in football. Written for coaches and highly motivated players, this how-to book includes 147 football diagrams and photographs plus some newer single wing offense strategies for straight series running plays, indirect attack plays, the passing game and the quick-kicking game. A successful coach of single wing teams for 37 years, Keuffel, now retired, lives in Lawrenceville, N.J.

by Randall Peffer Intrigue Press A disturbing psychothriller, Peffer’s first novel leads the reader down a twisted path of violence and discomfiting sexual entanglements. The gruesome murder of beautiful and provocative Tina, once the object of desire of nearly every adolescent male in Woods Hole on Cape Cod, stirs up repressed memories and awakens ghosts from the past. A group of former “Tina Toys,” now grown men, who gather for her hometown funeral, think the murderer may be someone they—and Tina—knew well more than 30 years ago. Peffer, a PA English instructor, is the author of Watermen, Logs of the Dead Pirates Society, several travel guides and numerous articles in Smithsonian, Reader’s Digest, National Geographic and other prestigious publications.

Tideline: Captains, Fly-Fishing and the American Coast

by Andrew W. Steketee ’85, Kirk D. Deeter & Marco Lorenzetti Willow Creek Press From Miami to Nantucket to San Diego— and a half-dozen other ports—Tideline chronicles the demanding livelihoods of nine sportfishing captains and their ongoing quests for tarpon, blues, striped bass, tuna, redfish and the occasional mako shark. Authors Steketee and Deeter provide the narrative, and photographer Lorenzetti supplies the vivid black and white imagery that offers the reader insights into the rugged world of man, fish and sea, as well as the addictive sport of fly-fishing. Steketee and Deeter also collaborated on Castwork: Reflections of Fly-Fishing Guides and the American West. A freelance writer and fly-fishing guide, Steketee lives in Evergreen, Colo.

These capsule notices were prepared by Jill Clerkin and Sharon Magnuson.

ANDOVER

BULLETIN

Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts 01810-4161 ISSN 0735-5718

Periodicals Postage Paid at Andover, MA and additional offices

Households that receive more than one Andover Bulletin are encouraged to call 978-749-4267 to discontinue extra copies.

Sidney R. Knafel ’48 named charter trustee President of the Andover Board of Trustees Oscar Tang ’56 and Head of School Barbara Landis Chase announced on April 12 the election of Sidney Knafel ’48 as a charter trustee. His service on the board will begin on July 1. Knafel has been a member of the Andover Development Board since 1999 and has served as chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee of the Addison Gallery of American Art. He is also chairman of the Addison Board of Governors.

After receiving undergraduate and graduate degrees at Harvard and completing a stint in the Army, he was an investment banker in New York for 15 years. He then ran a cable television company he co-founded, and he pursued varied venture capital efforts through SRK Management Company, which is still active.

He serves as a director of a number of these sponsored business entities. His other activities include serving as chairman of the Rogosin Institute, an independent affiliate of New York Presbyterian Hospital, and as a trustee of the Juilliard School.

“As trustee of Wellesley College and as national chairman of the recent Harvard University Campaign as well as in his roles at the Addison,” Chase said, “Sidney Knafel has been a champion for educational programs and the facilities that support them. He is wise and generous, and we look forward to having him with us at the table through the crucial implementation phase of the academy’s strategic plan.”

Knafel has two grown children, Douglas and Andrew. He and his wife, Londa Weisman, live in Manhattan and also have residences in North Bennington, Vt., and Martha’s Vineyard.