For the first time in a decade, the Riverdale Falcons took home the trophy for both the Girls and Boys Varsity Basketball games against Horace Mann in the 72nd Annual Buzzell Games. #21 Kiri Jensen ’24 for the Girls, and #11 Lucas Black ’24 for the Boys, were named MVPs of the night. The night even included a mini-reunion of alumni from the 1994 Boys Basketball team — who also defeated Horace Mann in the Buzzell Games.
PHOTOS BY PHOTOGRAPHER JIM ANNESS.
BOYS BASKETBALL TEAM WITH THEIR COACHES AND THE TROPHY
GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM WITH THEIR COACHES AND THE TROPHY
MEMBERS OF THE 1994 TEAM JOIN THE BOYS BASKETBALL TEAM FOR A PHOTO
04 KARI OSTREM
18
REMEMBERING
Jane Bendetson 22
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Mariama N’Diaye ’13
ARTICLES
02 BOARD LISTS
03 LETTER FROM THE AAEC
14 CATCHING UP WITH MARIO MULLER ’80
20 RECAP
26 STUDENT DIARY
30 CLASS NOTES
40 IN MEMORIAM
2023-2024
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Gwen Adolph
Terri Austin, Secretary Bruce Beal
David Blitzer, Treasurer
Edem Dzubey ’07
Ebby Elahi
Tiffany Ellis Butts, PA President
Chloe Epstein
Renata Garcia
Joe Goldschmid ’04, AAEC President
John Griffin
Anitra Hadley
Sandra Kim Hoffen ’83, Vice Chair
Mark Hostetter ’77
David Kabiller
Chris James ’93
Marc Lipschultz
Anand More
John Neuwirth, Vice Chair
Kari Ostrem, Head of School
David Rhodes
Daniel Rosen ’92, Chair
Cristián Samper
Deborah Sonnenberg
Marc Sternberg
Philip (Tod) Waterman III ’84
Roy Weathers
Vanessa Wittman
Kazumi Yanai
TRUSTEES EMERITI
Michele Cohen
Ted Janulis ’77
Brad Karp
Jane Lisman Katz ’65
Peter Lehrer
Linda Lewis Lindenbaum ’54
Tom Montag
Bill Mow ’55
David Roberts ’80
Harvey Schulweis
Tom Strauss
Jeff Vinik ’77
David Westin
Tim Zagat ’57
Ada Zambetti
Richard Zinman
2023-2024
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Joe Goldschmid ’04, President
Edem Dzubey ’07, Vice President
Samantha Acunto ’01
Elizabeth Strauss Clyman ’97
Stefanie Firtell Donath ’91
Danielle Englebardt ’94
Betsy Fields ’86
Paul Goldschmid ’96
Margaret Heller Greebel ’99
Sarah Horne ’15
George Igel ’64
Michelle Kirschtein Jacobs ’81
Tiffany Austin Liston ’94
Anthony Melchior ’73
Lara Englebardt Metz ’96
Philip Michael ’00
Shary Moalemzadeh ’89
Allyson Peltz Pennock ’10
Ashley Rainford ’09
Omari Ramirez ’05
Amelia Levin Relles ’87
Michael Roberts ’08
Carolyn Braun Rosen ’92
Peter Rosenblatt ’50
Jessica Elghanayan Shell ’95
Roger Sherman ’74
Stuart Tishman ’07
Saranya Vijayakumar ’14
Andrine Wilson ’02
Jenna Langel Witten ’06
Ahmed Yearwood ’91
Jessica Endelson Zelnik ’98
Dear Fellow Alumni,
It is hard to believe that we will finish our terms as president and vice president of the Alumni Association Executive Committee (AAEC) at the end of the year. It is clear to us that the Riverdale community is entering a new era — we have said goodbye to beloved staff and faculty who have gone on to new adventures while warmly embracing new faces in the administration. In the past year, we have welcomed Head of School Kari Ostrem, Assistant Head of School for Strategy and Operations Hanifa Barnes, and Head of Upper School Mike Velez, who bring innovative educational ideas, meaningful pedagogical tools, and a keen eye for the strategic vision of our school.
To help us think about our work on behalf of the alumni community, we opened our first AAEC meeting by asking the committee:
With warmest regards,
Joe Goldschmid ’04 PRESIDENT, AAEC
Edem Dzubey ’07 VICE PRESIDENT, AAEC
What makes Riverdale, Riverdale, and what are things we don’t want to see the school lose? Our answers highlighted the importance of student and teacher relationships, the personal approach to learning, the opportunities for service learning, independent studies, extracurriculars, athletics, and connecting the classroom to the outdoors. We also talked about the enduring friendships forged across grade levels and the bonds we formed that made it a community we always want to remain connected to.
We would love to hear your thoughts and hope you will keep your eye out for upcoming events and engagement opportunities. If you are interested in learning more about the AAEC, visit the volunteer opportunities page on the website (riverdale.edu/volunteer-opps/).
Kari Ostrem
Kari Ostrem joined the Riverdale community in 2023 as the seventh head of school. She comes to us from the Haile-Manas Academy in Ethiopia, of which she was the founding Head of School (visit riverdale.edu/hoswelcome to read more about Kari Ostrem’s background). Below, Kari reflects on her time at Riverdale so far.
Throughout my first six months as Riverdale’s seventh head of school, I have had the great fortune of meeting many community members with a variety of connections to the school. From parents to faculty to students and, of course, our alumni, it is immediately apparent to me that Riverdale is a unique place and is special to everyone who spends time on our campus grounds.
This year, I am teaching a middle school math class, which might be my favorite part of my day as I get to see firsthand the energy of our students and engage with their curious young minds. I witness their deep care and empathy for one another as they use their different strengths to support each other, knowing that the class won’t be the same without everyone learning together.
Another aspect of the classroom that I love is seeing the learning and growth of a young mind, and helping students find examples of their future selves out in the world. The alumni community allows students to see their experiences reflected back in the generations of Riverdalians that came before them. You — our talented, compassionate, thoughtful, engaging alumni — inspire our current students’ journeys. In you, they see lifelong learning in action and have a tangible example of
what it looks like to take the education, skills, and passion they find here to shape an enriching life.
I was able to meet many of you at this year’s Homecoming and Reunion celebrations, as well as at other gatherings this fall, and hear the stories of your individual experiences. What continues to rise to the surface in my conversations with alumni is the deep sense of connection folks formed during their time at Riverdale: Be it in the form of important relationships with friends or faculty, through a class that helped you think critically, a team experience or an international trip, it’s clear that there are moments, big and small, that weave Riverdale into the arc of your life.
When I think about how to best steward this institution through the next chapter, I consider the core aspects of the school and how we can evolve to meet current and future needs:
Experiential Education
Experiential education is in the DNA of Riverdale; we have the opportunity to take the school’s rich history in implementing this pedagogy and think about the ways the ethos of experience can evolve. Frank Hackett knew that experiential initiatives are amplified by meaningful contemplation so that students can identify the mirror moments and windows to a life different from one’s own.
Global travel and outdoor education are still essential parts of our programming, and we are now working to ensure that
these trips explore questions like: How can one get to really know a place? How do you connect to the people there, or to their heritage? What does it mean to be a leader? How can you challenge yourself? When you return to our campus, what do you take back with you and what can you share?
It’s important to note that these meaningful reflections and integrated experiences can also happen within the context of a 45-minute class. We can experiment, tackle research that nobody has done before, and delve into primary source documents that enable our students to gain research and critical thinking skills earlier than we ever did before. This type of academic instruction prepares our students for college and beyond, and I want to support our faculty as they further incorporate these opportunities into their curriculum.
Interdisciplinary Learning
Foundational courses like Constructing America and Integrated Liberal Studies established Riverdale as a leader in interdisciplinary coursework. More and more, we see the need to cultivate interdisciplinary thinking so that we can continue asking good questions to investigate complex problems.
For example, when we consider the ideas of sustainability and climate change, our students can respond to these serious questions with hope, advocacy, and action. Coursework can include: thinking about the water quality on the River Campus, doing epigenetic research on trees and drought during climate change, the daylighting of the Tibbet Creek, and more.
The tools our students use to research these issues span all aspects of a STEM education. By understanding and integrating technological resources we can access and analyze more data, which allows us to expand on the locally collected and observed information. Climate change is global, but solutions will be local; our students will be prepared to consider issues that impact specific communities and design relevant and necessary solutions.
Tradition and Community
When I ask alumni about their Riverdale education, I have noticed some things hold true across all eras of our past: the strong relationships with faculty (even — maybe especially
— the ones who challenged you), classes like ILS that helped make college coursework less intimidating, the D.C. trip, or backpacking in Bears Ears.
Perhaps even more significant than these memorable moments is the fact that a Riverdale education is firmly rooted in ethical, civic, and critical thinking. For decades our faculty have endeavored to do more than teach facts that can be memorized, but have also worked to cultivate true curiosity and provide the skillset to explore it, approaching education from a place of possibility. Not only does this kind of thinking prepare us for success, it helps us thrive no matter the road we take.
I am confident you carry these ideas with you, and I can assure you that they are still very much alive in the school community. A recent example: this fall, our boys soccer team discovered that the algorithm used to determine the playoffs was biased, resulting in our team being ineligible to compete. Most teenagers would have bemoaned the situation, but our students demonstrated what makes Riverdale different: driven by their passion for athletics, they used their technology and humanities training to develop and propose a new algorithm to the Ivy League Officials. The majority of the players involved were seniors who helped craft this letter, knowing that they would not benefit from any changes — instead, they advocated on behalf of their peers to make things more fair for future seasons.
This situation exemplifies the unique ability I see in our students and graduates — to utilize what they know and combine it with a spirit of enthusiasm, kindness, and advocacy that allows all to excel. I am in awe of the Riverdale spirit, and so thrilled to work beside this amazing community.
I hope to have the opportunity to meet many more members of our alumni community soon, whether at an upcoming event, a visit to campus, via email, or at Homecoming and Reunion next fall. I can’t wait to hear your Riverdale story.
Joel Grayson ’24 and Stephen Moch ’10
Joel Grayson ’24 and Stephen Moch ’10 met via Zoom to discuss their experiences with sustainability initiatives at Riverdale.
A priority for Head of School Kari Ostrem, she is excited to work alongside members of the community on these sustainability projects and envision future possibilities.
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOURSELVES AND YOUR WORK IN SUSTAINABILITY?
SM: I graduated from Riverdale in 2010, and it was during the spring of my junior year when I started getting involved in sustainability efforts. I distinctly remember it was a friend, Michael Volpert ’10, who came up to me and said, “Hey, do you want to join me? I’m having lunch with the Head of Facilities.” At that time, it was Mr. David Patnaude, an engineer who had a lot of ideas for sustainability initiatives at Riverdale. He invited us to work with him on a number of these ideas, including the solar panel installation on the roof of the Jeslo Harris Theater.
Looking back, it is clear that my career got started at Riverdale by working on these projects. What I was doing then directly influenced my path and what I’m doing now. When I went to Princeton for undergrad, I was interested in exploring the questions: What are the economic drivers of the energy industry? Why did Riverdale decide to invest in some things or not? How do you make the economics work? Because, as much as I care about environmental issues, it’s hard to get the world to care unless it makes economic sense. I spent my first summer in D.C., working on electric vehicle policy when there weren’t many electric vehicles, and the summers after that working in financial institutions that
were focused on investing in the new area of environment and sustainability. I spent one summer at a private equity firm looking at new energy technologies that they could invest in and the next at an investment firm that Al Gore started, Generation Investment Management, that I first heard about while I was at Riverdale.
After college, I spent four years at Goldman Sachs on what is now the sustainable finance team but was then called environmental markets and then went to a three-year graduate school program at Harvard’s business school and public policy school. I was in business school during COVID-19 and through that ended up working on the side with a special purpose acquisition company that bought an EV charging company called EVgo and with the US financial regulators at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on climate risk and financial regulation. I was the youngest person by a decade or so on the first federal advisory subcommittee organized to make recommendations about designing financial regulation for climate issues, and became the Associate Editor of the final report.
I joined Blackrock in the summer of 2021. At Blackrock, I lead our efforts around strategic growth and product innovation for transition investing. My job is to look at the capital needs across the energy transition. I look at what
companies need, and what investors are looking for, and then also look at our product platform to see where the white spaces are. I then build the investment thesis and build the teams and create new funds around those white spaces. And I also work on a corporate level on what we call ecosystem partnerships, building the overall market and creating new opportunities to invest in the sustainability space.
JG: I THINK IT IS COOL HOW YOU LOOK AT CLIMATE ISSUES FROM A FINANCIAL STANDPOINT AND THERE ARE A LOT OF TOPICS WE OVERLAP ON.
I came to Riverdale in sixth grade and am currently a senior and a head of the sustainability club. I have been trying to get solar panels installed since the summer before tenth grade — the COVID-19 summer. I started by researching different energy sources. And I began wondering what potential Riverdale had with its roof space. I went on the roofs and did some spreadsheet calculations over the summer. I made some designs in Helioscope, which is a solar modeling software. I realized it could save Riverdale a lot of money and made a presentation about it. When school started, I met with then Head of School, Dominic Randolph, and the current Head of Facilities, Mike Galligan, to discuss my findings.
JOEL GRAYSON
STEPHEN MOCH
I’m also on the Environmental Protection Committee of Manhattan Community Board One. We’re involved in a lot of coastal resiliency measures for lower Manhattan. A big project I’ve been working on is trying to connect street vendors to the grid. The hotdog carts and halal carts are all using gas and diesel generators for their electricity, but they’re right next to street lamps. If you set up the infrastructure right, they could plug into it and then pay for the electricity they use, which has so many co-benefits (better for their health, saves them money, and improves NYC’s bad air quality). I have been working with the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice and a union of street vendors to connect them to the grid. We’ve talked about financing and working with various parts of the city, state, and federal government, so a lot of what you’re doing. It’s just like EV charging, which you’ve worked on.
I have also been working on having Riverdale make the switch to electric school buses. I think you might know about the tax incentive situation, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The
only problem is that private schools don’t have access to any of the government incentives. At Riverdale, we’re trying to work out a way to transition to electric school buses. There is Highland Fleets, which offers electric school buses for an annual rent. You pay every year to own the school bus with no risks whatsoever. It’s just that there’s a green premium fee for using electric buses. So Riverdale has to resort to private funding. And as far as I’m aware, there’s no other private school that’s done an electric bus transition. So it’s sort of been like pioneering ground here.
SM: An idea for you is to split off the green premium. One, the green premium should come down over time. That’s technology development. That’s more investors coming in. That’s more consumer adoption. But there might be some people willing to pay the green premium. And so one of the things that’s happened over time is trying to figure out, what is the delta between traditional and green? And, how do you create some kind of structure that can cover that? If you go to everyone and say it was $10 and now it’s $14, the whole group might say no.
If you just split off that $4 delta and say, okay, the total extra is this amount how can we fund just that? There may be some interesting ways of doing that. Don’t give up — there’s a lot of momentum there.
JG: RETURNING TO THE TOPIC OF SOLAR PANELS, CAN YOU SHARE WHAT THAT PROCESS WAS LIKE FOR YOU TO GET THEM INSTALLED?
SM: I still have the original financial model and proposal. We looked at a number of options for the theater and getting solar panels on the roof, a couple of different sizes, and then we built out the financial model. I had no idea how to build a financial model. You can learn on your own, there are ways to learn it, but looking back I don’t think I expected to build a financial model during my senior year of high school.
Mr. Patnaude sat with us as we went over the expectations of the solar panels, their expense, the energy they would produce monthly and yearly, the price of that electricity, and the return on investment. Solar panels in 2009/2010 were very expensive. If you look at the
THE SUSTAINABILITY CLUB IN THE 2023 YEARBOOK.
price chart of solar panels, they’re down about 85-90%. From my recollection, it was about $200,000 for the 32-kilowatt project.
HOW IS THE SYSTEM ON THE ROOF OF THE THEATER DOING? AND, WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON?
JG: I have some unfortunate news, it’s been broken for the last few years.
SM : Oh no! So, it’s just on the roof not producing electricity? I think for a 2010 rooftop project, that’s not a terrible life but not great. For the solar project you’re working on, will you take down the existing panels and put up new ones? What are you thinking?
JG : I was a big advocate for keeping them up for historical reasons. Your story is great, you know, hearing about the first generation of solar panels. However, new panels are more efficient, and the old panels do not work with modern inverters. It looks like we’re going to take them down because the inverters are broken, and put a new system. That is such a prime location for generation. We
will donate the old ones to other places that need them. We went through a few iterations of who would be working on the project. When Ms. Kari Ostrem came to Riverdale, she decided to bring in even more new companies. We are currently deciding between two contractors for the installation.
The new installation will be 492 kilowatts. It’s going to cover the Upper School — the Aquatic Center, the JRJ Student Center, and, as we discussed, will replace the current ones on the theater. It’s also going to go on the River Campus on a few buildings, and there may be a carport there as well.
I don’t know if you know Dr. Kelley Nicholson Flynn, but I also worked extensively with her on the installation. She’s gone on to be the Head of School at Princeton Day School. However, she and I agreed that if I graduate, and it’s finally installed, we will all come back and celebrate. So you’re welcome to join us there.
SM: I’d love to come to campus and see that — I saw them come up and want to see them come down.
JOEL, DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF STUDENTS AT RIVERDALE?
JG: If you’re looking for inspiration, you can visit the En-ROADS global climate simulator where they list all of the different aspects of climate change, renewable/nuclear energy, transportation efficiency and electrification, building energy efficiency and electrification, and more. You can see if there’s any one sector that could really use improvement, and just look around you and see if there are any ways that that sector could be improved and if you could measure it. Also, it’s good to know what your local neighborhood issues are. You could go to your community board meeting to find out. If they have an environmental committee, then you can go there. I think the two main avenues to find ideas for me, and avenues that I think future students can also use, are what’s going on in your local neighborhood and then what’s going on at Riverdale. There’s a lot of work to be done. It was a lot of fun for me and a great learning experience.
“MAKING RIVERDALE SUSTAINABLE” PUBLISHED IN THE RIVERDALE REVIEW IN SEPTEMBER 2009.
Hill Campus Sustainability Initiatives
The Hill Campus Sustainability program continues to grow. Fostering an all-school approach to sustainability, we’ve been intentionally considering the interconnectedness of organizational culture, physical place and facilities, and student experience.
BY ANGELA COSTANZO, MIDDLE AND UPPER SCHOOL VISUAL ARTS, COORDINATOR OF HILL CAMPUS SUSTAINABILITY
The Hill Campus Sustainability program continues to grow. Fostering an all-school approach to sustainability, we’ve been intentionally considering the interconnectedness of organizational culture, physical place and facilities, and student experience. This holistic lens allows Riverdale the opportunity to grow forward in a collective, integrated, and meaningful way. We’d like to highlight just a few recent and ongoing initiatives:
For the past two years, the Hill Campus has been partnering with Think Zero, a local “zero waste” consulting organization, to conduct 24-hour campuswide waste audits. Trash and recycling are collected over a 24-hour period and sorted by the community to bear witness to what we consume and throw “away.” We can witness consumption patterns, materials in our waste streams, contamination levels, and volume of trash and consumables in general. The audits also provide us with important data and insights. After trash, recycling, and organic waste are sorted, everything is weighed, rebagged, and placed in the appropriate location for removal. Classes and community participate in this event, and the feedback has been nothing short of eye-opening and reflective.
Our first audit in the fall of 2022 gave us the data necessary to spur change throughout campus. One immediate
shift was to discontinue the use of single-use cups—we found over 1,000 single-use cups in that one day. We also began transitioning away from waste and recycling bins in our classrooms. At the time, our year-old, unified, and NYC-compliant waste and recycling three-bin system installed throughout our communal and hallway spaces proved to be successful. Numbers showed that these new bins had low contamination rates while classroom bins proved to be catch-alls. With community support, we have successfully discontinued the use of classroom bins in Mow and 9/10, which continues to create a more efficient workflow for our environmental teams, reducing contamination rates, and reducing our dependence on singleuse plastic bags. We are on track to transition all buildings in this direction. Our most recent audit, which took place this past October, continued to show improvement, in addition to areas of potential improvement and growth.
Waste-to-landfill contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, waste-tolandfill volume, and general consumption and supply chain implications, in addition to having connections to curriculum. We’re dedicated to continuing this work, as waste audits provide us with information to continue on our path to zero waste: When we understand where we are, the better we understand where we need to go.
Like many organizations and households, a large contributor to our waste streams is organics: food scraps, leaves, and other organic materials. We are continuing to work towards a comprehensive organics collection and composting program, and I look forward to updating you on that as we move forward.
Connected to our future composting program is our steadfast and energized Middle School Garden Team, who are back at it for the second year in a row. Last fall, we visited the Riverdale Neighborhood House’s community garden, as well as Hilltop Hanover Farm, which is a regenerative and educational farm in Yorktown Heights. We learned about our campus topography, ecosystem, and potential for garden space from Whole Systems Design, and came up with several ideas to break ground. We have plans to construct our first raised beds near Lindenbaum in the form of hugels! Hugels are raised beds rooted in permaculture techniques to regenerate soil, mitigate water runoff, foster biodiversity, and create nutrient-rich beds from which we can grow both food and non-food-producing plants and native grasses. We look forward to beginning the build, which will include not only the Garden Team, but all interested students, faculty, and staff. From compost to sowing seeds, we aim to regenerate soil, mitigate climate change, and foster community through gardening, closing the loop and eating what we harvest.
To learn more about the sustainability initiatives on the River Campus, check out the Spring/Summer 2023 Quad at riverdale. edu/spring-summer-quad-2023.
Welcome New Trustees
CRISTIÁN SAMPER P’27
Cristián Samper is the Managing Director and Leader for Nature Solutions at the Bezos Earth Fund, overseeing work related to the protection and restoration of nature, as well as the transformation of food systems and their link to climate change. From 2002 to 2012, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in New York, overseeing the largest network of urban wildlife parks, hosting four million visitors each year, and carried long-term field research and conservation programs in more than 60 countries. Prior to the WCS, Dr. Samper served as Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and was the founding director of Colombia’s Alexander von Humboldt Institute.
Raised in Colombia, Dr. Samper studied biology at the Universidad de Los Andes and earned his MA and PhD from Harvard University. He has served on the Harvard Board of Overseers and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
MARC STERNBERG P’27
Marc Sternberg is Co-Founder and Managing Director of A-Street. A-Street is a multi-stage fund investing in high quality, coherent PreK-12 solutions that leverage technology as an enabler of excellent instruction by strengthening the relationship between teachers, students, and content. Prior to launching A-Street, Marc directed the Walton Family Foundation’s national initiatives to improve elementary and secondary education by empowering parents with quality school options. Marc previously served as Senior Deputy Chancellor at the New York City Department of Education and education advisor on policy and strategy to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
Marc is a founder of the Bronx Lab School, an unscreened New York City public high school, where he served as principal and co-director from 2004 to 2009. He was a 1995 Teach For America corps member in the Bronx. Marc served as a White House Fellow 2004 to 2009.
DAVID KABILLER P’36
David Kabiller is Co-Founder and the Head of Business Development at AQR, overseeing client relationships, business development and strategic initiatives. In this role, he has helped foster AQR’s tradition of innovation by initiating AQR’s international expansion into Europe and Asia and spearheading its introduction of mutual funds. In addition to these corporate milestones, David is dedicated to investor education and fostering young research talent. To that end, he was instrumental in creating the “AQR University” symposia series for financial advisors and the Master Class program for institutional investors. For the academic community, David helped create the AQR Insight Award for outstanding innovation in applied academic research and was a founding member of the LBS AQR Asset Management Institute.
David has co-authored papers on topics including derivatives, enhanced indexation, securities lending, insurance-linked securities and hedge funds. He is the co-author of “Buffett’s Alpha” which received the 2018 Graham and Dodd Award from the Financial Analysts
Journal for the year’s best paper. He is a member of Northwestern University’s Board of Trustees and chairman of the Executive Council of the university’s International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN). He is also a member of the Advisory Council of the AQR Asset Management Institute at London Business School and has served on the Board of Trustees for the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Prior to AQR, David was a vice president at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he established and maintained relationships with the chief investment officers of many of the largest pension and endowment funds in North America. He earned a B.A. in economics from Northwestern University, where he received an athletic scholarship to play tennis and was named to the Big Ten’s Academic All-Conference team, and an M.B.A. from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. At Northwestern, David founded the Kabiller Prize and the Kabiller Young Investigator Award for researchers in nanoscience and nanomedicine, and established NU for Life, a program dedicated to the professional development of Northwestern student-athletes. He is a CFA charterholder.
Catching up with Mario M. Muller ’80
HOW DID YOUR EXPERIENCE AT RIVERDALE IMPACT YOU? WHAT WAS MEMORABLE ABOUT YOUR TIME AT RCS?
I had nothing but delightful experiences. I arrived at Riverdale in the 10th grade from Allen Stevenson, an all-boys school with jackets and ties. The co-ed landscape alone left me like a happy deer in headlights.
I was big into theater at Riverdale. I mounted two student productions as a junior and as a senior. Mark Andrew ’80 and I made a 45-minute film in Super-8 and premiered it on the stage on a Wednesday morning. It was some spoof of a James Bond spy caper. We performed the soundtrack live because we didn’t
have an audio track on Super 8. It was performance art!
The faculty was inspired and passionate. Gaylord Flory was a force to be reckoned with and easily antagonized. He just didn’t suffer fools easily. Satish Joshi became a real friend, mentor, and role model. My mother passed away when I was a sophomore at Northwestern. The summer before I returned to school I carved a series of alabaster sculptures with Satish on the river campus.
Dr. Evelyn Flory also encouraged me. I was a poor reader because of dyslexia (then undiagnosed). She introduced me to the concept of listening to Shakespeare with recordings. This simple change made a world of difference that I benefit from to this day.
MARIO M. MULLER ’80
WHAT MADE YOU PURSUE A CAREER AS AN ARTIST? WAS THERE A PARTICULAR MOMENT WHEN YOU KNEW THIS WAS WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO?
I am an artist because I love art. I am the most enthusiastic visual consumer of art you will ever meet. It has moved me, it has transformed me, it has helped and comforted me. It has given me great pleasure throughout my life. Art has also infuriated and aggravated me, but regardless, art just plays this incredible role.
You know the old chestnut, “Think outside of the box”... I was never in the box. That caused some consternation with my teachers over the years, but the professors who saw my core creativity immediately locked in on it and gave me encouragement.
I have to give credit to my quixotic mother. She gave me a cultural base of understanding and exposure that was extraordinary. We lived on the Upper East Side and I was a latch-key kid before the term was coined. Each year she gave me memberships to the Metropolitan, the Guggenheim, the Whitney, and the Frick. I could go anytime I wanted. I always had a home base at museums, and not everybody had that.
YOUR ARTWORK COVERS A WIDE RANGE OF SUBJECTS, FROM COLLAGED POSTCARDS TO HOLLYWOOD ACTRESSES FROM THE 1930S TO THE 1960S: WHAT ARE THE GUIDING ARTISTIC THEMES THROUGHOUT YOUR WORK?
The red thread that binds all my motifs over 40 years is probably an element of light — a description of how light allows us to see things. Very early on, the images that made my career and visual identity were of shadows and silhouettes and the bright sun creating these forms. They overlap, reinvent, and surprise continuously.
The GoWithTheFlo collaged postcards always make me smile. They’re like some time-released aesthetic ignition. Some are more overt than others but each has a sense of satisfactory epiphany. Delivering
the unexpected is their primary purpose.
In the Hollywood Women collection, I use a halftone methodology to present the women as sort of idealized versions of theatricality and glamor. The dots of the halftone screen are meticulously handpainted, taking a mechanical process and executing it manually. The large-scale renditions (30 x 40 inches) are especially magical. Sometimes the small-scale pieces arrive heroic and sometimes the large ones appear intimate.
Those aforementioned depictions of urban pedestrians are at the forefront of
the site-specific commission, UrbanMotif from the MTA Arts for Transit program. In 2007, I installed 12 glass windscreen panels for a subway station in the Bronx, Kingsbridge Road. Each panel is laminated, hand-painted, and sandblasted layers of glass. There’s a black and white grit and gray layer, there’s a color layer, and then there’s a sandblasted layer. It’s permanent, and to be able to say that my work is part of the NYC landscape in which I grew up is incredibly moving. I know my Mother would be incredibly proud.
GOWITHTHEFLOW #40, 2019 TWO COLLAGED POSTCARDS DIMENSIONS VARY
GOWITHTHEFLO #9, 2021
TWO COLLAGED POSTCARDS DIMENSIONS VARY
GOWITHTHEFLOW #50, 2020
TWO COLLAGED POSTCARDS COLLECTION TOM SWIFT, OAKLAND, CA DIMENSIONS VARY
Mario M. Muller ’80 (continued)
YOU FOUNDED THE WEEKLY ZOOM ART SALON AESTHETIC ARREST DURING COVID-19. CAN YOU SHARE WHAT AESTHETIC ARREST MEANS TO YOU AND WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO ORGANIZE THESE GATHERINGS?
Karen Waddell ’80 and I have maintained a lifelong friendship. During the pandemic, we would call each other on Fridays and debrief each of our weeks. This usually included some wonderful tangents about artists, galleries, museums, or art fairs.
After about 3-4 months of these Karen said, “You’re way too good at this. You’ve gotta do this for more people.” After some brainstorming and fine-tuning Aesthetic Arrest was born.
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Aesthetic Arrest is a gathering of culturally curious, visually insatiable art lovers. The weekly sessions often concentrate on one or maybe two artists or on a particular curatorial theme. The conversational presentations and resulting animated discussions usually last no longer than 35-45 minutes.
The term Aesthetic Arrest is the physicalization of awe — when you’re standing in front of something so beautiful that it makes the hair on the back of the neck stand up, chills
and goosebumps, weak in the knees, and a little shortness of breath. I feel all of those when I see something extraordinary. That wonder can be triggered by a visual, but it also can be intellectual, it can be an inquiry, which then leads you to see the world in a different way.
The drive to seek out and share these moments of wonder is based on this fantastic quote by Robert Storr, the former chief curator at MoMA. He said, “Never trust taste without appetite.” Sophistication and connoisseurship are useless if not accompanied by hunger for the new and surprising.
We currently have 165 people on the mailing list from all over both the country and the world. We have done 115 sessions (67 were dedicated to women artists!) in three years.
We have weekly enthusiasts from Hawaii to London.
WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?
I serve as Artist in Residence to the Stephen Wise Temple here in Los Angeles. There are a multitude of projects that I do but perhaps none more satisfying than the assignment to design a new mezuzah for a new building going up on the Bel Air campus.
I’m completing a couple of books on my expanding productivity over the last decade. One series titled HalfFull, are India Ink Paintings of glasses half full. It’s basically about the discipline that it takes to remain optimistic in a sometimes disappointing world. That’s what I concentrated on during the COVID times. The End is a meditation on aging and Film Noir 32 Questions for Carl Jung is an installation of drawings and paintings.
I prefer to sell directly to private and corporate patrons. Having exhibitions is exhausting. There are collectors who come to my studio and say, What’s your favorite piece? I always say it’s the piece I’m finishing next week or the piece I haven’t started yet.
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Mario M. Muller ’80 is a Fine Artist based in Los Angeles. A native New Yorker, he has mounted 23 solo exhibitions in Europe and the US in 30 years. He holds a degree from Northwestern University in Film and Fine Art and partook in prestigious master classes with Ed Paschke, Roy Lichtenstein, Audrey Flack, James Brooks, and Wayne Theibaud. In addition to his prolific art career, Muller has published over 100 articles on art and film criticism.
The Fine Art Mothership: mariomuller.com
The Instagram: @truffleHunting
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Jane Bendetson
BY STEVEN FRIEDLANDER ’77
Jane Bendetson was impeccably wise—and she had a keen impact on my life.
I’d somehow managed to work my Riverdale high school schedule such that Mrs. Bendetson was my only English teacher through 10th, 11th, and the first semester of 12th grade. By my senior year, I’d read Virginia Woolf (Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse); Call It Sleep by Henry Roth; Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and T.S. Eliot; Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles. Mrs. B.’s ‘The Bible as Literature’ class was a college-level seminar for 16-year-olds: We read Archibald MacLeish’s J.B. and then read and talked about the book of Job. How many high school students have the privilege to be exposed to the syllabi presented by Mrs. B.?
I learned how to write—and, most importantly, how to think about literature—from Mrs. B. In many ways, Mrs. B. shaped my life and career. “Where should I go to college?”
I asked as a naïve 15-year-old, and she told me she thought Hamilton College would work well for me. Sure enough, I matriculated at Hamilton (did she know, though, about those brutally cold winters?).
Mrs. B. had high expectations for her students; she insisted
we be serious and focused. I can remember days when we weren’t prepared, and she would unleash her legendary fury upon us: She would bolt from our classroom and leave us to figure out:
What do we do?
I attended Riverdale Country School for 12 years, but I was never a great student. There were certainly assignments for which I did not put forth my best effort—but Mrs. B. had my number, and, as time passed, I never wanted to disappoint her. She had her favorite students, for sure—and I somehow passed her test.
Our senior class, during the spring of 1977, conceived the idea to produce Homemade Jam, a literary magazine of sorts. We would publish short stories, poems, some community gossip (pre-“Page Six”!), even illustrations, and photography. I wrote a story to submit to my classmate editors—but I wanted Mrs. B. to see the story first.
I saw her one Friday morning in the old Perkins Building— these were the days when grades 10 through 12 were at the River Campus—and I asked if she would review my story.
She wanted to reach me and inspire me and push me to keep going, to write the best I could.
“Sure,” she said. “Come back at the end of the day and I’ll give you some feedback.”
I was so happy! I was certain my favorite teacher would love my fiction. I returned to her classroom at the end of the day.
“Steve, sit down,” she said—and she didn’t look happy.
“Steve,” she began, “I read your story.” She paused. “You do know that plagiarism is a very serious offense at Riverdale.”
I can still hear those words. I’m sure my head was spinning. My beloved teacher—the only English teacher I’d ever had in high school—was accusing me of plagiarism. “Mrs. B.,” I said, “I wrote the story.”
“Steve,” she replied, “nothing you have produced for me over these past two-and-a-half years suggests you are even capable of writing this.”
“But…but…I wrote it!”
“I even showed this to Mr. Eager [my law class teacher] and he agreed. He said, ‘There is no way Friedlander wrote this.’”
“But…but…I did write the story. What do you want me to do?”
She waited a few seconds—it seemed hours—and replied, “I don’t know.
Plagiarism isn’t something I take lightly. You have the weekend; you figure out what we are going to do. Let’s talk Monday.”
What do I do?
I lived in Riverdale, and I walked home that Friday afternoon along Palisades Avenue dazed and confused. Mrs. B. doesn’t believe I wrote my story! What was I going to do?
I’m sure I had concerts and parties and friends to see that weekend—but everything stopped for me and, starting that Friday night, and through Sunday evening, I typed. And I typed. And I typed.
My trusty Smith-Corona electric typewriter served me well that weekend as I typed story after story, page after page.
I must have had 50 or so pages when Monday morning arrived. I walked into Mrs. B.’s classroom.
“I didn’t know how else to prove to you I wrote my story,” I said, “so I wrote more stories.”
“Okay,” she said—and then dismissed me. “Come back at the end of the day and we can talk.”
I wasn’t able to pay much attention in class that day. When 3:30 p.m. arrived, I re-entered Mrs. B.’s classroom.
“Did you read my other stories?” I asked.
She replied: “I did”—and without feedback but with a theatrical reading only Mrs. B. could offer, she said, “Sooo, Mr. Friedlander, now what are you going to do?”
Mrs. B. knew all along that I’d written the first story, and she knew it may have been the best story I’d ever written. She wanted to reach me and inspire me and push me to keep going, to write the best I could, to think about how to continue to write well and often—and so she pushed some buttons and helped me see I could be a writer.
I’ve now been writing and editing professionally for 43 years. I also teach a magazine-focused writing and publishing seminar in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Tennessee— and I think about Mrs. Bendetson and the lessons she taught me every time I walk into my classroom.
And I am always wondering: What would Mrs. B. do?
Steven Friedlander ’77 is an editor, writer, communications and marketing consultant, and university instructor.
This fall, we had a wonderful time celebrating Reunion and Homecoming 2023! The weekend started with a cocktail reception at Peak in Hudson Yards on Friday, October 13, where reunion years reconnected with each other and their former teachers. Despite the dreary weather the next day, the community enjoyed a day filled with events and activities. We cheered on our student-athletes, celebrated Niesha Butler ’98 as she received The Ernest McAneny ’25 Spirit Award, and her number 11 basketball jersey was retired, and reminisced with friends over lunch. We are happy to share links to view the class photos and pictures from the day’s events on the alumni portal (riverdale.edu/portal/reunion).
Mariama N’Diaye ’13
Mariama N’Diaye ’13 is pursuing a passion that, while rooted in her native Harlem, is taking her all over the world. From her graduate studies and the fellowships she’s received to her entrepreneurial endeavors with her sister, Mariama is dedicated to uplifting marginalized communities by addressing complex social issues and partnering in the designing of humancentered solutions. Her upbringing coupled with her professional experiences in the public sector and as a project manager have culminated in her unique approach to the question: How do we best serve individuals and communities?
Mariama’s love of learning extends back to Riverdale and its abundance of offerings, as does her ability to juggle dual roles that tap into her varying interests. “Riverdale taught me how to be a great speaker, a great writer, and very engaged on campus. It taught [me] how to see [myself] as an engaged participant in the world [I’m] living in, whether it’s through class or through [my] classmates.” Along with balancing yearbook, volleyball and soccer, photography classes, and her mandatory course load, Mariama’s scholarly focus narrowed on the duality of the roles she balanced off campus, as well. “I will say that the experience at Riverdale, while also living in Harlem, has defined my career path and my academic path,” says Mariama, “the reason being that a big part of my experience was asking: How can we live in the same city yet have such different experiences based off economic wealth?”
To Mariama, this was a fascinating disparity ––that Riverdale and Harlem can coexist so closely within New York City yet be worlds apart. After
graduating from Williams College with a degree in political science, specializing in comparative politics with honors in global studies, that very question planted a seed for a broader thought that would be at the heart of Mariama’s expansive work.
Beginning as a research intern for Bloomberg Associates, an international consulting service and philanthropic venture, Mariama engaged in opportunities that put her at the forefront of impactful initiatives. As a local government consultant and project manager for Bloomberg’s Social Services, Mariama led multifaceted global projects such as providing policy recommendations to local leaders in the City of Paris based on the first-ever count of their unhoused population and streamlining support services for migrant populations in Milan, Italy. Across the globe in Lima, Peru, Mariama was instrumental in working with the capital city to create a domestic violence awareness campaign during the first year of COVID-19, while back in the States, she focused on reducing on-campus student arrests in Houston, Texas. There is a common thread woven into every role Mariama has taken on: she applies a design thinking lens to reimagine the potential of initiatives intended to amplify the development of people.
Along with drawing from her experience as a Riverdale student, Mariama finds inspiration in the culturally rich enclave she calls home.
“Growing up in Little Senegal, in Harlem, defined who I am. I introduce myself, no matter the occasion, with that fact because it’s the
foundation of who I am,” says Mariama, “Being in a country within a city, in a Harlem within a Manhattan, made me constantly wonder how one preserves a culture while also being open to entering new doors.” Entering new doors became a norm for Mariama who in 2021 was named an EU-Schuman Fulbright Scholar, receiving an opportunity to conduct independent research on how moderately large municipalities work to support non-EU migrants across city agencies, particularly while collectively facing a health crisis. This ethnographic study allowed Mariama to delve into government systems and explore how practitioners utilized human-centered designs to better support marginalized communities, like immigrant communities in Milan, Paris, and Dresden. During her study, Mariama met with practitioners to discuss their designing of new public programs, policies, and places, asking about their processes, potential bottlenecks, and the lived experiences considered when making decisions that impacted populations at large. When reflecting on how she engaged with the people she hoped to serve, Mariama says, “The way I navigate it personally is by entering [a space] as if I know absolutely nothing. My job is to listen, to be a part of, and to engage with. Even as a designer, I don’t have the answer, I don’t have the solution. We may not have the solution. But we can spend a lot more time focusing on the problem and understanding its impact and unpacking that, and then working with communities to define what the solution can be.”
A self-professed lifelong learner, Mariama prides herself on being on an ever-growing quest for knowledge, often considering how she invests her time in fulfilling her purpose and engaging in activities that contribute to the life she wants to live. Mariama says, “I’ve learned this very recently, or came to the realization, that it is okay to jump around. There are different roles and levels that play into everything we do and we don’t have to have one role for our entire lives.” As for how those roles feed into the greater good, including sustainable solutions for vulnerable populations, Mariama believes the key is consistency and a genuine want to support the efforts of changemakers through service learning. Mariama
shares, “I always say that if you say there’s no way, then the next person will also say there’s no way, and nothing will ever happen. A lot of work can happen on a small scale. You have no idea how your support, at any level, will open doors or who will be served by your engagement.” Mariama also notes the importance of acknowledging privilege, one’s adaptation to a different environment, how communication plays a role in the delivery of actions, and ultimately supporting an impact that extends beyond the moment.
Mariama is currently a design fellow at the MIT Morningside Academy for Design pursuing a dual master’s degree in urban planning and business administration at the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning and the MIT Sloan School of Management. She is looking forward to defending her thesis this spring, noting that it is the culmination of her Fulbright work and representative of what she hopes will be her life’s work. Along with being a Fulbright Scholarship recipient, Mariama was named NYU Fellow for Emerging Leaders in Public Service, and a Student Design Fellow at IDEO.org. Along with her studies, she currently sits as the Chief of Staff for Ami Colé, a clean beauty brand founded by her sister, Diarrha, inspired by Senegal in celebration of melanin-rich skin. When considering the initiatives she hopes to apply her unique skillset to following spring commencement, Mariama says, “I’m passionate about economic development, immigration support, and providing quality jobs. I’m very focused on the international space. I’m passionate about how human-centered design, storytelling, and negotiation can be utilized in a government capacity.” Mariama is also looking forward to traveling, specifically to Mexico City, known for its advanced level of urban planning and development. From there, she hopes to go further to visit Fiji, New Zealand, or Thailand and live “a remote nomad life.”
I always say that if you say there’s no way, then the next person will also say there’s no way, and nothing will ever happen. A lot of work can happen on a small scale. You have no idea how your support, at any level, will open doors or who will be served by your engagement.
DC Reflection
Day 1:
After a long, hot bus ride, we arrived in D.C., excited for the informative and interactive 11th-grade trip ahead of us. We quickly found our rooms, divided into Constructing America (CA) groups, and boarded buses to various monuments and memorials. I was with the group that visited the FDR and MLK memorials, which started with debriefs on the two historical figures and continued with walkthroughs. The FDR Memorial is divided into four “rooms” to represent his four terms in office, each with his famous quotes inscribed on the stone walls. Lines such as “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” and “Demoralization caused by vast unemployment is our greatest extravagance” emphasized FDR’s prioritization of moral and spiritual values over material gains. We discussed the use of flowing water and tumbled rocks to depict his presidency during WWII and addressed how FDR and the media approached his paralysis from polio. Moving on to MLK’s memorial, we marveled at the curved wall that increases in height as the quotes and sermons progressively become longer.
We analyzed MLK’s portrayal of the stone of hope with the quote “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope,” questioning why the sculptor decided to make his face hyper-realistic, while his legs fade into the stone. Then, after small-group dinners in Dupont Circle, we returned to the Friends Meeting House to hear from Danny Meza on how policy is made. As he relayed his path to his role as a lobbyist for the Raben Group, I was particularly moved by his stress of civic engagement and the ability to sufficiently address a problem and figure out the steps necessary to solve it. Overall, a successful first day in Washington, D.C.!
Day 2:
Today, we met for a group breakfast and set off to the Friends Meeting House for lectures on how to identify styles of artwork and “read” an exhibit. We then dispersed to our various advocacy groups/activities, so I began my day by hearing from Rabbi Sarah Bassin from HIAS. She discussed how the net immigration rate (the number of immigrants accepted into the country) has significantly decreased from destroyed infrastructure. HIAS’s mission is to help people who are in need of safety, security, and refuge by providing cash assistance, access to educational programs, and psychological first aid. She conducted an insightful, structured, and thorough lecture which we all continued to unpack throughout the rest of the day together. Then, I went on a tour of the Capitol, where we walked through the crypt, rotunda, and statuary hall.
The elaborate details and thoughtful symbolism related to discussions that we had in CA when we spoke about the apotheosis and the depiction of George Washington as a type of god. I then spent the rest of the evening strolling around Georgetown with friends, enjoying the nice weather, and getting to debrief with my peers over a delicious dinner. We concluded our day with a talk from Sharita Gruberg, who works as an advocate for the National Partnership for Women and Families. From her bounds from organization to organization, Gruberg has a vast understanding of women’s rights as well as LGBTQ+ rights, as she works to fight for their legal protection. For example, when discussing receiving paid leave, she emphasized the government’s frequent failure to under- stand that we are talking about human beings, not machines, that have children, need to take sick days, and have to help struggling families. I found her inspiring, as she was able to steadily convey her extensive policy work.
Day 3:
Last full day here in D.C.! I ran over to a cafe near the hotel with friends and then gathered for a Georgetown walking tour. As we were guided through Georgetown University, the college town, and scenic side streets, we heard about the history of the area, stopping at notable indications of slavery and analyzing statues/quotes of figures who accepted responsibility for their origins as slaveowners. I had enough time to “get lost in the streets” of Georgetown before my next activity, so I walked, talked, explored, and ate nearby with other group members. Later, I went to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, a documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history. I was transfixed by the pain of the innocent Jews who were considered an “inferior” race, being beaten, trapped, and demoralized by Hitler and his following. Furthermore, the Holocaust was focused on “purifying” the German population by con- trolling the media to make citizens obedient to the political power of the regime and reprimanding those who weren’t. One story that specifically stuck with me was one of Gabriel Reinhardt and pregnant Theresia Winterstein, Jewish “Gypsies” applying for special permission to marry in 1942. Their request was granted under the condition that she be sterilized after the birth of her twins, and she agreed. Her twins were then taken for “scientific” studies.
This story underlines the prohibition of Jews from reproducing, calling attention to purely inhumane restrictions as a form of religious persecution. I had the rest of the evening free, so my friends and I traveled on a water taxi from Georgetown to the wharf, touring us through the Washington Channel. After a delicious dinner and some ice cream on the pier, we returned to the hotel for our last night of sleep in the Washington Hilton Hotel. The trip was truly a memorable, rewarding experience, as I was able to see, hear, and ask questions about important landmarks, figures, and periods that we had discussed in class, allowing for a more tangible understanding of the CA curriculum. I will always have educational and exciting stories to tell from our time in Washington, D.C.!
DC Reflection
This year, the 11th-grade Class of 2025 had the privilege of traveling on the annual trip to Washington, D.C. All students were given full independence for their meals and took part in tons of amazing activities! Thanks to the incredible planning of our Riverdale staff, all 150 students were able to create fully personalized itineraries for the trip. During our threenight stay, I visited Arlington Cemetery, several American war monuments, the National Gallery of Art, and went on tours of both the U.S. Capitol and the White House. The two most meaningful experiences, however, were my meetings with analysts from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and with New York Congressman Daniel Goldman.
At both of our meetings, our discussions were incredibly insightful and to meet with one of New York City’s representatives was a huge honor for all of us. At the American Enterprise Institute, we spoke with the same experts who inform Congress on the world’s current events. As the Middle East is their area of focus, we spoke about the emerging conflict in Israel and were able to ask questions about the U.S.’s military readiness, the possibility of escalation in the region, and the domestic situation in Iran.
All in all, the trip was an unforgettable experience for everyone involved, fostering an understanding of our nation’s capital and political processes that can only be built by seeing our government’s workings up close. We are all very grateful for everyone who helped make this trip happen and we hope that future classes can experience all the same opportunities we did this October!
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Class
Amazingly, sixty-six years after graduating from Riverdale, most members of our class remain in close touch via a Zoom session every second Sunday and virtually non-stop emails about the issues of the day.
The principal credit for our Zoom sessions goes to JEFF FISHER, a former CEO in the steel industry, who sets our agenda and emcees (seasonally from East Hampton, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida); and MAARTEN MECKMAN, an immigration law expert, who engineers our sessions (Medellin, Colombia).
Although we originally had fourteen countries represented in our class, there are only a few left in our circle. They include Meckman (Holland), MARIO ADLER (Brazil), and ROBERTO ZALLES (Bolivia). Mario ran South America’s largest toy company (from São Paulo), and Bob is still an active financial advisor (Lima, Peru).
As for our U.S. “classmateactivists,” there are the following:
JUDY AUSTIN, a “theoretically retired” historian and editor (Boise, Idaho); BILL BENNETT, who, after teaching at RCS for ten years, headed the Waynflete School (Portland, Maine); PAUL DICKSON, the author of over fifty books (Kensington, Maryland); PETER ELLIS, a thoughtful lawyer (Cambridge, Massachusetts); JOHN FREEMAN, a “still unindicted” financial professional (Evanston, Illinois); MARGO FULD, “an honorary classmate” via her deceased husband, Kenny (NYC and Tucson, Arizona); WARREN GOLDE, a horticulturist, who in recent years has led his hometown (Lewes, Delaware)
to a world championship for its flower displays; STEVE GOLDSTEIN, a Smith/ Harvard professor and China expert (Cambridge, Massachusetts); LARRY JOHNSON, a longtime Boston litigator, who is spending his retirement farming (Castine, Maine); BOB JOHNSON, a former senior partner of the Munger, Tolles & Olson lawfirm (Los Angeles, California); STEVE KANE, a veteran
editor and poet (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY); DOUG WARWICK, a longtime international banker (now back in NYC); SKIP WASSERMAN, a commercial real estate specialist and active Democrat (Sarasota, Florida); and TIM ZAGAT, founder of Zagat Survey, also an RCS Trustee (Millerton, New York).
Over the post-RCS years, we’ve, of course, lost some of our beloved classmates. To name a few who were, until recently, actively engaged with us: RICK BATES, TONY CAPRARO, ANDY GLASS, BOB GLAUBER, MARTIN PEACOCK, MARC WEINBERG, and MARTY ZELNIK
political talk show host (Hollywood, Florida); TOM KEISER, a healthcare administrator (Brooklyn, New York); GEORGE LIEBMANN ’56, a scholarly lawyer and prolific author (Baltimore, Maryland); RICHARD MEADE ’56, a lawyer who practiced in Paris, France, and later received a Cambridge University degree in theology (Cambridge, UK and Sarasota, Florida); FRANK MIDGLEY, a distinguished neurosurgeon (Lake Cayuga, New York); FRED PACKER, a senior insurance company executive (Westport, Connecticut); YVONNE PAYNE DANIEL, an emeritus Smith College professor of Dance and Afro-American Culture (Castro Valley, California); ED AND SUE JACOBS SCHAFFZIN, the only classmates to marry each other, Ed still practices corporate law (NYC); VERA VON SAUCKEN HALDY-REGIER, an
Fortunately, most of our class are still around in good health and still close to each other – and through each other, to RCS. Almost the entire class celebrated our 65th Anniversary over the full weekend of our Alumni Reunion. It is the RCS Spirit That Quickens us, or at least, we hope so!
In contrast to other classes, we have four active class correspondents:
JUDY AUSTIN
BOB JOHNSON
SUE JACOBS SCHAFFZIN
TIM ZAGAT
BOB JOHNSON ’57 WITH WIFE MARILYN AND GRANDDAUGHTER SOPHIE AT THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON CAMPUS.
VERA VON SAUCKEN HALDY-REGIER ’57 WITH HUSBAND JIM.
VERA VON SAUCKEN HALDY-REGIER
continues to write poetry and lives in Hastings-on-Hudson with her husband Jim. Vera recently wrote the following poem.
“The Oak” An oak lone and bent by wind shuddered while shedding leaf-light having forgotten its forest family just a mossy stone away and in forgetting oak denied its forest roots intertwined in an ardent embrace insuring its safety in union and very life an embrace of love is your keening call whispered wind or you will weep and break against my howling VH-R, November 2023
BOB JOHNSON writes: Marilyn and I recently traveled to Seattle for a wonderful three-day weekend to visit our oldest granddaughter Sophie, who moved there to begin a five-year program at the University of Washington to obtain a Ph.D. in Earth & Space Sciences. Our daughter Hilary and our other three granddaughters visited us for three weeks over the Christmas and New Year holidays, and we went on a seven-day cruise to Mexico while they were here. Our son Chris will also come to visit us in December. In the fall we had a delightful evening at dinner and a concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall with classmate JUDY AUSTIN and her husband Don when Judy came to Los Angeles to attend the annual conference of the Western History Association.
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PHIL PROCTOR writes: I’m still working at 83, most recently as The Grinch for an interactive game and for a line of Grinch-themed products in England. Before that, I played several pirates in a six-part radio adaptation of Treasure Island with John Goodman and Dave Ossman, my Firesign Theatre partner. We both also appear in Feast Your Ears, a documentary about the first progressive radio station, WHFS in Bethesda, and I’m still live every week
on KPFK with Phil & Ted’s Sexy Boomer Show, which you can hear anytime online. I’m soldiering on, despite the recent loss of my darling wife Melinda Peterson, who died quite unexpectedly of a heart attack at home right before her 74th birthday, as she was recovering from a bad fall she took on vacation in Sicily. We had 32 years of fun, love, and laughter and she was a genius as an actress, a gardener, a home decorator — and she could cut my hair and do our taxes.
Before she died she was taking a creative Zoom writing class, and the first assignment was to describe your own funeral. The short piece she wrote was so amazing that her teacher used it as the model for classmates to follow. In it, she wrote about me at her memorial and said, “Look at poor Phil. He is in despair; I’ve never seen him so downcast. Oh, wait; he just made a joke and got a laugh. He’ll be okay.” Every day, Melinda proves that “there is laugh after death!”
ALAN COYNE shares: I am doing fine. My wife, Deanna, and I just returned from two months in Asia. We met our son, Andy and his wife, Andrea, in Japan. After several days touring Tokyo, we flew to their home in Beijing. They have two boys — ages four and six — and Andrea’s parents (from Mexico) were also there. We all traveled together to Hong Kong and three cities in Taiwan. Andy’s boys attend a French school in Beijing. Andy is Chief Counsel for Aramco Oil in Asia.
We were impressed by several things — the incredible skyscrapers and cleanliness in all of the cities, the appearance of strong economies, the large percentage of electric vehicles everywhere, and the amount of English spoken and in road and business signage. In two months based in Beijing, we only experienced one day with noticeable air pollution. On Halloween evening at Andy’s house, I handed out candy to more than 500 costumed children, and almost all of them — and their parents — thanked me in English.
On our flights to and back from Asia,
we flew West — to Dallas and Tokyo and Beijing and, on the return, West to Istanbul and New York and then home to South Carolina. I guess that means we have now traveled “around the world.”
I would enjoy hearing from any of my classmates.
JIM GORDON reports: Even as my hearing dims and knees creak, I find great joy and satisfaction in helping others. That, after all, is why I became a doctor.
We made a video showing the trauma healing training my Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM) team and I are bringing to 11 oblasts (regions) of Ukraine. I’m there as I write this entry, deeply moved by the capacity for change and generosity of the clinicians and educators whom we’ve trained in our model of self-care and mutual support and are now mentoring.
Meanwhile, I grieve for Hamas’s slaughter of innocents and Israel’s “total siege” as our teams in Israel and Gaza continue their 20-year work to heal the trauma that affects so many on both sides of the Erez crossing.
If you want to learn more, please look at the CMBM website (https:// cmbm.org/) and check out my most recent book, Transforming Trauma: The Path to Hope and Healing.
From PAUL JABLOW: This goround finds me healthy and reasonably energetic but having some trouble facing retirement. I’ve considered myself semi-retired for some years while freelancing. This involves both writing and trying to drum up work, and while my ability and desire remain very much unchanged with the former, the latter is proving difficult as my connections disappear through their own retirement and other reasons. This may involve finding some different types of part-time work. And of course one of my “jobs” is helping care for my daughter, Cara. She has Down Syndrome and is living in a wonderful group home located through a diligent search by my ex-wife, Martha. But as is
common in these cases, she has dementia and family connections are really important.
PAUL BREST writes: After 12 years as President of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, I returned to Stanford in 2012, where I am teaching both at the Law School and Graduate School of Business, more on issues of public policy and philanthropy than law. I am the co-author of Money Well Spent: A Strategic Guide to Smart Philanthropy (2018), and two online courses: Developing a Strategy for Social Change and Thinking in Systems.
My wife, Iris Lang Brest, and I live at Stanford; our fourteen-year-old Singaporean-American grandson — the son of Jeremy Brest — lives with us and goes to a local high school. Another grandson, the son of Hilary Meltzer, is a sophomore at Stanford.
1959
From Class Correspondent, GEOFF HOWARD: The theme of these Class Notes is “still going, still moving forward, 65 years later!”
We can start with a great achievement! After working on it for more than ten years, RON WINSTON writes that the biography of his father, Harry, is out, with the wonderful title, King of Diamonds. Classmate JOHN LAHR, author of many books himself and the long-time theatre critic and writer at The New Yorker, writes in his on-the-jacket review, “ … a slick, deep dive into the world of pure money.”
It should be remembered that this completed project runs parallel to Ron’s ongoing work in cancer research and rocket technology, and we look forward to future Class Notes with even more great achievements.
STEPHEN MILLER and his wife, Carolyn, have an interesting trip planned this summer. “We have Parisian friends we’ve seen every year for the past 30 years and this coming June their daughter, ‘our French daughter,’ whom we’ve known since she was born, is getting married in a castle outside Paris.
And after a week in London, we’ll be there!” Bon voyage to you both!
Another traveling family, MIKE OTTEN, along with wife Evelyne and son Dan, visited Taiwan and Japan where they enjoyed traveling in the ultra-highspeed trains — 190 mph! — and with the help of Dan’s Japanese, found some great out-of-the-way places to eat and stay.
From the halls of academia, this from CHRIS HOBSON: “I’m still teaching, still writing, though I find the teaching more tiring, the work harder to get through, and I’m actively thinking ‘retirement’ for the first time—no decisions or dates yet.” I think we can all understand Chris’s feelings of things getting tougher, but we’re awed that he’s just now “thinking retirement!”
TERRE ALPER OTTO writes that after decades in CT, she has moved to Mainline, PA, along with her “family” of two French poodles. However, she isn’t ready to settle down just yet and so is “busily researching where I will move next.”
It seems hard to believe, but the 65th reunion for the class of ’59 is coming up this year! DAVE PETZAL sends word that he’s already looking forward to it and will even “make the perilous journey from Maine” and my hope is that many
from our class will join him — and me — for a special moment of memories and reconnection.
1961
JUDY MASIUS BEHREND reports: We regrouped prior to our 50th Reunion and that rekindled a comradery that has only grown stronger over the past three years. We have been having monthly Zoom Conversations since May of 2020; one good result from the COVID lockdown. We have shared, supported, and welcomed back our Riverdale friendships.
Unfortunately, since our 50th we have lost some of our dear classmates; MARIE PANI SWITKES, VIVIAN RONAY, BETTY BOOTH, BETSY WINSLOW WAGNER, and JENNIE BLACKTON PHILHAUER.
Jennie’s passing was very difficult for our classmate Zoomers — Jennie, while going for treatments three times a week, still signed on to our conversations for three years and up to a month before she succumbed to her years of battle with renal failure.
On the upside, CARLY SIMON was voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, along with Dolly Parton, in 2022. (Check out Carly’s Induction!)
Since the pandemic, we learned about our classmates who were not born in the U.S. and at a very young age endured isolation, illness, and traumatic journeys when their parents knew they had to leave their homeland in fear of Hitler’s wrath and find a way to come to the United States.
And classmates who were born in the U.S. to immigrant parents who were skilled professionals trying to find their way in a new country.
Many of our classmates who attend the conversations started Riverdale in the Neighborhood School and we are amazed at how technology has enabled us to be close and in touch today as we all are or will be turning 80 years old. For myself, I started in Riverdale in 5th grade at the age of 9 and am looking
KING OF DIAMONDS BY RON WINSTON ‘59
at the computer screen and seeing classmates that were a part of my life almost 71 years ago.
Also thanks to the Alumni Office at Riverdale for enabling us all to stay in touch.
So if there are any girls from the class of ’61 reading this message, please contact me so that you too can see and talk with your Riverdale classmates.
RICH TREFFLICH shares: For several years I had volunteered to work with Habitat for Humanity on the Raritan Valley Chapter construction team. Two of the projects that I am most happy reporting on include:
1. Assisting in converting a house in Chester, NJ into temporary apartments for soldiers returning with PTSD problems.
2. Worked on a conversion of a home (restricted location) to apartments for abused women and children.
I also have been on the Committee for the Friends of Abraham Staats as a vice president. This property is located in South Bound Brook and was the Revolutionary War HQ for General Von Steuben.
LARRY ROSENBLUTH writes: I am happy to report that I heard from PAUL SIEGERT in November. He advised that his name has been included on a plaque newly created by Riverdale to honor its basketball players who scored 1000 points in their Riverdale careers. According to Paul’s report, only about ten players from the past 66 years are named on the plaque, which was dedicated at a Homecoming ceremony. However, I am disappointed to say that Paul’s report itself was submitted for publication in this issue of Quad but was rejected by Riverdale because Paul was critical of the reception he received at the dedication ceremony and his e-mailed submission was deemed by the school as “…not aligned with Riverdale’s mission.”
1962
JOE PICKARD shares: Sarah and I
have been spending our retirement years in Southern Vermont in a oneblinking light town by the name of Londonderry. We live in what was once the Hunting Camp of John Jacob Bausch of Bausch and Lomb. In typical New England fashion, the camp has gone through many additions: the living room floor is slate, as it was the camp’s patio; the ceiling is slanted, as it was the roof of the original house.
We have 24 acres of pristine property halfway up Magic Mountain and our views from afar are the skiing resorts of Stratton and Bromley (from our bed, we can watch the groomers with their blinking lights at four in the morning).
As you can see from this handsome buck, it’s pretty obvious why Mr. Bausch chose this particular site. I don’t allow hunting on the property and the few fishing poachers don’t come back once they taste the bass that I regularly feed with liver pellets, lol.
Although we love living in Vermont and enjoy all four seasons, the winters do get a little long and for respites, we’ve been traveling to Florida and the Caribbean.
TIM MILLAR writes: Not much going on at this end anymore. Worked with the Sea Scouts for several years a while back, rebuilding boats and doing cruises with the youth members. Also worked on Boy Scout events at the Council Camp, taught sailing, lifesaving, took a cruise up to Maine, sailed/raced to Nantucket, organized competitive Camporees, and week-long learning camps.
For a number of years, I held volunteer positions with the Town of Harwich: Bikeways, Conservation, and
other categories. I was instrumental in designing, building, and upgrading the Cape Cod Bike Trail.
Lately, I’ve been hiking in the parking lot at Red River Beach most every day. Each down-and-back is .71 miles. I can check my speed/effort by the elapsed time of the total distance covered every day. Lately, I’m hiking three to four miles.
PAUL GEIGER reports: After 40 years of an exciting and rewarding career, I retired in 2004 and began a series of travels to the European capitals and beyond. My education at RCS was a great start in life. I’m still in touch with
DAN VALAHU and PETER LICHTENSTEIN (since 1956). The class of ’62 has to thank JOE PICKARD for keeping the communication open for 60 years.
1965
NINA GUEFT GELLER shares: It is with great sadness that I notify the Riverdale community of the death of SUSAN TILLMAN GOLDBERG on January 1, 2024. I will sorely miss my best friend. She was fortunate to have a loving and
PAUL GEIGER ’62
HANDSOME YOUNG BUCK SPOTTED BY JOE PICKARD ’62
JOE PICKARD ’62 AND SARAH
nurturing husband who cared for her in sickness and in health.
1968
JOHN M. DAVIS reports: If you have never been to “The Vessel,” it’s a bit of a commitment on a Friday evening; however, that is where the reunion classes ending in 5-year intervals gathered on October 13th on 101st floor of Peak! The views were obviously incredible. I am pleased to report that Riverdale’s Head of School, Kari Ostrem, was a great choice, and she will lead our alma mater with dignity and grace. I chatted with her for more than twenty minutes. The same is true for Rachel Horowitz, the new Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement. Also attending were the always effervescent KAREN GANTZ and JOHN KAO. I also had a delightful conversation with John Jones’ two granddaughters (CHRIS JONES ’66’S girls) — such wonderful young women, and we talked about the motto: “It is the spirit that quickeneth”!
I heard from: RICK KLAUBER, DIANE LEVBARG KLEIN (happy in Palm Beach), JOHN ZAKIAN, NEAL POPPER, JOHN MARCUS, STEVEN GLUSMAN, DAVID LOEB, RICK WINSLOW, STUART RUBIN, SKIP JENSEN, JEFF ROSENBAUM, MALCOLM BERSOHN, ANDREA BELAG, LOUISE GARLAND SCHIFFMAN, and ESTHER GUEFT.
All of whom are looking forward to our 60th reunion.
Steve and basically running our lives while he continues to joyfully irritate everyone with his lively columns in The New York Post. In touch with WENDY HAUSER LUBIN, JANE
HERSHCOPF SCHRECK, MICHELLE
MOYE MARTIN, DEBBIE FREUND, BOBBIE
JOFFE, BETH RUDIN DEWOODY, KEN DAVIES (via WhatsApp — useful for friends who live in Uganda), JULIE GAL, EVELYN LESTON SHERBURNE, etc. Feel free to email me at ephants10021@ gmail.com. It’s under Steve’s name, but I share it. We are so boomer!
JERRY LAGRANGE shares: I am thoroughly enjoying retirement and the grandkids. Spending free moments painting. See my work at https:// instagram.com/gnlagrange.
DAVID GREENE reports: Greetings from New Hampshire! Jody and I retired from oral and maxillofacial surgery practice in December 2021, and have both been enjoying retirement immensely since then. Having somehow survived ourselves raising three daughters, we are very much cherishing being grandparents to our two young grandsons Miles (4), and Theo (1), who both, thankfully, live nearby, and we are able to see often. I have been spending a lot more time doing woodworking and other projects in my extensive workshop, and Jody has been involved in Meals on Wheels and other community endeavors.
Jody has taken up golf, and I have just finished building an amazing treehouse for the grandsons in the woods behind our house.
Jody and I now find plenty of time to do mountain biking and road biking together (weekdays, yay), and we’ve done some amazing and challenging trips (if any of you are into mountain biking, check out Bentonville, Arkansas!). In the winter, we enjoy cross-country skiing, and downhill as well. Not sure how much longer my knees will hold up, but still hanging in there.
travel (fly ourselves) to many exotic destinations to do both dental mission work, as well as continuing education conferences through this great organization. I have been flying for over 35 years and I wish I had known about this group even earlier. We have been able to use our plane to experience some amazing hiking and biking adventures out west, including visiting most of the national parks. We’ve also flown it to Iceland and to the Galapagos as well, but haven’t ventured out of the Western Hemisphere yet……
We hope you all are doing well and enjoying your own adventures whatever they may be. I know we were really looking forward to seeing everyone in person at our 50th reunion in 2020, which of course didn’t really happen due to COVID. Sadly, we also lost our best friend, JOHN TUCCI. I continue to think of him often, and every time I recall one of his Riverdale jokes or stories, of which there were many, I crack myself up. (Jody has, of course, heard them all 100 times.) If any of you find yourselves, passing through Nashua, New Hampshire, be sure to look us up. 603-494-2457.
Sorry for the long note. I think it’s the first one I’ve submitted in 50 years!
DEBBIE FREUND shares: I am now on the faculty at UCLA and enjoying it.
1973
The Riverdale Class of 1973’s 50th reunion was a joyous gathering that began Friday night, October 13, at Peak on the 101st floor of 30 Hudson Yards, (with incredible views of the Manhattan skyline), at an all-class cocktail party, where we began the process of looking from nametag to face to match memory to the people there, among them JOHNNA MURRAY CAMP with her husband Bill Camp, NANCY CHUSID, TOM BIOW, GINA PRESSMAN ELARDO, MARC GOODMAN, ANN MICHEL and her sister EVE ’72, and TOM TEICHOLZ.
1970
JANE HERSHEY CUOZZO writes: I am living in Manhattan with my husband
About 15 years ago, we joined an organization called Flying Dentists Association (FDA), and are able to
On Saturday, October 14, at the annual RCS Homecoming, despite pouring rain, several dozen of our classmates
JOHN KAO, KAREN GANTZ, AND JOHN M. DAVIS AT PEAK
gathered at what we used to call the “Boy’s School” for a luncheon and tours of the buildings old and new. Attendees included TOM BIOW, DOUG BLAU, PETER BRENNAN, JOHNNA MURRAY CAMP with Bill Camp (representing Bill Turner), NANCY CHUSID, TONY COLES, GINA PRESSMAN ELARDO, MARC GOODMAN, PETER GRAYSON, JEFF HOLLENDER, REIKO HORI, DEBORAH KORZENIK, JEFF KRONTHAL, BARBARA LIPTON, ANN MICHEL, KATE DRIVER MURPHY, WENDY PARKER, ROY PULVERS, ILAN (LONNIE) RAMATI, KAREN SCHNEIDER, ZAIN SHAMMAS, SCOTT SHERMAN, KEVIN (CASEY) SIMON, LAURIE STERNKLUGER, TOM TEICHOLZ, and SCOTT WETZLER.
On that Saturday night, many of our classmates plus some friends attended a dinner at Connaughton’s Riverdale Steak House, including most of those who were at the lunch plus PETER DAVIS, PETER GALISON, STEPHEN GRAY, TERRY LAJTHA, CHRIS PILKINGTON, STEVEN ROTH, and JAY STERN ’72.
Deep conversations were had, toasts were made, people became reacquainted (some for the first time), life stories were shared and a good time was had by all. Hey, we may have gotten older, but we also got more interesting!
At dinner, we held a moment of silence for those of our classmates who have passed away, including CURTISS BUELL, ROBERT DANSKER, WAYNE
EUSTER, STATHIS GEORGES, JEFF GORDON, JOHN HOLLINGSWORTH, JAN KRESLINS, JANET LYNN KERR, ROBERT RILEY, MACO STEWART, MARK SUTTONSMITH, and JEFF TUCHMAN.
Unfortunately, some classmates who very much wanted to attend but could not for different reasons included TONY MELCHIOR, STEVE FENICHELL, JON GERTLER, PETER GRAHAM, LAURENCE (LARRY) HOVDE, RANDY KNOPP, HANNAH MCCORMICK, BOB NAJJAR, DANNY SCHNEIDER, and VICTORIA SCHOENBURG. They were missed.
By evening’s end, there was a feeling that the time we had spent at Riverdale was special, and the people we met there, and the people in our class that we didn’t know well but now got a chance to talk to, were all extraordinary…
We have already decided that two years from now as we all turn (or will have already turned) 70 we will do it again …... See you in 2025!
1975
In their 125th year, The Bergen County Family Center (https:// bergenfamilycenter.org/) honored JEFFREY and Rosemarie Russell for numerous contributions for the betterment of their community. The highly successful event raised substantial future funding to continue
the Center’s and the Russells’ good works.
KEITH OUTLAW shares: I had lunch with Bob Clark, former Athletic Director of RCS (he taught me History when I was in eighth grade). Second, I had lunch with Richard Sills from the Music Department. Through my involvement with singing, I think I had him from eighth grade all the way
through graduation — I even took my road test in his car.
1976
LESLIE SUTTON-SMITH writes: After 35 years working in Higher Ed as a university registrar in six different universities, I have at last retired. I’m very much looking forward to reconnecting with my Riverdale friends, as well as spending as much time as possible with my granddaughter, Nina Katherine Sutton-Gerardi. Nina was named after her late great aunt, KATHERINE SUTTON-SMITH MOYER ’72.
50TH REUNION CLASS PHOTO
KEITH OUTLAW ’75 AND BOB CLARK
RICHARD SILLS AND KEITH OUTLAW ’75
1988
ALEX ROSE ’26, Coach Carol Pouliot, and DORIS COOPER posed for a photo after the Girls Varsity Field Hockey team defeated Horace Mann at Homecoming. Coach P. was Doris’s field hockey and lacrosse coach and is now Alex’s field hockey coach.
1989
PAIGE ROESER LAWRENCE reports that she is three years cancer-free, is enjoying her two teen sons, one of whom is in high school, has finally finished decorating and renovating their new house, and got some reunion time with JOANNA GAJEWSKI MATEO and OLIVER KRAMER!
Members of the Riverdale community gathered at the Yonkers Library in early October 2023 for an exhibition opening of the work of Satish Joshi, former head of the Upper School Art Department and mentor to hundreds of students. The exhibit featured paintings, prints, and sculptures. Attendees included DANNY HOLZMAN ’91, TOPHER COX,
SARI GOODFRIEND, Abby Bergman (the former Head of the Lower School when Satish started at RCS), JANE SAFT WINTERS ’79, and AMANDA JOSHI ’00, Satish’s daughter.
ALAIN SILVERIO writes: Thanks to PATRICK DOTE and his family’s annual Friendsgiving celebration, we got to see each other in person as a group. All report to be healthy, happy, and tired.
1995
RICHARD KULICK shares: Approximately three years ago, my wife, son, two dogs, and I moved to Miami. Aside from a lot more rain, the move has been great. We are happily living the snowbird life and come back to NYC in the summers; we would love to see some RCS folks in S. Florida or NYC.
CLIFF BAYER writes: I am still living in NYC with my lovely wife and 2 beautiful boys!
2000
LINDSAY BARAD was recognized as one of Crain’s influential 2023 Notable Leaders in Advertising, Marketing, and PR for her accomplishments in new development.
2006
In July, class correspondents ELISE MICHAEL, TRACY DANSKER, and HADLEY ASSAIL-CHERTOFF hosted a happy hour for ’06 alumni. We had an enthusiastic turnout and great fun reconnecting and sharing memories of our time at Riverdale. We look forward to future events!
2007
ALIK ALFUS shares: I launched Te Aplomb, offering made-to-order and bespoke leather garments out of an 8000 loft Atelier in Soho. A canvas
ALEX ROSE ’26, COACH CAROL POULIOT, AND DORIS COOPER ’88; P’26
DANNY HOLZMAN ’91, TOPHER COX ’89, SATISH JOSHI, SARI GOODFRIEND ’89, ABBY BERGMAN, JANE SAFT WINTERS ’79, AMANDA JOSHI ’00
PAIGE ROESER LAWRENCE ’89 AND SONS
PAIGE ROESER LAWRENCE ’89 AND JOANNA GAJEWSKI MATEO ’89
PAIGE ROESER LAWRENCE ’89 AND OLIVER KRAMER ’89
PETER FLAMM ’89, PATRICK DOTE ’89, GENE KIM ’89, ALAIN SILVERIO ’89, JOSHUA SINGER ’89, AND JAMES LIM ’89
GEORGE MORENO, SR. P’07, MICHAEL G. MORENO ’07, HILLARY TUCKER, JONAH HECHT ’07
in the form of your second skin and the natural evolution of my father’s, MITCHELL ALFUS ’70, company Libra Leather.
MICHAEL G. MORENO reports: I was happy to celebrate the joy-filled nuptials of fellow former RCS student, JONAH HECHT and his amazing wife, Hillary Tucker. Our 20-year friendship started back in 7th grade on the Hill campus. I am honored to have had the opportunity to share in their special day! The wedding was held at the Metropolitan Club in New York City. A good time was had by all. Cheers!
2008
ALEX HICKS-NELSON is a veterinarian in research working at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center in Seattle.
2016
HANNAH LUDEMANN HICKS got married this past March and was able to celebrate with a few other alums in attendance, including MIKAELA COLE, MIA LUGO, and SARAH LUDEMANN ’22.
MIKAELA COLE ’16, HANNAH LUDEMANN HICKS ’16, AND MIA LUGO ’16 AT HANNAH’S WEDDING
In Memoriam
ANN-LAWRIE SLOAN AISA ’48
ANTHONY BLUE ’58
CURTISS BUELL ’73
KENNETH BURROWS ’58
NELSON CASE ’49
THEODORE COHN ’75
BOSWORTH FARSON
JAMES GARVEY ’46
SUSAN TILLMAN GOLDBERG ’65
JEFFREY GORDON ’73
R. CRAIG GRAY ’56
DANIEL LOEB ’79
JENNIE BLACKTON PHILHAUER ’61
JEROME SCHWEITZER ’45
ELOISE FINCH THOLEN ’53
ELIZABETH WINSLOW WAGNER ’61
BOSWORTH FARSON
Bo Farson, former teacher, head of Middle School, and dorm counselor in the early years of Riverdale as a boarding school, passed away on January 11, 2024. Bo relocated to Asheville, NC for retirement, drawing pleasure from the scenic mountains that reminded him of his childhood in Western Pennsylvania.
He and his wife, Idelle, built an expansive flower garden below their mountain home, a place for viewing and gathering with family and friends. Bo loved jazz his whole adult life. He was proud of his work in retirement, creating and directing the Western North Carolina Jazz Society. From 2003 to 2011 he produced 83 live jazz concerts in Asheville venues including the prestigious Diana Wortham Theatre, honoring the genre and musicians who inspired him.
After receiving his Bachelor of Arts from Washington and Jefferson College, Master of Philosophy from UMass, and a law degree from Fordham University, Bo chose a career path in education spanning 32 years. First at Riverdale Country
School, and subsequently at Greenwich Country Day School in CT, his favorite roles were teaching language arts and social studies in the lower school, and American History in the Middle School. He loved coaching baseball, football, and basketball. He was a loyal fan of his beloved Pittsburgh sports teams and fond of his hometown, Uniontown, and the dear friends of his childhood whose friendships he valued like family.
He valued his relationships with Riverdale faculty and also remained close to many of his former Riverdale students, some of whom stayed in touch with him into their adult lives. In 1980 he and Idelle built a family vacation home in Eleuthera, Bahamas. The island and the friends he made there remained lasting memories.
He will be remembered for his love of jazz, his generosity, humor, and devotion to his family. He is survived by his wife, Idelle, his daughter, Carla, his son, Brett, daughter-in-law Annie, and granddaughters, Jaquelyn, Melanie, and Abigail.
ANN-LAWRIE
SLOAN AISA ’48
In loving memory of Ann-Lawrie Sloan Aisa (nickname Scotty), who passed from this life on July 17, 2023, in Wyckoff, New Jersey, at the age of 92. Ann-Lawrie lived deeply and fully throughout her long and rich life. She was a lifelong educator and professor, civil servant, an accomplished tennis player, and avid horsewoman. In her later years, she became a strong kayaker, using the water as a means to connect with friends and family and enjoy new and exciting aspects of the flora and fauna around her. Her undying curiosity and her joy and wonder in the natural world were legendary among those who knew her.
Ann-Lawrie was born in Manhattan on September 19, 1930, at Presbyterian Hospital. She lived with her family in Riverdale, New York, and attended the Lincoln School in Manhattan until 1943, when her family moved west to Salt Lake City during World War II. Upon the family’s return to New York, Ann-Lawrie attended and graduated from Riverdale Country School for Girls in 1954. She remembered with fondness and great appreciation the teachers who influenced her at Riverdale. Notable among these were Isabel Padro, Spanish; June Sheldon, biology; and Lois Ford, history; as well as Miriam Dennis Cooper, headmistress and guiding light of the school.
Ann-Lawrie went on to attend Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, transferring to Stanford University in California, where she received her B.A. in Hispanic studies. Upon graduating from Stanford in the early 1950s, she began working for the Institute for International Education (I.I.E.) in New York City and traveled to Haiti and the Dominican Republic at the height of the oppressive dictatorships there, where she met several Latino intellectuals and leaders of the resistance. This work was dangerous and covert, as intellectuals and those committed to education access were often targets of the governments of the time. Ann-Lawrie lost at least one dear friend who worked for
the resistance in the Dominican Republic and became a victim of that dictatorship.
In 1955, Ann-Lawrie moved to Madrid, where she conducted English as a second language (ESL) classes under the auspices of the I.I.E. While in Madrid, she met her life partner, Pedro Angel Aisa, who, at the time, was working as a labor relations ombudsman. They were married in Tangier, Morocco, at the American embassy in 1957, because the Franco regime in Spain at the time forbade any interfaith marriages.
This was the beginning of a professional and personal collaboration, which Ann-Lawrie frequently described as central to her life. She and Pedro were never separated by career decisions and shared a similar commitment and philosophy toward education that allowed her to fulfill her lifelong devotion to and belief in the power of educational access, and of creative intellectual inquiry for students. The Aisas taught Spanish language and literature at Tufts University in Massachusetts, Penn State in State College, and at the innovative Verde Valley School in Sedona, Arizona; and they were finally invited to join the faculty and administration at the newlyformed progressive and experience-based Prescott College, in Prescott, Arizona, where they worked for many years.
After Prescott College was forced to downsize due to financial mismanagement, Pedro continued on at the College, teaching Spanish literature and language, while Ann-Lawrie obtained a position, in 1977, as the Clerk for the Board of Supervisors of Yavapai County, where she made more connections and friends in the political sphere. It was during this period that the Aisas settled on their own small ranch with their beloved horses and dogs. Upon retirement from her clerkship, AnnLawrie worked part-time as a court translator for Hispanic defendants.
Ann-Lawrie’s love of music followed her throughout her life, starting with the wonderful influence of the Riverdale School Glee Club. In later years, she became a member of various choral
groups, and she was also a talented dancer, loving both modern and folk dance. Ann-Lawrie and Pedro were both members of the Prescott Drumming Circle.
Ann-Lawrie was always ready to help lighten others’ burdens and to give of herself in every circumstance. She was a consummate listener, as her insatiable curiosity about others led to a deep understanding of human nature and a celebration of worldwide diversity. Her enthusiasm and energy seemed boundless. She will be dearly missed by all who were fortunate enough to know her.
Ann-Lawrie is survived by her loving family: her sister, Margaret Elizabeth Sloan Lewis ’54, her nieces and nephews, Duncan Carpenter (wife Susan), Gregory Carpenter (wife Lori), Rustin Carpenter (wife Wendy), Abigail Stovman, Peter Lewis (wife Julianna), and Emily Fucheck (husband David). She is also survived by nine great-nieces and nephews, as well as two great-great-nephews. Ann-Lawrie is preceded in death by her dear husband, Pedro Angel Aisa, who passed away at the age of 98 in the winter of 2019, as well as her loving sister, Carolyn Sloan Carpenter, who passed away in early 1999. Ann-Lawrie is also survived by numerous professional associates and devoted lifelong friends.
ELIZABETH “BETSY” WINSLOW WAGNER ’61
Elizabeth “Betsy” Winslow Wagner age 80, of Glen Arbor, Michigan (formerly of Birmingham, MI), passed away peacefully at home in Lake Forest, Illinois surrounded by family on July 8, 2023.
Born April 1, 1943, in New York City, Betsy was the daughter of the late Dr. Thomas Scudder Winslow, Jr. and the late Elizabeth Russell Winslow. Betsy grew up along the shores of the Hudson River in Riverdale, New York where she and her future husband, Bruce, would cross paths occasionally through family connections and even the same Kindergarten class. Betsy spent summers on the family island in the Muskoka Lakes, Ontario, Canada where she could be found paddling her canoe across the lake to visit friends or perfecting her barefoot water-skiing skills.
Filled with imagination and a zest for adventures, Betsy made lifelong friends while at Riverdale Country School and during high school at Miss Hall’s School. She graduated with distinction from Wells College, where she studied modern languages. At Wells, she sang in the Wells College Choir and in the a capella group, Henry’s VIII. During two college summers, Betsy traveled to Italy and France for work camps with the American Friends Service Committee, helping rebuild schools and roads in small towns. These experiences influenced Betsy spiritually and sparked an unending desire to help others.
After college, she joined Wells’ friends in Boston where she worked at Harvard’s East Asian Research Center. The following year Betsy moved to Florence, Italy where she helped set up and run a summer school for American college students, witnessed the terrible flood of 1966, and lived for two years. Upon her return to the United States, she earned a Master of Arts in Italian Literature from New York University. To know Betsy was to appreciate her deep love of Italian life and her passion for travel. This interest was given full expression during her years
as a New York travel agent for which she explored the globe on scouting trips.
Betsy married Bruce S. Wagner in 1975 in New York City. Soon after their wedding, they moved to Washington D.C. where Betsy joined Bruce as he managed the advertising for President Gerald Ford’s 1976 Primary Election campaign and she replied to voters’ correspondence. Returning home to New York, Betsy worked as the Assistant to the Curator of the Gilbert & Sullivan Collection of original manuscripts and librettos in NYC’s Morgan Library.
In 1978, they moved to Birmingham, Michigan for what was meant to be a two-year assignment for Bruce’s work in Detroit, but instead, turned into their family’s forever home. Here, Betsy happily balanced the joys of motherhood and raising her family with her many interests and talents. An avid viola player from the day her 6th-grade music teacher handed her a viola, Betsy played with the Royal Oak Symphony Orchestra and the Birmingham Musicale String Ensemble. Betsy supported the local arts as an active board member of the Cranbrook Music Guild. Forever an athlete and competitor at heart, Betsy found time to keep up her squash game as a state-ranked women’s squash player. She also enjoyed family ski trips and tennis - and would never turn down a game of bocce.
Betsy followed her love of books and languages to her children’s school, Detroit Country Day School, where she was a language tutor and librarian. It brought her great joy to help the next generation discover the world through books and the many languages she tutored including French, Spanish, German, and Latin.
Upon her and Bruce’s retirement, they settled in Glen Arbor on northern Michigan’s idyllic Leelanau Peninsula. Betsy spent many years dedicated to volunteering with Glen Arbor’s local organizations in support of the natural beauty and wildlife surrounding their home next to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. An active board member for many years with the
Glen Arbor Arts Center, Betsy was instrumental in establishing and growing the annual Manitou Music Festival and artist-in-residence program. During the frosty Michigan winters and delightful summers at their Lake Michigan beach cottage, Betsy enjoyed writing regular book reviews for the Cottage Book Shop.
Betsy cared deeply for her family, friends, and neighbors by writing letters, sharing humorous stories, or lending a helping hand. Betsy was so proud of her children, Sage and Alexander, and loved encouraging their careers and interests. She and Bruce rediscovered city life again as they spent time in Chicago visiting grandchildren.
All who knew her gentle soul were touched by her kindness, selflessness, and the love she had for her husband, children, grandchildren, and lifelong friends. Betsy was loved and respected by so many. Since her passing, friends near and far have reached out to share their memories of Betsy — her sweet smile and laugh, the adventures traveling and photographing through Europe, spending a winter in a remote Swiss Alps village, and long walks (and talks) through the woods of Leelanau County.
Betsy is survived by her husband of 47 years Bruce, daughter Sage (Martin) Wodarz, son Alexander, brother Thomas (Sheila) Winslow, sister Gale Minot, as well as her grandson Owen Wodarz, and granddaughter Parker Wodarz. Betsy is preceded in death by her beloved sister Wendy Lofting.
From The Archives Going Co-Ed
THE RIVERDALE REVIEW FRONT PAGE OF THE
“CAPSULE GUIDE TO THE NEW CO-EDUCATIONAL RIVERDALE” ARTICLE IN THE FALL 1972 QUAD
A great deal of planning has already taken place to guide the direction of the school.
But such guidance is principally a catalyst — an arrow to point the way toward a new and exciting Riverdale Country School in which faculty, students, and administrators working together will shape the future.
Riverdale began discussions of going co-ed as early as the 1960s and, after a survey of the community in 1970, announced its formal decision to merge the Boys and Girls Schools in October 1971.
The change was part of an overall transitional period for the school — the Board of Trustees also announced the closing of the dormitory, and they were starting the search for a new Head of School to take over for John H. Jones. Head of the Upper School Lawrence Ransom wrote in the June 1972 edition of The Riverdale Review, “A great deal of planning has already taken place to guide the direction of the school. But such guidance is principally a catalyst — an arrow to point the way toward a new and exciting Riverdale Country School in which faculty, students, and administrators working together will shape the future.”
The Class of 1973, the first co-ed class to graduate from Riverdale, celebrated their 50th Reunion this October. They reminisced about their most memorable teachers, the lessons they learned, and their adventures on the River Campus. While the campuses and administration will continue to change and evolve, Riverdale has always been defined by its sense of community and the moments when we share together.
THE CLASS OF 1973 REUNITED FOR THEIR 50TH REUNION.
