Stevenson Alumni Magazine Summer 2014 by Stevenson School

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ALUMNI MAGAZINE

HOMECOMING OCTOBER 3–5, 2014

HOLIDAY LANTERN LIGHTING Alumni and family are invited to attend the 2nd Annual Holiday Lantern Lighting ceremony at Stevenson’s Pirate Pool. All attendees receive a lighted paper lantern to place in the pool, make a wish for the season, and then watch as the pool fills with hundreds of illuminated lanterns. Join us for this magical community event; RSVP to Mia Peterson ’89 at mpeterson@stevensonschool.org.

ALUMNI GAMES

New York DECEMBER 9, 2014

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7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Theory Store, 38 Gansevoort Street Host: Andrew Rosen ’75, picture ID required for entry

Los Angeles DECEMBER 4, 2014

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7:00 – 9:30 p.m.

Napa Valley Grille, 1100 Glendon Avenue, Westwood

San Francisco DECEMBER 17, 2014

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6:30 – 9:30 p.m.

EPIC Roasthouse, 369 The Embarcadero

Pebble Beach DECEMBER 20, 2014

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6:00–8:30 p.m.

Rosen Family Student Center, Stevenson School

REUNION WEEKEND

DECEMBER 20, 2014

Calling all alumni lacrosse and basketball players! Come join us for games, food, refreshments, and friends at the Alumni Games on the Pebble Beach campus. For more information, contact Mia Peterson ’89 at mpeterson@stevensonschool.org.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT SHINES ON

SUMMER 2014

DECEMBER 5, 2014, 5:00 P.M.

RSVPs ARE REQUESTED FOR ALL HOLIDAY EVENTS. Contact Mia Peterson ’89 at mpeterson@stevensonschool.org to reserve your space.

ALUMNI MAGAZINE

Come back to Stevenson to celebrate Homecoming – a great opportunity for alumni, current parents, parents of alumni, and former faculty members to return to Pebble Beach, rekindle old friendships, and reconnect with the spirit of Stevenson. Get in touch, make your plans, and feel free to call us for any reason. We look forward to seeing you here for Homecoming! To register and for more information, visit www.stevensonschool.org/homecoming.

Mark your calendars, save the date, and plan to join us for one of our Stevenson Holiday Receptions. Guests are welcome at all holiday receptions.

STEVENSON SCHOOL

EVENTS CALENDAR

HOLIDAY RECEPTIONS

JUNE 5–7, 2015

Classes ending in “0” and “5” — this is your year! Rekindle your Pirate spirit and return for a weekend with friends, family, classmates, and faculty. From the Friday night cookout on Wilson Field, to campus tours and guest spots on KSPB — this is an event-packed weekend designed to bring your class back together to celebrate memories and make new ones. For more information, visit www.stevensonschool.org/reunion.

Pebble Beach Campus 3152 Forest Lake Road, Pebble Beach, CA 93953 tel 831-625-8300 fax 831-625-5208 info@stevensonschool.org Carmel Campus 24800 Dolores Street, Carmel, CA 93923 tel 831-574-4600 www.stevensonschool.org

A Look Inside the Meditative & Elemental Art of

MIYA ANDO

fax 831-624-9044 infopk-8@stevensonschool.org SUMMER 2014

Jerry Fielder ’63 Kenneth Ibrahim ’86 Tobin Armbrust ’89 Helena Cho ’94 Carla Fernandez ’05 Michael Whelden ’07

Matthew Upchurch ’80:

Innovating & Redefining the Ever Evolving Travel Industry

gracias

mahalo

merci gratias vobis agimus

Thank You

arigato obrigado

xie xie

grazie danke

There are many ways to say it, but know that we mean it. Thanks to the generous support of our community, Stevenson School continues to thrive. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

TOP ALUMNI CLASSES

with the highest percentage of giving participation from each decade were 1957, 1968, 1974, 1989, 1992, 2005 & 2014

11%

of our alumni gave during the 2013-14 school year.

That’s a increase from last year.

Let’s continue to make a difference in the lives of our students.

Make your gift today at www.stevensonschool.org/donate

ALUMNI MAGAZINE

Features 28 The Art Is Mightier Than the Sword: Miya Ando ’91 A unique upbringing in the Santa Cruz mountains and Okayama, and lineage that can be traced back to Bizen sword maker Ando Yoshiro Masakatsu, shaped Miya Ando ’91 into the artist she is today. Her shimmering, ethereal paintings evoke fleeting emotions that are easier to feel than to describe. And while Ando’s work may look like “painting,” as you get closer you see her medium is not canvas and paint, as you might expect, but cold, hard industrial metals hand-dyed by way of anodization, patination, electrochemical baths, and other innovative experimentation.

36 Matthew Upchurch ’80 Is Turning Luxury Travel Consulting Into a BillionDollar Business Heading up a luxury travel company might sound like the ultimate dream job, but it hasn’t been for the fainthearted over the past two decades. New technologies and shifting business models have required leadership from someone with vision, passion, and sheer guts, and those are exactly the traits Matthew Upchurch ’80 has used to run Virtuoso, a global network of upscale travel agencies. And thanks to Upchurch’s constant ability to look at things from a different perspective and to innovate, business is flourishing for Virtuoso and his network of travel advisors.

Matthew Upchurch ’80 in Cuixmala, on Mexico’s Virgin Coast, one of the many destinations Virtuoso offers clients

Cover: Miya Ando ’91 at the 2014 Launch of Miya Ando special commission for Bang & Olufsen Cover photo by Lorraine Young

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

DEPARTMENTS 3 Letter from the Editor 4 Mail & Contributors 5 Stevenson Stories Great wine and good times with the Class of ’89.

7 Alumni Spotlight

From the Hollywood A-List and augmented reality, to tackling tough topics like death and grief, Stevenson alumni shine in a variety of categories, and continue to inspire and impress.

15 Campus News

The sailing team takes home the first Northern California High School Championship since 2011, students travel to Belize for a week of learning, young entrepreneurs pitch “EPIC” ideas, and Grade 6 students build submersible ROVs.

20 Reunion Weekend 2014

Reunion brought together almost 300 alumni from classes that ended in “4” and “9” for a weekend of festivities and new memories.

23 The Pirate Review

Alumni creativity and hard work is showcased through dramatic murals, a boutique hotel, craft ales, and a smalltown bookstore.

43 Alumni Update 52 The Inside Scoop

A true Renaissance Man, Dale Hinckley talks about adventures, achievements, and friendships.

16 10

7 2

STEVENSON SCHOOL

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Over the past five years, Stevenson has seen a dramatic rise in the number of alumni attending school events. This is partly due to the expansion of our alumni relations programming, and the outreach and efforts of Director of Alumni Relations Mia Peterson ’89, to offer more fun ways for alumni to reconnect with Stevenson. (See Reunion Weekend photos on page 20). At these events, my conversations with alumni invariably include questions about the current state of enrollment and the mix of day, boarding, and international students. Stevenson’s colorful history includes sizable swings from predominately boarding to more day students, then back, and then to an even mix between the two for a large part of the past 20 years. Many different factors influenced those changes, including the addition of day girls in 1976, a strategic increase in our global population in the early ’80s, and the addition of boarding girls in 1987. We now find ourselves in the midst of another transition, one initiated by demographic shifts. The population of the Monterey Peninsula is changing, and with it we have seen a drop in the number of local school-age children, especially those whose families would seriously consider independent schools like Stevenson. The result is a swing of the pendulum back toward boarding students, and this coming fall Stevenson will open with 60 percent boarding students and 40 percent day students. We have been careful to manage this shift strategically, not simply relying, for

example, on an influx of international applicants. While interest from students outside the United States has grown at a much faster pace than the domestic side, Stevenson has focused on slowly expanding the number of countries of enrolled students and held the overall percentage steady. At the same time, we have redoubled our efforts for domestic boarding students, especially those from California. While making the necessary adjustments to accommodate more boarding students, Stevenson also recognizes the importance of fighting for our day students and developing programs and activities that link our day and boarding communities together. That goal is part of the ongoing work of our Dean of Students Erik Olson and his team of faculty and student leaders. A leading marketer once said that “demographics are the other guy’s problem,” and we agree. So we will work to gain market share in the local community even as numbers decline. We could use your help. Recommend a student, tell a friend, send us an address of a potential applicant for any grade PK-12, day or boarding.

If you have children of your own, we hope you will strongly consider Stevenson for their education. That is how we enrolled Chapman Caddell ’16 (read his story on page 19), son of alumna Cynthia Chapman ’83 and her husband Mike Caddell. Chap is one of a growing number of legacy students who are making their mark on Stevenson. The next five years will be an exciting time of change and adjustment at Stevenson. We look forward to keeping you informed and involved, and welcome your input. Join us in this great adventure. Go Pirates! Jeff Clark Vice President for External Relations & Editor

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MAIL We want to hear from you! Have an opinion about the Stevenson Alumni Magazine? Any thoughts on a past story or an idea to share? Please email your feedback, opinions, and letters to alumni@stevensonschool.org and we’ll feature it in the next issue.

FACT FIX Kim Schmittgens ’81 Joins Stevenson Faculty

Winter 2014 Stevenson Alumni Magazine

CONNECT WITH STEVENSON Are you connected? Join more than 2,500 fellow alumni in sharing discussions, memories, and photos and more on our various social media pages. Stevenson School Alumni facebook.com/stevensonalumni

Stevenson School Alumni Network Private group, request to join

CONTRIBUTORS

@stevensonschoolalumni @stevenson_school

In the winter 2014 issue of the Stevenson Alumni Magazine, we featured four alumnae who recently joined the ranks of Stevenson’s faculty and staff. But there was one more! Kim (Ataide) Schmittgens ’81, who directed numerous productions at Stevenson over the past few years, came onboard full-time last year as the new director of theater. Kim earned a BFA at the University of California at Irvine and an MFA at the California Institute of the Arts. She was a member of the Actors Equity Association and performed primarily in Los Angeles and Chicago as well as regional theater, including Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, and The Grove Shakespeare Festival. She began teaching and directing high school theater at St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago, Illinois, and headed the theater and communications program at Marian High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois.

Kim (Ataide) Schmittgens ’81

Kim lives on the Pebble Beach campus with her husband David Schmittgens, English department chair, and their three children Lucy ’20, Hank ’22, and Owen ’22. Welcome, Kim! Alumni are invited to attend all of Stevenson’s productions. Visit www.stevensonschool.org/boxoffice to see the year’s schedule.

Paul Schraub is a professional photographer based in the Monterey Bay area. With more than 25 years of experience, he specializes in a wide range of photography, including architecture, portraits, promotion, lifestyle, food, products, and even dogs. Aaron Hillis has written about film for The Village Voice, Time Out NY, LA Weekly, Variety, Filmmaker, IFC News, Premiere and Spin. He is the former curator of the reRun Gastropub Theater, and the new owner of Video Free Brooklyn (three-time “Best Video Store in NYC” winner, 2012/2013). Ruthanne Terrero has been a business journalist for more than 20 years. She has profiled the CEOs of many major companies, such as Marriott International and Hyatt Hotels Corporation. She is currently the vice president/editorial director of the Questex Hospitality + Travel Group. Team Stevenson is a group of faculty and staff who contribute to this magazine through their writing and photography. These include: Managing Editor Elena (Rhodes) Mueller ’89, Director of Alumni Relations Mia Peterson ’89, and Jack Sinclair.

STEVENSON SCHOOL

STEVENSON STORIES Looking for a way to give back to Stevenson, five classmates from the Class of 1989 came together for the second time in a decade and created Eighty-Nine — a Pinot Noir made from grapes from prestigious California vineyards, blended and bottled by a renowned winemaker, managed and marketed by a PR guru, and labeled with art created by a professional designer. Their efforts resulted in 50 cases of vintage wine and more than $5,000 raised for the school. The key players included: Andrew Zaninovich ’89 contributed quality grapes and helped with materials to package and bottle the wines. Matt Shea ’89 provided personal resources and worked to label, capsule, and package all of the wine. Chad Melville ’89 added great fruit and his decades of winemaking expertise. Chad also provided the location at his Samsara Winery to blend and make the wine, and was in charge of bottling. Dana Dorsey ’89 captured the “essence” of Stevenson graphically, designed 10 + different label options to select from — and expertly organized and listed the 134 class of 1989 members for the back label. Mark Peterson ’89 managed the team and developed the marketing vision. Mark also was the go-to guy for making things happen — from transporting grape juice to scheduling conference calls to coordinating logistics. In an effort to learn more about how this project came together, Mia Peterson ’89, director of alumni relations, talked with the team about their experience.

What was involved in bringing this plan to fruition? Mark: At our 15-year reunion, we realized that we had so many people involved in the wine industry that were

sharing their wines and we started talking. Wouldn’t it be cool if we made a wine to celebrate the 20-year reunion? Our first go of the Eighty-Nine wine was a five-year project during which we touched base intermittently. Then about two years out (in 2007) we really started going on it: sourcing of grapes, working on the labels, getting together the materials, and coordinating the logistics of making, bottling, labeling, and selling. The 2007 vintage for our 20th reunion in 2009 was such a success, we started talking about doing it again for the 25th reunion. Well, time does sneak up on you as you get older. The 25th reunion came pretty fast. We started talking about the wine again, but we got a later start. I guess we were all confident we could pull it off. Then we were within a year and we realized we needed to get going. Then at six months out, we really needed to go. It was a flurry, but we all are so close from our shared Stevenson experience that we leaned on each other to make it happen.

Why did you want to do it? Chad: Mark Peterson told us to. All kidding aside, although Mark really did tell us to, we wanted to find a creative way to give back to the school other than writing a check. Andrew: I wanted to contribute to the fundraising effort in some small way. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to share some of my family’s products with the Stevenson community.

Matt Shea ’89 and Mark Peterson ’89 meet in the vineyards in Carmel Valley.

Dana: Designing the Eighty-Nine wine label has been such a joy to me not only because I love to design, but more importantly, I love my fellow Stevenson alumni and contributing to the school in any way I can.

What were some of the challenges in the process? Mark: Making a couple of barrels or 50 cases of wine seems like a lot, but when sourcing materials and resources, it is a rather small [amount] of stuff from vendors (e.g., foil for capsules, printing labels). We also got down to the wire in finishing the 2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

STEVENSON STORIES were really excited about the idea. We decided to double our production for the 25th reunion. Mark: Well, we should have learned it’s a lot of work, even if you have done it before. Everyone is so busy with life, family, and work. I really appreciate the efforts and time it takes to pull this off. Andrew: Although we were well intended and well organized it really did come together at the last minute. It’s evidence that the best outcomes can’t be forced and happen in their own sweet time.

Chad Melville ’89 samples the Eighty-Nine Pinot Noir at Samsara.

final touches of labeling and boxing, and without the final materials we were pressed for time. Chad: The distance between us — me in Santa Ynez, Matt and Mark in Carmel Valley, and Andrew in the Central Valley — made coordinating things difficult. Mark was the organizer — he drove the wine from Northern California through Carmel to Santa Ynez. We unloaded, talked for about 15 minutes, then he had to turn around and drive right back to make it to his son’s baseball game. Without any of us, this project would not have happened.

What lessons did you learn from making the 2007 vintage that helped you this time around? Matt: From our first vintage for the 20th reunion we learned that our classmates and even members of other classes

STEVENSON SCHOOL

Dana: The design five years ago was an abstract picture of a grapevine. A few people questioned what the abstract image was exactly. So this year I decided to go with what everybody knows, the icon of a cypress tree. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to the reunion to see the final results, but I believe everyone was happy.

What were some of your favorite moments? Chad: The conference calls and email threads were really fun — the conversations and humor take you back to high school, the way we were back then. We’ve all grown up and are successful in our careers — but it’s pretty cool we can all get on the phone, call each other by our high school nicknames, and get back that feeling of our time at Stevenson. Matt: Meeting Mark in the early morning at the vineyard to switch wine from one car to another and posing for a photo with our Stevenson hats. The labeling party we had for the 20th reunion wine five years ago was a highlight, too.

Were you happy with the results? Matt: Best ever! Andrew: I’m very happy, and I’d gladly participate in the next one! Mark: What’s not to love about a nice glass of wine? Chad: Absolutely. Yes. A significant amount of personal resources and time went into this project from all of us — but the product reflects our effort — and I hope everyone enjoys it. Dana: I was very happy with the results and to be a part of the process again this year. I look forward to doing it again in five years. Although, I think we should shoot for every June if you ask me! ;) Dana Dorsey ’89 is a freelance graphic designer and lives in Redondo Beach with her two sons. Chad Melville ’89 is owner and winemaker for Samsara, and proprietor of Melville Vineyards and Winery. He lives in Los Olivos with his wife Mary and their two children. Mark Peterson ’89 is a marketing, public relations, and strategy consultant, and a lecturing professor in the College of Business at California State University, Monterey Bay. He is married to Mia Peterson ’89 and they live with their two children — Stevenson classes of ’20 and ’23 — in Carmel Valley. Matt Shea ’89 is the vineyard manager for Bernardus Vineyards. He lives in Carmel Valley with his fiancée. Andrew Zaninovich ’89 is actively involved in a number of agricultural and business ventures. He lives with his wife Katy and their three children in Bakersfield.

A limited quantity of Eighty-Nine Pinot Noir is still available for purchase. Email Ashton Clarke ’05, director of annual giving, at aclarke@stevensonschool.org for ordering information.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Carla Fernandez ’05 (below left) is co-founder of The Dinner Party. A community of mostly 20- and 30-somethings who’ve each experienced significant loss, and get together over dinner parties to talk about it and the ways in which it continues to affect their lives.

THE DINNER PARTY CARLA FERNANDEZ ’05 Carla Fernandez ’05 lost her father José when she was 21. Through her grief and loss, she realized there was a need in our communities for young people who lose loved ones to have better outlets to share their experiences. So she started The Dinner Party. Carla tells her own story best through a recent blog post on GOOD, an online magazine “for the global citizen.”

I inherited a love of family meals from my dad, José. He worked in the wine industry, and thus was constantly traveling between different winemaking and wine-loving regions around the world. In the midst of his busy schedule and his children’s school calendars, taking the time to walk to the market, to chop and stir while catching up, to set

a table and sit down together, became a ritual that guaranteed conversation, connection, and nourishment. And it was at this family table five years ago that we learned my dad had brain cancer. During his illness, we came together over meals first to talk about beating it, and later, when that looked Continued next page.... 2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Dinner Parties are always potlucks — whether sharing a masterpiece dish or a makeshift appetizer — everyone pitches in to fill the table together. Go to thedinnerparty.org/recipes to see some of the favorite Dinner Party contributions.

LI F

E A F R L OS TE

At Dinner Parties guests share rituals and the practices that have played a positive role in living a good life in the wake of a difficult time.

Continued from previous page....

unlikely, to savor every last drop of each other’s company. After my dad passed away, I reflected on the wild ride of cancer, hospice, death, and grief. I started to think how this experience could be designed a little better for my friends and others who would someday have their own experience with loss. I wanted a space where I could talk not just about the sad side of my father’s passing, but about how much death was teaching me about living a better life. So I did what my family has been doing from before I can remember and cooked dinner. I invited five people to talk candidly about their life after loss and break bread on my Los Angeles back deck. All it took was a big pot of paella and a toast to my dad, and our conversation was off to the races, sharing sides of our stories that rarely saw the light of day. We laughed and cried, and talked about how this experience continued to influence our lives — our work, our relationships, our dreams for the future, in challenging ways and surprisingly positive ways. 8

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What started as a social experiment ended with a resounding question: “When’s our next dinner?” Almost four years later, that table still convenes. And through word of mouth, other Dinner Party tables have formed outside of Los Angeles in New York, San Francisco, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. Dinners bring people together of all ages, backgrounds, and professions, who’ve experienced significant loss in many different forms. All it takes is lighting a few candles, uncorking a bottle of wine, and introducing the elephant in the room. Our conversations aren’t so much about the people we’ve lost, but about what happens to those who are left behind. We’ve found the stories that brought us to the table are simply the door openers: we talk about new boyfriends and new girlfriends and when to “break the news,” about work and seeking validation when there’s no longer someone there to cheer us on, about unexpected triggers and triumphs.

With more than 25 tables in seven cities, Carla wants to realize a day in which anyone, anywhere who loses a loved one can join a Dinner Party in their area, or with the help of tools and a growing peer community, start a table of their own. To learn more about The Dinner Party non-profit organization and its mission, or to donate, visit www.thedinnerparty.org. Carla lives in Los Angeles and is the director of brand and culture at impact agency Enso Collaborative. Carla Fernandez ’05

Adam Levine, John Carney (who directed Once), Anthony Bregman (who has produced many films including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and Tobin Armbrust ’89

THE PRODUCER TOBIN ARMBRUST ’89 When you ask Tobin Armbrust ’89 what it takes to be a successful producer of action thrillers and box-office hits, he says, “You have to be scrappy, creative, and willing to work hard.” And if you knew Tobin as a Stevenson student — student body president, KSPB radio DJ, and “The Mighty Oz” in the 1989 production of The Wiz — you’d understand immediately how he found himself in this demanding, competitive, and highly innovative industry. As president of worldwide productions and acquisitions of Exclusive Media, one of the industry’s leading independent production, sales, and distribution companies, Tobin’s list of movies he has produced is impressive and packed with names of Hollywood’s “A” list directors and actors: Ron Howard’s epic action thriller Rush, starring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl; Let Me In, directed by Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes); Parkland, starring Paul Giamatti,

“You’re only as good as your last movie in this business.” — Tobin Armbrust ’89 Zac Efron, and Billy Bob Thornton; the box-office hit End of Watch, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña; the fast-paced thriller Snitch, starring action superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Academy Award® winner Susan Sarandon; the worldwide success The Woman in Black, starring Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame; and the action romantic comedy Hit and Run, starring Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, and Bradley Cooper. “I’ve always loved theater and was fascinated by the art involved in telling

a story well,” says Tobin, who recalls the energy and passion of teachers Rob Klevan in music classes and Larry Filippone in history. After graduating from the University of California at Santa Barbara with a degree in political science (“not the most practical degree!”) and a year abroad in Germany through a Rotary Scholarship, Tobin returned to Los Angeles and held a series of jobs ranging from advertising to film distribution. “I learned a lot about what I didn’t want to do,” recalls Tobin.

“You’re only as good as your last movie in this business,” says Tobin. “We choose our scripts based on how unique they are and how well the story is told — although we make our creative decisions on instinct, we then try and follow that up with business sense. It’s exciting, definitely risky, and always interesting.” Tobin lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. He was a member of the first class of Stevenson students to graduate from the Carmel Campus (previously Briarcliff Academy).

In 2003, Tobin took a job with Thunder Road Entertainment, which had a deal with Warner Brothers, and he found his niche — production. “I follow a project from beginning to end — from reading the script, negotiating the rights, helping assemble the talent, raising funds, the shooting of the film, the editing process, and finally the marketing and distribution of the movie. Our team makes the key decisions along the way, and I really enjoy the creative process,” he says. At Thunder Road, Tobin oversaw more than 20 projects, including Firewall with Harrison Ford and Paul Bettany, which he co-produced. Desiring even more autonomy, Tobin, along with five colleagues, came together in 2007 and founded their own company — Exclusive Media — and have since produced more than 25 films and a half dozen documentaries.

Above: Tobin’s most recent film is the romantic music comedy Begin Again, starring Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Adam Levine, and Hailee Steinfeld, from writer/director John Carney. He has A Walk Among the Tombstones with Liam Neeson and Dark Places with Charlize Theron coming out soon.

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Below: Good Work(s) Make a Difference sponsored a holiday party and toy giveaway for 1200 LA’s BEST kids from 11 schools. Helena Cho ’94 pictured back row, center right.

GOOD WORK(S) MAKE A DIFFERENCE HELENA CHO ’94

Helena Cho ’94 always had a vision of being able to create something that could benefit communities in need. Inspired by a charity run and its ability to unite individuals toward a common goal, she crafted a bracelet — an uplifting piece that she gifted as a random act of kindness. Helena’s work grew in popularity and she established her own business, Good Work(s) Make a Difference, intent on delivering positive, empowering merchandise to the public. Donating 25 percent of net proceeds to worthy causes, Helena now presides over one of the fastest-growing socially conscious fashion accessory brands in the market, sold across 40 countries and 1,800 boutique stores within the U.S. “My testimony starts at Stevenson,” says Helena, whose family immigrated to the

U.S. in 1984. “When I was accepted, it was like a spark went off for me. I felt very cared for, and I am so grateful to have had that experience. It made me realize how much I wanted to give back to others.” Highlights of her advocacy work include providing home essentials to more than 117 formerly homeless families, collecting 1,200-plus holiday gifts for low-income students, giving scholarships for children of breast cancer patients, and sponsoring the annual “Dream Prom” for more than 40 scholastically deserving, underprivileged high school students. Additionally, celebrities and royalty around the world have taken note of Helena’s creations, notably Victoria Crown Princess of Sweden and Duchess

“My testimony starts at Stevenson. When I was accepted, it was like a spark went off for me. I felt very cared for, and I am so grateful to have had that experience.” —Helena Cho ’94 10

STEVENSON SCHOOL

of Vastergotland, Eli Manning, Will I Am, Halle Berry, and many more. Helena’s company has been awarded the Angel Award, the Diamond Award (NOLA), and the Global Humanitarian Award. Helena generously donated candles and bracelets to this year’s Reunion Weekend, to assist the school with its fundraising efforts. She was also named the honoree of the 2014 Merle Greene Robertson Award for Service to Society, one of the highest honors given to Stevenson alumni. Helena lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband David Chang, and their children Chris, Aaron, and Nicole. Learn more about Helena’s inspiring creations at www.goodworksmakeadifference.com.

Michael Whelden ’07 taking turn 1 at Thunderhill flat out at 125mph.

NEED FOR SPEED MICHAEL WHELDEN ’07 Ever since Michael Whelden ’07 was first introduced to racing in 1992 at Sears Point Raceway, he recalls “there was nothing else that could satisfy my desire to be a racing driver.” He got his first kart at age 10, and tested and developed in it for two years. Just as young Michael’s passion for racing was developing, tragedy struck the Whelden family in 2002, when Michael’s father Michael Clyde Whelden ’61 died. The family sold the kart and Michael enrolled at Stevenson. But during spring break of his junior year, Michael had the opportunity to return to racing with the Jim Russell Racing School at Sears Point Raceway. The passion was still there — and he started training and racing during holiday breaks and summer.

two seconds, and one win. For you nonracers — that means a lot of trophies. “I learned so much in the series and posted some incredible results,” says Michael, who put his racing career on hold again to attend Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. To get his adrenalin rush off the racecourse, Michael sailed for Eckerd, using skills learned at Stevenson under the guidance of his sailing coach Mr. Jack McAleer.

“Racing was something my dad and I shared. I knew he would have wanted me to follow my passion and do what I love,” says Michael.

After graduating with a degree in business administration, Michael returned to racing. In 2012, he joined forces with World Speed Motorsports to race its new formula car, the FormulaSPEED2.0. He competed in NASA’s Formula Car Challenge (a Mazda-powered open-wheel series), taking all race victories and the 2012 West Coast Regional Championship and the 2012 FormulaSPEED2.0 National Championship.

In 2006, Michael attended and graduated from the Jim Russell Racing School. The following year, he competed in the SCCA Jim Russell Formula Russell Championship, and in six races he took two poles and six podiums. Out of the six podiums, he collected three thirds,

Michael’s winning streak continued in 2013, when he won the Pro Formula Mazda Formula National & West Coast Region Championships. Whelden also competed for Mazda’s MX-5 Cup Shootout, a racing and business plan competition for a $75,000 scholarship.

Michael Whelden ’07 (front) with his team.

After a review of his proposal and an on-track showdown, Michael made it to the finals and took runner-up. To finish 2013, he competed in the famed 25 Hours of Thunderhill. “I love the speed and focus required in racing,” says Michael. “For many, driving a car at these speeds would be stressful, but I find I am most relaxed, happiest even, when I’m in a car on a race weekend.” At just 25, two regional junior open-wheel championships and two national junior open-wheel championships under his belt, Michael’s professional racing career has only just begun. Learn more about Michael’s racing career at www.michaelwheldenracing.com and facebook.com/MichaelWheldenRacing. “It was icing on the cake standing on the top spot of the podium between the reigning two time national champ (left) and the GoPro CEO (right).” — Michael Whelden ’07

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Photo courtesy of Carmel Public Library Foundation

various photography publications and catalogues. In 2003, he completed a book on Karsh’s life, published by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, titled KARSH: A Biography in Images. Below are excerpts from a recent interview with Photography Magazine, which offer more insight into Jerry’s career and life with Yousuf Karsh. The interview was in connection with the Paris exhibition, YOUSUF KARSH: ICONS OF THE 20TH CENTURY.

A CURATOR OF ICONS JERRY FIELDER ’63

After Stevenson, Jerry Fielder ‘63 attended UCLA, receiving a degree in TV production. He spent a decade with NBC in Los Angeles as the network’s director of promotion and public relations, until he realized he wanted to pursue a degree in photography. He enrolled at Brooks Institute in Montecito, California, and while there, met the renowned portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh, who in 1979 hired Jerry to be his photographic assistant. For more than 14 years, Jerry assisted Karsh in hundreds of sittings around the world and also organized Karsh’s archives of negatives and prints. Jerry went on to become Karsh’s curator, a position he still holds today, and after Mr. Karsh’s death in 2002, he also became director of his estate. Jerry has curated and co-curated numerous exhibitions across the U.S., Canada, England, France, Germany, Japan, and around the world. He also lectures extensively and writes for 12

STEVENSON SCHOOL

Your long history with Yousuf Karsh began when you started working for him in the late 1970s. Can you describe the various stages of your interactions? JF: I was hired to be his photographic assistant. He wasn’t looking for a protégé; he was looking for someone to work. I was his only assistant. He did not want an entourage when he photographed someone. He wanted a one-on-one relationship. So we had no stylists, no hair or makeup artists. My job was to do everything that needed to be done, from assisting him in the photographic session, to developing negatives, to mounting prints.

Following being his assistant, how did your role evolve? JF: Well, I was his assistant for 14 years. We traveled a great deal because he liked to photograph people in their own environments. We became very close friends. We’d often be gone for two to three weeks at a time, and we’d be together all the time. We had a very strong friendship in addition to a professional relationship. I had studied to be a curator and I had no intention to be a photographer. I also had no intention of working with a photographer for so long. One of the things I did in the last four years we had the studio open was that I organized his

archives, his negatives and his prints. So it became a sort of natural thing that when the studio closed, I became his curator.

You say you had no intention of being a photographer. Did you find yourself inspired to take photos while working with Karsh? JF: No. I liked what I was doing. My ambition was to work with photographs and not to take photographs. It was wonderful to be working with such a great master who was such an incredible technician. I had enormous admiration for what he was doing. I think one of the reasons we lasted so long working together was that, as opposed to most photographers’ assistants, I didn’t want to be him. For most photographers, being an assistant is a steppingstone. You work as someone’s assistant so that you can have your own career as a photographer. It was never anything that I wanted. I liked what I was doing, and he liked what he was doing, so it worked out very well.

What are a few of the most remarkable images in your opinion? Maybe you have a personal connection to them? JF: I have a personal connection to all of them because I’ve spent so much time with them, and I was present for a lot of the photographs in this exhibition. But I think the Georgia O’Keeffe image, which is one of the largest, is remarkable because unless if you’ve done photography, you don’t realize what a difficult photograph that is to make. She is sitting very serenely in her home in Abiquiu, New Mexico. The photo is beautifully composed and beautifully lit. But from a technical aspect, there is a heavy light streaming in from the righthand side. If you and I were taking a photo with a camera, that would all be blown out — you wouldn’t see anything. But in

Nelson Mandela, 1990

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1956

Yousuf’s print, you can see all the detail in all the areas where there is such strong light. Though Georgia is in a deep shadow, you can still see all the details, even the details on her black dress. Technically, it is extraordinary to do.

Besides organizing exhibits, what are some of the other activities you engage in via the Yousuf Karsh Estate? JF: A lot of people who come to us are researchers and they’re looking for the history behind the photographs. Recently, I’ve been working with the curator of the Norwegian Royal Archives, regarding King Haakon VII. He is interested in the period that King Haakon and Prince Olaf were in exile during World War II, and the portraits Yousuf made of them at the time. In the past few weeks in Paris, I’ve also been working with people at Dior. The portrait of Christian Dior is in this exhibition. They have six people working

Christian Dior, 1954

full time just as curators for Dior. Three people work with the history of the man, and the other three work primarily with his designs and what’s happened to the dresses. They have a wonderful archive, but they wanted more information about Dior’s session with Yousuf. When I was at the Library & Archives of Canada recently, I photographed the original negatives and envelopes, and the correspondence between Dior and Yousuf. That is one of the things that I do. When not traveling, Jerry lives in Monterey, California for six months of the year, and Paris, France for the other six. Wanting to see some of Karsh’s work have a local presence, he recently collaborated with the Monterey Museum of Art on a show and personally donated 15 photos to the museum’s permanent collection. He recently co-curated a two-part exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. of American icons, on display until November 2, 2014.

Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip,1966

Jerry returned to Stevenson last year to celebrate his 50th reunion, and shared some insight into what made his class, and Stevenson, have a lasting and important impact on his life: “We all learned a lot about friendship — how to get along, how to appreciate a friend, and how to be a friend. We accepted, overlooked, compromised. In the end, this was a great, somewhat rare, gift that helped me throughout my life and my career.” Yousuf Karsh Photographing Sophia Loren in Paris, 1981. Jerry Fielder ’63 in background.

Considered a master of studio lighting, Armenian-Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002) is celebrated for photographing the most influential people of the 20th century. From Ernest Hemingway to Pablo Picasso to Queen Elizabeth, he photographed more than 15,000 icons and exposed more than 450,000 negatives in six decades. You can learn more about Yousuf Karsh at www.karsh.org

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

AUGMENTING REALITY KENNETH IBRAHIM ’86 Fascinated with science fiction since childhood dating back to Star Wars, Godzilla, and Ultraman, Kenneth Ibrahim ’86 has found himself immersed in something right out of one of his comic books or TV shows — the “fourth dimension.” As a senior designer at DAQRI, an augmentedreality developer, Ken develops and adds creative technologies called “experiences” to the world around us, which DAQRI has dubbed “4D.” In this brief Q&A, Ken helps explain the cutting-edge field he works in and how he got there.

What is augmented reality? Augmented reality is a view of the real, physical world — your street, your home, your office, even your magazines — overlaid with virtual elements. Reality is “augmented” by computer-generated sensory input such as graphics, video, sound, and data. The T. rex image on this page, for example, contains a 4D experience revealed by the DAQRI app. (Follow the instructions below to see for yourself.)

It’s a powerful tool that can add much value in entertainment, education (textbooks/manuals for example), medicine, advertising, and more.

How did you end up in this field? I’ve loved science fiction since I was a kid, especially Japanese monster movies and animation. After Stevenson, I attended Santa Clara University and studied computer engineering. Partly due to my early interest in Japanese science fiction, I took introductory Japanese-language courses and then found myself spending a year abroad through the Japanese Exchange and Teaching program (JET). That ultimately led to a technical-developer position at SEGA developing software tools for video games and eventually on to computer graphics for film. I learned several animation software programs over the years, including Softimage, Maya, and Houdini, and began to make a name for myself in the industry. However, in the last few years so many of the visual-effects jobs have left Los Angeles chasing tax subsidies in areas like Vancouver and London. I saw the writing on the wall a few years ago and have been looking for my next move. The opportunity at DAQRI came up — and I jumped on it. It’s a chance to work with some old friends (and new) in a nascent tech sector with lots of promise.

Kenneth Ibrahim ’86

What are some of the projects you’ve worked on and effects you’ve created? In the visual-effects industry you develop specialties, and I gravitated toward what’s called FX animation in which I did a lot of particle, rigid body, and fluid simulations. The first feature I worked on was the first Shrek for which I did digital cloth simulations and crashing ceilings. For the last project I worked on, Ender’s Game, I developed procedural flocking simulations for the enemy ships. And in between I did a lot of FX for films such as Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, The Matrix III, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Superman Returns, Transformers, and Tron. Ken lives in Santa Monica with his “better half” and as of press time has left DAQRI for new adventures — stay tuned!

MAKE T. REX COME ALIVE! 1. Download the DAQRI app from the Apple AppStore or Google Play. 2. Launch the app and view the T. Rex image through the device’s camera. 3. The app will recognize the image and produce the dinosaur.

CAMPUS

NEWS (From left) Joni Miller, director of Ocean Academy, Belize, Maddy Fox ’16, Abby Robinson ’15, Alyssa Newman ’15, and Kendra Calhoun ’14 travel on a boat in Belize.

BELIZE BOUND During spring break, science faculty members Ron Provost and Ian Haight traveled with 14 students to Belize for a week of marine biology, conservation work, and culture. Continued next page....

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

CAMPUS

NEWS

BELIZE BOUND Continued from previous page....

Students had the opportunity to work with the Belize Shark Project, cataloging sharks and rays off the coast of Belize by deploying two BROVs (Baited Retrievable Ocean Video) monitors and collecting data. Students also worked with the Caye Caulker Forest Reserve and Caye

Caulker Marine Reserve in cooperation with marine biologists. On the Island of Caye Caulker, our students worked with the students of Ocean Academy — Stevenson’s partner school in the Pebble Beach Campus’s NOAA Ocean Guardian Grant — to implement a reusable shopping bag program. Students also

visited the Mayan Ruins at Lamanai and learned a little about Mayan culture and history, as well as the history of former Stevenson faculty member Merle Greene Robertson, who played an instrumental role in preserving and translating Mayan hieroglyphs in the 1970s.

NorCal Sailing Champs! Stevenson’s sailing team, led by faculty member and coach Jack McAleer, triumphed this year for the school’s first Northern California High School Championship since 2011. With six first-place finishes out of 10 races, Stuart Henry ’17 and Lance Zhou ’15 won the Silver Division of the NorCal DoubleHanded High School Sailing Championship. Conditions were ideal at the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, making it a perfect day to take home a victory! Photos of the team (see page 2 and at left) were taken on the day of the biannual Ben Watson ’03 Regatta. Ben was sailing captain at Stevenson before going on to Cal State Northridge, where he helped to start a sailing team. Ben died in 2005 in a car accident. The Watson Race starts near Monterey Harbor and proceeds along Cannery Row to the “Mile” bell buoy and finishes back near the harbor. 16

STEVENSON SCHOOL

CODING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE At Stevenson, coding begins as early as Grade 2 and continues through Grade 8, and is incorporated throughout our curriculum. Using a “flipped format,” students in our Grades 7-8 Computer Science Elective watched a Stanford University lecture series, using class sessions as a workshop to produce their own code. Working with math teacher Haddie Dowson and a graduate student from Stanford, Carmel Campus students were introduced to coding with Karel the Robot, then built on those skills to begin studying Java programing.

Mathletes Score Big Stevenson “mathletes” shined at the 46th annual Monterey County Mathletics competition, bringing home three 1st place, one 2nd place, and one 3rd place honors. Clare Teng ’14 earned a Morgantini Scholarship as the topplacing overall senior in Calculus BC. She won a $1,000 scholarship.

FACULTY POET PUBLISHES 7TH BOOK

Vocal Collaboration Pebble Beach and Carmel Campus students joined together for a vocal collaboration of “Let It Go,” the hit song from Disney’s animated hit Frozen, at the spring music concert held in Keck Auditorium. The crosscampus production, made possible by

Pebble Beach music faculty Willow Manspeaker and Adam Petrocelli, and Carmel Campus Music Director Chris West, brought the audience to its feet and set a precedent for more joint projects to come!

English teacher Samuel Salerno has returned to his first love: writing poetry. He has published a new book of his original poetry titled The Soul Collects Its World.

Coach Jeff Young, Matt Arruda, Deke Dormer ’03 , and Don Dormer ’71

Honoring an Outstanding Coach Congratulations to Matt Arruda on winning the 2014 Don L. Dormer Memorial Award for Outstanding Coach. Mr. Arruda led the varsity boys’ basketball team to a 14-9 record this year, and supervised special study halls for his players to help them stay on top of their academics. This award was established in 2003 by Don ’71 and Deke ’03 Dormer, Don and

Kevin ’71 McNeely, Robert Ricklefs ’59, and Roger Ricklefs ’57 in honor of Don L. Dormer, a Stevenson parent, grandparent, and former trustee. The award recognizes a Stevenson coach who teaches the lessons of teamwork and sportsmanship and who cajoles and inspires the team to reach its greatest potential.

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

CAMPUS

NEWS Katie Carlyle ’20

David Meyer ’15

Rebecca Chu ’15 and Daniel Ping ’15

Students Pitch EPIC Ideas Student entrepreneurs presented their business pitches at last spring’s EPIC Ideas Fair for the chance to win “seed money” to fund their ideas. Ideas ranged from modernizing a school bus to expanding a student-run business. Four respected entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, including

Vick Sahni ’17 and Andy Bozzo ’89

parent Brad Sharek (Drew ’14 and Sydney ’12) and alumnus Andy Bozzo ’89 (Sofia ’24 and Luca ’22), judged the competition. EPIC was created by the Intrsct club, which focuses on driving innovation, pursuing curiosity, and taking risks.

Real Science Takes Kids Underwater Stevenson’s Carmel Campus STEM faculty ran a six-week unit on submersible ROVs for our Grade 6 students. Starting from scratch, student groups tackled new problems each week as they built and tested (and retested) their vehicles before the final test at the high school Pirate Pool. Students were asked to have their ROVs recover swim rings and key rings from the bottom of the pool, and to take a photo of an object in the pool. Students documented their projects and produced videos highlighting their team’s experience. To see one of our student’s ROV project videos, visit www.vimeo.com/90371686.

Dominic Encerti ’19

Pirate Strong!

Poets Who Know It Each year, Grade 7 and 8 students at the Carmel Campus participate in a very special literary evening. Students prepare and read aloud a poem they have written to an audience of faculty, staff, students, and parents. The poems range from humorous to insightful to haunting — but all share an understanding of the power of poetry. 18

STEVENSON SCHOOL

Bringing our total number of alumni who work at Stevenson to 24, we welcome Karl Lindstrom ’04 and Kelly Talbert ’83 to our staff. Karl is the newest member of the Admission department and Kelly joins the technology team at the Pebble Beach Campus. “This is, of course, a great place to work. But there’s no better evidence that Stevenson exerts a powerful, meaningful influence on young people than that so many wish to join in that work. And our alums who return bring with them a devotion to their work born out of memories of teachers, coaches, and experiences that shaped their lives.” — Greg Foster, Head of Pebble Beach Campus

Chapman Caddell ’16

Looking to the Stars Science teacher Ron Provost’s senior elective astronomy class took a trip to Point Joe along the coast of Pebble Beach to get a scenic view of the planets Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn, as well as five moons. The telescope was a donation to Provost’s new astronomy program from the project manager of

the Max Planck Space Telescope — a joint mission between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) whose goal is to measure the background radiation that has helped determine the age of the known universe.

Delphinia Hayward ‘25 and Derek Diniz ‘26

OLYMPIC FEVER

Harper Hohman ’24 (front) and Michael Blitch ’24 (left)

Joining Stevenson’s kindergarten through Grade 8 students, parents and faculty engaged in a friendly competition this year, adding to the fun and celebration of the annual Carmel Campus Olympics. Competitions include soccer, javelin throw, running, jumping rope, long jump, tug-of-war, and more. The day, which takes place during the last week of school, concluded with a delicious barbecue hosted by family and staff.

Science Sensation Chapman Caddell ’16 participated in the 2014 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (IISEF) and emerged with the Physics and Astronomy “Best of Category” Award. Caddell competed against 1,800 students from more than 70 countries, regions, and territories. Having won his category at the Monterey County Science Fair, Caddell was invited to participate in the week long competition and present his project, “The Leidenpump: A Non-mechanical Means of Fluid Delivery.” While Caddell envisions various applications for the Leidenpump, the primary application presented at Intel involves a non-mechanical solution to cooling nuclear reactors. Caddell was also awarded the Intel Foundation Cultural and Scientific Visit to China Award, which involves an 11-day trip to China; the Arizona State University’s American University Scholarship; and a first award from the Patent and Trademark Office Society. Additionally, Lincoln Labs and MIT will name an asteroid after Caddell. Caddell won $10,000 in monetary awards, $1,000 of which he donated to Stevenson to support science programs and the remainder of which he intends to devote to further development of his Leidenpump. 2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

CAMPUS

NEWS

EVENTS

Reunion Weekend 2014 “By land, by air, by sea — Stevenson is where you should be.”

Staff member Karl Lindstrom ’04, faculty member Matt Arruda, and Maria Sokova ’08

Sean Cooley ’79, Maziar Shams ’79, Mary Alizon Walton ’79 and daughter, and Larry Hunter ’79

Tom Atwood ’64, President Joe Wandke, David Ladd Wilson ’64, Mary Lee Wilson, Stephen Watson ’64, Gordon Von Richter ’64, Karen Von Richter

Faculty member Andrew Czerny and Paul Koenig ‘09

An annual event that continues to grow in numbers and in offerings, Reunion Weekend 2014 brought together almost 300 alumni from classes that ended in “4” and “9.” Beginning with an Americana-style party under the tent on Friday night, alumni gathered for fried chicken, ribs, corn, biscuits, and refreshments while catching up with classmates and faculty. The dorms were at full capacity with the majority of alumni taking advantage of the best hotel deal on the Peninsula — and the most fun. Saturday morning brought a campus tour led by Head of Pebble Beach Campus Greg Foster and the Service of Remembrance in Erdmann Chapel. Local minister Brian Bajari ’90 spoke to the more than 60 attendees who participated in this special event honoring classmates who have passed away.

STEVENSON SCHOOL

President Joe Wandke hosted a special brunch at his home celebrating the alumni returning for the 45th or higher reunion years. This year’s recipients of the alumni awards were also honored during this event for their contributions to Stevenson and society (see next page). As the sun came out, alumni and their families gathered at Carmel Beach for bites, beverages, and some good oldfashioned cornhole. The weekend culminated on Saturday evening in Rosen Amphitheater and Reid Hall, with dinner catered by Phil Tucker and his Savory Services team. Alumna Helena Cho ’94 shared goodwill by passing out her Good Work(s) Make A Difference inspirational bracelets; the Class of 1989 shared its special vintage wine — a collaboration among

Shannon (Moore) Karm ’89 and Heather (Kiatta) Satava ’89

Saturday evening dinner in Reid Hall

Class of 1964 at the President’s Brunch

Fatasha Fareed ’04, Denise deCarion ’04, and Taylor Schultz ’04

Chris Zuber ’77, Mark Holmes ’75, and Efrem (Skip) Zimbalist III ’64

winegrowers, winemakers, and marketers Chad Melville ’89, Andrew Zaninovich ’89, Matt Shea ’89, Dana Dorsey ’89, and Mark Peterson ’89 — and Brad Robinson ’04 introduced alumni to his Three Skulls Ale. Festivities continued well into the wee hours as classmates hung out around senior circle, conversed in Douglas Hall by the fire, and played a mean game of Ping-Pong on Factor Stage in the Rosen Family Student Center.

Saturday the Alumni Association recognized the following classes and alumni for their participation and achievements: THE MERLE GREENE ROBERTSON AWARD FOR SERVICE TO SOCIETY: Helena Cho ’94 The Merle Greene Robertson Award was established by the Alumni Association in 2003 to recognize alumni for their service to society. Merle taught anthropology at Stevenson from 1968 to

Elliott Easterling ’89 and Mark Peterson ’89

1977 and took students to the Yucatan Peninsula to explore and record Mayan art and artifacts. She was an early proponent of experiential education; it remains an important aspect of a Stevenson education today. For Helena’s complete story and why she is so deserving of this alumni honor, see page 10. THE DAY FAMILY AWARD: Jenny Bergholz ‘76 The Day Family Award was established by The Alumni Association in 2004 to recognize alumni whose contributions to Stevenson have been exemplary and continuing. Stevenson struggled in its early years, but in the mid-1950s the Day family began an association with the school that would be providential and that would help shape the school’s development. At every significant moment in our history, Willametta Keck Day and her sons Robert ’61, Matthew ’63, and T.J. ’66 have been instrumental in Stevenson’s growth.

Stevenson alumna and parent (Katie ’11, Melissa ’13, and William ’15), Jenny has consistently demonstrated her commitment to and support of Stevenson School for more than 35 years. She has financially contributed to the school almost every year since her graduation, and has been an engaged leader of the Stevenson Alumni Council since 2009. Jenny has been a Ricklefs Scholar Award Committee member for the past four years, and annually interviews the candidates on campus, helping choose the recipient of the school’s most prestigious alumni honor. Jenny lived on Stevenson’s Pebble Beach campus from the time she 2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

CAMPUS

NEWS

2014 Alumni Award Winners Will Gifford ’04, Helena Cho ’94, and Jenny Bergholz ’76 with President Joe Wandke

was 1 year old. Frank Keith, Jenny’s father, was a longtime administrator of the school. So naturally, in 1976 when Stevenson opened its doors to girls, Jenny was one of them. She was featured in the Fall/Winter 2011 Stevenson Alumni Magazine as one of the “First Girls.” THE SAMUEL KAHN AWARD: Lt. Will Gifford ’04 The Samuel Kahn Award was established in 1964 by Mrs. Rosalind Kahn in honor of her husband, an engineer and former owner of the Market Street Railway Company, in San Francisco. Three of their grandchildren are Stevenson graduates: Steve Gardner ’67, Tom Gardner ’69, and Peter Margolis ’72. The Kahn Award is given each year to a member of the 10th Reunion Class who exemplifies the values the school has taught from its beginning: to do one’s best, to pursue one’s passion, to serve others. In Mrs. Kahn’s words, “the purpose of this Award is to recognize and encourage the work and promise of youth.” After Stevenson, Will attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in systems

STEVENSON SCHOOL

EVENTS

Chad Lamberson ’79, Brenda Schneegans, Donna Key, Chris Key ’64, and Curt Hayden ’64

engineering and was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy. Selected for the aviation pipeline, he fulfilled a lifelong dream and began flight training in Pensacola, Florida. He flew his first Navy aircraft (the T-34 Turbomentor) when he started primary flight training. He then began advanced training for tailhook aviation in Kingsville, Texas. Will received his wings of gold and was designated a naval aviator in October 2010. Shortly after, he received orders to join the Flying Eagles of VFA-122, the West Coast Fleet Replacement Squadron. He learned how to fly the F/A-18C Hornet, a single-seat, multi-role strike fighter aircraft, and joined his first deployable squadron, the world-famous Golden Dragons of VFA-192. In August 2012, Will departed on his first combat deployment with Carrier Air Wing Nine, experiencing parts of the world that he never imagined, including Malaysia, Thailand, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Singapore, as well as spending three months flying combat missions in Afghanistan and two months

flying close air patrol in the Persian Gulf along the Iranian border. After returning to the U.S., Will transitioned to the F/A-18E Super Hornet and has continued to work on training and qualifications, most recently spending two weeks flying exercises off the coast of Key West, Florida.

Each year, Stevenson awards reunion classes for their participation in giving and attendance. Below are this year’s winners: JOE WANDKE PRESIDENT’S AWARD FOR CLASS PARTICIPATION (Highest Participation in Giving): Class of 1964 LINDSAY JEFFERS ’65 ALUMNI FACULTY AWARD FOR REUNION PARTICIPATION (Highest Attendance): Class of 1964 FRANK KEITH COMMUNITY AWARD FOR NEW DONORS (Most New Donors): Class of 2004

Classes ending in “0” and “5” — it’s not too early to start planning your Reunion Weekend! Save the dates of June 5-7, 2015! Contact Mia Peterson ’89 at mpeterson@stevensonschool.org to get involved in the planning or for more information.

The

PIRATE REVIEW

“Lost. Found. Flying. Sunsets.” 60” x 48,” Oil on Canvas, 2014, by Laura Smith Blair ’88

From small town to big city, the entrepreneurial spirit of five alumni is showcased through their unique business ventures.

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

The PIRATE REVIEW “Looking Out At You,” 60” x 28,” Oil on Canvas, 2014, by Laura Smith Blair ’88

“Through Blair’s work, you transport yourself to serenity. The imperfect lines represent her journey away from the world of chaos towards finding the truth. The lines are methodical, repetitive and organized. There is no beginning and no ending. The edges are as important as the center. She balances hues in a scrambled, yet organic arrangement of lines” — laurasmithblair.com

An Emerging Artist Laura Smith Blair ’88

Under the tutelage of art teacher Suzanne Rumbaugh, Laura Smith Blair ’88 received early encouragement to pursue the arts beyond Stevenson. She spent two summers at Rhode Island School of Design during her high school years and, after Stevenson, graduated from the University of California at San Diego with a degree in fine arts.

As successful as Laura’s mural-style work had become, she never felt it was the truest expression of her talent. Today, Laura says she has finally found her “voice” in her art, and works on fewer and fewer murals. Her work is still large-scale, but predominantly oil paintings on canvas depicting landscapes, flowers, and oceans.

Laura worked on the Monterey Peninsula with a renowned local mural artist, and then moved to San Francisco to focus on large-scale murals that could be found on city walls, residences, and even Las Vegas casinos. Laura and her husband Matthew opened a gallery for artists, where she exhibited her own work. Word of her mural work spread, and in 2012, Laura was commissioned to create artwork for the Oakland Children’s Hospital Outpatient Center, where her own daughter had once donated her birthday gifts to ailing patients.

“It’s not important anymore how I make something look, the details — I’m more concerned about a specific theme,” said Laura in a recent interview with The Ark, a Sausalito arts newspaper. “Before I used to look at a photograph, but now it’s all about my feelings, of being open. The new style is clean and feels organized and calm.”

“I always knew my unique, personal style and vision would emerge when I was ready,” Laura says. “And it finally has in the last few years — full force. I would tell any young artist to never give up; there is no limit to what you can create — it takes time, patience, and trust in your own calling as an artist.” Laura’s paintings were recently showcased in the street windows of Saks Fifth Avenue in San Francisco’s Union Square and in a Design Showcase. She also exhibits at the John McEvoy Gallery in San Francisco. Laura lives in Marin County, California with her husband Matt and her two children, Siena and Tyler. You can view more of Laura’s work at www.laurasmithblair.com.

Laura Smith Blair ’88

STEVENSON SCHOOL

WE WANT TO FEATURE YOU IN THE NEXT PIRATE REVIEW! Have you published a book, released a wine or opened a new restaurant? We want to know! Please email us at alumni@stevensonschool.org to be considered for the next Pirate Review.

HERE’S WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT NORTHWEST BREWING’S FINE ALES:

Northwest Brewing offers several varieties of beer including the Bad Panda Ginger Ale, which won the Bronze Award at the 2014 Washington Beer Competition.

Beer Jedi Brad Robinson ’94

When Brad Robinson ’94 transferred from the University of Oregon to the University of San Francisco, he noticed one major problem with his new city of residence — there were very few good microbreweries. “At that time Eugene had more microbreweries per capita than any other city in the U.S.,” recalls Brad. “I couldn’t find beers I really liked on tap in San Francisco, so I started making my own.” And that was the beginning of Brad’s journey to becoming a beer jedi, the title on his current business card for Northwest Brewing Company. Brad’s officially the sales manager for Northwest Brewing, but because of his firsthand knowledge of beer-making, he is hands-on with the brewing process, knows what sells, and works closely with the brewmasters. He is also one of only 2,000 certified beer judges in the

Brad Robinson ’94

United States, and travels the country tasting and judging at beer competitions. Northwest Brewing is in Pacific, Washington, and crafts several varieties, including Blood Orange Wit, Mango Weizen, Ginger Pale Ale, Local Ink, and Three Skulls Pale Ale, a brew Brad introduced fellow Pirates to at Reunion Weekend last June. Northwest Brewing Company 1091 Valentine Avenue SE Pacific, Washington www.nwbrewingcompany.com Brad lives in Pacific, Washington and welcomes all Pirates to come by for a visit and taste Northwest Brewing’s artisanal ales.

“Tucked away in the small town of Pacific, WA you will find Northwest Brewing Company. This brewery is the epitome of local microbrewery: their focus is on the beer and they do it pretty well. Hoppy Bitch IPA is a solid IPA, a good amount of hops, and still overall flavor. In case you are a real hop-head, they actually have another beer that outdoes this one: the Crazy Bitch Double IPA. This was a great beer that we all enjoyed, but probably for the best that we kept it to just the one pint as it rocks a 7.5% ABV. Overall, I am a big fan of NW Brewery, part of this could be the proximity to my home town, but the other part would definitely be because they make good beer.” — “Big B” (American Beer Review)

“This is a true microbrewery in the very early stages of growth & expansion... for now, it is all about the beer. We went there Saturday night for a couple brews and a bite to eat. We tried 2 or 3 of the beers on tap and they were all excellent (in addition to the Hoppy Bitch IPA, which is becoming well known around the Puget Sound, try the Local Ink or Coffee Stout...both were wonderful). All in all, this place is great for beer lovers. I will go back for sure.” — Dane G., (Yelp!)

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

The PIRATE REVIEW called up classmate Jim Flagg ’74 and showed him the latest numbers. “He told me to have faith and that everything was going to be okay. He told me to just get up and go to work every day.” So that’s what Jeff did. The Andersons (Jeff, brother Rodger, and sister Mollie) believe in working hard, being good people, and treating others with respect and kindness. Simple concepts perhaps, but they are the core of their business — and the formula works.

Anderson Inn Jeff Anderson ’72

With family roots in the hospitality business dating back to the 1860s, being an inn owner comes naturally to Jeff Anderson ’72, co-owner of the Anderson Inn in Morro Bay, California. Jeff grew up in Morro Bay and worked at his father’s restaurant business as a child. He left the area after attending Stevenson, and after several years, returned in 1975. The town, says Anderson, is not only full of childhood memories, but is also a place with a new energy and positive future. And the Anderson Inn is contributing to that future. An upscale, boutique hotel with just eight rooms, the Anderson Inn is

described as “tranquil, roomy and comfortable” — and all rooms boast fireplaces, wireless Internet access, and full views of Morro Bay and Morro Rock. Trip Advisor, the go-to online review website for travelers, ranks the Anderson Inn #1 out of 29 hotels in the Morro Bay region, and the inn maintains a five-star rating. Jeff is quick to share that the road to the inn’s success wasn’t easy — and that Stevenson classmates helped him along the way. “There was a time during the recession when I just wasn’t sure we were going to make it,” Jeff recalls. He

Jeff lives in Morro Bay with wife Shellie, a world-class wingsuit flier. You can learn more about the Anderson Inn at www.andersoninn.com.

Siblings Rodger, Mollie and Jeff Anderson ’72

TWO STAND-OUT, FIVE-STAR, REVIEWS FROM TRIPADVISOR.COM THAT APTLY DESCRIBE THE ANDERSON INN EXPERIENCE:

“Fabulous. We wanted something extra special to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary and from the other reviews, this looked like the place. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by Jeff Anderson and at that instant, we knew we’d made the perfect choice! It’s very clear, customer service and comfort is of utmost importance to the Anderson family. When Jeff escorted us to our room, we were speechless! We were told we had booked their #1 room and #1 it was! The view was spectacular and comforts endless! The time and detail to creature comforts here was impressive!”

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“Unparalleled hospitality. Came for a short two night stay to celebrate our 20th anniversary, and when we arrived the Andersons (almost all of them) greeted us, and attended to everything, and when there was an unforeseen issue with our reservation, they not only solved the issue for us, they made us feel like we were guests in their house. Jeff, Roger and Molly — they all go out of their way to make you feel at home. The location, the room, the view, the restaurant all wonderful. But what stands out is how hotel guests really are treated like guests of the Andersons. We can’t wait to come back.”

Nell (Flattery) Carlson ’87 and Jess Tegtmeier ’03

Bookworks

Nell (Flattery) Carlson ’87 & Jess Tegtmeier ’03 As independent bookshops around the world close their doors due to an inability to compete with online booksellers, two Stevenson alumni and their family made the decision to save a local landmark in their hometown of Pacific Grove, California, and keep their favorite bookstore alive. “Every small town should have a bookstore,” says Nell (Flattery) Carlson ‘87. “We saw that Bookworks was up for sale, and we just didn’t want to see another local bookstore die.” So, in October 2013, Nell with her mother Margot Tegtmeier and sister Jess Tegtmeier ’03, purchased Bookworks and have been working together to make it a lively community gathering spot. The café, which offers fresh baked goods made by Nell, is managed by Margot, who has owned and managed restaurants, including Tillie Gort’s in Monterey. Nell, an educator, oversees

HERE’S WHAT CUSTOMERS SAY:

the bookstore and its more than 4,200 well-chosen titles in hard copy, including new releases, bestsellers, local history, and an expansive selection of children’s literature. Jess, an artist, designed the new logo for the store, helped with the décor, creates the displays, and selects the gift items for the store. Even Margot’s husband Allen Tegtmeier, a professional contractor, has a hand in the project, and is the resident handyman.

“Amazing coffee. Great service. Attached bookstore. What else can a girl want? Well, if you’re like me, having a coffee shop that’s local and has a bookstore attached is a dream. It’s in a nice area of downtown, too. I’d be a regular if I lived in this area. 5 stars because everything is great.”

Together, they provide their community with a warm, comfortable, well-lit place to have a cup of organic coffee, enjoy a fresh pastry, and read a good book—and that’s a pretty great thing.

“Great coffee shop with the oldest bookstore in Pacific Grove. I stopped in here to buy a coffee and ended up buying a great book! Seating was comfortable including couches; and there were tables and chairs outside as well. It was just a really comfortable place to have a coffee and read a book or wifi. The people working there were very friendly and helpful.”

Bookworks 667 Lighthouse Avenue, Pacific Grove www.bookworkspg.com Nell lives in Pacific Grove with her husband and two sons, and Jess recently moved from San Francisco to Carmel.

— Lyna Z., Vallejo, California (Yelp!)

— Dee G., Redding, California (TripAdvisor)

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

THE ART IS MIGHTIER THAN

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Miya Ando ’91 working in her Brooklyn, NY art studio. Photo by Lorraine Young

THE SWORD: MIYA ANDO ’91 by Aaron Hillis

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON, IN HER BROOKLYN ART STUDIO — in the chic waterfront neighborhood and gallery community known as DUMBO, or “down under the Manhattan Bridge overpass” — Miya Ando ’91 is prepping for her upcoming solo exhibition. She’s rifling through a pile of vibrant prints cluttering a nearby table, though the show will also feature nine 4-foot squares, similar to those framed meticulously together along the walls. It might seem like a misnomer to refer to Ando’s shimmering, watercolor-like gradients as “painting,” especially when a closer look reveals that she’s not working with paper or canvas at all, but cold, hard industrial metals. Ando describes herself as a painter, but pragmatically speaking, she’s more of an alchemist, her surprising techniques of expression involving complicated chemical processes. She sculpts, scours, and hand-dyes by way of anodization, patination, electrochemical baths, and other innovative experimentation. The resulting body of work (which her Wikipedia page pigeonholes as “post-minimalism”) toys with light, phosphorescence, and

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patterns from a viewer’s changing perspective, evoking fleeting emotions that are easier to feel than to describe. Photographs, Instagram, or any other means to view her metallurgical creations only pale in comparison to witnessing their meditative, elemental qualities directly.

their upbringing, so I’m trying to be my most honest self because I have an unusual background.”

“I’m interested in images that communicate temporality and evanescence,” Ando explains, her arms gesticulating precisely, revealing tattooed sleeves of largely Buddhist emblems. “Things that look like they’re shifting. It’s not necessarily representational or landscape, but it could be in an abstract sense. Even though steel communicates something permanent, it’s actually impermanent. The material for my intellectual pursuits is a support vehicle for that.”

That she does. Though her father is Russian-American, Ando’s first memories come from Japan, where her mother’s lineage can be traced back to Bizen sword maker Ando Yoshiro Masakatsu. Part of her childhood was spent on what she calls a “magical” 25acre homestead in the redwood forests of Santa Cruz, California — where her family put in roads, brought in electricity, and essentially lived off the grid among trees stretching 30 stories into the clouds. The rest of those early days, her family lived in a Nichiren Buddhist temple in Okayama (her swordsmith ancestors eventually became priests, like her grandfather), along with her aunt, uncle, and cousins.

When asked about those pursuits, she reveals a truth as deceptively simple as her working methods: “As an artist, it’s about transparency. It’s not just about the ideas that you have, but your approach and how you view things. That’s informed in everyone’s case by

One especially vivid remembrance of her unique upbringing in Japan begins like typical girlhood, as her little-boy cousins pinched her, pushed her down, and took her doll. (“Where’s my Hello Kitty? This was the ‘80s,” she says, laughing.) But then the details trickle out more

Miya Ando â&#x20AC;&#x2122;91 at the 2014 Launch of Miya Ando special commission for Bang & Olufsen Photo by Lorraine Young

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

Photo by Lorraine Young

exotically: “I was so upset. I was crying and crying, and there was a service going on next door. It was an old temple, very traditional, with rice fields and farming. There were paper walls, tatami mats, Shoji screens. It’s not soundproof on any level. I was the youngest, so I always got to sit on my grandpa’s lap. After the service, he said: ‘You’re crying and these people are having a funeral. It’s the most important moment. We

have to pray.’ It was one of the only times my grandfather’s ever been stern with me.” “He was explaining all these things, and then said he wanted me to go into the temple,” Ando continues. “It’s a giant tatami room where people sit and pray. I was sitting in front of a huge altar, and my grandfather tells me to think about how I affected these other people. He

“AS SOON AS I STARTED WELDING, FABRICATING, AND BLACKSMITHING, I WENT DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE. I THOUGHT, THIS MATERIAL AS A SUBSTRATE IS REALLY BEAUTIFUL. IT’S SOLID BUT CAN REFLECT LIGHT AND LOOK ETHEREAL.” 32

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turned the lights off. It wasn’t nighttime, but was dim, just lamps and candles, gold leafing and gilding, the imagery is really intense. You’re meant to see it and know it means something.” Environments are influential to everyone but come up often in conversation with Ando, whether she’s talking about the cultural kind (as someone who has grown up mixed-race and bilingual) or her physical surroundings. Reflecting on her youthful runs through the redwoods, she doesn’t discuss tree houses or hiding places but instead the beauty of the stars, the fog rolling in, and feeling alive in nature. Similarly, when the topic turns to her time at Stevenson — alma mater during her sophomore, junior, and senior years — the gorgeous geography springs first to mind.

As she’s painting the area in her mind (though she’s also depicted the atmosphere in her work), Ando explains: “The forest in Pebble Beach had a huge impact, seeing over the course of three years how mystical and changing it could be. The ocean looked gray one day, blue the next. That light will never leave my memory. I’d like to go back and live there; it’s one of my favorite places.” “It was Nirvana time, right? I think grunge was in,” Ando says, laughing and trying her best to remember the inside of those buildings so long ago. “I loved high school. I had the best time. My sister [Aviva Stanoff ’90, an accomplished textile artist] was there. What’s not to love? Everyone was my friend. I was on the field hockey team, and after school, we played on the beach. I feel lucky. How many people get to spend those years with that kind of academic attention? It shapes you for your future. I went down a path of studying something very technical and esoteric, but that upbringing cultivated my sense of curiosity. It made me feel like I could learn anything, even something as odd as the transformation of metal surfaces.” Ando knew from an early age that she wanted to be an artist, essentially once she learned such a position in life existed, though her scholastic attentions after Stevenson turned to East Asian Studies. She graduated magna cum laude from UC Berkeley in 1996, then apprenticed for a master Japanese metalsmith after attending Yale. “My focus was Buddhistic iconography,” she explains. “Images that teach people without them having to read, like symbols or signs. A deity’s countenance sends a message. Religious iconography in particular communicates something abstract, like heaven or hell. In Buddhism, you’ve got the non-self. You have no ego. You have mandalas and different realms of existence. Whoa, it’s way out there, right? It’s fascinating.”

There’s a direct link between Ando’s chosen field of study and her lineage, as the swords created by her family several generations back (before swordsmithing became anachronistic, and the blades were no longer treated as weapons but precious heirlooms) are often inscribed with scriptures in Japanese Sanskrit. “Many people don’t know that underneath, where the handle is wrapped, you’ll find a lot of Buddhist symbols and markings,” Ando says. “Samurai were very religious people. It’s paradoxical in many ways.”

This alluring backstory is the key to understanding why Ando professes an emotional connection to her medium of choice, though she didn’t begin working with metal until the age of 20: “When I was an undergrad at Berkeley, I tried oil paints, charcoal, stone, wood. I grew up using a lot of clay. My parents, being the hippies that they were, didn’t believe in TV or toys. We had a kiln and art supplies. As little girls, my sister and I would sit around making, drawing, and building. That laid the foundation for me. It’s how I think, how I relax, why I work

“Sui Getsu Ka” (Water Moon Flower) Grid, Hand Dyed Anodized Aluminum plates, 72” x 60,” 2013 Image Courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

Light Metal Solo Exhibition, Hong Kong 2014 Photo courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery

seven days a week. I play with things, and that’s how I invented painting with permanently dyeing anodized aluminum. I made up how to turn a piece of paper into a piece of metal and rust it.” “I don’t call my work didactic, but my philosophical interests are informed by my beliefs,” she continues. “When I was in school, I was investigating. What is my vehicle? My visual vocabulary ends up being minimal, very spare. I try to communicate in simple forms. As soon as I started welding, fabricating, and blacksmithing, I went down the rabbit hole. I thought, this material as a substrate is really beautiful. It’s solid but can reflect light and look ethereal.” Since unlocking that discovery, Ando’s pioneering spirit and scientific mind have produced a unique oeuvre that

has been exhibiting for years all over North America, as well as in France, Germany, Greece, Australia — and, of course, Japan. Her pieces have been commissioned in such disparate locales as Korea and Puerto Rico (even San Francisco General Hospital), though perhaps most poignantly in honor of victims who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As unveiled by London Mayor Boris Johnson just before the decade anniversary of the World Trade Center tragedy, Ando’s commissioned sculpture was a truly cathartic monument—eight meters high, constructed out of a single polished fragment of girder steel from the Ground Zero wreckage. The work will be permanently installed at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, part of an education program for students, and to gain “a proper understanding of what

“I’M INTERESTED IN IMAGES THAT COMMUNICATE TEMPORALITY AND EVANESCENCE. THINGS THAT LOOK LIKE THEY’RE SHIFTING. IT’S NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENTATIONAL OR LANDSCAPE, BUT IT COULD BE IN AN ABSTRACT SENSE. 34

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happened; and thereby help to reduce the possibilities of any similar act in the future,” according to the initiative’s website. No small undertaking, Ando worked on the “After 9/11” piece for three years: “That was a turning point in my career because it was a high-profile project and it was just big. I couldn’t pick it up. It was 8,000 pounds, three stories tall, just a massive undertaking and one of tremendous gravitas.” Ando’s career is flourishing; one look at her CV and subsequent press (everyone from The New York Times to The Wall Street Journal, Wired Magazine, and USA Today has praised her work) proves that she’s a vital figure in the art world today. Considering that she already has started progress on an upcoming solo show in California that launches in January, there shouldn’t be any doubt as to how hard she works to earn her successes. Yet as she literally forges a career path that has never been done in her medium of choice, Ando recognizes it’s only human to try to pinpoint where her work lies in the canon. In trying to contextualize her own career, which Ando knows no artist should have

Ephemeral Blue White, 36” x 36” Aluminum Pigment Dye Resin, 2013

Ephemeral Blue Black, 36” x 36” Aluminum Pigment Dye Resin, 2013

Green, 48” x 48,” Hand Dyed Anodized Aluminum Image courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery

Light Metal Solo Exhibition, Hong Kong 2014 Photo courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery

UPCOMING EVENTS to define for herself, she’s humble and on point. “I’m influenced by and revere my predecessors,” she explains. “I’m in a continuum of art history. I understand that. I come after the minimalists. What strikes me as interesting is that the minimalists were influenced by Zen reductivism. What’s the basis of Zen? Pare away all but what is essential. Take everything away mentally, physically,

metaphorically. Am I post-minimalist? These are labels for writers, critics, and historians. I’m an abstract artist. I don’t think in those terms.”

Miya will be speaking at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in December. To learn more, go to www.metmuseum.org/events/ programs/lectures-and-panels/ticketedtalks/spark-series

Please contact gallery@ sundaramtagore.com for more information about Miya’s artwork or visit www.miyaando.com

Miya Ando Solo Exhibition October 16 – November 16, 2014 Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York www.sundaramtagore.com 2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

Matthew Upchurch ’80:

INNOVATING & REDEFINING THE EVER EVOLVING TRAVEL INDUSTRY by Ruthanne Terrero

STEVENSON SCHOOL

Matthew Upchurch ’80

Heading up a luxury travel company might sound like the ultimate dream job, but it hasn’t been for the fainthearted over the past two decades. New technologies and shifting business models have required leadership from someone with vision, passion, and sheer guts, and those are exactly the traits Matthew Upchurch ’80 has used to run Virtuoso, a global network of upscale travel agencies. 2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

Explore the world with Virtuoso. From Europe to Africa, to the South Pacific and even outer space. Virtuoso Travel Advisors help you have an ongoing, conscious strategy for optimizing your most valuable nonrenewable asset — your free leisure time.

Hear the phrase “travel agent” and your first thought might be, “Didn’t they go out of business years ago?” Say that around Upchurch, who is chairman and CEO of his privately run company, and he’ll smile and then tell you a thing or two. In fact, he doesn’t use the term “travel agent”; it’s “travel advisor,” a role on par with any consultant you would use to manage your life, such as your family lawyer or accountant. And those in his network of 341 agencies don’t simply make the reservations for your vacation. They’ll ask what you want to get out of a trip, how you want to feel when you’re there, quiz you and your traveling companions on your likes and dislikes, and then design a personalized agenda for you filled with unique experiences. “Imagine the conversation you’d have if you approached somebody and said, ‘I don’t want to be your travel advisor to book your travel. I want to be your return-on-life advisor to help you

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have an ongoing, conscious strategy for optimizing your most valuable nonrenewable asset, your free leisure time.’ That approach is going to appeal to the mind-set of consumers who have already bought into the idea of wealth management. They’d say, ‘That makes sense, because why would I have a conscious strategy for managing my financial assets but not have one to manage my leisure time, which once I screw it up, I will never get back?’” Virtuoso is by invitation only. Travel agencies are vetted and, when accepted, pay a fee to sport the Virtuoso branding alongside the name of their company. They retain ownership but now have access to perks for their clients, such

as free limousine rides from the airport, upgrades to hotel suites, and special tours if they’re taking a cruise. Upchurch has completely redefined what a travel advisor does, and he doesn’t hesitate to herald that message in keynote speeches at events in the travel industry, which he’s heavily influenced for the past two decades. A major coup for Upchurch was inking a deal that gives his network members the exclusive and lucrative right to sell trips into space aboard Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic program. He’ll also be one of the first to take such a flight, and can frequently be found in the Las Cruces, New Mexico desert for

Matthew Upchurch â&#x20AC;&#x2122;80 discusses 25 years of Virtuoso at Virtuoso Travel Week 2013

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

The Early Days Strong influences also came from another family business, which was Radio Shack, the electronic store chain founded by Upchurch’s stepgrandfather Charles Tandy. Upchurch worked at Radio Shack in Fort Worth during Stevenson School vacations, starting at the age of 13. “I loved that experience,” he says. A favorite memory is being on the frontline of the CB radio craze, when slang phrases like “Breaker breaker 1-9” and “What’s your handle?” were all the rage. Besides instilling in him a love for technology and retail, the Radio Shack affiliation gave Upchurch a leg up at Stevenson. “Many of my schoolmates had these fancy electronics with brands like Marantz and Nakamichi, and I had my realistic Radio Shack gear. The guys were going, ‘Hey, look at all my great audio equipment,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, but look at our stock!’” The great mix of students, many boarding at Stevenson from all over the world, was a highlight for Upchurch, whose older brothers also attended and whose father Jesse helped to relaunch the polo team. “There were people from very influential and high-net-worth families, but there were also many students who were just brilliant, who didn’t come from those privileged backgrounds. I always found that to be a cool mixture,” he says. The common denominator was the quality of professors, who were all passionate and taught with a creative edge. “It was such a highly academic school that to this day, I feel like four years at Stevenson was equivalent to the first three years in college. My strongest mentoring relationships in my life were from some of my teachers at Stevenson,” says Upchurch, who went on to study at Texas Christian University. 40

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Virgin Galactic is on track to be the world’s first commercial spaceline and will offer the unique thrill of a zero-gravity experience, travel at a speed of 2500mph (over 3 times the speed of sound), and have the view of a lifetime: planet Earth from the black sky of space.

events focused around the launch. And why not? It’s the ultimate trip. “I never dreamed of being an astronaut and I’m not an extreme guy. But for me, travel is a way of getting out of your comfort zone by literally moving you to a new environment. It forces you to look at things from a different perspective, to grow and to think,” Upchurch says. Currently, Upchurch is about to break new ground for the travel industry by partnering Virtuoso with Merrill Lynch to serve as the leisure travel consultancy in a program the investment firm is launching for its wealth management clients. Merrill Lynch will encourage clients to form relationships with Virtuoso advisors just as they would a financial consultant. Thanks to Upchurch’s constant ability to look at things from a different perspective and to innovate, business is flourishing for Virtuoso travel advisors. Besides trips in rocket ships, they sell high-end vacations such as African safaris and around-the-world cruises. Many barely have enough time in the

day to keep up with the demands from their clients, who count on them to manage their leisure time. Together, the agencies generate a collective $12.5 billion in total travel sales annually.

Times haven’t always been this good. When the airlines in 1995 stopped paying 10 percent commission to travel agents for every ticket they sold, thousands went out of business. The rise of the Internet, which enabled the public to book its own vacations online, served up a double whammy. The demise of the travel agent was imminent, and poor public perception of the trade meant few young people chose it as a career. In 2000, a travel trade magazine surveyed travel agents, asking if they would recommend their profession to family and friends. Just 15 percent said yes.

Yet Upchurch never wavered from his view that skilled travel specialists would become invaluable to clients as knowledgeable advisors and experiential experts. To convey that message to the public, in 2000 he and his team developed the “Virtuoso” branding to replace the former name of the company, Allied Percival International (API). The word “travel” was purposely omitted because he insisted agency members were in the “life experience” business. Even for years prior, Upchurch as leader of the company had been making major changes to keep the organization competitive, requiring members to get fax machines (a big deal at the time) and to share customer lists (an even bigger deal) to facilitate customized targeted marketing. Network members viewed these changes as extremely controversial and made that clear. “My title should have actually been ‘Chief Destruction Officer,’” recalls Upchurch, referring to his willingness to lay to waste the old travel agency business model.

It paid off. When Condé Nast Traveler that year published its first list of top travel experts, 90 percent of them were in Virtuoso, a clear sign his strategies were working.

Reinvention is a recurring theme for Upchurch, who started in the mailroom at his father’s travel company, Percival Tours, where he mailed out brochures. Feeling guilty that his level of productivity varied wildly depending on how late he’d stayed out the night before, he asked to be paid not by the hour but by the piece. The new pay structure sparked a big idea to escalate productivity. Upchurch hired his fraternity brothers from Texas Christian University to stuff envelopes, paying them minimum wage and beer. In just one afternoon 1,000 packages were ready to mail. “I was a bit entrepreneurial from the get-go,” says Upchurch with a smile. The concept led to the start up of a small company called Perci Pack (short for Percival Packaging) with his cousin,

“I never dreamed of being an astronaut and I’m not an extreme guy. But for me, travel is a way of getting out of your comfort zone by literally moving you to a new environment. It forces you to look at things from a different perspective, to grow and to think” — Matthew Upchurch ’80 which led to the development of the first major competitive bulk shipping computer-based system to compete with Pitney Bowes. Such an innovative spirit comes from his father Jesse, who, aside from Percival, had businesses in Mexico. He built the first timeshares in Acapulco and he owned lodges in Africa, giving Matthew the opportunity to spend three summers in Botswana as a young boy. Jesse was also a founding member of the United States Tour Operators Association, known as USTOA, a group of influential travel executives.

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

“My fundamental belief is that in this world of ever more ubiquitous and powerful technology, there remains a craving for authentic human interaction.” — Matthew Upchurch ’80 Matthew Upchurch ’80 speaking at Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas, August 2014

When Upchurch joined Percival Tours full time, he convinced his father there was more money to be made on the retail travel agency side of the business. “Within a very short period of time, from the ages of about 22 to about 29, I got to be on multiple sides of the industry,” says Upchurch. “That was a defining stage of my life. It formed the genesis of what Virtuoso became by making me think, ‘How do I build an organization that understands what the issues are on all sides of the fence and how can we bring people together?’” In 1986, Percival bought Allied Travel International, a cooperative of travel agencies that shared the cost of technology and other back-office systems. Young Upchurch was named managing principal of the new Allied Percival International (API) and went into transformation mode immediately, putting the fax machine and customer list sharing mandates into effect. His innovative spirit was still in play two years later when he launched the Travel Mart trade show in Palm Beach, Florida. The event brought together 97 travel advisors and representatives from hotel, tour, and cruise companies for one-toone meetings that first year.

Fast forward. Travel Mart is now Virtuoso Travel Week, when thousands descend on Las Vegas every August. Last year, attendance topped 4,100 for the first time. And those fears of the travel agency’s demise? They’ve been fully quashed. 42

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Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas, August 2014

That was apparent three years ago at Bellagio, which hosts Travel Week. The hallways were filled with young people who appeared to have enthusiastically embraced the career option of being a travel consultant. “I thought, ‘My God, we really have transitioned this profession!’” says Upchurch. “All of a sudden, there was this tipping point. There was all this new talent. There were career switchers. There were young people. Since then, it’s just grown and grown.” He’s tickled that the event, which generates 350,000 four-minute one-toone meetings over four days, impressed a young tech entrepreneur he met up with one day. “When I showed him a video from Virtuoso Travel Week, he said to me, ‘Dude, that’s like Facebook face to face!’” says Upchurch.

What’s next up for Upchurch? Evolving as an entrepreneur is key, and to do that,

he’s been turning that “chief destruction officer” role on to himself. “One of the difficult things that happens in life is that your identity as a human gets wrapped up in your identity of what you do. How do I get out of my own egoic mind? How do I get to the essence of who really I am, and not get attached to thinking that what I do is who I am?” says Upchurch, who has developed that thought training with the help of an executive coach he’s worked with for nearly six years. The exercise has made him a better leader, he says, and he enjoys his work much more. Plans are also to remain bullish on the travel advisor business because in the end, he feels actual people will always have the advantage over online travel agencies. “We’re wired for human connection. We crave that,” he says. “My fundamental belief is that in this world of ever more ubiquitous and powerful technology, there remains a craving for authentic human interaction.”

Alumni Update 1971

1972

Kevin McNeely ’71 April 2-6, 2014 marked the 17th Annual Sonoma International Film Festival. Two hundred filmmakers from fourteen countries came to Sonoma to support their films, which totaled 114 in all screening genres; American indies, documentaries, shorts, world cinema, and animation. One documentary, Born in Chicago was about a bunch of white guys who went to Chicago in the 1960’s to learn how to play the blues. Turns out these musicians are Elvin Bishop, Charlie Musselwhite, Nick Gravenitas, Barry Goldberg, and Rick Reed. This incredible film screened on Friday night during the festival. What was amazing was after the film ended, the screen came down and on the stage were all the aforementioned musicians. They put on quite a concert! In attendance were the mighty Pirates of 1971 — Charles Winton ’71, John Todd ’71, Don Dormer ’71, John Lydon ’71, Skip Olinger ’71 and me, Kevin McNeely ’71, the executive director of the film festival. You are all invited to the 18th on April 1–5, 2015!!!

Greg Henderson ’72 I am working at Quisk, Inc., as their QA manager. Quisk is a startup in Sunnyvale that provides a mobile payments solution. I am married with four children. We live in Campbell, California. I like to go to the gym, do research on my ancestry, and I am writing a book

about the Henderson family and their connection to the California Perfume Company, which is now Avon.

1974 Randy Keith ’74 I was invited to participate in a series of lectures at Stanford on “Journalists on Journalism,” a part of a Pew Research

Greg Henderson ’72 and family

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

Alumni Update certainly not the least, the indomitable Warren H. Lee ’78. We seek each other’s advice as we parent our children and ready them for college. We compare notes on how to get on with our spouses or girlfriends. We travel and hit sporting events together. We fish together. I am blessed to have these life-long friends who not only tolerate me, but actually seem to enjoy my company and advice. Thank you, RLS.

1978

Leslie DeLuca ’78

Centers Project—Stanford. I worked on the Stanford Daily and was a summer editor when I was a student there and enjoyed being invited to be a part of this program. I am the managing editordigital for the Bay Area News Group, the owner of 14 newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am based in San Jose with the San Jose Mercury and the newspapers I oversee, in addition to the Mercury, include ones such as the Oakland Tribune, Contra Costa Times, and a large number of the local, regional newspapers in Northern California, including the Herald.

Leslie DeLuca ’78 I am the broker and owner of DeLuca Real Estate in Monterey, California. I am among the top 1% of all realtors nationally in sales volume. My daughter, Angelica Williams, joined me as an associate last year. My daughter, Brittany Williams, is a 2013 graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she received high honors with a major in psychology. Brittany is currently living in Los Angeles. I have one grandchild, Hudson Williams, who is 18 months old and the child of my daughter Angelica

Bob Mateus ’74 We have all heard or read about how RLS prepares students academically and socially for college and adult life. But, I have found that the friends I made from my days at RLS may be even more valuable. The experiences and ties that we share with RLS have endured throughout our lives. I see and speak regularly with Rob Goodwin ’76, Tim Carmel ’76, Stu Woo ’76, Bob Fox ’78, Jim Evans ’79, Jim Lee ’79 and last, but Marc Laver ’79 with his son Jonathan and lab Boulder

STEVENSON SCHOOL

Williams. I enjoy traveling, networking and would love to re-connect with Stevenson friends. Kathryn Koontz ’79 I am a third generation Californian born in Monterey. I attended schools in Pacific Grove until Stevenson School’s Pebble Beach Campus began enrolling girls in 1977. After graduating from Stevenson in 1979, I studied Philosophy and English at Westmont College in Santa Barbara earning my B.A. I became a teacher and married my artist husband, Philip Koontz. I completed my post graduate work at Chapman University, earning a teaching credential in elementary education. I joined the Stevenson faculty as a 5th grade teacher in 2001 and currently teach 4th grade at the Carmel Campus. I began directing the Junior Camp in 2010. I have three children: Fauve ’17, a student at Stevenson School, Harrison, a student at Santa Barbara City College who is interested in psychology, music, and writing, and Sam ’10 who is studying Visual Development at the Academy of Art University. In addition, I have a dog, Daisy, a cat, Sally, and a goldfish named Patrick.

1979 Marc Laver ’79 My son Jonathan and I visited the state

Chris Belle ’84

capitol in April. A new project is training his new ten month old lab, “Boulder.” He has been a great addition to our family and look forward to the help and devotion he will bring to Jonathan. This summer I spent a few weeks in Carmel while our younger child attended summer school at Stevenson. It is special to watch her enjoy the Stevenson experience and helps recall the great times I had in Pebble Beach.

1981 Dale Capewell ’81 I went on to graduate from Cornell University in 1986, majoring in Applied Physics. After graduation, I served four years as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, and then I went on to earn my Ph.D. in Applied Physics in 1996 from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). I then served as a technical management role in several technology start-up companies, including Cognet Microsystems, which was acquired by Intel in 2001. I later served as vice president of product development for Iris Diagnostics, a world leader in automated imagining

systems for urinalysis. I have authored eight patents in the areas of optical fiber telecommunications and medical device technology, and am the sole inventor of Iris Diagnostics’ latest instrument, the iChem200. I have lived in Agoura Hills since 2000, in a home I share with my 8-year-old son (also named Dale). I am the president of Malibou Lake Engineering, a small consulting business specializing in design, validation, and product development. I also have been an adjunct professor of physics and radiobiology at Cal State Channel Islands since 2010. I also am an avid long-distance cyclist. In 2013 I won the Race Across the West (RAW), an 860mile solo bike race from Oceanside, CA to Durango, CO. I didn’t just win my 50+ age group, I won the whole race! This summer, on June 10, 2014, I rode my bike from coast-to-coast, covering 3000 miles, in just 10 days. The race is called the Race Across America (RAAM), and it has become internationally famous since it was founded in the early 1980s. With the support of friends, family, and sponsors, my dream to compete in the world toughest endurance event became a reality.

1984 Chris Belle ’84 I heard an RV trip was a great family vacation, so this spring I rented one and drove my family up the highways of east Texas from our home in Austin to Hot Springs, Arkansas. My wife, Bethany, my 16 year old daughter, Ryan, and I enjoyed the adventure. Even Killian, our 95 pound red Doberman, liked it after we got him a Xanax prescription.:)I got into road biking this year and recently completed the MS 150 — a two-day, 150 mile ride from Houston to Austin benefiting the Multiple Sclerosis Society — with 13,000 of my closest friends. The small towns along the route were charming and crossing the finish line with thousands of cheering people lining the streets of downtown Austin was exhilarating. Eight years ago I

helped start a new company specializing in insurance technology consulting. Together with a staff of 16 talented consultants, we’ve built some innovative platforms for testing new systems and converting legacy data. My wife says my job is boring, which I’m sure it is to her. However, I always say “love what you do,” so I am a self-confessed, insurance and technology geek. During a business trip to Silicon Valley last year I drove down to Carmel for dinner and visited the campus. I saw Pat Dick in Douglas Hall; she’s looking as young as ever, and we reminisced about the special luncheon her mom hosted for a select group of boarding students. Her mom said we were invited because whenever she asked us “Can you do something for me?” we would say “Sure!” instead of “What?” I’ve never forgotten that.

1987 Terrance Heath ’87 I was recently honored with the Dr. Stephen R. Chitwood Law Firm Management Prize as Distinguished Scholar from the George Washington University in Washington, DC. This was awarded from the George Washington University’s College of Professional Studies, where I recently completed a graduate degree in the Masters of Professional Studies, Law Firm

Terrance Heath ’87

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

Alumni Update David Yeh ’87

Management Program. I am the managing partner of Heath-Newton LLP, a San Francisco-based family-law firm. David Yeh, Jr. ’87 I graduated from Stevenson School in 1987. After that I took my bachelor degree of science in business administration from the University of Southern California in 1991. I am now living with my daughter, Daria, who is seven, in Hong Kong. Since 1999, I have been the founder and director of an investment company, Davian Limited. I have also been an authorized representative of AIA since 2011. Given enthusiasm and devotion at work, I was fortunately honored with the award of Million Dollar Round Table (MDR) in 2013 and 2014. “Having somewhere to go is Home. Having someone to love is Family. Having both is a Blessing.” Stevenson School was my home, family and blessing during my teenage years. May I share my blessings with all students, teachers, and staff of the school, and their families.

1989 Anthea Anka ’89 So what have I done in the last 25 years? Let’s see, I have climbed K2 four times (without oxygen), found the cure for a rare chromosomal disease that will save 46

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millions, opened an orphanage in New Guinea, started four start up companies in Silicon Valley that netted me a billion dollars, and still fit into my high school jeans. Well, that sounds good on paper but alas, far from the truth. In reality I have spent the last 25 years trying not to think about how much time I wasted in high school; I have tried to be creative (writing, blogging, screenwriting) and get paid for it, moved to London in the late 90s, traveled a ton, had my fair share of hysterical adventures; had a gorgeous son that talks far too much, married a hot nerd, and have eaten a nauseating amount of kale. Considering I am never bored by the city I live in, am close to my family, have a batch of friends I wouldn’t trade for anything, and laugh as much as possible, I consider myself blessed. Vivienne Ming ’89 Norma Ming and I gave the opening keynote in March at SXSW in Austin on building equity and engagement into education. Then on April 12, we were honored by Equality California for our role in supporting marriage equality. I also recently spoke at Google on my latest project: using mobile phone data to predict manic/depressive phases in bipolar suffers.

strongly encouraged after my fabulous experience abroad through Stevenson and then again in college. In the summers we enjoy hiking and camping in the beautiful Cascade mountains near our town. I’ve really been enjoying becoming reconnected with my classmates on Facebook.

1991 Charles Baron ’91 I am enjoying life in sunny Arizona, but please don’t ask about the weather in July. Still working at Intel: 19+ years. Super, happily married to Allison, almost 16 years now! (Now, how did a guy like me that couldn’t land a date to the jr prom get so lucky? Don’t tell her.) Proud dad to my 13-year-old daughter Cora who will easily surpass my life accomplishments; to my 12-year-old boy Michael who has severe autism and a loving smile that offers joy to everyone around him, in spite of his daily struggles and challenges; and to adorable 10-month-old twins, Kira Time Baron (girl) and Alex Time Baron (boy) who have started crawling, sitting,

Cameron Chesebrough Stearns ’89 After a lot of work and much support from my wonderful family (and a copious amount of coffee), I became certified as a CPA this year. I’m working at a large, local public firm. My husband and I have been happily married for almost 19 years! He is a class teacher at the Eugene Waldorf School where my son Paul, age 10, is in 4th grade. My older son, William, is almost done with his junior year of high school and will be going to Japan and South Korea this summer with a home stay group. This I Anthea Anka ’89 and Husband, Ashley

Charles Baron’s ’91 twins, Alex Time and Kira Time

babbling and showing us who is really in charge of this household! I still love math, but don’t ask me to solve your problems. And, at 41 years old, I am getting ever so close to finding the “Answer to the Ultimate Question,” which will hopefully make losing my hair along the way worth it! :)

1994 Heather Barnard ’94 I have been living and teaching in the United Arab Emirates for the past four years. During this time, my children have had the ability to attend international schools, making friends from all over the world, while learning to read, write, and speak Arabic. My family and I have also had the pleasure of traveling to many other countries such as Turkey, Thailand, Sri Lanka, France, Germany, and most recently, Nepal. I’ve also been moonlighting as a travel writer for TravelingMom.com, which has been an exciting hobby, adding a different perspective to our travels. In July, we will be embarking on our next adventure as we move to Singapore and the kids will begin to learn Mandarin. I will teach in an American international school, and my husband will continue his work with San Francisco-based Airbnb in their Singapore office as they expand into Asia.

1995

1997

Ryan Anderson ’95 I just returned from a seven-day Grand Canyon adventure road trip with my two kids and wife. The layers of the Grand Canyon were unbelievable! You can see the layers of over a billion years! Even though I’ve jumped out of planes and am fascinated with heights, standing on the rim of the canyon was one of the scariest places I’ve stood. Holding my kids’ hands the whole time, just so the wind didn’t blow them off the cliff! Next trip is rafting in Utah and Canyonlands!

Kyle Krasa ’97 I have been an estate planning attorney in Monterey County since 2004. In 2009, I opened my own law firm, KRASA LAW, in Pacific Grove. Estate planning is about everything you have and everyone you love. As an estate planning attorney, I help people protect and preserve their personal and financial wishes for themselves and their loved ones. Even though I am very busy, I enjoy what I do so much that it does not feel like work at all. I am married to my college sweetheart, Amanda, and together we have a son, Jonah Bing, who is four years old. (He is named after my mom, Joan, and the famous crooner.) I never knew how much fun being a parent would be! I take Jonah to San Jose every week for ice skating lessons and I play ice hockey in an amateur league in the Bay Area. I was president of the Pacific Grove Rotary Club from 2010 to 2011 and am still an active member of the club. I

Brooks Foster ’95 I am enjoying Portland, Oregon with my wife, Anapaula, and my son, John, who celebrated his first birthday in March. We were recently visited by Jon Sullivan ’95, who has relocated to Seattle. I love being a dad, and my law practice is thriving as I take on bigger and higher profile cases. We are now planning our next trip to Brazil to visit family. Ciao!

Heather Barnard ’94 and family

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

Alumni Update Josh Fishman ‘99

Philip’s native Bruges. We hope to travel through Asia this summer. Our daughters attend Presidio Knolls School, a Mandarin immersion preschool and elementary school. Life is hectic, but grand!

1999

am currently board president of Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula and am very involved with the Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce. I really enjoy being a part of the community.

1998 Mekhala Inghelbrecht ’98 I have just joined Sotheby’s International Real Estate at their Luxury Lifestyle store, TeedHaze, on San Francisco’s Union Street. I join another Stevenson alum, Butch Haze ’88, to sell luxury residential and commercial real estate in the Bay Area. I attended the London School of Economics before joining Shazam as their first employee. I married Shazam founder, Philip Inghelbrecht, in 2006 after we moved to San Francisco from London. We still live in the city, now with our two toddler daughters. We spent two months last summer traveling Europe: London, Vienna, Dubrovnik, Luxembourg and

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Josh Fishman ’99 Hi RLS! My big news is that I’m moving from Venice to the woodlands of Topanga, along with my fiancé, Kate, and my dog, Stanley. My lady grew up in London, Stanley cut his teeth wandering the streets of South Central LA, where he learned to hone such popular talents as “don’t come to me when I call your name,” and “greet people too enthusiastically,” before he was rescued by the dog catcher. 2014 has been a great year for my digital marketing agency. We’re helping clients build brands and drive revenue online, providing web development services, design, photography, fulfillment and logistics, social media and search marketing (wecreativeagency.com). These are busy days, but we’re having fun and loving life! Love to the RLS family. Hope to see you at some alum events soon!

2000 Esther Tang ’00 After US undergrad, British MBA, Chinese law school and work in between in Dallas and Dubai, I’m in my 4th year as founding team member of a turbocharger design and manufacturing company (www.Herm-Archer.com). The turbocharger world is satisfying because engineers are straight-shooters, blue collar America and China have funny things in common, and multi-time zone entrepreneurship reveals my true management style: strangulation and

sharp objects. All that said, I’d like to meet alumni in the car/truck engine OEM & aftermarket industries — especially females! I’m planted in Irvine, California. et55@cornell.edu

2002 Amanda Schaper ’02 This is an article that I wrote about a 108-mile bike race that I recently participated in with my company. I run the global product marketing team for a women’s cycling brand called Liv, which is a sister brand to Giant Bicycles, one of the largest bike companies in the world. www.giant-bicycles.com/news/article/liv. rides.the.women.s.prestige/17636/

2005 Rebecca Haskell ’05 I am currently finishing my master’s degree in curriculum and teaching at Columbia University and will be moving back to the Bay Area in July. I am looking forward to being in the classroom again as an elementary school teacher in the fall. I am also very excited to be an aunt in July to my new nephew. Samuel Pitnick ’05 I received honorable mention in the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture’s Timber in the City Competition in Brooklyn, NY. My design, selected from over 1000 entries, was recently exhibited at the U.S. Green Building Council’s GreenBuild conference in Philadelphia. It will also be exhibited at the AIA National Convention in Chicago this summer. The Timber in the City Competition challenged participants to design a mid-rise, mixed-use complex with affordable housing units, a job training/ educational facility, a center for innovative manufacturing of wood technology, and a distribution center. After working on multi-family housing and healthcare projects around the world over the past four years, I am launching an independent residential practice this year.

2008

2009

Fiona Corner ’08 I am currently pursuing my master’s in higher education administration at the University of Dayton, in Dayton, Ohio where I also serve as a hall director. I most recently served as an assistant hall director at the University Portland.

Lauren Townsley ’09 After graduating from the University of Arizona in August of 2012 with a BS in Criminal Justice, I obtained a job as a humane investigator for the SPCA for Monterey County. I have been there for a year and a half now and could not imagine doing anything else at this time in my life. I enjoy making a difference in my community and providing education on animal neglect and abuse at local schools. I currently have 10 cases at the District Attorney’s Office. I found a great job where my passion for the justice system and my love for animals are combined on a daily basis. Patrick Taddeucci ’09 and I recently celebrated our 6-year anniversary. We both graduated from the University of Arizona in 2012 and Patrick now works at Taylor Farms, an agricultural company based out of Salinas. We were both incredibly lucky to find jobs that allowed us to stay here on the central coast. We often get together with friends from our class when they come back into town.

Sarah Johnson ’08 I graduated in December 2013 with a master’s of science in human resources management, traveled briefly to the beautiful country of New Zealand, and then accepted a position at the Four Seasons San Francisco Hotel as the human resources manager in January 2014. I love living and working in the Bay Area! Best wishes to all at Stevenson School! Clare McKendry ’08 I am finishing my second year at Santa Clara University School of Law. In the summer of 2013, I began working at the Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP), a nonprofit organization run through Santa Clara University that works to exonerate wrongly convicted individuals. I was fortunate enough to begin my time at NCIP on a team that successfully exonerated George Souliotes, who was wrongfully convicted

helicopter and military application parts with an office located 25 miles south of Burlington in Vergennes, VT. After spending the summer as a manufacturing engineering intern, I was fortunate enough to have a schedule that allowed for the continuation of my internship into the academic year. In December, UTC offered me the position of manufacturing engineer, starting after I graduate from the University of Vermont with a mechanical engineering degree in May. Shortly after, UVM’s alumni magazine heard of my story and interviewed me for an article. Unbeknownst to me, however, after taking a few photos for the article, they put me on the cover of the spring 2014 Vermont Quarterly Magazine! I am very excited to graduate from UVM and I look forward to spending a few more years in Vermont (I’ll probably never get used to the winters though!).

2011 Taku Uyeda ’11 It’s incredible to look back and realize what I’ve been able to accomplish here at the University of San Diego over these last three years. When first coming Lauren Townsley ’09 with Abel, a horse she rescued

2010 Hilary Hickingbotham ’10 UTC Aerospace Systems is one of the largest manufacturers of airplane,

Image by Cypress Photography

Sarah Johnson ’08

of three counts of first-degree murder and served more than 16 years in maximum-security prison before his exoneration in July 2013. I continued to work at NCIP as both a legal and research assistant throughout this school year, and plan to stay on, in some capacity, for the remainder of my time at SCU. My time at NCIP has led me to declare an intent to graduate with a certificate in public interest and social justice, with a concentration in criminal justice. This summer I will be working at the Habeas Corpus Resource Center, an organization that works on death penalty appeals and overturning capital convictions. I expect to graduate with my JD in May 2015.

2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

Alumni Update Hilary Hickingbotham ’10

into USD back in the fall of 2011, I knew, immediately, that I wanted to be involved on campus. Through my overall experience at Stevenson, I was able to bring my passion and drive for having a voice and an impact on my fellow peers to the USD community of over 5,000 students. With that, I am definitely keeping busy with trying to balance executive leadership positions, school, and internships. I currently work at the university’s United Front Multicultural Center as the United Front Leadership Council Coordinator. The committee is made up of 18 presidents from the 18 multicultural organizations that we have on campus. At these meetings, we discuss ways in which we can better educate our campus about creating a more inclusive and diverse environment. I am also the vice president of external affairs for the largest multicultural organization on our campus, the Filipino Ugnayan Student Organization (FUSO). Apart from campus involvement, I 50

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have recently been lucky enough to land an internship with the San Diego Film Festival as their programming liaison. Much of what I have been doing with this internship involves soliciting films from various film festivals across the country to eventually have them submitted for screenings at our film festival. As I mentioned earlier, there are several things that I am juggling at once (leadership positions, internships, and school), and at times, it can be overwhelming. If I had a few pieces of advice to give to new members of the Stevenson Alumni Association, they would be to grab as many opportunities as you can while you’re still in college; genuinely enjoy the work that you do (if you don’t enjoy it, quit); cherish the moments, and don’t let them fly by too quickly... because it’ll be over before you know it. Here are a few links that show a bit more about the work I do: www.sandiego.edu/unitedfront/about/ usdfuso.wordpress.com.

2013 Richie Senegor ’13 Since starting at Santa Clara University in the fall, it didn’t take long to figure out that Stevenson put me miles ahead of my peers in so many different ways. In fact, college is a lot easier than I imagined it. Thankfully, though, we’re not being spoon-fed over here. My classmates and I are already learning what it takes to be a functioning adult with a promising career while being on our own in the dorms. Speaking of dorms… When my entire hallway’s worth of engineers isn’t locked up with some project, it’s safe to assume we’re terrorizing our RA by duct taping mattresses to our chests and pretending to be sumo wrestlers. We like to think this is pretty much what a career in engineering is. Things get really

interesting when the RA is off duty, however: We all pretend to be zombies from The Walking Dead while the blackbelt in karate down the hall causes massive amounts of internal bleeding. As for me, I am currently in the process of obtaining my bachelors and masters degrees in electrical engineering, and (thanks to my advisor) I’m looking to finish up in four years. Just after completing my latest love Tesla coil, I managed to snag a research position in one of NASA’s nanotechnology labs, which I am training for over the next few months, just before my orientation to teach introductory programming courses for a few weeks this summer at Stanford University and Santa Clara University. I miss Stevenson and its community just about every day, and in the end, I’m thankful for everything I learned there and am constantly excited by the thought of returning for a visit.

2015 Matt Chodosh ’15 I was playing with my AAU club team in the East Bay and stayed at a hotel that is managed by Phil Wilhite’s ’76 wife Rosalyn Wilhite. Once she heard that I was from Stevenson, she had Phil come down to the hotel to meet me and spend some time talking about Stevenson basketball in the mid-70’s. I play the same position as Phil had, who went on to play at the college level. Phil is also the author of the novel Surviving Chadwick.

Phillip Wilhite ’76 and Matt Chodosh ’15

In Memoriam ALUMNI Bruce P. Avery ’72 Robert E. Bouhaben ’66 Brother of Scott ’73 Blake P. Bertram ’97 Brother of Sara Pearce ’01 Thomas M. Campbell ’83 Shanti Carlisi ’04 Brian C. Conner ’06 Brother of Jordan ’03 Theodore J. Day ’66* Brother of H. Matthew Day ’63 and Robert A. Day ’61 Richard S. Foote ’81 David A. Henderson ’72 Marshall W. Holmes’77

We are saddened by the notification of the following deaths in our Stevenson community since July 2013:

great grandmother to Taylor Coady ’14, Isabel Peterson ’20, Jake Peterson ’23, and Colette Duarte ’27 Shirley Camacho Grandmother to Claren Wong ’24 Robert J. Derr* Father of Thomas Derr ’73 Thomas S. Deyerle Father to Michelle Harmon ’85 and Stephen Richman ’87 Gail Factor Mother of Emily ’98 and stepmother of Chris Jerde ‘85 Sallie Kittredge Grandmother to Minda Stockdale ’06 and Sarah Stockdale ’09 Sylvia Krisoff Grandmother of Nathan ’99 and Austin ’02

Ralph Moller Father to Kenneth ’80 Richard L. Murnighan Father to Richard ’76 Carl Murray* Father of Erin Murray ’97 Dennis Norrby Father of Daneen Cline ‘83 and Eric ’85 Victor Sanchez Father of Victor ’17 Nicholas Scully Father to Charles ’06 Elizabeth Silvestri Grandmother to Alexandra Barber ’01, James ’11, and Joseph ’08 Joyce Slusser Mother of Susan ’83

Jane Langhorne Grandmother to Alexander Schlenzka ’06 and Priya Schlenzka ’09

Berenice R. Spalding Grandmother to Arthur S. Grant ’91 and Nina Arnold ‘03; aunt to Charles Bates ’72, Amanda Coulbourn ’97, and Justin Bates ’99

Dongbai Lee Grandfather of Hwi Jin Yang ’11

Carol Strattan Mother of Thomas ’79

Stanford B. Stockdale Brother of Sid (past faculty) and former spouse of Brenda Carlson (past faculty)

Suzanne Lehr Mother to Alexandra Schuman ’89 and Ryan Lehr ’99

Nathan Topol Father of Byron ’91, David ’99, and Samantha ’96; brother of Noel ’65

Paul Wilcox, Baseball Coach

Clement McGrane Grandmother to Jack Parker ’16

Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. Father to Efrem Zimbalist III ’64 and grandfather to Efrem Zimbalist IV ’89

Lawrence A. Penfold ’64 FACULTY & STAFF William H. Hunter, Sr. Grandfather to William T. Hunter III ’03, father to William Hunter. Jr.

ALUMNI PARENTS & GRANDPARENTS Ann Bambace Grandmother to Jill Bambace ’85, Mia Peterson ’89 and Dana Bambace ’91;

Stanford B. Stockdale A career educator, Stan joined Stevenson in 1985 to teach math, and later science, and held the position of assistant dean of students. He also coached baseball and football, one of his favorite pastimes, and was a mentor and friend to students and faculty alike. Stan left Stevenson in 1996, after 11 years with the school. After Stevenson, he held several leadership positions at renowned independent schools including dean of students at The Blake School in Minneapolis, MN; head of the Upper

Scot McKay Father of Kyle ’09, Paige ’11, Matthew ’12, and Ian ’16

School at Graland Country Day School in Denver, CO; and most recently the VP for Development at The Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad, CA.

*Past Trustees

Teacher, coach and mentor, Stan Stockdale consoles Paul Tarantino ’89 and Mark Peterson ’89 after a difficult loss to Pacific Grove.

“Stan was a hard-working, highenergy charismatic person,” shared Greg Foster, colleague of Stan’s and Stevenson’s Head of the Pebble Beach campus. “He was committed to making Stevenson the best it could be and helped set the standards for greatness that we strive to achieve to this day.” Stan passed away earlier this year after an extended struggle with alcoholism. According to his family, he would have

wanted others, especially his former students, to learn from his mistakes and to confront their addictions. 2014 ALUMNI MAGAZINE

THE INSIDE SCOOP Since 1978, Dale Hinckley has embodied what it means to be a Renaissance Man. Coming from a background in journalism, Dale has taught Spanish, photography, journalism, world history, European and U.S. history, and many popular senior electives. He’s the editor of Tusitala and head of the judiciary committee (JC). Also musically talented, Dale can be seen strumming his mandolin between classes or jamming with faculty at Keckachella. To alumni who had Mr. Hinckley as a teacher, the length and depth of his responses to our Proust Questionnaire will come as no surprise. You can read the complete interview and more of Dale’s thought-provoking responses at www.stevensonschool.org/hinckley. What is your idea of perfect happiness? This will seem to dodge the question, but I find that if I can reframe my perspective to want what I get rather than to get what I want, I make my way through my days more cheerfully.

What is your most treasured possession? A few years ago I bought a good guitar and a fair mandolin. These things have been a refuge for me; they have given me a space in my life where a few minutes can completely renew my spirit.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue? I can answer this one quickly — idealism. I mean this in the sense that Plato used the term — and Plato is one of the villains in my History of Ideas course — which is to consider that the true reality is nonmaterial, perfect, and elsewhere. If you believe this, then you believe that the mere world around you can be sacrificed, cleared away as though it were an embarrassing mistake. This leads to all kinds of fanaticism.

What is your favorite journey? Two, really. Years ago I took a 35-day motorcycle trip from Pebble Beach to New York state and back. I had no agenda to keep. Every morning I got up, took out the map, and headed from one small town to the next, just wandering. I don’t think I have ever experienced a greater sense of freedom. When I got back, I flew to Hawaii and sailed back to Monterey with Jack McAleer. Quite a summer.

What is your most marked characteristic? Curiosity, I think. My Western Civ teacher in high school told me I would end up as a teacher because of it. She was right. What do you consider your greatest achievement? This will really sound sappy, but I take great satisfaction in the conceit that I have perhaps nudged some of my students toward fulfilling their promise and developing a critical and honest view of themselves and the world, and finding satisfaction in good work.

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If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be? Either a Gibson Loar F5 mandolin or a springer spaniel. Who are your heroes in real life? I don’t like this question very much. I sat last night in a seat in Keck Auditorium during the dress rehearsal for the spring musical recital. I was embarrassingly moved by the genius and inspiration I saw in the students on the stage. The courage to plunge in and commit to singing a song perfectly with a group of other students is heroic.

Which talent would you most like to have? There is a kind of genius we don’t often deal with in school — though the entrepreneurial mania animating students lately comes close — but I certainly wish I had the genius of entrepreneurial energy, the courage and focus to seize on an idea and push it into the world. I wish I were a Steve Jobs. What is your motto? Hmm. One of my favorite quotations is from George Santayana, something along the lines of, “We represent the world to ourselves in metaphors, and those metaphors become the world.” This is a warning. What do you most value in your friends? Most of my friends are my colleagues at Stevenson. They are a remarkable group of people: honest, candid, caring, committed to their craft. I am happy in their company. I should also mention that they are capable of surreal hilarity, subversive street theater, and breathtakingly unexpected insights. Continued at www.stevensonschool.org/hinckley

gracias

mahalo

merci gratias vobis agimus

Thank You

arigato obrigado

xie xie

grazie danke

TOP ALUMNI CLASSES

with the highest percentage of giving participation from each decade were 1957, 1968, 1974, 1989, 1992, 2005 & 2014

11%

of our alumni gave during the 2013-14 school year.

That’s a increase from last year.

Let’s continue to make a difference in the lives of our students.

Make your gift today at www.stevensonschool.org/donate

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ALUMNI MAGAZINE

HOMECOMING OCTOBER 3–5, 2014

ALUMNI GAMES

New York DECEMBER 9, 2014

•

7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Theory Store, 38 Gansevoort Street Host: Andrew Rosen ’75, picture ID required for entry

Los Angeles DECEMBER 4, 2014

•

7:00 – 9:30 p.m.

Napa Valley Grille, 1100 Glendon Avenue, Westwood

San Francisco DECEMBER 17, 2014

•

6:30 – 9:30 p.m.

EPIC Roasthouse, 369 The Embarcadero

Pebble Beach DECEMBER 20, 2014

•

6:00–8:30 p.m.

Rosen Family Student Center, Stevenson School

REUNION WEEKEND

DECEMBER 20, 2014

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT SHINES ON

SUMMER 2014

DECEMBER 5, 2014, 5:00 P.M.

RSVPs ARE REQUESTED FOR ALL HOLIDAY EVENTS. Contact Mia Peterson ’89 at mpeterson@stevensonschool.org to reserve your space.

ALUMNI MAGAZINE

Mark your calendars, save the date, and plan to join us for one of our Stevenson Holiday Receptions. Guests are welcome at all holiday receptions.

STEVENSON SCHOOL

EVENTS CALENDAR

HOLIDAY RECEPTIONS

JUNE 5–7, 2015

A Look Inside the Meditative & Elemental Art of

MIYA ANDO

fax 831-624-9044 infopk-8@stevensonschool.org SUMMER 2014

Jerry Fielder ’63 Kenneth Ibrahim ’86 Tobin Armbrust ’89 Helena Cho ’94 Carla Fernandez ’05 Michael Whelden ’07

Matthew Upchurch ’80:

Innovating & Redefining the Ever Evolving Travel Industry