Taipei American School Alumni News Magazine | 2019

TAIPEI AMERICAN SCHOOL ALUMNI NEWS

UNIVERSITY MATRICULATION BY REGION

Institutions where TAS graduates from the Classes of 2016, 2017, and 2018 enrolled. Boldfaced print indicates institutions attended by graduates from the Class of 2018.

UNITED STATES

Art Center College of Design

Babson College

Barnard College

Beloit College Boston College Boston University

Brandeis University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University, Idaho

Brown University

Bryn Mawr College

Cal Poly Pomona Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

California Baptist University

California Lutheran University Carleton College

Carnegie Mellon University Case Western Reserve University

Chapman University

Claremont McKenna College College of William and Mary Colorado College

Columbia International University

Columbia University Cornell University

Curtis Institute of Music

Dartmouth College Davidson College

Drexel University

Duke University East Carolina University Elon University

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Emerson College

Emory University

FIDM, Los Angeles

Fordham University

George Washington University Georgetown University Georgia Institute of Technology Glendale Community College Grinnell College

Hampshire College Harvard University Harvey Mudd College

Haverford College Indiana University at Bloomington Johns Hopkins University

LaGrange College

Loyola Marymount University

Loyola University Chicago

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Michigan State University

Middlebury College

Minerva Schools at KGI

New York University

Northeastern University

Northwestern University

Nova Southeastern University

Occidental College

Pacific Lutheran University Pennsylvania State University

Pitzer College

Pomona College

Pratt Institute

Princeton University Purdue University Reed College

Rhode Island School of Design

Rice University

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Rutgers University

San Diego State University

Santa Clara University

Savannah College of Art and Design School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Scripps College

Seattle University

Simmons College Smith College St. Olaf College

Stanford University Stony Brook University

Suffolk University

Syracuse University

Temple University

The New School

Tufts University

Tulane University University at Buffalo University of Alabama

University of California, Berkeley University of California, Davis University of California, Irvine University of California, Los Angeles University of California, Riverside University of California, San Diego University of California, Santa Barbara University of California, Santa Cruz University of Chicago University of Colorado at Boulder University of Connecticut University of Hawaii at Manoa University of Illinois at Ur bana-Champaign University of Maryland, College Park University of Massachusetts, Amherst University of Michigan University of Nevada, Las Vegas University of North Dakota University of Northern Colorado University of Notre Dame University of Oregon University of Pennsylvania University of Portland University of Rochester University of San Francisco University of Southern California University of Texas, Arlington University of Texas, Austin University of the Arts University of the Pacific University of Virginia University of Washington University of Wisconsin, Madison University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh

Utah State University

Vanderbilt University Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Tech Washington University in St. Louis Webster University

Wellesley College Wesleyan University

Western University Yale University

EUROPE

American University of Paris

Durham University

École Hôtelière de Lausanne Imperial College London King's College London

London School of Economics

Polimoda International Institute Royal Danish Academy of Music Umea University

Université Paris V - Descartes

Universiteit van Amsterdam University College London University of Bath University of Bristol University of Edinburgh University of Manchester University of St Andrews University of the Arts London University of Warwick Webster University, The Netherlands CANADA

Dalhousie University McGill University McMaster University Queen's University Simon Fraser University University of British Columbia University of Lethbridge University of Toronto University of Waterloo University of York Vancouver Film School York University

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

Macquarie University University of Canterbury University of Melbourne University of Otago University of Sydney UNSW Australia

ASIA

Beijing Film Academy Chinese University of Hong Kong Fudan University

Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hosei University

KAIST

Keio University Mita Kyoto University

National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli

National Taiwan University

National University of Singapore NYU Shanghai

Seoul National University

Shih Hsin University

Singapore Management University

Sophia University

Temple University Japan University of Hong Kong University of Tokyo Waseda University Yale-NUS College Yonsei University

Solomon Wong Tech Cube

Our newest facility, the Solomon Wong Tech Cube, is a six-story, open-planned facility on campus dedicated to STEAM education with a focus on design, technology, and robotics.

| Alumni Volunteers

Alumni Feature Story

ABOUT THE MAGAZINE

Connie Ma, Alumni Officer

Dear Alumni Friends:

In my travels this past year, I have had the joy of meeting with a small number of you, just over 100 “Tigers” from across the years. It is always a pleasure, and I learn from each and every gathering. Next year I hope to travel again to the east and west coasts of the United States to meet with as many of you as possible, though I realize it will still be a small number considering the great number of loyal TAS alumni we have around the world. As alumni, you offer us a broad perspective, grounded in your own experiences, and we consolidate those experiences with current needs and future aspirations in planning for our School.

I take this opportunity to share with you an article I recently wrote for our spring The Window magazine. We are preparing for a celebration of TAS’s 70th birthday next fall! We love to hear from you, and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the TAS Worldwide Reunion in March of 2020, or at other opportunities, as they arise.

Faithfully,

HEAD OF SCHOOL LETTER TO ALUMNI

Dr. Sharon D. Hennessy Head of School

GREETINGS FROM THE ADVANCEMENT OFFICE

Dear Alumni:

This year has been a particularly memorable year for the school as our community supported and celebrated the opening of the Solomon Wong Tech Cube. In this magazine, you will see photos of students working and learning in the new building, and when you visit campus, we welcome the opportunity to give you a tour of the space.

From Boston to Tokyo (and everywhere in between), and especially here on campus, we are fortunate to have a wide-reaching alumni base that has chosen to remain active with TAS both in Taiwan and around the world. Taipei American School is a bridge from an island to the world, and I am humbled and grateful that the bridge goes both ways.

Your support as alumni makes a difference. Through your time, talents, and treasures, you help TAS continue on our march to excellence. Alumni giving allows us to enhance the educational offerings for our students, and your support is recognized in the giving section of this magazine. Your dedication to students by making internships available creates a memorable experience for them. Current students benefit from and are inspired by alumni who return to campus as speakers, advisors, leaders, and event volunteers. We are thrilled to be able to maintain deeply rooted connections with each of you. If you have not yet considered volunteering as a mentor, speaker, or attendee at student events, please know that we would love to see you back here in our halls.

We look forward to another great year with our 70th birthday celebration, reunions, alumni events, and alumni involvement. In this magazine, you have a chance to glimpse what many of your former classmates have been up to. I hope you enjoy catching up on the stories of your friends and learning a little bit more about the TAS of today and tomorrow.

Warm regards,

Dr. Kathy Limmer Assistant Head of School for Advancement

Achieved Through Continuous Improvement

By Dr. Sharon D. Hennessy, Head of School

As we prepare to celebrate Taipei American School’s 70th birthday next fall, there seems no better time to stop and reflect on the value of a TAS education. That value has at its foundation a shared resolve that inspired our educational leadership, the school community, the faculty, and the Board. Put simply, the commitment was to bring our unusually academically able students, our uniquely gifted performing and visual artists, our authentically multicultural, multilingual children together so we could infuse within their daily lives a commitment to strong character and ethical behavior and unleash their unlimited potential: academically, athletically, artistically, socially, and as servant leaders. As I have watched on over these past thirteen years, I have seen truly inspired teamwork bring the TAS students of today to a place where we can say they are well prepared for success anywhere in this dramatically and rapidly changing world.

The steady upward climb challenged much of the status quo and contradicted the best practices expounded upon by many pundits within the educational world. Slow and steady wins the race, many educators believe. At TAS, we felt our students – always well taught, always well cared for, always well respected – were capable of more. Much more. With unusual and unique combinations of strengths and talents within the student body, demanding but highly supportive parents, and a visionary Board, we set about with radical intentionality to build something enduring, something of significant academic and personal value. Our ambitions and aspirations were broad and deep and addressed nearly every discipline in every division. Standing upon the shoulders of the leaders and educators who made TAS so well regarded for its first fifty-five years, we set out with determination and optimism to strengthen every element of school life: curricular, cocurricular, athletic, socio-emotional, character-based, and service-related.

This focused commitment and determination have never, nor should they, take the form of self-satisfaction or of thinking “good enough” ever is. It is in the blood of every TAS Tiger to crave more, higher, better, and to care deeply about the changing world that surrounds them and the one that awaits them. A school is made up of multiple elements: students, teachers, programs, buildings, and the ideas that conceived them. As the saying goes, a “school is a building which has four walls with tomorrow inside.” For the last seventy years, and indeed with radical acceleration and determination over the past nearly fifteen years, TAS has been preparing our students for their tomorrows, whenever or wherever those tomorrows occur. This is what our community demanded, expected, and, once satisfied, supported in a way that was singularly critical to the school we have today. It bears mention that just fifteen years ago our accrediting agency, WASC, put us on probation, and challenged the community to come together in support of the excellence for which TAS had long been known. That issue was resolved NOT by slow and steady pacing, but by a decisive and bold response. Within months the School was again fully accredited, and commendations from visiting teams over these intervening years have been nothing but complimentary.

What have we seen over this seventh decade of TAS history? Tremendous change, transformation, community involvement, continuity of faculty and administration, higher and higher levels of parent satisfaction, continuously impressive college admissions, expansion of all learning support and counseling areas, programs previously unheard of becoming the norm, all within a school whose waitlists have never been longer, and whose enrollment is at its largest level since derecognition.

• Built a new Upper School featuring advanced science research labs and equipped with cutting edge technology for scientific research and robotics

• Provided a large lecture hall within the Upper School for the many outside scholars in residence and visiting lecturers to speak to large groups of students

• Established the Liu Lim Arts Center as a space for students to explore their passions in visual as well as performing arts

• Established the Tiger Health and Wellness Center, a state-of-the-art strength and conditioning center with full-time certified trainers and strength and conditioning coaches

• Changed the school governance model to include four appointed members who join the nine elected members of the Board, bringing institutional memory and significant skills to our deliberations

• Refurbished the Auditorium with our “Please Have a Seat” campaign

• Developed a culture of philanthropy whereby nearly 70% of all parents gave to support excellence last year; this year 100% of faculty, Board, and administrators have donated. The margin of excellence created by the successful fundraising program, which had participation from less than 1% of the community a decade ago, is the foundation of the radical improvements we have instituted in such a short period of time. We have a grateful, satisfied community to thank for these significant changes.

• Received numerous commendations from our accrediting body, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), including a six-year accreditation, the longest endorsement given by WASC

• More than tripled the amount of professional development dollars invested in our esteemed faculty, key to recruiting and retaining the best people

• Addressed the wellness, nutritional, and stress management needs of students through an initial twoday learning event, from which much good has come and many programs have spun off

• Introduced film studies, expanded dance, and added electives in the Middle School

• Built world-class Robotics, iGEM, Model United Nations, Film, Journalism, Public Speaking, and Debate programs with significant funding from fundraising programs

Throughout these exciting years the educational leaders have operated on one principle: “Decide what you stand for and stand for it all the time” (Clayton Christiansen, Harvard Business School guru, and celebrated innovation expert). A decade ago I wrote an article about what TAS might look like, naming it “Vision 20-20.” How much we underestimated the capacity of the community! How badly we underestimated the potential of all our students! The fact is we have achieved all we set out to do in that decade-old article. The problem is, we have only just begun. May the next decade sustain the transformation in ways we have not yet even conceived, for students we have not yet even welcomed to the TAS family.

Allow me to describe a few of the achievements of the past decade:

For the last seventy years, and indeed with radical acceleration and determination over the past nearly fifteen years, TAS has been preparing our students for their tomorrows, whenever or wherever those tomorrows occur.

Solomon Wong Tech Cube Opens at TAS

By Sara Riggsby, Communications Officer

In January 2019, Taipei American School formally opened its newest facility, the Solomon Wong Tech Cube. The Solomon Wong Tech Cube broke ground on March 2, 2017, and is a six-story, openplanned facility on campus dedicated to STEAM education with a focus on design, technology, and robotics.

The Solomon Wong Tech Cube is inspired by a facility at MIT and contains 4,380 square meters of usable space where students and faculty can work side-by-side and engage in design-thinking challenges. Upper school students will learn in an electrical engineering lab and design in a fabrication hub. The middle school floor houses a VEX arena and robotic design lab, as well as vast open areas for art and innovation. The floor dedicated to lower school students is designed to include “tinker and maker” spaces. This allows students to work on exciting projects in designated spaces over the course of a class, semester, or school year. This facility is the next step for 21st-century education and will allow the School to serve as a center for STEAM-related professional development in Asia.

At the dedication on November 5, 2018, Board members, administrators, major donors, faculty, staff, students, parents, and members of the wider community united in marking this celebratory occasion. Head

of School Dr. Sharon Hennessy welcomed special guests from the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Overseas Schools and AIT. TAS Tech Cube Task Force Chair, Ms. Elizabeth Wang, addressed the crowd thanking numerous people who contributed to turning this vision into reality. Those mentioned include TAS administrators Dr. Sharon Hennessy, Dr. Hartzell, and Cathy Hsu; STEAM faculty across all divisions, many of whom were in attendance; along with Solomon Wong Tech Cube Task Force Members Frank Chen, Gayle Tsien, Felix Ho, and Board Chair Tina Koo. Ms. Wang also thanked the companies working on this project: Parsons Brinkerhoff construction managers Alex Lai and Alex Huang; KHL Architects’ Simon Kao, Abei Ding, and Yu-Hao Huang; and I-Cheng Construction & Development Corp’s C.Y. Wang and Edward Wang. Additionally, the donors who made this building possible were recognized for their generosity: lead donor Winston Wong; early donors Nate and Ming Rich and Chris Yin; and Corning Display Technologies represented by

The Solomon Wong Tech Cube serves a growing need at TAS for STEAM education. This year in the Upper School, over 39 percent of students elected to take additional robotics and computer science courses, and nearly 100% of graduates take physics by graduation. In the Upper School, more than 320 students are currently enrolled in 18 different courses across 29 sections in the Robotics and Computer Science department. Lower and middle school students program simple machines, blend arts and science with the use of 3D printers, creatively engineer prosthetic hand prototypes, and undertake many other designfocused projects. In addition, students partake in competitive robotics clubs such as FRC, VEX, and ROV that compete in tournaments around the world. The new Solomon Wong Tech Cube will help to continue a growing legacy of success in robotics competitions and even provide a new competition training ground for all robotics teams.

John Zhang of the Corning Center for Scientific Research.

Straight Talk on Parenting with Dr. Lisa Damour

By Sara Riggsby, Communications Officer

Renowned adolescent psychologist, CBS News contributor, New York Times bestseller, and columnist Dr. Lisa Damour spoke with TAS faculty, parents, and middle and upper school students during her visit to TAS in September 2018. Her book Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions Into Adulthood explains normal adolescent behavior and provides strategies for maintaining a healthy relationship between parent and child during this stage of life. In an upbeat and positive way, she talked through the “totally expected challenges in development” during the teenage years with TAS faculty and parents, while also providing students with tools to

Dr. Aaron Kyle Brings

Bioelectric Potential to TAS

By Sara Riggsby, Communications Officer

The 2019 Joanna Nichols Visiting Scholar, Dr. Aaron Kyle, auspiciously spent January 2019 at TAS during the unveiling and opening of the new Solomon Wong Tech Cube facility. Dr. Kyle serves as Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University which has grown to incorporate bioinstrumentation, biomechanics, and tissue engineering. Dr. Kyle was named a recipient of Columbia University’s Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels for his lasting influence on the intellectual development of Columbia students.

Dr. Kyle’s stay at TAS represents the eighth installment of the Joanna Nichols Visiting Scholar program, which is the result of the continuing, extraordinary generosity and vision of former TAS parent Mr. Kenny Cheng. While at TAS, Dr. Kyle assisted with the design process and taught students about basic instrumentation,

manage stress and difficult situations on the path to adulthood. As a mother of two daughters, Dr. Damour fully understands the challenges for parents of adolescents outlined in the book.

When asked to name the most concerning thing facing young people today, Dr. Damour shared, “I worry that we are at a time when stress and anxiety are treated as entirely pathological when in fact psychologists have long agreed that stress and anxiety are perfectly normal functions that occasionally reach pathological proportions. In the big book of psychological diagnostic concerns, stress and anxiety are things that we are actually very good at taking care of at diagnosable levels. The problem is that when cultures treat anxiety and stress as inherently pathological, kids become stressed about becoming stressed and anxious about being anxious. It makes it worse and it does increase the likelihood of kids moving into a pathological range.

“Young people are much better off when adults normalize anxiety as an alarm function that protects all of us from frightening things, alerts all of us when something is not quite right, like if we did not study for the test we are about to take, anxiety under those conditions is a really helpful and normal and important response. My advice to parents would be to help kids keep things in proportion, be containing and responsive, but don’t join them in the sense that everything is a crisis. There are real crises, but most of what teenagers are panicking about is not. You can offer containment and reassurance and support while cueing to the teenager that this is very manageable.”

a combination of basic electrical circuit theory with passive elements like resistors and capacitors, electrical filtering, and how to use these things to pick up biological signals. His classes became a larger endeavor with integration from the extended science department and inclusion of more advanced engineering students, allowing them hands-on access and developing the important skill of identifying when something is going wrong, why it is going wrong. While the work certainly challenged the students, they also had a good time. “Working with Dr.Kyle was a very interesting experience,” says Raji R. ‘22, who had no previous experience in micro-controller electronics. “He was a very cool guy and an awesome teacher.” Eli K. ‘22 also described Dr. Kyle warmly. “He will help you with anything from the smallest circuit to the most complicated equations with the same enthusiasm and attention.”

Dr. Kyle expressed the importance of a design mindset in any specialization – whether you are a dancer or a mathematician – during lunch assemblies for the Upper School. “Just having an appreciation for it even if you don’t go into sciences and mathematics, having a baseline of technological literacy, is important and should be maintained and fostered.” He believes that when you recognize and define a problem you can then work to understand the needs of actual people and develop solutions. He advised students to stay flexible in their thinking and use creativity as a pathway to develop innovative concepts. Failure is part of the process, and “getting stuck is not a roadblock but a detour.” His parting advice to TAS students is, “Whatever spark you have now, don’t let anything take that away from you. Wherever that passion lies, let that be your bedrock.”

A Musical Legacy

Beloved Joanna Nichols Performing Artist in Residence from 2014-2018, Richard Gill, died peacefully at his home in Sydney on October 28, 2018. His contributions to TAS were immeasurable, and in the words of Stephen Abernethy, TAS K-12 Performing Arts Department Chair and friend of Richard Gill, “The world has lost an incredible man who represented all that is good in humankind. His grace, kindness, and spirit will be long remembered.”

TAS welcomed Richard Gill as the 2017-2018 Joanna Nichols Performing Artist in Residence for the fifth and final time in April 2018. Richard Gill, AO, Founding Music Director and Conductor Emeritus of Victorian Opera, was one of Australia’s pre-eminent and most admired conductors specializing in opera, musical theatre, and vocal and choral training. Richard’s time at TAS was spent teaching classes, participating in the TAS-hosted IASAS Music Cultural Convention, speaking at the Arts Recognition Ceremony, and leading as Guest Conductor at the culminating concert of the TAS Upper School Arts Festival. His extensive resume covered a spectrum of musical honors, but as for his biggest passion, he said, “I have been teaching for 55 years. I had my first class when I was 16 years old, practice teaching 5th grade in 1958. That was when I fell in love with teaching; I have done lots of other things, I have conducted ballet and symphony, and I love doing all of that, but I find teaching irresistible.”

A Musical Legacy: Joanna Nichols Performing Artist in Residence

Richard Gill

By Sara Riggsby, Communications Officer

Richard’s love of music education was evident to everyone around him as he approached every day with a combination of humility, determination, and enthusiasm. Stephen Abernethy, Performing Arts Department Chair at TAS, believes that, “He enjoys learning for the sake of learning and views teaching as an art.” Andrea Blough, Upper School Performing Arts teacher, reflects, “He is a really special person. Not only is he famous for being a conductor of orchestras and choirs but he is an amazing educator and that’s what made his visits with us so impactful.”

Several students who worked with Richard Gill over the years eagerly

and thoughtfully shared their reflections on his impact to the TAS community. Rachel G. ‘19 muses, “I was astonished at his incredible talent for remembering names. It seems so insignificant at the time, but after a year or so, when he still knows who you are, a small act like that really means a lot and makes you feel empowered, important, inspired to work on your music knowing that

someone remembered you for it. Mr. Gill encourages us to pursue music, inspires us to really spend time on it, and he shows us how beneficial it is for our mental health.” Keanne C. ‘19 says, “He has always been a major inspiration for everyone to strive for more. Each time he visits, he pushes every single person to do the best that they can possibly do, and I think it is safe to say that everyone that has had the privilege of working with Mr. Gill, even if it was for one afternoon, has been inspired greatly.”

“The root of everything he does is about kids and education and providing a positive experience for them.”

Alumni Share Paths to Scientific Research, Business and Venture Capital, Television and Acting, Writing, and

More

Do you remember what it was like to be a high school student at TAS? Maybe you were interested in a profession, or maybe you didn’t know what you wanted to do in the future. Many TAS alumni have returned to share their experiences and give high school students a clearer view of future paths. The Business Club welcomed Natalie Lin ’10, analyst at accelerator AppWorks, and Scientific Research program invited Dr. William Hung ’03, Branding CMO and Assistant Physician at Maria Von Stem Cell and Biotechnology Company. Writer and editor John Bishop ’95 spoke to creative writing students about the his work at the IMF, and film and television actor Christina Chang ’89 spoke to performing arts students about her path to Hollywood. Rachel Purswaney ’98 and Tom Tsai ’05 both held workshops with dance students. Christina Huang ’99 and Jenn Huang ’04 volunteered at the Faculty College Fair, and the Entrepreneurship Club also invited Ed Chyau ’04, who started Mesh.vc, a venture capital firm.

To give back as an alumni speaker, please contact the Alumni Office (alumni@tas.tw).

Alumni Mentors at NOVA Weekend

The TAS NOVA Weekend Challenge is a student-led entrepreneurship competition which took place in February 2019. With the guidance of TAS alumni, faculty and professionals, 26 teams of students from TAS and four other international schools brainstormed, researched, created, and prototyped innovative solutions for “How to live a healthier life”. After pitching their ideas to a panel of judges, the TAS Team Flav2O won the grand prize of internships at FutureWard for their idea of a new water bottle that uses scented capsules to give the water “flavor” without any actual additives. Jay Cheng ’97, CTO of WeMo Scooter, served as Keynote Speaker and spoke about his journey as an entrepreneur. Alumni and Board volunteers also mentored students and served as judges. Thank you to Bruce Bateman ‘77, Joseph Hwang ‘87 (Board), Charles Yeh ‘97, Jay Cheng ‘97 (Keynote Speaker), George Jeng ‘99, Paul Torkehagen ‘04, and Mae O’Malley (Board).

Alumnae Volunteer at Annual Girl-Up Summit

The annual TAS Girl-Up Summit welcomed several TAS alumnae in March 2019 as keynote speaker and panelists. Girl-Up Summit is a global movement founded by the UN Foundation to help empower young women leaders who defend gender equality. Meimeiwawa Multimedia founder Lara Liang Veronin '06 delivered a keynote speech on the theme "Break the Silence" about feminism and her experience in the entertainment industry to more than 30 attendees. Lara also joined her sister and co-founder Esther Veronin '05, Jane Chen '08, and lower school faculty Carly Bargiel on the Q&A panel.

Lesley and Jim: A TAS Love Story

By Connie Ma, Alumni and Community Outreach Officer

Imagine marrying a girl you met in high school forty years later. This may sound like the plot of a Nicholas Sparks novel, but it is the actual real-life story of Lesley Hall ’79 and Jim Smith ’78. Forty years ago, they both lived in Taipei, where they attended TAS. Four years ago, their lives reconverged at a TAS reunion in Virginia. This year, they tied the knot in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Act I: Taipei, Taiwan, 1976

Jim “Smitty” Smith ’78 was a junior at TAS, a young man with a mop of red hair. He was known around campus as a talented artist who drew colorful posters for school events and the yearbook and was a letterman on

the TAS varsity baseball team. Jim’s father worked for Gulf Oil and had moved his family to Taiwan from Japan in 1972, shortly after President Nixon made his historic trip to Shanghai, China. He entered TAS in Grade 7 with Hope Phillips as the middle school Principal and found a culturally dynamic and vibrant school. He loved his experiences in Taiwan and the freedom of traveling in Asia. “It was an absolute adventure that I can’t explain to my children or people who didn’t have the opportunity to live through that time,” recalls Jim. “The oral history of the school is called Ties that Bind, and it’s very true. I still have as my closest friends the people I met when I was growing up in Taiwan. We’ve stayed in touch through the years, and it wasn’t easy pre-Internet and pre-Facebook.” After his first semester of college, Jim flew back to visit his parents in December of 1978, and two days after he landed in Taipei, President Carter announced the derecognition of the ROC on TV. As Jim puts it, “I was there for the unraveling of US-Taiwan relations, from soup to nuts.”

but it all changed for her with Mr. Arnold’s class “Journeys into Asian Culture.” Lesley recalls visiting Chiayi and going up Alishan in an old wooden train: “We had about 30 people. I knew there were parent chaperones, but it felt like we were our own group – not teachers and students, but just people exploring Taiwan. Mr. Arnold knew Taiwan so well and had such a talent for bringing people together. He brought the magic to Journeys, like knowing when to get us up to watch the sunrise from the top of Alishan.” For Lesley, Journeys was among her most lasting memories of Taiwan. “For Chinese New Year, we were assigned to find a Chinese family to have the celebration with. It was such a treat –something you wouldn’t do on your own. He really forced you to get outside of yourself and participate in the country,” remembers Lesley.

“You can’t overemphasize the importance of that,” Jim adds. “In those days, most TAS students were DoD [Department of Defense] dependents, and with movie theaters, teen clubs, sports facilities, swimming pools, and even a private beach, it

Did Jim and Lesley ever meet at TAS? Both remember each other by sight, but they never spoke and moved in different social circles. Jim remembers that he had wanted to get to know her better, but never got the chance. “That’s how life works out sometimes,” he says ruefully. But sometimes, you also get a second shot.

Interlude:

After TAS, Jim and Lesley led separate lives. Lesley came back to the US for her senior year in Annapolis, Maryland, which she recalled as a breeze after the rigor of TAS. She attended the University of Maryland, majored in journalism, and after graduation, worked for USA Today. She married her first husband and moved to Germany in the ‘90s, working as a reporter and editor for a US military newspaper. She ended up eventually in northern Virginia, working in editing and advertising. After Jim graduated from TAS in 1978, he attended the University of Houston thanks to a chance meeting with the Dean of the School of Architecture. He worked in architecture in various firms until

In the summer of 1976, Lesley Hall ’79 had just moved to Taipei from Maryland. Her father worked for the Department of Defense and had moved their family to Tokyo, Japan, then back to Maryland in 1973, and now, to Taipei. The family of five lived in Wellington Heights. The 1977 yearbook shows a dark-haired girl with an open smile next to her teammates on the TAS tennis team. At first, Lesley found it hard to meet people and get into the community,

was easy for kids to become insulated from the full experience of what life in Taipei had to offer. I took a middle school version [of Journeys] called Asia House, started by Mrs. Phillips. They pulled 13-year-olds out of school to venture down island for 10 days, where they stayed in Chinese hotels, ate local cuisine, and caught some Taiwanese opera. It introduced us to what Taiwan was all about.” Both Jim and Lesley loved their brief but exciting time in Taiwan.

2012, traveling all over the world and the US. He married a woman he met in Houston and had three children. Jim not only kept in touch with TAS classmates but also attended reunions voraciously, becoming what Lesley calls “the record holder for the most TAS reunions attended since graduation.” (The current count is at 11, “slightly ahead of Francie Burnet ’78,” with whom Jim has an ongoing, unofficial competition.)

2015

Fast forward 37 years: 2015 was a tough year for both Jim and Lesley. Jim’s wife passed away in 2014, and he had moved his architecture practice home to raise their three children. His best friends Jeff Massa ’77 and Michelle Wilson Massa ’79 invited Jim to stay with them in northern Virginia for a much-needed change of scenery as well as – what else? – a TAS reunion at the home of Ken Grant ’77 and Connie Taube.

The previous year, Lesley lost her brother and mother to illness within a six-week period and was not getting out much either. Her best friend from TAS who now lives in Maryland, Brigid Donnelly Hughes ’79, persuaded her to attend her first-ever TAS reunion, which just happened to be at the Grant-Taube house. Despite her misgivings, Lesley went, and to her surprise, she ended up talking the night away in the kitchen with a man she recalled very clearly from TAS many years ago: Jim Smith. They got caught up in discovering and sharing common histories of living in Tokyo, moving to Taipei, attending TAS, and many more memories, starting a conversation that continues today.

“There’s a great vibe that exists among TAS alumni. It comes from everyone looking back on their

had when we were kids.”

Shortly after they reconnected, Jim texted a photo from the 1977 yearbook to Lesley: it was a photo of two women cleaning up at the Shilin campus after Typhoon Vera had flooded the school. It was a well-known photo in Lesley’s family because her mother was one of the two women, and just before the photo was taken, she had fallen down the mud-slicked steps at TAS and broken a bone. Lesley said as much to Jim, and Jim said, “I know – I was standing off to the side when that picture was taken, and I remember your mom telling my mom about her fall.” The other woman in the picture was Jim’s mother.

Act III: Santa Fe, New Mexico; July 2018

For three years, Lesley and Jim carried on a long-distance relationship “enriching Southwest Airlines in the process,” quips Jim. They took a long road trip together in the summer of 2015, navigating remote and dusty roads in the Southwest with only a Rand McNally road atlas, a tradition they kept up in subsequent summers. They traveled to TAS reunions in Nashville in 2015 and New Orleans in 2017. In 2016 and 2018, they fulfilled one of their longtime wishes and returned to Taiwan for the Worldwide Reunions. They reunited

with Mr. Arnold, revisited their old neighborhoods in Tianmu and Wellington Heights, and hiked up to Battleshop Rock near Beitou, more commonly known as “Dog’s Head.” After all those travels, they found it so natural to elope to Santa Fe that they barely had to think about it.

Lesley calls their relationship something that feels like it was meant to be. “We both enjoy getting out and traveling. We have the same interests and even collect the same things. Jim and I talk about TAS and Taiwan all the time. It is so great to have that shared experience with the person you are married to.” Jim adds another layer: “There’s a great vibe that exists among TAS alumni. It comes from everyone looking back on their experience years later and having the ability to really appreciate what we had when we were kids.”

There are many TAS couples who would agree with Jim and Lesley. These days, Jim is in the process of moving from Houston to Virginia, where the couple will combine their enormous libraries (over 7,000 books!), their collection of ‘70s pirated vinyl records from Taiwan (purchased for NT$10 each), their Ricardo Lynn furniture, and dozens of boxes of Taiwan photos and ephemera. Together, Jim and Lesley look forward to many more years of travel and TAS reunions. To echo what Mr. Arnold said when he heard about their marriage, “We wish them every happiness in the world.”

experience years later and having the ability to really appreciate what we

Alumni and Students Find Collaboration through TAS Film Program

By Connie Ma, Alumni and Community Outreach Officer

In spring 2019, upper school film production students had the chance to create short creative videos, mini-documentaries, and video advertisements by working with real-life clients. Upper school faculty Film Production Coordinator Brett Barrus set up three collaborations for his advanced students to exercise their own creative vision. Two of those projects were with alumni companies, providing alumni Brenda Lin ’94 and Jay Cheng ’97 with a unique chance to give back to TAS students.

Jay Cheng ’97 is the CTO of WeMo Scooter, the electric scooter-sharing company which was founded by four TAS alumni in 2015.

To start with, “Jay gave the students a lot of creative license and met with them at school. The students were able to take the lead on pitching ideas during a presentation, and then adapting it to the feedback they received,” says Brett. With the help of WeMo Scooter’s marketing team as well as Jay himself, the team of two students shot footage at 6 different locations in Taipei over the span of twelve hours, aiming to create a video that describes a day in the life of a WeMo scooter. Now they are editing the footage down to a 90-second promotional video and a shorter promo for use on social media.

For Brenda Lin ’94, alumna and parent, les enphants is a family business.

Founded by her father in 1971, the company is one of the largest children’s wear and accessories retailers in Taiwan.

One group of students is creating a micro-documentary of 2-3 minutes on the les enphants textiles, an exhibition of children’s textiles and maternal handicrafts collected by

Brenda’s mother on display at the Beitou Museum. Another group of students is creating a 16 second Instagram ad to showcase the spring and summer collection for les enphants. Of the collaboration, Brenda comments, “My task for them was to use ‘their’ language –Instagram and video – to tell the story of my family business's brand value.”

Applying their skills toward a very specific purpose was a new challenge for students. “These companies invest a lot of time and effort into their branding and design, so wrapping your mind around all of that is very important,” explains Brett. “Our students had to do a lot of research to get up to date on that. Brenda helped our students zero in on the mission statement and vision of the company, so we really felt like we got a real client, not someone who simply let the students do whatever they want.”

Jay also saw that as being a valuable lesson for the students. “Working with a business is very different, because businesses are a lot more directed,” remarks Jay. “Our marketing team knows what we need or don’t need, so we can point them in that specific direction. For example, we were looking at three different color palettes for the video, and two of them did not work with our logo, so that really shaped their decision on it. They get to see that it’s really different to shoot for a client versus doing a purely artistic or creative project.”

For both alumni, these projects gave them the chance to see their companies and brands from a different point of view. “We’re used to working with local college students who like to shoot videos for WeMo, but we found that TAS

students really have a different, more international perspective,” says Jay. Brenda agrees with Jay as well, saying, “I've been incredibly impressed with the students' professionalism and independent thinking. Our company is almost 50 years old, so for me, it was a really fun way to get a fresh take on a traditional business.”

Adrian Town ’13, who is joining the TAS faculty as a film studies teacher next year, sees special value for students in working with alumni. “While working with real-life clients can be a daunting task, doing that with someone who shares common values and a common background makes it easier for the students. They get to work on it in a more controlled environment, but the alumni still expect quality results, so they are real clients.”

Both videos are still in production, as is the third collaboration, a 45-second promotion for Saffron 46, a restaurant which recently opened in downtown Taipei. Next year, the film program will continue looking for collaborations with alumni and other brands. In its fifth year, the program now has 60 students in the Upper School. “There is a lot of value to these collaborations – it’s a winwin for everyone, from the students to the program to the community,” says Brett. Adrian also has his own reasons for supporting these collaborations. “Our alumni collaborators have been able to model life after graduation for our students,” explains Adrian. “When I was a student, I had no idea who our alumni were, so it’s helpful for the students to see our

Alumni Board Members 2018-2019

Thank you for serving the TAS community!

Elizabeth Wang ‘91Gayle Tsien ‘87Joseph Hwang ‘87Paul Hsu ‘94 Vera Wu ‘87

alumni as working professionals, who have followed different paths in life and made different choices.”

“There is a lot of value to these collaborations – it’s a win-win for everyone, from the students to the program to the community,”

Juliana Chang ’15 Pens Original Screenplay Many Names

By Connie Ma, Alumni and Community Outreach Officer

Have you ever had to explain to someone how to pronounce your name?

Many TAS alumni can sympathize with this experience, but Juliana Chang ‘15 has literally elevated it to an art form in her screenwriting and directing debut Many Names. In this five-minute short film, Juliana explores nonWestern names and “the daily labor of deciding how to present yourself” through a handful of humorous scenes from the life of a young woman named Euna Kim. Juliana teamed up with two friends to create Many Names for the AT&T Createa-thon filmmaking competition in the summer of 2018, between her junior and senior years at Stanford University. Beating out hundreds of competitors, Juliana’s original screenplay was selected as one of sixty-four scripts to be produced this summer, and ultimately finished third in the nationwide competition.

Many Names expresses Juliana’s fascination with the themes of language and identity, which come from her dual cultural backgrounds, growing up in the San Francisco Bay area and attending middle and high school in Taipei at TAS. Her strongest memories of school are

from Student Government as well as Speech and Debate. “I mainly remember all the time I spent in school when I wasn’t technically supposed to be there!” she quips. For current TAS students and fellow alumni interested in getting into screenwriting, Juliana emphasizes the importance of the collaborative process in creative writing: “Find friends and mentors who are interested in the same thing, so they can read your poem drafts, support your interests, and ask you to enter competitions with them!” Juliana’s next film project will center around the messaging app LINE and how Taiwanese-American families use it to stay in touch. Follow Juliana’s career and watch Many Names at www.julianachang.com.

Juliana (left) and Da Eun, writer and director for Many Names

Model United Nations Through the Decades

Thirty-four students all dressed in their business best are crammed into a small classroom on the campus of the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin, Germany. It is midNovember 2018, and outside, Berlin is in the grip of a wet autumn with yellow and orange leaves decorating the slim birch trees surrounded by clumps of bicycles. Inside, the desks are utilitarian, the walls are peachcolored plaster over concrete, and the lights are fluorescent. This is the room where the Security Council of the Berlin MUN Conference (better known as BERMUN) is meeting, and negotiations are in full swing.

Delegates from each country are walking around to pitch their clauses and resolutions on the situation in the South China Sea to each other. A delegate from the UK requests that France take a look at the proposed clause in Google Docs on her laptop and type the country name if in agreement. A young man representing Kazakhstan in a bow tie and cufflinks pessimistically wonders aloud if anyone knows what China is up to this time. A representative from

By Connie Ma, Alumni and Community Outreach Officer

the Russian Federation asks in a heavy British drawl if the representatives of Equatorial Guinea need their backup on any clause.

Suddenly, there are a few loud raps on the door and all the heads in the room turn around to focus on the intruder, a young man wearing pink and purple shorts and a horse’s head mask. He loudly asks for the representatives of China and delivers to the two bemused students a pizza in a cardboard box, “courtesy of President Trump.” When he cheerfully exits the room, students break out in laughter.

What is Model UN?

This is a glimpse into Model United Nations, better known as Model UN. “At an MUN conference, you participate in debate in different committees, from environmental to human rights to international security. Before attending, you write up resolutions, and during the committee session, you lobby for those resolutions together in

allied groups or blocs of countries. Resolutions only pass by consensus, which means the majority agree on it, which means there ends up being constructive debate,” explains Si Yun E. ’19. “MUN is all about: how can we change things so that we can all agree to it?”

For thirty-five years, students at TAS have taken part in this simulation of the UN, which has kept its enduring appeal because it changes with the times. “Model UN is a fine blend between current events, drama, and public speaking, and current events doesn’t necessarily mean politics or social science or economics. It can be climate change, science, putting people in space, how to resolve global poverty, not just about Taiwan or the US improving,” reflects Angela Pan ’93, who participated for three years. “It’s important for students to graduate from TAS with a perspective beyond their own home.” In keeping with that global perspective, TAS students now travel locally and internationally to participate in MUN, visiting Berlin, Qatar, Singapore, Taichung, The Hague, and everywhere in between.

Modest Beginnings

In the 1983 TAS yearbook, there is a black and white photo of the first World Councils Club whose faculty advisor was Mr. John Dankowski. Mr. Dankowski had taught at TAS before working at the United Nations for two years. After returning to TAS, he combined his experience at the UN and his social studies classes. “I had heard about Model UN clubs, but I had never seen one. This really emanated from my own work experience at the UN,” Mr. Dankowski explains. “When we first did it as a classroom activity, the kids took it so seriously that after class on Senior Island, they carried it on arguing in person with each other.”

Beginning in 1984, EARCOS held yearly regional Model UN conferences in Manila, Singapore, and Bangkok, which proved to be very popular and were eventually formalized into an IASAS event. “The EARCOS events were done very well, and they were so much fun because the kids were really into it and took their roles seriously,” comments Mr. Dankowski. “Students loved it and wanted to do it several years in a row. We had a real difficulty choosing the students. The kids would have to make speeches in front of a selection committee of teachers, and we voted on who could come.”

One of those students was Holger Baeuerle ’86, who joined because

he wanted to study international relations at university. “At that time, it was the Cold War, so a lot of topics involved the Soviet Union and its role at the UN,” Holger recalls. “I remember representing the USSR either in Manila or Singapore and having to justify the various conflicts around the world the Soviet Union was involved in. It taught me to look at all points of view, even those you do not agree with.”

Negotiation, Diplomacy, Drama, and More Model UN engages participants at many different levels, appealing to a wide range of students. Angela Pan enjoyed it because “It’s a multi-step game. You might plan something out, and then someone on stage in plenary session says something different, and then you give tit-for-

tat. Here, you’re responsible for what you say and there are consequences.” Heejo Kang ’14 also sees the complexity behind the negotiations. “MUN is not meant to be about winning or losing; it’s not a zero-sum game. Rather, MUN trains students with an eye for common ground strewn with differences and obstacles, and it’s meant to challenge and push those involved to arrive at the best possible common solution to a shared problem.”

Preparing for those negotiations and compromises requires research and careful thinking. “I had opportunities to represent many countries and organizations, and it took a great deal of research to make sure I wasn’t misrepresenting a country or miscalculating my stance,” remembers Kathy Chang ’01. “It meant that I spent a lot of time forming my own opinions on questions asked in committees, ranging from religious freedom to nuclear missile capability. Being able to think in someone else’s shoes — in fact, a whole government’s and those of the people it represents — is a very valuable skill I learned from MUN.”

TAS faculty also saw Model UN as an excellent pedagogical tool. Mr. Jim Soja taught at TAS for nearly three decades and credits MUN for helping students develop confidence in public speaking, sound research and writing skills, to learn the value of listening and compromising, and much more. “It certainly promotes at the individual and group level the very TAS values of honesty, respect,

Student Officers at TASMUN 2015

World Council Club from 1983 TAS Upper School Yearbook

responsibility, courage, and kindness. These are universal values regardless of the specific TAS demographic.”

Students also recognized the realworld implications of participating in Model UN. “During my senior year, it was very interesting to be Secretary General at a time when Taiwan was not recognized by the UN, which is still the case,” recalls Kathy Chang. “For our speaker in 2001, we had the Taiwanese Vice President Annette Lu, whom I personally admired a lot. For me, participating in Model UN is connected to the Taiwanese struggle for recognition.”

Last but not least, it gave a chance for many students to show their dramatic flair. In Model UN, Clifton Yin ’03 found his calling: representing controversial countries, including China, Cuba, and Israel. “Being Israel is very tough, because every year, Palestine wants a vote instead of just being an observer,” Clifton remarks. “No matter who they are, you really have to embody that country and that country’s interests.” Angela Pan agrees, remembering, “The creativity that came out in MUN was phenomenal. The drama was not to be underrated. One year, I remember Palestine and the Vatican both came in full regalia outfits, mimicking distinguished world leaders.”

A Path After TAS

For some alumni, their MUN experience marked the beginning of a career in international relations and government. Clifton Yin went on to work in the California legislature and eventually earned his Master of Public Policy at Georgetown. Today, Clifton works as a government consultant supporting the U.S.

Energy Department and working on industrial efficiency. “Model UN helped me get started in diplomacy and managing personalities,” says Clifton. “In my job as a consultant or contractor, you’re the middleman between different government point people, going between different offices, workers, and agencies. Frankly, it’s always compromise and negotiation and problem solving.”

For other alumni, their paths after Model UN did not lead them to work in international relations or politics, but they carried with them to university the passions and skills that they cultivated through Model UN. “Model UN and participating in IASAS, those things taught me to get out of my comfort zone and meet different people. When I went to Harvard, I appreciated being able to start random conversations with people,” says Angela Pan. After graduating from Penn, Kathy Chang pursued a career in finance and investing, and then attended business school. She recently moved from working at Twitter to Stripe, a technology and finance company, where she works in product

management. “MUN taught me that it’s a lot harder to come up with ideas than it is to tear them down,” reflects Kathy. “It’s always easy to say this proposal doesn’t make sense, because everything will have holes. But I would encourage students to think about how they can create proposals and build coalitions to solve issues. That’s a skill set that is important in my role now as a product manager to come up with things people like and will solve their needs. Every product has flaws and issues, but I have to be confident enough to say that we’re not perfect but we’re moving forward no matter what.”

Holger Baeuerle went on to study economics, earn an MBA, and credits MUN with helping him get out of his introverted shell. “Having to speak in front of a crowd is a humbling experience but an invaluable experience at any age,” Holger remarks. “I still do not enjoy giving speeches but the MUN helped me overcome some of those inhibitions early on.”

What also endures for many alumni is a global network of friends made through Model UN and IASAS. “My best friend, who went to ISM, told me to apply to Harvard. We made so many friendships that we kept up through pen pals, gift exchanges during Christmas,” recalls Angela. Kathy concurs, “In college, people would come up to me and tell me that they graduated from ASIJ and that they remember me from being in MUN together. So it was really neat to me that there was this diaspora of MUN alumni.”

MUN for the 21st Century

In April 2019, the school held the 10th Annual TASMUN Conference, which is a juniorlevel conference aimed at Grades 7 to 10 students. Upper School faculty and MUN Coordinator Mrs. Darby Sinclair created TASMUN in 2009 with fellow faculty member Mrs. Kristen Rowe. “We started TASMUN to give younger students in Taiwan a chance to develop the skills around MUN and also to give our upper school students

Secretariat.”

experience in leadership roles like committee chairs and the

“We started TASMUN to give younger students in Taiwan a chance to develop the skills around MUN and also to give our upper school students experience in leadership roles like committee chairs and the Secretariat.” Mrs. Darby Sinclair

This year, the rigor and quality of the TASMUN Conference have drawn a crowd of 26 schools and 600 participants. Mrs. Sinclair uses this as an opportunity to bring in unique guest speakers which have included students from Afghanistan, a youth activist from Palestine, and a Rwandan genocide survivor. This year, TASMUN welcomed a paraplegic North Korean refugee as its keynote speaker.

Si Yun E. is one of the students who has responded to Mrs. Sinclair’s approach. “I started participating in MUN since Grade 6,” remembers Si Yun. “I was very shy, but I really loved politics and international relations. If I wanted to learn more about those fields, it required me to be able and willing to speak publicly, so I went ahead and decided I had to conquer this fear, otherwise, I couldn’t do what I wanted to.” In 2018, Si Yun served as the SecretaryGeneral for the 9th annual TASMUN Conference and anticipates attending a total of 21 conferences before she graduates in May 2019.

About 10-15% of upper school students participate in Model UN, but as TAS moves toward its fourth decade in Model UN, the program seeks to grow in impact and not simply numbers. “MUN students are eager to use their communications skills and knowledge to create an impact on the world, especially by helping to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals,” Mrs. Sinclair observes. “How do we support students in engaging with those goals on a greater level as they move through TAS and enter university?” While the problems of the 21st century may be daunting, Model UN is giving students the skills and opportunity to grapple with them from an early age. To sum up the impact of Model UN, Heejo Kang reflects,

David Chang ’99 Brings Taiwan to Crossroads

By Connie Ma, Alumni and Community Outreach Officer

Where is Taiwan headed in the 21st century? Who will come here to live, work, and invest? How will Taiwan stay relevant on the world stage? Many people in Taiwan may debate these weighty questions, but David Chang ’99 is actively working on an answer. Through Crossroads.tw (www.crossroads. tw), David hopes to make it easier for companies and individuals to move to Taiwan.

“Communication is the Achilles’ heel of Taiwan,” says David. “If you’re a smaller country, that’s a weakness you can’t afford to have. You need to communicate well to seek support from other countries, so language is the common element that can bond us all.” To cross barriers of language and knowledge, David has launched Crossroads, which “aims to be a one-stop shop which will allow everyone to know about services they can use to relocate, resettle, and invest in Taiwan.” Any foreign business that might want to set up in Taiwan will have questions about setting up a business, accounting, relocating and finding office space, etc. Individuals will need to know how to apply for work permits, residence visas, and ARCs. David believes Crossroads can ease the transition into Taiwan, connecting the dots for people who may not even know where the dots are.

“Our beta website went live in July 2018 and is focused on simplifying government processes. We break down the entrepreneur visa application into five easy steps, and we will hopefully expand to covering other government programs that encourage people to come to Taiwan,” explains David. Eventually, Crossroads aims to work with the Taiwanese government to make it easier to apply for residency, work permits, and dependent visas, and more.

What motivates David to focus on these issues?

“Taiwan is such a special place in the region, it’s a passionate place,” David says, using the Chinese term 熱情.

“You keep hearing stories about how to come back and help Taiwan with what you learn overseas, and that stuck with me. Coming from my background with a place like TAS, if we have all these resources at our fingertips, can we think about how to use that for something that helps everyone?” Crossroads seems like a good place to start.

“It equips us with the understanding, and with it, a sense of responsibility, that no problem is isolated and that the world is smaller than it may seem.”

David Chang ’99 (far right) and the Crossroads Team

Sweet Summer Reunions

The Classes of the 1980s Reunion was held on August 2-4, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. 46 alumni from the Classes of 1980-1986 traveled from as far away as Myanmar, Japan, and Mexico. Thank you to organizers Bill Holden ’83, Elizabeth “Bette Ann” Molloy de Coluby ’83, and Minnie Unnikrishnan Menon ’83.

The Class of 1988 held their 30-Year Reunion on August 10-12, 2018 in Portland, Oregon, gathering 21 alumni who came as far as Switzerland and Hong Kong from the Classes of 1987-1990. Thank you to organizers Rebecca Brody ’88, Matt Caroll ’88, and Mike Benedetti ’89.

PLANNING A TAS

REUNION?

Let us know, and the Alumni Office will mail you a Reunion Box full of alumni and school magazines, student newspapers, TAS school swag, not to mention other fun prizes.

The Class of 1988 held a special trivia contest and awarded special swag to Sandy Shanbron Sloan ’88 and David Wenger ’88!

The Taipei Alumni Fall Happy Hour was held in September 2018 at East End Bar. More than 55 alumni representing classes from 1998 all the way to 2012 enjoyed catching up over appetizers and drinks and learning about the latest news at TAS. q

p At the annual Alumni vs. Varsity Volleyball Game in August 2018, Varsity girls drew even against Alumni girls, and Alumni won over Varsity boys, three games to one. Great job, Tigers!

Alumni Events in Taipei

In September 2018, alumni parents kicked off the year with a coffee chat with Head of School Dr. Hennessy. We have many alumni families who are proud to send their second (and sometimes third) generation to TAS!

Dr. Hennessy Meets with TAS Alumni in the U.S. During Fall 2018

TAS Head of School Dr. Sharon Hennessy visited four cities during her travels in the U.S. in the fall of 2018 and met more than 60 alumni in Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Boston. She was delighted to celebrate TAS with alumni ranging from the Class of 1963 to the Class of 2018.

2018 Winter Reunions for Classes of 2008, 1998, and 1993

In December 2018, Taipei welcomed back the Classes of 1993, 1998, and 2008 for their reunions. More than 20 alumni came back to Taipei for the Class of 1993 25-Year Reunion, a two-day event at the American Club in Taipei and the Taipei Marriott Hotel. 40 alumni representing the Class of 1998 enjoyed their 20-Year Reunion at the Taipei Marriott as well. Last but not least, the Class of 2008 welcomed back more than 60 alumni at TAS for their 10Year Reunion with a spread of their favorite xiaochi from the Tianmu area as well as a photo booth.

Over 130 Alumni Return for 2018 Annual Thanksgiving Dinner

The annual Alumni Thanksgiving Dinner in November 2018 was attended by over 130 alumni and family members who all enjoyed the excellent traditional meal served by TAS Food Services. Lower school music teacher Martin Robinson started us off with a family

drum circle activity that got children and adults alike into the rhythm. Head of School Dr. Sharon Hennessy also greeted attendees. During the dinner, Matt Fagen, Corning Chair in Robotics and Innovation, delivered an exciting preview of the Solomon Wong Tech Cube, which opened in January 2019. For more dinner photos courtesy of Jay Cheng ’97, visit the Alumni Media Gallery on the TAS website.

9th Annual Clash of the Classes

In December 2018, more than 40 alumni came back for the 9th Annual Clash of the Classes Basketball Games in the Upper School Joie Gymnasium. Six teams of alumni from the 1980s to the Class of 2018 competed in over three rounds and two championship matches for first, second, and third place. Congratulations to Edward Wang ‘99 who captained his team to victory! Kudos also to Austin Bao ‘17 whose team captured second place, and Michael Chou ‘16 whose team won third. The TAS girls varsity basketball team also enjoyed a scrimmage with alumnae during the winter break.

Alumni College Student Homecoming Lunch and Alumni Panels

by

the

Taipei Spring Happy Hour

More than 80 alumni from the Classes of 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 came back to TAS for the annual Alumni College Homecoming event and traditional chicken leg lunch in January 2019. In the morning, College Counseling moderated a panel discussion of seven alumni who discussed their college experiences for upper school parents, generously hosted

the PTA. In

afternoon, seniors heard from the alumni panels, while other college-aged alumni enjoyed the chicken leg lunch and conversed with each other about transitions to college. Ryan Haynes, Director of Academic and Personal Counseling in the Upper School, helped moderate a discussion during lunch.

TAS Alumni Around the World

In 2018-2019, TAS alumni met up in cities around the world including Boston, Singapore, Manila, Hong Kong, Portland, Melbourne, and DC. If you’re interested in helping to organize an event in your city or region, contact the Alumni Office (alumni@tas.tw)!

Boston

Portland Hong Kong

Singapore

DC Manila

Melbourne

CLASS NOTES

Shirley Wang ’64 and Doris Cheng ’64 met up for lunch at Chili’s in Tianmu over Chinese New Year in February 2019.

years, attended their first reunion in 2010 in Taipei and look forward to moving to Tennessee soon. Friends are invited to connect with George on Facebook (George&JoSmith).

Gary Sherwood ’68 visited Taipei in December 2018. He is now retired from the federal government where he was a civilian employee and currently lives in Arlington, VA. He enjoys traveling in his retirement, and he and his wife Pi-Yuan visit Taipei on an annual basis.

Lesley Hall ’79 and Jim Smith ’78 were married in Santa Fe, New Mexico in July 2018. They will be living in the Washington, D.C. area and look forward to their next visit to Taiwan.

William Sheh '83 is a professional engineer. He runs his own company which manufactures high-current electrical connectors in China and Southeast Asia. He is currently based in southern California and is a highly engaged volunteer in the FIRST Robotics program at his local high school.

Mona Lee ’80 gathered with friends Lincoln Lok ’83

Michelle Bos-Lun (nee Bossard) ’84 enjoyed meeting up with two TAS teachers Dante Benson and Darby Sinclair and four TAS students in NYC for a social justice walking tour of Lower Manhattan in April 2019. The four students and two teachers were attending the Model UN Impact conference in NYC. Michelle is now a social studies teacher and enjoyed connecting with TAS students for this very interesting tour.

Paul Divis ’77 attended TAS from 1973 to 1975 and was vice-president of his class in freshman year. After graduating from high school in El Paso, TX, he attended West Point Academy. He now works at Pratt & Whitney in the aerospace industry as Director of International Programs. He was delighted to visit Taipei and TAS for the first time in forty-five years in April 2019.

George Smith ’77 is two years away from full retirement. He retired from the Army after 20 years and has been working for the federal government for 13 years. He and Jo, his wife of 40

Siblings Missy Chow ’81 and Chris Chow ’83 currently reside in Seattle, WA. They attended TAS from 1970 to 1978 when their father Shelton Chow taught English here. Missy and Chris visited TAS in mid-December 2018 to reunite with current and former faculty who remember Shelton fondly including Richard Arnold, Betty Sun ’72, and John Dankowski. They especially enjoyed seeing MS faculty Weston Cooper ’08 who student-taught at Garfield High School in Seattle, WA where Missy works.

Christina Chang '89 visited Taipei in March 2019 with her family for the first time. Her mother, Ruth Chang, was a long-time counselor in the Lower School. Christina is a film and television actress and currently stars as a series regular in the ABC drama The Good Doctor.

, Bianca Kong ’81, and Leo Wong ’81 for dinner in Hong Kong to celebrate the birthday of Mr. Richard Arnold in March 2019.

Jerri So '89 has been a longtime docent at the National Palace Museum in Taipei and has guided many English-speaking VIPs including Bill Clinton. She gave an interview in February 2019 about her experiences and insights into the treasures at the Museum for HIT FM 107.7.

bilingually this year. The Silk Road Journey shares their lessons learned from parenting teens in China and on the road as backpackers trekking through the Silk Road for one year from 2015-2016.

Mimi Ho '90 currently lives in Oakland, CA and works as Director for Movement Strategy Center. She came back to Taipei in February 2019 for the first time since graduation and reunited with Mr. Arnold. Mimi is the proud mother of two daughters, Olive and Juniper.

Angela Hwang ’95 is currently living in Los Angeles. She is married with two sons aged 10 and 6. She looks forward to connecting with old TAS friends if they are visiting the Los Angeles area.

Alexander Chen ’98 held a Taipei fashion show in November 2018 in cooperation with Asus. The show, titled "Beauty, Power, Inheritance," included costumes designed by Alex and inspired by the Asus Zenbook.

Rachel Menka Purswaney ’98 visited Taipei in November 2018 to perform Kathak, a North Indian classical dance form, at Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. She also visited TAS to do a workshop for high school dance students. She currently lives in Hong Kong as a designer and a busy mother of two by day and a Kathak teacher and dancer by night.

Anne Savitch (Chen) ’99 attended TAS for two years from 1989 to 1991, and currently lives in Orange County where she works in HR for KIA. She and her husband have two children.

Annie Wu Su ’89 and husband Jonathan have been living in Kunming, Yunnan, China, for 19 years, raising three children, doing community development and seeing this city grow. Her daughter Olivia is finishing her third year at UBC, where her son Nathan is also a freshman, and her youngest daughter Joani is finishing her junior year. Their first Gap Year parenting book titled No work, No school—A Family’s Journey to the Ends of the Earth 《不上 班，不上學，陪孩子窮游到地級》was published in China in 2015. Annie is currently working on their second book, The Silk Road Journey— Transitioning Teens into Adulthood and hopes to have the book finished

Matt Davies '92 published his first novel This Thing of Darkness through Scholastic Australia in November 2018. This young adult novel is full of mystery, teenage angst, and love, and tells the story of eighteen-yearold Riley Benjamin, whose world has just been turned upside down by the sudden death of her younger sister. Matt has generously donated a copy to the TAS library. You can learn more about the book on Matt's website: https://www.mattdavies. com.au/

John Bishop ’95 currently works as an Editorial Officer at the IMF and lives in the DC area. He also teaches Business Writing and Creative Writing in the Innovation Lab at the IMF. In October 2018, John visited Taipei for the first time in more than 25 years and enjoyed speaking to current TAS students about creative writing in Simone Zhang’s upper school expository writing class.

Melissa Fraser-Arnott ’00 celebrated the birth of her second daughter Genevieve Marie in February 2019. She is currently on maternity leave from her position as Chief, Integrated Reference Services at the Library of Parliament in Ottawa, Canada. She is also currently pursuing her Master of Business Administration at the Australian Institute of Business (AIB).

Abraham Hurdle ’00 and Joshua Hurdle ’03 attended TAS from 1992 to 1996. Both earned Bachelor of Engineering degrees. After college, Abe earned a master’s in environmental health and a law degree and currently works as a lawyer in Baltimore, MD. Josh continued on to earn an MBA and currently works in the Finance Department at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. Both have strong memories of the programs, teachers, sports, and schoolmates from TAS, as well as the Mandarin they learned.

Kathy Chang '01 currently lives in the Bay Area. In October, she began as Product Manager, Product Lead for Reporting & Analytics, at Stripe, an Internet payment company. Most recently, Kathy was Product Lead for Information Quality at Twitter.

Irene Fang ’01 and Eric Su ’01 welcomed baby boy Jake in June of 2018. Irene works at TAS in the Lower School as a Grade 4 Teacher.

Anne van Gessel ’02 finished a twelve-month Coaches Training program in July 2018 from Accomplishment Coaching program. She has recently started working with Accomplishment Coaching as a Team Effectiveness Consultant and Wellness Coach. She hopes to support people in being their most authentic selves, finding their intrinsic motivation, and improving corporate culture.

Michelle Kao ’03 performed in TAPE, a one-act play by Stephen Belber, in August 2018 at the LAB Space in Taipei. TAPE follows the reunion of three old high school friends who pass the time in a Michigan motel room dissecting the painful memories of their high school years. #MeToo

Tom Lam '03 currently works as a Research Scientist in San Francisco, attempting to make drugs for lung diseases. Mr. Orensky's "finger counting" method of determining hybrid orbitals has been greatly influential in his academic career.

Congratulations to Tiffany Chang ’04, the 2017-18 winner of The American Prize in Conducting in the community opera division, selected from applications reviewed from all across the United States. Tiffany is currently conductor of the New England Repertory Orchestra and Music Director for the North End Music and Performing Arts Center’s Opera Project in Boston MA. As of fall 2018, she is conducting and teaching as Visiting Assistant Professor of Conducting at Oberlin Conservatory.

Marissa Hou '04 has been in the hotel industry for the past 10 years and currently teaches hospitality at NYU SPS to freshmen as an adjunct professor in NYC. This is also where Marissa received her M.S. in Hospitality Industry Studies. After having attended a transformative retreat in Greece in September 2018 hosted by Eckhart Tolle, she is currently exploring business ideas where hospitality meets wellness. Marissa's main area of focus is bringing travelers to Taiwan and Japan for the purpose of finding inner peace and connecting with nature.

Alice Liao ’04 currently lives in Boston. She returned to TAS in April 2019 and reunited with her former volleyball coach Kathy Cutler.

Sisters Esther Veronin ’05 and Lara Veronin ’06 founded Meimeiwawa Multimedia in 2013 and have since created and released hundreds of videos on music, fashion, and feminism. Their most ambitious project yet is Tomorrow’s Star《明日之星》, a feature-length movie featuring eight of Lara’s new songs, seamlessly linked with a storyline written and directed by Esther. Alongside director of photography Laticia Fan ’09, the sisters presented this unique take on the visual album concept tackling the trials and tribulations of the entertainment industry. Tomorrow’s Star opened in theaters in Taipei on October 19, 2018.

Richard Chen ’06 is the drummer for Quantum Split, a four-person rock and soul band from New York. Quantum Split’s original song "Say What You Gotta Say" was recently selected to feature in a McDonald’s commercial which premiered on MTV on November 4, 2018.

Elbert Kou '04 currently works as an anesthesiologist in the Los Angeles area. He recently completed his residency in Cleveland and he is now working in his first job postresidency.

Allen Lee ’04 also reunited with his former volleyball coach Brian Tobey on a visit back to TAS in April 2019.

Grace Sharples Cooke, who served as a TAS Board member from 1999 to 2002, reports that she is on the board of overseers at Penn Charter where her sons Todd and Philip graduated after attending TAS. Todd Cooke ’08 graduated from the University of Chicago and is now working on his Masters in Design and MBA at IIT Institute of Design, and his younger brother Philip Cooke ’11 who graduated from Princeton is a classical composer who will be starting a new job in Boston.

Greg Eusden '09 is currently based in Boston working for SimpliSafe, a company in home security, as a product manager. He visited Taipei in March 2019 with his girlfriend and was very excited to see all the renovations at TAS. Greg welcomes any TAS alumni who are passing through Boston.

Caitlin Hall (née Beer) ’09 moved with her husband and her 15-monthold son to Michigan for a new job in October 2018. She is looking forward to getting involved with the theatre and education community there.

Monica Kuo '09 and Jesseca Lam '14 opened up Neighbors Café 好 鄰居 near TAS in January 2019. Visit the café for their fresh baked goods, delicious food, and homey environment, as well as a TAS discount.

Tiffany Chatham ’12 lives and works in Los Angeles. For the past two years, she has been working in motion graphics for the NFL, creating on-air graphics for shows through all the NFL networks. Tiffany also works at a sports design studio and freelances as a graphic designer.

Eddie Painter '12 has started his first year as a Peace Corps volunteer in Chongqing, China, teaching academic writing at Southwest University. He is blogging about his experience at edwardpainter.com.

selected to the final squad for the 2019 USA Touch Women's Open. She represented the United States at the FIT World Cup (April 29 – May 4, 2019) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Congratulations, Lorraine!

Sunny Sheu '14 is a violinist and is currently working on her Master of Music degree at the Juilliard School, where she earned her undergraduate degree in 2018. Sunny performed in a Charity Concert for Alzheimer’s in November 2018 at the University of Santa Clara Recital Hall in Cupertino, California. Sunny also headlined a concert presented by New Art, Inc. at the National Concert Hall in downtown Taipei in May 2019.

Nina Hsu '15 is currently a senior at Istituto Lorenzo de'Medici in Florence, Italy, majoring in art conservation and art history. She is graduating in May 2019 and hopes to land her first job in related fields in Hong Kong or New York. Alumni with connections are welcome to contact Nina via the Alumni Online Directory.

Jennifer Chiang '11 has published The Startup's Guide to Customer Success: How to Champion the Customer at Your Company. Jennifer Chiang is the CEO of DWDG Consulting and the Director of Customer Success at Yup Technologies where she founded the customer success team. Buy the book at tinyurl.com/guidetocs.

Nick Yeh ’13 is continuing to pursue his career in education after receiving his Master of Arts in Teaching in High School History from Tufts University in August 2018. He had engaged in a variety of positions including high school and elementary school librarian as well as a high school English teacher. He continues to enjoy living in Cambridge, MA and often meets up with fellow alums in the area.

Lorraine Lin '14 is a professional touch rugby player playing for the Los Angeles Royals. She was recently

Eric Lin ’16 is currently enrolled in Minerva Schools at KGI, studying business, philosophy and earth sciences. He spent the 2017-18 school year in South Korea and India, and the 2018-19 school year in Germany and Brazil.

In Memoriam Former Faculty

Michael and Jill Damplo who formerly taught at TAS now live in Memphis, TN. Both are now retired and are exploring more hobbies and artistic pursuits. Their older daughter Danica ’08 is working for a human rights NGO in New York City, and younger daughter Brianna ’11 is working in Ohio toward a full-time teaching opportunity. They would be happy to hear from alumni and fellow faculty at TAS.

Laura Lewis taught in the English department at TAS as a student teacher in 1982. In 2018, she retired after 34 years at Sunset Middle School in Longmont, Colorado where she taught language arts, science, and drama.

Rick McDonald taught English in the Upper School for more than 20 years and has since retired in 2015 with his wife Patricia to Bend, Oregon in the U.S. He reports that they have been taking full advantage of the Cascade Mountains, large nature preserves, and forests to fill their days with hiking, snowshoeing, camping, playing pickleball, and biking. For the last three years, they have visited San Miguel de Allende in Mexico during the winter, and also visited their son Tommy who is a chef in Des Moines with their grandson, Anthony. They look forward to an extended trip to the UK in 2019 and living a life of continued learning.

Tracey Su, who taught strings at TAS from 2004 through 2016, is in her third year as the Orchestra Director at the American School in Japan. Some of her former students at TAS were able to greet her last year at the AMIS music festival in Singapore, and may see her again this year when AMIS is in Salzburg, Austria. Her husband, Mark Lipsey, was a teacher in the US Mathematics department at TAS from 2009 through 2016. He is enjoying life in the Tokyo area, sometimes substitutes at ASIJ, and often visits TAS friends in Taipei.

Ross Rodby Bankson ’60 passed away Friday, January 18, 2019, near his home in Fairfax, Virginia. He died at Fairfax Hospital after a cardiac arrest. His children were by his side. Ross relished his time at TAS and the friends he made there—close friends he kept over a lifetime. When he recounted those days to his children it always brought a smile to his face. Ross was a writer and editor who worked for the US Department of State, The Washington Post, and National Geographic during his long career. Ross will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

of restaurants he wanted to visit and created delicious creations himself, as an excellent home cook. He played soccer for much of his life and when he couldn’t keep up with playing, he stayed an avid fan. However, his favorite pastime was to explore used bookstores, where he would buy and sell books for his ever-changing collection. He imparted everything he learned on any of these subjects to anyone who spoke with him.

Martin (Marty) James O’Malley ‘63 of Albuquerque, NM passed away on Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at the age of 73 after a 5-year battle with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. Born in Devon, England in 1945, Marty was an Army brat who lived all over the world including Germany, Taiwan, Chicago, New Jersey, San Francisco, Seattle, and Albuquerque. He was the oldest of his 5 siblings and a big brother to Mike, John, Caryn, and Brian. He loved and admired each of his siblings so much, and spoke of them often in his final days. He left behind his much beloved wife of 46 years Linda, and his twin sons Colin and Derek.

George Daniel Chow ’60 passed away on Tuesday, July 17, 2018 at the age of 75. Dan graduated from TAS in 1960 and received his undergraduate and his masters degrees from MIT. He also earned his MBA from Stanford University. He married twice; once to Judith Shepherd, with whom he had two children, Kate and Nick; and later to Sandra Goozee ‘61, with whom he helped raise another daughter, Gabrielle.

Dan was known to be a man of many passions, from music and art to food and soccer. Perhaps most recognizable, he had an incredible passion for literature, especially historical and science fiction. He was a regular visitor to many museums like the Anderson Collection at his alma mater, and concerts, like those by the American Bach Soloists, where he volunteered. He kept spreadsheets

Marty had a passion for aviation and joined the Air Force with plans to become a fighter pilot. When he was medically disqualified during pilot training, he became an RF-4C aircraft maintenance officer, and after his military service, he built a very successful career in the insurance industry, ultimately retiring as the Chief Operating Officer of Builders Trust of New Mexico. He was an artistic and creative soul, who was passionate about music. He loved to collaborate with his son Colin and to play percussion with local bands, including Los Radiators and the Moon Dogs. Occasionally, he also felt compelled to sing in public, which was truly, truly unfortunate. Marty had an incredible sense of humor, which he maintained through the final minutes of his life. He was a one of a kind, hall of fame father, friend, and husband.

Thomas “TL” Boyd ’64 passed away on July 15, 2018 after a brave struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. He and his family moved to Taipei in 1963

where his father was a vice president of Civil Air Transport (CAT). Tom was active in sports and was an assistant editor of Tiger Tales. Tom attended LeMoyne College before embarking on a lifelong career in transportation and logistics with 25 years of service for American Airlines. He is survived by his wife Julie Ann, his brother Michael Boyd ’66, three daughters, and five grandchildren. He always recounted his year at Taipei American School as one of the most wonderful of his life.

Diana Tai-Yu Chen ’69 passed away on March 10, 2018 in Hong Kong. She graduated from the University of San Francisco and pursued a career in court reporting. She is remembered by her loved ones as a people person and a problem solver who always cared and worried about everyone around her and always went out of her way to lend a hand when anyone was in need. She is survived by sisters Maria Chen ’68 and Helen Chen ’67

also an enthusiastic band mom and volunteer. She was a voracious reader and enjoyed baseball, scuba, and traveling throughout the Caribbean and Hawaii. She was known for being generous, kind, and having a contagious sense of humor. She was a child of God and loved her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Donna is survived by her husband of 42 years Chris; her daughter Cathy Toth; her son Brad Toth and wife Sara, and her siblings Margie, Cathy, and Jack.

Lois Blanks passed away in April 2019. Lois and George Blanks both taught at TAS for many years. George taught upper school earth science, and Lois taught Grade 7 humanities. Together they started the Roots and Shoots Club. Lois also implemented the Chinese New Year writing project that continued for many years as part of the 7th-grade curriculum. Lois was well loved and a very good writing teacher. She is survived by her husband George and daughter Dorothy.

years. She left TAS in 2008.

For six years, Cathy battled a very rare and egregious metaplastic cancer, and through her ordeal, she was a pillar of strength and inspiration as she was throughout her life to so many. She was attended at her bedside by her husband William Funk, daughters Kimberly ’90 and Camille ’94, and her sister Susan Kenney Dent. She and her husband William were married for nearly 52 years.

TAS friends and former colleagues held a Celebration of Life for Cathy on March 30, 2019 which drew more than 200 members of the TAS community. In tribute to Cathy’s long service to TAS, this Celebration of Life for Cathy Funk featured videos and live tributes from Dr. Sharon Hennessy, former students and friends, her associate principals, fellow teachers, and former administrators. The event concluded with a spirited rendition of “Uptown Funk” with lyrics that paid tribute to Cathy’s legacy.

Jeffrey Jones ’72 passed away on April 7, 2018 in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is survived by his wife Priscilla and two children, his father Sammie, a sister, and brother.

Donna Elizabeth Templin Toth ’73 passed away on March 27, 2019, at home in Pflugerville, Texas. Donna and her two sisters Susan Templin Bassi ’69 and Cathy Templin Cunningham ’70 all attended TAS in the late 1970s. She graduated from Lanier High School and later attended the University of North Texas. Donna and her husband Chris Toth built a successful masonry construction business, Lone Star Masonry and later CD Lone Star, Inc., which has served central Texas for over 43 years. Donna was an avid music fan, and she was

Catherine K. Funk, former Middle School principal, passed away on Friday, January 18, 2019. Cathy started her career at TAS in 1980 as a social studies teacher.

From the moment she stepped on campus, Cathy was what she called “an advocate for the middleschool-aged child,” starting up the Christmas dance for the middle school and becoming the team leader for the Grades 7 and 8 teachers. Superintendent Guy Lott Jr. appointed Cathy to chair the feasibility study for reinstating the Middle School amid rising enrollment and made the presentation to the School Board which approved the Middle School to start in 1986. In 1987, Cathy was appointed middle school principal and served for 21

Dr. M. Samuel Noordhoff passed away on December 3, 2018. He was a famed craniofacial surgeon and Taiwanese medical missionary with over 40 years of service. He and his wife Lucy were former TAS parents, and Dr. Noordhoff is survived by his wife and his four children who are all TAS alumni: Nancy Lamberts ’74, Samuel P. Noordhoff ’76, Anne Noordhoff Lin ’80, and Dirck Noordhoff ’86. Dr. Noordhoff pioneered cleft lip and palate surgery in Taiwan, performing more than 10,000 surgeries in his lifetime. In 1989, he founded the Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation (NCF) with $100,000 USD of his own funds. Today, the NCF works with Chang Gung Memorial Hospital to train doctors from different countries on Dr. Noordhoff’s methods of cleft lip and palate surgery. After Dr. Noordhoff’s funeral in January 2019, his daughter Anne and husband David Lin visited TAS to meet with faculty and administrators and got to know current students who run the Operation Smile club at TAS.

Celebrating the Life of Catherine K. Funk

GALA BALL

16th Annual Gala Ball

More than 400 attendees enjoyed a wonderful night out at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at the 16th Annual TAS Gala Ball in March 2019. Many alumni donated items and vouchers for the highly anticipated silent and live auctions at the event, and the evening was a sparkling social and fundraising success thanks to all the Gala Ball volunteers, including Board member Vera Wu ’87. All attendees enjoyed a gourmet dinner and dancing with live music from the Wailing Soul Band. All funds raised from the event go to Building Excellence and help the school continue to support the development of campus facilities, which enhances programs for KA through Grade 12.

GIFTS IN ACTION PROGRAM EXCELLENCE

Gifts to Program Excellence are reflected in the achievements of our students, the development of programs, and the expansion of unique learning opportunities. Last year’s gifts to the Program Excellence fund supported many programs such as:

Joanna Nichols Visiting Scholar and Artist in Residence

Dr. Jacob Soll, Professor of History and Accounting at the University of Southern California, visited TAS during January 2018 as our Joanna Nicholas Visiting Scholar. At TAS, Dr. Soll taught European History, World History, Principles of Business, Economics, U.S. History, Philosophy, International Relations, and a new Historical Archival Research course at the Imperial Archives at Academia Sinica.

Mr. Richard Gill was the Education Artistic Director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and was the Director of the Victorian Opera and West Australian Conservatorium, as well as the Chorus Master of Opera Australia. He visited TAS as the 2017-2018 Joanna Nichols Artist in Residence, working with the Community Choir, the Upper School Orchestra, and Sun Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra during the Arts Festival. 2017-2018 was Mr. Gill’s fifth and final visit to Taipei American School; sadly, he passed away in October 2018.

The Stanley ‘88 and Annabelle Ko Classics Visiting Scholar

Dr. Dan-el Padilla Peralta, a professor of classics at Princeton, visited TAS in late January and early February 2018 as our Annabelle Ko Classics Scholar in Residence. At TAS, Dr. Padilla Peralta taught classics classes, spoke at upper school assemblies, and gave a community-wide presentation.

Robotics Programs

The robotics program continued to grow this year. Annual giving provided support to both middle school and upper school robotics teams as they traveled to Kentucky for the VEX World Championship in April 2018.

•

2017-18

Program Excellence

• Professional Excellence

• Building Excellence

• Endowment

• Hope N.F. Phillips Scholarship Fund

Science, Scientific Research, and Artificial Intelligence Program

Many purchases were made this year to support the expanding student interest in science, scientific research, and A.I. The school purchased a high-speed research camera, a high-speed centrifuge machine, autoclave machine, shaking incubator machine, rotary evaporator machine, and an additional 3D printer.

Art Program, Music, Theater Program

The school supported the visual arts program by replacing an old kiln with a new, electric and gas hybrid kiln and a laser cutter. In music, the school purchased mobile sound recording and production equipment due to an increase in student interest in music production. Finally, the school invested in arts faculty by continuing to sponsor our Director of Technical Theatre, Mr. Kevin B. Held.

Lower School and Upper School Joanna Nichols Memorial Libraries

The lower school and upper school libraries benefitted from renovations to furniture for students and storage.

Athletics Program

Funds supported the TAS athletics program by providing new timers and race clocks for track and field teams.

TAS relies on gifts to the Annual Giving Program to enhance the educational opportunities for all our students that would otherwise not be possible. In this section, you will learn about how giving has benefited our community in the

school year. Your gift can be designated toward one or a combination of five different initiatives:

Additionally, the School brought in Dr. Dianne Murphy from Columbia University and Intercollegiate Athletics Consulting to coach and assist in athletic training on campus during August 2017.

Film Studies

The School purchased several new cameras for its awardwinning film program. The School completed these programmatic investments with different lens kits, tripods, mounting equipment, batteries, adapters, headphones, memory cards, and sound and lighting tools.

Wellness Convention

TAS hosted its first ever Wellness Convention on campus from November 17-18, 2017. The school supported bringing in health professionals from around the world including Dr. Laurence Steinberg, Dr. Craig Hassed, Dr. Yu-Che Tsai, Dr. Kristen Lee Costa, Tara Conrad, and Vince Papale.

PROFESSIONAL EXCELLENCE

TAS is dedicated to recruiting, developing and retaining engaged and innovative subject matter experts who have a direct impact on exceptional student learning.

Contributions support teachers by offering meaningful professional development to keep faculty inspired and at the forefront of their field.

General Professional Excellence

Upper school faculty member, Jaami Franklin, traveled to St. Louis to attend the First Robotics World Championship in April 2018 and film students for TAS.

Joanna Nichols Professional Excellence Awards

Principals and the Head of School select two teachers from each division annually who demonstrate a commitment to excellence in their classroom and who have exceptional student performance data and feedback surveys from parents and students as recipients of the Joanna Nichols Professional Development Award. The 2018 recipients are Bob Kowalec, Tim Martin, Chris Hoffman, Joel Jayamohan, Susanna Hartzell, and Teresa Chiang. Recipients of previous Joanna Nichols Professional Development Awards continued to use their funds during the 2017-2018 school year by purchasing school supplies and magazine subscriptions, attending school, conferences, or other learning programs in the US, Cambodia, and Hong Kong.

GIFTS IN ACTION

BUILDING EXCELLENCE

Gifts to Building Excellence support the development of campus facilities, which enhances programs across the school.

Tech Cube and Equipment

Gifts allowed TAS to enter the final stages of building the Solomon Wong Tech Cube. Completed in November 2018, the Solomon Wong Tech Cube is a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to KA-12 STEAM education.

West Campus ACT Testing Center

Gifts to Building Excellence helped the school renovate the West Campus building into a new ACT and SAT Testing Center, which complies with all testing center requirements for both college entrance exams including updated devices and security.

ENDOWMENT

Gifts to Endowment help assure long term financial stability for the School. It ensures that future generations of TAS students enjoy excellence in education. It also serves as an emergency reserve. Twenty percent of all annual gifts made toward Building Excellence, Program Excellence, or Professional Excellence are designated to Endowment, unless otherwise specified by the donor.

HOPE N. F. PHILLIPS SCHOLARSHIP FUND

The Hope N.F. Phillips Scholarship Fund provides partial scholarships – temporary tuition support – to families experiencing financial difficulties. This scholarship fund allows students who would otherwise have to leave the school because of financial hardship to continue their education at TAS.

The scholarship deservingly bears the name of Hope N.F. Phillips, a former teacher, principal, Board member, and alumni ambassador-at-large. This scholarship had been her dream for many years. It bears the name of one who has greatly enriched the history of the school, and it ensures that capable and valued students are able to continue their education at our school.

The Hope N.F. Phillips Scholarship Fund has had and will have a direct impact on the students of Taipei American School for generations to come. Parents, faculty, staff, alumni, friends, and corporations are invited to contribute and assist us in growing this fund. Please support the Hope N.F. Phillips Scholarship Fund online at https://www.tas.edu.tw/give.

• 2017-2018 - 1 student

• 2016-2017 - 6 students

• 2015-2016 - 5 students

• 2014-2015 - 1 student

• 2013-2014 - 3 students

• 2012-2013 - 4 students

Gratitude Report

Thank you to the following alumni who have chosen to participate in our Annual Giving Program during the 2018-2019 school year. Your gifts are greatly appreciated. (As of April 23, 2019)

Alumni

• Anonymous

• Harry W. Fritz '55

• Jeanne McKim '56

• Elizabeth Swisher Schumacher '57

• Billy Chang '63

• James Clair '64

• Terry Shu '68

• Karen Cerulla (Martin) '69

• Linda Sheppard '73

• Pamela Jones '74

• Phil Peach '74

• Kim Murray Kelly '75

• Thomas Jee '76

• Janel Wire Pratt '71 and Stacey Wire Ward '76

• Simon Chang '77

• Mona Lee

• TK Chiang '81

• Walter and Shirley Fan '86 Wang

• Romy Chen and Family

• Cynthia Sin-Yi Chen '88

• Stanley Chung '89

• Hiko Kawashima '89

• James Tsao '89

• Julian Wolhardt '91 and Ketty Lieu '91

• Michael Liu '91

• Gary Mi '91 and Janet Chen '92

• Shing Chi Poon '92 and E-wen Liao

• Matt Davies '92

• Deborah Shapiro

• Allen Timothy Chang '94

• Olivia Wu and Michael Hsu

• Meetu Naresh Kumar

• Eleanor Lan '94

• David Tang '94

• Tiffany Tsai '94

• Sandia Ren '95

• John Bishop

• Wendy Kao '97

• Andrea Chiu '97

• Jennifer Hsui '03 and Michael Hsieh '97

• Walter Shih '97

• Andrew Way '97

• Suzanne Wu '97

• Kai Bublitz '98

• Sophia Liao '98

• Helen Wong '98

• Johnson Yeh '98

• Nicolas Driskill '98

• Herbert Huang '98

• Timothy Weiting Huang '98

• Kohn Liu '98

• Albert Hsu '99

• David Chang '99

• Hanry Kuo '99

• Shirley Pi '99

• Jeffrey Theobald '99

• Edward Wang '99

• Cedric Chang '00

• Margaret Hao

• Joseph Zhang '00

• Nina Shih '01

• Dumile Dlamini

• Ashley Hansen '01

• Midori Sakagami

• Caroline Chou

• Joe Cheng '02

• Sean Cheng '02

• Daniel Chu

• Gary Liao '02

• Jennifer Lien

• Jay Shuang '02

• Elizabeth Tsai '02

• Anne Van Gessel '02

• Cerise Kao and David Lo '03

• Frank Kuo '03

• Michael Tu '03

• Jeffrey D. Wang '03

• Dallas Yew '03

• Marissa Hou

• Alison Huang

• Howard Chen '04

• Samuel Heagney '04

• Alison Jen' 04

• Tiffany Liu '04

• Michael Pickles '04

• Tami Wang

• Caleb Michael Yang '04

• Christine Yew '04

• Liann Yim '05

• Peter Khiew '05

• Rachel Ling'05

• Robert Wang

• Calvin Chen '05

• Sheng Jiun Chou '05

• Miles Hang '05

• Nancy Niu '05

• Yejay Ying '05

• Steven Chen '05

• Randy Lee '06

• Catherine Yeh '06

• Tim Wu '07

• Noel Hardesty '07

• Hide Kurokawa '07

• Cindi Yim '08

• Jessica Chang '08

• Jonathan Chen '08

• Kevin Wang '08

• Cleo Yeh '08

• Yuka Tomita '09

• Jennifer Meng '09

• Scott Chen '09

• Katie Hardesty '09

• Peter Lee '09

• Ervin Tsay '09

• Edward Yew '09

• Derek Ma '10

• Johnna Sheu (Blossom) and Addison Sheu

• Vincent Wang '10

• Jocelyn Bohn Guthrie '11

• Teresa Chen '11

• Jessica Damiani '12

• Paul Yim '12

• Sara Lin '12

• Ting Wei '12

• Amy Chiang '12

• Eileen Hou '12

• Monica Shih '12

• Derrick Moore '13

• Gillian Bjork '13

• Peter Khiew '13

• Ping Chiu '13

• Raymond Heberer '13

• Ann Lin '13

• Nicholas Yeh

• Anne Roffler '14

• Rexford Chang '14

• Anthony Lin '14

• Jin-Tai Teng '14

• Duanduan Hsieh '15

• Michael Ang '15

• Antonio Chan '15

• Jonathan Chen '15

• Harrison Huang '15

• Anthony Tu '15

• Eashawn Luo '16

• Neha Purswaney '16

• Christopher Sung '16

• Rebecca Tseng '16

• Curtis Kao '16

• Victoria Yeh '16

• Andrew Chow '16

• Kevin Hsu '16

• Jeremy Shih '16

• Leon Yim '16

• Allen Yin Jr. '16

• Riley Chang '16

• Zurone Chen '16

• Michael Chou '16

• Travis Huang '16

• Eric Lin '16

• Derek Wang '16

• Seamus Boyle '17

• Brandon Lee '17

• Jun Yang Koh '17

• Tiffany Chen '17

• Collin Chen '18

• Joseph Pogue '18

• Brandon Kao '18

• Victor Chang '18

• Edward Ang '18

• Kyle Huang '18

• Lin Nicholas Lin '18

• Kevin Yu '18

• Class of 2018

Current Board Members who are Alumni

• Joseph '87 and Katherine Hwang

• Ferdinand P. Tsien and Family

• Vera Wu and Harry Spiegle

• David Ko '92 and Elizabeth Wang '91

• Paul Hsu '94

Current Faculty who are Alumni

• Anonymous

• Betty Sun '72

• Maria Peters '89

• Betty Chang

• Terry and Cheryl Lagerquist '98

• Nicky Yeung

• Irene Fang

• Teresa Chiang '02

• Evelyn Chen '03

• Michelle Kao '03

• Stephanie Chih-Yang Hsieh '04

• Teddy Tu '04

• Stephanie Lee '04

• Weston Wang Cooper

• Jessica Huang

• Henry Chuang

• Shirley Peng and Sanders McMillan

Former Faculty

• Charlie Chen

• John Dankowski

• Helen Chen '94

• Linda Soo '97

Current Parents who are Alumni

• Anonymous

• Erwin Shyu '76 and Tina Fan

• Sherry Kuei and Jim Boyle '76

• Bryan Kang '19 and Vivian Shen

• George Koo and Joy Tsien

• H. Lee and J. Lin

• Helen Elena Tsung '84 and Sofia C.H. Liu Tsung '21

• David Wu and Karen Chyan

• Betty Yu and Mark Hsu

• Simon Chen '86 and Daisy Chan

• Bobby Sheng and Charlotte Kuo '86

• Dennis Hong '87

• Royce Hong and Grace Cheung

• Steven Y.K. Gee '89 and Lily Choi

• Cynthia Hsu '91 and Alfred Woo '89

• Tracy Hsu

• Phillip Chen and Irene Chen '90

• Michael Fei '90 and Maria Ting '89

• Krista Lee and Paul Hu

• Bonnie Su

• Kailynne Chiu '20 and Kerrianne Chiu '23

• Judy Young and Tom Soong

• Randy Chen '91 and Cindy Teeters

• Jireel Wei and Danny Chow

• Austin Lee '91

• Richard '91 and Ting Ting Yang '93

• Andrew and Alexandra Chiang

• Christopher Ling '91 and Cathy Chen

• Anthony Wong '92 and Grace Kuo '92

• Cheng Family

• Johnny Liao and Judy

Chen

• Stephanie Hong '92

• Ikyo Asanaka

• Richard Moh '93 and Shao-Yun Yang

• Brian Hsieh and Tina Wu '93

• Michael Chu '93 and Fantine Wang

• Chris Liu and Conny Lin '93

• Peggy Liao

• Gloria Tsai '94 and family

• Tony Chow and Michelle Sung

• Janice Su and John Lin

• David Chuang

• Darren Huang and Shirley Wei

• Michelle Chen and Joseph Shu

• Robert Lee and Teresa Hsu '95

• Hiromitsu Katsuyama and Lisa Wang '95

• Rinton Han '96

• Ting-Ying Angie Chueh

• Tzu Yin Chen

• Imie Liu '96

• The Ting Family

• Amy Hsi and Frank Day

• Edward Deng '96 and Lydia Lim '97

• Jimmy Chen and Juling Wang

• Cindy Yeung and Albert Ku

• Fong-Ming Nyeu and Jeffrey Su

• Charles and Katharine Lin

• Louis Liu and Amy Su

• Sue Jung Lee

• Joanna Wang and Jerry Chiu

• Daisy Lin and George Jeng '99

• Monica Yen '00 and Louis Wu

• Elin Hsu and Ryan Yeh Matching Gifts

• Google Inc.

• Microsoft Matching Gifts

Program

In Honor of Richard Arnold

• Shing Chi Poon '92 and E-wen Liao

In memory of deceased teachers, faculty, and classmates

• Jim Clair '64

In Memory of Doug Bishop

• Michelle Kao '03

In Memory of David Blowers

• Caleb Michael Yang '04

In Memory of Paul Fredette

• Anonymous

In Memory of Steve Lane

• John Dankowski

In Memory of Timothy Jee '73

• Thomas Jee '76

In Memory of Jerry and Carolyn Martin

• Karen Cerulla (Martin) '69

In Memory of Jan McDowell

• Stephanie Chih-Yang Hsieh '04

In Memory of Mrs. Hope N.F. Phillips

• Anonymous

• Kim Murray Kelly '75

In Memory of Yu Seng Ting

• Anonymous

As part of our “Please Have a Seat” campaign, members of the TAS community have the opportunity to name a seat in the Guy Lott, Jr. Auditorium. For NT$90,000, you can have a plaque inscribed for permanent display on a chair in the Guy Lott, Jr. Auditorium.

Your gift to this Building Excellence initiative funds renovations to the Guy Lott, Jr. Auditorium including seats, carpeting, cabling works, LED lighting, and more. Your gift ensures students continue to have a world-class performing arts space for drama, dance, music, and assemblies.

This year, Janel Wire Pratt ‘71 and Stacey Wire Ward ‘76 honored their father Dr. Howard Wire with Chair #55. In 2017-2018, the Class of 1992 named Chair #92 in celebration of their 25-year reunion, and the Class of 1996 named Chair #96. Chair numbers matching class years have been reserved for alumni. Contact the Development Office at development@tas.tw to name a chair in honor of your class, family, or former teacher.

PLEASE HAVE A SEAT

TAIPEI AMERICAN SCHOOL

WORLDWIDE REUNION 3

MARCH 11-19, 2020

TAS is excited to see alumni from around the world return to Taipei next March 11-19, 2020 to help us celebrate our 70th anniversary (1949 - 2019)!

Enjoy a week in Taipei while staying at the Yuanshan Grand Hotel. Activities will include a day at TAS while school is in session, delicious Taiwanese cuisine, visits to landmarks new and old around Taipei, and a special dinner at the American Club in Taipei. There is an optional trip to the Penghu (Pescadores) Islands.

For the detailed itinerary and registration forms, visit the TAS Alumni website at www.tas.edu.tw/alumni/! You can also find the information on the Taipei American School Alumni Facebook group. Thank you to Lloyd Coleman ‘73 for organizing!