Hotchkiss Magazine | Fall 2023/Winter 2024

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

AS OF DECEMBER 2023

Robert R. Gould ’77, Co-President

Elizabeth G. Hines ’93, P’27, Co-President

Robert Chartener ’76, P’18, Vice President

Rebecca van der Bogert, Vice President

Raymond J. McGuire ’75, P’21,Vice President

David B. Wyshner ’85, Treasurer

U. Gwyn Williams ’84, P’17,’19, Secretary

Charles Ayres ’77

Joseph P. Baratta P’24

Patricia Barlerin Farman-Farmaian ’85, P’21,’24

Craig Bradley, Head of School, ex officio

Anne Matlock Dinneen ’95

Elizabeth J. Ford P’11,’13

John Grube ’65, P’00

Brooke Harlow ’92, Co-President, Alumni Association, ex officio

Alex Hurst ’97

Ignacio Jayanti P’26

John Khoury ’95

Annika Lescott-Martinez ’06

Nisa Leung Lin ’88

Michael J. Mars ’86

Cristina Mariani-May ’89, P’23,’25

Paul Mutter ’87, P’26, Co-President, Alumni Association, ex officio

Aaron Oberman ’92, P’24,’27, President,

The Hotchkiss Fund, ex officio

Carlos Pérez ’81

Thomas S. Quinn ’71, P’15,’17,’19

Christopher R. Redlich Jr. ’68

Thomas R. Seidenstein ’91, P’24

Timothy P. Sullivan ’81, P’13,’16

Rhonda Trotter ’79

Richard M. Weil ’81, P’23,’25

EMERITI

Howard C. Bissell ’55, P’82

John R. Chandler Jr. ’53, P’82,’85,’87, GP’10,’14,’16,’22,’27

Thomas J. Edelman ’69, P’06,’07

Lawrence Flinn Jr. ’53, GP’22

Dan W. Lufkin ’49, P’80,’82,’88,’23

Robert H. Mattoon Jr.

Dr. Robert A. Oden Jr. P’97

Kendra O’Donnell

Jean Weinberg Rose ’80, P’18

John L. Thornton ’72, P’10,’11,’16

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF GOVERNORS

AS OF DECEMBER 2023

Caroline Barlerin ’91

Natalie Boyse ’09

Rafael Carbonell ’93, VP and Chair, Diversity and Inclusion Committee

Weijen Chang ’86, P’22,’24, VP and Chair, Admission and Engagement Committee

Julia Chen ’16

Ernesto Cruz III ’01

Danielle S. Ferguson ’97, VP and Co-chair, Diversity and Inclusion Committee

Carlos Garcia ’77

Whitney Gulden ’12, VP and Chair, Nominating Committee for Membership

Brooke Harlow ’92, Co-President of the Alumni Association

Cameron Hough ’09

Julia Tingley Kivitz ’01, VP and Chair, Nominating Committee for Awards

Robert Kuhn ’75

Scott Meadow ’73, P’02

Keith Merrill ’02

Paul Mutter ’87, P’26, Co-President of the Alumni Association

Daniel Pai ’19, Chair, Young Alumni Task Force

Colin Pennycooke ’89

Mark Pierce ’67, P’13

Gigi Brush Priebe ’77, P’06,’09

Marquis Scott ’98, Vice Chair

Adam Sharp ’96, VP and Chair, Communications Committee

Sarah Thornton-Clifford ’76, P’07,’23

Alexandra Treyz ’04

Madison West ’05

Clara Rankin Williams ’89

Lisa Bjornson Wolf ’82

Whitney PakPour Zeta ’04

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS

Craig Bradley, Head of School

Thomas R. Seidenstein ’91, P’24, Past President, Alumni Association

Robert R. Gould ’77, Co-President, Board of Trustees

Elizabeth G. Hines ’93, P’27, Co-President, Board of Trustees

Aaron Oberman ’92, P’24,’27, President, The Hotchkiss Fund

ON THE COVER: Colby Thompson ’24 runs with the Hotchkiss flag during a varsity football game. Photo by Randy O’Rourke.

MAGAZINE

HEAD OF SCHOOL

Craig W. Bradley

CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

Hope Reisinger Cobera ’88, P’24 EDITOR

Darryl Gangloff

MAGAZINE DESIGNER

Julie Hammill

CONTRIBUTORS

Heather Bellow, Ira Buch ’25, Catherine Calamé, Robin Chandler ’87, Chelsea Edgar, Katharine Ellis ’26, Teo Everts ’26, Phoenix Feng ’25, Eliott Grover, Jeffrey Hinz, Jami Huang ’25, Roberta Jenckes, Erin Reid P’01,’05, Daniel Zhang ’26

PLEASE SEND INQUIRIES AND COMMENTS TO:

The Hotchkiss School 11 Interlaken Road

Lakeville, CT 06039-2141

Email: magazine@hotchkiss.org

Phone: (860) 435-3122

The Hotchkiss School does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, religion, race, color, sexual orientation, or national origin in the administration of its educational policies, athletics, or other School-administered programs, or in the administration of its hiring and employment practices.

’83

A Focus on Belonging

AS I WRITE THIS LETTER, the days are already beginning to lengthen. Winter sports are underway, and campus trees are bare. The swift passage of time is hard to believe, yet it is also reliably reassuring. This is the cadence of Hotchkiss.

Each fall, at the start of the academic year, I introduce a theme for the year ahead. I select this theme in contemplation of the state of the School and the world around us, but most importantly, I do so with Hotchkiss students in mind. This year, the theme is belonging.

We know that people perform better in all aspects of their lives when they feel a genuine sense of belonging. Students learn more when they feel that they are safe, seen, and supported as integral members of their community. Community is at the core of who we are at Hotchkiss. The very fact that you are reading Hotchkiss Magazine is evidence of the strong Hotchkiss ties that bind.

We are all of us, of course, members of the global community. As a school, our purpose is the education and care of students. It is our responsibility to help them understand events in the world and draw their own conclusions.

One important way we help students learn about events in the world is through Chapel programming. Throughout the fall, Chapel programs included commemoration of the 22nd anniversary of 9/11 by members of the Veterans Club; representatives from Hillel speaking about the Jewish High Holy Holidays; students of Latinx heritage addressing Hispanic Heritage Month; and members of St. Luke’s speaking about the importance of volunteerism. We also held time dedicated to a discussion of Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel and the brutal war that continues in Gaza.

All-School Meetings, held twice a week, are another opportunity to enjoy a

sense of community and belonging. At an All-School meeting in October, I proudly accepted a banner from the student leaders of Hotchkiss’s chapter of the national organization No Place for Hate, which is affiliated with the Anti-Defamation League. Hotchkiss was one of only two schools in the State of Connecticut to receive this recognition for the scope and depth of programming the No Place for Hate student group has led over the past few years.

In October, Family Weekend was a delight as always. Just a few weeks later, Spirit Week featured days of activities to build up school spirit, culminating in a Hotchkiss victory on Taft Day! (See p. 28.) That weekend, the Hotchkiss Dramatic Association mounted a highly acclaimed performance of Little Shop of Horrors (see p. 21), while a week earlier the Hotchkiss Philharmonic treated the community to

a stunning performance. It was also my pleasure to travel to Seoul and Hong Kong to visit with alumni and families. It was wonderful to reconnect with so many dear friends of the School, many of whom I had not seen since before the pandemic.

Shortly after break we welcomed representatives from an organization called Social Awakening to speak to students about the pitfalls of social media and offer insights into building effective habits for a digital world. We recently commemorated MLK Day, celebrated Lunar New Year, and honored Barbara Mahon, M.D., M.P.H, winner of this year’s Alumni Award—the School’s highest honor. We dedicated the Khoury Court, for basketball, in the William C. Fowle Gymnasium (Fowle) in honor of and with deep gratitude to John Khoury ’95 and his sister, Jennie Khoury Applebaum ’94. Also, student musicians

The beloved disco ball was safely removed from the Dining Hall during a ceremony with students. It now hangs in the Ford Food Court.

performed at the Hotchkiss School Young Artist Recital at Carnegie Hall. These are just a few of many winter highlights.

Among the most exciting announcements of the fall, of course, was the Board of Trustees’s decision to proceed with building the new Hotchkiss Dining Commons, which will open in the fall of 2025. Thank you to all who have made gifts to make this project possible! For the next three semesters beginning in January, the community will dine in what the students have affectionately dubbed the Ford Food Court, built inside the William and Martha Ford Indoor Tennis facility. Anxious about the imminent demolition of parts of the existing Dining Hall, some alumni have been reassured to learn that the disco ball has been safely taken down and is hanging in the new temporary space.

We invited students to write their memories of the Dining Hall on a wall that will be removed—and students graffitied every square inch. Here are a just a few of the comments:

• “Having the best conversations with my friends”

• “Dinner with my friends”

• “When ____ asked ___ to the HOCO dance”

• “Team dinners”

• “People watching”

• “Eating food that tastes like home cooking”

• “Laughing with friends when the wildest of things had been said!!”

• “Eating with people I don’t see often”

• “School dances”

What, I wonder, are your memories of this beloved space?

I thank you all for being part of and remaining engaged with the Hotchkiss community—a community to which every student, alum, faculty member, staff member, parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, and friend of the School belongs. I hope you enjoy the stories and updates that follow, and I wish you all a safe and healthy new year and winter season.

All good wishes,

A MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

BY ROBERT CHARTENER ’76, P’18

The Board of Trustees held a special meeting on Sept. 6, 2023 to consider renovating the Dining Hall and then held regular board meetings Sept. 28-30, 2023:

School Opening – Hotchkiss opened in September with 599 students, slightly above the expected number of 597. Of these students, 222, or 37% of the student body, are receiving financial aid. We have two Ukrainian Scholars who are highly gifted young people receiving full financial aid support.

Dining Hall Renovation Approved – At a special meeting in early September, the Board approved a project to renovate the Dining Hall, which will be known as the Dining Commons going forward. The project began in early 2024, and the renovated space is scheduled to open in September 2025, meaning that the Hotchkiss community will eat in temporary locations for the next three semesters. This approval was the direct result of tremendous philanthropic support from across the Hotchkiss community. As of yearend 2023, less than $5 million in additional gifts and pledges needed to be raised in order to cover the full cost of the project. The building will retain the iconic architectural features of the 1948 dining room but will add a greatly enlarged servery area (behind the portrait of Maria Bissell Hotchkiss), expanded eating areas in the main dining room and to the east, modernized kitchens and prep spaces, updated safety equipment, a renovated Luke foyer, activity spaces and meeting rooms on the lower level, and landscaping to the east. Seating will increase from its current level of 342 seats to 525 seats. As part of the financial plan, the Board authorized the School to take out additional fixed-rate debt financing and refinance previous debt, maintaining its AAA bond rating.

Memorial Hall Renovation Complete – After a 15-month renovation, Memorial Hall’s renovation has been completed, and the building reopened this fall with 48 girls and four faculty families. A three-story extension was constructed to the south to modernize faculty housing. The building maintains the original

Continued on page 4

Craig W. Bradley

A MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CONTINUED

structure of the 1923 building, designed by Cass Gilbert, but dramatically updates interior spaces, mechanicals, and safety systems. A new common room on the east side, donated by Lawrence Flinn ’53 in memory of his father, Lawrence Flinn ’28, overlooks a car-free courtyard that improves views from Memorial Hall and Wieler.

Library Refurbishment – The Board reviewed preliminary plans for a refurbishment of the Edsel Ford Memorial Library, which has been modified significantly but inconsistently since its original opening in 1952. The main reading room will be restored to a more open design that closely reflects its appearance in the 1950s through the 1970s, and other spaces will be adapted to current student needs.

MacLeish and Hersey Scholars – Several students spoke enthusiastically about their experiences as participants in the MacLeish Scholars Program, named for Archibald MacLeish, Class of 1911, and the Hersey Scholars Program, named for John Hersey ’32. The two programs, in which selected groups of students participate each year, rely on the use of archival materials at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale and the Houghton Library at Harvard. Students spend two weeks doing research using original materials and then produce essays that reflect their research and learning. The students’ work was impressive

and reflects a high level of study for high school students.

Artificial Intelligence – Richard Davis, dean of academic life and instructor in classics, led a discussion of artificial intelligence. He presented several iterations of responses prepared by ChatGPT, showing varying degrees of fluency and relevance depending on subject area; math and computer science scored considerably higher than English and history. Davis is particularly concerned with best practices in the use of AI and with the associated ethical and security issues. The review was comprehensive, but there are few conclusions at this early stage. The Board will continue to remain acutely aware of developments in this field.

Residential Life – Amber Douglas, associate head of School, and Andrew D’Ambrosio, dean of student life, reviewed residential life at Hotchkiss. The focus this year is on belonging to ensure that each student feels a sense of authentic participation in the community. This includes more attention to faculty and residential advising. One recent change has been cell phone use, which has not been subject to a clear policy in the past. Cell phones are now prohibited in all classes, the Dining Hall, Walker Auditorium, Elfers, and the Chapel. In general, students are willingly accepting the new guidelines.

Investment Committee – During the 10 years through October, the endowment portfolio has returned 6.6%, beating its policy benchmark and long-term objective of 6%. Endowment performance has been driven by strong absolute and relative performance from private investments. Investment returns have outpaced the operating draw since 2018, and endowment assets have grown from $399 million to $524.6 million over the past decade. The endowment supports key Hotchkiss initiatives, including financial aid. For the calendar year through October, the endowment returned 5.3%, led by gains in public equities and hedge fund partnerships.

New Trustees Elected – The Board elected two new term trustees: Elizabeth J. Ford P’11,’13 (Jan) and D.T. Ignacio Jayanti P’26. Jan rejoins the Board, having served as a trustee from 2016 to 2020. She is head of compliance, Americas, for Deutsche Bank. Ignacio is the CEO of Corsair Capital, a private equity firm focused on the financial services industry. Also joining the Board as an ex-officio member is Aaron Oberman ’92, P’24,’27. Aaron is the founder and CEO of Omeda, an enterprise software company specializing in audience marketing, and he is serving as the president of The Hotchkiss Fund.

An update on the winter Board meeting, held Jan. 26-27, will appear in the next issue.

A Baton Received and Passed

BY ELIOTT GROVER

From a young age, Jean Charles ’83 learned how to identify and embrace opportunities for advancement. Since then, he has made a point of creating chances for others.

THE LETTER ARRIVED when he was

14.Jean Charles ’83 had never heard of The Hotchkiss School, yet there he was holding a formal offer to attend. Hotchkiss had received his file from A Better Chance (ABC), a nonprofit that partners with independent schools to create opportunities for historically underrepresented students.

“I accepted it sight unseen,” Charles says.

At first, his mother was reluctant to send her youngest son to boarding school. “My dad was kind of like, ‘Well, it’s an opportunity. If he wants to do it, let him do it,’” Charles says. “Because what you don’t want is to regret later on that you didn’t try.”

Although living away from home was a daunting prospect, Charles drew inspiration from his family. “My parents had left a tumultuous situation in Haiti and emigrated to Africa,” he says. “To me, they already set an example of being intrepid.”

In 1964, two years before Charles was born, his parents decided to leave Haiti after François Duvalier declared himself “president for life.” This explicit display of autocracy occurred around the same time that many African nations were gaining their independence. Many of these countries sought to grow their educated civilian populations through immigration.

“A lot of people who were educated in Haiti took that opportunity to come over to Africa as teachers,” Charles says. “My dad was a lawyer in Haiti, but given the political circumstances, he took the opportunity to be a teacher in Zaire.”

It was not an easy decision for his parents. They had to leave their four oldest

sons in Haiti under the care of relatives, but they believed it was in the best long-term interests of the family. Their two daughters were able to come with them to Zaire, where Charles was born in 1966. They did not stay long. “Their vision for reuniting the family was to emigrate,” Charles says.

Finding a Strong Sense of Self and Purpose at Hotchkiss

When Charles was 2, they moved to the United States. They settled in Queens, NY, and Charles met his brothers for the first time. Growing up, he did well in the public school system and was encouraged to apply to ABC. When he received the letter from Hotchkiss, he sensed its significance. “I can try this,” he thought. “And if I fail, I’m no worse off. But who knows, maybe this opens up a whole different world.”

Charles arrived in Lakeville in the fall of 1980. A 98-pound 14-year-old who skipped ninth grade in order to start as a lower mid, he was smaller and younger than most of his peers. Other differences, he says, were just as obvious. He was one of fewer than two dozen Black students on campus. Many of his classmates came from highly privileged backgrounds. “There were kids from some of the most prominent families

The wrestling team in the 1983 Mischianza. Jean Charles ’83 is in the front row, third from left.

and name brands that you would hear of––politically and economically,” he adds. “I didn’t suffer from hunger, but I knew we weren’t ballers.”

Adolescence is universally challenging. “I think what makes it so tough is that you’re trying so hard to fit in, but what makes you special is how you’re different,” Charles says.

While coming of age in an environment with such stark social differences could have made for a particularly trying experience, Charles arrived at Hotchkiss with a strong sense of self and purpose. “Obviously I think I wanted to fit in, but I knew from the jump that I didn’t,” he says. “And I was okay with that. It’s never been a source of distress or lack of confidence for me. In fact, as I’ve become a bit more self aware, I do feel that I’ve always been a part of and apart from almost every aspect of my life. For example, in my own family, I’m the only one who is African. Everyone else is Haitian in terms of where they were born.”

Rather than dwelling on how he was different from other Hotchkiss students, Charles identified key similarities. “I’m a student who has some academic talent who’s here trying to learn and be better,” he remembers thinking. “To me, that’s what I was there to do. If I had an opportunity to make some friends, obviously that makes things easier.” And it did. Charles says his classmates John McLaughlin ’83, Matt Meade ’83, Greg Keller ’83, and Carl Shannon ’83 became close friends and stalwarts for him in dorm life.

Capturing a State Championship

Charles’s comfort in his own skin allowed him to prioritize his schoolwork while taking advantage of the new opportunities he received at Hotchkiss. His first fall, he was taken aside by a JV football teammate who encouraged him to try wrestling in the winter. It would be an easy varsity letter, the teammate assured him. Because so many schools did not have a wrestler for the 98-pound weight class, Charles could expect to earn forfeit victories in most of his matches. “In the three years I wrestled at Hotchkiss,” Charles says with a laugh, “I think I had one forfeit.”

It might not have been as easy as his friend let on, but wrestling proved to be the perfect sport for Charles. He took to it quickly and forged strong relationships in the process.

Teammates such as the Poggi brothers (Peter ’83, Patrick ’84, P’09,’10, and Paul ’85, P’18,’20) made the wrestling room feel like a sort of home away from home. “Having that family of wrestlers creates a bond because you sweat and shed blood together,” Charles says.

During his lower- and upper-mid seasons, Charles was the runner-up in the state championship. His senior year, the event was held at Hotchkiss and he made it to the final once again. He faced an opponent whom he had defeated earlier in the season, but he had fractured his collarbone in the process and nearly passed out from the pain. In their rematch for the state title, the opponent came out like a ball of fire. “He was very aggressive right from the beginning,” Charles says. “He got the initial takedown to make it 2-0, but he shot his shot and kind of exhausted his energy.” The rest of the match was not close. Charles dictated the tempo and captured the championship in front of his parents and scores of cheering Bearcats.

Unlocking His Potential

In the classroom, Charles credits Hotchkiss with molding him into a strong writer. Through the daily theme assignments, he learned how to structure his compositions effectively to achieve a variety of rhetorical purposes. Across all subjects, Charles says Hotchkiss provided a rigorous yet caring environment that helped him unlock his potential. “The curriculum is challenging, and the teachers are invested in your doing well.”

One Saturday night, Charles was walking through Main Building when he encountered legendary English instructor Robert Hawkins sitting quietly in a chair. Hawkins looked up and said, “Hey, Jean.” Charles was dumbfounded. Hawkins taught exclusively prep students, and since Charles started as a lower mid, he was shocked Hawkins knew his name. He sat down, and they had a conversation. Hawkins shared how the faculty had talked about Charles at their last meeting, as they talked about all students. Hawkins was impressed by what

“You always have these little angels looking out for you. When I started having the opportunities to contribute, that’s always been my mindset.”

“If there’s anything I would ask, I would ask people to contribute more to things that are about scholarship— and contribute more specifically for minority scholars because there’s an opportunity.”

he had heard and was rooting for Charles’s continued success. “You always have these little angels looking out for you,” he says. “When I started having the opportunities to contribute, that’s always been my mindset.”

Helping Others Through Entrepreneurship

After earning degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford, Charles went into digital marketing. In 2000, he co-founded DrJays, an online clothing retailer that specialized in urban apparel. Although Charles had no fashion experience, his entrepreneurial instincts paired well with the dawn of e-commerce. “One of the things we recognized was there was this huge appreciation for hiphop culture,” he says. “While the interest was global, the accessibility was kind of limited to urban areas, so our thought process was, ‘How do we take that thirst and quench it worldwide?’”

Beyond growing and operating a successful company, Charles takes pride in the number of promising young employees he recruited and mentored during the nearly two decades he ran DrJays. Since leaving in 2018 to start WSI Vital Marketing, a boutique digital marketing firm, Charles has continued to seek avenues to be active in his community while helping others. “I don’t want to sound super corny about it,” he says, “but it’s just a question of if you’ve been blessed or handed a baton, when do you have a chance to do the same?”

Establishing a Scholarship and Passing the Baton

The opportunity Charles received to attend Hotchkiss came in the form of the Frederick S. Jones Scholarship, an award named after the longtime Hotchkiss trustee and former dean of Yale College. It was established by gifts from parents of scholarship boys at Hotchkiss during Jones’s years as president of the Hotchkiss Board of Trustees. In 2007, Charles established the Jean P. Charles ’83 Family Scholarship, a financial aid award for students from underrepresented and minority backgrounds.

“It’s targeted for kids who need it,” he says. “Notwithstanding recent news about affirmative action and diversity, equity, and inclusion, I think we live

in a multifaceted world. It’s a lot more instructive when you have direct exposure to that, so you have a better understanding and better communication. If there’s anything I would ask, I would ask people to contribute more to things that are about scholarship––and contribute more specifically for minority scholars, because there’s an opportunity.”

Charles is appreciative of the chance he received to attend Hotchkiss and hopes his gift will create similar opportunities. “I think a lot of good things happen,” he says, “because a lot of good things are already in place.”

Charles with his wife, Lynn, and daughters Maxine and Sydney.

Profiles in Gratitude

Meet Charlie Noyes ’78, P’03,’07, a New Member of the Town Hill Society

BY CATHERINE CALAMÉ

Charlie Noyes ’78, P’03,’07 was a Hotchkiss visual art teacher for 33 years and is a Lufkin Prize recipient. He remains a Salisbury, CT resident and is a new member of the Town Hill Society along with his wife of 40 years, Karin. After decades of supporting Hotchkiss, Charlie and Karin established the newly renamed Noyes Family Scholarship.

Tell us about your time here as a student and how the School has changed since then.

Hotchkiss was overwhelming in a lot of ways because everyone seemed so smart. I was lucky to have some amazing teachers and corridor (dorm) faculty—such as Carl and Jennifer Hagelin. I lived in Memorial Hall and spent a lot of time with them in what I considered a very safe place. Today there are many levels of support, but back then, in many ways it was sink or swim. It was less warm and fuzzy in those days, although if you didn’t connect in a significant way with one adult on some level, that was an exception. You could always find someone.

Your affection for Hotchkiss runs deep. Why do you care so much about the School?

Hotchkiss allowed me to do so many of the things I wanted to do. I sang there, I acted, I made art, started a climbing program, even started a farm program. I had opportunities to work and learn with amazing students and

JOIN THE TOWN HILL SOCIETY

inspiring colleagues for more than 30 years. I never felt bored or stale. Working with such bright, motivated kids keeps one young. I was given amazing opportunities beyond comparison. People come here, and it can change the trajectory of their life’s path in so many ways, often because they’ve had myriad opportunities to explore and succeed.

You and Karin offered an interesting way to include Hotchkiss in your estate plans. Tell us about your method and decision.

My dad attributed his intellectual curiosity and his ability to write to Hotchkiss. He was gracious and kind, and people loved him. He pulled me aside 20 years ago, and he said he was taking out a life insurance policy because he wanted to give generously to Hotchkiss—a million-dollar gift to the School with a second-to-die life insurance policy that he needed me to co-sign. He didn’t want to take anything away from his children, but wanted to support the School. When he died, the life insurance policy went to my mom’s estate, and when she

Members of The Town Hill Society have named Hotchkiss as the beneficiary of bequests, gifts from retirement accounts, gifts of life insurance, and life-income gifts such as charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder unitrusts. These gifts, no matter the size, provide Hotchkiss with critical and lasting support.

passed, the bequest paid out to the School.

I remember the first gift of the Noyes scholarship, and I’ve personally taught so many students and advisees who benefitted from similar scholarships. The first was a student who totally took the Hotchkiss experience and ran with it, truly making the most of her time here.

After retirement, Karin and I took out policies for our children as well as for Hotchkiss. It just made sense; as usual, my dad had great vision. It’s a painless decision that works well for our family. I know my dad would love this; it honors his wishes, and we can be generous without feeling the sting.

About the Noyes Family Scholarship

The Noyes Family Scholarship supports unrestricted financial aid and was created in 2023 when it was merged with the Harrison Noyes ’41 and Barbara Noyes Scholarship that was established in 2018.

Read the full Q&A! go.hotchkiss.org/noyes

We would be honored to discuss with you how your own Town Hill gift can allow you to bridge your current financial situation with the gift you dream of making to Hotchkiss. Contact Director of Gift Planning Brent Alderman Sterste at giftplanning@hotchkiss.org or (860) 435-3263, or visit hotchkiss.giftplans.org to learn more.

Hotchkiss Honors Dedicated Volunteers for Leadership and Service

THE HOTCHKISS VOLUNTEER AWARDS ceremony at the Harvard Club in New York City on Sept. 19, 2023 was a testament to the incredible impact that dedicated volunteers can make in advancing the mission of The Hotchkiss School. The event celebrated the tireless efforts and exceptional service of all committed volunteers and honored their contributions to The Hotchkiss Parents Fund and The Hotchkiss Fund. Peri and Neda Navab P’24 and Doug Campbell ’71, P’01 received awards for their leadership, dedication, and service. Their commitment to Hotchkiss has resonated throughout the community, inspiring others to contribute and reinforcing the spirit of giving back. The School is deeply grateful for the continued support of these award winners.

PERI AND NEDA NAVAB P’24

2023 McKee Award Recipients

The McKee Award is named in honor of Hugh and Judy McKee P’78,’80,’84,’89 in recognition of their tireless work for The Hotchkiss Parents Fund. It is presented each year to Hotchkiss parents for their distinguished service to the Fund.

Peri and Neda Navab P’24 are Parents Fund chairs and parents of a student in the Class of 2024. Their dedication and leadership have encouraged inclusiveness, pride in the School, and a sense of belonging that extends across the parent community. They inspire parents and make everyone they meet feel more connected to the School. Their support is tireless, and the School is fortunate to benefit from their extraordinary leadership.

DOUG CAMPBELL ’71, P’01

2023 Thomas W. Armitage ’25 Award Recipient

The Armitage Award is named for alumnus Thomas W. Armitage, Class of 1925, in recognition of his tireless work for The Hotchkiss Fund. It is presented each year to an outstanding class volunteer for their distinguished service to The Hotchkiss Fund.

Doug Campbell ’71, P’01 has demonstrated timeless dedication and extraordinary leadership in his role as a class agent. He has consistently sought to strengthen and maintain the relationship between alumni and the School. His work has led The Hotchkiss Fund to enormous success and the creation of the Class of 1971 Scholarship as a 50th Reunion class gift. The School is deeply grateful for the many ways in which he supports Hotchkiss. Head of School Craig Bradley declared Nov. 3, 2023, a Head of School Holiday in Campbell’s honor.

From left, Neda Navab P’24, Peri Navab P’24, Head of School Craig Bradley, and Doug Campbell ’71, P’01

THE NEW DINING COMMONS

Groundbreaking Begins on the Heart and Hearth of the School

BY CATHERINE CALAMÉ

“The new Dining Commons will be a thoroughly modern facility, yet it will maintain the character of Hotchkiss.”

—Josh Hahn, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Assistant Head of School

MID-DECEMBER MARKED the last cup, last meal, and last fro-yo. Tucking away the flags, carefully dismounting Maria Hotchkiss’s portrait above the fireplace, and ceremoniously removing the beloved disco ball ended the era of the Dining Hall, as it has been known for 57 years. Now begins the 18-month evolution of the Dining Commons, one of the largest capital improvement projects in Hotchkiss’s history.

“Set to open in the fall of 2025, this new facility will be the heart and hearth of the School, a venue where students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors gather for meals and to learn, laugh, hang out, and simply enjoy being together,” Head of School Craig Bradley said.

The Hotchkiss education is not limited to the classroom. As a residential school, a core part of the mission is to foster a community that supports learning and growth in all areas of student life. The Dining Commons will be a place where everyone in the on-campus community comes together, where mentoring relationships thrive, and where students will form memories central to their Hotchkiss experience.

The Dining Commons will nearly double the seating capacity of the current Dining Hall, allowing 525 people to dine together. The facility will offer indoor and outdoor multi-use spaces for meetings with teachers and advisors, group study, club meetings, gathering with friends, and more. It will feature a large, modern servery with numerous food stations as well as selfcooking options, from stir-fry stations to panini presses. It will allow the School to deepen what is already a robust farm-to-table

DINING COMMONS

NEW DESIGN ELEMENTS

Expansion from 342 seats to 525

Completely rebuilt and expanded servery and kitchen

Creation of spacious access points to avoid overcrowding at peak times

New east and back dining rooms with expanded capacity

Complete overhaul of all mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems

Numerous collaboration rooms

New student spaces and offices on the lower level

Redeveloped south lawn for social gatherings and events

New southeast terrace for outdoor seating and gathering in warmer months

New northeast entrance to provide better connectivity to campus life

New south entrance with restored and updated Lt. Col. James Lindsay Luke Foyer

program with enhanced food, farm, and environmental programming. Above all, it will serve as a warm, welcoming space for all members of the community.

“The new Dining Commons will be a thoroughly modern facility, yet it will maintain the character of Hotchkiss,” explained Josh Hahn, director of strategic initiatives and assistant head of school. “It has been designed with the student experience as central to every decision and with community building at the heart of the program.”

SERVING UP IN FORD FOOD COURT

During construction, students, faculty, and staff are eating meals and enjoying entertainment in the converted Ford Food Court (FFC), AKA the William and Martha Ford Indoor Tennis Courts located near the Mars Athletic Center. While the courts are temporarily offline, Bearcats can play tennis during the colder months at nearby Silo Ridge.

The temporary dining experience is filled with student-friendly options to create as much fun for Bearcats as possible during the construction period. Glimmering string lights greet visitors in the FFC, which is full of the familiar Dining Hall tables as well as soft loungestyle seats, high-top tables, and booths. Games like air hockey and foosball are open to all, and meeting rooms are available for group reservations. A large state-of-the-art stage fills a portion of the facility, transforming it into an entertainment venue. Student band MB140 and a dorm talent show have already filled the FFC with music and laughter

All-School Presidents Anji Ashaye ’24 and Jacquo Pierre ’24 have been keeping student expectations high during AllSchool Meetings and through social media posts. “It’s more than a dining hall. It’s a lifestyle!” said Anji, encouraging

Take a tour of Ford Food Court

students to enjoy the space and special events. “It’s for eating, studying, and more.”

“Thank you so much to everyone who made this happen. It really is a beautiful space,” Jacquo said, wearing a special Ford Food Court beanie that was given to every member of the Hotchkiss community.

In addition to being given an extra 10 minutes to walk to Ford Food Court, class schedules have been adjusted to begin Saturday classes at 9 a.m., which is a permanent change that students gladly welcomed. Signage, lighting, walkways, and street crossings are enhanced to keep pedestrians safe, and shuttles run from Main Building to help students, faculty, and staff with injuries or disabilities.

DINING COMMONS MOVES

HOTCHKISS FORWARD

Every student since 1948 is deeply familiar with the Hotchkiss Dining Hall. While this is a throughline of the Hotchkiss experience, little has changed since the building was built 75 years ago. The Dining Hall had seats for less than half of the community at a time, and improvements over the last 75 years to mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems were minimal. The quality of the dining experience at Hotchkiss had suffered given this outdated infrastructure.

The new Dining Commons, which will serve generations of students to come while remaining familiar to those from generations

past, is important to the forward momentum of the School. Thanks to the generosity of Hotchkiss alumni, parents, grandparents, and friends, most of the full cost of the project is covered, while active fundraising continues.

“From a campus planning perspective, it links the new Bissell Common residential quad with the newly renovated Memorial quad and the other historic areas of the central campus,” Hahn said. “The Dining Commons will provide continuity and connection for all who live, work and learn at Hotchkiss.”

Learn more about the new Dining Commons

Making a Difference Students Launch New Programs to Give Back to Their Community

BY DARRYL GANGLOFF

EVERY WEEKEND, SCHOOL FACILITIES are filled with Hotchkiss students who are volunteering their time and talents to help area children. From sports clinics and chess lessons to complex engineering classes, Bearcats are finding time in their busy schedules to launch creative programs and give back to their community.

Caroline Kenny-Burchfield ’77, P’08,’10,’18, director of community partnerships, guides students in their volunteer efforts. She emphasized that service is not required at Hotchkiss. “That’s why service here is treasured and so inspiring,” she said. “Student volunteers realize they get as much as they give. Once they discover the rewards of volunteering, it can awaken a lifelong dedication to volunteering.”

City-Building Program Introduces STEM at a Young Age

Emily Cho-Sayegh ’26, Anya Reppa ’26, and Leo Wang ’24 wanted to share their love of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) with local children. How could they make lessons about electronics, circuitry, engineering, coding, and sensors engaging for young minds? This fall, these Bearcats— along with the Robotics Team and Maker’s Club—launched a new five-week city-building course in the Class of 2017 Engineering, Fabrication, and Exploration (EFX) Lab.

Leo explained that the impetus for this project started last year when he worked with members of the Robotics Team to teach robotics lessons to students in the Webutuck and

Emily Cho-Sayegh ’26, Anya Reppa ’26, Leo Wang ’24, and other students taught young children how to laser-cut buildings for a smart city project.

Salisbury Central school districts. “We decided to continue this outreach tradition with a city-building workshop,” he said.

Emily said that she learned how to build a smart city in fifth grade during an inspiring summer program at New York University. “We wanted to bring a program like that to Lakeville so local students would have the opportunity to enjoy it.”

During the first class, participants built their own spaghetti towers using marshmallows. “They loved that,” Emily said. “We talked about engineering and how the triangle is a strong shape.”

Children crafted crucial buildings, like a hospital and police station, as well as more creative structures, such as a coliseum. “We taught them how to laser-cut buildings with the facilities in the EFX Lab. They engraved billboards and cut windows out of big sheets of wood,” Leo said. “They used 3D printing to build houses and statues. We had a statue of a Bearcat!”

When asked why they volunteered their time for this project, they all emphasized the importance of learning about STEM topics. “We were all introduced to engineering as kids. Just being able to share the resources we have in this lab can really change a kid’s trajectory in life,” Anya said. “Being introduced to STEM at an early age really sets girls up to stay strong and bolsters their passion, which is really important to me.”

Emily, who teaches a weekly Girls Who Code class, says, “I am really happy to know about the influence we are having in young girls’ lives.”

“We all have a passion for making. It’s something that we find really beautiful and exciting,” Leo said. “Being able to encapsulate that excitement into a class that you teach to other people, it’s really rewarding because we’re sharing our passion with others.”

Sports Clinics Bring Students’ A-Games

As a co-head of St. Luke’s Society, the School’s oldest club that focuses on community service, Julia Widen ’24 is deeply passionate about giving back. She organizes the club’s blood drive (“donors can walk away feeling like they did something to help the world”), raises money for local charities by collecting cans and bottles on Eco Day, and supports initiatives like the varsity field hockey team’s Stick it to Cancer fundraiser through the American Cancer Society. Still, she wants to do more.

In the fall, Julia launched a new series of Sunday sports clinics for area children with St. Luke’s. “We have so many varsity sports teams full of students who have been playing for a really long time,” Julia said. She handles the logistics while Hotchkiss athletes lead one-hour lessons in sports like tennis, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, ultimate Frisbee, and more.

“As a varsity athlete myself, I know it can be hard for people to find time to volunteer. I wanted to make it easy to get involved. I feel really passionate about trying to find a way for more members of the Hotchkiss community who might have other commitments to find a way to participate,” said Julia, who is captain of varsity field hockey and varsity track.

Julia credits her parents for her passion for community service. She volunteered at soup kitchens and clothing drives at a young age, and she participated in Girl Scouts. “By the time I got to Hotchkiss, I was attached to helping. I want to create opportunities for others to feel the same sense of fulfillment beyond themselves,” she said.

Helping Young Chess Players Master Their Strategy

Sahil Shah ’26 has been playing chess since he was a child, and he is passionate about sharing his love for the game with the local community.

Back home in New Jersey, Sahil hosted free chess lessons at his library. When he arrived at Hotchkiss, his home away from home, he reached out to Kenny-Burchfield to launch his lessons in Lakeville.

“I’m confident in my abilities to teach chess and help kids get better,” he said. “I find that chess is helpful for everybody because it teaches you to think ahead analytically. Those lessons can be applied to school or the outside world. It’s a good foundation to have.”

Sahil works primarily with 8- to 12-yearolds, but “if you’re interested, you’re always welcome.” They gather for one hour every Saturday, and Sahil pairs players by skill level. Some are learning how to move the pieces, while others are honing their opening moves. “It’s fun for me because it’s a transformative age. When I was their age, I was learning chess. I find it rewarding to help them along the journey,” he said.

Before Hotchkiss, Sahil played chess competitively. Now he is more focused on helping the next generation learn how to play and have fun with it. “It’s a way to give back. I enjoy it too,” he said before offering some advice to fellow Bearcats about volunteering. “Find something you’re passionate about. Don’t view it as a task to check off your to-do list. You can make a real impact. It’s such a rewarding experience.”

Sahil Shah ’26 hosts weekly chess lessons for young players.

Student athletes lead sports clinics.

Rebekah Oppenheimer ’24 and Anthony Hu ’25 shared messages of community service in Chapel. Read their full speeches.

Spencer Humes ’24 Shares iPhone Tips in His New Book for Seniors: NanaTech

BY HEATHER BELLOW

This article was originally published in The Berkshire Eagle. It is reprinted with permission and minor style edits. senior centers and nursing homes.

THE THIRD SKILL IN A NEW BOOK

written by a teenage grandson to help grandmothers navigate iPhones is “how to make the text bigger.”

That comes after the first and second skills: How to turn the phone on and then off.

NanaTech by Spencer Humes ’24 is a 43-page large print how-to with life-size iPhone pictures and screenshots. It is the result of time spent with, well, Nana Gail and Granna Nola. Spencer, a Great Barrington, MA, native and high school senior at The Hotchkiss School, dedicates the book to these two maternal and paternal grandmothers.

One of the grandmothers needed help, during the pandemic, making an account for “online bridge” card games since she couldn’t play in person. There were many other needs.

“I’d been helping them for a while,” Spencer said. “And then their friends would ask them questions [about iPhones] at bridge.”

That was when the card games went back to in-person playing. And Spencer, 17, was asked by his grandmothers if he “could make a list of this stuff.”

“I was always being asked, ‘Hey, how do I connect again?’” Spencer said. “‘Can you help me remember what the icons are?’ So I figured I could take a refined list of all these things, put it together with the screenshots with all the highlighting, the circling, showing exactly where everything is, and just make the definitive edition of those 10 things.”

Spencer, who beams and glows when he talks about computer engineering, has given copies of NanaTech — A Tech Teenager Shares Essential Skills for Getting the Most Out of Your iPhone to The Bookloft in Great Barrington, and will also give some to

Sales of the $12.95 self-published book recently went live on Amazon. Spencer wrote it in the midst of summer work, college applications, and simply being a teenager and spending time with family. The book covers all basic iPhone functions including how to make phone calls and send texts and emails.

During an interview in the Class of 2017 Engineering, Fabrication and Exploration, or EFX, Lab, Spencer says he’s been passionate about computers and how they work as long as he can recall. He’ll be majoring in computer engineering in college, though he’s not sure yet what school he’ll attend. Spencer is on the School’s robotics team and participates in the School’s noted Stan-X “fruit fly lab” program creating new strains of flies used for health research.

His previous attendance at the Berkshire Waldorf School in Great Barrington— with its philosophy of delaying the use of computers, cellphones, and other technology until much later—sparked some of this fascination.

“There was always a forbidden fruit element of computers,” Spencer said.

Now he’s feasting. When he got to Hotchkiss, he started thinking about exactly what he wanted to do in technology, but computer engineering scared him.

“I thought, ‘I know I want to

make something—I have this drive to make something,’ but I didn’t know what it was,” he said. “So what I’ve committed to for the past two years is, well, why would I not learn the thing that’s intimidating to me.”

He’s now skirting the edge of fear.

Computers are “so massively fascinating” to Spencer that he still tingles with “nervous excitement.”

His grandmothers also have a little fear— fear of messing up the iPhone in some way by doing the wrong thing. He hopes his book will instill some confidence. His goal is to help the older generation by showing them the “why” of the way the iPhone is designed and of each step.

One analogy he uses in the book is driving a car. “If you know how to drive a car you can get into different cars, have different numbers of gears and totally different dashboards, but you’re going to be able to do the same thing,” he said. “Because we understand the ‘why’ and we have a goal.”

But how to help an analog grandparent learn to swipe the screen to open the phone — a motion that has frustrated many a senior. Spencer has you covered. Use the pad of your thumb.

“Imagine,” he writes, “you’re sliding a playing card across your

Spencer Humes ’24 with his book NanaTech in The Hotchkiss School’s EFX Lab. He was inspired to write the book after helping his grandmothers with their iPhones.

PHOTO BY HEATHER BELLOW

FAMILY WEEKEND FOCUSES ON BELONGING

During the Family Weekend welcome ceremony, Head of School Craig Bradley explained that the theme for this academic year is belonging. “Your being here strengthens your sense of belonging,” Bradley told the parents and guardians in the audience. “You are integral to Hotchkiss. You are as much a part of this community as your children are. You are not visiting—this is not a visitor’s weekend. This is a Family Weekend. Welcome back.”

View more photos!

Thank you to all who joined us on campus in October!

Delegation Travels to Kenya for International Round Square Conference

BY DANIEL ZHANG ’26

WAKING TO AIRHORNS at 5 a.m., encountering rhinos and flamingos, and mingling with 900 students from all over the world, the seven Hotchkiss students who attended the Round Square International Conference had an eventful 10-day experience in Kenya.

Round Square, an international coalition of more than 250 schools in 50 countries and territories, requires its members to commit to the program’s

IDEALS: internationalism, democracy, environmentalism, adventure, leadership, and service. For Hotchkiss, which has been a member since 2004, it’s an easy fit.

From Oct. 5 to 15, the School’s delegation traveled to Nairobi, Kenya to attend the annual Round Square Conference, subtitled “The New Africa.” This year, the School’s delegation of upper mids and lower mids traveled with David Thompson P’27, director of international programs and coordinator

of the Round Square program; Hope Cobera ’88, P’24, chief communications officer; and Cooper Puls, access service coordinator and head wrestling coach.

Students spent their first three days in Kenya exploring Nairobi and the surrounding region, including the Great Rift Valley, Lake Nakuru, and Hell’s Gate National Park before the conference began.

Each day of the conference focused on one of the IDEALS. For their day of

service, the delegates helped renovate Kenyan primary schools by sanding walls, painting, and leveling floors.

“After all the Round Square delegates had helped to refurbish the schools, we got to sit down and share our bagged lunch with students from those schools,” attendee Dwyer Illick ’26 said. “Communication was hard with the language barrier, as they spoke more Swahili than English, but it was really nice.”

The group heard from a variety of speakers through the conference, including Henry Wanyoike, a blind Kenyan long-distance runner and Paralympic athlete, known for his mantra, “I have lost my sight but not my vision.”

Dwyer said, “Mr. Wanyoike impressed us all with his ability to keep doing what he loves no matter what life throws in his way. Serious injuries are so often thought of as permanent setbacks, but when Mr. Wanyoike went blind overnight, he simply shifted the life trajectory he was on.”

Reflecting on the conference, Thompson said, “The big thing is for people to get together and meet each other, form friendships, and share stories. On the first day of the conference, they played music and people danced together and then would sit down at a table with seven strangers and just talk.”

Next year, another delegation of Hotchkiss students will attend the Round Square Conference in Bogotá, Colombia.

A version of this article originally appeared in The Hotchkiss Record.

Student Reflections

“While I was most amazed by the game drive when looking at the zebras, giraffes, and rhinos, I was surprised by the things I saw on the morning drive out of Nairobi. Being used to American highways and roads, the number of shepherds I saw along the highway on our drive came as a complete shock.” —Jackson Grace ’26

“For all of us, we have been reminded of how much you can see if you dive right into each opportunity. I really appreciated Joe, our guide, who refused to accept the English word ‘thank you’ and taught us the Swahili version ‘asante’ instead. I will remember him and the parks we have visited wherever I hear ‘thank you.’” —Charlotte Wood ’25

“Today was another day packed with adventure. After waking up in Lake Navisha, we drove an hour to Hell’s Gate National Park. We were originally planning on going for a short walk around the park, but our guide asked us if we wanted to venture down into the gorges. It turned out to be one of the most amazing hikes our group had experienced.”

—Miranda Beitel ’25

“The Brookhouse primary school children performed the skit I Will Be a Hummingbird, which is based on a story that Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai used to tell. I think what really stuck with me about this story is that each and every one of us can be a changemaker if we simply try.”

—Sia

Reddy ’26

”We were split into two groups, both of which went to work on helping to renovate Kenyan primary schools. We all realized how incredibly fortunate and privileged we were. It left an incredible impact on us all. We also realized that we are all capable of helping out, whether it be through St. Luke’s or international service.” —Dhruv Kothari ’25

“One of the things I have found really interesting about this conference is getting to hear all the different languages spoken by the different delegations as I walk around campus.” —Dwyer Illick ’26

“Each delegate stayed the night at a Brookhouse host family’s house. My personal experience was amazing. We played many board games, danced and vibed to music, and ate an authentic Kenyan dish.”

—Gabby Mensah ’25

Bringing Two Worlds Together Hotchkiss Hosts Students, Teachers from Germany

FOLLOWING A FIVE-YEAR hiatus due to the COVID pandemic, Hotchkiss once again hosted a group of students and teachers from the Kaiserin Friedrich Gymnasium (KFG) in Bad Homburg, Germany, from Oct. 6-12. The group toured campus, spent time at Fairfield Farm, and attended classes. They also visited nearby attractions such as the Norman Rockwell Museum and the Vanderbilt Mansion.

Marc Dittmer, German program coordinator and instructor in German, has brought a German delegation to Hotchkiss every other year since 2010. The last KFG cohort visited in 2018 prior to the pandemic, and Dittmer was happy to welcome the group back to Lakeville. “It creates a lot of avenues and access to language and culture in Germany,” Dittmer said. “It gives Hotchkiss students a chance to meet new people and make new friends. We brought those two worlds together. And for the students who are learning German, it’s a gift to hear voices other than mine.”

Dittmer said the visit was “an eye-opening experience” for the KFG students. “Beyond language immersion, it’s cultural immersion. It’s a unique experience to spend time at a boarding school where teachers eat, dine, and live with students.”

Over winter break, Dittmer and Abe Bonn, instructor in mathematics, took a group of Hotchkiss students to Germany and explored Berlin’s culture and history as part of a Hotchkiss in the World travel program. While they did not have time to visit KFG, Dittmer emphasized that Bearcats have access to live in Germany with host families during March break thanks to this continued partnership.

—Darryl Gangloff

English Instructor Wins Prestigious Poetry Prize

CONGRATULATIONS TO JANAN ALEXANDRA instructor in English, instructor for the MacLeish Scholars Program, and assistant director of diversity, equity, and inclusion—for winning the 2023 Adrienne Rich Award from Beloit Poetry Journal. Renowned poet Marie Howe, former poet laureate of New York State, selected alexandra’s poem “on form and matter” for the prize.

“I kept coming back to this poem—which looks deceptively simple: folding sheets at the communal laundry line,” Howe wrote. “But what it holds is so much: one and many, what is and what might be, you and me, head and heart, garden and the appearance of garden, the present and the future— all bundled into the now of folding, matching one frowning corner of a sheet to another. Form and matter indeed. And I felt addressed as a reader, folded in, included in this poet’s philosophical reverie, and I felt joy.”

alexandra has also received support from the Martha’s Vineyard Institute for Creative Writing, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, and the Bucknell Seminar for Younger Poets. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, Gulf Coast, The Adroit Journal, The Rumpus, Mizna, and elsewhere.

When asked about the theme of the winning poem, alexandra told The Hotchkiss Record, “I love the idea of attending to what we love, from the most mundane things to the most grand—a birthday, a garden, or, best of all, the small and repetitive histories of our hearts.”

“This is such a tremendous accomplishment and really a reflection of the care ms. janan puts into her work as a poet, in addition to being a teacher here at Hotchkiss,” Dr. Katie Fleishman, head of the English Department and instructor in English, told The Record

Note: janan alexandra uses lowercase for her name.

Marc Dittmer, German program coordinator and instructor in German, welcomed a group of German teachers and students to Hotchkiss.

Hotchkiss students traveled to Berlin over winter break.

HDA’s Little Shop of Horrors Dazzles in Walker

BY IRA BUCH ’25

It was standing room only for Little Shop of Horrors, Hotchkiss Dramatic Association’s fall production that opened to a packed house

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS was first released in 1960 as a B-level horror movie and was adapted into a musical in 1982 by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Derek Brashears, director of theatre, aimed to evoke the film’s original aesthetic in the HDA’s fall production. Replicas of period advertisements and horror movie posters from the 1950s and ’60s lined Walker Auditorium during the musical’s run from Nov. 10-12.

The story occurs in a plant shop owned by Mrs. Mushnik (Anji Ashaye ’24). During a total eclipse, the protagonist, shop assistant Seymour (Jack McCarthy ’26), discovers a strange plant (Kristian Maxwell-Wimberly ’25) that grants him fortune and fame in return for being fed human blood and flesh. Seymour soon runs out of his own blood to feed the plant and resolves to murder Audrey’s (Addie Cirulis ’25) abusive boyfriend, Orin Scrivello (Nick Baratta ’24). The victims of the plant’s appetite symbolize the tragic consequences of unchecked ambition and greed.

One notable feature of the musical was the evolution of Seymour’s plant. It first appeared as a coffee can-sized puppet, which was built from a wire shell and fabric. When Seymour placed the plant on the counter of the flower shop, Kristian operated the movement of its mouth from underneath the counter with a hook and string. A larger version of the plant was built into the walls of the flower shop. Kristian was able to emerge from and sit within this larger design. As the characters were “eaten” by the plant, they slid down a hidden slide built between the three back walls.

The performance also featured a live band on a catwalk above the stage. Professional musicians accompanied Alessandro Araujo ’26 on keyboard and Julia Cooper ’25 on bass.

Amalia Sardinha ’25, who worked on the technical crew for the production, said, “This play was definitely my favorite tech experience. The show’s unique concept allowed us to be more creative with technical elements like set changes and special effects. The music was also fantastic, and having the band on the stage platform really added to the energy.”

MK Lawson, instructor in theatre and director of the musical, said, “The HDA board was interested in a story that had moral ambiguity, and Little Shop of Horrors fit this bill very well. There are characters that make you wonder what you would do in their position—and the answer is never simple.”

“I hope that audiences got more out of this show than they were expecting,” Addie said. “The show is funny and entertaining at surface level but contains important messages that I hope resonated with the student body.”

Abby Broome ’25, who played Chiffon, one of the three narrators of the musical, said, “Everyone in the cast is incredibly talented and passionate about the work that we have done to make this musical possible. The large number of people who showed up on Friday night was unexpected. While performing was quite nerve-wracking, the support of the audience cheered us up. We were all thrilled to finally enjoy the culmination of our efforts and be able to share this with the community!”

After the show, audience member Abigail Gugsa ’24 praised the cast and crew. “The performance was absolutely amazing—not only the singing, but also the set design and the music were spectacular.”

A version of this article originally appeared in The Hotchkiss Record.

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ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE ENRICH CURRICULUM

Students gain hands-on experience with visiting experts in visual arts and photography

BY PHOENIX FENG ‘25 AND TEO EVERTS ’26

IN LATE SEPTEMBER, students could be seen in the arts studios and outside on the patio painting on huge swaths of canvas and constructing them into sculptures. They were working with visiting artist Maggie Nowinski to create dynamic line paintings inspired by nature. Their collaborative artwork is installed in the Lower Rotunda outside the Dance Studio.

In addition to field trips, working alongside artists in residence is a valuable way the School enriches student artists’ experiences. Often, artists’ visits align with exhibitions of their work in the Tremaine Art Gallery, such as Nowinkski’s Cicatrix | in Bloom. Terri Moore, gallery director and instructor in art, said, “As we build curriculum and this idea of student-driven

learning from experience, what I think is really exciting is finding a great artist and teacher who can come and integrate with our students in a deep way.”

Studio arts student Pahal Bhasin ’26 said, “Ms. Nowinski’s residency inspired me to step out of my comfort zone. This project expanded my thinking, and I experienced more creative freedom. I

Artist Maggie Nowinski worked with students to create dynamic line paintings.

“This project expanded my thinking, and I experienced more creative freedom.”

—PAHAL BHASIN ’26

learned the importance of focusing on the art-making process and not just simply on the final product.”

Moore pointed out the long-lasting impact of meeting and working with visiting artists. She said, “Whether a [student] artist is brand new to making art or really experienced, having that kind of sustained experience and exposure changes a person.”

Learning Historic Photography Skills

Professional photographer Lisa Elmaleh opened an All-School Meeting in October with a harrowing story of a migrant who walked through the Sonoran Desert for three days without water on his journey to the United States. In 2022, Elmaleh spent five months at the U.S.-Mexico border volunteering with humanitarian organizations and photographing migrants and their rescuers. Working exclusively with an 8x10 film camera, Elmaleh’s slower process allows her to pay homage to the person standing in front of the lens,

showcasing her respect for their journeys, experiences, and resilience.

“I am making a historic document of this moment in their life. Migration is a chapter in a person’s story; it is not their entire story. The 8x10 camera, with all of the time it takes to set up, gives us time to converse, and it is in this setting I hear stories— harrowing, intense, violent journeys, stories of loss, memories of a home where this person cannot return to,” Elmaleh said.

During the week of Oct. 23, Elmaleh hosted an artist talk in the Faculty Lounge, installed her exhibit—Promised Land // Tierra Prometida—in the Tremaine Art Gallery, and taught the wet plate collodion process to lower-mid, upper-mid, and senior photography classes during trips to Fairfield Farm and Millerton, NY. The technique, invented in 1851, yields a unique aesthetic still preferred by many contemporary artists.

Phoebe Hackett ’24, a student in

Senior Portfolio, said, “Talking to the professional artist behind the artwork was an invaluable experience that helped me reflect on the intentions behind my own portfolio.”

Elmaleh’s work won the Arnold Newman Prize, awarded annually to a photographer who adds a new vision to the field of portraiture photography.

A version of this article originally appeared in The Hotchkiss Record.

Bearcats captured and developed photos at Fairfield Farm using a 19th-century wetplate process and a portable darkroom with photographer Lisa Elmaleh.

Splash!

29th Swimathon Raises Funds for Special Olympics and Ukrainian Refugees

BY DARRYL GANGLOFF

ENERGETIC BEARCATS DOVE into Lake Wononscopomuc on Sept. 9 for the 29th annual Hotchkiss Swimathon and completed a two-mile swim to support both Special Olympics Connecticut and Special Olympics Slovakia—two organizations that are working to help Ukrainian refugee families.

Approximately 50 swimmers entered the water, which is the largest group that has participated in the Swimathon since its venue switched to the lake from Hixon Pool in 2020. Bearcats worked together as they swam a mile to the Salisbury Town Grove. Some rode a boat back and cheered on the

have found it particularly challenging to move to a new country with a new language. The Dream Day Care Center ... is a place where those children can go to learn, play, and grow.”

38 participants who completed the roundtrip swim to Hotchkiss. Everyone celebrated with a delicious barbecue on the beach.

Last year, the Swimathon directly supported the creation of the Dream Day Care Center in Bratislava, Slovakia, which opened in October 2022 to care for Ukrainian refugee children born with intellectual disabilities. This year, the Hotchkiss Special Olympics Club set a fundraising goal of $25,000, which is the amount Special Olympics Connecticut has again pledged to help maintain the center. The Swimathon donation page states that “families with children with special needs

“Their families are still displaced by Vladimir Putin’s cruel war. We will continue to do everything we can to support them,” said Swimathon founder Keith Moon P’13,’16, who is the E. Carleton Granbery Teaching Chair, a Lufkin Prize recipient, and an instructor in English, history and Russian language. He is passionate about helping the people of Ukraine and raising funds for Special Olympics Connecticut. Moon has served on the organization’s board of directors for nearly a decade.

Mike Mason, president and CEO of Special Olympics Connecticut, attended the Swimathon for the first time and expressed his gratitude to the swimmers. “Thank you all so much for being here,” he told the crowd. “We’re running an event this weekend for 1,100 athletes, and we can’t do that without people like you raising the money to make it possible.”

Connecting with Special Olympics in Lakeville and Abroad

Mason also thanked Quisha Lee ’24, who is a co-head of the Hotchkiss Special Olympics Club and swam across the lake. Quisha has raised nearly $60,000 for Special Olympics Connecticut through her Soaring Souls: Honor Our Heroes photography exhibit documenting Special Olympians in Connecticut, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The show was displayed at Hotchkiss in the spring and in Hong Kong over the summer.

“The Special Olympics and Paralympics athletes I met over the past year showed me the importance of self-confidence, motivation, and love,” she said in a Hotchkiss Magazine profile.

The moment Moon stepped out of the water, he said, “I feel terrific. We had a big group, and everyone had really positive energy. It means a lot to me that we can reach out beyond Hotchkiss and do something for the community. It’s a very important organization and cause, and I’m proud of our Special Olympics Club for pulling this together so well.”

Moon praised Rett Zeigler ’24 and Mimi Emswiler ’24, who are co-heads of the Special Olympics Club along with Quisha, for being “unbelievable assets in the many things we do.” He also shared a momentous milestone: “We passed the $250,000 mark for Special Olympics Connecticut this year over 29 years of the Swimathon.”

View more Swimathon photos

David Evangelista, regional president and managing director of Special Olympics Europe Eurasia, took the stage in Elfers Hall as part of the Beal Lecture Series on Oct. 26. He was joined by numerous guests, including representatives of Special Olympics Connecticut and Special Olympics Slovakia.

Bearcats traveled to Poland and Slovakia over Thanksgiving break through the Hotchkiss in the World program. As part of their journey, they spent time with Special Olympics Slovakia athletes and staff and visited the Swimathon-sponsored Dream Day Care Center for Ukrainian refugee children.

PHOTO BY JAMI HUANG ’25

Representatives from Special Olympics Connecticut visited Hotchkiss on Oct. 12 to recognize and thank Quisha Lee ’24 for her spectacular Soaring Souls photography exhibition, which has raised nearly $60,000 for the organization.

Inaugural Dorm Festival Brings Games and Music to Main Circle

BY KATHARINE ELLIS ’26

CARNIVAL GAMES, heated competitions, and a performance by musical group MB140 were highlights of the first Dorm Festival, which took place in Main Circle after dark on Sept. 16.

The idea for a Dorm Festival came about last spring when All-School Presidents Anji Ashaye ’24 and Jacquo Pierre ’24 began brainstorming events for the upcoming year. They aspired to incorporate the competitive energy from last fall’s Dorm Olympics into this year’s festival while also seeking to make the competition more inclusive.

To this end, the Dorm Festival offered games that were not as athletically centered as those in the Dorm Olympics. Jacquo said, “While last fall’s event was a lot of fun, we thought that it only catered to the athletically inclined students in our community. Our goal for this year was to create a chill and inclusive environment for a diverse range of community members to enjoy.”

Proctors from each of the 13 dormitories hosted stations around Main Circle, with games ranging from ping pong and four square to a bucket dunk and football target toss. Students earned points for their dorms for successes in the games. Redlich was declared the winner at the All-School Meeting on Oct. 6.

In between games, students enjoyed performances by the band MB140, led by

Eva Lependorf ’24, Nate Harrison ’24, and Julia Cooper ’25. They performed Katrina and the Waves’ Walking on Sunshine, I Want You Back by The Jackson 5, and Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody. Nate said, “The upbeat songs brought a lot of energy and matched the overall vibe of the event.”

The setting was different from MB140’s past All-School Meeting showcases. “The festival’s atmosphere allowed the audience to dance and cheer alongside the music freely. As a result, the performance was a lot more fun for both the singers and listeners,” Nate said.

Many students viewed the event as a success. Clemmie Morlock ’26 said, “The Dorm Festival fostered a great environment for spending time with friends, bonding as a dorm and supporting the musicians in MB140. The games were lighthearted and quick, allowing me to try out a lot of different events. My favorite was the limbo contest!”

As one of the opening social events of this fall, the Dorm Festival kicked off the new year under the leadership of Anji and Jacquo. By embracing every students’ talents, the evening encouraged a sense of community and celebration amongst students and their dorms.

A version of this article originally appeared in The Hotchkiss Record. View more photos

Alumni and Parents Show Bearcat Pride

Young alumni and parents joined in on the Spirit Week fun with two challenges from Nov. 6-10. Members of the Classes of 2010-23 won the Hotchkiss-Taft Challenge and brought the crown back to Lakeville by making the most gifts to The Hotchkiss Fund. Many young alumni attended Hotchkiss-Taft Challenge kickoff parties in Washington, D.C., Boston, and New York City.

Parents and guardians of the Class of 2027 won the Spirit Week Challenge. Preps earned a special celebration thanks to the donations of parents and families to The Hotchkiss Parents Fund.

alumni

View more Hotchkiss-Taft Challenge Party Photos

Speech and Debate Team Sweeps Top Prizes at Home Tournament

The Speech and Debate Team welcomed 100 debaters from 13 schools to the speech and debate tournament at Hotchkiss on Oct. 29. Students competed in two rounds of parliamentary debate and two rounds of impromptu speaking. Continuing their successful season, the team won the top overall school award as well as both the top novice speaker and the top advanced speaker. The two Hotchkiss teams that competed came in first and second place overall.

Read more about the team’s victory

Young

from the Classes of 2010-23 attended a Hotchkiss-Taft Challenge Kickoff Party in New York City.

HOTCHKISS WINS TAFT DAY!

THE WEATHER WAS SUNNY and chilly for Hotchkiss’s annual Taft Day rivalry showdown, which was held in Lakeville on Nov. 11. Bearcats roared to a 9-5-2 victory as the loud and proud Blue Mob cheered for the Bearcats.

JV field hockey, girls varsity soccer, girls JV soccer, varsity volleyball, JV volleyball, and thirds volleyball all won at home. The varsity field hockey and thirds field hockey teams tied the competition, while the football and soccer teams demonstrated their skills and determination on the field against the Rhinos.

The boys and girls cross country teams traveled to Loomis Chaffee on Taft Day to compete in the New England Division 1 Championships. Boys varsity/JV and girls varsity defeated the Rhinos on the road to add to Hotchkiss’s winning tally (read more on the next page).

Taft Day was the culmination of a fun-filled Spirit Week featuring themes like Country vs. Country Club, Twin Day, Class Colors, Throwback Thursday, and Blue Out, as well as an energetic pep rally and bonfire.

View Taft Day Photos

We Are the Champions

Hotchkiss Hosts and Captures League Cross Country Championships

The cross country teams outran their competitors in the Founders League Championship at Hotchkiss on Nov. 4. The boys varsity and JV teams earned the championship title, and the girls varsity team earned third place. The teams also performed well at the New England Division I Championships on Nov. 11, with boys varsity placing third, girls varsity placing fourth, and boys JV placing sixth.

Girls Varsity Basketball Wins Holiday Tournament

The girls varsity basketball team earned a two-peat championship victory on Dec. 16. Bearcats won the annual Ethel Walker’s Holiday Basketball Tournament for the second year in a row.

Mountain Biking Team Rides to Repeat League Championship

The mountain biking team rolled past the competition to win the Housatonic Valley Mountain Biking League Championship on Nov. 1. Bearcats were undefeated in seven races.

Cal Kinnear ’25 Sails to Victorious Season, Places Third in Nation

Cal Kinnear ’25 had an outstanding fall representing Hotchkiss sailing in the singlehanded ILCA 7 Laser class. He placed first at the New England district championship Healy Trophy National Qualifier on Sept. 24, securing an invitation to nationals for the third year in a row. At the ISSA Cressy Singlehanded National Championship in New Orleans on Oct. 28, Cal finished the first day in seventh place with two-thirds of the races completed. With only four races remaining on day two, he took first place in three of them and ended the regatta with a podium finish. Cal is the thirdranked high school ILCA 7 sailor in the U.S.

PROGRESS TOWARD EQUITY

Hotchkiss Designated ‘No Place for Hate’ School

In October, Head of School Craig Bradley proudly accepted a No Place for Hate banner from student leaders—a banner that was awarded to only two schools in the state of Connecticut in 2023. This nationwide Anti-Defamation League initiative helps build a learning community of inclusivity, respect, and equity, and it lets all students know they have a place where they belong.

Campus Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

Restoration and the Dream: Hotchkiss Commemorates MLK Day

BY DARRYL GANGLOFF

THE HOTCHKISS COMMUNITY engaged in a full day of workshops, community service activities, dorm conversations, and programs on Monday, Jan. 15, to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. “Let this celebration be a catalyst for thoughtful conversation, a journey into the depths of understanding, and a commitment to fostering a Bearcat community where diversity is celebrated and inclusion is inherently our collective strength,” said Daymyen Tyler Lane, director of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Cleo Scott Brown, a national speaker and writer who focuses on issues of race, voting, and class, kicked off the day with a presentation on voter disenfranchisement. She urged Bearcats to help bring about meaningful change by registering to vote when they are eligible, investigating candidates, and volunteering as poll workers. “Will you be the change?” she asked the crowd. “It only takes one to be the catalyst.”

THE STUDENT HEADS OF DE COLORES , an affinity group for Latinx and Hispanic identifying students, celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 with a variety of activities. They launched the month with cheers of “¡Viva México!” for Mexican Independence Day in the Main Circle. They shared moving personal stories in Chapel and thoughtful comments about this year’s All-School Read, Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La Frontera, during an All-School Meeting. Willie Perdomo—a New York State Poet Laureate, teacher at Phillips Exeter Academy, and author—addressed the School community and spent time with classes. The group worked with Dining Hall staff to feature meals from various Spanish-speaking countries, held a fundraiser to support Central American immigrants in our local community, and shared information from the range of countries and cultures here on campus.

Students dispersed across campus and participated in more than 20 workshops and community service activities. After lunch, they reconvened for dorm conversations.

In the closing ceremony in Katherine M. Elfers Hall, students took the stage to share their reflections. “Today we discussed how MLK’s words inspired hope for the future, which we can also apply to the Hotchkiss community,” one student said. “As we lift each other up with kindness, this behavior spreads throughout the school, inspiring the rest of the student body.”

Read more and view photos

Visiting Speaker

Ndaba Mandela, Grandson of Nelson Mandela, Inspires Students to Lead Through Change

BY DARRYL GANGLOFF

NDABA MANDELA, the grandson of Nelson Mandela, visited Hotchkiss as a guest speaker during the All-School Meeting on Nov. 28 in honor of the 10th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s death. An accomplished speaker, author, entrepreneur, activist, and co-founder of the Mandela Institute for Humanity, Ndaba Mandela has made it his life’s work to share the lessons of social justice and equality he learned from his grandfather.

“I am thrilled to present a truly exceptional All-School event today,” said Daymyen Tyler Layne, director of diversity, equity, and inclusion. “We are honored to have in Nbada Mandela, a distinguished advocate for change and the grandson of Nelson Mandela, with us. His insights into leadership, equity, and inclusion align seamlessly with our commitment to fostering an intentionally diverse and inclusive community.”

Layne thanked everyone who made Mandela’s visit possible: Helena Inzerillo ’25 and her mother, Prudence Inzerillo P’25, the DEI Council, and Dr. Lisanne Norman ’94, director of the Walter Crain Fellowship program, associate director of diversity, equity, and inclusion, instructor in humanities and social sciences, and instructor for the Hersey Scholars Program.

“I’m really excited to welcome Ndaba

Mandela to Hotchkiss today in celebration of the legacy of Nelson Mandela, a man who is hugely important to me,” Helena said, noting that Ndaba Mandela is author of Going to the Mountain: Life Lessons from My Grandfather, Nelson Mandela, co-founder and chairman of the Mandela Institute for Humanity, and co-founder of Africa Rising, which is dedicated to empowering African youth through mentorship education and leadership development.

Ndaba Mandela shared memories of his grandfather and spoke about leadership and activism. “Growing up, my grandfather put pressure on me. I remember once I was having dinner with him, and he said to me, ‘You are my grandson. Therefore, people would look at you as a leader.’” Ndaba ultimately realized that this type of pressure is about creating a diamond. “The pressure that your parents put on you is because they want to see you shining. They want to see you doing much more than you think you can.

And let me tell you something, you are much more powerful than you think you are.”

He noted the potential of young people to drive positive change and encouraged Hotchkiss students to be proactive in shaping the future they want to see. He emphasized that leadership is about service. “It is in our hands to work together to make this world a better place,” he said.

Audience members asked a variety of questions, ranging from his favorite memories of Nelson Mandela (“When he was happy, he would break out in a song”) to how to overcome failure (“You must not be afraid to fail—the more you fail, the closer you are to succeeding”).

One student asked if there is a lesson his grandfather taught him that sticks with him the most. “Yes,” he said immediately. “My grandfather said, ‘To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains but to live in a way that protects and promotes the freedom of others.’”

New CS4H Speaker Series Brings Alumni in Tech to Campus

BY DARRYL GANGLOFF

ROGER WISTAR P’26, director of computer science and instructor in mathematics and computer science, launched the new CS4H (Computer Science for Hotchkiss) Speaker Series in the fall to bring alumni and other distinguished speakers in technology to campus to share their expertise and experiences with the community. This new initiative is designed to improve the quality, reach, and impact of computer science at Hotchkiss.

“This speaker series helps us reconnect with our alumni, and it also helps connect our current students with people who are doing interesting things with technology,” Wistar said.

Wistar plans to invite approximately one speaker a month to campus, and he expects that they will have a wide variety of experience levels and backgrounds. “Some speakers will be heavily involved in tech and software engineering. Others took computer science and felt it helped them in other careers not related to tech,” he said.

Wistar envisions the speaker series as just one part of a larger program that aims to attract prospective students who are passionate about computer science. “CS4H is designed to keep making our computer science program even better,” he said. “I hope that even more people will come to these talks, and maybe I will see some of them in my classroom next year.”

Mike Edgar ’06: HIRING AT BIG TECH

Mike Edgar ’06, a senior software engineer at Google, kicked off the inaugural CS4H Speaker Series event in September with a talk about hiring at big tech. Edgar said he “felt a rekindled pride in being a Hotchkiss alumnus” when he returned to campus and spoke with students. He was impressed by the talented Bearcats and emphasized that “you don’t see that concentration of brilliance in very many places.”

Edgar enjoyed a distinguished Hotchkiss career. As a four-year student from New York, he earned math and computer science prizes in both his upper-mid and senior years. He completed both the AP computer science program and two independent studies as a senior.

He graduated from Dartmouth College in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. He interned with Google in his junior year and was hired full-time after college. He has remained at Google for his entire career, rising to

the position of senior software engineer. In that time, he has worked on many important projects, including a program to safeguard Google’s corporate data, an initiative to help transition user code from Google Code to GitHub, and an open-source tool to help support Google programmers with their source code repositories.

Edgar summarizes his role at Google as “writing code for other coders.” Today he maintains Google’s Blaze tool, which he describes as “the universal build tool that quickly turns users’ code into a runnable program. Some of my work makes it into the free and open-source flavor, Bazel, used by programmers all over the world.”

Regarding his lecture topic, Edgar says that he encourages students to go down the “rabbit hole” of software engineering at a large firm if they’re interested in computer science. “Find one small thing you can’t make a computer do, figure out how to do it, and repeat that loop forever. Always try to make your code just a little bit better. Keep all your old code, and occasionally go back to old code to look for patterns and to see how badly written it is. That’s how you measure your progress!”

He feels that his time at Hotchkiss prepared him well for his career at Google. “Hotchkiss’s academics called for executing a heavy mental workload every day. Software engineering is mentally taxing work, regardless of activity. You end up writing about code a lot more as your career progresses, and Hotchkiss’s writing instruction made that second nature for me,” he said.

Many Bearcats appreciated Edgar’s inaugural talk. “It was really cool to hear about the professional world of software engineering from someone who’s been working at the frontier for

Mike Edgar ’06

Logo by Aster Lufkin ’23

decades,” said Hannah Sun ’24, who spoke with Edgar after his lecture about game design and the intersections between art and computer science. “He mentioned that when interviewing for a job at Google, the questions they ask are purely about your programming skills. It is completely an ability-based assessment, which reassures me and motivates me that as long as I work hard, this field is within my reach.”

Jacob Zweiback ’24 said, “The advice that Mr. Edgar gave was invaluable. It is very rare to have access to insider information on hiring processes at extremely selective companies like Google. I learned that large language learning models are powerful and here to stay. They will be an integral part of all fields in the coming decades.”

Laura Watson ’14:

DATA AND TECHNOLOGY IN MODERN BUSINESSES

Laura Watson ’14, a technology and advisory manager at CohnReznick, spoke about the role of data and technology in modern businesses as the second CS4H speaker in October.

Watson completed a degree in operations

research and informational engineering at Cornell. In addition, she minored in classical literature and continued an impressive squash career, playing all four years for the Big Red and captaining her team as a senior. During her junior year, she completed an internship with CohnReznick that led to an offer of fulltime employment after graduation.

This year, Watson was named one of the “35 Under 35 Rising Stars of the Profession” by Consulting Magazine for excellence in client service/technology. Wistar said, “As my student, I remember Laura having a perfect blend of both coding skills and people skills, so it is not at all surprising to see the road that she has taken.”

Watson discussed her career with the crowd of students in the Faculty Room. “I’ve spent my career consulting, specifically focusing on how companies can use technology and data to meet their business goals and objectives,” she said. “Even over the last five years, I’ve seen companies in the hospitality and real estate industries—the two industries that I focus on most—drastically change their use of technology and data to keep up with today’s changing world.” For example,

ADDITIONAL CS4H SPEAKERS WHO HAVE VISITED HOTCHKISS

NOVEMBER 2023

Priyanka Kumar ’19

Associate consultant with Mastercard Big Data in Higher Education and Beyond

Watson explained that data technology is being used in the hospitality industry to enhance customer experience, from offering customized room recommendations to personalized check-in options.

“While my career path didn’t lead me to a data analyst role or a data scientist role, I do continue to leverage the applicable computer science skills and technical skills I cultivated here at Hotchkiss and during my engineering degree to enhance my efforts in data strategy development for clients,” she said.

Following her talk, Watson said she was thrilled to receive Wistar’s invitation to return to Hotchkiss. “I was so excited to be able to give back to the community. I really loved my time at Hotchkiss, and I feel a deep connection to the School. It reminds me of being home. I was so happy that I could guide current students or provide any sort of advice to them,” she said.

Watson said that she gained her confidence at Hotchkiss. “To this day, I truly thank the humanities program and the Harkness-style discussion classes for being one of the largest contributors to my growth.”

JANUARY 2024

Ellie DeSouza ’19

Trading analyst at Goldman Sachs

A Conversation About Computer Science

Laura Watson ’14

BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME

BY CHELSEA EDGAR

Soccer set Michael Leon ’21 on a path forward—and kept him in touch with his roots.

Long before Michael Leon ’21 was playing under stadium lights for the University of Michigan men’s soccer team, he was an 11-year-old boy from Tantra Hill, Ghana, a small city on the outskirts of Accra, who dreamed of going to high school, getting a college degree, and making it to the professional leagues.

“Soccer has always been the center of my life,” said Leon, who is now in his junior year at the University of Michigan and recently traveled back to his hometown to share his love of the sport with children in Ghana. “It’s been the vehicle to finding out my purpose, figuring out who I want to be and why I do what I do.”

For Leon, a midfielder and forward who has earned piles of accolades for his performance on the field since he first donned a Bearcats uniform as a prep, soccer has been a source of both profound joy and sometimes painful personal growth. At the start of Leon’s sophomore year at Michigan, he suffered an ankle sprain that forced him to sit out most of the season. During that time, he felt disconnected from the team and the sport that had become a vital part of his identity. He turned inward and thought about what he could do to rekindle his sense of purpose, which is how the Michael Leon Project was born.

Last summer, Leon returned to Tantra Hill with The Uniform Funding Foundation (TUFF)—a nonprofit started by Michigan alumnus Adam Shibley that provides sports equipment to athletes in underserved communities—to distribute 100 soccer balls and jerseys to children who play on the same fields where Leon first discovered his passion for the game. TUFF

captured the visit in a short documentary in which Leon’s effervescent charisma, and his deep affection for the place where he grew up, are on full display. “What I love about my community is, as you walk with me…I hug every single person,” Leon says as the camera follows him through the streets of Tantra Hill as he embraces people left and right. “It’s interconnectedness, where everybody cares about everybody.” Seeing the young athletes’ joy at receiving their new uniforms, which bear Leon’s name on the back, strengthened his resolve to keep striving on and off the field—because for Leon, his success and his community’s success are inextricably intertwined.

“I see myself in these kids,” he said. “This project is about inspiring them to keep going, because it’s so easy for kids who grow up where we’re from to give up after a while. You look to your left, you look to your right, and you find no opportunity, no person who’s going to push you from the back. And a lot of these kids look at me and think, ‘If Michael did it, we can also do it.’”

Pursuing His Right to Dream

Leon, the third oldest of five brothers, began playing soccer when he was 5, and he knew from that early age the field could open doors for him. His parents encouraged him to stay focused on his schoolwork. When he was 11, he was accepted to Right to Dream Academy, a boarding school in Ghana three hours from Tantra Hill, that prepares promising young soccer players from all over Africa for top high schools and universities in the U.S. and the U.K.

At first, Leon struggled to adjust to life away from home. After a tough game, he couldn’t go to his mother and father for a hug or a pep talk; he even missed fighting with his siblings. “My confidence was very low,” Leon said. “All I did was look at

Michael Leon’21, right, distributed soccer balls and jerseys to children in Tantra Hill, Ghana.

other players and compare myself, which wasn’t helping.”

Gradually, he began to understand that each player contributed something unique to the game—and that the key to selfesteem, for him, was figuring out what he could bring to his team. By the time Leon graduated from Right to Dream, he had become one of the team’s best forwards and traveled to Europe to train with professional soccer clubs, including Manchester City in England and FC Nordsjaelland in Denmark.

Leon, who was one of the top studentathletes in his class, was admitted to Hotchkiss on a full scholarship. He was excited to follow in the footsteps of some of his Right to Dream idols, including Umar Farouk Osman ’17, and to push himself academically. “I wanted to go to the hardest program, because I knew that’s where I’d get challenged the most and be the best student possible,” Leon said.

But when he arrived in Lakeville, he discovered that the academic rigor wasn’t the only challenge he’d have to navigate. “I went from wearing athletic clothing every single day to learning how to tie a tie and wearing a blazer,” Leon said. As he struggled to find the right balance between his schoolwork and the demands of being on the soccer team, his athletic performance suffered. “I think I probably scored three goals as a forward, and that was heartbreaking for me,” Leon said.

“A LOT OF THESE KIDS LOOK AT ME AND THINK, ‘IF MICHAEL DID IT, WE CAN ALSO DO IT.’”

—MICHAEL LEON ’21

Looking back, Leon sees his first season at Hotchkiss as part of a larger pattern in his life. “Every time I move into a different institution or a different program, my first year is always a struggle,” he said. But with perseverance and the support of his coaches and mentors at Hotchkiss, he found his footing. In his first year at Hotchkiss, he lived on the same floor of Flinn Dormitory as boys varsity soccer coach Jay Thornhill, who kept an eye on him and made sure he stayed on top of his homework. Jane Herold, study skills coordinator and instructor in English, helped him organize his schedule and lent a compassionate ear whenever he was feeling overwhelmed. He spent weekends and school holidays at the home of his friend and teammate Graeme Styles ’21, whose family Leon now considers his own. “It was that sense of feeling loved and feeling like somebody was here to support me,” Leon said of becoming part of the Styles family. “I’d found a home, and I could focus on soccer and school without worrying about anything on the outside that felt like a distraction before.”

Leon’s growing confidence translated to the soccer field. He returned for his sophomore year at the top of his game, and collegiate scouts took notice. As a junior, he committed to the University of Michigan, a Big Ten school, where his hero, Farouk, had also played collegiate soccer. In Leon’s four years at Hotchkiss, he was a three-time All-State athlete, a three-time All-New England Prep School Athletic Conference selection, and a three-time Western New

England Prep School Soccer Association all-star honoree.

Even as he garnered individual accolades, Leon never lost sight of his teammates, according to boys varsity soccer coach Mario Williams ’12, who is an instructor in environmental science and dean of the Class of 2026.

“Michael always looked to find new ways to inspire his peers to hold a similar degree of passion and care for the team and its success as a collective,” Williams said. “He was not only one of our best soccer players in recent years, but also one of our most accomplished leaders.”

Leon, who is majoring in international studies at Michigan, hopes someday to sign with a professional soccer club, then embark on a career that will allow him to effect meaningful change back in Ghana. The Michael Leon Project, he said, reminded him that no matter how far he ventures from home, his community will always hold him close. At one point during his trip to Tantra Hill with TUFF last summer, Leon said, a group of 10 kids suddenly turned their new jerseys around to display his name on the front. (See photo, top left.)

“That was an incredible moment for me,” he said. “I knew then that I wanted to come back to America and have an amazing season— because the bigger I get, the farther I go, the more I can bring my success back home.”

TAKING THE PLUNGE

FOR THE BULAKULS, SWIMMING IS A FAMILY AFFAIR

BY CHELSEA EDGAR

THE BULAKUL FAMILY GENE POOL might, in fact, be a swimming pool. Brothers Teddy ’06, Tim ’08, and Tyler ’10 grew up in Bangkok, Thailand, and their parents often took them to the beach or the pool to beat the intense heat. By the third grade, the boys were swimming for their British international school’s team. At Hotchkiss, they set records in Hixon Pool that stand to this day. And this summer, Bulakul Bearcats made waves together competing as a family and representing Thailand at the World Aquatics Masters Championships, a biennial event held in Japan in 2023—a testament to their unwavering commitment to excellence and the support they found within the Hotchkiss community.

For the Bulakuls, swimming is much more than a competitive sport; it’s a lifelong discipline that has bonded them as brothers and teammates. “It’s taught us a lot about accountability, about showing up to practice and putting in the work,” said Teddy, who swam at Johns Hopkins University after graduating from Hotchkiss. “It’s about camaraderie and grittiness, and those things have carried us through from when we were young to Hotchkiss and college and now in our professional lives.”

After Hotchkiss, all three Bulakuls went on to swim for their respective colleges—Teddy and Tim at Johns

Teddy Bulakul ’06, right, and Tyler Bulakul ’10, left, with their parents, Suravut Bulakul and Camille Ma P’06,’08,’10.

Tyler Bulakul ’10, left, and Teddy Bulakul ’06, below, represented Thailand at the 2023 World Aquatics Masters Championships.

Hopkins and Tyler at Amherst College, where he continued to break conference and college records. In recent years, Teddy and Tyler, who competed in the World Championships, have moved to far-flung parts of the world to pursue their careers:

Teddy earned his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, resides in northern Virginia, and works in sales for Microsoft; Tyler earned his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and returned to Bangkok, where their parents still live, to work in private credit investing at Ares Management. But in spite of the geographic distances among them, the Bulakul clan has stayed connected through the pool—and the brothers’ dedication to swimming has even inspired their parents, Suravut Bulakul and Camille Ma P’06,’08,’10, to take the plunge.

In August 2023, Teddy, Tyler, and Suravut competed in the World Aquatics Masters Championships held in Fukuoka, Japan, an event that drew more than 10,000 top swimmers ages 25 and over—with some competitors in their 90s—from more than 100 countries. Several of the swimmers were previous and current Olympians. Suravut raced in the 50-meter freestyle event, the culmination of six months of training; Camille, who had qualified for the championship but

“[SWIMMING] TAUGHT US A LOT ABOUT ACCOUNTABILITY, ABOUT SHOWING UP TO PRACTICE AND PUTTING IN THE WORK.”

–TEDDY BULAKUL ’06

decided not to participate, cheered her family on from the pool deck. For the first time in decades, Teddy and Tyler swam on the same relay team, placing among the top 10 relay teams in the world for their age group in the 4x50-meter freestyle relay.

Teddy, who prefers sprints to long-distance swims (“Coach [Keith] Moon can attest that he swam me once in the 500-yard freestyle my prep year, and never again!” he joked), competed in the 50-meter butterfly, backstroke, and freestyle. Tyler competed in several individual events, including the butterfly triple crown consisting of the 50-meter butterfly, 100-meter butterfly, and 200meter butterfly. He ended up breaking the Thai national masters record for his age group in each event. He also placed in the top 10

in the world for his age category in both the 200-meter butterfly and 50-meter backstroke.

Teddy and Tyler broke multiple Thai national masters records for their age groups, including both relays in which they competed together.

After their final race, the Bulakuls celebrated by indulging in their family’s other favorite shared activity: eating. Fukuoka is known as the ramen capital of Japan, and the Bulakuls sampled no fewer than five different ramen establishments.

For Teddy and Tyler, the experience of rooting for their father marked a major role reversal. At the Masters Championship, Teddy said, “I was kind of the face behind the camera, whereas my dad had always been that person. To see him set a goal, and then to be there in person to watch him go for it, was really a lot of fun.”

As seasoned competitors, Tyler added, he and Teddy could help their father with his pre-race jitters: “We’ve done this so much that it’s second nature, but our parents would sometimes freak out, like, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to finish this,’” Tyler said. “But we would just tell them, ‘It’s all going to be fine. Just don’t go out too fast, and pace yourself.’”

‘VERY BEST YEARS’ FOR HOTCHKISS SWIMMING

At Hotchkiss, the Bulakuls were known for inspiring their peers with their passion for swimming and water polo, said head boys varsity and JV swim coach Keith Moon P’13,’16, who is also the E. Carleton

Tyler, Teddy, and Suravut Bulakul competed in the World Aquatics Masters Championships.

The Bulakuls earned a top 10 relay diploma at the world championships (left), as well as records during their time at Hotchkiss.

Granbery Teaching Chair, instructor in English, history, and Russian language, and a Lufkin Prize recipient. “All three Bulakuls were remarkable in their willingness to do whatever was expected or needed for the team,” Moon said. “For eight years, we had at least one Bulakul on our team, and those were some of our very best years in terms of swimming and water polo. They were instrumental not just as exceptional swimmers, but also as the sorts of team leaders who made other swimmers want to join.”

Tim, the middle Bulakul, was captain of both the boys swimming and water polo teams during Tyler’s lower-mid year. Tyler currently holds the Hotchkiss individual record in the boys 100-yard butterfly and was part of the 200-yard medley relay team whose record remains unbroken to this day; Teddy was a member of the team that still holds the school record for the 200-yard freestyle relay two decades later.

After college, Teddy kept up a regular swimming routine by squeezing in laps in the morning before work, which he says helps him start each day with the right mindset. “You’re setting yourself up for the day, for the week, for the month, for the year,” he said. But Tyler stopped swimming for almost a decade after college, burned out from years of

competitive racing. At the beginning of this year, he said, he was finally ready to get back into the pool. Within a few months, Tyler noticed a big difference in his mental and physical well-being. “Everything just kind of clicked,” he said.

Around the time Tyler began swimming again, his parents had joined The Royal Bangkok Sports Club, their childhood club’s master’s team, to stay active. As they watched Tyler lose more than 40 pounds and get back into shape, he explained, they decided they wanted to push themselves, too. Together, Teddy, Tyler, and their parents set their sights on the 2023 World Aquatics Masters Championships. Now that they’ve achieved that milestone, they’re already looking ahead to the 2024 World Aquatics Masters Championships scheduled to be held in Doha, Qatar.

Until then, the Bulakuls plan to keep each other accountable across continents and time zones, Teddy and Tyler said. They have a family text thread where they share their swimming workouts—and, of course, photos of the meals they eat afterwards.

“We love to eat,” Teddy said. “My theory is that we can either eat less or work out more, and there’s no way we’re going to eat less.”

“FOR EIGHT YEARS, WE HAD AT LEAST ONE BULAKUL ON OUR TEAM, AND THOSE WERE SOME OF OUR VERY BEST YEARS IN TERMS OF SWIMMING AND WATER POLO. THEY WERE INSTRUMENTAL NOT JUST AS EXCEPTIONAL SWIMMERS, BUT ALSO AS THE SORTS OF TEAM LEADERS WHO MADE OTHER SWIMMERS WANT TO JOIN.”

—HEAD BOYS VARSITY AND JV SWIM COACH KEITH MOON P’13,’16

Teddy Bulakul ’06 and Tim Bulakul ’08 on the boys swimming team in the 2006 Mischianza

The team had a 10-0 record and placed third in the New England Championships.

Celebrating 50 Years of Coeducation

THE SCHOOL WILL COMMEMORATE 50 YEARS and women at Hotchkiss throughout the 2024-25 academic year. Beginning with the first female trailblazers who enrolled in the fall of 1974, we will reflect on their inspiring legacy, pay tribute to the achievements of girls who followed in their footsteps, and gratefully acknowledge the female faculty, staff, trustees, and alumnae who helped boldly steer the School forward. And with this nod to the past, we also look to the future, illuminating ways to approach and embrace a diverse and inclusive Hotchkiss.

The commemoration will include a yearlong community-building conversation that engages students, parents, faculty, staff, and alumni. Elements are expected to encompass student research, classroom work, alumni events, performances, and physical and digital exhibits, including a documentary film that is scheduled to premiere in May 2025. If you have questions or ideas, please email Robin Chandler ’87 at cchandle@hotchkiss.org.

Archives Seeks Memorabilia From Early Days of Coeducation

ALUMNAE ARTISTS: Submit Work for Coeducation Exhibition

The Hotchkiss Archives is actively seeking to collect materials related to the early years of coeducation. This includes letters, diaries, scrapbooks, academic materials, memorabilia like shirts, posters, wall hangings, and photographs (preferably ones that are identified in some way).

Hotchkiss will curate various exhibitions throughout the coming year as we celebrate 50 years of coeducation. Anyone interested in donating any materials may email Archivist Rosemary Davis at rdavis1@hotchkiss.org. No item is too small or insignificant! Items will be donated to the archives for permanent inclusion in our collections unless otherwise specified.

Are you a Hotchkiss alumna and a working artist? Tremaine Art Gallery is planning an exhibition highlighting the work of Hotchkiss’s community of women artists for September 2024. Ninety-four years ago, Hotchkiss hired its first art teacher, but it was another 45 years before female students began making art. They joined instructors like Blanche Hoar, Marjorie Reid, and Delores Coan in gently disrupting the art wing’s long tradition of male art making. If you are a visual artist in any medium or a photographer interested in submitting work for this exhibition, please scan the QR code and complete the form. Exhibition dates are Sept. 4, 2024 to Oct. 27, 2024 for traditional media, such as painting, drawing, textiles, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, and mixed media, followed by a photography, film, and digital media exhibition from Nov. 12, 2024 through Jan. 19, 2025.

Art studio, from left: the late Blanche Hoar, the late Robert Burrer, Tricia Stone ’77, and the late Katha Diddel Sussman ’75, P’07,’09,’14

REUNION WEEKEND FALL

It was wonderful to welcome back the Classes of 1953, 1963, and 1973 for Reunion Weekend! Thank you to those who joined us for your milestone 50th, 60th, and 70th reunions. Campus was full of alumni who reconnected with old friends and shared Hotchkiss memories. For example, some members of the Class of 1963 visited a memorial tree on campus dedicated in memory of Peter Adams ’63 (see page 48). For those who weren’t able to make it, we missed you. We hope to see you on campus soon!

BOARD OF GOVERNORS

The Board of Governors Offers Resources for Alumni

Do you have questions about what the School is like today?

Do you want to talk to someone who has the same shared experience as you? Would you like to learn more about specific topics? What events do you want to see in your area?

The Board of Governors is a resource for Hotchkiss alumni! They are the engagement board of the Alumni Association, and they want to hear from you.

Please email your questions and comments to Co-Presidents Brooke Harlow ’92 and Paul Mutter ’87, P’26 at BOG@hotchkiss.org.

Outreach from the Board

Recently, members of the Board of Governors have been reaching out to alumni to connect and ask for their feedback. If someone contacts you, we appreciate your time!

Meet the Board of Governors

DOWNLOAD THE APP OR USE THE DESKTOP VERSION!

For security reasons, your previous Hotchkiss alumni database credentials have not been transferred to the new platform. You can register as a new user by linking your Facebook, Google, or LinkedIn accounts, or by using your email and a password you create.

Standing, from left: Julia Chen ’16, Julia Tingley Kivitz ’01, Brooke Harlow ’92, Ernesto Cruz III ’01, Cameron Hough ’09, Whitney PakPour Zeta ’04, Caroline Barlerin ’91, Weijen Chang ’86, P’22,’24, Alexandra Treyz ’04, Mark Pierce ’67, P’13, Carlos Garcia ’77, Gigi Brush Priebe ’77, P’06,’09; Sitting, from left: Adam Sharp ’96, Marquis Scott ’98, Whitney Gulden ’12, Daniel Pai ’19, Lisa Bjornson Wolf ’82, Colin Pennycooke ’89, Paul Mutter ’87, P’26; Not pictured: Natalie Boyse ’09, Rafael Carbonell ’93, Danielle S. Ferguson ’97, Robert Kuhn ’75, Scott Meadow ’73, P’02, Keith Merrill ’02, Sarah Thornton-Clifford ’76, P’07,’23, Madison West ’05, Clara Rankin Williams ’89

Dining Hall Memories

The year was 1965. The Beatles were climbing the charts with Help! and President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. In Lakeville, students gathered in Luke Foyer to wait for the dining experience to begin. Once the head waiter opened the door, students went to their assigned table, stood behind their chair until the headmaster said grace, then sat as the head of the table served the meal with assistance from the two students closest to him.

In this photo we see Rusty Chandler ’53, P’82,’85,’87, GP’10,’14,’16,’22,’27 (who was assistant director of admissions at the time) and his wife, Mimi, enjoying the meal at table B-4 in the center aisle of the Dining Hall.

Turn to page 10 to learn more about the new Hotchkiss Dining Commons, which is set to open in the fall of 2025. Share your Dining Hall memories with Hotchkiss Magazine at magazine@hotchkiss.org.

August 2023 Alum of the Month: Peter T. Grauer ’64 ’64

PETER T. GRAUER ’64 is an American business leader and the chairman of Bloomberg, a global financial technology company. He has been recognized extensively for his achievements and is respected and admired by his contemporaries, both in the U.S. and around the world.

Born in Philadelphia in 1945, Grauer spent a lackluster two years of high school in Philly before convincing his parents to send him to Hotchkiss. When Hotchkiss admissions insisted that Grauer repeat the 10th grade, it turned out to be a veiled opportunity. Grauer’s academics improved, and he came into his own as a person; he was elected as president of the Student Council and as co-captain of the football team.

Hotchkiss faculty recognized not only Grauer’s leadership abilities but also his strong character. A March 1964 college recommendation letter referenced him as “an outstanding boy.” The letter went on to say that as president of the Student Council, he led students “to a realization of full and mature responsibility for the welfare of the School, in many cases by taking the less immediately popular course of action.” He was further described as “unassuming, unfailingly courteous, straightforward, and loyal. At the same time, there is a toughness of fiber and a courage here … one of the finest.”

After Hotchkiss, he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he thrived in the large stateschool environment. He learned to negotiate big crowds and to focus before graduating in 1968. He then matriculated at Harvard University Graduate School of Business Program for Management Development, graduating in 1975.

He began his business career at Citibank. Prior to joining Bloomberg, he was a

managing director of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) from 1992 to 2000 when DLJ was acquired by Credit Suisse First Boston. Grauer is a founder of DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and DLJ Investment Partners, and he served as a managing director and senior partner of CSFB Private Equity.

In a 2013 speech given at a Wharton Leadership Conference, Grauer said, “Good leaders know that the next big opportunity or great hire could come from anywhere, and they conduct themselves accordingly.”

He explained that his legacy at Bloomberg began in a most unconventional way. Spending his Saturday mornings at a stable in New York’s Westchester County while his young daughter took riding lessons, Grauer struck up a friendship with another father doing the same. The other dad was Michael Bloomberg, and he told Grauer that he wanted to go into politics. (Bloomberg went on to serve as mayor of New York City.) He needed a CEO and offered the job to Grauer.

Grauer became a member of the Bloomberg Board of Directors in 1996 and was named chairman of the board in March 2001, succeeding Michael Bloomberg. In 2002, he joined Bloomberg full time as chairman, president, and CEO. The company—which provides financial analytics and data through the Bloomberg Terminal—has grown to more than 25,000 employees in 130 locations across the globe.

Grauer continues to believe that good leaders really know their colleagues and customers and relate to them on a personal level. “I want them to know that they are important to me, and they, in turn, are loyal.” He adds that you can never tell who will emerge as a leader, and he is grateful that more than once during his career someone took a chance on him

when others were more qualified.

Grauer has shared his talent for business with numerous organizations for decades and has affiliations and board memberships too numerous to list. He and his wife, Laurie, give back through the Peter T. & Laura M. Grauer Foundation and are especially known for their generous philanthropy to educational institutions, community organizations, social programs, hospitals, and the arts.

He is a recipient of the Peterson Business Award, the William Richardson Davie Award, the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Service to the College of Arts and Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Papal Order of Merit. Grauer was also inducted into the North Carolina Media and Journalism Hall of Fame.

In reflection, Grauer notes that life’s opportunities are often unexpected—and counts Hotchkiss among his opportunities.

September 2023 Alum of the Month:

Lisa Cholnoky ’79 ’79

From the moment LISA CHOLNOKY ’79 first set foot on campus in 1971 while dropping off her brother, Tom Cholnoky ’74, P’09, she knew she wanted to attend Hotchkiss. “I was captivated by the energy, and thought, ‘If only they would accept girls.’” Five years later, after coeducation had become a reality, she enrolled in one of the first classes to admit young women. She is now a champion of giving back and promoting decency in everyday life through conversations and actions that continue to inspire alumni, including spearheading a grassroots campaign to address civil discourse in politics, establishing National Decency Day, and actively volunteering for Ukraine relief efforts.

Hotchkiss proved to be everything she’d hoped for in a school. “I still have my Emerson and Thoreau textbooks marked up with highlighters and notes. Geoff Marchant’s P’93,’07 daily theme assignments serve me to this day. Excellence was evident in French class with Alban Barker and in American studies with Jim Marks.” She learned other valuable lessons on the Class of ’49 Fields: “True gentleman scholar and field hockey coach Neil Scott P’77,’78,’82 fostered bona fide team spirit and respect.”

Her Hotchkiss experience extends far beyond her time as a student. In 1986, the Board launched a strategic initiative as the first step to create a planning structure to carry Hotchkiss forward to its second century. It was designed as “an efficient mechanism for receiving input on long-term issues from all members of the Hotchkiss community.” Cholnoky was asked to serve. “I was assigned to lead the ‘diversity’ charge. One key contribution involved proposing that faculty member Sam Coughlin P’91,’93 join. Coughlin was a role model for girls on campus

and, later, the first female dean of faculty. The goal was to make Hotchkiss the best independent secondary school of its size in the United States. Thirty years later, Hotchkiss fine-tuned the mission statement, continuing to address the times we live in today.”

Graduating from Dartmouth with honors in French literature, Cholnoky studied in Europe before joining the world of finance. After developing a strong international network through her careers at Citibank and Institutional Investor magazine, she opened in New York the first U.S. office of Brunswick Group International, a leading U.K. strategic financial communications firm, and helped launch the company’s global expansion.

In 2017, Cholnoky launched a movement to inspire decency in everyday life. She began by mailing 535 letters and “Decency” buttons to every member of Congress. The effort was recognized on the floor of the House with a speech encouraging both sides to reach across the aisle to restore a sense of respect and dignity to American politics and beyond.

“Communities have been divided, and we have lost the ability to have civil discussions,” she says. Many Hotchkiss alumni have supported the campaign over the years, such as Axel Bhandari ’19 and Ivy Bhandari ’21, who served as 2019 Connecticut Decency diplomats.

Cholnoky established National Decency Day in 2019 and, working with students in more than 25 states, received national coverage and bipartisan support in Washington, D.C. May 14, 2024, marks the fifth anniversary of the launch as Cholnoky continues to “spread the word.”

The war in Ukraine is a personal cause for the Cholnoky family. “Our parents were Hungarian refugees, and they received aid from various organizations and strangers when they left their country during World War II. Our family had close ties in Nagypalád, Ukraine, once Hungarian territory, where a Cholnoky Arts & Music School is located. We worked with organizations to aid refugees by raising money for the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation and by volunteering our time on the ground,” she said.

Cholnoky’s Hotchkiss peers elected her as alumni trustee in the late 1980s, and she joined the Board just prior to the Centennial. “I worked with a group of talented people who encouraged me to find my voice in an experience that resulted in friendships spanning generations,” she said.

“Hotchkiss launched a singular network for me through organizing class reunions, keeping contact with faculty members, and participating in fundraising telethons and on-campus events,” she said, noting that her class reunions coincide not only with those of her brother, but also of his son and her nephew, TJ Cholnoky ’09. “It was a privilege to attend Hotchkiss, and I will always value the opportunity to stay connected.”

July 2023 Alum of the Month:

Dr. Jason B. Carmel ’91, P’27 ’91

JASON B. CARMEL ’91, P’27, M.D., PH.D., chose medicine, like many members of his family, but his life’s work took on new meaning after his identical twin brother, David, became paralyzed diving into shallow water during a trip to Mexico. Jason is now a neuroscientist who studies central nervous system injury and repair. He serves as the principal investigator of the Movement Recovery Laboratory and the executive director of the Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy Center at Columbia University. The once highly competitive twins now collaborate to lobby for spinal cord research, and their moving story was featured on The Today Show this spring.

Carmel entered Hotchkiss in 1987 as a prep, only vaguely aware of his family’s deep roots in Lakeville. His grandfather, Albert Erdmann Jr., was Class of 1929, his uncle Albert Erdmann III was Class of 1959, and his uncle Anthony Erdmann was Class of 1964. “I did not recognize these connections at first, so maybe my choice was genetic,” joked Carmel. But now that his daughter, Sasha, has joined the Class of 2027, he finds significance in the idea of her walking the same ground his grandfather did 100 years ago. “The longer I live, the more I see and appreciate these threads of shared experience.”

He values the skills of critical thinking and writing he learned at Hotchkiss, as well as the lasting friendships of more than 30 years. His favorite faculty member was “hands down ‘Sweet Lou’ Pressman P’97. No other experience has opened a world to me more than his philosophy courses. When I think about what I want Sasha to get out of the Hotchkiss experience, I think about those classes and the personal connection I feel to Mr. Pressman.”

After receiving his undergraduate degree in human biology from Stanford University, he returned to New York City where he

was raised and began medical school at Columbia University. During his second year, his brother’s devastating spinal cord injury changed Carmel’s focus in medicine to neurology and nerve regeneration research. “I did a neurosurgery rotation with my father during medical school, which was thrilling,” he said. “I do love surgery, but advancing science as a surgeon is a very tough thing to do.”

After a residency in pediatric neurology, Carmel completed further science training. He developed expertise in brain and spinal cord injury and how to use activity to shape the nervous system. “We use a combination of anatomy, physiology (brain mapping), and behavior to understand nervous system plasticity. We have used laboratory models to understand how activity, mostly in the form of electrical stimulation, can strengthen the neural pathways spared by injury and restore movement.” His team has used the

therapies developed in the laboratory to apply paired brain and spinal cord stimulation in people.

The Carmel brothers work together to lobby for spinal cord research. Jason focuses on the science of neural recovery. David, who has joined the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, promotes new therapeutics and raises money for their project. “In 2010, after the financial crisis, then-Gov. David Patterson swept the funding into the general fund. Our lobbying got it back,” Jason said. “Now we are looking to expand the original $8.5 million in spinal cord injury research to $19 million to adjust for inflation and to index future funding to inflation.”

Diving accidents are a major cause of spinal cord injury (SCI). Looking down the road, Carmel is hopeful that FDAapproved therapies for SCI—mostly related to spinal cord stimulation—will be available within the next few years.

“The first phase 3 study of spinal cord stimulation to improve arm function in people with injury to the cervical spinal cord met its primary endpoint. In the coming years, we can expect results of therapies designed to restore blood pressure regulation, bowel and bladder function, and walking.”

He shares a word of life advice to Hotchkiss students: “Fully enjoy the Hotchkiss experience. I studied there for the love of learning, not to achieve the next milestone, and still have had some success in an unrelated field. My three kids (ages 13, 14, and 15) and their friends already talk a lot about college. I would love for Hotchkiss students to immerse themselves in the experience and not worry about the next stage so much.”

June 2023 Alum of the Month:

Kadeem Leon Gill ’07 ’07

KADEEM LEON GILL ’07 has committed his life to educating others in an effort to “satisfy a gnawing urge to justify the privilege I was afforded” at Hotchkiss. He is the executive director at Rocketship Public Schools Wisconsin, a network of schools dedicated to unleashing the potential of students in underserved communities across Milwaukee.

A gay, Black, and Latinx man, Gill attended a New York City public school before earning a spot at the Philippa Schuyler Middle School for the Gifted and Talented in Brooklyn. He then received a full scholarship at Hotchkiss, which completely changed the trajectory of his life.

“Hotchkiss provided me with a community to experience physical and psychological safety and endless resources to expand my world and concept of possibility,” he said. “It transformed my paradigm of conflict. I was able to access counseling and receive mentorship to help me understand how to advocate, set boundaries, and disagree productively within a diverse community. It is this skill I am most thankful for, which, no doubt, has had the largest impact on my success. The college advising team helped me get into 10 out of the 12 schools to which I applied. I ultimately enrolled at Princeton as a firstgeneration college student.”

His time at Princeton University was defining. He had planned to pursue a degree in law (and even earned a seat at Columbia Law School), but he discovered his true passion—teaching—while tutoring adults who were recovering from drug addiction to earn their GED. Tragically, the significance of education surfaced again during that time when his brother was murdered in 2008. When the prosecutor shared the defendant’s statement as evidence during the trial, it was filled with incoherent sentences and misspellings.

Gill’s anger toward his brother’s killer became tempered. “I experienced firsthand the results of the path of an illiterate high school dropout from a poor neighborhood—a path that ultimately led to my brother’s murder. It didn’t feel like ‘justice’ to know that this young Black man would spend his life in prison.”

Upon graduation, Gill joined Teach For America and subsequently earned two master’s degrees: one from Hunter College in special education and a second in educational leadership from the Bank Street School of Education. He is currently finishing his Ed.D. in educational leadership and innovation from New York University.

Gill spent the next decade teaching, working in educational leadership, and consulting in the greater New York City area. His focus was always on helping underserved populations and challenged students. His work as the founding special education director at the Equity Project Charter School in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood was particularly impactful.

In 2020, Gill moved to Cleveland, OH, and became managing director of exceptional student education at Breakthrough Public Schools, a 12-school public charter network. Through his partnership with families, leadership on increasing diversity in hiring, and commitment to serving students of all abilities, he helped steer the organization to new heights. “I’m proud of the culturally responsive, traumainformed program that we co-created at Breakthrough. When many school districts were dropping in student proficiency, students at Breakthrough improved.”

He became Rocketship Public Schools Wisconsin’s executive director in 2022. He was drawn to their commitment to working alongside families to effect change in their

communities and their demonstrated pledge to employ diverse staff members who serve as windows and mirrors for students.

Gill says that an exemplary, individualized, diverse learner’s educational program is one that remediates the prerequisites for that grade without compromising access to grade-level skills and standards. “We all must believe in the limitless power and potential of our students, who will absolutely rise to the level of the standards we set,” he emphasized.

Gill reflected on June’s Gay Pride month. “For nearly 23 years, I felt inherently flawed, unlovable, and worst of all, a fraud. The relief I felt when I finally invited my friends and family into my sexual orientation was momentous. I am an advocate of the LGBTQIA community, and until we realize a fully just world that invites people of all gender identities and sexual orientations, we will continue to celebrate annually the progress we make along the way.”

In closing, Gill says, “I grew up with two brothers in the same household, the same community. One was murdered and the other is in prison. The only difference between us was my access to education, especially Hotchkiss. An investment in Hotchkiss is an investment well made.”

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October 2023 Alum of the Month:

Lindsay Reed ’18

LINDSAY REED ’18 is a two-time gold medalist for Team USA hockey in the Women’s World Championships, and she recently added three more gold medals to her collection—this time as business owner and co-founder of Kawama Tequila & Soda. Reed and her brother, Kersey Reed ’12, received gold medals for each of their canned tequila soda flavors at the world’s largest spirits competition, firmly establishing their niche in this large industry. The siblings, who are also dedicated to giving back, donate a portion of their revenue to protect ocean life.

Numerous members of Reed’s family have called Hotchkiss their school, including her grandfather, the late John Shedd Reed ’35, P’73,’81, GP’85,’89,’05,’08,’12,’14,’18, her father, John Reed Jr. ’81, P’12,’14,’18 (who works at Hotchkiss as senior advisor, principal gifts), her sister, Isabel Reed ’14, and her brother, Kersey. Yet Reed says she kept her options open until she toured and visited Hotchkiss for the first time as a prospective student. “I then understood why my family members fell in love with the School.”

Reed found success in the classroom and on the ice as a Bearcat. Her favorite faculty members include Chris “Burchie” Burchfield P’08,’10,’18, the L. Blair Torrey Jr. ’50 Chair, Lufkin Prize recipient, and instructor in English, and John “Mr. Coops” Cooper P’08,’11, who recently retired as an instructor in mathematics.

“Whether teaching, coaching, or just joking around, time spent with them was always the highlight of my day.”

Hotchkiss and hockey have long been synonymous, and Reed says, “I loved skating under two legendary coaches: ‘Chan’ (Robin Chandler ’87) and Coops. Practices were always entertaining, challenging, and fun. It was incredible to be a part of a hardworking group who

showed up every day ready to compete, and I am grateful for making lifelong friends on the team.”

Hockey opened many doors for Reed. “It was a dream come true to go to a school like Harvard, where their academic and athletic standards are second to none.”

She felt honored to play goalie for Team USA while at Hotchkiss. The team won two gold medals at the 2017 and 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation U18 Women’s World Championships. “The first year, we beat Canada in the finals in Zlín, Czech Republic. The second year, we traveled to Dmitrov, Russia, beating Canada in a shootout in the semifinals, and then went on to beat Sweden in the finals,” she said. “There is no greater feeling than standing on the blue line with your teammates, singing the national anthem as the spotlight shines on the USA flag, with gold hanging around your neck. I will always cherish my experience.”

While her major in economics provided a good foundation, she feels that her overall experience as a student-athlete was more valuable than any singular business course. “Between managing athletics, academics, a social life, and becoming an entrepreneur, I learned to be resilient, intentional, and open to feedback. As a goalie, every play I made was under a microscope—this taught me how to channel positive energy and shut out any noise or distractions, and pucks!”

The siblings feel incredibly lucky to work closely together. “The business has been going well, and we expand our reach a little bit every day. The next big step will be working toward building our team. We are finishing our second year on the market in six states on the East Coast.”

Their biggest obstacle was breaking into the industry as two “newbies” with no prior experience. “We defied the odds to get Kawama onto shelves. Once we were happy

with the product, navigating the regulatory environment at both federal and state levels was a challenge.”

The Reeds give a portion of sales to benefit the planet. “As avid outdoorsmen, we felt it was part of our brand identity to not only create the highest quality product, but also to give back and support greater causes. The name ‘Kawama’ comes from the Spanish word for ‘loggerhead sea turtle,’ or ‘caguama.’ We are members of 1% for the Planet, and we give back to protect ocean life and our freshwater ecosystems.”

Reed offers a bit of advice to girls in sports: “Do not be afraid to play with the boys. Learn how to stand up for yourself.”

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THEODORE (“TED”) GEORGE NORTHROP , 98, died of natural causes on Aug. 19, 2023. He had been a 25-year resident of Wellfleet, MA, until moving to assisted living in Brewster, MA, in 2020. He was born on Dec. 15, 1924, to Paul and Vivian Northrop in Poughkeepsie, NY. He graduated from Hotchkiss in 1941 and then earned a B.S. in physics from Yale University in 1944. Immediately after graduation, he was commissioned in the Navy as an ensign and sent to radar school at Harvard and MIT. He was then sent to the Pacific as a radar operator on the USS Blueridge. In 1946, he returned to civilian life and continued his education, obtaining a master’s degree in biological science from Cornell University (1949) and a Ph.D. in physics from Iowa State University (1953). His career was primarily as a theoretical physicist, working in plasma and space physics. He began at Livermore Labs, CA, in the Plasma Theory Group. One of his proudest accomplishments was as the primary author on an influential paper published with Edward Teller, the Livermore director (known as the father of the hydrogen bomb). Ted then moved to a position at Berkeley, doing research in its Theory Group and teaching as an adjunct physics professor for six years. During this time, he wrote a book titled The Adiabatic Motion of Charged Particles, published in 1963 with the foreword written by Teller. In 1965 Ted’s career took him to Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, which is a NASA scientific lab. While at Goddard, he also taught as an adjunct physics professor at the University of Maryland. He spent the remainder of his career at Goddard studying space physics. One of his notable contributions was determining the age of Saturn’s rings by studying particle activity within them. Ted first came to Wellfleet on vacation with his family in 1936, when he was 11. He purchased his house in Wellfleet in 1977 as a summer home but relocated full-time in 1998 upon retirement. A lifelong swimmer, he encouraged others to “keep moving.” He loved swimming in the Wellfleet ponds and early in his retirement participated in the National Seashore Adopt-A-Pond program. He was known to have high energy, always analyzing problems and attempting to solve them. He was healthy enough to renew his driver’s license at the age of 98. Ted is survived by his partner of 30 years, Beatrice Scribner; his five children; one grandson, and one sister, Elizabeth. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a sister and a brother.

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WILLIAM DAVID “BILL” BEVIS, M.D. , born March 19, 1925, died on June 20, 2023 at home. He was 98. Beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, Naval Commander, and pediatrician, he was preceded in death by his brother, Palmer Lichty Bevis ’41, and his dear wife of 61 good years, Dorothy Colleen Carlson Bevis. Four children survive him, as well as 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Before coming to Hotchkiss in 1940, Bill achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in 1939. After graduating from Hotchkiss in 1944, he enrolled in the Columbia University premed A/S V-12 USNR program and received his M.D. degree from Yale Medical School in 1949. He served in the Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota Hospital from 1949-55 and was board-certified in 1956; he was a partner, Pediatric Services, P.A., in Minneapolis from 1956-89. He was a former member of the Minneapolis Children’s Hospital Board and chief of professional staff; the first medical director, Teen Age Medical Service (TAMS); past president, Northwestern Pediatric Society; past state chairman, American Academy of Pediatrics; past president, Minnesota Academy of Medicine; and clinical professor of pediatrics, University of Minnesota Hospital Department of Pediatrics. He retired as Commander (MC) USNR (26-plus years) in 1977. He loved his wife and family, patients and partners, his churches, Bible Study Fellowship, good friends, oil painting, beautiful music, gardening, puttering around, Sand Lake summers, 16 marvelous postretirement years in Hancock, NH, life in general, and especially his last 17-year sojourn at Walker Place. He donated his body to the University of Minnesota Anatomy Bequest Program for medical education.

DUNCAN A. “DUNC” CAMPBELL , age 96, of Bennington, VT, died of natural causes on May 6, 2023, after a long and happy life. Born in Buffalo, NY, on Sept. 21, 1926, he was the youngest child of Donald and Edith (Van Santvoord) Campbell. His uncle was the late George Van Santvoord, Class of 1908, headmaster of Hotchkiss from 192655. Campbell graduated from Hotchkiss in 1944, served on the USS Saratoga in the Pacific until the end of World War II, graduated from Williams College in 1950, and spent his work life as an engineer, teacher, photographer, and conservation educator. He married Ann W. Campbell in

1958, and together they enjoyed 65 years of family, adventures, and projects. Kind, steady, clever and hard-working, he was passionate about the natural world and our responsibility to it. His ruddy cheeks and big smile touched many lives, as did his warmth and enthusiasm. Predeceased by his two older sisters, he is survived by his wife, his son and daughter, both of Bennington, his daughter-in-law and son-inlaw, and four grandchildren. His cousin was the late Jerry Bowen ’42, beloved teacher of English at Hotchkiss from 1953-89.

DONALD SPENCE “DON” LESLIE JR. passed away in Lafayette, CA, on June 1, 2023, a few days before his 98th birthday. Born in 1925 in Minneapolis, MN, and raised in Erie, PA, he attended Hotchkiss from1941 until graduation. He then began studies at Princeton, but after attending only one term, he was drafted into the Army, where he served as an infantryman in both the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters. After discharge in 1946, he returned to Princeton, graduating in 1949 with a degree in economics. After graduating, he worked for Weyerhaeuser timber company in Oregon and then attended Harvard Business School, receiving his MBA in 1953. Upon graduation, he married Mimi Bennett and worked for Gulf Oil Company in Oklahoma and Calgary until 1956, when he moved back to Erie, PA, to work for Hammermill Paper Company. Throughout his 29-year career at Hammermill, he held many leadership positions, eventually retiring as chairman of the board in 1988. In Erie, Don and Mimi were active in the civic and cultural affairs of the town. He served on the boards of American Sterilizer, Lord Corporation, Gannon University, and the First National Bank of Pennsylvania. He was president of the board for the Erie Playhouse and Hamot Medical Center and was co-founder and president of the Hamot Second Century Foundation. He was an avid fly fisherman, hunter, cyclist, sailor, skier, tennis player, horseback rider, scuba diver, and world traveler. He and Mimi spent a good part of their post-retirement years in Snowmass, CO. Thanks to their generous hosting, many people, including their children and grandchildren, have fond memories of sharing Rocky Mountain adventures with them. He is survived by his wife, Mimi Leslie; their children, Bennett Leslie, Michael Leslie ’75, and Cynthia Leslie-Bole ’78, and their spouses; and six grandchildren. Don’s character was marked by gentility, integrity, enthusiasm, a keen intellect, curiosity about others and the world around him, and a great sense of humor. He was a loyal, loving spouse,

a fantastic father, an engaged and supportive grandfather, and a wonderful friend to people of all backgrounds and ages. His life touched and transformed others, and he will be remembered with love and sorely missed by many.

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JOHN FREDERICK DENNIS “DENNY”

HASKELL died on Dec. 9, 2022, in Lindsay, Ontario. Born in Montreal West on Jan. 14, 1928, he attended Hotchkiss from 1943 until his graduation in 1945. He retired as a vice president of BMO, Bank of Montreal. During his later years in the bank, he was especially pleased to have been asked to serve on the board of directors of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Canada. Subsequently, in 1992 he received the 125th Confederation of Canada Commemorative Medal. Later, in 2002 he was awarded The Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal. He was predeceased by his dear sister, Barbara Harper, and her husband, James. He was for 70 years the dearly beloved husband of Pamela S. Harling of Montreal and dear father of Richard and Robert. He was also a grandfather of two and great-grandfather of two.

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ALAN E. SILBERMAN P’94,’96 , a lifelong resident of Stamford, CT, and beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, passed away on Sept. 21, 2023, with his loving wife and daughters at his side. He was 95. Throughout his life, Alan was a dedicated businessman, loyal family man, and an active member of his community. He found great satisfaction in his work. He carried on the family business, Silberman’s of Stamford, which serviced greater Fairfield County, as the third-generation president. He took great pride in seeing the Silberman’s delivery truck all over Stamford. After he liquidated the business in 1979, he continued carpet retailing for another 40 years, earning the nickname from his family: “The carpet king of Stamford.” He loved the outdoors and was an avid hiker, covering almost the entire Appalachian Trail and others over the course of his life. Well into his 80s, he played tennis and skied all over the U.S. and Europe. He loved animals, biking, and traveling, and was a voracious reader, especially of history. He had a deep love for music, and he and Mary C. regularly attended The Metropolitan Opera for more than 20 years. He served as president of the Men’s Club at Temple Beth El, and as a Kiwanian for 35 years, earning him a distinctive recognition in the Legion of Honor. Above all, he was committed to those he loved. He maintained

lifelong friendships with classmates from Hotchkiss and Colby College, as well as from his days serving in the U.S. Army. His greatest joy was found in spending time with his family, celebrating holidays, and traveling the world with them. His family was his greatest pride. He is survived by his devoted wife of nearly 50 years, Mary C. Silberman (Beardmore); his daughters, Lauren Silberman ’94 and Alison Silberman ’96; Alison’s husband, Russ Dudley; and two grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son, Robert “Bobby” Silberman, and his brother, James “Jimmy” Silberman.

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JAMES HOWE “JIM” CAMPBELL , 91, passed away peacefully on Oct. 20, 2022. He attended Hotchkiss from 1945 until his graduation in 1948. He graduated from Yale in 1953. Jim’s analytical abilities served him well in his career as an automotive engineer at Ford Motor Company, where he was employed for 25 years. He managed several different engineering departments and particularly enjoyed the work he did with the steering column design group. His team worked to incorporate the first airbags into steering wheels, thereby saving countless lives. In his retirement he gave back to the community through his work with many organizations, including the AARP Tax Aide Volunteers, Rouge River Rescue, and Master Gardener Volunteers. Jim was a loving and caring husband, father, grandfather, and greatgrandfather, and a true friend to many. His late brother, Doug Campbell Jr., was a member of the Class of 1938. His nephew, Douglas Campbell III, is a member of the Class of 1971; Colin Campbell ’01 is his great-nephew.

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W. ERNST “ERNIE” MINOR III , a fifthgeneration Cincinnatian whose family built Scarlet Oaks in Clifton, died on Aug. 8, 2023. Ernie, thanks to the generosity of his great-aunt, Sarah Fleischmann, attended and graduated from The Hotchkiss School in 1950 and Brown University in 1955. He served on active duty in the U.S. Naval Amphibious Forces from 195557. He was involved in the printing and radio fields before entering politics in 1968, where he worked in New York for the Richard Nixon campaign for president. He was a member of the Nixon White House until 1972. He was particularly proud of his part in having the EPA Research Center located in Cincinnati on Martin Luther King Drive and its dedication by President Gerald Ford in 1975. In 1980 during the Reagan for President campaign,

he was named director of family scheduling. He was part of the transition team and was appointed by President Reagan to be a member of his Council on Environmental Quality; he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1981. He returned to Cincinnati in 1986 to assist with the city’s bicentennial Tall Stacks celebration of 1988. He was a founding board member of The Playhouse in the Park and served on the boards of The Camargo Club, Scarlet Oaks, and WCET. He loved Mt. Adams and ran the Rein dog parade for several years, and he could always be found enjoying lunch at the Mt. Adams Bar and Grill at noon. He is preceded in death by his wife, Caroline Musto; he is survived by four children and seven grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Two cousins are alumni: Bill Minor ’59 and Jim Minor III ’54. He was predeceased by cousins Fred Shaffer Jr. ’46, Max Minor ’58, and Bill Dohrmann III ’52, and an uncle, Ram Minor II ’30.

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DR. PAUL HAROLD BRENNER, M.D., PH.D., a prominent OB/GYN physician, educator, consulting psychologist, and leader, died peacefully on June 21, 2023, at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, CA, the place where he started his successful career in medicine approximately 60 years earlier. He was 90. Known as a compassionate healer and devoted family man, Dr. Brenner touched countless lives with his wisdom and dedication. He attended Hotchkiss from 1948 until his graduation in 1952, received his B.A. from Brown University in 1956 and his M.D. from New York Medical College in 1961, and held an American Cancer Fellowship in Female Oncology (Gynecological Oncology). He received his Ph.D. in psychology from The International University of Professional Psychology. He was the former chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Scripps Memorial Hospital, former professor and director of Female Cancer Surgery at UCSD School of Medicine, and director of Psychosocial Oncology at the San Diego Cancer Research Institute. He authored numerous books and had lectured throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia on the psychology of health and illness and the unconscious patterns that run our lives. Several prominent corporations such as Walmart, Microsoft, and Disney used Dr. Brenner’s Family Triangle Process for team-building and to further their understanding of human behavior. He began his career in academic and clinical medicine as an OB/GYN with a sub-specialty in female oncology. During a sabbatical, he serendipitously began to counsel patients with life-threatening illnesses. As a result, his life dramatically changed. He left

the practice of medicine as he had known it and saw one person a day with a chronic or terminal illness. These wise, transparent individuals became his teachers. Dr. Brenner learned the relationship between emotions, health, and illness. For him, health became the appreciation and acceptance of life, self, and others. This led Dr. Brenner to search for those repetitive, unconscious patterns that set the stage for illness. This understanding also helped him manage his own cancer.

Fascinated by how emotions integrate the mind and body, he obtained a doctorate in counseling psychology. He also studied trans-cultural and integrative healing in South America, Taiwan, and China. His last 50 years were devoted to the search for what makes an individual chronically ill or well. The search had taken him through the fields of obstetrics and gynecology, surgical oncology, and counseling psychology, from birth to death. He believed the answer could be found in the new field of epigenetics, the study of those environmental factors that affect the expression of a gene. Dr. Brenner wrote several books, including Health is a Question of Balance, A Shared Creation,

Seeing Your Life Through New Eyes, Buddha in the Waiting Room, and Love Made Visible. He received numerous accolades for his teaching and devotion to healing. He is survived by his beloved wife, Deborah; sister, Claire; four children and nine cherished grandchildren. He is also mourned by numerous loving family members and friends. Dr. Brenner was the Hotchkiss Alum of the Month in August 2018.

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The following obituary was written by Peter Rosenwald ’53, with instructions for it to be published upon his death.

PETER J. ROSENWALD passed away in Brazil on Oct. 8, 2023. He was 87. Described by many friends and colleagues as a true “maverick,” Peter led a life that could rightly be called “kaleidoscopic.” His credo was an observation from his Princeton advisor R.P. Blackmur: “There is no order which is complete and there is no conforming order worth mustering which does not invite, for its life, the constant and random supply of fresh disorder.” Born in New York City and brought up in its suburbs (which he hated), he attended Hotchkiss (which he credited with positively changing his life) and Princeton (which he endured), where he received a bachelor’s degree in English and American Studies and Art. An internationalist, living and working in New York, London, Paris and Sao Paulo, he focused in his business career on publishing and marketing, including his work as book division head at American Heritage, publishing director of The British Printing Corporation, founder and CEO

of Wunderman Worldwide, the international division of the leading U.S. direct marketing ad agency, now with 90 overseas offices, and latterly senior VP of Brazil and Latin America’s largest magazine publisher, Editora Abril. The author of Accountable Marketing (Thompson in English, Portuguese and Russian), he was awarded the Montreux Symposium International Direct Marketing award and elected to the Brazilian Direct Marketing Hall of Fame. As he liked to say, publishing and marketing “was my day job.” His consuming passion was participating in and writing about the arts, especially dance and music. In his spare time, as he described his cultural activities, he was for 17 years senior dance and a cultural critic for The Wall Street Journal and wrote regularly on culture for The Guardian, New York Magazine, Horizon, and various dance publications. He also served on the boards of The 92nd Street “Y” (NY), The Big Apple Circus (NY), The Place (London) and The Royal Choral Society (London). Living and working in São Paulo, Brazil, for the final 20-plus years of his life, he became a principal opinion writer for Rio Times under the rubric, “Gringo View.” For his services to the arts, the Brazilian government awarded him the prestigious Cavaleiro do Cruzeiro do Sul. Peter is survived by his three children, his four grandsons, and his wife Renée Comte, from whom he is separated.

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STEPHEN D. “STEVE” HAMLIN , age 87, died May 9, 2023, after a rich life of supporting his Canandaigua, NY community. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Barbara R. Hamlin; two daughters; two grandchildren; three siblings, including James Hamlin ’65; nieces and nephews; and many cousins of several generations. His father, Arthur, graduated from Hotchkiss in 1929. Passionate about history, culture, and the arts, Steve devoted himself to the past and the future of his community and beyond. He served on the board of the Canandaigua National Bank for more than 35 years and took on roles with other nonprofits, including Ontario County Historical Society, Granger Homestead and Carriage Museum, NY State Transportation Museum, Bristol Valley Playhouse, and as CEO of Sonnenberg Mansion and Gardens. Born in Rochester, he attended the Union School before attending Hotchkiss from 1950-54 and graduated from Yale University in 1958 with a major in theater, having been president of the Yale Dramat. After graduation, he worked on Broadway and at the Princeton McCarter Theater. Returning home, he became executive director of the Rochester Broadway

Theater League at the Auditorium Theater. As a young man, he founded Canandaigua Productions, directing plays and concerts with local talent to raise funds for the Granger Homestead and the YMCA. Some of the plays staged included Finian’s Rainbow, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, The Mikado, and a concert version of Brigadoon. While volunteering for the Granger Homestead, he restored antique horse-drawn carriages and created the Carriage Museum. When the Ontario Country Historical Society had only 13 active members, he assisted friend Byron Delavan to build it into an enduring and valuable local resource. Stephen’s commitment to Sonnenberg began in the 1970s when he worked with close friends to secure the site from the federal government to revitalize the buildings and grounds and open it to the public. In the 1990s, he took on the role of executive director and accomplished continued restoration as well as promotion throughout the state and region. He served from 1958-60 in the U.S. Navy. Professionally, he worked for 23 years at the Schlegel Corporation in Rochester, developing its global business, and making a home in Brussels, Belgium, for several years. He made friends from many countries, whom he cherished, keeping in touch and visiting. Subsequently, he founded two businesses: World Alliances, an international consulting firm, and Imbo Bonsai Imports. His passion for Bugattis, French Pre-World War II classic cars, took him and Barbara to far-off places and made them many close connections. Steve’s abiding love was his extended family and their lake property, where he enjoyed maintaining the history, seasonal cottages, and family traditions and lore.

Correction: The obituary for WILLIAM SUTHERLAND RACE (“BILL”) in the spring/summer 2023 issue omitted his brother, the late Peter Race ’60. Peter died on Dec. 2, 2023. A full obituary will be published in the next issue. Bill’s birthday— July 30, 1935—was also listed incorrectly. We apologize for the errors.

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ALLAN M. BENTON P’97,’97 of New York City died peacefully at home on June 20, 2023. He was 86. A native of Pittsfield, MA, he was educated at Hotchkiss and Williams College. After attaining a master’s degree in chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota, he began his career at Dow Corning Corporation in project development and engineering. His investment banking career spanned over 55 years and began at Blyth Eastman Dillon & Co. He

then served as vice president in the Energy and Natural Resources Group at Salomon Brothers, managing director of Energy and Environmental Services at Prudential Securities, and managing director of Wm. Sword & Co. For the past 23 years, he served as vice chairman, managing director, and group head of Chemicals and Related Industries at Scott-Macon Group, Inc. Allan was known for his professional dedication, developing deep and lasting friendships with his many clients and colleagues. He was also a devoted member of the Williams College ski team, clearing trails and ski jumping in his beloved New England mountains. Driven by his love of music, he worked to establish a cappella groups and jazz quartets at both Hotchkiss and Williams. He is survived by his wife, Sharon Stewart Benton; his daughter Amy Ann Benton ’97 and son Kenneth Hall Benton ’97; daughter-in-law and two grandchildren; and his sister. He is also survived by his three stepchildren, and five step-grandchildren.

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JOHN EMANUEL GERLI, JR. GP’13 , affectionately known as “Jay,” peacefully passed away on Sept. 29, 2023 at his home in Sharon, CT, at age 86, after living with Parkinson’s disease for 20 years. He is survived by his wife, Margery “Tiggie” Gerli, two siblings, and five children. His legacy continues through the laughter and love of his nine grandchildren, ranging in age from 1 to 29, and including Jack Gerli IV, Class of 2013. Jay’s life was a remarkable journey that touched the lives of many. A member of the Class of 1956 at Hotchkiss, he served in the U.S. Army in the serene landscapes of Maine before beginning his academic studies at Columbia University. Following an early career in bond trading on Wall Street, he pursued his entrepreneurial spirit, becoming co-owner of Wilt Pruf, a premier organic agricultural product, and with his partner successfully managed and expanded the brand for several decades. As a young father he indulged in a few hobbies that expressed his love of the outdoors. He sailed multiple times with his buddies in the Newport to Bermuda Race in a classic wooden yacht, fly fished on three different continents, when he showed a proficiency in tying his own flies and constructing his own rods, and drove in the winter months through nor’easters, if need be, to Mad River Glen in Vermont with his children to introduce them to the “love of skiing.” In 1983 he married the love of his life, Margery “Tiggie” Gerli, a partnership that blossomed into new pursuits—raising a second

family, relocating to Pawling, NY, and then Sharon, CT, and starting a livestock business. An enthusiast of nature’s wonders, Jay found sanctuary in the rolling hills of Marben Farm, where he nurtured Belted Galloway cattle, named for the distinctive white band around their middles, for breeding stock. As he aged, he continued to revel in the art of fly fishing, finding tranquility in the ebb and flow of rivers. His nimble hands found joy in the restoration of antique cars, clocks, and broken objects, each project a labor of love. His coffee, never enjoyed without a splash of Vermont maple syrup, was a sweet reminder of life’s simple pleasures and the warmth he brought to those around him. Family was truly his lifeline. He was a dedicated husband, adoring father, father-in-law, and grandfather. He was extremely proud of his family’s accomplishments and cherished the opportunity to attend his kids’ and grandkids’ sporting events, music concerts, christenings, first holy communions, confirmations, graduations, and weddings. In fact, just this June, a wheelchair did not slow him down as he lit up the dance floor to celebrate his youngest son Brooks’s wedding in NYC. He was so very delighted with all of his grandchildren, the smiles they brought him, and the endearing look he had when listening to them. We will hold those memories close to our hearts.

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JAMES NICHOLAS “NICK” NOYES died peacefully at his home in Fitzwilliam, NH, on Feb. 16, 2023. He was 83. He loved music, movies, and literature, especially poetry. A gifted teacher, he was an inspiration to his students. He was a talented photographer and took wonderful pictures of family and friends. But most of all, he loved his family—his wife and childhood sweetheart, Emily Trowbridge Noyes, and their four sons, and eventually, four grandchildren. He was a loyal and attentive husband and father. Born July 16, 1939, he grew up in New York City and Sharon, CT, and attended Hotchkiss from 1953-57. He earned a B.A. from Yale University in 1961 and also held an M.A. in English from New York University. Nick liked to say he’d known his beloved Emily since he was born—he attended her first birthday party when he was 2. They married in 1961, when he was in Officer Cadet School for the U.S. Navy. After his military service he taught English at the Fenn School in Concord; in 1971 he began teaching at the Charles River School in Dover, MA, where he worked for 11 years. He taught English to seventh- and eighth-graders and served as the head of the upper school. He was

also interim headmaster for a year. A dedicated and devoted teacher, he explored innovative new education theories and methods, viewing each student as a unique individual. With his own children he enjoyed biking and playing sports, and went to Maine for camping and canoe trips in the summer. He passed on his love of literature to them as well. He loved to listen to music, both live and recorded. In his 60s he bought an electric piano and took lessons. He and Emily moved to Fitzwilliam in 1984, where he took a job as a software engineer at New Hampshire Ball Bearings in Peterborough. They renovated their 18th-century home and created a robust garden, including maintaining several dozen high-bush blueberries. After his retirement in 2004, he served his home town as the Fitzwilliam Trustee of Trust Funds and on the Town Library Board of Trustees. He was predeceased by his wife, Emily, in 2021. He is survived by his four sons and four grandchildren. His brother, Frank Noyes Jr., is a member of the Class of 1965.

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THOMAS “TIM” FISHER III of Chestertown, MD, passed away from cancer on Aug. 8, 2023, at age 83. He was born on March 31, 1940, in Philadelphia, PA, to Thomas and Martha Fisher. He grew up in Gladwyne, PA, and attended the Haverford School and Hotchkiss, where he graduated in 1958. He graduated from Princeton University in 1962 as an English major. His summers were spent in Mowgli and Monadnock camps and in his beloved Nantucket. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was assigned to duty aboard a destroyer in Pearl Harbor for one year, followed by two years aboard a minesweeper stationed in Long Beach, CA. That tour included a 10-month cruise in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. His first civilian job was within the hospital ship “Project Hope.” It was an international medical program, but his job was to operate the ship as a vessel and coordinate the logistics and supply, both medical and maritime. After seven years with Hope, he worked for the federal government while applying for law school. He went to Villanova Law School from 1973-76 and married his law school classmate, Pamela Holmes. He practiced maritime law in Philadelphia over the next 15 years. In 1987, he and Pamela took an experimental two-year retirement on their 27-foot sailboat. They traveled the intercoastal highway, visiting the Bahamas, New England, and the Virgin Islands and lower Caribbean before returning to the Chesapeake in 1989. He bought a home in Grasonville, MD, and worked at various maritime jobs. He bought a 39-foot boat and made preparations to sail to Europe.

Over four years he traveled as far east as Israel and south as Trinidad. He returned to Maryland in July 2000 and had been living a retired life since then. This time has been filled with family and friends, sailing, singing in chorales and choirs, fundraising, playing rugby, participating in book clubs, and traveling. It was a life lived to the fullest. In addition to his beloved wife Pamela, he is survived by a son, Jamie Fisher ’85, and a daughter; three stepchildren, and eight grandchildren. His late father, Thomas Fisher Jr., was a member of the Class of 1933.

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WILLIAM MARSHALL “BILL” REID was born on March 5, 1942 in Yonkers, NY, the son of John and Margaret Reid. He attended Yonkers schools before coming to Hotchkiss in 1956 and graduating in 1960. He earned a B.S. in statistics from Stanford University in 1964 and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1966. After serving as a reservist in the U.S. Army, he worked for Arthur Anderson, Wells Fargo, and The Crocker Bank. He served as the president of the Mechanics Bank, where he worked from 1986 to 2004. He was also president of the California Bankers Association. In the world of finance and banking he was known and admired for his integrity, congeniality, and magnanimous style of management. His confidence and generosity allowed him to share credit with others. He lived by Louis Pasteur’s adage, “Chance favors the prepared mind,” and the words from the book of Luke, “To whom much is given, much will be required.” Bill’s life and legacy reflected good fortune paired with diligence and a deep commitment to giving back to others. When Bill married Gail Chapman in 1986, they brought together two families and four sons who bonded as brothers; in time the family expanded to include their sons’ wives and nine grandchildren. The house they built in Petaluma became a beautiful haven for them all. In retirement he served as treasurer of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Petaluma and enjoyed reading, golfing, and traveling. At home in Petaluma, he planted and maintained a vineyard that produced varieties of both red and white wine, built a wine cellar from the ground up, and managed the intricacies of the ranch’s water system. For nearly 20 years Bill and Gail shared a passion for France: its language, terrain, food, culture, and people. Owning a flat in Paris, then a house in Provence, allowed them to spend extended periods of time abroad immersing themselves in French life, an experience they shared with friends. Bill was many things in his life: a paperboy, a farm hand, a caddy, a golfer, a tennis player, a guitarist, a boat

owner and builder, a fine cook and epicure, a Francophile, a vintner and wine connoisseur, and a bank president. Of all these roles, the most important ones were the roles he played with the people closest to him: his wife, Gail, his children and grandchildren, his family, and the many lifelong friends from every walk of his life. He died April 26, 2023, following postsurgical complications and declining health. He was 81. He is survived by his wife, Gail Chapman Reid, his four sons and their wives; nine grandchildren; and his sister.

Nationally recognized expert in employment law, civic leader, and Vietnam-era Navy veteran GERALD “GERRY” DUNLAP SKONING , 80, died peacefully among his family on July 8, 2023, following a brief illness. Born on Aug. 29, 1942, the son of the late Betty and Warren Gerald Skoning, he was a consummate gentleman who treated everyone with respect, spoke in measured tones, and expressed gratitude for the many blessings and experiences that comprised his life. He often shared memories of what he described as an idyllic childhood in Geneva, IL, where he played hockey along the Fox River. At Hotchkiss, he excelled in sports—especially football, ice hockey, and track and field. He then enrolled at Princeton, where he majored in philosophy and excelled academically. A member of the Ivy Club and captain of the hockey team there, he graduated with honors from Princeton and went on to study law at the University of Michigan. During this time, he also played for a semi-pro hockey team. Made up of many players from the 1963 NCAA championship Michigan team, the team won the national amateur championship in 1966. He obtained his law degree in 1967. During the Vietnam War, he enlisted in the Navy, served as Ship’s Legal Counsel, and was qualified Officer of the Deck (under way), aboard the USS Independence. This military experience further strengthened his keen sense of patriotism. Following an honorable discharge, he re-entered civilian life and launched a career practicing labor law at Seyfarth Shaw LLC in Chicago, where he became one of the youngest members of the firm to be made partner. He handled numerous landmark cases, many of which went before the U.S. Supreme Court. He spent his entire career at Seyfarth, retiring in 2005 after more than 35 years of service. A constant reader and gifted and prolific writer, his Op-eds were regularly published, notably in The Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, and The Palm Beach Post. He also regularly posted essays he entitled “Midnight Musings,” which

covered observations and opinions on everything from politics to sporting events, celebrities misbehaving, to the value of a penny, works that offered a unique perspective on the state of our culture over the past 30 years. As a holiday greeting, he distributed an annual compendium of The Wackiest Employment Law Cases of the Year, a highly-anticipated publication. An avid sportsman, he enjoyed equally a round of golf, keeping score at a Cubs game, a vigorous squash or tennis match, rollerblading on the lakefront, or a cutthroat round of Hearts. Atop all these accomplishments, he was just a great human being, who will be missed by all who called him a friend. Many did. He is survived by his wife, Mary Kruchko Burnstine, with whom he shared many years of love and laughter. Other survivors include his brother and sister; his daughter and granddaughter; and a niece and grand-nephew.

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THOMAS CLARKSON TAYLOR (“TOM”) BROKAW, 77, died on June 4, 2023, at home, surrounded by his family. Devoted to native plants and ecological restoration, he created a private nature preserve in Kennett Square and Avondale, PA, served on the boards of conservation and arts organizations, built fine miniatures, and was known for his linguistic abilities, broad knowledge in the humanities and science, and financial acumen. He was born on Sept. 25, 1945, in Wilmington, DE, to Howard and Mary Ann Taylor Brokaw. As a boy, he lived in New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, and Ohio. He attended Hotchkiss from 1960-63 and graduated from the Alexis I. DuPont High School in 1964. After high school, he excelled at Outward Bound and became an instructor at the newly founded National Outdoor Leadership School in Wyoming. During the Vietnam War he served aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Kitty Hawk in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1966-67. He capitalized on his Navy service with memorable leaves in Japan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. After the Navy he attended the University of Delaware, earning bachelor’s degrees in art history and civil engineering. He married Margaretta Starrett Bredin in 1976. Living in Kennett Township, Tom and Margaretta assembled 297 acres of land and dedicated it to nature conservation, establishing the private Bucktoe Creek Preserve. Tom worked with local environmental organizations and land trusts to develop nature education, establishing trails and perches for hawks and hosting numerous nature study and birding programs. He could often be found planting trees or tramping about with a backpack of bricks for exercise. He served on numerous boards, including the Delaware Art

Museum, the League of Conservation Voters, and Defenders of Wildlife. He was an expert modeler and miniaturist, including ships in bottles and exquisite miniature, furnished rooms of 18th- and 19th- century houses, now in museums. Tom was a linguist, studying and speaking French, Spanish, German, and Italian, the last his favorite tongue. He was a walking encyclopedia on most subjects and was curious about everything. He loved to travel and enjoyed the satisfaction of accomplishing dreams, including walking around Mont Blanc and reaching its summit in 2000. Spur-of-themoment adventures appealed as well; his last great adventure was a spontaneous road trip to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec. He is survived by his wife, Margaretta, and two daughters; three siblings, including Nicholas Brokaw ’64; and two granddaughters. His late father, Howard, was a member of the Class of 1934.

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A. RAYMOND “RAY” SCHMALZ , 76, of Mill Valley, CA, passed away peacefully on June 26, 2023. He was born Dec. 15, 1946 to the late Arthur and Elsie Schmalz in Hartford, CT. Ray met Mary Louise Munson at Wells College in the fall of 1966, and the two were married in June 1970 in Sea Girt, NJ. A devoted Mason, he was active in the Unitarian Universalist Church and enjoyed hiking through Marin County with his much-loved dogs. After attending Hotchkiss from 1961 until graduation in 1965, he graduated from Lehigh University with two degrees, a B.A. in applied science in 1969 and a B.S. in industrial engineering a year later. He began his career at Eastman Kodak as a cost accountant, working there from 1970 to 1972. In 1974, he earned an M.B.A. in finance from Stanford. After business school, he joined Digital Equipment Corporation, where he worked until 1998, eventually becoming director of benefits finance and investments. He then moved to the Bay Area and became vice president of cash, investments, and risk management for AAA Northern California, Nevada, and Utah, overseeing the management of its investment portfolio until his retirement. He was a longtime Mason, who joined Simon W. Robinson Lodge in Lexington, MA, in 1990; there he also participated in Scottish Rite and Shrine activities. In 1998, he joined the Mill Valley Lodge and served as Master Mason. He was proud to be a long-serving lodge treasurer and, from 2012 to 2015, grand treasurer for the Freemasons of California. In addition to his

service with the Masons, he was president of the Rotary Club of Lexington. In his younger days, he was an avid golfer and in later years traveled the world on hiking trips with his wife and watched Little League games, cheering on his grandchildren. He was predeceased by his sister and leaves his wife, Mary Louise; a son, daughter, and son-in-law, and two grandsons.

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JON S. BERK of Cromwell, CT, passed away with his family by his side on Aug. 10, 2023. He will be remembered as a beloved father, husband, grandfather, brother, and son. Wellknown for his nationally-acclaimed comic book and memorabilia collection, he found his greatest joy beyond family in quietly acquiring and organizing Golden Age, Silver Age, and earlier comic collectibles—a career capped by his unearthing of the Larson Collection in the 1990s. His passion for education led him to be an active and respected contributor of his encyclopedic knowledge to the forums and in the discussions amongst the comic book community. Although an attorney by training, he was as much an expert of the comic universe, rubbing elbows with the artists and the titans of the industry. He attended Hotchkiss from 1965 until his graduation in 1968. He then earned degrees from Wesleyan in 1972 and Boston University in 1975. A lifelong partner at Hartford’s Gordon, Muir and Foley, he had a tremendous impact on Connecticut law. In the practice of law, he was actively involved in the defense of personal injury litigation, including premise litigation, automobile litigation, professional liability litigation and municipal liability litigation. His law partners described him as “one of the most brilliant lawyers” they had known. He argued several cases before the Connecticut Supreme Court while sprinkling his published law books with clever puns and signature quips. His home was filled with music—Broadway musicals, Motown, and an array of obscure artists. If one was stumped by a song title, artist, or album name, Jon always knew the answer. He loved the beauty of the natural world, becoming both an avid gardener and an impressive photographer of flowers, insects, and family. He also loved the New York Yankees. Summer nights found him on his porch listening to the play-by-play while narrating from his detailed memory of past players, games, and gaffes. He is survived by a son and daughter and their spouses; his ex-wife, Bonnie; his stepfather and his wife; three

brothers and a sister; and many in-laws, nephews and nieces. He was overjoyed to meet and hold his first grandchild, Cy, in the weeks before his death.

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JONATHAN DAVID WALSH , professor of French Studies and chairman of the French Studies Department at Wheaton College, Norton, MA, died Oct. 10, 2023, at home in Barrington, RI, following a long illness. He was 61. Born in Fairfield, CT, to the late Richard O. Walsh and late Joanne Walsh Sohrweide, he moved with his family to Lakeville, CT, in 1974, where he attended the Indian Mountain School and graduated in 1980 from Hotchkiss. He earned both B.A. magna cum laude and M.A. degrees from the University of Connecticut and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He joined the French Department at Wheaton College in 1994 after having held visiting appointments at Middlebury and Bates colleges. He was awarded tenure at Wheaton in 2000 and promoted to the position of Professor in 2009. He is survived by his two sons, Nicholas and Antoine, and a grandson; sisters Deborah Rathbun and Barbara Hostetter ’77, and brother Tim Walsh ’77; and three nieces, four nephews, including Bennett Rathbun ’03, and two stepchildren. A specialist in French Literature of the Enlightenment and the Early Modern period, Jonathan was a teacher who possessed an unwavering love for his craft. His scholarly contributions were extensive and deeply impactful. Much of his work focused on Enlightenment fiction, with his 2001 publication, Abbé Prevost’s Histoire d’Une Grecque Moderne: Figures of Authority on Trial. He also translated two novels by Madame de Tencin and authored numerous articles and papers on figures like Proust, Montesquieu, and Edward Said. In his recent work, he delved into the salons of 17thand 18th-century Europe, with a particular emphasis on the influential role of women, or salonnières, in the Enlightenment. His interests and hobbies included sailing his CAL-33 masthead sloop “Hot Tuna” out of Bristol Yacht Club, and playing guitar and vocals in the band Ghost Cat Rodeo at venues throughout Rhode Island. Additional passions included fishing, skiing, and cooking. Jonathan’s belief in the inseparability of language and culture formed the cornerstone of his teaching philosophy. He reveled in sharing the richness of French culture and its contributions to the world of art and thought through films, novels, and essays.

He believed that by mastering the language, one could gain access to an alternate universe of creativity and intellect. His dedication to nurturing a transformative experience for his students is considered one of his most profound contributions to Wheaton College.

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DR. IRFAN HALIM , a consultant general surgeon with the National Health Service (NHS) in England, devotedly working long days during the COVID-19 pandemic, died of coronavirus on Nov. 14, 2021. Described as “an incredible NHS doctor” in the London media, Halim died after spending two years saving others with the infection. The father of four young children, Halim stayed away from his family for four months at the height of the pandemic to protect them while he was working in COVID-19 wards. He collapsed on Sept. 10, 2021, while he was on shift at Swindon Hospital, and was later transferred to The Royal Brompton in London to receive specialist life support. “Irfan and the NHS worked frantically to bring him home to his beautiful family, but tragically he passed away after a nine-week fight against COVID,” according to a fundraising page set up in his memory. Close friends and family said they set up the page for his wife and children “to ease the burden” of losing him. One contributor called Dr. Halim’s death a “devastating loss.” The 45-year-old treated more than 250,000 patients over a 25-year career with the NHS. A member of the Class of 1994, Dr. Halim attended Hotchkiss from 1991-92.

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ANTHONY JAMES “AJ” SESSA , 46, passed away on Aug. 2, 2023, in Richmond, VA. Born in New York on Aug. 13, 1976, he attended The Buckley School in New York, followed by Hotchkiss, where he was known as “Chip” and graduated in 1995. He graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia, where he earned his B.S. from the McIntire School of Commerce in 1999. He then went on to receive his M.B.A. from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University in 2007. His love of technology led him to pursue a career in software development. After stints at Vertical*i and Cisco Systems, he became senior vice president of CFE Equipment. His entrepreneurial spirit and leadership helped steer the company through several expansions and through the challenges of COVID-19. He was

an avid UVA basketball fan, and despite living in Virginia for almost a decade, he had a love for the New York Knicks that never waned. He will be remembered for his sharp wit, dry sense of humor, and a fierce love for his daughters. A gentleman, scholar, and entrepreneur, he was always looking beyond the horizon. He is survived by his two beautiful daughters and their mother, Letitia Midmore; his parents, Anthony and Donna Sessa, and a brother, sister-in-law and nephew; an uncle, and two cousins.

FORMER FACULTY AND STAFF

ACHILLES JOSEPH “SONNY” ZANETTI JR. , 96, died on July 2, 2023, in Lenox, MA. Born in Great Barrington, MA, Sonny was predeceased by his wife of 65 years, Helen Fulco Zanetti. A U.S. Navy veteran, he served during World War II in the European and Asiatic Pacific theaters, earning several medals for his service. After completing his tour of duty, he worked for more than 25 years for companies in Great Barrington as a manufacturing manager. In 1981 he began working at Hotchkiss as the book and athletic store manager, where he continued until his retirement in 1991. Post-retirement he continued to work part-time and practice his woodworking skills on projects at home. He and Helen had four daughters. He also was the grandfather of four and a recent great-grandfather.

SHIRLEY HALL BARTON of Ancram, NY, devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and sister, passed away peacefully with family at her side on Aug. 10, 2023, after a lengthy illness. The daughter of Priscilla and Fred Hall, she was born in Canaan, CT, on Sept. 19, 1946. Following graduation from Housatonic Valley Regional High School, she attended a nursing school affiliated with Pittsfield General Hospital. Shirley and Gerald Barton were married in March 1966. While beginning to raise a family, she also was able to fit in driving a public-school bus in Copake, NY, which she did for a decade. Later, she managed The Hotchkiss School bookstore, a position she held for about 25 years. In addition to her husband, she is survived by her two sons and their families, including four grandsons. Also surviving are her brother and sister.

ROBERT W. “BOB” GRIESEMER P’93,’95 , who was business manager at Hotchkiss from 1991-99, died on May 5, 2023. He was 76. During his years at Hotchkiss, he was proud to

be associated with the expansion of the campus. In addition to his financial responsibilities and work with the Board of Trustees, he managed the planning and construction of: Wieler Infirmary, the renovation of the Main Building entrance and snack bar, the A. Whitney Griswold Science Building, the climbing wall, the Headmaster’s House, faculty housing, and the Forrest E. Mars Jr. Athletic Center. Born in Reading, PA, he graduated from Muhlenberg Twp. High School, where he met his future wife, Judith A. Filman. They married in 1969. He earned a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering at Lafayette College. During the Vietnam War he was a Company Commander, providing vehicle maintenance and building roads. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal and a Bronze Star. His civilian career started at Scott Paper Co. in Fort Edward, NY, where he was a project manager. Then, the Laboratory of Nuclear Studies at Cornell University hired him to be the business manager of its facilities. He directed the finances and maintenance of CESR (Cornell Electron Storage Ring) there and associated with two Nobel Laureates who developed the project. He then continued his career in the Department of Arts & Sciences at Dartmouth College; Hotchkiss; The Ross School; and as V.P. for Finance at Lycoming College. After retiring in 2007, he worked part-time for an executive recruiting company and also served as interim finance officer at several PA colleges. He enjoyed playing golf, and after retirement, he and Judy could be found kayaking, traveling, and visiting local wineries and arts festivals. His greatest love was following his children’s and grandchildren’s activities. “Poppi” will be missed. He is survived in Mechanicsburg by his wife, Judith; a daughter, Julie G. Kays ’93, and son, Bryan M. Griesemer ’95; two brothers; and his two grandchildren. His wife, Judy, was a librarian at the Edsel Ford Memorial Library and an adjunct voice instructor from 1995 to 1999.

Obituaries received after the magazine’s deadline will appear in the next issue.

Falling Leaves

The gingko tree by the Dining Hall shed its gold leaves in dramatic flourish for the last time. The tree was removed to make way for the new Dining Commons facility, but its memory—and preserved leaves and wood—will last forever.

40TH REUNION RESCHEDULED

April 13-14, 2024

Classes of 1980 and 1981

JUNE REUNION

We look forward to celebrating with you!

For more information, please contact Rachel Schroeder Rodgers ’09, associate director of alumni and parent engagement, at (860) 435-3124 or rrodgers@hotchkiss.org.

hotchkiss.org/alumni/events-reunions

June 14-16, 2024

Classes Ending in 4 and 9

FALL REUNION

September 20-22, 2024

Class of 1949: 75th Reunion

Class of 1959: 65th Reunion

Class of 1964: 60th Reunion

Class of 1974: 50th Reunion