Pingry Review, Winter 2009

John Taylor Babbitt ’07 Memorial Field | Alumni Coaches AED/CPR Recognition | New Board Members Homecoming winter 2009

HELP BIG BLUE

GO GREEN! Support The Pingry Fund today!

(OUR NEW NAME FOR THE ANNUAL FUND)

Pingry is taking steps to make the School financially, environmentally, and programmatically sustainable, and has been making great strides in “greening” the School—a trend Pingry plans to continue in the months and years ahead. We would like to ask for your help with our efforts.

Making your gift to The Pingry fund will help us save the cost and physical resources associated with future mailings. Through June 30, 2009, you may also choose to designate your gift to financial aid. Your contribution will help us become more efficient and conserve resources— while at the same time supporting our students and sustaining Pingry’s long tradition of excellence in education.

Remember that by donating today you help us to decrease subsequent Pingry Fund mailings, which conserves paper, printing resources, and postage fees. MAKE YOUR GIFT TODAY! www.pingry.org

PINGRY THE PINGRY REVIEW

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12 The John Taylor Babbitt ’07 Memorial Field

Spirit and Sportsmanship Shape Athletics Program

Pingry’s new synthetic turf field is dedicated to the memory of John Taylor Babbitt ’07. John’s parents reflect on his personality and interests and talk about why this field is a fitting tribute.

18 Athletic Facilities Patrons: People Behind the Names

Many of Pingry’s athletic facilities are named in honor of people who had or have close connections to the school. These names are inscribed on plaques near the fields, track, tennis courts, and pool, and inside the gymnasiums and fitness center.

Winning is important, but ever since Pingry’s athletic program began, the Athletic Directors, coaches, and athletes have been guided by the principles of school spirit, good sportsmanship, and the opportunity to play on a team.

Who have been the key figures in the history of Pingry athletics?

On the cover: Former Athletic Director and Coach Reese Williams’s football cleat; a baseball with the 1941 Team’s 12-0 record; a vintage jersey; a fencing saber; a lacrosse stick; a field hockey stick; and the soccer page from the 1952 Blue Book

27 AED + CPR = Pingry Saving Lives

Pingry’s health department is honored for saving lives, thanks to CPR certification for students and the availability of defibrillators.

38 From Players to Coaches—of the Same Teams

Several alumni are coaching the same teams for which they played as students. They are back at Pingry with fond memories and an eagerness to help today’s athletes.

43 The Hall Awaits the Greats

The Hall of Fame has been honoring Pingry’s most accomplished athletes, coaches, teams, and members of the athletics staff since 1991. What are the criteria for being selected as a member of this prestigious group, and how can you nominate someone?

3 5 22 32 34

From the Headmaster From the Chair School News Scene Around Campus Alumni News

46 47 53 56 57

Ask the Archivist Class Notes In Memoriam Dicta Ultima Alumni Calendar

Board of Trustees, 2008-2009 John B. Brescher, Jr. ’65 Chair John W. Holman III ’79 Vice Chair

Gerry Vanasse Director of Athletics

Harold W. Borden ’62 Secretary

Quoc Vo Director of Information Technology

Alice F. Rooke Assistant Secretary

news

www.pingry.org/about/news.html

See what’s happened this past fall and early winter, from Convocation to Coach Bugliari’s 700th Career Win, the annual Halloween Parade at Short Hills, and Holiday Festivities at both campuses. We’re always posting new stories, so keep checking this page.

calendar

www.pingry.org/about/calendar.html

Find all the latest 2009 calendar events, cancellations, and reschedulings.

alumni

www.pingry.org/alumni/

Office of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Miller Bugliari ’52 Special Assistant to the Headmaster

Deborah J. Barker Cynthia Cuffie-Jackson Anne DeLaney ’79 Jeffrey N. Edwards ’78 Miriam T. Esteve William D. Ju Donna Kreisbuch Steven M. Lipper ’79 Terence M. O’Toole Deryck A. Palmer Dan C. Roberts Ian S. Shrank ’71 Park B. Smith ’50 Henry G. Stifel III ’83 Denise E. Vanech Audrey M. Wilf Barry L. Zubrow

Jacqueline Sullivan Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Alison Harle Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Kristen Tinson Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Laura K. Stoffel Assistant Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving

Honorary Trustees David M. Baldwin ’47 Fred Bartenstein, Jr. William S. Beinecke ’31 John P. Bent, Jr. William M. Bristol III ’39 William V. Engel ’67 John W. Holman, Jr. ’55 Henry H. Hoyt, Jr. ’45 Warren S. Kimber, Jr. ’52 Stephan F. Newhouse ’65 Norman B. Tomlinson, Jr. ’44 F. Helmut Weymar ’54 John C. Whitehead Life Trustee Robert B. Gibby ’31 (deceased)

Reconnect in 2009 with local classmates in Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

In addition to these receptions, Reunion Weekend takes place May 14-16.

Administration, 2008-2009 Nathaniel E. Conard Headmaster

parents

Denise M. Brown-Allen Upper School Director

www.pingry.org/about/parentnews.html

Visit Monthly Notices for Parents for the latest letters and announcements concerning your child.

students

www.pingry.org/students/

What do the students have to say? A lot, and you can read all about it in The Record and Vital Signs, among other studentvoiced publications.

Theodore M. Corvino, Sr. Assistant Headmaster-Short Hills Lower School Director Jonathan D. Leef Assistant Headmaster-Martinsville

Philip S. Cox Middle School Director John W. Pratt Chief Financial Officer

Lydia B. Geacintov Director of Studies Melanie P. Hoffmann Director of Development

Edward S. Atwater IV ’63 Treasurer

what’s new on our web site

Reena Kamins Director of Admission

Yolanda G. Carden Development Assistant Pingry Alumni Association, 2008-2009 Steve Lipper ’79 President Alison Zoellner ’83 Vice President Sam Partridge ’92 Vice President Norbert Weldon ’91 Vice President Chip Korn ’89 Treasurer John Campbell III ’86 Secretary Terms Expiring in 2009 Albert Bauer ’45 Bradford Bonner ’93 John Campbell III ’86 Rebecca Frost ’94 Jane Hoffman ’94 Genesia Perlmutter Kamen ’79 Robert Kirkland ’48 Conor Mullet ’84 Samuel Partridge ’92 Mary Sarro-Waite ’01 William J. Silbey ’77 Gordon Sulcer ’61 Katrina Welch ’06 Norbert Weldon ’91 Terms Expiring in 2010 Mark Bigos ’79

Anthony Bowes ’96 Kyle Coleman ’80 Lisa Fraites-Dworkin ’81 Jonathan Gibson ’88 E. Lori Halivopoulos ’78 Robert Hough ’77 Peter Korn, Jr. ’89 Stuart Lederman ’78 Guy Leedom ’54 Steven Lipper ’79 William Mennen ’85 Sean O’Donnell ’75 Ronald Rice, Jr. ’86 Jonathan Robustelli ’90 Sandra Salter ’93 Jonathan Shelby ’74 Alison Zoellner ’83 Terms Expiring in 2011 Jake Angel ’90 Todd Burrows ’90 David Freinberg ’74 Allison Haltmaier ’80 Cathleen Lazor ’88 H. David Rogers ’61 Kevin Schmidt ’98 Tracy Klingeman Stalzer ’84 Betsy Vreeland ’84 Amy Warner ’78 Susan Barba Welch ’77 Honorary Director John Geddes ’62 The Review Editorial Staff Greg Waxberg ’96, Editor Communications Writer Melanie Hoffmann Director of Development Mark J. Sullivan Director of Strategic Communications Jacqueline Sullivan Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Kristen Tinson Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Maureen E. Maher Communications Associate/Writer Design and Layout Ruby Window Creative Group, Inc. www.rubywindow.com Art Direction James S. Bratek Web Manager and Graphic Designer Photography David Coulter Bruce Morrison ’64 Bill Storer Debbie Weisman Printing Ramsey Press, Inc., Mahwah, N.J.

PINGRY THE PINGRY REVIEW

The Pingry Review is the official magazine of The Pingry School, with the primary purpose of disseminating alumni, school, faculty, and staff news and information. Comments can be sent to the editor at The Pingry School, Martinsville Road, P.O. Box 366, Martinsville, NJ 08836 or gwaxberg@pingry.org.

A Letter from the Headmaster In addition to other articles about the Athletic Hall of Fame and alumni who have returned to coach their former teams, we have several athletic achievements and milestones to share with you in this issue.

In September, we dedicated The John Taylor Babbitt ’07 Memorial Field, the school’s first artificial turf field, to the memory of John Babbitt, a young man who thrived on the experience of playing on a team. I encourage you to learn more about John, through the eyes of his parents, and about how this field is playing a role in the continuing expansion of Pingry’s athletic program.

Dear Members of the Pingry Community,

In other news, this past spring, Pingry’s health department was honored by the American Heart Association for the school’s efforts to save lives, and you can read more about the events that prompted these awards in “School News.” You will also meet our new Upper School Director, Dr. Denise Brown-Allen; our new Chair of the Board of Trustees, Jack Brescher ’65; and our five newest members of the Board.

As always, we’d love to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Nathaniel E. Conard

3 winter 2009

Perhaps, as you have watched our teams in action in the gyms and on the fields around the school, you have wondered when our sports program started and how it grew into the program it is today. In this issue of The Pingry Review, devoted to athletics, our cover story details that history, from students in the early 1860s playing simple games against each other, to today’s students who compete in 20 sports against many other schools. Some of my predecessors as headmaster helped to shape the sports program by hiring key individuals who oversaw and guided the program’s development, and this article chronicles their contributions.

On the same day that we dedicated the turf field, Miller Bugliari ’52, who has been head coach of the varsity soccer team for 49 years, earned his 700th career victory. We are delighted to share with you some of the moments from the post-game celebration. Coach Bugliari fosters an atmosphere of sportsmanship and integrity on his team and shows every player the highest level of care and concern. A consummate student of the game and of the art of coaching, when he travels internationally, he carefully studies how other teams practice and applies those ideas to his Pingry team.

From the Editor

It has been eye-opening to work on this issue of The Pingry Review. Reading older issues of The Pingry Record (the student newspaper) and The Beginning of Wisdom (the story of the school from 1861 to 1961), not to mention walking up and down the school’s hallways, has revealed the amazing legacy of Pingry athletics. It is inspiring to see how many individuals have devoted decades to working with our athletes. Back in the 1890s and 1900s, Pingry students were becoming national champions, and records have continued to be set during the last century.

Many of our alumni are involved with athletics, as you will see in the profiles in “Class Notes.” I encourage all alumni to submit a Class Note. It maintains the connection between you and Pingry and helps your classmates stay up-to-date on where you are and what you are doing. The Alumni Calendar of Events on page 57 provides information about how to submit a Class Note.

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Sincerely,

the pingry review

Greg Waxberg ’96 Communications Writer Correction from the Summer/Fall 2008 issue: The article about American Field Service on page 20 incorrectly states that Pingry’s collaboration with the organization started in 1965. The first year was 1960.

Letters to the Editor Imagine how pleased I was to open a recent Pingry Review and read about Anne DeLaney’s (’79) work for the Global Literacy Project (“Sharing the Magic,” Winter 2008, page 21). The photo that accompanied the article featured a group photo in front of the new Thelma Tate Library in Africa. I had the opportunity to meet Thelma Tate when I returned to Rutgers University for a master’s degree in library and information science in 2002. Ms. Tate was a librarian and the coordinator for Global Outreach Services at the Rutgers University Libraries in New Brunswick, N.J. She was a soft-spoken woman who shared wonderful stories and photographs of her work and outreach visits with a mobile library in Africa with her students and colleagues. However, what made Ms. Tate’s mobile library unique was that it was a donkey caravan that brought books to people in remote villages that were not served by roads. I was thrilled to see that there is now a library building in Africa named in memory of Ms. Tate. Thank you, Anne, and the Pingry community for your continued support of libraries.

– Susan Quinn ’80 I was interested to see that Pingry made a trip to China (“Faculty Members Immerse Themselves in the Wonders of China,” Summer/Fall 2008, page 6). It might be more accurate to characterize it as a return trip to China. In August of 1988, a group of nearly 30 Pingry students, parents, and faculty, including teachers Ted Li and Madeline Landau, students Jonathan Goldstein ’89, Oliver Cheng ’89, and Kate Holdsworth ’88, and parents David and Betsy Holdsworth, were invited by the Chinese government to establish an exchange program with the Nanjing Model Middle School. We spent nearly a month touring Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Xi’an, and Guangho. We even saw the famed Terra Cotta Warriors pictured in the background of the photograph on page 3. Unfortunately, our exchange program was cut short. Several weeks before we were to receive our first exchange students, the Chinese government decided to use violence against students protesting for democracy in Tiananmen Square. We feared that some of the students we had met (at least two of whom had asked us upon return to the U.S. to mail them Bibles and literature about democracy) were swept up in the crackdown. As I recall, the Holdsworth family eventually did have one of the students over to the U.S. to live with them.

– Jonathan Goldstein ’89 Thanks also to John Neumann ’90 for contacting us about the 1988 China trip.

I liked the way the captions were done for the photos [in the Summer/Fall 2008 issue]. [They make] the reader pay more attention to make the connections. What was lacking were the Class Notes—only five pages out of 76. The two articles I liked were “China” and “NJ SEEDS.” I especially liked what Angela Ramirez ’08 (page 16), now at Yale, said about her experience. I’m impressed with her. The photo on the back cover with the church in the distance caught my eye. It gives the idea for the alums who have never been to Martinsville that Pingry is now out in the country.

– Eric Hall Anderson ’55

Coming in the next issue of The Pingry Review

25 years of the Martinsville Campus Pingry moved from Hillside to Bernards Township during Thanksgiving Break in 1983, and the Class of 1984 was the first class to graduate from the new campus. The spring edition will explore the background of the move and how the school has changed during the past quarter-century.

A Message from the Chair I am delighted to write to you as the new Chair of the Board of Trustees, a role I assumed on July 1, 2008, after serving as a member of the Board since 1995. I am both an alumnus and the parent of an alumnus; my son John graduated from Pingry in 1999. Vicki Brooks, my predecessor, did an outstanding job during her tenure. Much was accomplished during her years as Chair. Her leadership and guidance were extraordinary and I want to thank her for all of her efforts on behalf of the school.

Also in this issue that spotlights Pingry’s athletics program and our alumni’s involvement in athletics, we remember John Taylor Babbitt ’07, after whom our first synthetic turf field is named. John’s name is now a fixture on one of the school’s most outstanding facilities—and these athletic facilities help make the Pingry experience unique for so many students.

In this issue, you will meet the five newest members of the Board, all of whom are Pingry parents; we have begun a fruitful collaboration, and I am looking forward to our upcoming projects for the school.

Sincerely,

I am looking forward to helping guide Pingry to even greater heights during the coming years.

Jack Brescher ’65, PP ’99

5 winter 2009

The Board of Trustees: 1st row, from left: Anne DeLaney ’79, Denise E. Vanech, Dr. Cynthia Cuffie-Jackson, Miriam T. Esteve, Henry G. Stifel III ’83, Donna B. Kreisbuch, Alice F. Rooke, Audrey M. Wilf, and Deborah J. Barker. 2nd row, from left: Edward S. Atwater IV ’63, Dr. Dan C. Roberts, John W. Holman III ’79, Dr. William D. Ju, Harold W. Borden ’62, John B. Brescher, Jr. ’65, Ian S. Shrank ’71, Steven M. Lipper ’79, Deryck A. Palmer, and Barry L. Zubrow. Not pictured: Jeffrey N. Edwards ’78, Terence M. O’Toole, and Park B. Smith ’50.

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the pingry review

Spirit and Sportsmanship Shape Athletics Program Pingry’s tradition of athletics has always reflected the philosophy of educating the full mind, body, and spirit of its students. Over 100 years of athletics history are on display at the entrance of the Martinsville Campus and in the hallways of the Athletics department. You see cases filled with over 350 trophies, certificates, and plaques from team and individual championships, and there are many more trophies and photos in classrooms throughout the building. The athletics hallways are lined with over 900 team photos that have been taken since the early 1900s, and tablets on the gymnasium walls list hundreds of team captains. The array of sports equipment and team-specific bags parked within the blue-taped lines of today’s hallways is further evidence that athletics participation— on all levels—remains an integral part of the Pingry experience.

7 winter 2009

of 1908 Dean Mathey, Class

Katie Parsels ’0 9

[ THE HISTORY OF PINGRY ATHLETICS ] While each athlete and coach has made his or her own contribution to the history and success of Pingry athletics, some “big picture” changes illustrate the growth of Pingry sports throughout the history of the school.

The earliest students stayed after school to play football or baseball, and later track, although they were not coached by faculty members as part of an organized athletic program. In the early 1880s, annual games against Plainfield were their first competitions outside Pingry.

When William H. Corbin became headmaster in 1892, he initiated the concept of organized teams with faculty supervision playing games against teams from other schools, and he arranged a track meet. These first teams were quite successful— in fact, no team scored against the 1897 Football Team, and that football team won the North Jersey Interscholastic League Championship. Also in the 1890s, tennis was introduced.

One of Pingry’s first individual champions was tennis player Dean Mathey of the Class of 1908, who, in the summer of 1908, won the national championship in the Interscholastic Tennis Association. In the early 1920s, he presented his trophy to Pingry, so that, every year, the Dean

Mathey Cup could be inscribed with the name of the school’s tennis champion; the engraving of names continued until the late 1950s. Mr. Mathey competed in major U.S. tournaments and competed four times in Wimbledon. He defeated Belgium’s singles Davis Cup player and, in 1923, defeated William Tilden.

Pingry’s fifth headmaster, S. Archibald Smith, appointed the school’s first Director of Athletics, Alexander M. Blackburn. Under C. Bertram Newton, headmaster from 1920 to 1936, the athletic program became an essential part of the school’s mission, and, in 1920, he hired Reese Williams to direct the program. Writing in The Pingry Record in December 1925, in an article titled “Physical Education Absolute Necessity,” Mr. Williams stated that physical education is essential, along with academics, to a boy’s development.

He believed strongly that every student who reported for practice should have the chance to play on a team, regardless of his ability, and that success was measured by the number of boys playing, their physical fitness, school spirit, and players’ morale. “By far the greatest lesson the boys learn during the season is the spirit of fair play and good sportsmanship,” he wrote.

Swimming, wrestling, and ice hockey were introduced in the 1920s. By 1930, Pingry was offering them in addition to football, baseball, basketball, track, tennis and golf. This expansion of athletics meant that Mr. Williams had a larger program to oversee, so the board of trustees and Headmaster Newton decided that he needed help. They hired Vincent L. Lesneski in 1930 as his assistant, and the collaboration of Coaches Williams and “Les” (as Mr. Lesneski came to be known) lasted for decades.

Mr. Williams coached at Pingry for four decades, until 1960, and enjoyed a 45-year career with the school, while Coach “Les” worked at Pingry until 1973.

Both men, who served back-to-back as Director of Athletics, shared the philosophy that boys should have the chance to play on a team, and both emphasized the importance of physical activity and good sportsmanship; in 1955, the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association presented Mr. Williams with a certificate honoring his commitment to sportsmanship.

Another “first” took place in the spring of 1955, when Pingry announced that it would become the first secondary school in the state to introduce lacrosse, which meant the lacrosse squad played

8 the pingry review Left: Union County Championship, 1938 Trophy Parochial and Prep Schools Mile Relay

Left: NJSIAA North Jersey Football Championship, 1933 Trophy

Above: Nick Sarro-Waite ’99

Above: Tyler Zoidis, Form V

college freshman teams. In 1959, Richard C. Weiler began his tenure as head coach of the varsity team.

One of the biggest turning points for Pingry athletics came during the 1974-75 school year when Pingry became a co-ed school. This milestone, combined with the landmark Title IX legislation of the Education Amendments of 1972 that increased female participation in athletics nationwide, became the foundation for a Pingry sports program that now offers girls the chance to play any of 16 different sports.

In addition to the arrival of girls’ sports at Pingry, another turning point came in the early 1980s when the school relinquished its full Independent status and joined the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).

Membership in this statewide athletics association brought with it broader exposure for the school, more opportunities for Pingry athletes, and more championship options. Public schools were now willing to put Pingry teams on their schedule because the NJSIAA ensured that member schools were playing by the same rules of player eligibility and following the same pre-season practice guidelines, among other policies.

Despite these positives, joining the NJSIAA also brought several drawbacks, including the scheduling challenges of conflicting vacation breaks between public and private schools.

Pingry also lost traditional, annual rivalries with schools such as Blair, Lawrenceville, and Peddie, whose teams include post-graduate studentathletes. Current rivalries will also be subject to change again during the 2009-10 school year when NJSIAA geographical realignment moves Pingry from the Colonial Hills Conference (which is being dissolved) to the Skyland Conference.

While the arrival of girls’ teams and NJSIAA membership have been major events in the history of the Pingry athletics program, there have also been gradual changes in the growth of Pingry sports. Campus sports facilities and equipment have all been upgraded, as evidenced by the fitness center, the maintenance of the grass fields, and the construction of Pingry’s first artificial turf field—The John Taylor Babbitt ’07 Memorial Field. The generosity of many parents has been the driving force behind projects such as the turf field, and such fundraising is one way that parents and alumni have increased their involvement with Pingry athletics.

Former Director of Athletics and current Pingry Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse Head Coach Mike Webster observes that the key word that describes Pingry sports today is “more”—

In addition to coaches Reese Williams, Vincent Lesneski, and Richard Weiler, and tennis star Dean Mathey ’08, some of the other past “greats” in Pingry athletics are also members of the Athletic Hall of Fame.

Herbert E. Manvel ’97, captain of the track team, guided his team to the New Jersey Interscholastic Championship in 1897. That year, he won 12 championships, including three State interscholastic championships—quarter-mile, half-mile, and one mile—and the National interscholastic championships in the quarter-mile and half-mile. He later served as president of the Pingry Alumni Association and as a trustee from 1929 to 1940.

William J. Corbet ’21 played on 19 varsity teams: football (six years), baseball (six years), track (three years), basketball (three years), and tennis (one year). A former Pingry trustee, he was awarded the Letter-in-Life in 1961.

Atherton “Toni” Bristol ’41 was a star of football, basketball, and baseball. He taught and coached lacrosse at Pingry and received the Letter-in-Life Award in 1990.

Tom Johnson ’59 played football, basketball, and baseball. On May 1, 1959, he pitched a no-hitter as Pingry defeated Edison High School 2-0 for a playoff berth in the Union County Tournament. He returned to Pingry in 1966 as a coach and science teacher, and he served as Director of Athletics from 1981 to 1984.

Left: Dean Mathey, of the Class of 1908, presented his tennis trophy to Pingry Above: Joyce Chang ’98

Jack Dufford coached at Pingry from 1959 to 1997 and is best remembered for coaching girls’ tennis for 23 years, including eight years as Somerset County Champions. He also taught English and served as a College Counselor.

winter 2009

Ed Scott, Jr. coached track and cross country from 1968 to 1994. As head track coach, he amassed a career record of 343-141-3 and his teams won nine Prep and Parochial state titles. He wanted every runner to realize his or her potential.

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[ THE HISTORY OF PINGRY ATHLETICS ] Several current faculty members have been coaching at least one sport for many years and continue their dedication to the athletes and the sport(s): Tom Boyer: Football for 27 years (Varsity Head Coach, Varsity Assistant Coach, and Middle School Head Coach at different times)

Miller Bugliari ’52: Varsity Soccer for 50 years

Joe Forte: Golf for 24 years; Wrestling for 22 years (1982-2004); Middle School Wrestling and Middle School Football for 20 years

Tim Grant: Girls’ Varsity Track for 19 years; Girls’ Varsity Cross Country for 13 years

Brian LaFontaine: Freshman Soccer for 18 years (1982-2000); Varsity Hockey for 14 years; Freshman and Junior Varsity Lacrosse for 18 years (1982-2000) Judy Lee: Swimming and Field Hockey for 24 years Ted Li: Boys’ Varsity Fencing for 34 years; Girls’ Varsity Fencing for 32 years John Raby: Boys’ Varsity Cross Country for 14 years; Middle School Cross Country for 2 years (1993-1994) Bill Reichle: Varsity Swimming for 22 years

Manny Tramontana: Junior Varsity Soccer for 44 years; Varsity Baseball for 31 years (1976-2007); Basketball for 13 years; Baseball for 11 years

more sports offerings (skiing, water polo, girls’ hockey, girls’ golf), more teams (35 Varsity and JV teams; 80 combined Middle and Upper School teams), and more gear (including team sweatshirts, practice uniforms, game uniforms, alternate jerseys, and hats).

and fantasy—are more important to more people today than ever before.

However, even with the continued expansion of Pingry athletics, the emphasis remains on academics with an ultimate goal of a healthy balance between academics and sports.

As of the 2008-09 school year, under Director of Athletics Gerry Vanasse, there are almost 150 coaching positions, and boys and girls at Pingry can choose from among 20 different sports, almost all of which are offered at the varsity, junior varsity, and Middle School levels. Fall teams include cross country, field hockey, football, soccer, girls’ tennis, and water polo; winter teams include basketball, fencing, ice hockey, skiing, squash, swimming, track and field, and wrestling; and spring teams include baseball, golf, lacrosse, softball, boys’ tennis, and track and field.

There may now be “more” of everything sports-related at Pingry, but, ironically, there are fewer traditional three-sport athletes. The growth of sports camps, the development of speed and strength training, and the competitive nature of high school and college admissions have contributed to some Pingry students choosing to specialize in one sport. There are still many multi-sport athletes, but, in addition to playing for their Pingry teams, some athletes specialize in one sport for the whole year through various club/league teams and private training programs.

The seasons are also longer—traditional spring sports such as baseball and lacrosse have leagues that play in the fall and compete for athletes playing in-season sports such as football and soccer. The increased importance of athletics at Pingry mirrors the fact that sports have taken on a heightened significance in the larger society. For better or worse, sports on all levels—high school, college, amateur, professional,

Sports specialization and the growth of club teams have improved the skill levels of many Pingry athletes and teams. With 23 years of coaching experience at Pingry, field hockey and swimming coach Judy Lee has noticed that, with more athletes playing at a younger age and playing more often, she now spends less time in field hockey practice on skills development and more time on teaching advanced skills. “Soccer

Mike Webster: Varsity Boys’ Lacrosse 10 the pingry review

for 21 years; Assistant Coach for Upper School Football for 13 years (1987-2000); Varsity Football for 5 years (2001-2005)

Directors of Athletics since Coach Les George Christow – 1973 to 1981 Tom Johnson ’59 – 1981 to 1984 Frank Antonelli – 1984 to 1990 Paul Kennedy – 1990 to 1995 Mike Webster – 1995 to 2001 Jo Ann De Martini – 2001 to 2005 Gerry Vanasse – 2005 to present

Left: NJISRA Slalom Championship, 2008 Trophy First place, girls Right: NJISAA Girls Cross Country “A” Division Champions, 1999 Trophy Above: Former Athletic Directors Reese Williams, left, and Vincent L. Lesneski

and swimming used to be the only sports with grass-roots programs that developed experienced athletes before their arrival at Pingry, but, now, other sports are doing the same through the availability of year-round teams and programs,” Coach Lee says. As a result, the unfortunate overuse injuries that used to be limited to soccer knees and swimmer shoulders have now spread to athletes in other sports.

The history and growth of the athletics program through several generations of Pingry students is one way of measuring how the school has evolved since its founding in 1861. The success of Pingry athletics cannot be measured only in terms of wins, trophies, and banners— even though there are a lot of each of them at Pingry. The true history and success of Pingry sports rest on the lessons learned: practice, dedication, camaraderie, character, teamwork, and sportsmanship. Its success is also measured by the lifelong influence that players and coaches have on one another as a result of sharing their Pingry years together. The Pingry tradition of excellence and honor exists not only in the classrooms and hallways, but also on the fields, on the courts, on the track, and in the pool. Stop and watch—you will see Pingry at its best.

The Pingry Spirit Flag:

A Source of Pride and Inspiration during the afternoons and evenings. The Pingry Spirit Flag is designed to be a rallying point around which the athletes, student body, and loyal fans can get “pumped-up” before, during, and after each competition.

Freshman Dan Keller carries the Pingry Spirit Flag

Invented thousands of years ago as a practical means for identifying different groups of combatants on the field of battle, flags quickly became appreciated for lifting spirits and boosting morale in the midst of struggle and hardship. These symbols have provided inspiration and encouragement by evoking feelings of loyalty, honor, and community.

“Each time the Pingry Spirit Flag unfurls, I’m reminded of the exceptional pride and passion that the athletes and coaches, as well as the entire Pingry community, share for our school and its sports teams,” he says.

Above: 1996-97 Girls Swimming (14-1) Parochial B State Champions Prep Overall State Champions Pope John XXIII Invitational Champions

Mr. Vanasse and the coaching staff are aware that Pingry students must transition from an intense academic schedule during the day to a highly competitive athletic environment

The prestige associated with the honor of carrying the flag also creates a high level of interest among the students— in fact, those who carry the flag often earn their own identity based on their flag-waving skills and ability to energize the crowd. One such person is freshman Dan “The Flag Man” Keller, who has carried the flag at two soccer games and two football games and takes pride when wielding the Pingry standard aloft.

“Your whole school should be a part of big games because [school spirit] definitely goes a long way for the players on the field. By carrying the flag, it’s like I’m doing my part to promote school spirit and get people excited about the game,” he says.

In the face of intense competition, it is reassuring for the athletes to know that the school stands with them, united under the Pingry Spirit Flag in the tradition of excellence and honor.

11 winter 2009

These emotions are woven into the fabric of the new Pingry “Big Blue” Spirit Flag, which is now unfurled at “Flag Days”—all of the major sporting events. Director of Athletics Gerry Vanasse, the driving force behind the effort to adopt the new flag, knew that such a symbol would ignite the spark of “Pingry Pride” that can help lead the school’s teams and athletes to victory.

Pingry’s colors fly when points are scored, big plays are made, and victories are won, or any time the athletes and fans need that extra jolt of energy. The athletes are especially encouraged by the intimidating message that is delivered to a tough opponent each time the flag is unfurled. The visual symbol of “Big Blue,” combined with inspirational music at the beginning of each event, has been shown to create excitement among the Pingry faithful.

[ THE HISTORY OF PINGRY ATHLETICS ]

12 the pingry review

On the night of Sunday, February 26, 2006, while playing basketball in a church gymnasium, junior John Taylor Babbitt ’07 collapsed from a rare heart condition at age 16. Now, the Pingry community is honoring his memory by dedicating the new synthetic turf field as

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The John Taylor Babbitt ’07 Memorial Field

[ THE HISTORY OF PINGRY ATHLETICS ] JoAnne and David Babbitt, the parents of John Taylor Babbitt ’07, describe their late son in a simple sentence that speaks volumes: “he was a gentle soul who cared about people and loved sports.” They do not mean that he loved sports as an all-star athlete—they mean that he loved to be part of a team, loved to understand sports, loved to watch sports, and loved to talk about sports. He had this passion from the age of four.

In the 1990s, when his family lived in the United Kingdom, John and his father had season tickets for the Southampton Football Team (the U.K.’s version of soccer) and went to games every Saturday. After his family moved back to the United States, John became a huge fan of the New York Yankees and thrived on analy-

sis. “When we were watching Yankee games on television, he would call my father and discuss the merits of the umpire’s decisions. He knew all the nuances of baseball and other sports. It was really fun to see the passion and to see him get excited about it,” Mr. Babbitt says.

John was an active participant in Pingry athletics: his freshman year, he played on the junior varsity soccer and baseball teams; as a sophomore, he played on the junior varsity soccer and basketball teams and varsity baseball team; in his junior year, he played on the varsity football team.

“He loved nothing more than being on a team. Whether it was supporting from the bench or whether it was running on the field, he just loved the camaraderie,” Mrs. Babbitt says.

He also was an active member of his church’s youth ministry. John played basketball on Sunday nights as part of his church’s youth ministry league for high school boys and girls.

On that Sunday night in 2006, he was playing at St. Patrick’s Church in Chatham when he collapsed from an undiagnosed case of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), an abnormal thickening of the heart muscle. HCM results in smaller heart chambers, which makes it difficult for the heart to receive oxygen; this condition is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes.

14 the pingry review John Taylor Babbitt ’07 in 2005

Within days of his passing, Logan Bartlett ’06 and another student asked students and faculty members for their favorite memories of John—interviews preserved on DVD—and their recollections reflect several aspects of his personality: he did not

try to be anyone else, he made people feel happy, everyone liked him, he was everyone’s favorite player on a team, and he was one of the only students who, every morning, greeted the nighttime security guard. “[John and I] played football together and I would give him rides home from school frequently after practice.

Following John’s passing, I saw the opportunity to help his family cope with the loss of their son,” Logan says about producing the DVD. Two months after he died, Pingry’s varsity baseball team retired his No. 8 jersey and unveiled a dedicational plaque commemorating his life; the plaque is permanently affixed to a stone near the baseball field.

In addition to the plaque, four other initiatives have been undertaken to honor John’s memory. The first is the John Taylor Babbitt Foundation (www.jtbfoundation.org), a not-forprofit organization founded by Mr. and Mrs. Babbitt and John’s younger brother Andrew (VI) and dedicated to preventing sudden cardiac death.

The foundation’s goals include installing defibrillators in schools, athletic venues, and public gathering places; funding research on genetic cardiac disorders; and sponsoring local training programs in CPR and AEDs. The second is the “Walk with Heart Walk-a-Thon,” organized

by John’s classmates and held each May at Pingry to raise money for the foundation.

The third is The John Taylor Babbitt ’07 Memorial Award at Pingry, a fund that provides a prize to the winner of this award. It is presented annually to a senior boy or girl who most embodies the qualities that exemplified John’s life: fun-loving, confident, faithful, compassionate, reliable, and devoted to friends and family.

The fourth, completed this fall and dedicated at Homecoming on September 27, is The John Taylor Babbitt ’07 Memorial Field, Pingry’s

The family of John Taylor Babbitt ’07 at the field dedication. From left: grandfather John, brother Andrew ’09, father David, and mother JoAnne, with Headmaster Nat Conard

first synthetic turf field, measuring 93,000 square feet. This field not only memorializes John, but also serves as an outstanding athletic facility that Pingry has wanted for many years, and the building and naming of the field happened simultaneously—the Board of Trustees granted permission to fundraise for the field at the same time that Pingry was considering opportunities to name something after John.

Three sets of parents whose children were John’s classmates volunteered to raise money for the project: Randy and Leigh Porges (Anna ’07), Wes and MM Lang (Emily ’07), and Richard and LeeAnne Lan (Austin ’07 and Elizabeth ’07). “He was a fixture in our home as my son Austin’s best friend.

The weekend before he died, he and Austin went to Bucknell University to

These parents, like many faculty and staff members at Pingry, felt strongly that the school needed a synthetic turf field for two major reasons. Rain has forced teams to cancel practices and games, resulting in make-up games during busier periods later in the season. “We have wonderful [athletic] facilities, but, if they’re not available, that doesn’t help us in terms of providing first-class facilities,” Mr. Porges says. Synthetic turf will drain, allowing students to be on the field in the rain, so teams will gain a lot of playing time.

For example, the sub-surface used to be asphalt, but, now, there is a cushion and the surface is softer, so the synthetic turf can turn with the player’s foot as his or her body rotates. Mrs. Lee also points out that synthetic turf helps her players as they follow the bouncing ball.

“It’s a ‘balls on the ground’ game.

This should allow for predictability and no irregular bounces,” she says.

Also, Pingry’s teams have had to practice in the gym when it rains.

“Most schools we compete against have turf fields and you have to be able to practice on it,” Mr. Lang says.

Mr. and Mrs. Babbitt emphasize how grateful and appreciative they are for all of the support they have received from the Pingry community, and the naming of the field in John’s name means a lot to them.

“John would be so honored, proud, and grateful to know that there are going to be so many kids who will have the opportunity to give sports a try, and to know that he’s a part of that,” Mrs. Babbitt says.

Lacrosse coach Mike Webster and field hockey coach Judy Lee, whose teams will use the field most of the time, say that improved technology makes synthetic turf fields safer.

In Mr. Babbitt’s words, “There is no better way to memorialize John because he loved to be on a sports field. That is where he was the happiest.”

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“Some of my first memories consisted of John and me playing sports in our backyard in England. Whether it was cricket, soccer, or the occasional baseball, John was always in his element playing sports,” Andrew Babbitt said during the dedication.

visit my older son Travis. John had a wonderful sense of humor and lived life to the fullest,” Mr. Lan says.

[ THE HISTORY OF PINGRY ATHLETICS ]

From the NHL to the Broadcast Booth to…Teaching?

Randy Velischek playing for the Devils, then broadcasting for the Devils, and now coaching Middle School ice hockey at Pingry

Randy Velischek never thought it would happen.

The Montreal native joined Pingry for the 2007-08 school year after a 10-year career in the National Hockey League—he played from 1983 to 1993 for the Minnesota North Stars, Quebec Nordiques, and New Jersey Devils—and 11 years as a broadcaster for the Devils from 1995 to 2006 on ABC Radio and WFAN-AM. After his time in

the radio booth, he met Director of Athletics Gerry Vanasse, and that eventually led to a job at Pingry.

Mr. Velischek coaches Middle School ice hockey and teaches French and German for the Middle and Upper Schools. He acquired both languages from his family at an early age, then majored in business and French at Providence College, where he graduated with honors.

One of the biggest differences that he has discovered from his days playing professionally is that the “win-at-all-cost” atmosphere is no longer an issue because the focus is on opportunities for the players to contribute to their team and develop their skills. “I find it refreshing that, compared to the NHL where you’re paid to win and if you don’t win you lose your job, in the Middle School everybody plays, which I believe is the right philosophy,” Mr. Velischek says.

In the classroom, he has a newfound respect for teachers and teaching.

“I had no idea what it’s like to be a teacher and the pressures involved. I’ve been coaching kids of all ages for 25 years, but the classroom challenge is as great as any I’ve faced. I’m fortunate to have entered this profession—it’s the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had,” he says, adding that the support from fellow faculty members has been overwhelming.

Two Members of the Class of 2009 Sign Letters to Play Division I Lacrosse Pingry lacrosse co-captains Jenn Lang and Katie Parsels signed Letters of Intent this fall to play Division I lacrosse after graduation. Jenn will play for the Stanford University Cardinal, and Katie will play for the Vanderbilt University Commodores.

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A three-sport athlete who also plays field hockey and swims, Jenn has played lacrosse since Grade 3. “I am really excited about going to Stanford, and I think it’s a great balance for me between lacrosse and academics.

It will be a challenging environment in both aspects.

I’ve always wanted to play lacrosse in college, and I am really excited to have found a fit that will enable me to still pursue all of my interests,” she said.

For the past 13 years, Stanford has won the U.S. Sports Academy’s Directors’ Cup, honoring the most successful NCAA Division I sports program in the country.

At Vanderbilt, Katie will join a strong Commodores program that finished the 2008 season ranked No. 10 in the nation; their women’s lacrosse team has qualified for the NCAA Division I Tournament in each of the past two seasons.

From left: Wes Lang, MM Lang, Jenn Lang (VI), Katie Parsels (VI), Marika Parsels, and David Parsels

“Vanderbilt is an outstanding university, both academically and athletically, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to go there. Vanderbilt has a top-notch lacrosse program, and I am looking forward to being a part of it,” Katie said.

She was named All-Area 1st Team by the Courier News last season, and she also plays field hockey and basketball at Pingry. The Athletic Department chose her to be Pingry’s outstanding female athlete honoree for “National Girls and Women in Sports Day” in February 2008. Katie started playing Middle School lacrosse in 2004.

Faculty Member and Coach Judy Lee is Honored with 2008 Sports Award

From left: Conor Malloy (II), Fencing Coach Vasyl Stankovych, Stephen Rienzi (II), Vinita Davey (II), and Nadia Asif (I)

Five-Time World Champ Coaches Pingry Fencing Olympic Silver Medalist in 1968, World Individual Gold Medalist in 1971…two of Vasyl Stankovych’s medals from a lifetime of fencing.

Now in his sixth season as a coach for the Pingry Boys’ Fencing Team, Mr. Stankovych is also the Head Coach at Maestro Fencing Club in Somerville, N.J. and a coach at Lilov Fencing Academy, named for Vladimir Lilov, who coached fencing at Pingry. Mr. Stankovych’s wife Tatyana is a coach for the Girls’ Fencing Team and they coach the Middle School Fencing Team together.

In 1962, Mr. Stankovych applied for the Sports Game department of the Lvov Institute because he always played soccer or volleyball in high school. He had a small chance to be admitted to the institute—there were about 25 applications for one position.

Meanwhile, the fencing department did not have enough athletes. Mr. Andrievsky, who was the director of

He considers the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, when he was 22, to be his most memorable. “We were preparing for the Olympic Fencing Tournament during two weeks at the Olympic Village, and we practiced and fenced with the USA Olympic Team as well as the Mexico Olympic Team in the same gym. It was like a non-stop holiday for me,” he says.

Mr. Stankovych was also a silver medalist at the 1972 Olympics in Munich and finished fourth on the team and as an individual at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. His last Olympic games were as a referee in 1980 in Moscow. He was a member of the World Team from 1969-1971 and 1973-1975, where he placed 1st four times and 2nd twice.

In 1988, he worked with the USSR Foil Fencing Team, preparing them for the Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, and the team won gold medals.

He spent more than 20 years coaching teams in the Soviet Union, Hungary, Kuwait, and Indonesia before moving to the United States. “This is not only an Olympic sport, but also one of the best sports for physical education, for building character, and for recreation and fun. This is a family sport for all ages,” he says.

“I’ve been fortunate to work with very committed athletes, and I think that reflects on not just the head coach, but also the coaching staff. I think we have a pretty good reputation, in terms of sportsmanship and excellence of play,” Mrs. Lee says.

She has coached field hockey at Pingry since 1985, and her teams have been Colonial Hills Conference champions, Somerset County champions, sectional champions five times, and state champions four times. She has been recognized as the Colonial Hills Conference, Somerset County, New Jersey State, and NFHS (National Federation of State High School Associations) Regional and National “Coach of the Year.”

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Mr. Stankovych was born in Ukraine in 1946 to a father who taught math and a mother who taught music, and he started fencing at age 16. The man responsible for his career as a fencer and fencing coach was Vadim Andrievsky, Honored Coach of the USSR, Master of Fencing, and former Rector of the Lvov State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports.

the fencing department at the time, wanted more fencers and recruited Mr. Stankovych, who had never heard of fencing. “The coach wanted a beginner because he could teach him all of the skills correctly from the beginning,” Mrs. Stankovych says.

Judy Lee, head coach of the Girls’ Varsity Field Hockey Team, received a 2008 Sports Award from the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). The award honors her dedication to field hockey and its athletes, her years of service to the sport, and her success as a coach.

Field Hockey Coach Judy Lee and Director of Athletics Gerry Vanasse

[ PHILANTHROPY ]

Athletic Facilities Patrons: People Behind the Names Pingry’s rich tradition of athletics is evident in the school’s athletic facilities, including the fields for football, soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, baseball, and softball; a cross-country course that laps the campus; 12 outdoor tennis courts, a 400-meter all-weather track, a six-lane 25-meter indoor swimming pool, a strength and fitness center, and two basketball gymnasiums.

Many of these facilities are named in honor of people who had or have close connections to the school.

The Beinecke Pool is dedicated to Honorary Trustee and 1969 Letterin-Life Award recipient William S. Beinecke ’31, a member of the board of trustees from 1955 to 1976.

Mr. Beinecke proposed the school’s move from Hillside to Bernards

The Beinecke Pool

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The Miller Bugliari ’52 World Cup Soccer Field

Township, where he believed Pingry would benefit from New Jersey’s population growth. He made funds available to Pingry to purchase the land for the new campus and, years later, forgave the school’s mortgage note. By removing Pingry’s obligation to re-pay him, he allowed the school to use the money for other purposes.

The Miller Bugliari ’52 World Cup Soccer Field was constructed in 1994 as the training site for the Italian National Soccer Team.

The work done on the field was

dedicated to the memory of Charles Stillitano, Sr. His son Charlie, Jr. ’77, a current Pingry parent, was a soccer star at Pingry and is a member of Pingry’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

Coach Bugliari has been at the helm of the Boys’ Varsity Soccer Team since the fall of 1960, and his teams have amassed numerous state and county championships while he has earned coaching honors and been elected to several Halls of Fame, including Pingry’s. On September 27, 2008, he earned his 700th career victory.

the pingry review

Cornwall Field

Cornwall Field, the field for junior varsity soccer and girls’ varsity lacrosse, and the adjacent pavilion are dedicated to the late Timothy Clift Cornwall ’64, who played soccer and lacrosse, was elected president of his class, received The Class of 1902 Emblem Award, and was a member of the 1962 Boys’ Varsity Soccer Team, which is enshrined in Pingry’s Athletic Hall of Fame. His brother Joe ’67, an architect who designed the pavilion, describes him as a gifted athlete who thrived on competition and challenges, and relates that Tim earned the nickname “Clutch” because of his performance under pressure. Tim entered Pingry in Grade 5. “He liked to say that his classmates felt sorry for his new and awkward standing and so, Parsons Field

The Greig Fitness Center

in an effort to make him feel at home, made him president of the class,” Joe says. They elected Tim president of the class every year and, in his senior year, they elected him president of the school.

The Freeman Family Scoreboard —Heath Freeman ’98, Amanda Freeman ’94, and Danyelle Freeman ’92—was dedicated in November 1997 for the soccer and baseball fields. Heath and Amanda attended Pingry from Kindergarten through Form VI, and the Freeman Family was eager to support both the school and the soccer program of which they were proud to be a part.

winter 2009

The Greig Fitness Center is named for the Greig Family.

Thomas ’94, David ’98, and Andrew ’00 were very involved in Pingry athletics, and their parents decided to help fund the renovations for the new center. They wanted it to be dedicated to the coaches and staff of the Athletics department to recognize their commitment to educating Pingry students in areas such as teamwork, sportsmanship, and determination. The Fitness Center

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[ PHILANTHROPY ] Board in 1965 and again from 1971 to 1978. He was instrumental in the school’s moves to Hillside and Martinsville and was made an honorary alumnus because of his foresight and determination in these two moves. Mr. Parsons first became a trustee shortly after his son Bob entered Pingry in 1946.

Thomas Tennis Courts

Thomas Tennis Courts: George Comyns Thomas ’07 was a tennis star, ranked at Pingry and nationally ranked while at Princeton contains treadmills, Stairmasters, bicycles, dumbbell racks, more than 20 strength training machines for the upper and lower body, a stretching mat, a variety of lifting objects, and various custom-made barbells and dumbbells to meet the needs of students and athletes, in addition to other equipment.

Hyde and Watson Gymnasium

Parsons Field, located inside the track and used by the football and boys’ lacrosse teams, is named in honor of the late Robert W. Parsons, whose sons Bob ’51, Roger ’55, and Stanley ’56, and grandchildren Jennifer (Parsons) Hedlund ’94 and Christopher Parsons ’97 attended Pingry. Mr. Parsons was Chair of the Todd Track

20 the pingry review

University, and the tennis courts are named in his honor. He worked for Thomas & Betts Corporation, becoming general manager in 1929 and moving up to president many years later. Pingry honored him with the Letter-in-Life Award in 1950.

Todd Track: E. Murray Todd ’16, athlete, Pingry trustee, and 1975 recipient of the Letter-in-Life Award, had Pingry’s track named for him shortly after Pingry opened the Martinsville Campus. The dedication was awarded in recognition of Murray’s victory in the 1916 Eastern States Interscholastic and Prep School Championship Mile and for his exceptional commitment

Williams Field

and generosity to the school. Robert Parsons, Sr. knew of Murray’s business acumen and encouraged him to become a Pingry Trustee, a position Murray faithfully held until his death.

Williams Field: The late Reese Williams, another member of Pingry’s Athletic Hall of Fame, has the baseball field named for him. He served as Director of Athletics from 1920 to 1959 and Head Coach of the Varsity Baseball Team from 1920 to 1960. He also coached Pingry football.

Bristol Gymnasium

Hyde and Watson Gymnasium: The first of Pingry’s two gymnasiums is named for the Hyde and Watson Foundation, a consolidation in 1983 of The Lillia Babbitt Hyde Foundation and The John Jay and Eliza Jane Watson Foundation.

Honorary Trustee Bill Engel ’67 has been a director of the foundation for 22 years and is now the president. “The foundation has been a significant source of funding for Pingry over many decades; they supported the building of the Hillside Campus; and they were one of the

largest providers of funds for the move to Martinsville,” he says.

When Pingry approached the foundation to name something at the Martinsville Campus, the decision was made to name one of the gyms, given that the Hillside Campus’s gym was named the Hyde Gymnasium.

Bristol Gymnasium: The other

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gymnasium is named for the late Madeleine Wild Bristol, mother of Honorary Trustee William “Mac” Bristol III ’39, Atherton “Toni” Bristol ’41, and former trustee Michal W. Bristol ’49. She was also the grandmother of former trustee Brian Bristol ’69, Ted Bristol ’74, and Steven Bristol ’82. Mrs. Bristol was a huge proponent of Pingry athletics and attended every baseball, football, and basketball home game for many years; Toni coached at Pingry, and Mrs. Bristol was a regular in the stands to watch his teams in action.

[ School News ] New Chair of the Board is an Alumnus and a Legal Expert Jack Brescher ’65 is the new Chair of the board of trustees.

He joined the board in July 1995 when Bill Engel ’67 was Chair, and he succeeds Vicki Brooks. Jack was Vice-Chair during her tenure.

He earned a bachelor of science degree in Business and Economics at Lehigh University in 1969 and, at Georgetown University Law Center, he earned a Juris Doctor degree in 1972 and a Master of Laws degree in taxation in 1976. He joined the New Jersey law firm of McCarter & English, LLP, in 1976 and became a partner in 1982; his practice area is federal taxation and employee benefits, and he is a member of the American Bar Association and New Jersey Bar Association. He has also taught at Seton Hall University Law School and lectured and written extensively.

Jack’s wife Toni teaches science at Gill St. Bernard’s School, and their son John graduated from Pingry in 1999. The combination of supporting the school, living locally, being an alumnus and, at the time, being the parent of a student was among the reasons that Bill asked Jack to join the board.

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“Jack had served on other non-profit boards so he understood why it was important to act in certain ways as a non-profit trustee. His service since then has borne out our feelings. He is universally admired by people on the board. He’s viewed as a very thoughtful, intelligent, commonsense person who cares deeply about the school,” Bill says.

Ms. Brooks highlights the fact that Jack had been a long-time alumni trustee with broad experience. “He

Jack Brescher ’65

was always an excellent sounding board for me,” she says.

The board of trustees provides guidance for the school and helps to ensure financial security. Jack would like to increase the size of Pingry’s endowment and increase faculty benefits.

“Ultimately, I would love to see Pingry be the school of choice for every student in the state of New Jersey because of the superior academic programs, the nurturing nature of the campus, and the extracurricular activities. Beyond that, it would be great if every qualified student could attend, regardless of financial need. That’s why financial aid is an important component. I think we want to have greater socioeconomic diversity,” he says.

As an alumnus and the parent of an alumnus, Jack feels that the Honor Code is a unique aspect of Pingry and an enriching part of the students’ experience. “There probably aren’t many people who decide to send their child to Pingry because of the Honor Code; but most ultimately find that it is a very important part of the experience, and its lessons and values remain with the students for life,” he says.

Five New Members of the Board of Trustees Five current Pingry parents joined the board at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year. “They bring a wealth of experience, a breadth of perspectives, and a heartfelt passion for Pingry’s mission to their work as members of the board of trustees. We are enormously grateful for their extraordinary commitment of time and expertise to the important work of stewardship that board membership represents,” says Headmaster Nat Conard.

Deborah Barker volunteers for The Pingry Fund, and she and her husband Randy have two children attending Pingry—James is in Grade 5 and Lee is a freshman. Ms. Barker has been a Trustee of her alma mater, Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Maine, since 1999. She also is a Trustee of Student/Partner Alliance in Newark, N.J. and New Jersey SEEDS (Scholars, Educators,

Deborah Barker

William D. Ju, M.D.

Donna Kreisbuch

Denise Vanech

Excellence, Dedication, Success) in Newark. She earned her master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University in 1985 and is a former Managing Director in Investment Banking for Prudential Securities Incorporated.

2006. Ms. Kreisbuch is president of the Pingry School Parents’ Association (PSPA) and has been volunteering for the PSPA since 1995 to organize many school fundraising and social events. From 1995 to 2007, at various times, Ms. Kreisbuch was a Trustee at Temple B’nai Abraham in Livingston, N.J. and, from 1984 to 1994, she worked as an attorney. She graduated from SUNY at Albany and Cardozo School of Law.

Alumni Association (PAA), volunteers for The Pingry Fund, was a Class Agent, and participated in Career Day in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. He has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. He earned his bachelor of science degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business in 1983.

Mr. Lipper is Director of Retirement Marketing for Lord, Abbett & Co. He is responsible for marketing and strategic planning for Lord Abbett’s retirement business.

Donna Kreisbuch and her husband Alan are the parents of two Pingry children—Johanna is a junior and Michael graduated from Pingry in

Steven M. Lipper ’79, CFA, and his wife Ann Marie have three children attending Pingry: Catherine is a senior, Matthew is a freshman, and Stephanie is in Form I. Mr. Lipper is the new president of the Pingry

Steven M. Lipper ’79, CFA

Denise Vanech and her husband Dean are the parents of Nicholas and Christina, a Pingry senior.

Ms. Vanech has been a Trustee for The Vanech Family Foundation since 2003, a member of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Expansion Steering Committee at Morristown Memorial Hospital since 2005, and a member of the advisory board and director of the Schoolto-School Program for the Global Literacy Project since 2007. She earned her bachelor of science degree in Business Administration from Western New England College in Springfield, Mass. in 1984 and worked for RJR Nabisco, American Express, Combustion Engineering, and Kramer Levin LLP.

23 winter 2009

William D. Ju, M.D., and his wife Doris have two children attending Pingry: Evan is a senior and Christopher is a sophomore. Dr. Ju is a former Trustee of The Peck School, Caldwell College, and the Chinese American Medical Society and former member of the Board of Directors for the ExSAR Corporation and Validus Pharmaceuticals. He currently is President of the Board of Trustees and Chair of the Finance Committee for the Presbyterian Church in Morristown. He received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and did his postgraduate medical training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and National Institutes of Health. Since 2003, he has been Chief Operating Officer of PTC Therapeutics.

[ School News ]

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Annual Trustee Dinner on October 16, 2008 The evening included introductions of the newest board members; a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Martinsville Campus with the premiere of a commemorative film and recognition of those who played a significant role in the school’s move; and a tribute to Vicki Brooks for her service as Chair of the Board. Those in attendance also honored the trustees who recently retired from the board: Vicki Brooks, E. Lori Halivopoulos ’78, Megan Kellogg, Martin B. O’Connor II ’77, Barbara L. Saypol, Julie A. Silbermann, and Geraldine I. Vitale.

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Honorary Trustee John Bent, Jr. and his wife Janet

2 Former Chair Vicki Brooks and her husband David Lawrence

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Jim Welch, Mathematics Department Chair Manny Tramontana, and Honorary Trustee Warren Kimber, Jr. ’52

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PAA President Steve Lipper ’79, Anne DeLaney ’79, and John Holman ’79

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Bobbie Kimber, Former Headmaster John Hanly, Miller Bugliari ’52, Jeff Edwards ’78, and Tony Borden ’62

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Honorary Trustee Fred Bartenstein, Jr., to whom the Martinsville Campus is dedicated.

7 Honorary Trustee Bill Beinecke ’31, Headmaster Nat Conard, and Ned Ward ’52

8 Honorary Trustees Bill Engel ’67 and John Bent, Jr.

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Vicki Brooks, Barbara Saypol, Chair of the Board Jack Brescher ’65, and Julie Silbermann

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Bobbie Kimber and Betty Beinecke

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[ School News ] Where in the World is the Class of 2008?

Members of the Class of 2008, which numbered 123 students, are attending 58 colleges. Sixty-one percent of the class was admitted to colleges early and 32 percent of the class was admitted under Early Decision I or Early Decision II. Twenty-seven students planned to participate in Division I and Division III sports.

In many cases, the number of students who were accepted by a college is greater than the number of students who are attending that college.

For example, 18 students were accepted by Boston College and six are attending; 15 were accepted by Georgetown University and seven are attending; and nine were accepted by Princeton University and six are attending. Here is a list of colleges and the number of Pingry students attending.

American University . . . . . 2 Babson College . . . . . . . . . 1 Boston College . . . . . . . . . . 6 Boston University . . . . . . . 2 Bowdoin College . . . . . . . . 1 Brown University . . . . . . . . 2 Bryn Mawr College . . . . . . 1 Bucknell University . . . . . . 3 Carnegie Mellon . . . . . . . . 2 Colgate University . . . . . . . 1 The College of New Jersey 1 College of the Holy Cross . 1 William and Mary . . . . . . . 1 Cornell University . . . . . . . 3 Dartmouth College . . . . . . 4 Drew University . . . . . . . . . 1 Emory University . . . . . . . . 2 Franklin and Marshall . . . . 4 Georgetown University . . . 7 Gettysburg College . . . . . . 1 Hamilton College—NY . . . 4 Harvard University . . . . . . 2

Lafayette College . . . . . . . . 1 Lehigh University . . . . . . . . 1 Mass. Institute of Tech. . . . 3 Middlebury College . . . . . . 2 Moravian College . . . . . . . . 1 New York University . . . . . 2 Northeastern University . . 2 Northwestern University . . 2 Pennsylvania State U., University Park . . . . . . . . . 1 Pratt Institute . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Princeton University . . . . . 6 Rider University . . . . . . . . . 1 Rochester Inst. of Tech. . . 1 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey . 1 Saint Joseph’s University . 1 Sewanee: The University of the South . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Swarthmore College . . . . . 1 Trinity College . . . . . . . . . . 2 Tufts University . . . . . . . . . 3 University of Chicago . . . . 2

U. of Colorado at Boulder . 1 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . . 2 University of Notre Dame . 1 University of Pennsylvania 1 University of Richmond . . 4 University of Southern California . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 U. of Wisconsin, Madison . 1 Vanderbilt University . . . . . 2 Villanova University . . . . . . 4 Wake Forest University . . . 3 Washington and Lee U. . . . 4 Washington U. in St. Louis 1 Wellesley College . . . . . . . . 2 Wesleyan University . . . . . 1 Williams College . . . . . . . . 2 Yale University . . . . . . . . . . 4 Post-graduate year: Phillips Exeter Academy . . 1 Hun School . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

An Advocate who Tells the Student’s Story

26 the pingry review

The Class of 2008 was the first class at Pingry to work with Tim Lear ’92, the school’s new Director of College Counseling, who also teaches “New Voices,” a second-semester English elective for juniors and seniors. He returned to Pingry after 10 years at Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child in Summit, N.J., where he taught high school English and AP electives and coached five varsity sports, and one year at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., where he taught English.

During his sixth year at Oak Knoll, he interviewed to be Director of College Counseling. “Since I really liked the relationship with the students, I wanted to be an advocate for them in the [college application] process, and I wanted a new challenge within education,” Tim says. He spent the next four years in his new position, and he continued to teach two English classes and coach the

winter track team (Oak Knoll had not had a winter track team for more than 15 years until Tim started one).

At Oak Knoll, Tim was the only member of the college counseling department, so he is pleased to be collaborating with a staff at Pingry. “We develop a working knowledge of every student in the class and review every student’s college list, so that, after November 1, each of us should feel prepared to advocate for any member of the class,” he says.

One facet of the college search process that Tim has learned since joining Pingry is that the students are eager to be campus leaders, and he highlights one member of the Class of 2008 who, as a freshman on a university campus, has already written several cover stories for the school’s daily newspaper. “I was impressed by the extent to which Pingry students are capable of making an impact, right away, on college campuses,” he says.

Tim Lear ’92

He also discovered that colleges have been following up with Pingry because of the students’ distinguished accomplishments. “While I spoke to some colleges to help arrange visits, many schools contacted me to make sure that they had a chance to visit Pingry and meet with our students,” Tim says. More than anything, though, he is eager to tell each student’s story and share his or her Pingry experience with the colleges of his or her choice.

AED + CPR =

Pingry Saving Lives For the second time in two years, a member of the Pingry community has helped save a person’s life.

In March 2008, a sophomore who had been trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by faculty member William Frye used his newly-certified CPR skills to help save the life of a woman suffering from sudden cardiac arrest. The student was certified because of the health department’s requirement—for the past 20-plus years—that all sophomores learn CPR (the certification is valid for two years).

Before that, in December 2006, Pingry nurses Joanne Childs and Joy Livak and Health Department Chair Sue Marotto helped save the life of staff member Hank Langowski using automated external defibrillators (AEDs) that they had purchased for the school in 2001.

Because Pingry has taken these measures to help save lives, the American Heart Association (AHA) honored the health department, the sophomore, and the school on May 28, 2008, with Heart Saver Hero Awards.

Now retired from Pingry, Mr. Langowski attended the ceremony

Kathryn Kolb and Lilly Holman practice their CPR skills in a sophomore health class

and presented the AHA plaque to Mrs. Childs, Mrs. Livak, and Mrs. Marotto. Lori Heavener, the woman saved by the Pingry sophomore, also attended to thank the Pingry student and the school. “I’m very lucky that Pingry did what they did with having the CPR [course] and making that mandatory,” she said. The AHA also presented plaques to Mr. Frye for teaching the student CPR and to the student’s father for choosing to stop his car when he saw a crowd gathered around Ms. Heavener.

The AHA arranged for the ceremony to take place just before the start of National CPR/AED Awareness Week, June 1-7, 2008. The goal of the week is to encourage states and towns to make AEDs more publicly

“I hope that more public and private schools will join Pingry in placing AEDs within their buildings and in requiring CPR instruction,” Mrs. Marotto says. Upon successful completion of Pingry’s CPR course, students receive the AHA’s certifications for CPR and for using the AED; one must have a current AED certification to lawfully use an AED in New Jersey.

Headmaster Nat Conard, who attended the AHA ceremony with other Pingry administrators, echoed Mrs. Marotto’s support for other schools requiring CPR training and purchasing AEDs. He noted that it was due to the health department’s advocacy that Pingry has AEDs in many places around the campus, including at all outdoor and indoor athletic sites. He also thanked the department for promoting CPR training. “Our health teachers—Sue, Joanne, Joy, and Bill—do an extraordinary job for us.

It was before my time that the health department pushed to put in, as a required part of the program, mandatory CPR training for all of our tenth-graders. But it was obviously a great thing to do, a really forwardthinking thing to do, and something that saves lives . . . and will continue to do so in the future,” he said.

27 winter 2009

Faculty members in the health department. From left: Registered Nurse Joanne Childs, Athletic Trainer Bill Frye, Registered Nurse Joyce Livak, and Department Chair Sue Marotto

accessible and to encourage more members of the public to learn CPR.

[ School News ]

With Summer Fellowships, Faculty Members Enhance What They Teach

course. It replaces a workbook and all of the activities are connected to the textbook.

Every summer since 1989, Pingry has awarded up to five faculty summer fellowships of $5,000 each, based on applications that are judged by a committee including the Headmaster and Chair of the Board of Trustees. The proposal does not have to be directly related to a teacher’s discipline, but it should contribute to making the faculty member a better teacher. Each applicant must have taught at Pingry for at least five years before the year of the award’s announcement. These are the fellowships that took place during the summer of 2008.

The second aspect is Podcasts to help students practice speaking in Spanish. Using the computer program Audacity in Pingry’s library, students use a personal topic, such as describing their best friend, to record an audio file. “If they can use the vocabulary in a personal way, they will remember that vocabulary longer than by learning a list or making artificial sentences,” Mr. Vazquez says.

Language Learning Aided by New Technology

There are two aspects of this distance learning which Mr. Vazquez used his fellowship to initiate. The first is an online virtual classroom developed by the Cervantes Institute, an international non-profit organization responsible for promoting the study and teaching of Spanish language and culture; Pingry is the first school in the United States to use the program because it is designed more for the European market.

During the summer, Mr. Vazquez completed 30 hours of training so that he could be approved as a tutor, enabling his students to use the

After the students record their files, they email them to Mr. Vazquez, who sends them back with any corrections that need to be made and the students re-record the assignment. This enables the students to access the files at anytime and learn at their own pace.

Time in the Lab Advances the Curriculum Science faculty member Tommie Hata usually spends his summers conducting research in laboratories at The Rockefeller University, which

A Spanish student, wearing a headset with earphones and a microphone, uses Audacity to record a sound file, visible at the top of the screen

28 the pingry review

Learning a second language is a big task for anyone, and Spanish faculty member Gerardo Vazquez believes that a daily 40-minute class is not sufficient. Instead, he is trying to help his students become more independent learners by providing them with distance learning—technological capabilities outside the classroom to supplement their work with textbooks inside the classroom. “The idea is to use their time not just to fill in the blanks in the workbook, but to have a really meaningful learning experience,” he says.

With help from scientists at university laboratories where Tommie Hata has done research, he has developed a method for students in the Science Research course to isolate bacteriophage (a virus that infects bacteria) from soil collected around Pingry. Senior Brooke Conti and Mr. Hata are screening the bacteriophage cultures against potential bacterial hosts as they look for lysis (bacterial death)

means the university gives him projects and he spends his time working for the university. However, for the benefit of the students who take his course “Introduction to Scientific Research,” now in its fifth year at Pingry, Mr. Hata wanted time in the lab to direct his own projects.

Why? The mission of the course is to give students hands-on opportunities for practical applications of some of the concepts they learned in Pingry’s core science classes of biology, chemistry, and physics. For example, in biology, students learn how DNA works and, in Mr. Hata’s course, students learn how to extract and purify DNA from bacteria and then modify it to demonstrate the numerous applications of recombinant DNA technology in medicine, agriculture, and other industries; recombinant DNA is a piece of a DNA with different origins.

“There often are protocols and methods designed for a one-hour time block, and to turn that into a 30-minute activity requires the time to troubleshoot,” Mr. Hata says. He is grateful to Pingry for the fellowship, which paid for his lab expenses and gave him time to fine-tune his ideas and bring those projects back to the classroom.

One of Ginny McGrath’s photos

Not Just a Pretty Picture

Each day’s schedule was filled with activities from 8:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., followed by evening lectures with international photographers.

Two days of shooting included a beach in early morning fog and people in a parade.

Ginny McGrath in focus mode

One of the highlights of the workshop was learning how to use Adobe

Photoshop Lightroom to modify and organize photos. She also gained a better understanding of what makes a good photo, in terms of composition, and what to shoot.

“The message was ‘don’t just shoot a photograph—shoot an emotion or a feeling.’ That was a big lesson for me because I hadn’t focused on it before.

I took some shots of beautiful flowers, but they’re just photographs. This idea made me think more creatively,” she says.

Mrs. McGrath is grateful to Pingry for the opportunity to attend the workshop because she would not otherwise have been able to go.

29 winter 2009

Mathematics faculty member Ginny McGrath has been volunteering as a photographer for Pingry’s yearbook and, to more effectively aide the yearbook staff, her summer fellowship enabled her to purchase a digital camera and attend a six-day photography workshop in Maine.

[ School News ]

New Upper School Director is Keen on Technology

She plans to continue her involvement in community service at Pingry, and she believes that community service is a way for students to develop leadership skills and grow emotionally and spiritually in ways that may not be offered by the core curriculum.

“I’ve always taught in one way or another,” says Denise Brown-Allen, who has joined Pingry as Director of the Upper School after spending 15 years in numerous positions at The Montclair Kimberley Academy. She also spent eight years managing and directing software development for Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems.

“Pingry has a wonderful reputation in the independent school arena, and I felt that it was time for me to spread my wings, work in a different environment, and learn from another set of colleagues,” she says.

In her new position, she is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Upper School, including overseeing the curriculum, and she is teaching one section of AP Statistics.

“This position is the right mix of all the aspects of different jobs that I’ve had that I’ve loved,” she says, referring to the combination of teaching, interacting with students on a daily basis, and leading and managing a teaching staff.

30 the pingry review

During Dr. Brown-Allen’s time at Montclair Kimberley, she taught math and computer science, chaired the math department, served as Dean of Students and Dean of Student Life, was associate director of both Admissions and College Counseling, and was assistant head of the Upper School.

As she becomes familiar with Pingry’s curriculum, culture, and traditions, Dr. Brown-Allen will focus on the school’s technological resources and the development of teaching strategies to best utilize these resources. “I would like to see the Upper School match—where it makes sense—the technology platform that we see in the classrooms in the Middle School. Making sure

Dr. Brown-Allen, a self-described “Jersey Girl,” and her husband Douglas have been married for 20 years and have two children.

Denise Brown-Allen

that there is a standard set of technology tools in every classroom in the Upper School will be a priority for me,” she says. That emphasis on technology reflects the time she spent with Bell Atlantic.

Between user training, tutoring, and teaching Sunday School, she has always had a desire to be in a classroom. Her favorite subject to teach is statistics. “It makes [the students] more savvy readers and listeners when it comes to the news.

I feel that a strong understanding of statistics is essential to being a responsible citizen, and I find that it is one of the courses [in which] students won’t ask the question, ‘when will I ever need this?’”

Dr. Brown-Allen earned both her bachelor of science and doctorate in education degrees at Seton Hall University, and her master’s degree in business administration at Fairleigh Dickinson University. She has chaired many committees and made presentations at seminars, conferences, and workshops around the country. At Montclair Kimberley, she was community service project coordinator and a peer leader advisor, and she led trips during spring break to help Habitat for Humanity in Mexico, Mississippi, and North Carolina.

Jon Leef named Assistant Headmaster Effective this fall, Jon Leef transitioned full-time to the position of Pingry’s Assistant Headmaster. Since 2005, he served as Upper School Director and, for the 2007-08 school year, as both Upper School Director and Assistant Headmaster. In addition to overseeing all of Pingry’s operations on a daily basis when Headmaster Nat Conard is traveling, Mr. Leef oversees the hiring process at the Martinsville Campus and interdivisional programming for events including Rufus Gunther Day—an annual school-wide day of community service and Halloween festivities.

Mr. Leef’s other responsibilities as Assistant Headmaster include working with Director of Facilities Mike Virzi on facility upgrades, supervising the department heads and college counseling office, teaching math, helping coach varsity football, and advising students. He chairs the Academic Awards and Assembly Committees and will begin work as a co-chair of the Curriculum Review Committee later in the school year.

“I love the new position because it gives me a chance to think about long-term goals for the school while maintaining close relationships with students, faculty, and staff,” Mr. Leef says.

Faculty and Staff New to Pingry in 2008 – 2009 MARTINSVILLE: Name

Department Academic Degree

Victoria Adamo

Admission Coordinator

B.A. University of Delaware

Denise Brown-Allen

Upper School Director

Ed.D. Seton Hall University M.B.A. Fairleigh Dickinson University B.S. Seton Hall University

Anthony T. Garcia

Physical Education

M.B.A. Harvard University School of Business Administration A.B. Princeton University

Laura L. Gerard

Interim Chair of English Department

M.L.A. Houston Baptist University B.S. Villanova University

David E. Greig ’98

Major Gifts Officer

M.A. Columbia University, Teachers College B.A. Amherst College

Lee Hadbavny

History

M.Phil. Columbia University M.A. Columbia University B.A. Princeton University

Jill M. Kehoe ’04

Permanent Substitute

B.A. University of Richmond

Kelle S. Leonhard

Mathematics

M.B.A. Columbia University Graduate School of Business M.A. Columbia University, Teachers College B.S. Wake Forest University

Jeffrey Lisciandrello

English and History

B.A. Williams College

Maureen E. Maher

Communications Associate/Writer

M.B.A. University of Notre Dame B.A. College of the Holy Cross

Melinda Schlehlein

French

M.Phil. The Graduate Center, The City University of New York B.A. Manhattanville College

Alexandra V. Schwab

Mathematics

B.A. St. John’s College

Kristine V. Spano

Latin

B.A. Drew University

Laura Stoffel

Assistant Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving

M.Ed. Boston University B.A. Lehigh University

Mark J. Sullivan

Director of Strategic Communications

M.A. Syracuse University, S.I. Newhouse School of Communications B.A. State University of New York, Oswego

Keith A. Vassall

Assistant Director of College Counseling

M.Ed. Lehigh University B.A. Lake Forest College

Jay P. Winston

Music

B.M. Northwestern University Alexander Technique Certified Teacher Balance Arts Center, NY

SHORT HILLS: Department Academic Degree

Lindsay Baydin

Art

M.S. Pratt Institute B.F.A. New School University, Parson’s School of Design

Helen L. Hsu

Permanent Substitute

B.A. Hunter College

Sona Mehta

Kindergarten

M.A. Columbia University, Teachers College B.S. Pennsylvania State University

Dara Reinkraut

Literacy Specialist

M.A. Columbia University, Teachers College B.S. Bucknell University

Kathryn Rudnyanszky

Grade 3

Ed.M. Rutgers University B.A. St. Mary’s College

31 winter 2009

Name

Scene Around Campus

1

2

1

Senior Giancarlo Riotto, president of the student body, shakes hands with eighthgrade student and advisor group representative Justin Gump during Convocation on September 5, 2008. Senior Liz Roberts, chair of the Honor Board, collects pledges that affirm the students’ commitment to The Honor Code.

2 Barbara Martin’s fourth-

grade Social Studies classes ran a mock presidential election for the Short Hills Campus on November 4, 2008. Third-grade student Melissa Tungare votes as poll worker Natalie Lifson observes.

32 the pingry review

3

4

3 Rufus Gunther Day, the

Martinsville Campus’ day of community service, took place on October 31, 2008. Students removed invasive plant species from half an acre of the school’s wooded property; they visited the Link Community School in Newark to spend time with the students and set up computers; and they painted a wall at Deirdre’s House in Morristown, the Center in Morris County for children who are victims of abuse and/or neglect.

4

Susan Carol McCarthy, author of Lay that Trumpet in Our Hands (summer reading for seventh-grade students), visited the Middle School on October 3, 2008.

Scene Around Campus

5

5

Students welcomed AFS (American Field Service) exchange student Marco Michelangeli (kneeling) on September 19, 2008.

A native of Italy, Marco is spending the 2008-09 school year at Pingry.

6 The Short Hills Campus held its Halloween parade on October 31, 2008.

7 The Upper School Fall

Play in November 2008 was Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.

8 The annual pep rally

took place on September 26, 2008, a day before Homecoming, when the football, soccer, field hockey, and water polo teams played home games.

9 Randy Cohen, a columnist for The New York Times Magazine, visited the Upper School on October 3, 2008, as part of the Honor Board’s Speaker Series. The Honor Board is a committee of students and faculty whose mission is to enhance the spirit of the Honor Code.

1st row, from left: Ashley Hough, Grace Putman, Anita Ganti, and Audrey Li.

6

2nd row, from left: Headmaster Nat Conard, Catherine Kolb, Max DeChiara,

Dean of Student Life Joan Hearst, Randy Cohen, Honor Board Chair Liz Roberts, Dan Schuchinsky, Alexis Bocian-Reperowitz, Meghan Duarte-Silva Barry, Andrew Hanna, Meghan Hager, and Jacklyn Temares.

7 8

9

33 winter 2009

[ alumni News ]

A Message from the PAA President As I begin my leadership of the Pingry Alumni Association, I want to thank E. Lori Halivopoulos ’78 for her excellent work during the past two years. Lori was a great leader for the PAA, organizing many successful events. I look forward to building on the momentum she generated and pursuing the PAA’s mission of promoting a closer relationship between Pingry and its alumni/alumnae.

34 the pingry review

Pingry’s well-earned reputation for excellence extends beyond the classroom to the performing arts venues and the athletic fields. When they were students, Pingry’s current alumni enjoyed many memorable moments; some were widely visible and record-setting. However, if you’re like me, some of the most enduring memories were of the camaraderie and excitement of working hard together toward a shared goal. As I attend the various alumni games we host each year, some of the conversations recall conference championships won and rivals defeated. But, much more often, the stories are about funny incidents that happened along the way. Every year, the PAA hosts alumni/alumnae games, including soccer, ice hockey, basketball, and lacrosse. Many of us attend, even though we didn’t play that sport, to see classmates and share in the stories. We also sponsor an annual Golf Outing in June where many alumni who were never on a golf team (including yours truly) enjoy

a terrific day with fellow alumni and faculty. I encourage you to join us in the fun at these events.

The pinnacle of the Pingry community’s recognition for athletic excellence is the Athletic Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony for the Hall of Fame is a special tradition in the spring, when we recognize the accomplishments of selected alumni, whether they are being inducted as individual players or as members of a team.

The induction ceremony is always a wonderful evening—seeing alumni come to the Martinsville Campus, New PAA President Steve Lipper ’79 some for the first time, to recall the glory years and catch were invited to come to Pingry and up with old teammates and coaches. network with the speakers in their You can read more about the Hall of fields. Also, in addition to the Fame, including how to nominate seniors, we included the juniors someone, on page 43 of this issue. for the first time.

One area we are targeting for significant progress this year is using technology to connect better with our alumni community. Pingry is developing a new web site and alumni portal, which will also play an important role in keeping alumni athletes up-to-date with their teams’ scores and other news. Stay tuned for more details.

Among our most popular annual events is Career Day, which was held on Friday, January 30 at the Martinsville Campus. In the past, we have invited alumni from specific fields to visit Pingry to talk to seniors about career advice and options.

This year, for the first time, we expanded Career Day to make it a networking opportunity. All alumni

Finally, I hope you are making your plans to come to Reunion 2009, which takes place Thursday, May 14 to Saturday, May 16 at the Martinsville Campus. The schedule features a Pen Pal breakfast for the Class of 1959, the Fifty-Year Club Luncheon, a reception to celebrate 25 years of the Martinsville Campus, the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and class parties for years ending in 4 and 9 on Saturday evening.

It is always a terrific weekend. I hope you can attend.

Sincerely,

Steve Lipper ’79, P ’09, ’12, ’14

May 14-16, 2009 50th Reunion for the Class of 1959 Thursday, May 14

Saturday, May 16

Noon

Class of 1959 Luncheon, NJ National Golf Club

2:00 p.m.

Class of 1959 Golf Outing, NJ National Golf Club

6:00 p.m.

Class of 1959 Informal Dinner NJ National Golf Club

9:30 a.m.

Breakfast with Headmaster Nat Conard Lower Commons Chat with the Headmaster and reconnect with classmates. Breakfast includes made-to-order omelettes, bagels, fruit, and more.

10:45 a.m.

Annual Meeting of Alumni The Wilf Family Commons, Middle School

Friday, May 15 9:00 a.m.

Class of 1959 Breakfast O’Connor Board Room, Middle School

9:45 a.m.

Class of 1959 – Middle School Pen Pal Program Class of 1959 meets their pen pals

10:45 a.m.

Class Visitation (Observe a Pingry class of your choice)

12:00 noon

Fifty-Year Club Luncheon Hostetter Arts Center Members of the Class of 1959 will be inducted into this club. All alumni from 1959 and older are invited to attend with their spouse or guest.

4:00-5:30 p.m.

25th Anniversary of Martinsville Campus Reception

5:30 p.m.

Headmaster’s Reception The Wilf Family Commons, Middle School

6:00 p.m.

Hall of Fame and Magistri Inductions The Wilf Family Commons, Middle School

Hall of Fame inductees:

Harold Monier ’28*

Marc Murphy ’69*

Andrew Lewis ’93

Amy Murnick ’94

Coach Emanuel F. Tramontana

1988 Girls’ Soccer Team

1988 Boys’ Soccer Team 7:00-11:00 p.m.

Reminisce Under the Big Top Martinsville Campus

*

Posthumously

Reunite with your classmates, faculty, and coaches at this informal get-together, featuring cocktails and food stations.

Presentation of the 2009 Nelson L. Carr Service Award

Selection of Alumni Association Directors

11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Children’s Entertainment

On the lawn

Giant slide, moon-bounce, arts & crafts, and more.

12:00 noon

Clam Bake Under the tent Steamed lobsters, crabs, clams, crab cakes, roasted chicken, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, corn-on-the-cob, tossed salad, coleslaw, watermelon, and beverages. Enjoy cold treats from the ice cream truck!

12:00 noon

Alumni Luncheon Theatre, Hauser Auditorium Short play written, directed, and performed by Pingry alumni

2:00 p.m.

1959 vs. 1984 in a friendly game of lawn bowling; spectators welcome

2:00 p.m.

Alumni Lacrosse Game Rekindle your competitive spirit or cheer on your fellow classmates. Spectators are welcome.

Evening:

Classes ending in 4 or 9 will be celebrating benchmark reunions at various locations.

The schedule is subject to change.

For hotel accommodations and to register, please visit www.pingry.org.

35 winter 2009

Hosted by Headmaster Nat Conard

All alumni are invited to attend this special

opening event with their guests.

“State of the School” address by Headmaster Nat Conard

[ alumni News ]

A Milestone for Miller Bugliari ’52: 700 Wins Miller Bugliari ’52 earned his 700th career victory as head coach of the Boys’ Varsity Soccer Team during Homecoming on September 27, 2008, when Pingry defeated Newark Academy 5-1.

Guy Cipriano ’74, one of the many alumni who played under Coach Bugliari, relates a story from 1971, his sophomore year. It was the first time he played in the Alumni Game, in which alumni compete against the current year’s varsity team.

“Coach Bugliari loaned me to the alumni because they didn’t have a goalkeeper—no keeper showed up because it was raining that morning. The game started and big Artie Kurz ’65, whom I knew from Elizabeth German Sports Club, was the sweeper. He was maybe 28 years old and a killer. In about the 30th minute, Jimmy Betteridge ’72 came down the left wing, I came out to narrow the angle, and he hit a rocket from about 12 yards which was so hard I was handcuffed. It hit me in the neck and knocked me completely unconscious, and the shot went over the [cross]bar [of the goal] for a corner kick. When I came to, Coach and Artie Kurz were standing over me.

Artie picked me up with one hand, smacked me in the face to wake me up, and said, ‘Nice save, Kid. Nobody ever scores against the Alumni, especially when I play.’ Final score: Alumni 2, Varsity 0.”

Guy Cipriano ’74

36 the pingry review

1 2

3

1

Headmaster Nat Conard, Coach Bugliari, and Director of Athletics Gerry Vanasse

5

Coach Bugliari cuts his cake decorated with the number 700 and a soccer ball

2

6

3

Coach Bugliari joined by Assistant Coaches Anthony Tripicchio ’02 (far left), David Fahey ’99 (second from right), and Kim Kimber III ’76 (far right)

7

From left: Kevin Schmidt ’98, Charles Halsey ’34, Coach Bugliari, Greg Cortese ’97, Gianfranco Tripicchio ’00, Anthony Bowes ’96, and Nick Ross ’97

4

Each current player wears a T-shirt with Coach Bugliari’s last name and the player’s uniform number

Coach Bugliari with his wife Elizabeth, his son Anthony ’90, and Anthony’s

children Claire and William

Jane Sarkin O’Connor ’77, Coach Bugliari, and Martin O’Connor ’77

Henry Stifel III ’83, Jeff Edwards ’78, and Coach Bugliari

4

8

5 6

Save the Date To recognize the outstanding half century of Miller Bugliari’s achievements, the Pingry community will host a special dinner at the Martinsville Campus to acknowledge his contributions in education and athletics, and his overall inspiration to the school.

April 4, 2009

37

Reception from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m.

winter 2009

RSVP: www.pingry.org

8

7

[ alumni News ]

From Players to Coaches—of the Same Teams Pingry values its connections with alumni, especially through annual events that bring alumni back to the campus, such as Homecoming, Career Day, and Reunion Weekend. In addition, many alumni work at Pingry as full-time employees and/or coach one or more athletic teams. Three of the recurring themes when the alumni coaches talk about returning to Pingry are: giving back to the sports that gave them so much gratification as players; coaching with the knowledge and perspective of how their players are balancing academics and athletics; and the satisfaction of working with the students in the classroom and on the playing field.

Kim Kimber III ’76

38 the pingry review

The 2008-2009 school year marks the second season for Pingry Hall of Fame member Kim Kimber III ’76 as an assistant coach for Varsity Boys’ Soccer and the first season as head coach for the Junior Varsity Boys’ Basketball team; he also was asked to coach at Pingry in the 1980s.

At that time, he was an assistant to Manny Tramontana and Tom Johnson ’59 for Varsity Baseball and an assistant to Joe LaValley for Varsity Basketball. “Kim was one of the great athletes that I have coached at Pingry. I also admired him as a person,” Mr. Tramontana says.

Kim Kimber III ’76 He reflects on his current coaching duties. “I enjoy watching the kids grow and mature, and Pingry has always felt like a very comfortable place for me,” he says.

Patrick Birotte ’87 As a student, Kim III played two years of varsity soccer, three years of varsity basketball, and four years of varsity golf. “Playing [on the soccer team] for Miller was a thrill because we were always in county and state finals—a lot of big games.”

Middle School Boys’ Football and Lacrosse Assistant Coach Patrick Birotte ’87 is in the midst of his 7th season coaching football and will be starting his 8th season of coaching lacrosse this spring—all because he wants to help Pingry. “I really

Patrick Birotte ’87

[started coaching] to help Coach [Tom] Boyer and Coach [Mike] Webster. It was one of my best decisions,” he says.

Patrick played for both the football and lacrosse teams while he was a student, and he considers Coach Boyer a father figure and a mentor.

“He impresses me daily. He always rises to an occasion,” Patrick says.

Ted Corvino, Jr. ’94 “Pingry has always been home for me,” says Ted Corvino, Jr. ’94, a baseball coach whose family has a long affiliation with the school: Ted, Jr. is a “lifer,” having attended Pingry since Kindergarten; his father Ted, Sr. is director of the Lower School; his brother Robert graduated in 1997, and his sister Amy graduated in 2002. Baseball has been a big part of his family’s life, and it has been Ted Jr.’s favorite sport since he was five years old.

He graduated with seven varsity letters: one year on the varsity water polo team (1 letter), two years on the junior varsity soccer team, two years on the varsity basketball team (2 letters), and four years on the varsity baseball team (4 letters). In 1994, Ted was captain of the Varsity Basketball and Varsity Baseball

Ted Corvino, Jr. ’94 teams; baseball won the Parochial “B” state championship that season.

“That probably motivates my coaching [at Pingry] more than anything,” he says. “[I want] to pass along all the excitement, learning, and team experience that I felt here as a player and a student. If I could help kids feel any of that [excitement], that would be a great thrill for me,” he says.

Ted considers successful coaching at Pingry to be a balance of teaching skills, promoting a competitive spirit, modeling a genuine passion for the game, promoting the importance of preparation and approach as they relate to performance, organizing an efficiently-run practice environment, and recognizing that his players need to have fun. He constantly reminds himself that his players have other demands at school in addition to playing sports, such as when one of

his players was preparing for seven A.P. exams while the team was involved in county tournament games. He credits his father, Mr. Tramontana, Mr. Johnson, and Peter Jones ’77 for establishing standards of preparation, setting goals, and relating to students that he has adapted to his own coaching.

“Being out there with the kids is gratifying enough, but, to see their faces when they’ve accomplished something, when they’ve done something well, when they know that their hard work has paid off— I think that’s the most gratifying aspect of the job,” he says.

39 winter 2009

Ted has been coaching at Pingry since the spring of 1999, starting as the Middle School head baseball coach and a varsity baseball assistant. The following winter, he became the head coach for Junior Varsity Boys’ Basketball and the assistant coach for Varsity Basketball.

He currently is head coach of Varsity Boys’ Baseball and assistant coach of Middle School Baseball; he also teaches history. Faculty member Manny Tramontana and former faculty member Tom Johnson ’59 invited Ted to become a coach after he started teaching Middle School math at the Martinsville Campus in the fall of 1998.

John Crowley-Delman ’97

John Crowley-Delman ’97 This is the third year for history teacher John Crowley-Delman ’97 as an assistant coach for both junior varsity football and junior varsity boys’ lacrosse. He played both sports during his student days and wanted to have the experience of teaching and coaching. “When a player finally understands the play you’re trying to teach him, it’s an immediate reaction and success happens faster than in the classroom—so they score a touchdown, or they make a gamesaving tackle. It’s instantaneous, when hard work pays off immediately,” he says.

playing for him for four years—was one of the reasons he returned to Pingry. “I was so fond of [Miller when I was] a player, and learned so much about soccer, that I knew working for him and coaching with him would be an opportunity for me to learn other life lessons. When I was a student, I loved the connections that coaches made with players and I wanted to experience that from the other side of the coin,” David says.

One of those connections is the bond he felt with former faculty member and coach Adam Rohdie.

“Adam was a mentor. He was a mix between a brother and a boss. We

loved him, because it was so clear that he cared about us as people as well as student athletes, and feared disappointing him because we all wanted to keep and maintain his respect,” David says.

He thrives on trying to make an impact on the students’ lives and feels that Pingry’s student-athletes are mentally advanced and very mature for their age. “I can [talk to] a sixth-grader [about] more than just sports—like the decisions that [will] impact [his] life. I consider among my friends many young alumni whom I’ve coached in high school,” he says.

David Fahey ’99 40 the pingry review

David Fahey ’99, a Pingry coach since the fall of 2003, is head coach of Middle School Boys’ Lacrosse and first assistant coach for Varsity Boys’ Soccer, and he helps the athletics department with lacrosse in sixth-grade physical education. He played varsity lacrosse and varsity soccer when he was a student.

His desire to coach with Miller Bugliari ’52—after

David Fahey ’99

When she was a student, her coach for two years was Dr. Robert Macrae ’82, and she became a student of the game under Chris Lawrence, her senior year coach. “He made me understand the game in a more intellectual way,” she says.

Lindsay Holmes ’99

Lindsay Holmes ’99 Lindsay Holmes ’99, who played varsity soccer at Pingry for three years, became the assistant coach for Varsity Girls’ Soccer in 2003.

Former Director of Athletics Jo Ann De Martini asked her to coach at Pingry because she had played in college, and it was an easy decision.

“I have played in hundreds upon hundreds of soccer games in 23 years, and the games that are the most memorable—and which I have the fondest memories of—are those played as a member of the Pingry Girls’ Soccer Team,” Lindsay says.

Lindsay believes there has been a noticeable change in the quality of the varsity players since she played for the team. “Every kid is a pure soccer player—all they do is play soccer, so they’re prepared after the off-season. The kids want to win championships. We support them and make sure we’re doing what we can [as coaches] to fulfill their goals for the season. I can’t see myself coaching anywhere else,” she says.

Jill Kehoe ’04 Jill Kehoe ’04 returned to Pingry this fall as a permanent substitute at the Martinsville Campus. A former Pingry soccer player, she is the assistant coach for Junior Varsity Girls’ Soccer and Varsity Girls’ Basketball, and she helps each week with Middle School Girls Soccer.

“Pingry Athletics was a huge part of my experience here,” she says. “I have always found Pingry’s coaching staff to be supportive and knowledgeable, so, when the opportunity arose to join them, I was very excited.”

Margaret Kelleher ’01

In addition to four years of soccer, Jill also played softball for four years and, in her senior year, she served as a co-captain for soccer and a captain for softball.

“It’s interesting that I was called Miss Kelleher and now I’m called Coach Kelleher,” says Margaret Kelleher ’01, who played Varsity Field Hockey for three years as a student. Since returning to Pingry, she has been the team’s assistant coach for three years and has been teaching seventh- and eighthgrade Latin for three years. The reason for the change in titles is that she is coaching players whom she taught two or three years ago as Middle School students, and she enjoys that interaction. “It is wonderful to get to spend more time with them,” she says.

Editor’s Note: Other alumni who coach at Pingry include Miller Bugliari ’52 (Head Coach of Varsity Boys’ Soccer), Rik Alexanderson ’64 (Assistant Coach for Varsity Track), Chip Carver ’77 (Head Coach of Junior Varsity Softball), Robin Breene Hetrick ’78 (Middle School Swimming), Michael DeGrande ’94 (Assistant Coach for Varsity Boys’ Soccer), and Anthony Tripicchio ’02 (Assistant Coach for Varsity Boys’ Soccer).

41 winter 2009

Jill Kehoe ’04

[ alumni News ]

Fighter Pilot Lt. Rebekah Murphy ’98 Honors Veterans

Lt. Murphy ’98 with economics faculty member Leslie Wolfson, left, and history faculty member Madeline Landau

For the Veterans Day Assembly on November 7, Pingry welcomed back Lt. Rebekah Murphy ’98, a Navy fighter pilot who flies the F/A-18E Super Hornet, the premier supersonic, carrier-capable jet used by the Navy.

After graduating from Pingry, Lt. Murphy headed to the Naval Academy as a soccer player. By her junior and senior years, she was playing football as the kicker on Navy’s varsity sprint (lightweight) team; the experience proved to her that she could manage, compete, and be

accepted as “one of the guys.” Armed with that confidence and the thrill from one ride in the backseat of an F-14 Tomcat before her senior year at Annapolis, Lt. Murphy knew what she wanted to do after graduation: fly Navy jets.

She received her English degree from the Naval Academy in 2002, graduated first in her primary flight training class, and was then selected for the jet program. Lt. Murphy received her pilot’s Wings of Gold in December 2004 and has since become one of

the few women in the Navy who flies the Super Hornet. She has served several overseas deployments and recently returned from seven months aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln where she flew combat missions over Afghanistan and Iraq.

Lt. Murphy called landing on an aircraft carrier “just about the most fun thing I’ve ever done.” She also described the sense of family, camaraderie, and loyalty that thrives in the military. Her Navy colleagues share a bond of being part of something bigger than themselves, and Lt. Murphy vows that “there is nothing I wouldn’t do to protect my family and this country.” She considers herself lucky to love what she does for a living and encouraged the Pingry community to “be men and women of action” in whatever field their passion lies, because life’s only boundary is how hard you are willing to work.

In 2009, Lt. Murphy plans to begin the rigorous process of possibly becoming the first female pilot for the Blue Angels, the Navy’s top Flight Demonstration Squadron. It was an honor to have Lt. Murphy revisit Pingry and share her experiences with a most appreciative audience.

Soccer player Tommy Strackhouse ’06 Visits Pingry When the Boston University (BU) Men’s Soccer Team practiced at Pingry in October 2008 before traveling to play UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County), one of BU’s players was visiting his alma mater. Tommy Strackhouse ’06 is a junior on Head Coach Neil Robert’s team, and Tommy was reunited with his head coach at Pingry, Miller Bugliari ’52.

42 the pingry review From left: Pingry’s Director of Athletics Gerry Vanasse and BU Men’s Soccer Head Coach Neil Roberts with three Pingry alumni: Tommy Strackhouse ’06, Boys’ Varsity Soccer Assistant Coach Dave Fahey ’99 (who played at BU), and Boys’ Varsity Soccer Head Coach Miller Bugliari ’52. Pingry’s soccer team is practicing in the background.

During the visit, Coach Roberts spoke to all of the Middle School boys and girls soccer players about committing themselves to being great at something, not necessarily sports. He emphasized that their foundation in school should be an academic pursuit.

The Hall Awaits the Greats The annual challenge of choosing the “best of the best” among Pingry’s former athletes, coaches, teams, and members of the athletic staff belongs to a 20-member group of alumni, faculty, and staff. For almost 20 years, the Hall of Fame Committee (a sub-committee of the Pingry Alumni Association Board) has been honoring outstanding accomplishments that are subsequently preserved in Pingry’s Hall of Fame.

Since 1991, 74 individuals and 30 teams have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, which continues to fulfill its original missions: recognizing athletic achievements, improving the communication between Pingry and its alumni, and bringing alumni and coaches back to Pingry—especially teams, because that means more alumni return and are acknowledged for contributing to their team’s success.

For alumni, eligibility begins 10 years after graduation. Coaches are eligible once they have stepped down from coaching a varsity team, and members of the athletic staff are eligible once they have retired from Pingry. The nominee must have exhibited the highest caliber of athletic accomplishments and demonstrated sportsmanship and leadership during his or her time at Pingry, and the nominee must have exemplified the qualities of good citizenship and personal integrity—both while a student, coach, or athletic staff member and throughout his or her life.

Specific factors for nominees include the number of teams for which they played, Pingry awards they

Teams are evaluated by their season records, where they placed in a conference or tournament, notable victories, and season statistics such as number of shutouts and records broken.

Coaches are assessed based on their cumulative records for consecutive seasons, the number of years they coached, and their teams’ championships. It is also important for the committee to understand a coach’s lasting impact on his or her players. “I love to see coaches who have made coaching a life-long passion and not just something to fill the time after classes have finished for the day,” says committee member Kevin Schmidt ’98.

Sean O’Donnell ’75, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998 as a member of the 1974 Soccer Team, in 2002 as an individual, and in 2005 as a member of the 1972 Soccer Team, is the current Chair of the committee. Every year, he oversees the research and voting process.

One of his predecessors as Committee Chair, former faculty member Tom Johnson ’59, was inducted in 1999 and spent about 15 years on the committee. “The most enjoyable experiences I remember were talking about past memories and individual athletes at Pingry, doing research about past Pingry teams, working with Pingry alumni, and organizing the Hall of Fame dinners,” he says.

To nominate someone for the 2010 induction ceremony, you can send a letter to the Development Office, addressed to the Hall of Fame, or complete the form on Pingry’s web site, www.pingry. org/alumni/nominate-ahof.html. In either case, please submit as much background information as possible and include the nominee’s accomplishments after he or she graduated or retired from Pingry.

43 winter 2009

“We’re looking for a diversity of different sports and outstanding performances as recognized by the yearbook, former players and coaches, press clippings, [and other sources]. Primarily, we try to coordinate with reunion classes and have a balance of male and female,” says committee member Gordy Sulcer ’61, who decided to form the committee in 1988 while he was president of the Pingry Alumni Association. Ultimately, the committee evaluates all individuals and teams without bias and regardless of their sports; it is a plus if an individual is inducted in his or her reunion year.

received, whether they were captains of one or more teams, whether they were a member of a county or state team, and whether they set a new record. Athletic experience beyond Pingry demonstrates that the nominees pursued their sport at a higher level.

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Alumni Events Jersey Shore Party on August 2, 2008

1 Jenifer Landis and Houston Landis III ’51 2 Jon Younghans ’79, Lynn Faherty Zimmerman ’86,

Jack Faherty ’85, and his wife Jill Rhodes Faherty

3 Pat Cook and Fred Gehrlach ’57

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San Diego on November 17, 2008

4 From left: Steven Wall ’64, Jackie Sullivan, Jonathan Pascale ’93, Alison Harle, Lindsay (Stieber) Milstein ’96, and Lee Milstein

Washington, D.C. Area on October 28, 2008

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College Luncheon at Clyde’s in Georgetown: From left: Jason Kluger ’07, Fatima Rakla ’07, Miller Bugliari ’52, David Greig ’98, Trevor Topf ’08, Gordon Peeler ’08, Ryan Maxwell ’08, Ishita Bali ’07, Ekta Sharma ’07, and Mat Kudziela ’06

4 44 the pingry review

6 Alumni Reception at a local club

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Alumni/ae Soccer Games on September 6, 2008

7 Alumni team 8 Alumnae team

Homecoming on September 27, 2008

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From left: PAA President and Trustee Steve Lipper ’79, Honorary Trustee Warren S. Kimber, Jr. ’52, and Chair of the Board of Trustees Jack Brescher ’65

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Current parents Roberta Fraites, Chris Fraites, Bobo DeLaney, and Frank DeLaney ’77

11 Lunch during Homecoming 12 Head Coach Chris Shilts preps the Football Team

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45 winter 2009

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Ask the Archivist

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Science Club Can you help us identify the students in this photo?

If you know any of the individuals, please email Greg Waxberg ’96 at gwaxberg@pingry.org.

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46 the pingry review

Identifying the students who greeted Admiral Halsey Thanks to the following alumni for contacting us about the picture on page 66, “Halsey Day,” in the Summer/Fall 2008 issue of The Pingry Review: Robert L. Christensen ’46 David Miller ’46 Bob Rohn ’46 Drury Cooper ’47 Jack J. Fischel ’47 Ted Thomas ’47

The answers 1. Henry Clark, Jr. ’46 2. Robert Rohn ’46 3. John Willis ’46 4. Sigurd Field Emerson ’46 5. Edward Dimock II ’46 6. Rowland Blythe ’46 7. Richard Dailey ’46

Class Notes 1945

Bob Nutt: “I shot my age at the Hanover Country Club for the first time, which is almost as good as a hole-in-one—only this feat isn’t likely to happen until one is on the downside of a golfing career. So, I will hang on to my (part-time) day job at the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine and not go on the Champions Tour. Last year, we built a new house closer to town, on one acre rather than 30, and moved from Thetford, Vermont, to Norwich, also Vermont, just across the river from Hanover.”

1953

Robert B. O’Brien, Jr. is the 2008 recipient of the Bay Head School Foundation’s “Distinguished Citizen Award.” Bob, a resident of Bay Head, N.J., is a past president of the Bay Head School Foundation and was recognized for his 50 years of leadership and support of charitable and civic causes.

After a banking career of more than 35 years, he is president of his yacht brokerage, Wooden Boats NJ.

1954

In the fall of 2007, A. Mason Ahearn was installed as the 63rd president of The Society of Medical Consultants to the Armed Forces. Mason was invited to join the Society in 1994 and was the recipient of its Seal Award in 2004. As SMCAF President, Mason is humbled to be in the shadow of such great physicians as Michael DeBakey, William Menninger, Elliot Cutler, Frank Berry, and Robert Zollinger. Mason’s military medical career began in 1963 with service in the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division and in its 5th Special Forces Group with assignments in Pakistan and Vietnam.

Following Orthopedic Residency at the Army’s Tripler Medical Center, he served as Chief of Orthopedics at the new Dwight David Eisenhower Medical Center in Augusta, Ga. After a civilian break, Mason joined the South Carolina Army National Guard just in time to Command its 251st Evacuation Hospital in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm. He retired as

1955

Alumni gather on the fields of Gettysburg. From left: Chuck Wynn, Miller Bugliari ’52, Bryant Alford, Steve Newhouse ’65, and Franklin Randolph

National Guard State Surgeon for South Carolina in 1996.

Mason is active with SMCAF, especially in recruiting efforts to procure medical students for military medical scholarship programs. He is winding down his civilian orthopedic practice in Georgetown, S.C.

1964

Bill Shepard: “After a banking career that has largely included living in, and interacting with, the Middle East, I am General Manager of the U.S. activities Saudi Arabia’s Riyad Bank, based in Houston. Our business focus is US Fortune

500 companies’ trade finance and project finance business with Saudi Arabia—this business is thriving. My wife and I plan to retire at some future date to our homes in Darien, Conn., and Naples, Fl. Two of our children and their families, including our two grandchildren, live in Darien and our third child lives in Boston.”

1966

1969

1944

From left: Charlie Burkman, Dick Killough, Tex Lamason, Norm Tomlinson, and Ev Pinneo at Princeton University in 2008. Charlie, Dick, Norm, and Ev were celebrating their 60th Princeton Reunion. Tex’s 60th is in 2009.

Rob Badger: “I’m entering my 20th year teaching geology at SUNY Potsdam and 9th year as chair of the department.

I was awarded a chancellor’s award for excellence last year. My oldest son graduated from college with a degree in Biochemistry last year and will

47 winter 2009

Francois des Noyers: “While Tom Lightburn and his wife were cycling through Europe to eventually reach Venice, they managed to spend some time in Paris. We got together again, shared the pleasure of drinking Sancerre, and decided it might be wise not to wait another 40 years before our next reunion. Philip Hoby, who just retired after teaching Latin in a secondary school near London, could not join us because he was in Africa.”

Charlie Stillitano, Jr. ’77 Los Angelesbased Creative Artists Agency (CAA), one of the world’s largest talent agencies for leading actors and actresses, recently expanded their operations to include sports, and they hired international soccer consultant Charlie Stillitano, Jr. ’77 in November 2007 to develop their soccer initiatives.

He represents clubs and players in their commercial activities.

One year into his new position, Charlie is happy he made the switch to CAA from ChampionsWorld, LLC, a sports marketing company that he founded and of which he was CEO; he says his ChampionsWorld clients—including Chelsea Football Club in London— will benefit from new opportunities at CAA. “I’m really enjoying this [new] stage of my career, which will be, I hope, taking an American company and expanding be attending graduate school in beer brewing at UC Davis.

My youngest son took a gap year after high school to work at an outdoor equipment store in Burlington, Vt, and entered the University of Vermont this fall, studying ecological agriculture.”

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it globally [to be] one of the real players in the soccer world. There are plenty of companies in Europe and South America that are highly-developed and influential in the world of soccer, but no American company is [really influential]. I’ve always liked building companies,” he says.

Soccer has been Charlie’s life ever since his days as an All-State soccer player for Pingry; he was captain of the team in 1976, and he was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998 as a member of the 1974 Soccer Team and in 2005 as an individual. He continued to play at Princeton University where he was captain and an All-American.

Charlie later coached at Princeton while attending Rutgers University School of Law-Newark.

In 1992, his career in soccer started when he became Venue Executive Director for the FIFA World Cup USA 1994 New York/New Jersey Venue, putting him in charge of New York and New Jersey. In conjunction with the U.S.’s vision to build 1,994 World Cup “legacy fields,” Pingry’s World Cup

N.J. I’ve been providing therapy part-time for a number of years, but now will be working full-time with individuals and couples who are struggling emotionally, relationally, or psychologically.” The web site is GlennMurphyCounseling. com

Field was the only one built, and it served as the training field for the Italian National Team.

Charlie found that a career in soccer promotions and management held great promise, and he still feels that way.

“It’s sort of counter-intuitive because sports marketing is big in the United States because of baseball, football, basketball, and hockey—not because of soccer. But I see it differently because there are so few people in the sport of soccer, and there are so many opportunities from coaching to sponsorship to marketing that are not yet developed in soccer,” he says.

Recognized by many people as a soccer expert, Charlie is also a co-host for SIRIUS Satellite Radio. He and soccer star Giorgio Chinaglia are in their third year hosting a three-hour call-in program, “The Football Show,” which airs Wednesdays at 5 p.m. ET on Channel 125. They cover the best teams around the world with analysis and interviews, and they host the pre-game show for “Chelsea True Blue” an hour before Chelsea Football Club games.

1977

Dr. Geoffrey M. Duyk, who graduated from Wesleyan University in 1980, has joined Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees. He is partner and managing director of TPG Biotech in San Francisco.

1971

the pingry review

Jon Sarkin was featured in The Sunday Star-Ledger on December 7, 2008, in a special 16-page section called “The Accidental Artist.”

Susan Quinn was recently named Chief Librarian of the Toms River Branch of the Ocean County Library in New Jersey. “Throughout my life I have always been grateful for the excellent education that I received at Pingry,” she says.

1986

1974

Glenn Murphy: “After 23 years on the pastoral staff at two churches in central New Jersey, I have taken the plunge and opened a counseling and psychotherapy practice in Basking Ridge,

1980

1979

From left: Phil Lovett, Chris Bartlett, Miller Bugliari ’52, and Leighton Welch.

John Carr, a poster artist and anti-war activist, was honored on October 4, 2008, at the Center for the Study of Political Graphics in Los Angeles for founding “Yo! What Happened to Peace?” This collection of posters protesting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continues to travel across the United States and the world.

John, upon invitation, has

traveled with this growing exhibit to countries including Japan, Sweden, England, Italy, Belgium, and Ireland. He was presented with the “Art is a Hammer” Award, taken from Vladimir Mayakovsky’s quote “Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.”

1989 BIRTHS

1979

From left: Genesia (Perlmutter) Kamen, Tom Trynin, and Heidi Sorvino met up in September and are looking forward to seeing the rest of their classmates at their 30th Reunion.

Ann Meyer Abdi: “We’re thrilled to report that we’ve finally added child number two to the mix. Jake (almost 4) is the proud big brother to Hanah (born in May). I’m still working for the family business in Chatham and have concluded that there is no such thing as juggling gracefully...and that was when we only had one child!”

Jake and Hanah Abdi

1990

Sanjiv Jhaveri appears in the new movie Loins of Punjab Presents, a comedy that was filmed in India three years ago and released there in September 2007. It opened in the U.S. this fall. The movie has earned several awards at film festivals.

Jon Pascale ’93 Jay Antonelli ’88 The 2008 U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman Wrestling Team earned a Bronze medal at the summer games in Beijing led by a threemember coaching staff that includes Jay Antonelli ’88, a Major in the U.S. Marines Corps.

“The highlight of my coaching experience in Beijing [was] being a part of the Olympic movement, where truly it was all about ‘One World, One Dream.’ It was a place where there were no political lines drawn.

Everyone was there with one purpose: to represent their country well and bring

Previously, Jay was the head coach of the U.S. Marine Corps wrestling team, he had been on the Greco-Roman coaching staff at the 2000 Olympic Games, and USA Wrestling had also selected him to coach the 2005 and 2007 World Teams in Greco-Roman wrestling (the world championship takes place in every nonOlympic year).

Joe Forte coached him at Pingry and Jay says he owes a lot of what he has accomplished to him, especially because of Mr. Forte’s positive outlook. Since then, coaching was a natural choice. “I love wrestling so much that I wanted to give back to the sport,” Jay says.

Jon Pascale ’93 became Head Coach of Men’s Soccer at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) in February 2008 and is the team’s seventh head coach in 33 years. In his first season, Jon coached the UCSD team to a 10-6-2 record. In 2007, the team’s record had been 5-9-2. This is Jon’s newest position in college athletics since his days as a soccer player at Pingry and American University in Washington, D.C., where he was coached

by Bob Jenkins ’80.

He spent three seasons as the assistant coach for men’s soccer at the University of Pennsylvania, where he recruited Gianfranco Tripicchio ’00, and he spent five seasons at Georgetown University—first as the assistant coach and then as associate head of soccer, putting him in charge of more aspects of the soccer

program. While at Georgetown, Jon recruited John Rhodes, Jr. ’02 and Lenny Coleman III ’06.

Most recently, he spent two seasons as the assistant coach at Stanford University.

“College athletics has given me an opportunity to work with the top student athletes in the country and form relationships that will last a lifetime. I have watched young men transform the life lessons of discipline and hard work learned on the field into other areas of their lives,” Jon says.

49 winter 2009

Jay was selected by USA Wrestling to coach GrecoRoman, one of three international wrestling styles that prohibits wrestlers from using their legs or grabbing their opponents’ legs.

home medals. It was very inspirational to see how well everyone got along. It gave me a lot of hope,” he says.

month, she once took a five-year hiatus from competitive golf. After graduating from Princeton University in 1997, she pursued a career in sports administration serving as an administrative assistant for the USGA (United States Golf Association), but missed the relational aspect of the game. She then spent two years at the University of Florida as Assistant Women’s Golf Coach and five years at Yale University as head coach, but still missed the game.

Mary Moan ’93 A professional golfer since the summer of 2005, Mary Moan ’93 competed in events on the CN Canadian Women’s golf tour, events on the Duramed FUTURES Tour (the official developmental tour of the LPGA) and in various state opens during the summer of 2008. Notably, she recently finished tied for 11th place in the 2008 New England Women’s Open and in 8th place at the 2008 Maryland Women’s Open.

Although Mary now plays in an average of two or three tournaments each

50 the pingry review

BIRTHS Rebecca (Nazario) Wright and her husband Don welcomed their first child, a son, in July 2008. Alexander Eagan Wright weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces, and was 20 ½ inches long. Mom, Dad, and baby are doing well.

Alexander Eagan Wright

“I felt like my competitiveness was so much more. I thought, ‘this is not necessarily satisfying my desire to be competitive. I want to play again,’” she says, and she began playing competitively again in 2004. Her commitment requires an exhausting travel schedule.

For example, this past summer, she drove from Connecticut to Ottawa to Boston and back to Connecticut—all in one week. She acknowledges these challenges but finds that her passion for the game and competition compel her to make certain sacrifices.

Her parents inspired her to start playing golf, and, when Mary was younger, they played as a family every weekend at their country club. At Pingry, Joe Forte coached her for four years as a member of the Golf Team; in her senior year, she was second on the team in average and

1993 BIRTHS Stephanie (Lim) Capello and husband Charlie are excited to welcome a little girl to the family, Ryan Sophia, born on June 19, 2008, weighing

led the team in birdies, she placed second in the Prep States against all males, and she finished in the top 10 in the County Tournament the same year.

“Mary Moan is the best woman golfer Pingry has ever had and one of the best golfers Pingry has had—male or female.

In the early 1990s there were just a few girl golfers, and girls who wanted to play golf had to play from the men tees.

These factors made it very difficult to concentrate and to compete, but Mary loved the game and persevered through these factors. She proved herself with her ability to surpass most of the males in the state. I am very proud of what she accomplished,” Mr. Forte says.

Golf appeals to her for a number of reasons, including the sport’s etiquette and integrity, and she points out that the game always changes.“You can play the same course every day of your life, and it’ll be different every single time.

You are your own referee,” she says.

She hopes to make a living as a full-time player and considers it a privilege to pursue her passion. “I want to represent Pingry and Princeton and those who have supported me over the years,” she says.

Mary’s email address is marymoan@ hotmail.com. To follow her career, she has a blog site: www.marymoangolf. blogspot.com.

6 pounds, 9 ounces, and measuring 19 ¾ inches. Ryan joins his big brother, Max, who is 2 years old. Stephanie is the Director of Development at Please Touch Museum, a children’s museum located in Philadelphia, Pa.

Ryan Sophia Capello

1994 BIRTHS Robert Abraham Lobel and his wife Dory are proud to announce the birth of their son and future MASTERS champion, Jake Abraham Lobel, on September 4, 2008. He writes, “We currently live in Whippany, NJ, and we are all doing great!”

Jake Abraham Lobel

1995

1997

BIRTHS

BIRTHS

Kimberly (Vormschlag) Williamson: “My husband Daniel and I welcomed our first child on May 16, 2008. Wyatt Churchill Williamson is a healthy and happy baby boy.”

Ellen (Pellino) Gittes and Adam Gittes are thrilled to announce the birth of their son. David Pellino Gittes was born July 9, 2008, and measured 7 pounds, 12 ounces, and 20 2/3 inches.

1999

Wyatt Churchill Williamson

1996

Katie Roberts ’02, Mike Roberts, and Julian Scurci met up in Karlsruhe, Germany, on September 21, 2008, to run a marathon and celebrate Oktoberfest. All three finished the race and appreciated the support of their many German fans.

Jake Ross married Kelly Korecky on August 8, 2008, in New Vernon, N.J. Jake’s brother, Nick Ross ’97, was the Best Man and Greg Cortese ’97 was a groomsman. Other Pingry alumni who attended included Kevin O’Brien ’97 and his wife Marissa, and David Bugliari ’97 and his mother Elizabeth.

Rachel Askin ’03 Rachel Askin ’03, an athlete who loves to write, is the Media Relations and Marketing Coordinator for Maloof Sports & Entertainment, which owns the WNBA’s Sacramento Monarchs, the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Maloof Productions, and Maloof Music. She supplies the media with information about the Monarchs and sets up interviews with players and coaches.

“It’s always exciting to work with athletes, and I love being a part of sports,” she says, having worked previously as the Athletics Media Relations Assistant Director for West Texas A&M University.

In 2007, she graduated from the University of Rochester, where she played third base and left field for the softball team for three years. Rachel was considering a career as a radio host, so, in addition to completing internships with WFAN 660AM and SIRIUS Satellite Radio,

she began working for Rochester’s Sports Information Director, Dennis O’Donnell. Being O’Donnell’s student assistant for three years helped Rachel decide to pursue a career in sports media relations.

Rachel played soccer, basketball, and softball at Pingry, and being a part of Pingry’s and Rochester’s athletic programs inspired her to stay involved in sports. “Going through Pingry and Rochester, I found a love for writing.

Being involved in sports media is the perfect way to combine my passions into a career,” she says.

As a member of Pingry’s 13-Year Club, she is acutely aware of how well the school prepared her for future opportunities. “I am very fortunate to have had the privilege of attending Pingry. I graduated almost six years ago and, since then, have come to realize that Pingry teaches its students so much about life and what to expect from college and beyond. I felt better-prepared because of Pingry. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing,” she says.

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1999

2000

Jacob Wolkowitz married Cody Ward on July 19, 2008, at the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis, Minn. Jacob and Cody met in college. Front row, from left: Jacob Wolkowitz, Cody Wolkowitz, Rich Myers, Bif Brunhouse, Allie Brunhouse, and Keith Castaldo. Second row, from left: Brian Neaman, Peter duBusc, Gordon Hunt, Scott Buell, Elliot DeSanto, and Jeff Roos

winter 2009

From left: fellow Pingry and Hamilton College alumni Tim Moyer ’02, Carolyn Crandall ’01, Julian Scurci, and Anthony Tripicchio ’02 met up in Bronxville, NY in September 2008 for the wedding of college classmates Ted Leonard and Katherine Joseph—fun was had by all!

Rachel Askin ’03 and Sacramento Monarchs guard and Olympic Gold Medalist Kara Lawson, who scored a team-high 15 points for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team in the Women’s Basketball Gold Medal Game at the Beijing Olympics. Lawson helped the Monarchs reach the WNBA Western Conference Semifinals in 2008.

Princeton’s women’s squash team, which has won the Women’s Howe Cup National Championship for two consecutive years (the cup is named in honor of Margaret Howe and her twin daughters, all former U.S. champions).

Maggie O’Toole ’05 Princeton University senior Maggie O’Toole ’05 was voted to be one of three captains this season for

2000

Jenna Watson received her law degree from Northwestern University in May 2008.

She now lives in New York City and is beginning her career in corporate law.

2006 Robert Cronheim finished 9th in the 88th New Jersey State Golf Association (NJSGA) Open Championship in July 2008 at the Alpine Country Club in Alpine, NJ. His combined score for all three rounds was 221. He qualified for the championship during a qualifying round earlier in the year.

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2008

the pingry review

Brittani Bartok, a freshman at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), is a forward for the Tar Heels Women’s Soccer Team. During the summer of 2008, she played at the Stanford Invitational in San Francisco, Calif., where UNC tied Stanford and defeated Santa Clara 5-0. On December 7, UNC defeated Notre Dame in the championship game of the 2008 NCAA Women’s College Cup (UNC’s 19th

In the 2008 finals against top-seeded Penn, Maggie’s 3-0 victory over Penn’s Emily Goodwin at No. 8 on the ladder contributed to Princeton’s 6-3 championship. In the 2006-07 season, Princeton was undefeated in the Ivy League and defeated Harvard University in the 2007 Howe Cup finals.

Maggie was playing in squash tournaments at the Chatham Club, and

several of her Pingry classmates who were also playing squash at the club wanted to start a team at Pingry.

Thus, Maggie was a founding member of Pingry’s squash team, which became a coed, varsity sport during the 2003-04 school year, and she was captain for her final two years of high school. “We were 9-0 my senior year and we had a blast with each other,” she says.

She also played soccer and ran track at Pingry and lettered in all three sports. Upon graduating, she was ranked 10th in the United States in Girls’ Squash.

Brian O’Toole ’08 Maggie’s brother Brian ’08 also played squash at Pingry and was ranked 17th in the U.S. in the Boys Under 19 division when he graduated; he was recruited by Dartmouth College to play on the men’s squash team.

“We played probably every day of the summer together and at least two or three times a week during the year,” Brian says about playing the same sport as his sister. “It was perfect because we would always have someone to go hit with, whether it was 9:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning or 9:00 p.m. on a Friday night. We definitely both grew tremendously from playing together and I owe her a lot.”

Brian O’Toole ’08, Peter Cipriano ’06, and Hal Lee ’07 at the Dartmouth Fall Classic, an intercollegiate squash tournament, in November 2008.

All three alumni were the captains of the Pingry squash team in their senior years, and they are all currently playing competitive intercollegiate squash—Brian for Dartmouth College, Peter for Bowdoin College, and Hal for Hamilton College

NCAA national championship). In addition to being a member of the championship team, Brittani is one of nine players named to the 2008 NCAA Women’s College Cup All-Tournament Team, and she made the 2008 ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) All-Freshman Team.

Liz Lan ’07, Miller Bugliari ’52, and Eric Hynes ’08

Editor’s Note: These alumni have also been playing Division I or III collegiate athletics:

Brad Fechter ’05 Princeton University (Division I soccer)

Justin Oplinger ’06 Yale University (Division I football)

Eric Hynes ’08 Gettysburg College (Division III soccer)

John Stamatis ’05 Harvard University (Division I soccer)

Tommy Strackhouse ’06 Boston University (Division I soccer)

Grant Schonberg ’08 University of Richmond (Division I soccer)

Please email gwaxberg @pingry.org with any additional names of alumni playing Division I or III collegiate athletics.

Kevin Vieira ’05 Cornell University (Division I soccer)

Richard Bradley ’07 Lehigh University (Division I lacrosse)

Sarah Strackhouse ’08 Lehigh University (Division I soccer)

Lenny Coleman ’06 Georgetown University (Division I soccer)

Jeff Zimering ’07 Cornell University (Division I soccer)

[ in memoriam ] and shrubs—especially rhododendrons. He served on the Board of the Winterthur Museum during the restoration of its gardens. A fitness devotee for his whole life, Mr. McLean maintained his college weight. He married Nancy Beyea in Wilmington in 1944 and they were married for 61 years when she died in 2005. He is survived by two sons, Edward McLean, Jr. of Madison, N.J., and Kevin McLean of Unionville, Penn.; two daughters, Jeanne McLean Schmitt of St. Louis, Mo., and Margo McLean of New York City; and five grandchildren, including Marshall McLean ’98 and Elise McLean ’01. His close companion Jean Lewis also survives him.

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Edwin E. Beach, Jr. ’44, 82, passed away on March 13, 2008, in Old Daybrook, Conn. Born in Summit, N.J. on September 13, 1925, Mr. Beach was the son of the late Edwin and Elsie Beach. After graduating from Pingry, where he was president of his class and played varsity football and baseball, he joined the Marine Corps and fought in the Pacific during World War II. After the war, he attended Princeton University, graduated in 1947, and was a member of the Charter Club. Ed spent his entire career at the American Can Company. He is survived by his wife Beverly of 58 years; his sister Ruth; his three sons, Edwin III, Roger and Douglas; his six grandchildren, and one great grandson. The loves of his life were his family, the New York Yankees, and the New York Giants.

Retired DuPont executive Edward R. McLean ’34, 91, died on July 5, 2008, in Greenville, Delaware. He was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on July 11, 1916. While attending Princeton University, he played varsity football and was an All-American lacrosse midfielder for the 1937 National Championship Team. He graduated with a degree in chemical engineering and joined the DuPont Company, which assigned him to Australia during the war to oversee a factory that manufactured gunpowder for the Allies. After the war he returned to the U.S. to work in a variety of capacities for DuPont. He traveled extensively to South America, Mexico, and Europe while serving in the International Department. He retired from DuPont in 1978 to pursue his life-long passion for woodworking—he was a master craftsman who reproduced period American antiques and conserved museumquality furniture, running his business well into his 80s. The furniture he made was, and still is, in high demand locally. He was also an avid gardener with a keen interest in trees

d

d Warren E. “Sandy” Hutchinson ’44, 75, of Matawan, N.J., died on January 8, 2002, in Holmdel. Born in Matawan, he was a lifelong resident: he was owner and president of Hutchinson Inc., Matawan, since 1948; he served as a Matawan

53 winter 2009

Union Carbide analyst and former Pingry Trustee Alexander McFarlan Ackley ’26, 100, passed away at Meadow Lakes in Hightstown, on July 23, 2008. Mr. Ackley was born in New York, N.Y., on January 1, 1908, the second son of John Westervelt and Mary Louise (McFarlan) Ackley, and was raised in Rahway. He graduated from The Pingry School in 1926 and earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1930. During the Depression, he found employment in a series of short-lived and diverse positions based in Milwaukee, New York, and Hoboken. In 1938, he joined the Carbon Division of the Union Carbide Corp. as a sales representative in the upper Midwest. As a marketing analyst in New York, he remained with that company until his retirement in 1973. He claimed to have enjoyed his daily work as much as his intense interests in photography and gardening. In 1937, Mr. Ackley married Harriet Baldwin Westlake, a friend since childhood.

They raised three sons in Madison, N.J., and were active in community affairs during those years. Mrs.

Ackley died in 1986 in Summit, N.J., where they lived after his retirement.

Mr. Ackley continued living there until 1998, gardening and traveling.

Mr. Ackley is survived by his sister Mary Louise Yeckley of Hightstown; his two sons, Alexander McFarlan Ackley, Jr. and his wife Helen of Rocky Hill, N.J., and Emory W. Ackley ’60 and his wife Marilyn of Buckfield, Maine; his two granddaughters Sarah Eslick and her husband Jason of Southboro, Mass., and Anne Ackley of Rocky Hill, N.J.; his great-grandson James McFarlan Eslick and his former daughter-in-law Anne Tucker Gray of Ewing, N.J. He was predeceased by his son George Davison-Ackley ’64 formerly of Armenia, N.Y., in 2007.

Borough councilman from 1961-65; and he was in the Matawan Rotary and several plumbing associations.

Mr. Hutchinson also served with the U.S. Navy during World War II. He spent his winters in Palm Beach, Fla., and his hobbies included gardening and tennis. He was predeceased by his sister Elizabeth Laird in 1997.

He is survived by his wife of 50 years Florence Dougherty Hutchinson of Matawan; his son Thomas Hutchinson of Freehold; three daughters, Patricia McAllister of Bethesda, Md., Ann D. Hutchinson of Red Bank, and Maureen Strang of Matawan; two sisters, Ann Fort of West Palm Beach and Priscilla Bezanson of Tucson, Ariz.; and four grandchildren.

d Theodore (Ted) C. Alley ’48, 79, died on April 26, 2008, in North Plainfield. Born in Summit, Mr. Alley lived in Westfield for 42 years.

In 1952, he obtained a B.A. in business from Babson College in Wellesley, Mass. Mr. Alley served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War and was a member of SAR (Sons of the American Revolution).

54

He retired in 1985 after 15 years as a management consultant for Brooklyn Union Gas, now Keyspan. He was predeceased by his loving wife Elizabeth Priestman Alley, who died in 2000, and a daughter, Virginia S. Alley, in 2007. Surviving are two daughters, Cheryl M. Grotrian and Katherine A. Moates, and two brothers, Alvan R. and William H. Alley, Jr. He is also survived by six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

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the pingry review

John Strachan ’49, 76, passed away on August 20, 2008, in Summit.

Born in Paterson, Mr. Strachan was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and served in the submarine forces until his retirement. A businessman and retired U.S.N.R. captain, he was a member of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. Mr. Strachan was a lifelong railway and steam train enthusiast, and was a past chairman of the Union County Transportation Advisory Board, a founding member of the executive committee of the Lackawanna Coalition, and a citizen liaison to the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority.

Until the time of his death, Mr. Strachan maintained his business activities as founder and president of Wyndcrest LLC. A 50-year resident of New Providence, he is survived by his wife Miriam; sons John D. Strachan and his wife Valerie of Pennsylvania, and Douglas Wm. Strachan and his wife Cynthia of Connecticut; and his two grandchildren Amy Katherine and Christopher James Strachan. He also leaves behind two brothers, Christopher of Basking Ridge and Robert of Atlanta, Ga.

d Edward Dylan Tan ’87, 39, of Fanwood died on July 30, 2008.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Mr. Tan was a graduate of Georgetown University and the University of San Diego Law School. After graduation from law school, he served as a judicial law clerk for the New Jersey State Supreme Court and then as a deputy attorney general for the State of New Jersey. He was an associate with Bressler, Amery & Ross P.C. in Florham Park. Mr. Tan is survived by his wife Kimberley; parents Eduardo and Pilar Tan; and his sister Melin Tan-Geller ’90 and her husband David.

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Jonathan H. Siegelbaum ’91 of Bethesda, MD, died on October 1, 2008. He was the husband of

Elizabeth Frazier; father of Ava and Elliott Siegelbaum; son of Joseph and Sue Ann Siegelbaum; and brother of Robert Siegelbaum ’94, M.D., and Amy Siegelbaum ’98.

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Warren Spering “Kim” Kimber IV ’07, 20, of Summit, N.J., passed away on January 31, 2009, in Geneva, N.Y. He was a gifted athlete who earned 12 varsity letters at Pingry as a fouryear member of the soccer, basketball, and lacrosse teams. He also played varsity lacrosse at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He is survived by his father, Warren S. Kimber III ’76, mother Sarah Kimber, sister Casey Kimber, grandparents Warren S. Kimber, Jr. ’52 and Barbara R. Kimber, and aunt Kathryn Kimber ’79.

Richard C. Weiler, 79, of Watchung died on September 5, 2008. Born in Egg Harbor City on December 24, 1928, Mr. Weiler was the son of the late Emil and Elsie Hahn Weiler. A Watchung resident for 45 years, he formerly lived in Fanwood.

A graduate of Egg Harbor High School, he received a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers College, where

He began his teaching career of 41 years at Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, Conn., as an assistant athletic director. For 40 years, he taught history and was varsity coach of the swimming and lacrosse teams at Pingry, where his teams compiled impressive records season after season. Many of his students played on varsity teams in college and three lacrosse players were named All-American. Mr. Weiler was instrumental in establishing lacrosse at Pingry, where he had eight consecutive winning seasons, six consecutive Interstate Lacrosse League championships, and seven consecutive Rutgers Trophies. In his honor, Pingry established the annual Richard C. Weiler Lacrosse Award in 1973. As coach of the swim team for 12 years, he achieved a winning record every year and was victorious in the Union County Interscholastic Swimming Meet and Triangular Meet.

On May 16, 2008, to honor his commitment to Pingry sports, the school inducted Mr. Weiler into the Athletic Hall of Fame, where two of his lacrosse and swimming teams have also been enshrined.

In addition to his wife Jean Thompson Weiler, to whom he

was married for 54 years, he is survived by his daughter Dr. Jeanne Weiler of Tenafly; two sons, Richard C. Weiler, Jr. ’75 of Lebanon Township and Timothy G. Weiler of Califon; five grandchildren, Ruby Jean Choonoo, Jeffrey Weiler Choonoo, Peter Reed Weiler, Ann Bailey Weiler, and Oona Grace Weiler; and a brother, Emil Weiler.

His sisters Rose Henkelman and Ruth Weiler Haynes predeceased him.

d David B. McCullough, 50, of Raritan Township, died on November 24, 2008. Born in Morristown on September 11, 1958, he had resided in Raritan Township for 16 years.

A graduate of Rider University, he was a financial consultant with Merrill Lynch in Short Hills, N.J. Surviving, in addition to his mother, are his wife, Colleen McCullough; three children Connor Kirdzik, Pingry student Cameron Kirdzik (Form II), and Shannon Kirdzik; a brother, Gary Kirdzik of Hudson, Ohio, and a sister, Debbie VandeRydt of Hackettstown.

55 winter 2009

d

he earned a varsity letter in lacrosse in 1951, and a Master of Arts degree from New York University in 1957.

He served in the United States Army from 1951 to 1952. Mr. Weiler was an ordained deacon of the Fanwood Presbyterian Church and a member of Wilson Memorial Church, Watchung. He was a Little League coach and served as chief in the Watchung Indian Guides. His past professional organizations included the Eastern Interscholastic Swimming Association, chairman of the Union County Swimming Association, and commissioner of the Interstate Lacrosse Conference and New Jersey Coaches Association.

[ dicta ultima ] Coach Rick Weiler Reflections on the person, the coach, the teacher

By Vic Pfeiffer ’67 and Mike Webster

By Vic Pfeiffer ’67

I

had the privilege of swimming for Coach Weiler for four years on Pingry’s varsity swim team. Rick Weiler taught and coached superbly for 40 years at Pingry in his consistently committed, effective, low-key, and (sometimes) quirky way. Coaches are inducted into the Hall of Fame based mostly on their wins and losses—and Rick’s teams had many wins.

However, for truly exceptional coaches, such as Rick Weiler, it is really about developing young people and creating a team atmosphere. What Rick Weiler brought to the equation should by no means be taken for granted.

56 the pingry review

What made him so special? He had the ability to balance having fun on the team with the expectation of top effort. He connected with students/ athletes in an informal way—so that we always knew that it was about us, not about him—while maintaining the necessary discipline and respect between coach and athlete. He was usually a man of few words and went about his business without calling attention to himself. We learned that preparation is important; he always prepared rigorously for meets. But despite his preparation and passion for competition, he also had the ability to leave the meet behind.

Pingry was lucky to have the full devotion of this wonderful man for

40 years. He continued to coach and exercise even after he retired from full-time duty, and, at 71 years of age, he swam 71 laps in the Pingry pool. I can only hope for the same for myself at that age. It is people like Rick Weiler who have made Pingry a special place to learn and play sports. ........................................................

Editor’s Note: Vic Pfeiffer ’67 introduced Coach Weiler during the Hall of Fame ceremony at Pingry on May 16, 2008, and these remarks are excerpted from Vic’s presentation that evening.

By Mike Webster, head lacrosse coach and history faculty member

W

hether it was as a history teacher, a swim coach, or a lacrosse coach, Rick Weiler was committed to his students and to his beloved Pingry.

Through the sport of lacrosse, he and I shared a passion. I am proud to be the current head varsity coach and equally proud to follow in his footsteps. I first met Rick in 1987 when I came to Pingry and he was the middle school assistant lacrosse coach. I soon became the varsity coach and, through the help of former Pingry lacrosse coach Toni Bristol’s resourcefulness of saving all of the old lacrosse records, I was able to read the statistics and newspaper clippings of Mr. Weiler’s teams from

Mike Webster and Rick Weiler with Mr. Webster’s photo from the 1993 New Jersey Prep “A” Championship

the 1960s. I still update the records each year and his legacy continues as each current player receives the manual “Pride and Tradition: The History of Pingry Lacrosse.”

My office contains many lacrosse trophies, plaques, and pictures.

My favorite picture is of our team winning the 1993 New Jersey Prep “A” Championship. Mr. Weiler, who was on the sideline cheering for us during the game, is in the middle of the picture with his right hand firmly grasped around the trophy and his left fist pumping the air in excitement. He is surrounded by players who loved him and is cherishing a great moment. This is how I will remember Mr. Weiler: a man who loved lacrosse, a man who loved Pingry, and, most importantly, a man who was loved by others.

pingry alumni

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Saturday, April 4

l Celebration Event for Miller A. Bugliari ’52 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

The Wilf Family Commons, Middle School

Wednesday, April 15

University of Pennsylvania Luncheon 12:00 p.m.

La Terrasse 3432 Sansom Street Philadelphia, PA

calendar of upcoming eventsl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Check the Pingry web site for upcoming dates for the following alumni regional receptions:

Los Angeles – San Francisco – Dallas – Boston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SAVE THE DATE Thursday, May 14 to Saturday, May 16, 2009

Reunion 2009 Including Hall of Fame and Magistri induction ceremonies For classes ending in 4 and 9

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

For volunteer opportunities or any additional questions: Contact for the ’30s and ’40s

For more information about News and Events, please visit www.pingry.org/alumni/newsevents.html.

Alumni Class Notes

Send us your latest news!

Do you have a new job? New baby? Just married? Recently moved? Or any updates to share with your classmates?

We are collecting class notes and photos for the spring issue of The Pingry Review. Mail them to Kristen Tinson at The Pingry School, P.O. Box 366, Martinsville Road, Martinsville, NJ 08836 or email them to Kristen at ktinson@pingry.org.

Find us on Facebook! *Profile name is John Pingry

Jackie Sullivan Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving jsullivan@pingry.org

Contact for the ’50s and ’60s Kristen Tinson Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving ktinson@pingry.org

Contact for the ’70s and ’80s Alison Harle Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving aharle@pingry.org

Contact for the ’90s and ’00s Laura Stoffel Assistant Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving lstoffel@pingry.org Or call the Alumni and Development Office at 800-994-ALUM (2586).

Visit us online:

www.pingry.org

2 0 0 9 S u mm e r C a mp P ro g r a ms

Summer Camp Programs June 29 to August 7

Programs for all levels: Day Camp Strength and Conditioning Summer Enrichment Sport Instruction Music Camp, After Care and More!

For information call 908-647-5555 ext. 1217 or visit www.pingry.org.

Save The Date: Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day at the Short Hills Campus on May 7, 2009, at 9:00 a.m.

Non Profit Organization

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Clifton, N.J. PERMIT NO. 1104

THE PINGRY SCHOOL Martinsville Campus, Upper and Middle School Short Hills Campus, Lower School Martinsville Road PO Box 366 Martinsville, NJ 08836 Change Service Requested