The Pingry Review - Fall 2018 by The Pingry School

Anniversary Issue A MILESTONE FOR PINGRYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S MAGAZINE

FALL 2018

Thank You! Credit: Monica Chan ’21

Thanks to you, Pingry offers an unparalleled and uncompromising experience to all of its students, year after year. To find out how your dollars have made a difference, check out Pingry’s Annual Report on Giving online: pingry.org/annualreport; password is Pingry1861. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this year’s Annual Report on Giving, and we hope that you feel inspired to make a special gift this year. Please contact Associate Director of Institutional Advancement Kate Whitman Annis at kwannis@pingry.org for more information.

THE PINGRY REVIEW

Gabe Gever ’17 on the summit of Kala Patthar in the Nepalese Himalayas, with Mount Everest in the background. On page 62, find out why he was there.

75 Years of The Pingry Review Page 10 Just a month before D-Day, in May 1944, this magazine’s first issue appeared. In celebration of its 75th year of publication, enjoy an eight-decade retrospective that traces the Review’s stylistic and editorial evolution. On the cover: A printing block and the sketch of The Pingry Review’s first cover; planning for this issue involved many rewarding hours of re-discovery in the archives!

Departments

From the Headmaster . . . . . 3 Scene Around Campus . . . . 4 Philanthropy . . . . . . . . . 28 School News . . . . . . . . . 33 Athletics News . . . . . . . . 54

Alumni News . . . . . . . . . 59 Ask the Archivist . . . . . . . 70 Class Notes . . . . . . . . . . 71 In Memoriam . . . . . . . . . 78 Closing Word . . . . . . . . . 80

44 Trumpeting the Talents of Sean McAnally Music teacher and more . . . the multifaceted Mr. McAnally seems to be everywhere. Best known as Director of the Upper School Jazz Ensemble, he brings to the role his experiences as a jazz performer and his perspective on the importance of improv.

46 Final Exams? How About Final Projects? The Middle School tried something unique in June: no final exams. Instead, students were immersed in experiential learning—grade-specific projects that developed skills such as leadership, collaboration, and communication.

58 Daniel Kellner ’94 Named to 2019 USA Fencing Hall of Fame A 2007 inductee into Pingry’s Athletics Hall of Fame, the celebrated Big Blue fencer-turned-Olympian remembers his early days as a Pingry fencer, when his dream of becoming an Olympian first took root.

66 Paying Tribute A plaque that memorializes George Jasper Morgan, Jr. ’32, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, was placed near 3 Stanley Oval in Westfield, NJ this spring to honor his service to the country. Also in this issue: an archival tribute to Dr. Pingry on the 200th anniversary of his birth. FALL 2018

Opening Shot

At Friday Night Lights, Pingry enjoyed a resounding victory over Montclair Kimberley Academy, 20-0! Pictured is captain Joe Shilts ’19.

Fall 2018 | Vol. 75 | No. 1

Editor Greg Waxberg ’96

Design and Layout Ruby Window Creative Group

Editorial Staff Kate Whitman Annis P ’23, ’23, ’28, ’30

Photography Camille Bonds Peter Chollick Bruce Morrison ’64 Dale V. Seabury

Communications Writer

Associate Director of Institutional Advancement

The Honor Code

Pingry believes that students should understand and live by standards of honorable behavior, which are essentially a matter of attitude and spirit rather than a system of rules and regulations. Decent, selfrespecting behavior must be based on personal integrity and genuine concern for others and on the ethical principles which are the basis of civilized society. The members of the Pingry community should conduct themselves in a trustworthy manner that will further the best interests of the school, their class, and any teams or clubs to which they belong. They should act as responsible members of the community, working for the common good rather than solely for personal advantage. They should honor the rights of others, conducting themselves at all times in a moral and decent manner while at Pingry and throughout their lives as citizens of and contributors to the larger community of the world. 2

THE PINGRY REVIEW

Elizabeth Breidinger

Director of Institutional Advancement

Allison C. Brunhouse ’00, P ’31

Director of Admission and Enrollment

Andrea Dawson Senior Writer

Holland Sunyak Francisco ’02

Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving

Edward Lisovicz

Advancement Writer

Dale V. Seabury P ’31

Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing

www.rubywindow.com

The Pingry Review is the official magazine of The Pingry School, with the primary purpose of disseminating news and information about the School, alumni, students, faculty, and staff. Contact the editor with comments and story ideas: The Pingry School 131 Martinsville Road Basking Ridge, NJ 07920 gwaxberg@pingry.org 908-647-5555, ext. 1296

A LETTER FROM THE HEADMASTER

Dear Members of the Pingry Community Is the era of the magazine nearly over? Twenty years ago, it seemed that every few days the mail delivery included a new issue of any one of several magazines—perhaps a copy of Orchids or The Economist, Newsweek or The New Yorker, Natural History or Outside. In the ensuing years I have—sometimes reluctantly—recycled countless copies of those magazines, as well as years’ worth of my father’s Wooden Boat and my mother’s Horticulture back issues. Today, only Backpacker (my wife’s subscription) and Orchids (mine) keep company in our mailbox and house with alumni magazines. For all other news, we, like many of you, I’m sure, turn to online sources. And yet, it’s hard for me to imagine the magazine, as a concept, disappearing completely. In this age of screen-based communication, the tactile experience of flipping through a magazine, particularly an alumni magazine, like the Review, triggers memories and emotions in a way that seeing photos or reading text online simply can’t replicate. Reliving those memories strengthens a magazine’s community of readers. It may not occur on a digitized or social networking platform, but alumni magazines nurture their own form of community.

From Our Common Bond, printed on page two of The Pingry Review’s first issue, May 1944:

“[Pingry’s] sons are answering the test, in time of need, giving leadership in high places, responding to the call in all stations. . . In order that we may maintain unbroken touch and that all of us may be reminded of our school and its living details, this little publication is brought forth and will be issued periodically to alumni and friends of Pingry.”

Take, for example, the very first issue of The Pingry Review, published a month before D-Day, in May 1944. A photo of William Halsey, Jr., a graduate of Pingry’s Class of 1900 and a distinguished admiral in the United States Navy during WWII, figures prominently on the first page. In subsequent issues, a section called “Pingry In the Armed Forces” —a precursor, of sorts, to today’s Class Notes—outlines tours of duty of alumni, including updates on those wounded, missing in action, or killed. That photo of Admiral Halsey, in addition to the announcements of soldiers’ whereabouts, paint a clear picture: The early incarnation of the magazine—perhaps its raison d’être— served to unify the community and provide a measure of support for the many Pingry families affected by the war. “Scattered throughout a war-torn world, but united in spirit, are the Pingry alumni in the armed forces—nearly 400 of them at latest count,” so reads the opening line of the first issue. Imagine the solace it brought families, knowing—reading, seeing—that they were not alone in their worry or suffering, nor in their commitment to the ideals of freedom and democracy. This issue of the Review marks its 75th year of publication. For 13 years, I have looked forward to each issue. As I savor my final school year as Headmaster and as Pingry transitions to a new Head—a new chapter—it is fitting to take a look back at the history of the school through the lens of its alumni magazine, and to celebrate its lasting impact on our community. I would encourage you, whatever your relationship with print material is in this day and age, to pick up the issue, read through it, get a sense of the magazine's historic arc, and let us know your thoughts. What will be the role of this magazine in the future? What do you imagine it looking like? What do you think the Pingry “magazine” of 75 years from now will look like? Whatever its form, I look forward to reading it, alongside Orchids, and keeping in touch with this wonderful community. Sincerely,

Nathaniel E. Conard P ’09, ’11 FALL 2018

Scene Around Campus

THE PINGRY REVIEW

Second Day of School Fourth-grade math teacher Kennedy Buckley P â&#x20AC;&#x2122;16 and students getting back into the swing of things on the Short Hills Campus.

FALL 2018

Homecoming The Big Blue Bear and friends. Pictured are Jennifer Ryan ’20, Alyssa Schwertfeger ’20, Mercedes GarciaKenny ’20, Helen Baeck-Hubloux ’20, 2018-19 AFS student Lena Klier ’20, Annie Oatman ’20, and Katherine Oatman ’20. See more photos on page 50.

Pingry Profile: Carson Didden ’24 “Sports helped me in the transition from the Lower School to the Middle School—being on teams is a great way to meet other students. . . When I reach the Upper School, it would be great to make varsity field hockey and lacrosse as a freshman, but I know that’s really hard. I just want to make an impact on whatever team I play on.” Visit pingry.org/athletes to read Carson’s full profile and many others!

THE PINGRY REVIEW

Convocation Bottom: At Convocation, Headmaster Nat Conard P ’09, ’11 recognizing the Magistri, faculty members who have taught at Pingry for at least 25 years. Collectively, the 24 Magistri on the 2018-19 faculty (with individual service spanning from 25 to 59 years) have served Pingry for 848 years! Front row: Donna Thau P ’17, ’20, Drew Burns, Patricia Wheeler, Tom Keating P ’27, ’29, Rich Freiwald, Mike Webster P ’24, ’27, ’27, Patti Euwer P ’97, Sue Marotto, Vicki Grant P ’04, ’06, Patty Finn, Tim Grant P ’04, ’06, Bill Bourne P ’08, Dr. Joan Pearlman P ’89, ’92, ‘96, Brian La Fontaine P ’10, ’14, Peter Delman P ’97, ’98, Lydia Geacintov P ’84, ’88, Peter Thomson P ’94, ’02, ’08, Ted Corvino P ’94, ’97, ’02, Manny Tramontana P ’85, ’87, and Miller Bugliari ’52, P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24. Read about Convocation on page 33. Below Inset: A handshake to Tom Boyer P ’96, ’98 during the Convocation processional. A retired member of the Magistri, Mr. Boyer returned to the Middle School as a substitute math teacher during Nicole Cabral’s maternity leave.

Dr. Pingry’s Birthday Above: This archival display in the front entrance of the Basking Ridge Campus helped celebrate the 200th anniversary of Dr. Pingry’s birth. See close-up photos of the items on page 67.

Studies of Pumpkins In the Lower School garden recently, Kindergarteners—along with Assistant Director of the Lower School, Dr. Sandy Lizaire-Duff P ’25—were treated to a cross-disciplinary exploration of the season’s most celebrated fruit: the pumpkin. To learn more, visit pingry.org/extras.

THE PINGRY REVIEW

Friday Night Lights Above: Members of the Varsity Football Team visiting the Lower School in October to promote Friday Night Lights. Pictured in the back row: Zach Dobson ’19, Thomas Campbell ’19, Jack Baulig ’19, Jake Austin ’19, Nate Hefner ’19, Joe Shilts ’19, Alex Briones ’19, and Assistant Headmaster–Short Hills Campus and Lower School Director Ted Corvino P ’94, ’97, ’02. Below: The Varsity Football Team taking the field, racing through a tunnel of Lower School students! The tunnel was organized by Lower School Health and Physical Education Coordinator and teacher Leslie Miller P ’29, ’31.

FALL 2018

THE PINGRY REVIEW

ith this issue of The Pingry Review, we celebrate its 75th year of publication, and its rightful place among other award-winning independent school magazines across the country. Preceded by a newsletter (the Pingry Alumni Bulletin), The Review officially launched in May 1944—just a month before the Normandy invasion, in the midst of World War II—and its early issues reveal an undoubted effort to keep the community informed about alumni in the armed forces and those who lost their lives. Moreover, during a time of tremendous global turmoil, it was a way to keep the School’s alumni body connected. While other wars and tumultuous events, both domestic and overseas, have come to pass since that first issue, the magazine’s primary mission continues—keeping alumni connected to each other and to Pingry. While the editorial staff was combing through issue after issue for this 75-year retrospective, we were cognizant that, yes, the last three-quarters of a century of history, not to mention Pingry history, have influenced the content of the magazine. But the magazine has its own history—its own evolution—which is just as distinct. We sought to highlight that stylistic and editorial progression and share it with our readers: from “News of the Alumni” to “Class Notes”; from brief news updates to longer essays to fulllength stories; from monochrome to color. In short, the modernization of the magazine has occurred in tandem with the School’s, and, all the while, the Review has served as its artistic expression, a physical reflection not simply of the people who comprise this community, but its culture and spirit. So, enjoy this “review of the Review” from 75 years’ worth of magazines . . .

THE PINGRY REVIEW

FALL 2018

1940s

75 YEARS OF THE PINGRY REVIEW

This announcement in the first issue, May 1944, explained The Pingry Reviewâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beginnings.

A sketch of the first cover!

Predecessor of Class Notes, including updates on those fighting in the war. 12

THE PINGRY REVIEW

Two legends!

Historic, front page coverage of Admiral Halseyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s visit (also the first issue whose front page was devoted to a single topic).

Portion of a list of fallen Pingry soldiers. First version of what is now the Ask the Archivist page.

75 YEARS OF THE PINGRY REVIEW

“The Pingry Review has shown me the growth of the school from an all-boys school in an old mansion on Parker Road to a college-like campus in north Jersey . . . on its way to what it is today and coed. I like the change from a paper-like format to a magazine style.” —CHARLES Mac DONALD ’51

“Over the years, The Pingry Review has become a truly topnotch publication on a par with the magazine I get from UNC. It is laid out in a very professional manner.” —FRANCIS RICHARDS ’58

THE PINGRY REVIEW

Artwork by students and alumni has appeared occasionally over the years.

“I like the heavy use of color and the more comprehensive focus on specific alums and their accomplishments in life. It is a very high-quality school publication that exceeds the quality of every similar prep school and college publication that I have seen.” —BOB MEYER ’56, P ’88

Examples of the magazine being used as a call to action and even as an outlet for classifieds.

NOTABLE CAMPUS HISTORY

1953 Pingry moves from Parker Road in Elizabeth to North Avenue in Hillside

FALL 2018

1960s

75 YEARS OF THE PINGRY REVIEW

“The Pingry Review has allowed me to stay connected in several ways, including keeping up with students from my class and era, following how Pingry has changed or has not changed over the years, and understanding Pingry as it is today. It is required reading.” —DOUG SMITH ’64

“[The magazine is] my only significant connection. Without it, the school could have moved itself to Arizona for all I might have known!” —JOHN MURCHIE ’62 Coverage of the first Reunion.

On the cutting edge! The June 1966 issue marked the first time that the magazine started to consistently include longer articles. Previously, most content was presented in shorter write-ups of about a column. 16

THE PINGRY REVIEW

“I think the main value of The Pingry Review has been the number of stories that show how the school has maintained the level of excellence one expects from a school with such high expectations.” —BOB MAYER ’63

An early approach to sharing life events. Even in this age of social media, alumni continue to communicate these moments through the magazine.

NOTABLE CAMPUS HISTORY

1961 Pingry’s 100th Anniversary

1969 Reunion takes place for the first time

Highlighting a teacher’s poem that was published in another publication. In the October 1966 issue, News from Alumni is transformed into Class Notes.

First letter from the Headmaster.

1970s

75 YEARS OF THE PINGRY REVIEW

“The Pingry Review is the essential Pingry. There are so many great stories and coverage of all things Pingry.” —LEWIS GASOREK ’75

Pingry transitions to and then reflects on coeducation.

First female student, in an exchange with Kent Place School, prior to Pingry’s official move to coeducation.

Dr. Herbert Hahn and other faculty members have written extensively in the magazine.

“It is one of the only magazines I still receive and value in print. It makes me feel like a community member, even across the country.” —DEBORAH RICHMAN ’78

Letter announcing construction of the Bernards Township Campus. Back in time to the first alumni dinner.

There has never been a shortage of photos of Miller Bugliari ’52—he long ago set the record for most appearances in Class Notes!

Showing the location of the new campus.

Anniversary of the Honor System, precursor to the Honor Code.

NOTABLE CAMPUS HISTORY

1970 Preparation begins for campus move to Bernards Township (then-Trustee William S. Beinecke ’31, P ’61, ’64 broached the idea in December 1969)

1974 Pingry becomes coed When Ted Mayhew retired as editor in 1979, he concluded 28 years in the position (194975 and 1977-79), the longest tenure of all the magazine’s editors. Except for 1944-47, when the magazine was published under the direction of the Board of Trustees, 12 individuals have served as editor.

and merges with Short Hills Country Day School

Student artwork promotes Pingry drama.

FALL 2018

1980s

75 YEARS OF THE PINGRY REVIEW

“I used to jump right to the alumni class notes, but now I look at the whole thing—maybe because I am often seeing it online first. Apart from going digital and becoming available online, I think the lack of radical change has been a good thing. It looks modern, but still feels traditional.” —DAVID STANTON ’80

Summer 1983: the first cover in color!

Then-Language Department Chair Lydia Geacintov P ’84, ’88 was one of eight department chairs to write about academic changes over the previous 25 years. As for word count—what word count?

THE PINGRY REVIEW

Glimpse of what’s to come on the new campus, through construction photos and “nine questions most often asked,” including the campus’s location and acreage, and the building’s design.

Oops!

NOTABLE CAMPUS HISTORY

1983 Pingry moves from Hillside to Bernards Township

1984 Dedication of Bernards Township Campus

One of many fundraising ads.

From “An Assessment of Girls Athletics at Pingry” by Rob Hall ’54: “There is a vitality in Pingry’s girls’ athletics that is almost tangible. Credit for bringing the program from a zero point 12 years ago to where it is today is due at many levels. The Trustees’ total commitment to successful coeducation has effectively flowed to Pingry’s administration and staff. Ultimately it is the coaching staff and Pingry’s girls who should be applauded.” FALL 2018

75 YEARS OF THE PINGRY REVIEW

All about the Short Hills Campus.

Special addition to the 1991 Athletics Hall of Fame issue (this illustration had previously appeared in 1966 when Mr. Lesneski retired from coaching varsity football after 12 seasons).

Memorializing a legend, Albie Booth.

THE PINGRY REVIEW

Then-Headmaster John Hanly bestowed his wisdom in many issues

Back cover of the Winter 1994 issue, marking 10 years since the campus move.

Getting creative with fonts!

NOTABLE CAMPUS HISTORY

1991 Launching of the Athletics Hall of Fame

1993 Latin teacher Albie Booth, the longest-serving faculty member in School history (64 years), dies

FALL 2018

2000s

75 YEARS OF THE PINGRY REVIEW

The first issue all in color. Headmaster Nat Conardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first letter, in the issue announcing his arrival, the first of many full-page letters he would write during his tenure, and a far cry from the reportorial style of the 1960s.

Renderings of the proposed Middle School.

Scene Around Campus launched in Autumn 1999.

THE PINGRY REVIEW

Dictum Ultimum (now Closing Word) is introduced.

Spotlight on our Lower School Director, at the time two years into his position.

NOTABLE CAMPUS HISTORY

2003 Dedication of the Hostetter Arts Center First two-page photo spread. Ask the Archivist is renamed from Mystery or Nostalgia Photo.

2007 Dedication of The Carol and Park B. Smith â&#x20AC;&#x2122;50 Middle School

FALL 2018

2010s

75 YEARS OF THE PINGRY REVIEW

a decade of changeS:

Pingry’S major StePS to going green Conversion from oil to natural gas at both campuses.

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Installation of chilled water system for air conditioning (produces and controls the flow of chilled water) at Martinsville Campus. Chilled water system expanded to serve additional spaces at Martinsville. Reduced light bulbs from 40-watt to 32-watt at both campuses (better light with lower power) and converted from magnetic ballasts to more energy-efficient electronic ballasts with equipment from the New Jersey Smart Start Program.

Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation Coverage of the Sesquicentennial included or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family:two issues exploring Pingry traditions A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life and campus life, plus this invitation to the 150th Anniversary Gala. Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation You are cordially invited to join the or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry FamPingry Family ily: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  as we Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation Celebrate 150 Years Opening Shot or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Pingry Family: A Foundation for Life Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Saturday, the nineteenth of May Two thousand twelve Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation orandLife  Pinry Family: A Founation or Six-thirty in the evening The Pingry School Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Martinsville Campus Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or  Pinryventures Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A The Life magazine into modern Founationgraphics. or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life  Pinry Family: A Founation or Life 2 200

BMS (Building Management System) at Martinsville Campus allows for more control of operating schedules—permits a schedule for turning boilers, air handling units, chillers, and heat recovery equipment on and off according to the time of year. Martinsville Campus dish machine, which allowed water and food waste to go down the drain, was replaced with a machine that recycles the water and separates the food for composting.

3 200

Installation of first benchmark boiler with Middle School project. Installation of heat recovery chiller system (produces heat and chilled water) at Martinsville Campus. Initiated green cleaning and IPM (Integrated Pest Management) program at Martinsville Campus.

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06 20

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the pingry review

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Upgraded campus electricity service so that Pingry owns primary equipment— reduces exposure to multiple demand charges (based on peak electrical usage during the day) as the campus adds buildings. Upgraded waste system infrastructure at Martinsville Campus to accommodate compactor. As part of the Middle School project, Pingry planted 550 trees around the Martinsville Campus.

Paper/cardboard and co-mingled materials combined into one recycling pick-up system—the addition of compactors dramatically improved the recycling program. Conversion of all kitchen equipment from electric to natural gas. Installation of second benchmark boiler.

Renovation of Martinsville Campus restrooms to conserve water. Instituted food composting at Martinsville Campus. Upgraded waste system infrastructure at Short Hills Campus to accommodate compactor. Instituted paper recycling at Short Hills Campus. Began to participate in PJM (Pennsylvania Jersey Maryland) Demand Response Program. Pingry volunteers to shed electric load when the PJM grid is experiencing peak usage.

A Lower School student with a gingerbread house that she decorated—an annual tradition for Pingry’s Kindergarten classes.

Installed Kitchen Garden at Short Hills. Renovation of Short Hills Campus boiler room completed with $200,000 in funding from the New Jersey Smart Start Program. Renovation of Short Hills Campus restrooms to conserve water. Instituted food composting at Short Hills Campus. Added grounds equipment and management to improve Martinsville Campus IPM program. Began to use the Noveda Technologies web site to monitor energy use.

Editorial Staff

Greg Waxberg ’96, Editor Communications Writer Melanie P. Hoffmann P ’20, ’26 Director of Institutional Advancement Rob Schur P ’25 Associate Director of Advancement Marisa Marks Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing David M. Fahey ’99 Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Maureen E. Maher Associate Director of Communications and Sports Information

winter 2011-2012

Contact Lynne Brum, 150th Anniversary Coordinator, at lbrum@pingry.org for information, or go to www.pingry.org to RSVP

Design and Layout

Ruby Window Creative Group, Inc. www.rubywindow.com

Photography

Peter Chollick Bruce Morrison ’64 Debbie Weisman

Administration, 2013-2014

Nathaniel E. Conard P ’09, ’11 Headmaster Theodore M. Corvino, Sr. P ’94, ’97, ’02 Assistant Headmaster-Short Hills, Lower School Director Jonathan D. Leef P ’15, ’18 Assistant Headmaster-Basking Ridge Denise M. Brown-Allen P ’13 Upper School Director Philip Cox Middle School Director Olaf J. Weckesser P ’25 Chief Financial Officer and Director of Operations John W. Pratt Chief Operating Officer Allison C. Brunhouse ’00 Director of Admission and Enrollment Lydia B. Geacintov P ’84, ’88 Director of Studies Melanie P. Hoffmann P ’20, ’26 Director of Institutional Advancement Gerry Vanasse P ’14, ’20 Director of Athletics Brian C. Burkhart Director of Educational and Information Technology

Note from the Editor

With this issue, we introduce a new design of The Pingry Review. Just as the Pingry web site has been redesigned to be more engaging and easier to navigate, so, too, has the magazine. We hope you find that the larger photos and new graphic design make the content even more enjoyable. Your feedback is always welcome!

Corrections from the September 2013 issue A Commencement picture on page 16 showed Brian Li ’13, not Steven Sun ’13. In a photo from the Washington, D.C. College Luncheon on page 80, Elisse Park ’10 was misidentified as Sarah Park ’12. 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. The editor tries to ensure the timeliness of each issue. Due to printing and production deadlines, this edition contains major events that happened by December 20, 2013. Occurrences after that date will be included in the next issue. Comments can be sent to the editor at The Pingry School, 131 Martinsville Road, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920 or gwaxberg@pingry.org.

gwaxberg@pingry.org (908) 647-5555, ext. 1296

THE PINGRY REVIEW

The magazine’s most recent redesign, and the first Opening Shot.

Public launch of the campaign!

Endeavoring to explain a school’s approach to financial aid in a handful of comprehensible— and hopefully, compelling— pages is a tall order. Rather than focus on a single aspect of aid at Pingry, or delve into the nuts and bolts of the application process, much of which is readily available on the School’s website, we decided instead to zoom out, illuminate the bigger picture, and address some of the most common uncertainties. Why does Pingry tuition 4

THE PINGRY REVIEW

cost what it does? What steps is the School taking to moderate its rate of increase? Who benefits from financial aid? And what does the School hope to accomplish by offering it? Eight of Pingry’s institutional voices, including a financial aid donor and an alumnus recipient, weigh in on these questions and more, giving legitimate voice to—and demystifying —the significant impact of the financial aid program at Pingry. FALL 2015

“I turn to School news first—it’s nice to see what current students are doing and new initiatives the school is pursuing.” —ABHIRAM KARUPPUR ’15

Part I of II

Ask the Archivist Introducing Digital Archivist Peter Blasevick

Mr. Blasevick’s critical work as Archivist has led to the documentation and preservation of Pingry history, notably for the Athletics Hall of Fame.

Why does Pingry need a digital archivist, and what is your primary project? For a place like Pingry that has been around for 150-plus years, there is value in the institution’s history. You don’t want to forget who people were. My main project is to archive team photos, collect information about the photos, build a digital repository to permanently save all of the information, and get everything ready for digital displays in the School’s athletics hallways and—a much larger purpose—for a searchable database for the Athletics Hall of Fame in the Miller A. Bugliari ’52 Athletics Center. What does “digital archivist” mean? Digital archivists preserve materials in a digital format and are responsible for knowing which formats are going to be used in the future and being ready to migrate documents to those formats. It is important for digital archivists to know the “best practices” in the industry. For example, photos are usually saved in two versions—an “archival copy,” the highest quality, and a “presentation format,” smaller and more easily transmittable over the Internet, such as a jpeg. How did you become interested in digital archiving? I was a musician until my 30s, when I went back to school [William Paterson University] for my undergraduate degree in history. While I was there, I became friendly with people in the library who were my contemporaries. Seeing how much time I was spending in the library, they suggested that I attend “library school,” and some of my professors urged me to do digital work. I became really interested and earned an M.L.I.S. (Master of Library and Information Science) at Rutgers School of Communication and Information. Rutgers hired me after I graduated in 2012. What education does a digital archivist need? You need a degree in Information Science. You also need to learn about databases, coding, and HTML and be able to search 68

NOTABLE CAMPUS HISTORY

2011–12 Celebration of Pingry’s 150th Anniversary

2012 Dedication of Beinecke House

2014 Public launch of Blueprint for the Future Campaign

for and find information. A lot of the process is devoted to learning about file types and metadata schemas.

Digital Archivist Peter Blasevick at work in Pingry’s C.B. Newton Library.

What is metadata, and why is it important? Metadata is the information about an object, basically a higher level of “tagging” or “keywords,” and you need to define a metadata schema for a collection to ensure the metadata will be consistent across that entire collection of objects. A “schema” is a predefined set of elements (or fields) that are populated with values (information) in order to describe an object. The three broad categories of metadata are descriptive (information about an object), structural (describing the types, versions, relationships, and other characteristics of digital objects), and administrative (how an object was created, who can use or access it). The three main areas of metadata we’ll be capturing in our collections at Pingry are descriptive (the title and subjects of the digital version), technical (operating systems, hardware, and software that are used to create the images), and source (information about the original photograph, such as where the photo is stored). With the metadata, there are also “authority files” with listings of people’s official names, which is important because of possible variations in how a person’s name is listed in photos.

How does human behavior affect digital archiving? We study how people interact with information—how they want to search, how they want to find it, how they want it represented. For example, many people who search on Google never look at the second page of results, even with thousands of pages! Regardless of whether it’s positive or negative that they only look at page one, that’s how they interact with information.

2017 Dedication of the Miller A. Bugliari ’52 Athletics Center

Why is acid-free storage important? Paper documents are self-destructive because they release gases. There’s no way to stop it from happening, but the idea is to slow it down as much as possible by putting documents in plastic sleeves backed with acid-free paper. In theory, the paper will help negate the gases that are released. I specifically use it as a safety separator when there is more than one item in a sleeve, such as a picture with a printed list of people in the photo. What challenges with digital archiving have you encountered over the years? Some challenges are slowly going away, like expensive storage for large files. The two biggest concerns are poor quality of the original formats and “findability.” Any

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Lower School visual arts teacher Russell Christian created limitededition prints that highlight distinct landmarks on both campuses, some of which were made possible by the Blueprint for the Future Campaign.

Pingry Alumni/ae Who Served and Sacrificed

This list contains additional names that The Pingry Review received following the publication of the Winter 2015-16 issue. As we learn of more Pingry veterans, we will proudly add them to our records. WORLD WAR I Henry Bayard Clark ’11 WORLD WAR II Wallace P. Trapnell ’21 John R. Bates ’24 George L. Kinsey ’27 James Home Harris, Jr. ’29 Kendrick R. Wilson, Jr. ’30 Robert B. Gibby ’31 William E. Buckley ’32 Schuyler Crane ’32 George J. Morgan, Jr. ’32 A. Compton Vail ’32 H. Telfer Mook ’33 John K. Hanrahan ’34 Richard S. Tucker ’34 James R. Carringer, Jr. ’35 Clayton B. Jones, Jr. ’35 William H. Troeber ’35

KOREAN WAR ERA Edwin S. Cramer ’36 Charles K. Rath ’36 William B. Simpson ’36 Robert T. Deming, Jr. ’40 Richard E. Turk ’42 William B. McGinty, Jr. ’43 Peter B. Sperry ’44 John C. McClain ’45 Walter W. Patten, Jr. ’45 Daniel M. Barton, Sr. ’46 Curtis B. Brooks ’46 Marshall R. Cassedy ’46 Robert L. Christensen ’46 Henry Bayard Clark, Jr. ’46 Richard R. Dailey ’46 Robert F. Danziger ’46 Charles H. Hayes, Jr. ’46 Edward T. Kenyon ’46 John M. Lummis, Jr. ’46

William R. Ledder ’52 H. Franklin Bunn ’53 John J. Onnembo ’53 Stephen P. Reibel ’53 A. Mason Ahearn ’54 E. William Endter, Jr. ’54 Winthrop H. Hall ’54 Thomas C. Davis, Jr. ’55 Anthony W. DePaul, Jr. ’55 Richard C. Auerbach ’56 John T. English ’56 Mark Forrester, Jr. ’56 McClure Hall ’56 F. L. Hewitt III ’56 Robert O. Meyer ’56 Donald R. Pettit ’56 Frederick W. Schweizer ’56 John H. Crawford III ’57 Stuart J. Crow ’57 Lawrence A. Eggleston ’57

Robert H. Popper, Jr. ’61 Douglas W. Rhett, Jr. ’61 Robert E. D. Roos ’61 W. Theodore Strauss III ’61 William T. Tilden IV ’61 Frank A. Ali III ’62 Richard D. Bates, Jr. ’62 John E. Brown ’62 Thomas C. Curtiss, Jr. ’62 John L. Geddes ’62 Patrick J. Haley ’62 Peter D. Hawkins ’62 Roger C. Herrmann ’62 Joel C. Labow ’62 Martin McLean ’62 David H. Neunert ’62 Robert W. Scott, Jr. ’62 Andrew H. Swain ’62 William A. Tansey III ’62 Richard E. Thomas II ’62

OTHER ALUMNI/AE AND FACULTY WHO HAVE SERVED OR ARE SERVING IN THE ARMED FORCES William F. Halsey, Jr. ’00 Frederick M. Trapnell ’17 Nicholas C. English ’29 Cornelius Ackerson ’31 William S. Beinecke ’31 Russell R. Barrett, Jr. ’33 Charles C. Pineo, Jr. ’33 Harold L. Crane, Jr. ’36 Macdonald Halsey ’36 Charles E. Keppler ’37 George Knauer, Jr. ’37 David B. Ressler ’37 John J. Blumberg ’38 James St. John Hughes ’38 Wilfred W. Weppler ’38 Thomas C. Wickenden ’38

Charles P. Day, Jr. ’50 Charles E. McKenney ’50 Roger W. Hill, Jr. ’51 James L. Horning ’51 Herbert H. Moser ’51 Peter Pattison ’51 Frederick W. Rohrs ’51 Robert G. Turton ’51 Miller A. Bugliari ’52 Richard M. Corbet ’52 John L. M. DeCesare ’52 Jay C. Harbeck ’52 Warren S. Kimber, Jr. ’52 Ronald H. Post ’52 Peter Van Leight ’52 Roger K. Schmidt ’52 Frank K. Cameron ’53 Lewis F. Moody III ’53 Philip L. Scrudato ’53 Albert C. Lesneski ’54

Acknowledging the service of brave Pingry men and women.

FALL 2018

Philanthropy

Bob Rooke ’43

75 Years in Partnership with Pingry

For 75 years, The Pingry Review has been many things to many people . . . for some, it provides an update on School happenings and what our current students have been doing recently; for others, it fosters and sustains a relationship with classmates, parents, and friends. As we commemorate this anniversary, the Rooke family is also recognizing several milestones of their own—most notably, Robert C. Rooke, Sr. celebrated his 75th Pingry Reunion this past May!

Bob Rooke, Sr. ’43, P ’70, ’74, GP ’02, ’04 Mr. Rooke enrolled at Pingry in 1936 and attended for four years before joining the Culver Military Academy. “I went to Pingry on a different campus, in a different town—and I took a steam locomotive to get there!” he recalls. “Academic-wise, all I can recall was failing Latin,” he jokes. “But I enjoyed playing football and engaging in track. I was coached by Reese Williams, with Vince Lesneski as the assistant coach— they were both good, in my opinion.” –––––––––––––

“To not only see how much the School has changed for my children and grandchildren, but to be an active part and an agent of that change, has been truly remarkable.”

Bob Rooke, Sr. ’43 ––––––––––––– The football coaches weren’t the only Pingry legends whom Mr. Rooke remembers: “Larry Springer had just come on as headmaster around when I joined, 1936.” Mr. Rooke’s time at Pingry was coterminous with another historic occurrence. “One event in my memory was seeing the Hindenberg zeppelin. It passed over the athletics field on the day it burned.” As someone who has seen Pingry grow over the years from many perspectives—as an alumnus, parent, Thomas Rooke ’74, P ’02, ’04, Bob Rooke, Sr. ’43 and Natalie Rooke P ’70, ’74, GP ’02, ’04, and Alice Rooke P ’02, ’04 at the dedication of The Carol and Park B. Smith ’50 Middle School.

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Above: The late Hugh Spilsbury ’43 and Ruth Spilsbury with Bob Rooke, Sr. ’43, P ’70, ’74, GP ’02, ’04 at the 50 Year Club Luncheon in 2013. Right: Bob Rooke, Sr. ’43, P ’70, ’74, GP ’02, ’04 pictured with his eighth-grade class in the 1939 Blue Book.

grandparent, and Trustee—Mr. Rooke feels passionately about financially supporting the School in many different ways, providing not only for its current needs but also to ensure long-term sustainability. He has been a loyal supporter of The Pingry Fund for decades, and in 1998 he expanded his support to include Pingry’s endowment by establishing the Rooke Endowment Fund. He was passionate about growing Pingry’s endowment because it was his way of demonstrating his belief in the School’s mission and ensuring that funds are available each and every year, into perpetuity, to sustain the high quality of a Pingry education. Mr. Rooke couldn’t resist participating with family members in Pingry’s last Campaign, particularly by supporting the Miller A. Bugliari ’52 Athletics Center as they believe that sports provide specific and lifelong

benefits to students at Pingry. Mr. Rooke’s desire to maintain the high standard of excellence at Pingry for years to come motivated him to make a planned gift and join the School’s C.B. Newton Society. “To not only see how much the School has changed for my children and grandchildren, but to be an active part and an agent of that change, has been truly remarkable,” he says. The Rooke family’s deep appreciation of the Pingry experience and great affinity for the School’s mission and community began more than 80 years ago and continues to this day. Both individually and collectively, the Rooke family has demonstrated this commitment by volunteering for multiple leadership positions,

financially supporting the School’s multiple initiatives and campaigns, and enrolling family members at Pingry. Their volunteerism and philanthropy have spanned our history and propel us into the future. FALL 2018

Pingry Community Comes Together for First-Ever Day of Giving! September 26, the birthday of Dr. John Pingry, has always been a special day in Pingry’s history. This year, on what would have been his 200th birthday, the entire community celebrated with Ring the Bell, the School’s first-ever dedicated Day of Giving.

Students across both campuses celebrated by dressing in Pingry spirit wear, enjoying birthday treats, and sharing on social media why they were proud to be Pingry students. The larger Pingry community demonstrated their belief in the School’s mission by supporting The Pingry Fund. In just 24 hours, Pingry received more than 350 gifts and pledges from alumni, parents, grandparents, faculty, staff, and friends. This high participation not only unlocked the $200,000 challenge grant, but is the largest number of Pingry Fund gifts and pledges the School has received during a one-day fundraising challenge! Funds raised from Ring the Bell will immediately provide critical support for every aspect of the Pingry experience.

In case you missed the fun, check out official Pingry social media accounts—search for #RingTheBell— and don’t forget to save the date for next year’s Ring the Bell; Thursday, September 26, 2019! –––––––––––––

“The letter P is the first letter of Pingry, Proud, Parents, and Philanthropy. We are parents of a happy, thriving Pingry sophomore who are proud to support the enrichment of the Pingry experience for all.”

Fifth-grade teacher Dr. Joan Pearlman P ’89, ’92, ’96 rings the bell for Pingry because “It’s John Pingry’s birthday [and] I love my school!” Next to her is a bell from the Parker Road Campus.

Craig and Kathy Stine P ’21

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To those who rang the bell, we thank you—and for those who didn’t have the opportunity to participate, there’s still time for you to support Pingry with a gift or pledge before the Fund closes on June 30.

Luke Ittycheria ’19 and Abigail Jay ’19.

Vicky Chen ’19, Grace Wang ’21, Noah Bergam ’21, Zara Jacob ’21, and Ketaki Tavan ’19.

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Bugliari Athletics Center Front Desk Associate Arden Olson rings the bell for Pingry because “It’s a place filled with people who care about others.”

“Pingry has made a major impact on my life, both personally and professionally, which is why I make regular gifts. Having a day of giving is a great way to remind members of the community of Pingry’s importance in our lives and to support its continued success.” Doug Bookbinder ’98, Pingry Alumni Association Board Member

True Blue Spotlight Introducing a Q&A with members of Pingry’s True Blue Society, those who have given to the School for 10 or more consecutive years. Jeff Hiller ’00 What inspires you about Pingry today? The people: the students and the teachers. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to get a great education at Pingry. The skills that I learned both in and out of the classroom stay with me today. I am inspired that there are currently hundreds of students at Pingry getting that same opportunity that I was fortunate to have, and, after graduating, they will take their Pingry experience into the community. I cannot talk about “being inspired” without mentioning the Pingry faculty (Drew Burns, Herr Lav, and Tom Keating, to mention just a few)—a group who inspired me and positively impacted me. The hard work and

excellence of the School’s faculty is what makes Pingry great, year after year.

What is your fondest Pingry memory? If I have to pick just one, it has to be participating in Student Activities Club (SAC) senior year. It was so much fun working with my best friends to plan comedy skits and videos to perform in front of the entire school at Morning Meeting. It felt great to hear a roar of laughter from hundreds of people during our better skits. I still love to make people laugh.

Hardest Pingry class? English! Probably American Literature with Tom Keating. I was always a science and numbers person, so writing a five-paragraph essay was something

I absolutely dreaded. Thankfully, I was forced to write throughout school because, in law school and beyond, it has been such an important skill.

Connect with Alumni in Your Field Pingry’s professional verticals are a great way to network with alumni and parents in your field, and to discuss trends and practices relevant to your business—and we’d love to see you there. If you haven’t been receiving invitations and updates about Pingry events, we probably don’t have your current contact information. Send your updated email address and mailing address to alumni@pingry.org to get back in the loop—and be sure to join our professional networks on LinkedIn! We’ll be in touch with relevant events near you.

Pingry Alumni Network

Pingry Marketing Network

Pingry Arts Network

Pingry Real Estate Network

Pingry Entertainment Network

Pingry Science Network

Pingry Innovation & Entrepreneurship Network

Pingry On Wall Street

Pingry Law Network

Pingry Women’s Network

FALL 2018

With New Fields and Experiential Education Our Varsity teams have access to fantastic resources and facilities; now, we have the opportunity to provide the same high-quality experience for our Junior Varsity and Middle School athletes. On the Basking Ridge Campus, we plan to re-sod the Cornwall Field and convert the drive field to a multi-season turf field. This would drastically increase the space our students have to explore athletic pursuits, particularly those on Middle School and JV teams. Students would no longer miss out on practice and play time due to inclement weather, and we would gain

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the ability to schedule more JV and Middle School home games. We have budgeted to re-sod both fields, but, to convert the drive field to artificial turf, we need to raise $500,000. At the Lower School, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re seeking approval to convert the front grass field to turf and expand parking. In addition, there are plans to install a traverse wall in the gymnasium for our youngest learners to build resilience and challenge themselves. To learn more about how you can enhance world-class co-curricular programs at Pingry, please contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at 908-647-7058.

Convocation’s Messages:

Community, Perspectives, and Respect The official opening of Pingry’s school year, Convocation is an event of reverence and tradition as Middle and Upper School students reaffirm their commitment to the School’s Honor Code (which dates back 93 years to the original Honor System). Dressed up for the occasion, students stand for the formal procession of the Headmaster, Chair of the Board of Trustees, Student Body President, trustees, and faculty, all proudly wearing their academic regalia, a tradition passed down from universities of the Middle Ages. Highlights from this year’s remarks (complete speeches are available at pingry.org/extras):

“Make this community a better place. We all want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. I believe in the community—in you, in us, and what we can accomplish.” —Student Body President Andrew Cowen ’19

“I challenge you to ask questions, because you should feel confident that everyone in class and the wider community has your back . . . think about your signature [on the Honor Code] as a promise to support the people around you. By lifting each other up, everyone in this community will realize his or her own potential.” —Honor Board Chair Drew Beckmen ’19

“Anticipate: the ability to see the big picture, to see beyond the moment, to figure ‘what if’ of the many decisions you will have to make in your life . . . Try to anticipate the outcome and make good decisions, and avoid impetuous behavior.” —Senior faculty member Miller Bugliari ’52, P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24, beginning his 60th year on the faculty

“Do not jump too quickly to too facile an answer. When interacting with people, and in your studies, consider possibilities, consider complexity, consider nuance . . . respect different perspectives, learn from them, and share your own.” —Board of Trustees Chair Jeff Edwards ’78, P ’12, ’14, ’18

Honor Board Chair Drew Beckmen ’19 and Student Body President Andrew Cowen ’19 collecting signed Honor Code pledges.

“We are more likely to hear and remember information that supports our perspectives than information that does not. And, of course, we all think that our opinions are correct . . . One choice we could make would be to only interact with the people with whom we agree . . . ‘echo chambers.’ Another choice we could make—and one which I would argue you have made— is to be part of a community like Pingry, a community based on a mission to foster a lifelong commitment to intellectual exploration, individual growth, and social responsibility . . . I charge each of you to walk out of any echo chamber in which you find yourself, to engage with each other and with each other’s ideas in a respectful manner, to entertain the possibility that you might be wrong, and to assume good intentions on the part of others.” —Headmaster Nat Conard P ’09, ’11 FALL 2018

Board of Trustees Welcomes Four Members Chip Baird III ’89, P ’21 is Chief Financial Officer of Amicus Therapeutics, a biotechnology company at the forefront of advanced therapies to treat a range of devastating rare and orphan diseases. Previously, Mr. Baird spent 10 years as the CFO of PTC Therapeutics, which also works with rare diseases. In his roles as CFO, he has raised over $1.9 billion in capital through a variety of public capital markets and venture capital financing. Prior to these corporate roles, Mr. Baird worked in strategy consulting for LEK Consulting in their life science group. He also serves as a Director of Axcella Health. Mr. Baird received a B.S. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and an M.B.A. in Finance from The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

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Daniel Chen P ’25, ’26 is Vice CEO of HNA Group. He is also Chairman and CEO of HNA Group North America LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of HNA Group. A global company with a core focus on aviation, tourism, and logistics, HNA Group was founded in 1993 and has evolved from a regional airline based on Hainan Island in southern China into a company with assets and operations spanning America, Europe, and Asia. In addition, he is director and Secretary General of the Cihang Charity Foundation, the largest shareholder of HNA Group and the sole designated donor of all of HNA’s charitable causes. Mr. Chen also serves as President of Pacific American Investment Limited, a China-based investment and private wealth management firm that he founded a decade ago. He received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Washington and completed Harvard Business School’s China Business Leader Executive Training Program.

N. Gregory Mankiw ’76 is Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics at Harvard University, a prolific writer on economics, and a regular participant in academic and policy debates. His articles have appeared in academic journals such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, and Quarterly Journal of Economics, as well as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Fortune. He has also written two popular textbooks, Principles of Economics and Macroeconomics. Professor Mankiw has also been a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, an adviser to the Congressional Budget Office and the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston and New York, a trustee of the Urban Institute, and a member of the Educational Testing Service’s Test Development Committee for the AP exam in Economics. From 2003 to 2005, he served as Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Betty Galvan P ’25, ’29, ’31, President of The Pingry School Parents’ Association for the 2018-19 school year, is Founder of My Friend Betty Says Digital Marketing Studio. With over 10 years of experience in blogging and social media, Mrs. Galvan serves as a coach and consultant, helping small 34

businesses and network marketers thrive on social media. She started her career as a middle school teacher in Illinois and freelance writer for educational sites MommyMaestra.com and SpanglishBaby. com. She segued into digital marketing as a member of the #WeAllGrow Latina Influencer Network team before forming her own agency in 2017. Mrs. Galvan is a public speaker and has been featured in popular publications such as Buzzfeed and Hip New Jersey. She was named a “Top Latina Blogger” by LATISM (Latinos in Tech Innovation and Social Media). Mrs. Galvan graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a B.A. in English and Language Arts Teacher Education.

Retired Trustees Pingry thanks these former trustees for their service to the School: Anthe Angelides P ’16, ’20 (2017-18 PSPA President), Todd Builione, Holly Hegener P ’14, ’16, ’18, ’20, and Julian Scurci ’99.

Pingry Welcomes New Faculty and Staff Xiomara Babilonia, Middle School visual arts teacher and assistant coach of the Middle School softball team, spent 15 years teaching art for the Camden Board of Education, first at Cooper’s Poynt Family School and most recently at H.B. Wilson Family School. At the latter, she created a school ceramics program and served as head of the Theater Design Program for Grades 2 through 8. Ms. Babilonia has received multiple accolades, including awards for teaching and visual art. She earned a B.A. in Studio Art at Rutgers University and an M.F.A. in Ceramics at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Alexandra Bonner P ’20, ’23, ’25, School Store and Online Auxiliary Store Associate, is already a member of the Pingry community, as the wife of Brad Bonner ’93, P ’20, ’23, ’25. She has been involved in many aspects of the School for the past 10 years, including serving as a PSPA Parent Rep, volunteering at the Lower School Library, and helping to organize the PSPA’s Spring Soirée. She also served for six years on the board of the Williamstown Film Festival and was an early board member of the Children’s Museum of Central New Jersey. Prior to her move to New Jersey in 2003, she worked for Saks Fifth Avenue in Portland, OR and, before that, as Assistant Print Traffic Manager for McCann Erickson Advertising Agency. She earned a B.A. in Early Modern European History at Emory University.

Anne Changeux, School Store Associate Stephen Tamula, Richard Fulco, Dr. Sabrina Chin-Shefi, Maddy Zimmerman, Shalini Parikh, Director of Institutional Advancement Elizabeth Breidinger, Xiomara Babilonia, Dr. Adam Rosen, Mary Whithed, Sara Hall, David Rushforth, Emma Liu, Alexandra Bonner, Soroya Campbell, Ryan Johnson, Alexa López, Gillian Johnson, Melody Boone, and Julia Braun.

Melody Boone, Middle and Upper School visual arts teacher, previously taught art and photography at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, and served as an adjunct art professor at Tidewater Community College. Ms. Boone maintains her own studio as a mixed media artist with an interdisciplinary art practice, and she has been featured in numerous group exhibitions in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area, New York, and New Jersey. She earned a B.F.A. in Painting and Printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University and an M.F.A. in Painting at Pratt Institute. Julia Braun, P.E. teacher, a member of the fitness staff in the Greig Family Strength and Conditioning Center, and Middle and Upper School coach, is a professional lacrosse player during the summer for the Baltimore Ride in the United Women’s Lacrosse League; Ms. Braun and her team reached the semifinals in 2018. From 2015–18, she served as Director of Player Development and Coaching at T3 Lacrosse in Morristown. In this role, she developed the curriculum for more than 40 elite teams and oversaw coaches’ implementation of the curriculum. Ms. Braun earned a B.S. in Biology at Bucknell University, where she was captain of the Women’s Lacrosse

Team and, later, an assistant coach. She earned an M.S. in Exercise Physiology at Long Island University. Janice Browne P ’16, Advancement Services Associate, comes to Pingry with 35 years of experience in finance and education. Most recently, she served as a Customer Sales Assistant in Commercial Lending for TD Bank and, prior to that, as an Administrative Assistant and teacher (assistant, student, and substitute) for Far Hills Country Day School and other schools. For nearly 20 years, she worked for JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a variety of Vice Presidential roles. Mrs. Browne received a B.S. with Distinction in Accounting from The State University of New York at Buffalo and an M.B.A. with Distinction in Finance from Pace University. Soroya Campbell, Director of Stewardship and Donor Relations, previously spearheaded marketing initiatives for several global companies, including Scholastic and GE Healthcare Life Sciences. She was also the Program Director at a non-profit, The Women’s Venture Fund. She has always been very passionate about FALL 2018

education, has taught a communications class at The College of New Rochelle and high school classes for NJ LEEP, and has volunteered as an elementary school teacher for Junior Achievement of New Jersey. She completed a dual B.A. in English and Textual Studies and African American Studies at Syracuse University, an M.A. in Media Studies at The New School, and an M.B.A. in Management at Metropolitan College of New York.

Sara Hall, Middle School Spanish teacher, has taught Spanish to a wide range of learners, from Kindergarten through college, most recently at Southern Connecticut State University and Waterbury Arts Magnet School. In addition to teaching, Mrs. Hall helped coach the Middle School Girls’ Soccer Team and will assist with the Middle School musical. She earned a B.A. in Spanish and an M.A. in Teaching, both at Rockford College in Rockford, IL.

Anne Changeux, Middle and Upper School French teacher, joins Pingry from Millburn High School, where she taught several accelerated French classes, advised the school’s French magazine, and chaperoned a French exchange program. Prior to Millburn, she spent nine years at The Peck School, during which she established the Lower School’s French curriculum. Mrs. Changeux earned two master’s degrees, one in Teacher of French as a Foreign Language and a second in French Language and Literature, with distinction, both at Nanterre University in Paris, France.

Gillian Johnson, Upper School Spanish teacher and an assistant coach for JV field hockey, comes to Pingry from South Carolina, where she was the World Languages Department Chair and an Upper School Spanish teacher at the Hilton Head Preparatory School. Before teaching at Hilton Head, Dr. Johnson spent several years as a lecturer of Spanish at the University of Virginia. She received a B.A in Spanish from Carleton College, as well as an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Spanish, both from the University of Virginia.

Sabrina Chin-Shefi, Middle and Upper School Chinese teacher, joins Pingry from Father Ryan High School in Nashville, where she taught Chinese language and culture and oversaw the Chinese Club and Chinese Honor Society activities. Prior to working in the U.S., Dr. Chin-Shefi taught post-graduate students as a lecturer in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she also reviewed journal articles and participated in professional committee boards. She earned a B.A. in English Literature and Language at Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan, an M.S. in Instructional Media at Indiana State University, and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Educational Technology and Computer Education at Kansas State University.

Ryan Johnson, Upper School Spanish teacher, joins his wife Gillian Johnson as another new member of the Upper School’s World Languages Department. In addition to teaching Spanish classes part time, Dr. Johnson serves as the Spanish Language Exchange Coordinator and coaches the Middle School Cross Country Team. He comes to Pingry following two years as a Middle School Spanish teacher at Hilton Head Preparatory School. Prior to that, Dr. Johnson taught Spanish at the University of Virginia for five years. Before enrolling in graduate school, he spent a year in Santiago, Chile, where he taught English to local students. He graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a B.A. in Spanish and Economics/Accounting, and he earned an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Spanish at the University of Virginia.

Richard Fulco, Upper School English teacher, taught Upper School English at the Wardlaw-Hartridge School, Hunter College High School, and Brooklyn Technical High School. In addition to teaching high school, he has taught at Columbia University, Montclair State University, and Pace University. Mr. Fulco graduated from Pace University with a B.A. in English and a minor in Education. He earned an M.A. in English at Staten Island University and an M.F.A. in Playwriting at Brooklyn College.

Emma Liu, Lower School music teacher, is teaching general music, band, and chorus. Trained as a classical pianist and flutist, Ms. Liu hopes to transfer her lifelong appreciation of music, along with other forms of art and culture, to the next generation. Ms. Liu earned a B.M. at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, an M.M. in Piano Performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and an M.Ed. in Music and Music Education (with a minor in Bilingual Education) at Teachers College, Columbia University.

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Alexa López, Upper School Spanish teacher, is also helping to teach the Middle School’s course on Cultural Competency and serving as Assistant to the Diversity and Inclusion Department Chair. Ms. López has taught Spanish at both the middle and high school levels, first at the Millbrook School in Millbrook, NY and most recently at the Berkeley Carroll School in Brooklyn. She earned a B.S. in Marketing at Kean University and an M.A. in Bilingual/Bicultural Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Nadielle McArthur, Lower School Front Office Administrative Assistant, joined Pingry earlier in 2018. Originally from Brazil, Ms. McArthur taught English in a bilingual school, Golfinho Azul Elementary School, where she was responsible for creating lesson plans, projects, and course materials. She graduated from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro with a B.S. in Elementary Education. Shalini Parikh, Grade 2 teacher, arrives at Pingry from Chatham Day School, where she spent several years as a firstgrade teacher and Literacy Coordinator for Grades K-4. She earned a B.A. in Elementary Education and English Language Arts at Hunter College as well as an M.A. in the Literacy Specialist program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Adam Rosen, Middle and Upper School Counselor, is a clinical psychologist with more than 15 years of experience in mental health at the collegiate level, including at Fordham University, Adelphi University, and Stevens Institute of Technology. Most recently, he served as Berkeley College’s Director of Counseling and Wellness Services, as well as Head Coach of Berkeley’s Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Teams from 2014-16. During his tenure at Berkeley College, Dr. Rosen oversaw all aspects of their clinical counseling and accommodation services as well as outreach programming for their three New York State campuses. Dr. Rosen earned a B.A. in Communications at the University of Michigan and a doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the Illinois School of Professional Psychology.

David Rushforth, financial literacy teacher, spent 15 years as a financial analyst with Prudential before transitioning to teaching. Most recently, he spent two years substitute teaching for the Bernards Township School District. He is a member of the Oak Street School Parents Leadership Committee, and has developed and implemented programs for both students and parents that reinforce the school’s tenants of leadership. He currently serves as chair of the school’s Roald Dahl Day. Mr. Rushforth is a graduate of the New Pathways to Teaching Program at Bergen Community College. He earned a B.A. in History at Franklin & Marshall College and a master’s degree in Business Administration at Rutgers Business School. Alissa Rust, Interim Kindergarten Teacher filling in for Sona Udeshi, has tutored students in elementary school for over 15 years. She has also taught Grade 2 for the School District of the Chathams and Language Arts at St. Vincent Martyr School. Ms. Rust received a B.A. in Communication from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, an M.A. in Elementary Education from Seton Hall University, and a New Jersey Certificate of Education with Advanced Standing. She is the twin sister of Lower School Educational Technology Specialist Jill Driscoll P ’30—Mrs. Driscoll remarks that, by working together at Pingry, they can mirror for other twins at the School just how collaborative and enriching a twin relationship can be. Stephen Tamula, School Store Associate, previously worked as a lab assistant for Laboratory Corporation of America and manager of a family farm, overseeing orders, equipment, accounting, and vendor payments. He received a B.S. in Radiologic Technology from Mindanao Sanitarium and Hospital College (now Adventist Medical Center College - Iligan) in the Philippines. Mary Whithed, Major Gifts Officer, most recently served as Director of Development and, prior to that, Director of Audience Services at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC). Before SOPAC, Ms. Whithed worked at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and

Weathervane Theatre in New Hampshire. A theater enthusiast and a former arts education coordinator at a major performing arts center, she looks forward to getting involved with some of the School’s theatrical productions. Ms. Whithed earned a B.A. at Hampshire College and an M.Ed. at Keene State College. Madeline (Maddy) Zimmerman, Middle School science teacher and assistant coach of the swimming and water polo teams, is a recent graduate of Yale University, where Miss Zimmerman was a member of the swimming and diving team. As an undergraduate, she spent time abroad in Africa, at the School for Field Studies’ Center for Wildlife Management in Tanzania, and as an intern with a food supply company in Rwanda. Miss Zimmerman earned a B.S. in Environmental Studies, with a concentration in Biodiversity and Conservation.

Newly Created Positions Jane Asch P ’04 Emergency Operations Manager A drama and visual arts teacher until this school year, Ms. Asch steps into this new role and is the lead writer of Pingry’s emergency operations plan. With nearly 20 years of experience working in emergency management, currently as Coordinator for the Office of Emergency Management in Warren Township, Ms. Asch is well positioned to help oversee the School’s crisis management efforts. In addition to coordinating federal, state, and local protocols; meeting with law enforcement and emergency managers in Millburn and Bernards Township; and researching best practices to serve Pingry, she will help coordinate safety and security drills at the School. Long committed to helping others, Ms. Asch has been an EMT since 1989, and was EMS Chief of Warren Township’s Rescue Squad and involved in rescue efforts on 9/11. Before coming to Pingry, she was a professional scenic artist on Broadway, and will continue to serve as the Drama Department’s Production Designer and Technical Director for set construction for all Upper and Middle School performances, in charge of sets, costumes, hair, and makeup, in addition

to instructing students in stage craft and scenic art in the School’s scene shop. John Crowley-Delman ’97 Director of Experiential Education “What is experiential education?” Addressing faculty and staff at the beginning of the school year, Mr. CrowleyDelman, who has long sought to merge academics with “ex ed,” posed this question. Having coordinated Pingry’s efforts in this area prior to a year-long sabbatical, he asked the question in an attempt to pique his colleagues’ interest in collectively answering it. “It has to be experienced—it cannot be explained,” he said. But he offered a simple definition as a starting point: learning by doing in the classroom, on the athletics fields, around the campus and community, and globally. “It feels authentic, includes ‘wow’ moments, and offers time for reflection. Perhaps most important, experiential education needs to be intentional, strategic, and thoughtful . . . carefully crafted learning experiences.” While many Pingry teachers already use this approach, and he has collaborated with several colleagues to pilot “ex ed” programs, Mr. Crowley-Delman seeks to foster an environment in which teachers feel empowered to achieve the School’s vision of preparing students to be “global citizens and leaders in the 21st century.”

Returned to Pingry Davidson Barr returns to Pingry as a math, economics, and computer science teacher after a year-long sabbatical, during which he earned an M.A. in Mathematics Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. In addition to his teaching duties at Pingry, Mr. Barr will continue in his role as an assistant coach of the Varsity Fencing Team. John Crowley-Delman ’97 returns to campus after taking a sabbatical during the 2017-18 school year to pursue an M.A. in Eastern Classics at St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In December, he traveled to the Amazon rainforest of Guyana on a Pingry faculty grant. With his return to Pingry, he assumes a new role, Director of Experiential Education, in addition to continuing to teach Upper School history. FALL 2018

Summer Fellowships Dr. Megan Jones

History Department Chair Destination: London, Edinburgh, and other regions in Scotland Remember the news about “Brexit,” the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union? Are you wondering what the plan is, or how U.K. residents feel about it? So is Dr. Jones, who considered these questions as part of a larger investigation of the concept of nationalism. “Historians have said that nations are created through people’s allegiance to them, not naturally made based on geography,” she says. “In this case, England, containing the economic heart of the EU—in London—is demonstrating its nationalism by wanting to leave the EU. Scotland, with its own strong nationalist bent, voted to remain in the EU. Both countries are part of the U.K., but they are exhibiting nationalism in different ways.” While in England and Scotland, Dr. Jones visited sites of national significance, such as Buckingham Palace, London’s financial district, and the Scottish Parliament. She was surprised to see few public references to Brexit—protests, posters, or something similar—but acknowledges that the 2016 vote is “old news.” Instead, most of the conversations (and jokes) could be found in the media. “The British seem to be making fun of it, but they’re also critical of the government’s inaction, 38

THE PINGRY REVIEW

Dr. Megan Jones in front of the Victoria Memorial, a monument to Queen Victoria in London.

disorganization, and lack of agreement, because there’s no plan,” she observes. Dr. Jones plans to work with other teachers to incorporate her observations of nationalism and Brexit into AP European History and World History 10.

-------------Steve Benoit World Languages Department Chair and French Teacher Destination: French Alps, Provence, and Brittany—three regions in France he had never visited, each with a “deep, distinctive sense of regional culture.” He also explored history, literature, and art in each of these regions, particularly their response to the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. Purpose: To deepen his knowledge of French culture, which would have a direct impact on his classes. Most memorable: “Seeing historical sites that represent both the Resistance movement and collaboration between the French and the Nazis [the Vichy regime opened internment camps and at least one concentration camp]. You can’t help but be deeply moved.”

Takeaway: “Being immersed for three-anda-half weeks, and the deep learning that happened as a result, was extremely healthy for me as a French teacher. I have extreme gratitude to Pingry for the opportunity.”

-------------Julie Coxe

Upper School Math Teacher Destination: Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, and London

Steve Benoit overlooking Vannes, a walled town in Brittany.

Purpose: To study the mathematical significance of architecture, to supplement math classes with anecdotes, photographs, and mathematical analyses. “You can’t build a building without math, and structures such as domes, bridges, and Roman aqueducts provide various contexts for math problems.” Most memorable: A walking tour in Amsterdam with a tour guide who studies architecture; post-modern architecture tour in London. Takeaway: “In Advanced Algebra and Geometry, I ask students to consider realworld contexts—for example, images and situations that contain angles, shapes, or statistical data—to which they can apply mathematical concepts. My hope is to encourage my students to broaden their understanding to include architectural forms—and calculating architectural dimensions—to contextualize the concepts for them that much more.”

-------------Julia Dunbar

Upper School History Teacher Destination: Japan, integral to AP European History and World History 10 Purpose: To deepen her understanding of Japanese history and culture. Most memorable: “They have a welldesigned, easy-to-use transportation system, including high-speed trains, that helped me see the country without knowing the language.”

Julie Coxe in the Temple of Diana in Rome’s Villa Borghese.

Takeaway: “While traveling, I visited many palaces, shrines, and temples. Many of the original buildings have burned down because they were made of wood, so there is often an empty site or a replica in place of the original structure. I was struck by the contrast between old and new as the Japanese have continued to build modern cities directly adjacent to cultural and historical sites.” FALL 2018

New Upper School Courses Technical Theatre

(Juniors and Seniors) Students go backstage to explore lights, sound, and set design, for both practical training and to learn how to analyze a script to understand a playwright’s intention, setting, and tone.

Biology 2: Marine Biology

(Sophomores and Juniors) This course offers a basic introduction to marine biology and oceanography; students learn about physical and biological aspects of the ocean and examine current issues in oceanography resources management.

Advanced Geoscience Julia Dunbar visited the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, surrounded by skyscrapers and located a short walk from Tokyo Station, one of the city’s largest transport hubs.

Colleen Kent

Upper School History Teacher Destination: Cuba Purpose: To better understand the Cuban perspective of historic moments, such as the Spanish-American War, Bay of Pigs, and Cuban Missile Crisis, to supplement World History 9 as well as American Society and Culture. Most memorable: “Cuba is a country of contradiction, with a renovated building next to one in disarray. It’s a really beautiful, colorful country. Its colonial past is alive in the architecture.” Takeaway: “I’m excited to teach the Cuban Revolution as part of American history, especially in relation to the Bay of Pigs, and I’m developing the curriculum for a future course, Revolutions and Rebellions. It’s also notable to see how we, as individuals and nations, remember the same histories.” Colleen Kent investigating the mailbox of an old colonial mansion in Havana.

(Juniors and Seniors) • Fall Offering: Climate Change and Atmospheric Disasters • Spring Offering: Tectonic Disasters Students learn about earth’s natural systems and how these systems interact with human activities. Topics in the fall course include climate change, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and droughts. The spring course covers meteor impacts, volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. In both courses, students consider these questions: What are the hazards and impacts of natural disasters, and why do they occur when and where they do?

Introduction to the Arabic Language and Middle Eastern Culture (Juniors and Seniors) Students will learn how to read and write modern Arabic and communicate about everyday situations in the Levantine dialect of Arabic (spoken in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria). The course also gives students a glimpse into daily life in the Middle East.

New York City in the 1970s

(Honors; Juniors and Seniors) To most observers at the time, New York in the 1970s appeared to be in a state of economic free-fall, and the same could be said for the nation-at-large. But the 1970s were a lot more complicated and multifaceted than this negative image would have us believe— it was a period of creative upheaval and cultural transformation, and today’s world is a product of these developments. Using New York City as our laboratory, the class incorporates elements of place-based education and experiential learning, with the goal of providing students with a truly authentic learning experience. 40

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Farewell to Faculty and Staff Mr. Tom Berdos, Lower and Middle School music teacher for 19 years, relocated to Lancaster, PA and will continue to teach music online and at the Linville Hill Christian School. At Pingry, he initially taught Grades 5 and 6 (1999-2007), then divided his time between the campuses after Grade 6 moved to Basking Ridge. When each campus switched to a new, rotating schedule in 2013, he returned to a fulltime schedule in Short Hills to teach Band, Chorus, and General Music for Grades 4 and 5. Among his fifth-grade initiatives were WSHR (his creative version of a radio station for the Short Hills Campus) and helping to develop student conductors. Recipient of the E. Murray Todd Faculty Chair (2007) and Albert W. Booth Master Chair (2011), Mr. Berdos was also the Lower School’s Music Department Coordinator. “Thanks to Pingry for the privilege of teaching here for 19 years,” he said at Moving Up Day in June. “I’m a better teacher and better person for it, and I will miss you all.” For more about his Pingry career, see “Guided by the Mind’s Ear” in the Winter 2017-18 issue. Mrs. Barbara Conroy, Music Department Administrative Assistant, retired after 32 years. A huge supporter of the department, she was always available to lend an ear to the music teachers and offer feedback on their ideas. Mrs. Conroy was responsible for all of the concert programs, the music calendar and communications, private music lesson scheduling, the music library, concert/competition travel, and all of Pingry’s instrument maintenance. Her colleagues will miss her kindness, professionalism, and devotion to Pingry. She will spend her retirement traveling and enjoying time with her family on both coasts.

Dr. Al DeSimone, Upper School history teacher for 20 years, has retired. He taught AP History and AP Government, and advised both the Model Congress Club and the current events magazine Vital Signs. Dr. DeSimone helped students understand the varied perspectives within government and politics, especially given the influence of cable news. “It’s easy to see people ranting on TV, but that’s not the whole story,” he says. “I played ‘devil’s advocate’ to get students to consider multiple viewpoints—not to change their minds, but to make sure they could respond to counterarguments. There’s a range of political and social issues, and students tend to hear voices that echo their own viewpoints.” He hopes that students will continue to balance intensive reading, high-quality writing, and sophisticated analysis of what they read and hear. Dr. DeSimone was awarded the Albert W. Booth Master Chair (2006) and The David B. Buffum Faculty Chair (2010). Dr. Susan Dineen, Upper School English teacher for 28 years, left Pingry to pursue writing, reading, and other passions. “Although I will miss talking to our students about literature, the connections between present and past, and what it means to be human, it’s time for me to craft my own next chapter,” she says. Among the classes she taught: English 10 Honors, European & British literature, World Literature, New Voices, Literature & Madness, Creative Writing, Shakespeare, American Perspectives, and Century of Drama. Along with teaching, Dr. Dineen advised The Pingry Record beginning in 1991 (then-Headmaster John Hanly persuaded her to take on the role), emphasizing

student ownership of the paper and a balance of news and opinions. “If the writers want to express their opinions about something happening at school, they need to publish at least one news article about the topic, for the sake of objectivity,” she said in the Winter 2011-12 issue of The Pingry Review. Dr. Dineen also founded the Justin Society, which has sponsored Pingry’s Creative Writing Festival and Contest since the mid-1990s. More than any of those responsibilities, Dr. Dineen is proud of how her Pingry career began. “I was brought in as a woman to teach in the Upper School— female faculty are an important part of the School’s history, and, when I began, Vicki Grant was the only female teacher teaching older students. Along with Mrs. Grant, I helped integrate literature by women into the curriculum.” She is delighted that former students have become well-known in the literary world, including writers Elif Batuman ’93 and Gideon Lewis-Kraus ’98, and literary agent Jennifer Joel ’94. Dr. Dineen received The Norman B. Tomlinson, Jr. Chair for History and Literature in 1999. Ms. Sally Dugan P ’04, ’08, Grade 2 teacher for 18 years, has retired, full of praise for Pingry. “I was able to bring to the classroom everything I was taught about being an innovative teacher. Pingry holds fast to traditions, but is innovative in its approach to education. The administration has been very supportive of integrated, thematic units.” Among the highlights of her Pingry career, Ms. Dugan initiated Women in History—an annual project for which students read biographies of famous women, choose one woman to focus on, take notes about her life, and organize those notes into a report (which becomes a one-minute speech). She also introduced the Dinosaur Mural to complement a thematic study of prehistoric time periods, and a unit on Alaska that encompassed works of fiction and non-fiction written and illustrated by Alaskan authors, as well FALL 2018

as lessons about sled dogs, other animals that live in Alaska, and the Northern Lights. However, Ms. Dugan’s favorite activity was to read aloud to her students at the end of each school day; her favorite book to read was The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards (the second children’s novel by Julie Andrews). Mother of Sara Springmeyer ’04 and Leslie (Springmeyer) O’Toole ’08, Ms. Dugan received The Woodruff J. English Faculty Chair (2003) and Albert W. Booth Master Chair (2005). Mr. Joe Forte, Upper School P.E., health, and fitness teacher, coach, and former P.E. Department Chair, retired after 36 years at Pingry. As a fitness educator, he sought to help students find a fitness regimen “that they will like and stick to for the rest of their lives.” His coaching résumé included Assistant Coach for Varsity Football (1982-1986); Head Coach of Varsity Wrestling (19822004), producing four county champions, three district champions, two regional champions, four prep state champions, and one NJSIAA state place winner; and Head Coach of Boys’ Varsity Golf (1986-2018), leading the program to three NJSIAA state championships, five NJSIAA sectional championships, four prep state championships, and four conference championships. He earned his 400th career golf victory in 2016, the Courier News honored him twice as “Boys’ Golf Coach of the Year,” and he was Pingry’s eighth coach to be inducted into the NJSCA Hall of Fame (2015). Mr. Forte has acquired over 600 wins as a head coach in wrestling and golf in the state of New Jersey. In 2016 and 2017, he and the golf team participated in the Folds of Honor Military Tribute Program, which provides the opportunity for a high school or college golf program that is a member of the Golf Coaches Association of America to honor a fallen or severely wounded American soldier; the team honored William F. Little III ’64 and Michael Joseph DePaul ’65. 42

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“My pleasure was in working with students,” Mr. Forte says. “I get fulfillment when they come back and say ‘thank you for making me a better athlete and person.’ That’s all I need. Wins, losses, and championships are secondary.” Mr. Woody Garavente, Middle and Upper School financial literacy teacher and Grade 7 math teacher for three years, is a tutor for Summit Prep after a “very satisfying experience teaching at Pingry.” He also advised the Credit Union and Entrepreneurship Clubs, and coached JV Girls’ Basketball and JV Girls’ Lacrosse. His Closing Word, “The Dash of Honor,” adapted from the Upper School’s Honor Board Speaker Series, appeared in the Summer 2017 issue. Ms. Malla Godfrey P ’94, ’03, Upper School Spanish teacher for 19 years, has retired, but plans to return as a substitute teacher. Mother of Dana Krein ’94 and Avery Krein ’03, she advised the championship boys and girls varsity and JV Quiz Bowl Teams for over five years—several first-place finishes in New Orleans and second place in Nationals. Thanks to Avery, she became advisor to all four ski teams (2001-2012). In 2001, when the ski coach left and the team’s existence was in jeopardy, ski team member Avery approached her mother. Ms. Godfrey remembers this dialogue: AK: “You have to take the team.” MG: “Take them where?” AK: “No, ‘take’ it, as in ‘advise’ it.” MG: “But I don’t ski.” AK: “All you have to do is watch them!” One of Ms. Godfrey’s fondest memories of her time with the Ski Team was of a skier who simply wanted to help the team improve. Her final message to the students is, “Take advantage of Pingry opportunities. Get as much as you can out of what the School offers.”

Mrs. Melanie Hoffmann P ’20, ’27, Director of Institutional Advancement for 13 years, has become Assistant Head of School at a boarding school in New England, having recently completed a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania. Notable achievements during her tenure include the successful Blueprint for the Future Campaign, the School’s 150th Anniversary celebration, and strong results with The Pingry Fund and alumni engagement. From 1998-2000, she worked at Pingry as Campaign Manager for The Campaign for Pingry, and then Director of Major Gifts. “Working on campaigns for nearly every aspect of the School—Lower School renovation, the Hostetter Arts Center, The Carol and Park B. Smith ’50 Middle School, and the Bugliari Athletics Center—was really incredible,” she says. “I’m proud of the Advancement Office’s work, and I’m proud of the community for coming together to support our efforts. It was great to see so many people give of their time.” Mrs. Hoffmann also coordinated the process for the 2018 Strategic Plan, Vision, Purpose, Impact. Her lasting memories? “I’m grateful to have been part of an incredible Pingry community with bright, talented people . . . and I will miss Miller [Bugliari]’s stories.” Mrs. Jane Kunzman, Middle School visual arts teacher, departed Pingry after six years for other opportunities. She took great satisfaction from helping students generate ideas for art and become confident in their abilities when they look at a blank piece of paper. Projects in her art studio included printmaking, papermaking, working with clay, drawing with charcoal, using oil pastels, watercolor painting, and illustrating with India ink. For more about her Pingry career, see “Introducing Middle School Students to Art’s Endless Possibilities” in the Summer 2017 issue.

Mrs. Rebecca McNally, Associate Director of Annual Giving, left after five years to become Director of Annual Giving at Kent Place School. She joined Pingry as Assistant Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving, soliciting gifts and facilitating participation from reunioning classes, alumni, faculty, staff, and the Senior Class Giving Committee. Her efforts helped close the Blueprint for the Future Campaign and launched several successful giving challenges, such as the “Get To Know Phil” philanthropy education program. Mrs. McNally was also the assistant coach for the Girls’ Freshman Lacrosse team for two seasons. Mr. Victor Nazario P ’90, ’94, Middle and Upper School Spanish teacher, retired after 41 years and plans to help with the reconstruction of Puerto Rico (in the aftermath of hurricanes) and eventually move to a warmer climate. To mark his retirement, the 2018 Blue Book staff dedicated the yearbook to him—his fourth dedication (the previous three: 1987, 2001, and 2011). “I am really proud of the growth of the AP Spanish program,” he says. “The kids grew in their love of the language.” He also praises former and current Spanish teachers Diana Abreu P ’96, Malla Godfrey P ’94, ’03, Gerardo Vazquez P ’18, ’19, Dr. Frances Mecartty-Dunlap, and Margi Dillon P ’17, ’18, ’20 as “outstanding Spanish teachers . . . excellent educators.” Outside the classroom, for 39 years Mr. Nazario was known for asking students to bring in “three cans” to support a Thanksgiving canned food drive for Lift for Learning in Elizabethport, NJ, established by Rosa and Milton Floyd. He was also a versatile coach for a number of varsity teams: football (1978-1980), boys’ track and field (1981-2018), cross country (1982-2009), boys’ and girls’ fencing (1988-2003), and girls’ track and field (2002-2018), as well as Middle School cross country, fencing, and track and field. For cross country and fencing, he volunteered to help coach with

Ed Scott and Ted Li, respectively; Mr. Li had 70 fencers, which Mr. Nazario believed was a large team for one coach. “If we don’t help one another, who’s going to help us?” Mr. Nazario points out. “If I saw someone in need of coaching, I put my two cents in. It was a win-win—I helped the coaches and had more time with students who I taught and advised.” He describes Mr. Scott as “an incredible tutor for cross country”; two years after Mr. Scott retired, Mr. Nazario honored him by establishing Pingry’s Ed Scott Invitational, an annual event with races for middle school boy and girl cross country runners from independent and public schools. Mr. Nazario still remembers helping coach a future Olympic fencer, Daniel Kellner ’94 (an inductee into USA Fencing’s Hall of Fame in 2019—read more on page 58), plus Chris Lear ’92 and Jamil McClintock ’04, All-Americans and state champions in track. A poignant memory is the “incredible” 1999 memorial for his late wife Ginny in Hauser Auditorium, which thenHeadmaster John Hanly helped coordinate. Mr. Nazario received the E. Murray Todd Faculty Chair in 2013. Dr. Ryan Staude, Upper School history teacher for two years, moved to Durham, NC, where his girlfriend teaches high school social studies in the city’s public school system, and where he is teaching middle school history and chairing the History Department at The O’Neal School in Southern Pines. At Pingry, he taught World History 9 and AP U.S. History, helped launch the Humanities IRT program, and coached the Speech and Debate Team. He will always remember the surprise “going away” party thrown by one of his AP classes. “They gave me a re-worked version of the Dr. Seuss classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas, re-formatted to How the Soviets Stole Christmas—it stemmed from a story I told in class. The care and time it took to organize such a festivity and produce this gift moved me like nothing else in my 12 years of teaching.” Dr. Staude also considers himself “lucky to [have been] a

part of the best department on campus . . . I have not encountered a similarly talented, smart (and hilarious) group of teachers. I was lucky to work with them, and I will miss them greatly.” Mrs. Ann Swenson, Associate Director of The Parent Fund for three years, has departed to be with her three young children full-time. During her time at Pingry, she oversaw several successful giving challenges, encouraging participation in The Pingry Fund as a point person for parents and volunteers. She also acted as a liaison for the PSPA board and the larger parent community, providing resources to help them fulfill their community-building mission. Ms. Lily Wang, Upper School Mandarin Chinese teacher for six years, is pursuing a Doctorate in Buddhism and Quantum Physics, and hopes to continue teaching. During the 2017-18 school year, thanks to her background in science, she also mentored a group of students working on an IRT project on the conversion of waste to biogas. When Ms. Wang joined Pingry, Mandarin had been part of the curriculum for three years, so she found that students were excited about the language. “They love to learn Chinese because it is so different from romance languages,” she says. “The tones attract them, even though people think they’re hard [to learn]. A tone sounds like a melody. They are also interested in character writing and the meanings of the characters.” Ms. Wang was also delighted that the students appreciate Chinese culture, especially philosophy and poetry. Her final messages to students: “Explore your life mission, and go for it. Life is full of unlimited potential. Also, be a lifelong learner, and focus on methods of learning. Once you master a method, you should be able to continue to learn on your own.” FALL 2018

Since joining Pingry full-time in 1998 after several years as an adjunct, he has taught band, strings, percussion, and jazz; directed Pingry’s Upper School Jazz Ensemble; coordinated the audio/ visual needs for a variety of school events; acted as Pingry’s resident beekeeper; coached the Girls’ Varsity Ice Hockey Team (19 years; 13 as head coach); and served as an assistant coach for the Girls’ Varsity Golf Team. And he is inextricably linked to his talents with the trumpet, which he has played for over 40 years. Yet, the trumpet wasn’t his first instrument—guitar was, thanks to a middle school friend. “His family had a band, so their basement was full of instruments,” Mr. McAnally recalls. “One day, this friend handed me a guitar and taught me how to play it. I learned to play by ear, progressed quickly, and bought one of my own within the year.” But he hit a snag. “In high school, I chose music as my elective, but realized at the first class that the concert band had no use for a guitarist. I chose trumpet because one of my uncles had an old trumpet, so I figured I would at least have an instrument to use. Again, I took to it and bought a professional trumpet the following year.”

Trumpeting the Talents of

Sean McAnally Music teacher Sean McAnally seems to be everywhere 44

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The Pingry community has heard Mr. McAnally’s trumpet during school events—whether in a solo role (for example, “Taps,” to conclude Veterans Day assemblies) or as part of the Upper School Jazz Ensemble. During performances, he alternates between giving cues and playing with the students. In classes, too, he plays and conducts at the same time! Pingry jazz musicians benefit from his decades of experience as a performer with notable jazz artists such as Doc Severinsen, Phil Woods, Kenny Wheeler, Lee Konitz, Lew Tabackin, Gene Perla, Skip Wilkins, Randy Brecker, Houston Person, James Brown, and Petula Clark. For several years, Mr. McAnally, born and raised in Canada, also led The Edmonton Jazz Ensemble (whose album Something’s Here, consisting mostly of Mr. McAnally’s music, was nominated for a JUNO for Best Jazz Recording in 1990) and served as Music Director for Decidedly Jazz Danceworks in Calgary. More recently, Mr. McAnally has performed and recorded with the jazz big band Abstract Truth, and he’s a member of the Delaware Water Gap Jazz Orchestra.

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Because of his impressive résumé in the jazz genre, Mr. McAnally has had countless experiences with improvisation and can speak at length about it. “Life is full of improv, in our everyday speech and actions,” he says. (The topic was the subject of his Closing Word for this magazine’s Winter 2015-16 issue.) What does he believe improv adds to the music? “It allows individuals to express their ideas rather than simply interpreting the composers. It is a form of composition—instant composition—and can infuse the music with energy as the soloist, accompanying musicians, and even the audience don’t know exactly where the music is going. Also, since the improvisation is usually based on the harmonic progression of the original piece, the improvised sections maintain a continuity while leading somewhere new.” Improv requires a willingness to take risks—for example, playing what one thinks is a “wrong” note or the feeling

of “not sounding good.” Mr. McAnally relays this anecdote: “Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis were playing together in a group performance in the early 1960s that was being recorded. At one point, Herbie played what he called ‘the most wrong chord anyone could have played at that moment in that piece’ and stopped playing, out of shock. He later re-entered. But Miles just responded musically to Herbie’s chord and made it all fit.” Mr. McAnally could share many other lessons and advice gleaned from his career, but two are particularly important for Pingry’s musicians. One is a lesson learned in his 30s. “I shrugged off a compliment from an audience member, and was then called out on it because it invalidated their opinion. Even if we feel the performance is not our best, the listener doesn’t know that. We need to respect the dynamic between audience members and performers.” The other lesson he offers is that, as a general concept, musicians serve the music; their goal is to interpret the music authentically. “Many adolescents want to be noticed, but I tell them, ‘You’re part of a group effort representing a larger purpose. Without you, the composer is mute.’” And it shouldn’t be overlooked that, despite a rather tortuous beginning, Mr. McAnally has done a fair amount of composing and arranging, as evidenced by his name in many of the programs distributed at Pingry concerts. “Composing was a struggle for me early on, but I eventually became a music copyist as a way into composing. Then I found composers as mentors. Composition is a fascinating art—it’s slow improvisation, as you try to get an idea across, in a fresh way.” Whether composing, arranging, teaching, or performing (often while conducting!), he is driven by music’s possibilities, adding, “The sonic palette can be very exciting.”

Life is full of improv, in our everyday speech and actions. FALL 2018

Faculty Awards and Chairs Knowing that a strong faculty is key to the School’s reputation for excellence and honor, Pingry places a high value on the professional growth of its teachers. The School enables its faculty to attend conferences and workshops, make educational trips, pursue advanced degrees, conduct research, and learn skills to enhance current courses or develop new ones, among other opportunities. With the following endowed award funds, generous donors seek to encourage excellent teaching and recognize teachers’ contributions to the School. Albert W. Booth Master Chair ESTABLISHED IN 1993 BY A GROUP OF DONORS AND FIRST AWARDED IN 1995, THIS CHAIR HONORS ONE OF PINGRY’S BELOVED MASTER TEACHERS, ALBERT “ALBIE” BOOTH, WHOSE PINGRY CAREER SPANNED 64 YEARS (1929-1993), THE LONGEST IN SCHOOL HISTORY. A REVERED LATIN TEACHER, HE DEMANDED EXCELLENCE FROM HIS STUDENTS AND WENT OUT OF HIS WAY TO HELP THEM.

Edward G. Engel Chair for Mathematics and Science PINGRY’S FIRST ENDOWED CHAIR, IT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1984 BY PAT AND ED ENGEL ’33 AND FIRST AWARDED IN 1989. A LIFELONG STUDENT OF MATH AND SCIENCE, MR. ENGEL WAS KNOWN FOR BEING PRECISE, ANALYTICAL, AND CURIOUS. This chair is awarded to a faculty member in the Mathematics or Science Department who has taught at Pingry for at least five years and who has made a significant contribution to the life of the School outside the classroom.

This chair is awarded to a faculty member from any department who has taught at Pingry for at least five years and who reflects those qualities of honor, integrity, idealism, dedication to students, and reverence for scholarship that defined Mr. Booth’s life and work.

2018 – 2019

MS. MARGI DILLON Spanish (Upper School)

2017 – 2020

2018 – 2019

DR. MORGAN D’AUSILIO

DR. FRANCES MECARTTY-DUNLAP

Biology (Upper School)

Spanish (Upper School)

The David B. Buffum Faculty Chair ESTABLISHED IN 1998 BY THE LATE HENRY H. HOYT, JR. ’45 AND FIRST AWARDED IN 2005, THIS CHAIR HONORS MR. BUFFUM, WHO TAUGHT HISTORY, FRENCH, AND PUBLIC SPEAKING AT PINGRY FOR 34 YEARS (1926-1960) AND WHOM MR. HOYT CALLED “THE BEST TEACHER I HAD IN HIGH SCHOOL OR COLLEGE.”

The Woodruff J. English Faculty Endowment Fund ESTABLISHED IN 1996 BY THE ENGLISH FAMILY AND FIRST AWARDED IN 1997. A PROMINENT ATTORNEY WHO GUIDED THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW JERSEY’S OLDEST AND LARGEST LAW FIRM, MR. ENGLISH ’27 WAS CONSIDERED AN HONORABLE, UPSTANDING INDIVIDUAL AND WAS KNOWN FOR MAINTAINING A HIGH LEVEL OF INTEGRITY IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION In addition to embodying the spirit of the Honor Code personally and professionally and reflecting and instilling the Code’s ideals in his or her interaction with others, the recipient should be a teacher who instills the love of learning for learning’s sake and has a commitment to living the Honor Code’s ideals for their intrinsic worth and not for his or her own personal gain.

This chair is awarded to an outstanding faculty member in the History Department who embodies Mr. Buffum’s dedication to and love of education and history at Pingry.

2017 – 2020

MR. MATT HORESTA History (Upper School)

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2018 – 2019

Grade 1 (Lower School)

Science (Middle School)

MS. DONNA DEUTSCH MS. SHAUNA LEFFLER

The Greig Family Endowed Faculty Chair

E. Murray Todd Faculty Chair

ESTABLISHED IN 2011 BY THE GREIG FAMILY AND FIRST AWARDED IN 2015. SOME OF THE FAMILY’S BEST PINGRY MEMORIES INVOLVE TEACHERS WHO ALSO COACHED THEM IN A SPORT, A PERSONIFICATION OF THE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL PHILOSOPHY.

ESTABLISHED IN 1986 BY A GIFT FROM THE ESTATE OF MR. TODD, CLASS OF 1916, AND FIRST AWARDED IN 1989. BECAUSE HE WAS A TALENTED LONG-DISTANCE RUNNER, PINGRY’S FIRST TRACK AND THE E. MURRAY TODD MILE (A REUNION WEEKEND EVENT IN THE 1980s) WERE ALSO NAMED FOR HIM. HE WAS COMMITTED TO EDUCATION AND HAD DEEP RESPECT FOR EXCELLENT TEACHERS.

This chair is awarded to a faculty member who has been at Pingry for at least five years in recognition of his/her excellence in both teaching and coaching. The intent is to honor those teachers who best exemplify the Pingry philosophy of educating students both in and out of the classroom. The award should not only recognize exceptional teaching, but also reward those teachers who dedicate themselves as a coach in the Upper School, with a preference for a head coach, but who may coach in any capacity, including as the head coach of a sport in the Middle School.

This chair is awarded to a faculty member from any department who has taught at Pingry for at least five years and who has shown extraordinary dedication to our students.

2016 – 2019

MS. STEPHANIE ROMANKOW Drama (Middle and Upper Schools)

2018 – 2019

MRS. MEREDITH FINKELSTEIN

Middle School History and Girls’ Varsity Lacrosse

Herbert F. Hahn Junior Faculty Award ESTABLISHED IN 1992 BY A GROUP OF DONORS AND FIRST AWARDED IN 1993. AUTHOR OF THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM, A HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL’S FIRST 100 YEARS, DR. HAHN TAUGHT ENGLISH, PHILOSOPHY, AND RELIGION AT PINGRY FOR 37 YEARS (1944-1981).

The Norman B. Tomlinson, Jr. Chair for History and Literature ESTABLISHED IN 1989 BY MR. TOMLINSON ’44, WHO SPENT HIS CAREER IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS WITHIN THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY, AND FIRST AWARDED IN 1989. THIS CHAIR REFLECTS HIS INTERESTS IN READING AND MILITARY HISTORY, AND ACKNOWLEDGES HIS INDEBTEDNESS TO GREAT PINGRY TEACHERS. This chair is awarded to a faculty member in the humanities who has taught at Pingry for at least five years and who has made a significant contribution to the life of the School outside the classroom.

This award is given to encourage young, experienced teachers to stay in teaching. It recognizes good teaching, the successful performance of multiple extracurricular responsibilities, and other informal efforts with Pingry students. The intent is to reward those young teachers who best personify the Country Day School philosophy.

2017 – 2020

MS. CHRISTINE TAYLOR

English (Middle and Upper Schools)

2018 – 2019

MS. JENNIFER MACK-WATKINS

Visual Arts (Upper School)

2018 – 2019

MR. GRAHAM TOUHEY Chemistry (Upper School)

Senior Class Faculty Chair ESTABLISHED IN 2000 BY A GROUP OF FORMER PARENTS REPRESENTING THE CLASSES OF 1996-2000 AND FIRST AWARDED IN 2007, THIS CHAIR IS AWARDED TO A DISTINGUISHED TEACHER AND PROVIDES A STIPEND FOR PROFESSIONAL AND CURRICULAR DEVELOPMENT IN HIS/HER DISCIPLINE.

2018 – 2019

MR. TIM GRANT

Chemistry (Upper School)

The James P. Whitlock, Jr. ’60 Faculty Development Fund for the Sciences, Mathematics, and Technology ESTABLISHED IN 2005 BY DR. WHITLOCK AND FIRST AWARDED IN 2007, TO SHOW APPRECIATION FOR TEACHERS WHO FOSTER SCIENTIFIC LITERACY AND WHO CREATIVELY INTEGRATE MATH, NATURAL SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY IN THEIR CLASSROOMS. DR. WHITLOCK, WHO SPENT 25 YEARS IN TEACHING AND RESEARCH IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MOLECULAR PHARMACOLOGY AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL, BELIEVES THAT UNDERSTANDING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IS CRITICAL TO MAKING INFORMED DECISIONS THAT AFFECT OUR FUTURE. This award recognizes outstanding teachers in the disciplines of natural sciences, mathematics, and technology.

2018 – 2019

DR. COLLEEN KIRKHART Biology (Upper School)

FALL 2018

Final Exams? How About Final Projects? At the end of the 2017-18 school year, Pingry Middle Schoolers were not, as you might imagine, hunched over their desks, completing final exams. Instead, they were engaged in a variety of quite different activities. Sixth-grade students could be found in the Upper Commons, gleefully dropping raw eggs two stories in a range of contraptions designed to cushion their descent—much to the delight of several Upper School onlookers. Seventh-grade students were interviewing their peers as they searched for a solution to a “Pingry problem” that Middle School students, collectively, identified: for example, insufficient flex time options, overly structured advisory meetings, and lax 48

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Above: Former New Jersey Governor and EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman meeting with eighthgrade students about making decisions and persuading others: “Know why you believe something is important, listen to people’s objections, and make informed decisions based on available information.” Top: Sixth-grade students cleaning a trail behind the School.

What Did Each Grade Do? Grade 6: STEAM, including Engineering for Kids, Physics Design Challenge, and an Art/Service Day Grade 7: Learning Effective Leadership Skills and Solving a Middle School Problem Grade 8: Researching/Debating a Current, Newsworthy Issue: For or Against the PennEast Pipeline? Read more details about the projects, and watch a winning video about the pipeline, at pingry.org/extras. Left: Seventh-grade students visiting the courtroom of Bridgewater Municipal Court Presiding Judge William T. Kelleher P ’01, ’04.

enforcement of rules for the ever-popular Powerball (a game often played by Pingry Middle Schoolers during downtime, just outside the Baum Atrium). And eighth-grade students? They could be seen listening attentively to former New Jersey Governor and EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman, who offered pointers on how to make persuasive arguments. Taking place over the span of four days in early June, these endeavors—known collectively as Project Week—were not simply an eagerly anticipated replacement for final exams. They were a culmination of many of the lesstangible lessons the Middle School prioritizes, including collaboration, problem solving, responsibility, creativity, resiliency, and curiosity, among others. Highlighting hands-on, multidisciplinary, experiential learning, the inaugural Project Week also put into practice ideas that are a focus of both the Middle School’s curriculum and Pingry’s 2018 Strategic Plan. “Research suggests that the kind of hands-on activities central to Project Week help students learn more deeply—they strengthen the encoding of information, require students to retrieve the information, and ask them to refine their understanding by working with that information multiple times,” explains Middle School Director Laurie Piette. “This process leads to internalizing and better memory of what was studied over the long term. Also, we really wanted to give students the opportunity to work with each other on topics that are relevant to their lives.”

Above: Image from an eighth-grade PSA. Arguments against the PennEast Pipeline included: loss of biodiversity and land, property damage, higher taxes, pollution, and over-reliance on natural gas. Arguments in favor of the pipeline: lower gas and oil prices, and job creation. Right: The sixth-grade egg drop included four categories: aesthetics, highest height, longest air time, and softest landing.

When the week came to a close, students seemed largely in agreement that their Project Week experiences felt more meaningful than final exams. The opportunity to tackle real-world issues, problem solve, and collaborate, and— for Grades 7 and 8—the chance to interact with adults in positions of power outside of School, were all cited as valuable. Some even appreciated learning the impact of dress, comportment, and public speaking skills on being persuasive and effective. As one seventh-grade student observed, “You don’t need to have a title to be a leader.” FALL 2018

Over 850 Pingry students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni, family, and friends assembled on September 29 under sparkling fall skies for a festive Homecoming celebration to kick off the 2018-19 school year. Hosted by the Office of Institutional Advancement, the annual all-school event featured a mouth-watering BBQ lunch under the tent, face-painting for kids, a visit by none other than the Big Blue Bear, and, of course, plenty of sports action. Soggy conditions from previous days’ rain were no match for Big Blue sprit! Despite the fact that Pingry’s grass fields were unplayable, the four scheduled

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varsity field games (boys’ soccer, football, girls’ soccer, and field hockey) went off without a hitch, thanks to some quick rescheduling by the Athletics Department, which allowed all match-ups to occur on the dryer, more accommodating turf of Parsons and Babbitt Fields. At the end of the day, as a fitting conclusion to a festive day on campus, Big Blue emerged victorious in five of its six home games.

FALL 2018

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Homecoming 2018 [ 1 ] Andrew Cowen ’19 and Lucas Vazquez ’19. [ 2 ] Matthew McManus ’21 and Cole Morriello ’22. [ 3 ] Jenny Coyne ’18 and biology teacher/swimming coach Deirdre O’Mara P ’17, ’19, ’21. On page 80, read Jenny’s college essay on the importance of asking questions. [ 4 ] Brynn Weisholtz ’20, Gabby Billington ’20, and Ashana Makhija ’20. [ 5 ] Dr. Warren Radcliffe, Jr. ’49 and Woody Phares ’47. [ 6 ] Ramesh and Mathangi Srinivas P ’22, ’27, Kiva Barr P ’22, ’25, and Kathy (Iacuzzo) Sartorius ’92, P ’22, ’25, ’29 [ 7 ] Josie Alston ’21 and Helen Ma ’21. [ 8 ] Mercedes Garcia-Kenny ’20 and 2018-19 AFS student Lena Klier ’20. [ 9 ] Leila Elayan ’22, Grace Trangucci ’22, Evan Mattox ’21, and Izzy Billups ’22.

For more photos from the day, visit pingry.org/photos.

FALL 2018

Athletics Baseball (10-9) Skyland Conference/ Mountain Division: 2nd place

Boys’ Golf (12-2) NJSIAA Non-Public B Group Championships: 2nd place NJSIAA North Jersey Non-Public B Tournament: 2nd place Somerset County Championship: 3rd place

BIG BLUE ROUNDUP Spring 2018 Season Boys’ Track & Field Zach Aanstoots ’18, who sailed past Pingry’s high jump record and tied for a #2 state ranking by clearing 6'8" at the Somerset County Championships, went on to place second in the event at the NJSIAA Non-Public A Championships. At the same meet, Ben Vazquez ’18 took second in the 800 meters (1:54), milliseconds off a school record, and Austin Parsons ’18, who won the javelin with a school record (195'2"), PR, and #3 state ranking just weeks earlier, took home another win. All three athletes advanced to the Meet of Champions, and Zach and Austin qualified for New Balance Nationals Outdoor. Right: Ben Vazquez ’18. Below: Zach Aanstoots ’18.

Girls’ Golf (17-0) NJSIAA Tournament of Champions: 1st place NJSIAA North Jersey Championships: 1st place Somerset County Tournament: 3rd place Skyland Conference Championships: 1st place Named NJ.com 2018 Team of the Year

Boys’ Lacrosse (11-8) NJSIAA Non-Public B State Championship: 1st place—4th consecutive year

Girls’ Lacrosse (17-6) Somerset County Tournament: Finalists NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 1 Championship: 1st place NJSIAA Group 1 Championships: Finalists

Softball (8-16) Boys’ Tennis (9-8) NJSIAA Non-Public A South: Semifinalists Somerset County Tournament: 3rd place

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Girls’ Track & Field Pole vaulter Caroline Dannenbaum ’20 topped a school and meet record—both of which were set by her sister Julia ’17 last year— when she cleared 13' to place second at the NJSIAA Non-Public A Championships, tying her for first place in the nation among sophomore vaulters. Securing another school record and winning the discus was Grace O’Mara ’19 (123'05"). These two, along with Nicole Vanasse ’20 (1600), Avery Schiffman ’18 (800), and Sophia Weldon ’18 (high and triple jumps) advanced to the Meet of Champions. Caroline, Nicole, and Sophia all qualified for New Balance Nationals Outdoor. Right: Caroline Dannenbaum ’20.

Girls’ Lacrosse It was a heroic season for the Girls’ Lacrosse Team, as they advanced to the finals of the Somerset County Tournament, won their first NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 1 Championship in 12 years, and advanced to the Group 1 finals against powerhouse Oak Knoll. They also finished the season ranked #11 in NJ.com’s Top 20. Above: The State Sectional Champion Girls’ Lacrosse Team.

Boys’ Lacrosse For the fourth straight year, Big Blue secured the NJSIAA Non-Public B State Championship crown, as well as their fourth straight appearance in the Tournament of Champions. Left: Captains of the state champion Boys’ Lacrosse Team: George Enman ’18, Jamie Zusi ’18, and Jason Weiss ’18.

FALL 2018

Girls’ Golf Finishing a full 16 strokes ahead of the runner-up, Big Blue capped off an undefeated, 17-0 season by pulling out a Tournament of Champions victory. Captains Christine Shao ’19 and Ami Gianchandani ’18—last year’s defending champion, who is currently playing for Yale University—both shot 2-under 70 to lead the team. Left: The Girls’ Golf Team after their Tournament of Champions victory.

Five Pingry Swimmers Named High School All-Americans In a blazing 1:32.49 at the NJSIAA Swimming Meet of Champions last March, the 200-yard medley relay team of Leighton Mayers ’19, Matt Fallon ’21, Sean Tan ’18, and Kevin Ma ’19 secured both a meet and school record, not to mention High School All-American status. Additionally, Matt was one of only two freshmen in the country to be named All-American in the 100 breaststroke, swimming 56.13 at the Meet of Champions. On the girls’ team, Darlene Fung ’19 was named an All-American in both the 50-freestyle (22.80) and 100-freestyle (50.05). In July, Matt added to the accolades, establishing two records in the YMCA National Championships, held at the University of Maryland: the 200-meter breaststroke (2:14.55) and the 400 individual medley (4:25.27). Right: The All-American 200-yard medley relay team: Matt Fallon ’21, Kevin Ma ’19, Sean Tan ’18, and Leighton Mayers ’19.

Ami Gianchandani ’18 Earns Top 20 in Junior PGA Championships Barely a month after the Girls’ Golf Team took home a Tournament of Champions victory, Ami Gianchandani ’18 secured her second consecutive win at the NJPGA Junior Sectional Championships on June 26, with her Big Blue teammate, Christine Shao ’19, placing third. The win qualified Ami for her second appearance at the 43rd Girls’ Junior PGA Championship, held in Lexington, KY in mid-July. She shot four rounds of five-under par total to finish in a tie for 17th (out of 144 competitors)—17 places better than last year. And in early September, at her collegiate debut for Yale University, in a field of 15 schools and more than 80 competitors, she won the Dartmouth Invitational. Left: Ami Gianchandani ’18 pointing to her name in the Girls’ Junior PGA Championship.

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Pingry Fencer Is National Champion Jessica Lin ’21, a member of Pingry’s Fencing Team, who competes in epée, became a national champion in early July at the Y-14 United States National Fencing Championship in St. Louis. Her many fencing accomplishments include representing the United States national team in several international women’s epée competitions, a fifth-place finish in the United States Fencing Association Junior Olympics, and a gold medal in the Y-14 women’s epée North American Cup.

College Athlete Accolades NESCAC Spring 2018 All-Academic Team: David Braverman ’15 (Baseball, Hamilton College) Clay McCollum ’15 (Men’s Lacrosse, Hamilton College)

Above: Jessica Lin ’21, left, in the Y-14 National Fencing Championship.

Ironman Doug Scott A little over a year ago, when Doug Scott, Pingry’s Director of Strength and Conditioning and Form VI Dean, signed up for the famed Lake Placid Ironman (thanks in part to monetary support from having received the 2017 Senior Faculty Chair), he didn’t even own a bike. But, with training input from a few Pingry faculty—not to mention a lot of hard work—Coach Scott became an official Ironman on July 22. To read more about his achievement, visit pingry.org/extras. Left: Director of Strength and Conditioning Doug Scott in the Ironman triathlon.

Juventus F.C., a professional soccer team based in Turin, Italy, trained at Pingry during the summer to prepare for competition in the International Champions Cup. Miller Bugliari ’52, P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24, Head Coach of the Boys’ Varsity Soccer Team, and Juventus F.C. Head Coach Massimiliano Allegri met in Coach Bugliari’s office in July—“Chiellini” on the jersey refers to Juventus’s defender and captain Giorgio Chiellini.

For more athletics highlights from last spring and summer, visit pingry.org/extras. FALL 2018

Credit: Nicole Jomantas

Daniel Kellner ’94 Named 2019 USA Fencing Hall of Fame Inductee A 2007 inductee into Pingry’s Athletics Hall of Fame, the celebrated Big Blue fencer-turned-Olympian Daniel Kellner ‘94 was recently named to USA Fencing’s 2019 Hall of Fame. He is the third Pingry fencer—behind C. Lee Shelley ’74 and Ted Li, longtime Head Coach of Pingry’s Varsity Fencing Team—to receive the distinguished honor. Currently owner and coach of The Brooklyn Bridge Fencing Club, Dan remembers his early days as a Big Blue fencer, when his dream of becoming an Olympian first took root (for more on Dan Kellner ’94, visit pingry.org/extras). “In 1989, I was 13 years old, sitting on my basement floor, playing the Olympics-themed Summer Games ’89, a video game that included fencing. I was terrible at the game, but fencing seemed interesting, so I asked my mother about it. She said that she knew nothing about the sport, but that we had it at school, and I should go see the coach. During the 1989-90 school year, I was in Form II. I timidly went over to the Upper School side of the building to visit English teacher and Head Coach of the Varsity Fencing Team Ted Li, probably for the first time. I introduced myself and said I was interested in learning to fence. Even though I was only in Middle School at the time, Mr. Li let me attend preseason practice. I still don’t know why he did, but I can’t thank him enough for doing so. The previous year, Pingry had won the New Jersey State Fencing Championship, so walking into preseason practice in the Hyde and Watson Gymnasium was very intimidating. I’m sure the varsity team was wondering what I was doing at their practice. But I just kept coming back. I was not much of an athlete. Coach Naz [former Spanish teacher Vic Nazario P ’90, ’94] would run us around the gym, yelling for me to pick up my feet and joking that, if I played basketball, I’d trip over the foul line. I could barely do five push-ups. Mr. Li would line us up for footwork and drills, and fencers Day Rosenberg ’90, Netu Sarkaria ’90, Stefany Wolfe ’91, and Richmond Ritterbush ’89 helped to catch me up on the fundamentals. Form III was an especially important year in my early fencing career. I made the varsity team and was the only freshman in New Jersey to 58

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qualify for the State Foil Championship. Mr. Li drove me to the tournament in his car. We talked about the ’60s protest music on the radio that had become mainstream, and he told me stories about the great fencers he’d seen at the competitions he worked. And, to my shock, I discovered that Mr. Li (whom, to this day, I can’t call by his first name) smoked. It seems ridiculous now, but it felt as though he had let me in on a secret no one else on the team knew. That same year, Pingry hosted a fencing World Cup Competition and I eagerly volunteered to be a scorekeeper. I jumped at the chance to see some of the world’s best fencers compete. Unfortunately, I was maybe a little too excited to get close to the action and ended up getting hit by an errant sabre. But to see that level of fencing, combined with the spectacle of the event—that set off the first spark in me that I, too, wanted to represent my country in fencing one day. One evening, not long after, I was waiting for my mother to pick me up from fencing practice. As I stood in front of the school under the clock, I decided I wanted to be an Olympian. I had no idea the dedication it would take or how hard it would be, I just knew I wanted to compete at the highest level. Recognizing that I had some talent and local success, and that I was hungry for more, Mr. Li recommended that I start training in New York City with Simon Gershon, former National Coach of the then-recently dissolved Soviet Union. I would spend the rest of my competitive career training with Mr. Gershon, but it was Mr. Li’s expertise and connection to the international fencing community that started me on my journey to success. In 2016, I was proud to speak at his U.S. Fencing Hall of Fame induction ceremony. I wouldn’t be the fencer or person I am today without Ted Li. I believe it was the opportunities Pingry presented and its commitment to excellence—not just in athletics or academics, but excellence in life as a whole—that helped inspire me to reach for a goal, that, looking back at now, seemed nearly impossible.”

Front row: Aubrey Molloy, Lindsay Rispoli, Anna Wood, Krish Bhavnani, Avery Schiffman, Megan Horn, Myla Stovall, Emma Lombardo, Shea Smith, Alexy Alin-Hvidsten, Mairead Higgins, and Jamie Zusi. Back row: Malcolm Fields, William Zhang, Ami Gianchandani, Owen Wolfson, Michael Weber, Austin Parsons, Victor Vollbrechthausen, Sophia Weldon, Ben Vazquez, Kassidy Peterson, Sean Tan, Billy Fallon, Obi Nnaeto, George Enman, and Zach Aanstoots.

Class of 2018 Student-Athletes Head to College Teams Twenty-seven members of the Class of 2018 brought their athletic skills to college teams—representing 12 sports on 20 different campuses. Six of these athletes are playing at Division I schools, which required signed national letters of intent, but many more are also playing for other top Division I and III athletics programs. Big Blue’s 2018 graduates represent the following sports in college: football (1), fencing (2), lacrosse (4), squash (1), soccer (3), swimming (5), track & field (6), field hockey (1), baseball (1), basketball (1), softball (1), and golf (1). Go Big Blue student-athletes! Zach Aanstoots University of California– San Diego, track & field

Malcolm Fields* University of Notre Dame, fencing

Alexy Alin-Hvidsten Washington & Lee University, soccer

Ami Gianchandani Yale University, golf

Krish Bhavnani Williams College, squash George Enman* Lafayette College, lacrosse Billy Fallon University of Pennsylvania, swimming

Aubrey Molloy* University of North Carolina, fencing

Ben Vazquez Connecticut College, track & field

Obi Nnaeto Carnegie Mellon University, football

Victor Vollbrechthausen Tufts University, swimming

Austin Parsons* University of Notre Dame, track & field

Michael Weber Bowdoin College, baseball

Kassidy Peterson Massachusetts Institute of Technology, softball Lindsay Rispoli Columbia University, swimming

Sophia Weldon* Southern Methodist University, track & field Owen Wolfson Bowdoin College, soccer

Avery Schiffman Washington & Lee University, track & field

Anna Wood Middlebury College, track & field / cross country

Shea Smith Princeton University, lacrosse

William Zhang Williams College, swimming

Megan Horn Washington & Lee University, basketball

Myla Stovall Wesleyan University, field hockey

Jamie Zusi University of Pennsylvania, lacrosse

Emma Lombardo Bates College, soccer

Sean Tan Williams College, swimming

* Division 1 Letter of Intent signee

Mairead Higgins* Georgetown University, lacrosse

FALL 2018

Colleges and Universities Attended by the Class of 2018 Arizona State University (1) Bates College (1) Boston University (1) Bowdoin College (2) Brown University (1) Bucknell University (2) Carnegie Mellon University (2) Claremont McKenna College (1) Colby College (1) College of William and Mary (1) Colorado College (1) Columbia University (2) Connecticut College (1) Cornell University (3) Dartmouth College (1) Davidson College (1) Drexel University (1) Duke University (4)

Elon University (1) Fordham University (1) Franklin & Marshall College (2) George Mason University (1) George Washington University (2) Georgetown University (4) Gettysburg College (2) Harvard University (3) Johns Hopkins University (3) Lafayette College (2) Lehigh University (3) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1) Middlebury College (1) Morehouse College (1) Muhlenberg College (1) New York University (3) Northeastern University (4) Northwestern University (3)

“Each contributed something that gave the Class of 2018 a unique flavor. They are a very special group of young people who left a big impact on Pingry and the faculty, especially me. I have enjoyed seeing a few members return so far, and I am happy to report they seem to be doing very well! They are adjusting, active, and connected at their new schools, but they can always come home to Pingry, which I really hope they do!”

Deirdre O'Mara P ’17, ’19, ’21 Form VI Dean and biology teacher/swimming coach 60

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Nova Southeastern University (1) Oxford College of Emory University (1) Princeton University (2) Rice University (2) Rutgers University-New Brunswick (2) Southern Methodist University (1) Spelman College (1) St. Lawrence University (1) Stevens Institute of Technology (1) Swarthmore College (1) Syracuse University (1) Trinity College (1) Tufts University (2) Tulane University (2) University of California, Los Angeles (1) University of California, San Diego (1) University of Chicago (3) University of Connecticut (1) University of Michigan (2) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1) University of Notre Dame (6) University of Oxford (1) University of Pennsylvania (6) University of Southern California (2) University of Virginia (2) Vanderbilt University (4) Vassar College (1) Villanova University (5) Wake Forest University (1) Washington and Lee University (3) Washington University in St. Louis (3) Wellesley College (1) Wesleyan University (1) Williams College (4) Yale University (5)

Pingry Events

Chicago Reception [ 1 ] Front row: Ilene Goldman ’83, Ryan Campbell ’12, Miller Bugliari ’52, P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24, Sam Grabel ’09, John Lucadamo ’64, Mary Bush (Port) Ginn ’86, and Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Holland Sunyak Francisco ’02. Back row: Headmaster Nat Conard P ’09, ’11, Dr. Marc Feldstein ’82, Sean Lewis ’85, Ken Quaas ’78, Alan Gibby ’66, and Nancye Kirk.

Nantucket Reception [ 2 ] Front row: Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Holland Sunyak Francisco ’02, Chloe Carver ’11, Anne DeLaney ’79, P ’09, ’11, ’14, Annelise Kinney ’15, Jackie Reef ’09, Emma (Carver) Akins ’09, Dr. Susan Breen ’76, Jack Brescher ’65, P ’99, Sarah Greig, Judy Newhouse P ’95, ’97, ’99, and Headmaster Nat Conard P ’09, ’11. Back row: Chuck Wynn ’55, Steve Newhouse ’65, P ’95, ’97, ’99, Lynn (Apruzzese) Tetrault ’80, Brian Crosby ’89, Chip Carver, Jr. ’77, P ’09, ’11, ’14, Greg Mankiw ’76, Jeff Edwards ’78, P ’12, ’14, ’18, David Greig ’98, and Tom Greig ’94.

Jersey Shore Party [ 3 ] Attendees included Amy (Waterbury) Bagliani

’82, Annetta and Pete Benedict ’61, Kathleen and Dr. Jim Boozan ’77, Miller Bugliari ’52, P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24, Cynthia Campbell P ’81, ’85, ’87, ’90, Joan and Jubb Corbet ’50, P ’77, ’78, Mark Donohue ’90, Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Holland Sunyak Francisco ’02, Christine and Michael Gilfillan P ’17, ’20, Guido and Martha Ryan Graff ’84, P ’15, ’17, ’20, Will Graff ’17, Kathy Hugin P ’11, ’13, Robert Hugin ’11, Theresa Korth P ’16, ’20, ’21, Ann Marie and Steve Lipper ’79, P ’09, ’12, ’14, Chris Lucciola ’15, Helen and Mike Lucciola P ’11, ’13, ’15, ’17, ’17, John Lucciola ’17, Matt Lucciola ’13, Mike Lucciola ’11, Natalie Lucciola ’17, Elizabeth and Terrence Martin P ’10, ’12, ’17, Bruce Morrison ’64, Brenda Myers P ’20, ’22, Edie McLaughlin Nussbaumer ’84, P ’18, ’21, Katharine Campbell Outcalt ’87, Helen and David Patterson ’64, Jacqueline and Woody Phares ’47, Nancy Priest and Dave Rogers ’61, Patricia and Dr. Warren Radcliffe, Jr. ’49, GP ’16, Parish and Dudley Ryan ’83 (hosts), Missy Ryan P ’83, ’84, GP ’15, ’17, ’20 (host), Linda and The Reverend Bob Scott, Jr. ’62, Bob Sweeney ’61, Megs and Corby Thomas ’92, Patricia and Steve Waterbury ’49, P ’82, ’85, Richard Welch ’55, Woody Weldon ’91, P ’23, Rose Mary and Karl Werner P ’12, ’14, ’16, Matthew Werner, Michael Werner ’14, Don Wiss ’68, and Cameron Wright ’18.

FALL 2018

Taking a Year to Follow My

Biggest Dreams By Gabe Gever â&#x20AC;&#x2122;17

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Gabe Gever '17 on the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, with Annapurna II in the background.

being one of the most beautiful places in the world, El Chaltén was the climbing and hiking capital of South America.

To some, taking an entire year away from any form of institutionalized learning sounds liberating; to others, terrifying. I was definitely part of the second group. I was afraid of “falling behind,” whatever that means. I was afraid that I would get bored. I was afraid that I would be lonely.

These fears were not unfounded. As I look back on the past year of my life, during which I took a gap year, it doesn’t take much effort to recall times of intense boredom and loneliness. Reading Dostoyevsky alone at 3:00 a.m. while working the night shift or sitting down at a table set for one in Kathmandu are just two examples. However, as I talk to friends who have finished freshman year, I hear similar complaints. College can be full of loneliness and boredom, too. This was the time for me to do the things I’d always dreamed of doing. The one thing I heard from almost every American adult I’ve met over the past year is, “I wish I had taken a gap year.” There’s so much pressure now to get internships over the summers or go straight to grad school after college that it’s so easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing and put your dreams on hold. After some research, I decided that the two places I wanted to go most in the Gabe Gever ’17 in front of the Fitz Roy in Patagonia, Argentina.

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“For the first time in my life, I can honestly say that I have absolute confidence in my ability to adapt to, and even thrive in, almost every situation imaginable.”

b Gabe Gever ’17

––––––––––––– world were Everest Base Camp in Nepal and El Chaltén in Argentina. I’ve been an avid climber for many years (in fact, this was the basis for my speech in the 2017 LeBow Oratorical Competition) and have always loved mountains, so it was easy for me to narrow my list of countries down to places where I could see the Himalayas and the Andes. Nepal seemed safer than Pakistan, easier to get to than Tibet, and less intimidating for a first-time traveler than India. Also, I really wanted to see Mount Everest. I knew that, in addition to

I had made enough money working part time for four years that I could fund my travels as long as I stayed in hostels or couchsurfed (stayed with hosts). I didn’t have enough money saved up to use a gap year planning service, so I had to organize the whole thing myself. I spent hours at the library, copying page after page of guidebooks. The Lonely Planet books on Nepal and Argentina were my holy texts. Sitting down and planning every detail of the trips on my own was an ultimately rewarding, although at times stressful, experience. As grateful as I am for that opportunity, I’m equally grateful for all of the times I had to alter my plans and act on my feet. I ended up spending three months in Nepal and four months in Argentina. I participated in Birthright, a free heritage trip to Israel for young adults of Jewish heritage, and I backpacked through Europe for three weeks this summer. If you’re concerned about the cost, especially given how expensive college is, there are many services that provide room and board in exchange for volunteer work. I’m proud to say that my entire year cost a small fraction of one year at college. I emerge from my year away from formal education having learned many lessons that I know I wouldn’t have learned had I made the safer choice to follow the “normal” path. For the first time in my life, I can honestly say that I have absolute confidence in my ability to adapt to, and even thrive in, almost every situation imaginable. I survived the rabies capital of the world (Kathmandu), a leech attack in a Nepalese jungle, a deadly storm on the tallest mountain in the Americas (Aconcagua), and hundreds of hours of boredom and loneliness in a land further down under than Australia (El Chaltén). I’d also like to add that, for the first time in a long time, I’m actually excited to go to school. Gabe is attending Dartmouth College. Read more about his gap year activities at pingry.org/extras. FALL 2018

Pingry in Print Trouble in Lafayette Square: Assassination, Protest & Murder at the White House By Gil Klein ’68 (Journalism Professor; Freelance Writer; Former National Correspondent) Arcadia Publishing and The History Press (Landmarks Series)

Lafayette Square, across Pennsylvania Avenue from The White House, is surrounded by landmarks and steeped in history. Usually peaceful, it hides 200 years of stories of intrigue, protest, and rebellion. A lover of American history who often crossed the square as a White House correspondent, Mr. Klein reveals how these vignettes fit into the nation’s past.

Owning Tomorrow: The Unstoppable Force of Disruptive Leadership By John Furth ’77 (President of Furth & Associates, LLC) Indie Books International

What is “disruptive leadership?” As Mr. Furth writes in the preface to his first book, “When businesspeople talk about disruptive technologies, disruptive innovation, and disruptive business models, they are often referring to management practices that have the power to transform individuals, companies, and indeed large portions of society while generating huge value for thousands (if not millions) of people.” With over 25 years of experience as a business coach and consultant, Mr. Furth has worked with CEOs and their leadership teams at some of the world’s largest corporations— witnessing the power of disruption when companies need to change and transform their business models or go out of business, as well as the consequences when leaders find themselves unable to make good decisions and galvanize their teams.

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Mr. Furth details some of the bad habits companies fall into that can lead them into dangerous territory, such as being overwhelmed by daily tasks, ignoring competitors and new entrants to their marketplace, hesitating to take risks, and not providing value to their end-users and customers. More importantly, Mr. Furth takes the lessons great disruptors—such as Jeff Bezos at Amazon and Reed Hastings at Netflix—have learned during their careers and turns them into practical exercises, tools, and techniques to help other senior executives develop their own disruptive skill sets. He also provides real-life stories of less well-known business leaders who have successfully navigated their way to disruption, intended to inspire and motivate readers.

The Book About Nothing By Mike Bender ’93 Crown Books for Young Readers

From the Co-Founder of AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com comes a children’s book about . . . wait for it . . . NOTHING. “As I was putting my kids to sleep every night,” Mr. Bender recalls, “I would stare into the dark and this idea came to me: What if we could quantify ‘nothing’? Is ‘nothing’ something? I wanted to write a philosophical book for kids about the concept of ‘nothing’ that

would make them think and laugh at the same time. And because our kids are so overstimulated these days, I thought it was important to teach them that doing nothing is actually good for you.” A follow-up is already in the works, called The End. “The book ends on page one. That’s all I’ll tell you.”

How We Work: Live Your Purpose, Reclaim Your Sanity, and Embrace the Daily Grind By Dr. Leah Weiss Ekstrom ’96 (Corporate Culture Expert; Lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business) Harper Wave

Based on the perennially waitlisted course that she has been teaching at Stanford for over six years, Dr. Weiss offers this guide for bringing people’s whole selves to their professional work; her research has found that the traditional boundaries between “work” and “personal” are no longer realistic or relevant. Workplace dynamics can generate negative outcomes, but people can use positive psychology techniques like mindfulness to foster resilience. “Mindfulness is the intentional use of attention, so we don’t have to only do it when we’re meditating,” Dr. Weiss has said in interviews. “We can do it anytime.” (According to market research,

the mindfulness industry has recently earned annual revenue of about $1.1 billion; companies are taking it seriously for their employees.)

Every Shiny Thing

Transnational Frontiers: The American West in France

This book is Ms. Fabius’s first foray into fiction, sparked by teaching middle school English at Staten Island Academy and then at Friends Select School. “I loved reading middle grade and young adult fiction with my students,” she recalls. Wanting to contribute to that genre, she enrolled in an M.F.A. program, Writing for Children & Young Adults, at Vermont College of Fine Arts. There, Ms. Fabius met the poet Cordelia Jensen, who became co-author for Every Shiny Thing. The plot merges the authors’ interests: Ms. Fabius was inspired by her students’ passion for social justice and fairness, while Ms. Jensen wanted to write about a girl who had been a caretaker for her mother. Using prose and poetry, Every Shiny Thing tells the story of two seventh-grade girls, Lauren and Sierra, who team up on a Robin Hood scheme to right some societal wrongs and learn lessons about friendship, family, and justice. Why prose and poetry? Ms. Jensen wanted to write Sierra’s sections in verse, making for a clear distinction between the narrators. Also, Ms. Fabius says, “Verse can help make tough topics accessible for child and teen readers—authors can use imagery and figurative language to convey emotional content in a gentle way, and the spareness of the form leaves room for readers to process what they are ready to process.” As for the title, it applies to both characters’ journeys.

By Dr. Emily C. Burns ’99 (Assistant Professor of Art History at Auburn University) University of Oklahoma Press

When Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show traveled to Paris for the World’s Fair in 1889, The New York Times reported that the exhibition would be “managed to suit French ideas.” Where had those “French ideas” of the American West come from? “The American West is a slippery concept, particularly in international settings,” Dr. Burns writes in her introduction. “This book analyzes the circulation of the visual and material culture of the American West in France between 1865 and 1914. The production and reception of visual representations of American western landscapes, cowboys, and in particular American Indians reveal that the American West was not a fixed concept but rather a transnational discourse.” This illustrated history shows what happened when American artists, writers, and tourists from the period traveled to France, and how Native American performers with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and other traveling groups challenged the view of manifest destiny.

Co-authored by Laurie Morrison Fabius ’99 Harry N. Abrams

AP Q&A Biology: 600 Questions and Answers By David Maxwell (Pingry Science Department Chair and AP Biology Teacher) Barron’s Educational Series

Barron’s launched their AP Q&A series this summer. “While we already have excellent test prep guides and flash cards for many AP subjects . . . we wanted to provide readers with even more practice question material,” says Samantha Karasik, Editor of the Test Prep Division for Barron’s Educational Series. “The questions in these books reflect those on the actual exam.” New Products Coordinator Veronica Douglas says that Barron’s found Mr. Maxwell through an “exhaustive search of the best high schools, and Pingry was on that list.” Familiar with the AP Biology exam from 15 years of teaching AP Biology and 13 years of helping to grade the free-response portion of the exam, Mr. Maxwell still had the challenges of generating 600 questions for the book—and plausible incorrect answers! His research process was actually a team effort. While he found topics online (for example, the phenomenon of whale beachings, in which whales and dolphins strand themselves on land) and read many journals, he based some questions on Ph.D. research conducted by fellow Pingry biology teachers Dr. Colleen Kirkhart (neuroscience) and Dr. Morgan D’Ausilio (biochemistry). “I’m especially proud of the questions based on their work,” he says.

FALL 2018

Pingry History

Navy Pilot George Jasper Morgan, Jr. ’32, Missing in Action in World War II, Is Memorialized The content of this article originated in a TAPinto Westfield story (published May 21, 2018) by Joan Lowell Smith, a historian, journalist, and longtime resident of Westfield, NJ.

Credit: Dina Glasofer, Admission and Communications Associate

A plaque that memorializes George Jasper Morgan, Jr. ’32, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, was placed near 3 Stanley Oval in Westfield, NJ (his childhood home) this spring to honor his service to the country. Former Westfield Councilman Kenneth MacRitchie, who grew up in the same house as Morgan and later inherited it, arranged the installation. After graduating from Cornell University and working for Tropical Oil Company in Colombia and Standard Oil in Germany, LTJG Morgan chose to join the Navy at the outset of World War II. He was assigned to the Pacific Theater to serve on the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga before being stationed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. 66

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The brass plaque on a grassy area near 3 Stanley Oval in Westfield, NJ, where LTJG Morgan lived; the quote is attributed to Squadron Commander Leroy C. Simpler. The Morgan family came to Westfield from Connecticut, where LTJG Morgan’s headstone sits over an empty grave in Windsor’s Palisado Cemetery.

According to John B. Lundstrom’s book The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign: Naval Fighter Combat from August to November 1942 (Naval Institute Press, 2005), “George J. Morgan, Jr. flew a single-seater Grumman Wildcat plane from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. On October 2, 1942, the squadron took off from Henderson and flew north . . . His plane developed mechanical problems, requiring him to return to Henderson, but, on his way back, either a Japanese plane shot him down, or it was mechanical failure.” Posthumously, LTJG Morgan earned the Air Medal for having shot down a Japanese Zero plane. Signed by U.S. Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal, the citation reads, in part: “For meritorious achievement in aerial flight as a pilot of a Fighter Plane in

Fighting Squadron Five, attached to a USS SARATOGA Air Group, while serving with the First Marine Aircraft Wing in action against enemy Japanese forces during the early stages of hostilities at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, from September 10 to October 16, 1942. Fiercely countering the enemy’s powerful onslaughts, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Morgan fought his plane against terrific odds during this critical period and, engaging an enemy float fighter in close contact on September 14, 1942, pressed home a vigorous attack and succeeded in shooting the hostile aircraft from the sky . . . Morgan contributed materially to the securing of important bases in the Pacific area, and his unwavering devotion to duty throughout was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”

Honoring the 200th Anniversary of Dr. Pingry’s Birth Archivist Peter Blasevick, with assistance from Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Holland Sunyak Francisco ’02 and Advancement Writer Ed Lisovicz, prepared this display to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Dr. Pingry’s birth, on September 26, 1818. “We are continually re-discovering items related to Dr. Pingry that have been packed away for years,” Mr. Blasevick says. “His 200th gave us a great opportunity to share a few of them!”

Top Shelf: Sheet music for C. Brett Boocock’s “Old John Pingry”; the Elizabeth school house; the original rental agreement between John Pingry and educator Jonathan Townley that marks the beginning of the first Pingry School in Elizabeth; sample geometry test prepared by John Pingry. Middle Shelf: Announcement of John Pingry’s retirement; family portrait album. Bottom Shelf: John Pingry’s Bible; the book of Short Talks on Proverbs; John Pingry’s handwritten version of one of his favorite passages in the Bible, Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.”

The above inscription reads, "To our Teacher, As a token of respect and affection. Roseville. December 24th, 1858." (Roseville, a suburb of Newark, was the site of the Pingry Select School for Boys, an academy he founded in 1854.) FALL 2018

Operational Efficiency

Credit: Storr Tractor

They Had a Field Day! How do you suppose members of the Facilities Team— who take such amazing care of Pingry’s fields and grounds, making them look immaculate—reacted when they saw Yankee Stadium’s field, up close and personal? Mike Janes, Jennifer Johnston, Anthony Gagliardi P ’22, and Joe Parent.

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Reassured and encouraged. “We walked on the greatest field in sports history. When we consider the everyday struggles that we face at Pingry with our World Cup Field and other facilities, the Yankees’ crew faces the same, exact stuff,” says Mike Janes, a groundskeeper at the Basking Ridge Campus for nearly 25 years. “We’re on the right track.” Along with Mr. Janes, “we” included his Basking Ridge co-workers Anthony Gagliardi P ’22 (over 25 years at Pingry) and Joe Parent, as well as Short Hills Facilities Technician Jennifer Johnston, all of whom maintain Pingry’s fields and have helped bring about dramatic improvements in recent years. During

Storr Tractor Company’s “field day” for town and school employees and landscapers in August, Mr. Janes, Mr. Gagliardi, Mr. Parent, and Ms. Johnston visited Yankee Stadium to observe how that field is maintained, including equipment and best practices. “That field is always in use [baseball, football, soccer, concerts], and they have so many resources and personnel to take care of it—two shifts of 12 people each for one field,” Mr. Gagliardi says. “Yet, you see their challenges, even though they can control moisture through underwater pipes and they can cover the field. Our endeavor is entirely different because we have to deal with the weather and other issues, and Pingry

over the years, members of the Facilities Team have frequently gone above and beyond. “Anyone who has gardened or tried to grow plants knows that you need to take pride in what you do. We are very fortunate to have highly skilled and dedicated people who can judge how wet the ground is and how healthy the grass is, and know what steps to take to quickly remedy situations that may arise. Our entire outdoor team takes it personally that the grass grows well, that it’s green, and that the whole campus always looks its best.”

Yankee Stadium takeaways? Mike Janes, Anthony Gagliardi P ’22, and Joe Parent talking with Dan Cunningham, Head Groundskeeper at Yankee Stadium.

has four employees who routinely work on 10 fields [encompassing clay-based, grass, and synthetic turf] in Basking Ridge. We do a pretty darn good job.” Highly complimentary of the Facilities Team is Chief Financial and Operating Officer Olaf Weckesser P ’25, who ensures that the team has the tools to keep the fields in top condition year-round. “Their effort and professionalism are tremendous,” he says, pointing out that,

Anthony Gagliardi P ’22: Looking at the Yankees’ field, I’m impressed by our conditions at Pingry. By going to Yankee Stadium, you see what the best fields look like and learn new ideas. For example, their use of green-dyed sand for a sand-based field is a great concept for blending color. Mike Janes: To visit a field like that and see that we are on the right track was absolutely amazing and very rewarding. Their field, with the exact same type of grass [blue grass] as our World Cup Field, is absolutely beautiful. It was like walking on our field. It was a rewarding day, and an honor to represent Pingry.

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“We are very fortunate to have highly skilled and dedicated people who can judge how wet the ground is and how healthy the grass is, and know what steps to take to quickly remedy situations that may arise.”

Olaf Weckesser P ’25 Chief Financial and Operating Officer

––––––––––––– Jennifer Johnston: I was amazed by their equipment, how many times they have to rake the field, and how much work it takes to prepare for a game—and then do it all over again! Dan, groundskeeper for the Yankees for the past 34 years, is still trying to get it right. It’s good to know they have the same struggles we do. I don’t think people realize how much we do to get the fields ready for games. Joe Parent: The ballpark looked amazing, very pristine. I was intrigued by all of the equipment they use, including a laser-lining machine for drawing lines on the field. Five of Pingry’s 10 fields, well cared for all year long.

Heavy Hitters: The Facilities Team’s Annual Maintenance Regimen • Year-end preparation (in November, at the conclusion of the outdoor season): coring, aerating, seeding, adding and compacting sand, and fertilizing. • Winter: blankets on game fields maintain ground heat, creating a greenhouse effect that promotes growth. This ensures the fields are ready for spring sports by late March. • Beginning in April: game fields are mowed three times per week. • Summer: mowing continues three times per week, plus daily watering (weather dependent).

FALL 2018

Ask the Archivist We would love to hear the stories behind these photos! If you recognize anyone who is pictured or remember what was happening in these pictures, please contact Greg Waxberg â&#x20AC;&#x2122;96 at gwaxberg@pingry.org or 908-647-5555, ext. 1296.

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Tribute to Gene Conroy ’51

Class Notes Share all your news!

Submit your Class Note at pingry.org/classnotes, or mail it to Holland Sunyak Francisco ‘02, Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving, The Pingry School, 131 Martinsville Road, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920.

Gene Conroy was not just a good friend from Short Hills and Pingry (1947-51), but part of an extraordinary family that touched us all. He helped Robin Porter get his first job packing ice cream at Millburn’s first ice cream store, The Little Alderney on Millburn Ave. He also invited Pete Maucher, a number of times, to play bridge with his formidable mother and father in Short Hills, an experience he has never forgotten. Gene’s and Pete’s families met regularly for years. Who can forget the classes with Leander Kirk in Chemistry and Physics with he and Gene sparring over some of his calculations and conclusions? Gene and the Conroy family were the hosts of Short Hills. His mother, a virtuoso pianist, was always surrounded by singers at their parties, asking how college was going, while his father quietly mixed the Champagne punch, carefully controlling the content. Gene quietly was in the center of these gatherings in an era we thought would never end (late 1940s to the mid-1950s). When he called from his death bed to say “goodbye” on June 30, we grieved that, in the blink of an eye, the life of an extraordinary Pingry graduate and our dear friend had come to an end (Gene died on July 1). From his 1951 classmates, Robin Porter, Pete Maucher, and Joseph Hanaway.

Joan and Jubb Corbet ’50, P ’77, ’78 at the Jersey Shore Reception.

1952 MILLER BUGLIARI P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24 was interviewed by News 12 New Jersey in conjunction with his induction this summer into the National High School Hall of Fame. He also met the head coach of the professional soccer team Juventus F.C. this summer. See both videos at pingry.org/extras.

Mr. Conroy’s obituary appears on page 78.

on Long Beach Island and have spent many wonderful summers there. I have been married to my wife Dorothy for 51 years. Our son David is a chef in Ireland, and his two children are Ciara (12) and Russell (15). Our daughter Deborah is in Virginia, with two children, Graham (13) and Claire (16). I survived a near-death experience late last year with C-Diff (a bad intestinal disease). Life has been kind to us. Regards to all.”

1960 BART WOOD writes, “I retired from WB Wood Co. in July 1999 after 35 years. After six months non-compete, I went to Interior Move Consultants in New York City as Senior Manager and was with them thru 9/11! I was subsequently diagnosed with prostate cancer, followed by 15 years of excellent treatment. We sold our Summit home of 31 years and headed to Florida. We also built a lovely home

Miller Bugliari ’52, P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24 and Gene Shea ’57 in New Hampshire. FALL 2018

Burchard Miller Hazen, Jr. ’66 July 7, 1947 – September 22, 2017 A tribute from his classmates Burr Hazen was one of the most well liked members of the Class of 1966. That is the sort of thing that people often say about a classmate who has passed, but, in Burr’s case, it was true. He was a Class Council member and then SecretaryTreasurer. He was a running back for the Varsity Football Team for two years, and he was varsity lacrosse for three years—lacrosse Captain senior year. But, mainly, he was in the middle of whatever was going on, bringing a well-honed sense of humor and a talent for mischief to everything he did. Once in a football game against Peddie, Burr was to rotate in as fullback and to receive the ball from the quarterback and run with it. The quarterback caught the snap, faked a handoff to a halfback, and turned to give the ball to Burr, but there was no one there. The other fullback who had come out looked around and saw Burr, still on the sideline, talking with another player about banjo picking. He still remembers Burr’s sheepish grin. It was hard to stay mad at Burr. Burr was very determined in the things he wanted to do. He took up sport after sport and conquered them all. No other word can describe it. He bought a banjo and spent hours listening to recordings of Earl Scruggs, the king of warp-speed picking. He listened and experimented until he was able to replicate those recordings. Then he played in a bluegrass band with classmates for a number of years. That banjo was still hanging on the wall in his house long after trigger fingers ended his ability to play it.

In college, at St. Lawrence, Burr was once again the Captain of the Lacrosse Team and was also Most Valuable Player. He also joined Army ROTC and, after graduation, served in Viet Nam, working with the Rangers, although he never bothered to get the green beret. He wouldn’t speak about his wartime experiences, but he received two Bronze Stars and a Silver Star. Not too shabby. The one story he did tell was of calling in artillery support on the radio. He later heard a recording of his transmission, and he had not stuttered once. When he returned from the war, he discovered sailboarding. As he worked to develop his skills, he found himself breaking down each action he took into its many component actions, and he realized he had never heard or read about anyone else doing that. From that realization grew The Windsurfing Bible, a 16-volume compendium of how to develop your windsurfing skills. He also ran a school for people who wanted lessons from the master. Eventually, age and lingering PTSD from his wartime service took their toll, and Burr closed down his two windsurfing schools, one in Florida and one at a clothing-optional resort in Bonaire (does that surprise any classmate?). For a time, he counseled younger veterans from the Middle East wars who suffered from PTSD. But eventually, he withdrew into himself. He was predeceased by his wife Pam, and is survived by his brother-in-law, a niece, a nephew, and six great-nieces and -nephews. And by us. Goodbye, Burr. We loved you, Bro.

The one battle that Burr fought all his life was with a pronounced stutter. We all just gave him space to finish what he was saying, but it frustrated him. In the Second Form, we had a public speaking course once a week, and Burr was scheduled to make a speech to the class just like everyone else. For his topic, he chose stuttering. He said he was the biggest expert on stuttering in the class, and he told us about the odd things doctors had told him to do while talking. Of course, speaking in a rhythm or using a falsetto voice was not going to work for him in day-to-day life, but he used them at the end of the speech in a way that brought down the house. He got a standing ovation from the class. The faculty realized what they had done to him, and he never had to make a speech again.

No. 40, far right of the front row, on the St. Lawrence University Lacrosse Team.

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Burr Hazen's sidebar from Eight Decades at The Pingry School: The Life & Times of Miller A. Bugliari.

with a Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance from the Royal College of Music in London. She is a gifted soprano coloratura with an eye on a career in opera. She has a distance to go, but she has fire in the belly and sings like a nightingale. One thing is for sure—no matter where we journey, people are wonderful, interested, and kind. The news distorts this aspect . . . but I know from experience: The planet is replete with fine people. Best wishes to all . . . keep plugging.”

Roger Hurlburt ’67 admiring a Raphael painting in Budapest.

1967 ROGER HURLBURT writes, “Just a few words to say this autumn marks my 40th year at Florida Atlantic University as Professor of Classical, Medieval & Renaissance Art History . . . as well as other Western civilization epochs. My mantra is that art, simply, is life enhancing. I enjoy every class—it is all about the students. And now, I have the sons and daughters of those who once were my students! A new generation of young people who inspire me to inspire them. Friends ask me when I’ll retire. Retire? No, thanks . . . and do what? I left journalism (part of my dual career) several years ago, but

I’d miss the interaction in the lecture hall. As such, I haven’t worked a day in my life. Keeps one linear when others expect you to be there. However, after 15 years, I no longer teach for seven weeks during the summer in Florence, Italy. They were glorious times—to speak about Giotto, Masaccio, or Botticelli in front of the artwork is like performing at Carnegie Hall. Doesn’t get any better. In past summers, my wife and I have done several weeks in Europe—last year, Germany, Austria, Poland, Slovakia, and Czech Republic. This past summer, we stayed in the U.K., as well as Wales and Scotland. Our youngest daughter just graduated in June

Roger came “under the thrall of art history” while taking a college course in Italian Renaissance Art & Architecture (he had been planning for a career in commercial art and advertising). By the late 1970s, after graduate school and nearly two years living in Italy, he had a teaching position at FAU and was Fine Arts Editor and columnist for the Fort Lauderdale News/Sun-Sentinel. “One can look at a piece of art with contemporary eyes,” he says, “or, and I prefer, consider how and why the item was made at the time. Any viable artwork should reflect the time in which it was made . . . a visual indicator for motive: Why the heck should we look at this?”

1971 PETER MINDNICH, President of the Braille Institute of America since 2014, was profiled in the Los

Peter Mindnich ’71.

Angeles Business Journal this spring. Titled “Lifelong Learner,” the article details how Peter arrived at the institute after spending more than 30 years in leadership roles in the financial services industry: His wife Robin, a psychiatric social worker, encouraged him to earn a master’s degree in Social Work at USC (he began his career with an M.B.A. from Harvard University), and he eventually joined Braille Institute as Executive Vice President. “The lifelong learning thing, there really is a magic to it. It keeps you young. There is a whole world out there,” he said in the profile. “I really feel like I’m home. I kind of wish I’d gotten here a little earlier in life, to have more time to move the needle and move the organization forward.” During his time at the institute, Peter has witnessed the advance of technology to help visually impaired people.

Celebrating the 90th birthday of former trustee Vin Apruzzese P ’76, ’78, ’80, ’85, GP ’06, ’08 on Cape Cod. Front row: Elizabeth Bugliari P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24, Vin Apruzzese, Miller Bugliari ’52, P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24, and Dana Apruzzese ’06. Back row: Anthony Bugliari ’90, P ’20, ’24, Don Apruzzese ’78, John Apruzzese ’76, P ’06, ’08, Debra Apruzzese P ’06, ’08, Katherine (Apruzzese) Sherbrooke ’85, former English teacher Peter Cowen ’66, Nancy Cowen, and Lynn (Apruzzese) Tetrault ’80. Mr. Cowen knew or taught John ’76, Don ’78, Lynn ’80, and Katherine ’85 during his time at Pingry and has remained close friends with the family. FALL 2018

DR. MARK MCLAUGHLIN ’83 wrote an article for Business Insider, published in June, with the headline, “I’m a neurosurgeon, and the best morning routine I’ve found only consists of 3 simple steps.” He calls it his “triple threat” to set up his day for productivity: meditation (“a non-negotiable, self-care aspect of my day”), filing (a personal system with one non-urgent “to do” that is filed away for each day), and planning (making a list of everything to get done that day). He ends the article by writing, “Try different morning routines until you land on one that works for you. While it doesn’t have to be complicated, it does need to be intentional and tailored to your needs in order to help you have a more productive, successful day.” Mark is working on a book, Outside Fear: A Neurosurgeon’s Secrets to Making Life’s Tough Decisions, to be published by Scribner in late 2019.

Michael Takiff ’73.

1973 MICHAEL TAKIFF, a writer/historian/actor/singer/comedian/ dancer, performed his two new, one-man shows in New York this summer: the family memoir Black Tie: A Son’s Journey through the Death and Life of His Father and Jews, God, and History (Not Necessarily in that Order), a look at how humans view and practice religion in the modern age.

1993

for leading the team to four event victories, including a new school record at the Rhodes College Classic, and a No. 1 ranking in the Women’s Golf Coaches Association National Poll. The full press releases from July 27 and October 8 are available on the university’s athletics website, washubears.com. Mary previously served as Head Coach at Bradley University (eight years) and Yale University (five years). She was an All-American at Princeton who won the Ivy League title in 1997.

Thomas Diemar ’96, P ’24, Michael Blanchard ’96, Peter Blanchard ’95, and Chris Newhouse ’97 in West Marin, CA in mid-September, celebrating Michael’s 40th birthday.

KRISTIN SOSTOWSKI has been named President-Elect of the National Association of Women Lawyers and becomes President in July 2019. She is a Director (Partner) with Gibbons P.C., where she practices in the Employment and Labor Law Department and is Team Leader of the firm’s Higher Education practice. In addition, Kristin is one of 57 Gibbons attorneys selected for inclusion in the 2019 edition of Best Lawyers®, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession. MARY MOAN SWANSON was named Head Coach of the Women’s Golf Team at Washington University in St. Louis this summer—the third women’s golf coach in the university’s history. In October, she was named the 2018 LPGA “Midwest Coach of the Year” 74

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Patrick Birotte ’87, P ’20, Sander Friedman ’83, Miller Bugliari ’52, P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24, and Jim Gensch ’83, P ’13 at the Tewksbury Inn.

“Moving Giants” LANCE GOULD ’83 is Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of the media-strategy firm Silicon Valley Story Lab, whose mission is to teach purpose-driven organizations how to think and behave like media companies, and to share their messages through modern storytelling. He writes, “One of the projects I’ve been working on since January is a conservation effort in Southern Africa—it involves elephants, a keystone species because they’re critically important to habitats for many reasons. But too many elephants in one habitat can mean disaster for both the habitat and the elephants. There’s a park in South Africa with 200-plus elephants, more than its ecosystem can handle. And there’s a park in Mozambique that, though it’s 12 times the size of the South African park, is down to just eight elephants. (The civil war there from 1977-1992 wiped out virtually all wildlife in the country.) “Moving Giants” is a project attempting to save two ecosystems: relieve one park of too many elephants, spark life into one that desperately needs them. The actual moving of the elephants is incredibly risky—for elephants and crew—and employs cutting-edge technology. But the cost of inaction is even higher: not to move the elephants could bring disaster to both ecosystems. It’s all part of a serial-video series we launched in November. In August, we launched our Moving Giants website—movinggiants.org—which covers not only the translocation (which kicked off at the end of July), but also elephant- and conservation-oriented news from anywhere elephants call home. Please check out the site and our Facebook page. #MovingGiants for all social media.”

Lance Gould ’83 interviewing an anti-poaching ranger unit at Zinave National Park in Mozambique, which is receiving the translocated elephants from South Africa.

An elephant being loaded onto a truck in South Africa for transport to Mozambique. The elephants are tranquilized and turned upside down for hoisting onto trucks, then given a reversible injection to wake them up, so they’re standing for transport.

FALL 2018

2002

VINCENT MORANO is Executive Producer of the new Netflix comedy/drama film Like Father starring Kristen Bell, Kelsey Grammer, and Paul Downs ’00.

LIZ DEE, Co-President of Smarties Candy Company, CEO of venture capital firm Baleine & Bjorn Capital, and Founder of Vegan Ladyboss, was profiled in Forbes in May for her work with Vegan Ladyboss. She was among the vegan leaders who participated in the 2018 Nexus Global Summit in New York City this summer, which opened at The United Nations, speaking about empowering women in animal advocacy. The three-day event brought together over 600 “next gen” philanthropists, impact investors, and social entrepreneurs from nearly 70 countries. Liz’s organization, Vegan Ladyboss, is a global network connecting and empowering vegan women to help them thrive in their careers and animal advocacy. Liz serves as Co-President of Smarties alongside fellow Co-Presidents Jessica Dee Sawyer ’99 and Sarah Dee ’99.

1998 LAURA YORKE KULKARNI was profiled in Millburn Patch in midSeptember in conjunction with the opening of her Goddard School in Millburn. She writes, “In 2002, as a new teacher at Pingry, I wrote that ‘the purpose of education is to simultaneously prepare our children for the world, and to craft a better world for them to inhabit.’ The Goddard School of Millburn was born out of this vision.” She says in the article, “There’s no cookie-cutter experience at The Goddard School. It’s about individualizing experiences for every child, as faculty members are involved in developing exciting lesson plans that foster joy and understanding.”

Credit: Jeopardy Productions, Inc.

1994

Buzzy Cohen ’03, center, with teammates Alex Jacob and Jennifer Giles after the live draft for Jeopardy!’s upcoming All-Star Games.

After waiting 28 years, Leslie Plumeri ’96 and Jeff Boyer ’96 finally got married on June 16 on Lake Winnipesaukee, NH. Love that began at Pingry as kids creates a unique bond, and we are lucky to have remained close with friends (and a teacher/coach) who knew us back when, many of whom were able to spend the weekend with us, including Kim (Barbieri) and Marshall McLean ’98, Rahul Vinnakota ’96, Jackie (Hayes) Hofmann ’96, Hailey (Buhler) DeBarge ’97, Lauren (Gruel) and Thomas Diemar ’96, P ’24, Anthony Bowes ’96, Chris Franklin ’96, Sam Wilson ’96, Joan and Tom Boyer P ’96, ’98, Colin Bennett ’96, Charlotte Diemar ’24, and Greg Boyer ’98. #highschooltohoneymoon 76

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2003

2011

BUZZY COHEN, winner of Jeopardy!’s 2017 Tournament of Champions, returns to the show in February 2019 as a team captain for the All-Star Games. Featuring 18 past champions, the two-week tournament will help celebrate the quiz show’s 35th season. Teams were chosen during a life draft on September 22.

KERI FORNESS is doing well as a Talent Manager supporting a small, veteran-owned government contracting firm in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C. She is sorry she could not make it to the fiveyear Reunion, but will make sure to attend the 10th Reunion in 2021! Feel free to call her on her cell phone (same phone number since Grade 7) or direct message her on Facebook if you want to catch up!

2005

2013

ERIC SCHONBERG was promoted to Motion Picture Talent Agent at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Los Angeles, where he works with actors and actresses including Josh Hutcherson, Dominic Cooper, Don Johnson, Katheryn Winnick, and others.

2006 PARK B. SMITH III and JULIANNE C. (DI LEO) SMITH are proud and overjoyed to announce the birth of their son Park B. Smith IV in March 2018.

Park B. Smith IV and Corinne H. Smith, age 2 years.

HANNA BEATTIE has re-signed with the Connecticut Whale of the National Women’s Hockey League for the 2018-19 season. Hanna skated in 12 games for the Whale last year during her rookie season. EMILY PERLMUTTER KAMEN spent most of the summer on a cross-country bike trip after working in Thailand for the past year (see her biking blog: ezxc.wordpress.com). She graduated from Princeton University with honors in the spring of 2017 and was one of 15 students accepted to a master’s program in Art History that began this fall at Williams College.

Benjamin Vazquez ’18 (Connecticut College), Anna Wood ’18 (Middlebury College), Thomas Tarantino ’17 (Middlebury College), and Matthew Peacock ’17 (Williams College) at the Purple Valley Classic cross country meet at Williams College on September 22.

Emily Perlmutter Kamen ’13 riding near Kalispell, MT during a cross-country bike trip.

CLASSNOTES: Share all your news!

FALL 2018

In Memoriam Arnold B. Whitaker ’43 July 19, 2018, age 93, Camden, ME

Mr. Whitaker entered the V-12 Navy College Training Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering; while in Boston, he met his wife Nancy, a student at Wellesley College. After he left the Navy, he and Nancy moved to Bridgeport, CT, where they worked at Chance Vought Aircraft. Mr. Whitaker later took a job at Grumman Corp. and earned a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics at Adelphi University. He worked on many exciting projects during his 35 years at Grumman—most notably, as the lead systems project engineer for the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) program from 1962 to 1966, then as test team leader for the LEM, which successfully landed men on the moon in 1969. NASA consulted with him during the Apollo 13 mission, when the LEM was used as a lifeboat to return four astronauts safely to earth after a fire broke out 200,000 miles into the voyage. During his career at Grumman, Mr. Whitaker also worked on the Eagle Missile program, the F-14 fighter program, the Space Shuttle studies program, and the X-29 experimental aircraft program. He was also a founding member and volunteer with the Georges River Land Trust. Mr. Whitaker was predeceased by his sister Harriet and son Steven. Survivors include his wife of 70 years, Nancy; daughter Gail (Fred); son Jeffrey (Patricia); four grandchildren, Noah (Danielle), Hannah (Colin), Laura, and Joshua; and great-grandson Gene. Mr. Whitaker died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.

Harrison Jerome “Jerry” Uhl, Jr. ’48 October 3, 2018, age 88, Princeton, NJ

Mr. Uhl attended Princeton University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture. After graduating from Princeton, he married Palmer Beverley, and they moved to Pittsburgh, PA where he attended Carnegie Tech and graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture. After college, Mr. Uhl enlisted in the U.S. Army, attended Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, GA, served in the Corps of Engineers, and was honorably discharged as a First Lieutenant. He returned to Princeton to work for a local architect before becoming a partner in a new firm named Collins

THE PINGRY REVIEW

Uhl Hoisington, Architects and Engineers, which won a design competition for the NJ Pavilion at the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens, NY. By the mid-1970s, the firm was taking on international projects. Eventually, the name changed to CUH2A. Mr. Uhl was the managing partner for a number of years before his retirement. He was predeceased by his wife Palmer. Survivors include his children Harrison, Palmer, and William; daughter-in-law Dorinda; and grandson William, Jr.

Eugene D. “Gene” Conroy ’51 July 1, 2018, age 84, Gladwyne, PA

Mr. Conroy attended Cornell University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Electrical Engineering. He began a long, distinguished career with IBM, serving in the Critical Skills Program in the U.S. Navy and then moving to Poughkeepsie, NY. While at IBM, Mr. Conroy became a Senior Programmer, performing groundbreaking work on the company’s OS/360 operating system (the first one that enabled mainframe computers to multi-task and enabled most computers to use the same programs) and earning numerous patents and technical awards. After retiring from IBM, he formed NSM Systems, a software consulting company. Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Anne; son David; daughter Katherine; son-in-law Dermot; three grandchildren; and sister Melissa. His classmates’ tribute to Mr. Conroy appears on page 71.

Houston E. “Judge” Landis III ’51 October 26, 2018, age 85, Pennington, NJ

Mr. Landis, Captain of Pingry’s 1951 Tennis Team and recipient of The Class of 1902 Emblem Award, attended Princeton University, where he received an Air Force ROTC Scholarship and graduated with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering. He honorably served three years in the U.S. Air Force in Germany and continued to serve in the Air Force Reserve, retiring after 20 years of service to his country as a Lieutenant Colonel. Mr. Landis had a successful career as a Pan Am pilot, traveling to many exotic places around the world. A fixture of the Pennington community, he was best known as the owner of

Pennington Hardware from 1977 to 1995; he and his wife Jenifer had purchased local businesses Circle Hardware and Flynn’s Hardware to create Pennington Hardware, a well-known landmark in the center of town. Along with providing advice to homeowners and contractors related to their hardware needs, Mr. Landis supported numerous programs and activities serving the youth of Hopewell Valley; Pennington Hardware sponsored soccer and baseball teams for many years. He was involved in many local community organizations, including Hopewell Valley Lions Club and the Pennington Business & Professional Association. He was also an assistant scoutmaster in Boy Scout Troop 1776 and received the District Award of Merit from the George Washington Council. Mr. Landis was inducted into Pingry’s Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the 1950 Football Team. He was predeceased by his sister Jean. Survivors include his loving wife of 58 years, Jenifer; children Houston IV (Maggie), Michael, and Teri (Brian); and grandchildren Christopher, Devon, and Jessica.

Hugh Russell Kirkpatrick, Jr. ’54 August 28, 2018, age 81, Vero Beach, FL

Mr. Kirkpatrick attended Princeton University and served as both a First Lieutenant and Captain in the U.S. Army. After briefly working for the Bank of New York, he began his 36-year career at IFF International Flavors and Fragrances. In 1996, he retired from his last role as President of IFF Fragrance Company Worldwide. Survivors include his wife Frances, daughter Laura (Beth), son Hugh (Paula), brother Scott ’63 (Leslie), and numerous nieces and nephews.

George William “Bill” Cunningham III ’57 May 24, 2018, age 79, Vero Beach, FL

Mr. Cunningham attended Vanderbilt University, served in the U.S. Army, and graduated from Mississippi State University with a degree in Nuclear Engineering. He spent his career in Oak Ridge, TN, at Union Carbide Corp. where he designed nuclear power plants. Survivors include his sister Elizabeth (Steven); five nieces and nephews; and 10 grandnieces and -nephews. Mr. Cunningham was predeceased by his brother Thomas.

Charles W. “Chuck” Smith ’57 July 15, 2018, age 79, Chestertown, NY

Mr. Smith attended Nichols Jr. College in Massachusetts and worked for 37 years as a respected, successful insurance agent for Allstate Insurance Co. on Staten Island, where his sons carry on his legacy, running the Smith Agency, which he started building in 1963. Survivors include his wife Mary; sons Kenneth (Jennifer) and Larry (Eileen); daughter Lynn (John); eight grandchildren, Matthew, Thomas, James, Shannon, Stephen, Michael, Katie, and Brendan; sisters Suzanne and Nancy; brother David (Mary); and in-laws Janet and Phil Mercurio, Dolores and Andy Bournos, and Chuck and Tawn Tracy.

William Sherwood Hanger ’64 September 22, 2018, age 72, Waterford, ME

Mr. Hanger earned a B.A. in Political Science and a master’s in Education from Miami University in Oxford, OH. He and his college sweetheart Nancy (Miami 1968) continued to live and raise two daughters in Oxford, as he was first an Assistant Registrar, then Assistant Provost, then spent the last 17 years of his career as Director of Institutional Advancement, serving as a lobbyist for Miami University and an advocate for higher education in the state of Ohio. Upon his retirement, both houses of the Ohio General Assembly issued proclamations that praised his service, honesty, tact, sterling character, heartfelt convictions, and “expert command of complex subjects,” and recognized that “among his colleagues, his name has become virtually synonymous with integrity and skill”; they also allowed him the rare privilege of speaking to the legislators in their chambers. Mr. Hanger loved politics and believed in public service. He was elected to the Oxford City Council, volunteered as the Vice President of the local NAACP chapter, and served for 18 years on the Greater Dayton Public Television board of directors. He retired to Maine and served on the local school board for 10 years. His greatest joy was advising and mentoring student groups and individuals and encouraging them to make a difference in the world. He was inducted into Pingry's Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the 1962 Football Team. Survivors include his wife Nancy; daughters Lisa (Scott) and Jill (Bart); granddaughters Jessica, Kaitlyn, and Lindsay; brother Robert “Woody” Hanger ’67, and nephew Jordan.

The editorial staff makes every effort to publish an obituary for and pay tribute to the accomplishments of alumni who have passed away, based on information available as of press time. If family members, classmates, or friends would like to submit tributes, please contact Greg Waxberg ’96 at gwaxberg@pingry.org or Holland Sunyak Francisco ’02 at hfrancisco@pingry.org. FALL 2018

Closing Word

Questions, Anyone? A freshman at Yale University, Jenny Coyne ’18 shares her college application essay about the importance of, on occasion, not having a clue. Our teacher, Mr. De, lauded by some as a sort of science deity, strolled into the room, and asked if we could open our laptops and look at an article in the Journal of Cell Science. We cracked the lids to the windows of knowledge and eagerly prepared ourselves for our first immersion in true scientific literature, which I assumed would be filled with graphs, proofs, and logical sequences. We were all surprised when the article was neither crammed with foreign, intimidating words, nor with a single statistic. Titled “The importance of stupidity in scientific research,” the article described the value of feeling comfortable in the face of ignorance and lack of knowledge. As we prepared to dive into the vast unknowns of the mechanisms of cancer, our teacher wanted us to realize that asking questions is not simply the manifestation of a lack of experience, but the acceptance of it. Often, students think that asking questions makes them feel and look ignorant, but, in Mr. De’s classroom, asking questions was seen as a prerequisite for growth. Because Mr. De never valued right “answers,” he taught me to appreciate inquiry over results and to cherish my ignorance. As a result, I was liberated from the stereotypical classroom environment. While Mr. De taught me to relish ambiguity in science, this process-based approach has altered my thinking in other classes. Mr. Shilts—who is one 80

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“As we prepared to dive into the vast unknowns of the mechanisms of cancer, our teacher wanted us to realize that asking questions is not simply the manifestation of a lack of experience, but the acceptance of it.”

Jenny Coyne ’18

––––––––––––– third football coach, one third Walking Dead fan, and one third English teacher —forced me to abandon ideas of what it means to have literary insight. Pingry’s poetry journal, Mr. Shilts’s brainchild, requires students to explicate a page of analysis on a single line of poetry each week. He implored us to explain something that has not been explained before or even pose new questions. At first, I was skeptical of Mr. Shilts’s methods. I believed that poetry journals were attempts to summon contrived significances from the tiniest details of poems. How could you possibly write a page about only a few words? How could you ever say anything new? My classmates shared these concerns; and our discontent was only amplified when we received our grades. We mounted accusations of impossible standards and denounced poetry journals as our

English teacher’s modern-day paddle. I consistently, and tenaciously, met with the coach-fan-teacher to analyze my work and find ways to improve it. After many weeks, Mr. Shilts finally bestowed on me this gem of wisdom: “Don’t worry so much. Just write something you’re passionate about, kid.” It was this advice that allowed me to write about the implications of punctuation in Jessica Fischer’s “Daywork” and the ambiguity of Shakespeare’s pronoun use in “Sonnet 20.” I became obsessed with the slightest connotations of word choice, the tiniest nuances of phrases, and the hidden meaning of punctuation. As I was writing these poetry journals, I thought to myself that I had only ever experienced such an intense drive to understand a process as an athlete, remembering and replaying critical drills or moments of a game. The same enthusiasm and tenacity I had on the field is what I saw in this new approach to poetry journals. But upon further reflection, field hockey is far from the only experience that I have tried to understand by asking questions about process and detail. Since early childhood, I have psychoanalyzed my friends, asked random questions during long car rides, and explored in the backyard (and itemized the different amphibians that live under the rocks). Mr. De and Mr. Shilts married my outside experiences with those of the classroom, teaching me that the pure and intense desire to ask a question without having a clue about the answer also has a home in school.

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS Friday, November 23

Alumni Class Notes Send us your latest news!

Alumni Squash Event

Basking Ridge Campus — 3:00 p.m.

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

Friday, November 23

If so, we are collecting class notes and photos for the next issue of The Pingry Review.

Manhattan — 6:30 p.m.

Visit pingry.org/classnotes, or mail your note to Holland Sunyak Francisco ’02 The Pingry School 131 Martinsville Road Basking Ridge, NJ 07920

Alumni Hockey Game Beacon Hill Club — 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, November 29

Friday, January 25

Career Day

Basking Ridge Campus

March 11-14

Pingry on the Road in Florida!

Young Alumni Holiday Party

Friday, May 10

December 3-6

Short Hills Campus — 9:00 a.m.

Pingry on the Road in California! Wednesday, December 19

Back-from-College Lunch

Grandparents & Special Friends Day Friday, May 17 and Saturday, May 18

Reunion Weekend Basking Ridge Campus

Basking Ridge Campus — 12:00 p.m.

Check pingry.org/calendar and watch your email for information about upcoming events. Send us your email address! If you haven’t been receiving invitations and updates about Pingry events, we probably don’t have your current contact information. Send your updated email address and mailing address to alumni@pingry.org to get back in the loop!

Facebook: Pingry School Alumni Twitter: @PingryAlumni LinkedIn: Pingry Alumni Network

Changing Jobs? Trying to Find Fellow Alumni? Download the secure and powerful Pingry School Alumni Connect App today and instantly connect and network with fellow Pingry graduates around the world. The app includes a directory of Pingry alumni that’s integrated with LinkedIn and searchable by name, class year, college, industry, company, and city. The app is available on both the Apple and Android platforms.

For volunteer opportunities or any additional questions, please contact:

Holland Sunyak Francisco ’02 Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving hfrancisco@pingry.org 908-647-5555, ext. 1284

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE

PAID The Pingry School Basking Ridge Campus, Middle & Upper Schools Short Hills Campus, Lower School 131 Martinsville Road Basking Ridge, NJ 07920 Change Service Requested

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