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Columbia College 

Fall 2012 

TODAY 

Good 

Chemistry 

James J. Valentini 

Transitions from 

Longtime Professor 

to Dean of the 

College

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COVER STORY 

Contents 

FEATURES 

40 The Home 

Front 

Ai-jen Poo ’96 gives domestic 

workers a voice. 

By Nathalie Alonso ’08 

28 Stand and 

Deliver 

Joel Klein ’67’s extraordinary 

career as an attorney, 

educator and reformer. 

By Chris Burrell 

18 Good Chemistry 

James J. Valentini transitions from longtime professor of 

chemistry to Dean of the College. Meet him in this Q&A 

with CCT Editor Alex Sachare ’71. 

apply for 

membership today! 

15 West 43 street 

neW york, ny 10036 

tel: 212.719.0380 

in residence at The Princeton Club 

of New York 

34 The Open 

Mind of Richard 

Heffner ’46 

The venerable PBS host 

provides a forum for guests 

to examine, question and 

disagree. 

By Thomas Vinciguerra ’85, 

’86J, ’90 GSAS 

www.columbiaclub.org 

COVER: LESLIE JEAN-BART ’76, ’77J; BACK COVER: COLIN SULLIVAN ’11

3 Within the Family 

4 Letters to the 

Editor 

6 Around the Quads 

Columbia hosts Dartmouth 

at Homecoming on Saturday, 

October 20. 

16 Roar, Lion, Roar 

DEPARTMENTS 

Celebrate Homecoming 2012 on Saturday, October 20. 

Like Columbia College on 

Facebook: facebook.com/ 

columbiacollege1754 

Follow @Columbia_CCAA 

on Twitter 

Join the Columbia Alumni 

Association Network on 

LinkedIn: alumni.columbia. 

edu/linkedin 

44 Columbia Forum: 

College: What It Was, 

Is, and Should Be 

A reflection on college and 

the role it should play in our 

challenging times. 

By Andrew Delbanco 

49 Message from the 

CCAA President 

Kyra Tirana Barry ’87 on 

the successful inaugural 

summer of alumnisponsored 

internships. 

50 Bookshelf 

52 Obituaries 

56 Class Notes 

85 Alumni Sons and 

Daughters 

Alumni Profiles 

70 Robert Shlaer ’63 

91 Macky Alston ’87 

99 Alexandra Epstein ’07 

Robert Shlaer ’63 

WEB EXTRAS 

ALUMNI NEWS 

5 More Minutes with Robert Y. Shapiro 

Listen to Performances by Anthony da Costa ’13 

Ai-jen Poo ’96 Speaks Up for Domestic Workers 

Gallery of Daguerreotypes by Robert Shlaer ’63 

Watch the Trailer for Macky Alston ’87’s 

Documentary Love Free or Die 

Overtime with Football Coach Pete Mangurian 

Thank You to Our Fiscal Year 2012 Donors 

college.columbia.edu/cct 

104 Alumni Corner 

Ben Ratliff ’90 rediscovers 

the haven of Butler Library, 

especially the stacks. 

Pete Mangurian is the 10th head football coach since 

I came to Columbia as a freshman in 1967. (Yes, we 

were “freshmen” then, not “first-years,” and we even 

wore beanies during Orientation — but that’s a story 

for another time.) Since then, Columbia has compiled 

exactly three winning records in 45 seasons of football. 

So what makes Mangurian think he can succeed where Buff Donelli 

(with the 1961 championship team — alas, before my time — 

as a striking exception); Frank Navarro; Bill Campbell ’62, ’64 TC; 

Bob Naso; Jim Garrett; Larry McElreavy; Ray Tellier; Bob Shoop; 

and Norries Wilson largely did not? 

“I’ve been doing this for 33 years,” Mangurian 

said in August as he prepared for the start of his 

first season at Columbia. “I’ve been fortunate to be 

around some very successful programs. I’ve been to 

what people in the football world would consider 

the pinnacle, the Super Bowl, and I’ve worked in 

organizations that are arguably the best in football. 

Hopefully, I’ve picked some things up along the way. 

“One of the biggest lessons you learn in this 

game is to evaluate the situation objectively, have a 

clear idea of where it is you actually want to go and 

what you want to accomplish, then use your experience 

and the experience of others to put together a 

road map to get there.” 

Mangurian, a former assistant coach with five 

NFL teams and head coach at Cornell from 1998–2000, is not 

about to accept the status quo. 

“I’m not a believer in ‘That’s just the way it is and it’s always 

going to be that way,’” he declared. “I’m not really interested in the 

pitfalls and the things that have come before. Believe me, every day 

I face, ‘Well, that won’t work’ or ‘That’s not the way it is’ or ‘Those 

people won’t cooperate with you.’ It’s myriad things every time 

we turn around. My answer to that at this point is, ‘Why?’ And I 

usually don’t get a very good answer, because the person I’m talking 

to wasn’t even around when that problem took place.” 

One example, he said, is the misperception that the Columbia 

faculty does not support athletics. 

“That’s not true,” he said. “The faculty is more than willing to 

help reach the objective, which is to make sure that these young 

men get the education they need and have experiences they need 

and still be successful at football. They have no problem with 

that. There’s no difference between going to practice and doing 

your homework — you’re practicing for the test. When you put 

things in that perspective, it’s easy to see.” 

Mangurian, whose Cornell teams went from 1–6 in Ivy play 

in his first season to 5–2 in each of the next two years, values the 

journey as well as the destination. 

“If there’s anything that really defines how I approach things, 

it would be this: It’s great to have a goal, everybody has them, 

but the real work is how you get there. A lot of times we focus 

so much on the goal, we don’t focus on how we are going to get 

W I T H I N T H E F A M I L Y 

Déjà Vu All Over Again or 

The Start of Something New? 

PHOTO: EILEEN BARROSO 

there, the methods to achieve that goal. The goal will happen if 

you do the other things along the way.” 

Still, there’s no substitute for the goal, what Mangurian calls 

the “W word.” 

“The bottom line is winning,” he said. “I’m not going to mince 

words on that. It’s winning. That’s life. I have three kids and I’ve 

been through this ‘everybody gets a trophy’ deal. And I get it, 

to a certain extent. But the real world doesn’t work that way. It 

doesn’t work that way in business, it doesn’t work that way in 

the classroom. You get an A or you get a B, and it’s hard to get an 

A. A’s are special. 

“It’s about winning. It’s about being successful. 

But what everybody has to understand is that if 

you do win, then you learned a lot and accomplished 

a lot along the journey. It wasn’t just the 

destination.” 

The Lions began their journey with 12 days of 

spring practice, where Mangurian got to see returning 

players firsthand, and continued through 

preseason training camp, where he focused on the 

32-member class of first-year players. His objective 

in both, rather than to install specific schemes or 

plays, he said, was to find out which players he can 

depend upon. 

“We put a lot more emphasis on finding out who 

we could trust,” he said. “Who’s going to do the 

things we ask him to do when we ask him to do it? Who can we 

count on? We believe in putting more pressure on them in practice 

than they’ll probably have in a game. I guarantee you there will be 

a little bit of relief when these guys get to go out and play and we’re 

not standing right behind them, getting on them. But I think you 

have to harden them. You have to put them on the anvil and hit 

them with the hammer and make them harder, so that when it gets 

tough they’ll be able to respond. It’s no different from a professor 

who teaches his or her class and makes them study. It’s no different.” 

Columbia’s first exam, if you will, comes against Marist on 

September 15, with its first Ivy League test against Princeton on 

September 29, both at home. The offense figures to revolve around 

quarterback Sean Brackett ’13, the team’s leading rusher as well as 

passer last season. Mangurian is hoping some of his young players 

will bolster a defense that features linemen Seyi Adabayo ’13 

and Josh Martin ’13 and linebacker Zach Olinger ’14, but which 

allowed 32.8 points per game last season. 

The Lions were 1–9 last season, the lone victory being a 35–28 

decision over Brown in two overtimes in their season finale. 

“We’ll be better,” Mangurian said. The journey will determine 

how much better. 

For more from CCT’s interview with Mangurian, go to Web Extras at 

college.columbia.edu/cct. 

FALL 2012 

3

Volume 40 Number 1 

Fall 2012 

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER 

Alex Sachare ’71 

EXECUTIVE EDITOR 

Lisa Palladino 

MANAGING EDITOR 

Alexis Tonti ’11 Arts 

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT 

Karen Iorio 

FORUM EDITOR 

Rose Kernochan ’82 Barnard 

CONTRIBUTING WRITER 

Shira Boss ’93, ’97J, ’98 SIPA 

DESIGN CONSULTANT 

Jean-Claude Suarès 

ART DIRECTOR 

Gates Sisters Studio 

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS 

Eileen Barroso 

Leslie Jean-Bart ’76, ’77J 

Randy Monceaux 

Daniel Portalatin 

William Taufic 

Published quarterly by the 

Columbia College Office of 

Alumni Affairs and Development for 

alumni, students, faculty, parents and 

friends of Columbia College. 

Address all correspondence to: 

Columbia College Today 

Columbia Alumni Center 

622 W. 113th St., MC 4530, 1st Fl. 

New York, NY 10025 

212-851-7852 

E-mail (editorial): cct@columbia.edu; 

(advertising): cctadvertising@columbia.edu. 

Online: college.columbia.edu/cct. 

ISSN 0572-7820 

Opinions expressed are those of the 

authors and do not reflect official 

positions of Columbia College 

or Columbia University. 

© 2012 Columbia College Today 

All rights reserved. 

Letters to the Editor 

The Obamas 

I recognize the justifiable pride the College 

community and even the broader University 

community takes in the fact that President 

Obama is an alum [Class of 1983]. 

However, I am getting a bit tired of the 

obsessive articles on the President and the 

many College alums who participate in 

Democratic politics or “progressive” political 

activity. The item that put me over the 

edge was the [Summer 2012] cover story 

on The Obamas. 

There seems to be an assumption on the 

part of the editor and contributing writers 

that the College community is composed 

wholly of political participants from one 

side of the spectrum. I am sure that one 

can find alums who participate and contribute 

meaningfully from the other side 

of the spectrum. And yes, I am a Republican. 

I know of such people. 

The College and my education have 

been instructive to my past and current activities 

in politics and public policy work. 

I would think there would be others if one 

were inclined to try to find them. 

Scott Miller ’82 

Annapolis, Md. 

Wally Broecker ’53 

I was delighted with the Summer 2012 article 

by Timothy Cross ’98 GSAS about Wally 

Broecker ’53, ’58 GSAS. I was aware of his 

work, early on, not through Columbia but 

through my work in the Atomic Energy 

Commission, its short-lived successor the 

Energy Research and Development Administration 

and then the Department of 

Energy. Most of my years there I worked in 

the office supporting basic research in universities 

and our national laboratories. 

I always wondered why I never ran 

into Wally in the College whenever I was 

reminded on paper that he was a member 

of my Class of ’53; I was delighted to learn 

why in the article. Professor [J. Laurence] 

Kulp and the registrar “did good” — but he 

should have had to pass the swimming test! 

One of Wally’s important contributions 

beyond his research is his outstanding ability 

to communicate his work, its results and 

its significance to society. I suspect he often 

was faced with significant frustration in 

dealing with bureaucracies as well as with 

those who, even today, do not accept the 

facts. 

What prompted this letter was the deserved 

recognition given to [Lands’ End 

founder] Gary Comer for his significant 

contribution to Columbia in support of 

Wally’s outstanding scientific work and 

continuing contribution to society. 

While the deserved recognition for Wally’s 

work, the National Medal of Science, is 

properly highlighted, the significant sup- 

Wally Broecker ’53, ’58 GSAS spoke of 

his teaching experiences at a celebration 

in 2010 at the Lamont-Doherty Earth 

Observatory. 

PHOTO: COURTESY LAMONT-DOHERTY EARTH 

OBSERVATORY 

port for research supported by the federal 

government through the years is not noted. 

I’m guessing that the opportunity Professor 

Kulp had to support a research assistant 

in his radiocarbon counting lab in the early 

’50s may have been due to an AEC contract 

he had. What if the budget cutters were active 

then? 

David M. Richman ’53, ’56E 

North Bethesda, Md. 

Former Students 

As usual, I found much more to read in the 

Summer 2012 issue of CCT than I thought 

I would. However, with great respect, I 

take exception to the term “former students” 

for “alumni” in [CCAA President] 

Kyra Tirana Barry ’87’s message. She does 

attribute the term to Dean Valentini (congratulations 

to him!), so I must take exception 

to his use of the term as well. 

One of the many things that came out of 

my education at Columbia College in the 

early 1960s is the notion that as intelligent 

and educated people, we are students until 

we die. Indeed, that sense probably is present, 

perhaps not yet consciously, in everyone 

admitted to the College, and probably 

has something to do with their admission 

in the first instance. While we no longer 

regularly attend classes and don’t work for 

grades, we always are disposed to learn 

things from anyone and everyone who 

knows something that we don’t know, 

who may have an insight that may be interesting 

or worthwhile, who may have 

experiences from which we might benefit 

from knowing about. And just as a teacher 

sometimes learns something from his or 

her students, so we sometimes enlighten 

those from whom we learn as well. 

Let’s please stick to “alumni.” 

Ed Steinberg ’64, ’66 Arch. 

White Plains, N.Y. 

[Editor’s note: Valentini explains his preference 

for the term “former students” in this issue’s 

cover story.] 

An Alumnus’ Thanks 

On May 1, former dean of Barnard Dorothy 

Denburg and I were honored by the 

Columbia/Barnard Hillel and the Kraft 

Center at their annual dinner. During the 

course of my few words of appreciation in 

accepting the honor, I referenced my education 

at Columbia (Class of 1953) and it 

was suggested to me that I send you what 

I said about that education. 

I owe so much to this great university 

for the wonderful education I received. The 

Jack Beeson 

PHOTO: WILLIAM E. BARKSDALE 

world of western civilization opened before 

me in the Contemporary Civilization 

and Humanities courses. Through them, I 

formed intellectual relationships with some 

of the greatest minds in human history. My 

Art Humanities course was a revelation 

to me, as I was a virtual ignoramus in that 

field. My Music Humanities course with 

Professor Jack Beeson, then just an instructor 

and not yet a famous composer, and my 

opera course with Professor Otto Leuning 

— I will never forget his long arms waving 

as a conductor in his discussions and dramatizations 

of opera — greatly enhanced 

my natural talent in, and love for, music, 

and gave me a deeper understanding of 

music that enriches my life to this day. 

I had the opportunity to be taught by 

great faculty such as Professor Irwin Edman 

(Class of 1916) in philosophy, Professor 

David Truman in government and, for 

me, the most wonderful of them all, Professor 

Henry Graff ’49 GSAS in American 

history. Professor Graff is one of the few 

people who still calls me Hacky. We formed 

a lifelong friendship and association. He 

has been to my synagogue any number of 

times to discuss the presidency and, occasionally, 

a forthcoming election. It would 

have been worth coming to Columbia just 

to meet him. 

Rabbi Haskel Lookstein ’53 

New York City 

Corrections 

The Spring 2012 feature “The Full Spectrum,” 

profiling FCC Chairman Julius 

Genachowski ’85, contained three factual 

errors. Genachowski majored in history, 

not art history; his son attends Kenyon, 

Henry Graff ’49 GSAS 

not Michigan; and he did not ever share 

an apartment with former Rep. Anthony 

Weiner. 

The Alumni Corner about Lou Gehrig 

’25 in the same issue incorrectly listed the 

date of his famous “luckiest man on the 

face of the Earth” speech, due to an error 

in editing. The speech took place at a ceremony 

in Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939. 

CCT regrets the errors. 

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CCT welcomes letters from readers about 

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contactus. 

FALL 2012 

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FALL 2012 

5

COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY 


AROUND THE QUADS 

AROUND 

THE 

QUADS 

Homecoming 2012 Pits 

Lions vs. Dartmouth 

Campbell Sports Center benefactor William V. Campbell ’62, ’64 TC and Athletics Director 

M. Dianne Murphy at the center’s groundbreaking at Homecoming 2011. 

PHOTOS: EILEEN BARROSO 

Campbell Sports 

Center Dedication 

11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. 

All Homecoming attendees are 

invited to the dedication of The 

Campbell Sports Center, the new 

cornerstone of the revitalized Baker 

Athletics Complex. The center will 

foster Columbia spirit and transform 

the student-athlete experience by 

creating an attractive year-round 

hub for student-athletes, coaches, 

staff and administrators. The center 

honors, and is made possible by, one 

of Columbia’s most accomplished 

athletics alumni: captain of the 1961 

Ivy League Champion football team, 

former Lions head football coach, 

“Coach of Silicon Valley” and chair 

of the University trustees, William V. 

Campbell ’62, ’64 TC. 

Schiller To Be Presented 2012 Alexander Hamilton Medal 

The Lions take on the Big Green at Homecoming on Saturday, October 20. The day features fun activities for Columbians of all ages. 

Baker Athletics Complex will 

be the site of Homecoming 

2012 on Saturday, October 20, 

featuring the pregame picnic 

lunch under the Big Tent, the 

Columbia Homecoming Carnival and the 

Lions taking on the Big Green. An extra 

highlight this year will be the dedication 

of The Campbell Sports Center (see box 

at right). 

The festivities start at 11 a.m. with a 

hearty barbecue buffet, open until 1:30 

p.m. Picnic tickets are $20 for adults and 

$10 for children under 12 if purchased 

online by Thursday, October 18: college. 

columbia.edu/alumni/homecoming. 

Picnic tickets also are available on site: 

$22 for adults and $12 for children. 

Each ticket includes an all-you-can-eat 

lunch, soft drinks and admittance to the 

Columbia Homecoming Carnival. Beer, 

wine and cocktails are available at an additional 

cost. There also will be limited 

cash-and-carry items. The Columbia 

Alumni Association will sponsor halftime 

refreshments under the Big Tent. 

The Columbia Homecoming Carnival 

opens at 11 a.m. and stays open until 3 p.m. 

with face painting, balloon making, magic, 

games, prizes and interactive activities. 

The Ivy League football matchup, the 

first Homecoming game for new Lions 

coach Pete Mangurian, kicks off at Robert 

K. Kraft Field at 1:30 p.m. To purchase 

football tickets, which are separate from 

picnic tickets, call 888-LIONS-11 or 

purchase online: gocolumbialions.com/ 

tickets. Premium chairback seats are $25 

and reserved bench seats are $15. 

Columbia University Athletics will 

sponsor complimentary shuttle buses 

from the Morningside campus to and 

from Baker Athletics Complex beginning 

at 11 a.m. and returning immediately following 

the game. Campus pickup will be 

from the gates at West 116th Street and 

Broadway. 

Fans also may use mass transit. The A 

and 1 subways as well as the M100, Bx20 

and Bx7 buses stop near Baker. If traveling 

by Metro-North Railroad, the Marble 

Hill station is on the north shore of Spuyten 

Duyvil, just across the Broadway 

Bridge from the complex. 

On-site preferred parking is available 

only to those making qualifying gifts to 

Columbia football. Single-game parking 

passes are not available. Fans without 

on-site preferred parking passes will be 

directed to public parking facilities. 

For more information about game day, 

the picnic and parking, visit www.go 

columbialions.com/footballgameday. 

Jonathan Schiller ’69, ’73L will be presented 

the 2012 Alexander Hamilton 

Medal on Thursday, November 15, 

at the Alexander Hamilton Award 

Dinner, an annual black-tie event 

in Low Rotunda. The medal, the highest 

honor paid to a member of the Columbia 

College community, is awarded by the 

Columbia College Alumni Association 

to an alumnus/a or faculty member for 

distinguished service to the College and 

accomplishment in any field of endeavor. 

Schiller, a University trustee and a 

member of the Dean’s Council of the Law 

School, received a John Jay Award for 

distinguished professional achievement 

in 2006. He was a member of the 1967–68 

Ivy League Championship basketball 

team and was inducted with that squad 

into the Columbia University Athletics 

Hall of Fame in February 2006. 

The Jonathan D. Schiller Endowment 

in International Human Rights was created 

in 2006 at the Law School by the 

Schiller family and provides funding 

for summer fellowships in international 

human rights. Schiller’s most recent commitments 

to the College include establishing 

the Jonathan Schiller Scholarship 

Fund in June 2011. 

As co-founder and managing partner 

of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, Schiller has 

more than 35 years of experience trying 

cases throughout the United States and 

is recognized as a leading practitioner in 

international arbitration. He was elected 

a fellow of the American Bar Foundation 

and appointed to the Milan Chamber of 

Commerce Club of Arbitrators. He also 

was appointed to the Board of Trustees of 

the Supreme Court Historical Society in 

Washington, D.C. 

Schiller was recognized by Who’s Who 

Legal as one of the most highly regarded 

individuals, “the real deal,” in its listing 

of the Top Ten International Commercial 

Litigators for 2011. He also was recently 

cited by Lawdragon as one of its “500 

Leading Lawyers in America” for the 

sixth consecutive year. Chambers and 

Partners, a legal research organization 

that publishes annual peer-reviewed 

evaluations of the world’s leading law 

firms and lawyers, recognized Schiller “as 

a leading practitioner in the field of international 

arbitration,” and The US Legal 

500 2010 Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers 

named him as “one of the premier 

international arbitration attorneys in the 

world” and “a seasoned practitioner with 

an impressive reputation.” He also was 

named “Litigator of the Week” by American 

Lawyer earlier this year following 

Barclays’ successful trial defense against 

$13 billion in claims sought by Lehman 

Brothers bankruptcy estates. 

Schiller is married to Marla Prather ’88 

GSAS, who earned a master’s in art history. 

Their sons also are Columbia alumni: 

Zachary ’01, Joshua ’08L and Aaron ’06. 

For more information on the dinner, 

contact Robin Vanderputten, associate 

director, College events and programs: 

robinv@columbia.edu or 212-851-7399. 

FALL 2012 

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FALL 2012 

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AROUND THE QUADS COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY AROUND THE QUADS 

Encyclopaedia Iranica Project Reaches Milestone 

Ehsan Yarshater knows something 

about dedication. After four decades 

of work on the monumental 

Encyclopaedia Iranica, he announced 

the reference work has 

reached the midpoint of its completion: 15 

published volumes, reaching into the letter 

K. Yarshater, the Hagop Kevorkian Professor 

Emeritus of Iranian Studies, also has 

been the project’s primary fundraiser, successfully 

lobbying individual donors and 

the National Endowment for the Humanities 

(NEH) as well as contributing art and 

rare books for sale from his personal collection. 

Most recently, with the economy 

down and funding becoming scarce, he let 

go of a prized Rodin sculpture to support 

the cause. 

CCT first profiled Yarshater, 

who conceived the research and 

publishing project in 1972, in 

November 2003. At that time, 

the Encyclopaedia was at letter 

H and its editors had started 

publishing entries online, out 

of alphabetical order. Now, all 

previously published volumes 

have been digitized into a free, 

searchable online version of the 

encyclopedia (iranicaonline.org) 

with 6,500 entries, including 

more than 850 entries published 

digitally in advance of eventual 

inclusion in the print volumes. 

“At a time when accurate 

information about Islam and 

Iran is overlooked by Americans 

in place of simplifications and 

sound bites, the editors of [Enclyclopaedia 

Iranica] are performing 

a public service by making authoritative 

articles by eminent academics freely available,” 

a reviewer for NEH wrote last year. 

“The quality, clarity and detail of the articles 

is remarkable. It is, bar none, the most 

accurate and trustworthy online resource I 

know of for information on Islam.” 

The Encyclopaedia covers not only Islam 

and the modern-day country of Iran but 

also the history, culture and science of all 

the lands that speak or once spoke any 

Iranian language. Another NEH reviewer 

called it “unequalled in the scholarly 

world for its depth, breadth and accessibility 

to academic and non-academic audiences 

alike.” At completion it will rival the 

length of some general encyclopedias, but 

B y Shira Boss ’93, ’97J, ’98 SIPA 

Ehsan Yarshater, seen here in his office, has dedicated 40 years to 

the Encyclopaedia Iranica project. 

PHOTO: MARCUS YAM/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX 

its anticipated 32–35 volumes are unique 

in their dedication to one country and one 

culture. 

The Encyclopaedia contains extensive 

essays on art, literature, religion, philosophy, 

geography, customs, architecture, 

flora and fauna. But even those labels are 

too broad: flora and fauna, for example, 

are considered not only in terms of botany 

and zoology but also in terms of the 

uses of plants and animals in folklore and 

popular medicine. More than 40 languages 

and dialects have been covered thus 

far, with explanations of their grammar 

and sample vocabularies. Various calendars 

and festivals are catalogued; the 

stars and constellations are explored as 

astronomy, astrology and folklore. Clothing 

through the eras and across provinces 

is described, not just the style but also the 

material, and not just the cloth but also 

the actual weaving (the subject spans 28 

articles). Entries extend right up to present-day 

topics, including Iranian cinema, 

ecology and feminist movements. 

The Encyclopaedia is limited in its progress 

by the scarcity of experts to cover such 

vast ground. Scholars must be ferreted out 

globally and invited to write entries one at 

a time; more than 1,500 have contributed 

work so far. “If we had 2,000 scholars 

ready to write for us, the encyclopedia 

could finish in 1½ years,” Yarshater says. 

As it is, the project is expected to take nearly 

another decade. Moreover, the number 

of Iranian scholars is declining by attrition 

— Yarshater says today’s students cannot 

go to Iran to study as readily under the 

Islamic government, so they turn to other 

areas of the world. “The Encyclopaedia 

Iranica is not repeatable, because a number 

of elements came together and made it 

possible,” says Yarshater, who founded 

the University’s Center for Iranian Studies 

in 1968 and was chair of the Department 

of Middle East and Asian Languages and 

Cultures from 1968–73. He founded the 

project at Columbia (before the 1979 Iranian 

revolution) out of frustration that there 

was not an impartial and comprehensive 

pre-Islamic reference work in the field. 

The Encyclopaedia is among the longest 

continually funded projects (33 years) 

supported by the NEH, and 

private donors once generously 

supported it as well. In the recent 

recession, however, NEH 

funding has been reduced to 

half what it once was (though 

the project receives the current 

maximum amount possible for 

its category, $300,000 for two 

years). Private donors have 

largely snapped their purses 

shut, and gala benefit dinners 

— which used to raise a half 

million dollars at a time — have 

been on hold since 2007. 

Through the years, Yarshater’s 

own donations of books 

and art have been made via the 

Persian Heritage Foundation, 

which he formed in 1983 to 

support research on all aspects 

of the Iranian world. He’d resisted, 

however, when a representative of 

Christie’s auction house, who was visiting 

his apartment on Riverside Drive, asked 

if he would be interested in selling The 

Kiss, a Rodin sculpture he bought from a 

Rockefeller at a 1975 auction. But in 2009, 

Yarshater changed his mind: “We needed 

money to run our project. I thought, the 

time of the Rodin had come.” 

The 34-inch-high sculpture has a 

lovely patina and is what Christie’s described 

as an “extremely rare bronze cast, 

known as the Milwaukee version, one of 

only five created during the artist’s lifetime 

from the plaster model of the classic 

sculpture.” The auction house catalogue 

estimated it would bring $1.5–$2 million. 

Yarshater was working on the encyclopedia 

in his office when a Christie’s representative 

called with news of the final 

hammer price: $6,354,500. 

“Within a matter of weeks, the money 

was fed into our account, and our editors 

and other staff could be paid,” Yarshater 

says. “Rodin came to our rescue.” 

The sale allowed the encyclopedia 

staff to expand by two editors; it now has 

eight. Yarshater, 92, works full-time as 

the project’s volunteer general editor. In 

recent years he has also conceived and is 

general editor of another definitive reference 

project, the 20-volume A History of 

Persian Literature. 

“I am hoping that with the help of my 

colleagues we can bring the Encyclopaedia 

project to the end of its first edition in 

2020,” says Yarshater. “If we succeed, a 

great project, in fact the greatest academic 

project ever conceived and carried out in 

the field of Iranian studies — and one that 

contributes to a variety of fields in the humanities 

— will have been achieved.” 

Shira Boss ’93, ’97J, ’98 SIPA is contributing 

writer to CCT and a graduate student at 

the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter 

College. 

“Columbia is like 

one of my children– 

and my estate 

plans reflect that 

connection.” 

—Lisa Carnoy ’89 CC 

University Trustee 

Popkin, Yao To Receive 

Great Teachers Award 

Cathy Popkin, the Jesse and George 

Siegel Professor in the Humanities 

and professor of Russian, Department 

of Slavic Languages, and David Yao, 

professor of industrial engineering and 

operations research at Columbia Engineering, 

have been named the recipients 

of the 2012 Great Teachers Award. The 

awards will be presented at the Society 

of Columbia Graduates Awards Dinner in 

Low Rotunda on Wednesday, October 24. 

Popkin joined Columbia’s Slavic department 

in 1986 and is a scholar of literary 

theory and 19th- and 20th-century 

Russian prose, specifically Chekhov. A 

mainstay of the Literature Humanities 

faculty, she is known for hosting reunions 

with her former Lit Hum students when 

they are graduating seniors. Described by 

one student as “one of Columbia’s prized 

jewels,” Popkin also is a recipient of the 

2012 Distinguished Columbia Faculty 

Award. 

Yao joined the Department of Industrial 

Engineering in 1983. After a three-year 

“Past generations transformed 

my experience here,” says 

Carnoy. “Now it’s my turn to 

invest in tomorrow’s Columbia.” 

Join Lisa Carnoy in the 1754 

Society— alumni and friends 

making a difference through 

bequests and other planned gifts 

to the University. 

stay at Harvard, he returned to Columbia 

as a full professor in 1988. His teaching 

and research interests focus on the 

analysis, design and control of stochastic 

systems such as manufacturing systems, 

supply chains and communication networks. 

He has been the principal architect 

of several academic programs at 

Columbia Engineering, including the master’s 

program in financial engineering. 

The Society of Columbia Graduates 

established the Great Teachers Award in 

1949 to honor outstanding members of 

the faculty teaching in the College and 

Engineering. Recipients have included 

Jacques Barzun ’27, ’32 GSAS; Mark Van 

Doren ’21 GSAS; Lionel Trilling ’25, ’38 

GSAS; Kathy Eden; Alan Brinkley; Andrew 

Delbanco; and Mark Mazower. 

For further information, contact 

Gerald Sherwin ’55: 917-763-7061 or 

gs481@juno.com; or Peter Basilevsky 

’67, ’72L: 212-818-9200 or pbasilevsky@ 

ssbb.com; or visit the society’s website 

(socg.com). 

Make Columbia part of your legacy 

To learn more, e-mail gift.planning@columbia.edu or call 800-338 - 3294. 

FALL 2012 

8


Robert Y. Shapiro, who specializes 

in American politics, 

is a professor and former 

chair of the Department of 

Political Science. His most 

recent books include The 

Oxford Handbook of American 

Public Opinion and the 

Media (edited with Lawrence 

R. Jacobs) and Selling 

Fear:Counterterrorism, 

the Media, and Public 

Opinion (with Columbia’s 

Brigitte L. Nacos and 

Yaeli Bloch-Elkon). Shapiro 

earned a B.S. from MIT and 

a Ph.D. from Chicago; he has 

worked at Columbia since 

1982 and last sat for “5 Minutes 

with” in summer 2008. 

You recently returned from 

Egypt. Tell me about that. 

I was invited to speak at 

the American University in 

Cairo by the president of the 

univer sity, Lisa Anderson, 

who is a former dean of 

SIPA. She in vited three of 

her successor department 

chairs, including myself, to 

run a 3 ½-day workshop on 

research methods in political 

science for the purposes of, 

as I like to say, jumpstarting 

interest in quantitative approaches 

to political science 

and studying political issues 

relevant to the students and 

faculty. 

How did it go? 

It went well; we got people’s 

attention. We talked about 

big-picture issues that were 

quite relevant to what’s 

been happening in Egypt — 

things like the relationship 

between democracy and 

economic development, the 

relationship between Islam 

and democratization, the 

relationship between Islam 

and oil, and the empowerment 

of women in the Middle 

East and elsewhere and 

then, also, the relationship 

between democratization 

and political conflict, civil 

wars and things like that. 

Will you be involved with 

the U.S. presidential election 

this fall? 

As of now, I don’t have any 

plans to be. The last election 

I was involved in was doing 

exit poll analysis for ABC 

News, in 2008. But I do follow 

the data regularly and more 

so as the election nears. 

And what are you seeing? 

One, polls show that the upcoming 

election is going to be 

a close election — you don’t 

have to be a political science 

expert or professor to get a 

sense of that. But to put it in 

historical context, the competitiveness 

of politics is very 

different now from the latter 

part of the 20th century, when 

both parties were competitive 

for control of the White House 

but the Democrats, for a big 

chunk of the post-war period, 

controlled the Senate and the 

House of Representatives. That 

changed beginning in 1980 

when the Republicans won 

the Senate on Ronald Reagan’s 

coattails and then continued 

in 1994, which was a very important 

election — the Republicans 

were finally able to get 

control of the House of Representatives, 

which they hadn’t 

done in 40 some-odd years. 

The other pattern is the 

overall nature of partisan 

conflict in the United States. 

The parties are divided at the 

level of political leadership 

and you find the same thing 

at an unprecedented level in 

mass public opinion, where 

Democrats and Republicans 

more consistently think of 

themselves and call themselves 

liberals and conservatives 

and take identifiable, 

predictable patterns of liberal 

and conservative opinions 

on policy issues in a way that 

they hadn’t in the middle of 

the 20th century. 

FALL 2012 

10 

What are you focusing on 

these days with regard to 

your own research? 

I recently worked with some 

undergraduates, looking at 

American public opinion 

trends toward the Mideast 

conflict, focusing on the Israelis 

and the Palestinians. And 

then I’m also working on a 

Five Minutes with ... Robert Y. Shapiro 

higher-priority book project 

with my recent collaborators, 

Nacos and Bloch-Elkon, looking 

at the Tea Party movement 

and the Occupy Wall 

Street movement — how they 

were covered by the media 

and how they, in turn, used 

the mass media and social 

media in their efforts. And 

what broader effects this has 

had on American politics. 

Would you anticipate that 

the Tea Party and Occupy 

Wall Street will continue 

to have as much influence 

moving forward? 

What movements are successful 

at, if not persuading people 

to adopt the opinions they 

adopt, is to make issues visible 

and more salient. With the 

Tea Party, things had settled 

down for a while — the party 

seemed to have lost some of 

its luster — but things are 

now heating up in the current 

election, and the Republican 

party is a stronger 

conservative party because 

of the Tea Party movement. 

As for the effect of Occupy, 

the big question is, had they 

not become active in the way 

they were, would the 

Democrats and 

Obama have 

used the issue 

of economic 

inequality 

the way 

they are in 

the current 

campaign? 

We can’t run the experiment, 

but I suspect they may have 

not. 

What does your middle initial 

Y stand for? 

Yale. Has nothing to do with 

the university. It’s an Anglicized 

and greatly shortened 

Yiddish name. 

Is there anything else 

you think we should 

talk about? 

I still like pizza. [laughs] 

That’s right. You mentioned 

that the last time you sat 

with CCT. 

The funny part was, when my 

wife read the interview, she 

said she learned some things 

about me that she didn’t 

know. She didn’t really fully 

appreciate how much my favorite 

food is pizza. 

Did she know about your 

dream of being shortstop for 

the Yankees? 

No, but anybody who knew 

me when I was young would 

understand that. 

Interview: Alexis Tonti ’11 Arts 

Photo: Eileen Barroso 

For more conversation with 

Shapiro, go to Web Extras at 


Virginia W. Cornish ’91 Named Helena Rubinstein Professor 

Virginia W. Cornish ’91, the first 

College alumna to become a 

tenured professor at the University, 

has been named the Helena 

Rubinstein Professor of Chemistry. 

The Helena Rubinstein Foundation created 

a $2 million endowed professorship in 

support of the advancement of women in 

science at Columbia, and Cornish was announced 

as the inaugural appointee of this 

chair on June 5 at the Northwest Corner 

Building, the site of her laboratory. Working 

at the interface of chemistry and biology, 

Cornish’s lab brings together organic chemistry 

and DNA technology to expand the 

synthetic capabilities of living cells. 

Trustees Chair Emerita G.G. Michelson 

’47L, longtime chair of the Helena Rubinstein 

Foundation, and Diane Moss, president 

of the foundation, were instrumental 

in working with Columbia to identify an 

appropriate and enduring recognition of 

Rubinstein’s legacy. Rubinstein often said 

that her “fortune comes from women and 

should be used to benefit them and their 

children, to better their quality of life” 

and “to encourage women to undertake 

higher education and to pursue nontraditional 

careers.” 

Classes 

1943 

1948 

1953 

1958 

1963 

1968 

1973 

1978 

1983 

1988 

1993 

1998 

2003 

2008 

C O L U M B I A C O L L E G E 

ALUMNI REUNION WEEKEND 

Make plans now to return to New 

York City and the Columbia campus 

for Alumni Reunion Weekend 2013. 

The weekend will feature: 

Class-specific activities, cocktail receptions and dinners 

planned by each class’s Reunion Committee; 

“Back on Campus” sessions featuring Mini-Core Courses, 

Public Intellectual Lectures and more as part of Dean’s 

Day on Saturday; 

New York City entertainment options including an art 

gallery crawl, Broadway shows and other cultural activities; 

All-class programs including the Wine Tasting and the 

Starlight Reception, with dancing, champagne and sweets 

on Low Plaza; and 

Camp Columbia for Kids, ages 3–12. 

Virginia W. Cornish ’91 is joined at the announcement by her colleague and mentor, University 

Professor Ronald Breslow (left), and Joseph Dougherty ’95 GSAS, who also worked 

in Breslow’s lab. 

PHOTO: SUSAN COOK 

In an effort to reduce costs and be environmentally friendly, 

Columbia College Alumni Affairs and your class’s Reunion 

Committee will communicate with you via email as much 

as possible. Be sure you don’t miss out on reunion details! 

Update your contact information at reunion.college. 

columbia.edu/alumniupdate. 

Watch your mail and email for details. 

Questions? Please contact 

Fatima Yudeh, alumni affairs: 

fy2165@columbia.edu 

or 212-851-7834. 

COLLEGE 

COLLEGE 

COLUMBIA ALUMNI REUNION 

WEEKEND 

SAVE THE DATE THURSDAY, MAY 30–- SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013


ALUMNI IN THE NEWS 

n Ronald Weich ’80, former assistant attorney 

general for legislative affairs in the 

Department of Justice and former chief 

counsel to both Senate Majority Leader 

Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Edward 

Kennedy (D-Mass.), was named dean of 

the University of Baltimore School of Law 

in April. In a press release announcing 

Weich’s appointment, University of Baltimore 

President Robert L. Bogomolny said, 

“Ron Weich is the right person to continue 

the growth and transformation of the UB 

School of Law. During this time of considerable 

transition in legal education and 

the legal profession, it is important to have 

leadership with integrity and vision. Ron 

Weich embodies those qualities.” 

n The Vatican hired Fox News correspondent 

Greg Burke ’82, ’83J as its senior 

communications adviser in June. His appointment 

comes in the wake of a series of 

public relations issues, including attacks 

by international media on the lack of transparency 

at the Vatican bank and the leak of 

classified documents, claiming corruption 

within the Vatican, by Pope Benedict XVI’s 

butler. In an interview with The New York 

Times, Burke compared his new role to that 

of the White House press secretary: “It’s 

a strategy job. It’s very simple to explain, 

not so easy to execute: to formulate the 

message and try to make sure everyone 

remains on message,” he said. The first 

communications expert hired outside the 

Roman Catholic media, Burke covered the 

death of Pope John Paul II and the election 

of Benedict for Fox News, where he had 

worked since 2001. 

Greg Burke ’82, ’83J 

PHOTO: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/GETTYIMAGES 

n ESPN reported in August 

that entrepreneur 

Randy Lerner ’84, ’87L has 

reached an agreement to 

sell the NFL’s Cleveland 

Browns to truck-stop magnate 

Jimmy Haslam for 

more than $1 billion. He 

now will focus on another 

of his sports properties, 

the Aston Villa soccer 

team in England’s Premier 

League. Lerner inherited 

the Browns from his father, 

Alfred Lerner ’55, namesake 

of Columbia’s Alfred 

Lerner Hall student center, 

who died in 2002. Al Lerner 

purchased the then-inactive franchise 

from the NFL in 1998 for $350 million. 

n A July New York Times article praised the 

unconventional self-promotional strategies 

of venture capital firm Andreessen 

Horowitz, co-founded by Ben Horowitz 

’88. The article notes that while “most 

venture capitalists operated under levels 

of secrecy typically reserved for Swiss 

banks,” Andreessen Horowitz has worked 

to brand itself as a top firm, featured on 

the cover of Fortune and Wired magazines 

and in Vanity Fair’s 2011 “New Establishment” 

list of the year’s top influencers. 

The Times reports: “All that pitching seems 

to have paid off. In just three years, the 

firm has raised $2.7 billion — more than 

any other venture capital firm in that same 

time span.” Horowitz’s public persona 

includes a blog (bhorowitz.com) on which 

he presents business lessons alongside 

lyrics from hip-hop songs. The 

Times also reports that Horowitz 

was invited to speak at Harvard’s 

hip-hop archives and rapper Snoop 

Dogg, now known as Snoop Lion, 

has requested a meeting with him. 

n The Radio Television Digital 

News Association presented Phyllis 

Fletcher ’94 with a 2012 National 

Edward R. Murrow Award in Audio 

Feature Reporting for her story 

“Secrets of a Blonde Bombshell,” 

which originally aired in September 

2011 on Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen. 

A reporter and editor for Seattle’s 

KUOW public radio station, 

Fletcher uncovered that the subject 

of her story, the “blonde bombshell 

bandleader” Ina Ray Hutton of 

FALL 2012 

12 

Phyllis Fletcher ’94 

PHOTO: JOSH KNISELY 

1930s swing band fame, 

was actually part black and 

had been passing as white 

since childhood. Hutton, 

who conducted, sang and 

tap danced in her all-female 

band the Melodears, 

died in 1984 having never 

acknowledged her black 

heritage. The story also 

received a Gracie Award 

for Outstanding Portrait/ 

Biography from the Alliance 

for Women in Media 

Foundation. In a KUOW 

press release, Fletcher said, 

“I’m thrilled for the late Ms. 

Hutton and her family that 

this new telling of her life story has been 

acknowledged with a Gracie Award, and 

has shone new light on Hutton’s contribution 

to music history.” 

n In June, Institutional Investor magazine 

named Rick Nardis ’98 of UBS to its list 

of hedge fund rising stars. Nardis joined 

UBS in 2001 as a senior investment officer 

working at one of the company’s fund-ofhedge-funds 

businesses. From the time 

he came on board until 2008 when he was 

named co-CIO, the group’s assets grew 

from $900 million to $48 billion. Despite 

losing ground during the financial crisis, 

Nardis’ group has climbed back to $28.5 

billion and went from being one of six 

fund-of-hedge-funds companies at UBS 

to its only remaining one. According to 

Institutional Investor, “Hedge fund managers 

and investors alike say they have 

the utmost respect for Nardis.” 

n Maggie Gyllenhaal ’99 stars alongside 

Viola Davis in the film Won’t Back Down, 

a drama in which two mothers stand 

up against a powerful bureaucracy to 

transform their children’s failing innercity 

school in Pittsburgh. Inspired by true 

events, the film focuses on trigger laws 

— which currently exist in four states and 

are being considered in a dozen more 

— through which parents can demand 

changes to, or even a complete restructuring 

of, their children’s schools if a majority 

sign a petition. USA Today reported 

in August, “It’s rare that a Hollywood 

movie actually gets out in front of a social 

trend, but when Won’t Back Down premieres 

this September, it may well spawn 

reams of petitions from fed-up parents.” 

Karen Iorio 

Columbia College Fund Exceeds FY12 Goal, Raises $16.3 Million 

The Columbia College Fund exceeded 

its $16 million Fiscal Year 

2012 goal, raising $16,296,000, or 

$650,000 more than FY11. More 

than 11,350 alumni, parents, students and 

friends of the College contributed to the 

College Fund, which raises money for 

financial aid, the Core Curriculum, student 

services and summer internship stipends. 

The FY12 total includes donations 

received from July 1, 2011–June 30, 2012. 

The College Fund comprises several 

sub-categories, each of which built on 

FY11’s successes. 

The Parents Fund raised a record $2.86 

million from almost 1,550 donors, representing 

a 30 percent increase in dollars and 

a 26 percent increase in donors as compared 

to FY11. 

The reunion Class of 1962 presented 

a $1.13 million Class Gift to the College 

Fund — the largest reunion Class Gift 

ever given by a 50th-anniversary class. 

Also setting fundraising records for their 

respective reunions were the Classes of 

1982, 1987 and 1992, and the Class of 1967 

had the best fundraising year in its class 

history. 

Travel with Columbia 

Learn more. Stay connected 

alumni.columbia.edu 

Recent alumni, representing the Classes 

of 1992–2001, raised more than $1.3 million, 

a 60 percent increase as compared 

to FY11. And the Young Alumni Fund, 

representing the Classes of 2002–2011, was 

well over its goal of $317,000 for the year, 

with almost $375,000 raised. This group 

also set a participation record with nearly 

1,800 donors, an increase of about 370 

from FY11. 

Seniors, who are encouraged early to 

forge a connection with the College by 

giving back, showed their support as 

well. More than 750 participated in the 

Senior Fund — raising more than $17,000 

— and 235 signed up for the Dean’s 3-2-1 

Challenge, for which they agreed to give 

at least $20.12 for three years, to ask two 

friends to do the same and to have their 

gifts matched 1:1. (This year, Gene Davis 

’75 matched the gifts.) By reaching its 

Senior Gift goal, the Senior Fund secured 

a $100,000 gift from Charles Santoro ’82 to 

the Columbia College Fund. 

“The remarkable success of the College 

Fund is directly attributable to the 

outstanding leadership and generosity 

of alumni, parents, students and friends. 

Their dedication to alma mater helps make 

Columbia College the greatest undergraduate 

experience available in the world,” 

said Allen Rosso, executive director of the 

Columbia College Fund. 

To make a gift to the Columbia College 

Fund in FY13, give by credit card at col 

lege.columbia.edu/giveonline or by calling 

212-851-7488, or mail a check, payable 

to Columbia College Fund, to Columbia 

College Fund, Columbia Alumni Center, 

622 W. 113th St., MC 4530, 3rd Fl., New 

York, NY 10025. 

Hire Columbians 

Who better to hire Columbia students 

than Columbia alumni? That’s the idea 

behind “Hire Columbians,” a campaign 

by the Center for Career Education to 

get Columbia alumni to hire students 

for internships or full-time positions. 

For more information, go to careered 

ucation.columbia.edu/hirecolumbians. 

EGYPT & 

THE ETERNAL NILE 

MARCH 13–29, 2013 

Discover the treasures of Egypt from antiquity to modernity on a unique 

adventure from March 13 -29, 2013. Our journey begins in Cairo with its 

renowned ancient sites: the Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, Memphis, 

Sakkara, Old Cairo, and the Egyptian Museum. Cruise on Lake Nasser, 

where the country’s fascinating Nubian history unfolds. Visit ancient temples 

and monuments salvaged during the construction of the Aswan High 

Dam, including Abu Simbel, dating to the 13th century b.c. Travel along 

the Nile from Aswan to Luxor, with its acclaimed temples and tombs and 

explore the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens on the Nile’s 

West Bank. On the East Bank, visit Karnak, the greatest temple complex of 

them all. Depart from Luxor for the final leg of your journey in the Mediterranean 

port of Alexandria, one of antiquity’s most illustrious cities. 

For more information about any of our trips, visit alumni.columbia.edu/travel or call 866-325-8664.


Folk singer and songwriter 

Anthony da Costa ’13 was 

just 13 when he started frequenting 

open mics near his 

hometown of Pleasantville, 

N.Y., in Westchester. He had not yet 

reached his next birthday when he 

branched out to venues in New York 

City, including Columbia’s iconic Postcrypt 

Coffeehouse. And by the time 

he enrolled in the College itself, 

he’d performed around the country, 

recorded several albums and distinguished 

himself as the youngest 

winner of several prestigious folk 

competitions. 

“He lives and breathes it,” says 

Fred Gillen Jr., a Hudson Valleybased 

folk artist who has produced 

three of da Costa’s albums. “He 

also is not afraid to try something 

new if it turns him on, whether it 

is commercially viable or not. This 

is important and he gets it. Some 

artists have success with one thing 

and they do it over and over and get 

stuck there. Anthony is constantly 

moving forward and changing.” 

In April, da Costa released his 

ninth album and fifth studio production, 

Secret Handshake, which he 

calls his best assemblage of songs. 

“Every song I’ve ever written is a 

love song in some way, shape or 

form,” says da Costa, who describes 

his style as a blend of folk, rock, 

pop, country and Americana. “I get 

influences from my own life, my 

friends’ lives. Sometimes I’ll make 

something up completely.” 

One of his older songs, “Poor Poor 

Pluto,” speaks of the former planet’s 

demotion. “But even that is a love 

song,” he says. 

Da Costa credits his parents for exposing 

him to music. He attributes his 

passion for folk specifically to his mother, 

who encouraged him to join the local 

church choir at 5. He started taking 

guitar lessons when he was 10. “I never 

wanted to look at the book. I wanted to 

learn songs, so my teacher would just 

give up and teach me a new Beatles 

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT 

Anthony da Costa ’13 Juggles Academics and Music Career 

B y Nat h a l i e A l o n s o ’08 

song every week,” he says. “Especially 

with folk music, I’ve learned more by 

doing and being out there and learning 

from other writers and actually playing 

for people.” 

The late New York City disc jockey 

Pete Fornatele branded da Costa a “very 

young man with a very old soul,” yet as 

a teenager breaking into a musical style 

By the time Anthony da Costa ’13 enrolled in the College, 

he was a familiar face at Postcrypt Coffeehouse, 

where he has been performing since he was 13. 

PHOTO: ERIN FOSTER 

associated with a more mature crowd, 

da Costa had to dig deep to prove himself. 

“I was always a lot younger than 

most of the people I played shows with, 

people two or three times my age,” he 

says. (He was 16 when he won the Kerrville 

Folk Festival New Folk and the 

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging 

Artist competitions.) “It was easy to 

wonder, ‘What can this kid even write 

songs about?’ To that I’d say, ‘I’m a human 

being, too, and I’m still experiencing 

things.’” 

In high school, da Costa leaned toward 

attending music conservatory for 

his next step. He switched tracks in part 

because a mentor, the late singer-songwriter 

Jack Hardy, encouraged him to 

seek a more comprehensive education. 

“He said, ‘Grasshopper, you’ve spent 

enough years putting stuff out there, 

it’s time to put some stuff back in,’” da 

Costa recalls. “It felt like the right thing 

to do. I can learn enough [about 

music] from traveling and playing.” 

During the school year, da Costa 

plays shows off-campus every week, 

sometimes embarking on weekendlong 

trips. In the summertime, he 

performs across the country, as a solo 

act as well as part of the trio Elliot, 

Rose, da Costa. His 2012 tour included 

his first performances in Canada 

and a three-week tour of Denmark. 

Since his first year in the College, 

da Costa also has devoted whatever 

spare time he has to helping run 

Postcrypt. Established in 1964, the 

acoustic-only, 30-seat venue in the 

basement of St. Paul’s Chapel features 

live entertainment on Friday and 

Saturday nights during the academic 

year. Da Costa typically hosts one 

night a month, books talent, serves as 

emcee and is involved in planning the 

coffeehouse’s annual Folk Festival. 

“There’s nothing like it,” he says 

of Postcrypt. “The atmosphere is 

wonderful; it’s all student-run. The 

vibe has always been really nice.” 

Da Costa is majoring in history 

with a focus on classical studies. 

Though his academic course load 

and performance schedule leave little 

time for sleep, da Costa has never considered 

a hiatus. “I want to get an education, 

but I can’t stop playing music,” 

he says. “I need to do it.” 

To view videos of da Costa performing, go 

to Web Extras at college.columbia.edu/cct. 

View his website at anthonydacosta.com. 

Nathalie Alonso ’08, from Queens, is a 

freelance journalist and an editorial producer 

of LasMayores.com, Major League 

Baseball’s official Spanish language website. 

Sreenivasan Named Chief Digital Officer 

Sreenath Sreenivasan ’93J, former 

professor and dean of student affairs 

at the Journalism School, has 

been named the University’s first 

chief digital officer and started work in 

the new position in July. 

As CDO, Sreenivasan will lead the 

University’s efforts in digital media and 

online education both on and off campus. 

“Sree’s portfolio will cover a broad range 

of issues at the intersection 

of technology, education 

and digital media,” Provost 

John Coatsworth said in announcing 

the appointment. 

Technology increasingly 

has been incorporated into 

courses on campus, and 

Columbia has used elements 

of online education 

for some time at the Engineering 

School, Journalism 

School and School of Continuing 

Education, among 

others, and in departments 

that work with the Columbia Center for 

New Media Teaching and Learning, an 

innovator in the field. But looking ahead, 

Coatsworth said, “The goal is to ensure 

that we deploy new tools and technologies 

in interactive and distance learning 

to ensure the richest and most dynamic 

learning environment possible for Columbia’s 

students.” 

There are at least three ways universities 

now are being affected by online 

education, Sreenivasan says: through 

open online classes, which make lectures 

available for free to the public; through 

hybrid classes, which combine days in a 

classroom with the rest of the time online; 

and through online education meant to 

enhance the classroom experience for 

Have You Moved? 

To ensure that you receive 

CCT and other College 

information, let us know if 

you have a new postal or 

email address, a new phone 

number or even a new name. 

Click “Contact Us” at 

college.columbia.edu/cct 

or call 212-851-7852. 

PHOTO: JOSEPH LIN ’09J 

existing students in residence. 

“We’re studying all of them,” Sreenivasan 

says. “There’s a lot of buzz about this 

stuff — we haven’t decided what we’ll 

pursue.” 

Sreenivasan has taught at the Journalism 

School since he graduated — his 

specialty has been new media and digital 

journalism, and more recently social media 

— and for the past seven years also 

has been a dean. He has 

led workshops in digital 

journalism and social media 

in newsrooms around the 

world, been an on-air tech 

commentator for local TV 

stations in New York and 

is a frequent guest speaker 

for journalism groups. He 

also has been an informal 

consultant on campus for 

developing platforms for 

online education, websites 

and using social media. 

“Before, I’d get calls and 

be a sounding board or answer questions 

as a favor. Now it’s part of my job,” 

Sreenivasan says. 

One of Sreenivasan’s mantras regarding 

technology is, “Be an early tester, a 

late adopter.” He plans to promote that 

philosophy University-wide. “We’re all 

trying to figure out what works. We want 

to be thoughtful and strategic about it 

and not jump into one thing right away. 

Across 250 years at Columbia we’ve figured 

out how to teach and how to learn 

really well. How do we use some of the 

new technologies and techniques to build 

on that, without affecting what’s been 

working so well? There’s no rush to announce 

anything big.” 

Shira Boss ’93,’97J,’98 SIPA 

Marching Band 

Exhibition 

The history of Columbia’s marching, 

concertizing and pranking 

music-makers will be explored 

this fall in a special exhibition, “The Cleverest 

Band in the World: Marching and 

Playing for Columbia,” at the Columbia 

Alumni Center, 622 W. 113th St. (between 

Broadway and Riverside Drive). 

The Columbia University Band 

Alumni Association has collected a 

range of memorabilia to tell the story 

of CU bands from 1904 to today. An 

accompanying video will highlight band 

activities from serious to zany, with a 

soundtrack that includes recorded music 

by the group not heard in decades, 

including pieces performed at Carnegie 

Hall in the 1960s. The exhibition will 

open at a pre-Homecoming reception 

for band alumni and current members 

on Friday, October 19, at the Center, 

and run through the end of the year. 

The band alumni association still 

is accepting donations and loans of 

“bandiana” for the exhibition and for 

a permanent band history archive. To 

contribute items, contact J. Donald 

Smith ’65, former band head manager 

and coordinator of the exhibition: jdon 

aldsmith65@comcast.net. 

Become a fan of CCT (facebook. 

com/columbiacollegetoday) and 

Columbia College (facebook. 

com/columbiacollege1754). 

Read the latest issue of CCT, 

keep in touch with fellow alumni and 

get all the latest College news. 

DATE SMART! 

Join the singles’ 

network exclusively 

for graduates, faculty 

and students of the 

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FALL 2012 

14 

FALL 2012 

15

COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY ROAR, LION, ROAR 

Roar, Lion, Roar 

Runner Erison Hurtault ’07 led Dominica’s delegation on July 27 in the opening ceremony of the London 2012 

Olympic Games. 

PHOTO: CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/GETTYIMAGES 

Olympics: One Gold Medal, Many Memories 

Seven Columbia alumni, two students and two coaches 

represented the United States, Croatia, Dominica 

and Egypt in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. 

Three-time Olympian Caryn Davies ’13L, a 

member of the crew team that won a silver medal in 

2004 and a gold medal in 2008, added another gold 

medal to her collection as part of the U.S. women’s 

eight that crossed the finish line in 6:10.59, more 

than a second ahead of runner-up Canada. The U.S. 

women are five-time world champions. 

Erison Hurtault ’07 was the flag-bearer for his 

father’s native country, Dominica, in the opening 

ceremony. He competed in the 400 meters, and although 

he ran a season-best 46.05 seconds in the last 

qualifying heat, it was not fast enough for him to 

advance to the semifinals. He also ran for Dominica 

in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. 

Lisa Stublic ’06 represented her father’s native 

country, Croatia, in the women’s marathon. She was 

just one second behind the leader at the halfway 

point before fading to finish 52nd out of 118 competitors 

with a time of 2:34.03. 

Nzingha Prescod ’15, Nicole Ross ’11, James 

SCOREBOARD 

219 

Anticipated 

Williams ’07, ’09 GSAS and Jeff Spear ’10 competed 

for the U.S. fencing team. The women’s foil team 

with Prescod and Ross placed sixth and the men’s 

sabre team with Williams and Spear came in eighth. 

Meanwhile, Sherif Farrag ’09 competed for Egypt, 

where he was born, in men’s foil. The Egyptian 

squad lost to host Great Britain in the round of 16. 

Nick LaCava ’09 rowed with the men’s lightweight 

four, which placed second in the B final 

behind France. LaCava’s boat won the repechage in 

6:00.86 but was eliminated from medal contention 

when it finished fifth in the semifinals. 

Michael Aufrichtig, Columbia’s head fencing 

coach, coached the fencing portion of the men’s modern 

pentathlon, which also includes horseback riding, 

swimming, shooting and running. And Caroline 

Nichols, an assistant field hockey coach, competed on 

the U.S. women’s field hockey team that placed 12th. 

Finally, David Barry ’87 was the Greco-Roman 

Team Leader for USA Wrestling. Barry, who recently 

was named USA Wrestling’s Myron Roderick Man 

of the Year, has been the Greco-Roman Team Leader 

since 2009. The U.S. team did not win a medal. 

firstyear 

Columbia 

studentathletes. 

FALL 2012 

16 

17 

New coaches 

on the Lions’ 

staff for 

2012–13. 

Campbell Sports 

Center To Be 

Dedicated 

October 20 

The Campbell Sports 

Center, which Columbia 

Athletics is hailing as 

“the cornerstone of a 

revitalized Baker Athletics 

Complex,” will be 

dedicated on Saturday, 

October 20, prior to the 

Homecoming football 

game against Dartmouth. 

All Homecoming attendees 

are invited to attend 

the ceremony, which will 

begin at 11:30 a.m. 

The center, at 218th 

Street and Broadway, will 

serve as a year-round hub 

at Baker for studentathletes, 

coaches, staff 

and administrators. It’s 

Columbia’s first new athletics 

building since the 

Marcellus Hartley Dodge 

Physical Fitness Center 

was built in the mid-1970s. 

The center honors, and 

was made possible by, 

William V. Campbell ’62, 

’64 TC, chair of the University 

trustees and captain 

of the 1961 Ivy League 

champion football team. 

The Campbell Sports 

Center will provide student-athletes 

and coaches 

with a state-of-the-art 

facility featuring a theatrestyle 

meeting room, conference 

rooms, a strengthand-conditioning 

center, 

a student-athlete lounge 

and study center, a 

hospitality pavilion and 

coaches’ offices. 

6Home football 

games this season 

(out of 10 games 

overall). 

Kraft, LeFrak, Rohan Among Hall of Fame Class of 2012 

New England Patriots chairman Robert K. Kraft ’63, 

distance runner Caroline Bierbaum LeFrak ’06, the 

late basketball coach Jack Rohan ’53, ’57 TC and the 

1933 football team that won the Rose Bowl headline 

the Class of 2012 that will be inducted to the Columbia 

University Athletics Hall of Fame. The induction 

ceremony will occur in Low Library on Thursday, 

October 18. This is the fourth class to be inducted to 

the Hall of Fame. 

Other members of the Class of 2012 include former 

major league pitcher Frank Seminara ’89, College 

Football Hall of Famers William Morley (Class 

of 1902) and Harold Weekes (Class of 1903), the 

1988 NCAA champion men’s fencing team, fourtime 

All-American fencer Emma Baratta ’06 and 

eight-time Ivy League 400-meter champion Erison 

Hurtault ’07, who ran for Dominica in the 2008 and 

2012 Olympics. 

The Hall of Fame Class 

of 2012 consists of 14 men, 

eight women and two 

teams representing 10 

sports as well as an administrator 

and an alumnus 

(Kraft) being honored 

in a special category for 

individual achievement. 

Nominees were eligible 

from both the Heritage Era, 

spanning 1852–1957, and 

the Modern Era, 1957–present. 

Kraft has turned the Patriots, 

whom he acquired in 

1994, into one of the model 

franchises in all of professional 

sports, winning three 

Super Bowls along the way. 

LeFrak was a five-time All- 

Caroline Bierbaum 

LeFrak ’06 runs in the 

2006 Heptagonals. 

PHOTO: GENE BOYARS 

American in cross-country 

and track and field in the 

mid-2000s. Rohan served 

two stints as men’s basketball 

coach, ranks as Columbia’s 

winningest basketball coach and led the Lions 

to the Ivy League championship in 1968. 

The 1933 Columbia football team was 6–1 during 

the regular season, losing only to Princeton, then 

defeated Stanford 7–0 in the Rose Bowl on a rainy 

January 1, 1934. Al Barabas ’36 scored the game’s 

only touchdown on a 17-yard run in the second 

quarter, taking a handoff from Cliff Montgomery 

’34 on a misdirection play called KF-79. 

28 

Ivy League championships 

represented in the Hall of 

Fame Class of 2012 (includes 

individual and team titles). 

Robert K. Kraft ’63 with the Patriots’ three Super 

Bowl trophies. 

Intercollegiate athletics at Columbia can be traced 

to the mid-1800s, with some records indicating that 

the first intercollegiate sporting event in which Columbia 

participated was a rowing race in 1852. 

“The members of the Columbia Athletics Hall of 

Fame Class of 2012 

are among the brightest 

stars in the history 

of our athletics program,” 

says Athletics 

Director M. Dianne 

Murphy. “Each of 

these tremendous 

individuals — and 

our celebrated teams 

— are truly deserving 

of induction.” 

Tickets to the 

black-tie dinner and 

induction ceremony 

are available by calling 

Cathleen Clark, 

Athletics’ assistant 

director of development 

and alumni affairs: 

212-851-9610. 

Jack Rohan ’53, ’57 TC 

PHOTO: NICK ROMANENKO ’90 

For the latest news on Columbia 

athletics, visit gocolumbialions.com. 

FALL 2012 

17 

2012 Hall of 

Fame Class 

Male Student-athletes, 

Heritage Era 

Horace Davenport ’29, 

rowing 

William Morley (Class 

of 1902), football 

Robert Nielsen ’51, 

fencing 

Barry Pariser ’55, fencing 

Harold Weekes (Class of 

1903), football 

Male Student-athletes, 

Modern Era 

Neil Farber ’65, baseball/ 

basketball 

Ted Gregory ’74, football 

Steve Hasenfus ’89, 

wrestling 

Erison Hurtault ’07, track 

and field 

Frank Seminara ’89, 

baseball 

Des Werthman ’93, football 

Female Student-athletes 

Danicia Ambron ’94, 

swimming 

Nora Beck ’83 Barnard, ’89 

Arts, ’93 GSAS 

basketball 

Emma Baratta ’06, fencing 

Caroline Bierbaum LeFrak 

’06, cross country/ 

track and field 

Monica Conley ’03, fencing 

Caitlin Hickin ’04, cross 

country/track and field 

Shannon Munoz ’07, soccer 

Team, Heritage Era 

1933 football team 

Team, Modern Era 

1988 men’s fencing team 

Coach, Heritage Era 

James Murray, fencing, 

1898–1948 

Coach, Modern Era 

Jack Rohan ’53, ’57 TC, 

men’s basketball, 

1961–74, 1990–95 

Athletics Administrator 

Marion R. Philips, 

former chair, physical 

education, Barnard 

Special Category for 

Individual Achievement 

Robert K. Kraft ’63, 

chairman and CEO, 

New England Patriots, 

and owner and CEO, 

The Kraft Group

Good 

Chemistry 

James J. Valentini Transitions 

from Longtime Professor 

to Dean of the College 

Dean James J. Valentini is joined by (left to right) Michael Cadiz ’14, 

James Ramseur ’13 and Stephanie Grilo ’13 in Van Am Quad. 

PHOTO: LESLIE JEAN-BART ’76, ’77J 

FALL 2012 

18

GOOD CHEMISTRY COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY GOOD CHEMISTRY 

James J. Valentini, a professor of chemistry at 

Columbia for more than two decades, was 

named the 16th Dean of the College and the 

second Vice President for Undergraduate 

Education on June 11, after serving in those roles 

on an interim basis for nine months. Valentini also 

now is the Henry L. and Lucy G. Moses Professor. 

Valentini earned a B.S. from Pittsburgh, an M.S. 

from Chicago and a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, all in 

chemistry. He worked at the Los Alamos National 

Laboratory and taught at UC Irvine before joining 

the Columbia faculty in 1990. He was chair of the 

chemistry department and director of undergraduate 

studies for chemistry, has been a member of the 

University Senate and has sat on numerous University, 

College, and Arts and Sciences committees, 

including the College Committee on Instruction, the 

Committee on the Core Curriculum and the College 

Committee on Science Instruction. 

He is married to Teodolinda Barolini, the Lorenzo 

Da Ponte Professor of Italian at Columbia, and has 

three sons. 

Valentini’s term as interim dean proved popular 

with various constituencies, including students. “If 

there’s such a thing as a populist dean, James Valentini 

is it,” declared Spectator, citing among other 

examples his having personally matched gifts at the 

kickoff event for the Senior Fund, his support of the 

Student Wellness Project and his embrace of the 

student-coined nickname “Deantini.” 

In July, Valentini sat down with CCT editor Alex 

Sachare ’71 to introduce himself to the global community 

of College alumni — or former students, as 

he prefers to call them — and to speak about some of 

his plans. 

For the many Columbians who are just beginning to get to 

know you, what would you say are your strengths? 

While I was interim dean for less than a year, I’ve been a professor 

at Columbia for almost 21½ years and I’ve been involved in the 

College in many different ways over almost that entire time. I think 

I’ve served on every College committee at least once, some of them 

multiple times. I was director of undergraduate studies in chemistry 

for many years before I became dean and I’ve taught literally 

thousands of students in chemistry and other science classes. So I 

have a lot of experience to bring to this. I think that can justifiably 

be considered a strength; it’s certainly an advantage. 

I love the College, I Iove the students in it. I feel a great sense 

of responsibility and obligation to them, and a similar sense of 

obligation and responsibility to the faculty. The faculty and the 

students, they are the College. Without faculty and students there 

wouldn’t be a College. The dean’s role is to make sure that the 

experience that faculty and students have in interacting, which 

is the essence of college life, be as good as it can possibly be. I am 

thrilled to be involved with former students, current students, future 

students and the faculty who will be teaching them and the 

staff in the College who will be supporting them. Fundamentally, 

I like dealing with all the people I get to deal with, and that’s really 

the great thing about being able to be Deantini. 

(Top left and bottom) Valentini 

addressed guests and 

spoke with students at the 

Dean’s Scholarship Reception 

in February. 

(Top right) Valentini began 

Alumni Reunion Weekend 

2012 by mingling with Paul 

Cooper ’62 (left) and Jerry 

Speyer ’62 at the Class of 

1962 Opening Reception, 

held at the President’s 

House on May 30. 

PHOTOS: EILEEN BARROSO 

How do you feel about the Deantini nickname? 

I read Bwog [an online student publication: bwog.com] for the 

first time on the day that the president asked me to be dean, 

because he and someone else said, “Don’t read Bwog.” And of 

course, being an adolescent at heart, the first thing I did was go 

read Bwog. So I stumbled upon this competition to nickname the 

dean. I found that they had nicknames for the president and other 

people, I saw the competition, I saw that the prize was a sandwich 

from Milano [a deli near campus]. This was 3 o’clock on a 

Sunday morning. I decided to post on Bwog and I said that this 

was far too important to me to let it have a mere prize of a sandwich 

from Milano, and that the 

winner of the competition could 

have his or her Milano sandwich 

with the dean in the Dean’s Office, 

we’d get a plaque with the dean’s 

nickname engraved on it and the 

winner would have his or her 

picture taken with the dean. Now 

maybe it was because it was 3 a.m. 

on a Sunday that I did that, but I 

thought it was really interesting 

that they had nicknames for people 

and I just kind of intuitively and instinctively 

got involved in it. It was rash in some ways because I 

hadn’t carefully read the Bwog page. Some suggested nicknames 

were listed on a bar at the right of the page, and some of them, 

you wouldn’t express that to your mother or your children. I 

should have realized that students here are sensible enough not 

to choose such a nickname, although they might suggest it. But I 

like Deantini. It’s a good nickname. I’m happy with it. 

It seems to build a connection, to take away some of that “us 

vs. them” relationship that can exist between students and 

administrators. 

Yes, you’re right. There is a distance between anyone who has an 

administrative title and faculty, and there is a distance between 

anyone who has an administrative title and students. So anything 

FALL 2012 

20 

FALL 2012 

21

GOOD CHEMISTRY 




you can do to diminish that and to personalize the person — to 

personalize the dean or personalize the president — so that they’re 

more than a title, I think is a really good thing. This isn’t just in the 

minds of students. My wife, whom I’ve known for 18 years and 

been married to for 11, said to me when I was asked to be dean, 

“Now you’re going to become one of them,” meaning you’re going 

to become an administrator and not a faculty member. Faculty 

members started talking to me differently. Even after 21 years and 

knowing lots of people and I had a reputation, when you become 

dean you’re a different person. The dean or the president can be 

seen as a somewhat distant figure, someone who sits in a fancy 

office and doesn’t have much to do with students or faculty. That’s 

not how I conceive of the job, and I think having a nickname is a 

good way of documenting that that’s not how I think of the job. 

Having been a faculty member for more than 20 years, even 

though you were heavily involved in committee work, how much 

of what you just mentioned went into your thinking about this 

job? Did you ask yourself, “Is this something I really want to do?” 

That’s a good question. I had never actively sought positions like 

dean, vice president, president, provost, anything with a title, 

even though people had said to me, “You’d be really good at 

this.” Every job I’ve ever 

gotten was offered to me; 

I love the College. I love 

the students in it. I feel 

a great sense of responsibility 

and obligation to 

them, and a similar sense 

of responsibility and 

obligation to the faculty ... 

Without faculty and 

students, there wouldn’t 

be a College. 

someone came to me and 

said, “Would you like to 

do this?” That’s how things 

have worked out well for 

me. I was willing to become 

dean because the president 

asked me and people 

thought they needed me to 

be dean. Was I sure I wanted 

to be dean permanently? 

No, I wasn’t. So in some 

ways being interim dean 

was advantageous for me, 

because it gave me an opportunity 

to do something 

without having to make a 

long-term commitment. 

To follow up on that, what were the advantages of spending 

nine months as interim dean? 

Let me start by saying it had disadvantages, because any time 

you have a position where the word “interim” appears in your 

title, it diminishes people’s commitment to what you want 

to do because you’re temporary. That’s what interim means: 

We’re giving you this job temporarily. People aren’t going to 

be as committed to what you want to do. You can’t undertake 

anything that’s long-term, you can’t really guide things in a 

different direction, because in effect you’re temporary. 

But you’re also not making the same commitment. It gives 

you an opportunity to try it out. It’s like when businesses hire 

temps — it gives them a chance to see whether they like the 

job you are doing and it gives you a chance to see whether 

you like them. I wasn’t thinking about any of that when I was 

asked to be dean; I did it out of a sense of duty and responsibility 

and loyalty to the University. That was the only reason I did 

it. They needed a dean, I was asked to be dean, they thought 

I could do it, I thought I could do it, so I said I would do it. I 

wasn’t thinking long-term at all. 

I understand that you were the first in your family to graduate 

from college. 

I was indeed, yes. My father didn’t even graduate from high school. 

My mother did. My grandparents didn’t finish grade school. 

And now you’ve had a long and successful career in academia. 

Yes, and my brother’s a professor, too. It’s remarkable, not in the 

sense of trumpeting achievement, but to have two professors like 

that is pretty interesting from a family where no one really had 

an education. 

What about academia was so attractive to you? 

When I went to college, I really didn’t know much of anything. I 

grew up in a small town [Lafferty, Ohio] and didn’t know anyone 

who had gone to college, except for the nuns and priests who 

taught at my school. So I didn’t have a vision of what you go to 

college for. I did it because I had two choices: I could go to work 

in a coal mine or I could go to college. This was not a hard choice. 

People were killed in the mines, including people in my own 

family. Practically every adult male I knew who was over the age 

of 60 was suffering from black lung disease. The life prospects for 

this were not great. So this was not a hard choice. 

In many ways I consider the life I had so disconnected from 

the life I have here, it’s hard to talk about it. Obviously as a kid I 

was a good student, but I didn’t really have any intellectual pretensions. 

I liked school and I worked hard at it because I knew 

that was the only way out of this town. And I wasn’t alone in 

that thinking; probably half my high school graduating class 

went to college, which for a backward, depressed area like that 

was pretty remarkable at that time. But it wasn’t until I got to 

college that I began to really enjoy learning stuff. I went to college 

with an interest in science and was taking all the courses 

needed for a chemistry major, but early on I took a philosophy 

course and thought I would be a philosophy major because I 

found philosophy really, really interesting. I took several more 

philosophy courses, then I got to this course on Kant and I 

couldn’t understand a word the guy was saying — it was impossibly 

difficult — so I said to myself, you’re not smart enough 

to be a philosopher, choose something easier. I was doing well 

in my chemistry courses and I liked them, so I stayed with that. 

It was a good decision. I was valedictorian of my class. 

I got interested in science in college, but I didn’t really decide 

to go to graduate school until I was about a junior. And 

I went to graduate school because I liked studying science. I 

didn’t have an intention of being a professor, I didn’t have an 

intention of being anything in particular except a scientist. In 

grad school I worked with Yuan Lee, a fantastically energetic 

and brilliant guy, who later won the Nobel Prize. I believed 

I could never be of that caliber, so I hesitated in becoming a 

professor myself. I became a professor because another Nobel 

Prize winner, Sherry Rowland, came to Los Alamos where I 

was working and he said to me, “Would you like to come to 

[UC] Irvine?” Well, I always wanted to live in Southern California 

so I thought, let’s check it out. So I went and I became a 

professor. It was not entirely by accident, but certainly it was 

not by design. And I’ve always liked being a professor. There 

are two things about it I’ve really liked. One is interacting with 

graduate students as well as undergraduates, which you don’t 

have when you work at a place like Los Alamos. It was a wonderful 

lab with many more scientists than exist at any university, 

but you didn’t work with students. And you didn’t teach. 

I really like teaching. 

Columbia has always prided itself as being a 

place of opportunity for first-generation college 

students. How important is that to the nature of 

the College and, if it is important, how do you 

preserve that? 

I think it’s very important. I think a lot of other 

people think it’s very important as well. Just having 

the dean think it’s important isn’t sufficient; there 

has to be a larger commitment to that. It speaks to 

what the role of the university is in the larger society 

and what our social obligation is. Part of that social 

obligation is to make available to everyone who is 

qualified this opportunity. I’ve said lots of times that 

the College should look like America. I don’t mean 

visibly, I don’t mean you line up all the students and 

then say, “Ah, that looks like America.” I mean it 

represents what America is. And a large measure of 

what it represents is opportunity. I became Dean of 

the College from an unusual place; do deans of the 

College start that way? Probably not. But in America 

you can. It really is possible. 

Providing opportunity to people is important, 

but first-generation students also contribute to the 

lives of everyone in the College. Students learn as 

much or more from one another as they do from 

professors. You don’t want everyone in the College 

to be alike. You learn by being around people 

who have different points of view, different life experiences. 

It’s why we try to get students from all 

over the United States, why we have international 

students, why we recruit scientists, athletes, writers, 

people interested in theatre. We want people with a 

wide range of backgrounds, interests and experiences contributing 

to the education of students in the College. Everyone benefits from 

that. And first-generation students bring a particular perspective. 

The day I had a first discussion with the president about being 

dean was August 31, 2011, when we had the academic resources 

fair, where every department sets up a table in Roone 

Arledge Auditorium and students come and talk about studying 

in those departments. Because I was the director of undergraduate 

studies in chemistry, I was there for chemistry. A young 

woman comes up to me at the end, when all the other kids have 

left, and she clearly had some reluctance to talk to me, but she 

said, “You know, I’d like to be a chemistry major, but I grew up in 

a small town in Georgia where there were no research opportunities. 

Since I’ve been here I’ve talked to all these kids who have 

done all this research and have had all these experiences and I 

don’t really think I can be a chem major.” I said to her, “No, to be 

a chem major you just have to be really interested in chemistry 

and willing to work hard, and that’s all that really matters. That 

previous experience doesn’t matter, and besides, those other kids 

aren’t as smart as they think they are.” That day, I talked to the 

president about being dean and I talked to her, and I’m not exaggerating, 

talking to her was more important to me than talking to 

the president. I don’t know if she was a first-generation student, 

but Columbia attracts students like that. We give students an opportunity. 

That’s really important to me. 

Did she become a chem major? 

We don’t know yet, because she’s a rising sophomore and students 

don’t declare majors until the second semester of their 

sophomore year. But I’m going to find out. 

Valentini and his wife, Teodolinda Barolini ’78 GSAS, chair of the Department of 

Italian and the Lorenzo Da Ponte Professor of Italian. 


Financial aid is an important piece of the puzzle. Recently there 

has been a significant change in how financial aid is going to be 

administered at Columbia, taking the responsibility from Arts 

and Sciences and moving it to the Office of the Provost. What 

does that mean and how does that impact the College? 

I’d like to put that slightly more broadly. For many months, starting 

around Christmastime, when there was discussion about 

administrative realignment within Arts and Sciences and the 

College, I argued that financial aid was an expression of the University 

fulfilling its sense of social responsibility and social obligation, 

and as such it was an institutional obligation. Therefore, 

it wasn’t reasonable, given that it was an institutional obligation 

being expressed here, that the financial responsibility should be 

carried by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences or Faculty of Engineering. 

It should be carried by the University. 

The undergraduate part of any institution is the most visible, the 

most public. When people say Columbia or Harvard or Berkeley or 

the University of Texas or Caltech or whatever, they’re really thinking 

about undergraduates. All those places are famous for their 

graduate education and professional schools and research. But when 

people talk about a university in general conversation, they’re talking 

about the undergraduate part of the institution because that’s 

the part people are most concerned about. Because of that, when the 

University is expressing its sense of social obligation, which it does 

in part and in a very significant way through financial aid, that’s an 

institutional responsibility. And that’s why I argued that the financial 

sourcing should be matched to that, because it’s viewed as a social 

responsibility. By having it effectively be a faculty responsibility, 

you’re asking faculty to make really hard choices about how they 

deploy resources for teaching and scholarship as opposed to benefit- 

FALL 2012 

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FALL 2012 

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ing students more directly as in financial aid. That’s a tough position 

to put faculty in. And that’s why I argued that the financial sourcing 

of financial aid should be matched to the social responsibility — it’s 

an institutional responsibility. 

You mentioned the restructuring that involved the Faculty 

of Arts and Sciences. Let’s turn to that relationship, which is 

a complex one but an important one for the College. Can you 

describe the relationship, and how it might change with your 

being part of the new three-person Arts and Sciences executive 

committee? 

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences was created about the time I came 

to Columbia. It’s kind of an odd structure, and I use the word 

“odd” carefully. We have a collection of schools [Columbia College, 

the School of General Studies, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 

the School of the Arts and the School of Continuing Education] 

that have students and deans but no specific faculty, and then 

we have this body called the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which 

contains all the faculty but no students. It’s kind of a curious thing. 

This kind of separation between schools and faculty, organizationally, 

suggests difference and separation that functionally doesn’t 

really exist. I mean, if people go into a classroom and teach, you 

don’t really think about 

whether the students are 

in the College or General 

Studies or wherever. You’re 

a faculty member teaching 

a bunch of students and developing 

a faculty-student 

relationship. The fact that 

as a faculty member you 

are a member of the Faculty 

of Arts and Sciences, while 

the students are enrolled in 

a school and not enrolled in 

the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 

doesn’t really come 

into play. It only comes into 

play when you talk about 

how you make decisions; it’s an administrative dichotomy that 

is not really a functional dichotomy. 

And the deans of all the schools have reported to the vice president 

[of Arts and Sciences]; that’s what it says in the statutes of 

the University. That has certain complications. It inevitably leads 

to certain kinds of differences of opinion about what should be 

done and how things should be done, because there are different 

representations. The vice president represents a different set of interests 

from the deans of schools, so there are always going to be 

disagreements about what should be done. The structure didn’t 

allow for the most effective way to make decisions. So now we’ve 

created an Executive Committee of Arts and Sciences, which consists 

of the Dean of the Graduate School, the Dean of Columbia 

College, who is also the Vice President for Undergraduate Education, 

and the Vice President of Arts and Sciences, who also is 

the Dean of the Faculty. In my view, that’s a much better way to 

make decisions because it combines representation of the three 

major constituencies in our enterprise. We have faculty interests, 

graduate student interests and undergraduate student interests 

— they’re not in opposition, but they’re not identical. So you put 

them all together and that group of three people has to come 

up with decisions about how to deploy resources, about faculty 

appointments, capital projects, budgets, development efforts — 

Students learn as much or 

more from one another as 

they do from professors. 

You don’t want everyone 

in the College to be alike. 

You learn by being around 

people who have different 

points of view, different 

life experiences. 

all the major things that you need to decide are now made by a 

group of people who can effectively represent all the points of 

view of all constituencies who make up this part of the University. 

That’s a much more effective way of making decisions. 

It’s been functioning since mid-April, so we don’t know exactly 

how it will work out, but so far it’s worked out pretty well. 

It might be transitional, it might last only a short time or it might 

last well beyond my tenure as dean. Something else will replace 

it someday, something else always does. But I think this is much 

better than what we had. 

It always struck me as odd that the Dean of the College couldn’t 

hire a teacher in the College … 

Yes, it is odd, isn’t it [laughing]? Well, we started out with a college 

and then we added these other schools, and each of them 

had a faculty. Functionally, faculty were teaching different students 

but had an appointment in one school. That was kind of 

awkward, so we created this one overall faculty. And that was 

awkward, too. There were dichotomies that were artificial and 

we tried to correct those by having something else that’s slightly 

artificial. But you’re gradually trying to remove artificialities. I 

have a 170-year-old house in New Jersey that I’m working on all 

the time, trying to make it a more functional house. The challenge 

isn’t that it’s 170 years old, it’s that people have added things or 

changed things all along that weren’t always done so well, so you 

gradually try to go back and make it right. That’s essentially what 

we’re trying to do here. 

One thing that’s lasted for a while, with changes and additions 

along the way, is the Core Curriculum. It’s the College’s signature 

academic sequence and a bond among alumni. What is 

your vision of the place of a core curriculum in a liberal arts 

education, and how do you see Columbia’s Core evolving? 

I’ll answer the last part first. The Core, with a capital “C,” has 

existed for almost 100 years but it hasn’t existed for all 100 

years in exactly the same form. When Contemporary Civilization 

started, it used a textbook, written by people at Columbia, 

which included parts that dealt with industry and agriculture. 

Today, we don’t teach anything about industry and agriculture 

in Contemporary Civilization, yet everyone views the Core as a 

permanent part of the Columbia educational experience. And it 

is. The idea that there is a certain intellectual experience that every 

undergraduate is going to have and it’s going to represent a 

collection of ideas that the faculty feel is really important. That’s 

the permanent part. 

Exactly what those ideas are and what form that takes have 

been evolving. I mean, that CC textbook is really interesting. It 

is contemporary civilization of 1919; contemporary civilization 

of 2012 is a different thing. I think we ought to teach something 

about industry and agriculture, but that’s just my view because 

students don’t know anything about that and it’s still part of life. 

But the curriculum has evolved and it will continue to evolve. We 

try things; some don’t work and we replace them. The names get 

changed. There was Humanities A and B, this became Art Hum 

and Music Hum, this changed, that changed. There was Major 

Cultures and that led to the Global Core, Frontiers of Science was 

introduced, there was Logic & Rhetoric, now we have University 

Writing. Intellectual life moves forward, we learn new things and 

new things develop. 

The Core, fundamentally, represents a commitment to an idea 

that at any one time there is a kind of collective intellectual experience 

and a body of knowledge, information, ideas, that we want 

Professor at heart: Valentini chats with students outside Low Library this summer including (top, left to right) Annel Fernandez ’16, Xi 

Wang ’16 and Lorenzo Gibson ’16. 

PHOTOS: LESLIE JEAN-BART ’76, ’77J 

FALL 2012 

24 

FALL 2012 

25





all the students to be exposed to, to learn, to experience for two 

reasons. One, we view that as essential to being an educated person. 

That’s our expression as an institution, to say that to be an 

educated person we think you need to do this. But it’s also the way 

we build an intellectual community at Columbia. All students here 

have taken Lit Hum, CC, Art Hum, Music Hum — it is part of the 

common dialogue, the basis on which they can relate to each other 

whatever else they’ve done. It builds a community, an intellectual 

community, and it also builds a social community. And it has created 

a trans-generational community, uniting former students, 

current students and future students. [Trustee Emeritus] George 

Van Amson ’74 said that what we want is for our kids to read the 

books that we were supposed to read when we were undergraduates. 

Of course, he said that in jest, but even though the curriculum 

evolves, there are some commonalities that do persist over long 

periods. It’s not that it changes so much that it’s a completely different 

course than it was 20 years ago or 40 years ago. It is something 

that links people. There are certain ideas that we still believe 

are important for students to understand and be exposed to. We’ll 

add new things, we’ll modify things, but there will be some that 

we definitely will continue to consider are important. 

It’s also an expression of what Columbia considers an appropriate 

undergraduate 

The Core Curriculum 

represents a commitment 

to an idea that at any one 

time there is a kind of 

collective intellectual 

experience and a body of 

knowledge, information, 

ideas, that we want all the 

students to be exposed to, 

to learn, to experience. 

education. At the opposite 

end are some peer institutions 

that have little if 

any fixed required curriculum. 

That’s an expression 

of a different philosophy. I 

won’t say that one’s inferior, 

but we’ve made a decision 

that there are certain 

things everyone should do. 

I have always agreed with 

that. Even though I came 

here to be a chemistry professor 

and the Core wasn’t 

why I was recruited, I considered 

it valuable. I do 

think there are things everyone should be exposed to and that’s 

what the Core provides. I don’t care if everyone studies chemistry, 

I don’t think that’s important. I do think everyone should 

study statistics, and if I ruled the world I would have statistics as 

part of the Core Curriculum. But I don’t rule the world, and no 

one singlehandedly decides what goes into 

the Core. 

Meet the Dean 

Not on campus but still want a 

chance to meet the new dean? 

Come join Dean James J. Valentini 

in the following cities this fall, 

with more to come in the spring. 

September 20 New York City 

October 4 Washington, D.C. 

November 1 San Francisco 

November 5 Los Angeles 

For further information, log on to 

college.columbia.edu/alumni. 

This year at reunion we introduced a new 

event, an open house in the Richard E. 

Witten Center for the Core Curriculum, 

where alumni could see what is taught in 

the Core today and meet some of the Core 

chairs and faculty. The turnout was amazing. 

It was one of the weekend’s most 

popular events. 

It’s not just a fetish, either. It could be easy 

for some people from a distance to think 

this is some sort of talisman and it’s not really 

substantive. But they’re wrong. It is the 

thing that former students almost uniformly 

mention to me as the most important or 

one of the most important parts of their experience. 

It’s not that they just mention it, they actually explain 

to me why it was this valuable in their lives and how it informed 

their adult lives, and they speak very cogently about this. When I 

went to see Rob Speyer ’92, one thing he wanted to tell me about 

was Jim Mirollo teaching him Lit Hum. There was a segment of 

The Divine Comedy that they were reading, and he remembers it 

so well and how important that class was to him. He can tell you 

why it was important, why it had value in his life. I think it’s really 

important that current students talk to former students about 

the value of the Core, because it has a value in the lives of former 

students. Dede Gardner ’90 was one of the five alumni presented 

with a John Jay Award [for distinguished professional achievement] 

this year. When I called her shortly before that, she wanted 

to talk about Lit Hum and how useful it was to her. She’s a movie 

producer, and she wanted to talk about how important Lit Hum 

was to her. Former students talk about majors, too. But there are 

lots of different kinds of things you can major in; the Core is the 

common currency of everyone who went to the College. 

When I was director of undergraduate studies in chemistry, I 

would ask students who were about to graduate what was the 

best part about being at Columbia, what was the worst part, what 

was important, what wasn’t and what was the most important 

class they took. Now, I had actually taught most of these students 

and many of them still needed letters of recommendation, so 

you might think they would say, “Oh, Professor Valentini, your 

course was the most important.” But hardly anyone ever said my 

course, even though I’m a good teacher. More of them, in fact the 

overwhelming majority of them, would cite a Core course — and 

then they’d explain why that was important to being a scientist. 

It has real value, genuine value in students’ intellectual lives and 

in their subsequent professional lives. That’s not a small thing. 

What role should alumni play in the life of the College? 

I prefer to call alumni former students because certain words acquire 

connotations that then become locked to them. Alumni is a 

term that implies a kind of distinction that’s greater than I think 

is really warranted. If you think of people as former students, you 

think of them as continuing on in a connection that’s different 

and yet the same. My middle son is in the Marine Corps, and I’ve 

learned that there are no ex-Marines. They say once a Marine, always 

a Marine — that’s it. It’s a culture, a group of people. There 

are active duty Marines and inactive duty Marines but there are 

no ex-Marines. Once you are, you are. From my perspective, 

once you’ve been a Columbia student you’re always a Columbia 

student, you’re just in a different category. 

You’re an inactive student, although we 

don’t use the word “inactive”; I say you’re a 

former student. 

Former students bring real value to the 

University because they have a lot of life experience 

from which they can tell you how 

their time at Columbia was valuable, so we 

can see how what we do for undergraduates 

adds value to the lives of those students 

when they become former students and also 

how it contributes to society. We’re not just 

educating people for the sake of educating 

people. We hope that that actually produces 

something. We hope it produces satisfying 

personal lives for former students, the ability 

to make a living — that’s not a small thing 

— and to make a contribution to the larger 

world. Who can tell us most effectively whether 

we’ve actually achieved that? The people who 

actually have been students and have gone out 

and done things. They can help current students 

visualize what lies ahead for them in a way that 

faculty and the dean can’t communicate to them, 

because the dean and faculty are just one small 

segment of society with limited experiences. 

Former students of the College have been involved 

in lots of different things, so they carry 

a lot of valuable information about what we’re 

doing well and what we’re not doing well. 

They’re also this huge army of 46,000 people 

— even if only 10 percent of them are really committed 

to the College, that’s a lot of people who 

can work on behalf of the College and the University, 

at no cost to us. They may make financial 

contributions, that’s obviously important to us 

and to any institution, but they also commit their 

time and their energy to helping make the lives 

of current students better, to helping make the 

institution stronger by working on its behalf in 

many different ways. Former students participate 

in ARC [the Alumni Representative Committee] 

by interviewing prospective students. 

That in itself is a very important thing. Former 

students know as well or better than anyone 

what it’s like to be in the College and what kinds 

of students are going to do well in the College 

and can help applicants understand whether 

they really should be in the College. There’s no 

way for the College itself to do that. We couldn’t 

afford to hire enough people to do that. And that’s just one thing 

— there are a lot of valuable things former students can do for 

the College and the University, supporting everything that we 

do and contributing their time and effort to getting things done. 

They are a phenomenal resource. 

Projecting five or 10 years ahead, how would you evaluate your 

success or failure as dean? 

If former students, current students and faculty say, “The College 

is a better place now than it was five years ago or 10 years ago,” 

then I’ll consider it a success. I’d certainly consider it a success if 

I feel it’s a better place. But what does that really mean? Is there 

anyone who ends a term as something and doesn’t think it’s a 

better place, rightly or wrongly? Probably not. 

There certainly are specific things we’d like to do, but they 

take a lot of explaining and don’t have the same kind of emotional 

impact. I’ll give you one example: I’d like us, both as a College 

and a University, to be financially more secure, by which I mean 

less dependent on tuition and revenue that we can bring in every 

year, so that we’re less sensitive to the vagaries of economic life. If 

we had an endowment big enough to pay for everything that we 

want to do, that would be really great. Is that an achievable goal? 

No. In the same way that when I say the goal for the Columbia 

College Alumni Association is 100 percent alumni engagement 

and everyone in development cringes because you can’t get to 

that — but we can work toward it. It’s a destination. But that’s 

technical, it doesn’t have an emotional component. I’d like there 

to be an opportunity for every student to have an internship or 

a summer research fellowship. But that too is kind of specific. 

There are a lot of things we can do, specific things, some of which 

Valentini and CCAA president Kyra Tirana Barry ’87 at the Alumni Reunion Weekend 

2012 Dean’s Continental Breakfast on June 2. 


will work, some of which won’t, some of which may work but 

won’t actually lead to people thinking it’s a better place, in which 

case they were interesting to do but not actually all that productive. 

So how would I judge it being a success? If former students, 

current students and faculty consider it a success, then I will, too. 

One last question: What is one thing about you that would surprise 

our readers? 

That’s interesting … let me think about that. Last September, 

when we had an all-staff meeting, I said there are three things 

that are important in my life: my family, the College and cars, 

in that order. I don’t think people expect professors to be interested 

in cars. But if you turn around you can see what’s in my 

display case — six model cars, all of which were gifts from current 

students or former students who know how much I like 

cars. There are also two statues of Buddha. I like to think of the 

different ways we can express something important, to surprise 

people with the unexpected comparison or unanticipated analogy. 

The Buddha and cars provide an example. The Buddha is 

supposed to have said, “There is no way to happiness, happiness 

is the way.” I repeat that to myself each morning. Now there was 

for a while a poster in the entrance to the service area at the BMW 

dealer in Manhattan that said, “Happiness isn’t just around the 

corner, happiness is the corner.” It is the same thing. Any car guy 

would agree. And I tell chemistry students that the Second Noble 

Truth of Buddhism and the Second Law of Thermodynamics say 

essentially the same thing. I hope that surprises you, but you will 

have to wait for an explanation — or better yet, try to figure it out 

for yourself. 

FALL 2012 

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FALL 2012 

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Stand and Deliver 

Joel Klein ’67 looks back on extraordinary 

career as attorney, educator, reformer 

B y Chris Burrell 

Joel Klein ’67 was 16 when he made the leap from William Cullen Bryant 

H.S. in Queens to the Columbia campus, just a 6-mile car ride from one 

borough to the next but a world away from the public housing apartment 

where he grew up. 

In that first week, then-dean of the College David Truman sat Klein 

and his father down for an advising session and tried to dampen the 

freshman’s academic expectations. “My father was a postman, and it 

was a pretty daunting experience to meet with the dean,” says Klein. 

“Truman said to me that given my background, I could expect — if I did 

really well — to graduate in the middle of the class at Columbia.” 

Such a prognosis didn’t sit too well with the younger Klein, who piped 

up with this rebuttal: “I said, ‘I don’t know where I’ll graduate, but my 

teachers at Bryant H.S. didn’t send me here to graduate at the middle of 

the class. They sent me to graduate at the top.’” 

The brazenness took his father aback, and afterward he asked how 

Klein could say that to the dean. 

“I said, ‘Well, Dad, that’s the truth.’ Anyhow, Truman and I became 

good friends.” 

FALL 2012 

28

JOEL KLEIN ’67 


COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY JOEL KLEIN ’67 

“I still feel like America is falling down in 

education, particularly for the most challenged kids.” 

The year was 1963, and the ambitious teenager was just 

beginning to display the drive that later would empower 

him to challenge monoliths and monopolies, 

from mighty Microsoft to powerful teachers’ unions. 

That moment almost 50 years ago also exposed Klein’s nascent 

appreciation for the transformative power of education. 

Decades later, as chancellor of the New York City Department 

of Education, the nation’s largest school system, that appreciation 

gave rise to a conviction to champion kids — much like himself 

— whose only foothold out of tough circumstances could be 

found in a classroom. But education, while Klein’s signature issue, 

represents only one facet of an extraordinary and somewhat 

dizzying career. He has morphed from Beltway Democratic insider, 

vetting a Supreme Court justice for the Clinton administration 

and taking on Bill Gates in a monumental anti-trust case, into 

one of the country’s leading and most controversial educational 

reformers — only to vault early last year into the executive towers 

of the conservative-leaning media titan Rupert Murdoch. 

“My resume looks like it kind of got mixed and matched from 

three or four people,” the 65-year-old Klein says while taking a 

break over a cup of hot tea in his Midtown office at News Corporation 

headquarters. 

He began with law, graduating from Harvard in 1971 and 

working as a law clerk, first for David Bazelon, chief judge of the 

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and 

then for Justice Lewis Powell of the U.S. Supreme Court. Following 

work at several law firms, in 1981 he co-founded a boutique 

D.C. firm, where he made his mark as a litigator: Klein argued 11 

cases before the Supreme Court, and won nine of them. 

When people talk about Klein, they describe a man who 

thrives amidst adversity, all the more when many eyes are trained 

on him. One of the people who worked in Klein’s law firm in the 

1980s was Peter Scheer, now the executive director of the First 

Amendment Coalition. 

“What he’s especially good at is being able to think very clearly 

in the midst of a crisis, where there’s a lot of pressure and the world 

is watching,” Scheer told Politico last year. “He’s able to stay focused, 

and he’s almost stimulated by all that pressure and media 

attention.” 

Those attributes are likely what caught the eye of President 

Bill Clinton in 1993 when he convinced Klein to become deputy 

White House counsel, tasking him with guiding the nomination 

process of Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’59L to the Supreme Court. He 

also oversaw the Clinton White House’s responses to the Whitewater 

inquiry. 

Being tapped by Clinton caught Klein off-guard. “It struck me 

as strange because I’m not a political guy,” he recalls. “There was 

a certain amount of apprehension. I mean, the White House is a 

very hothouse place and [the people there have] very sharp political 

elbows.” 

Klein’s ability to more than hold his own in such a setting 

would come into play in his next posting, in 1995, to the Justice 

Department. Within two years he was named chief of the antitrust 

division, where he challenged Microsoft’s monopoly in 

what Forbes magazine called “one of the largest and most dramatic 

antitrust battles in the nation’s history.” 

In June 2000, after a federal judge ruled to break Microsoft into 

two parts, Klein sat with Jim Lehrer of PBS and reflected upon 

the victory. “I do think the notion that anything goes, even in the 

new high-tech economy, is a notion that is very corrosive and insidious,” 

Klein said. “It will be harmful to our markets, harmful 

to our consumers and ultimately harmful to our economy. When 

you use economic power to coerce people to stay out of the market, 

to basically tie up distribution channels, when that occurs ... 

you can count on the United States Department of Justice and I 

believe the federal courts [should] put a stop to it.” 

The victory was reversed on appeal, and by then the Bush 

administration had no interest in pursuing the case. But Klein’s 

reputation as the guy who went toe-to-toe with a corporation 

then valued at $619 billion — more than Apple is today — never 

waned. In his four years at the head of antitrust, he established 

a record to stand on: Through 220 criminal price-fixing cases, 52 

executives were sent to prison, corporations paid $1.7 billion in 

fines and individuals paid an additional $21 million. Klein also 

blocked or altered about 170 proposed mergers. 

The Los Angeles Times dubbed Klein a “giant killer.” And in assessing 

his legacy at the Justice Department, The New York Times 

heaped praise on him in a September 24, 2000, editorial: “Mr. 

Klein blocked a series of mergers — between Lockheed Martin 

and Northrop Grumman, WorldCom and Sprint, and Northwest 

and Continental — that had the potential to harm consumers. He 

also broke up price-fixing cartels, notably between international 

vitamin companies. He has not forged bold new antitrust principles 

or direction. What he has done is take antitrust enforcement 

seriously. For that alone he warrants the nation’s gratitude.” 

For many years while the high-powered lawyer was racking 

up legal victories toiling in Washington, he also played 

on a different court with the same tenacity. The basketball 

league at the Washington Y had a roster of lawyers that included 

Larry Lucchino, now CEO of the Boston Red Sox. 

“We played in a serious league,” says Klein, who stands 5-foot- 

6. “I’m lucky I didn’t break a leg.” 

Between hoops and law, Klein kindled his passion for education, 

teaching at Georgetown Law School. Unlike most adjunct 

professors, Klein didn’t opt for an evening seminar; he taught a 

daytime class in civil procedure to first-year students. 

One of his students was Michael K. Powell, who later was 

chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and is the 

son of former Secretary of State Colin Powell. “Joel was an extraordinary 

teacher who had a mastery of complex subjects and 

the ability to make them simple,” Powell told The New York Times 

in 2002. 

Teaching was not new for Klein. When he was at Harvard in 

the late ’60s, he had taken a short leave to take education classes 

at NYU and to teach math to sixth-graders at a public school in 

his old Queens neighborhood. But despite these leanings toward 

the classroom and a chalkboard, he says he was flustered when 

he answered a phone call in 2002 and heard the voice of New 

York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, asking him to consider tak- 

ing the post of schools chancellor. 

“I said, ‘Mike, you must have the wrong name. You clearly got 

one name too few in your Rolodex.’ He said, ‘No, no, we were 

thinking of people outside the box,’” Klein recalls. 

At 56, the former corporate lawyer and trustbuster found his 

calling: To take charge of a public school system of 1.1 million students 

and to grapple with the complex realities and controversies 

of urban education. 

“He has the leadership skills,” Bloomberg said at a news conference 

introducing Klein in summer 2002. “He has the intergovernmental 

skills. He has the feeling and compassion for people. 

He is incorruptible. He is a visionary. And I believe that he will 

deliver to this city what we promised, a quality education for all 

of our children.” 

Bloomberg handed Klein the reins of a school system beleaguered 

by low test scores, high dropout rates and a shortage of 

teachers — a tough assignment that struck a chord not only with 

Klein’s politics but also with his own past. 

“I still feel like America is falling down in education, particularly 

for the most challenged kids,” Klein said recently, when 

asked to look back on his tenure as chancellor. “And this was a 

chance to really give back to the city and the school system that 

had given me so much. I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for 

what teachers in Astoria did for me.” (Klein in fact credits his 

physics teacher, Sidney Harris, with changing the arc of his life: 

“In my junior year, he took me aside and said, ‘You’re doing fine, 

but you can do better. Why don’t you stay after school and we’ll 

study Einstein’s theory of relativity, which will prove to you that 

you can play this game at a different level.’” Harris also pushed 

him to apply to the College rather than the obvious choice of 

CUNY’s campus in nearby Flushing.) 

As schools chancellor from 2002–10, Klein gave more power to 

principals and pushed for accountability, stamping schools with 

A-through-F grades in annual report cards, taking a stand against 

the widespread practice of social promotion of students up the 

grade levels and making city schools a model for data-driven 

teaching and policymaking. He also created more than 300 new 

small schools and charter schools for parents to choose from. 

“I’m a big, big believer, whether it’s for my children or anybody 

else’s children, that people want choice,” Klein says. “I used 

to ask people all the time, ‘Of the 1,500 schools in New York City, 

how many would you send your own kids to?’” 

Time and again, he hit on this point, allying himself with the 

schoolchildren and their parents’ hopes and dreams for them. 

“Whose kids should go to the schools we wouldn’t send our own 

kids to?” he asks. “Whatever community you live in, whatever 

your economic circumstances, you want your kid to have a shot. 

And education is one of those places where you can change lives. 

The politics of Washington — those sharp elbows — served as 

the ideal boot camp for the intensity, unrelenting media scrutiny 

and controversy that came with leading a huge public school system. 

Not one to shy from confrontation, Klein attacked the city’s 

Klein participates in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the opening of a school in Middle Village, Queens, in 2010. 

PHOTO: COURTESY JOEL KLEIN ’67 

FALL 2012 

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FALL 2012 

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JOEL KLEIN ’67 COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY JOEL KLEIN ’67 

“Being able to fight to change the world for kids is really 

for me personally as rewarding a thing as you can do.” 

Klein spoke at the Class of 1967’s reunion dinner on June 2, leading a lively discussion 

about education. 

PHOTO: MICHAEL DAMES 

educational establishment, from teachers’ unions to bureaucracy. 

“The basic challenge was changing a very complex organization 

that has a strong centrifugal force toward the status quo,” he 

explains. “I was running a school system at $22 billion. There are 

a lot of people in that system who benefit from the way it’s structured. 

So when you come along and say we’re going to do things 

differently — for example, we want to pay more for performance 

and not guarantee [teachers] automatic tenure, but actually do 

evaluations — it’s inevitable that there will be resistance.” 

A Times editorial in November 2010, assessing Klein’s eight 

years at the helm of city schools, credited him for improving 

graduation rates, creating higher-performing small schools and 

ending a policy that allowed senior teachers to transfer to other 

schools and bump younger teachers out of the way: “Future 

schools chancellors in New York City will benefit from several 

important reforms put in place during the tenure of Joel Klein. 

Carrying out the mandates of the mayor, Mr. Klein helped to create 

clear lines of authority in a once-byzantine system and gradually 

cleared away a pernicious bureaucracy that had outlasted all 

of their predecessors.” 

In some ways the city’s schools are still reverberating from the 

Klein shake-up. In February, under pressure from local media 

outlets, New York City schools released those teacher evaluations, 

so-called “value added” reports that were meant to measure 

a teacher’s impact on his or her students’ standardized test 

scores. Bill Gates chimed in on the op-ed pages of the Times, calling 

it a “big mistake” and “a public shaming” to reveal individual 

teachers’ scores. 

Klein agreed that publicizing teachers’ scores should not become 

a shaming exercise but also adopted the perspective of parents, citing 

their right to know how teachers’ performance might affect their 

children’s learning, at least as measured in standardized tests. 

“What Bill Gates wrote about is fair,” Klein says. 

“But I’ve talked to parents, and they think it’s valuable. 

They want to make sure their kids are getting 

the education they need. It enriches the discussion 

and empowers parents.” 

For Klein, who still writes op-ed essays and 

book reviews about education in newspapers such 

as The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, 

the records’ controversial release strikes at a core 

theme of his own reform gospel. “We need ways 

to fairly evaluate teachers,” he says. “Ultimately, 

those who really perform at the top are seen as 

truly the heroes, and those who consistently underperform 

should be in another line of work. Nobody 

wants a teacher for his or her kid who isn’t 

up to the task.” 

Sizing up his years as chancellor, Klein conceded 

that some things he tried simply didn’t work or 

were rushed, but he takes solace in a quote from 

Teddy Roosevelt that he carries in his wallet, attesting 

to this reality for change-makers: “Not everything 

is going to fly.” 

“Those eight, nine years working with Mike and 

the city were really the most exhilarating and the most important 

professionally,” Klein adds. “Arguing Supreme Court cases and 

teaching law school, those things rang my bell … But being able 

to fight to change the world for kids is really for me personally as 

rewarding a thing as you can do.” 

After nearly a decade as schools chancellor, Klein’s next 

act came as something of a shocker: In January 2011, 

he stepped into the corporate towers of Rupert Murdoch’s 

NewsCorp, an international media behemoth 

he had once taken a swing at in his antitrust days. 

As surprised as some of Klein’s friends and followers may 

have been to see this Democrat begin working for the parent company 

of FOX News, there were ingredients from his experience as 

chancellor that shaped and informed this twist in his plot line. 

Education was the obvious link. Murdoch’s offer made Klein the 

e.v.p. in charge of NewsCorp’s fledgling educational technology 

division, appealing to his passion for metrics and data as levers 

to revolutionize teaching. 

“In an organization like this, I don’t look through a political 

lens,” he explains. “My friends said, ‘Why are you going to 

NewsCorp? You’re a lifelong Democrat.’ The answer was, Rupert 

gave me an opportunity and was willing to make a big bet on 

something I cared about. I’ve never had a discussion with him 

where I didn’t learn something.” 

While schools chancellor, Klein had learned a lesson in former 

foes becoming allies. He tells an anecdote from a day spent at a 

high school in the Bronx in 2003. Bloomberg was there, but more 

importantly, so was Gates, the man he targeted in the highly publicized 

antitrust case. 

“It was the first time I had seen Bill after the litigation,” Klein 

says. “I was very nervous and apprehensive … and the event 

goes as well as it could have gone. Bill gave us $51 million that 

day, and I get off the stage really breathing a sigh of relief. One of 

my principals tugs at me and says, ‘Chancellor, $51 million, that’s 

a really good day’s work. Think of what Bill Gates would have 

given you if you hadn’t sued him.’” 

Speaking as the educational reformer, Klein says that most 

schools are not intelligently using computer technology. “I think 

you can reduce education to two fundamental concepts: how 

good is the incoming and how much of it a kid absorbs. If the 

incoming is mediocre, even if a kid absorbs it all, you haven’t 

achieved much. And if the incoming is terrific and a kid doesn’t 

absorb it, you haven’t achieved much, either.” 

Klein notes that a program to teach the Gettysburg Address 

can be customized to individual students, asking provocative 

questions, engaging them with games, social networks and rewards, 

and measuring their responses. “Why should we have 

every teacher try to figure out those questions?” Klein asks. 

NewsCorp formally unveiled its education business, called 

Amplify, in July along with plans, in collaboration with AT&T, to 

introduce tablet-based programs for teachers and students starting 

this fall. The company’s stated mission is to reimagine K–12 education 

by creating products and services that empower teachers, 

students and parents in new ways. “I know that some are skeptical 

that a private company can bring needed change to public education,” 

Klein, who now is Amplify’s CEO, wrote in a blog post on 

its newly launched website. “But if we are going to see the kind of 

transformation that our teachers, students and parents deserve, I 

believe strongly that there is a much-needed role for private sector 

partners and providers to help place the big bets.” 

Prior to the launch of Amplify, however, much of Klein’s attention 

was shifted from education to the company’s main focus 

— newsgathering, and specifically a phone-hacking scandal 

that had erupted at its tabloid newspapers in Britain. Murdoch 

turned to Klein to oversee the company’s internal investigation 

into illegal activities by executives, editors and reporters at the 

newspapers. 

Klein made it clear that he wouldn’t 

answer questions for this story about 

the scandal or NewsCorp’s management 

and standards committee, which 

he led up until June, but he did say 

that part of his job during that period 

was an early start to his day — 6 a.m. 

— so he could communicate with people 

in London about the investigation. 

Among those who know Klein and 

watched him shoulder this new and 

unexpected role as Murdoch’s defender, 

confidante and strategist in the 

midst of a headline-grabbing scandal 

was Howard Wolfson, one of Bloomberg’s 

deputy mayors. 

“Joel is a wartime consigliere. He’s 

very tough,” Wolfson told Politico. “He 

would be somebody you would want 

in a foxhole.” 

While Klein demurs when asked 

about the scandal, he eagerly engages 

on the topic of the news media, his 

dealings with the press and some 

of his frustrations during his time as 

schools chancellor. 

“I woke up every morning feeling so blessed to fight for kids, 

and then I’d sit down and read the papers, you know,” he said, 

laughing and shaking his head. “I don’t miss that.” 

He once raised the issue with a New York Times reporter. 

“I was complaining to him, ‘We tried a few things that worked 

really well, and now you want to keep writing about this thing 

that didn’t work as well as we had hoped. Why would you do 

that?’” Klein recalls. “He said, ‘In our business, we don’t write 

about the planes that land.’ But I said that in K–12 education, it’s 

the planes that land that are the news and not the planes that 

crash, because we’ve crashed for so long.” 

That’s the eternal questioner inside Klein, and it’s almost 

ironic to picture this skeptic of the media occupying the highest 

echelons of the NewsCorp empire. 

“I am more sympathetic to the subjects of the story just because 

I’ve been the subject of a lot of stories. You get used to 

thinking maybe there’s more to this story than you thought,” 

says the man who’s been in the crosshairs of so many headlines 

and news reports. “It always bothers me that people think what 

you read in the paper is accurate. It doesn’t mean that it’s inaccurate, 

but there is a kind of belief and so I always say to people 

when they read a story, ‘Maybe.’” 

Overall, though, Klein seems content with the path he’s followed, 

and with the direction toward which it is leading as CEO 

of Amplify. 

“Finding a new hill to climb, an opportunity to do something 

new and exciting, always appealed to me,” he says. “And fortunately 

for me, in no small measure because of the education I got 

at Columbia, I’ve had those opportunities.” 

Chris Burrell is a freelance journalist and illustrator based in East Boston, 

Mass. He has contributed stories to The New York Times, The 

Washington Post, Boston, PRI’s The World and WBUR-Boston. His 

illustrations have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington 

Post and CCT. 

Klein jokes with President Clinton and attorney (now senior U.S. District judge) Charles Breyer 

in the Oval Office in 1994. 

PHOTO: COURTESY WILLIAM J. CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY 

FALL 2012 

32 

FALL 2012 

33


The Open 

Mind of 

Richard Heffner ’46 

Veteran PBS interviewer provides forum for guests 

to examine, question, disagree 

B y T h o m a s V i n c i g u e r r a ’85, ’86J, ’90 GSAS 

It was quite a celebratory lunch. Here 

were NYU President John Sexton and his one-time counterpart 

at Brown, Vartan Gregorian. There were past New York State 

Chief Judges Sol Wachtler and Judith Kaye ’58 Barnard. The 

New York Times Book Review editor Sam Tanenhaus mingled 

with former Nation editor Victor Navasky. Joan Ganz Cooney 

of the Children’s Television Workshop and prolific producer 

Norman Lear were on hand, too. So were three-term New York 

City Mayor Ed Koch, legendary Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, 

famed First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams, journalist Bill Moyers .... 

(Opposite) An Open Mind staff member prepares the set for Richard D. Heffner ’46, ’47 GSAS to interview Dr. Peter Bach, 

director of the Center for Health and Policy Outcomes at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. 

PHOTOS: RANDY MONCEAUX 

FALL 2012 

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RICHARD HEFFNER ’46 


COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY RICHARD HEFFNER ’46 

Heffner circa 1930 on Broadway and West 108th 

Street, near his childhood home, and (right) in his 

College graduation photo. 

PHOTOS: COURTESY RICHARD D. HEFFNER ’46, ’47 GSAS 

Heffner and his wife of 62 years, Elaine ’51 SW, at the 

1949 Tanglewood Music Festival, a year prior to their marriage, 

and on vacation in Sydney, Australia, in 1996. 

PHOTOS: COURTESY RICHARD D. HEFFNER ’46, ’47 GSAS 

Then, too, circulating through the crowd, shaking hands, quietly 

accepting congratulations, was the courtly, slightly stooped, 

silver-haired fellow who had interviewed them all — and hundreds 

of others. 

The celebration at the Mutual of America building in midtown 

Manhattan on June 30, 2011, marked the 55th anniversary of the 

weekly, half-hour PBS talk show Open Mind, the unique legacy of 

Richard D. Heffner ’46, ’47 GSAS. From its debut on May 7, 1956, 

Open Mind has been a forum where guests, as the opening narration 

once put it, are “free to examine, to question, to disagree.” 

For Heffner, that philosophy has animated him across two 

professional generations and multiple media identities: communications 

consultant, broadcasting expert, network executive, 

public affairs adviser. At his core, however, he is one thing. 

“I’m a teacher,” he says. “I’m a talker. I’m a speaker. I’m a 

preacher. That’s who I am.” 

His Subaru station wagon even sports a license plate reading 

OPENMIND. 

“He is one of the most intelligent, sensitive interviewers I have 

ever had in my life,” says Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, 

who has logged nearly 30 Open Mind appearances. “On every 

subject that he chooses — war, politics, literature — he manages 

to humanize it and bring it up, rather than bring it down. He’s the 

Grand Inquisitor in the best sense.” 

Heffner likes to tease Abrams — whose 35 appearances on 

Open Mind make him his most frequent guest — that he is “a First 

Amendment voluptuary” because he is so passionate about free 

speech. And Abrams is happy to tease Heffner right back. 

“Like Inspector Clouseau and Cato, Dick and I have sparred 

so often that we have no tricks left with which to surprise each 

other,” he says. “He thinks, I do not know why, that I’m some sort 

of knee-jerk First Amendment absolutist. I think — and I know 

why — that he’s too prepared to sacrifice core First Amendment 

principles to accommodate his social/political predilections. 

What I’m sure of is that I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather argue 

with, and that we are all in his debt for his extraordinary contributions 

to public thoughtfulness.” 

Heffner is more modest: “I’m a person of rather limited talents. 

I don’t dance, I don’t sing.” He refers wryly to “the 37 people who 

are watching the program.” One of them, a cab driver, once deliberately 

barreled down on him on Fifth Avenue. 

“I thought the end was near — assassination by taxi!” he remembers. 

“Instead, a wonderfully smiling youngish driver thrust 

a wildly waving arm out his open window, hollering, ‘Open Mind! 

Open Mind!’ Was I ever grateful for a viewer.” 

It is taping day in the small studio at the CUNY Graduate 

Center on Fifth Avenue and East 35th Street. Beneath a blaze 

of overhead lights is Open Mind’s intellectual battleground: 

a polished, round wooden table and two chairs. In the green 

room, amid a plate of cookies and a big-screen TV, Heffner reviews 

notes and consults with Daphne Doelger-Dwyer, his associate 

producer of more than 30 years. (“I’ve often thought Dick is 

the reason they invented Boss Appreciation Day,” she says. “Just 

the same, I wish he would stop asking me to try to find articles he 

wrote during the Kennedy administration or yet another elusive 

piece on the National News Council.”) 

Today, Heffner will record four segments. First up is NYU 

professor Kim Phillips-Fein ’05 GSAS, discussing her new book 

Invisible Hands: The Businessmen’s Crusade Against the New Deal. 

Then he will greet Dr. Peter Bach of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering 

Cancer Center, whose subject will be caring for the dying. Next 

comes Heffner’s youngest guest ever, his grandson, budding 

journalist Alexander, a 22-year-old Harvard senior whose topic is 

America’s young electorate. 

Finally, there is Frances Hesselbein, former president of Girl 

Scouts of the USA and president and CEO of the Frances Hesselbein 

Leadership Institute (formerly the Leader to Leader Institute). 

Attractively accoutered in black jacket and gold and black 

Hermès scarf, she also has brought along a jacket with bold tan 

and black stripes, which she shows to her host. 

“I didn’t know if you wanted something more like this,” she says. 

“You look gorgeous,” Heffner replies. 

She smiles and says, “I may never go home.” 

An hour later, after the taping, Hesselbein will engage in a few 

minutes of small talk. “I loved all your questions,” she tells her 

host. “There wasn’t one superficial one.” 

That’s no accident. “There are comparatively few subjects on 

Open Mind that are likely to throw me because I don’t choose subjects 

that I know I don’t know enough about,” says Heffner. “I 

owe it to my viewers, and I owe it to my guests, not to be dumb.” 

Heffner has been playing smart ever since he was a child suffering 

from rheumatic fever of the heart. “It was in defense that 

I became bookish,” he told The New York Times in 2003. “I was 

sickly, so I wasn’t allowed to play sports.” (Perhaps presaging his 

role as a moderator in a number of capacities, he was, however, 

permitted to umpire baseball games.) 

The boy who buried himself in books was the son of a man 

who made book: Al Heffner was a prosperous New York City racetrack 

tout who lost everything during the Depression. “His very 

wealthy customers were big bettors. They would bet $100,000 on 

a race. And when they were gone, my father went broke.” 

After attending DeWitt Clinton H.S. in the Bronx (“greatest 

high school in America”) with Paddy Chayefsky, Richard Avedon 

and James Baldwin, Heffner became a devotee of historian 

Dwight Miner ’26, ’40 GSAS; literary critic Lionel Trilling ’25, ’38 

GSAS; and philosopher Ernest Nagel ’31 GSAS at the College. 

Outside of class he was one of the earliest on-air voices for the 

fledgling Columbia University Radio Club, delivering a weekly 

current events report while future University Professor Fritz 

Stern ’46, ’53 GSAS made faces at him through the studio window 

(something Stern has consistently denied). 

As chairman of the College War Relief Drive, Heffner also successfully 

approached University President Nicholas Murray Butler 

(Class of 1882) in his Low Library office to ask him to address 

a bond rally. Heffner recalls, “He was a large man sitting at a large 

desk, raised on a large platform at the end of the room as one approached. 

I learned later that that was what Mussolini did.” 

Heffner, who majored in history, earned an M.A. in the subject 

in 1947 under Richard Hofstadter ’42 GSAS but stopped short of 

a Ph.D., considering himself “a teacher, not a scholar.” And teach 

he did, at Sarah Lawrence, UC Berkeley, Rutgers, The New School 

and his alma mater, where from 1950–52 he taught Contemporary 

Civilization. But he craved a larger audience. In 1952, as 

Heffner began editing A Documentary History of the United States, 

a still-popular paperback collection of vital documents such as 

the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address, he 

knew he wanted to discuss human events in a broader context. 

“I believe history is the synthetic subject,” he reflects. “I think it 

is the historian who embraces everything. The story of the past is 

the story of the present.” 

The chance to explore that link came in 1953, when Heffner decided 

to create a radio documentary marking the eighth anniversary 

of the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. “I went to every station 

in New York and they all said, ‘Who are you? You’re a professor. 

You’ve got this book but that doesn’t make you a broadcaster.’” 

Finally, WMCA consented. The highlight was an interview with 

FDR’s widow, Eleanor, in her stone cottage at Val-Kill. Disaster 

FALL 2012 

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RICHARD HEFFNER ’46 


COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY RICHARD HEFFNER ’46 

nearly struck when an engineer accidentally wiped the tape but 

Heffner was able to sit down with her again, this time at the Park 

Central Hotel in Manhattan. “Instead of hearing the chimes of the 

clock in the background and the fireplace, you heard cars going 

from first gear into second and then third, 17 stories below.” 

Street noise notwithstanding, the effort went over well and 

WMCA gave Heffner a syndicated weekly half-hour program, History 

in the News. Even before the show had finished its run though, 

toward the end of 1954, Heffner was looking ahead. Through California 

Gov. Earl Warren — the father of one of his students at Berkeley 

— he met Edward R. Murrow, whose signature sign-off, “Good 

night and good luck,” Heffner still uses to conclude Open Mind. 

“Murrow liked me. He immediately called Stuart Novins, the 

head of CBS radio news. Novins offered me a job as a producer at 

CBS News. And I said — here is the ham in me — ‘Can I be on the 

air, also?’ And he said no. And I said, ‘Thanks, but I want to be on 

the air.’ Maybe it was stupid. Maybe I would be president of CBS 

News today.” 

In the end, he got his way. WRCA-TV, the predecessor to NBC, 

gave him Man of the Year, a public affairs show, in 1955. That led to 

All About Men-All About Women and Of Men and Ideas, as well as radio 

stints with Listen, Listen, Listen and Collector’s Item. But The Open 

Mind, which originally aired on WRCA, remains the sine qua non of 

Heffner’s broadcast life, the product of a fundamental realization. 

“We’re talking about 1956,” Heffner says. “America had real 

problems. But they were laid over with cash and comfort of the 

wonderful suburban ’50s. I had the feeling that there were comparatively 

few places where Americans were confronted with 

important exchanges about important challenges that faced us, 

and that’s what I wanted to be doing.” 

Soon enough, Open Mind was delving into such hot-button areas 

as alcoholism, integration, homosexuality, anti-Semitism and blacklisting 

— so much so that a 1956 Newsday column was headlined 

“Open Mind Moderator Denies Show Seeks Sensational Topics.” 

But if the subjects were controversial, the guests were stellar. 

In the decades that followed, they have included Margaret Mead 

’23 Barnard, ’29 GSAS; Joseph Heller; Martin Luther King Jr.; Max 

Frankel ’52, ’ 53 GSAS; Robert Redford; Max Lerner; Isaac Asimov 

’39, ’41 GSAS; Gloria Steinem; Rod Serling; Norman Cousins ’37 

TC; Eli Wallach; Ruth Westheimer ’70 TC; and Malcolm X. 

In 1959, CBS chairman William S. Paley appointed Heffner 

secretary of the network’s editorial board, “whipping the 

owned-and-operated CBS television and radio stations into 

doing editorials on a local level,” as Heffner says. Though his 

power to set guidelines and write the editorials made him “very, 

very unpopular” among station managers, he did not suffer their 

displeasure for long. Within a year he became a special consultant 

to the National Educational Television and Radio Center, which 

led to his being named general manager of New York’s first public 

television station, WNDT, the forerunner of today’s WNET. 

For NETRC, the easy part about organizing the nascent station 

was raising the necessary $6.2 million in seed money. Rather 

more difficult was actually getting on the air. At the time, all seven 

coveted VHF stations in the New York area were already in use. 

So with the approval of the Federal Communications Commission, 

NETRC purchased station WNTA, Channel 13, in Newark 

— much to the consternation of New Jersey Gov. Robert Meyner, 

who sued in federal court to block the takeover. 

“Meyner was a strange man,” Heffner recalls. “He said, ‘You 

are raping the sovereign state of New Jersey. You are taking its only 

VHF station.’ And it was perfectly true. But it was a bankrupt station. 

It was a distress sale, because it owed so much money.” 

Once the sale cleared, and the purchasers incorporated as the 

Educational Broadcasting Corp. (EBC), Heffner began a “pretty 

goddamned busy, pretty goddamned exciting” phase of his life 

as WNDT went on the air on September 16, 1962. Often working 

from 6 a.m. until midnight, Heffner dealt with staff issues, 

logistics, budgets, programming and the occasional emergency 

— like when hordes of parents howled after he canceled a festival 

of previously unaired Charlie Chaplin films in favor of coverage 

of the Cuban missile crisis. 

Not surprisingly, he was shattered when EBC fired him the 

following April amid conflicts over policy and the very nature of 

what was then called “educational television.” Heffner favored a 

wide range of programming, especially expensive cultural fare; 

EBC, led by president Sam Gould, envisioned WNDT as a cheaper 

classroom of the air, specializing in instructional programs. The 

New York Times covered the developing drama on its front page; 

some 50 non-union WNDT staff members offered to take a 10 

percent pay cut to retain their boss. 

“I’m a teacher. I’m a talker. I’m a speaker. 

I’m a preacher. That’s who I am.” 

As WNET prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary this fall, 

the memory still stings. “As you can imagine, having spent those 

years in making a reality of something that had been a dream of 

mine. … How did I feel when suddenly the ground was pulled 

out from under me? Godawful.” 

But the morning after he was sacked, Rutgers president Mason 

Gross called and offered him a tenured faculty position; today, 

he is the University Professor of Communications and Public 

Policy. A few days later, pollster Elmo Roper provided him with a 

secretary, an office and an appointment with AT&T. 

“He said, ‘You have lunch with them, respond to their questions, 

and be yourself.’ I went down, had a very nice — though 

institutional — lunch and gave them some advice on communications 

matters they thought terribly pressing. I came back, went 

into Elmo’s office and said, ‘OK, Elmo, what do I do now?’ And 

Elmo said, ‘Send them an invoice for $10,000.’” 

It was the beginning of the consulting firm Richard Heffner Associates, 

whose clients came to include Time, American Airlines 

and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 

Heffner often quotes John Milton’s Areopagitica: “Who 

ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open 

encounter?” But having spent decades in the trenches, 

Heffner also knows how the world works. A good 

example occurred in 1987, when Judge Wachtler asked him to 

chair a commission to determine whether cameras should be permitted 

in New York state courtrooms. Years before the spectacle 

of Court TV and the O.J. Simpson trial, Heffner said no, concluding 

that networks would simply pluck juicy bits out of context. 

“They were eager to put on the air attractive, sensational materials 

from trials. They were not eager to teach lessons.” 

In 1974, he got an even more bracing lesson 

in media reality, when he was named 

chairman of the Classification and Ratings 

Administration (CARA) of the Motion Picture 

Association of America at the personal 

request of its president, Jack Valenti. Before 

long, he had become what the Los Angeles 

Times called “the least known, most powerful 

man in Hollywood.” As such, he was 

at the center of major ratings controversies 

over the violence in such movies as Cruising 

and Scarface (directed by Brian De Palma 

’62); at one point he clashed with United 

Artists chairman Arthur Krim ’30, ’32L 

about Rollerball. Heffner felt it should be rated 

“X,” prompting Krim to thunder, “This 

man’s predecessor was a fanatic about sex; 

this man is a fanatic about violence!” 

Heffner enjoyed many aspects of the 

job, though. As he told film critic Charles 

Champlin in an exhaustive series of interviews 

for the Columbia Center for Oral History, 

“There were times when the picture 

was over and I would say to my colleagues, 

‘You know, this really makes it all worthwhile.’ 

And I meant it.” 

But there was also endless wrangling with Valenti and industry 

professionals who often cajoled, persuaded or pressured Heffner 

and his board to assign a family-friendly “PG,” rather than an “R” 

or a dreaded “X.” Almost weekly, Heffner commuted to and from 

California to screen movies and meet with the board, refusing to 

move there because he feared that constant socializing with actors 

and directors would corrupt his integrity. 

Not long after he was appointed, Heffner began to suggest 

to Valenti — “always with the utmost politeness” — ways of 

improving the system. He especially wanted to provide better 

ratings explanations and more fully fleshed out guidelines to 

distinguish between younger and older teenagers. At one point, 

he pushed for an “RR” category between “R” and “X,” signaling 

that the content was, as he put it, “really rough.” In the end, “PG- 

13” was added in 1984 and “NC-17” supplanted “X” in 1990. 

By the time he stepped down in 1994, Heffner had grave 

doubts about the effectiveness of the self-imposed system. Immediately 

upon leaving CARA, he became a senior fellow at the 

Freedom Forum, at that time located on campus at the Journalism 

School. In the year that followed, Heffner attempted to sort 

out and put on paper the lessons he had learned in Hollywood 

(or, as he put it, “in GaGaLand”). He remains conflicted about 

voluntary ratings for films and, by extension, for TV shows, recordings 

and video games. 

But he is convinced of one thing at least, probably much to 

the distress of his friend Abrams: “In a society so largely based 

upon free speech and free thought, and in a society that is as 

much based upon the almighty dollar as ours is, a larger degree 

of regulation is necessary.” 

Every Saturday at noon — except during pledge weeks 

— viewers can tune to Channel 13 and be greeted by the 

sight of two simple, intersecting human profiles with 

brain-shaped holes cut in them, slowly revolving amid 

the eerie strains of World Without Time by the Sauter [as in Edward 

Sauter ’36]-Finegan Orchestra. Although graphic designer 

Heffner studies his notes in preparation for a taping of The Open Mind. 

PHOTO: RANDY MONCEAUX 

Lee Moss designed Open Mind’s iconic logo, it was Heffner who 

chose the accompanying theme, which he describes as “mental 

health music.” 

How much longer will it continue? At 87, Heffner is hardly 

unaware of his mortality; he has even spoken with Alexander, his 

grandson, about taking over the program. Open Mind, however, 

is not just another venue for talking heads; its roster of guests and 

topics, its low-key, probing, intellectual give-and-take, constitutes 

a personal expression of the host himself. 

Indeed, from 1959–67, when Heffner was busy with various 

ventures and put the Princeton historian Eric Goldman in the moderator’s 

chair in his stead, he was unhappy with the result. He felt 

that Goldman, a cultural adviser to the White House, was pushing 

a political agenda with the show. “He used his invitations to 

feather the nest of the Johnson administration. As far as I was concerned, 

they weren’t The Open Mind. That’s why, now, I’m much 

more honest about it. I call it Richard Heffner’s Open Mind. It’s not 

anyone else’s. 

“How long I’ll be able to keep doing it, or how long my voice 

or my mind will last — who knows?” he says, lounging in the 

book-crammed study in his Riverside Drive apartment, his dog 

Cassie resting on the couch. “Would I like to continue? Yes. I’d 

like to continue to the point at which I know I’m no longer doing 

what I did and others also feel that way. Then I hope I have the 

good grace to say, ‘Good night and good luck’ a final time. 

“Sure, maybe somebody can do Bill Moyers’ Open Mind, or Alexander 

Heffner’s Open Mind, or whatever. But nobody’s going to 

do what I did. I am who I am. And that’s all that I am. I’m Popeye 

the sailor man.” 

He smiles and looks semi-serious. “Remember that.” 

Former Columbia College Today acting editor Thomas Vinciguerra 

’85, ’86J, ’90 GSAS is executive editor of This Week From Indian 

Country Today, a regular contributor to The New York Times and 

the editor of Backward Ran Sentences: The Best of Wolcott Gibbs 

from The New Yorker. 

FALL 2012 

38 

FALL 2012 

39

Ai-jen Poo ’96 co-founded 

Domestic Workers United 

and now is director of the 

National Domestic Workers 

Alliance. She identifies with 

the tiger, her Chinese zodiac 

sign, and draws upon what 

she calls her “inner tiger” 

for courage as she works 

to better conditions and 

benefits for nannies, 

housekeepers and 

caregivers. 

PHOTO: MAX VADUKUL 


The Home Front 

Ai-jen Poo ’96 gives domestic workers a voice 

B y Nat h a l i e A l o n s o ’08 

Ai-jen Poo ’96 spent her formative 

years as a Columbia Lion, but as an advocate for domestic workers she identifies more closely 

with the tiger, her Chinese zodiac sign. So much, in fact, that she had its likeness tattooed on 

her right arm when she was in her mid-20s. 

Baring no teeth, Poo’s tiger sports a penetrating stare that conveys inner strength rather 

than ferociousness. The unexpected image mirrors the stalwart yet heartfelt approach with 

which Poo, one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world for 2012, has 

procured legal protections for nannies, housekeepers and caregivers to the elderly. This overwhelmingly 

female workforce has historically been excluded from labor rights laws, making 

its members — most of them immigrants, legal and illegal — vulnerable to underpayment, 

inhumane working conditions, exploitation and harassment. 

“The women who do domestic work — whether they are nannies or caregivers for the 

elderly — really take pride in the work that they do. They love the people they take care of,” 

says Poo, who in 2000 started Domestic Workers United (DWU, domesticworkersunited. 

org), an organization that mobilizes immigrant domestic workers in New York City, and 

now is director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA, domesticworkers.org). 

“We believe it’s their work that makes all other work possible. And so it’s really important 

that it be recognized and respected as dignified, professional work. 

FALL 2012 

41

AI-JEN POO ’96 


COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY AI-JEN POO ’96 

“Fear often gets in the way of our taking risks necessary to 

make real change in the world,” Poo adds. “The tattoo is a reminder 

to draw upon my inner tiger and to be courageous in the 

face of uncertainty in the service of a vision for a better world.” 

DWU was the major force behind New York’s Domestic 

Workers’ Bill of Rights, which took effect on November 29, 2010, 

three months after then-Gov. David Paterson ’77 signed it into 

law. The country’s first, it entitles domestic workers to overtime 

pay, one day of rest a week, three paid days off a year after one 

year with the same employer and inclusion in the state’s Human 

Rights Law, which protects against sexual harassment and discrimination. 

The law applies to all domestic workers regardless 

of legal status (there are an estimated 200,000 domestic workers 

in the New York metropolitan area, according to DWU). California’s 

state legislature is considering a similar bill. 

“It was a breakthrough moment,” Poo says. “We forced the 

state of New York to recognize domestic work as real work that 

deserves inclusion and protection, and reversed a legacy of exclusion 

and discrimination.” 

the 1996 protests that called for more culturally diverse course 

offerings. Three years later, Columbia’s Center for the Study of 

Ethnicity and Race was established. 

“We were all working together with one really strong message 

to push the University to recognize this piece of intellectual 

work that is so important to how this country has unfolded,” 

Poo recalls. “We wanted to send a message of how important it 

was for students to have access to that information. 

“Students really worked together across communities. That 

was one of the things that was so powerful about it. It was a really 

exciting time. It informed how I understood how change happens 

and gave me a sense of the potential of organizing.” 

Born in Pittsburgh to Chinese immigrants, Poo transferred to 

the College after a year at Washington University in St. Louis, 

where she had enrolled with plans to become a potter. “I missed 

reading books, literature in particular,” says Poo, whose father, 

Mu-ming Poo, was a pro-democracy activist in Taiwan and 

taught in Columbia’s Department of Biological Sciences from 

1988–95; her mother is an oncologist. 

“Ai-jen makes the possibility for radical change palpable. 

She not only believes in the basic goodness of all people but also 

that we all inherently want fairness and equality to prevail.” 

For more than five years after Assemblyman Keith Wright 

(D-Manhattan) and Sen. Diane Savino (D-Brooklyn/Staten Island) 

introduced the bill into the state legislature in 2004, DWU 

staffers drove workers to Albany to lobby. Poo estimates that 

she made upward of 50 trips herself. Among those who shared 

their stories with lawmakers, she notes, was a Colombian woman 

in her 60s who cared for a disabled child in order to afford insulin 

for her own son. She worked more than 100 hours a week 

for about $3 an hour, cooking, cleaning, washing and ironing for 

the family of six, only to retire at day’s end to a basement with 

an overflowing sewage system. She was fired suddenly without 

severance pay. Other workers testified to humiliations and 

sexual harassment by male employers. 

“I’ve been fortunate to be a part of many collective efforts that 

involved sacrifice, spirit, heart and commitment on the part of a 

lot of domestic workers,” says Poo of DWU’s work. “It was never 

me alone.” 

Domestic workers are excluded from the National Labor Relations 

Act, which protects the rights of most other private workers 

to form unions, strike and bargain collectively. Nonetheless, 

DWU has close to 7,000 members who pay $5 a month in dues 

in return for free legal assistance, immigration advice and help 

with resume building and job searching. Funding comes mostly 

from private foundations. The organization’s board comprises 

nine members who collaborate with director Priscilla Gonzalez 

’98 Barnard, herself the daughter of a domestic worker. 

“Ai-jen makes the possibility for radical change palpable,” says 

Gonzalez. “She not only believes in the basic goodness of all people 

but also that we all inherently want fairness and equality to prevail.” 

Poo realized the power of grassroots activism as a College 

student. She was arrested in April 1995 for blocking 

the Manhattan Bridge as part of a city-wide protest 

against police brutality. She also was among the students 

who occupied Low Rotunda and Hamilton Hall during 

“I was excited about having New York City as a place to learn 

and grow,” she adds. 

Within a year of her arrival, Poo shifted her focus from art to 

women’s studies. “I’ve been really passionate about women’s 

issues since high school,” she says. “When I got to Columbia, 

the women’s studies department offered the opportunity to explore 

the intellectual work that had been done around women’s 

rights and how gender has shaped our world and our history. 

“There are a lot of strong women in my family tradition,” adds 

Poo, whose family includes sister Ting Poo ’00, a post-production 

film editor. “My grandmothers and my mom are very important 

role models for me.” 

Soon after arriving in New York, Poo began staffing a hotline 

as a volunteer at the New York Asian Women’s Center, a 

domestic violence shelter for Asian immigrant women, where 

she got her first taste of women’s activism. She later became involved 

with the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence, where 

she was promoted to paid staff member upon graduation. Poo 

co-founded DWU with colleagues from CAAAV, where she had 

spearheaded an initiative that sought to empower Asian immigrant 

women employed in low-wage service industries. 

Poo met her husband, attorney Tony Lu, while recruiting volunteers 

for CAAAV at NYU Law School, where Lu earned a J.D. 

Lu now works for Pro Bono Net, a nonprofit that uses web technology 

to increase access to justice for people who cannot afford 

lawyers. The couple lives in Queens. 

Poo now heads the NDWA, a coalition she helped establish 

in 2007. It encompasses more than 30 member organizations nationwide 

that seek respect and fair labor standards for domestic 

workers. Though based in New York, Poo travels frequently to 

meetings and public speaking engagements. 

The NDWA celebrated in June when delegates to the International 

Labour Conference — the annual meeting of the member 

states of the U.N.’s International Labour Organization — adopted 

the Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. The 

While Poo credits the collective efforts of fellow advocates for her groups’ success, she still is on the front line and speaking out. 

PHOTO: COURTESY AI-JEN POO ’96/NDWA 

international treaty for the first time entitles domestic workers to 

fundamental labor rights and is binding for the states that ratify 

it. Though the United States has not done so, the NDWA worked 

with the Department of Labor to draft the federal government’s 

response. (The NDWA also had sent a domestic worker to the 

conference as a voting delegate.) 

In 2011, Poo’s groundbreaking work earned her the American 

Express NGen Leadership Award bestowed by Independent 

Sector, a leadership network for charities and foundations. The 

award recognizes nonprofit leaders under 40 who have had a significant 

impact on a societal need. The $3,000 grant has gone toward 

training and capacity building for domestic worker leaders. 

“Ai-jen is a leader of the present and future,” says Mikaela 

Seligman, Independent Sector’s v.p. of nonprofit and philanthropic 

leadership and practice. “The way she sees leadership is 

that her role is not to be out in front publicly or privately, somehow 

leading the charge, which is really a model of the past. Her 

role is fundamentally to mobilize resources to achieve a goal. She 

does that ably, she does that graciously and she does it with love.” 

In 2009, the Center for Social Inclusion awarded Poo the 

$25,000 Alston-Bannerman Fellowship for Organizers of Color, 

which allowed her to take a four-month sabbatical, part of which 

she spent re-energizing in Hawaii, a logical destination once she 

mentions her affinity for the outdoors and “places where mountains 

and ocean meet.” Poo’s husband and a few friends accompanied 

her for part of the trip, but she also spent time alone practicing 

yoga and sleeping at least eight hours each night, which 

she rarely gets to do. Moreover, she used the time off to convoke 

a national meeting of female organizers. That same year, Crain’s 

New York Business named her one of its “40 Under 40” rising stars. 

Then came Time’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” list 

this spring. 

Ever-humble, Poo is quick to attribute such accolades to her 

cause rather than her aptitude. “It’s really recognition of both the 

importance of domestic work in society today and the significance 

of domestic workers organizing, advocacy and leadership 

in the social change arena,” she says. “I feel proud to be a part of 

a movement that inspires so many people.” 

To view videos of Poo, go to Web Extras at college.columbia.edu/cct. 

Nathalie Alonso ’08 is a freelance journalist and an editorial producer 

of LasMayores.com, Major League Baseball’s official Spanish language 

website. She also writes Student Spotlight for CCT. 

FALL 2012 

42 

FALL 2012 

43

COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY ANDREW DELBANCO ASKS, WHAT IS COLLEGE FOR? 

PHOTO: DAVID WENTWORTH 

Andrew Delbanco, the Mendelson Family Professor of 

American Studies and the Julian Clarence Levi Professor in 

the Humanities, was named “America’s Best Social Critic” 

by Time magazine in 2001. The director of American 

studies at Columbia and the 2011 recipient of the National 

Humanities Medal, Delbanco also has won accolades for 

his teaching, most notably the 2006 Great Teacher Award 

from the Society of Columbia Graduates. His wide-ranging 

writings include numerous articles in The New York 

Review of Books and The New Republic, and books 

that span much of American history, from the early age (The 

Puritan Ordeal) to our own (Required Reading: Why Our 

American Classics Matter Now). 

The following essay is taken from Delbanco’s newest book, 

College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be (Princeton University 

Press, $24.95), a reflection on college and the important role it 

should play in these challenging times. 

[ COLUMBIA FORUM] 

Andrew Delbanco Asks, 

What Is 

College For? 

Rose Kernochan ’82 Barnard 

FALL 2012 

44 

One of the peculiarities of the teaching 

life is that every year the teacher 

gets older while the students stay the 

same age. Each fall when classes resume, 

I am reminded of the ancient 

Greek story of a kindly old couple 

who invite two strangers into their 

modest home for a meal. No matter 

how much the hosts drink, by some 

mysterious trick their goblets remain 

full even though no one pours more wine. Eventually, the guests 

reveal themselves as gods who have performed a little miracle to 

express their thanks. So it goes in college: every fall the teacher 

has aged by a year, but the class is replenished with students who 

stay forever young. 

For this and many other reasons, the relation between teacher 

and student is a delicate one, perhaps not as fraught as that between 

parent and child, or between spouses or siblings, but sometimes 

as decisive. Henry James captured it beautifully in a story 

called The Pupil, which is not about a college teacher but about a 

private tutor who has come to love the child whom he is trying to 

save from his parents: 

When he tried to figure to himself the morning twilight 

of childhood, so as to deal with it safely, he perceived that 

it was never fixed, never arrested, that ignorance, at the 

instant one touched it, was already flushing faintly into 

knowledge, that there was nothing that at a given moment 

you could say a clever child didn’t know. It seemed 

to him that he both knew too much to imagine [the child’s] 

simplicity and too little to disembroil his tangle. 

Embedded in this passage is the romantic idea that the student 

possesses latent knowledge of ultimate things, and that the 

teacher’s task is to probe for the lever that releases knowledge 

into consciousness. 

In trying to make it happen, even — perhaps especially — a 

good teacher can sometimes seem brutal. The famously demanding 

Joseph Schwab, for example, who taught for years in 

the “Biological Sequence” course at the University of Chicago, 

was known for “putting one student in the hot seat for a while 

… working that person as thoroughly and creatively as possible 

before moving on to another.” One Chicago alumnus, Lee 

Shulman, former president of the Carnegie Foundation for the 

Advancement of Teaching, recalls that sitting in Schwab’s class 

“fostered clammy hands, damp foreheads” and, to put it mildly, 

“an ever-attentive demeanor.” This figure of the “tough love” 

teacher — think of Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker or Professor 

Kingsfield in The Paper Chase — has become a cliché of our 

culture, and like all clichés, it contains some truth, though doubtless 

simplified and unduly generalized. It also seems less and less 

pertinent to the present. At most colleges today, a student experiencing 

such anxiety would likely drop the class for fear of a poor 

grade (compulsory courses of the sort that Schwab taught have 

become rare), and the teacher would risk a poor score on the endof-semester 

evaluations. 

Whatever the style or technique, teaching at its best can be a 

FALL 2012 

45 

generative act, one of the ways by which human beings try to 

cheat death — by giving witness to the next generation so that 

what we have learned in our own lives won’t die with us. Consider 

what today we would call the original “mission statement” 

of America’s oldest college. The first fund-raising appeal in our 

history, it was a frank request by the founders of Harvard for financial 

help from fellow Puritans who had stayed home in England 

rather than make the journey to New England. Despite their 

mercenary purpose, the words are still moving almost four hundred 

years after they were written: 

After God had carried us safe to New England, and we 

had built our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, 

reared convenient places for God’s worship, and 

settled the civil government, one of the next things we 

longed for and looked after was to advance learning and 

perpetuate it to posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate 

ministry to the churches, when our present ministers 

shall lie in the dust. 

These mixed sentiments of faith and dread have always been 

at the heart of the college idea. They are evident at every college 

commencement in the eyes of parents who watch, through a 

screen of memories of their own receding youth, as their children 

advance into life. College is our American pastoral. We 

imagine it as a verdant world where the harshest sounds are the 

reciprocal thump of tennis balls or the clatter of cleats as young 

bodies trot up and down the fieldhouse steps. Yet bright with 

hope as it may be, every college is shadowed by the specter of 

mortality — a place where, in that uniquely American season of 

“fall and football weather and the new term,” the air is redolent 

with the “Octoberish smell of cured leaves.” 

But what, exactly, is supposed to happen in this bittersweet 

place — beyond sunbathing and body-toning and the competitive 

exertions, athletic and otherwise, for which these are just the 

preliminaries? First of all, it should be said that the pastoral image 

of college has little to do with what most college students experience 

today. A few years ago, Michael S. McPherson, president 

of the Spencer Foundation and former president of Macalester 

College, and Morton O. Schapiro, former president of Williams 

Teaching at its best can be a generative act, one of the 

ways by which human beings try to cheat death. 

College (now of Northwestern University), pointed out that “the 

nation’s liberal arts college students would almost certainly fit 

easily inside a Big Ten football stadium: fewer than one hundred 

thousand students out of more than fourteen million.” 

Since then, the number of undergraduates has grown by 

nearly a third, to around eighteen million, while the number in 

liberal arts colleges — by which McPherson and Schapiro meant 

a four-year residential college that is not part of a big university, 

and where most students study subjects that are not narrowly vocational 

such as nursing or computer programming — remains 

about the same. Many college students today, of whom a growing 

number are older than traditional college age, attend commuter 

or online institutions focused mainly on vocational training. 

Often, they work and go to school at the same time, and take 

more than four years to complete their degree, if they complete it 

at all. Five years from now, undergraduate students in the United 

States are projected to exceed twenty million, and President

AROUND MICHAEL ANDREW THE DELBANCO GERRARD QUADS ’72 ASKS, WHAT IS COLLEGE FOR? 


Obama wants to accelerate the growth. But only a small fraction 

will attend college in anything like the traditional sense of the 

word.Whatever the context, the question remains: 

what’s the point? My colleague Mark Lilla 

put the matter well not long ago when he 

spoke to the freshmen of Columbia College 

near the end of their first college year. 

He was talking, of course, to students in a 

college commonly described as “elite.” Divided roughly equally 

between young men and women, these students were more racially 

diverse than would have been the case even a few years 

ago. About one in ten was born abroad or has some other claim, 

such as a parent with a foreign passport, to be an “international” 

student; and, though it’s hard to tell the financial means of the 

students from their universal uniform of tee shirts and jeans, 

roughly one in seven (a somewhat higher rate than at other Ivy 

League colleges) is eligible for a Pell grant, a form of federal financial 

aid that goes to children of low-income families. 

As they filed into the lecture room, they gave each other the 

public hugs that signify new friendships, or, in some cases, the 

mutually averted eyes that tell of recent breakups. They seemed 

simultaneously fatigued and at ease. Once they had settled into 

their seats, out came the iPhones and laptops, some of which 

stayed aglow for the whole hour, though mostly they listened, 

No college teacher should presume to answer this question 

on behalf of the students, though, too often, he or she will try. 

(Requiring discipleship has always been a hazard of the teaching 

profession.) Instead, the job of the teacher and, collectively, of the 

college, is to help students in the arduous work of answering it 

for themselves. 

To be sure, students at a college like mine have many advantages. 

Elite institutions confer on their students enormous benefits 

in the competition for positions of leadership in business, 

government, and higher education itself. As soon as they are admitted, 

even those without the prior advantage of money have 

already gotten a boost toward getting what they want — though 

not necessarily toward figuring out what’s worth wanting. In 

fact, for some, the difficulty of that question rises in proportion to 

the number of choices they have. Many college students are away 

from their parents for the first time, although in our age of Facebook 

and Skype and Google Chat and the like, they are never really 

away. Their choices may seem limitless, but powerful forces 

constrain them, including what their parents want them to want. 

Students under financial pressure face special problems, but students 

from privileged families have problems too. 

College is supposed to be a time when such differences recede 

if not vanish. The notion of shared self-discovery for all 

students is, of course, a staple of exhortations to freshmen just 

coming in and valedictions to seniors about to go out — an idea 

invoked so often that it, too, has become a cliché. In other cultures, 

however, it would be an oddity. The American college 

has always differed fundamentally from the European university, 

where students are expected to know what they want 

(and what they are capable of) before they arrive. That is true 

even at the ancient English colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, 

to which students apply around age seventeen to “read” this 

or that subject, and once arrived, rarely venture outside their 

chosen field of formal study. By contrast, in America — in part 

because of our prosperity, which still exceeds that of most of 

the rest of the world — we try to extend the time for second 

chances and to defer the day when determinative choices must 

be made. In 1850, when Herman Melville, whose formal schooling 

ended at age seventeen, wrote that “a whaleship was my 

Yale College and my Harvard,” he used the word “college” as 

the name of the place where (to use our modern formulation) 

he “found himself.” 

The American college has always differed 

fundamentally from the European university. 

rapt. And when Lilla made the following surmise about how 

and why they had come to college, they reacted with the kind 

of quiet laughter that meant they knew he was telling the truth: 

You figured, correctly, that to be admitted you had to exude 

confidence about what Americans, and only Americans, 

call their “life goals”; and you had to demonstrate that you 

have a precise plan for achieving them. It was all bullshit; 

you know that, and I know that. The real reason you were 

excited about college was because you had questions, 

buckets of questions, not life plans and PowerPoint presentations. 

My students have convinced me that they are far 

less interested in getting what they want than in figuring 

out just what it is that’s worth wanting. 

A few years ago, I came across a manuscript diary — also, as 

it happens, from 1850 — kept by a student at a small Methodist 

college, Emory and Henry, in southwest Virginia. One spring 

evening, after attending a sermon by the college president that 

left him troubled and apprehensive, he made the following entry 

in his journal: “Oh that the Lord would show me how to think 

and how to choose.” That sentence, poised somewhere between 

a wish and a plea, sounds archaic today. For many if not most 

students, God is no longer the object of the plea; or if he is, they 

probably do not attend a college where everyone worships the 

This 1902 poster 

was drawn by John 

E. Sheridan, who 

created covers for 

The Saturday 

Evening Post and 

other magazines, 

and produced by 

Deutz Lithograph 

Co. in New York. 

same god in the same way. Many American 

colleges began as denominational institutions; 

but today religion is so much 

a matter of private conscience, and the 

number of punishable infractions so small 

(even rules against the academic sin of 

plagiarism are only loosely enforced), that 

few college presidents would presume to 

intervene in the private lives of students 

for purposes of doctrinal or moral correction. 

The era of spiritual authority belonging to college is long 

gone. And yet I have never encountered a better formulation — 

“show me how to think and how to choose” — of what a college 

should strive to be: an aid to reflection, a place and process 

whereby young people take stock of their talents and passions 

and begin to sort out their lives in a way that is true to themselves 

and responsible to others. 

Excerpted from COLLEGE by Andrew Delbanco. Copyright © 2012 by 

Princeton University Press. Reprinted by permission. 

FALL 2012 

46


THE HIDDEN REALITY 


Alumni 

News 

South Field in 1897, when 

it was still farmland. 

PHOTO: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 

ARCHIVES 

49 Message from the 

CCAA President 

50 Bookshelf 

52 Obituaries 

56 Class Notes 

104 Alumni Corner 

MESSAGE FROM CCAA PRESIDENT KYRA TIRANA BARRY ’87 

CCASIP Enjoys Success in 

Inaugural Summer 

Columbia College 

Alumni-Sponsored 

Internship Program 

2012 Employers 

Alvarez and Marsal 

AOL Ventures 

Carlisle Development Group 

Comprehensive Cardiology 

Due West Education 

First DataBank 

Judge Alvin Hellerstein 

Met Council 

NBC Universal 

Nutrition 21 

NYC Government Political 

Campaign 

Peppertree Engineering 

Public Art Fund 

Sidley Austin 

StormHarbour 

The Conference Board 

The Jed Foundation 

The Kitchen 

TZP 

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 

3rd Circuit/Judge Joseph 

Greenaway Jr. ’78 

Each fall brings the promise that comes with the start of a 

new school year. The Columbia College Alumni Association 

Board of Directors is particularly energized for 

the Dean Valentini era. The board was busy this summer 

planning for the current year and brainstorming 

how we can help improve the Columbia experience for all students, 

current and former. 

Columbia College students were hard at work this summer 

as well, expanding their intellectual horizons or applying some 

of their new skills in the workplace. The CCAA is proud to have 

played a part in facilitating this opportunity for the 27 students 

who participated in the first year of the Columbia College Alumni- 

Sponsored Internship Program (CCASIP), which was developed 

in response to students’ desire to interact more with alumni and 

with CCAA’s conviction that the alumni network is one of Columbia’s 

strongest assets. 

This joint Center for Career Education (CCE) and CCAA board 

program was spearheaded by CCAA’s Career Education Committee 

and its then–co-chair, Michael Behringer ’89. A group of 

alumni leaders reached out to fellow alumni to ask them to host 

a student intern for the summer. The response was overwhelmingly 

positive. Through every step of the process — from the high 

numbers of students who applied 

for the positions to the 

enthusiastic feedback from the 

interns, their employers and 

their mentors — it was clear 

that the students relished the 

engagement and commitment 

of College alumni. Thank you 

to everyone who participated. 

We look forward to expanding 

this program for summer 2013. 

Another committee initiative 

inaugurated this past year 

is the Alumni Dinner Series, in 

which an alumnus/a hosts a 

dinner with 10–25 students to 

speak about his or her career 

and life track. John MacPhee 

’89, Dan Futterman ’89 and Jared 

Hecht ’09 spoke to students 

about careers in medicine/ 

pharmaceuticals, the arts and 

entrepreneurship, respectively. 

Students were grateful for the 

opportunity to learn directly 

from alumni about their careers, 

and expressed hope for continued 

engagement with alumni. 

Alumni interested in hosting 

a student in the workplace 

next summer or hosting students 

at a career-focused dinner 

should contact Kavita Sharma, 

CCE dean: ks2173@columbia. 

edu or 212-854-3561. 

Career Education 

Committee Members 

Michael Behringer ’89 

Adam Beshara ’96 

Ganesh Betanabhatla ’06 

The 2012–14 Career Education 

Committee is co- 

Stephen Buchman ’59 

Gerrard Bushell ’83 

chaired by Sherri Pancer 

Wolf ’90 and Eric Mendelson Eugenio Cano ’95 

’87, ’89 Business. The committee Frank Cicero ’92 

works with CCE and the Alumni 

Office to develop, advise on Eric Mendelson ’87 

Jess Drabkin ’79 

and promote career programming 

and to facilitate opportu- 

Neda Navab ’08 

Michael Novielli ’03 

nities for interactions between 

Ted Schweitzer ’91 

alumni and students. The committee 

meets regularly to review Gerald Sherwin ’55 

programs, to identify alumni for Andrew Sohn ’04 

programs and to support CCE. Sherri Pancer Wolf ’90 

The committee welcomes nonboard 

participation. 

Wolf has been a member of the CCAA board since 2000 and 

a committee co-chair since 2011. She was a member of her 20th 

Reunion Committee and the Dean’s Alumnae Leadership Task 

Force, and a Columbia College Women mentor. She is a member 

of the New England Regional Columbia Club and has been a 

member of the Alumni Representative Committee since 1996. 

Wolf brings to the committee more than 15 years of experience 

with start-ups in a variety of financial and operational roles. She 

is the CFO at JOOS, a rapidly growing nutrition and wellness 

business. Wolf lives in Boston with her husband, Doug Wolf ’88, 

and their three children. 

Mendelson lives in Miami Beach with his wife, Kimberly, 

and their three children. A member of the CCAA board since 

2008, Eric, his brother, Victor ’89, and father, Laurans ’60, ’61 

Business, and their families recently endowed the Mendelson 

Family Professor of American Studies. Mendelson is co-president 

of HEICO Corp. (NYSE:HEI) and has been an employee of 

the aerospace company since 1990. 

Although neither lives in the tri-state area, both Sherri and 

Eric have a meaningful impact on the Columbia community, 

with the CCAA board and on Columbia students. Columbia’s 

reach is growing around the world and we encourage all 

alumni to be an active part of the Columbia family. This summer, 

alumni hosted students in locations ranging from Beijing, 

China, to Chelsea, NYC. I encourage each of you to join us this 

year in advancing career opportunities for the next generation 

of Columbia graduates. 

SUMMER 2012 

48 

FALL 2012 

49



BOOKSHELF 

Bookshelf 

The Napoleonic Image in Hardy 

and Tolstoy: A Dual Repudiation 

of the “Great Man” Theory 

of History by Raymond Marcus 

’39. Marcus, a former high school 

English and journalism teacher, 

examines the impact of Napoleon 

Bonaparte’s legacy on the works 

of Thomas Hardy and Leo Tolstoy 

(Vantage Press, $28.95). 

Epigenetics in the Age of Twitter: 

Pop Culture and Modern Science 

by Gerald Weissman ’50. Weissman 

considers modern social media 

through the lens of epigenetics, a 

branch of science that attempts to 

explain how our genes respond to 

our environments (Bellevue Literary 

Press, $18.95). 

Understanding Social Networks: 

Theories, Concepts, and Findings 

by Charles Kadushin ’53. Kadushin 

explains online and offline social 

networks through a sociological 

lens, breaking them down for 

the non-mathematically inclined 

(Oxford University Press, $99). 

Forgotten Voices: The Expulsion of 

the Germans from Eastern Europe 

after World War II by Ulrich Merten 

’53. Through firsthand accounts and 

primary documents, Merten gives 

voice to the millions of German 

citizens persecuted by totalitarian 

Russia and their own Nazi state in 

the aftermath of WWII (Transaction 

Publishers, $49.95). 

The State of the Jews: A Critical 

Appraisal by Edward Alexander ’57. 

Alexander, a professor emeritus of 

English at the University of Washington, 

describes the threat Jewish 

people face from contemporary anti- 

Semitism and hostility toward Israel 

(Transaction Publishers, $34.95). 

The Other Side of the World by Jay 

Neugeboren ’59. From the rainforests 

of Borneo to the streets of Brooklyn, 

Neugeboren’s novel follows adventurer 

Charlie Eisner and provocative 

writer Seana O’Sullivan on an 

epic journey in memory of Charlie’s 

late friend Nick (Two Dollar Radio, 

$17). 

Working for Peace and Justice: 

Memoirs of an Activist Intellectual 

by Lawrence S. Wittner ’62. 

Through a series of vignettes, 

Wittner chronicles his life as an 

activist for peace, labor rights and 

racial equality (The University of 

Tennessee Press, $29.95). 

Hypertension: A Companion to 

Braunwald’s Heart Disease, 2nd 

Edition by Dr. Henry R. Black ’63 and 

William J. Elliott. An update to the 

authors’ cardiology reference book, 

this edition provides doctors with 

the most up-to-date clinical tools to 

treat hypertension (Saunders, $169). 

Strangers & Pilgrims: A Centennial 

History of The Laymen’s Club 

of the Cathedral of Saint John 

the Divine by Francis J. Sypher Jr. 

’63. Sypher chronicles the Laymen 

Club’s 100-year history of sponsoring 

the famous Morningside 

Heights cathedral as well as the 

club’s contributions to its construction 

from the 1920s through the 

1990s (The Laymen’s Club of the 

Cathedral Church of Saint John the 

Divine, $35). 

Treacherous Beauty: Peggy Shippen, 

the Woman Behind Benedict 

Arnold’s Plot to Betray America 

by Mark Jacob and Stephen H. Case 

’64. In their biography of Arnold’s 

wife, Jacob and Case reveal her 

pivotal role in the treasonous plot 

that nearly sabotaged the American 

Revolution (Lyons Press, $24.95). 

Torture and Impunity: The U.S. 

Doctrine of Coercive Interrogation 

by Alfred W. McCoy ’68. 

McCoy, a history professor at the 

University of Wisconsin-Madison, 

writes a history of torture tactics 

used by the U.S. government and 

details how torture affects our culture, 

morality and laws (University 

of Wisconsin Press, $24.95). 

Whole Notes: A Piano Masterclass 

by Armen Donelian ’72. A holistic 

approach to instrumental study 

— including advice on physical, 

mental and psychological challenges 

that need attention — from 

an internationally respected jazz 

pianist, composer and educator 

(Advance Music, $32.50). 

The Good, the Bad, and the Economy: 

Does Human Nature Rule Out 

a Better World? by Louis Putterman 

’76. The author grapples with the 

conflict between self-interest and 

social cooperation as he seeks to address 

the reasons we’ve been unable 

to build a more equal and nurturing 

world (Langdon Street Press, $17.95). 

Black Tulips: The Selected Poems 

of José María Hinojosa by José 

María Hinojosa, translated by Mark 

Statman ’80. Spanish poet Hinojosa’s 

surrealist work — translated 

into English for the first time since 

his 1936 assassination — celebrates 

love amidst war and suffering 

(Uno Press, $18.95). 

Pledges of Jewish Allegiance: 

Conversion, Law, and Policymaking 

in Nineteenth- and Twentieth- 

Century Orthodox Responsa by 

David Ellenson and Daniel Gordis 

’81. Ellenson and Gordis consider 

a wide array of legal opinions 

by European Orthodox rabbis 

to determine what constitutes a 

legitimate conversion to Judaism 

(Stanford University Press, $30). 

The People’s Pension: The Struggle 

to Defend Social Security Since 

Reagan by Eric Laursen ’82. In this 

history of Social Security, Laursen, 

a financial and political journalist, 

explains how the program’s 

existence has been threatened by 

both political parties and lays out 

a strategy to protect it (AK Press, 

$27) 

Barack Obama [’83]: The Story by 

David Maraniss. The author, an associate 

editor at The Washington Post, 

draws on hundreds of interviews to 

uncover the influences on the personal 

and political life of President 

Obama in this biography (Simon & 

Schuster, $32.50). 

The Secret War Between Downloading 

and Uploading: Tales of 

the Computer as Culture Machine 

by Peter Lunenfeld ’84. The author 

analyzes our digital culture, warning 

that passive consumption, instead 

of active creation, has become 

the main way we use technology 

(The MIT Press, $21.95). 

New Classicists: Richard Manion 

[’84] Architecture by Stacie Stukin. 

This vivid portfolio of work by 

Richard Manion ’84 features 

projects from around the world including 

signature homes inspired 

by English country houses, French 

châteaux and Italian villas (Images 

Publishing, $90). 

Race and America’s Immigrant 

Press: How the Slovaks Were 

Taught to Think Like White 

People by Robert M. Zecker ’84. 

Zecker, associate professor of 

history at Saint Francis Xavier 

University in Nova Scotia, studies 

how immigrant newspapers 

covered American racial issues in 

the 19th and 20th centuries (Continuum, 

$130). 

The Shape of Green: Aesthetics, 

Ecology, and Design by Lance 

Hosey ’87. Architect and designer 

Hosey outlines principles of design 

for products, cars, buildings and 

cities that incorporate sustainability 

(Island Press, $30). 

Sexual Types: Embodiment, Agency, 

and Dramatic Character from 

Shakespeare to Shirley by Mario 

DiGangi ’88. Building on feminist 

and queer scholarship, DiGangi 

demonstrates how sexual types 

such as the bawd, the sodomite and 

the citizen wife can be vilified but 

also serve as dynamic, resourceful 

characters who upend the limitations 

of their archetypes (University 

of Pennsylvania Press, $65). 

The Career Within You: How 

to Find the Perfect Job for Your 

Personality (Japanese edition) by 

Elizabeth Wagele and Ingrid Stabb 

’91. In a new edition of their 2009 

book, Wagele and Stabb offer 

unique advice for job hunters in 

the Japanese market, using the Enneagram 

personality model to help 

find a job that fits one’s sensibilities 

(HarperOne, 575 Japanese Yen). 

The House of Velvet and Glass by 

Katherine Howe ’99. The bestselling 

novelist’s latest blends romance, 

the supernatural and a family’s secrets 

during the tumultuous period 

spanning the sinking of the Titanic 

and WWI (Voice, $25.99). 

Sovereign Wealth Funds and 

Long-Term Investing edited by 

Patrick Bolton, the Barbara and 

David Zalaznick Professor of Business; 

Frederic Samama; and Joseph 

E. Stiglitz, University Professor. 

This collection of essays explains 

and examines the implications of 

sovereign wealth funds, stateowned 

investment funds with 

combined asset holdings that are 

approaching $4 trillion (Columbia 

University Press, $20). 

Storable Votes: Protecting the Minority 

Voice by Alessandra Casella, 

professor of economics. Casella 

brings the tools of economics to 

politics, presenting a system in 

which citizens can budget their 

votes, casting multiple votes when 

they consider a decision more 

important (Oxford University 

Press, $29.95). 

College: What It Was, Is, and 

Should Be by Andrew Delbanco, 

the Mendelson Family Professor 

of American Studies and the 

Julian Clarence Levi Professor in 

the Humanities. Delbanco traces 

the evolution of higher education 

in America from early Puritan 

colleges to modern research universities 

and calls for a return to a 

broad, humanistic undergraduate 

education (see Columbia Forum in 

this issue for an excerpt) (Princeton 

University Press, $24.95). 

Ignorance: How It Drives Science 

by Stuart Firestein, professor of 

neuroscience and chair of the 

Department of Biological Sciences. 

Citing examples from an array 

of scientific disciplines, Firestein 

claims scientists often make their 

best discoveries by embracing 

what they don’t know (Oxford 


A Brief History of Justice by David 

Johnston, professor of political science. 

Johnston’s survey on justice 

covers the ancient law codes of 

Babylon and Greece as well as 

contemporary questions about the 

nature of justice (Wiley-Blackwell, 

$29.95). 

The Age of Insight: The Quest 

to Understand the Unconscious 

in Art, Mind, and Brain, from 

Vienna 1900 to the Present by Eric 

R. Kandel, University Professor and 

the Kavli Professor of Brain Science 

in Neuroscience. Nobel Prize Winner 

Kandel traces an intellectual 

revolution in psychology, brain 

science, literature and art to the 

cultural epicenter of Vienna in 1900 

(Random House, $40). 

Perpetual War: Cosmopolitanism 

from the Viewpoint of Violence 

by Bruce Robbins, the Old Dominion 

Foundation Professor in the 

Humanities. A theorist of cosmopolitanism, 

the shared morality of 

humanity beyond provincial loyalties, 

Robbins applies the concept 

to our era of constant U.S. warfare 

(Duke University Press, $23.95). 

Democracy, Islam, & Secularism 

in Turkey edited by Ahmet T. Kuru 

and Alfred Stepan, the Wallace S. 

Sayre Professor of Government. 

In this collection of essays, a range 

of experts explore the historical, 

social and religious factors that 

inform Turkey’s politics (Columbia 


Refiguring the Spiritual: Beuys, 

Barney, Turrell, Goldsworthy by 

Mark C. Taylor, professor of religion. 

Through a critique of four contemporary 

artists, Taylor reveals the 

spiritual dimensions in their work 

that often are overlooked in the 

commercialized art market (Columbia 


Benjamin Gittelson ’15 and 

Karen Iorio 

FALL 2012 

50 

FALL 2012 

51



OBITUARIES 

Obituaries 

Leo Rangell ’33 

1933 

Leo Rangell, psychoanalyst and 

emeritus clinical professor of 

psychiatry, Los Angeles, on May 

28, 2011. Rangell was born on 

October 1, 1913, in New York. He 

earned a scholarship to Columbia 

and studied medicine at Chicago, 

graduating in 1937. Rangell practiced 

psychiatry and neurology in 

New York until WWII, then spent 

the war years as a psychiatrist in the 

Army Air Forces. After the war, he 

moved to Santa Monica and studied 

at the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic 

Institute. He became a leading psychoanalyst 

who argued forcefully 

that theoretical fads and factions 

threatened to erode consumer 

confidence in the field. Rangell was 

a clinical professor of psychiatry at 

UCLA and UCSF, wrote more than 

450 published papers as well as several 

books and twice was president 

Obituary Submission 

Guidelines 


welcomes obituaries for 

College alumni. Deaths are 

noted in the next available 

issue in the “Other Deaths 

Reported” box. Complete 

obituaries will be published in 

an upcoming issue, pending 

receipt of information. Due 

to the volume of obituaries 

that CCT receives, it may 

take several issues for the 

complete obituary to appear. 

Word limit is 200; text may be 

edited for length, clarity and 

style at the editors’ discretion. 

Click “Contact Us” at college. 

columbia.edu/cct, or mail 

materials to Obituaries Editor, 

Columbia College Today, 

Columbia Alumni Center, 

622 W. 113th St., MC 4530, 

1st Fl., New York, NY 10025. 

of the American Psychoanalytic 

Association and the International 

Psychoanalytical Association. 

Rangell was seeing patients until 

shortly before his death. His chief 

contribution to the field was championing 

a comprehensive theory 

of psychoanalysis to counter the 

waves of new schools of thought 

that emphasized one approach over 

all others. Rangell was predeceased 

by his wife of 58 years, Anita, and a 

son, Richard. He is survived by his 

daughters, Judith Alley and Susan 

Harris; son, Paul; sister, Sydelle 

Levitan; seven grandchildren; and 

six great-grandchildren. 

1940 

Hermon W. “Hy” Farwell Jr., 

retired speech professor, Pueblo, 

Colo., on April 6, 2011. Farwell 

was born on October 24, 1918. At 

Columbia, he was a member of the 

crew team. Farwell enlisted in the 

Army and then transferred to the 

Air Force in 1944. He retired from 

military service in 1966, taught Air 

Force ROTC and earned a master’s 

from Penn State. He then moved 

to Pueblo to begin a second career 

as a professor in speech at what 

was then Southern Colorado State 

College, retiring in 1984 as professor 

emeritus from the Department of 

Speech Communication at USC. 

He continued to write and speak to 

many organizations throughout his 

retirement. Farwell was well known 

for his work in parliamentary procedure, 

about which he published 

several books. He was a member 

of a number of local organizations. 

Farwell was preceded in death by 

his two siblings and one grandson. 

He is survived by his wife of 69 

years, Martha; son Gardner and his 

wife, Cindy; daughter Linda and 

her husband, Rick Hammer; daughter-in-law, 

Margie; four grandsons; 

and seven great-grandchildren. 

Edmund W. White, retired chemical 

engineer, Silver Spring, Md., on 

March 5, 2011. White was born in 

Philadelphia on July 8, 1920, and 

raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. He earned 

three degrees from Columbia: a 

B.A. from the College, and then 

a B.S. and M.S. from Engineering 

in 1941 and 1942, respectively. 

White earned a Ph.D. from Lehigh. 

He retired from the David Taylor 

Research Center in Annapolis, Md., 

in 1995. White was active in the 

American Society for Testing and 

Materials, the Potomac Curling 

Club and the National Active and 

Retired Federal Employees Association. 

He is survived by his wife, Nathalie; 

children, Christine, William, 

and his wife, Cheryl, Thomas and 

James; and one grandson. Memorial 

contributions may be made to the 

Ed and Bill White Junior Curling 

Fund at the Potomac Curling Club, 

13810 Old Gunpowder Rd., Laurel, 

MD 20707, or to American Diabetes 

Association, PO Box 11454, Alexandria, 

VA 22312. 

1942 

William Pfeffer Jr., pediatrician, 

Randolph, N.H., on September 25, 

2011. Born on April 25, 1921, Pfeffer 

was a graduate of Harvard Medical 

School in 1944 and was inducted 

into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor 

Medical Society that year. While 

in medical school, he served in the 

Army and then completed his internship 

and residency at Children’s 

Hospital, Boston. Pfeffer was one 

of the early practicing authorities in 

pediatric exchange transfusions and 

one of the first to recognize maple 

syrup urine disease, a genetic metabolic 

disorder. He went into private 

practice in Wellesley, Mass., in 1952, 

and for more than 30 years was 

the consulting pediatrician to the 

Children’s Mission (Parents’ and 

Children’s Services). Pfeffer married 

Jean Wilkinson in 1943. In 1985, 

the couple retired to their summer 

home in Randolph, N.H. Following 

Jean’s death, Pfeffer married Angela 

Chakalis in 2001. Pfeffer was 

a skilled photographer, watercolor 

artist, writer, musician and woodworker. 

In 1999, he founded the 

Randolph Art Show and was the 

curator and organizer for 11 years. 

He is survived by his wife; son William 

and his wife, Anne; daughter 

Jane Jerry and her husband, George; 

two grandchildren; a niece; and a 

grandniece. Memorial contributions 

may be made to the Benevolence 

Fund, Randolph Church, c/o Mrs. 

Mark Kelley, 98 Randolph Hill Rd., 

Randolph, NH 03593. 

1943 

Martin S. James, professor emeritus 

of art history, Ann Arbor, Mich., on 

October 11, 2011. James was born in 

London, England, on July 7, 1920, 

and raised in Paris, France, where 

he attended Lycée Janson de Sailly. 

He honed his passion for modern 

art both at Columbia under Professor 

Meyer Schapiro ’24, ’35 GSAS 

and as an assistant and translator to 

artists and architects including Kurt 

Seligmann and Le Corbusier. He 

earned an M.A. (1962) and Ph.M. 

(1973) from GSAS. Subjects of 

Martin S. James ’43 

scholarship included Ad Reinhardt 

’35, Fernand Leger and Sigfried 

Giedion, with a special emphasis on 

Piet Mondrian, about whom James 

wrote several books and articles. 

While teaching at Brooklyn College 

from 1949–85, James created one 

of the first collegiate programs 

on urbanism with Professor 

Charles Ascher ’18, ’21L as well as 

other interdisciplinary programs in 

indigenous and public art. James 

also fought to make urban renewal 

adopt what he called a “human 

scale” throughout New York City. 

James was married twice and was 

predeceased by both wives, the 

former Betty Barras ’46 Barnard 

and Jan Henry, and is survived 

by his children, Elisabeth and 

Stephen; stepdaughter, Deborah; 

and two grandchildren. Memorial 


National Parkinson Foundation 

(parkinson.org). 

1944 

William W. Baines Jr., retired sales 

representative, Owings Mills, Md., 

on May 26, 2011. Born in Brooklyn, 

N.Y., on November 17, 1922, Baines 

interrupted his time at Columbia 

to fight in the Pacific in WWII on 

the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Belleau 

Wood. Upon his return from the 

Navy, he was part of the Columbia 

varsity basketball team that won 

the Ivy League Championship in 

1947. After graduation, he worked 

for Wilson Jones, selling stationery 

supplies. Married in 1949, he spent 

much of his adult life in the Baltimore 

area and volunteered a great 

deal of his time in his community, 

both in the church and within local 

civic groups, winning honors from 

PennMarVa and others. Baines 

also dedicated much of his time to 

coaching sports in his hometown 

of Pikesville, Md., and was named 

Man of the Year in 1974. He is 

survived by his wife of nearly 62 

years, Carol; four children and 

their spouses; 10 grandchildren; 

and two great-grandchildren. 

1946 

Charles H. Arnoldi Jr., retired surgeon, 

University Park, Fla., on April 

26, 2011. Arnoldi was born in West 

Hoboken, N.J. At the College, he was 

a member of the V12 program. In 

1949, he graduated from Georgetown 

University College of Medicine 

and was a practicing surgeon in 

Orange and South Orange, N.J., 

for more than 50 years. He was a 

member of the American College of 

Surgeons and the American Medical 

Association, and was a past president 

of the Essex County Medical 

Society. Arnoldi was a Navy veteran 

of the Korean War and served in the 

Naval Reserves for many years. He 

is survived by his wife, Jane; son, 

Jeffrey; daughters Amy, and Karen 

Costello; sister, Alma Torello; and 

four grandchildren. Arnoldi was 

predeceased by his first wife, Avis, 

and a daughter, Janice. 

1948 

Richard van Frank, retired editor, 

Montclair, N.J., on July 4, 2011. Born 

and raised in New York City, van 

Frank completed a pre-med degree 

after serving as a U.S. Army medic 

in Italy and North Africa during 

WWII. He did graduate studies at 

Harvard in vertebrate paleontology 

and worked at the American 

Museum of Natural History and at 

Harvard’s Museum of Comparative 

Zoology. Van Frank had a long 

career as an acquisitions editor in 

academic publishing, concentrating 

on textbooks and journals in the 

biological sciences. His retirement 

activities included visiting art 

museums, attending Shakespeare, 

probing classical Greek and comparative 

Indo-European linguistics 

and reading (and writing) science 

fiction. Van Frank is survived by his 

wife, Leslie; daughters, Katherine, 

and Jennifer and her husband, Barat 

Dickman; and two grandchildren. 

Memorial contributions may be 

made to the Cancer Center of Clara 

Maass, 1 Clara Maass Dr., Belleville, 

NJ 07109, or to the Overlook Hospital 

Foundation, 36 Upper Overlook 

Rd., PO Box 220, Summit, NJ 07902. 

1949 

Ross J. Wilson, retired actuary, 

Hilton Head Island, S.C., on September 

23, 2011. Wilson was born 

on February 16, 1925, in Flatbush, 

Brooklyn, N.Y. At age 18, he enlisted 

in the Army Air Corps as an 

aviation cadet, serving as a first 

lieutenant bombardier in the 15th 

Air Force during WWII. After the 

College, Ross entered the actuarial 

training program at Home Life 

Insurance Co., in New York City. 

He later joined the small actuarial 

consulting firm of David G. Stone 

in Newark, N.J., where he became 

a partner with the then-named firm 

Stone, Young and Associates. The 

group merged into Watson Wyatt 

Worldwide Consulting Actuaries in 

the early 1980s, and he retired from 

it in 1987. Ross was a member of the 

American Academy of Actuaries, an 

associate of the Society of Actuaries 

and, while actively consulting, a fellow 

of the Conference of Actuaries 

in Public Practice. He is survived 

by his wife of 61 years, Geraldine; 

daughter, Leslie R. Degenaars; sons, 

Keith and Craig; seven grandchildren; 

and one great-grandchild. 

Memorial contributions may be 

made to Hilton Head Island Deep 

Well Project, PO Box 5543, Hilton 

Head Island, SC 29938. 

1950 

Arthur S. Campbell, retired 

psychiatrist, Upper Saddle River, 

N.J., on July 9, 2011. Campbell 

interned at Seaside Memorial 

Hospital in Long Beach, Calif., and 

did a residency in internal medicine 

at Walter Reed Army Hospital in 

Washington, D.C., graduating in 

1954. He continued studies with a 

two-year fellowship in cardiology, 

followed by a final residency in 

psychiatry. After returning from 

his first European tour, he and his 

wife, Astry ’48 Barnard, ’49 GSAS, 

and their three children settled in 

Short Hills, N.J., where Campbell 

practiced psychiatry. A dozen years 

later, Campbell did a second stint in 

Europe, and returned stateside as 

an Armay colonel. He was chief of 

psychiatry at three Army hospitals: 

Frankfurt, Heidelberg and Landstuhl, 

Germany. Campbell ended 

his Army career as a psychiatrist at 

West Point Military Academy. He 

then became a staff psychiatrist at 

Valley Hospital and later opened 

his own practice in Ridgewood, 

N.J., from which he retired in 2011. 

Campbell is survived by his wife; 

children, Brenda Leigh Haynes, A. 

Scott and Laura; and five grandchildren. 

Memorial contributions may 

be made to the Valley Hospital Hospice 

Care, 15 Essex Road, Paramus, 

NJ 07652. 

John D. “David” Suomi, retired 

dentist, New Wilmington, Pa., on 

May 8, 2011. A native of Brooklyn, 

N.Y., Suomi earned a D.D.S. in 

1953 from the Dental School and 

an M.P.H. in 1962 from the School 

of Public Health. He was in private 

practice in Tuxedo Park and Suffern, 

N.Y., before joining the U.S. Public 

Health Service in 1962; he retired in 

1983 as a captain. Suomi served with 

the Division of Dental Health, the 

Office of the Assistant Secretary for 

Health and the National Institute of 

Dental Research. Suomi’s research 

studies were important in estab- 

Andrew Sarris ’51, ’98 GSAS, Film Critic 

and Longtime School of the Arts Professor 

Andrew Sarris ’51, ’98 

GSAS, one of the country’s 

most influential 

film critics and a longtime professor 

at the School of the Arts 

(SOA), died on June 20, 2012. 

Described as indispensable and 

insightful, erudite but down 

to earth, Sarris was known for 

his reviews in The Village Voice 

and The New York Observer as 

well as for popularizing auteur 

theory, the notion that directors 

are the true authors of their 

films. He was 83 and lived in 

New York City. 

Sarris was born on October 

31, 1928, in Brooklyn, N.Y., to 

Greek immigrants. He grew up 

in Ozone Park, Queens, and 

attended John Adams H.S. 

By his own admission, Sarris 

was entranced by movies 

from an early age and, after 

college and several years in 

the Army Signal Corps, he immersed 

himself more deeply 

in the medium. During a year 

in Paris in the 1950s he got 

to know New Wave directors 

Jean-Luc Godard and Francois 

Truffaut and was introduced 

to the theories he would later 

espouse. 

Sarris started writing about 

film in Film Culture magazine, 

but his career’s catalytic 

moment came with his first 

review for The Village Voice, 

in 1960. Sarris praised Alfred 

Hitchcock’s Psycho and, more 

notably, took the director 

seriously as an artist at a time 

when he was dismissed as 

entertaining but commercial. 

It was an incendiary point of 

view among the newspaper’s 

readers, and angry letters 

poured in; thus began a 29- 

year career with the paper. 

In 1968 Sarris wrote his 

landmark book, The American 

Cinema: Directors and Directions 

1929–1968. It included 

essays on film and evaluated 

hundreds of directors, ranking 

them in order of importance. 

Among those in his pantheon 

were Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, 

Howard Hawks, John Ford 

and Orson Welles, selections 

that underscored his belief 

PHOTO: DAVE KOTINSKY/GETTY 

IMAGES 

that masterpieces could be 

made in Hollywood commercial 

cinema. 

Sarris’ philosophy put him 

in opposition to critic Pauline 

Kael, who valued the individual 

experience of movie-going 

over one shaped by prescribed 

schools of thought. The two 

sparred famously over the 

years, and their followers 

divided into camps called the 

Sarristes and the Paulettes. 

Among Sarris’ later books 

are Interviews With Film Directors; 

Confessions of a Cultist: 

On the Cinema 1955/1959; and 

You Ain’t Heard Nothin’ Yet: 

The American Talking Film: History 

& Memory: 1927–1949. 

Sarris began teaching at Columbia 

in 1969 and the School 

of the Arts’ annual distinguished 

alumnus award is named in his 

honor. In 1998, he earned an 

M.A. in English and comparative 

literature from GSAS. 

As SOA Professor Annette 

Insdorf wrote in tribute: “One 

cannot overestimate the 

importance of Andrew Sarris 

to movie criticism as well as 

film studies in the United 

States. … If we refer today to a 

‘Hitchcock movie’ or a ‘Hawks 

film,’ it is because Sarris provided 

the vocabulary and the 

methodology for this kind of 

approach.” 

Sarris married film critic 

Molly Haskell in 1969; she survives 

him. 

Alexis Tonti ’11 Arts 

FALL 2012 

52 

FALL 2012 

53

OBITUARIES 



OBITUARIES 

lishing the link between poor oral 

hygiene and periodontal disease. He 

was a recipient of the PHS Meritorious 

Service Medal. Suomi was a life 

member of the American Dental 

Association and the American Association 

of Public Health Dentistry as 

well as a diplomate of the American 

Board of Dental Public Health. 

During WWII, he served with the 

Army in Europe. Survivors include 

his wife, Anne; daughters, Susan 

OTHER DEATHS REPORTED 

Columbia College Today also has learned of the following deaths. Complete obituaries will be 

published in an upcoming issue, pending receipt of information. Due to the volume of obituaries 

that CCT receives, it may take several issues for the complete obituary to appear. 

1936 Malberry Smith Jr., attorney and former state legislator, Savannah, Ga., on June 11, 2012. 

1938 Howard G. Law Jr., retired attorney, Oak Harbor, Fla., on May 14, 2012. 

1943 Walter A. Petryshyn, retired otolaryngologist, Sarasota, Fla., on May 15, 2012. 

1945 Thaddeus J. “Ted” Czarnomski, retired technical director, Scotch Plains, N.J., on July 10, 2012. 

David R. Hays Jr., physician, Fincastle, Va., on May 23, 2012. 

1947 Edward N. Costikyan, political adviser and University trustee emeritus, Mount Pleasant, S.C., on 

June 22, 2012. 

1948 George J. Poris, retired advertising executive, Haworth, N.J., on May 29, 2012. 

1949 Howard J. Baker, engineer and project manager, Basking Ridge, N.J., and Greenacres, Fla., on 

February 22, 2012. 

Stephen Jarvis Jr., mathematician, Bandon, Ore., on June 17, 2012. 

Walter H. Mitton, retired engineer, San Diego, on February 27, 2012. 

1950 William H. Dickie Jr., retired, Douglaston, N.Y., on October 5, 2010. 

F. Theodore “Ted” Reid Jr., physician, Ajijic, Mexico, on July 15, 2012. 

1951 Arthur Schon, musician, singer and endodontist, West Palm Beach, Fla., February 27, 2012. 

1952 Jay R. Carver Jr., retired, Atlantic Beach, Fla., on May 25, 2012. 

Mark Flanigan, retired naval officer, Washington, D.C., on May 26, 2012. 

Albert K. Roemermann Jr., Middletown, Conn., on April 22, 2012. 

1953 Charles M. Fainsbert, retired CFO, Somerset, N.J., on April 23, 2012. 

1954 Peter D. Ehrenhaft, attorney, Washington, D.C., on July 25, 2012. 

Edward G. Holteen, retired dentist, Ambler, Pa., on July 13, 2012. 

Melvin Goldstein, chemist, Beer Sheva, Israel, on May 13, 2012. 

1955 Samuel Astrachan, novelist, Gordes, France, on August 5, 2012. 

James J. Phelan, bank executive, New York City, on May 21, 2012. 

1956 David E. Boyer, civil engineer and project manager, West Caldwell, N.J., on July 8, 2012. 

Leonard M. Florentino, retired, Hartford, Conn., on July 19, 2012. 

Charles B. Grace Sr., dentist, Manchester, N.J., on June 29, 2012. 

Michael I. Spiegel, attorney, San Francisco, on August 3, 2012. 

1960 Leonard Lustig, real estate practitioner, Stony Brook, N.Y., on April 1, 2012. 

Nelson S. Lyon, screenwriter, New York City, on July 17, 2012. 

1961 Thomas E. Bratter, psychologist, Salisbury, Conn., on August 3, 2012. 

Edward R. Hotelling, retired pilot, Somis, Calif., on May 21, 2012. 

Barry H. Jacobs, eye surgeon, New York City, on May 9, 2012. 

Louis R. Tomson, attorney, New Scotland, N.Y., on May 8, 2012. 

1962 Charles R. Miller, bookseller, Salem, Ore., on May 10, 2012. 

1963 William M. Guttman, retired attorney and professor, Palm Beach, Fla., and New York City, on 

July 13, 2012. 

Charles J. Piera, retired supervisor of volunteer services, Sundown, N.Y., on August 1, 2012. 

Robert T. Schiro, land developer, Bergenfield, N.J., on April 28, 2012. 

1964 Peter K. Shack, attorney and singer, Davis, Calif., on July 3, 2012. 

1967 James N. Woodruff, legislative specialist, Washington, D.C., on April 5, 2012. 

1977 Marcel D. Desbois, sales manager, Scarsdale, N.Y., and Bangor, Pa., on May 1, 2012. 

1980 Brian F. Smith, teacher, Norwich, Conn., on April 17, 2012. 

1991 Juan J. Calderon, attorney, San Antonio, Texas, on June 12, 2012. 

1992 Robert A. Ray, management consultant and attorney, Tampa, Fla., on June 26, 2012. 

Herchenroether and her husband, 

Peter, and Linda Bethke and her 

husband, Paul; and four grandchildren. 

Memorial contributions may 

be made to the Suomi Scholarship 

Fund c/o Westminster College, New 

Wilmington, PA 16142. 

1953 

Rolon W. Reed, retired attorney, 

former mayor, Mount Dora, Fla., on 

September 18, 2011. Reed was born 

in Pittsburgh on April 8, 1931. An 

aspiring journalist, while in junior 

high school and high school his 

sports writing appeared in The New 

York Times. At the College, Reed was 

on the Spectator staff, rising to managing 

editor. He also participated 

in the editorial decision to endorse 

Adlai Stevenson for President during 

the 1952 campaign. Stevenson’s 

opponent, Dwight Eisenhower, 

was Columbia’s president at the 

time, which made the endorsement 

controversial. Reed was a member 

of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. 

After graduating from Yale Law, he 

joined Simpson Thacher in 1956, 

where he was named partner and 

remained until his 1984 retirement. 

He also took part in government 

service in the Village of Dobbs 

Ferry, N.Y., his home from 1963–89. 

Entering local politics in 1974, Reed 

successfully ran for Village Trustee 

as a self-proclaimed “irate taxpayer.” 

After twice being re-elected, 

he accepted an appointment by 

New York Gov. Mario Cuomo to 

serve as a Justice of the Westchester 

County Court. Following his court 

service, Reed and his second wife, 

Diana, relocated to Florida. Reed is 

survived by her; his three children 

from his first marriage, Rolon ’82, 

Hilary Yeo and Jennifer Simon; and 

four grandchildren. 

1955 

Denis A. Haggerty, retired executive, 

Melbourne, Fla., on July 11, 

2011. Haggerty was born on May 

26, 1933, in Brooklyn, N.Y., and 

grew up in Saint James, N.Y. He 

attended Columbia on a Hayden 

scholarship and played football. 

Haggerty served two years in the 

USMC as a reserve officer. He lived 

much of his life in Suffolk County, 

Long Island, working in the electronics 

industry as an owner of 

TX Sales and then as v.p. of JACO 

Electronics. He retired to Titusville, 

Fla., in 1997. Haggerty was active 

in the Big Brothers of Brevard and 

was a member of the Stony Brook 

Yacht Club and the St. George Golf 

Club, both on Long Island, and 

the LaCita Golf and Country Club 

in Titusville. He is survived by his 

wife, Jacqueline; children, Timothy, 

Peter and his wife, JoEllen Gasior, 

and Lynn Haggerty King and her 

husband, David; four grandchildren; 

and sister, Patricia Stoddard. 

He was predeceased by a son, 

Christopher. Memorial contributions 

may be made to Hospice of 

Saint Francis, 1250-B Grumman Pl., 

Titusville, FL 32780 or the American 

Cancer Society. 

1956 

James S. Williams, retired executive, 

Fallbrook, Calif., on May 22, 

2011. Williams was awarded a 

Varsity C in baseball in 1955 and 

1956. He joined the Marine Corps 

following graduation and was 

honorably discharged with the 

rank of captain. Williams spent 

his early years in the advertising 

business on Madison Avenue, 

then moved to Denver in 1977. He 

founded Evergreen Resources, an 

oil and gas exploration company, 

with Terry Dreisewerd, his longtime 

business partner. Evergreen 

was sold in 2004 to Pioneer Natural 

Resources. Throughout his life, 

Williams entertained family and 

friends by playing the piano. He is 

survived by his wife, Shirley, and 

her children, Ken Plattner, Paul 

Plattner and Kelli Garecht; his children, 

Mitch ’80 and Erin Hurley; 

and seven grandchildren. Memorial 

contributions may be made to 

Nadia’s Gift (nadiasgift.org). 

1957 

Frederick W. Korz, retired educator, 

horologist, Middletown, Conn., 

on April 4, 2011. Born on October 

26, 1935, in New York City, Korz 

was raised in New Hyde Park. He 

graduated from Sewanhaka H.S. in 

Floral Park, N.Y., and received a full 

Joint Industry Board of the Electrical 

Industry Scholarship to the College, 

where he was president of Delta 

Phi. Korz earned an M.A. in history 

from Teachers College and was a 

history teacher and administrator 

in Lawrence H.S., Cedarhurst, N.Y., 

for 34 years. He did further graduate 

work at Hofstra, earning a degree in 

administration. The author of articles 

on history and teaching, Korz also 

was on the faculty of Long Island 

University, where he taught in the 

Arts and Antiques Institute. Long 

an active horologist and appraiser, 

he was the author of a major work 

on antique clocks and consultant 

to various museums and historical 

societies. He is survived by his wife, 

Virginia; sons, Frederick ’93E, ’94E 

and Charles; brother, Alan ’61 and 

his wife, Margaret; sister-in-law, 

Barbara Nielsen; brother-in-law, 

Richard Wagner; and numerous 

nieces, nephews, great-nieces and 

great-nephews. Memorial contributions 

may be made to the Columbia 

College Fund (college.columbia. 

edu/giveonline). 

1958 

Joachim Neugroschel, literary 

translator, Brooklyn, N.Y., on May 

23, 2011. Neugroschel was born in 

Vienna on January 13, 1938, and immigrated 

to Rio de Janeiro in 1939. 

His family arrived in New York 

City in 1941. The son of Yiddish 

Galician poet Mendel Neugroschel, 

he took an interest in translating 

from Yiddish and translated more 

than 200 books — from that language 

as well as from French, German, 

Russia and Italian — including 

the work of Nobel Prize-winner 

Elias Canetti. Neugroschel’s Yiddish 

anthologies, The Shtetl and Yene Velt, 

reached a wide audience, and his 

translations of S. Ansky’s play The 

Dybbuk and Sholem Asch’s drama 

God of Vengeance were produced. 

Neugroschel also was a critic and 

poet, and he founded and edited 

the poetry journal Extensions, which 

was published from 1970–75. He 

is survived by his former partner, 

Aaron Mack Schloff. 

1959 

George R. Carmody, biology professor 

and DNA evidence expert, 

Ottawa, Ontario, on June 13, 2011. 

Born on March 29, 1938, in Brooklyn, 

N.Y., Carmody was educated 

at Brooklyn Technical H.S. and 

Columbia, where he earned a Ph.D. 

in 1967 from GSAS in biological 

sciences. He was a post-doctoral 

fellow at Chicago and in 1969 

joined the Department of Biology at 

Carleton University, Ottawa, where 

for 42 years he taught courses in 

evolutionary biology, population 

genetics and forensic science. He 

also was associate dean of science 

and head of Carleton’s Integrated 

Science Program intermittently. 

Carmody developed an interest 

in forensic DNA and statistical 

biology, and became a consultant 

to government agencies, testifying 

on DNA evidence issues at trials 

in Canada in the 1990s as well as 

assisting with 9-11 and Hurricane 

Katrina. He lectured internationally 

and assisted with victim identification 

efforts in Chile and Guatemala. 

Carmody enjoyed photography, 

jazz, vintage Cadillacs, railroading, 

fine dining and ethnic cuisine, and 

was an amateur mechanic. He is 

survived by his wife, Zoë; sons, 

Chios and Ian; daughter, Daphne; 

and two grandchildren. Memorial 


George Carmody Memorial Award 

for Forensic Biology, Department of 

University Advancement, 510 Robertson 

Hall, Carleton University, 

1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa ON 

K1S 5B6 (carleton.ca/giving). 

1961 

Arthur D. Friedman, retired professor 

and publisher, San Diego, on 

October 24, 2011. Born in New York 

City on April 24, 1940, Friedman 

earned an M.S. (1962) and a Ph.D. 

(1965) in electrical engineering from 

the Engineering School. After doing 

research in computer science-electrical 

engineering at Bell Telephone 

Laboratories, he joined the faculty at 

the University of Southern California 

and then moved to the George 

Washington University, where he 

taught for more than 20 years. The 

author of numerous articles and 

books, Friedman was elected a fellow 

of the Institute of Electrical and 

Electronics Engineers. In 1974, he 

and his wife, Barbara, founded Computer 

Science Press, which published 

more than 100 text and reference 

books and was recognized by Inc. 

500 magazine several times as one of 

the nation’s 500 fastest growing, privately 

owned companies. Survivors 

include Friedman’s wife; sons, Michael 

and Steven ’01 Business, and 

their wives; four grandchildren; and 

a brother, Stanley ’54, ’62 GSAS. Memorial 

contributions may be made 

to the Cardiac Treatment Center at 

David Rakoff ’86, Humor Essayist and Actor 

PHOTO: PAUL ROOSIN 

David Rakoff ’86, a 

prizewinning humorist 

whose essays examined 

everything from a 1996 stint 

portraying Sigmund Freud in a 

window display at Barneys New 

York to his battles with cancer 

more than 20 years ago and 

again soon before his death, 

died on August 9, 2012. He was 

47 and lived in New York City. 

Rakoff was born in Montreal 

on November 27, 1964, and 

raised in Toronto. His College 

degree was in East Asian studies 

and after graduating he 

worked in Japan as a translator 

with a fine arts publisher, 

though his stay was cut short 

by a diagnosis of Hodgkin’s 

lymphoma. He moved back to 

Canada for 18 months of treatment 

and remained cancer-free 

for two decades. 

Returning to New York, 

Rakoff worked as an editor and 

publicist for various publishers 

before becoming a full-time 

writer in 1998. A letter Rakoff 

wrote to humor writer Davis 

Sedaris in the early 1990s, after 

hearing him on the radio, and 

Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, 

PO Box 2669, La Jolla, CA 92038; or 

the American Cancer Society, 2655 

Camino del Rio North, Suite 100, San 

Diego, CA 92108. 

1969 

Joseph J. Okon, physician and 

medical educator, Norwalk, Conn., 

on May 6, 2011. Born in New York 

City, Okon earned an M.D. at the 

Albert Einstein College of Medicine. 

He devoted his career to obtaining 

funding for the advancement of 

medical education and devoted his 

life to his family and his friends. A 

Sedaris’ subsequent support 

of Rakoff’s work led to 

Rakoff’s own radio career. He 

became a frequent contributor 

to “This American Life” on 

public radio, and his books 

include Fraud: Essays and 

Don’t Get Too Comfortable: The 

Indignities of Coach Class, The 

Torments of Low Thread Count, 

The Never- Ending Quest for 

Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other 

First World Problems, both of 

which received Lambda Literary 

Awards. Another book, Half 

Empty, received the Thurber 

Prize for American Humor. 

[Editor’s note: See Bookshelf, 

September/October 2010.] 

Rakoff’s print essays, which 

appeared in, among other publications, 

The New York Times, GQ, 

Details, Salon and Slate, formed 

much of the basis of his books, 

which wryly detail his real-life 

escapades. In 2009, he contributed 

a piece to a New York 

Magazine selection of essays 

titled “My First New York,” in 

which he wrote about his arrival 

at Columbia and in New York. 

Rakoff also acted, appearing 

in several plays by Sedaris 

and his sister, Amy, as well as 

in bit parts on several television 

shows. He appeared in the 

2005 film Capote and wrote the 

screen adaptation for, as well 

as starred in, a 20-minute film, 

The New Tenants, a comedy 

about a horrendous New York 

rental experience. It won the 

Academy Award for best liveaction 

short film in 2010. 

Rakoff is survived by his 

father, Vivian; mother, Gina 

Shochat-Rakoff; brother, 

Simon; and sister, Ruth. 


lifelong philanthropist, he was especially 

dedicated to spreading a Jewish 

education to those in need. Okon 

was a member of several boards of 

directors, including the UJA Federation 

and Bi-Cultural Day School. He 

is survived by his sons, Benjamin, 

Ezra and Alexander; friend, Sandy 

Samuels; and late brother Paul’s 

family. Memorial contributions may 

be made to the Okon Family Philanthropic 

Fund II (2474) of the Jewish 

Communal Fund, 866-580-4523. 


FALL 2012 

54 

FALL 2012 

55



CLASS NOTES 

Class Notes 

25 

40 



622 W. 113th St., MC 4530 


cct@columbia.edu 

Sol Fisher ’36 sent a clipping from 

the San Francisco Chronicle about 

the 35th Awards Dinner of the Exploratorium, 

the city’s museum of 

science, art and human perception, 

which was held in May. Among 

other things, the dinner paid tribute 

to all 90 honorees in the awards’ history 

— including longtime Chronicle 

science editor David Perlman ’39, 

’40J. The article notes that David 

was “perhaps the first reporter 

to write about the Exploratorium 

before its 1969 premiere.” 

The Columbia University Band 

Alumni Association is preparing a 

history of bands at Columbia and 

would love to be in touch with any - 

one who played during the mid-’30s. 

If this includes you, or if you know 

of a classmate who fits the bill, 

please contact CCT Managing Editor 

Alexis Tonti ’11 Arts: alt2129@ 

columbia.edu or 212-851-7485. 

CCT hopes that you enjoy a 

wonderful fall. Send us an update, 

whether by email, good old U.S. 

Postal Service or via our easy-to-use 

webform (college.columbia.edu/ 

cct/submit_class_note). Your classmates 

want to hear how you’re 

doing and what you’re up to. 

41 

Robert Zucker 

29 The Birches 

Roslyn, NY 11576 

rzucker@optonline.net 

Louis Cohn-Haft died in June 2011 

in Siena, Italy. When he came in 

for our 50th reunion, he had been 

working as a professor in Chianti; 

he eventually retired in Italy. 

On May 3 one of our most active 

classmates, Jack Beaudouin, passed 

away. Jack received permission early 

Class Notes are submitted by 

alumni and edited by volunteer 

class correspondents and the 

staff of CCT prior to publication. 

Opinions expressed are those of 

individual alumni and do not 

reflect the opinions of CCT, its 

class correspondents, the College 

or the University. 

in his senior year to leave school 

to take a significant position with 

Reader’s Digest but still graduated 

with our class. For most of his career 

he was president of the Reader’s 

Digest Condensed Book Club. 

A letter from Suzanne Dettmer 

’46 SW (wife of the late Bob Dettmer) 

bemoaned the fact that her 

grandson, who had a 4.0 average in 

a community college, was not accepted 

to Columbia. Unfortunately 

many factors combine to make 

Columbia College much more difficult 

to enter than it was in our time. 

When 450 male students, primarily 

from the New York metropolitan 

area and almost exclusively white, 

were admitted to the Class of 1941, 

the population of the United States 

was approximately 40 percent of 

today’s total. Today’s College has 

no borders and is multi-racial — 

some 57 percent of the members 

of the Class of 2015 self-identified 

on the Common Application as 

being of color. More than 50 foreign 

countries are represented in each 

class and the male component generally 

is slightly less than one half. A 

much larger percentage of the U.S. 

population goes to college than in 

our day and transportation is easier. 

Applicants know that to be considered 

today they must be in the top 

10 percent of their high school class 

and have high college boards. With 

all of this, the CC and Engineering 

Classes of 2016 received a combined 

total of almost 32,000 applications. 

42 

Melvin Hershkowitz 

22 Northern Ave. 

Northampton, MA 01060 

DrMelvin23@gmail.com 

On a chilly, rainy morning on April 

22, I was pleased to receive a warm, 

friendly telephone call from Warren 

Lane ’50E, in Huntington, N.Y., on 

Long Island. Warren, who had his 

92nd birthday on March 18, thanked 

me and our Alumni Office for the 

invitation to our 70th reunion luncheon, 

held June 2. Although he was 

unable to attend, Warren said he had 

warm memories of his days on campus 

and enjoys reading our Class 

Notes, which reflect our emotional 

attachment to Columbia. Warren 

earned a B.S. in civil engineering in 

1949 and an M.S. in civil engineering 

in 1950, then embarked on a 43-year 

career at Grumman Aircraft as an engineer 

and operations analyst. Warren, 

a member of Tau Beta Pi, earned 

numerals and a letter as a member of 

the freshman and varsity swimming 

teams. On behalf of classmates and 

our Alumni Office, I thank Warren 

for his thoughtful call. 

The San Francisco Chronicle noted David Perlman 

’39 was “the first reporter to write about the Exploratorium” 

before its 1969 opening. 

Leo Reuther sent an email on 

April 23, reporting that he had his 

90th birthday on March 14 and was 

still ambulatory “unaided.” With 

regrets, Leo said he would not be 

attending our reunion luncheon, 

as he now tries to avoid flying as 

much as possible. Leo, one of the 

many heroes in our Great Class 

of 1942, was an ace fighter pilot 

in WWII, so he certainly earned 

his sabbatical from getting in and 

out of airplanes. After WWII, Leo 

had a career in the FBI, retiring in 

the 1970s. At Columbia, Leo won 

numerals for freshman basketball 

and was on the varsity swimming 

team. He participated in The 

Varsity Show and was a member 

of Columbia Players, the Rifle 

Club, the Newman Club and the 

Dolphin Society. We salute Leo as 

a loyal Columbia alumnus and 

distinguished member of our class. 

Professor Morris Grossman ’60 

GSAS called on April 24 to report 

that he was planning to come to the 

reunion luncheon. Morris, a retired 

professor of philosophy — he’d 

worked at Fairfield University 

in Connecticut — had his 90th 

birthday on March 11. He sounded 

much younger than that on the 

phone, though he confessed to 

various physical ailments, none of 

which prevented his attendance 

on June 2. Morris earned an M.A. 

from the Graduate Faculties in 

1949 and a Ph.D. in 1960. He taught 

at Penn State and Portland State 

(Oregon) before coming to Fairfield, 

and now is seeking a publisher for 

his recently completed book, Art 

& Morality, a collection of various 

papers that he published during his 

long career. Morris is an authority 

on philosopher George Santayana. 

At Columbia, Morris showed his 

intellectual prowess as chess team 

manager and won a Silver Crown. 

On April 24, I received an email 

from Arthur E. Smith, sending 

regrets about not being able to 

come to our reunion. Art, who had 

his 91st birthday in October 2011, 

was a member of our great crews 

in 1940 and 1941 and has kept in 

touch with the coxswain of those 

crews, Bob Kaufman, who lives in 

Scarsdale, N.Y. Art took graduate 

courses at the Business School in 

1947 and earned an M.B.A. at NYU 

in 1948. At the College, Art earned 

his Varsity C, was a member of the 

Crewsters and was awarded the 

Bang’s Cup Medal. I’d previously 

heard from Art in 2007, when he 

reported attending the graduation 

of his grandson, Jeff ’07 SIPA. Art’s 

son, Arthur Jr. ’71, also is a Columbian, 

which means that Art started 

a three-generation legacy when he 

joined our Great Class of 1942. 

Judge Leonard Garth sent an 

email message on April 25 with 

regret at his inability to attend the 

luncheon on June 2. I have written 

about Len’s extraordinarily long 

and distinguished career in the Appellate 

Judiciary in prior issues of 

CCT. He is one of our most famous 

classmates (Supreme Court Justice 

Samuel Alito was one of Len’s law 

clerks), and he remains cognitively 

intact, despite impaired mobility. 

Len sends his greetings and warm 

regards to all classmates. 

On April 28, I had a long phone 

chat with Donald Seligman, living 

in Somers, N.Y. Don called to say 

he was sorry to miss our reunion 

luncheon; he was unable to travel 

because of various physical ailments. 

He had his 90th birthday 

in July 2011 and remains perfectly 

lucid. We had a warm conversation 

about Columbia and our mutual 

friends. Don played freshman and 

varsity football and served in the 

Marines in WWII. I last saw Don 

several years ago, when we both 

spoke at the memorial service 

in St. Paul’s Chapel for our dear 

friend Jack Arbolino, a Marine 

hero in WWII. After the war, Don 

had a long career as a leader in the 

women’s fashion footwear industry 

before retiring to Somers. 

Old friend Arthur “Wizzer” 

Wellington sent a note on April 30 

with family news and regrets that 

he would not be able to come from 

Elmira, N.Y., for our reunion. Art 

(92 on May 17) helped celebrate the 

65th birthday of his eldest son with 

a family golf outing at their country 

club, where Art rode in his golf cart 

to follow the proceedings. We had 

our annual discussion about handicapping 

the Kentucky Derby and 

discussed Art’s trifecta choices for 

the race. (Art is a charter member 

of the Columbia chapter of the Degenerate 

Horseplayers Club, along 

with this writer, Don Mankiewicz 

in Monrovia, Calif., and the late 

Don Dickinson, who died several 

years ago in Las Vegas.) Art did not 

cash any of his derby wagers, but as 

Frank Sinatra once sang, “Here’s to 

the losers, bless them all.” 

On May 2, Immanuel “Manny” 

Lichtenstein ’43E sent a cordial 

email to say he would be coming 

to our reunion. Manny, who had 

his 90th birthday in February, 

still is active in his long career 

as a special expert in metallurgy 

and mining engineering, and has 

continued to work all over the 

world, including in Eastern Turkey 

and Southern Idaho. He earned a 

B.S from Engineering in 1943 and 

an M.S. from Stevens Institute in 

1953. At Columbia, Manny rowed 

on the freshman lightweight crew. 

He now lives in Princeton, N.J., 

with his wife, the former Nancy 

Rabi ’52L, daughter of our famous 

Columbia physicist, I.I. Rabi ’27 

GSAS. (Nancy was a Law School 

classmate of Judge Leonard 

Garth.) Manny has been a loyal 

alumnus for many years, and says 

he much prefers our Columbia lion 

to the Princeton tiger, which he 

sees in profusion in his hometown. 

Paul Hauck sent an email on May 

5, expressing regret that he could 

not attend our reunion luncheon 

because of physical infirmities that 

preclude travel from his home in 

Naples, Fla. Paul, who had his 92nd 

birthday on April 16, was a brilliant 

student among many in our class 

and was a member of Phi Beta 

Kappa. He earned an M.B.A. from 

The George Washington University 

in 1964 and had a long career as an 

economist and consultant to the 

Navy and Department of Defense 

before his retirement. He recalled 

coming to the Admissions Office 

in 1938 with two other classmates 

from Jamaica H.S. in Queens for 

his pre-admission interview with 

Bernard P. Ireland ’31, ’35 GSAS, 

and was happy to be admitted. Paul 

enjoys reading our Class Notes in 

CCT and sends warm regards to all 

classmates. 

On May 12, Kenneth von der 

Porten sent an email with regrets 

that he would not be able to attend 

our reunion. Ken, who had his 91st 

birthday in November 2011, had 

been living in Boynton Beach, Fla., 

where he had a series of unfortunate 

falls, leaving him dependent on a 

walker for ambulation and support. 

He sold his home in Florida and 

now resides in an assisted living 

facility near his daughter in Connecticut. 

Ken was a metallurgist, and 

retired as v.p. of Ledoux & Co. in the 

1980s. He is a member of Phi Kappa 

Phi and the American Institute of 

Mining Engineers. Ken sends kind 

regards and good wishes to all old 

friends and classmates. He can be 

reached at kvonderporten@att.net. 

As for our 70th reunion luncheon, 

it was held June 2 in the handsomely 

refurbished Core Conference Room 

in Hamilton Hall, where, as incoming 

freshmen in 1938, 74 years ago, 

we had our first Humanities and 

CC classes. Classmates present were 

Immanuel Lichtenstein, Morris 

Grossman, Arthur Graham, Robert 

Kaufman, Dr. Bernard Small and 

this correspondent. Morris was accompanied 

by his loyal friend, Janet 

Jurist. Bob came with his effervescent 

and irrepressible wife, Susan. Bernie 

came with his lovely spouse, Sheila. I 

came with my highly accomplished 

designated driver and son-in-law, 

Steve Hathaway, who joined us for 

the luncheon and discussions. (See 

my comments above about Morris 

and Manny.) 

Arthur lives in White Plains, 

N.Y., having retired from his long 

career as an engineer/management 

consultant. Bob, who is retired in 

Scarsdale, N.Y., had a remarkable 

career as v.p. and legal counsel at 

ABC television network, where 

with Roone Arledge ’52, he helped 

establish innovative coverage of 

the Olympic Games and Monday 

Night Football. Bernard, a retired 

dentist, lives in Tenafly, N.J., and 

Montauk, N.Y., and is a longtime 

generous donor to the Columbia 

College Fund. 

We were delighted to welcome 

Dean of Academic Affairs Kathryn 

Yatrakis, who joined us for lunch 

and gave an excellent talk on the 

history of the Core Curriculum 

and its prospects. At the end of the 

luncheon, we remembered some 

of our deceased classmates, whose 

friendships meant so much to us at 

Columbia and in the years that followed: 

Dr. Herbert Mark, Gerald 

Green, Jack Arbolino, Donald 

Dickinson, Philip Bayer (a Marine 

hero, killed at Peleliu in WWII), 

Charles F. “Chic” Hoelzer Jr. and 

our immediate past president 

and intrepid leader, Victor Zaro. 

We thank our devoted CCT and 

Alumni Office staff members, Lisa 

Palladino, CCT executive editor, 

and Nick Mider, event coordinator, 

for joining us at this luncheon 

and for their outstanding efforts in 

making this a memorable occasion. 

We look forward to meeting 

again at Homecoming on Saturday, 

October 20. [Editor’s note: See 

Around the Quads.] 

Warm regards and good wishes 

to all. 

REUNION WEEKEND 

MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013 

ALUMNI OFFICE CONTACTS 

ALUMNI AFFAIRS Fatima Yudeh 


212-851-7834 

DEVELOPMENT Valentina Salkow 

vs2441@columbia.edu 

212-851-7833 

43 

G.J. D’Angio 

Department of Radiation 

Oncology 

Perelman C. A. M. 

Philadelphia, PA 19104 

dangio@uphs.upenn.edu 

No news from ’43ers. I haven’t had 

any takers on my offer. For those 

of you who missed it, any 1943 

classmate who contacts me at the 

above email address is invited to 

join me for lunch at a Philadelphia 

restaurant of his choosing. 

The spring was notable for me 

because my granddaughter, Sara, 

graduated from the VA Theological 

Seminary in May. She and her 

husband then left for a parish in 

the Rochester, N.Y., area. Two of 

their seminarian friends there came 

to stay with us in March. They are 

a French couple, here because she 

wishes to become an Episcopal 

priest, and there are no Episcopal 

seminaries in France. They were 

Bernard Goldman ’46 received the Halstead Memorial 

Award from the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. 

but two among the welcome parade 

of 10 visitors of all ages to our 

“B&B” in the spring. 

Another trip: went to Covington, 

Ky., in June for the installation of 

my son, Peter, in his church there. 

My wife and other son and his family 

also are devout Episcopalians; I 

am an island in an ecclesiastic sea. 

Another event in the spring was 

my 90th birthday. People ask how 

it feels to be this age, and I answer, 

“About the same as being 89.” 

My wife, Audrey, is “horse mad” 

and (as of this writing) has made 

plans to attend the Olympics in 

London this summer. Tickets were 

hard to get, and she and a friend 

consider themselves fortunate to 

have secured tickets to two of the 

three events that interest them. 

In October, my wife and I will 

both be in London for the annual 

meeting of the International Society 

of Paediatric Oncology (or SIOP, 

as its French acronym goes). I have 

missed only one of these in the 44 

years of its existence. 

I’m sad to report that Sidney 

Warschausky, a retired educator 

who lived in Ann Arbor, Mich., 

died on April 9, 2011. 

In just nine months, we will celebrate 

the 70th anniversary of our 

College graduation by gathering 

on campus for Alumni Reunion 

Weekend. It’s never too early to 

save the date, so mark your calendars 

for Thursday, May 30–Sunday, 

June 2, 2013. 

As always, class members are 

encouraged to join the Reunion 

Committee to help plan the weekend’s 

events. If you’re interested in 

participating, contact the appropriate 

Alumni Office staff member 

noted at the top of the column. You 

need not be in the New York area 

and can participate in meetings via 

conference call. 

More about reunion will follow in 

this column during the next year as 

well as arrive at your home via mail 

and email. To ensure that Columbia 

has your correct contact information, 

update it online (reunion.college. 

columbia.edu/alumniupdate) or call 

the Alumni Office (212-851-7488). 

44 

Henry Rolf Hecht 

11 Evergreen Pl. 

Demarest, NJ 07627 

hrh15@columbia.edu 

What does it take, dear classmates, 

to convince you to share some of 

your happenings with your fellow 

’44ers? We still have some vibrant 

members — with vibrant experiences 

— so please let your friends 

hear of them. You can reach me 

by phone (201-750-7770) or by the 

email or snail mail addresses at the 

top of the column. Please do. 

As for this round, the only news 

that reached me was the alumni 

obituary report, sadly noting the 

departure of Mort Lindsey, our 

laureate composer and conductor, 

and of educator John Brereton. 

I can, however, share a bit of 

firsthand experience. In June, my 

wife, Hattie Parks, and I traveled 

to the Washington, D.C., area to 

participate in the commemoration 

of the 70th anniversary of 

the opening of the Camp Ritchie 

Army Military Intelligence Training 

Center in the Blue Ridge foothills 

of Maryland, between Frederick 

and Hagerstown. I trained 

there in spring and summer 1944 

— in fact, I was on a field exercise 

that June when, as I learned much 

later, Dr. [Nicholas Murray] Butler 

(Class of 1882) awarded me my 

bachelor’s in absentia. 

While in the area, I visited retired 

FALL 2012 

56 

FALL 2012 

57

CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

booming voice of a by-then blind 

Nicholas Murray Butler (Class of 

1882) — but graduated in ’47. I was 

in classes with and had friendships 

with others from those classes 

but also the Classes of ’46 straight 

through the Class of ’50, many on 

the GI Bill. I’ve attended a few ’47 

reunions and one or two for ’48. 

“I lived in Livingston (now Wallach) 

Hall during the war years, 

and my friendships were drawn 

mostly from those who lived on 

the seventh and nearby floors, all 

from many classes and schools. 

Bob Kerker ’49 and I used to dream 

of a Livingston Hall reunion, and I 

once suggested to an alumni relations 

officer that the Alumni Office 

run a special ‘war years’ reunion. 

But I’m afraid Bob was lost to us a 

couple of years ago. He had kept in 

touch with the fortunes of most of 

the Livingston Hall group. Most of 

the names I remember were from 

that venue. 

“In addition to Bob, I maintained 

a friendship with Marshall 

Mascott and Joe Adamczyk ’50 

for many years until they passed 

away. I am in touch with Alan Berman 

’46 and Peter LaForte ’47. 

“After graduation I worked for 

various government agencies. 

When programmable computers 

became available I did one of the 

early Monte Carlo studies and was 

offered a professorship at NYU in 

the Department of Industrial Engineering 

and Operations Research. 

This was followed by several years 

as the founder and proprietor 

of a computer service bureau. I 

started an eponymous hedge fund 

10 years after my wife, Sue, and I 

married, and have managed it for 

the 44 years since. 

“I moved to Florida with my 

family in 1978. My children Carol 

and Laura live here, and Tommy 

is in Idaho. I have four grandchildren 

and two great-grandchildren 

(who have been living in Okinawa 

but came to Florida in mid-June). 

“I have been doing a lot of boating 

in Florida and brought the boat 

to Philadelphia and then to New 

York last summer. A great trip! My 

other special avocations are birdwatching 

and the environment. 

Among other environmental activities, 

I am chairman of Defenders 

of Wildlife, a national organization 

based in Washington, D.C. 

Recently I had the honor of having 

a nature center in South Miami 

named for me. 

“Some years ago, I also founded 

a named scholarship at the 

College. It’s amazing how many 

things one can do in a lifetime if 

one is lucky enough to be given 

the years.” 

Dr. Alvin N. Eden writes, “I 

practice pediatrics, teach medical 

students and am revising and upforeign 

service officer Albert Seligmann 

and his bride, Bobbie, outside 

Alexandria, Va. They had just 

returned from vacationing in the 

scenic Dordogne area of southwest 

France. Bobbie is the sister of Dr. 

Martin Beller, who, she reports, is 

happily retired in Gaines, Pa. 

45 

Enoch Callaway 

87 Barbaree Way 

Tiburon, CA 94920-2223 

enoch.callaway@ucsf.edu 

I’m happy to report some very 

interesting conversations of late. 

I spoke with Howard Brooks 

’48E, who served as an Air Force 

radio operator before returning to 

Columbia for his second degree, 

a B.S. in electrical engineering. 

Afterward he worked for General 

Electric as an electrical engineer, 

retiring in 1987. He married May 

Sue in 1953 and they have a son, a 

daughter and two grandchildren. 

His hobby is photography. 

Howard claims his life has been 

calm and uneventful but on urging, 

he recalled a time when he was sent 

by GE to board a submarine and 

solve a technical problem. Although 

the sub was in harbor, he had to 

board her from a lifeboat. Howard 

recalls his fear of slipping as he 

crawled aboard. 

I also chatted with Betsy (née 

Jones), the wife for 59 years of 

Bruce Hayes, who brought me up 

to speed on his lifelong adventures. 

(Bruce, unfortunately, is too deaf for 

phone conversations.) He attended 

Columbia for 1½ years before joining 

the Navy; after coming back, he 

graduated from Hamilton College, 

where he was a DKE and where he 

was happy not to have a two-hourplus 

commute from Brooklyn. 

According to his wife, Bruce is an 

avid reader of CCT. 

Bruce and Betsy married in 1965, 

and they have two children and 

three grandchildren, all of whom 

live in western Massachusetts. 

During the war, Bruce flew off 

the carrier U.S.S. Randolph in the 

Pacific. He received five Air Medal 

citations and the Distinguished 

Flying Cross, though the catapults 

probably didn’t do much for his 

hearing; the males in his family all 

have suffered marked hearing loss. 

Bruce spent the rest of his career 

in retail sales. For a time after he 

retired, he and Betsy traveled extensively, 

but now they are content 

to stay home and enjoy time with 

their family. They live in their 

house of 46 years in Longmeadow, 

Mass. 

Jean C. Chognard ’46E, ’48L, 

whom you can reach at jchognard 

@comcast.net, sent a snail mail. 

He writes, “After graduating from 

the College, I obtained a B.S. in 

electrical engineering and a law 

degree, both from Columbia. I then 

worked in the patent field in New 

York and Boston until, in early 

1958, I joined Hewlett-Packard in 

Palo Alto, Calif. It had just finished 

the 1957 fiscal year with sales of 

about $26 million and about 1,000 

employees. The massive use of 

transistors and integrated circuits 

was yet to come and Silicon Valley 

did not exist. As the company 

grew, I became general counsel and 

later v.p. for patents and licenses. I 

retired in 1985; it was a most exciting 

time.” 

Exciting indeed! And incidentally, 

this report was done on an 

HP computer. 

Finally, on a sad note, I leaned 

from his wife that Dr. Bill Bikoff 

has died. Our condolences and 

thoughts are with his family. 

46 

Bernard Sunshine 

165 W. 66th St., Apt. 12G 


bsuns1@gmail.com 

Dr. Paul Marks ’49 P&S’ distinguished 

career as dean of P&S, 

president (now emeritus) of 

Memorial Sloan-Kettering and 

researcher who developed a cancer 

drug makes him uniquely qualified 

to respond to the question I 

posed: “What are the three most 

important challenges confronting 

medicine today?” 

Paul responded, “I would say 1) 

advancing our ability to control and 

cure cancers; 2) better understanding 

and more effective intervention 

for neurodegenerative diseases, in 

particular Alzheimer’s disease; and 

3) infectious disease — the development 

of resistant bacterial strains 

and viral strains continue to pose 

a major health problem, for which 

new and better antibiotics must be 

developed. 

“I would add that perhaps the 

greatest challenge to healthcare in 

this country is access to affordable 

healthcare. This will become more 

so as we move toward expanded 

healthcare. A neglected area is 

developing funding — federal 

funding — for health professional 

training to meet the increased 

population that should have access 

to healthcare, through healthcare 

reform legislation. 

“In the area of cancer in particular, 

but in medicine in general, the 

rapid advances in molecular and 

genetic diagnosis are establishing 

a new paradigm in diagnosis: that 

no two patients’ cancers are exactly 

the same, even though they have 

the same clinical diagnosis. What 

is emerging is that identifying the 

molecular defects in a particular 

patient’s cancer is providing targets 

for therapy that are personalized 

to the particular patient — increasingly 

more effective with fewer side 

effects.” 

Paul, thanks for your meaningful 

insights. 

[Editor’s note: See CCT’s profile 

in the May/June 2007 issue or, 

more recently, the cover story in 

the Spring 2012 issue of Columbia 

Medicine.] 

Bernard Goldman’s collection 

of awards and honors continues 

to grow. He recently received the 

Halstead Memorial Award from 

the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association 

“for services to the sport of 

skiing in the Rocky Mountain Division.” 

Bernie said, “To be included 

with the list of previous recipients 

is overwhelming.” When asked if 

he still skis, he replied, “Is the pope 

still Catholic?” 

Lawrence Ross writes that 

having been associate editor 

of the ’45 Columbian yearbook 

prepared him to be a reporter 

and then news chief in 8th Army 

HQ in Yokohama. (As Columbian 

editor, I remember his wonderful 

drawings.) We can add Larry to 

our list of classmates who have 

Dr. Robert S. Jampel ’47, ’50 P&S is emeritus professor 

of ophthalmology at Wayne State University 

School of Medicine. 

changed careers. After 14 years of 

pediatric medicine, he went back 

into residency at New York Hospital, 

now Weill Cornell Medical 

Center, in radiology. Now retired, 

Larry paints (he’s a talented artist) 

and, with a new shoulder and 

new hip, plays golf, but he gave 

up tennis. 

Stuart Tears in Ft. Worth, Texas, 

recalls corresponding with Richard 

Heffner in 1985 when Stuart was 

on the Dallas Motion Picture Classification 

Board rating movies. Dick 

chaired the Classification and Ratings 

Administration of the Motion 

Picture Association of America in 

Hollywood for 20 years. 

Dick is creator and host of TV’s 

The Open Mind, a university professor, 

author and now, we learn, has 

ties to Hollywood, too? Wow! [Editor’s 

note: See feature on Heffner in 

this issue.] 

Dr. Herbert Hendin was honored 

by Suicide Prevention International 

(SPI) with a Lifetime Achievement 

Award at a full-house luncheon at 

the University Club in Manhattan. 

Herb is not resting on this or his 

previous awards and distinctions. 

The Bristol-Meyers Squibb Foundation 

recently awarded him and SPI 

a major grant for a project to reduce 

suicides among combat veterans of 

the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. [Editor’s 

note: See the Spring 2012 issue.] 

As reported in a San Francisco 

newspaper, “Herb Gold, the famed 

writer of Russian Hill, is a great 

walker. He takes on the Filbert 

Street steps daily without gasping 

for air. No wonder he looks so good 

at 87.” 

Dr. Irwin Nydick ’48 P&S was 

honored on June 7 at the graduation 

of medical residents of the 

Weill Cornell Medical Center. The 

hospital created “The Irwin Nydick 

Voluntary Attending of the Year 

Award,” to be awarded annually 

to the member of the Voluntary 

Attending Physician Faculty who 

best contributes to the residents’ 

professional development. He was 

further honored at graduation by 

the young medics who demonstrated 

their regard and affection 

by presenting him with a beautiful 

crystal piece engraved with “For 

his tireless commitment to instilling 

in each of us a spirit of lifelong 

learning, and inspiring us to be the 

best clinicians we can be.” After 

retiring in 1998, Irwin continued to 

teach and tutor. The CC ’46 Class 

Notes in the November/December 

2010 issue carried the story of what 

have come to be known by residents 

at the hospital as “Nydick 

Rounds.” 

John McConnell’s wolf sightings 

in Post Falls, Idaho; Bernie 

Goldman’s Colorado mountains; 

Herb Gold’s San Francisco hills ... 

it would be fun to read about your 

“backyards.” Are alligators sunning 

on Collins Avenue in Miami? 

Drop me a line and we will run it 

here. 

47 

Frank Iaquinta 

620 Pelhamdale Ave., 

Apt. 15 

Pelham, NY 10803 

fiaquintamd@aol.com 

[Editor’s note: CCT is pleased to 

welcome Dr. Frank Iaquinta as the 

new CC ’47 class correspondent. 

Please send your news to him at 

the postal or email addresses above 

or via CCT’s easy-to-use webform: 

college.columbia.edu/cct/submit 

_class_note. The webform will go 

right to him.] 

Dr. Frank Iaquinta attended the 

class’ 65th reunion in June, as did 

William Kahn and Lawrence 

(Larry) Friedland. The three joined 

six members of the Class of 1942 

for a luncheon celebrating both 

classes on June 2. 

Three other classmates sent news 

to CCT this summer. 

Dr. Robert S. Jampel Ph.D. ’50 

P&S is emeritus professor of ophthalmology 

at Wayne State University 

School of Medicine. After P&S he 

finished residencies in ophthalmology 

and neurology at the University 

of Michigan, where he also earned 

a Ph.D. in neuroanatomy. From 

1960–70 he was on the faculty of 

the Institute of Ophthalmology of 

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/ 

Columbia University Medical 

Center. 

In 1970 Robert was appointed 

professor and chairman of the 

department of ophthalmology at 

Wayne State and director of the 

Kresge Eye Institute. He served 

in that capacity from 1970–93. 

During his tenure, Robert recruited 

a distinguished faculty of clinicians 

and scientists. He planned 

for and raised the funds for the 

construction of a new building to 

house the Kresge Eye Institute and 

supervised the training of more 

than 130 ophthalmologists. In 2000, 

the School of Medicine established 

the Robert S. Jampel M.D., Ph.D., 

Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology 

to support a research scientist. 

Robert lives in Bloomfield Hills, 

Mich., with his wife, Joan. They 

have four children and 12 grandchildren. 

Former poet laureate Daniel 

Hoffman shared an article, A 

Poet’s Busy Maundy Thursday, which 

ran in the April 12 issue of The 

Swarthmorean: 

“This year’s Maundy Thursday 

(April 5) was a day Dan Hoffman 

of Swarthmore isn’t likely to forget. 

“At 2:30 he donned his academic 

gown in Irvine Auditorium on the 

Penn campus. Then, following a 

bag-piper, and Dean Michael A. 

Fitts of the law school and Supreme 

Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Dan 

led the law school faculty single file 

through the thousand spectators to 

the stage. 

“After the dean’s introductions, 

Dan began the ceremony to dedicate 

the law school’s new Golkin Building 

by invoking ‘the Founding 

Grandfather of our Commonwealth,’ 

— 

“‘Before there was a Philadelphia 

“‘There was a Philadelphia 

lawyer,’ 

“William Penn, hero of his book 

Brotherly Love, whose initial code 

of laws set forth the ideals we have 

since striven to live up to. 

“Justice Sotomayor said she 

wanted first to become a lawyer 

after reading [Nancy Drew books], 

then a detective and judge, after 

watching the TV series Perry Mason. 

According to Dan, she spoke about 

her career and ‘responded to students’ 

queries with eloquence that 

gave credence to her empathy and 

dedication.’ 

“After the ceremony, Dan joined 

a march to Golkin on Sansom 

Street for ribbon-cutting, a reception, 

a photo session, and a dash by 

taxi to 30th Street to catch a train to 

New York. 

“In NYC, he hailed a cab to the 

Cathedral [Church] of St. John the 

Divine and the 19th annual reading 

of cantos from Dante’s Inferno, 

a tradition begun when Dan was 

Poet in Residence of the Poet’s 

Corner. An organ recital filled the 

huge cathedral at 2 a.m., following 

which there was a reception in the 

chapter house. 

“It was quite a day for an octogenarian 

(actually any) poet.” 

Read more about the event at 

law.upenn.edu; search for “Dedicating 

Golkin Hall.” 

Dr. Irving Moch Jr. ’49E, ’50E, ’56 

GSAS of Wilmington, Del., shared 

his biography: “I received my undergraduate 

and graduate chemical 

engineering degrees following an 

Army discharge in WWII. 

“For the last 30 years I have 

been associated with water 

purification. I founded my own 

consulting organization, specializing 

in all facets of water treatment, 

including design, operations and 

projects, and troubleshooting, 

providing both on-site plant visits 

and teaching seminars. Before 

consulting, I spent more than 

40 years with the DuPont Co. in 

various capacities in marketing, 

manufacturing, engineering, and 

research and development. 

“My activities have included 

being former director, chair of the 

Publications Committee and editor 

of the International Desalination 

Association; director emeritus 

and past International Liaison 

Committee chair of the American 

Membrane Technology Association 

(AMTA); and currently being 

a member of the American Water 

Works Association’s Membrane 

Standards and Water Desalting 

Committees and chairman of the 

American Society for Testing and 

Materials D19 task group on water 

treatment membranes, leading the 

effort for writing standards for 

U.S. industry. I’m also involved in 

the health effects protocol adopted 

within the United States as a 

member of the Joint Committee, 

Water Additives-Health Effects 

NSF International, Standards 60 

and 61 under the auspices of the 

Environmental Protection Agency 

and American National Standards 

Institute, and, together with the 

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 

developed a CD-ROM water treatment 

cost model for membrane 

and thermal desalting processes 

that is employed as a standard 

for estimating plant capital and 

operating costs. A holder of patents, 

I have published extensively 

throughout the world in the field 

of water resources and am on the 

editorial board of the International 

Desalination & Water Reuse Quarterly. 

As an expert witness I am 

listed in the National Directory of 

Experts and American Chemical 

Society, also on the Project 

Advisory Committee, Middle East 

Former poet laureate Daniel Hoffman ’47 read a 

poem at the dedication of Golkin Hall at Penn Law. 

Desalination Research Center. 

“A recognized expert in water 

treatment, I have been elected to 

the AMTA Hall of Fame, received 

the Pakistan Desalination Association 

Lifetime Achievement 

Award and am listed in Who’s Who 

in Science and Engineering, Who’s 

Who in Finance and Industry, Who’s 

Who in the East and American Men 

& Women of Science. In addition, I 

have been elected to membership 

in Phi Lambda Upsilon and Sigma 

XI, honorary chemical and research 

societies, respectively. I also 

hold membership in the American 

Institute of Chemical Engineers, 

American Chemical Society and 

the American Association for the 

Advancement of Science.” 

Thank you to those who got in 

touch! Please share what’s going 

on in your life. Your classmates 

want to hear from you. 


MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013 




212-851-7834 



212-851-7833 

48 



622 W. 113th St., MC 4530 



It seems appropriate to begin this 

column with correspondence from 

Alan W. Steinberg ’50E, who shares 

his first Class Note in 65 years. 

“Well, just missed my 65th 

reunion, more or less. I was a war 

year student, admitted as Class 

of ’48 — to greetings from the 

FALL 2012 

58 

FALL 2012 

59

CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

dating one of my childcare books, 

Dr. Eden’s Healthy Kids: The Essential 

Diet, Exercise, and Nutrition Program. 

Also still play tennis. Any of my 

classmates ready to take me on?” 

John Kuhn shares, “Now in 

Mississippi (Gautier, near the Gulf 

Coast casinos). Lost most of my sight 

so don’t get around much. Married 

again; lost first wife in 1989.” 

Dr. Bob Mellins, Professor 

Emeritus of Pediatrics and Special 

Lecturer at Columbia, recently was 

named Distinguished Practitioner 

of the Year by the Society of Practitioners 

of the Columbia-Presbyterian 

Medical Center. In addition to 

seeing patients, Bob remains active 

in research and teaching. He is a 

passionate figure skater and skier, 

and on weekends and with his wife, 

Sue, is an active gardener and tennis 

player at a weekend retreat in 

North Salem, N.Y. Their son, David 

Mellins Ph.D., is a Sanskrit scholar 

and is working on digitizing that 

ancient language. Their daughter, 

Claude Ann Mellins Ph.D., is a professor 

of clinical psychology in psychiatry 

and sociomedical sciences 

at Columbia, currently focused on 

HIV in mothers and children. 

Bob serves on the boards of 

the Louis August Jonas Foundation, 

which operates an international 

outdoor summer leadership 

program with an emphasis on 

service, and of the Arnold P. Gold 

Foundation, promoting humanism 

in medicine. 

Walter (Wally) Wallace was a 

sociologist at Northwestern from 

1962–71, at the Russell Sage Foundation 

from 1969–71 and at Princeton 

from 1971–2001. Now he holds 

emeritus status and is working on 

an essay revising Freud’s theory 

for application in social sciences. 

He has a son and two daughters 

and lives in Princeton. Contact him 

at wwallace@princeton.edu. 

Retired but active, Dr. Sidney 

Fink is a member of the Virginia 

Medical Reserve Corps. He lives in 

beautiful Hampton, Va., where he 

enjoys hiking and gardening, and 

spent many years raising oysters 

for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. 

Robert DeMaria ’59 GSAS 

checks in from Spain: “I wrote my 

first novel as an undergraduate. 

I am now writing my 40th here 

in Mallorca, where I had a house 

built 25 years ago. Not all of my 

books have been published, but 

many have, followed by very good 

reviews. [I have worked with] St. 

Martin’s, Macmillan, W.W. Norton, 

Random House, Holt, Bobbs- 

Merrill and others as well as W.H. 

Allen in the United Kingdom. Some 

of my books have been translated 

into Spanish or Italian. Many of my 

books are offered by Amazon in 

paper and Kindle editions. 

“It would take a book to describe 

my life but, to put it in simple 

terms, my father was a printer and 

I was born speaking adult English 

without ever learning it. Perhaps 

I was eavesdropping from the 

womb. I wound up being an editor 

in New York, then a college professor 

(Ph.D. from Columbia), then the 

associate dean of The New School 

for Social Research, then an expatriate 

with many literary friends who 

also wrote and painted and smoked 

and drank their way through life. I 

started a magazine that published 

the likes of Robert Graves and 

Tennessee Williams. I also started 

a publishing company called The 

Vineyard Press. 

“At the moment [mid-June] I 

am in my house in Spain trying 

to write a book called Palm Trees 

in Greenland. I don’t see my life 

in categories such as young, old, 

middle age or whatever. I am what 

I am from the beginning to the 

end. I think it is a big mistake to be 

locked into an age category. And 

I don’t play golf. You can look up 

my books on Google to find out 

more. 

“I have been married twice and 

have four grown children and 

three grandchildren. I split my 

time between Port Jefferson, N.Y. 

(Long Island), and Deià, Mallorca.” 

Robert Steiner shares, “In retirement, 

I keep busy with my two 

Mets. I give guided tours for the 

public at the Metropolitan Museum 

of Art (both highlights and medieval) 

and also give backstage tours 

at the Metropolitan Opera. Life in 

Manhattan is always stimulating.” 

In nine months, the Class of 

1948 will celebrate the 65th anniversary 

of its College graduation 

by gathering on campus at 

Alumni Reunion Weekend. Mark 

your calendar for Thursday, May 

30–Sunday, June 2, 2013. To ensure 

that Columbia can get in touch 

with you about the event, please 

update your contact information 

online (reunion.college.columbia. 

edu/alumniupdate) or call the 

Alumni Office (212-851-7488). 

Class members are encouraged 

to join the Reunion Committee to 

help plan the weekend’s events 

and to reach out to classmates 

for gifts to the Columbia College 

Fund in honor of reunion. If you’re 

interested in participating, contact 

the appropriate Alumni Office 

staff member noted at the top of 

the column. You need not be in the 

New York area and can participate 

in meetings via conference call. 

Thank you to all who shared 

news with CCT. The Class of 1948 

still is in need of a class correspondent 

to write this column. If you 

are interested, please contact Alexis 

Tonti ’11 Arts, managing editor: 

alt2129@columbia.edu or 212- 

851-7485. In the meantime, please 

send updates to CCT at the postal 

or email address at the top of the 

column, or via CCT’s easy-to-use 

webform: college.columbia.edu/ 

cct/submit_class_note. 

49 

John Weaver 

2639 E. 11th St. 

Brooklyn, NY 11235 

wudchpr@gmail.com 

Summer is over and we hope all of 

you had an enjoyable one. Writing at 

almost the start of that season, I must 

offer that all who missed Dean’s Day 

on June 2 missed a wonderful one. 

The weather cooperated with bright 

sun, a light breeze and pleasing 

temperature. Attending were Bill 

Lubic and his wife, Ruth, Joe Levie 

and your correspondent. 

The lead-up to Dean’s Day saw 

increased email traffic as classmates 

shared information regarding attendance 

or reasons for absence. A most 

Dr. Bob Mellins ’48 was named Distinguished Practitioner 

of the Year by the Society of Practitioners of the 

Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. 

enjoyable exchange was from Bill, 

who offered the following narration 

of his experience at Class Day. 

“Attended the champagne breakfast 

and Class Day celebration as 

a ’49 representative [in the annual 

Alumni Parade of Classes]. Two 

classmates were required to carry 

the Class of ’49 banner up the center 

aisle. Drafted the nearest body. 

Turned out to be my ne’er-do-well 

son Douglas Watson Lubic ’82 

Princeton. Sorry about that. Took 

it upon myself to designate him 

CC ’49 alumnus pro hac vice. To my 

amazement, we were the grand 

masters of the procession. We gave 

photo ops (free of charge) and accepted 

the adulation of the masses 

(on about six giant TV screens) 

for our longevity and mobility. Be 

aware, I estimate that 60 percent 

of the grads are women. Upon 

conclusion I dutifully defrocked my 

co-banner carrier nunc pro tunc and 

sent him home to his mother. And 

yes, grandson Charles Levering 

Lubic ’12 graduated that day, too.” 

Congratulations to Charles! 

I enjoyed the respectful applause 

accorded those of us surviving this 

long a few years ago, when Dick 

Kandel and I carried that banner. 

We heard from our class president, 

Fred Berman, who sent regrets, 

as well as Joe Russell and Marvin 

Lipman. All held out hope for a 

mini-reunion at Homecoming in the 

autumn. [Editor’s note: Homecoming 

is Saturday, October 20. See 

Around the Quads.] 

Marvin shared some personal 

news of his acquisition, along with 

his wife, Naomi ’49 Barnard, of a 

pied-à-terre in Manhattan; it has 

brought with it the opportunity to 

renew friendships with Columbians 

of “neighboring” classes, Robert 

Steiner ’48 and Bernie Sunshine 

’46, who live in the same building. 

Marvin writes: “I practice medicine 

with the Scarsdale Medical 

Group (now in my 51st year) and 

work with Consumer Reports (now 

in my 46th year). Will definitely be 

at Homecoming. Hope to see you 

there.” 

At Marvin’s urging, Naomi sent 

a note about attending the Barnard 

graduation festivities, which featured 

President Barack Obama ’83. 

Naomi reports the President did 

not disappoint and was enthusiastically 

received by the graduating 

class. 

A lunchtime revelation from Joe 

Levie: He has written a novel and 

we can anticipate publication soon. 

Yet another example of the lasting 

inspiration of the Core. 

Lastly but far from least, I must 

mention the Dean’s Day breakfast 

remarks from then-interim Dean 

James J. Valentini. I think our impressions 

were best summed up in an 

email from Bill Lubic that arrived 

a few days after the event, but prior 

to the news of his appointment as 

permanent dean. 

“Acting Dean Valentini started 

his remarks in a rather routine 

and unremarkable fashion, but 

finished with a surprising flourish 

and with depth and appreciation 

of the College, the alumni and of 

the complexities of the Core. He 

came into his own (humorously 

for a chemist) when a lady asked 

why the only electrical outlet in a 

student room was in the closet, and 

what was the cost of power such a 

student would consume. 

“He seems to have the inside 

track on appointment as dean, 

and really appears to want it, and 

should be a good choice.” 

I, too, had shared my genuine 

enthusiasm for the dean during 

our lunch. And subsequently, we 

all received the announcement 

of Dean Valentini’s appointment 

on June 11. Should he happen to 

stumble across this page, we want 

him to know that the Class of ’49 is 

very happy with the University’s 

decision. 

See you all at Homecoming. 

50 

Mario Palmieri 

33 Lakeview Ave. W. 

Cortlandt Manor, NY 

10567 

mapal@bestweb.net 

Kirby Congdon has been designated 

the first poet laureate of Key 

West, Fla. Kirby has published 

several collections of poems and 

one-act plays and has long been 

the reviewer of poetry for the Small 

Press Review. His poem “Mirrors,” 

which was first published in The 

Christian Science Monitor, was used 

as a visual work in a show of paintings, 

“The Arts of Trinity Church,” 

at that historic Manhattan church. 

In addition to his poetry, Kirby 

creates collages and is a judge of 

novels for the Florida Council on 

the Arts. He also plans to continue 

his own small-press activities in the 

avant-garde. 

In the Summer issue’s Class 

Notes we reported Dr. Martin 

Duke’s editorship of Reflections on 

Medicine: Essays by Robert U. Massey, 

M.D. The New England Chapter 

of the American Medical Writers 

Association has awarded the book 

its 2012 Will Solimene Award for 

Excellence in Medical Communication. 

The association is a national 

organization of writers, editors and 

others engaged in communicating 

medical and health information. 

Roland Glenn, who was an 

infantry officer in the Okinawa 

campaign in WWII, has been relating 

his experiences in a series of 

interviews for the Veterans History 

Project of the Library of Congress. 

Roland can be seen and heard 

online at witnesstowar.org. The 

interviews are easy to find; simply 

type Roland’s full name into the 

search box on the home page. 

Bob Goldsby’s book on the playwright 

Molière has been published. 

Titled Molière on Stage: What’s So 

Funny?, it analyzes the performances 

of Molière’s plays in his time and 

now, and will interest theatregoers, 

those interested in comedy and 

anyone involved professionally 

or academically with the stage. 

Richard Wilbur, widely known as 

the major translator of Molière’s 

verse plays, said of the book: “It is a 

delight to read.” 

Len Kliegman figures that the 

old song “Don’t Get Around Much 

Anymore” just about sums it up, 

and for most of us he’s probably 

right. Len and his wife, Edie, 

though, have plenty going on 

around them. One granddaughter, 

a CPA, is recently married; her 

twin sister is practicing law; and 

their older brother runs two restaurants 

and a nightclub he owns 

while also managing a nightclub 

at a hotel. All these enterprises are 

located in the “hipster” section of 

Manhattan (below 23rd Street). 

Four other grandchildren are in 

various stages of education from 

law school down to high school. 

Nolan Lushington continues 

with his teaching of a course on 

the planning and design of public 

libraries at the Harvard Graduate 

School of Design, which he has 

done for 23 years. The course examines 

the evolving role of the library 

in the digital age and reviews 

the processes required to bring a 

library from concept to reality. Nolan 

has been a consultant on more 

than 200 libraries in 10 states and 

has authored five books on library 

design. His most recent project was 

a major redesign of the Queens 

Central Library, including the 

design of a children’s library. The 

New York Times architecture critic 

observed that the children’s library 

is “part of a revolution reshaping 

the city’s public architecture.” 

Finally, we have sad news of 

four deaths: Richard D. Cushman, 

November 2011; William H. 

Dickie, October 2010; Jerome R. 

“Jerry” Kaye, April 2012; and William 

A. Maloy, March 2012. 

51 

George Koplinka 

75 Chelsea Rd. 

White Plains, NY 10603 

desiah@verizon.net 

While thumbing through a somewhat 

ragged and disheveled copy 

of our 1951 Commencement program, 

your class correspondent was 

reminded that Commencement 

at Columbia has been one of the 

features of New York life since 1758 

and has survived seven wars, a 

revolution, frequent shifts of locale 

and numerous metamorphoses 

of the ceremonies themselves. As 

we reminisce about the 61 years 

that have passed since our Commencement 

day, along with all our 

trials and tribulations, failures and 

successes, we extend best wishes to 

the bright-eyed men and women 

who are converting their light blue 

graduation costume to the appropriate 

fashions for making it in the 

years ahead! 

Who were the recipients of the 

prizes, medals and honors in the 

Class of 1951? Joseph A. Buda 

received the Alumni Prize, which 

was first awarded in 1858 and 

given annually to the most faithful 

and deserving student in the 

graduating class. Value, $50. In a 

recent telephone conversation, Joe 

confessed he could not remember 

what happened to the money, but 

the Cornell University Medical 

College probably got its share; Joe 

graduated in 1955. He did an internship 

at NewYork-Presbyterian 

Hospital, spent three years as a 

flight surgeon in the Air Force, 

completed his residency in surgery 

and subsequently experienced a 

long career at P&S as a surgeon 

and clinical professor. Despite 

some recent discomfort with a hip 

replacement, he still finds time for 

trips to the office to keep in touch 

with the medical world. 

Also at our Commencement, 

Richard J. Howard received a Philolexian 

Prize for literary achievement. 

Following graduation, he studied 

at the Sorbonne as a fellow of the 

French government. His teaching 

career has included positions at 

the Whitney Humanities Center 

at Yale, where he was the Henry 

Luce Visiting Scholar in 1983, and 

at the University of Houston from 

1987–97. Richard is the author 

of numerous volumes of poetry, 

including Trappings: New Poems 

(1999) and Like Most Revelations: New 

Poems (1994). In 1970 he received a 

Pulitzer Prize for Untitled Subjects. 

He has published more than 150 

translations from the French and is 

author of Alone with America: Essays 

on the Art of Poetry in the United States 

Since 1950. His honors include the 

Levinson and Harriet Monroe Memorial 

Prizes as well as the National 

Institute of Arts and Letters Literary 

Award and the Ordre National du 

Merite from the French government. 

Richard is a former chancellor of the 

Academy of American Poets and 

was poet laureate of New York state 

from 1994–96; more recently, he has 

taught in the Writing Division of the 

School of Arts. 

Continuing with our reminiscing, 

Andrew P. Siff ’53L was awarded 

the Brainard Memorial Prize. He 

was adjudged by his classmates as 

most worthy of distinction because 

of his qualities of mind and character. 

Andy practiced law in New 

York City except for a period of time 

during 1959–60 when he produced a 

musical comedy on Broadway and 

in 1970 when he was house counsel 

of the William Morris Agency. For 

most of his career his practice was 

in the areas of trusts and estates, real 

estate and litigation. 

Other classmates who received 

prizes and awards, all now deceased, 

included Roger A. Olson 

(Fox Memorial Prize for significant 

participation in non-athletic activities), 

Henry L. Rosett (Jackson 

Memorial Prize for outstanding 

scholarship), John D. Azary (C.M. 

Rolker Prize for preeminence in 

sports) and Donald K. McLean 

(David W. Smyth Football Cup for 

being the most outstanding member 

of the varsity football team). 

Ronald G. Granger ’54 Dental is 

another classmate who had a long 

military career. He concluded it 

was the next best thing considering 

he was not a championship 

wrestler for coaches Gus Peterson 

and Dick Waite. Like many college 

students, Ron worked his way 

through school with various jobs 

(in drug stores, as an apprentice 

carpenter and as a parking lot 

attendant). After his junior year he 

opted for the Professional Option 

Program, was accepted by the 

Dental School and received enough 

deferment time from his draft 

board to qualify for a commission 

in the Navy in 1954. This was the 

beginning of a 26-year Navy dental 

career that led to assignments in 

Alaska and Washington, D.C., as 

well as on ships in the Mediterranean 

and Guantanamo Bay. Ron’s 

specialty was in the field of crown 

and bridge prosthodontics, and he 

followed up his Navy career with 

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CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

six years as professor and chairman 

of a comparable program at 

Boston University. Ron said that in 

1986, “I was worn out!” He and his 

wife, Evelyn, a nurse trained at St. 

Luke’s Hospital, then retired to a 

small farm on Maryland’s eastern 

shore, raised registered Polled 

Herefords for 13 years, finally sold 

everything and headed for winters 

in Boynton Beach, Fla., and summers 

in Maine. 

That’s it for this issue. Please support 

this magazine by sending your 

contribution to Columbia College 

Today. It will make you feel good. 

More importantly, it provides your 

Class Notes writer with something 

to do in his declining years! 

[Editor’s note: You may contribute 

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giving or by phone by calling CCT 

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edu/cct for a list of those who contributed 

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which ended on June 30.] 

52 

Sidney Prager 

20 Como Ct. 

Manchester, NJ 08759 

sidmax9@aol.com 

From May 31–June 3, the Class of 

1952 held its 60th Alumni Reunion 

Weekend at the College. My wife 

and I were among 23 other attendees 

enjoying each other’s company 

and reliving many of the wonderful 

times we had in college. We 

stayed in the dorms, which were 

very nice, and had breakfast, lunch 

and dinners every day in different 

restaurants. We enjoyed breakfast 

one day with Robert Adelman, 

Alan Bomser, Harry Chandless 

Jr., N. David Charkes and David 

Charlton. The luncheon was spent 

with Joseph DiPalma, Bernard 

Friedland, Ira Hoffman, Aldo 

Ippolito and Gerald Kahn. Dinner 

was spent with John Laszlo, 

Martin Liebowitz, George Lipkin, 

Alden Mesrop and Frederic 

Primich. 

The following day we spent 

breakfast with John “Jack” Ripperger 

and Jack Rosenbluth. 

Lunch and dinner were spent with 

James Santos, George Satran, 

Jerold Schwartz, Sholom Shafner, 

Alan Stein and Herbert Steinberg. 

It was a weekend to remember and 

I look forward to many more. 

From Cliff Blanchard, we hear: 

“On the 60th anniversary of our 

graduation, I tried to reflect on 

where the time went. First, I met a 

lovely lady, Sally Evans, who for 

53 years has been my wife; she is 

also mother of our two children 

and Gramma to our two young 

grandchildren. 

“I spent a two-year tour of duty 

in Vicksburg, Miss., with the Army 

Corps of Engineers and eight years 

in New York City as a design civil 

engineer for M. W. Kellogg, now 

the KBR division of Halliburton. I 

was involved in the design of reinforced 

concrete foundations and 

structures for petroleum refineries, 

chemical plants and major smelting 

complexes. 

“We then left for Rhode Island, 

where I took over the management 

and, later, ownership of a small, 

family-owned electroplating company. 

When I retired, about 20 years 

ago, we moved to Marco Island, 

Fla., and now reside in Naples, Fla. 

“In our younger years we traveled 

extensively but now confine 

ourselves to our family, friends and 

an occasional cruise, mostly to the 

Caribbean.” 

Jack Ripperger and his wife of 

44 years, Kathryn, of San Diego, 

had dinner with me and my wife, 

Maxine. We all enjoyed the evening 

and afterward Jack submitted 

the following: 

“Many wonderful stories were 

shared during the dinners at our 

60th reunion. 

“Among the Saturday attendees 

at dinner was David Charlton 

from Rochester, N.Y. He had a 

surprising story to share. About 46 

years ago he was working in New 

Orleans and met a lovely southern 

belle, Janice Cook, now his wife of 

45 years. When he asked her out, 

she responded that she had only 

dated one other ‘Yankee’ — and 

his name was Jack Ripperger. 

What a surprise! (It had happened 

back when I worked for Polaroid 

in Chicago; Janice was visiting a 

friend and found herself on a blind 

date with me.) Janice was unable 

to join us at reunion but still, you 

can imagine the lively conversation 

we shared over dinner. By the way, 

while I was working for Polaroid, 

David was working for Kodak! 

“While in town, we spent time 

with our adult children and granddaughters 

(7 and 3), all of NYC. I 

shared the story of time spent oneon-one 

with Columbia President 

Dwight Eisenhower prior to the 

Homecoming dance in 1950. My 

Blue Key brothers and I had arranged 

for Edith Piaf to perform as 

an appreciation for Ike for the U.S. 

soldiers’ rebuilding her hometown 

in France. It was a day to 

remember.” 

Your reporter thanks you all for 

your contributions and wishes good 

health to all the members of the 

Class of 1952. 


MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013 




212-851-7834 



212-851-7833 

53 

Lew Robins 

1221 Stratfield Rd. 

Fairfield, CT 06825 

lewrobins@aol.com 

As you may recall, when we were 

undergraduates, WKCR’s headquarters 

was a small building between 

Hartley and Hamilton Hall. The 

image of Wendell Hatfield ’56 P&S 

striding into or out of the WKCR 

building is indelibly engraved in my 

memory of Columbia life almost 60 

years ago. 

During a recent phone conversation, 

I learned that working at 

WKCR had an enormous influence 

The New England Chapter of the American Medical 

Writers Association awarded Dr. Martin Duke ’50 its 

2012 Will Solimene Award for Excellence in Medical 

Communication. 

on our unusual classmate. After 

freshman year, Wendell returned 

home to Denver and, by claiming 

to have been an announcer at a 

New York radio station, was hired 

by a local station to substitute on 

air for the regular disk jockeys 

as they went on vacation. When 

Stan Kenton’s big band traveled to 

Denver, the station sent Wendell 

to broadcast live from the remote 

location. During the ensuing years, 

he became the business manager 

of WKCR, the station’s chief announcer 

and an honored Sachem. 

Knowing that Wendell’s career 

included becoming the acting chairman 

of rheumatology at P&S and 

that he spent 20 years on the faculty 

of this world-famous institution, I 

was curious as to whether there was 

any specific undergraduate event 

that spurred him to go to medical 

school. His answer was fascinating: 

“As a junior, my faculty adviser was 

Professor George Nobbe. When he 

heard that I hadn’t decided on a 

career, he nearly jumped out of his 

chair and recommended that I go 

into medicine.” 

After graduating from P&S, 

Wendell spent the next 20 years 

working a killer schedule teaching 

rheumatology fellows during 

the day and treating patients in 

the evening. He found time to 

marry Charlotte and they brought 

up four children (and now have 

six grandchildren). He has been 

retired for 10 years and spends his 

time fly-fishing, reading, cooking 

and gardening. 

Toward the end of our conversation, 

Wendell said that the most 

moving experience in his medical 

career was caring for people who 

had been victims of the Holocaust 

and who came to America after 

being rescued from the concentration 

camps. 

Wendell and Charlotte are hoping 

to attend our 60th reunion next 

spring. Speaking for all our classmates, 

I know that seeing them in 

person after all these years will be 

a superb treat. 

Mark your calendar for Thursday, 

May 30–Sunday, June 2, 2013. 

To ensure that Columbia can get 

in touch with you about the event, 

please update your contact information 

online (reunion.college.colum 

bia.edu/alumniupdate) or call the 

Alumni Office (212-851-7488). 



help plan the weekend’s events and 

to reach out to classmates for gifts to 

the Columbia College Fund in honor 

of reunion. If you’re interested in 







54 

Howard Falberg 

13710 Paseo Bonita 

Poway, CA 92064 

westmontgr@aol.com 

As many of you may know, when 

Class Day comes around the College’s 

alumni are invited to march 

in the Alumni Parade of Classes 

with their respective class banners. 

We are very proud of Larry Kobrin 

(especially this year), as he was our 

sole representative at the event. He 

notes, “They loaned me a lovely 

young lady from the Alumni Office 

to assist in carrying the flag.” 

Perhaps next year there will be 

more of us to help. In the meantime, 

many thanks, Larry. 

Alan Fendrick and his lovely 

wife, Bev, move north and south 

seasonally, depending on the 

weather, spending their time either 

in Florida or Massachusetts. Alan, 

v.p. of our class, was responsible 

for developing a Columbia alumni 

club in Florida with an active 

group of Columbians. 

Mike Naver writes that he enjoys 

a “rather self-indulgent life with golf, 

tennis, movies and books. I retired 

in 1999 after 30 years with the Social 

Security Administration as national 

press officer and public affairs manager. 

That was my second career, 

after I completed 10 years as a writer 

and editor at the Baltimore Evening 

Sun. Both during and after my government 

years I taught journalism as 

adjunct faculty at Towson University 

outside Baltimore. I retired 

completely in 2008.” Mike and his 

wife, Irid, and their two children live 

in Baltimore. 

Speaking of special events, our 

60th anniversary and reunion will 

take place in 2014. Bernd Brecher 

would like very much to hear from 

classmates who could assist in 

planning our reunion program. His 

email address is brecherservices@ 

aol.com. 

My wife, Debby, and I spent two 

weeks in Israel visiting biblical and 

national spots. It was a wonderful 

trip and we enjoyed ourselves 

greatly. 

Our class has many members 

who have made important contributions 

to our society. One of them 

certainly was Peter Ehrenhaft ’57L, 

’57 SIPA, who passed away on July 

25, three weeks prior to his 79th 

birthday. Peter was selected by 

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice 

Earl Warren to be his senior clerk 

during 1961 and 1962. He achieved 

key positions with major law firms 

and also served as deputy assistant 

secretary of the treasury for international 

trade. He was active in 

Columbia alumni affairs and took 

on responsibility for coordinating 

our class contributions to support 

key activities that enabled Columbia 

College undergraduates to 

pursue societal contributions both 

in the United States and overseas. 

We send our sincere condolences to 

Peter’s widow, Charlotte, and their 

three children. He will be missed 

by many. 

I hope that all is well with our 

class members and I hope to hear 

from many of you soon. 

55 

Gerald Sherwin 

181 E. 73rd St., Apt. 6A 


gs481@juno.com 

Columbia continues to be the preeminent 

worldwide university judging 

from events around the globe, 

including the opening of Global 

Centers in Istanbul, Turkey and Santiago, 

Chile, earlier this year. In addition, 

alumni have the opportunity 

as part of the Alumni Travel Study 

Program to visit regions of the planet 

such as the ancient coast of Turkey 

and the Aegean Sea Islands; China, 

Tibet and the Yangtze; Australia and 

New Zealand; and many more, in 

the latter part of 2013. Noted professors 

will be leading the explorations 

to these regions. 

Classmates are encouraged to 

stop by Hamilton Hall to learn 

about the Richard E. Witten Center 

for the Core Curriculum, which enhances 

the Core experience through 

programs on campus and in New 

York City and offers Core faculty 

weekly lunches and seminars. The 

Café series continues to put forth a 

wide variety of lectures including 

Café Columbia: Immigration at the 

Turn of Two Centuries; Café Social 

Science: Magema Fuze; and Café 

Science: Ultrasound: Knocking on 

Brain’s Door. Terrific intellectual 

and entertaining programs. 

The school had a visitor from 

Washington, D.C. (Lew Mendelson’s 

hometown) in mid-May. 

President Barack Obama ’83 gave a 

brisk talk to the Barnard graduates 

at their Commencement, May 14. 

It was a pretty exciting experience 

for those who attended under a tent 

on South Field and others who saw 

the event on a big screen in Levien 

Gym. 

Dean’s Day, which now takes 

place the Saturday of Alumni Reunion 

Weekend, has become a big 

hit among alumni and faculty. This 

June the lectures were attended 

by some familiar faces from your 

favorite class: Bob Brown, Larry 

Balfus and Don Laufer. The report 

was an emphatic “thumbs up.” 

Don has been working on building 

attendance for the monthly class 

dinners. Some of the guys who 

have been partaking in the good 

cheer have been Alan Hoffman, 

Marty Dubner, Abbe Leban, Stan 

Zinberg, Peter Pressman, Ralph 

Wagner, Chuck Solomon, Ron 

Spitz, Mort Rennert, Bob Kushner 

and Anthony Viscusi. Bill Epstein 

could not be part of the dinner before 

the summer because he was on 

safari in South Africa. (Pictures of 

Bill and his entourage are available 

for only a small handling fee.) 

Putting learning into practice, the 

Columbia men’s basketball team 

went to Spain and Italy this summer 

to absorb the many cultural 

aspects the countries have to offer. 

They saw what they had discussed 

and read about through the Core — 

a terrific learning experience, plus 

the boys in blue finished the tour 

with a 5–0 record. (“Oh, who owns 

Barcelona?” etc., etc., as the song 

goes.) 

In May the Columbia University 

Film Festival played at Alice Tully 

Hall with a retrospective of student 

works from the festival’s 25-year 

history. Notable alumni and the 

film community attended this great 

event, which was co-presented with 

the Film Society of Lincoln Center. If 

you missed it, there’s still next year, 

fellows. 

From the West Coast, Harry 

Scheiber made an important ap - 

pearance at the Blackwell and 

Dodge Cups (crew races) in mid- 

May. Harry was the keynote speaker 

and led the dedication ceremony 

for two pair-oared shells that are 

being named to honor Coach Walter 

“Bud” Raney and former Professor 

J. Bartlett Brebner. 

Harry, you are the best. 

Going back in time, other crew 

members were Bill Mink, Bob 

Hanson, Dan Hovey, Norm Roome, 

Bob Banz, coxswain John Larosa 

and stroke Terry Doremus. 

Stanley Lubman let us know he 

earned a new title, distinguished 

resident lecturer, and wants everyone 

to know his new email, stanley. 

lubman@gmail.com. 

Our classmates continue to put 

pen to paper (as they say). Harold 

Kushner, who lives in New England, 

has a book coming out shortly 

titled The Book of Job: When Bad 

Things Happened to a Good Person. 

Bill Kronick, writing from California, 

is putting together a new novel 

called What Katie Said. It talks about 

the experiences of a Columbia 

College scholarship student from 

1975–79. 

Ezra Levin (the Chet Forte ’57 of 

his era) received an award from the 

Hebrew Free Loan Society. He is 

past president of the organization 

and he served the group well for 

more than 20 years. 

We heard from world traveler 

Beryl Nusbaum, whom we brought 

up to date on all the positive happenings 

in the Athletics Department. 

Things are looking better for 

the fall season. 

Two classmates have passed on 

recently, Morris Tenner and Jim 

Phelan. Condolences go to their 

families and friends. 

Sparkling classmates of the Class 

of 1955. 

It is time to begin preparations 

for our next important event — our 

60th reunion. 

Keep an eye on your diets, mix in 

a little exercise and get ready for the 

award-winning activities in 2015. It 

promises to be the best ever. 

Love to all, everywhere. 

56 

Stephen K. Easton 

6 Hidden Ledge Rd. 

Englewood, NJ 07631 

tball8000@earthlink.net 

Recently, my wife, Elke, and I 

enjoyed a visit from Larry Cohn 

and his wife, Judi, our class’ inveterate 

travelers, who were visiting 

New York from California for a 

couple of family events. While Judi 

and Elke enjoyed getting further 

acquainted and shopping in the 

city, Larry and I reminisced about 

our Columbia experiences, which 

included lightweight football, Air 

Force and Navy ROTC; we also 

know a number of the same classmates, 

whom I get to see regularly 

and he gets to visit occasionally. 

We ended our short visit with golf. 

Larry used my wife’s clubs and 

shot one of his best rounds (we 

always knew he was an athlete 

from his basketball days at Bronx 

Science). We plan another gettogether 

soon in California. 

This has been a busy time for 

Class of ’56 activities, starting with 

two of our class lunches at Faculty 

House in the spring, continuing 

through Class Day in May and 

Columbia School Designations 

In Class Notes, these designations indicate Columbia 

degrees from schools other than the College. 

Arch. School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation 

Arts School of the Arts 

Barnard Barnard College 

Business Graduate School of Business 

CE School of Continuing Education 

Dental College of Dental Medicine 

E The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and 

Applied Science 

GS School of General Studies 

GSAS Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 

J Graduate School of Journalism 

L School of Law 

Nursing School of Nursing 

P&S College of Physicians and Surgeons 

PH Mailman School of Public Health 

SIPA School of International and Public Affairs 

SW School of Social Work 

TC Teachers College 

FALL 2012 

62 

FALL 2012 

63

CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

Dean’s Day in June (which now 

coincides with Alumni Reunion 

Weekend) and concluding with 

our summer lunches at Dan Link’s 

country club. Our class activities 

have been well attended. 

Class Day activities on May 15 

were attended by Dan Link, Ron 

Kapon and Len Wolfe. I was out of 

town, else I would have been there. 

This is an event not to be missed. 

Len has provided a report as 

follows: “The day began with 

breakfast in John Jay Dining Hall, 

and it was quite a sumptuous one. 

Afterward, but prior to assembling 

for the Alumni Parade of 

Classes, we were all given Class 

Day pins (well-designed with a 

bas relief portrait of Alexander 

Hamilton in the center). Unfortunately, 

before the parade began, 

Ron slipped on one of the parade 

flags that had been laid out on the 

floor and had to be attended to by 

a couple of student paramedics, 

who did a great job of bandaging 

his cut knee. Fortunately, the 

injury didn’t amount to much 

and, before the parade began, Ron 

felt repaired enough to remove 

the bandage so that he could walk 

unencumbered. 

“As we sat in John Jay for 

break fast, I couldn’t help but think 

back to the day some 56 years ago 

when, as seniors, many of us were 

in that same room celebrating our 

impending graduation. As Spectator 

reported of that long-ago day 

(and as I’ve recalled once before, 

on the occasion of our 20th reunion 

dinner on October 9, 1976, at the 

St. Regis hotel in Manhattan) our 

Senior Beer Party turned the John 

Jay mezzanine into a small-scale 

riot as members of the Class of 

’56 littered the floor with broken 

glasses, destroyed chandeliers and 

ripped up furniture, and sent one 

classmate to St. Luke’s Hospital 

with a cut necessitating eight 

stitches in his arm.’ 

“This year, as I rose slowly and 

creakily from my chair at the brea 

kfast table, I found it hard to imagine 

that we had once been so young 

and energetic, but it was also nice 

to see that the room was just as it 

had been when we were students, 

sharing meals and such good times 

at so many special events. 

“When the parade began, Danny, 

Ron and I held our class banner and 

proceeded to march past the assembled 

Class of 2012. Interestingly, 

this class was graduating 56 years 

after we did, and it will be 2069 

when they celebrate their own 56th 

graduation anniversary — a span 

of 112 years. It is hard to imagine 

what America and the world will 

be like then. Somewhat frightening 

to think about was the realization 

that our banner was only third from 

the head of the parade, with many, 

many more following ours. 

“As we marched past the seniors, 

we were met with great applause 

from them. In typical fashion, 

given his gregarious nature, Ron 

proceeded, at various intervals, to 

bow to the seniors on one side and 

parents and guests on the other, 

much to their delight. We certainly 

were a class that was noticed. Following 

the procession we joined 

parents and guests to observe the 

awarding of prizes to members of 

the class and to listen to talks by the 

salutatorian, the senior class president 

and John R. “Rick” MacArthur 

’78, publisher of Harper’s magazine, 

former Spectator news editor and 

a member of Spectator’s Board of 

Trustees. It was a truly enjoyable 

experience. 

“The next day was Columbia’s 

258th University Commencement. I 

was the only class member there to 

celebrate although I had plenty of 

company between the thousands of 

graduates and their proud families 

and friends. It was cloudy to begin 

with but bright and sunny as Commencement 

came to a close — a 

perfect ending to a glorious two 

days filled with words of hope for 

the future of the country and the 

world, brought to greater heights by 

the remarkable young people that 

Columbia has prepared so well.” 

Thanks, Len. 

We had a great turnout for 

Dean’s Day on June 2. In attendance 

were Stan Soren and his wife, Ruth; 

Danny Link and his wife, Elinor 

Baller; Ron Kapon; myself; Al 

Franco ’56E; John Censor; Ralph 

Kaslick; Vic Levin and his wife, 

Fran; Bob Siroty; and Jerry Fine 

and his wife, Barbara. The lectures 

have been designed to show off 

Columbia’s brightest faculty and 

alumni, in addition to giving us alums 

a view of what is happening at 

our College. The day started with a 

continental breakfast and comments 

from Dean James J. Valentini, including 

an informative Q&A. Then 

there were morning and afternoon 

lectures, a class luncheon at Low 

Library and various affinity group 

receptions, including tea and a 

concert in Hamilton Hall. I atten ded 

the morning session “Where Could 

Brain Mapping Lead Us?” and was 

treated to an analysis of the interconnection 

among the biological 

sciences from a medical perspective 

and the electrical engineering from 

a computer and brain connecting 

perspective. It appears that in addition 

to being a fascinating subject, it 

also is an area of lucrative research 

grant monies to Columbia. 

Stan and Ruth attended the 

lecture “Why Don’t We Have 

More Cures for Cancer?” and were 

perplexed as to why — with so 

much money being put toward 

research and with all the technological 

advances that have been made 

— a cure (or cures) still seems so 

far away. For the afternoon lecture, 

I had the honor of introducing 

Christia Mercer, chair of Literature 

Humanities, for her lecture, “How 

Literature Humanities Makes Us 

Wise.” In it, she examined the value 

of humanities to our education and 

our life issues. She also went into 

great detail as to how the various 

areas of art, theatre and writing 

Len Wolfe ’56 earned the Forest Avenue H.S. (Dallas) 

Alumni Association Award for the success of his 

book Easy Economics. 

interact, and how the Core Curriculum 

always will be evolving. 

These are just a few examples 

why, if you are in the New York 

area, you should not miss Dean’s 

Day next year. Also, as Dean’s Day 

is now combined with Alumni 

Reunion Weekend, the facilities, 

food and venues have improved 

substantially. 

Come this winter, we again 

will split our monthly luncheons 

between Faculty House on the 

Columbia campus and the Columbia 

University Club in Midtown. 

For the luncheons, we will try to 

have at least one speaker (whether 

faculty member or current student) 

to add to our class attendees. I urge 

everyone in the New York area to 

attend these luncheons. It has been 

a great way for us to keep in touch. 

In fact, Joe Sofhauser, one of our 

“lost” classmates, inasmuch as we 

didn’t know where he was, has 

expressed interest in attending and 

now will receive our regular email 

notices. Anyone else who is interested 

in being informed about the 

lunches so they can attend, rather 

than read about them in Class 

Notes, is invited to get in touch 

with me at tball8000@earthlink.net. 

Now for class correspondence 

and news. 

Vic Levin recently moved back 

from the suburbs to the West Side 

of Manhattan, near Columbia. To 

his and his wife’s surprise, he says, 

the neighborhood is substantially 

better than when we attended the 

College more than 50 years ago. 

Vic practices matrimonial and 

estate law, with an office in Garden 

City. As another one of our working 

classmates, we look forward to 

seeing him at our class luncheons 

and other Columbia events. 

Lou Hemmerdinger ’56E, our 

class coordinator, will be moving, 

after 35 years, from his house in 

Old Bethpage, N.Y., to an upscale 

adult community in Melville, also 

on Long Island. He assures me 

that the move will not affect his 

ability to send out our various class 

notices. 

Thanks, Lou. 

Ron Kapon sent an update on 

his various wine activities. Ron, 

as many of you know, is our go-to 

guy when we need wine tastings 

for any reunion events. Ron is 

celebrating his 17th year as adjunct 

professor and director of the wine 

studies program at Fairleigh Dickinson. 

He is co-author of the Fairleigh 

Dickinson/New York Times 

online wine course. If interested 

in anything wine, contact Ron at 

vinoron@yahoo.com (note, this 

email is corrected from previous 

Class Notes). 

Len Wolfe reports that his book, 

Easy Economics, while doing well in 

sales, also has earned him the Forest 

Avenue H.S. (located in Dallas) 

Alumni Association Award, given 

to distinguished alumni. Other 

recipients have included Stanley 

Marcus of Neiman Marcus and 

Aaron Spelling of television fame, 

so we know Len is in good company. 

The book, which Len authored 

with a former Fortune magazine 

colleague, Lee Smith, is written in 

a Q&A format and illustrated with 

delightful cartoons in an attempt 

to explain all those things we 

don’t know about economics but 

wish we did. The way it is written, 

even children can understand it. If 

you want more info, email Len at 

leonardwolfe@gmail.com. 

A record number of classmates 

contributed to this year’s Columbia 

College Fund. The total amount 

raised was more $125,000, between 

general purposes and our Class 

of ’56 scholarship. Thank you to 

all who contributed. If anyone is 

interested in establishing a legacy 

to Columbia by way of planned 

giving, contact me at tball8000@ 

earthlink.net. 

As always, I encourage all class 

members who want to keep in 

touch to update their email addresses 

with Lou Hemmerdinger: 

lhemmer@aol.com. Please keep in 

contact with Columbia in whatever 

ways you feel appropriate, as I 

believe that it has been a force and 

power in our lives. 

I hope that all of you had a 

de lightful summer and that our 

Columbia education and life experiences 

are allowing us to grow older 

gracefully. If you have news to 

share, please email me at tball8000@ 

earthlink.net and I will make sure it 

gets in the next Class Notes. 

57 

Herman Levy 

7322 Rockford Dr. 

Falls Church, VA 22043 

hdlleditor@aol.com 

Richard Berger writes, “Several 

alumni, including Ken Bodenstein 

and myself, and parents of current 

players welcomed football coach 

Pete Mangurian at a reception in 

Southern California. We heard some 

fairly candid comments about the 

progress of introducing the team 

to a new regimen (early morning 

departures for the recent spring 

practice days, for instance), new offensive 

and defensive schemes, and 

the incoming class (very promising). 

The coach was quite engaging 

and he answered many questions, 

some from former players who 

wanted some ‘inside baseball’ comments.” 

Elliott Schwartz reports, “I’ve 

discovered that, even after so-called 

retirement, I haven’t been able to 

tear myself away from teaching and 

academia. My wife, Deedee, and I 

spent the winter term at Robinson 

College in Cambridge (UK) on a 

visiting fellowship, my third stay at 

Robinson in the past five years. This 

last visit involved some informal 

teaching, organizing performances 

of my music and hearing pieces of 

mine played in London, Glasgow 

and Oslo. Since returning to the 

States in late March, I’ve been 

active as a composer-performer in 

Portland, Boston and Miami. Works 

of mine also were featured on three 

New York programs this spring and 

summer: a piano piece premiered at 

the Juilliard School; an old (1960s) 

chamber work turned up on the 

New York Philharmonic Ensemble 

series; and a relatively new (2008) 

violin concerto was performed at 

Symphony Space in late June. 

“I’m sorry we couldn’t be at 

our 55th Columbia reunion. It conflicted 

with the Bowdoin reunion 

weekend. So this time I chose to 

stay home in Maine and exchange 

45 years’ worth of memories with 

my former Bowdoin students. But 

I was thinking of Columbia friends 

as well.” 

Yours truly and some 51 other 

’57ers plus wives and significant 

others returned to Morningside 

Heights for our 55th reunion, held 

May 31–June 3. To us hale and 

hearty septuagenarians, the main 

theme of the weekend was the 

greatness of our Columbia education, 

especially the Core Curriculum, 

in training our minds to think 

creatively in our respective areas 

of interest and, when the occasion 

calls, outside the box. 

The first event took place on 

May 31, an evening reception 

hosted by Kaye and Jim Barker 

in the Model Room of the New 

York Yacht Club. The NYYC is 

housed in a magnificent Beaux- 

Arts building on West 44th Street 

between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. 

Construction of the building began 

in 1898; the building opened in 

1901. As I learned from perusing 

John Rousmaniere’s The New York 

Yacht Club: A History, 1844–2008, 

the commodore of the NYYC at the 

time was J. Pierpont Morgan. The 

Model Room houses about 1,300 

yacht models, the world’s largest 

collection of its kind, comprising 

“almost the entire history of yacht 

design from the early 1800s to the 

present.” In addition to yacht models, 

the collection includes other 

types of vessels, including a model 

of the warship U.S.S. Gloucester. 

The Model Room has an ornate 

ceiling with a green oval relief. 

Friday and Saturday both 

included classes and campus tours, 

as well as a ’57 dinner on Friday 

and a ’57 luncheon and dinner 

on Saturday. Friday morning 

yours truly joined a tour of the 

Northwest Corner Building. Built 

where tennis courts once stood, 

the striking modern structure is at 

the corner of Broadway and West 

120th Street; it’s directly across 

from Teachers College and cattycornered 

from Union Theological 

Seminary. The building primarily 

houses science laboratories and has 

a café on the second floor. Upstairs, 

a glassed-in room affords a wide 

panorama of upper Manhattan. 

Particularly striking is the northern 

view, which includes Grant’s 

Tomb, Riverside Church, Union 

Theological Seminary, the Manhattan 

School of Music, the Jewish 

Theological Seminary and, in the 

distance, Harlem and City College. 

Lunch was under a tent on Low 

Plaza, a buffet billed as “Taste of 

New York.” 

That afternoon, by serendipity, 

I attended Teodolinda Barolini’s 

Literature Humanities class, “The 

Divine Comedy Through Images.” 

Among other things, Barolini said 

that The Divine Comedy is still alive 

because of the way Dante’s characters 

come to life; she finds them 

quite contemporary. In answer to 

my question, she said that, indeed, 

Dante’s characters are in that way 

comparable to those of Shakespeare, 

noting that contemporary 

writer Harold Bloom also has 

made that observation. 

Friday’s ’57 dinner was at the 

Kellogg Center at SIPA. After dinner, 

several class members reminisced 

before the open microphone about 

the greatness of the Columbia 

College education we received, 

especially the Core Curriculum. 

Saturday morning featured the 

all-class Dean’s Continental Breakfast, 

part of Dean’s Day. Dean James 

J. Valentini addressed the assembly, 

assuring us that the Core Curriculum 

will go on, but with changes 

from time to time. Otherwise, he 

observed, it would not be contemporary. 

Afterward, I attended “Why 

Don’t We Have More Cures for 

Cancer?” with Brent Stockwell, 

associate professor, biological 

sciences, Howard Hughes Medical 

Institute, and Poppy Harlow ’05, 

CNN correspondent. Stockwell 

said the main problem is creating 

molecules to form proteins to attack 

cancer. He then observed that 

in discovering a new drug we do 

not know what its effect will be. He 

went on to discuss the role of funding. 

Among other things he noted 

that the Israeli pharmaceutical 

industry has made much progress 

and that chemotherapy was a 

serendipitous finding during WWI 

from therapy for mustard gas. 

The ’57 luncheon followed in the 

library of the ornate Casa Italiana. 

Former Dean Austin E. Quigley 

addressed head-on the value of 

a liberal education in hard times, 

saying it helps students develop the 

ability to see different approaches 

to a problem. He stressed the 

importance of living on campus, as 

being with people different from 

oneself helps one to see from others’ 

points of view. He then turned to 

discussing the role of the College 

in a great research university — 

namely, to help students develop 

the above thinking process. More 

than a century ago, he noted, when 

the University moved to Morningside 

Heights, there was concern that 

the College would lose its place. 

What saved the University, he said, 

was the commitment to the College 

while the graduate and professional 

schools were forging ahead. 

Dean Quigley praised the alumni 

role in keeping the College in place 

during the recent budgetary crisis. 

He also reported that the College 

has one of the best financial aid 

systems, thanks to the gift from 

John W. Kluge ’37 to provide financial 

aid focusing on grants rather 

than loans, so as to avoid students 

graduating with a heavy debt. 

He then discussed the question 

of the arts versus science. With 

the humanities, he said, there is 

the opportunity to see things from 

different points of view. Science 

is more a matter of right versus 

wrong. There now is a science 

course, Frontiers of Science, in the 

Core Curriculum; this, however, 

fights pedagogical traditions. 

He allowed that rote learning 

has value; nevertheless, we need 

people who can cross between arts 

and sciences. Next he discussed the 

matter of research versus teaching 

on the part of the faculty; would it 

pay to have more faculty members 

teaching? Although a student in a 

small liberal arts college likely will 

receive more attention from the 

faculty, he/she will miss faculty 

members with cutting-edge knowledge 

of their disciplines. 

Dean Quigley concluded by saying 

that globalized people tend to 

see that there is more than one way 

to look at a problem. This among 

other things meets the challenge of 

preparing people for tours of duty 

abroad. 

Later that afternoon, I attended 

Music Hum Chair Elaine Sisman’s 

class, “Mozart’s Don Giovanni and 

the Literary Imagination.” She 

discussed several versions of the 

opera produced across some years, 

especially different portrayals of 

the Don. The session brought back 

happy memories of Vladimir Ussachevsky’s 

class in Humanities B, in 

which he discussed the opera and 

played excerpts of it on a phonograph 

and on the piano. A pleasant 

conclusion of the classes was the Afternoon 

Tea and Music of Columbia 

Concert, featuring a string quartet. 

Held under a tent on Schermerhorn 

Plaza, the scene could have come 

from a Renoir painting. 

The final class event of the 

reunion was cocktails and dinner 

at Faculty House on Saturday 

evening. On Sunday morning a 

dozen or so classmates, wives and 

significant others gathered around a 

table under a tent on Low Plaza for 

brunch and last good-byes; it was 

truly a wonderful reunion weekend. 

Among us was the resplendently 

uniformed Alvin Kass, the NYPD’s 

chief chaplain, accompanied by an 

officer, about to leave for a parade. 

Finally, some sad news: Robert I. 

Brockman, an architect who lived 

in Haverford Pa., died on June 12, 

2011. 


MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013 




212-851-7834 



212-851-7833 

58 

Barry Dickman 

25 Main St. 

Court Plaza North, Ste 104 

Hackensack, NJ 07601 

bdickmanesq@gmail.com 

We are sorry to report that David 

Londoner died on May 11, 2012, 

after a yearlong battle with cancer. 

David was a loyal supporter both 

of the College and of Stuyvesant 

H.S., and he was one of the major 

forces behind the establishment of 

the Class of 1958 Peter Stuyvesant 

Scholarship. He is survived by his 

wife, Clara; sons, David-Marc ’91 

and John; and granddaughters, 

Sasha and Roxanna. After earning 

FALL 2012 

64 

FALL 2012 

65

CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

an M.S. at the Business School, David 

spent his entire career on Wall 

Street, primarily with Wertheim & 

Co. and its successor, Schroders. 

As a chartered financial analyst, he 

specialized in entertainment and 

media stocks and was well-known 

for his commentary on Disney. After 

he retired, he was on the boards 

of several public companies in the 

United States and in Great Britain. 

Congratulations to Marcia and 

Rick Brous. Their daughter Sharon 

Brous ’95, ’01 GSAS was named 

by Newsweek as one of America’s 

50 most influential rabbis for 2012. 

[Editor’s note: Read CCT’s May 

2005 profile of Brous online.] This 

was not Sharon’s first impressive 

honor; a few years ago she was the 

winner of the Jewish Community 

Foundation’s inaugural Inspired 

Leadership Award, which came 

with a gift of $100,000. She earned 

a master’s in human rights. Sharon 

is the spiritual leader of IKAR, a 

Los Angeles synagogue she helped 

found. Rick is retired and lives in 

California. 

Congratulations also are in order 

for Jim Sternberg, who won the 

Howard Peter Leventritt Silver 

Ribbon Pairs for bridge players 

older than 55 at the spring 2012 

North American Championships in 

Memphis. Jim’s bridge partner, Fred 

Hamilton of Las Vegas, has won 16 

national titles; this was Jim’s third. 

A retired radiologist, Jim lives in 

West Palm Beach, Fla. 

Bob Tauber has been appointed 

to the Board of Ethics of the Village/ 

Town of Mount Kisco, N.Y. 

Art Radin reports that the Class 

Lunch has been ongoing for more 

than a decade, with three to eight 

class members attending each 

month. Regulars are George Jochnowitz, 

Tom Ettinger, Ernie Brod, 

Marty Hurwitz and Paul Gomperz, 

with Dave Marcus, Joe Klein, Paul 

Herman, Peter Cohn, Joe Dorinson, 

Bernie Nussbaum, Henry 

Kurtz and Sheldon Raab making 

occasional appearances. Conversations 

range from Columbia sports, 

linguistics, politics, children and 

grandchildren to our current careers. 

There is minor tension between the 

retireds and the non-retireds, with 

neither sure who is better off. The 

tradition was begun by the late 

Scott Shukat, but Art’s perseverance 

has kept it going for all these 

years. 

The lunch is held on the second 

Wednesday of every month, in the 

Grill Room of the Columbia University 

Club of New York, 15 W. 

43rd St. ($31 per person). Email Art 

if you plan to attend, up to the day 

before: aradin@radinglass.com. 

Finally, here’s an early “save the 

date” for our 55th (!) Alumni Reunion 

Weekend, which will be held 

Thursday, May 30–Sunday, June 2, 

2013. So that the College can get in 

touch with you, please update your 

contact information (if necessary) 



Alumni Office: 212-851-7488. 

We’re hoping for our usual enthusiastic 

turnout for the Reunion 

Committee both to plan the weekend’s 

events and to reach out to 

classmates for gifts to the Columbia 

College Fund in honor of reunion. 

If you’re interested in participating, 

contact the appropriate Alumni 

Office staff member at the top of the 

column. No problem if you’re not in 

the NYC area; you can participate in 

meetings via conference call. We’re 

hoping to see some new faces in 

addition to our loyal regulars. 

59 

Norman Gelfand 

c/o CCT 


622 W. 113th St., MC 4530 


nmgc59@gmail.com 

From Arthur Mollin we hear, “On 

March 4, I had a welcome-to-NYC 

party at Le Parker Meridien for 

my newest grandson, Zackary 

Thomas Elliott, who came with his 

mom (my daughter) Stefanie and 

her husband, Gary Elliott. My son 

Richard Mollin, who is a music 

professor at Oneonta, arrived with 

his trio to entertain the guests 

(about 70 in all). My other three 

children, Marian Mollin, a history 

professor at Virginia Tech; Bryan 

Mollin, an automotive advertising 

executive; and Jason Mollin ’91, an 

executive with Goldman Sachs in 

Brazil; were present along with my 

other four grandchildren. My wife, 

Sarilyn, organized and officiated 

at the welcoming party magnificently, 

to everyone’s delight. It is 

a rare occasion to have all five of 

my children and all five of my 

grandchildren in the same room at 

the same time.” 

Arthur added that Stefanie and 

her family “were in town just for 

10 days, as they live in London, 

where Gary is the CEO of an aeronautical 

manufacturing company, 

Hybrid Air Vehicles, which sells 

surveillance aircraft to the U.S. 

government.” 

Clive Chajet “continues to pray 

for more of the same and is happy 

to report that his prayers are 

ans wer ed.” He says that his wife, 

Bonnie, “continues to be a very 

successful residential Manhattan 

real estate broker. Eldest daughter 

Lisa is a clone of her mother (very 

successful residential real estate 

broker). Younger daughter Lori has 

a Ph.D. in education and is married 

to an outstanding teacher in New 

York City; they have two divine 

daughters, aged 8 and 5, and live in 

Brooklyn.” 

Clive concludes, “I consult on 

branding issues for corporations, 

serve on a couple of boards, play 

golf and tennis in Bridgehampton 

and Florida and live in wonderful 

Manhattan. Hope any of you 

that will read this is as satisfied as 

I am.” 

Kenneth Scheffel continues 

his travels and writes, “Last fall, 

between Michigan’s home football 

games, I traveled to central Europe 

(with stops in New York going and 

coming, of course). I spent three 

days each in Prague, Vienna and 

Budapest, with mini-bus rides between 

them. I enjoyed all three cities 

but each in a different sort of way. 

“Prague proved to be the most 

pedestrian-friendly city I’ve ever 

seen (and I love to walk). Relatively 

undamaged by WWII, the Castle 

and Old Town were magnificent, 

and the Jewish ghetto with its 

centuries-old, multi-layered cemetery 

(which the Nazis preserved 

to document a ‘vanished race’) 

most memorable. By far the least 

religious of the three cities and 

countries, most of its churches 

appear to survive by serving as concert 

venues. The music offerings are 

excellent and inexpensive … The 

Czechs’ only liability stems from 

their addiction to tobacco. The entire 

city smells like a stale cigarette 

(much as Hamilton Hall once did). I 

can understand why Václav Havel, 

leader of the Velvet Revolution, 

died of lung cancer. Those who stay 

should be warned of the dangers of 

secondhand smoke. 

“Vienna had the most friendly, 

helpful citizens I’ve encountered 

anywhere. Everybody spoke 

English and strangers volunteered 

Jim Sternberg ’58 won the Howard Peter Leventritt 

Silver Ribbon Pairs for bridge players older than 55. 

information on what to see and 

how to use the public transportation 

system, on which youngsters 

stood up to give us their seats (age 

does have its privileges, at least in 

Vienna). Of the three cities, Vienna 

appeared the most health-conscious. 

It had the only joggers we saw (and 

there were lots of them, as well as 

bicyclists), and very few smokers. 

Vienna was also the most cosmopolitan 

(for example, our guide was 

born in Sweden and is married to a 

Moldavian who does much of his 

work in Russian) … The Kunsthistorisches 

art collection, Ringstrasse 

building and palace settings were 

impressive. But being a southern 

Ohio hillbilly, I missed the high hills 

of Prague and Budapest. 

“Budapest exhibited an exotic 

gypsy-like quality and proudly 

displayed its scars from WWII and 

the 1956 revolt against the Soviets. 

The overlooks from the Castle 

were spectacular, and the central 

market had everything that anyone 

could want, at reasonable prices. 

The Holocaust memorial of shoes 

lined up along the Danube (where 

the Nazis shot Jews into the river 

at the end of WWII) was probably 

the most poignant I’ve seen. 

But Budapest had more homeless 

than anywhere else in Europe (it 

reminded me of Detroit). Also, an 

extra gratuity was expected for all 

services, including (doctors in our 

class should take note) for medical 

care. Our Hungarian guide 

explained that the government 

is trying to curtail the practice by 

offering new grads higher pay for 

agreeing not to solicit extra benefits 

from patients and their families.” 

“Look forward to seeing you and 

hopefully many other classmates at 

our 55th in 2014, if not before.” 

Ken is not our only traveler. 

David B. Smith writes, “My wife, 

Helen, and I are enjoying our retirement 

with international travel. We 

spend about seven months of the 

year abroad. [As of this writing in 

the spring,] we plan to leave on April 

25 for Turkey, where we spend two 

months. Initially, after a few days in 

Istanbul, we will travel to southeastern 

Turkey at the edge of the plain 

of Mesopotamia on the Iraq and 

Syria borders. Then, we will settle 

down near Yalikavak on the Bodrum 

peninsula on the Aegean shore. We 

have been going there for the last 

four years and have many friends 

in that lovely place. 

“We leave Turkey at the end 

of June and travel to the Orkney 

islands north of mainland Scotland 

for two months. This, too, will be 

our fourth year in Orkney. There, 

Helen will assist in a fascinating 

Neolithic archaeological site on the 

Ness of Brodgar, where extraordinary 

discoveries are being made 

of stone temples that predate the 

pyramids of Egypt and Stonehenge. 

We’ll then visit Glasgow 

and Edinburgh for a week each, 

after which we go to Bergen, Norway. 

After a few days in Bergen, 

we’ll take a ship up the west coast 

of Norway through the fjords to 

North Cape and back to Trondheim. 

After a few days in Oslo, we 

fly to Paris and then to the Cele 

Valley in southwestern France for 

two weeks. Our house there will be 

in walking distance of Pech Merle, 

an Upper Paleolithic cave with 

wonderful wall paintings. Finally, 

we go to Venice for the last month. 

This will be our fifth year in Venice, 

which has become a second home. 

We hope to revisit old haunts and 

soak up the lovely art and architecture, 

as well as the extraordinary 

Venetian food.” 

Since his initial writing, David 

has provided an update on his trip 

but space limitations prevent me 

from including it now. 

Ed Boylan brings us up to date: 

“After graduation, I went to Princeton, 

where I received my Ph.D. in 

mathematics in 1962. Following 

brief stays at Yeshiva University, 

Rutgers at New Brunswick and 

Hunter College, I came to Rutgers- 

Newark in September 1968. I am on 

leave this semester with retirement 

officially starting in July. 

“In addition to mathematics, for 

several years I was a consultant on 

Middle East and nuclear strategy 

issues at Hudson Institute, back 

when it was actually located in 

Croton-on-Hudson and headed by 

Herman Kahn. 

“My wife and I have three children: 

two daughters living in Israel 

and a son living in Flatbush. We 

also have seven grandchildren, the 

oldest of whom is now in the Israeli 

army. For more than 40 years 

we have been living in Englewood, 

N.J. Any classmate who wants 

to see what the Orthodox Jewish 

community of Englewood is like is 

welcome to give me a call. (We are 

in the phone book.)” 

Richard Tyler writes, “My good 

friend Raphael ‘Ray’ Osheroff 

passed in his sleep on March 18. 

Graveside services were held on 

March 21 at Beth Israel Cemetery 

in Woodbridge, N.J. 

“Following graduation from the 

College, Ray received his medical 

diploma from the Creighton Univ - 

ersity School of Medicine. He practiced 

nephrology in the Washington, 

D.C., area for many years. 

“Ray was a musical genius who 

was able to play any instrument: 

percussion, strings, reeds and other 

horns. During our college days and 

early during his professional life, 

he would be invited to gigs, where 

he filled in on whatever instrument 

was needed. It was my pleasure 

to accompany him to many of 

those engagements. Watching him 

switch from instrument to instrument 

with alacrity and verve was a 

mesmerizing experience. 

“Ray was a wonderful and dear 

friend whom I shall miss.” 

Joseph Ramos writes, “Six years 

ago I lost my first wife. But 1½ years 

later I married a wonderful widow, 

Gloria Baeza. I am still going strong 

at the University of Chile. Last year, 

I was chosen by the students as 

the best professor in the economics 

department. It goes to prove that 

life isn’t over till it’s over!” 

We hear from Herbert M. Dean: 

“I am an oncology consultant for 

an insurance company and find it 

intellectually stimulating, as it provides 

me the opportunity to review 

files from the major cancer centers 

and also allows me to remain 

current with this rapidly changing 

discipline without the responsibilities 

that accompany a clinical 

practice. I have written a section on 

cancer chemotherapy for the sixth 

edition of a textbook on diseases 

of the colon and rectum that will 

be published in September and 

enjoyed the challenge, especially 

when it was finished. 

“My wife and I celebrated our 

seventh anniversary (we were both 

widowed) and travel between our 

home in Worcester and our apartment 

in New York City. I am trying 

to sell a beautiful oceanfront condo 

on Cape Cod; if anyone is interested, 

do I have a deal for you! I like 

to think I work in Worcester, play in 

New York and rest at the Cape. 

“My joints limit my ability to 

play tennis, but I continue to walk, 

especially in NYC, with the help 

of a little Celebrex. Reading is a 

delight, especially since you can 

pick and choose your subject, put 

it down if you find it not appealing, 

and don’t have to write a term 

paper or take an exam. A wonderful 

book that traces the history and 

current status of cancer but reads 

like a novel, which I can recommend, 

is The Emperor of All Maladies 

by Siddhartha Mukherjee (also a 

professor at P&S). 

“We look forward to our next 

class reunion.” 

David N. Horowitz writes, “I’m 

not sure everyone will remember 

there is more than one David 

Horo witz in our class. David J. 

Horowitz is the famous advocate 

of academic humility. David 

N., yours truly, is a retired New 

York state government lawyer 

living with his significant other, 

Barbara, in Boynton Beach, Fla. I 

can’t complain; my health is OK, 

although I am a survivor of two or 

three bouts with the big C, including 

breast removal, of all things. 

Our generation is very lucky in 

the quality of the medical care that 

we are able to receive. My father, 

who was born in Lithuania, passed 

in 1965 when he was 65; even so, 

he was fortunate, as I was, that he 

came to America in 1920, as those 

who stayed were murdered during 

the Holocaust known as WWII. I 

think of this every day of my life 

and recollect how fortunate I am 

to wake up every morning to see 

the blue sky and the puffy white 

clouds of Florida, to say nothing 

of the ever changing tones of the 

Florida sunset. 

“I wish you and all our classmates 

good health, continued good 

cheer, kindness, love and blessing.” 

Frank R. Wilson is now a doctor 

at least two times over, an M.D. 

who also was named an Honorary 

Doctor of Fine Arts by the Massachusetts 

College of Art and Design. 

He and his wife, Pat, were in 

Chicago this spring. They, J. Peter 

Rosenfeld and his wife, Carmen, 

and Frank’s sister, Julie, went to see 

Brian Dennehy ’60 in The Iceman 

Cometh at the Goodman Theatre. 

My wife, Yona, and I joined them 

after the show for a very pleasant 

dinner. 

60 

Robert A. Machleder 

69-37 Fleet St. 

Forest Hills, NY 11375 

rmachleder@aol.com 

Delighted to hear from Harvey 

Sage, who reflects on the values he 

acquired at alma mater. “Columbia 

helped me think analytically,” he 

writes. “The physics and math 

courses prepared me for my first career 

as a teacher (28 years). My most 

notable instructor was Polykarp 

Kusch, who once told an FBI agent 

to wait outside his office because 

he was talking with me, a mere 

student. I based part of my teaching 

style on his ebullience. 

“My second career was as a 

newspaper publisher (15 years). 

I attribute my writing skills, as 

meager as they were, to the rigors 

of communication developed in 

our various classes. 

“The health education course 

gave good insights to male/female 

relationships, helping me in my 

50-plus years of marriage. 

“From Columbia’s influences I 

developed a viable philosophy for 

life based on fulfilling the will of 

my Creator. For when all the many 

treasures and pleasures are talked 

about, being a good and faithful 

servant overshadows them all.” 

Kusch, professor of physics, 

was awarded the Nobel Prize in 

1955 for his work in atomic and 

molecular physics. Curious as to 

why an FBI agent would be waiting 

outside his door — although 

perhaps I should not have been 

surprised, as rumors abounded 

that FBI agents were everywhere 

and many an unadorned wall 

bore the graffiti warning, “FBI 

in the Library,” without ever explicitly 

saying whether in Butler, 

Low Memorial or the 42nd Street 

Public — I asked Harvey if he 

inquired as to the presence of this 

patient agent. 

“Nope,” Harvey replied. “Probably 

national security. The year was 

1960. Remember the Cold War? I 

was a poor physicist, but Kusch’s 

dynamism helped me become a 

good teacher and a better human 

being. I wrote him a letter a few 

years later, thanking him for his 

ways. He appreciated it. He rests 

with the Creator now and I hope to 

see him again at the end of this life’s 

cycle.” 

Irwin Sollinger writes, “Taking 

the recent CCT survey motivated 

me to send a Class Note. I remain in 

contact with Irwin Young, especially 

when he makes his jaunts to the city. 

I also have monthly luncheons with 

Sidney Hart; he maintains his psychiatric 

practice in Greenwich, and I 

am a psychologist in Westport. But 

last week was a ’60 bonanza for me. 

[RAM: ‘Last week’ was in fact some 

months ago, and while I am grateful 

to CCT for conducting its motivating 

survey, I can’t say that I recall how 

long ago that was.] I met Bob Berne 

quite serendipitously at a matinee 

and then Michael Hertzberg at 

Carnegie Hall. The benefits of an 

education in the best college town in 

the country continue.” 

Our reporting on the loss of Bob 

Morgan, and the memorial celebration 

of his life, brought this note 

from Doug Eden. 

“I’m very sorry I don’t recall 

Bob Morgan, but he was clearly 

a man of taste. We evidently both 

attended John Gutman’s classes 

on opera. Gutman was assistant 

manager of the Metropolitan 

Opera and was resigned to never 

succeeding his boss, Rudolph Bing. 

Bing disliked Wagner and put on 

as little of it as possible. We were 

fortunate to see a Walküre dress 

rehearsal. He and Gutman also 

were resistant to Strauss’ operas 

outside the very popular ones such 

as Der Rosenkavalier. Bob would 

have been present when I argued 

with Gutman about the merits of 

Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten 

and he generously permitted me 

to present an illustrated analysis of 

this opera to his class. I hope other 

colleagues derived satisfaction a 

few years later when Frau successfully 

entered the Met’s repertoire 

soon after Bing’s departure. Gutman 

was very generous to me here 

in London, too. In 1961, he invited 

me to join him in the Duke of Bedford’s 

box at Covent Garden for 

Rudolf Nureyev’s remarkable London 

debut accompanied by Sonia 

Arova. Bob and I were indeed very 

fortunate in our time at Columbia 

and our choices of courses.” 

Doug is a Senior Atlantic Fellow 

at the Atlantic Council for the U.K. 

and associate fellow, Institute for 

Study of the Americas at the School 

of Advanced Study, University of 

London. 

Astronomer extraordinaire and 

science fiction author Thomas 

Wm. Hamilton’s newest book is 

Our Neighbor Stars: Including Brown 

Dwarfs, in which Tom presents 

information about the 100 stars 

nearest Earth, as well as the brown 

FALL 2012 

66 

FALL 2012 

67

CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

dwarfs within the range covered 

by such stars. This includes the 

visibility of the stars, their size, distance, 

color, who discovered them 

and how they were discovered, 

and observations on the chances 

for life on the planets around them. 

Big thanks go to the 125 donors 

who contributed gifts to the College 

this past fiscal year. As of June 

30, the Class of 1960 had raised 

more than $700,000. Congratulations, 

all. 

And finally, a sad note. Josh Pruzansky 

advises that Lenny Lustig 

’63L died on April 1, 2012, about a 

month after being diagnosed with 

liver cancer. Lenny was a distinguished 

real estate practitioner in 

Suffolk County. He is survived by 

his wife, Susan; daughter, Caren; 

and son, Craig. 

The class sends its deepest condolences 

to Lenny’s family. 

61 

Michael Hausig 

19418 Encino Summit 

San Antonio, TX 78259 

mhausig@yahoo.com 

Tom Lippman traveled to San 

Antonio, Richmond, Va., Hartford, 

Conn., and other cities this 

spring promoting his latest book, 

Saudi Arabia on the Edge, and had 

the pleasure of discussing it with 

classmates at one of Tony Adler’s 

monthly lunches in New York. In 

June he made his annual visit to 

Saudi Arabia to interview government 

officials, business people and 

academics for a new writing project 

based at The George Washington 

University. 

Richard Mace recently realized a 

lifelong 770 - goal 787 of being the pianist of 

a HAMPTON foursome performing 11oz. (CERAMIC) the Mozart 

Piano Quartet in G-minor, K.478, for 

a joyous audience of aficionados, 

relatives, loved ones and friends; 

the concert took place June 5 at 

the 92nd St. Y in Manhattan. He 

looks forward to expanding his 

chamber music repertoire this fall 

as a participant in similar programs 

featuring like-minded amateur 

musicians. He also is pleased to 

report that his son, Richard Riurik 

Mace, recently returned from a 

15-day tour of the Holy Lands 

(Kuwait, Jordan and Israel) during 

which time he educated potential 

converts to Evangelical worship via 

weeklong workshops of instruction 

and example. Meanwhile, 

daughter Michelle Margaret Logan 

completed her third year as the 

office manager for a spectacularly 

successful (1,400 patients) children’s 

dentistry practice in Cumming, Ga. 

Both children enjoy spending weekends 

cruising Lake Lanier in their 

respective power boats, relaxing 

away from the crowded agendas of 

their weekday pursuits. 

second edition of their two-volume 

work, Solar System Astrophysics, a 

daunting task right now, with the 

burgeoning population of known 

extrasolar planets. 

We conclude with some sad 

news. 

Dr. Barry Jacobs passed away in 

Plano, Texas, in May. Barry served 

as a doctor in the Navy during 

Vietnam and then specialized as 

an ophthalmologist, practicing in 

Boston for most of his career. He 

semi-retired to New Hampshire 

but ended his practice with the 

onset of the illness that took his life 

a decade later. A few years ago, he 

and his wife, Barbara, moved to 

Plano, north of Dallas, to be near 

their daughter Alison, son-inlaw 

Michael and grandchildren 

Graham and Ariel. Throughout his 

long illness, Barry was stoic, dignified 

and courageous. 

Jack Samet’s wife, Helen, passed 

away, a victim of ovarian cancer. 

Jack wrote on his Facebook page 

that “words are insufficient to 

describe the force of the grief I am 

experiencing and the power of the 

loving memory she leaves behind.” 

The funeral service was held at Mt. 

Sinai Chapel, Mt. Sinai Memorial 

Park and Mortuary, Los Angeles, 

on May 2. 

Larry Kline passed away March 

26. He leaves his wife, Bonnie; three 

daughters; a son; and several grandchildren. 

He had suffered a stroke 

some years ago and had not been in 

good health since then. Larry was a 

prominent psychiatrist in Maryland 

for decades. Larry Rubinstein ’60 

officiated at the services. 

Arthur D. Friedman, a computer 

science researcher, professor and 

Phil Cottone’s oldest granddaughter, 

Megan, graduated 

from Villanova Law in May and 

her brother, Ryan, who recently 

completed his freshman year at 

the University of Miami, now has 

transferred to Columbia. That 

will make the third generation of 

Cottone Lions, including Phil; his 

oldest son, Anthony ’80; and now 

Ryan ’15. Phil works full-time as 

an active national mediator and 

arbitrator specializing in real estate, 

securities and lawyer-represented 

commercial cases for the American 

Arbitration Association, Financial 

Industry Regulatory Authority and 

the Counselors of Real Estate. 

Morris Dickstein gave the Lionel 

Trilling lecture at Columbia on 

May 2. The subject was how movies 

gradually took over some of the territory 

of fiction in the decades after 

the war, which led writers to worry 

about the death of the novel. 

Bob Rennick ’64E wrote that he 

and Mark Franklin ’64E, Mickey 

Greenblatt ’62E and Hillel Hoffman 

’62E, who were on the 3-2 

program with Columbia University 

School of Engineering (now 

called the School of Engineering 

and Applied Science) attended 

Engineering’s Class of ’62 50th 

reunion in June and were inducted 

into the Golden Lions Society. 

Bob also attended the May 23 

class luncheon in Tom Gochberg’s 

conference room, where Ira Hayes 

gave his annual book report. Our 

classmates are voracious readers 

with impressive recall. During their 

visit, Bob and his wife, Lisa, spent 

time with some cast members of 

The Best Man, including James Earl 

Jones. 

Gene Milone, professor emeri- 

author who lived in San Diego, 

tus and the Rothney Astrophysical 1451211 ROE HOWARD passed away GA770 on October sublimation 24, 2011. FS 

Observatory director emeritus, 

University of Calgary, cleaned out 

his office at the university last July, 

with the conclusion of his second 

term as faculty professor, and 

now works at home. He is awaiting 

a partial corneal transplant 

and, should it be successful, will 

travel to Beijing in August for the 

International Astronomical Union 

meeting, where as president of the 

IAU’s Commission on Astronomical 

Photometry and Polarimetry 

and chair of its Infrared Astronomy 

Working Group he will chair a 

few sessions. He also plans to 

present a paper illustrating a new 

distance determination method for 

eclipsing binaries in star clusters. 

He is working also on several 

John Freidin 

biographies of astronomers for the 

second edition of the Biographical 

62 

1020 Town Line Rd. 

Charlotte, VT 05445 

Encyclopedia of Astronomers, including 

that of professor Jan Schilt, 

jf@bicyclevt.com 

chairman of Columbia’s Astronomy 

Department when we were geous, merry, moving. The campus 

Alumni Reunion Weekend was gor- 

students. Finally, with a Calgary sparkled — red brick, white granite, 

colleague, he is working on the smooth marble. Gone were the 

nicotine-stained walls of Hamilton 

Hall, replaced with clean Columbia 

blue! Your classmates were warm, 

relaxed, generous, interested and 

interesting. About 100 attended, 

and during our days together a 

sense of commonality and equality 

spread among us. Seldom have I 

felt as good, and I expect everyone 

else did as well. Wish we had more 

50ths to anticipate. 

At registration, the College presented 

each of us with a Class of ’62 

mug, printed in color with Michael 

Stone’s delightful drawing, “Still 

Amazing After All These Years,” 

celebrating our path from blazers 

and ties to jeans, flannel shirts and 

an extra 12 lbs. (See the top of the 

column.) 

Formal events began with an elegant 

reception at President Lee C. 

Bollinger’s home. Bollinger spoke 

of the University’s growth northward 

to Manhattanville, its success 

raising money for this expansion 

and the planned opening of several 

“global centers” in major cities 

abroad, where undergraduates will 

simultaneously pursue Columbia 

courses and foreign studies. In Ed 

Pressman’s words: “Bollinger’s 

comments clearly reflected his 

pride in being part of the Columbia 

family.” 

During the weekend I asked 

nearly everyone to email me 25–50 

words about the reunion. Here are 

some excerpts: 

Tobias Robison: “My first 

reunion, mostly people I’d failed to 

meet or remember. Trepidation! But 

oh, did we all have something in 

common. Made friends, heard fascinating 

life stories, enjoyed enjoyable 

events. Looking forward to 55.” 

Phil Lebovitz: “The instant sense 

of an intellectual commonality was 

poignant and warm. Having integrated 

the experience of a Columbia 

education, we immediately shared 

ideas and stimulating conversations.” 

Bill Campbell: “I cannot think 

of when I had a more wonderful 

time. A great ‘reunion’ of people 

who really cared about each other. 

I was touched and blown away.” 

Charlie Freifeld: “I was particularly 

glad to see that so many of 

my classmates had lived rich lives 

and done really powerful things, 

yet were not self-important.” 

Michael Stone: “What a reunion 

should be: enjoyed [time with] old 

friends and made new ones. But 

thought a lot about the classmates 

who weren’t with us anymore and 

missed the ones who didn’t come.” 

Larry Loewinger: “It was a 

fun, informative and, ultimately, a 

rather touching experience.” 

Bernie Patten: “A thousand 

thanks to the many people who 

spent time, energy and money 

making the 50th the success that 

it was. And special kudos to Bill 

Campbell for the dinner [at Smith 

& Wollensky]. It was wonderful 

seeing classmates turned out and 

tipsy, having a good time, laughing 

and being themselves.” 

John Golembe, who flew in from 

Germany with his wife, Evelyn: “A 

wonderful confirmation of how 

fortunate we were to be members of 

the Columbia Class of ’62.” 

Jim Spingarn: “Seeing our 

classmates (and reading the sad list 

of those departed) was a very emotional 

experience. Like most of us, 

I’ve never forgotten what a huge 

role Columbia played, and continues 

to play, in my life. It influences 

how I think, what I am passionate 

about and virtually every intellectual 

thought I ever have. How 

do you beat that? That’s why that 

magical reunion meant so much.” 

Neilson Abeel: “The greatest 

realization I had was how much 

more interesting and open we are. I 

had wonderful conversations with 

people I’d never really spoken to 

50 years ago and made connections 

that will result in meetings. I 

reiterate my thanks to the generous 

fellows who hosted the off-campus 

events. As Peter Yatrakis said, 

‘We’ve got 60 folks crowded onto 

a boat for four hours; you’ll really 

get to talk with each other.’” 

Bill Weissman: “Attending 

classes and seeing classmates every 

day made it seem like we were 

back in school.” 

Stan Lupkin: “Most of us have 

attended more than our share of reunions. 

Can you top this 50th? No 

way! The spirit and camaraderie 

was reminiscent of that day, during 

freshman orientation, when, with 

our beanies on, we had the ‘Freshman 

Rush’ with the tug of war 

and Steve Trachtenberg racing to 

victory up the greased flagpole. 

Fifty years. Hard to believe — and 

we all look so young!” 

Joe Nozzolio: “The vibrancy and 

energy of the city. People walking 

at all times of day or night. The gorgeous 

architecture in Manhattan, 

much of it new since my last visit. 

A similar reaction to the Columbia 

campus. Students running to and 

fro, beautiful new buildings like the 

Northwest Corner Building, where 

several lectures were held. Seeing 

and speaking with football teammates. 

Reviving friendships. Having 

interesting conversations with 

Ed Pressman and Allen Young.” 

David Tucker: “I was very in spired 

by the events of our reunion. The 

efforts of Stan Lupkin to arrange 

our trip to Ground Zero was truly 

memorable. Hearing Bill Campbell, 

who could be doing anything 

anywhere, but was good enough to 

express his gratitude to the College, 

his teachers and his peers, was a 

treat. Let’s all raise our mugs and 

think of the Class of ’62.” 

Bill Ross: “Everyone was in 

a mellow mood and the mensch 

quotient was high.” 

Barry Leeds: “I loved everything 

about our 50th. More important 

than the wonderful events were the 

wonderful people: warm, welcoming 

and unpretentious 50 years after 

they set out to make their indelible 

marks upon the world and succeeded 

admirably.” 

David Wallack: “[My wife,] 

Bonnie, and I returned to Colorado, 

and agree the weekend was everything 

we could have wished for. It 

combined meaningful College-sponsored 

events with classmate-sponsored 

events. I feel I made almost as 

many friendships in four days as I 

did in four years on campus.” 

Allen Small: “What a great reunion! 

Kudos to the Reunion Committee 

for the magnificent feasts, 

etc. Enjoyed the 9/11 Memorial and 

renewal of old friendships. Now I 

can enjoy my retirement and plan to 

return for our next reunion.” 

Peter Shrager: “Fifty years ago 

I would not have predicted that so 

many of us would still be professionally 

active. Having the lectures 

reflect the Core reinforced the 

uniqueness of our education.” 

Bob Umans: “What a blast! 

We’re the best! Vive le Class of ’62!” 

Jeff Milstein put his thoughts 

into a poem, 50th Columbia College 

Reunion: 

“Here we are: 

“Eating and drinking, 

“Talking, remembering, and 

embracing, 

“In the very place 

“With the very men 

“And their engaging women, 

“With whom we had studied 

and striven, 

“Laughed and cried, 

“Half a century ago; and 

“Who somehow, each by different 

ways, 

“Had amazingly become 

“Who we are now. 

“Cheers! To Life!” 

Even the notes from classmates 

who were not present were touching. 

Joe Romanelli: “I tried my 

darnedest to make it. Flew into 

New York from Israel and readied 

myself for the big event. Then, 

four days before the start, my son 

called from Jerusalem to announce 

the birth of his first child, a son, 

and I had to be there for the ritual 

circumcision. So I changed my 

ticket and returned to Jerusalem. 

… I’m sorry to have missed it and 

hope you’ll visit me in Jerusalem.” 

You can email Joe at romazaid@ 

romazaid.info. 

David Nathan: “My wife and I 

still work, and our signals crossed. 

She booked us on a trip to Italy 

beginning on reunion Friday, but I 

had one glorious day, Thursday, at 

the reunion. A great experience!” 

Frank Grady: “I missed the event 

because I was stupid. I’d made 

reservations to spend the weekend 

in Reykjavik with my wife long 

before I realized this was our 50th, 

and I could not change the date. 

Sorry. I miss y’all. I’ll try to be there 

for the 55th.” 

Richard Mace ’61 played piano in a foursome performing 

Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G-minor, K.478, 

in a concert held at the 92nd St. Y in Manhattan. 

John Joyce: “Early this year I contacted 

six classmates, all of whom 

were waiters with me at Johnson 

Hall, to determine if any were going 

to the ‘official’ reunion. Our discussions 

led to a planned gathering of 

Ron Meyer, Rich Wright, Bill Davidson, 

Charlie Lyons, Larry Gaston, 

myself and our spouses here in 

Washington, D.C., in October. That 

will be our reunion, and I’ll send a 

picture or two for Class Notes.” 

Crawford Kilian: “Just too busy! 

Doing a lot of writing, including 

this article on how I experienced 

a stroke in January: thetyee.ca/ 

Life/2012/03/03/My-Scan-Health- 

Care.” 

You can email Crawford at crof@ 

shaw.ca. 

Armando Favazza: “I had already 

traveled to New York twice in the 

past month and couldn’t handle 

more travel for the reunion. My first 

trip was for a National Geographic 

TV shoot on body modification and 

the second was to attend a psychiatric 

conference at the wonderful 

Angel Orensanz Center in the oldest 

synagogue in New York. Otherwise I 

would have attended for sure.” 

Several classmates suggested that 

we pool our photographs. If you 

email yours to me at jf@bicyclervt. 

com, I’ll put them together. But I 

hope someone more Internet-savvy 

than I will offer to put them on a 

website where we all can view them. 

Four classmates arranged and 

hosted extraordinary off-campus 

events. On Thursday evening, Burt 

Lehman and his wife, Brenda, 

gave a festive cocktail party at the 

distinguished Harmonie Club on 

East 60th Street, off Fifth Avenue. 

On Friday morning, Peter Yatrakis 

took us on a glorious four-hour 

cruise of New York harbor. In brilliant 

sunshine we motored from 

East 23rd Street on the East River, 

north beneath the Brooklyn, Manhattan 

and Williamsburg Bridges. 

The morning light accentuated the 

crisp lines and soaring profiles of 

Manhattan architecture. We came 

about and glided southward past 

the Statue of Liberty and Ellis 

Island. All the while we talked and 

laughed and contrasted what we 

saw with what we remembered as 

students. As lunch was served we 

passed the Financial District, the 

gleaming One World Trade Center 

and the new residential towers 

of Jersey City and Hoboken. Few 

aboard wanted to disembark when 

our voyage concluded at 2 p.m. 

Later, we reassembled at Third 

Avenue and East 49th Street for 

the evening of a lifetime at New 

York’s quintessential steakhouse, 

Smith & Wollensky. Bill Campbell 

hosted us in an enormous private 

dining room; there were magnificent 

cocktails, trays of cold lobster 

and shrimp that must have taken 

steroids and then hot, thick steaks 

prepared precisely as we ordered. 

We regaled one another with 

stories, laughed with dear friends 

and hugged enough to compensate 

for our staid male upbringings of 

the 1950s. Writing about it makes 

me yearn for a cold martini, iced 

shrimp and the men with whom I 

share so much good fortune. 

Thanks, Bill! All that was missing 

were those of you who could 

not make it. 

On Saturday evening at the gala 

dinner in Low Library, class president 

Paul Alter presented Dean 

James J. Valentini with our Class 

Gift. Thanks to extraordinarily 

generous lead gifts from Jerry 

Speyer and Bill Campbell — past 

and current chairs of the University 

Board of Trustees, respectively 

— we contributed $1.13 million to 

the Columbia College Fund, the 

highest ever from a 50th reunion 

class. 

Activities concluded Sunday 

morning when Stan Lupkin hosted 

a private tour for us of One World 

Trade Center, now New York’s 

tallest building. Since 2007 Stan has 

been the integrity monitor for the 

construction of this skyscraper. He 

and his staff of attorneys, former 

FBI agents, forensic accountants and 

engineers identify and investigate 

fraud, corruption and labor racketeering, 

all of which have plagued 

the New York construction industry. 

“For me,” said Stan, “it’s a very 

special assignment, as I performed 

the same function at Ground Zero 

after the 9-11 attack.” 

Burt Lehman described the tour 

this way: “We were guided by a 

Port Authority construction official 

who described plans for the entire 

site, especially One World Trade 

FALL 2012 

68 

FALL 2012 

69

CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

Robert Shlaer ’63 Recreates 

History Through Daguerreotype 

Though he was born 

and educated on the 

East Coast, Robert 

Shlaer ’63, ’66 GSAS 

is a westerner at heart. Sure, 

he looks the part, with his thick 

beard, flannel shirt and suspenders, 

but it runs deeper than 

that. Shlaer is a westerner in 

that older, more romantic sense 

of the word: He’s an individualist, 

determined to carve out his 

own path wherever it may lead. 

And sometimes it leads to 

someone else’s path. For nearly 

two decades, Shlaer has been 

exploring America’s western 

landscape with a camera in tow, 

retracing the steps of the great 

explorers of centuries past. He 

B y Justin DeFreita s 

has sought both to recreate and 

expand on the work of the pioneering 

artists and daguer re otype 

photographers who documented 

these 19th-century expeditions, 

capturing the same vistas that 

were once framed in the viewfinders 

of his predecessors. 

Shlaer considers daguerreotype 

— the silvery images that 

reigned from 1839–60 as the 

first commercially viable form of 

photography — to be “the most 

beautiful of all forms of photography.” 

But it’s hardly the most 

reliable. “My first and greatest 

love remains the landscape,” he 

says, “so with a process as given 

to failure as daguerreotypy, it 

is comforting to know that the 

Self-portrait in Cathedral Valley, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, May 1998. 

subject will be there tomorrow 

for another try.” 

Shlaer was born in Manhattan 

and raised in New Mexico, 

where his father, Simon Shlaer 

’24, ’37 GSAS, was an engineer 

at Los Alamos National Laboratory. 

By Shlaer’s own admission, 

his academic career was an 

exercise in expedience. Though 

his family put a premium on 

education, Shlaer applied to the 

College more because it made 

its admissions decisions earlier 

than other schools. “I figured 

that if I got accepted, I wouldn’t 

have to put any effort into applying 

elsewhere,” he says. 

He started out studying physics 

but became disenchanted 

and made a late switch to art 

history, primarily because it was 

the only degree that could be 

completed in two years. Later, 

he pursued a master’s in experimental 

psychology at Columbia 

in part, he says, as a means of 

avoiding the draft, then moved 

on to thesis work in neurophysiology 

at Rochester before earning 

a Ph.D. in neurophysiology 

and sensory psychology from 

Chicago in 1971. 

For a few years Shlaer continued 

in academia, working as 

a researcher and lecturer in the 

Department of Neurosurgery at 

Northwestern University Medical 

School, but he struggled 

with the desire for a different 

career. It was an “escapist 

fantasy” that had crystallized 

during his tenure 

at Columbia, when he 

had seen an exhibit of 

works by Ansel Adams at 

the Museum of Modern 

Art. Adams’ imagery invoked 

a longing in Shlaer 

to wander and document 

the western landscape. 

In the mid-1970s, newly 

inspired by a quote from 

Adams in which he declared 

the daguerreotype 

the benchmark against 

which he measured his 

own creations, Shlaer 

decided to take up the 

moribund medium. 

Shlaer immersed himself 

in the craft, embarking 

on a project of selfeducation. 

He ordered 

customized plates from 

a commercial manufacturer 

and hand-built the 

necessary equipment for 

preparing and developing 

them and for handling 

the toxic chemicals the 

process requires. (In 

daguerreotypy, an image 

is captured on a polished 

and chemically treated 

layer of silver atop a 

copper plate and must be 

developed in short order 

by exposing the plate to 

mercury vapors.) After 

six months of refining his 

technique, Shlaer left his 

academic life behind and 

returned to New Mexico, 

determined to make his 

living as a daguerreotypist. 

He quickly realized, 

however, that he didn’t 

have the money or the 

facilities to get his new 

career off the ground. 

What followed was an 

extended period of peripatetic 

employment that 

included tutoring at St. 

John’s College in Santa Fe 

as well as an eight-year 

stint crafting and selling 

custom woodwind instruments. 

By the mid-1980s Shlaer 

finally felt that he had everything 

he needed to make 

a go of it. He promoted 

himself as “The World’s 

Only Full-Time Professional 

Daguerreotypist” and sold 

his work in local galleries 

before beginning the project 

that would become 

his magnum opus: the 

recreation of the lost daguerreotypes 

of Solomon Nunes 

Carvalho, the young photographer 

hired by famed explorer 

John C. Frémont to document 

his final expedition, in 1853, in 

search of a viable central route 

for a transcontinental railroad. 

Though Carvalho’s plates 

were lost in a warehouse fire in 

1881, many of his images had 

been copied by engravers for 

use as illustrations in a book 

Frémont was planning. Shlaer 

was intrigued by the idea of 

recreating them in their original 

form, a project that combined 

all of his talents and passions: 

the delicate daguerreotyping 

process called upon his scientific 

and technical skills, the 

photography itself summoned 

the artist in him and the exacting 

research not only made use 

of his art history background 

but also provided an outlet for 

his admittedly obsessive nature. 

Shlaer outfitted his minivan 

as a mobile laboratory and 

Wetterhorn Peak, Colo., from the Forks of the Cimarron River, July 1996. 

PHOTOS: ROBERT SHLAER ’63, ’66 GSAS 

began retracing Frémont’s 

route, tracking down every site 

that Carvalho photographed. 

“I was able to find all of the 

scenes in the engravings and 

redaguerreotype them,” Shlaer 

says. “I filled in the rest of 

the expedition from surviving 

written descriptions, from my 

knowledge of the route and 

from my imagination, which I 

attempted to synchronize with 

that of Frémont and Carvalho.” 

“Bob’s a remarkable person,” 

says John Morton, a retired 

chemistry professor from Western 

New Mexico University and 

longtime friend of Shlaer. Morton 

is himself a photographer, 

his interest having begun with 

his study of old photographic 

processes. But Morton has 

never attempted daguerreotypy. 

“Too rich for my blood,” he says. 

“It’s very expensive and very 

difficult.” 

Morton testifies to Shlaer’s 

perfectionism. “If a daguerreotype 

turns out poorly he’ll wipe 

it off the plate,” Morton says. 

“I’ve seen him wipe away images 

I would have been proud to 

have caught.” 

Shlaer explains himself differently. 

“I lack self-discipline,” he 

says, arguing that the singleminded 

focus with which he 

pursues his passions is more 

vice than virtue. “It’s just another 

form of excess.” 

Shlaer’s “excess” resulted 

in a book, Sights Once Seen: 

Daguerreotyping Frémont’s Last 

Expedition Through the Rockies, 

which recreates Carvalho’s lost 

imagery and provides a lucid 

and thoroughly researched account 

of Frémont’s expedition, 

correcting the historical record 

of a journey that had generated 

much myth and misinformation 

during the preceding century 

and a half. Shlaer spent four 

years researching the expedition 

in archives across the 

country and photographing the 

images out west. He spent another 

year writing the book and 

preparing a museum exhibition 

that traveled the country for 

five years. “It was the culmination 

of my career,” Shlaer says. 

But he’s not finished. His 

current project has him photographing 

another western trek, 

that of topographic sketch artist 

Richard Kern, who created the 

first visual documentation of 

the Rocky Mountains as part of 

the Gunnison Expedition, which 

also took place in 1853. Shlaer 

is using conventional photography 

this time, and the result 

will be another book, this one 

due in 2013. “When asked my 

occupation, I now call myself 

a ‘visual historian of western 

exploration,’” Shlaer says. “And 

if pressed further I add, ‘specializing 

in the year 1853.’” 

To see more photographs by 

Shlaer, go to Web Extras at 


Justin DeFreitas is a Bay Area 

writer, editor and cartoonist. 

FALL 2012 

70 

FALL 2012 

71

CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

Center. Wearing hard hats, we were 

hoisted to the 39th floor, where 

we gazed over a panorama of the 

scene and its surroundings. We 

then toured the 9/11 Memorial, in 

particular the two impressive pools 

of moving water, which are surrounded 

by the names of all who 

perished in the disaster.” 

The Reunion Committee, consisting 

of George Abodeely, Paul 

Alter, Lester Hoffman, Richard 

Kobrin, Burt Lehman, Stan Lupkin, 

Ed Pressman, Leo Swergold, 

Peter Yatrakis and myself, clearly 

outdid itself. 


MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013 




212-851-7834 



212-851-7833 

63 

Paul Neshamkin 

1015 Washington St., 

Apt. 50 

Hoboken, NJ 07030 

pauln@helpauthors.com 

Our 50th reunion is only nine 

months away! If you haven’t 

already marked your calendar for 

Wednesday, May 29–Sunday, June 

2, 2013, do it now. This is the big 

one and none of us should miss it. 

Columbia and the Reunion Committee 

are planning a memorable 

weekend. If you want to join the 

committee or have suggestions for 

our program, please contact me 

or the appropriate staff member, 

noted at the top of the column. 

On Class Day, May 15, Henry 

Black, Doron Gopstein, Harvey 

Cantor and Lee Lowenfish joined 

me for the annual Alumni Parade of 

Classes and helped carry the Class 

of 1963 banner (Don Margolis, who 

has joined me in past years, had to 

cancel at the last minute). Harvey’s 

youngest daughter, Elizabeth ’12, 

graduated that day. Congratulations 

to both! This event is great fun, 

a wonderful opportunity to join 

graduates and their families at one 

of the most joyful days of their lives. 

Join us next year. 

Larry Neuman and Herb Soroca 

joined me at the annual crew reunion 

and lunch at Gould/Remmer Boathouse 

for oarsmen from the ’50s and 

’60s. It was great to see so many guys 

from the early ’60s. Next year, let’s 

get all the rowers from ’63 to come 

out on the Friday of reunion. I’ll be 

calling each of you! 

I’m sad to report that Yoshi 

Fujisawa has died. His daughter, 

Natsuko, writes, “I regret to inform 

you that my father, Yoshiharu 

(Yoshi) Fujisawa, passed away on 

March 15, 2012, due to pancreatic 

cancer. He retired in June 2011 

from the CEO/chairman position 

of Internix, which he founded in 

1970.” 

I also learned that William F. 

Finley Jr. died in NYC on April 

14, 2012. Bill met Brian De Palma 

’62 at Columbia and was in the 

core group that joined him to bring 

coeducation to Sarah Lawrence. 

He was an actor in many of Brian’s 

films, most memorably as the star 

of Phantom of the Paradise (1974). 

Ken Ostberg writes, “My wife, 

Andi, and I have been happily and 

busily retired for seven years and 

pass most of the year in Winston- 

Salem, N.C. We recently celebrated 

our 30th anniversary, share good 

health, remain active and involved 

in the community and, when we’re 

not in Winston, are someplace else 

on the globe. I recently returned 

from five weeks in Japan, South 

Korea and China. We head to the 

shores (east and west) of Lake 

Michigan in late July, followed 

by a couple of weeks in Toronto, 

the queen city of North America. 

We’re also planning for a fall trip to 

Scandinavia. Our older daughter, 

Kristen, is a special education 

teacher working with severe and 

multiply-handicapped children, 

and Adrienne, our younger, completes 

her M.F.A. in documentary 

film at UNC Greensboro in May. 

While both are in serious relationships, 

neither is married and there 

are, as yet, no grandchildren. Andi 

hopes that situation changes soon 

because she desperately wants to 

be a grandmother. Life is good!” 

Marty Greenfield writes, “I am 

married with three children and 

four grandchildren. My eldest 

daughter is a College alumna, 

Elizabeth ’91. I am an endocrinologist 

in a large group practice in Lake 

Success, N.Y. I am on the governing 

council of The Medical Society 

of The State of New York, having 

previously been president of the 

Nassau County Medical Society. I 

also am on the Board of Directors of 

the Lower New York Chapter of the 

American Association of Clinical 

Endocrinologists. In my spare time, 

I serve on several committees of the 

North Shore-LIJ Health System.” 

Barry Reiss reports that David 

Rubinson now lives in France. 

David, let us know more about 

your life’s adventures! 

Henry Black has written Hypertension, 

A Companion to Braunwald’s 

Heart Disease, which was recently 

published. 

Roland Droitsch writes, “I live in 

Washington, D.C., a stone’s throw 

from the Capitol. Am having a family 

get-together and it will be a joy 

for me. Am retired after spending 

years in the federal government as 

the deputy assistant secretary for 

policy at the U.S. Department of 

Labor. Think about Columbia and 

the good times there. I have not 

heard from Michael Silbert and 

would like to get a brief notice, if 

possible.” 

Michael, write Roland (and me). 

Paul Reale will have a CD released 

of his complete violin works, 

performed by Jessica Mathaes, on 

the Centaur label this fall. 

If you live in the Bay Area, you 

should get on Mike Nolan’s email 

list. I enjoy it even from the East 

Coast. Mike always has something 

interesting going, a musical 

evening, a party at a local venue or 

even genealogical research. 

You can reach Mike at mikey 

davy@gmail.com. 

Mike Lubell writes, “Laura 

Appelman and I were married last 

December in a small ceremony 

conducted by Joette Katz, commissioner 

of the Connecticut Department 

of Children and Families and 

a former Connecticut Supreme 

Court justice. Laura, who hails 

from Chicago, is an artist, currently 

working in polymer clay. Her new 

focus is on unique handcrafted 

jewelry, which garnered attention 

at spring craft shows in New York 

and Chicago (lauraappelman.com). 

“My daughter, Karina ’02, does 

antitrust work for Shearman and 

Sterling. She lives in Washington, 

D.C., and is celebrating her fifth 

anniversary with her husband, 

Romain, who works at KPMG in 

Tyson’s Corner, Va. 

“I commute weekly (or more) between 

New York and Washington, 

carrying out my physics teaching 

duties at CCNY and public affairs 

work for the American Physical 

Society (APS) from a suite in the 

National Press Building. Amtrak 

and Delta love me. 

“I’ve pioneered an interactive 

mode of teaching to keep 300 students 

engaged in intro astronomy. 

Using a wireless, hand-held mic, I 

roam the lecture hall playing Jerry 

Springer, but without the pathos, 

engaging the students with Q&A 

throughout. The students love it 

and their grades demonstrate its 

success. I also teach a seminar on 

science, science policy and politics 

to students in CUNY’s Macaulay 

Honors College. 

“In Washington, I run a successful 

public affairs group for APS, 

which now counts seven members, 

who focus on science lobbying, 

policy and media. In addition I 

have become a board member of 

the Task Force on American Innovation 

and a consultant to Our 

Energy Policy Foundation. 

“Most recently, I have begun 

another gig as an opinion writer 

for Roll Call, one of the three Capitol 

Hill newspapers (circulation 

20,000). I write the ‘Inside the Beltway’ 

column for APS News, which 

reaches 50,000 readers worldwide. 

“So my life continues to be busy 

and enjoyable, so much so that I 

don’t even think about retirement.” 

Bill Burley writes, “Separated 

my left shoulder in a bike crash in 

Hungary. Nevertheless, I am training 

on the bike and was planning 

to race up Mt. Washington on July 

7. Fortunately I’m racing against 

others in our age group, so if some 

20- and 30-somethings beat me, so 

be it. I’ll send a photo from the top 

when (not if) I get there.” 

Bob Heller writes, “My son, 

David, was honored by Prep for 

Prep at its annual dinner for his 

contributions to the work of that 

organization, which is an educational 

leadership development program 

that prepares selected innercity 

kids of color, places them at 

independent schools and provides 

them with ongoing support and 

life-changing opportunities. Following 

secondary school, the vast 

majority pursue their educations at 

Ivy League and other highly competitive 

colleges. Since the program 

began, 111 Prep for Prep students 

have graduated from Columbia 

and 26 are enrolled; 156 have gone 

to Harvard, David’s alma mater. 

“My daughter, Pamela Heller, 

a Brown alumna, is president of 

Project Morry, another successful 

program for inner-city kids. A 

year-round youth development 

organization, it offers each child a 

multi-year commitment anchored 

by a residential summer camp 

experience each year. The children, 

for whom these experiences would 

not otherwise be available, benefit 

from a network of support and gain 

increased social skills, enhanced 

self-esteem, positive core values 

and a greater sense of personal 

responsibility. Many of them go on 

to college as well. Pam has been on 

the board for several years, as has 

David. 

“My wife, Amy, and I (we cele - 

brated our 47th anniversary in July) 

are proud of both David and Pam. 

Yes, there is that one blemish; I 

could not persuade either to go to 

Columbia, but we’ll see about the 

grandchildren, the oldest of whom 

is only 9. Not too early to start lobbying.” 

David Orme-Johnson writes, “As 

it turns out, this is an active time in 

my career. I got a review paper accepted 

on the effects of transcendental 

meditation on coronary heart disease 

(blood pressure, cardiovascular 

reactivity to stressors, congestive 

heart disease, angina, atherosclerosis 

and left ventricular hypertrophy). I 

also recently completed a year learning 

about meta-analysis and recently 

submitted my first one on the effects 

of TM on perceptual-motor behavior 

under time pressure (rapid fire pistol 

shooting, driving speed, 50-meter 

dash, etc.). 

“My wife, Rhoda, and I recently 

went to her 50th Vassar reunion; 

it was so fun and inspiring being 

around all those intelligent and 

lively people that I definitely want 

to come to our 50th next year. We 

are now on an extension of that 

trip through Vermont, Quebec and 

New Hampshire, sightseeing and 

visiting friends and family; I’m also 

doing watercolors of the beautiful 

landscapes. We gave some lectures 

on TM in Quebec — Rhoda on her 

book of Maharishi on language 

and literature, which she delivered 

in French, and me on the TM 

research, delivered in jargon. Hope 

everyone comes to our reunion.” 

Frank Sypher is the author of 

Strangers and Pilgrims: A Centennial 

History of The Laymen’s Club of 

the Cathedral Church of Saint John 

the Divine. The Laymen’s Club, 

founded in 1908, has sponsored 

numerous projects in the construction 

of the cathedral, especially the 

Pilgrims’ Pavement, dedicated in 

1934. Since then the club has supported 

many other additions to the 

cathedral, especially of sculpture 

and other structural features. The 

club played a prominent role in 

observances at the reopening of the 

cathedral in 2008 after a program 

of renovation. Other volumes of 

church history by Frank include St. 

James’ Church in the City of New York 

1810–2010 and St. Agnes Chapel of 

the Parish of Trinity Church in the 

City of New York 1892–1943. 

Harley Frankel reports that his 

nonprofit College Match had its 

best year ever in getting lowincome 

students into the nation’s 

great colleges. For details, visit 

collegematchla.org. 

Jerry D. Glickson, professor of 

radiology and director of molecular 

imaging at the University of 

Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 

was awarded the Gold Medal from 

the International Society of Magnetic 

Resonance in Medicine for 

introduction of nuclear magnetic 

resonance spectroscopy to the 

study and management of cancer. 

The award was made in Montreal, 

Canada, on May 9, 2011, and was 

shared with John R. Griffiths of 

Cambridge. 

Steve Barcan is celebrating his 

70th birthday by taking his whole 

family (12 people) on a cruise to 

Bermuda, where he and his wife, 

Bettye ’65 Barnard, honeymooned 

in 1965. He met her 50 years ago at 

Columbia when she was a Barnard 

freshman. 

Gershon Levinson writes, “I am 

president of Northern California 

Anesthesia Physicians. My 

youngest son, Jonathan ’12 SIPA, 

did five years as an Army infantry 

officer and then went to SIPA for a 

master’s. My oldest son, Charles, is 

Jerusalem bureau chief for The Wall 

Street Journal.” Gershon added, “I 

definitely plan to attend reunion.” 

Ken Master is a retired physician 

splitting his year between 

Boynton Beach, Fla., and NYC. He 

plays golf regularly with David 

Saxe, who still is a justice in the 

Appellate Division, First Judicial 

Department of New York. Both 

came to our class lunch in June 

along with seven of our regulars. 

The Class of ’63 lunches at the 

Columbia University Club of New 

York are a great place to reconnect. 

If you’re in NYC, try to make one 

of the next few; they’re scheduled 

for September 13, October 11 and 

November 8 (always the second 

Thursday). Check out cc63ers.com 

for details. 

In the meantime, make plans for 

attending our 50th reunion! And, 

as always, let us know what you 

are up to, how you’re doing and 

what’s next. 

64 

Norman Olch 

233 Broadway 


norman@nolch.com 

As I write this note in June, we 

have just had our final informal 

monthly class lunch before the 

summer break. In May and June, 

the following classmates attended: 

Joel Abramson, Steve Case, Marty 

Isserlis, Howard Jacobson, Gil 

Kahn, Fred Kantor, Larry Kessler, 

Beril Lapson, Jeff Newman, Nick 

Rudd and Allen Tobias. Bernard 

Catalinotto, visiting New York from 

Mill Valley, Calif., joined us, too. 

He is a cartographer (mymapbook. 

com) and it was fascinating to hear 

and see the latest developments and 

techniques in mapmaking. 

Steve Case, who retired as a 

University trustee in 2011 after 14 

years, has co-authored Treacherous 

Beauty: Peggy Shippen, the Woman 

Behind Benedict Arnold’s Plot to Betray 

America [see Bookshelf]. 

Gil Kahn has a blog, Kahntentions, 

at njjewishnews.com/kahn 

tentions. 

Larry Kessler had aortic valve 

replacement surgery and now has a 

cow’s valve in his heart. Larry is the 

Richard J. Cardali Distinguished Professor 

of Trial Advocacy at Hof stra 

Law. He has been accompanying his 

wife, Barbara Barron, to far-off places 

such as Moscow, Tbilisi, Georgia and 

Paris, where Barbara has been giving 

programs in trial advocacy. According 

to Larry, he has the greatest 

appearance of success in our class, 

with the least amount of work! 

Beril Lapson has been traveling 

to China and Mexico on business. 

He and his wife, Ellen ’69 Barnard, 

have become grandparents. 

Jeff Newman, a horse racing 

fan, attended this year’s running 

of the Belmont Stakes. Jeff saw 

Secretariat win the Triple Crown 

Andy Russakoff ’64 has been named one of America’s 

best professors in The Princeton Review book 

The Best 300 Professors. 

in 1973! He is president and executive 

director of the National Child 

Labor Committee. 

Allen Tobias sang the praises 

of the “extraordinary lectures” at 

Dean’s Day, held on June 2. 

Marty Isserlis skipped the class 

lunch and went to New Haven to 

visit Mike Kerbel, director of the 

Yale Film Study Center. 

Marty Weinstein traveled to the 

Dordogne in France with his wife, 

Ruth, to celebrate his 70th birthday. 

Andy Russakoff has been named 

one of America’s best professors in 

The Princeton Review book, The Best 

300 Professors, which is based on student 

comments on ratemyprofessor. 

com; Andy teaches computer science 

at St. John’s University. 

Congratulations, Andy. 

We resume our monthly lunches 

in September (always the second 

Thursday) at the Columbia University 

Club in Manhattan. Join us. 

I am saddened to report the 

death of Daniel Nussbaum. I 

remember that Dan was a math 

major and a varsity swimmer. He 

earned a Ph.D. in mathematics 

and was in the worlds of academia 

and national security, at one time 

serving as senior adviser to the secretary 

of the Navy. I had not seen 

Dan for several years. Please write 

to share your memories of him. 

Requiescat in pacem. 

65 

Leonard B. Pack 

924 West End Ave. 


packlb@aol.com 

The Hon. Barry Kamins was appointed 

administrative judge of the 

Criminal Courts of New York City 

in January. He comments, “I don’t 

expect to see any of our classmates 

coming through, except as attorneys. 

Please tell them to stop by and 

say hello.” 

As an attorney licensed to practice 

law in the state of New York, 

I update my legal knowledge by 

taking continuing legal education 

courses. I was delighted recently to 

find an online lecture by Barry, “Recent 

Developments in New York 

Search and Seizure Law.” I found 

his coverage of this subject to be 

magisterial in its completeness and 

in his effortless cross-referencing of 

different strands of this important 

body of law. I wrote Barry a compliment, 

to which he replied, “Thanks 

so much. You made my Sunday!” 

You can reach Barry at bkamins 

@courts.state.ny.us 

Eric Marcus has been reappointed 

to a second, five-year term as director 

of the Columbia University 

Center for Psychoanalytic Training 

and Research. Eric is a professor 

of clinical psychiatry at P&S. He 

writes, “I look back on my Core 

Curriculum experience with great 

reverence and still have my class 

notes. The Core helped me write 

one of my psychoanalytic books 

where I cited Plato and Kant!” 

You can reach Eric at erm4@ 

columbia.edu. 

Ed Merlis writes, “Leonard 

asked me to submit something for 

Notes on the same day that President 

Barack Obama ’83 delivered 

this year’s Barnard Commencement 

address. Since that reminded me of 

the last Barnard Commencement I 

attended — that of my wife, Carole 

Franklyn Merlis ’67 Barnard, 45 

years ago — I figured I should help 

him out. So here’s a recap of my life 

since graduation: 

“We have two very talented 

daughters, although neither even 

considered Columbia. The elder, 

Pamela Conover, is a v.p. and senior 

legal counsel at T. Rowe Price in 

Baltimore, and mother of grandsons 

No. 1, Hap Conover (13) and No. 3, 

Teddy Conover (10). The younger, 

Jennifer Houston, is a teacher at 

the Bullis School in Potomac, Md., 

and mother of grandsons No. 

2, Will Houston (12) and No. 4, 

Ben Houston (9). We are indeed 

fortunate to have all of our children 

and grandchildren within one hour 

of our home in McLean, Va., and to 

have wonderful sons-in-law. 

“Going back in time to 1965: 

What’s Your Story? 

Letting classmates know 

what’s going on in your 

life is easier than ever. 

Send in your Class Notes! 

ONLINE by clicking 

college.columbia.edu/cct/ 

submit_class_note. 

EMAIL to the address at 

the top of your column. 

MAIL to the address at the 

top of your column. 

FALL 2012 

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CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

With my local draft board breathing 

down my neck I joined the U.S. 

Public Health Service, was trained 

in epidemiology and assigned 

to the New York City Health 

Department as a venereal disease 

investigator (no kidding) working 

in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section 

of Brooklyn. While interesting, that 

assignment was not the career I 

envisioned, and so less than a year 

later I transferred to the Surgeon 

General’s office in Washington, 

where I began my lifelong career in 

public policy. 

“Three months after arriving 

in Washington, I was sent up to 

the Senate Commerce Committee 

to help with a set of hearings the 

committee was planning on research 

since the passage of the 1965 

cigarette labeling act. During the 

next three years, I worked with the 

committee in developing the act 

that banned cigarette advertising, 

produced several anti-smoking 

commercials for the Public Health 

Service, dealt with broadcast 

network standards and practices, 

wrote speeches, publicized new 

research and did battle with the 

Tobacco Institute. 

“Following the 1970 election, 

I was hired by the Senate Commerce 

Committee, where I initially 

staffed the consumer subcommittee 

through which much of the 

landmark consumer legislation 

of the 1970s passed. Contrary to 

today’s Congress, even with a 

Republican in the White House 

and a Democratic Congress, the 

presence of old bulls who had been 

elected during the Depression, 

WWII or the Korean War created an 

environment where partisan rancor 

was minimized in favor of a collective, 

conscientious effort to solve 

problems. 

“In 1977 I became staff director 

of what was then the Senate Committee 

on Commerce, Science and 

Transportation and, a year later, 

chief of staff of the Senate Appropriations 

Committee, when the 

Appropriations Committee Chairman 

died and the seniority system 

worked its will, resulting in my 

boss, Sen. Warren Magnuson (D- 

Wash.), becoming chairman of the 

Appropriations Committee. Before 

I left the Hill, I assisted Sen. Ted 

Kennedy (D-Mass.) in reorganizing 

the Judiciary Committee when he 

became chairman in 1979. 

“With a decade of senate staff 

experience behind me and the 

Senate turning over to a Republican 

majority, I did what any selfrespecting 

Hill staffer does: I went 

downtown to K Street. At different 

times during the next 30-plus years 

I have run government affairs and 

communications for four major trade 

associations in the grocery products, 

cable television, airlines and telecom 

industries, and worked as a public 

policy or public relations consultant 

to a number of companies and trade 

associations, which I still do. 

“There was also a two-year 

respite from Washington when we 

moved to the Chicago area in the 

late ’80s; I ran a division of Telaction, 

a wholly owned J.C. Penney 

development company that built a 

pre-Internet interactive cable programming 

network. Unfortunately, 

we folded after spending more than 

$100 million. 

“I have worked on a wide array 

of issues with legislators and 

public figures whose contributions 

stretch from WWI to the present 

day. I have worked with people 

who developed the strategy to pass 

the Civil Rights and Voting Rights 

Acts, with people who serve on the 

Supreme Court and with people 

who played cards with President 

Roosevelt during the depths of 

WWII. I have been more than an 

eyewitness to history, and I consider 

myself to be very fortunate. 

“There are also a number of 

alumni with whom I had some 

great working experiences. Among 

them are Richard Merrill ’59, former 

chief counsel of the FDA (and brother 

of Stephen Merrill, with whom I 

also worked); David Heymsfeld ’59, 

former staff director of the House 

Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure; Hon. Nicholas 

Garaufis ’69, former chief counsel 

of the FAA (before being confirmed 

as a U.S. District Court Judge for 

the Eastern District of New York); 

David Cavicke ’84, former chief of 

staff, House Committee on Energy 

and Commerce; and Margaret Kim 

’91, who was a colleague at the Air 

Transport Association.” 

You can reach Ed at edmerlis@ 

edmerlis.com. 

Chris Morren reports, “I am 

an internist, now semi-retired, 

with a lot of the daily stress gone. 

I trained in the Bronx and would 

see Noah Robbins at Montefiore 

Medical Center. Al Steere taught 

me lots about Lyme Disease. I stay 

in touch with Joe Beckman, Bill 

Wertheim and Fred Colligno. Pete 

Manley worked at my hospital 

in administration (Lawrence and 

Memorial Hospital, New London, 

Conn.) for a few years but has left. 

I plan to see LeRoy Euvrard in 

France in November. Sadly, my 

brother George ’60 died in September 

2011. This has left a big hole in 

our family. My wife, Edie ’74 Nursing, 

is an advance practice R.N. 

working in Connecticut; daughter 

Cindy (26) is married, lives in 

Exeter, R.I., and is working on her 

R.N.; and son James (28) lives in 

Brooklyn and is an arborist for the 

NYC Department of Parks and 

Recreation, working on projects in 

Manhattan.” 

You can reach Chris at morren 

christopher@gmail.com. 

James Murdaugh writes: “I’m 

still happy with the practice of law 

in Houston. And it’s still fun — the 

most important thing. A couple of 

anniversaries: my partner, Gary 

Smith, and I celebrated our 16th 

anniversary this summer, and Gary 

celebrated his 30th anniversary at 

the Shepherd School of Music at 

Rice, where he is associate dean. As 

I write [in early June], we’re about 

to leave for Nantucket, driving up 

with Golden Retrievers Bob and 

Leo. We were recently at brunch 

with Ben Cohen and his wife, 

Helen, and they are both as super 

as ever. Regrettably I missed Steve 

Eric Marcus ’65 has been reappointed to a second, 

five-year term as director of Columbia’s Center for 

Psychoanalytic Training and Research. 

Weinstein ’66 when he came to 

town in June for a medical lecture, 

but I visited with Dave Blanchard 

’67 when he was in town for a 

wedding in May. 

“In addition to the law practice, 

I stay busy at my church, Christ 

Church Cathedral (Episcopal), 

where I recently completed a term 

as Senior Warden of the Vestry and 

am on the search committee for a 

new dean. Finally, our artistically 

inclined classmates may want to 

know about the new James Turrell 

Skyspace adjacent to the Shepherd 

School on the Rice campus. Gary 

and I were lucky enough to go 

to the dedication and dinner. It’s 

pretty amazing; Google will tell 

you all about it!” 

You can reach Jim at jmurdaugh 

@smithmur.com. 

Richard Newman ’68L submitted 

the following: “After graduating 

from the Law School, I took 

a job with a law firm in Chicago. 

With 1968 being the height of the 

Vietnam War and my being both 

too physically fit to be classified 4F 

and too young to avoid the draft 

by entering the Peace Corps (I 

would have been several months 

shy of the magic age of 26 when 

my stint was up), I managed to get 

into an Army Reserve unit and was 

able to avoid being drafted. 

“I met my wife, Dr. Lilian Spigelman, 

on a blind date in September 

1973 and we’ve been married 38 

years. We have one son, Jonathan, 

who is in his last year as a cardiology 

fellow at NewYork-Presbyterian 

Hospital/Columbia University 

Medical Center. 

“I lived in the Chicago area for 

44 years (36 in the same house in 

Oak Park, Ill., home of Frank Lloyd 

Wright and Ernest Hemingway). I 

changed law firm jobs and areas of 

specialty three times before spending 

17 years in the law department 

of Continental Illinois National 

Bank, where I rose to assistant 

general counsel before the bank 

failed (the largest bank failure in 

American history at the time) and 

was taken over by Bank of America. 

In 1991 the bank fired all its 

in-house lawyers with two weeks’ 

notice. I was one of the fortunate 

ones; I accepted an offer to join the 

Chicago office of Mayer Brown & 

Platt (n/k/a Mayer Brown) as a 

partner in its finance practice. I left 

Mayer Brown in 1995 to become 

e.v.p. and general counsel of a 

small, privately owned Chicago 

bank, Amalgamated Bank and 

Trust Company of Chicago. Left 

that position after a year and spent 

the next five as a partner in Neal, 

Gerber & Eisenberg; returned to 

Mayer Brown in 2000; and retired 

from Mayer Brown in 2010. 

“In March 2011, my wife and I 

became grandparents when our 

grandson, Cassius, was born. To 

be closer (but not too close) to our 

new extended family, we moved 

from Oak Park to Doylestown, Pa. 

“In September 2011, a former colleague 

from Mayer Brown’s New 

York office, who had moved to 

the New York office of DLA Piper, 

persuaded me to come out of retirement 

and accept a role as part-time 

special counsel. I now commute to 

the law firm’s office on Avenue of 

the Americas twice a week. I’m very 

much enjoying retirement.” 

Richard can be reached at rmn5@ 

columbia.edu. I find it interesting 

that his definition of “retirement” 

includes working two days a week 

and commuting from Doylestown to 

NYC. I guess that other classmates 

approaching retirement, or living it, 

may also have great stories to tell, 

and I invite you to share them. 

James Niss also chipped in: “I 

retired as a lawyer two years ago, 

after working six years as Judge 

Jed S. Rakoff’s special master in the 

Ephedra multidistrict litigation. I 

still live in the Riverside Drive apartment 

I rented in 1965 when I started 

graduate school in French literature 

at Columbia. I teach English to immigrants 

two hours a day as a volunteer 

at a public school for adults 

in Harlem, a half-hour walk through 

Morningside Park, which nowadays 

is safe, clean and pleasant with its 

waterfall and pond inhabited by 

turtles and waterbirds.” 

You can reach Jim at james.niss@ 

verizon.net. 

Finally, the sad news that David 

Wallace died on March 2, 2012. A 

full obituary will appear in a future 

issue. 

66 



622 W. 113th St., MC 4530 



[Editor’s note: This column marks 

Stuart Berkman’s last in his 23 years 

of service as a class correspondent. 

CCT thanks him for his dedication 

and now seeks a new correspondent 

for the class. If you are interested 

in writing this quarterly column of 

classmate news and views, please 

contact Alexis Tonti ’11 Arts, managing 

editor: alt2129@columbia.edu 

or 212-851-7485. In the meantime, 

please send updates to CCT at the 

postal or email address at the top of 

the column, or via CCT’s easy-to-use 

webform: college.columbia.edu/ 

cct/submit_class_note.] 

Rich Forzani sent the following 

update earlier this year: “I abandoned 

my retirement last year to 

become a consultant for Intel, and 

then to assume a sales/marketing 

role for a human capital management 

software firm. My wife, Kathy, 

is overjoyed to have me out of the 

house again. However, my advice 

to all of you contemplating retirement 

is this: It’s pretty enjoyable. 

Never underestimate the pleasure 

of having nothing to do. 

“My youngest son, Richard, 

graduated magna cum laude from 

Rutgers in May (also Phi Beta 

Kappa) and is attending the University 

of Richmond School of Law 

this fall as one of 11 incoming John 

Marshall Scholars, the law school’s 

highest merit award. His academic 

accomplishments are surely hereditary, 

although possibly not from 

my DNA. I don’t know if the world 

needs another lawyer, but if it does, 

let it be him. Kathy and I are also 

first-time grandparents, so we had 

a busy and enjoyable spring and 

summer. 

“We recently enjoyed a dinner 

with Celeste and Tom Chorba, and 

had the pleasure there of seeing 

John Wellington ’57 and his wife, 

as well as Kathy Donelli. Kathy, as 

you may know, recently lost her 

husband, Dick ’59, ’63 Dental, who 

was one of our freshman football 

coaches and a good friend to many 

’66ers. I lunched recently with Rich 

Beggs, who is wrapping up his stint 

as CEO of Daiwa Securities after a 

long and successful career. Most enjoyably 

for me, Rich picked up the 

tab. We also have spent time with 

Barbara and Harvey Kurzweil, 

both at their home in Nantucket 

and here in New Jersey. Harvey was 

kind enough to counsel Richard on 

his choice of law as a career. 

“We live in North Jersey, visit our 

grandson in Los Angeles whenever 

possible and are anticipating a 

move to the Jersey Shore in a couple 

of years. May this note find all of 

you well and productively dissipative.” 

You can contact Rich at rforzani1 

@optonline.net. 

Here is what we heard from 

Rudy von Bernuth a few months 

ago: “I have been working for 

Save the Children for more than 20 

years, following a 20-year career 

with CARE. At this moment, I have 

been given a bit of an Indian summer 

in my professional life. Since 

April 2011, I have been in charge 

of a big merger process among 

all 29 Save the Children members 

worldwide, leading the process by 

which all Save the Children Member 

programs in 60 countries and 

seven regions are transitioning to 

one unified management structure 

within Save the Children International, 

with an aggregate value of 

about $1.3 billion. In this role I coordinate 

all aspects of the transition 

process, and I manage the Save the 

Children International program 

operations that result from it. My 

wife, Betty, and I have moved to 

London and live in a lovely flat 

five minutes from Victoria Station 

and 10 minutes from Westminster 

Abbey. Most mornings, I walk to 

work from the flat. The walk goes 

directly by Buckingham Palace, 

then along The Mall to Trafalgar 

Square, where my office is adjacent 

to the National Gallery.” 

Rudy’s email is rudy.vonbernuth 

@savethechildren.org. 

Surprise! An actual handwritten 

letter was received earlier this year 

from Joe Albeck. I think this is the 

first time in more than a decade 

that news has been submitted in 

this atavistic way. What a delight 

to see something in personal penmanship! 

At any rate, Joe writes 

from Waban, Mass.: “Things are 

good for my wife, Isabelle, and 

myself. Our three grown kids all 

live near Route 128. My son, David, 

was married in 2011 to a lovely 

woman with two talented teenagers 

from a prior marriage. Then 

David and his wife, Smaranda, 

welcomed Henry Daniel Albeck 

on May 15, 2012. Our daughter 

Margot had her second child, Julia 

Martine, on June 20. Our other 

daughter, Simone, is single and 

works in the mental health field. 

“I work four days a week in my 

psychiatry practice, and Isabelle 

retired from teaching high school 

French a few years ago; we are 

mostly healthy and happy. On a 

recent visit to Sacramento, Calif., 

I met with Mike Leibowitz, our 

dear friend, who reminded me of 

our CC ’66 bonds.” Joe’s email, for 

those who prefer cyber epistles, is 

jhalbeck@massmed.org. 

67 

Albert Zonana 

425 Arundel Rd. 

Goleta, CA 93117 

az164@columbia.edu 

News about the 45th Alumni Reunion 

Weekend of the Cleverest 

Class, held May 31–June 3, poured 

in. 

Marty Nussbaum writes, “I was 

surprised to see that many members 

of our class seemed to have aged, 

unlike me. (Actually, Dean Ringel 

must have a picture in the attic 

because he’s aged not at all.) Most 

of us were accompanied by spouses 

or significant others who were far 

more attractive than we deserved. 

While a relatively small proportion 

of the class was in attendance, the 

aggregate weight of the attendees 

offset the number of participants, 

so that the aggregate avoirdupois 

probably equaled the total poundage 

of the class in 1967.” 

Mark Minton reports, “Reunion 

was memorable. Probably the high 

points were Saturday’s class luncheon 

in Kent Hall (C.V. Starr East 

Asian Library), where we were addressed 

by Dean James J. Valentini 

and had an exchange with a panel 

of College students, assembled and 

introduced by Roger Lehecka, and 

the final class dinner on Saturday, 

which was held in a beautiful, 

floor-to-ceiling-windowed dining 

area in the new Northwest Corner 

Building on campus. True to our 

reputation for cleverness (or more 

accurately, feistiness), our dinner 

speaker, former New York City 

schools chancellor Joel I. Klein, set 

off a lively discussion — almost a 

debate — about American education. 

[Editor’s note: See feature in 

this issue about Klein.] 

“The lectures during Dean’s 

Day and the other social events 

also were memorable. Everyone 

who attended very much enjoyed 

our kickoff event on Thursday 

evening, an opening reception 

hosted by Robert Rosenberg and 

his wife, Pamela, in their beautiful 

townhouse on East 61st Street. 

“On a more personal note, Marty 

Andrucki, Chris Hartzell, Leigh 

Dolin, Dean Ringel and I — all 

Spectator board members of 1967 — 

got together for a reunion dinner on 

Friday.” 

And about that dinner, Leigh 

wrote: “I thought I’d give you my 

version. Hartzell and I ran into each 

other at a Friday afternoon lecture 

and, at his suggestion, headed to 

the Spectator office to see if we could 

check out what our favorite newspaper 

looks like in 2012. The office 

now is on Broadway near 112th and 

initially we couldn’t get in but then 

we followed two students through 

the otherwise locked door; they 

turned out to be the editor-in-chief 

and the sports editor. We had the 

grand tour, and Chris and I did our 

best old-guy routines (‘Back in our 

day, we used linotype machines,’ 

etc.). Dinner was at an Italian 

restaurant north of 120th and over 

very good food and perhaps too 

many carafes of house wine, Mark, 

Chris, Marty, Dean and I discussed 

the problems of the world, including 

abortion, political correctness, 

the existence of God, the importance 

of faith, Syria, Iran, Obama, 

health care, poetry, Lyndon Johnson 

and, of course, Spectator. We would 

have followed up with a series of 

editorials but unfortunately we no 

longer have a newspaper in which 

to publish them.” 

Gordon Klein also attended 

reunion; he writes, “My old roommate, 

Bob Rudy, appeared for the 

first time since I have been going [to 

the reunions]. He has retired from 

the Hennepin County Attorney’s 

Office and now travels and cruises. 

Ken Haydock was there trying to 

recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. 

He carried a big sign throughout 

reunion that said ‘Recall Walker.’ 

Some of us thought he had changed 

his name. 

“I have retired from being a pediatric 

gastroenterologist and have 

taken a position as clinical professor 

of orthopaedic surgery, still at the 

University of Texas, where I lecture, 

write, consult and do research.” 

Marty Andrucki reports, “I 

reconnected with Larry Besserman 

during the Chelsea art gallery crawl 

on Friday night and again at lunch 

in Kent Hall on Saturday. He is now 

professor emeritus at The Hebrew 

University of Jerusalem and also 

teaches summer school at Columbia. 

Had a good time schmoozing 

with Dick Jupa and Ken Haydock 

at the Core Curriculum open house 

[in Hamilton Hall] on Saturday. 

The latter was wearing a ‘Recall 

Walker’ plaque around his neck 

and, I swear, for a long moment I 

thought it meant he was an official 

of the reunion tasked with walking 

around and helping alums recall the 

good old days.” 

The apparently ageless Dean 

Ringel writes, “What follows are 

some random observations. I am 

out of practice as a journalist, and 

lawyer-like pablum has replaced 

whatever freedom of expression I 

once could muster. But I will give 

it a try. 

“Pamela and Bob Rosenberg’s 

East Side townhouse was what we 

all thought/hoped we might one 

day inhabit. Few of us have realized 

that vision but it was fun to 

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CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

share for the night. The recurring 

subject at the party and throughout 

the weekend was retirement — 

Have you? Are you? Must you? 

And then what? I guess we are of 

the age. There was no clear consensus, 

with folks divided among 

those thrilled to retire, those who 

were worried about having to 

retire and those who vowed never 

to consider the concept. 

“The cocktail party at Faculty 

House was great. The physical 

impressiveness of the bar itself and 

its tactile appeal made me regret 

not having pursued an academic 

career. Saturday’s class lunch was 

held in the strikingly beautiful C.V. 

Starr East Asian Library; a panel of 

current College students discussed 

how the College had changed 

since we Neanderthals roamed the 

campus. As much as anything else, 

I think they were stunned to hear 

members of our class describe the 

primitive ‘telecommunications facilities’ 

(a shared phone in the hall). 

Interestingly, for all the updated 

technology, one theme seemed to 

be that these days, after freshman 

year, students are relatively cut 

off from one another. The current 

students were quite taken with 

discussions of the role of the draft 

in the politics of our time as well 

as the difference in tuition costs 

between then and now.” 

Bill Heinbach says, “Reunion 

reminded me of what I always 

thought about many, if not most 

Columbia people: they are just 

good people, in addition to being 

brilliant.” 

From Richard Frances: “I especially 

enjoyed meeting Robert Kalter, 

an eminent pathologist; Allen 

Spiegel, who is dean at Albert Einstein 

College of Medicine; David 

Dell, an innovative consultant and 

businessman; and Ray Burghardt, 

who has had a distinguished career 

in the State Department, including 

ambassadorial posts in Vietnam. 

“I have three children, five grandchildren 

and my wife is Marsha 

Frances. I founded the American 

Academy of Addiction Psychiatry 

and was the president and medical 

director of Silver Hill Hospital. I now 

am in the private practice of psychiatry 

in Manhattan.” 

Ken Haydock took time out 

from his efforts to recall Walker to 

say, “Among those with whom I 

was able to compare notes, however 

briefly — or at least, those whom 

the quantity of chardonnay I consumed 

that weekend failed to befog 

— were Carlton Carl, Bob Costa, 

Bill Herrick, Richard Jupa, Gordon 

Klein, Jonathan Kranz, Merek 

Lipson, Marty Nussbaum, Steve 

Rice, Bob Rudy, Jenik Radon, 

David Shaw and Rich Strassberg. I 

didn’t, however, make it to the dinner 

dance [Starlight Reception] that 

resulted in, among other things, a 

class photo almost as impressive as 

the ‘official’ one that shows Marty 

Nussbaum, a Stuyvesant classmate 

of mine, and Bob Rosenberg, a 

sophomore-year roommate of 

mine, standing in front of our rather 

rumpled Class of 1967 flag.” 

Larry Besserman: “The main 

event, of course, was seeing classmates 

after 45 years — more of a 

treat than I ever imagined it would 

be.” 

Jack Harris had some observations: 

“The faculty at Columbia 

is outstanding. Having spent my 

professional life trying to figure 

out how to engage college students 

in academic work, I have great 

appreciation for the talent and 

efforts of faculty who find a path of 

connection to the area of their life’s 

study for beginners. 

“The members of our class are accomplished 

and smart but also surprisingly 

gentle and, in many cases 

anyway, modest. I met scientists, 

teachers, government employees 

and business people who have had 

important careers but remain curious 

and friendly. It really is too bad 

that more of our class can’t come to 

reunion. I know a few class members 

who have had distinguished careers 

who would add enormous diversity 

to our conversations. 

“Columbia was clean. I can’t 

think of a larger contrast to when 

we lived there. The venues were 

attractive, and the technology all 

worked.” 

Tom Werman ’69 Business 

updated us on his adventures: 

“I’m pretty certain that Dean Irv 

DeKoff helped to ease my way into 

the Business School in our senior 

year, and fortunately the protests 

of ’68 forced the administration to 

institute a pass-fail program for 

the spring semester. Without this, I 

surely would have had a D on my 

transcript in operations research. 

After a boring year at Grey Advertising, 

I succumbed to my passion 

for rock ’n’ roll, fled across town 

and started a 12-year career at CBS 

Records. 

“My wife, Suky, and I raised 

our three children in Los Angeles, 

where I went independent and 

managed to collect more than 20 

gold and platinum albums while 

producing about 50 hard rock 

records. It was far easier to do this 

then, as the music business was 

robust and growing. Unfortunately 

it imploded about 10 years ago, although 

my son is actually making 

a living in it today. My timing was 

fortunate. By 2001 I had burned 

out, and we headed back east to 

the Berkshires in order to establish 

an all-suites luxury B&B on 10 

acres, just down the road from 

Tanglewood. It turned out to be a 

successful concept, and we’ve been 

operating here for the past decade, 

hosting guests largely from New 

York City and enjoying a lifestyle 

even better than the one we had in 

L.A. (which I had considered to be 

about as good as you could get). 

“I spent about five years interviewing 

L.A. Columbia applicants 

for the Alumni Represenative 

Committee, and when we returned 

to Massachusetts I enjoyed attending 

the Sachems dinners that 

Roger Lehecka generously put together 

for us in the city; sometimes 

my Carman Hall roommate David 

Zapp would attend, too. I spoke 

at one of these dinners some years 

back about my first career and 

about the decision to move east 

and initiate an entirely different 

life. Our three kids live and work 

in the city, and we drive in to see 

them frequently. At this age, the 

great pleasure I get from a Manhattan 

visit is pretty dependent on the 

knowledge that I’ll be returning 

home to the country. With plenty 

of weekdays off in the winter, I’m 

writing a book about my life in 

the music business. It’s something 

I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m 

loving the process.” 


MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013 




212-851-7834 



212-851-7833 

68 

Arthur Spector 

271 Central Park West 


arthurbspector@gmail.com 

Columbia College has a new dean, 

James J. Valentini (see cover story). 

I have heard great things about him 

and wish him well. 

I hope everyone is planning to be 

at our 45th reunion next year. Mark 

your calendars for Thursday, May 

30–Sunday, June 2. I am told by Bob 

Costa ’67 that his reunion this past 

June was good; things were well 

planned and Dean’s Day now is 

held that Saturday, meaning that 

additional programming is available. 

He and his wife, Joan, had a 

great time. 

To ensure that Columbia can get 

in touch with you about Alumni 

Reunion Weekend, update your 

contact information online (reunion. 

college.columbia.edu/alumniup 

date) or call the Alumni Office (212- 

851-7488). 



help plan the weekend’s events and 

to reach out to classmates for gifts to 

the Columbia College Fund in honor 

of reunion. If you’re interested in 







Paul de Bary and others organized 

a Core-themed wine tasting 

several months ago at the Columbia 

University Club of New York. I 

wasn’t able to attend so I hope Paul 

will do a similar session at reunion. 

Paul wrote to me before the event, 

however, and described the plan: 

“We’ve been working busily on this 

for several weeks and it should be 

both entertaining and educational 

…. The first wine will be a Greek 

Roditis, a delicious wine, presented 

with examples from Homer, Greek 

tragedy and Plato’s tri-partite soul 

to evoke thoughts about the basic 

structure of wine. The second will 

be an Italian [wine] made from the 

ancient Roman Fiano variety, presented 

with examples from Virgil, 

Cicero, St. Paul and St. Augustine 

to evoke discussion of the natural 

laws of wine and the concept of 

terroir. That of course leads right 

into the discussion of a Burgundian 

St. Véran, presented with Medieval 

and Renaissance thinking to show 

the virtues of single varietal wines 

and the effects of restrained use of 

wood. 

“We then move on to red wines 

with a Priorat and introduce tannins 

and blending paired with 

ideas from the Reformation, before 

moving on to the Enlightenment, 

pairing Cabernet Sauvignon with 

Spinoza, Locke, Newton, Adam 

Smith and others before ending 

up with a scientific analysis of the 

major acids in wine and what they 

bring to its taste, brought to you by 

Bacon, Boyle, Nietzsche and others. 

All in all, it should be a pretty 

thorough exploration of wine and 

a good refresher on the Core, all in 

less than two hours, followed by a 

little feast for the graduates.” 

Reid Feldman, who may know 

something about wine, reports, 

“The Euro crisis makes practicing 

law in Paris ever so interesting.” 

Peter Gross sent a brief update: 

“My wife, Susan, and I have been 

married for 44 years. Have a daughter, 

a retina specialist in NYC, who 

has identical twin girls and a son. 

Have another two daughters and a 

son, none married. Susan retired as 

the chair of world languages at Harriton 

(Pa.) H.S. I am still doing the 

same things, just look a lot older.” 

We are all a little older, but 65 (or 

so) is the new 45. 

Phil Mandelker ’71L was in the 

city recently. He is devoting more 

time to travel and reading and was 

expansive about his son, who is a 

researcher in physics and astronomy 

and is studying galaxy formulation. 

Afterward, Phil sent a note: 

“Just got back from a networking 

get-together of the Business School, 

with Vice Dean Amir Ziv. Took my 

daughter, who is thinking of applying. 

She was recently informed 

that she is graduating magna from 

Hebrew U (business and psych).” 

Phil thought the dean was impressive 

and the program changes 

there exceptional. I know Phil, like 

so many with whom we went to 

school, had a Law School classmate 

named Lee Bollinger. All in all, Phil 

was in great spirits and looking forward 

to lots of inspired years. He’s 

also planning to attend reunion. 

Greg Winn (a Fort Holabird 

alumnus like me) wrote, “Greetings, 

Sir Arthur — that is a rather 

funny way to begin a note but it 

also is part of what has been keeping 

me busy the past six months or 

so, writing an historical fiction novel, 

The Violinist: Il Pleure Dans Mon 

Coeur. There is a character in the 

novel called ‘Sir Arthur’ but I am 

not ready to share the draft with 

our wonderful group just yet. Perhaps 

if it is published. I also have 

about 40 percent left to write, so we 

shall see. What is novel about this 

work is that it is designed to be an 

e-book with narrative, photos and 

music. The time period is primarily 

just before WWI and it is located 

in Paris.” 

Greg, I want an advance copy. 

By the way, I am reading Professor 

Bernard Lewis’ book Notes on 

a Century: Reflections of a Middle 

East Historian and, while he did 

time at Princeton, the book is great. 

Amazingly, he completed it at 95, 

inspiring for sure. 

Nigel Paneth, who works at 

Michigan State, wrote, “I continue 

to plow the fields of research into 

developmental disabilities and their 

early causes, and as the possibility 

of discoveries in disease prevention 

remains alluring, I just keep 

at it, and probably will continue to 

do so, as long as health, funding 

and scientific imagination hold up. 

By contrast, my wife, Ellen, has 

decided to retire from her position 

as professor of English, though not 

necessarily from her participation in 

the scholarly world of literary studies. 

The humanities have a harder 

and harder time at our universities. 

“Our daughter Rachel also is 

at Michigan State, beginning her 

fourth year of medical school 

and headed for a career in family 

practice, possibly linked to public 

health. Our second daughter, 

Tessa, is getting married soon at 

our [other] home in Vermont and 

is completing a Ph.D. in art history 

at Princeton. We are now spending 

more time in our Vermont home, 

especially in the summer. The climate 

is identical to Michigan’s, and 

it’s a 12-hour drive besides, but 

Weathersfield is our special corner 

of the planet, home to friends from 

our youthful days in New England 

(Ellen went to Bennington College 

and, after Columbia, I was at Dartmouth 

School of Medicine for two 

years).” 

I last sat with Nigel a couple of 

years ago on a flight from Detroit 

to Lansing, Mich. It was great to 

hear from him. 

Finally, I received a note from 

Paul Brosnan. I’m afraid I can’t 

find it now to quote directly, but 

the substance was that his daughter 

has graduated from Barnard. 

She was an outstanding student, 

and of course he was pleased to 

report that she had enjoyed her 

academic experiences and had lots 

of good times, too. 

I apologize to Paul for misplacing 

the note. I get these great notes 

from him all the time about current 

affairs and politics. He sends a 

cartoon once in a while, too. In any 

event, congratulations to him on his 

daughter’s graduation; I am sure 

there will be more reports about her. 

As I write, my daughter is planning 

to visit NYC this week from 

Durham, N.C., and I am excited 

about seeing her; it has been a while. 

Peter Janovsky and I continue a 

periodic debate about the state of 

affairs of the country. I suspect this 

discussion will go on for years to 

come (we hope). Maybe for our 60th 

reunion we will have the answers. 

In the meantime, I hope all is 

well with the class (lots of folks are 

moving on to new chapters in their 

lives). I am supposed to have lunch 

with Andy Herz soon, and I see 

John Slattery once in a while — all 

of which is for another time. 

Write me with your updates! 

69 

Michael Oberman 

Kramer Levin Naftalis & 

Frankel 

1177 Avenue of the 

Americas 


moberman@ 

kramerlevin.com 

Once again, I participated in the 

Alumni Parade of Classes, this 

time for Class Day 2012 on May 15, 

carrying our class’ banner to the 

applause of the graduates and their 

families. And once again, Irv Ruderman 

joined me, and Rod Reef 

’69E was granted special privileges 

to march with us, as his son Daniel 

’12 was among the graduates. 

Congratulations to Jonathan 

Schiller, who was selected as this 

year’s recipient of the Alexander 

Hamilton Award. [See Around the 

Quads.] 

From Bob Rabinoff: “While not 

much has changed in my situation, 

my children have made some 

remarkable progress. Oldest son, 

Joseph, and his wife, Kirsten, are 

in the third year of post-docs in 

math at Harvard, where they met 

in freshman advanced calculus. It 

looks like they’ll be heading to Atlanta 

in 18 months for tenure-track 

positions. Joseph recently turned 

31, which is a Mersenne prime, 

for those of you who care, and the 

last one he’s likely to see unless he 

outlives the Biblical 120 (the next 

Mersenne prime is 127). 

“The triplets are 28 (a perfect 

number, equal to the sum of its 

divisors — we’re having a big 

mathematical year this year). 

Daniel is in the second year of a 

Ph.D. program in philosophy at the 

University of Toronto. Eve also is 

in a Ph.D. program in philosophy, 

though at Boston College; she is 

hoping to finish the fifth and final 

year this academic year. Shoshanah 

is an R.N. and works labor and 

delivery at the base hospital at Fort 

Sill, Okla., where her husband, Erik 

(captain, USMC), is stationed. On 

June 20 she had my first grandchild, 

Nathaniel Dale Wilkerson. 

“I’m still in Fairfield, Iowa, 

about 60 miles south of Iowa City 

and 50 miles west of the Mississippi. 

My main purpose here is taking 

care of my friend Marie, who is immobile 

from the neck down with 

chronic-progressive MS. Thanks to 

the Internet, I can get her set up on 

a laptop with an external touchpad 

she can control with her tongue, 

and voice-recognition software 

so she can send emails and shop 

online, and she’s as connected to 

the world as any of us. I’m able 

to make my living programming 

computers from her living room, 

and I have the house next door (I 

won’t make you envious by telling 

you how little a house costs here) 

where I eat and study, but most 

of the time I just need to be home 

with her. It’s a 180-degree contrast 

with my earlier, globe-trotting 

days. I walk to the post office five 

times a week to get my mail and 

to get some exercise. I take the 

car to the grocery store twice a 

week; I put 185 miles on it in the 

five months between October and 

February — that was one tank 

of gas. One would think it’s a 

restricted life and indeed, without 

the Internet it would be a lot more 

so, but the truth is I don’t feel it as 

a restriction at all — I’m with her, 

and that’s exactly where I want 

to be. If anyone wants to visit just 

give a call (641-472-9842) or email 

(rar113@columbia.edu). It’s very 

quiet here, a good place to think.” 

Bill Stadiem reports: “Off to 

Paris next week [late June] to 

research newest book for Random 

House. Jet Set is a social history 

of the golden age of Boeing 707 

travel, 1958–71, after which the 

airborne cattle car 747s spoiled the 

party. I first went to Europe in 1968 

on a Columbia charter on Pan Am, 

$200 round-trip. Returning from 

Paris, the plane blew a tire and we 

had to do an emergency landing 

at Gander. We all thought it was 

the bitter end, so the passengers 

brought out the drugs they were 

smuggling back from Turkey, and 

it became a flying pot party.” 

Mike Schell writes: “Forty-seven 

years ago this September, we all 

gathered on Morningside Heights 

for a four-year run that was eventful 

if nothing else. But of course, it 

was lots else in the bargain. And 

now, that number 65 is relevant 

again. In the blink of an eye most all 

of us (excepting the young geniuses 

who finished high school at 12 or 

whatever) are celebrating our 65th 

birthdays. Truly hard to believe. 

“Turning back to 2012, I recently 

had the pleasure of having a relaxed, 

almost lazy lunch with the 

new dean, James J. Valentini. He is 

a good man in the most fundamental 

sense of those words, and I am 

confident he will be good for Columbia. 

Unlike the deans of our era, 

he is a scientist but he also seems 

steeped in the arts. In any event, 

he is a liberal human being, and he 

seems to me to be thinking about all 

the right things and issues (of which 

there are likely more than a few). 

But he also seems to be well-liked 

and comfortable among — and 

perhaps even inspirational to — the 

students, and these are good things. 

I hope to have the opportunity to 

chat with him from time to time. 

Which leads to my immediate 

circumstances. I no longer have a 

full-time job at which I am required 

to punch in every morning by 8 or 9 

a.m. I am still engaged in a number 

of endeavors but I don’t collect a 

paycheck for any of them. Not all 

bad. Chief among them is a seat 

on the National Advisory Council 

for Minority Business Enterprises. 

We are 25 business and other NGO 

leaders formulating recommenda- 

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FALL 2012 

76 

FALL 2012 

77

CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

tions to the Secretary of Commerce 

and ultimately the President for 

developing and promoting minority 

businesses in America. It has 

been an engaging, challenging and 

interesting effort, and I am hopeful 

we will achieve an immediate and 

substantial positive impact. 

“Columbia played a rather major 

role in my life these past couple of 

years in yet another respect. I have 

been the extraordinarily fortunate 

beneficiary of the skill, expertise 

and bonhomie offered by the Pancreas 

Center at the Columbia University 

Medical Center. It’s a part of 

Columbia about which many of us 

don’t know much but, I can assure 

you, its decisively positive impact 

on me is just as significant as the 

Morningside Heights version more 

than 40 years ago. 

“My wife, Kathy, and I enjoy a 

slightly less hectic existence. Mostly, 

we are still stewards of our next generation, 

which is expected to expand 

to a new generation in September 

— a blessing to our daughter Jenny 

and her husband, Jonathan. Son 

Jamie is a political operative with the 

Elizabeth Warren campaign in Massachusetts. 

Speaking of things going 

and coming round, Warren and I 

were summer associates in the same 

Wall Street law office in 1975. 

“Son Blake worked for Ambassador 

Ronald Kirk, United States trade 

representative, and is beginning law 

school at Boston University. So, full 

circle, we have yet another three 

years of tuition to fund. But we are 

fortunate souls indeed, a long way 

from that warm, sunny day in 1965 

when I arrived on Morningside 

Heights from the ‘plains.’” 

Howard Goldman reports from 

Boca Raton, Fla.: “I practice ophthalmology, 

primarily cataract surgery. 

I guess I’ll stop ‘practicing’ when I 

finally get it all right. Columbia, of 

course, encouraged (actually, embedded) 

the value of lifelong learning. 

I appreciate the Core Curriculum. 

As a science major anywhere else, I 

likely would not have been exposed 

to all that — and ‘all that’ continues 

to give me pleasure now. 

“I enjoy seeing and operating 

on patients but take particular 

satisfaction in those sent to me by a 

local free clinic, the Caridad Center. 

These are mostly the working poor, 

either earning too much to qualify 

for Medicaid but not enough to 

buy health insurance, or older 

immigrants who don’t qualify for 

Medicare. In pre–9-11 days, I traveled 

to developing countries in this 

hemisphere once or twice a year 

with Surgical Eye Expeditions (SEE) 

International on what were called 

‘eye surgery missions,’ operating 

on indigent blind. Of course, there 

is still a never-ending supply of 

those, but I have been shocked 

at the number in south Florida. 

My practice holds an annual Gift 

of Sight Day, during which we 

perform free procedures, mostly 

cataract, but also complex glaucoma 

and excisions of pterygia (fleshy 

white growths that can impair 

vision). This year we have 25 cases 

scheduled two days before Thanksgiving. 

I was nominated in May as 

a ‘Hero in Medicine, International 

Category’ for Palm Beach County 

Medical Society. Though I did not 

get the top honor, it was nice to 

be nominated by my two current 

and past congressmen and then to 

become a finalist.” 

From Bill Stark, who is a biology 

professor at Saint Louis University, 

comes a reflection on “Morningside 

Haute Cuisine”: “Like all other 

freshmen, I had the meal plan. It 

came in the form of a book of tickets. 

There was a big cafeteria with 

real meals in John Jay right across 

from the new Carman Hall, where I 

had a double room (suite of four) on 

the third floor. I would try to meet 

people when I went to dine alone, 

saying something like, ‘Are you also 

a freshman?’ (They never were.) 

“Things fell apart for me when I 

went out for crew. The subway ride 

to the Harlem River took us past 

John Lindsay running for mayor 

on Harlem street corners. We had 

the assistant coach (Dick?) but the 

coach was a newly hired champion 

from Australia who looked ungainly 

like Ichabod Crane. The ride 

brought me back for dinner when 

only the snack bar in Ferris Booth 

was open and, on the first morning 

possible, I joined a long line of 

fellow freshmen at the window to 

cash in our meal plans. 

“So my roommate, Jeff Escher, 

and my suitemates, Dave Mc- 

Carthy and Al Kennedy, would 

look for food in the neighborhood. 

Everybody knew that one of the 

main reasons to choose Columbia 

was that the drinking age in New 

York was 18. The West End, with 

40-cent, 12-ounce steins at the big 

bar in the center, was catty-corner 

across Broadway and had trays 

heated by gas just to the left of the 

door. A regular menu item was 

oxtail ragout that we pronounced 

‘rag out.’ Those gas heaters came 

in handy during the great blackout 

that affected a quarter of the 

country, the likes of which was 

supposed to never happen again. 

Nobody knew what happened 

because there was barely a transistor 

radio, so we just thought it was 

WWIII. Also on Broadway was 

TaKome, home of the meatball 

hero, called hoagie, grinder, po’ 

boy or sub(marine) depending on 

where you were from. Was that 

ketchup on the knife or did he cut 

his finger every time he cut the 

sandwich in half? 

“The better deli was a few blocks 

down Broadway, Mama Joy’s. If 

you bought lox by the quarterpound, 

its bagel, cream cheese and 

lox would have cost you twice 

as much. There were restaurants, 

College Inn and Tom’s. Tom’s had 

a Spanish omelet with a sauce of 

stewed celery, and decades later I 

went there and found that they still 

had that. You could buy a hot dog 

from the Sabrett’s corner umbrella; 

it’d be made with stewed onions by 

a man wearing a wool glove with 

worn-out fingers. I remember a 

place called Prexy’s (‘the hamburger 

with the college education’), but I 

do not remember going there. There 

was a place across Amsterdam, 

named for the mom and pop who 

ran it, which had a hamburger platter 

with two big hamburgers. There 

was a Japanese place around West 

118th Street across Amsterdam. 

More often we went for Chinese (I 

cannot remember where) with family 

service; column A had egg foo 

young while column B had sweet 

and sour pork. I thought the advertisements 

in my souvenir Spectator 

would refresh my memory, but it 

makes you think the only place to 

eat was in Butler Hall.” 

My inbox is now empty of classmate 

news or views. I really need 

help. Email or write me. I’m talking 

to you. 

70 

Leo G. Kailas 

Reitler Kailas & Rosenblatt 

885 Third Ave., 20th Fl. 


lkailas@reitlerlaw.com 

I had reports from many of our 

classmates after I made a request 

for news updates. But first, I apologize 

to my Bronx Science classmate 

Dr. Paul Rosen for referring to him 

as Paul Roth in my last column! 

James Periconi reports: “My 

daughter, Francesca ’02, got married 

last August at Elm Court in Lenox, 

Mass., to Adam Brody, a graduate 

of the University of Chicago — the 

closest thing in the Midwest to Columbia! 

Adam recently finished at 

Fordham Law and will become an 

ADA in the Queens County D.A.’s 

office this fall. Francesca graduated 

in May from the Silver School of Social 

Work at NYU. After eight years 

in television production at VH-1, 

she came to me two years ago and 

said, ‘Dad, my glamorous 20s in TV 

production are over; it’s time for me 

to do something socially useful.’ A 

Columbia education at work! 

“My environmental law practice 

at Periconi continues into its 10th 

year successfully. My big extracurricular 

project is an exhibition 

I’m mounting at the Grolier Club 

(47 E. 60th St.) of my collection of 

American imprints published in 

Italian (with one work to be borrowed 

from Columbia’s Rare Book 

and Manuscript Library). It’ll be 

there from September through early 

November. (The club is open to the 

public Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.– 

5 p.m.) The exhibition is filled with 

lots of political literature, especially 

that of the bomb-throwing anarchist 

type, likely to appeal to a certain 

Columbia sensibility, not to speak 

of the anti-clerical literature popular 

among politically active immigrants. 

“I also am president of the board 

of the Pearl Theatre Company here 

in New York City, a classical theatre 

company with a resident acting 

company; it recently moved to a 

theatre on West 42nd Street, previously 

occupied by the Signature 

Theatre Company. My wife, Alice, 

and I moved to Manhattan six years 

ago. Finally, six grandchildren, from 

Marin County, Calif., to Rye, N.Y., to 

London, make me very grateful.” 

Steve Stahler sent the following: 

“I have been a theoretical astrophysicist 

at UC Berkeley for many 

years. Those interested in broadening 

their perspective a bit might 

enjoy my book, coauthored with F. 

Palla, The Formation of Stars.” 

Michael Braun had a lengthy 

update: “I became a grandfather to 

a second granddaughter on February 

14, Effie Fae Miller. She joins 

Paikaeya (‘Paiki,’ named after the 

girl who was the whale rider in the 

New Zealand movie of the same 

name about a girl trying to compete 

in a misogynistic Maori tribe). Paiki 

turned 2 on April 28. Their mother 

(my daughter), Keetch, creates 

silk-screen clothes with her own 

design. She recently signed a license 

agreement to sell stuff with her illustrations 

in Japan and China. 

“My son, Jake ’09, has finished 

his second year as a junior high 

basketball coach and English 

teacher under the Japan Exchange 

and Teaching Program. He is a 

writer and wrote an incredible 

piece about the Japanese attitude 

after the earthquake and tsunami 

last year. He will return to the 

United States to look for a job after 

he travels around Southeast Asia. 

Unlike our days, Vietnam, Laos 

and Cambodia are tourist destinations 

and there are still places of 

unspoiled beauty, though you need 

to be careful with the unexploded 

land mines in Cambodia; kids still 

lose their arms and legs playing 

in the rice fields. I went to North 

Vietnam three years ago and loved 

it and want to go back. 

“I practice law at Morrison & 

Foerster. I will eventually get the 

hang of it. Can we take a poll of 

how many in our class have retired 

and are enjoying life and how 

many of us are still punching the 

time clock?” 

I, too, am curious about how 

many of our classmates have retired 

— feel free to send me a response to 

this informal poll. 

Joel Mintz reports, “I live in 

South Florida with my wife, Meri- 

Jane Rochelson ’71 Barnard, whom I 

met when I was a senior at the College 

and she was a junior at Barnard. 

I recently finished my 30th year as 

a law professor — a job I still enjoy 

(most days, at least). I have gotten 

together each of the last several 

years for long and relaxing spring 

weekends with David Sokolow, Ted 

Wirecki and Doug Sabrin — always 

a treat! On the professional front, my 

ninth book, Enforcement at the EPA: 

High Stakes and Hard Choices, was 

published in April. The book jacket 

(written by editors at the press) 

describes the book this way: ‘Based 

on 190 personal interviews with 

present and former enforcement 

officials at EPA, the U.S. Department 

of Justice and key congressional staff 

members — along with extensive 

research among EPA documents 

and secondary sources — the book 

vividly recounts the often tumultuous 

history of EPA’s enforcement 

program. It also analyzes some 

important questions regarding EPA’s 

institutional relationships and the 

agency’s working environment.’” 

Ralph Allemano says: “I am 

alive and well and live in Swansea, 

South Wales (U.K.) with my wife, 

Catherine. Daughters Helen and 

Alice are trying to make their 

marks in the theatre world of 

Los Angeles and New York City, 

respectively; son Alexander is 

taking up a Ph.D. in theoretical 

physics at Durham University; and 

youngest daughter, Laura, can’t 

decide whether to go to Harvard 

or Edinburgh University! I travel a 

lot for my business and run on the 

beach near home. Catherine works 

in ‘e-learning,’ advising Welsh colleges 

and universities.” 

Stephen Sossaman writes, “I 

recently moved to Napa, Calif. I’ve 

finished a comic novel set during 

the Vietnam War, Chanser Rules, 

and am looking for an agent.” 

John J. Kane notes: “I am 

retired from Boeing and Johnson & 

Johnson and live on Lopez Island 

in the San Juan Islands of my 

native Washington state. The San 

Juans are a world-famous wildlife 

area and my neighbors range from 

hummingbirds to bald eagles, 

whales, otters, salmon and tame 

deer who peer in my windows. I 

live in a large cabin in the woods. It 

is poles apart from New York City, 

where I worked for 25 years and 

which I confess I miss. I am in the 

antiquarian book business, specializing 

in Latin, Greek and Irish 

Gaelic items. I have been learning 

Syriac (Aramaic) and writing 

an action-adventure novel in the 

Ludlum-Clancy vein. Life is good 

and terribly low-key.” 

John’s life does sound pretty 

idyllic but I, too, wonder whether 

I could deal with that much peace 

and tranquility on a full-time basis! 

71 

Jim Shaw 

139 North 22nd St. 


jes200@columbia.edu 

The New York Times’ Sunday Book 

Review on June 3 carried a review 

of Steve Ross’ Hollywood Left and 

Right: How Movie Stars Shaped 

American Politics. From the review, 

by Andy Webster: “Occasionally, 

the wealth and worship showered 

on movie stars and studio executives 

prove insufficient, and they 

feel compelled to affect public 

policy by making pronouncements, 

assuming office or playing 

kingmaker. With Hollywood Left 

and Right, Ross, a historian at the 

University of Southern California, 

provides concise case studies of 

movie-industry influence, from 

the silent-film era to the present. 

He also corrects the misconception 

that Hollywood is a beehive of liberalism 

and parses the divide between 

idealistic, telegenic charisma 

and the grit of partisan maneuvering.” 

Go to the Times website for 

the full review. [Editor’s note: Also 

see Summer 2012 Bookshelf.] 

Toshihiko Taketomo writes, 

“My wife, Renee Russian Taketomo 

’71 Barnard, and I are longtime 

residents of Arlington, Mass., having 

moved to Cambridge for me 

to attend the Harvard Graduate 

School of Design. I have practiced 

architecture out of the Boston area 

ever since. 

“We’re proud parents of three 

grown children. Our youngest, 

Katherine Taketomo ’13 Barnard, is 

entering her senior year. Our older 

daughter, Anastasia, who graduated 

from Sarah Lawrence in 2006, 

worked for the ACLU and is completing 

her M.S.W. at Smith. Our 

son, Zander, who graduated from 

Temple in 2010 with a degree in film 

and media studies, is a professional 

photographer and videographer in 

Philadelphia and NYC. 

“Renee is a clinical social worker 

(M.S.W from Smith in 1974) with 

a full-time private psychotherapy 

practice. I have joined MPdL 

Studio, with offices in Boston, NYC 

and Ann Arbor, Mich., as v.p. The 

founder, Monica Ponce de Leon, 

is dean of Michigan’s Taubman 

College of Architecture and Urban 

Planning and was past principal of 

Office dA, a leading-edge architecture 

and design firm. 

“I was a principal at Moshe 

Safdie and Associates (MSA), 

with which I was associated for 17 

years. Most recently I was one of 

the design leads for Marina Bay 

Sands, the landmark integrated 

resort and new city sector in Singapore 

that opened last year. The 

range of projects at MSA included 

major institutional, residential and 

commercial projects, including 

museums, a city hall, performance 

halls, university buildings, hotels, 

condominiums and mixed-used 

commercial projects on prominent 

urban sites. Winning the Columbus 

Center/New York Coliseum site 

competition, teamed with Boston 

Properties and Salomon Brothers, 

and the Ottawa City Competition 

were earlier career highlights. 

“I was able to attend only part of 

the 40th reunion and thus missed 

much of the chance to catch up with 

old friends — but I look forward 

to future opportunities on and off 

campus!” 

Ron Bass reports, “Jersey Petroleum’s 

song ‘As The Vessel Burns’ 

appears on the recently released 

compilation album Magick, Music 

and Ritual 3. Jersey Petroleum consists 

of John Stanford and me. The 

album can be found at hermetic. 

com/anthology/album/magickmusic-and-ritual-3.” 

Congratulations to Mark Kingdon 

and his son, Jason ’16. Mark 

writes, “Jason is the third member 

of our family to attend Columbia 

College. Our daughter, Jessica ’09, 

is a documentary filmmaker living 

in Brooklyn. Jason plans to major 

in financial economics, a major that 

was started a year ago.” 

Remember 45 Septembers ago 

and the feelings we had, including 

of adventure, as we entered Columbia 

College. We are still connected. 

72 

Paul S. Appelbaum 

39 Claremont Ave., #24 


pappel1@aol.com 

Our 40th Alumni Reunion Weekend, 

held May 31–June 3, was a 

huge success. Perhaps the best 

way to explain why is to share my 

experience of it. 

Our class kicked things off on 

Thursday with a walk on the newly 

extended High Line Public Park 

in Chelsea. There I ran into Arthur 

Ensroth and his wife, Barbara 

Waszczak, sunning themselves on a 

bench and people-watching. Arthur 

lives in Wellesley, Mass., and is a 

project director at Harvard Pilgrim 

Health Care. He said that he was 

grateful to Columbia for taking a 

Rick Kurnit ’72’s legal practice has evolved to 

include a major focus on advising clients on 

structuring the next phase of their careers. 

kid who grew up in the suburbs of 

Detroit and introducing him to the 

pleasures of exploring a big city. 

After the walk, we all gathered 

at the Yossi Milo Gallery in Chelsea 

for a reception and explanation 

by artist Matthew Brandt of the 

works. Brandt’s approach involves 

using natural substances to create 

images of the things themselves, for 

example, using ground bee parts to 

produce printed images of bees. Bob 

Grey, a collector himself, arranged 

for the gallery to host us. In his day 

job, Bob is s.v.p., general counsel 

and secretary of the PPL Corp., 

which owns energy generating and 

distribution companies in the United 

States and United Kingdom. 

Among the other classmates with 

whom I chatted at the reception 

were Mark Mandell, medical director 

of the emergency department at 

Morristown Hospital in New Jersey; 

Doug Altabef, in from Israel, where 

he and his family live; Mariano 

Rey, a cardiologist at NYU; Jamie 

Katz, erstwhile editor of CCT and 

now a freelancer, often for Smithsonian 

Magazine; and Dowell Myers, 

a professor of urban planning in 

Los Angeles at USC. Rick Kurnit 

told me how his legal practice has 

evolved to include a major focus on 

advising clients on structuring the 

next phase of their careers. 

Friday was full of options for 

attendees, including talks by professors 

and a “crawl” through the art 

galleries of Chelsea. I joined the 

class tour of the painting and sculpture 

galleries in the new American 

wing of the Metropolitan Museum 

of Art, led by a staff member who 

commented extensively on the selection 

of works we saw. Steve Bellovin, 

for many years at Bell Labs 

but now a professor of computer 

science at Columbia, reminded me 

that we’ve known each other for 50 

years, having met when we started 

junior high. Of course he was right, 

though I’ll confess to having been 

unsettled by the number, the impact 

of which wasn’t mitigated until I 

met someone who was back for his 

60th reunion; then I realized how 

young I really am. 

Later that evening I missed the 

cocktail reception for our class 

hosted by Rick Kurnit at his law 

firm, but did get to the College/Engineering/Barnard 

Shabbat dinner 

at the Kraft Center, the Hillel building 

that didn’t exist in our time. I sat 

with Allan Schuster and his wife, 

Cindy Sherman, both physicians. 

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CLASS NOTES 

Allan is a cardiologist and internist 

who works as a hospitalist at United 

Hospital in St. Paul, Minn. We 

were in high school together, as well 

as fellow pre-meds at Columbia, so 

we had a lot of catching up to do. 

There were talks to choose from 

on Saturday morning as part of 

Dean’s Day, but our class events 

began with a luncheon in the 15thfloor 

conference center of SIPA. The 

last time I’d been there was a little 

more than 38 years ago — on my 

wedding day. My wife, Dede, and 

I had chosen the conference center 

with the great view of the New York 

skyline in the then-new SIPA building 

as the site for our wedding. 

Gene Ross came to the luncheon 

in his Army Medical Corps 

uniform. After serving as the only 

ENT doctor in Iraq in 2005–06, Gene 

returned to practice in Westchester, 

though he still serves in the Army 

Reserve. We talked about some of 

his experiences in Iraq, where he 

treated everything from shrapnel 

wounds to soldiers with fish bones 

stuck in their throats, and about 

being on-call round the clock as the 

only ENT in the country. 

Lunch was followed by a class 

discussion in Alfred Lerner Hall 

(for those of you who didn’t know, 

Ferris Booth is long gone, replaced 

by glass-fronted Lerner with its 

endless ramps). The discussion, led 

by Rick Kurnit, was about second 

careers at 60. I should not have been 

surprised that it quickly felt like 

we were back in CC, with some 

classmates challenging the premise 

that we necessarily need to think 

about doing something different 

with the rest of our lives; others 

saw the problem as residing in a 

system that discards good people 

after they have contributed to their 

organizations for so many years. 

Neil Izenberg told me after the session 

that he’d already gone through 

a transition, having shifted from 

being a practicing pediatrician with 

a specialty in adolescent medicine 

and a side interest in educational 

media to doing the latter full time. 

Neil is CEO of KidsHealth, a project 

of the Nemours Foundation, which 

produces online, video and print 

media for parents, kids and teens. 

The culminating event of the 

weekend was the Saturday class 

dinner at Casa Italiana. Lots of 

classmates and spouses were there, 

including Bruce Jacobs, co-founder 

and principal of Jacobs Levy Equity 

Management in New Jersey; Mark 

Lesky, who is director of responsible 

care at Nova Chemicals in 

Pittsburgh; Gene Cornell, who 

runs Cornell-Mayo Associates, a 

software firm, and still is passionate 

about social justice; and Arnold 

Horowitz, retired from the State 

Department and working for the 

“intelligence community” in Washington, 

D.C. (I’m a pretty intrepid 

reporter but I didn’t dare ask more). 

After dinner, Mike Gerrard, 

the Andrew Sabin Professor of 

Professional Practice at the Law 

School and a leading expert on 

environmental law, gave a terrific 

talk about the impact of global 

warming. Mike represents the 

Republic of the Marshall Islands, 

likely soon to be submerged under 

the rising waters of the Pacific. The 

islands’ situation, as he said in his 

understated way, raises “novel 

legal issues.” [Editor’s note: Read 

CCT’s May/June 2011 feature 

about Gerrard online.] 

Richard Macksoud, who wasn’t 

able to attend, nonetheless wrote 

to say that he’s now a grandfather. 

“My daughter Jennifer Dukes 

delivered James Michael late in 

March. By the way, does any of 

our famous doctors have a for-sure 

cure for acid reflux in a baby?” 

Other classmates who registered 

for the weekend (I’m not relying 

on my memory to tell you who else 

was there) included Stuart Bernsen, 

Emilio Carrillo, Peter Darrow, 

Dennis Greene, Tariq Hasan, 

Steven Howitt, Harlan Lachman, 

Joseph Lowe, Keith Luis, Jeffrey 

Matloff, Eugene Nathanson, 

Gerard Papa, Allan Reiss, Joseph 

Smith, Gary Szakmary, Harold 

Veeser and Robert Williams. My 

apologies to those who were there 

and whom I missed, and for failing 

to do justice to the many wonderful 

conversations I had with so many 

classmates during the weekend. I 

hope many more of you will join us 

for our 45th — just five years away. 


MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013 




212-851-7834 



212-851-7833 

73 

Barry Etra 

1256 Edmund Park Dr. NE 

Atlanta, GA 30306 

betra1@bellsouth.net 

As we settle into our 60s, our vision 

shortens (literally) as our existence 

approaches twilight. Is it possible 

we’re finally feeling our age? Could 

be … 

Dr. Ken Kutscher ’77 P&S recently 

became governor of the New 

Jersey chapter of the American College 

of Cardiology; he works with 

local cardiologists on education and 

insurance issues. Ken also has taken 

the lead in statewide advocacy by 

establishing a state PAC to work 

with the governor and legislators 

on issues of concern to both patients 

and physicians. 

Next year is our 40th Alumni Reunion 

Weekend. Mark your calendar 

for, Thursday, May 30–Sunday, 

June 2, 2013. If you’re interested in 

being part of the Reunion Committee 

(planning the weekend’s events) 

or the Class Gift Committee (fundraising 

for the Columbia College 

Fund), contact the appropriate staff 

member at the top of the column. 

You need not be in the New York 

area and can participate in meetings 

via conference call. 

Columbia will send materials by 

email and postal mail as the date 

grows closer. If needed, update your 

contact information at reunion.col 

lege.columbia.edu/alumniupdate, 

or call the Alumni Office: 212-851- 

7488. 

Hey, that’s all I got. Shake off 

those PCs and keep us informed; 

no news is bad news. 

74 

Fred Bremer 

532 W. 111th St. 


f.bremer@ml.com 

With the presidential election 

garnering all the media attention, it 

is important to remind one and all 

that it is the 40th anniversary of another 

seismic “presidential event”: 

the Watergate break-in on June 

17, 1972. It doesn’t seem that long 

ago that we were hearing about 

CREEP (the Committee to Reelect 

the President) and how Washington 

Post reporters Woodward and 

Bernstein, with the help of Deep 

Throat, uncovered the wiretapping 

of the Democratic Party 

headquarters at the Watergate 

Hotel. Woodward recently said, 

“Watergate implanted a cynical 

bomb about American politics that 

will probably never go away.” This 

year’s big money PACs and inaccurate 

slurs (from both sides) have 

only added to the popular distain 

of our politicians. Let’s hope that 

the 50th anniversary of the breakin 

will find political leadership that 

operates at a higher level and that 

no future President will have to 

declare on TV, “I am not a crook!” 

All of this political talk seems 

like a perfect segue to the John 

Edwards trial that ended in June. 

We must extend our congratulations 

to Edwards’ lead attorney, 

Abbe Lowell, for his incredible 

defense that led to the government 

dropping all charges (mainly 

involving using alleged campaign 

contributions to support Edward’s 

girlfriend and their “love child”). 

This must have invoked a sense 

of déjà vu for Abbe. He came 

into the national spotlight in 1998 

when he defended President Bill 

Clinton at his impeachment trial 

over Clinton’s alleged perjury in 

his characterization of his “lurid 

relationship” (this is a family 

publication) with White House 

intern Monica Lewinsky. [Read 

CCT’s profile of Lowell online in 

the Winter 2011–12 issue.] 

After these two unsavory entries, 

let’s cool things down with news 

of the Ozzie and Harriet variety. A 

few months ago I caught up with 

Tom Sawicki, who was in from Jerusalem, 

where he is the director of 

programming for the Jerusalem office 

of AIPAC (the American Israeli 

Public Affairs Committee). Tom 

and I, joined by fellow 8 Hartley 

floormate Joe Lipari ’75, compared 

the differences in our households. 

I have two kids too young to have 

left for college, Joe has two kids 

who left for college but have now 

returned, and Tom and his wife, Susie, 

are adapting to life without their 

two sons (28 and 24, both career 

officers in the Israeli air force), who 

have both graduated college and 

are living in their own apartments. 

Seems like Tom and his wife are 

doing quite well — enjoying hiking 

with several other couples, going 

to the opera and the like. Tom also 

shared that he has a weekly Sabbath 

gathering with his buddies to 

sample single malt Scotches. (I seem 

to recall some serious drinking in 

Fiddler on the Roof. Ah, “tradition, 

tradition” trumps Ozzie and Harriet 

in the lives of the Class of ’74!) 

Tom was in the United States in 

part to surprise D.C. resident Leon 

Wieseltier at his 60th birthday 

party. This reminded me of seeing 

Leon mentioned in a New York 

Times Style Section article (where 

else?) about Chris Hughes and 

Sean Eldridge (called “the new 

Power Brokers” by the Times). The 

article talked about how Hughes 

was a co-founder of Facebook and 

has used his newfound wealth 

both to host Democratic fundraisers 

and to buy a majority stake in 

The New Republic. Because Leon has 

been the longtime literary editor 

at the magazine, Hughes wanted 

to make sure he was on board 

with Hughes’ politics. A picture 

accompanying the article showed 

an amazing contrast between the 

boyish Hughes and Eldridge (28 

and 25) and the not-so-boyish Leon 

with flowing white locks. (It was 

kind of like Clark Kent standing 

beside Perry White in those old 

Superman TV shows!) 

But who needs Superman when 

our class has its own “Super Doctors”? 

Each year a company polls 

doctors in the New York area to 

find the most respected physicians 

in various fields of medicine. 

New York magazine then has the 

company narrow the list to 1,160, 

and it highlights those chosen in 

the “Best Doctors” issue each June. 

Incredibly, our one class, which has 

around 150 doctors (many outside 

the New York area), had at least 

four of these best doctors: Mark 

Lebwohl (dermatology), Burt Rochelson 

(maternal and fetal medicine), 

Larry Stam (nephrology, 

i.e., kidneys) and Steve Schonfeld 

(neuroradiology). The New York 

magazine article did not list college 

affiliations, so my apologies to 

anyone on the list I failed to notice. 

Please send in omissions! 

You don’t need to be doing 

things that lead you to be featured 

on the evening news, in newspapers 

or in magazines to be of 

interest to our classmates. Here are 

some vignettes from around the 

country that document the busy 

careers of our classmates in areas 

as varied as science, architecture, 

finance, business and the law. 

From Fairbanks, Alaska, comes 

news from Jim Beget, who recently 

completed his 28th year as a professor 

in the geology and geophysics 

department at the University 

of Alaska. Jim is involved in a new 

National Science Foundation project 

looking at the effects of climate 

change on frozen ground. Part of 

the research project takes place in 

a “permafrost tunnel” — a mine 

shaft drilled into an area of frozen 

ground where the temperature is 

only about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, 

even in the middle of the summer. 

To make up for spending part of 

his summer in a dark frozen tunnel, 

Jim and his wife, Mary, headed 

to Arizona in July to join a float trip 

down the Grand Canyon. 

Closer to home we got an update 

on the career of New York architect 

Larry Marner, who works on a 

range of projects from helping local 

private schools expand their facilities 

to updates at Grand Central and 

Chelsea Piers (a sprawling sports 

complex along the Hudson River). 

Larry writes, “The ‘fam’ is doing 

well. My wife, Elisabeth Post-Marner 

’74 Barnard, practices architecture 

in Stamford, Conn. Daughter Nell is 

applying to nursing school. Son Ben 

is in his third year at Iona College in 

New Rochelle, N.Y.” 

Moving one step closer to retirement, 

Bob Fuchs and his wife, 

Bobbie, moved from Connecticut 

to North Carolina four years ago. 

Bob wanted to increase his time on 

the golf course and Bobbie wanted 

more time on the beach. A longtime 

IT person, Bob is able to work parttime 

from home. He is doing some 

financial control work for Delta 

Dental’s IT department, located on 

the other side of the country. Bob 

adds, “Bobbie and I celebrated 38 

years of marriage this past summer 

… 1974 was a busy time — graduating 

in May, starting a new job in 

June and getting married in August. 

We have four children ranging from 

34–24 and one granddaughter (4). 

My kids all have graduated from 

college, one has a master’s and one 

is working toward an M.B.A. I’m 

happy and fortunate to say they all 

have good jobs.” 

A short update came from Joel 

Almquist, in Boston. He is a partner 

at K&L Gates law firm, where he 

counsels clients on a range of tax 

issues (from mergers and acquisitions 

to hedge funds to real estate 

transactions, to name a few). Joel 

tells us that one son is a broker at 

UBS and the other is an investment 

banker at Barclays. He adds, “I ran 

the Paris Marathon last spring.” 

The “Energizer Bunny Award” 

must go to Will Willis, in Palm 

Beach Gardens, Fla., what some 

people might consider retirement 

country. But Will writes, “All six 

of my companies are doing great. 

Book No. 3 is coming out in January. 

Can’t retire, having too much 

fun!” 

Will’s latest adventure was a 

real surprise for two reasons. First, 

he received a huge contract to 

put 6½-foot micro-wind turbines 

on 400 Wal-Mart stores. Then he 

began working with Brad Higgins 

(managing partner of the U.S. 

investments at private equity firm 

SOSventures) on the funding of the 

turbines. When I asked Will how 

the two hooked up, he replied, “We 

connected on LinkedIn. After we 

talked, we found we had similar 

business interests and investment 

requirements.” 

Maybe there is more to this 

social media revolution than many 

of us give it credit for. 

There you have it. Classmates 

featured on TV and in newspapers 

and magazines for their amazing 

achievements. Other classmates 

pursuing their passions in a variety 

of fields. For a class of only 600 

guys, we have a lot to be proud 

of — not least of which is that no 

one has had to declare, “I am not 

a crook!” 

75 

Randy Nichols 

734 S. Linwood Ave. 

Baltimore, MD 21224 

rcn2day@gmail.com 

Not one to skip a reason to celebrate 

(and taking some time to themselves 

now that they are empty-nesters), 

Yasmin and Jim Dolan were in 

France in early summer. Jim proposed 

to Yasmin in Paris. 

Known to many of us for his 

high profile in sports labor negotiations, 

Jeffrey Kessler recently led 

70 other former partners of Dewey 

& LeBoeuf to Winston & Strawn, 

where Jeff now is on the executive 

committees. Joe Tato, also formerly 

of Dewey, has joined other former 

Dewey partners at DLA Piper. 

Both rainmakers will continue to 

represent their portfolios. 

Classmates gathered with other 

Columbians at Dean’s Day on June 

2. Lou Dalaveris and Ira Malin 

spent some time chatting. Bob 

Schneider and his wife, Regina 

Mullahy ’75 Barnard, toured the site 

of the new Manhattanville campus. 

Floyd Warren had registered but 

no one saw him, and I wasn’t able 

to contact him before these Notes 

were due, which was shortly after 

Dean’s Day. 

A couple of weeks back, I got 

an email from Bob Sclafani asking 

if I knew how he could get our 

Jeffrey Kessler ’75 recently led 70 fellow former 

partners of Dewey & LeBoeuf to Winston & Strawn, 

where Kessler now is on the executive committee. 

yearbook. I told him I didn’t know 

but would loan him mine. I sent it 

off, with the condition that when 

he got (and returned!) it, he also 

would send me stuff for Notes. 

Look for news in the next CCT. 

I have just spent the most amazing 

weekend here in my hometown 

of Baltimore — remember, I’m writing 

this in June — taking part in its 

Star-Spangled Sailabration, which is 

the official kickoff to the nation’s celebration 

of the 200th anniversary of 

the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Those 

of you elsewhere on the East Coast 

may have experienced it as OpSail 

2012. Sailing ships, tall, medium 

and small. Ditto for naval, marine, 

Coast Guard and other Grey ships, 

all from around the world. There 

were air shows, including the Blue 

Angels, which I swear I could have 

reached up and grabbed as they flew 

over my roof deck. I did more than 

24 hours of volunteering, walking 

the promenades of the harbor as a 

Sailabration ambassador, during the 

last four days, but that also put me in 

the middle of enjoying it. Now, I’m 

gonna collapse and recover. From all 

the standing and walking, my body 

aches in places that I didn’t know or 

had forgotten existed. 

And, of course, this edition of 

CCT is the first of the new fiscal 

year of the Columbia College Fund. 

For early givers, especially those 

who want a 2012 tax deduction, 

now’s the time to pencil in those 

transactions. Others, pledge early. 

(Often is not necessary, but then 

please back up that pledge with a 

check or credit card.) 

Give by credit card at college. 

columbia.edu/giveonline or by 

calling 212-851-7488, or mail a 

check, payable to Columbia College 

Fund, to Columbia College 

Fund, Columbia Alumni Center, 

622 W. 113th St., MC 4530, 3rd Fl., 

New York, NY 10025. 

76 

Clyde Moneyhun 

Boise State University 

Department of English 

200 Liberal Arts Building 

1910 University Dr. 

Boise, ID 83725 

cam131@columbia.edu 

I hope the members of the Class of 

1976 are enjoying a wonderful fall. 

Please send your news to me at the 

above email or postal address. Your 

classmates would love to hear 

from you! 

77 

David Gorman 

111 Regal Dr. 

DeKalb, IL 60115 

dgorman@niu.edu 

Our class held its 35th Alumni 

Reunion Weekend from May 31– 

June 3. Although I wasn’t there, I 

received a number of enthusiastic 

reports that I have attempted to 

cobble together, hopefully not too 

inaccurately. (They make this kind 

of thing look so easy on the CSI 

shows.) 

Lou DeStefano says that Karen, 

his wife of two years, was impressed 

by her first view of the campus; 

she saw much of it but not all. A 

night in Carman was “not so bad 

as an inexpensive hotel,” but when 

Lou wanted to show her John Jay 

lounge, he was stopped by campus 

security. Lou adds that he was 

pleased to see Peter Buxbaum, a 

first-timer at a Columbia reunion. 

Tom Wagner and his wife, 

Miriam Furey ’77 Barnard, had 

dinner on reunion Thursday 

with his fraternity brothers from 

Beta Theta Pi, including James 

Camparo (with his wife, Lori ’77 

Barnard), Jim Mullin (plus his 

wife, Linda) and Kevin Roach 

’77E; this was followed by a show, 

The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. Tom 

reports that he “sees the Mullins 

at most Homecomings, since they 

are local, but the Camparos live out 

West and we had not seen them in 

many years, making for a wonderful 

reunion.” Tom and Miriam also 

went on the Chelsea art gallery 

crawl tour the next day, followed 

by lunch on Tenth Avenue — and, 

alas, an early departure due to 

other commitments. They missed 

a class reception held by Bill Gray 

in his office. 

Among those who made it 

to Bill’s was John Hallacy, who 

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CLASS NOTES 

enjoyed the spread as well as the 

view of the Empire State Building, 

lit in blue and white. Of the reunion 

overall, John adds, “The events 

were very well organized this year. 

The lectures were truly stimulating. 

I attended one on brain research 

that was viewed from a multidisciplinary 

perspective. The Wine 

Tasting was great because Barnard 

alumnae were present, including 

my wife, Mary Ann Lofrumento 

’77 Barnard, and you could mingle 

with the broader reunion crowd. 

As is predictable, we talked about 

surviving the 1970s and classes and 

professors that we appreciated a 

great deal. The food was generally 

excellent but did not surpass the 

discourse and the weather. The 

recent grads also appeared to be 

very enthusiastic.” 

Someone else at Bill’s reception 

was Mike Aroney, who seems to 

have kept up a frenetic pace during 

the weekend; he brought his wife, 

Kathy; daughter, Brittany; son, 

Kell; and daughter-in-law, Brittany. 

As Kell is a recent graduate of the 

business school at Southern Methodist 

University and Brittany had 

just graduated (with honors, yet) 

from the University of South Carolina’s 

College of Nursing, “the trip, 

in part, was a graduation present, 

and I acted as tour guide for most 

of the time. We stayed in Tribeca 

and saw just about everything, 

and it seems I walked the younger 

folks to the point of crying ‘uncle.’ 

We sent the kids off to see War 

Horse, so they had to humor Dad 

with a trip to MoMA, an art gallery 

crawl in Chelsea and lunch at the 

Boathouse on Friday,” followed by 

Bill’s event. “I gave the kids a tour 

of campus and told some stories. 

Kell wanted to see the B-school 

and Brittany wanted to know 

about the medical school. The kids 

attended our class dinner with 

Kathy and me, but left early from 

the champagne and dancing to go 

back to the hotel. I do believe they 

were in bed by 10, while Kathy and 

I made a fair job of the dancing and 

champagne consumption. 

“Funny story: our daughter is 

an attractive, 6-foot tall, 22-yearold 

blonde. When we arrived at 

the dinner for cocktails, my wife 

went over to the bar to gather 

some refreshments while I greeted 

classmates. Brittany came back 

and was standing next to me and 

eventually when it was clear she 

was a daughter, a few classmates 

confessed they were relieved to 

learn she wasn’t a trophy wife!” 

Also at reunion were (with 

apologies to anyone I left out — or 

put in! — by mistake): Craig Brod, 

Leslie Cohen, Mark Goldberger, 

Michael Katzman, Bob Kent, 

Marty Kutscher, Jon Lukomnik, 

Peter Nagykery, Dan Sang, John 

Santamaria, Jim Shapiro, Michael 

Sherman, David Stanton, Christopher 

Sten, Robert Werner and 

George Whipple. Among attendees 

I heard from, there was agreement 

on the fine weather, the good work 

of the reunion staff and (unfortunately) 

the relatively low turnout of 

our class. Here’s to a bigger 40th. 


MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013 




212-851-7834 



212-851-7833 

78 

Matthew Nemerson 

35 Huntington St. 

New Haven, CT 06511 

mnemerson@snet.net 

I continue to be amazed and humbled 

at the achievements and broad 

range of our class. Bravo! I have 

been wondering as we approach 

our 35th reunion if we are closer to 

half our allotted time as Columbia 

grads, or two-thirds done. It’s beginning 

to make a difference … 

John Nastuk, also ’78E, writes, 

“The news from Danvers, Mass., is 

that I’m a senior engineer with GE 

Aviation but bigger news is that our 

son, David, recently started his first 

full-time job as a mechanical engineer 

after graduating from UMaine 

last fall, and second son, Eric, 

recently graduated from UConn as 

a biomedical engineer. Three engineers 

under one roof is sufficient to 

make Karen — the artist, wife and 

mother — about crazy.” 

Steve Bargonetti has enlisted 

his wife, Diane, to do his column 

PR (I advise this for all of you). She 

writes, “My husband was honored 

by author David Maraniss when he 

was chosen to be in the new Obama 

biography, Barack Obama: The Story 

[see Bookshelf]. This is not a political 

statement from us but rather an 

honor to be part of history for Steve. 

If you have a chance, check out the 

book (especially page 435!). It is rare 

that people in the ‘real world’ are 

interested in what musicians have 

to say.” 

Diane also included the below, 

which was originally written for 

the NYC musicians’ union paper. 

“How many Local 802 Musicians 

do you know who have been interviewed 

for a presidential biography 

and actually quoted for the book? 

Well, if you know guitarist Steve 

Bargonetti then you know at least 

one! 

“He graduated from Columbia 

University around the time 

President Obama transferred there. 

Steve has a similar bi-racial heritage 

and, at the time, was the leader of 

the premier jazz fusion group, So 

What, on the Columbia campus. 

The bands playing at The West End 

during Obama’s first year included 

So What, whose name was inspired 

by the first cut of the Miles Davis 

album Kind of Blue.” 

Steve’s wife concludes with the 

reference that, “Maraniss felt Steve 

offered great perception into Columbia 

University’s campus life, socially, 

politically and racially … a look into 

the environment experienced by 

Steve and, thus, the future President. 

To quote Steve from the book: 

‘There were racial inferences from 

both sides, which were completely 

disavowed once we started bringing 

people together via music.’” 

So there you have it. Proof that 

the Class of 1978 was intimately 

involved in the President’s experience 

at alma mater. 

From David J. Margules, “Things 

are good here. Four sons, and no 

one at Columbia! My eldest, Andy, 

graduated from medical school at 

Jefferson (along with his wife) and 

started his residency in urology. He 

claims to have picked it because 

it gives his friends lots of fodder 

for rude jokes about the kinds of 

things he ‘handles.’ (My mother 

still tells me I should have been a 

doctor and that it’s not too late to 

go to medical school.) My second 

son, Elliot, has finished his second 

year of law school and has been 

working for Josh Dratel. He loves 

the practice and is looking forward 

to graduating. My third, Sam, starts 

culinary school in September and 

wants to open a pastry/coffee shop. 

My youngest, Will, is in the middle 

of 1½ years in yeshiva in Israel and 

will start at Yeshiva University in 

January. My wife, Michelle Seltzer 

’77 Barnard, and I are very proud of 

each.” 

Midwestern refugee Robert 

Blank sends this from Madison, 

Wis.: “Scary how time flies. Nothing 

Daniel Pincus ’78 sang the national anthem at 

numerous Lions’ football and basketball games 

during this past year. 

fun or exciting to report. Sorry to say 

the recall was a disaster here, and 

[Gov.] Scott Walter is truly evil.” 

Henry Aronson has been busy 

as always, “My wife, Cailín Heffernan, 

and I were selected for the 

Rhinebeck Writers Retreat for this 

summer; [at this writing in June 

we planned to go] for a week in 

August to continue working on our 

new musical, Loveless Texas. I do 

some orchestrating for the Rocktopia 

symphonic/rock fusion ensemble, 

kicking off with the Youngstown 

(Ohio) Symphony in September; I’ll 

be playing keyboards in the concert, 

too. Meanwhile, I’m still music 

director/conductor of Rock of Ages 

on Broadway.” 

Jeffrey Moerdler looks down 

on Gotham from his perch at Mintz 

Levin, telling us, “My oldest son, 

Scott, graduated from Mount Sinai 

School of Medicine and is starting 

his residency in pediatrics at Mount 

Sinai Medical Center (he got his 

first-choice match) and plans to 

specialize in pediatric oncology. He 

is getting married in October. My 

twins are both at NYU, Jonathan 

in the Stern School of Business 

and Eric in the College of Arts and 

Sciences, majoring in architecture 

and urban planning. Jonathan 

[was scheduled to] get married in 

August. 

“I’m busy in my real estate legal 

practice and in particular in my 

specialty in data center and telecom 

real estate. I also spend lots of 

my time on my three unpaid parttime 

jobs. For starters, I’m commissioner 

of the Port Authority of 

New York & New Jersey (yes, the 

recent toll increases are my fault); 

I’m very involved in all of its major 

real estate projects, in particular 

the World Trade Center. I’m also an 

EMT on my local volunteer ambulance 

service and co-president of 

my chapter in Riverdale as well as 

president of my co-op apartment 

building.” 

Stu Kricun may hold the record 

for appearances in this column 

(what Joan Rivers was to Johnny): 

“I have worked at Disney since 

2005, after spending 12 years at 

Playboy. Talk about 180-degree 

changes in the subject matter. If any 

of our classmates’ kids are fans of 

Good Luck Charlie or Lab Rats, those 

are two of the shows for which I am 

production counsel. My kids are in 

the prime demographic right now 

for Disney. My daughter, Arianna, is 

7 and my son, Jordan, is 5 (yes, I did 

start really late compared to some of 

the rest of you!). 

“I find myself reminiscing every 

so often about the good old days at 

Columbia. Hard to believe it’s been 

almost 35 years. One of these days, 

I need to take a trip with the entire 

family and show my little ones 

where dad went to college.” 

Gary Pickholz gets the award 

for eclectic activities. “My new 

book, for background context, is 

my nonfiction project at Stanford’s 

Writer’s Studio, which has been a 

truly marvelous and eye-opening 

experience,” he writes. “I have 

been blessed with many sharp colleagues 

in many universities and 

firms worldwide, across a number 

of disciplines, in my career, but this 

is by far the most fascinating group 

of colleagues I have ever enjoyed 

spending time with. 

“My son Dov got engaged to a 

lovely young lady originally from 

Paris, whose family also made 

aliyah. I now have an appointment 

at the Business School. I have two 

books coming out (hopefully) this 

year, one on some of the significant 

failures in capital markets and 

one a nonfiction autobiographical 

discussion of a Jewish divorce and 

its policy considerations, both in the 

United States and Israel. My son 

Josh now is in an elite combat unit, 

and my daughter Tamar will serve 

in the office of Prime Minister Bibi 

Netanyahu (whom I used to play 

basketball with in the Philadelphia 

synagogue league when his name 

was still Benjy), as her national 

service. 

“I will be testifying before the 

Knesset once again in October, this 

time on the topic of Israeli-continued 

insistence of taxing American 

and British charitable contributions, 

an embarrassment that your 

local UJA-Federation and Israel 

Bonds representatives prefer be 

ignored by American donors.” 

An interesting story about fame 

in the big city from Daniel Pincus: 

“This past year, I sang the national 

anthem at numerous Lions’ football 

and basketball games. I sang the 

tenor solos with the Barnard- 

Columbia Chorus and with the 

Collegium Musicum. At the end 

of Yom Kippur last year, a young 

congregant came up to me and said, 

‘Cantor Pincus, there is something 

about the way you sing and your 

style that reminds me of John Amarante 

at Madison Square Garden.’ 

“A week later I called Columbia 

Athletics and onto the roster I 

went, and was requested for the 

Harvard games. Thinking that this 

was going very well, I contacted 

Fordham. They won all six games 

I sang at, and alerted the New York 

Daily News to write a story about it, 

resulting in a full-page article. Two 

days later, Clyde Haberman of The 

New York Times picked up the story 

in a column.” 

Capt. Jeffrey L. Canfield, USN, 

writes: “I am concluding an assignment 

as Headquarters ISAF Ministerial 

Advisor to the Government 

of Afghanistan Ministry of Rural 

Rehabilitation and Development 

in Kabul, Afghanistan. I will be 

assigned next from the Pentagon to 

the United States Institute of Peace 

in Washington, D.C.” 

On the home front, my family 

abandoned me this summer. My 

wife, Marian ’77 Barnard, is teaching 

near Paris at INSEAD, the European 

business school. Daughter 

Elana (21) took courses in London. 

And Joy (18), who is recently 

installed as social action v.p. of the 

National Federation of (Reform) 

Temple Youth, split the summer 

between Washington, D.C., and the 

movement’s base in Warwick, N.Y. 

Next year is our 35th Alumni Reunion 

Weekend. Mark your calendar 

for Thursday, May 30–Sunday, 

June 2, 2013. If you’re interested in 

being part of the Reunion Committee 

(planning the weekend’s events) 

or the Class Gift Committee (fundraising 

for the Columbia College 

Fund), contact the appropriate staff 


You need not be in the New York 

area and can participate in meetings 

via conference call. 







7488. 

79 

Robert Klapper 

8737 Beverly Blvd., Ste 303 

Los Angeles, CA 90048 

rklappermd@aol.com 

Thomas Costigan of Falls Church, 

Va., is a contract employee for a 

specialized agency of the federal 

government dealing with international 

trade issues (that’s all 

he can say about this one or he’d 

have to remove Bob Klapper’s 

knee caps). Tom also is co-chair of 

the Northern Virginia Columbia 

Alumni Representative Committee 

and would love to hear from 

area alumni who can help out with 

admissions interviews. 

Theodore Anton writes with 

news that his son, Constantine, 

was hired as coordinator of emergency 

services for the Red Cross 

Coastal Virginia region. His daughter, 

Marja, begins medical school 

at the Loyola University Stritch 

School of Medicine in Chicago this 

fall. Ted’s new nonfiction book, 

Mortal Coils: The Strange Race for 

the Secrets of Longevity, will be published 

by University of Chicago 

Press in 2013. 

Los Angeles-based Ali Gheissari, 

president of Advanced 

Cardiothoracic Surgery Medical 

Group, has been practicing cardiothoracic 

surgery in Los Angeles 

for more than 20 years. He writes, 

“I am blessed with a beautiful 

wife and two beautiful children. 

My son, Reza ’14 (20), finished his 

sophomore year at the College and 

spent the summer in L.A. doing an 

internship at NASA Jet Propulsion 

Laboratory. He is majoring in physics 

and mathematics. My daughter, 

Roya (16), is a high school junior 

and hopes to study medicine. I owe 

my achievements in life to my education 

at Columbia, and having a 

son at Columbia College has further 

strengthened my bonds with alma 

mater.” 

The “big news” from Harlan 

Greenman is that his daughter 

Catherine ’12 is “not only a proud 

graduate of the Class of 2012, where 

she majored in computer science 

math, but also is relocating to Texas 

and starting her career with Microsoft 

in July. 

“In other news, I have been kept 

busy with building New York City’s 

first totally new subway line — 

the Second Avenue subway, first 

proposed in the 1920s, partially dug 

before the 1970s fiscal crisis that 

nearly bankrupted the city and now 

on track to open during this decade. 

Lastly, our younger daughter, Beth, 

accomplished a personal triple 

crown, having all in one day made 

her bat mitzvah, received our Little 

League’s most prestigious memorial 

award (known as the Chris 

Ciuffani Award) for her fairness 

and respect for others, and, with 

her team, won the championship 

with a come-from-behind effort in 

the bottom of the last inning. It was 

in true storybook fashion, with two 

outs and the bases loaded!” 

Robert Klapper: “Here’s my 

Columbia College thought for this 

column. As an orthopedic surgeon 

in Los Angeles for the past 23 

years, I’ve operated on 500–600 

patients every year, which means I 

have opened up more than 12,000 

shoulders, hips and knees. I cannot 

believe where the time has gone. 

“In order to begin a surgery, 

you must scrub your hands. This 

moment at the sink is a miniopportunity 

for meditation. It’s 

actually ironic that in this act, by 

rubbing your hands together and 

letting them dry, you take the position 

of praying. Before one of my 

recent surgeries, in this meditative 

state of becoming sterile (without 

a vasectomy), my mind wandered 

back to my first organic chemistry 

lecture; I still struggle with 

understanding the relevance of this 

ridiculous course and the necessity 

to excel in this subject when it has 

no relevance whatsoever to what 

one does as a doctor. But I remember 

Professor Charles Dawson ’38 

GSAS in 309 Havemayer beginning 

the first class of the first semester 

by drawing three giant circles on 

the blackboard. He then turned 

to the class and said, ‘I think of 

my students in one of these three 

circles. Some of you are in this first 

circle, for whom everything I say 

here in this classroom you will 

understand completely. Some of 

you are in this middle circle, where 

you won’t understand everything 

that I say today but you will go 

home tonight and read and study 

hard and then understand it. And 

some of you are in this third circle 

… who never will.’ 

“I guess the lesson I learned was 

I was never going to be in that first 

circle, and I need to spend the rest 

of my life staying out of that third 

circle.” 

80 

Michael C. Brown 

London Terrace Towers 

410 W. 24th St., Apt. 18F 


mcbcu80@yahoo.com 

As fall begins we look forward to 

seeing how the Giants, Jets and Columbia 

Lions fare on the gridiron. 

We are only a little way into our 

new era with coach Pete Mangurian, 

but already I am impressed 

with our commitment and effort 

each week. 

Eric Granderson ’80 has been named in-house 

lobbyist for New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu. 

Eric Granderson has been named 

in-house lobbyist for New Orleans 

Mayor Mitch Landrieu. A New 

Orleans native, Eric brings three 

decades of experience in the city’s 

government to his new post steering 

the administration’s relations with 

council members, local agency officials 

and community leaders. 

Joel Moser joined Kaye Scholer 

as an energy and infrastructure 

partner. He will be instrumental in 

building out the practice, which is 

viewed with great optimism by his 

partners. Joel has extensive experience 

in the industry and has been 

recognized as a leading project 

lawyer. 

What’s Your Story? 

Letting classmates know 

what’s going on in your 

life is easier than ever. 

Send in your Class Notes! 


college.columbia.edu/cct/ 

submit_class_note. 

EMAIL to the address at 

the top of your column. 

MAIL to the address at the 

top of your column. 

FALL 2012 

82 

FALL 2012 

83

CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

Ronald Weich recently was 

named dean of the University 

of Baltimore School of Law. He 

previously served as chief counsel to 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid 

(D-Nev.) and counsel to former Sen. 

Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) and the late 

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.). 

I look forward to seeing you 

all at Homecoming [on Saturday, 

October 20; see Around the Quads] 

and supporting our team! 

Drop me a line at mcbcu80@ 

yahoo.com. 

81 

Kevin Fay 

3380 Darby Rd. 

Glenmore 

Keswick, VA 22947 

kfay@northridge 

capital.com 

Dr. Paul J. Maddon Ph.D. announced 

his retirement in March 

as chief science officer of Progenics 

Pharmaceuticals, a company he 

founded in 1986. Having served as 

chairman of the board, CEO and 

chief science officer, Paul will continue 

to be a member and vice chair 

of the Progenics Board of Directors. 

Progenics, a biopharmaceutical 

company dedicated to developing 

innovative medicines to treat 

diseases, with a focus on cancer 

and related conditions, is based in 

Tarrytown, N.Y. Paul intends to stay 

active in retirement, as he serves on 

a number of boards and committees 

of nonprofit and commercial organizations, 

including as a University 

Trustee at Columbia. In addition, he 

plans to spend a lot more time with 

his family, Alex (12), Hanna (11) and 

Sophie (9). 

Paul, I have no advice on how to 

run a biopharmaceutical company, 

but can provide a little insight on 

raising daughters, if you’re interested. 

From one doctor to another: 

Michael E. Schatman Ph.D. sends 

an update from Seattle, where he 

enjoys recreational pursuits both 

in the mountains and on water. 

Michael is executive director of the 

nonprofit Foundation for Ethics 

in Pain Care and is very involved 

in pain medicine as a clinician, 

writer, editor of four journals and 

lecturer. He recently was honored 

as “Clinical Pain Educator of the 

Year” by the American Society of 

Pain Educators. 

Also in medical world news, we 

learned that Dr. Daniel P. Petrylak, 

an oncologist, is set to begin a new 

appointment in September: Yale 

Cancer Center and the Smilow Cancer 

Hospital at Yale-New Haven 

have named him to lead the genitourinary 

cancers medical oncology 

team at Smilow and to be director 

of the prostate cancer research 

group and co-director of the Signal 

Transduction Research Program. 

Daniel joins Yale from NewYork- 

Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia 

University Medical Center. He 

earned an M.D. from Case Western 

Reserve University School of Medicine, 

completed his internship and 

residency at Albert Einstein College 

of Medicine and did his fellowship 

in oncology at Memorial Sloan- 

Kettering Cancer Center. 

Congratulations to Paul, Michael 

and Daniel on their stellar professional 

achievements. 

Jack O’Loughlin reports: “Oldest 

son John ’12 graduated in May. 

He’ll live and work in New York. 

He was on the track team (middistance) 

and really enjoyed his CC 

experience. Our other son, Brendan 

’15, is now in his second year at CC 

and also is a mid-distance runner. 

He’s enjoying the experience thus 

far as well. Oldest is a daughter, 

Caroline (also a runner), who 

graduated from Dartmouth last 

year and recently moved back to 

Boston for a new job after working 

in Manhattan for a year. My wife, 

Carol, and I now are empty-nesters 

and are in the process of selling 

our home in suburban Boston 

and moving into the South End 

neighborhood. 

“Had dinner with former roommates 

Bill Haney ’81E and Tom 

Windas ’81E in June, and it was 

great seeing them. 

“I’ve been working in banking 

for nearly 30 years, primarily 

with BankBoston (and successor 

banks Fleet and BofA) in corporate 

and international banking; I then 

started a New England wholesale 

banking team for Huntington Bank 

from Columbus, Ohio, in 2010. It’s 

been very entrepreneurial and a 

lot of fun. The best part is I’ve also 

managed to turn less commuting 

time into some exercise time.” 

Finally, though many of you 

have already heard this news, it is 

with great sadness that we note the 

passing of Richard M. Ruzika on 

May 8 from complications arising 

from knee surgery. Richard was a 

star on the football team, so good 

he was drafted into the NFL (Dallas 

Cowboys). He decided to bypass 

a career in football, instead joining 

Goldman Sachs, where he worked 

in several executive positions and 

ultimately became co-head of commodities. 

He spent almost 30 years 

at Goldman and was preparing to 

start a new hedge fund, Dublin Hill 

Capital, based in Greenwich, Conn. 

Richard was very loyal to Columbia 

and was recognized with a John Jay 

Award for distinguished professional 

achievement in 2006. He is 

survived by his wife, Ruthanne, 

and two teenage children. Our deep 

condolences go out to the Ruzika 

family. 

[Editor’s note: See Summer 2012 

Obituaries.] 

82 

Andrew Weisman 

710 Lawrence Ave. 

Westfield, NJ 07090 

weisman@comcast.net 

Greetings, gentlemen: I trust this 

note finds you all in good spirits. 

As I put single digit to iPad, one of 

the hottest summers on record is 

blazing, Obamacare has been upheld 

(or defined as a tax, depending 

on your political persuasion) 

and the European bond markets 

are in disarray, playing mumbletypeg 

with my 401K. 

On a positive note, I recently 

encountered one of our most 

esteemed College professors on 

a flight to Newark from Denver 

(where I reside four days a week, so 

if anyone’s in the vicinity, look me 

up and I’ll spring for dinner). The 

professor: Arnold Eisen. Some of 

you may remember him from CC; 

if I recall correctly John Malcolm, 

Wally Wentink and John Levy 

Eric Laursen ’82 is an independent journalist who 

has covered political and financial news for more 

than 25 years. 

were in class with me. Professor 

Eisen now is chancellor of the Jewish 

Theological Seminary. He was 

rather taken aback that I remembered 

him after 30 years. The reality 

is that he did a fantastic job teaching 

the class and I’d be surprised if any 

of us forgot the experience. 

Writing in this period is the selfless 

and adventurous Karl Olson. 

A member of the Foreign Service, 

Karl spent the spring studying 

Pashto and growing a beard in 

preparation for deployment to Afghanistan 

(a commitment that also 

kept him from attending reunion). 

On behalf of the entire class, I 

thank Karl for his efforts. 

On special assignment this period, 

our roving reunion reporter, 

Dave Filosa, sends this account of 

the weekend’s events: “The 30th 

reunion was a great success. High 

point was the tri-college cocktail 

party on the Hamilton Steps before 

our class dinner in Butler. Everyone 

was happy for the opportunity 

to see classmates from Engineering 

and Barnard. 

“We have established a Columbia- 

Barnard-Engineering Class of 1982 

Reunion Group on Facebook that 

has pictures from the weekend and 

that we encourage everyone to join. 

Check it out at facebook.com/#!/ 

groups/217827018331357/. 

“Yours truly saw Andrew Danzig, 

Victor Lopez-Balboa, Frank 

Lopez-Balboa, Louis De Chiara, 

Joe Cabrera, Joe Piscina, Mark 

Berti and Mike Schmidtberger. 

Had a great discussion regarding 

polytheism over dinner. 

“After the Friday barbecue we 

got to relive the good old days at 

Havana Central a.k.a. The West 

End where Dan Libby ’82E chased 

down a pickpocket from the bar.” 

Philosophical discourse, booze, 

crime and punishment. It doesn’t 

get better than that! 

Also writing in this period was 

the accomplished Eric Laursen, 

an independent journalist who 

has covered political and financial 

news for more than 25 years. He 

reports that his latest book, The 

People’s Pension: The Struggle to 

Defend Social Security Since Reagan, 

was published in April. 

Eric says, “It tells the surprisingly 

entertaining story of how a 

grassroots collection of labor unions, 

progressive lawmakers and advocates 

for the elderly, low-income 

communities and people of color 

have repeatedly stymied efforts by 

the Republican right and Democratic 

center-right to scale back, phase out 

and privatize Social Security. I became 

interested in the subject when I 

was running Plan Sponsor, a monthly 

magazine for pension executives, in 

the ’90s. I wanted to explore why so 

many powerful people are intent on 

cutting Social Security even though 

other elements of the American retirement 

income system are eroding, 

making Social Security’s protections 

more important than ever. And 

I wanted to clear up some of the 

confusion about the economics of 

Social Security. 

“Along the way, I found out a 

lot that had never been revealed. 

For instance, how the Clinton 

administration and Newt Gingrich 

(then Speaker of the House) were 

so intent on making an historic 

deal to cut Social Security that they 

kept at it for months, even after the 

Monica Lewinsky scandal made 

it next to impossible for the White 

House to work with Congress on 

anything. In fact, every President 

since Jimmy Carter has tried to cut 

Social Security at some point in 

his administration. That includes 

Barack Obama ’83. The real heroes 

of The People’s Pension are the grassroots 

groups that have somehow 

stopped them every time. Will 

they be able to keep doing so? I 

explore this question and also what 

it would take to inoculate Social 

STUDENT 

Alumni Sons and Daughters 

Seventy-one members of the College Class of 2016 and five members of the Engineering Class of 2016 

are sons or daughters of College alumni. This list is alphabetical by the parent’s last name. 

PARENT 

Nicholas Ackerman Stephen K. Ackerman ’79 

Poughquag, N.Y. • Arlington H.S. 

Olivia Alex John Alex ’89 

Middletown, N.J. • Leonia H.S. 

Stepan Atamian Jean-Marie L. Atamian ’81 

New York City • The Dalton School 

Stephen Babendreier Gerard M. Babendreier ’84 

Rockville, Md. • The Heights School 

Theresa Babendreier Gerard M. Babendreier ’84 

Rockville, Md. • Oakcrest School 

Aram Balian Nairi Checkosky Balian ’88 

Chevy Chase, Md. • St. Albans School 

Roberta Barnett Richard L. Barnett ’75 

Pelham, N.Y. • Pelham Memorial H.S. 

Cian Barron Joaquin Barron ’94 

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. • Pascack Hills H.S. 

Andrew Barth Andrew F. Barth ’83 

San Marino, Calif. • San Marino H.S. 

Eleanor Beckman Peregrine Beckman ’84 

and Elizabeth Leicester ’87 

Los Angeles • The Archer School for Girls 

Nicole Bernstein Brett B. Bernstein ’84 

Scarsdale, N.Y. • Scarsdale H.S. 

Tanna Bogursky Jeff Bogursky ’80 

New York City • SAR H.S. 

Daniel Brovman Mikhail Brovman ’81 

Teaneck, N.J. • Horace Mann H.S. 

Alexander Carames Ernesto J. Carames ’85 

St. Augustine, Fla. • St. Joseph Academy 

Brigid Connell John C. Connell ’76 

Haddonfield, N.J. • Haddonfield Memorial H.S. 

Marguerite Daw Edward W. Daw ’86 

St. Louis • Clayton H.S. 

Ilana Deresiewicz Robert Deresiewicz ’79 

Newton, Mass. • New Jewish H.S. 

Etienne Desbois Marcel P. Desbois ’77 ° 


Amar Dhingra * Alda Dhingra ’91 

Gurgaon, India • Vasant Valley School 

Ariana Dickey Burton F. Dickey ’76 

Houston • St. John’s School 

Samantha Duncan Daniel N. Duncan ’85 

Austin, Texas • Westlake H.S. 

Elliot Finkelstein Joshua S. Finkelstein ’82 

East Brunswick, N.J. • The Frisch School 

Penina Francus Yitzchak Francus ’84 

Pittsburgh • The Ellis School 

Claire Friedman Brett Friedman ’80 

Salt Lake City • Rowland Hall-St. Mark’s School 

Daniel Friedman David P. Friedman ’79 

Wynnewood, Pa. • Lower Merion H.S. 

Avi Chad-Friedman * Mark Friedman ’70 

Newton Highlands, Mass. • Newton South H.S. 

Rebecca Glanzer Michael Glanzer ’78 

Brooklyn, N.Y. • Berkeley Carroll School 

Henry Green Alan I. Green ’65 

Hanover, N.H. • Milton Academy 

STUDENT 

PARENT 

Jared Greene Steven E. Greene ’76 

Tenafly, N.J. • Tenafly H.S. 

Chase Gutman Howard Gutman ’77 

Brussels • The International School of Brussels 

Justin Hahn Kim S. Hahn ’77 

Bayside, N.Y. • Hunter College H.S. 

Sophia Horowitz Benjamin A. Horowitz ’88 

Atherton, Calif. • Sacred Heart Prep 

Katharyn-Alexis Huseby Thomas S. Huseby ’69 

Seattle • The Bush School 

Adam Jaffe * Aaron D. Jaffe ’85 

White Plains, N.Y. • White Plains H.S. 

Dylan Jones Robert A.W. Jones ’85 

Richmond, Va. • Appomattox Regional Governor’s School 

Alexander Kalicki * Jan H. Kalicki ’68 

Alexandria, Va. • Sidwell Friends School 

Chester King Thomas S. King ’86 

Stamford, Conn. • Stamford H.S. 

Jason Kingdon Mark E. Kingdon ’71 

New York City • Riverdale Country School 

Ike Kitman Jamie L. Kitman ’79 

Piermont, N.Y. • Tappan Zee H.S. 

Anna Knight Robert C. Knight ’81 

Redlands, Calif. • Redlands H.S. 

Nathan Kung David S. Kung ’84 

Bethesda, Md. • Montgomery Blair H.S. 

Allison Lavine Jonathan S. Lavine ’88 

Weston, Mass. • Dana Hall School 

Benjamin Lewinter David Lewinter ’84 

West Orange, N.J. • Rae Kushner Yeshiva H.S. 

Daniel Liss Kevin J. Liss ’84 

Silver Spring, Md. • Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School 

Alena Lovi-Borgmann John D. Lovi ’83 

Montclair, N.J. • Phillips Exeter H.S. 

Rachael Lubitz Lawrence J. Lubitz ’79 

New York City • The Brearley School 

Kyra Lunenfeld Peter Lunenfeld ’84 

Los Angeles • Windward H.S. 

Lisa Maddox Robert T. Maddox ’81 

Weston, Conn. • Weston H.S. 

Gabriel Merkin J. Ezra Merkin ’76 

New York City • Ramaz Upper School 

Hannah Milnes Eric J. Milnes ’81 

Locust Valley, N.Y. • Locust Valley H.S. 

Zachary Neugut Alfred I. Neugut ’72 

Teaneck, N.J. • The Frisch School 

Katherine Nevitt Thomas M. Nevitt ’82 

Manhasset, N.Y. • Manhasset H.S. 

Meena Oberdick John D. Oberdick ’79 

Columbus, Ohio • Columbus Alternative H.S. 

Martha Corey-Ochoa George Ochoa ’81 

Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. • Dobbs Ferry H.S. 

Denyven Peng * David H. Peng ’83 

Chaoyang Dist. Beijing • Redwood H.S. 

Gregory Rempe Gary L. Rempe II ’87 and 

Susan Beamis Rempe ’87 

Albuquerque, N.M. • Eldorado H.S. 

STUDENT 

PARENT 

Klaas Roberts Sandy A. Roberts ’81 

Bowie, Md. • The Key School 

Sarah Roth Steven D. Roth ’77 


Craig Ruzika Richard M. Ruzika ’81 ° 

Riverside, Conn. • Brunswick School 

Alexander Sabel David G. Sabel ’72 

London • St. Paul’s School 

Noah Schoen Robert E. Schoen ’79 

Pittsburgh • Shady Side Academy 

Daniel Schultz William Schultz ’83 

Atlanta • Phillips Academy 

Anne Scotti Thomas Scotti ’85 

Medfield, Mass. • Medfield H.S. 

Harrison Shih Chih Y. Shih ’80 

Saddle River, N.J. • Bergen Catholic H.S. 

Gunter Sissoko Carolyn G. Sissoko ’92 

Culver City, Calif. • Lycée Français 

Sarah Sperber Sebastian Sperber ’85 

London • North London Collegiate School 

Andrew Stoughton Gerald Stoughton ’79 

Scarsdale, N.Y. • Edgemont H.S. 

Nina Stoupnitzky Gregory Stoupnitzky ’78 

Rye, N.Y. • Rye Country Day School 

Aryeh Strobel Ronald E. Strobel ’81 

Englewood, N.J. • The Frisch School 

Elizabeth Trelstad Graham L. Trelstad ’89 and 

Julie M. Trelstad ’89 

White Plains, N.Y. • White Plains H.S. 

Kristina Wald Robert M. Wald ’68 

Chicago • The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools 

Grayson Warrick Lance A. Warrick ’79 

New York City • Choate Rosemary Hall 

Eric Wimer Charles Wimer ’67 

New York City • Fieldston School 

Arianna Winchester Daniel J. Winchester ’76 

New York City • New York City Lab H.S. for 

Collaborative Studies 

Zoe Wood Christopher Wood ’83 

Lexington, Mass. • Lexington H.S. 

Ezra Wyschogrod Daniel Wyschogrod ’78 

Newton Centre, Mass • Maimonides School 

* Member of the Engineering Class of 2016 

° Deceased 

Seven incoming College transfer students 

are sons or daughters of College alumni. 

STUDENT 

PARENT 

Sarah Coleman Steven Coleman ’83 

Ryan Cottone Anthony Cottone ’80 

Karl Daum Eric Daum ’81 

Shmuel Goldman Alan Goldman ’91 and 

Sara (Silver) Goldman ’91 

James Mazur Marc B. Mazur ’81 

David Momjian Mark A. Momjian ’83 

Douglas Yee Danny Ong Yee ’77 

FALL 2012 

84 

FALL 2012 

85

CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

Security — the most successful antipoverty 

program in U.S. history 

— from this kind of politics. 

“Researching and writing the 

book took more than a decade, and 

I supported it with freelance financial 

writing and journalism, the 

field I’ve worked in since Columbia. 

I was fortunate, too, that I found a 

wonderful independent publisher, 

AK Press, that was willing to take 

on a long, serious book about an 

important topic. I have a couple 

more intriguing book projects that 

I’ve already started to flesh out. But 

first I want to see if The People’s Pension 

can make a difference!” 

Very exciting! I’m looking forward 

to reading this one. 

In the news this period, it was 

announced on June 23 that Greg 

Burke was selected as a senior communications 

adviser to the Vatican’s 

secretariat of state, in the Vatican. In 

an AP interview Greg said, “I’m a 

bit nervous but very excited. Let’s 

just say it’s a challenge.” Greg will 

be leaving his role as the FOX News 

Vatican correspondent to assume 

this new and demanding role. [See 

Alumni in the News.] 

Congratulations! 

Looking forward to hearing from 

all of you. Cheers! 


MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013 




212-851-7834 



212-851-7833 

83 

Roy Pomerantz 

Babyking/Petking 

182-20 Liberty Ave. 

Jamaica, NY 11412 

bkroy@msn.com 

Greetings, classmates. My wife and 

I hosted a fundraiser at our home 

for my friend and trusted confidante 

of nearly 30 years: pragmatic, 

progressive, Democrat Marc Landis. 

Marc is running for New York 

City Council on the Upper West 

Side. He is a tireless and dedicated 

public servant, and is a person of 

outstanding character and compassion. 

Marc’s wife is Judy Landis ’85 

Barnard, ’92 SIPA. John Luisi ’81 

was one of many Columbia graduates 

in attendance. Other Columbia 

supporters included Stephen Jacobs 

’75, Jim Weinstein ’84, Ken Chin, 

Mark Simon ’84, Eddy Friedfeld 

and Dennis Klainberg ’84. 

Eddy wrote an article about this 

year’s Friars Club Roast for Betty 

White for the website Cinema 

Retro. It begins: “From an eclectic 

dais that ranged from Matt Lauer, 

Liza Minnelli, and Dick Cavett, to 

Dominic ‘Uncle Junior’ Chianese, 

to The Office’s Oscar Nuñez, to former 

New York [Knicks] star John 

Starks, to [former] boxing great 

Ray ‘Boom Boom’ Mancini, to Best 

Picture The Artist’s Uggie the dog, 

the event was up to its usual biting 

and merciless humor, poking fun 

at the guest of honor’s age and 

sexual proclivity. 

“Barbara Walters served as 

Roastmaster, marking the first time 

in Friars history that women were 

both host and subject. ‘Yesterday, I 

was talking to the President of the 

United States,’ Walters said, referring 

to Barack Obama’s appearance 

on The View, ‘and today I am with 

second-rate comedians and a dog.’ 

“Walters kicked off the festivities 

by skewering her longtime friend: 

‘What has been said about Betty 

White that hasn’t been said about 

her contemporaries: Moses, John 

the Baptist and General Custer … 

Betty was the first woman banned 

by the TSA for requesting too many 

pat downs, the first person to try to 

send a text from a land line, and the 

first woman to do Shakespeare at 

The Globe Theatre. Literally, she did 

him in the balcony.’ 

“‘Regis Philbin, Abe Vigoda, 

Larry King … what is this, a roast 

or are we sitting shiva?’ Walter’s 

co-host, Joy Behar, said about her 

elderly dais companions. ‘Larry 

King’s latest wife is not only compatible 

romantically; she is also a 

compatible donor … When Katie 

Couric had her last colonoscopy 

televised, they found Sarah Palin’s 

high school diploma … Betty 

White is so old her first sitcom was 

‘Hot for Grover Cleveland.’” 

You can read the rest at cinema 

retro.com. 

Jon Ross is the founder and 

program manager for MicroAid International. 

He writes, “I am happy 

to report that the canoe project 

in Matafa’a, Samoa, is complete. 

Now, every family in the village 

has a canoe to get across the bay to 

get to school, to the shop and to the 

bus stop so they can get to work in 

the capital of Apia. Thanks to the 

support of our donors, MicroAid 

was able to replace the canoes that 

were lost in the 2009 tsunami. Our 

mission, to stay focused on victims 

of disasters after the world’s attention 

has moved on, works because 

we deliver the assistance directly 

and efficiently. I oversee the projects 

from beginning to end and 

make sure they are finished. (We 

also replaced lost fishing kits in the 

village of Salea’aumua.) 

“Please go to the MicroAid 

Jon Ross ’83 is the founder and program manager 

for MicroAid International. 

website (microaidinternational.org), 

under ‘Completed Projects and 

Updates,’ to see the details. Also on 

the site, you can read my blog from 

the field for day-by-day updates 

on different stages of the project 

and my time living in the village 

(microaidinternational.org/WP). 

Thank you so much for the support. 

MicroAid is the only humanitarian 

aid organization focusing on this 

kind of specific long-term disaster 

recovery.” 

Brendan Mee writes, “Earlier 

this year I opened my own law 

firm, Brendan Mee Law. My specialty 

is IP, patents and trademarks, 

particularly chemical and mechanical 

patents. I have paid internship 

opportunities for recent grads or 

rising seniors with a science background 

and some interest in law.” 

Brendan works in New York; 

those who are interested may contact 

him at bmee@fchs.com. 

In other legal news, Business 

Wire reports that Joseph A. Smith 

has joined Schulte Roth & Zabel as 

a partner in the investment management 

group. Joseph previously 

was the global chair for Dewey & 

LeBoeuf’s private equity practice 

group. He has been recognized as 

a leading practitioner by Chambers 

USA, The Legal 500 and The Legal 

Media Group Guide to the World’s 

Leading Private Equity Lawyers. He 

earned his J.D. at NYU Law. 

I had an enjoyable breakfast 

recently with Andy Barth ’85 

Business, a tireless supporter of 

the College. Andy was in NYC 

for a Business School event. I was 

thrilled to learn that his son, Andy 

Barth Jr. ’16, is starting CC this fall. 

He is a wrestler (following in his 

legendary dad’s footsteps) and 

football player. Andy told me that 

he did not start wrestling until he 

attended Stuyvesant H.S. He also 

told me that Columbia had a huge 

impact on his life and contributed 

greatly to his success. Andy is close 

friends with Li Lu ’96, ’96L, ’96 

Business, a 2012 John Jay Award recipient. 

Andy attended the dinner 

and award ceremony in March. 

Thomas Vinciguerra ’85 has an 

article in Columbia magazine’s summer 

issue on President Obama’s 

May 14 Barnard Commencement 

speech. Obama has a half-sister, 

Maya Soetoro-Ng ’93 Barnard. He 

spoke at South Field so the maximum 

number of students could 

attend. He wore a Columbia doctoral 

gown and Harvard hood. He 

remarked that when he attended 

Columbia some of the streets near 

Columbia were not as “inviting” 

as now. 

Tom asked me about ’83’s hopes 

for Obama’s being at the 30th reunion 

or in the future. I responded: 

“As class correspondent for CCT 

and co-chair for the 30th reunion, 

I understand that many of our 

classmates experienced challenges 

attending Columbia in the 1980s. 

Having turned 50 this year, I am 

eminently aware of the fact that 

most life experiences are nuanced. 

The Class of 1983 has produced 

world leaders in finance (Dan 

Loeb, founder of Third Point), law 

(Miguel Estrada, argued 20 cases 

before the Supreme Court), technology 

(Kai-Fu Lee, former president 

of Google China), journalism (Marcus 

Brauchli, executive editor of The 

Washington Post) and politics (President 

Barack Obama). Undoubtedly, 

the tremendous success of these 

individuals and others highlights 

the benefits derived from Columbia’s 

outstanding education and 

unique urban experience. President 

Obama’s commencement speech 

at the Barnard [Commencement] 

this year was truly historic. The 

Class of ’83 hopes that he continues 

to reconnect with his Columbia 

roots by attending our upcoming 

30th reunion and embracing [alma 

mater] for the impact it has had on 

our lives.” 

According to an article in The 

New York Times in May, Dan Loeb 

has gained a seat on the board at Yahoo! 

in the wake of chief executive 

Scott Thompson’s departure. As the 

article explains, “Mr. Thompson’s 

departure also signifies a victory for 

Third Point, the activist hedge fund 

that had discovered the executive’s 

erroneous record and had waged a 

bitter proxy fight to get its nominees 

onto Yahoo’s board. Under the 

terms of a settlement announced 

on Sunday, Third Point’s founder, 

Daniel S. Loeb, will gain a board 

seat, as will two of his designees, 

Michael J. Wolf and Harry Wilson.” 

Dan also was in the Times in 

connection with his apartment. A 

June article, “Trophy Hunting in 

Manhattan,” which surveyed highend 

real estate in NYC, noted that 

he “owns the largest penthouse 

in the taller ‘tower’ [at 15 Central 

Park West], which brokers in [the 

reporter’s] sample unanimously 

ranked among the Top 5 trophies.” 

William Bivins has three shows 

that opened this summer: Dude, a 

one-act comedy about a straight 

guy’s reluctance to be best man at 

his gay college buddy’s wedding; 

Celia Sh*ts, a short comedy about 

what happens when all the mystery 

goes out of a relationship; and 

The Education of a Rake, a full-length 

comedy about sex, politics and one 

man’s crusade to gain equal rights 

for women. 

I’m looking forward to helping 

organize our 30th reunion. Any 

classmates interested in participating 

in the planning or fundraising 

should contact me or the appropriate 

Alumni Office representative at 

the top of the column. It’s still early 

enough that you can help in the 

planning by joining the Reunion 

Committee. And of course put the 

dates on your calendar, Thursday, 

May 30–Sunday, June 2, 2013. 

84 

Dennis Klainberg 

Berklay Cargo Worldwide 

14 Bond St., Ste 233 

Great Neck, NY 11021 

dennis@berklay.com 

Yours truly and Louis Vlahos had 

the distinction of holding high our 

class banner during the Alumni 

Parade of Classes at Class Day on 

May 15. As reported over the years, 

this is an amazing experience 

where, after a sumptuous catered 

feast in John Jay Dining Hall (yes, 

it is possible), we march down the 

aisles to the applause and adulation 

of the graduating class. Makes 

one feel like a rock star, and truly 

gives a great sense of pride in the 

College. Louis was doubly blessed 

as his daughter, MaryAnn ’12, was 

one of those graduates. 

Good luck at Columbia Dental 

School, MaryAnn! 

And speaking of legacies, Eleanor, 

daughter of Peregrine Beckman, 

will join the Class of 2016 this fall 

and live in Carman. He writes, “We 

attended the Days on Campus event 

in April just to get her primed; she’s 

very excited. I also got to see my old 

roommate and great friend Gregory 

Lynch, who’s still in textbook publishing. 

I’m editing my fifth episode 

of Deadliest Catch right now and will 

soon move on to Bering Sea Gold, all 

for Discovery channel. I still listen to 

WKCR’s jazz programming every 

day and love having it online.” 

From the Republic of Texas, Dr. 

Langham Gleason rides again! 

“Practicing neurosurgery with an 

emphasis on minimally invasive, 

image-guided techniques in Wichita 

Falls, Texas. I’m very excited that 

my second-oldest daughter, Kylie, 

is moving to NYC from Cambridge, 

Mass., to work for Bain & 

Co. I plan to visit her as often as 

I can! Just hope one of my other 

four, younger kids pick Columbia 

for undergraduate studies.” 

Saul Hansell watched too much 

TV as a kid, and look what 

happened: He started Sii.TV, a 

company that will offer video news 

over the Internet. Saul, a longtime 

technology writer and editor at The 

New York Times, left in 2009 for AOL, 

where he ran several product areas. 

At the end of last year, he became 

an entrepreneur in residence at 

Betaworks, a New York Internet 

incubator, and founded Sii.TV. “I 

had spent too much time watching 

other people start companies, and it 

was time for me to build something 

myself,” he says. “I’ve been excited 

about the possibilities of broadcast 

news since I worked at WKCR. The 

dawn of Internet television will let 

us create video news programs that 

are a lot more interesting, personal 

and interactive than the typical 

cable and network fare today.” Saul 

has built a demo app and shot a 

pilot episode with the help of two 

buddies from WKCR, Charles Passy 

’85 and Eric Scholl ’83. Now he is 

raising the money so Sii.TV can take 

on CNN, FOX News and the rest. 

“Oh, we’re moving on up… ” 

with Richard Manion: “Since 

splitting with my business partner 

in 2009, my residential architectural 

firm has done well and now 

employs 20. I recently completed 

two apartments at Manhattan’s 15 

Central Park West, have numerous 

projects in California and Hawaii, 

and also am designing residences 

in Singapore, Shanghai and Abu 

Dhabi. (I am in Singapore as I write 

this.) I also recently published a 

book on some of my works from 

the past 17 years; called Richard 

Manion Architecture, it’s part of the 

New Classicists series on architects 

whose work is traditionally 

inspired.” 

Thank you, Richard, for gifting 

me your beautiful tome! I can attest 

that your work is amazing. 

Wink wink, nod nod, wot? Henry 

Goodrow and Ron Adelman both 

headed to London in July for a reunion 

with their London School of 

Economics junior-year-abroad classmates. 

Henry is the development 

director at Artists For Humanity, a 

Boston nonprofit that provides urban 

high school teens with training 

and jobs in art and design. Ron is a 

litigator and transactional lawyer 

with Lynn & Cahill in New York, 

specializing in art law intellectual 

property and defamation.” 

What’s new, Tom Dyja? (I 

had to ask.) He responded, “All I 

can give you is a shameless plug 

for one of my projects: Thames 

& Hudson recently published a 

book I packaged, On the High Line: 

Exploring America’s Most Original 

Urban Park. It has more than 400 

color photos and the first guide to 

the High Line and the neighborhoods 

it passes through.” 

At the prodding of the enterprising 

and eleemosynary Mark 

Simon, Cary Pfeffer, our noble 

and modest salutatorian, checks 

in: “I remain busy building new 

biotech companies as a partner at 

Third Rock Ventures. In that role I 

am interim CBO and CEO of new 

biotech companies we form, and 

also serve on the boards of many 

of these companies, which are all 

involved in developing breakthrough 

therapeutics for patients. 

I also recently completed writing 

the biotech chapter in Wharton 

Professor Lawton R. Burns’ second 

edition of The Business of Healthcare 

Innovation, so look for it on 

bookshelves. In addition, I enjoy 

spending time with my 7- and 

10-year-old daughters, who are 

growing up too fast.” 

Eh? Speaking of band guys who 

needed to seek asylum, Robert 

Zecker writes, “My latest book is 

recently published by Continuum. 

It’s called Race and America’s Immigrant 

Press: How the Slovaks Were 

Taught to Think Like White People. I 

still enjoy teaching at university in 

Canada.” 

Oy! We have another grandfather 

in the class. Mark Kestenbaum 

says, “I married Johanna Friedman 

in 2004 and moved back to Israel 

with our seven children (four of 

mine, three of hers). Three years 

ago we had a beautiful daughter, 

Yocheved Kestenbaum. Also three 

years ago, I became a grandfather 

to a beautiful boy, Noam, born to 

my son and daughter-in-law, Itamar 

and Becky Kestenbaum. Six months 

ago I became a grandfather to a 

Saul Hansell ’84 started Sii.TV, a company that will 

offer video news over the Internet. 

beautiful girl, Eliana Serach, born 

to my son and daughter-in-law, 

Aharon and Hannah Kestenbaum. I 

own a company, ShtibLuach, which 

produces software for electronic 

display systems for synagogues. I 

also work for Datanet in Jerusalem 

as a software engineer.” 

Gevalt! You, too, David Rier? 

“During the past 18 months or so, 

the other two-thirds of our triplets 

(both sons) each got married; one of 

them had twin girls last fall, and my 

daughter had another child, giving 

us our first grandson to complement 

our trio of granddaughters.” 

Jim Knocke, Mike McCool, 

Don Henline, Brian Clew and 

Rick Robinson, all members of 

the Ivy Championship swimming 

and diving team, celebrated their 

50th birthdays with a sailing trip 

in the British Virgin Islands. Brian 

writes, “Since graduation we have 

all stayed in touch but hadn’t seen 

each other in quite some time. 

After we settled into the 40-foot 

catamaran and started sailing to 

the many beautiful islands, it was 

like we had seen each other last 

week. Aside from scuba diving and 

sailing, we discussed our families, 

goals and current events, like we 

were in a humanities class. The 

Core Curriculum experience was 

alive and well! We are looking to 

go on another trip in two years.” 

David Stafford reports, “I was 

named general counsel of McGraw- 

Hill Education, which as publicly 

reported will be separated via spinoff 

or sale from The McGraw-Hill 

Companies later in 2012. I’ve spent 

the last 20 years as an attorney at 

The McGraw-Hill Companies. I’m 

in the process of transitioning to 

the new role. My wife, Caryn ’85 

Barnard, and I live in Scarsdale with 

our three children. My son Daniel 

graduated from high school this 

spring and will be heading to the 

University of Arizona in the fall. My 

son Andrew finished ninth grade 

and my daughter, Allison, fifth 

grade.” 

Who knew David Terhune was 

such a swinger? Listen to this slew 

of shows. “The musical revue in 

which I’m involved (guitar, sing), 

The Loser’s Lounge, performed at 

Lincoln Center’s Midsummer 

Night Swing series on July 12. This 

was our third time doing the series, 

and we featured songs from the 

Prince and Michael Jackson catalogs. 

We also played at Celebrate 

Brooklyn in the Prospect Park 

Bandshell on July 28. Did songs 

from the original Muppet Movie 

before a screening of that movie. 

Our shows at Joe’s Pub continue 

as well; we did a Sonny and Cher 

tribute June 21–23.” 

Adding a bit of historical gravitas 

to the mix is Adam Van Doren: “I 

was pleased to return to campus 

last month to attend the annual 

Mark Van Doren Award reception, 

now in its 51st year, held in the 

penthouse of Faculty House. It was 

a great experience and the organizers 

could not have been more 

welcoming, especially Rose Razaghian 

’02 GSAS, who works in the 

Office of the Vice President for Arts 

and Sciences. A large, lively crowd 

attended, and it was wonderful 

to see the recipient, philosophy 

professor Christia Mercer, give 

such an impassioned and eloquent 

acceptance speech. I remember 

when my widowed grandmother, 

Dorothy, would be picked up by 

limousine each year from her house 

in northwest Connecticut to attend 

the event in NYC. I am pleased 

to report that the enthusiasm and 

energy at this year’s ceremony 

is indicative of how relevant the 

award still is, and it bodes well for 

future such occasions. I urge as 

many alumni and current students 

as possible to come next year (the 

Lionel Trilling Award also is given 

FALL 2012 

86 

FALL 2012 

87

CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

at this time); it is intensely rewarding 

to see how genuinely proud 

these teachers are to be celebrated 

and honored by their students. This 

award is one of a kind, and it is a 

credit to Columbia that it continues 

to provide the event with such 

strong support.” [Editor’s note: See 

Around the Quads, Summer 2012.] 

And now a message from Karl 

Citek (quite the driven educator!): “I 

have been teaching at Pacific University 

College of Optometry for more 

than 17 years; I started as an assistant 

professor and was promoted up to 

full professor in 2006. On April 18, 

I was honored to receive a Target 

Zero Award in the area of impaired 

driving from the Washington Traffic 

Safety Commission. I have been 

involved for more than 10 years in 

helping teach law enforcement officers, 

prosecutors and judges about 

the effects of intoxication on eye 

movements and how police officers 

can detect impaired drivers. I have 

participated in similar teaching and 

training seminars in other states 

through the years. Bottom line: don’t 

drink or do drugs and drive; cab 

fare will always cost less, by every 

possible measure.” 

Michael James reports that he 

left the Justice Department five 

years ago and is in-house counsel 

at GE Capital, where he manages 

litigation and investigations. 

Gridiron reunion: John Witkowski 

says, “I was the featured 

speaker at the Columbia Gold Football 

Dinner in March, which gave 

me the opportunity to see many of 

my teammates and classmates who 

came to (I think) support me. It was 

also a great evening for the seniors, 

their parents, coaches and alumni. 

I thank Joe Bossolina, Bill Reggio, 

Lester Brafman, John Magner, Tom 

Samuelson, Mike Bozzo, Larry 

Silo and Pat Conroy — it’s been 

a few months, so I hope I didn’t 

forget any classmates — for being at 

the event. We had some laughs but 

more importantly are committed 

to getting together at CU events. 

Special thanks to Peter Leone ’83 

and the football advisory committee 

for inviting me to speak. 

“I have two boys in college. 

One is at Eckerd in St. Petersburg, 

Fla., studying economics. He is 

beginning his junior year and 

plays second base on the baseball 

team. My other son is beginning 

his sophomore year at John Carroll 

University, just outside of Cleveland. 

He is going to its Boler School 

of Business to major in accounting. 

He played quarterback for the JCU 

JV football team. We live in Orchard 

Park, N.Y., and my daughter 

played junior varsity basketball 

and soccer as an eighth-grader.” 

Dear friend and host of our 

class’ 25th reunion party, Dr. Doug 

Mintz, recently tied the knot with 

his beloved Lloyd Cheu in South 

Salem, N.Y. Doug, a musculoskeletal 

radiologist in Miami, and Lloyd, 

a kitchen designer who works with 

private clients in New York and 

Miami, reside in Miami Beach. 

85 

Jon White 

16 South Ct. 

Port Washington, NY 11050 

jw@whitecoffee.com 

Rich Froehlich was honored this 

spring by the Citizens Housing & 

Planning Council on the occasion 

of its 75th anniversary. Rich 

received the Roger Starr Public 

Service Award in recognition of his 

many achievements as the COO 

and general counsel of New York 

City Housing Development Corp. 

During Rich’s tenure, he has overseen 

more than 230 bond issues in 

helping HDC become the largest 

multi-family bond issuer in the nation. 

The introduction to the award 

noted, “Rich’s record speaks for 

itself” and he is “highly respected 

in the industry for his creative, 

ground-breaking interpretations.” 

Well done, Rich! 

Sebastian Sperber ’88L and his 

wife, Sally ’85 Barnard, are pleased 

to report that their daughter Sarah 

has been admitted to the Class 

of 2016. Sebastian and Sally live 

in England, where Sebastian is a 

partner at Cleary Gottlieb. “Things 

are still good here. The markets 

are much shakier given Europe’s 

woes, but we are still finding things 

to do.” 

Pete Maloney was on and off 

campus for the last two years 

getting a certificate in business excellence 

from the Business School. 

It entailed no grades or tests and 

so, with apologies to Woody Allen, 

actually involved a full 100 percent 

of just showing up. Nonetheless, 

he took time to gambol around 

campus and relive yesteryear, 

including a one-man reenactment 

of the Apache Relays. 

Michael Nagykery and his wife, 

Geraldine, sent me a photo of their 

son, Aslan, who has turned a whole 

10 months young! “Little fellow has 

already been to five countries, spent 

a few months here in the States and 

recently went back to France to 

be with friends and family for the 

summer. He is happy, healthy and 

doing well, and his parents are of 

course thrilled!” 

While traveling in the city, I ran 

into Paul Wiener, who has worked 

in Legal Aid’s Criminal Appeals 

Bureau for more than 15 years. 

On the night of the first Mets 

no-hitter in June, although I missed 

every pitch of the ballgame, I 

was just as pleased to attend the 

long overdue Kingsmen reunion. 

Thanks to Jed Bradley ’06 for his 

hospitality and the current group 

of ’smen for attending. Kingsmen 

spanning more than 50 years of 

Columbia history attended, making 

for a truly wonderful evening 

(and late night). I had met the current 

group (as irreverent as ever), 

and, thanks to my wife, Allison, 

we got them a gig at our local high 

school (showing middle school 

students the wonders of a cappella 

music). The entire alumni group, 

young and not as young, ran off a 

couple of numbers including one 

of the group’s signature hits, Mary 

Dr. Adam Cohen ’86 was named the forthcoming 

editor of Gesta, the only journal in English dedicated 

to the study of medieval art and architecture. 

Anne; it didn’t sound half bad, 

especially considering some of us 

hadn’t done it in several decades. 

I was glad to hang out with 

everyone and especially with Phil 

Birnbaum ’86 and Abe Glazer ’88, 

who were my Kingsmen cohorts. 

We look forward to another gathering, 

including a larger contingent 

of the Kingsmen from the ’80s, in 

the next year or two. 

For my personal update, the 

coffee business continues to evolve. 

Our company has grown significantly 

in the retail space, adding 

a wide variety of retail licenses to 

our portfolio, which has enabled 

us to offer our products in multiple 

club stores, major mass merchants 

and a wide range of supermarkets 

throughout the country. 

On the home front, our son, 

Isaac ’14, worked again at CCIT 

this summer, doing website design 

and completion. While he had 

lived on campus last summer, 

we were pleased that this year he 

chose the life of a suburban commuter. 

(When here, he dedicated 

a lot of time to redesigning the 

Spectator website.) As for our other 

boys, Noah (16) spent his summer 

shuttling between a political science 

course at Stanford, a hiking 

trip in the Colorado Rockies and 

a week at track camp (where he is 

looking to better his sub-5-minute 

mile time). Josh (14) returned to 

his camp for the sixth consecutive 

summer (he calls it “home”). 

And in a moment of truly personal 

glory, I threw out the first pitch 

at a Mets game at Citi Field in May. 

(See nearby photo.) I neither threw 

it into the dirt nor over the catcher’s 

head (a bit high and inside, but it 

was an amazing experience). Josh 

and I have had several opportunities 

to have Field of Dreams moments, 

with a catch on the Citi Field outfield 

and time in the batting cage. If only 

it were Shea. 

And finally, a gentle reminder 

that this column is only as good as 

your updates … so please keep the 

news coming. 

86 

Everett Weinberger 

50 W. 70th St., Apt. 3B 


everett6@gmail.com 

Warwick Daw checked in with 

good news: “I’m thrilled to tell you 

that my daughter, Marguerite ’16, is 

starting at Columbia. She attended 

the same public high school I did 

in suburban St. Louis and now she 

will be attending the same college 

as well! She’s also thinking of being 

a physics major, as was I at that 

age, but then I made a big change 

junior year to … ah … mathematics. 

I think I’ve mentioned this before, 

but now I do research in statistical 

genetics at Washington University 

in St. Louis.” 

Congrats to Michael Purves for 

being named chief global strategist 

and head of derivatives research 

at Weeden & Co., an institutional 

equity and fixed-income broker. 

Michael has definitely made the 

rounds. He was previously at BGC 

Financial and Pali Capital, two 

emerging market hedge funds, and 

spent 12 years in investment banking 

at S.G. Warburg, Merrill Lynch 

and RBC Capital Markets. He’s a 

graduate of the Wharton School 

(M.B.A.). 

Donna Petty Christie emailed: “I 

had been planning to put in a word 

for female graduates after reading 

the article in CCT celebrating the 

25th year of coed classes [Spring 

2012]. Technically, there were female 

graduates of Columbia College 

prior to 1987: the transfer students! I 

was part of a small group of women 

who stood with all those male grads 

in May 1986 to receive our undergrad 

degrees. The imbalance of 

gender was never apparent in our 

classes — only on that day when 

all grads came together — very 

memorable. Since receiving a B.A. 

in economics I have earned an M.A. 

in educational administration from 

Montclair State University, married 

and had a family, and teach preschool. 

I would love to hear from 

fellow ’86 grads who were transfer 

students with me (Susan from Oklahoma? 

Lisa from New Jersey?). 

Dr. Adam Cohen is undertaking 

two new cooperative endeavors. 

Along with his wife, Linda Safran, 

who also is a medieval art historian, 

he recently was named the forthcoming 

editor of Gesta, the only 

journal in English dedicated to the 

study of medieval art and architecture 

(published by the International 

Center of Medieval Art, based at 

The Cloisters). Of more interest to 

Columbians will be his position 

as new co-chair of the Ontario, 

Canada, chapter of the Alumni 

Representative Committee. He says, 

“I look forward to working with 

Karen Madorsky ’92 to help steer 

great students to Columbia.” 

87 

Sarah A. Kass 

PO Box 300808 


ssk43@columbia.edu 

Our 25th reunion! Words fail me. 

Do we start by talking about all the 

wondrous events and opportunities 

for reconnection and connection, 

like the amazing parties at Kyra Tirana 

Barry and Dave Barry’s house 

and at The Standard, New York? 

Or do we do a traditional linear 

narrative, starting with Thursday 

evening with the Barrys and 

continuing Friday with a report of 

some of the most amazing lectures 

I have heard in a long time — since 

school days, probably — including 

Carol Rovane’s lecture on Plato and 

Rousseau and Katharina Volk’s on 

happiness in Hellenistic philosophy? 

Or do we simply jump around 

and talk about reliving the old days 

by doing things like sitting on the 

Steps, hanging out with Gerri Gold 

and Judy Kim on Saturday afternoon? 

Since there is no ideal way 

(unless you believe unquestioningly 

in Plato), I thought I’d let some of 

the reunion attendees speak for 

themselves. 

Cathy Webster writes, “Thursday 

night at the Barrys’ house 

— what a gorgeous event! And 

a beautiful evening all the way 

around. A highlight was catching 

up with two of my freshmen 

floormates, Stavros Zomopoulos 

and Jane Bolgatz, and reminiscing 

about the close bonds of our little 

corner of 6 McBain. Also enjoyed 

chatting with Bruce Furukawa, 

one of only a few of our lot who 

has actually set foot in Oklahoma. 

“On Friday, I had a wonderful 

and extended evening that started 

at The Standard, New York, and 

ended at the Dream Hotel with 

dancing and partying into the 

wee hours. Loved catching up, if 

briefly, with Elizabeth Schwartz 

Cohen, who has held more or less 

the same professional position 

for 21 years with CNN, and with 

Anne Cartwright, with whom I 

exchanged iPhone photo albums 

of our kids. George Stone and I 

talked at length about the value 

of French education, which was 

an unlikely conversation for both 

of us! Ellen Sullivan Crovatto 

bought me dinner. It was wurst, 

but really not bad. 

“After lunch on Saturday with 

my BFF Sarah Kass, the Marching 

Band reception featured Lee Ilan 

and Margaret McCarthy, both with 

their partners, but Lee also had her 

gorgeous babe in tow. It was good 

to sit down and catch up for an 

extended stretch with them both. 

“And at dinner, Dick Dawson 

and his wife, Katy Tkach Dawson, 

with whom I took freshman comp, 

were wonderful table companions. 

We talked a lot about food — Dick 

has become a chef in Cambridge, 

Mass. — and about our extended 

families and our kids. 

“I ended the night with Glee 

Club members including Shelley 

Friedland, Laurie Gershon, Farah 

Chandu and more. We sang all the 

school songs we could remember, 

including all three official verses 

of Sans Souci and a couple of the 

naughty ones. My feet were too 

tired to dance under the stars, 

unfortunately, but I loved taking 

the 1 train late on a Saturday night. 

Some things still feel the same, all 

these years later. 

“I also had warm chats with 

Jon Nelson, also 6 McBain, and 

Michelle Estilo Kaiser before and 

after dinner on Saturday night. 

Not to mention the engineers with 

whom I was so very happy to dine! 

Overall turnout was incredible, 

really. 

“Plus, I went to Elaine Sisman’s 

talk on Don Giovanni. She is just 

as I remembered her: dynamic and 

vibrant and so incredibly smart. I 

was completely flattered that she 

remembered me by name.” 

Farah Chandu writes: “Great 

idea to have joint CC and SEAS 

events! My husband, Paul Carbone 

’86E, and I had a wonderful 

time with dear friends from 

both schools. Especially fun was 

gathering at the Sundial with 

other Glee Clubbers to sing official 

and decidedly non-official school 

songs. Amazing how many verses 

we remembered from 25 years ago! 

Thanks to all who helped arrange 

it — this felt more like a party for 

our real life, far-flung friends than 

it did a school reunion.” 

Thoughts from Christine 

Jamgochian Koobatian: “I had a 

great time at our 25th reunion. I 

remember going to my dad’s [Peter 

Jamgochian ’63 GS] 25th Columbia 

reunion the spring before I started 

at Columbia and thinking to myself 

that everyone was sooooooo old. 

Somehow we don’t seem nearly as 

old as they did, although the college 

kids would probably disagree! 

“I spent time with four of my five 

college roommates: Teresa Saputo 

CCT class correspondent Jon White ’85 threw out the first pitch at 

Citi Field for the Mets-Reds game on May 16. 

Crerend, Michelle Estilo Kaiser, 

Lauren Alter Baumann and Donna 

Pacicca. We missed Kerry Russell 

Hutson ’87E but are planning our 

own reunion with her this fall. It 

was so good to see everyone. Teresa 

and I were sitting on the Steps and 

talking about how much Columbia 

feels like home to us. I’ll always feel 

that way. I live in Connecticut now 

with my husband and four kids, 

yet whenever we’re in the city we 

have to go past alma mater. I hope 

to make it back for Homecoming 

[Saturday, October 20; see Around 

the Quads] and other alumni events 

in the near future.” 

Bruce Furukawa reported, “I 

had an amazing few days hanging 

out with my friends from college. 

While our appearances were different, 

the hearts and souls of the 

people I saw there were the same, 

and that was all that mattered. My 

only regret when I left was that 

I did not take advantage of the 

time when I was at school to get 

to know people I just met at the 

reunion.” 

Ron Burton said, “Great reconnecting 

with old friends and, believe 

it or not, making new ones. Old 

enough to regale each other with 

stories of our kids’ accomplishments, 

but still young enough not 

to be sporting seersucker suits and 

straw hats. In short, the echoes were 

awakened!” 

Here’s Madeleine Villanueva’s 

recap: “I, along with Juliet (Rogers) 

Kaba ’87E and Chris Kane, 

were part of outreach for Carman 

6. The whole process for that was 

exciting ... trolling the web for 

contact info, getting the Alumni 

Office to provide a floor plan and 

enlisting the help of an evergrowing 

circle to track — in my 

case more like hunt — everyone 

down. Dan Wery, for example, 

responded: ‘Wow! Hi Madeleine! 

What a flash from the past. I can 

still hear you say “Papi!”’ Deidre 

(Facendola) Altobell ’87E said, ‘I 

received a message from one of 

my co-workers at Con Ed that the 

Class of ’87 is looking for me for 

the reunion. In effect, I was reconnecting 

long before the reunion.’ 

“It was touching that Demetria 

Gallegos, although busy with family 

obligations, came by campus 

to visit. We took advantage of the 

Columbia Alumni Center to chat 

comfortably while enjoying the 

coffee and muffins. Aida Santiago 

’87E also maneuvered her schedule 

to join us. We’d reconnected in 

the past couple of years, but we 

hadn’t actually seen each other in 

27! Diane Ridley-White ’88 crashed 

just to catch up with some of the 

old crew. 

“I danced a good portion of the 

night away with Rina Teran. There 

also was the opportunity to make 

new connections. Friday night I 

received a text from Jennifer Duran 

’97, saying ‘I met someone from 

ur class.’ Apparently, Joongi Kim 

had opted to hang with the ‘young 

folk’; on Saturday night we sought 

each other out. We recalled memories 

of John Pennywell, taken from 

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89

CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

us way too early. 

“Yet one of the most treasured 

moments from this weekend didn’t 

occur on campus. It was my trip 

with Bill Hicks to visit Kevin Davis 

’87E, who could not join us due 

to health concerns. During virtually 

all four years at Columbia, we were 

a pretty tight trio. Kevin and I even 

rented a two-bedroom in Park 

Slope together after graduation. Yet, 

this was the first time in roughly 

15 years that all three of us were 

together. The bond and love forged 

at Columbia has transcended time, 

distance and even lapses in communication. 

It was a truly awing 

experience.” 

Christina Musrey said, “I had 

never been to a Columbia reunion 

and am so happy I went to this one! 

I came because my dear roommate, 

whom I love and am very connected 

to, and her lovely, assertive husband 

would not let me stay home. 

I am speaking of Ellen (Sullivan) 

Crovatto and Chris Crovatto. I also 

came to see Gwen Dunaif, whom I 

want to see whenever I can. 

“When I arrived at LAX airport 

at 6 a.m., I heard, ‘Oh there she 

is!’ It was Bill Hicks and Kevin 

Greber. So, the reunion began a 

little early. The surprise was how 

many other friends I felt strongly 

about after the weekend ended. I 

spent time with Ron Burton and 

his beautiful wife; Kyle Kietrys 

’89 and his incredible wife, Jane 

Bolgatz; Cathy Webster; and Luis 

De Los Santos ’87E. I danced the 

night away with Ellen, Stavros 

Zomopoulos, Jose Calvo and 

Rina Teran. Also with Sandy 

Asirvatham, who, along with her 

husband, Kevin, I and many others 

spent quality time with at all the 

events. I even visited their room in 

Carman Hall! That was a memory 

… I am sure I am forgetting some 

names. I left feeling so appreciative 

of a chance at fun and youth, recollection 

and new beginnings. It was 

wonderful.” 

Richard Simonds wrote, “I found 

our 25th reunion to be a surprisingly 

profound experience, not just reconnecting 

with classmates but also 

with the school itself. Other than the 

class dinner, the highlight was the 

presentation on Lit Hum by Christia 

Mercer, which brought back wonderful 

memories of the Core, and 

I’m happy to say that the intellectual 

philosophy of the Core is still going 

strong. It was good to see many of 

my Glee Club friends show up and 

to spend time with people whom I 

hadn’t known as well.” 

Highlights of the reunion for 

Joe Feuer: “Reminiscing with Bill 

Hicks about our departed friend 

John Pennywell; touring the High 

Line and catching up over dinner 

with Divya Singh and Sarah Kass, 

who gave us frequent updates of 

the first Mets no-hitter; hearing 

amusing stories over lunch about 

Judy Kim’s latest European adventures; 

having a mini-reunion with 

Hartley suitemates Luis De Los 

Santos ’87E and George Stone; 

making new friends with Sandy 

Asirvatham and her husband, 

Kevin, over wine and cheese; going 

to cool lectures on brain mapping 

and on the ancient philosophies of 

Epicureanism and Stoicism; giving 

a tour of the neighborhood and the 

campus to my girlfriend, capped 

off by a visit to my freshman dorm 

room in Carman for the first time 

in 25 years.” 

From Lee Ilan: “I had a great 

time reminiscing and catching up 

with so many people. I’m continually 

impressed with what an interesting, 

diverse, funny group we 

are, aside from being good-looking 

and talented! 

“My husband, Peter Engel, our 

daughter, Mavis, and I spent much 

time with Laura Ting, my Carman 

13 (yay!) roommate, and her husband, 

Kevin McGrattan ’87E, who 

was a big hit at the class dinner. We 

were happy that so many College 

and Engineering friends attended 

and brought spouses/partners/ 

kids. I didn’t attend any lectures, as 

I knew I’d want to spend the time 

yakking with classmates. My enthusiasm 

got the better of me, and 

I loudly sang College songs at the 

Sundial with fellow Glee Clubbers 

on Saturday night — thereby ruining 

my voice for the conferences I 

had to speak at later in the week.” 

Lee also noted the Mets jersey I 

wore to the day events on Saturday 

in honor of Johan Santana’s nohitter 

the night before. Lee told 

me, “It brought back memories of 

the street party on 114th when the 

Mets won the ’86 World Series.” 

Since I know there are even more 

memories than can be recounted 

in this small space at one time, I 

leave the door open to all of you to 

continue to send reflections as they 

occur. And of course, keep sending 

regular updates, too! 


MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013 




212-851-7834 



212-851-7833 

88 

Eric Fusfield 

1945 South George 

Mason Dr. 

Arlington, VA 22204 

ericfusfield@bigfoot.com 

One of the perks of serving as class 

correspondent is the opportunity to 

hear from, and occasionally meet, 

classmates I never got to know 

back in Morningside Heights. 

Having learned that Giuliana 

Dunham Irving and I work just 

a few blocks from each other in 

downtown Washington, D.C., I met 

her for lunch in her building, at the 

famously cosmopolitan World Bank 

cafeteria. In Giuliana’s own words, 

“After NYU Law School (J.D. ’92), I 

practiced law in New York City for 

six years (private practice) before 

moving to D.C. I spent eight years 

as a federal prosecutor, with both 

Main Justice (Criminal Division, 

Fraud Unit) and the United States 

Attorney’s Office. In 2006, I moved 

to the World Bank, where I am 

senior counsel for institutional administration. 

My husband, Michael, 

and I live in the District with our 

daughter Michela (6).” 

Heather Richards Heller’s first 

Class Notes update comes from the 

Pacific Northwest: “I figured after 

24 years, I should participate!” 

she said. “I traded in the hustle 

and bustle of New York City for 

the tranquility of central Oregon, 

where I am the community development 

director for a town nestled 

in the Cascade Mountains. Worldclass 

skiing, fly-fishing and rafting 

entertain me now. I am also the 

proud mother of two, Hadleigh (7) 

and Sam (9), who saw Columbia 

University for the first time this 

summer when we sojourned back 

to NYC.” 

I am sad to belatedly note that 

Nancy McAdoo passed away 

on January 15, 2011, in Medford, 

Mass. Nancy had been living in 

the Boston area since graduation. 

Most recently she worked for 

Management Sciences for Health, 

a Cambridge-based international 

nonprofit organization, as its communications/knowledge 

exchange 

content manager. Nancy had a love 

of music and the performing arts; 

she danced and played three instruments. 

She also had an abiding 

interest in social justice, women’s 

rights and the environment that 

pervaded her personal and professional 

life. Nancy was 44. 

Thanks for your updates and 

please keep sending them. Don’t 

forget that 2013 is our 25th reunion 

year, so start planning your trips. 

The dates are Thursday, May 30– 

Sunday, June 2. In the meantime, 

to ensure that Columbia can get 

in touch with you about it, please 




Alumni Office (212-851-7488). Also, 

if you’re interested in joining the 

Reunion Committee to help plan 

the weekend’s events, contact the 

appropriate Alumni Office staff 

member noted at the top of the 

column. You need not be in the 

New York area and can participate 

in meetings via conference call. 

89 

Emily Miles Terry 

45 Clarence St. 

Brookline, MA 02446 

emilymilesterry@me.com 

I ran into Patrick Nolan at Book 

Expo America in New York in June. 

It’s always great to see a familiar 

face in the crowd at the Javits 

Center and sometimes I’m lucky 

enough to cross paths with Patrick 

— a calm person in the midst of the 

trade convention frenzy. 

Patrick has worked in book 

publishing for many years and last 

April he was named v.p., editor-inchief 

and associate publisher of Penguin 

Books, a member of Penguin 

Group (USA). For the past 12 years, 

Patrick has been the director of 

trade paperback sales contributing 

to the success of such bestsellers as 

Eat, Pray, Love; The Memory Keeper’s 

Daughter; The Omnivore’s Dilemma; 

The Secret Life of Bees; The Kite 

Runner; and The Help. The long list 

of bestsellers he’s worked on also 

includes hardcovers from Charlaine 

Harris, Laurell K. Hamilton and J.R. 

Prolific children’s book author Laura Dower ’89 is 

finishing up another book series for Hyperion/Disney. 

Ward. Patrick, who earned a graduate 

degree from the University of 

Ulster, Northern Ireland, started 

his publishing career as a fiction 

buyer for Waterstone’s Booksellers 

in Boston. Prior to joining Penguin 

he worked at Houghton Mifflin and 

Hyperion/Disney. 

Also at Book Expo in New 

York, I ran into prolific children’s 

book author and mom of three 

Laura Dower, who is finishing up 

another book series for Hyperion/ 

Disney. We exchanged workingmom 

tales of love and woes, 

with an emphasis on the shared 

“Who ever thought we’d be this 

harried?” feeling, though Laura 

looks as poised as ever and still 

wears her generous smile. She is 

the author of more than 70 books 

for young adults, including the 

series From the Files of Madison Finn 

and the book Rewind. Laura lives 

in New York with her husband and 

children. If you have school-age 

kids who love to read, check out 

her website, lauradower.com. 

Robert B. Kaplan, formerly chief 

of the asset management unit of the 

Macky Alston ’87 Fights for Equality Through Film 

Filmmaker Macky 

Alston ’87 spent the 

past four years shooting 

at locations around 

the world, sleeping on the 

floors of friends of friends and 

Skyping with his husband and 

two children while working 12- 

hour production days during 

month-long absences. Despite 

raising $1 million for his project, 

he hasn’t been paid a cent. 

Yet he’s smiling. 

Alston’s satisfaction is due 

to the documentary he spent 

almost half a decade directing. 

Love Free or Die chronicles the 

struggles of New Hampshire’s 

Bishop Gene Robinson, the 

first openly gay bishop in the 

global Anglican Church, as he 

seeks acceptance in the face 

of worldwide controversy and 

death threats. From scenes 

of Robinson’s invocation at 

President Barack Obama ’83’s 

inaugural ceremony to decorating 

the Christmas tree at home 

with his husband, the film offers 

a full picture of the trailblazing 

man behind the robe. 

Alston’s steady camera 

follows Robinson’s attempts 

to advance LGBT acceptance 

from America’s small-town 

churches to England’s 2008 

Lambeth Conference (from 

which Robinson was banned). 

In a particularly dramatic 

scene, the bishop’s preaching 

is interrupted by a heckler 

screaming “heretic” over and 

over until the congregation 

begins singing hymns to drown 

him out. 

“Making this film will be 

something I’ll be able to tell my 

grandchildren about,” Alston 

says as we sit in the bustling 

Caffe Reggio, a few blocks from 

his sunny West Village apartment. 

“The only reason I’ll even 

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s 

Division of Enforcement, 

has joined Debevoise & Plimpton 

as a litigation partner resident in 

the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. 

He will advise Debevoise clients in 

a broad range of securities-related 

enforcement and compliance issues. 

While at the Division of Enforce- 

have grandchildren is because 

of historic people like Gene 

who stood up and fought for 

my liberation.” 

Critics agree about the film’s 

impact: Love Free or Die won 

the Documentary Special Jury 

Prize for an Agent of Change 

when it premiered at the Sundance 

Film Festival in January. 

Alston, an animated storyteller 

who would not be mis - 

cast in front of the lens, is no 

stranger to accolades. He received 

Emmy nominations for 

his earlier films, The Killer 

Within, Hard Road Home and 

Family Name; the last also 

won the Sundance Freedom of 

Expression Award in 1997 and 

scored him appearances on 

The Oprah Winfrey Show and 

ment, Robert won several prestigious 

awards for his service, including 

the Chairman’s Award for Excellence 

and the Arthur F. Matthews 

Award. Prior to joining the SEC, he 

was a litigation associate at the New 

York office of a Philadelphia law 

firm. He earned a J.D. from NYU. 

Jill Pollack Lewis took a break 

B y Y e l e n a Shuster ’09 

The Today Show. 

The awards circuit, however, 

does not guarantee extravagant 

living. “Except for the 1 percent, 

documentary filmmakers don’t 

survive on documentary filmmaker 

wages,” Alston says. When 

not filming, he is the media 

director at New York’s Auburn 

Theological Seminary, which is 

where he met Robinson. 

For his part, Robinson knew 

no one else could do justice to 

his story. “You don’t let someone 

put your own life up on the 

screen unless you have a kind 

of implicit trust, and I really felt 

that with Macky,” he says. “I love 

the film and how empowered 

people feel, after seeing it, to 

make a difference themselves in 

the lives of LGBT people.” 

Filmmaker Macky Alston ’87 accepts the Documentary Special 

Jury Prize for an Agent of Change for Love Free or Die at the 

2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, on January 28. 

PHOTO: JEMAL COUNTESS/GETTY IMAGES 

from her job hosting the second season 

of her Canadian HGTV show 

(shooting in Vancouver), Consumed, 

to catch the Broadway musical Book 

of Mormon in New York with her 

husband, Jeff. A funny CC reunion 

happened as Matthew Fox and his 

wife, Margarita, sat down behind 

her right before the curtain rose! 

Like many artists unsure of 

their calling, Alston spent his 

post-college years trying out different 

canvases. He worked first 

as a museum researcher, then 

made collage art, taking photos 

wherever he went and selling 

his work on the street (and in 

one lucky break, to Newsday). At 

25, he got a low-paying job as a 

production assistant for a documentary 

and has been creating 

art through film ever since. 

Alston notes the impact of 

the Core Curriculum on his 

career. “Being a documentary 

filmmaker means I’m a journalist 

and a generalist. I rely on 

the liberal arts education that 

I got at Columbia every day of 

work,” he says. In fact, Alston 

applied early: It was love at 

first campus tour. “Walking into 

campus was like walking into 

Shangri-La,” he explains. “It was 

a thrill to think my story could 

play out in such a beautiful, 

epic context.” 

Even with the accolades, the 

work of documentary filmmaking 

can feel endless. In addition 

to festivals around the world, 

Alston plans to show Love Free 

or Die at 500 community-based 

screenings before its national 

broadcast on PBS in November. 

The long hours, however, 

don’t bother him: “To be screening 

this in the states where 

there are ballot measures this 

year, I feel like I made something 

that can not only depict history 

but also impact history.” 

To view the trailer, go to Web Extras 

at college.columbia.edu/cct. 

Yelena Shuster ’09 is a freelance 

writer whose work has 

been featured on Cosmpolitan. 

com, Refinery29.com and in 

New York magazine. 

Matt Engels visited Boston 

recently and we caught up. Matt 

looks the same and enjoys his work 

as v.p. of Network Solutions for 

CorVel Corp., a national workers’ 

compensation managed care and 

claims management leader. He 

and his wife, Beth, and their two 

young children live in Chicago. 

FALL 2012 

90 

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CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

Matt reported that Amy Weinreich 

Rinzler, her husband, Brad, and 

their two children recently visited 

him and his family; they live in 

New York. 

90 

Rachel Cowan Jacobs 

313 Lexington Dr. 

Silver Spring, MD 20901 

youngrache@hotmail.com 

In the “most remote location” category, 

Gemma Tarlach wrote from 

Antarctica. “As I type this, I am 

back for my second austral winter 

season at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. 

[Editor’s note: See January/ 

February 2011 issue.] Thanks to the 

Internet, I’ve been able to get my 

dark historical novel Plaguewalker 

published and available in paperback 

and e-book formats while 

living at the bottom of the world. 

Plaguewalker (shameless plug: 

available at Amazon and also at 

BN.com for Nook readers) is set in 

14th-century Bavaria and told from 

the point of view of its protagonist, 

an amoral executioner. Things go 

from bad to worse for Marcus when 

a little thing called the Black Death 

arrives in town. It is not a romantic 

comedy. It will never be made into 

a movie starring Julia Roberts. That 

said, it’s been getting reviews from 

total strangers positive enough to 

make me blush. You can read the 

first chapter at plaguewalker.com. 

For anyone who says it’s too dark, 

I say: spend six months with me 

here in Antarctica without sunlight 

and then we’ll talk about what’s 

‘too dark.’ 

“After my 14 months in 2010–11 

on the ice, I had to leave (National 

Science Foundation rules: you can’t 

stay here on ice planet Hoth more 

than 14 months at a time), so I 

ended up hiking around Tasmania, 

Australia, where it rained. Every. 

Single. Day. I had leeches in my 

tent, my clothes and my hair. That 

said, it was a beautiful place and 

I got to meet lots of Tasmanian 

devils (love them!), wallabies, 

kangaroos and wombats. I even 

held a juvenile wombat; it was like 

cuddling with a furry sandbag. 

“The other highlight of my office 

time was meeting New Zealand 

All Blacks rugby star Brad Thorn 

at a fan event in Christchurch just 

after the All Blacks won the Webb 

Ellis Cup. He said, ‘Do you want 

to touch the cup?’ (He was holding 

it.) And I replied, ‘Can I touch you 

instead?’ He was gracious about 

it, though I suspect he was ready 

to call security when I wouldn’t let 

go. I love Kiwis. 

“As for what’s next, I have a few 

irons in the fire, as always. I have 

two more novels in the publishing 

queue, for starters, and some ideas 

about what to do when I leave 

the ice later this year, but nothing 

definitive. To quote David Bowie, 

‘I don’t know where I’m going 

from here, but I promise it won’t be 

boring.’” 

Gemma, I assure you on behalf 

of our class that your updates are 

never boring! 

Directly from Tenders Info’s May 

news bulletin (because it said it better 

than I could): “GAMCO Investors 

awarded the Graham & Dodd, 

Murray, Greenwald Prize for Value 

Investing to William von Mueffling 

[’95 Business], managing partner 

and chief investment officer at Cantillon 

Capital Management, during 

its 27th annual client conference in 

New York. Known as the Gabelli 

Prize, the annual prize honors an 

individual, student or practitioner 

who has made an outstanding 

contribution to enlarge the field of 

value investing. 

“William is founder and CEO of 

Cantillon, where he manages more 

than $1 billion in long-only assets. 

Prior to founding Cantillon in 

2003, he was a managing director 

for hedge funds at Lazard Asset 

Management, where he managed 

their European opportunities and 

worldwide opportunities hedge 

funds. Before joining Lazard, 

he was with Deutsche Bank in 

Germany and France. William is 

also a special adviser at Industry 

Capital Management, a member of 

the Board of Overseers of the Business 

School and a trustee at French 

American Cultural Exchange. 

“Bruce C.N. Greenwald, who 

heads the Heilbrunn Graham & 

Dodd Research Center at the Business 

School and who leads the Gabelli 

Prize selection committee, said, 

‘William’s contribution as chair of 

the executive advisory board of the 

Heilbrunn Center has been immeasurable, 

and his investment skills 

and his consistent application of 

Graham & Dodd’s principles to the 

investment process have enabled 

him to make countless contributions 

to the program.’” 

And now, back to me. William, 

congratulations on this impressive 

award. 

It was great to get email from 

Erika Rogers Marino, who reports, 

“My husband, Nick Marino, and I 

and our beautiful girls live happily 

in Stamford, Conn. Melissa Eva 

turns 7 in September and Rachel 

Alexis is 4. A recently retired 

federal agent and a guitar player 

and singer since the age of 12, my 

husband now spends a lot of time 

playing. I am not only his agent, 

publicist and manager, booking 

him at gigs, but I also handle 

these same tasks for another local 

musician. My husband recently 

performed with my cousin and 

bluegrass performer extraordinaire 

Roger Sprung. I was on the 

sailing team at Columbia but with 

little kids have found it easier to 

take up boating in Long Island 

Sound, which we do as often as the 

weather permits. See everyone at 

our next reunion, if not sooner.” 

I am thinking that Dr. Wei-Nchih 

Lee might have more letters after 

his name than anyone else in our 

class. If I am wrong, let me know 

so I can correct the record. In June, 

Wei-Nchih added Ph.D. to the M.D. 

and M.P.H. that follow “Lee.” He 

also added California resident to 

his resume in 2007 when, after eight 

Amee Manges ’90 is an associate professor in the 

School of Population and Public Health at the 

University of British Columbia. 

years of practicing and teaching 

internal medicine at New York 

Medical College and itching to try 

something new, he packed up his 

wife and child and moved to Palo 

Alto to start Stanford’s Biomedical 

Informatics doctoral program. In 

these intervening five years, he also 

added a second child to his family. 

Don’t go looking for Wei-Nchih in a 

lecture hall, though. Instead, you’ll 

find him at Hewlett Packard Labs 

(also in Palo Alto) as a senior research 

scientist, continuing his work 

in big data analysis in medicine and 

medical decision support systems. 

Amee Manges is another West 

Coast transplant. She’d been a 

professor in infectious disease 

epidemiology at McGill since 2004 

but recently made the move to the 

University of British Columbia as 

associate professor in the School of 

Population and Public Health. She 

and her husband have three boys: 

Oakley (9), Jasper (4) and Tilden (1). 

Amee would love to reconnect 

with classmates, so please look her 

up. 

Does everyone remember David 

Mandell, member of the varsity 

fencing team? It appears he got hit 

by the 40-something-year itch and 

has become a runner. He recently 

completed his first 10-mile race 

and is training for the Philadelphia 

Marathon in November. Maybe the 

marathon route goes past his office 

at Penn. In July, David became the 

director of the Center for Mental 

Health Policy and Services Research 

in the Department of Psychiatry. 

Most of his research is on improving 

quality of care for people with 

autism. He also is an associate professor 

of psychiatry at Penn, where 

he has the pleasure of teaching 

undergrads and mentoring doctoral 

students and post-doctoral fellows. 

Melissa Michelson; husband, 

Christopher Gardner; and sons, 

Joshua (6) and Zachary (4); live in 

Palo Alto with their three cats, two 

dogs and five chickens. Melissa 

is a political science professor at 

Menlo College and has co-authored 

a book, Mobilizing Inclusion: 

Transforming the Electorate Through 

Get-out-the-Vote Campaigns, which 

came out this summer. She also 

knits a lot. 

Up until recently, in my job as an 

admissions officer at Johns Hopkins, 

my professional life was starting 

to intersect with our classmates’ 

personal lives, as some of you are 

beginning the college search process 

with your children. Take Beth 

Kissileff, for example. On a spring 

college tour with her rising senior 

daughter, she realized just how 

much life has changed since we 

were heading to college. (So true! 

I listened to my first CD in Music 

Hum freshman year and now they 

barely exist.) Beth, her husband and 

three daughters relocated to Pittsburgh 

in August 2010 after many 

years of teaching at Smith, Mt. 

Holyoke, University of Minnesota 

and Carleton. Her first book will be 

published in 2013 by Continuum. 

Per Beth, “It is an anthology of academic 

writers using some aspect of 

their professional expertise to write 

on the Biblical book of Genesis. Dr. 

Ruth Westheimer is writing on ‘it is 

not good for man to be alone… ’ — 

you get the idea. I am also working 

on an Exodus volume.” 

Beth primarily works as a freelance 

writer these days. She has a 

piece about her urban Pittsburgh 

neighborhood on the Motherlode 

blog on nytimes.com. She also has 

completed a novel, and once that is 

published, we might find her back 

in the classroom. 

It was 13 years ago that Josh 

Masur moved to the Bay Area to 

practice intellectual property law; 

he now is a partner with Turner 

Boyd, a patent litigation boutique 

in Mountain View, Calif. He and 

his wife, Shelly, have three children, 

Julia (15) and twins Jacob and Noah 

(12). Shelly is running for county 

supervisor for San Mateo County, 

and their kids are competitive skiers. 

When I learned that Josh is a ski 

patroller at Alpine Meadows and 

legal adviser to the Eastern Sierra 

Region of the National Ski Patrol, I 

marveled at the power of genetics. 

(Or is it nurture? Discuss.) He 

said that after more than 20 years, 

he finally got to see and ski with 

Gabriel Kra this past season. 

I wonder if these guys know 

what Marc Levarn is up to. He 

wrote to say, “Quite a bit has been 

happening with me during the 

past 22 years. With the exception of 

one year away for graduate school, 

I’ve been living in the ski resort 

town of Vail, Colo. At first I was a 

classic ski town resident who lived 

to ski, but during the past two decades 

I’ve evolved into a husband, 

father and business owner. My 

wife, Maria, and I met in Vail in 

1992. We have two daughters, Marina 

(10) and Silvia (8). Our whole 

family enjoys skiing and living 

next to the wilderness of the high 

Rockies. In 2006, my brother-inlaw 

and I opened an art gallery in 

Vail Village, the Vail International 

Gallery (vailgallery.com). I’d been 

working in the gallery business 

first as a salesperson and later as a 

gallery director, so it was a natural 

step to open our own and, as they 

say, so far so good. 

“I enjoy keeping up with some 

friends from the swim team and 

Phi Ep. Two years ago I travelled to 

Seattle to visit with Phi Ep friends 

Brian Trisler ’92, John Temple 

and Dan Miron to celebrate the 

successful sale of John and Brian’s 

business. Anyone visiting Vail is 

welcome to drop by and say hello.” 

In the future Columbian department, 

a hearty “congratulations” 

goes out to June Matsukawa on 

the March 1 birth of her daughter, 

Mika McConnell. Mika’s parents 

and brother, Yohji, are most 

pleased with their addition. 

Rounding up this lengthy column 

— and thank you to everyone 

who submitted an update! — is a 

word about Miriam Lefkowitz, 

who wrote from New Jersey, her 

home since 2002. She has arranged 

her life in such a way that she can 

spend significant time with her 

husband, Marc Heimowitz, and 

their children, ages 12, 10 and 8, 

while also working part-time as 

general counsel for an asset manager 

in Manhattan. She has a financial 

services compliance consulting 

practice on the side, too. 

Now that this column is complete, 

tell me if you noticed any themes. 

Whoever contacts me first with the 

correct answer(s) wins a prize. (Note 

my new email address, at the top of 

the column.) Happy fall and back to 

school to all. 

91 

Margie Kim 

1923 White Oak Clearing 

Southlake, TX 76092 

margiekimkim@ 

hotmail.com 

Hello, all! I recently caught up with 

Tom Yang, his wife, Mary, and their 

three adorable children. Tom is an 

attorney with Haynes and Boone 

in Dallas and is doing well. We all 

met up at the beautiful home of 

Claudia Pak Choi ’96, ’98 SIPA and 

her husband, Henry Choi ’94, with 

whom I do alumni interviews as 

part of the Alumni Representative 

Committee. 

Mary Zamore sent in this update: 

“It has been a wonderful and 

full year. In addition to my responsibilities 

as a congregational rabbi 

at Temple B’nai Or in Morristown, 

N.J. (come visit if you live nearby), 

I designed, edited and contributed 

to a book! The Sacred Table: Creating 

a Jewish Food Ethic has spurred a 

rich discussion throughout the 

Reform Movement concerning the 

intersection between ritual, ethics 

and food. My Columbia friends 

have been super-supportive 

throughout the process. A special 

shout-out to Elana (Goltsman) 

Altzman ’90, her husband, Jerry 

Altzman ’90, Rob Scheinberg and 

Dana Fenlon-Wu.” 

I also heard from Susie Wood, 

who says, “I’m one of the one million 

people who lost power in the 

recent storm that hit D.C. And in 

the middle of that, I was preparing 

to leave for my first assignment 

with the Foreign Service. I’ll be the 

information officer (press attaché) 

for the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek, 

Kyrgyzstan. I’m very excited about 

my new career as a diplomat. My 

family will join me. My husband 

is a conservation biologist and I 

have two daughters, ages 3 and 7. 

I know it is a long shot but if any 

Columbians are coming through 

Central Asia, please look me up!” 

Donald Rollock, husband of 

Virginia Cornish, wrote to let us 

know that she was appointed the 

Helena Rubinstein Professor of 

Chemistry, which is a named chair 

in the Department of Chemistry 

at Columbia. Congratulations, 

Virginia! [See Around the Quads.] 

I hope everyone enjoyed the 

summer. Until next time … cheers! 

92 

Jeremy Feinberg 

315 E. 65th St. #3F 


jeremy.feinberg@ 

verizon.net 

That was some reunion. We crammed 

so many events (official and 

unofficial) into just a few days. 

It was simultaneously dizzying, 

breathtaking and a heck of a lot of 

fun. And I’ll bet, like me, you didn’t 

manage to catch up with everyone 

you wanted to. 

I guess we’ll just have to do it 

even bigger and better for No. 25 in 

five years, and catch up with those 

we missed this time. 

Here’s what I can report. Although 

a work function prevented 

me from attending the opening 

night cocktail party on Thursday, 

on Friday I attended the cocktail 

party at MoMA, ably hosted by 

Josh Siegel. The evening had been 

billed as a cocktail party followed by 

screenings of several short films with 

a Columbia theme. As the cocktail 

party pressed into its third hour, 

though, it became clear that people 

were having so much fun reconnecting 

that there was no need to break 

for the films — and on we went. 

Among the many I spotted and 

chatted with at the party were John 

Thompson, Jonathan Henick, 

Quinn Kayser-Cochran (and his 

wife, Carrie Kayser-Cochran ’92 

Barnard), Richard Bernard (an 

attorney at Foley & Lardner in 

New York City), David Weisoly 

(a neonatologist in Dallas), Nomi 

Levy-Carrick, Evan Ambinder, 

Ben Lawsky, Patricia Ireland 

and Olivier Knox. Olivier, Yahoo! 

News’ White House correspondent, 

provided two of the night’s 

more entertaining stories — the 

first about being treated for food 

poisoning in the medical bay of Air 

Force One while in flight, and the 

second about how he and younger 

brother Christophe ’95 had, without 

consulting and without realizing it, 

named their sons Felix and Oscar. 

Somewhere, Neil Simon is smiling. 

Saturday was the busiest day 

of the reunion. Four events in 10 

hours will do that to you, and 

I doubt I attended more than 

many of you. I started by joining 

fellow members of the Columbia 

Daily Spectator’s 115th managing 

board for lunch at V&T. Special 

thanks to (former) editor-in-chief 

Kirsten Danis, who now is at The 

Wall Street Journal, for organizing 

the event. In addition to Kirsten, 

former managing editor Catherine 

Thorpe and news editors Kirsten 

Fermaglich and Kris Kanthak 

were present. We were joined by 

Kirsten Danis’ husband, Robert 

Kolker ’91, and their two children 

as well as by Andrew Vladeck, 

who had been a stellar photo editor 

for the 113th managing board. 

Next up was a reception thrown 

by the Athletics Department for 

returning athletes and, thankfully 

for me, sports journalists. I was 

pleased to see former Lion athletes 

Joan Campion, Deirdre Flynn 

(who has successfully rehabbed 

a torn ACL — congratulations!), 

Cliff Blaze and Ana Blaze, among 

others, reconnecting with coaches 

and athletic administrators not far 

from the entrance to Dodge Physical 

Fitness Center. 

There were several pre-parties 

for the main event dinner on Saturday, 

one of which was a fundraising 

gathering for Eric Garcetti, who is 

well into his campaign for mayor 

of Los Angeles. This proved to 

be a great opportunity to connect 

with classmates from Barnard and 

Engineering as well. Among other 

attendees, I saw Peter Hatch, Andy 

Contiguglia, Wah Chen and Frank 

Au, who had traveled from Hong 

Kong. I am pretty sure that sets the 

distance record for this reunion, but 

please let me know if you can top it. 

The dinner proved to be the 

centerpiece of the weekend. From 

our vantage point on top of SIPA, 

we had an excellent view of campus 

and the surrounding areas as 

well as an ideal spot to continue 

catching up not only with each 

other but also with our Engineering 

classmates, some of whom were in 

attendance. That certainly allowed 

for a mini-reunion of the 13th floor 

of John Jay from 1988–89, as I chatted 

with Neo Antoniades ’92E, an 

associate professor of engineering 

science and physics at the College 

of Staten Island, as well as Justin 

Hellman and Ilusha Bernstein, 

who made cameos at the dinner. 

There was also plenty of time to 

chat with Laura Lopez, Heather 

Benson, Jamshed Zuberi ’92E, 

Chris Watanabe, Alex Oberweger 

and — those seated at my table — 

Quinn Kayser-Cochran and his 

wife, Carrie, Richard Bernard, Will 

Jackson and his wife, Arwen, Rob 

Carey and Frank Cicero. 

At the dinner, Peter Hatch, 

who led the Reunion Committee, 

announced that we had broken the 

fundraising record for a 20-year 

reunion (previously $430,000, set 

by the Class of 1989). Our total? A 

smashing $570,000 (which climbed 

to $575,000 by the end of the fiscal 

year). The Class of 1993 has its work 

cut out for it. We were treated to a 

stellar slideshow featuring thenand-now 

pictures going all the way 

back to our Freshman Facebook 

(yes, that Facebook). Many kudos to 

Andy Contiguglia and those who 

helped him put that together; it was 

truly a highlight of the evening. 

All in all, a fantastic weekend. 

Let’s do it again in five years. If 

you missed it this time, we’d love 

to see you then. Cheers. 


MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013 




212-851-7834 



212-851-7833 

93 

Betsy Gomperz 

41 Day St. 

Newton, MA 02466 

Betsy.Gomperz@ 

gmail.com 

A big thank-you to everyone who 

submitted updates for this edition. 

We start with news from Amy 

Longo, who is a litigation partner 

FALL 2012 

92 

FALL 2012 

93

CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

in the financial services practice 

group of O’Melveny & Myers in 

Los Angeles. Amy recently became 

an adjunct professor at Pepperdine 

University School of Law in Malibu, 

Calif., where she teaches electronic 

discovery practice. Amy’s husband, 

Steve Pesce, is head of post-production 

for Zizo Group in Santa 

Monica, Calif., where he has been 

working on the TV show Raising 

an Olympian, airing in conjunction 

with the London 2012 Olympics. 

Amy and Steve have two sons, Leo 

and Renzi, who are 4 and almost 3, 

respectively, and attend preschool 

in Santa Monica. 

I heard from Jeff Kelly, who 

lives in Georgia with his wife and 

four children. Jeff is a consumer 

bankruptcy attorney and recently 

attended the National Association 

of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys 

convention in San Antonio, where 

he reconnected with Alfredo Avelos 

’96E, who owns a construction business 

in that city. Jeff writes, “We had 

a great time talking about our days 

on the Columbia cross-country and 

track teams.” 

Gary Heidt, who was the station 

manager of WKCR our senior year, 

has been busy since we graduated. 

Gary wrote that he’s “releasing a 

line of soon-to-be-classic novels 

as e-books for sale on the Kindle 

platform. DIRT e-books can be 

found at dirtebooks.wordpress. 

com. Our initial six novels are dirt 

cheap, priced under $4.” Gary has 

spent the last seven years as a literary 

agent with Signature Literary 

Agency, representing clients such 

as Charles Yu ’01L and the Church 

of the SubGenius. Since graduation 

Gary also has performed 

extensively on the improvised 

music scene with Daniel Carter and 

Sabir Mateen, his plays have been 

performed in NYC and Europe, 

his poetry has appeared in many 

journals and in an anthology, his 

music (with groups such as Mammals 

of Zod, Tender Buttons and 

Fist of Kindness) has been played 

on radio around the world, he has 

performed in 17 annual installations 

of a 67-year performance piece and 

he recently directed a play about 

Margaret Mead ’23 Barnard, ’28 

GSAS in Leipzig, Germany. 

Wow. And good luck with your 

new endeavor, Gary! 

Congratulations to Kevin Connolly 

and his wife, Laura, who 

welcomed their first child, Clarabel 

Rose, on May 17. 

With fall upon us, it is hard to 

believe it has been 20 years since we 

began our senior year at Columbia. 

I hope many of you will return to 

Morningside Heights to attend 

our reunion next June. It will be 

great to reconnect with old friends, 

see how the campus has changed, 

hear from leading professors and 

innovative classmates, reminisce 

about the Core Curriculum, visit 

old haunts (even if The West End 

and Cannon’s as we knew them 

are no more) and relive some of the 

fun from Senior Week 1993 (note to 

the Reunion Committee: perhaps 

an Intrepid party?). If you’d like 

to get involved in the planning, 

please contact the appropriate staff 

member, as noted at the top of the 

column. 

And as I mentioned in my last 

column, please also consider contributing 

to our Class Gift in honor 

of this upcoming milestone. Give 

by credit card at college.columbia. 

edu/giveonline or by calling 212- 

851-7488, or mail a check, payable 

to Columbia College Fund, to 

Columbia College Fund, Columbia 

Alumni Center, 622 W. 113th St., 

MC 4530, 3rd Fl., New York, NY 

10025. 

94 

Leyla Kokmen 

440 Thomas Ave. S. 

Minneapolis, MN 55405 

lak6@columbia.edu 

Congratulations to Chris Schmidt 

and his wife, Jen, a Manhattan sex 

crimes prosecutor, who welcomed 

baby No. 4 to the Schmidt family 

on May 11, with the arrival of 

Katherine Mae. She joins Charlotte 

(7), Johnny (5) and Isabella (16 

months). Chris recently started his 

19th year with the New York Police 

Department, adding, “I’ve been a 

lieutenant since 2003 and continue 

to happily work the streets of Harlem 

and Washington Heights. Yes, 

I can retire in 20 months after 20 

years on, but with four mouths to 

feed, that is a fleeting fantasy. Anyway, 

with four healthy kids, life is 

good and I am truly fortunate.” 

Bruce Curtis wrote in for the 

first time, noting that he lives in 

Austin, Texas, and loves it. He’s a 

construction supervisor for custom 

home builder Ford Strei Builders 

and also is reinvigorating a print 

brokering business (curtisprinting. 

net), working primarily with a 

colleague in China. “I live in a 

1907 house (old for Texas), which I 

gutted and rebuilt and operate as a 

B&B now and then,” Bruce writes. 

“No family yet. Come visit! Breakfast 

tacos and BBQ await.” 

Bruce is eager to hear from fellow 

Columbia alums at bruce.e.curtis@ 

gmail.com. 

Here’s a nice update from Elliot 

Regenstein, who did some world 

traveling this spring. First, he went 

to Guam for three days of work, 

culminating in an Early Learning 

Summit, where he presented. He 

spent time with Guam Gov. Eddie 

Calvo and First Lady Christine 

Calvo, who co-chairs the Guam 

Early Learning Council. Then he 

traveled to Paris to celebrate his 

10-year wedding anniversary. His 

kids are doing well, and daughter 

Zoe (8) became a huge NBA fan 

this year. “Not sure how that happened,” 

Elliot writes. “Although 

environmental factors may have 

been an influence.” 

Thanks to all for the terrific 

updates. Please keep them coming! 

Catch you next time. 

95 

Janet Lorin 

730 Columbus Ave., 

Apt. 14C 


jrf10@columbia.edu 

Colleen Bassett and Brian Bassett 

live in Charlottesville, Va., with 

their two girls. The family moved 

from London about 2½ years ago. 

On the day Colleen and I emailed, 

their older daughter was finishing 

kindergarten; their younger daughter 

is 3½. Colleen is an interior 

designer at Stedman House and 

Brian manages his asset management 

company. 

Anna Hemnes has continued 

her journey south. After college, 

she headed to Baltimore for medical 

school, residence and fellowship. 

She then moved to Nashville 

in 2006 to join the faculty in pulmonary 

and critical care medicine 

at Vanderbilt. Anna mostly does 

research on pulmonary arterial hypertension, 

a rare lung disease, and 

cares for patients with the disease. 

Her husband is a neurosurgeon 

and they have three kids, twins 

Emma and Olivia (6) and son Benjamin 

(4). “I never thought I would 

move to the South, but I love it 

here and have even occasionally 

used the phrase ‘y’all’ in conversation,” 

Anna writes. 

I hope these updates from our 

freshman floor, Carman 10, will 

inspire others to send news. 

Like Anna, Emily Hu is a physi 

cian. She moved west for her 

residency in ob/gyn at Stanford, 

which she finished in 2004, and has 

been in San Francisco ever since, 

working in private practice. She 

and her husband, John Tang ’96L, 

have two sons, Derek (1½) and 

Morgan, born in May. 

Tony Andrione lives in Severna 

Park, Md., with his wife of eight 

years and their two boys, William 

(4½) and Bennett (8 months). Last 

spring he finished his 17th year as 

a high school English teacher. “I 

still love every minute of it, but I’m 

looking to make the move to administration 

within the next couple 

of years,” Tony writes. 

I ran into another Columbia 

friend a few months ago at 

Bloomberg News, where I work. 

It has been great to reconnect with 

Shahrzad Elghanayan ’94, who has 

been working at Bloomberg as a 

freelance photo editor. She also is 

writing a biography/memoir about 

the life and death of her grandfather, 

Habib Elghanayan, an Iranian- 

Jewish industrialist who was the 

first businessman executed during 

the Iranian revolution in 1979. 

Prior to joining Bloomberg, 

Shahrzad spent eight years at the 

AP as supervisor on the news 

photo desk. She lives in New York 

with her fiancé, Douglas J. Rowe, 

just a few blocks away from me on 

the Upper West Side. 

96 

Ana S. Salper 

24 Monroe Pl., Apt. MA 


asalper@ebglaw.com 

Greetings classmates! Only a bit of 

news for you this time. 

Josh Mandelberg lives in Westwood, 

Calif., with his wife, Robyn, 

and daughter, Emily (5). Josh 

recently completed a fellowship in 

developmental-behavioral pediatrics 

at UCLA and now is in private 

practice in West Los Angeles. He 

evaluates children and helps manage 

their care for concerns such as 

autistic spectrum disorders, ADHD, 

learning disabilities and anxiety 

disorders. Josh also is a clinical 

instructor of pediatrics at UCLA. 

I recently ran into Adam “Tex” 

Beshara in the Hamptons, where I 

was impressed to see he was wearing 

a Columbia T-shirt, representing 

alma mater well. After almost 

15 years at J.P. Morgan, Adam left 

recently to become a partner at 

Centerview, a private equity and 

M&A advisory boutique in New 

York City. 

I urge you all to send in more 

notes. Your classmates love to read 

about fellow CC ’96ers, so please 

keep the news flowing! I leave you 

with this for now: 

“It requires less mental effort to 

condemn than to think.” 

— Emma Goldman 

97 

Sarah Katz 

1935 Parrish St. 


srk12@columbia.edu 

I had a wonderful time catching up 

with classmates at our 15th reunion, 

among them J.D. Alfone, Laura 

Chittick, Luisa Cruz, Raji Kalra, 

Zaharah Markoe, Joshua Meyers, 

Maggie Osdoby Katz, Cristina 

Rumbaitis del Rio, Eva Subotnik 

and Andrew Wu. It was so much 

fun to be on campus during the 

day with my son, Micah (2½), and 

have him meet and play with other 

classmates’ children, and then to 

come back in the evening and join 

everyone for cocktails, dinner and 

conversation. What a lovely time! 

Raji Kalra took the plunge and 

bought an apartment in NYC, so 

she finally owns a piece of Manhattan! 

Kerri (Bauchner) Stone writes: 

“On June 20, my husband, Josh, 

and I became the proud parents of 

Dylan Jacob, the love of our lives. 

I also recently found out that I 

received tenure; I am now a tenured 

law professor at the Florida International 

University College of Law.” 

Rachel (Adame) Anderson 

writes, “I missed the reunion 

because I had a baby. My husband, 

Cuyler, and I welcomed Maxwell 

Mark on April 13. Sister Madeline 

likes him pretty well.” 

Boris Kachka and Jamie Elizabeth 

Ehrlich were married in April 

at the powerHouse Arena, an arts 

and event space in Brooklyn. Cantor 

Ronald Broden officiated. Boris 

is a contributing editor at New York 

magazine. 

Nathan “Natie” Fox and his wife, 

Michal (née Agus) ’97 Barnard, live 

in Englewood, N.J., with their children, 

Noam (12), Kira (12), Nili (9) 

and Mia (6). Natie is a maternal fetal 

medicine specialist (a.k.a. high-risk 

obstetrician) in NYC and Michal is 

the school psychologist in the Ramaz 

Lower School, also in NYC. 

Rebecca Braverman and her 

husband, Ryan Olson, welcomed a 

son, Ari Benjamin, in August 2011. 

Happy belated first birthday, Ari! 

Joshua Schank writes, “I am 

president and CEO of the Eno Center 

for Transportation, a 90-yearold 

nonprofit transportation policy 

think tank in Washington, D.C. 

I live on Capitol Hill with my 

wife, Lindsey, and sons, Max (4), 

and Jonah (2). I recently saw Paul 

Tuchman and Ben Greenbaum 

on a trip to New York and was 

reminded, as I often am, of fond 

memories of Columbia.” 

Josh Ross returns to Columbia 

this fall to pursue a master’s in the 

Department of East Asian Languages 

and Cultures at GSAS. 

Nina Covalesky starred in a 

short film by Merci Entertainment, 

The Plan, which premiered in this 

year’s Cannes Film Festival’s 

Short Film Corner and was on the 

schedule for various film festivals 

around the country during the 

summer (theplanshortfilm.com). 

Eva Burmeister recently was appointed 

to the violin section of the 

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. 

Eva has been a member of the 

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, 

the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra 

and an associate member of the 

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. 

M. Omar Chaudhry and his 

wife, Samiyah Ali, are learning 

about the mysteries of the heavens 

and earth with their son, Humza 

(5). During the work week, Omar 

manages a law practice concentrating 

in immigration law, family 

law and real estate law. His email 

is lawyeromar@gmail.com. 

Darrell Cohn writes, “My wife, 

Leah, and I moved to Israel in 

August 2011. We live in Jerusalem 

and are finally starting to settle in. 

In fact, I just recently passed my 

driver’s test. Leah is studying fulltime 

at the Pardes Institute of Jewish 

Studies. I work for Umachaka 

as the director of production. We 

make interactive media for preschoolers 

and our flagship brand is 

TJ & Pals (tjandpals.com), a band 

of animated cartoon characters. 

While the company is based in 

Israel, our market is America right 

now. Leah and I take trips around 

the country when we can. So far 

we’ve been to the Golan Heights, 

the Galilee and the Dead Sea.” 

As for me, Sarah Katz, I am very 

excited to have been appointed 

as a visiting clinical professor at 

Temple’s Beasley School of Law. I 

will spend the year teaching and 

running a family law clinic that 

handles child custody and support, 

paternity and adoption matters. 


MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013 




212-851-7834 



212-851-7833 

98 

Sandie Angulo Chen 

10209 Day Ave. 

Silver Spring, MD 20910 

sandie.chen@gmail.com 

Hello, Class of ’98. I hope that all of 

you will consider joining me at our 

15th reunion next spring. Please 

save the date for Alumni Reunion 

Weekend 2013, Thursday, May 

30–Sunday, June 2. Hope to see 

many of you back in Morningside 

Heights! 

If you’re interested in being part 

of the Reunion Committee (planning 

the weekend’s events) or the 

Class Gift Committee (fundraising 

for the Columbia College Fund), 

contact the appropriate staff member 

at the top of the column. You 










7488. 

Now, news from classmates: 

Joshua Ratner wrote with news 

of an exciting career transition: “I 

have quit the law (for now) and 

have spent the past few years 

studying to become a rabbi at the 

Jewish Theological Seminary in 

NYC.” Josh was ordained in May. 

He and his wife, Elena (Salkovsky) 

’98 Barnard, live in Connecticut 

Nina Covalesky ’97 starred in a short film, The Plan, 

which premiered in this year’s Cannes Film Festival’s 

Short Film Corner. 

with their kids, Dimitri (9), Eli (6) 

and Gabby (2). They plan a move to 

the suburbs of New Haven, Conn., 

as Elena is a gynecologic oncologist 

at Yale, and Josh will be the rabbi 

of a Conservative congregation in 

Cheshire, Conn. 

Mazel tov to Josh on his ordination! 

In other celebratory news, Michele 

Hyndman married Matthew 

Hodge on March 30 in St. Thomas, 

U.S. Virgin Islands, where the couple 

resides. Michele is the manager of 

the tax practice in the St. Thomas 

office of the accounting firm Deloitte 

Touche Tohmatsu. Her husband is a 

customer care representative at Glacial 

Energy, a natural gas provider. 

He also is running as a Democrat 

for a senate seat in the Virgin Islands 

legislature. 

Chas Sisk and Cathy Chang 

had their second child, Mei-Ling, in 

April. Their son Cai turned 3 in July. 

Chas and Cathy live in Nashville, 

where Chas is a political reporter 

at The Tennessean and Cathy is a 

Unitarian Universalist chaplain. 

Congratulations to the double- 

CC ’98 couple! 

Another double-alum couple celebrated 

their 10th anniversary in June. 

Jackie Vo and Jeff Tse renewed their 

vows in a beachfront ceremony in 

Cancun. Their daughters, Kaitlyn 

and Maddie, along with a group of 

close family and friends, were in attendance. 

The Vo-Tse family lives in 

Austin, Texas, where she is a dentist 

and he is a physician. 

Jeremy Blacklow has been in Los 

Angeles for eight years. He has been 

v.p. of media for WhoSay, a Creative 

Artists Agency-launched Internet 

start-up that helps celebrities and 

athletes maintain license over (and 

monetize) content that they upload 

online, for the past year. In June, 

Jeremy finished his fifth AIDS/Lifecycle 

ride from San Francisco to Los 

Angeles. He’s also launching a DJ 

career in the L.A. area. 

Amol Sarva reports that his 

daughter, Pascale (5), is attending 

the Queens Paideia School, a 

progressive independent school 

in Long Island City founded by 

Francis Mechner ’52, ’57 GSAS. 

Amol and his wife Ursula’s 

younger daughter, Lila, is 2. One 

of our class’ most successful entrepreneurs, 

Amol, who founded the 

tech company Peek, just raised its 

latest big round of VC funds led by 

SoftBank, Bharti Enterprises and 

RRE Ventures. Also a real estate 

developer, Amol completed his 

Long Island City building, East 

of East, in 2010; it was called “the 

most important new building in 

the borough” of Queens by the 

New York Daily News. In more 

business news, Amol started a seed 

fund focused on Columbia, called 

(appropriately) Cfund. 

Lastly, according to SEC filings, 

Ronald G. Lehman, managing 

director of investment banking at 

Bruderman Brothers, has been appointed 

to the board of directors of 

FONAR. The announcement says 

that Ronald “specializes in advising 

healthcare services companies.” 

Congratulations to Ronald on 

his appointment. 

99 

Laurent Vasilescu 

127 W. 81st St., Apt. 4B 


laurent.vasilescu@ 

gmail.com 

Solid updates to share with you 

this go-round. Eli Sanders, who 

was editor-in-chief of Spectator 

our senior year, recently won the 

Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. 

He lives in Seattle and works for 

a local paper, The Stranger. A great 

write-up on Eli’s accomplishment 

can be found if you type his name 

into Spectator online. 

I recently had brunch with Sameer 

Shamsi and Wendy Liu, with 

whom I was happy to reconnect. 

Wendy graduated with an M.B.A. 

from the Wharton School in 2010 

and now works at a private equity 

fund that invests in healthcare 

royalties. She is happily married to 

Adam and they live on the Upper 

West Side not too far from campus. 

The CCT office gave me the good 

word that Rohit Bansal recently 

joined the investment bank Jeffries 

as a managing director and head 

of distressed and special situations 

trading. Prior to working at Jeffries, 

Rohit was a managing director at 

Citigroup, where he spent four 

years in distressed debt trading. 

Jess (Wendover) Zimbabwe 

welcomed a daughter on May 31, 

Martha, who joins sister Celia, or 

C.J. (2). Jess lives with her husband, 

Sam, in Washington, D.C., where 

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CLASS NOTES COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY CLASS NOTES 

she is an executive director at the 

Urban Land Institute. 

Meghan Taira also lives in 

Washington, D.C., and has been 

calling our nation’s capital home 

for the past 10 years. For the past 

five, she has kept her ties to New 

York by reporting to Sen. Charles 

Schumer (D-N.Y.); she is now his 

senior legislative assistant for health 

and education. 

These are all the updates for this 

edition. Don’t hesitate to drop me 

a line and let me know how you 

are doing. 

00 

Prisca Bae 

344 W. 17th St., Apt. 3B 


pb134@columbia.edu 

According to Crain’s New York 

Business, Jeffrey D. Rotenberg 

’00L was promoted to partner in 

the litigation practice of the law 

firm DLA Piper. He previously was 

a senior associate. 

Michael Glynn is a co-author 

of a recent publication of the University 

of Texas Press, Independent 

for Life: Homes and Neighborhoods for 

an Aging America. It was edited by 

Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of 

HUD under President Bill Clinton. 

Tom King’s debut novel, A Once 

Crowded Sky, was released this past 

summer. According to Simon & 

Schuster it “fuses the sensibility of 

bombastic, comic-book-style storytelling 

with modern literary fiction 

to bring to life a universe of super 

men stripped of their powers, newly 

mortal men forced to confront 

danger in a world without heroes.” 

Tom worked for the counterterrorism 

center at the CIA following the 

events of 9-11. While at Columbia, 

he interned for DC Comics and 

Marvel. Tom lives in Washington, 

D.C., with his wife, Colleen, and 

children, Charlie and Claire. 

If you were at our 10-year 

re union in 2010, you may have noticed 

Brendan Colthurst and Bryan 

Carmel following Vikram Gandhi 

with video cameras. Turns out, they 

were filming for their documentary 

feature film, Kumaré, released in theaters 

in June through Kino Lorber, 

a distributor founded by Richard 

Lorber ’67 and the late Donald Krim 

’67, ’71L. Winner of the Audience 

Award for Best Feature Documentary 

at SXSW 2011 (South by 

Southwest), Kumaré documents the 

time Vikram impersonated a wise 

Indian guru and built a following 

of real people in Phoenix. On the 

success of its opening in New York 

at the IFC Center, the film expanded 

to more cities, including Denver, 

Chicago and Seattle, and as of this 

writing was set to open in Los 

Angeles on August 3. Produced by 

Brendan and Bryan and directed by 

Gandhi, Kumaré is their first feature, 

made through their production 

company, Disposable Television. Go 

see it on the big screen! Tell all your 

friends! You also can visit kumare 

movie.com. 

01 

Jonathan Gordin 

3030 N. Beachwood Dr. 

Los Angeles, CA 90068 

jrg53@columbia.edu 

For some reason, communications 

from classmates this summer were 

sparse. Hopefully everyone was off 

exploring the world, commencing 

from grad school and getting married, 

and you’ll write in with great 

updates in the coming weeks. I will 

await them! Meanwhile, here is the 

news I have: 

Vasantha Rao writes, “I have 

been in touch with many CC 

alumni lately, as I got married last 

year to Joel Dowling; the wedding 

took place in Shrewsbury, N.J., on 

June 19, 2011. In attendance were 

Michael Bilsborough, Apeksha 

Kumar ’01E, Jonathan Ferrantelli, 

Andrea Villanti, Christopher 

Brady, Claudia DeSimio ’99, 

Annemarie DeSimio ’02, Courtney 

Strate ’02, Hannah Warren ’01 Barnard 

and Jessica Beck ’01 Barnard. 

It was a wonderful time. 

“The biggest news lately is 

that my husband and I moved to 

Rabat, Morocco, in May. I work for 

the Department of Justice, and I 

represent DOJ as the resident legal 

adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Morocco. 

We are both really excited 

for this big adventure and hope 

that if there are any CU alums in 

the area, they will get in touch!” 

In other wedding news, Patrick 

Durkan married Amy Pettibone on 

June 16 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral 

in New York. Patrick is a partner 

at Madison Financial Concepts, a 

corporate consulting and financial 

planning firm in the city. He also is 

the head saber-fencing coach at the 

New York Athletic Club. 

My former Carman 11 floormate 

Karl Ward will attend the Interactive 

Telecommunications Program 

at NYU Tisch starting in September. 

As always, please keep in touch! 

02 

Sonia Dandona 

Hirdaramani 

2 Rolling Dr. 

Old Westbury, NY 11568 

soniah57@gmail.com 

It was amazing to see everyone 

at reunion after 10 long years. I’m 

including updates I received both 

at reunion and otherwise. 

After graduating, Ksusha Boutov 

was a trader for seven years in New 

York, first at Morgan Stanley and 

then at a hedge fund. She earned an 

M.B.A. from Wharton in 2011 and 

since graduating has been working 

at Goldman Sachs in private wealth 

management. Last fall, she married 

Sean McCormick ’02 Princeton. 

Among the Columbians in attendance 

were Courtney Rennicke 

’07 TC, Bronwyn Roantree, Anya 

Boutov ’05, Oana Cornis-Pop ’03, 

Josh Flagg, Lena Kazakina ’99 TC, 

Emily Erstling, Scott Statland ’04, 

Jeff Stedman ’05, Cody Upton ’05, 

Laura Stedman ’06 (née Schnaidt), 

Laurel Eisenach ’06, Ed Combs 

’06, Enrique Walker (professor, the 

Architecture School) and Malwina 

Lys-Dobradin ’05. Ksusha writes, 

“It’s been a fabulous 10 years, and 

I would love to reconnect with any 

of my classmates who have been 

wondering how I’m doing!” 

Sarah Hsiao HuYoung had a 

great time seeing all the familiar 

faces at reunion, especially her 

fellow John Jay 9ers. Sarah and 

her husband, James HuYoung ’01, 

made the big cross-country move 

to Los Angeles in July. Their son 

Nathan is 19 months. She writes, 

“We’re looking forward to reconnecting 

with fellow Columbians 

on the West Coast!” 

Kimberly Blumenthal started a 

fellowship in allergy and immunology 

at Massachusetts General Hospital 

in July. She and her husband, 

Daniel Blumenthal, also a physician 

at Mass General, welcomed their 

first child, Jonah Martin, on February 

1. They live in Cambridge and 

would love to meet up with any CU 

grads in the area. 

Lynn Juang has spent the 10 

years since graduation in New 

York and working in the creative 

industry. She started in fashion 

advertising at Laird+Partners and 

then, in 2006, began working at 

AvroKO, doing restaurant branding, 

graphic design and marketing 

projects. Just as she left the firm, 

she met her now-husband, chef 

Seamus Mullen. She helped him 

open Tertulia, a Spanish restaurant 

in the West Village, in August 2011. 

This past March, Lynn left her day 

job at a small ad agency and began 

working full-time with Seamus as 

director of marketing and development 

of their fledgling restaurant 

group, overseeing all new projects 

and communications. 

The couple was married on 

July 14 at the Brooklyn Winery in 

Williamsburg. A sizable Columbia 

contingency was in attendance, 

including Purdy Tran and Akiko 

Kurematsu ’03 Barnard, who 

were in the bridal party. Also on 

hand were Stefanie Tsen, Paul 

Choi, Franklin Amoo, Albert Lee 

’02E, Melissa Tominac, Matt Hill 

’01, Emeka Ofodile ’01, Ian Chee 

’01, Linyee Yuan, Youn Lee ’01, 

Miryam Seid and Natalie Fung ’02 

Barnard and her husband, Ethan 

Farbman. 

Liz Matory is in Washington, 

D.C., fundraising for nonprofits. 

She is two credits away from finishing 

her core requirements at the 

Robert H. Smith School of Business 

at Maryland, where she’s pursuing 

an M.B.A. part-time. 

Avi Fernandes graduated from 

INSEAD in July 2010 and joined 

Morgan Stanley in San Francisco. 

In January, however, his team 

spun out of MS and formed an 

independent firm, Iconiq Capital 

(global multi-family office based in 

San Francisco). 

Jeffrey Seth Colen lives in San 

Francisco and works at Zynga in 

digital advertising. 

Ronit Gurtman lives on Long Island 

with her husband, Brian Gurtman, 

and children, Elisabeth (6), 

Micah (3) and Ruthie (6 months). 

She’s an employment lawyer at Littler 

Mendelson’s NYC office. 

Genevieve (Vivi) Ko had a busy 

2011. She graduated from Yale (Ph.D. 

program in biology and biomedical 

sciences), started a new job as a life 

sciences consultant in Boston and 

was married to Bayan Takizawa at 

The Boston Harbor Hotel on October 

9. (See nearby photo.) 

On October 1, Purdy Tran married 

Joshua Bailer at The Mansion 

at Natirar in Far Hills, N.J. Alumni 

in attendance included Albert J. 

Lee ’02E, Emeka Ofodile ’01, Matt 

Hill ’01, Lynn Juang ’02, Youn Lee 

’01 and Ian Chee ’01. 

She writes, “It was nice to be back 

in the Northeast to celebrate with 

friends and family. In summer 2010, 

Josh and I moved from NYC to Miami 

Beach, where I am the director 

of membership and club development 

for Casa Tua, Miami, a private 

membership club. Although we miss 

the city, we love being able to surf 

and run on the beach before hitting 

the office in the mornings.” 

From 2008–11, Andy Cheung 

and his wife, Karen Corrie, lived 

in The Hague, Netherlands. Karen 

left a job as an ADA with the New 

York County District Attorney’s 

Office to work for the Office of 

the Prosecutor at the International 

Criminal Court, where she held 

several positions, including that 

of associate trial lawyer. From The 

Hague, Andy started Sensobi, a 

U.S.-based software company, with 

a childhood friend. Sensobi was 

acquired in 2011 by GroupMe, a 

New York-based startup, which in 

turn was acquired by Skype. 

The couple moved back to New 

York in 2012. Karen has begun a 

litigation fellowship at the Open 

Society Justice Initiative, where she 

is pursuing international human 

rights litigation. Andy continues to 

work at GroupMe, alongside other 

CC alumni including Jared Hecht 

’09, Neil Sarkar ’07E and Chris 

Connolly ’04. 

Santosh Sekar ’02E lives in Mid - 

town and works for AMEX. He 

recently celebrated his five-year 

anniversary with his wife, Jyoti. 

Luba Kagan lives on the Upper 

West Side after a stint in Argentina 

and two years in Philadelphia for 

business school. She would be 

happy to meet fellow N.Y.-area 

Columbia alums. 

Lisa Genn lives in Park Slope 

and was married on June 30 to 

Mark Snyder. She works at the 

Brennan Center for Justice. 

Sheethal (Rao) Shobowale lives 

in Brooklyn and works for Google. 

She recently had a son, Hudson, 

who was the youngest attendee at 

reunion! 

Leslie Papa lives in New York 

with her hubby, Salvatore. She 

does publicity for Broadway Show. 

Evelyn Addo-Wallace is a 

women’s nurse practitioner. 

Adrienne Moran is an assistant 

U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. 

Nikki Hinman moved to Rome, 

N.Y. She works for the State Appellate 

Division of New York, Fourth 

Department. 

Nicholas Manheim lives in Seattle 

and is an attorney at Perkins 

Coie. His daughter, Naomi, is 2. 

Kristin (Savarese) Lorieo works 

in communications at a law firm. 

Sara Kim ’02E lives on the 

Upper West Side and is married to 

Steven Munch. 

Franklin Amoo works at a 

hedge fund owned by a Japanese 

company and is involved in a 

number of startups. He is contemplating 

a move to Asia. 

Raquel Aragon is practicing law 

in her own professional corporation. 

Kevin Espy has a baby, Jaylon 

(6 months), with his wife, Teresa. 

They live in Riverdale. 

Craigory Brown is going to work 

in at Goldman PWM out of Miami. 

Kelly Jamieson Rainn ’02E gave 

birth to Jameson Rainn Thomas on 

April 11. She lives with her husband 

in the West Village. 

Helena Andrews lives in Washington, 

D.C., and is a successful 

writer. 

Abena Sanders is an employment 

attorney living in Atlanta and 

is engaged. 

Elizabeth Alicea is studying at 

Cardozo Law School. 

Ardavan Akhavan is finishing 

his residency at Mount Sinai in urology 

and moving to Seattle to do a 

fellowship in pediatric urology. 

Jarrett Keys lives in Miami and 

was married in October 2009 to his 

wife, Siumy. 

Elvis Rodriguez ’02E lives in 

New York and works in financial 

services. He earned an M.B.A. from 

UVA. 

Jeff McCall and his wife, Alexis, 

Genevieve (Vivi) Ko ’02 and Bayan Takizawa were married on October 9 at the Boston Harbor Hotel. 

Left to right: Hironobu Katoh ’02E; Henry Wong ’02; Camy Chu ’02E; Christopher Wong ’02; the bride’s 

father, Chun-Min (Tony) Kao ’68; the bride; Alice Lu ’02; and Lu’s husband, Maximilian Lee ’02, ’06 P&S. 

live in Washington, D.C. 

Robin van der Meulen lives in 

Brooklyn and is a lawyer at Wilkie 

Farr & Gallagher. 

Amanda Konstam lives in New 

York and works in communications 

for Mayor Michael Bloomberg. 


MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013 




212-851-7834 



212-851-7833 

03 

Michael Novielli 

World City Apartments 

Attention Michael J. 

Novielli, A608 

Block 10, No 6. Jinhui Road, 

Chaoyang District 

Beijing, 100020, People’s 

Republic of China 

mjn29@columbia.edu 

It was a wonderful experience for 

me to be back in New York City this 

past spring for Alumni Reunion 

Weekend and to be able to see so 

many at the Young Alumni Party on 

the U.S.S. Intrepid. Remember when 

we used to party on the Intrepid for 

the annual year-end celebration? 

Well, we’ll be able to relive that 

and all our other memories next 

year for our 10-year reunion. Mark 

your calendars now for Thursday, 

May 30–Sunday, June 2, 2013. And 

if you want to get involved in the 

planning it’s not too late. Just get 

in touch with one of the Alumni 

Office contacts listed at the top of 

the column. It was great to bump 

into Jessica Berenyi at the event this 

year but we’ll be represented in far 

greater numbers next year! 

Now, on to the updates: 

First, in wedding news, Albert 

Shin married Ji Yeh Kim on June 

24 at the National City Christian 

Church in Washington, D.C. Albert 

and Ji Yeh are associates at White & 

Case in New York City. Columbians 

in attendance included Jack 

(Chen-Wen) Yuen ’03E, Andy So, 

Barry Chiang ’03E and John Kwak 

’03E. 

Mike Youn is leaving the Navy 

in September to start a two-year, 

full-time grad program at Johns 

Hopkins School of Advanced International 

Studies in Washington, 

D.C. He’ll start in the American 

foreign policy concentration. 

Michelle Hodara ’12 TC earned 

a Ph.D. in economics and education 

from Teachers College in May. 

She now is a postdoctoral research 

associate at the Community College 

Research Center at Columbia, conducting 

research on issues of college 

access and completion. 

Graciete Lo writes, “I moved to 

Hawaii in June 2011 to complete a 

pre-doctoral psychology internship 

at the Honolulu VA. I walked in 

May and will receive my Ph.D. in 

clinical psychology from Fordham 

in September. It’s been a long sixyear 

journey! 

“I hung out in New York for 

a few weeks this summer before 

starting a two-year position at 

the National Center for PTSD in 

Honolulu. Interestingly, I ran into 

Jennifer Schneider, who is a psychologist 

at the NC-PTSD. What an 

amazing coincidence! I also recently 

met up with Kris Depedro (who is 

finishing a Ph.D. through USC) and 

Joel Marrero in Los Angeles for a 

Columbia mini-reunion. They both 

reside in L.A.” 

Darrell Silver writes, “It’s been 

an exciting year so far: I sold my 

first tech startup, Perpetually.com, 

in March. It was a roller coaster, and 

I can’t wait to do it again. Columbia 

bonus points: Dan Moss helped 

out tremendously as an adviser on 

the deal.” 

On March 22, Nick Solaro and 

his wife, Amy, celebrated the birth 

of their son, Jack. Mom and baby 

are doing great. 

Leah (Davis) Bailey writes, “In 

2010 I received an M.B.A. from 

Alaska Pacific University and married 

Aaron Bailey. This year finds 

me in Walla Walla, Wash., as mom 

to Elias (born May 23) and working 

as a freelance copy editor under 

the auspices of my small business, 

Bailey Editing.” 

After 2½ lovely years on the 

Italian Riviera, Robyn Schwartz 

and Dan Hammerman ’02 now are 

in Houston, a move precipitated 

by Dan’s work. Robyn writes, 

“Following a year back working 

in homeless services, I recently 

returned to nonprofit freelancing 

while attempting to build a small 

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CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

specialty food company. Fianco a 

Fianco (fiancoafianco.com) makes 

sweet-savory cookies, such as 

biscottini al pesto, inspired by our 

time in Italy. Last spring I was 

pleasantly shocked to run into 

Simone Sebastian at a farmers’ 

market — she’s a reporter at The 

Houston Chronicle. We get together 

every now and again to complain 

about the humidity and how much 

we miss NYC. Dan and I expect to 

be down here through next summer, 

so holler if you find yourself 

in the Bayou City.” 

Chelsea (Walsh) Beser writes, 

“I recently joined Montage Legal 

Group as the lead attorney for 

New York and am responsible 

for Montage’s expansion to New 

York. Montage Legal Group is a 

nationwide network of experienced 

freelance attorneys who work for 

law firms on a project basis. I live 

on the Upper West Side with my 

husband and son, Jacob Robert, 

who was born on October 26.” 

04 

Angela Georgopoulos 

200 Water St., Apt. 1711 


aeg90@columbia.edu 

With fall under way, I hope that all 

the members of the Class of 2004 

are enjoying the season. Please send 

your latest updates to me at the 

email or postal address at the top of 

the column. It’s a great way to stay 

connected. 

05 

Peter Kang 

205 15th St., Apt. 5 


peter.kang@gmail.com 

It’s always nice to get first-time 

submissions from classmates. Mike 

Vary writes, “My wife, Jaclyn Matayoshi 

’06, and I have never submitted 

a Class Note, so I figured it’s time. 

We’ve been back in my hometown 

of Cleveland for three years. Jackie 

graduated Case Western Reserve 

Law School and took the bar in July. 

All this with a 2-year-old, Lucas. We 

are truly blessed and busy! I work at 

UBS in Cleveland and Jackie is starting 

at a boutique estate planning law 

firm in the fall.” 

Anil Kumar and Tanvi Desai 

were married on February 25 in 

San Juan, Puerto Rico. They were 

wed under sun-drenched skies in 

a traditional but humorous Hindi 

wedding, after a raucous bharat 

involving dancing groomsmen and 

a gun-shy white horse. Columbians 

in attendance included Fareed 

Melhem, Harmony Davis, Liz 

Down, Mike Camacho, David 

Kim ’06, Nishant Dixit ’07 and 

Suma Pratyusha Tumuluri ’05E. 

Meredith “Merry” Boak married 

Joshua Biber in June in Vermont at 

the Round Barn Farm. Joining her 

was Keri Wachter as her maid of 

honor, Jackson Shafer as a reader 

in the ceremony and Paul Wright, 

who stole the show (as usual) as 

the fabulous emcee at the reception. 

Eva Rosen ’05 Barnard and 

Justin Ifill ’06 also shared the special 

day. Merry, Keri, Jackson, Eva and 

Justin were all part of Notes and 

Keys a cappella during their time at 

Columbia and relished the reunion, 

singing and dancing the night away. 

Jacob Shell and his wife, Ize, 

celebrated their first anniversary in 

March. In July, Jacob started as an 

assistant professor of geography 

and urban studies at Temple. 

Our classmates continue to 

make strides in their education and 

careers. Andy Rios will be pursuing 

an M.B.A. at the Haas School 

of Business at UC Berkeley this fall. 

Ted Goldman earned a doctorate 

in music composition from Juilliard. 

He will be on the faculty at 

Eastman School of Music, teaching 

music theory, starting this fall. 

Cary D’Alo Place earned a 

master’s of architecture from Rice in 

2008 after which she took some time 

to be a Teach for America corps 

member north of Baton Rouge, La. 

She now is a designer with Odell 

Associates in Richmond, Va. 

Katie Henderson Adams 

writes: “Since graduation I’ve been 

working in book publishing while 

obtaining my master’s in English 

literature from NYU. I was married 

in September to Benjamin Adams 

in my hometown of Exeter, N.H., 

with many Columbia and Barnard 

alums in attendance (Conor 

McNamara ’03E, Christina Norris 

McNamara ’05 Barnard, Frank Angones, 

Peter Mende-Seidlecki ’07, 

Lee Havlicek ’09 Barnard, Sarah 

Matteucci, Ali Rohrs ’07, Pat Higgiston 

’04E, Meredith Fuhrman, 

Rami Raff ’06 GSAS, Sandy London 

’02, Amanda McCroskery ’06 

and Tanya Franklin). I’m an editor 

at Liveright, a newly relaunched 

imprint of W.W. Norton, and I love 

both married life and my new job.” 

Lots of congratulations to go 

around for our newlyweds, new 

parents and new grads. Thanks for 

the updates, and we look forward 

to hearing more! 

06 

Michelle Oh Sing 

9 N 9th St., Unit 401 


mo2057@columbia.edu 

Hope everyone had a great 

summer! Here are some exciting 

updates from our classmates. 

Thessaly La Force is in her 

second year at the Iowa Writers’ 

Workshop, where she is working 

on a novel and short story collection. 

She recently finished working 

on an illustrated book, My Ideal 

Bookshelf, with artist Jane Mount; it 

will be published in November. 

Emily Ross ’12 SIPA writes, 

“After spending two wonderful 

years back on Columbia’s campus, 

I graduated from SIPA in May 

with a master’s. Since then, I have 

returned to Washington, D.C., and 

work for the political consulting 

firm GMMB. Next time anyone is 

in D.C., be sure to let me know!” 

Stephanie Simon earned an 

M.B.A. and master of urban planning 

degree from Michigan. In July, 

she joined GE Capital. 

Kathleen Adams writes, “My 

husband, Ford, and I and our son, 

Wells (3), have moved to New 

Delhi, India! Looking forward to 

seeing any classmates who are here 

for work or pleasure.” 

Justin Ifill writes, “The Young 

Alumni Party, held during Alumni 

Reunion Weekend aboard the U.S.S. 

Intrepid, was bigger and better than 

ever, with almost 2,000 people! It 

was great to see many 2006 faces 

and other young alumni. The following 

weekend I had the pleasure 

of attending the wedding of Merry 

Boak ’05 and Joshua Biber. I had 

an amazing time with our fellow 

Notes and Keys a cappella family 

including Eva Rosen ’05 Barnard, 

Jackson Shafer ’05, Keri Wachter ’05 

and Paul Wright ’05. 

“Lastly, it has been my amazing 

honor to serve as the president of 

Columbia College Young Alumni 

for the last two years. I hope I 

was able to make young alumni 

programming just a bit better, and 

I know Calvin Sun ’08 will do an 

amazing job! On to the next one!” 

07 

David D. Chait 

1255 New Hampshire 

Ave. N.W., Apt. 815 

Washington, DC 20036 

ddc2106@columbia.edu 

It was amazing seeing so many of 

our classmates at Alumni Reunion 

Weekend in June. The Class of 2007 

had a record 264 alumni in attendance 

and 340 overall attendees. 

Thank you to everyone who came 

out for it. 

Classmates came from far and 

wide to join the festivities, including 

Nishant Dixit from his global 

travels, Keith Hernandez from 

China, Marco Zappacosta and Jessica 

Isokawa from California and 

Tammi Lee and Isaac Schwartz 

from Cleveland. 

Ngozi Okoh writes, “Hey everyone! 

It was great seeing you in 

June. I’m back in New York City after 

moving from Philadelphia and 

so hoping to reconnect with many 

of you, so find me on FB and let me 

know when you’re available!” 

Geo Karapetyan had a “great 

time reconnecting with so many 

CC ’07ers at reunion in June!” Immediately 

afterward, Geo boarded 

a plane and moved to Los Angeles 

for the summer to work at Walt 

Disney Studios in feature animation 

finance. He has since returned 

to New York and is completing an 

M.B.A. at NYU Stern. 

Jessica Wong Zen shares, 

“Shortly after attending reunion, 

I received an M.B.A. from MIT’s 

Sloan School of Management and 

then promptly moved with my husband 

from Boston to Seattle. As I 

write, I’m planning to start my new 

job with Amazon in August — in 

the meantime, I am getting situated 

in my new city and my time is 

mostly occupied with the fun and 

games (and headache) that come 

with being a new homeowner.” 

Isaac Schwartz was happy to 

see everyone at the reunion before 

heading to Peru. He helped organize 

and carry out a monthlong 

medical mission in the Sacred Valley 

region with doctors, students 

and nurses from Cleveland. 

Joshua Davis and his wife, Naomi, 

were sorry they missed the reunion 

but had a great reason: They 

welcomed their son, Samson Rex, to 

the world on May 30 in Washington, 

D.C. Josh says, “His sister, 

Eleanor, is very excited to have a 

playmate and can’t understand 

why he spends all day ignoring her. 

You can see pictures on our family’s 

blog, Rockstar Diaries. It’s been 

featured in a number of magazines, 

on websites and in newspapers and 

gets millions of page views each 

month: tazaandhusband.com.” 

Caitlin Shure thought that the 

reunion was “amazeballs.” She 

was so caught up in the magic of 

the night that she “completely forgot 

to execute her original reunion 

plan (to seduce a man from the 

Class of ’02).” 

Margaret Bryer writes, “Great to 

see people whom I hadn’t seen in a 

while at the reunion and reassuring 

to see that people haven’t changed 

all that much in five years.” 

Love is in the air for many members 

of our class. Luciana Colapinto 

and Jake Olson got engaged and 

will be married next June. Erik 

Lindman and Naomi Nevitt ’07 

Barnard also are engaged. And Pitr 

Strait and Katherine Atwill ’08 were 

married April 7. The ceremony was 

held in Washingtonville, N.Y., and 

was attended by Columbians from 

every class from ’04–’12. 

Congratulations to everyone! 

Julia Kite writes, “I’ve recently 

completed my second year of a 

Ph.D. in sociology at UC Berkeley. I 

live in San Francisco and miss New 

York City every day! This summer 

I spoke at conferences in Denver 

and London about my research into 

Vegas’ Alexandra Epstein ’07 Revitalizes Her Hometown 

Alexandra Epstein ’07 

starts every workday 

by moving methodically 

through the 

secret passageways of Las 

Vegas’ El Cortez Hotel & Casino. 

She traverses the kitchens and 

the unmarked hallways, greeting 

the cocktail waitresses and 

bartenders as well as the “back 

of house” staff. It is definitely 

the scenic route, but it’s one 

she takes religiously. 

Why the long walk? In the 

service industry, your company 

is only as good as the people 

who make it hum and happen 

— and Epstein knows this. 

“I’m a perfectionist,” she admits. 

“And I don’t try to direct 

things without having an idea 

of what I’m speaking about.” 

Granted, the El Cortez — 

Las Vegas’ oldest continually 

operating casino (built in 1941) 

— isn’t Epstein’s company, but 

it may be one day. The 27-yearold’s 

father, Kenny Epstein, 

now the CEO and chairman, 

has helped run the 366-room 

complex since the 1960s. His 

daughter is the e.v.p., promoted 

after two years as executive 

manager, and you’d be hard 

pressed to find someone who 

says she didn’t earn that title. 

With a love for art history and 

an eye for design cultivated at 

Columbia, where she majored in 

art history with a pre-med concentration, 

Epstein is balancing 

her creativity with her business 

pedigree to realize a cosmopolitan 

vision for her native city. In 

just a few years she’s become 

a rising star of the downtown 

— the city’s other major district, 

apart from the famous Strip — 

spurred by Vegas pride to revitalize 

her neighborhood despite 

the greater economic woes. 

“The area around Fremont 

Street on the North Strip is 

really where Las Vegas began,” 

Epstein says of the area where 

the El Cortez is located. “Residents 

here see a silver lining. 

There are plenty of people who 

have taken the opportunity to 

leave, but I think those who 

have stayed, particularly downtowners, 

are very optimistic 

about the potential for change.” 

The El Cortez has been an 

important part of that change. 

In 2009, Epstein spearheaded a 

redesign of the hotel’s smaller 

Cabana Suites, bringing the 66- 

room property from seedy “old 

Vegas” skeleton to a modern 

Miami Beach-style boutique 

hotel. In 2011, she helped the 

hotel run a contest for designers 

to revamp the El Cortez’s luxury 

suites that was touted by the Las 

Vegas Sun as galvanizing interest 

in new construction and development 

in a city still struggling with 

a national mortgage crisis. 

It’s not only about the family 

business, though. Epstein also 

sits on the board of the Neon 

Museum, which houses many 

of the city’s giant signage fossils, 

like that of Caesars Palace 

and the Golden Nugget; on the 

board of the Jewish Federation 

of Las Vegas; and on the University 

of Las Vegas Libraries 

Advisory Board. She is the 

youngest member of the City 

of Las Vegas Arts Commission, 

appointed by then-Mayor Oscar 

Goodman to help the commission 

with placement of new 

public art, from the new Las Vegas 

City Hall to outdoor parks. 

“She is absolutely the personification 

of energy when it 

comes to the redevelopment 

of downtown Las Vegas,” says 

Goodman, who has worked 

with Epstein on efforts to bring 

life to a newly designated entertainment 

district surrounding 

the intersection of 6th and 

Fremont Streets, north of the 

busiest part of the Strip. “She 

single-handedly transformed 

the El Cortez and the Cabana 

Suites into places that locals 

and tourists now flock to. Her 

taste is impeccable. That’s 

why I appointed her to the arts 

commission.” 

As a Columbia student, Epstein 

fell in love with New York’s 

bounty of museums and galleries; 

but she first fell in love with 

the idea of a community built 

B y Ben Johnson 

Alexandra Epstein ’07 spearheaded a major redesign at her 

family’s El Cortez Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas. 

PHOTO: BRYAN HAINER 

around shared knowledge. 

“I was really drawn to the 

Core Curriculum,” she says. “I 

loved the idea that I would have 

this connection with the past, 

with people who had been coming 

to Columbia for decades.” 

Gathering community around 

shared knowledge and ideas 

can be seen in the vibrant Emergency 

Arts building, an old medical 

center on Fremont Street, 

owned by the El Cortez, which 

since spring 2010 boasts a new 

creative collective. With 42 tenant 

businesses, from galleries to 

web design and photo studios to 

a bustling coffee shop, Emergency 

Arts — its name a nod to 

the building’s former use — is 

another example of Epstein’s tenacity 

in turning good ideas into 

practical realities. Put together 

by Epstein and directors Michael 

and Jennifer Cornthwaite, the 

collective has been a shining 

example of revitalization, and 

how cheap real estate for artists 

can bring new commerce into 

downtown. 

“It’s an awesome concept, 

and she’s made it a reality,” 

says Heather Hyte, owner of 

the Rad Kisser photography 

gallery on the collective’s 

second floor. “It’s nice to get 

a lot of people with ideas to 

contribute to a common goal. 

To focus on something like that 

out of passion, even though it’s 

not going to be a major payout, 

that says a lot about a person. 

Already, she’s done a lot for 

this city.” 

Ben Johnson is a writer living 

in Brooklyn and working at Slate 

Magazine, where he is an editorial 

supervisor for Slate’s video 

department, SlateV. 

FALL 2012 

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CLASS NOTES 



CLASS NOTES 

Pitr Strait ’07 and Katherine Atwill ’08 were married on April 7 in Washingtonville, N.Y. In attendance 

were, left to right: Lars Dabney ’07, Lucia Plumb-Reyes ’06, Mike Glass ’11E, the groom, the bride, 

Peter Mende-Siedlecki ’07, Nick Weiler ’07, Kevin Connell ’07 and Hannah Temple ’07. 

PHOTO: LE IMAGE, INC. 

the determinants of neighborhood 

satisfaction in urban regeneration 

zones. I’ve also made a full-time job 

of trying to find a literary agent for 

my first novel; I highly recommend 

doing this if you like pain.” 

Liz Ferguson practiced, practiced, 

practiced to get to Carnegie 

Hall and then applied for a job 

in community programs at its 

Weill Music Institute, where she’s 

been for the last three years. Her 

highlights from reunion include 

the radio hits aboard the U.S.S. 

Intrepid [at the Young Alumni Party 

on June 1] and crashing the ’02 tent 

with Jessica Isokawa, Alana Weiss 

and Jerone Hsu, “where we saw 

the future — see everyone there.” 

Alison Desir completed her 

first marathon with The Leukemia 

and Lymphoma Society’s Team in 

Training. On June 3, she ran the 

San Diego Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon 

in four hours and 29 minutes and 

raised nearly $4,000 to benefit LLS 

in finding cures and better treatments 

for leukemia, lymphoma, 

Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. 

Laura Taranto writes, “I moved 

to Berlin to join Wooga, a social 

games developer. I am a product 

manager here working on a game 

not yet released. Stay tuned and 

greetings from Germany!” 

Marianna Zaslavsky spent the 

summer in London working at 

Bain & Company and was “looking 

forward to my last year at the 

Business School.” Marianna will be 

joined by fellow CC ’07ers David 

Chait, Yael Silverstein, Christian 

Capasso, Ben Baker and Jake 

Olson, among others. 

James Mahon entered the political 

economy and government Ph.D. 

program at Harvard three years ago. 

He moved to Washington, D.C., 

this past summer to continue his 

dissertation research at the U.S. 

Treasury Department. James writes, 

“Drop me a line if you’re in the 

neighborhood!” 


MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013 




212-851-7834 



212-851-7833 

08 

Neda Navab 

7 Soldiers Field Park, 

Apt. 7C 

Boston, MA 02163 

nn2126@columbia.edu 

Rachel Claire Weidenbaum 

recently played a role in the HBO 

film Muhammad Ali’s Greatest 

Fight, directed by Stephen Frears, 

in a scene opposite Christopher 

Plummer and Kathleen Chalfant. 

Next, she will return to working 

with the Drama Desk-nominated 

Marvell Repertory Theatre on its 

upcoming season, directed by 

Lenny Leibowitz ’94. 

Alisa Brem recently graduated 

from law school and is a development 

associate at Insight Property 

Group, a real estate development 

company in Washington, D.C. In 

October she will begin a Fulbright 

Scholarship in Florence, studying 

Tuscan regional sustainable 

development. 

Last December, Anna Lindow 

joined the team at General Assembly, 

a global network of campuses 

for people seeking opportunity 

and education in technology, 

design and entrepreneurship. She 

writes, “It’s been an amazing experience, 

especially because I get 

to work alongside incredibly interesting 

and talented people like 

Adam Pritzker ’08, Jordan Hepner 

’09 and Scott Zaloom ’09.” 

Dr. Kristin Van Heertum 

recently graduated from medical 

school. “I was at Drexel University 

College of Medicine in Philadelphia, 

where I received the award 

for overall excellence in obstetrics 

and gynecology. I’ve now started 

a residency in ob/gyn at Abington 

Memorial Hospital, just north of 

Philadelphia, which I will complete 

in 2016.” 

Darius Dehnad ’08E and Kara 

Worsley were married on April 

28 in a ceremony and celebrated 

at a reception at the Central Park 

Boathouse in Manhattan. Kara 

writes, “We could not have been 

happier celebrating with so many 

of our Columbia friends, including 

several members of the men’s 

swim and women’s tennis teams 

on which we played.” (See nearby 

photo.) 

Matthew Levitan, a law student 

at Harvard, married Ariel Wagner 

’09 Barnard, a social work intern 

at a private elementary school in 

New York. 

Gabby Francis had a son, Morrie 

Abraham, in February. 

Lauren Arnold started medical 

school at P&S in August. Beforehand, 

she visited her Peace Corps 

village in Cambodia, where she’d 

served, for a few weeks. 

Carmen Jo Ponce is fully settled 

in her new home in Houston, 

where she moved to take a job as 

an associate attorney with Baker 

Botts. It’s also an exciting time for 

her, as she got married on July 7. 

In other wedding news, Andrew 

Ness was married on June 

16 to Alicia Bonner ’08 Barnard at 

Memorial Chapel in Gill, Mass. 

The reception that followed was 

held at the Lord Jeffery Inn in 

Amherst. Attending was Melody 

Chou ’08E, Chris O’Conor ’08E, 

Katharine Head, Adrianne Nickerson, 

Stephen LaPerla, Robert 

Deiches, Christopher Tortoriello, 

Danielle Gilbert ’07 Barnard, 

Laura Stoffel ’08 Barnard, Kelly 

Garone ’08 Barnard and Ryan 

Brindley ’07 GS. Andrew and 

Alicia spent their honeymoon in 

the Greek Isles and on the western 

coast of Turkey. 

Finally, believe it or not, next 

year is our first Alumni Reunion 

Weekend! We’ll be celebrating 

five years since graduation! Mark 

your calendars now for Thursday, 

May 30–Sunday, June 2, 2013. If 

you’re interested in being part of 

the Reunion Committee (planning 

the weekend’s events) or the Class 

Gift Committee (fundraising for 

the Columbia College Fund), get 

in touch with the appropriate staff 


You don’t have to be in the New 

York area and can participate in 

meetings via conference call. 

Columbia will send materials 

by email and postal mail as the 

date grows closer. If needed, 


at reunion.college.columbia.edu/ 

alumniupdate, or call the Alumni 

Office: 212-851-7488. 

Darius Dehnad ’08E and Kara Worsley ’08 were married on April 28, with both ceremony and reception held at the Central Park Boathouse 

in Manhattan. Top row, left to right: Angela Hendry ’08, Kendall (Murphy) Severson ’07, Sayuri Shimoda ’10, Sherwin Shahraray 

’10E, Phil Hadley ’09, Omar Ahmed ’10E, the groom, the bride, Lauren Casty ’08, Chris Hunter ’08, Brittney Carfora ’08, Sydney Murray ’09, 

Sean Thomas ’08, Dasha (Leonyuk) DeWald ’07, Elizabeth de Berardinis ’08, Christina Kim ’07, Jennifer Aster ’08 Barnard, Lauren Shearer 

’09, Michael Accordino ’07 and Sina Peyrovian ’03E; bottom row, left to right: Stephen Searles, John Hessler ’06, Roxanna Dehnad ’10E, 

Maya Wedemeyer ’10 and Alise Green ’10. 

09 

Alidad Damooei 

c/o CCT 


622 W. 113th St., MC 4530 


damooei@gmail.com 

After spending two years as a 

consultant in Washington, D.C., 

Dov Friedman moved to Ankara, 

Turkey, to work for the SETA 

Foundation. The organization is a 

Turkish think-tank broadly aligned 

with the ruling AK Party; Dov is on 

the foreign policy desk, covering 

issues relating to the United States 

and Israel. In May, Dov made an 

all-too-brief visit back to New York 

City at which time he proposed, 

and now is engaged. The happy 

couple is spending the coming year 

in Istanbul but they hope to return 

to the United States in fall 2013. At 

that time, Dov will start an M.A. 

program in international relations 

at Yale. 

Dov is not the only Columbian 

heading to New Haven. Natasha 

Chichilnisky-Heal will begin pursuing 

a Ph.D. in political science 

and economics at Yale this fall. Following 

graduation, Natasha joined 

a socially responsible investment 

firm where she covered investments 

in microfinance institutions 

located in the former USSR 

region. In 2010, she transitioned 

into environmentally responsible 

business, taking a position with a 

clean technology firm involved in 

climate change mitigation. 

Of course, Yale is not the only 

destination for postgraduate study. 

Eliav Bitan will start in the M.B.A. 

program at Virginia’s Darden 

School of Business this fall. He has 

enjoyed three years of work on 

sustainable agriculture issues and 

hopes to continue pursuing those 

interests. He would love to hear 

from any fellow Columbians in 

central Virginia. 

After majoring in economics, 

Maya Koenig-Dzialowski decided 

to switch gears and pursue medicine. 

She joined Columbia’s postbac 

program and concurrently worked 

at Mount Sinai Hospital in HIVrelated 

kidney disease research. She 

completed her postbac in 2011 and 

started working at Bellevue Hospital 

Center on a project in primary care 

and psychiatry that screens for depression 

in New York’s Latino community. 

This fall, after three months 

of backpacking through Asia, Maya 

is excited to return to Columbia, this 

time for medical school. 

Ernest Herrera graduated in May 

from the University of New Mexico 

School of Law. He plans to begin his 

legal career in Albuquerque, where 

he hopes to join the New Mexico 

Public Defender’s office. 

10 

09 10 

Julia Feldberg 

4 E. 8th St., Apt. 4F 


juliafeldberg@gmail.com 

Thanks for sending in all of your 

wonderful updates. Between 

engagements, marriage, graduate 

school and world travels, our classmates 

have been leading exciting, 

busy lives. 

Nishi Kumar writes, “I have 

spent the last two years teaching 

middle school math in a charter 

school in New Orleans through 

Teach for America — a truly eyeopening 

experience. I made a career 

move for the fall and am starting 

law school at NYU. I’m looking 

forward to returning to New York!” 

On May 5, Nora Nicholson Calhoun 

married Alexander Calhoun 

’11 at Corpus Christi Church on 

West 121st Street. On May 30, Nora 

began studies to become a nursemidwife, 

this time at Columbia’s 

med campus. 

Derek Hou proposed to Esther 

Chan during Memorial Day Weekend 

on the Santa Monica Pier. The 

couple held an engagement party 

in Boston that was attended by 

many Columbia alums, including 

Victor Chiang ’09E, Edward Kim 

’10E and Jungsuk Cho ’10 Barnard. 

Giselle Marie Obregon will 

attend Boston University this fall 

as a student in the master of public 

health program. She writes, “I’ll be 

pursuing a concentration in international 

health with an emphasis 

in health program management. 

After two years in the working 

world, I welcome the opportunity 

to continue my education and to 

connect with Columbia alumni in 

the Boston area.” 

James Bogner got engaged to 

Cameron Rollins in April. As James 

works in financial aid at Columbia, 

the couple moved to a larger brownstone 

apartment near campus. 

Natalie Gossett has decided 

that the law is not for her, so she is 

changing programs and pursuing a 

master’s in mental health counseling, 

to be followed by a doctorate 

in psychology. Before moving to Ft. 

Lauderdale, Fla., Natalie attended 

a great Park Slope party hosted by 

Emily Wilson. Sean Marzug- 

McCarthy and her former suitemates, 

Alyson Cohen and Chiara 

Arcidy, also were in attendance. 

Nicole Ellis writes, “I attempted 

and survived (more or less) the 

9-to-5 lifestyle just long enough to 

save for a trip around the world, so 

I’m doing it! I recently launched a 

travel blog to document my journey 

through time zones: navigatingnik 

ki.com. I successfully summited Mt. 

Kilimanjaro’s highest point, Uhuru 

peak in Tanzania, and have plans 

FALL 2012 

100 

FALL 2012 

101

CLASS NOTES 


Nora Weber ’10 and Alex Calhoun ’11 were married on May 5 in New York City. Left to right: Genevieve 

Deleon ’10, Lillian Udell ’10, Carolina Brito ’10, Frances Bodomo ’10, the bride, the groom and Linnea 

Hincks ’10. 

to head to the Serengeti, Rwanda, 

for some gorilla tracking, and on 

and on until I make my way back to 

the United States in a year (or so) to 

make some grown-up life decisions. 

For now, I’m enjoying life as a wanderer 

and soaking up some culture 

along the way to put my anthropology 

degree to good use.” 

Last but not least, our quarterly 

installment from Chris Yim: “The 

biggest accomplishment that I have 

to report is the completion of the 

treehouse project on my roof. You 

wouldn’t think that any landlord 

in New York would allow his tenant 

to build a faux-treehouse, but I 

got lucky. My interests of late lie in 

listening to This American Life with 

Ira Glass, buying Trader Joe’s pizza 

dough and making homemade 

pies, promoting the educational 

startup uclass.org and living life on 

the edge. 

“I was heartbroken in May 

when Chelsea won the Champions 

League, denying Tottenham entry 

next year. On a side note, I visited 

classmates in New Orleans and 

went to teacher prom. The achievement 

gap is closing there. 

“I have a very apparent language 

and cultural gap with my folks. Is 

anyone else running into a similar 

issue? I have a longing to have my 

parents understand the struggles 

of a 20-something-year-old adult, 

but it’s tough not being able to communicate 

with them about what I’m 

going through. What does one do? 

“Lastly, I agreed deeply with Marina 

Keegan, when she said: ‘What 

we have to remember is that we can 

still do anything. We can change 

our minds. We can start over.’ I 

wish I could have met her, sounded 

like she had a very beautiful soul. 

“Until the next episode.” 

[Editor’s note: Marina Keegan 

’12 Yale was killed in a car crash 

just days after her graduation. To 

read her essay, “The Opposite of 

Loneliness,” which was distributed 

at her class’ Commencement, go 

to yaledailynews.com/news/ 

2012/may/27/keegan-oppositeloneliness.] 

11 

Colin Sullivan 

c/o CCT 


622 W. 113th St., MC 4530 


casullivan@gmail.com 

Greetings, Class of 2011! To start off 

with some happy news, Kara Bess 

and Chase McCaleb ’10E were married 

on June 9 at St. Paul’s Chapel 

on campus. 

Congratulations to both of them! 

Emiddio Licursi is the editorial 

assistant at Bidoun magazine, a 

quarterly publication dealing with 

art and culture from the Middle 

East. He also is publishing a chapter 

of his thesis in an Albanian academic 

journal, Përpjekja, and will travel 

throughout Latin America this year, 

starting this summer in Cuba. 

Michael Mirochnik finished 

his first year at Harvard Law 

and worked in-house at a private 

equity firm this summer. 

As always, I encourage you to 

submit Class Notes whenever possible! 

Write to me at the email address 

at the top if the column or use 

CCT’s webform: college.columbia. 

edu/cct/submit_class_note. 

Additionally, if you wish to update 

your contact information with 

the Alumni Office, you can do so at 

college.columbia.edu/cct/update_ 

contact_info or by calling the Alumni 

Office: 212-851-7488. 

12 

Sarah Chai 

c/o CCT 


622 W. 113th St., MC 4530 


sarahbchai@gmail.com 

“Mr. President: Standing before 

you in Sections 8 and 9, which 

must be an indexing error because 

Columbia College students only sit 

in Section 1, are the 1,132 candidates 

of Columbia College — candidates 

who have heroically completed the 

overly demanding and seemingly 

endless requirements for the degree 

of Bachelor of Arts!” 

After proclaiming the accomplishments 

of the Columbia College 

Class of 2012 at University Commencement 

on May 16, Dean James 

J. Valentini called on the graduates 

for a “collective roar as lions most 

powerful,” as students proudly 

waved neon orange inflatable lions 

in the air. The ceremony concluded 

with Frank Sinatra’s “New York, 

New York” and Jay-Z’s “Empire 

State of Mind,” sending Columbia’s 

newest alumni off to all parts of the 

globe, where we will undoubtedly 

continue to make our mark wherever 

our paths take us — in school, 

in work, in life. 

This fall, some of our classmates 

will begin pursuing post-graduate 

and professional degrees. 

Randy Subramany returns to 

our beloved Columbia as a full-time 

student in the Healthcare Management 

program (M.P.H.) at the 

Mailman School of Public Health. 

Anthony Testa has started at the 

Harvard School of Dental Medicine, 

where he will engage in dental 

research and receive his D.M.D. 

after four years. 

On the West Coast, Zach Brill is 

beginning a Ph.D. in organic chemistry 

at UC Berkeley, while Wesley 

Yip is attending Keck School of 

Medicine at the University of Southern 

California. 

Other classmates are heading 

back to school, but this time as 

teachers! 

Returning to the Empire State, 

Debbie Feng has joined the educators 

of Teach for America. Jake 

Goren is a Teach for America 2012 

New York City Corps member at 

VOICE Charter School in Long 

Island City, Queens. 

Helping to mold young minds 

through Teach for America outside 

of New York, Mason Fitch 

has begun his first year at Aiea 

Intermediate School near Honolulu. 

He’s teaching U.S. history 

(Revolution to Reconstruction) to 

approximately 125 eighth-graders. 

Hannah D’Apice is teaching sixthgrade 

social studies at TW Browne 

Middle School in Dallas. 

Heading straight into the work 

force, Stephanie Foster is an ad 

sales assistant for Crown Media. 

She is in charge of making deals 

and placing commercials for 

Hallmark Channel and Hallmark 

Movie Channel. 

Negin Navab was planning 

to spend a few weeks traveling 

around Europe before returning to 

New York and hopefully finding 

an apartment before she starts 

work as an analyst at J.P. Morgan. 

Negin writes that she is “definitely 

attending a few Columbia young 

alumni events in between my 

travels!” 

Lastly, although Dean Valentini 

is not an official member of the 

Class of 2012, we were Deantini’s 

first graduating class, so it seems 

only fitting to include here that 

Dean Valentini has officially been 

appointed dean of Columbia College 

and v.p. for undergraduate 

education. 

Now that we don’t have the 

luxury of living in close proximity 

to one another in East Campus, 

Hogan, Watt, Woodbridge or 

Broadway, I hope these Class Notes 

will make it easier for us to stay 

connected! Please don’t hesitate to 

reach out at sarahbchai@gmail.com 

with updates on your life. I hope 

you enjoyed your first post-grad 

summer, Class of 2012! 

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Answers to Dean Quiz 

on Inside Back Cover 

1. Herbert E. Hawkes, who 

was dean from 1918–43. 

2. 16. 

3. Harry J. Carman, for 

whom the student residence 

originally called 

New Hall was renamed. 

4. Austin E. Quigley, for 

whom the Black Box 

Theatre in Lerner was 

renamed. 

5. John Howard Van Amringe 

(Class of 1860) 

became the College’s 

first dean in 1896. 

6. False. Only seven of the 

16 deans are College 

alumni. 

7. 1130 Amsterdam Ave. 

8. Jack Greenberg ’45, ’48L. 

9. David B. Truman. 

10. Peter Pouncey. 

Bonus: Robert E. Pollack ’61. 

Alumni Corner 

(Continued from page 104) 

cops. Not a lot of people spend 

time in the stacks anymore. (Except, 

as Ms. Green pointed out, 

around the graphic-novel section.) 

It’s not the current nature of finding 

information. 

Doing it the inefficient way, you 

use the senses. You look at a row 

of spines, imprinted with butch, 

ultra-legible white or black type; 

your eye takes in more at any time 

than can be contained on a computer 

screen. You hold the books 

in your hand and feel the weight 

and size; the typography and the 

paper talk to you about time. A 

lot of libraries smell nice, but the 

smell of the Butler stacks is a song 

of organic matter, changing as temperatures 

do through the reaches 

of a pond. Get yourself near Goffredo 

Casalis’s life’s work on the 

ADVENTURES 

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SERVICES 

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Please email teddypoll@gmail.com. 

duchy of Savoy, the Dizionario 

Geografico-Storico-Statistico- 

Commerciale, published in 27 

volumes from 1833 to 1854, and 

breathe in. A fantastic, pre-acidicpaper 

smell: burned caramel, 

basically. Nobody there but you. 

There are 15 floors of stacks 

with 64 rows of books per floor, 

running about 25 feet each; 6 or 

7 shelves in each row. Can you 

actually browse there, find books 

on your own, faced with the dark 

phalanxes? You can, once you get 

subject areas in your head. Having 

made enough spot searches, you 

grasp the logic of each floor. There 

are no signs to help you, only diagrams 

with codes and numbers. 

You can also create luck in any 

given spot: You turn your head to 

the opposing row of books. A different 

subject area can arise, perhaps 

only partly to do with your 

areas of interest. This is non-linkbased 

browsing. You can discover, 

instead of being endlessly sought. 

I’ve already gone back this year: 

Above 90 degrees was my cue. I realize 

that I am lucky to do this free. 

If you have no affiliation with the 

school, it will cost you $55 a month. 

You’d pay more to go to the gym. I 

think it’s a good deal. 

From The New York Times, 6/27/12 

© 2012 The New York Times. All 

rights reserved. Used by permission 

and protected by the Copyright Laws 

of the United States. The printing, 

copying, redistribution or retransmission 

of this content without express 

written permission is prohibited. 

FALL 2012 

102 

FALL 2012 

103


This article was first published in June for “Still Life,” a series of New 

York Times articles in which Times writers sketched their favorite 

summer images. 

The heat comes quickly in the summer. By early June, 

working at home with no air-conditioning, I have no 

concentration. Everything feels close and impolite 

and loud. 

So I go to Butler Library, on the southern end of 

Columbia’s campus in Morningside Heights. What began as a diversion 

has become a self-preserving summer thing: not just Butler, 

but the Butler stacks, the stillness capital of my imagination. 

My job as a music critic depends on listening in crowds and 

writing in solitude. It also involves gathering facts and context, 

Ben Ratliff ’90 finds sanctuary inside the stacks at Butler Library. 

PHOTO: DANIEL PORTALATIN PHOTOGRAPHY 

of which there is exponentially more every day. I think by writing, 

and I write on a computer; the computer also contains the 

Internet, which manufactures express-service context as well as 

overstatement, sociopathy and lameness. In my hot office I was 

starting to look at it abstractly, as a hot thing blowing exhaust. 

I needed to renegotiate my relationship with space and sound 

and information. 

Butler is a 1930s neo-Classical hulk. At the front, above 14 columns, 

runs a list of writers and thinkers; the last is Vergil, and I 

like that someone long ago took a stand and chose to spell it in 

the Anglicization closer to his real name, not the more common 

“Virgil.” It announces: nonsense not spoken here. 

In the late ’80s, I’d been there a lot, studying and working as a 

A l u m n i C o r n e r 

Butler Stacks Offer a World Apart 

B y Ben Rat l i f f ’90 

summer employee. When I turned up at the Library Information 

office last year, there was much clucking about how I’d graduated 

so very long ago that they needed a whole other database 

to find my information. But that’s cool: I am from another time. 

Pre-air-conditioning. 

I had come to work but also to tune myself up. So I split the 

day. Some for my bosses, some for me. After I met my deadline, 

writing in the reference room, I walked behind the main desk into 

the stacks. The Columbia library system owns over 10 million 

volumes; 1.5 million, humanities and history, live here. I moved 

around for a few hours in the stillness, looking things up, standing 

up or crouching the whole time, purely and almost dopily happy. 

I’d forgotten. The Butler stacks are in a different sensory category, 

starting from the threshold: If you’re tall, you bow your 

head as you pass through the low door 

frame. They form an enclosed rectangular 

prism at the center of Butler — no 

windows, a bit cooler than the rest of the 

building. Two or three levels of the inner 

stacks can correspond to one floor of the 

outer library. All this reinforces the feeling 

that the stacks are something special: 

a separate province or a vital inner organ. 

Inside there is the deep quiet of protection 

and near-abandonment. You hear the 

hum of the lights, turned on as needed; 

that’s it. There’s a phone to make outgoing 

calls on the fifth floor. To me the stacks 

are the most sacred space in the library, 

yet here nobody’s telling you not to talk. 

You’re on your own. It’s a situation for 

adults. 

Unlike the stacks at some other university 

libraries, Butler’s were not built 

for public consumption. They opened to 

patrons gradually, much later; originally, 

Butler had a call desk, where you’d 

put in your requests and wait for your 

numbers to come up. 

“That’s why they’re not pretty stacks,” said Karen Green, Butler’s 

librarian for ancient and medieval history and for religion and 

graphic novels. She said it with empathy. Both she and I know that 

they are very beautiful. 

I spent a few weeks there in the worst of last June and July, 

grazing around, letting the shelves make the connections for me, 

writing down notes for a book whose thesis grew obscure and finally 

implausible: I was looking up works on plague, fire and the 

Egyptian desert fathers. I learned well, but I felt even better. I took 

in great amounts of information without ever becoming fried or 

irritable. All that organization and nobody around — it seemed 

like trespassing in the history of Western learning, with no fear of 

(Continued on page 103) 

So You Think You Know 

Your Former Deans? 

With the recent naming of James J. Valentini as Dean of the College, 

we thought this would be an opportune time to test your 

familiarity with some of the people who have held that office. 

1. Which Dean of the College (hint: he was a mathematician) served 

longer than any other? 

2. How many deans has Columbia College had? 

3. Which dean, who once described himself as “a good dirt farmer 

who never should have left Saratoga County,” is the only one to 

have a campus building named after him? 

4. Which dean, who now teaches as the Brander Matthews Professor 

of Dramatic Literature, has a campus theatre named after him? 

5. Who was the first Dean of the College? 

6. True or False: A majority of the College’s deans graduated from 

Columbia College. 

7. What is the street address of Hamilton Hall, where the Office of 

the Dean is located? 

8. What dean argued Brown v. Board of Education, the case that 

declared “separate but equal” unconstitutional, before the Supreme 

Court in 1954, and co-authored the cookbook Dean Cuisine? 

9. Which dean, who later became president of Mount Holyoke 

College, recounted the “nightmarish experience of witnessing, 

of experiencing, what can properly be described as the 

disintegration of a great university” in his book Reflections 

on the Columbia Disorders of 1968? 

10. Which dean became president of Amherst College and authored 

the novel Rules for Old Men Waiting, which won the McKitterick 

Prize in 2006? 

Bonus: Which dean is the founder and director of the Center for the 

Study of Science and Religion at Columbia? 

PHOTO: DANIELLA ZALCMAN ’09 

Answers on page 103. 

FALL 2012 

104


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