Columbia
College
Today w
A CORE Q&A WITH
PRESIDENT BOLLINGER
Vide
ititig
TEEN-LIT AUTHOR MELISSA
DE LA CRUZ '93 IS TOPPING
THE BESTSELLER LISTS
DIG INTO A JUICY READ
ABOUT NEW YORK’S
MOST FAMOUS HOTEL
The Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist
considers the decade after “Hope and Change”
Lh Sp Haieesti
My foverite werk frorr the Core war Water Republic.
[t helped. me te Learn how te think (still working on tl).
| ~ pote W: Lombarde WD. CCF
The Core har been w huge port of my everyday Life.
[C exposed me te w lifetimes worth of enjoyment of the
hasoice, philsrophy and art.
- Maw Hartetein CL o>
What’s Your Core Story?
Share a fun memory, favorite Core work or personal reflection and be part
of our community memory project to honor the Core Curriculum’s Centennial.
Submit online or email us your #CoreStories and join us this year for our
#CoreCelebration.
core 100.columbia.edu/corestories
core 100@columbia.edu
Contents
Finding the Light
A decade after “Hope and
Change” — and a Pulitzer Prize —
photojournalist Damon Winter ’97
feels freer than ever before.
By Boris Kachka °97, ¥RN’98
i
pity
/
MT
sgeoeegeeel seen
President Lee C. Bollinger speaks about
the curriculum’s enduring legacy.
Interview by Alexis Boncy SOA’I1
The Teen-Lit Queen
CCT joins the fan club of bestselling
author Melissa de la Cruz ’93.
By Anne-Ryan Sirju FRNO9
Cover: Photograph by Béatrice de Géa
Contents
departments alumninews
3 Within the Family 36 Hittin’ the Books
4 A Visual Odyssey 37 Message from CCAA President
Michael Behringer ’89
6 Message from Dean James J. Valentini Celebrate the Centennial by sharing your Core Stories.
Reflecting on a century of shared
intellectual experience. 38 Lions
Jeffrey Kessler ’75, LAW’77; Katherine Katcher ’07;
7 Around the Quads Sari Beth Rosenberg 97; Noél Duan 13
This year’s Hamilton Medal honoree,
CASE Gold for CCT and more. 42 Bookshelf
Sounds Like Titanic by Jessica Chiccehitto
12 Roar, Lion, Roar Hindman ’03, SOA’09
CCT talks with the author of Tough Luck:
Sid Luckman, Murder, Inc., and the Rise of the 44 Class Notes
Modern NFL. Celebrations
30 Columbia Forum: The Plaza: The Secret 84 Obituaries
Life of America’s Most Famous Hotel Alex Navab ’87
by Julie Satow 796, SIPA’01
A tribute to a well-lived landmark. 88 Core Corner
Our Centennial cartoon caption contest kicks off
with an illustration by Edward Koren ’57.
Now on CCT Online
PRINT EXTRAS THE LATEST Bete Dele | SUE
- Thank you to our FY19 CCT donors
“I’m really good at reading. |
know that sounds like a weird
thing to brag about. And |
know that everyone who went
to Columbia probably feels
like they’re good at reading.
| know I’m not the only one
who read five books a week
throughout college. The
problem with me is that | liked
reading five books a week.
That was a good pace for me.
So | decided to continue it —
for the rest of my life.”
TAKE FIVE | JULY 12
Like Columbia College Alumni
facebook.com/alumnicc
View Columbia College alumni photos
instagram.com/alumniofcolumbiacollege
“[My favorite spot on campus]
wasn’t the Sundial or the
library; it was the darkened
room in which any given
art history class took place.
Spending an hour with nothing
to do but contemplate the
beauty of paintings was
church, psychotherapy and
Valium all in one.”
Follow @Columbia_CCAA
— Crime fiction writer
Charles Philipp Martin ’76
Join the Columbia College alumni network
college.columbia.edu/alumni/linkedin
— Publisher and novelist
Miriam Parker ’00, from “Reading,
Writing and ... Not Much Else”
college.columbia.edu/cct
Columbia
: College
Today w
VOLUME 47 NUMBER 1
FALL 2019
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Alexis Boncy SOA'11
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Lisa Palladino
DEPUTY EDITOR
Jill C. Shomer
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Anne-Ryan Sirju JRN’09
FORUM EDITOR
Rose Kernochan BC’82
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Thomas Vinciguerra ’85
ART DIRECTOR
Eson Chan
Published quarterly by the
Columbia College Office of
Alumni Affairs and Development
for alumni, students, faculty, parents
and friends of Columbia College.
ASSOCIATE DEAN,
COLUMBIA COLLEGE
ALUMNI RELATIONS
AND COMMUNICATIONS
Bernice Tsai 96
ADDRESS
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530, 4th FI.
New York, NY 10025
PHONE
212-851-7852
EMAIL
cct@columbia.edu
WEB
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.
© 2019 Columbia College Today
All rights reserved.
SY MIX
Paper from
responsible sources
ESC FSC® C022085
JORG MEYER
Happy Anniversary,
Core Curriculum!
oll out the sheet cake and start counting candles — we've got 100 to light
R. for the Core Curriculum, which is celebrating its centennial this year with
all due ceremony. The guest of honor needs no introduction. Generations of
alumni have gotten up close and personal with the Core, gained knowledge
and insight from its teachings, and had their hearts and minds opened to new ways of
looking at the world.
Here at CCT, in this and each of the next three issues, we'll mark the milestone with
features and other special content. It felt only right to begin with a conversation with
President Lee C. Bollinger, who speaks powerfully to the Core’s value in raising funda-
mental questions about life and society, and instilling habits of mind that last a lifetime.
The Core may be the signature program of the College, but as he observes, its mission
resonates across all the schools of the University, and has a tremendous role to play in
the nation and in the world.
Other Core touches in this issue are a playful visual take on The Odyssey, one of the
signature texts of Literature Humanities (page 4), and the launch of our Core Cartoon
caption contest. This installment, on page 88, comes courtesy of the incomparable New
Yorker illustrator Edward Koren ’57. The winning caption will be announced in our
Winter 2019-20 issue, with the winner receiving a print of the cartoon, signed by Koren.
We also invite you to tap into your inner muse and send us Core haiku. Your 5-7-5
stylings could be inspired by a text, a professor or any other aspect of your Core experi-
ence. A sampling from our early submissions is scattered throughout Class Notes, and
more will be featured in the next three issues.
Caption contest entries and haiku both may be emailed to cct_centennial@columbia.edu.
Outside of the Core, our cover story considers the evolving eye of photojournalist
Damon Winter ’97. It’s been a decade since Winter won a Pulitzer Prize for his images
of Barack Obama ’83 on his historic presidential first campaign trail; today, as The New
York Times’s first Op-Ed photographer, Winter is finding ways to say more with his cam-
era than he ever thought possible. (Winter’s partner, Béatrice de Géa, who specializes in
editorial, documentary and portrait photography, is the talent behind our cover shoot.)
We also catch up with bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz’93, who's built an avid
fan following — as we saw at this past summer’s BookCon — among the young adult
set. The prolific de la Cruz talks to us about her career in vampires, Disney villains and
dystopian themes (to name just a few of her subjects!), and speaks to why she’s become
such an ardent ambassador for the YA genre.
Speaking of books, for a double dose of juiciness, check out the “Columbia Forum”
excerpt from Julie Satow’96, SIPA’01’s new release, The Plaza: The Secret Life of America’s
Most Famous Hotel, and our “Bookshelf” feature about Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman’03,
SOA09. The latter played for four years in a professional classical musical ensemble that
gave faked concerts. It’s a jaw dropper of a tale.
Welcome, to all our new parents reading CCT for the first time. And to everyone else,
welcome back — that fall feeling never changes; a new semester is under way!
Alexis ea SOA11
Editor-in-Chief
Fall 2019 CCT 3
CELEBRATING THE BOOK
THAT LAUNCHED DECADES
OF CORE CONVERSATION
JAMES GULLI VER “HANG COC K
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4 CCT Fall 2019
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Fall 2019 CCT 5
Message from the Dean
his issue of Columbia College Today is the first in Volume
47 of our alumni magazine. More significantly, it is the
first issue published in the 100th anniversary year of the
Core Curriculum. Many things make Columbia Col-
lege special, but the Core is the most special. The Core is not just
a collection of required courses; it is also central to the identity of
Columbia College and the expression of our ideals. So the Core —
its past, present and future — is quite appropriately our focus this
year. In this issue of CCT, you'll find a variety of features that might
remind you of the Core’s promise to all undergraduates, as well as
invite you to revisit the unifying role the Core plays in the lives of
so many former students.
I believe the Core is the greatest communal, organized, general
education effort in the world. Each year, the entire first-year and
sophomore classes study in the Core, engaging with hundreds of
instructors, thousands of pages of text, and countless discussions
and debates. There is nothing on a scale like it anywhere else.
The endurance of the Core conveys our conviction that there are
certain things that every educated person should have exposure to.
When our students are exposed to fundamental, and often difficult,
ideas, there is value in both knowing the ideas’ origins and also in
developing a response and understanding of them that is shaped by
who they are, who surrounds them and how they view the world. In
this way, the Core is always the same and always changing. Always
the same in its clear objective to expose our students to philoso-
phy, literature, art, music and science that has been consequential
in civilization. Always changing because each student brings their
own perspectives, experiences and values into a rich and dynamic
conversation, where no one leaves the classroom quite the same as
when they entered. In that sense the Core is always experimental
— trying out new things and then seeing whether they advance the
achievements of its timeless objectives.
During this centennial year, we will look back on the history of
the Core and how it evolved during the last century. Just as impor-
tantly, we will look ahead to the next century to ask how it can and
should evolve, examining the components that are deeply loved as
well as those that are questioned and constructively criticized.
We should look to enhance and enrich the experience of the Core
by preserving those elements of the curriculum and the academic
experience that have value now, and will continue to have value,
and then adding things that are made possible by developments and
improvements in technology and pedagogy. ‘The entire Core, not
just Contemporary Civilization, must remain timely in its imple-
mentation so that its persistent objectives can be met. We continue
to examine the eternal joys and challenges of human existence, and
to learn how humans express those joys and challenges, and how
societies of every scale have developed in response to them.
The Core also is the first part of a complete and rich College
education; afterward, students transition to one of many majors
6 CCT Fall 2019
JAIME DANIES SEAS'20
and concentrations that allow them to explore their individual and
specialized academic interests. By enhancing the experience of the
Core we also prepare students for the intellectual engagements that
become their focus. The Core creates a tradition of close interaction
between students and faculty for every year a student is an under-
graduate here, in classroom seminars, in labs and in undergraduate
research programs.
Our goal as an institution is to prepare students for a world that
neither they nor we can know or conceive. What we do know is
that their success — personal and professional — will depend on
their ability to interact with anyone, anywhere in the world, at any
time. The Core offers a learning environment where that ability
can be developed. This exchange of ideas helps students develop
a profound level of self-awareness and empathy, and deepens their
understanding of humanity. So many recent events in the world
show us that the questioning, the intellectual openness of the Core
Curriculum, has never been more important. It is a common intel-
lectual experience that gives rise to a powerful sense of commu-
nity, not just between students, but also with all of you, our almost
52,000 Columbia College alumni.
And so, as we celebrate the first century of this shared intellectual
experience, we say: On to the second century!
James J. Valentini
Dean
Hamilton Medal
The 2019 Alexander Hamilton Medal will go to Dr. George
Yancopoulos ’80, GSAS’86, PS’87, president of and chief
scientific officer at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, a leading
biotechnology company based in New York. Yancopoulos
has built and managed Regeneron alongside Dr. Leonard
Schleifer since 1989, a year after the company’s found-
ing. Yancopoulos is a principal inventor, along with key
members of his team, of Regeneron’s seven FDA-approved
drugs and foundational technologies; he also is a member
of the National Academy of Sciences and has been on the
Regeneron Board of Directors since 2001. Regeneron’s work
targets a variety of conditions, including macular degenera-
tion, cancer, high cholesterol and arthritis.
The son of Greek immigrants, Yancopoulos grew up in
Queens and graduated from Bronx Science. He was hon-
ored with a John Jay Award for distinguished professional
achievement in 2013.
The Hamilton Medal is the highest honor awarded to a
member of the Columbia College community, and recog-
nizes distinguished service to the College and accomplish-
ment in any field of endeavor. The 72nd annual dinner will
take place on Thursday, November 21, in Low Rotunda.
EILEEN BARROSO
CCT Gets the Gold!
The Council for Advancement and
Support of Education (CASE) has
awarded CCT a Gold Circle of Excellence
Award in the “Writing, Feature Writing,
Column or Opinion Piece” category for
Paul Starr ’70’s feature, “How the 68
Uprising Looks
Today,” half of
our two-part
Spring 2018
cover story, “50
Years Later.”
‘The judges
said: “Starr
offers an
excellent
journalistic
analysis of
the 1968 uprising at Columbia, drawing
parallels with protests on campuses and
across U.S. cities today. Fifty years on,
he tells the story in a way that makes it
seem timely and topical ... the piece also
draws readers in to contend with their
own perspectives and actions relative to
activism and free speech.”
The Circle of Excellence Awards honor
outstanding work in advancement services,
alumni relations, communications,
fundraising and marketing at colleges,
universities, independent schools and
affiliated nonprofits. This year, upward of
2,800 entries were submitted across 100
categories. Read our winning article at
college.columbia.edu/cct/issue/spring18.
Core Centennial
A year of celebration in honor of the 100th
anniversary of the Core Curriculum will
kick off with a special event on Friday,
September 27, in Low Rotunda. Attendees
can come for all or part of the opening day,
which will feature refreshments, talks and
activities. The festivities start at 9 a.m. with
remarks from President Lee C. Bollinger
and Dean James J. Valentini.
A “Core Stories” panel will follow,
from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., with Core
faculty and alumni reflecting on their Core
experiences. There will also be breakfast,
a historical exhibit, and an opportunity to
take photos or shoot a video at the Core
Storytelling booth.
A panel on the “Enduring Core,” with
the current Core faculty chairs, is slated
from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The heads
of Literature Humanities, Contemporary
Civilization, Art Humanities, Music
Humanities and Frontiers of Science
will discuss both the Core’s enduring
relevance and its distinction from other
undergraduate approaches to education.
Midday refreshments will be available.
Attendees must RSVP to secure a
space at this limited-seating event. For
more information, and to register, go to
college.columbia.edu/alumni.
In addition, alumni are invited
throughout the year to participate in
a community memory project, Core
Stories, which aims to give voice to
the experience and impact of the Core.
Reflections, memories and more may
be shared at core100.columbia.edu.
Fall 2019 CCT 7
HallofFame
Key e
ates
Sey
hen it was announced
in January 1982,
following years of
intense, even hostile,
negotiations with
Barnard, that Columbia College would
admit women, a certain doctor of dental
medicine thought, “It’s about time!”
That doctor was Anna Kornbrot
SEAS’74,’75. Uniquely, she was already the
College’s first alumna — eight years before
the coeducational floodgates were opened.
“T don't wear a sign,” Kornbrot says 44
years later. “I don't need validation. But I
do feel it deeply.”
In the early 1970s, “women’s lib” was
exploding. Bras were burning, the Equal
Rights Amendment was white-hot and
the fairer sex wanted a fairer shake at
all-male bastions of higher learning. “I
was politically attuned,” Kornbrot says. “I
did have my ERA T-shirt.” Enrolled in
ee
Kornbrot’s yearbook photo from the 1975 Columbian.
8 CCT Fall 2019
The Woman Who First Crashed
the College Gates
By Thomas Vinciguerra '85, JRN’86, GSAS’90
Columbia Engineering, she read the work
of feminist scholar Catharine Stimpson,
with whom she took classes at Barnard.
But Kornbrot, the daughter of Polish
Holocaust survivors who settled as
garment workers in Flushing, didn't
see herself as a trailblazer. Rather, she
was after a healthy dose of liberal arts.
“I valued my education so much that
I wanted to get as much out of it as
possible,” she recalls. “I didn’t want just
math and science.”
She got her wish through a loophole in
the undergraduate degree options. During
junior year, she noticed in her course
catalog something called a 4:1 program.
Under this arrangement, an Engineering
student could earn a B.S. in four years
and, with enough liberal arts credits —
including the four basic Core Curriculum
courses — also graduate with a College
B.A. a year later. Nowhere was it written
that women were ineligible.
So Kornbrot walked into 208 Hamilton
Hall, armed with the relevant passage.
“The secretary looked at the catalog,
looked at me, and said, ‘I think the dean is
going to want to talk with you.”
A minor kerfuffle ensued. “We would
have to build you a separate gym!” fretted
Provost Wm. Theodore de Bary’41,
GSAS’53. Various administrators suggested
that Kornbrot get her B.A. from Barnard.
Kornbrot’s most memorable sit-down
was with Dean Peter Pouncey and Associ-
ate Dean Michael Rosenthal GSAS’67.
“Pouncey took a diabolical delight in the
whole thing,” she says. “You could see the
wheels turning about how he would deal
with Barnard.” (For years, that school’s
administrators had resisted College coedu-
cation, fearing among other reasons that its
applications would suffer, perhaps fatally.)
Rosenthal was another matter. “It was
an interrogation. He was poking at me,”
Kornbrot says. “He said things like, ‘Are
you looking to disrupt the University?’
Now, I’m a patient person, but he pushed
my buttons. So I finally said, “Yes, I want
to disrupt the University!’ Pouncey was
laughing his head off.”
(Asked to recall the conversation,
Rosenthal, chuckling, thinks he may
simply have been needling Kornbrot. “If
she has those memories, what can I say?
But it’s inconceivable that that was me.
We were delighted at the prospect of
being able to pull the rug out from under
Barnard’s intransigence.”)
The anticlimax came in a letter
dated June 13, 1974. Columbia College
admissions director Michael Lacopo
wrote to Kornbrot, “I am delighted
to inform you that a joint committee
representing the School of Engineering
and the College has granted your request
for transfer to the College beginning
September 1974.”
With her Engineering B.S. in hand,
Kornbrot began her single year in the
College amid little fanfare. “I wasn't
looking for anything other than a seat in
the classroom and to just do my thing. I
savored every one of those courses.” The
finale was Class Day, when the 5-foot-2
Kornbrot marched up to receive her
diploma. “You could see people’s eyes
watching this procession and then all of a
sudden you saw all these double takes: ‘Is
this a short guy with really long hair?”
Kornbrot’s 4:1 loophole was almost
immediately amended so that female
applicants would be admitted exclusively
to Barnard. One other woman, Ann
Candy — now Dr. Ann Stein — was
grandfathered in, earning an Engineering
B.S. and a College B.A., both in 1978.
Kornbrot went on to dental school at
the University of Pennsylvania where, in
her fourth year, two of her male classmates
— but not she — were granted inter-
views for a residency program in oral and
IPE nn
maxillofacial surgery. She complained to
the dean, who told her, “You're absolutely
right. You are being discriminated against.’
Once I picked my jaw up off the floor, I
said, ‘Now what?” Following determined
lobbying, she got her residency.
Today, Kornbrot (who earned a D.M.D.
in 1979) practices in Philadelphia and
teaches at both Penn and Thomas Jefferson
University Hospital. “I like surgery,” she
Student Spotlight
Santiago Tobar Potes ’20
says. “It’s hands on. It’s discrete. You have
a problem, you solve the problem and you
move on to the next patient.”
A footnote: Kornbrot was unsure
what she was going to do if the College
wouldn't admit her. “I really wanted to
go,” she says. “But how far was I willing to
go? Was I willing to go to court? Would
I sue the University? All this stuff was
swimming through my head.”
Around
the
Quads
Her husband-to-be, Barry Klayman
74, suggested she consult a particular
professor at the Law School. “I asked
her, ‘What are my options? What are my
chances?’ She said, ‘Schools have so much
discretion in who they can take. Don't
pursue it. You won’ get in.”
‘The professor was future Associate
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg LAW’59.
CCT: What’s something interesting you
learned recently?
Potes: I’ve been taking cognitive neuro-
science just out of interest. Neuroscientists
believe we have two types of decision-
making systems: One of them is very old
— it allowed our type of humans to sur-
Vive; it’s intuitive, and processes informa-
tion and reaches conclusions quickly. The
other is a newer type of decision-making
system — it’s slower and more rational. I
find that so interesting because I feel that
one of society’s biggest issues is deal-
ing with both of these decision-making
systems; one that helped us as a species
and the other that’s helping us to adapt to
new conditions.
Jast facts
Major: No major, two concentrations:
East Asian Languages and Cultures, and
Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Hometown: Born in Cali, Colombia, but
moved to Miami at 3 and grew up there.
Favorite spot on campus: The Reference
Room in Butler Library. “There’s a quotation
on it that says, ‘A man is but what he
knoweth, and | look at that and think about
the reason why I’m here. It’s beautiful in
itself and it’s a beautiful reminder of why
I’m here, despite the odds — I’m the first
person in my family to go to college.”
CCT: What’s your favorite Core read-
ing so far, and why?
Potes: Augustine’s Confessions and
Dante’s Divine Comedy. I love Confessions
because I’ve been thinking a lot lately
about what I love — it’s helping me to
develop my own value system. Augustine
says you should only love things that are
eternal, you should only love things that
will never change, things that you won't
stop loving in a year, in a month. Now
that ’'m in my last year of college I have a
clear vision of what I like, so now I’m ask-
ing myself why I like these things.
I was so touched by Dante’s Inferno in
Lit Hum that I’ve been taking a yearlong
class in which we read the entire Divine
Comedy. It’s taught by Teodolinda Baro-
lini, and she has been the most impactful
teacher I’ve ever had. The text speaks to
me because of what it represents: meeting
different people, learning from them,
improving yourself from what you've
learned and keeping on with progress.
CCT: What do you like to do outside
of class?
Potes: I started playing the violin when
I was 11 after hearing a radio show on
NPR; I remember hearing the sound,
and being so captivated by it. I’ve been
in the Columbia University Orchestra
since freshman year. Last semester | was
in two chamber ensembles — one a string
quartet and the other a piano trio.
CCT: How do you like to take advan-
tage of being in New York City?
Potes: I love New York City so much,
and the relationship it has with Columbia.
I’ve been very lucky to be mentored by
some great alumni. The fact that the city
has the highest number of alumni is also
why where we are is so incredible — I
can schedule a coffee meeting in between
classes and take the subway to talk to
so many people. It’s not just that New
York is our classroom; New York is also a
university unto itself.
Fall 2019 CCT 9
Around
the
uads
LookWhosTalking
Niamh O’Brien
Senior Associate Dean, Alumni and Undergraduate
Career Development, Center for Career Education
You’ve been with the University since 2003, starting at SIPA,
but transitioned to the Center for Career Education 12-plus
years ago. What drew you to the role?
I was drawn to and continue to love working with undergraduates
as they embark on their career journeys; explore their identities,
interests and career opportunities; and pursue and reflect upon
their experiences with us at CCE. The joy continues as we
work with alumni to help them progress in their career journeys
beyond Columbia.
What’s your typical day?
My day starts very early, with the sunrise. Over breakfast, I check
the University website for the latest news and the events page for
pop-up concerts, lectures or yoga classes that I can join. My work
day also starts very early, with email catch-up and a review of my
calendar. I typically have meetings with students and collabora-
tive work with my team members and/or colleagues around the
University. Pll also deal with unexpected needs as they arise.
How have students’ attitudes and approaches to “career”
shifted in your time as associate dean, and what are some of
the ways that CCE is meeting students’ needs today?
Rapid changes in technology have shifted how students prepare
for the future of work. We want them to be ready for and opti-
mistic about jobs that might not yet be defined, so we emphasize
exploration through counseling, tools and programming, to build
self-awareness around interests and their sense of agency in
deciding their futures. Career resilience is also a skill that we fos-
ter through our individual and group work with students. We also
keep them abreast of recruitment trends through our program-
ming and our “In the Know” blog posts. We are also lucky to have
incredible alumni who collaborate with us to share their stories
and advice with students.
What resource(s) do you wish more alumni would take
advantage of, and why?
Making and maintaining connections are key pursuits whether
you are launching or progressing in your career. We encourage
alumni to reach out to other alumni, and to join alumni clubs,
our Columbia Career Connections group and/or the Columbia
University group on LinkedIn.
What’s one thing about yourself that would surprise readers?
Many people struggle with my name and are surprised that the
“mh” is pronounced “v” so my name sounds like Neave and is
spelled Niamh. The name Niamh is from Irish mythology. She
was daughter of the god of the sea and one of the queens of
Tir na nOg, the land of eternal youth.
DidYoukK now?
SCOTT RUDD
10 CCT Fall 2019
athaniel Lord Britton SEAS 1879,
N: Columbia professor of botany
and a co-founder, along with his
wife, Elizabeth Gertrude Britton, of the New
York Botanical Garden, was instrumental in
acquiring one of the Morningside campus’s
oldest known trees. Britton was in charge
of Columbia’s botany department and
herbarium in the late 1800s and became
One of Columbia’s Oldest Known Trees Was
a Gift from the New York Botanical Garden
the first director of the NYBG in 1891.
Columbia donated its herbarium and many
of its botany books to the garden in Britton’s
honor when the campus moved uptown in
1897. It is thought that to reciprocate the
gift, the garden gave Columbia a tree for its
new campus — the spindle tree (Euonymus
bungeanus) that grows on the lawn to the left
as you face Hamilton Hall.
KILLIAN YOUNG / COLUMBIA COLLEGE
COLUMBIA
COLLEGE
ALUMNI
ASSOCIATION
Let's Roar in the ‘20s at
next year's Columbia Reunion!
Reunion 2020
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SSA. KR
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Save the Date for Columbia Reunion Weekend
June 4-6, 2020
All alumni are invited, with special events for milestone college.columbia.edu/reunion
years that end in ’0 or ’5 or who are 2019. ccreunion@columbia.edu
ROAR, LION, ROAR
A Football Player’s Family Secret
id Luckman 395 rise from schoolboy football phenom in Brooklyn
to All-American quarterback at Columbia to a 14-year career
with pro football's Chicago Bears is only part of the story told
by R.D. Rosen in his new book, Tough Luck: Sid Luckman,
Murder, Inc., and the Rise of the Modern NFL. While Sid was climb-
ing to stardom, his father, Meyer Luckman, was being convicted of the
gangland murder of his own brother-in-law and sentenced to 20-years-
to-life in Sing Sing, where he died in 1944. How could this tale of celebrity
son and mobster father go untold for eight decades? Former CCT Editor-
in-Chief Alex Sachare’71 spoke with Rosen in July to get the story behind
the book, which was published by Atlantic Monthly Press in September.
CCT: You grew up across the street from Sid Luckman’39 in
Highland Park, Ill. Is that what drew you to write about him?
Rosen: ‘The book is deeply rooted in my experience of being a
Bears fan and knowing that the great Bears quarterback lived across
the street from where I played touch football fairly obsessively. A
couple of years ago I was on my computer, looking for any films
of Sid in the Bears’ championship games. I love sports history, and
being able to see what he had
done was exciting for me.
‘CCT: Was Meyer's story what
convinced you that there
was a book to be written?
Rosen: Absolutely. When
sports writer and author Dan
Daly told me Sid’s father had
murdered his brother-in-law,
I couldn't believe it. I was
surprised the story hadn't been
told in full. So I did it, because
Sid deserves a book about
himself. He had prevented
anybody from digging too
deeply. Remember, it wasn’t
ERIK LIEBER
Author R.D. Rosen
until [former baseball player]
Jim Bouton wrote Ball Four: The Final Pitch in 1970 that players’
private lives became fair game for journalists.
CCT: Take us back to the 1930s, when Sid was making
headlines as a football star at Brooklyn’s Erasmus Hall H.S.
and his father was making headlines of his own.
Rosen: It may be unique in the annals of history that a father and
son were making headlines in the same town at the same time
for such wildly different reasons. As Sid was leaving Erasmus and
going to Columbia, he had to sit in a courtroom and hear about
his father’s vicious murder of his uncle.
12 CCT Fall 2019
CCT ARCHIVES
Sid Luckman ’39 in his Lions football days.
CCT: Tell us what happened that led to Meyer’s arrest.
Rosen: Meyer, who at the time was about 60, and his brother ran
a trucking company in Brooklyn that delivered flour to bakeries.
In those days, if you wanted to be in business you had to play ball
with the mob. Meyer had a brother-in-law, Sam Drukman, who
had a gambling problem, but he was family so Meyer hired him
anyway. But after a while Meyer became convinced Drukman was
skimming from the business to pay gambling debts and decided
to do something about it. Why he didn’t get the mob to take care
of it for him, I don’t know, but he chose to do it himself, with two
accomplices. They lured Drukman to the company on a Sunday
night and strangled him.
CCT: Do you think it’s more than
coincidence that Sid played for
coaches who became father figures?
Rosen: Paul Sullivan at Erasmus really
was a fatherly guy. As far as Lou Little
at Columbia, Sid was drawn to him
immediately, and they did establish a
father-son relationship. George Halas of
the Bears was no one’s idea of a warm and
fuzzy father figure, but he convinced Sid to
play pro and then became very protective
of him.
CCT: What new insight about Sid did
you glean from writing this book?
Rosen: I would speculate that Sid
compensated for his father’s crime. And
when I talked with his children and heard
stories about his kindness and generosity,
it really jumped out at me how on some
subconscious level he devoted his life to
being above reproach.
CCT: What was the biggest obstacle
you encountered in this project?
Rosen: Sid died in 1998 and left no
records. The family was ruled, in a sense,
by the silent secret, and by Sid’s refusal to
be written about. I went to his son, Bob
Luckman, and said, I used to live across the
street from you and I’d like to write a book
about your dad. When I told him the book
would have to be about
his grandfather, too, he
said, “Oh, Sid wouldn't
like that.” I said, “Your
father was a great man,
a great historical figure,
but you can't get that
book unless it’s also
about your grandfather.
That’s just the deal.”
CCT: Given the family reluctance, did
you consider backing away?
Rosen: Yes. I thought about that a lot. At
what point does it become morally OK to
share a family’s horrible secret? I’ve written
other books in which I’ve had to convince
people it was in their best interest to talk,
and I took the tack with the Luckman
kids that it’s better I write this book than
someone else. Of course, if Sid were alive,
you and I wouldn't be talking. He had some
powerful friends who would have come
to me and said, “Mr. Rosen, we strongly
suggest you find a different topic to write
about,” and that would be it.
Columbia takes on Amherst College in a 1920 game on South Field.
Cheering Columbia Football
Columbia’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library is marking the 150th anniversary
of college football this fall with “Roar, Lion, Roar: A Celebration of Columbia
Football” (library.columbia.edu; select “Exhibitions” below “Events & Training”).
Running until December 20 in the RBML’s Chang Octagon, the exhibition features
materials from the University Archives showcasing highlights of the Lions program
— one of the oldest in the country — from its 1870 inception to the present.
The exhibition covers Columbia football’s early days (including an early 20th-
century ban of the game) and most famed victories (among them the 1934 Rose
Bowl victory and 1947 win over Army). It also addresses the 1970s teams that
played under Coach Bill Campbell ’62,TC’64; the 1980s losing streak; the winning
1996 team; and the renaissance helmed by Head Coach Al Bagnoli. In addition, the
exhibition highlights the coaches and players who have made a mark on Columbia
football. Historic photographs, programs and memorabilia all will be on display.
Speaking of Football ...
Mark your calendar for Columbia Homecoming 2019, Friday, October 18—Saturday,
October 19. The big game takes place on Saturday, vs. Penn, with kickoff at 1:30 p.m.
Come early for the annual Homecoming Lunch & Lawn Party, a family-friendly
event with food, drinks and games, hosted by the Columbia College Alumni Asso-
ciation. The CCAA is also offer-
ing a pair of new Homecoming
events: a Friday evening student/
alumni picnic on the lawn in
front of Butler Library, and a
Saturday night after-party for
ee
= ROAR!
Keep tabs on all the Lions news! For the
latest, download the Columbia Athletics
app or visit gocolumbialions.com.
young alumni at Hudson ‘Terrace.
All events are ticketed; for more
information and to purchase tickets for the CCAA events, or packages of event and
game tickets together, go to college.columbia.edu/alumni/homecoming. Tickets for
just the game may be purchased separately at gocolumbialions.com.
Fall 2019 CCT 13
GEORGE ALLEN / COURTESY COLUMBIA LIBRARIES
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BY BORIS KACHKA ’97, JRN’98
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President Barack
Obama ’83 at JFK
International Airport, af @®
Queens, N.Y.;
October 18, 2012.
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A DECADE AFTER “HOPE AND CHANGE” — AND A PULITZER PRIZE —
PHOTOJOURNALIST DAMON WINTER ’97 FEELS FREER THAN EVER BEFORE
Donald Trump at a
campaign event in
Dubuque, lowa;
January 30, 2016.
President Obama
boards Air Force
One at Boston’s
Logan Airport;
June 26, 2012.
16 CCT Fall 2019
hat do you do after “Hope and Change”
gives way to fear and loathing?
For photojournalist Damon Winter 97,
the question wasn’t just political; it went
to the core of his life and work. After joining The New
York Times in 2007, where he quickly earned a reputation
for marrying expert technique with vivid storytelling,
Winter went on the road with candidate Barack Obama
83 and brought home the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for fea-
ture photography. His indelible campaign pictures — of
Obama pointing at a cloud, or greeting ecstatic children
or addressing thousands as rain, sweat and tears coursed
down his face — immortalized that season of light for
the paper of record.
Ten years later, having covered Obama’s more earth-
bound reelection run, war in Afghanistan, devastation in
Haiti and the 2016 campaign of Donald Trump, Winter
would be forgiven for feeling sentimental about those
earlier, sunnier days. But he doesn’t. When he revisits the
photos that made his career, he sees work that is “naive”
and “simplistic.” In the years that followed, he says, “I felt
like I had a little more to say.”
The moment that really made him reassess his ear-
lier work shouldn't surprise anyone who follows the
news. The election of a President who doubled as Media
Basher-in-Chief led the press to ask itself hard ques-
tions: What had they missed about the American voter?
How could they defend themselves while remaining
above the fray? How could they maintain an objective
posture when so much of what the government was say-
ing was objectively false? The dilemma was not limited
to writers. We like to say the camera doesn't lie, but that
doesn’t mean it has no point of view. Photographers were
no more immune to the jeers of MAGA crowds or the
candidate himself than the rest of the press pack. Having
borne it for months, Winter emerged from 2016 with
“this feeling of futility” that he couldn't shake.
Ultimately, that feeling has hardened him against nos-
talgia; it’s also left him freer to say more with his cameras
than he’d ever thought possible. He’s traveled a journey
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY DAMON WINTER '97 / THE NEW YORK TIMES
parallel to his readers — witnessing Obama's disillusion-
ment, war and climate crisis, and a President who per-
sonifies chaos. Like many of us, including the newspaper
nicknamed the “Gray Lady,” he’s become a digital native, a
multimedia creator. He’s also grown more forthright about
his opinions — especially during the past year, as the first
in-house photographer for the Times's Opinion section.
He’s looking toward 2020 with a mixture of excitement
and dread and, as ever, an exceptionally keen eye.
W inter’s home on the Upper West Side, which he
shares with his longtime partner, photographer
Béatrice de Géa, and their son, Noah, is a prewar duplex
that Winter is slowly converting into a light-flooded
haven of sliding doors and slatted wood. Oddly, only
one photo is on display, in the
bathroom. “Béa doesn’t want
to have to look at the same
We like to
say the
camera
doesn’t lie,
but that
photos every single day,” Win-
ter explains, while scanning his
vast portfolio on a laptop.
It may be de Géa’s prefer-
ence, but the lack of work on
display suits Winter's reti-
doesn’t cence — a trait not normally
= associated with photojournal-
mean it has ists (one colleague calls him
no point “a silent assassin’). He started
of view shooting pictures as an under-
grad with a camera his mother
gave him for his birthday, and
fell instantly in love. He’d had an interest in environ-
mental science, but says he’s never fit into any field or
clique: “It’s a sort of personal feeling that I’m an out-
sider.” On our first meeting, he’d apologized in advance
for being an uninteresting subject, and here in his home,
he seems reluctant to pick his favorite photos, which was
kind of the point of the visit.
Winter even casts his success as a lucky break. “It really
is the beauty of photography that initially drew me to
it,” he says. But “I don’t think I’m creative or crazy
enough to live off the wiles of my own mind ... I was
just extremely lucky to have stum-
bled into photojournalism.” After
the College, he worked at the Da/-
las Morning News and other papers
before landing at the Los Angeles
Times, where he was a Pulitzer final-
ist in 2005 for a photo essay on vic-
tims of sexual abuse in Alaska.
Two years later, The New York
Times poached him, as part of a larger
drive to give the paper more visual
flair. “He has a real vision,” says New
York Times deputy picture editor Beth
Flynn. “When you look at an image
made by Damon, it has all the ele-
ments that an image should have — light, composition —
but it has the Damon Winter vision attached to it.” After
he won the Pulitzer, he drew intensive feature assignments
around the world.
Winter was up for those adventures — most of the
time. In his living room, he shows me a picture of troops
evacuating a gravely injured soldier in Afghanistan; a
helicopter downdraft throws sepia-toned dust over stoic
soldiers, recalling iconic war photos like the Iwo Jima
flag planting. Winter had had to walk through a mine-
field, and saw a tech lose his legs — knowing he might
be next. “This is before I had Noah and realized it wasn’t
worth it,” he says.
But after dodging mines on the battlefield, Winter
caught flak from his peers. In order to capture the inti-
macy of life on the base, he took some pictures with a
phone and a Hipstamatic filter (the precursor to Insta-
gram), breaking Times precedent against digital tweaks.
He addressed the backlash from purists in a long post on
the paper’s Lens blog, argu-
ing that it was the right tool
for the job. “We are being
naive,” he wrote, “if we think
aesthetics do not play an
important role in the way
photojournalists tell a story.
We are not walking photo-
copiers. We are storytellers.”
In 2010, Winter spent
many months visiting Haiti
after its catastrophic earth-
quake, working on a series of
stories that allowed the Times
to transcend the grief tour-
ism typical of disaster cov-
erage. He sought “a way for
people to connect, not just to
be shocked or to get information, but to feel empathy for
people who have gone through something really horrific.”
Some of his work captures the carnage and raw grief, but
his favorite picture is of a girl walking uphill in silhouette,
a full water-cooler jug on her head. It’s not about mourn-
ing or poverty, but the Sisyphean task of recovery. “I felt
FINDING THE LIGHT
Donald and Melania
Trump descend
from their private
jet at Wilmington
International Airport,
Wilmington, N.C.;
November 5, 2016.
Pfc. David Gedert
stands in a beam of
sunlight as he puts
on his combat gear in
Kunduz, Afghanistan;
October 11, 2010.
Fall 2019 CCT 17
Eridiant Joseph
collapses in grief
after discovering
his sister’s body in
the rubble from a
7.0 earthquake in
Port Au Prince, Haiti;
January 25, 2010.
Donald Trump at a
campaign rally in
Greensboro, N.C.;
June 14, 2016.
18 CCT Fall 2019
like a different person when I came back,” Winter says. “I
felt like I had done something worthwhile.”
By comparison, the next campaign was anticlimactic.
The tone of Obama’s 2012 run was typified by a photo
rich with subtext, in which the President speaks to a
crowd: The glass of the teleprompter in front of him
reflects an arrangement of flowers, while up in the sky
— in the real world — storm clouds gather. After Win-
ter compiled his coverage into a photo essay headlined
“A Face More Careworn, a Crowd Less Joyful,” White
House press secretary Jay Carney complained to a col-
league of Winter’s: “Who the fuck is
Damon Winter and why is he such
a terrible writer?” Winter laughed it
off. “It reinforced the fact that I was
never his photographer,” he says.
Winter's next campaign made
the skirmishes of 2012 seem quaint.
Discussing assignments in 2015,
he'd told photo editor Jennifer Dim-
son he wanted to cover Trump. “I
think he was interested in the chal-
lenge,” says Dimson. “Nobody knew
what kind of campaign it would be.”
One of Winter's colleagues, Times
White House photographer Doug-
las Mills, believes he just knew a rich
subject when he saw one. “Barack
Obama was the most photogenic President,” says Mills,
“but Donald Trump is the most iconic.”
Consider one of Winter’s most memorable shots
(below): Trump stands in front of a murky American
flag, every part of him obscured except a shock of that
strange hair and a brightly lit hand pointing like a raised
gun. Winter had been trapped for hours behind bar-
ricades along with dozens of other journalists, heckled
by the crowd and ignored by hostile staff. “You're stuck
in this pen,” Winter says, “and you have time to really
contemplate: “What is it that I want to say? What can I
do within the confines of this situation?” This particular
situation was both more confined and more chaotic than
usual, but the constraints worked to Winter's advantage.
He saw a fuzzy shadow — probably another reporter's
phone — obscuring most of Trump's face, and started
clicking and adjusting, knowing not only what the perfect
picture would look like, but also what it would convey:
“These sort of iconic big grand gestures that he makes,
and his iconic hair — but there was nothing underneath.”
It was the kind of work that made even seasoned
Washington photojournalists ask themselves, Howd
he do that? “He just sees things differently,” says Mills.
“Everyone is looking for the right face, but Damon
found a spot in the light, and turned a well-lit photo-
graph into a silhouette.” Mills is on a text chain with
photojournalists, and the
day before he spoke to me,
one of them had linked to
a Winter photo of Mitch
McConnell and captioned
it, “DAMON. AGAIN.”
For all the groundbreak-
ing work, covering Trump
took a psychic toll on Win-
ter. De Géa noticed a shift
in her partner’s moods; on
his rare visits home from the
trail, she told him he had the
same “PTSD look” in his
eyes he'd had after Afghani-
stan. “I would be angry and
impatient,” Winter recalls.
“We are being
naive if
we think
aesthetics
do not play
an important
role in the
way photo-
journalists tell
a story. We are
not walking
photocopiers. You're being mistreated by
the people running the cam-
We are paign, by the supporters and
storytellers.” then by the candidate, and
witnessing this shift in the
mood in the country that
you didn’t really understand ... At least in Afghanistan
there were long lulls in between the really intense stuff.”
He stuck with it, literally, to the bitter end. Winter's
favorite photo from the campaign was one of his last. On
election night, Trump campaign staffers, never expect-
ing to actually win, got precipitously drunk. Around
4 a.m.,a woman cut her bare foot on the shard of a wine
glass, leaving a trail of blood on a MAKE AMERICA
GREAT AGAIN poster. Winter started shooting the
poster, and staffers berated him. “I said something back,
like, ‘This is a really important picture,” he says, laugh-
ing. “I felt like it really told the story of what had hap-
pened that night and what was to come.” In the end, it
never ran. “The editors thought it was too provocative.”
[ wasnt just the existential crisis of the new administra-
tion that left Winter feeling adrift in 2017. The Times
photo department was also going through a shakeup,
which temporarily left staff photographers unsure of their
beats and assignments. “It was easy to get lost in the shuf-
fle,” Winter says. But then, in 2018, some good luck came
his way. The Opinion Page had been looking to expand its
online presence, and one idea was to assign a dedicated
staff photographer to give it a coherent style and exclusive
material. Winter’s photo essays were already straying into
editorial waters, so why not loan him out?
The timing was perfect, not just for Winter but also for a
paper trying to keep pace with the world. Old-school edi-
torial pages, with their godlike tone and throwaway photos,
could never compete in an online ecosystem of hot takes
and visual flash. In order to build digital subscriptions after
years of giving away content, newspapers have been forced
to both grab browsers’ attention and earn their loyalty by
distinguishing themselves from clickbait. Winter's dynamic
photography is leading the way on both fronts.
Winter’s first Opinion assignment was “sort of right
up my alley,” he says — an eye-catching series of double-
FINDING THE LIGHT
Senate Majority
Leader Mitch
McConnell;
December 19, 2018.
Fall 2019 CCT 19
Reflection of
Fair Bluff, N.C., in
stagnant floodwater
after a succession
of “once in a
lifetime” hurricanes;
September 24, 2018.
20 CCT Fall 2019
exposed portraits of transgender people, their bodies
superimposed with artifacts of their lives. This kind of
impressionistic trickery was “so different from what we
generally do for a newspaper,” he says. Another creative
foray was an essay about a perpetually flooded North
Carolina town. Looking at his photos, it takes a minute
to realize that every single one is a reflection — an under-
water image of buildings or streets shot through stagnant
floodwaters and flipped over. It was uncharted territory
both aesthetically and thematically: art in the op-ed pages.
Shooting photos to accompany opinion pieces also
meant grappling with writers’ points of view. Sometimes
Winter was fully aligned with them; other times he
layered on his own take. He’s done both while working
with the somewhat controversial writer Bari Weiss ’07.
Last year, he shot portraits for Weiss’s piece on a group
of right-leaning iconoclasts who make up the so-called
“Intellectual Dark Web.” He lit them dramatically in
deep twilight, often in pompous poses, poking a bit of
fun at their self-importance. “[ Weiss] will probably hate
me for saying this,” Winter says, “but I kind of wanted it
to be a little bit of a check and a balance.”
Yet he and Weiss connected deeply on a truly dark
assignment — covering the October 2018 mass shoot-
ing at the Pittsburgh synagogue Weiss had grown up
attending. They tried to gain entry to the crime scene,
“lve never
been a fan
of that
National
Geographic
golden hour
light. It’s
just kind
of uniform
and syrupy
sweet.”
to witness and convey what really happened inside. “I'd
been thinking a lot about the way mass shootings are
covered,” says Winter. “We have become so numbed
by the rote imagery” — the antiseptic flowers and tears
papering over the murder of innocents. They were denied
access, so Winter chose to heighten the banality, mak-
ing note of “this orchestrated dance that follows these
horrific acts of gun violence,” inuring us to a scourge we
keep on doing nothing about.
Winter has kept up a frantic travel schedule, even if
his assignments are less dangerous and more contempla-
tive than they used to be. When we met at his house, he'd
just come back from several days in Hawaii, shooting 70
portraits of multiracial people for a story. Another recent
shoot was for a piece titled “The Lessons of a Hideous
Forest,” about the flora growing over Staten Island’s
infamous Fresh Kills landfill. The pictures, juxtaposing
strangling vines with relics of trash, were twisted and
eerily beautiful. Their careful composition and abundant
shadows were recognizably Damon.
“The whole dark thing — it’s not particular to Trump's
campaign,” Winter says. “I’m an equal opportunity
offender.” It seems doubly strange, then, that his colleagues
so often talk about how talented he is at “finding the light.”
What does he make of the seeming contradiction?
“[ve never been a fan of that National Geographic
golden hour light,” he says. “It’s just kind of uniform and
syrupy sweet.” He prefers the constraints of a darken-
ing sky, sometimes even the flickering fluorescents of an
auditorium. “You can find beautiful, interesting light in
lots of different places.”
Boris Kachka 97, JRN’98 is the books editor of New
York magazine and the author of Hothouse: The Art
of Survival and the Survival of Art at America’s Most
Celebrated Publishing House (2013) and Becoming a
Veterinarian (2019). His feature “The Radical Authenticity
of Beto O’Rourke” was a CCT Online exclusive in February.
Bibi Fell (right),
Spanish/Filipino/
Chinese/German/
lrish/French, and
Madelyn Fell,
Spanish/Filipino/
Chinese/German/
lrish/French/
Serbian, in Honolulu;
June 11, 2019.
Fall 2019 CCT 21
CRA hae
atin?
as
Ge
—_
*
sees eee ee
EC@RE
ENDURES
PRESIDENT LEE C. BOLLINGER
SPEAKS ABOUT THE CURRICULUM
CONTINUING LEGACY
INTERVIEW BY ALEXIS BONCY SOA11. =| PHOTOGRAPHS BY JORG MEYER
THE CORE ENDURES
THROUGHOUT THE 2019-20 ACADEMIC YEAR,
Columbia College will be marking the Centennial of the Core
Curriculum. As our alumni and faculty well know, this set of
common courses — required of all undergraduates — is one
of the defining experiences of a College education. It began
in 1919 with the class that became Contemporary Civiliza-
tion and evolved and expanded in the decades that followed
to embrace Literature Humanities, Music Humanities, Art
Humanities, University Writing (formerly Logic & Rheto-
ric) and, most recently, Frontiers of Science. To kick off this
year of celebration and reflection, we asked President Lee C.
Bollinger to sit for a conversation about the Core and its sig-
nificance, not only to the College but also to the University
and, more broadly, as testament to the far-reaching benefits
of a liberal arts education.
24 CCT Fall 2019
What do you think makes the Core Curriculum
unique and enduring?
I think it’s fair to say that, for a number of reasons, it’s
almost impossible for any university in today’s world to
put together core knowledge as meaningful as Columbia’s
Core Curriculum. One reason for that is, it’s very difficult
to get a current consensus. The challenge when youre try-
ing to create something new is different than when you're
taking something that’s inherited and trying to evolve it.
Many people find the Core to be intellectually thrill-
ing. To be a young person and to be exposed to great texts,
great objects of art, and great music of the world over time
— and to be exposed to that directly, not intermediated by
some secondary or tertiary texts or lectures — is an experi-
ence they will never forget. It is reflected in the thousands
of comments I have received from current students and
alums who say, “The Core changed my life.” We all feel a need
to connect great thought, great beauty and great achieve-
ments to our current lives. The Core is a concentrated, very
direct way of making that experience available to young
people, which I think is part of its enduring legacy.
It’s really so much more than a course of study.
Absolutely. The Core offers an introduction into the
scholarly mind. A university is not just a place where
knowledge is transferred from one generation to the
next; it’s a community, a culture. It is a way of thinking, a
way of life, a way of approaching almost everything you
experience over the course of a life. It encourages a sense
of modesty, a sense of your own ignorance, a need to use
reason and logic in constructing how you're going to
think. You are introduced to that immediately through the
Core, and that is very special.
It’s also important to recognize that you don’t necessar-
ily have an expert teaching you. It will be a serious scholar,
but it may be someone coming to the subject with fresh
eyes. And so, very early on as a student, you understand
that you don't have to be intimidated by expertise. It’s
powerful to be told and shown by example that even
though you aren't as well equipped as someone else might
be, it’s still your responsibility — and your life will be
made better by making the effort — to understand.
You’re speaking, of course, about the seminar-
style format of the Core. Are there other benefits
to that approach?
One of the things about having to speak and write is
that it makes you confront your own ignorance, your
own incapacities. It’s very easy to sit back and be critical
when other people are speaking — to think, “That’s all
completely obvious.” But as soon as you try to write, and
as soon as you try to explain things, you have to confront
the fact of how difficult it is. If it were so easy to absorb
Shakespeare or Montaigne or Aristotle or Virginia Woolf,
we wouldn't need universities, and we wouldn't need the
Core Curriculum.
Every person has had the experience, I think, of reading
a great text, looking at a great piece of art or listening to a
fine piece of music and thinking certain things, admiring
certain things — but imagine then having a scholar help
you to unravel that art’s complexities. You would begin
to see things that you hadn't, and it’s amazing, and by the
end you develop a habit of mind; you know that you will
never take a great work or any work for granted, and that,
too, is an enormous educational benefit, a life benefit.
There seems to be enormous benefit as well in the
community learning aspect of the Core.
Early on in my presidency, somebody in my family said
that it was striking to walk up the Low Steps and to see
so many students sitting quite separately, reading Plato
or Aristotle. And that symbol of a young person on the
Steps, outdoors, reading the same great text as someone
sitting a few yards away, is an example of what you're
talking about. When you are doing the same thing that
all of your peers are doing, it reinforces the seriousness of
what it is that you are undertaking. I think it also must be
incredibly stimulating to be able to compare notes about
classes and readings; it’s an immediate bond with other
individuals. The objective, of course, is to give our students
so much more than the skills they need to read a great
text. We want them to understand the value of being able
to discuss difficult and important ideas with other people
who may not share their views. We want them to continue
to do it throughout their lives.
How do you view the questions around diversity
and representation in the Core?
There has to be an ongoing discussion about the charac-
ter and the content of the Core. And not only about the
Core, but also about scholarship generally — any univer-
sity worth its salt will embrace that continual self-exam-
ination and self-criticism. Issues of inclusiveness need to
be addressed. Issues of a more international and global
world need to be addressed. Issues about the unfair-
ness and inequality that informed or characterized the
societies in which many of these works arose or emerged
need to be addressed. It’s all part of what it means to be
an institution that respects reason and knowledge, and
to carry forward values that we, over time, have come
to realize are incredibly important — values of equality,
values of addressing invidious discrimination, values of
being respectful of other people, of being tolerant. So, I
think the measure of the continuing success of the Core
Curriculum will be its capacity to change as new values
are introduced and old values are rethought.
You’ve said that “the education afforded by the
Core has never been more relevant to the world we
inhabit.” Can you elaborate?
We're living at a moment when the attack on basic facts,
on the use of reason, on reporting on what you see in the
“TO BE A YOUNG PERSON AND
TO BE EXPOSED TO GREAT
TEXTS, GREAT OBJECTS OF
ART, AND GREAT MUSIC OF
THE WORLD OVER TIME IS
AN EXPERIENCE THEY WILL
NEVER FORGET.’
world — these are under assault. In one sense, there has
always been anti-intellectualism in societies and certainly
in American society. Universities have to contend with
that, and they have to address it. But, in today’s world, this
anti-intellectualism is essentially an assault on what it is
that universities stand for. So, universities, and the Core
Curriculum in particular, need to continue to be sources
of responses to those attacks. After all, our mission, ulti-
mately, is to discover new knowledge and pursue the truth.
How do you view the Core’s place and mission
within the larger University?
The Core is, of course, the signature program of the
College — but we have 16 schools here. So, I have said,
and will say again, that the Core Curriculum is to the
University what the University is to the world and the
nation. It’s easy to say we are about the search for truth,
and that can sound banal, cliché. But underlying those
words is a whole tradition of respecting human inquiry
into truth, knowledge and understanding. That tradition
of inquiry has brought enormous benefits to the world —
capitalism, free markets, open economies, political systems
of self-government, democracies — and these are really,
really important. But what’s incredibly important, what
underlies those systems and organization of societies, is a
respect for truth and a desire to expand your knowledge.
I believe in universities. They are very special institu-
tions, and | think part of America’s success as a country is
rooted in its commitment to colleges and universities and
what they represent — liberal arts education, professional
education, and not just in terms of preparing people for
professions, but also educating people in the broadest sense.
But universities are fragile. They’re different from the rest
of society, and they emphasize certain values — reason
and explanation; respect for different points of view; being
skeptical, being modest. We take all of those values to an
extreme and that creates a culture. The Core Curriculum
is the essence of that and representative of what we do at
all of Columbia's schools. Studying the Core exposes our
students to the best of this culture and prepares them to
carry forward this way of thinking into the world.
Fall 2019 CCT
25
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t’s the first Saturday in June, and thousands of fans
have crowded into New York City’s Javits Center,
lining up since early morning for a chance to meet
their heroes at BookCon. The two-day celebration
of books and pop culture brings together authors and read-
ers of young adult (YA) literature, a booming market that
has made rock stars out of writers. And one of the indus-
try’s brightest lights is Melissa de la Cruz’93.
On that Saturday, de la Cruz perched at a table as the line
for her book signing snaked around stanchions and out of
view. Excited fans rolled through to take selfies, meet de la
Cruz and talk Hamilton (de la Cruz had just come from a
packed panel — “Making Out Between the Pages” — where
she discussed the final book in her Alex &% Eliza trilogy,
which follows Alexander Hamilton CC 1778's romance with
Elizabeth Schuyler). Near the front of the autograph line, a
girl clutching all three Alex &% Eliza books complimented
de la Cruz on her striking gunmetal-grey eyeshadow, while
n-Lit
another autograph seeker gushed, “My friends are freaking
out that I’m meeting you!” A Sunday giveaway for advance
review copies of the first book of her new series, The Queen's
Assassin (coming in early 2020), was so mobbed that the
publisher had to call security. Rock star status: confirmed.
T o say de la Cruz is prolific would be an understate-
ment. In the nearly 20 years since she published her
first novel, the author has written more than 50 books,
penned three television movies, helped develop two thriv-
ing book festivals on opposite coasts and, oh yeah, cumu-
latively her books have spent years on The New York Times
Bestseller List. But ask the bubbly de la Cruz how she
manages her workload and she answers, with a laugh,
“Absolute procrastination and then absolute desperation!”
For de la Cruz, writing has always been a passion. She
grew up with parents who loved and encouraged reading, and
as a child she devoured everything from Little Women to her
mother’s Jackie Collins romance novels (she describes herself
as “the kid who always had a book”). But reading an interview
with Francine Pascal, creator of the Sweet Valley High tween
series, opened her mind to being on the other side of the
page. Pascal “talked about how she had created the [Sweet
Valley] world, but the women who actually wrote the books
were 22 years old! They were three girls who were just out of
college and they were her ghostwriters,” de la Cruz recalls.
By Anne-Ryan Sirju JRN’09
Cen
CCT joins the fan club of bestselling
author Melissa de la Cruz ’93
The Teen-Lit
“At this time I was 11 and I thought, “They're 22? Maybe in
11 years I could be writing books like these.”
When de la Cruz was 12, her family left her native Manila
and settled in California. Columbia and the East Coast called
to her, as she was inspired by both Jay McInerney’s Bright
Lights, Big City and the Beat Generation — “[Columbia’s]
reputation rested on being the home of Jack Kerouac and
Allen Ginsberg, and for having produced all these beautiful
writers and just having that edgy, alternative reputation,” she
says. “It felt like the kind of school you would go to if you
were a little artistic.”
De la Cruz majored in English and art history, and stayed
in New York for a decade after graduation, writing about
beauty and fashion for publications from Marie Claire to
Allure to the Times. In 1999 she sold her first book — the adult
fiction novel Cats Meow — and in 2003 she and her husband,
Michael Johnston GSAPP’99, moved to Los Angeles.
De la Cruz’s first YA novels were contemporary fiction,
covering wealthy teens in the Hamptons and regular high
school life. Then everything changed: Thanks to the success
of the Twilight book series (which launched in 2005), vam-
pires and supernatural creatures were suddenly big busi-
ness. De la Cruz’s Blue Bloods, about wealthy New Yorkers
28 CCT Fall 2019
who happened to be vampires, was released in 2006 and
rode the wave of late-aughts vampire popularity. Although
it first became a bestseller in 2008, B/ue Bloods continued to
pop up on the list until as late as 2011; the story grew into
a nine-book series. De la Cruz’s first take on adult fantasy
literature came in 2011 with Witches of East End, which
spawned a six-book series and a Lifetime TV show, which
ran for two seasons.
After success writing about vampires, witches and dysto-
pian futures (the Heart of Dread series, co-written with her
husband), de la Cruz was looking for the next big thing. A
fortuitous lunch with Jeanne Mosure, then-head of Disney
Publishing Worldwide, led to an offer de la Cruz couldn't
refuse: a deal to write a middle-grade (readers ages 8-12)
series about the children of Disney’s villains, tied into the
upcoming Disney Channel movie Descendants. “I thought it
was so funny,” says de la Cruz. “T had just talked to my agent
about wanting to do a fairy tale and here I was being handed
the entire Disney universe.” The offer turned into 2015’s The
Isle of the Lost, which reigned on the Times Bestseller List
for 50 weeks (“We ran out of champagne!” jokes de la Cruz)
and has spawned an entire book and movie series; the fourth
book, Escape from the Isle of the Lost, was released on June 4,
and the Descendants 3 film debuted on August 2.
De la Cruz reflects on her accomplishments as being
hard won: “There are a lot of ups and downs in creative
careers, and I was fortunate to be with people and raised by
a family that said, “When it’s time to celebrate, it’s time to
celebrate,’ because you don't know how long the moment
will last — you can’t take things for granted.
a eas
JORG MEYER
“The first time I hit the bestseller list was in 2008, and I
had been a writer for about 10 years by then,” she says. “I
felt really validated. When Descendants did so well and was
on the bestseller list for a year, it was hard not to get used to
it. But I was really cognizant that these things don’t last and
you have to enjoy them while they’re happening.”
QO: the Friday night before BookCon, de la Cruz sat
on a panel with six other YA authors also represented
by Penguin Teen, hosting a free trivia night at the Upper
West Side Barnes & Noble. Among the crowd of excited
teens and young adults was an elderly man who stepped
into the Q&A to ask why the authors were wasting their
time writing fiction when they could be writing something
educational for young people. De la Cruz, there promoting
All for One (the third book in the Alex & Eliza trilogy),
was diplomatic in her response: “I write books to enter-
tain, I write them to amuse myself — I hope they amuse
other people. But I do think that they teach something
that’s so much more important than how to put together
an airplane. They teach us how to love, and that’s the most
important lesson of life.”
She continued, “I wanted to write about Eliza Schuyler
because I wanted to write about a good person, a decent
American. In the climate that we’re in, I wanted to cel-
ebrate that [decency] — everything that is good about our
country was in this one person.”
De la Cruz is ardent in her belief that reading about
different people and places can teach empathy and open-
mindedness. Her 2005 book Fresh Off the Boat drew from
her own family’s immigration story and was one of the
first Filipino-American themed YA books published in the
United States. A decade later, publishing company Harle-
quin Teen came to her about an imprint they were launch-
ing with Seventeen magazine about teens going through
real-life issues. Their request: Could she write about a
teenager experiencing the effects of illegal immigration?
Her instinct was to say no, she didn’t want to relive the
difficulties of her own immigration story (her family came
to the U.S. legally on her father’s business visa, but it was a
long journey to a Green Card). “But then I thought that it
would be kind of necessary to tell the story now,” she says.
“This country was founded by immigrants; we were always
proud to be immigrants in this country.” The book, Some-
thing in Between, was released in October 2016.
De la Cruz wants YA to be celebrated in its own right,
and to that end she’s been instrumental in raising the
genre's profile during the two decades she’s been writing.
She has participated in the Charleston, S.C., young adult
book festival YallFest for its entire nine-year run, and is the
co-founder of its West Coast sister show, YallWest, begun
in 2015. Author Margaret Stohl, the co-founder of both
festivals, says, “The incredible power of Mel is that she will
see something and immediately know how to make it bet-
ter, fund it, roll it out, take it to the next level. She came [to
the first YallFest] as an author and then, as my friend, said,
‘Oh honey, you're doing this all wrong!’ And by the next year
MARIA CINA
she had enlisted every major publishing house in New York
and in our industry.”
YallFest brings dozens of YA authors to South Carolina
for a weekend of panels, signings and special events. De
la Cruz notes, “A lot of the cities in the deep south aren't
normally on the book tour circuit, and a lot of the kids we
met during our first festival were so thankful that we came
there.” When YallWest launched in Santa Monica, Calif.,
the organizers wanted to continue bringing YA literature
to underserved communities, and so the festival sponsors
kids from Title 1 schools (public schools with a large con-
centration of students from low-income families) to come
to the festival for free and to receive free books. “There
arent that many people who can demand the attention of
an entire industry and their dollars, and that’s what Mel
can do,” Stohl says. “It’s really just this one person who has
transformed opportunity and access
for children. She’s sort of the unof-
ficial CEO of the YA community.”
At BookCon, after speaking to a
jam-packed room for “Making Out
Between the Pages,” fans lined up at
Hamilton!
microphones to ask everything from
how de la Cruz and her fellow writ-
ers found their passions in life to
thanking the panelists for creating diverse characters that
speak to the readers’ real-life experiences. Moments before
de la Cruz headed into the panel, she reflected further on
her Friday night comments about love, decency and the
power of books. The questions “how to love, who to love’
have fueled generations of readers and books,” she mused.
“From Jane Austen to Shakespeare, it’s the immortal ques-
tion. How do you learn about love but through books and
putting yourself in someone else’s shoes?”
Read an excerpt from All for One, the
final book of de la Cruz’s Alex & Eliza
trilogy: college.columbia.edu/cct/
latest/feature-extras/allforone.
Fall 2019 CCT 29
Columbia! Forum
A Well-Lived Landmark
Julie Satow 96, SIPA’01 pays tribute to the Plaza Hotel
For many New Yorkers, the Plaza Hotel is a symbol of
wealth and romance, embedded like a low jewel in the
city’s skyline. To Julie Satow 96, SIPA’01, the Plaza
also seemed like a personal landmark — a figure always
traced into her life’s backdrop. On some high school
afternoons, she'd sit in the Sheep’s Meadow in Central
Park, the hotel’s silhouette visible in the distance. As a
teenager — and during her time at Columbia — she'd
venture inside to visit her grandmother, who stayed
there on city visits. Satow’s 2009 wedding was held in
the Terrace Room, its ornate walls decorated with flow-
ers and Roman statues.
“The Plaza always
represented glamour
and excitement to me,”
Satow says.
Satow became a
journalist, writing
first about business
and then real estate.
In 2015, by then a
contributor to The New
York Times, she de-
cided to write her first
book and thought of
the mythic hotel she'd
known since child-
hood. The allure of its
story was undeniable:
EMILY ASSIRAN
The Plaza had been a beguiling, elusive trophy from
its earliest days, the kind of real estate prize that had
both seduced and frustrated those who possessed it.
From the “rakish adventurer” Harry Black, who owned
the hotel in the early 20th century, to the Sonnabend
family, from Donald Trump to the jailed Indian tycoon
30 CCT Fall 2019
Subrata Roy, the Plaza had an almost mystical ability to
blind rich investors to the vagaries of its often-tenuous
bottom line. Trump, who drove the Plaza into bank-
ruptcy proceedings just four years after he bought it in
1988, called the purchase his “Mona Lisa,” while for the
21st century’s international buyers, the world-famous
chateau was “the ultimate global calling card.”
Satow, for one, didn’t let the romance of the Plaza blind
her to its seamier side. The hotel has always been a locus
for scams and scandals as well as for opulent refinement;
her book, The Plaza: The Secret Life of America’s Most
Famous Hotel (Twelve Books, $29), rips open the embroi-
dered Edwardian curtains and pulls up the rugs to reveal
the grime. During construction, a retired cop was thrown
down two unfinished stories; in the 1970s, Central Park
South was known as Prostitutes’ Promenade. Satow’s
well-received history is, as The Wall Street Journal puts it,
a “lively and entertaining portrait” of a beloved landmark
with an “astonishingly unsavory past.”
Satow writes movingly about revisiting the Plaza for
a night when she had almost finished her book. She
wanders through the hallways, past a boutique, a hair
salon and the still-popular portrait of Eloise, to the
ornate but empty room where her wedding took place.
The building is a hybrid now, part condo and part hotel,
with pied-a-terres owned by shell companies on the
floors where eccentric widows and their servants used to
live. Despite the sometimes awkward alterations, Satow
is still moved by the Plaza’s graceful presence — and
she’s hopeful about its future. Like any fixer-upper, all it
needs is a lot of cash — and the newest owner, Katara
(the hotel arm of Qatar’s Investment Authority), clearly
has deep pockets. “With sufficient investment,” Satow
says, I am sure the Plaza can return to its former glory.”
— Rose Kernochan BC’82
Chapter I
Parade of Millionaires
“Great hotels have always been social ideas, flawless
mirrors to the particular societies they service.”
— Joan Didion
n the morning of October 1, 1907, the
hotel bellmen and front desk staff were
scurrying about the marble lobby, smooth-
ing their uniforms and making final
preparations. Upstairs, maids in starched white aprons
checked the sumptuous suites, fluffing feather pillows
and straightening the damask curtains. As the hotel
manager barked orders, a troop of nervous doormen,
dressed in black satin breeches and jackets inlaid with
yellow braid, filed outside the Plaza’s bronze revolving
door, arraying themselves along the entryway’s red-
carpeted steps.
Along Fifty-Ninth Street, crowds had been gather-
ing since the early hours. At 9 a.m., a shiny black car-
riage finally pulled up in front of the entrance and out
stepped Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, one of the coun-
try’s wealthiest men. The excitement grew palpable as
onlookers jostled one another for a glimpse of the New
York princeling, while newspapermen called out for a
quote. Wearing a top hat and a wide grin, the dash-
ing Vanderbilt strode past the spectators, up the hotel’s
grand staircase, and through the revolving door.
Once inside, Vanderbilt headed straight for the front
desk. But instead of meeting the clerk, he was con-
fronted by a young Irish girl perched atop the coun-
ter, absentmindedly clicking her heels. Mary Doyle
was meant to be minding the Plaza newsstand, but
while her fellow employees were busily preparing for
the grand opening, she had aimlessly wandered over
to the desk when she saw the clerk momentarily leave
his post. It was at that exact moment that Vanderbilt
made his entrance.
“I suddenly realized that the newsstand, where I was
supposed to be on duty, wasn't even in sight from where
I sat,” Doyle recalled in her memoir, Life Was Like That.
“But, not knowing what else to do, I remained where I
was.” As the debonair millionaire looked on bemusedly
at the young girl with thick blond hair and a snub nose,
there was “a slightly strained moment of silence.” Then,
“with a barely perceptible trace of sarcasm,” Vander-
bilt inquired if he might not check in. “Still sitting on
the desk, I reached out casually, swung the brand-new
register pad around in front of him, and dipped and
handed him a pen.” Vanderbilt bent over the large
book and on the first line of the first page signed, “Mr.
and Mrs. Vanderbilt and servant,” forever inscribing
himself as the Plaza’s inaugural guest.
he Plaza was the most expensive hotel in the city’s
history, its looming eighteen stories dominating
the surrounding skyline. Its arrival was so monumental
that it ushered in new behaviors that would leave their
mark on New York for generations.
The Plaza’s opening, for instance, coincided with the
debut of one of the city’s most enduring symbols, the
modern taxicab. On that first day, those in the crowd
who ventured to the Fifth Avenue side of the hotel
discovered a fleet of twenty-five bright red cars. These
vehicles, imported from France, featured gray interiors
with long bench seats and two facing single seats that
could be turned up when not in use. The drivers were
Fall 2019 CCT 31
Columbia) Forum
decked out in matching uniforms made of a similar
gray-blue as the interiors. To generate publicity and
entice wealthy fans on this first day of business, these
prototypes for today’s ubiquitous yellow cabs were
being offered free of charge to Plaza guests.
In 1907, cars were still novelties — it would be thir-
teen more years before the first traffic light graced Fifth
Avenue. New Yorkers who didn’t own carriages often
depended on two-wheeled hansom cabs to get around
town. But these new taximeter cars, with their decidedly
faster pace and clearly marked odometers — charging
30 cents for the first half mile and 10 cents for every
quarter of a mile after — quickly replaced horse-drawn
hansom cabs as popular transport. “The hansom cabbies
were curious at first” about the cars, remembered Tom
Clifford, a Plaza doorman who was there that first day,
“but it was plain to see that trouble was coming.”
In only a few short years, the calls of “Cab, cab, cab!”
from hansom drivers perched high upon their plat-
forms were replaced with insistent honking and belch-
ing from the new red cars. In 1912, when a New York
Times reporter stood outside the Times Square news-
room to count traffic, he found that of the forty-eight
vehicles that passed by, just five were driven by horses,
while nearly one-quarter were taxis. Ironically, today
the only place one can find horse-drawn cabs is directly
across from the Plaza, where the New York City taxis
that marked their death knell were first introduced.
The advent of the Plaza ushered in other new behav-
iors, besides the use of modern.taxis. In the wake of
the hotel’s opening, for instance, wealthy New Yorkers
began embracing a wider public life. Those who had
long maintained enormous Manhattan mansions, with
their large staffs and expensive upkeep, began moving
FIRST PLAZA: The first Plaza Hotel was an eight-story structure with a brick-
and-brownstone facade, 400 guest rooms and a famous painting of a lion by
Massachusetts artist Alexander Pope Jr. It was, for a time, considered one of
New York’s grandest hotels. Here it is in 1894.
32 CCT Fall 2019
MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
H.N. TIEMANN & CO. /
instead into hotels. The term “hotel” is a bit of a misno-
mer, since the terms “apartment” and “hotel” were often
used interchangeably. Guests like Vanderbilt, Gates, and
90 percent of those who checked in that day were per-
manent residents with plans to stay indefinitely; some
would remain for a lifetime. By living in hotels, these
new apartment dwellers avoided what was dubbed the
“servant problem,” or finding and keeping affordable,
well-trained help. The New York Times marveled at “the
large number of suites to be occupied by people who
have hitherto had their own private residences.”
There was also the draw of the Plaza’s unsurpassable
modern amenities. Guests could order exotic dishes
like turtle soup and enjoy the ease of such conve-
niences as thermostats, telephones, and automatically
winding clocks. “Certainly, no private house, however
expensively equipped can, as yet, show the appliances
for making life not only comfortable and easy, but also
hygienic,” the fashion magazine Vogue wrote in an early
review of the hotel. Guests didn’t have to hire decora-
tors, as every one of the Plaza’s eight hundred rooms
came replete with the most elegant of furnishings,
including dark wood armoires and sofas upholstered
in rich brocade. There were three-button panels that
allowed guests to call for a bellboy, maid, or waiter, who
were stationed on every floor. And room service was
delivered through an elaborate system of pneumatic
tubes and dumbwaiters, so it would arrive still warm
from the cavernous kitchens below.
Of course, not every guest appreciated the modern
conveniences. When the famed tenor Enrico Caruso
first moved into his suite at the Plaza, the loud tick-
ing emanating from the automatic clock in his room
interrupted his vocal training. In a fit of pique, he put
the annoyance out of commission with a blow. But
he failed to realize that each clock was connected to
a master clock, and the destruction of one machine
ruptured the entire system. Sleepy guests who awoke
“to glance at the room clock, discover[ed] that the day
evidently was standing still,” noted a dispatch in the
Baltimore Sun. “Those who had luncheon engagements
were assailed by ennui as they waited for the hour that
came not.”
Irate guests began hounding the front desk, and
a manager was dispatched to investigate. When he
arrived at the door of Caruso’s suite, he was told by the
tenor’s servant that “Chevalier Caruso” could not be
interrupted since “such annoyance was disconcerting
to the aesthetic soul.” The manager insisted, and when
he eventually won entrance, he was confronted with
the necessary proof. There, “beneath the embarrassed
face of the clock in the Caruso suite hung a mass of
broken and twisted wires.”
The opening of the Plaza also influenced fashion
and social patterns. Since the 1890s, the elite of society
had paraded their finery along Peacock Alley, a three-
hundred-foot marble corridor that ran the length of
the fashionable Waldorf-Astoria hotel. It was a grand
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WHITE BEACON: The Plaza was designed as a French chateau in skyscraper proportions, with a facade of marble and white terracotta,
and a copper mansard roof that reflected the green of nearby Central Park. Here it is in 1920, dominating the skyline.
spectacle that epitomized the excesses of the Gilded
Age. But now, with the Plaza, this behavior became a
broader phenomenon. It became popular to go out to
restaurants and eat among strangers, and to spend eve-
nings ballroom dancing to an orchestra with hundreds
of other couples. The Plaza and its compatriots became
preeminent places to show off, enjoy one’s wealth, and
cement one’s status in high society. At the Plaza, you
could march through the lobby in the latest fashion
and be assured of appearing in the society column, the
hotel hallways being clogged with reporters in search
of gossip to fill the next day’s papers.
The Plaza also offered new levels of celebrity, a
precursor to reality stars like the Kardashians. For
instance, when one of New York’s wealthiest society
matrons, Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish, arrived at the Plaza one
evening dressed in a broadtail fur cloak fastened with
a conspicuous diamond brooch on the outside of her
coat, it caused a flurry of copycats. “In a flash this inno-
vation had sunk deep into the hearts of other women,”
detailed one columnist, in a piece titled “Jewels Out-
side Your Furs.”
Even those with less wealth could successfully lever-
age the publicity offered by a hotel. As one reporter
archly noted, all you had to do was host a relatively
inexpensive party, “amounting to no more than after-
noon tea,” and you would find yourself the exalted sub-
ject of an item such as: “Mrs. So-and-So entertained
50 guests at luncheon at the Plaza Hotel, the company
afterwards playing bridge.”
And long before the Beatles drew frenzied fans to
the Plaza, highly anticipated celebrity sightings were
attracting crowds. A year after the Plaza opened,
word leaked out that Miss Gladys Vanderbilt, sister
of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, and her betrothed, the
Count Laszlo Szechenyi, would be having tea at the
Plaza’s Palm Court. They were to arrive at the same
time as Miss Theodora Shonts and her fiancé, the Duc
de Chaulnes, and the public, anxious to catch a glimpse
of the titled royalty, began swarming the hotel.
Fall 2019 CCT 33
PLUNGERS: The Plaza was sumptuously outfitted with lavish furnishings in
brocades of rose and green, more than 1,000 crystal chandeliers and elevators
featuring glass doors through which the mechanical pistons could be seen.
Called “plungers,” these elevators were a technological feat, and remained in
use well into the 1970s. Here, the lobby on opening day in 1907.
“Within half an hour the corridors were impas-
sible. Visitors took possession of bellboys’ benches and
every available chair,” noted the New York Times. The
hotel closed the Palm Court’s glass doors against the
throngs, but “the crowd was undismayed and courte-
ously stormed” the room, forcing the maitre d’hétel
to use his “broad shoulders” to “resist the advances of
a flying wedge of well-dressed women.” In the end,
when the famous guests arrived, one couple was sur-
reptitiously escorted to their table by way of the hotel’s
ground-floor pantry, while the other snuck in through
a lobby brokerage office.
Another draw of hotel life was the dining. It was
from hotels that Parker House rolls, Waldorf salad,
and the Manhattan cocktail originated. The Plaza’s
popular subterranean Grill Room, located beneath
the lobby, featured a glass refrigerator from which
patrons could pick their own steak or pork chop. As
an added bonus, the restaurant unexpectedly offered
ice-skating during the warm summer months. As June
rolled around, the hotel flooded the Grill Room's tile
floor with water they then froze, so that customers
could while away the time between courses skating, a
full orchestra dressed in white tuxedos providing the
musical accompaniment.
As notable as ice-skating in the summer was, the
service that the Grill Room offered to patrons who
had pets was even more astounding. The restaurant
featured a “dog check room,” presided over by a French
BYRON COMPANY (NEW YORK, N.Y.) / MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
COURTESY GREGG SALOMONE
ally every one of them well pedigreed,” according to
Life magazine, which later published a multipage fea-
ture on the phenomenon.
“Like their owners, Plaza dogs tend to be exception-
ally well dressed and well fed. They find life at the hotel
unhurried and pleasant,” the magazine noted. There was
Nana, a French poodle who boasted her own room fea-
turing a miniature bath, a dog tutor, a dog nurse, and, of
course, a specially designed dog-food menu. There was
also Pelleas, a chic Pekingese owned by a famous Belgian
author; and Bonzu, who at thirteen was the hotel’s old-
est canine inhabitant. Given the wealth of its residents
and the life of ease many enjoyed, it made sense that
the Plaza was known for its dogs. As Thorstein Veblen,
the economist who coined the phrase “conspicuous con-
sumption,” noted, the dog, unlike the mouse-chasing
cat, “commonly serves no industrial purpose.” A dog is
merely “an item of expense,” its “unquestioning subser-
vience and a slave’s quickness in guessing his master’s
mood” making it an ideal showpiece for the rich.
Not all dogs, however, were showpieces. A tiny
Pomeranian named Digi would prove Veblen wrong
when he accomplished what even a New York City
police detective could not. Digi’s mistress, Patricia
Burke, a socialite visiting from Los Angeles, had lost a
diamond-and-pearl ring somewhere in the vast reaches
of the hotel. Employees were dispatched to look for
it, and a detective was called. But it wasn't until Digi,
who had been following his mistress about the hotel all
day, began making strange noises that she finally paid
BYRON COMPANY (NEW YORK, N.Y.) / MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
maid who provided her pampered pooches with a MCCARTNEY MOMENT: While countless young fans tried to sneak up the Plaza’s
selection of large and small padded baskets, pans filled back staircase into the Beatles’s 12th-floor suite, Gregg Salomone, whose father
with water, and an unending supply of dog biscuits managed the hotel, strolled through the front door of the musicians’ rooms. Here,
, E
Inf ; he Pl h I a 6-year-old Gregg stands with Ringo, Paul and George, as well as his sister
n fact, at any one time, the F'laza was home to nearly Lourdes and her friend Bunny Castalano. Gregg’s hand is hovering because
three dozen dogs, “many of them imported and virtu- moments earlier, Paul had pointed out that his fly was open.
34 CCT Fall 2019
TEA TIME: The tea room, later named the Palm Court, featured a curved ceiling made of colored glass that let in daylight, and oversized
palm trees and rubber plants, lending the room a garden-like ambience. It was here that British actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell scandal-
ized patrician patrons by lighting up a cigarette shortly after the hote
him some heed. “Miss Burke looked at Digi, and there,
to her amazement, was the ring gripped tightly in the
teeth of the Pomeranian,” reported the Washington
Post. Another useful dog was Captain, a bulldog who
belonged to Plaza resident Mrs. Benjamin Kirkland.
Every evening, Captain appeared at the front desk to
collect a leather case filled with valuable jewels, which
he would then carry — “never did anyone touch the
bag in the Boston bull’s mouth” — to Kirkland’s room
in time for her to dress, according to one retelling.
A multitude of employees was needed to care for
these pets and serve the Plaza’s exacting guests. If a
team of ironworkers striving in unison was necessary
to erect the hotel, then a collaboration of hundreds
of staff was critical to the Plaza’s operations. When it
came to dining, for instance, the heart of the enterprise
was the subterranean kitchen, a maze of white-tiled
rooms located in the building’s lower reaches. It was
overseen by Monsieur Lapperraque, a French master
chef, the “Grand Poo-bah in this underground land
of saucepans,” who surveyed eighty-three cooks from
a glass-enclosed office “like a watchful spider in the
midst of his web.” There were separate rooms for stor-
ing meat, fish, dry goods, and green groceries, and in
’s opening.
what sounded almost like a nursery rhyme, each cook
was tasked with a specialty, including a bread baker, an
ice cream maker, and a candy creator. It wasn’t unusual
for the kitchen to prepare such fare as kangaroo meat
or to string up giant game or oversized tortoises on
racks to ready them for the ovens.
Even the Plaza’s air was rarefied. The hotel used
an elaborate ventilation system to purify the oxygen
pumped into the building, and a network of thermo-
stats ensured “there is no annoyance with furnaces that
will not burn, with steam radiators that refuse to be hot,
or that persistently compel us to endure either a tropi-
cal heat or dangerous draughts from windows opened
in despair,” Vogue wrote approvingly. The refrigeration
equipment was also a modern wonder, used not only to
produce ice for tea and cocktails, but to circulate brine
all the way up to the hotel’s seventeenth floor, above
the guest rooms. There, it was used to cool a storage
room for guests’ fur coats.
From the book THE PLAZA: The Secret Life of Amer-
icas Most Famous Hotel. Copyright (c) 2019 by Julie
Satow. Reprinted by permission of Twelve/Hachette
Book Group, New York, NY. All rights reserved.
Fall 2019 CCT 35
——y
—
oes Aa. By wees 1h , SEAT
All TiN’ Tree -BOOKS
Class is in session, and Butler beckons. The library,
originally named South Hall, was built in 1934 to
replace Low Memorial Library, which had run out
of space for its growing collection. In 1946,
South Hall was renamed to honor Columbia
President Nicholas Murray Butler CC 1882, who
had retired the previous year. The largest of
Columbia's libraries, Butler houses the University’s
collections in the humanities, with a particular focus
on history, literature, philosophy and religion.
SCOTT RUDD
36 CCT Fall 2019
alumninews
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PAL is) Gia it
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Contents
37 CCAA Message
38 Lions + Newsmakers
Jeffrey L. Kessler 75, LAW’77; Sari Beth Rosenberg ’97;
Katherine Katcher ’07; Noél Duan 13
42 Bookshelf
Sounds Like Titanic by
Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman ’03, SOA’09
44 Class Notes
Celebrations
84 Obituaries
Alex Navab ’87
88 Core Corner
Core cartoon caption contest!
By Michael Behringer ’89
his academic year marks one of the most meaningful mile-
stones in Columbia College’s history: the 100th anniversary of
the Core Curriculum. It will be a year of celebration and reflection
on the defining element of our Columbia experience — and on
something that is uniquely ours as College alumni.
Beginning with the Centennial launch event on Friday, Septem-
ber 27, alumni and students will have the chance to participate in
special programming, along with other opportunities to relive and
celebrate their Core experience. I encourage you to join as many
events as you can.
As part of the College’s commemoration, the Columbia College
Alumni Association is asking alumni to share their “Core Stories”
— reflections on and memories of their Core experience and the
influence it has wielded in their lives. You can submit a Core Story
(which can be as short as one sentence), read others’ accounts and
learn more about the centennial on the Core Centennial website,
core100.columbia.edu.
My own Core Story began in high school. For me, the Core and
Columbia were one and the same, and it was what attracted me to
attend. I had very little prior exposure to the Core texts, and intimately
studying these great works seemed to me what the ideal undergradu-
ate education should be. What I remember and cherish most were our
passionate small-group discussions. I went to a large, Catholic high
school, and it didn't have many classes smaller than 30 or 40 students;
unsurprisingly, most of our backgrounds and worldviews were similar.
In the Core classroom, we learned to disagree without being dis-
agreeable. The Core emphasized the value of listening to differing
viewpoints and challenging personal assumptions to better under-
Behringer still has many of his Core books at home.
alumninews
stand the world around us. It was exhilarating, and I developed
skills that have served me well in my professional and personal life.
Some 30 years later, my Core textbooks still hold a prominent place
on my bookshelves. Worn and tattered, they are a regular reminder
that the lessons of the Core are indeed lifelong.
The Core is about more than what happens in the classroom.
It’s a vital piece of the collective Columbia College Journey, push-
ing students outside their comfort zones, celebrating their curios-
ity, and allowing them to engage in discussions and tackle subjects
that they might not have been exposed to anywhere else. The Core
prepares College students for not only a life of engaged citizenship,
but also a life of greater enjoyment.
As we reflect upon the Core’s 100 years, it’s also important that
alumni look to the future. Operating the Core is no small feat.
It requires substantial financial, intellectual and physical resources.
Consider the following:
* the Core comprises more than 25,000 hours of instruction,
with more than 120 Lit Hum and Contemporary Civilization
instructors per semester;
° the College’s class size is substantial (the Class of ’23 totals
1,406), yet the College is still committed to teaching Core
classes in seminars of no more than 22 students; and
* Core instructors come from departments such as history,
classics, philosophy, political science, art and music, and are
asked to teach a multi-disciplinary course outside their primary
field of expertise. Coordinating the talent that teaches Core
classes takes extraordinary effort.
All of which is to say that maintaining the Core is a massive
undertaking. It’s also an expensive one, because each and every
student is a guaranteed participant. Columbia relies upon alumni
contributions, including gifts to the Core through the Columbia
College Fund, to help underwrite those enterprise costs as well as
to fund innovative programming and events for students.
I hope the Centennial serves as a call to arms for Columbians to
ensure that the Core remains vibrant and impactful as it enters its
second century. [here are so many ways alumni can invest in the
Core, and gifts of all sizes are both needed and welcome. To learn
how you can support the Core and be part of this exciting effort,
please visit core100.columbia.edu.
‘This year promises to be a momentous one for Columbia and the
Core. I look forward to both hearing your Core Story and celebrat-
ing this anniversary together.
ROAR!
a ae
Fall 2019 CCT 37
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ANDREW BURTON / GETTY IMAGES
| ecciea eRM SISA Ie ILS
By Jamie Katz ’72, BUS’80
he electrifying performance of the U.S. women’s soc-
cer team this summer furnished Jeffrey L. Kessler ’75,
LAW’77 with something unique in his career as a high-
profile sports lawyer: the thrill of watching a beloved team
compete for international glory while vying for an historic legal
breakthrough under his guidance. While the players’ talent and
swagger was catching the world’s eye, Kessler was masterminding
the team’s pursuit of pay equity and equal treatment, a cause that
reverberates far beyond the soccer world. “I can honestly say I’ve
never been involved in a sports matter that has had such pervasive,
widespread public support,” he says.
A top member of the international law firm Winston & Strawn,
Kessler has long operated on the front line of athletes’ rights and
interests as individual competitors, employees, union members
and citizens. Some of his earliest heroes, he notes, were sports fig-
ures who bucked the establishment to follow their conscience and
assert their rights. “I was inspired to become a lawyer in part by
people like Curt Flood, Muhammad Ali, John Carlos and Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar, and the idea of using the law to achieve social justice
38 CCT Fall 2019
objectives,” says Kessler, who specialized in antitrust law before his
practice became increasingly involved in sports. “So in a strange
way my childhood inspirations have come to roost in my career,
totally unplanned and unexpectedly.”
Among many key episodes to be found on Kessler’s career high-
light reel, he litigated the 1992 case McNeil v. NFL, which resulted
in free agency in the NFL; negotiated the current salary cap/free
agency systems in the NBA and NFL; and challenged the amateur-
ism provisions of the NCAA. He represented Patriots quarterback
Tom Brady during the Deflategate controversy, defended the right
of NFL players to take a knee during the national anthem and
argued for the right of double-amputee track stars Oscar Pisto-
rius (years before his murder conviction) and more recently, Blake
Leeper, to compete in the Olympics despite their use of prosthetics.
The heart of the women’s legal fight is a lawsuit Kessler filed in
federal court this past March on behalf of all 28 team members,
accusing the sport’s governing body, the United States Soccer Fed-
eration, of years of gender discrimination, in violation of the Equal
Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The
federation not only compensates the women’s team considerably
less than the U.S. men’s team, the suit charges, but also spends less
on coaching, training, medical personnel, marketing and travel.
Compensation for the national teams is not a straightforward
process; it is determined by a tangle of collective bargaining agree-
ments, payments from FIFA (the sport’s international governing
body), sponsorships and other factors. Some have argued that men’s
soccer generates far greater revenue worldwide, justifying the pay
differentials. Kessler counters not only that the U.S. women’s team
generates greater revenue than the U.S. men, but also that, under law,
the federation cannot compensate players unequally based on gen-
der. As of late July, the case appeared headed for mediation.
All along, public opinion has weighed heavily in favor of the
U.S. women’s team. The throngs who cheered them at a tickertape
parade along the Canyon of Heroes three days after the World
Cup victory — chanting “Equal pay! Equal pay!” — certainly
understood that the event was both a celebration of sports heroics
and a rallying cry for women’s rights at a time when they are felt
to be under assault. After the final horn sounded on the United
States’ 2-0 victory over the Netherlands on July 7, tennis legend
and feminist icon Billie Jean King tweeted: “These athletes have
brought more attention, support, & pride to women’s sport than
perhaps any other team in history. It is long past time to pay them
what they rightly deserve.”
Katherine Katcher ‘O07 Advocates for
the Formerly Incarcerated
By Molly Shea
atherine Katcher 07 says she was never quite sure what
she wanted to do after graduating. “I’ve always leaned
toward advocacy, and have always admired people whose
role in life has been to fight for justice and stand up for
people who've been oppressed,” she says. “I admired Jewish attor-
neys who went to the South and fought in the civil rights move-
ment. I’ve felt like my calling is to figure out, what are the biggest
human rights issues of our time? How can I fight for justice today?”
As she fumbled for the answer, Katcher, an anthropology major,
found herself in an offbeat class: “Literature of the Sea,” with Pro-
fessor Robert Ferguson.
“We spent a whole semester reading Mody Dick, then rereading
it — dissecting it. What is the whale? What is the sea? Who are
the foes, and who are the allies?” she recalls. “[Ferguson] was a law
professor, so he used literature as a vehicle to go more deeply into
some of these questions of how we define good and evil.”
‘The class proved eye opening and helped propel Katcher into
a career as an advocate for prison reform — as the founder of the
Oakland, Calif.-based criminal justice reform nonprofit Root &
Rebound. “I work with a lot of people who are both victim and
offender,” she says. “Most perpetrators of crime have suffered
immensely in their lives, and that course taught me to look at peo-
ple in a new way.”
JOSIE DIETHER-MARTIN
alumninews
“They're inspiring,” Kessler says of the U.S. team. “They are maybe
under more pressure than any group of female athletes has ever been.
And they not only performed amazingly throughout the tournament,
but they also did so well handling the media and the world on this
important issue of equal pay. So to be able to do both of those things at
the same time in the fashion they did is really just incredible.”
Viewing the World Cup final live from France on a 65-inch
plasma TV in his Manhattan apartment, Kessler allowed himself
to set aside the legal briefs and enjoy the drama.
As the match got underway, he was confident. “I just felt in my
heart that they were going to come through, because they always
have,” Kessler says. Yet as the 60-minute mark passed with the
American and Dutch squads locked in a scoreless tie, he admits,
“T was glued to my seat.” And then, when U.S. co-captain Megan
Rapinoe banged in a penalty kick in the 61st minute, followed
soon afterward by an insurance goal by midfielder Rose Lavelle, “I
jumped up and shouted for joy,” Kessler says, “even though no one
else was in the room.”
Former CCT editor Jamie Katz 72, BUS’80 has held senior edito-
rial positions at People, Vibe and Latina magazines and contributes
to Smithsonian Magazine and other publications. His feature on Wah
Chen °92, “Small Business with a Social Conscience,” appeared in the
Summer 2019 issue.
i? ———————
Katcher spends her days leading a team of lawyers and advocates
working on behalf of the formerly incarcerated. Her organization
helps released offenders reenter society, guiding them through the
parole system while educating the public on the ins and outs of hiring
employees with a prison record. “Though [the law] has often been used
against certain communities, we use it as a support,” Katcher explains
of her organization's approach to helping end mass incarceration.
Fall 2019 CCT 39
Katcher worked at nonprofits after graduating, but kept bump-
ing up against frustrating policies she couldn't change without legal
training. “I wanted to do more in terms of fighting for justice,” she
says. “I wanted to get to the root of these issues on a systemic level.”
She founded Root & Rebound in 2013, almost immediately after
graduating from UC Berkeley’s law school, hiring a classmate as her
first staff attorney. Together, they developed the team’s three-point
strategy: educating people and families affected by mass incarcera-
tion on how to reintegrate into their communities post-prison,
providing legal services directly to the currently and formerly incar-
cerated and their families, and advocating for policy reform on a state
and national level. “Six years later, we have 24 people on our team;
offices in Oakland, Fresno, Los Angeles and San Bernardino; and
we recently launched a sister site in Greenville, $.C.,” Katcher says.
The plan is to continue working with grassroots organizations
that are already established but could use some legal support.
For This History Teacher,
There's No Time Like the
By Rebecca Beyer
here was a time when Sari Beth Rosenberg 97, TC’02
had to dig deep into her well of storytelling skills to create
enough dramatic tension to hold the attention of her New
York City public high school history students.
No longer.
Now, their interest is piqued on a daily basis by what they see
on the news and read on social media, and Rosenberg uses those
current — and often controversial — events as touchstones for the
relevant topics she covers in her U.S. history courses.
40 CCT Fall 2019
“We're lawyering alongside communities that are most impacted,”
she says.
And 12 years after leaving Morningside Heights, Katcher is eye-
ing a return to her Columbia roots. She’s in talks with the Busi-
ness School’s Tamer Center for Social Enterprise to create a guide
for hiring people with criminal convictions, and working with the
school’s Justice Lab to analyze data on opportunities for success
within parole and probation policy reform.
Her overarching goal, Katcher says, is to help others act on what
they know is right, like she did. “I did not grow up in any way
directly affected by mass incarceration, and I still feel like all of us
have a role to play in undoing a lot of these harms.”
Molly Shea is a journalist based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Her last article
for CCT was “Who Wants To Live Forever?” in the Winter 2018-19
issues “Bookshelf” section.
Present
MAXIMILLIAN RE-SUGIURA
“Everyone’s arguing about history,” Rosenberg says of the
pundits and politicians who dominate the news, “including a lot
of people who shouldn't be because they don’t know what they’re
talking about. Kids are more interested than ever before. They have
an incentive to learn.”
For the past few years, Rosenberg has been part of a small team
of teachers hired by the city’s Department of Education to remake
the U.S. and global history curriculum. The goal: to move students
away from rote memorization and toward a more active engage-
ment with historical events — in other words, not just “this hap-
pened,” but “this happened decause.” There’s also a renewed focus
on providing multiple perspectives, especially when talking about
marginalized people.
“It’s doing something with the history versus just gazing at it,”
she adds.
Rosenberg’s efforts are getting noticed. Earlier this year she
received the Paul A. Gagnon Prize from the National Council for
History Education, which recognizes efforts to promote and pro-
tect history in the K-12 curricula. The city’s DOE also selected
her as one of its #DOESHEroes for Women’s History Month, in
part for her work co-leading a feminist club at her high school (the
group’s other leader is Alexander Marx ’98).
Rosenberg studied history at the College and says in her early
teaching years she tried to emulate one of her favorite professors,
Ann Douglas, who taught a popular course on the Beat Genera-
tion, and then followed her love of literature into publishing before
earning a master’s in social studies education. In 2002, she joined
the staff of NYC’s High School for Environmental Studies.
She says she never thought she'd still be teaching nearly two
decades after she began, but she finds the work too rewarding to
leave behind.
alumninews
“Tm not saying it’s all Zo Sir, with Love moments,” she says with
a laugh. “It’s not all magical. A lot of the time, it’s just, ‘Everyone
put your phones away and stop talking.”
Outside the classroom, Rosenberg consults with New-York His-
torical Society curators, sitting in on focus groups and offering notes
on written materials for its exhibitions, including the recent Hudson
Rising, which focused on industrial development, commerce, tourism
and environmental awareness around the Hudson River. She also has
written for A+E Networks’s #SheDidThat series (and was hired for
the job by Lea Goldman’98) and appeared in an episode of the Travel
Channel's Mysceries at the Museum to discuss arsenic in wallpaper.
All that “definitely aligns with my overall goal of sneaking [his-
tory] into the mainstream,” she says. “It’s just so important to being
a citizen right now.”
Rebecca Beyer is a freelance writer in Boston.
Noél Duan 13 Creates a Doggy Domain
By Molly Shea
oél Duan ’13 remembers sitting in her freshman Lit-
erature Humanities class, analyzing The Odyssey, when a
particular topic of discussion really sank in.
“Odysseus comes home after 20 years, and no one
recognizes him in his home city, not even his wife,” Duan recalls.
“His appearance has changed that much. His dog Argos, who was
a puppy when he left, is the only one that recognizes him.
“We studied The Odyssey because it was supposed to teach us
about human civilization, but what I remember was realizing, oh,
that’s really representative of the human-dog relationship.”
That light-bulb moment stuck with Duan through the rest of her
degree in sociocultural anthropology, a master’s in women’s studies
at Oxford and her first full-time journalism job. After being laid
off from said job, her first decision was to adopt a dog. Artemis, her
now-4-year-old pup, opened her eyes to a new New York — and
her next career move. “Suddenly I started meeting my neighbors.
I would take Artemis to the park and talk to other dog owners. I
realized that having a dog is a great way to get to know people.”
Inspired by her new way of seeing the world, this past spring
Duan launched Argos & Artemis, an online community for dog
people. The site features conversations between Duan and promi-
nent dog-owning New Yorkers, including makeup mavens Bobbi
Brown and Linda Rodin, Columbia classics professor Marcus
Folch, indie magazine founder Verena von Pfetten ’05 and galler-
ist Lauren Wittels 89, GSAS’92. “Dogs are a great entry point to
intimacy,” says Duan, who notes that in talking about their furry
friends, people often reveal a lot of themselves.
Duan also pens humorous essays for the site (e.g., “All the Men
Who Pretend to Have Dogs on Dating Apps”), offers practical tips
and generates a newsletter, Ihe Dog Park.
Plans for the site include events for dog owners, and, down the
line, an e-commerce rollout for pet (and human) products. “I’ve
been lucky in that I’ve had access to a lot of cool dog people, and
I’ve seen what they’re buying,” she says. “I do think there’s a big
need for a curated hub.”
This isn’t Duan’s first project launch — she started Columbia's
first fashion magazine, Hooz, her freshman year. “It taught me a lot
about plunging forth and being entrepreneurial, and doing things
before you get permission,” she says. (Duan and her fellow editors
once draped Alma Mater in balloons for a photoshoot. They were
chased down by campus security, but got the shot.)
SYLVIE ROSOKOFF
And nothing prepares you for the shock of entrepreneurship like
adopting your first puppy. “There’s no handbook for getting a dog,”
Duan says with a laugh — though writing one might lie some-
where on her list of what’s to come.
Molly Shea is a journalist based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Her last article
for CCT was “Who Wants To Live Forever?” in the Winter 2018-19
issues “Bookshelf” section.
Fall 2019 CCT 41
bookshelf
The Sound of (Faked) Music
By Jill C. Shomer
he premise sounds like the best cocktail party story you
ever heard: An amateur violinist gets hired by a profes-
sional classical music ensemble led by a mysterious, messi-
anic conductor and tours the country for four years, giving
fake concerts. The musicians play quietly while speakers blare music
from prerecorded CDs. And hardly anyone ever finds out.
But Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman 03, SOA09’s riveting debut
memoir, Sounds Like Titanic (W.W. Norton & Co., $25.95), turns
out to be much more than a gossipy exposé. Her fascinating per-
sonal story is intertwined with bigger-picture observations about
American notions of success, what is “real” and “fake” in our cul-
ture, and the challenges of making ends meet and navigating young
womanhood. “What are one’s options in America, land of the
exceptional, if one is born average?” Hindman writes.
Hindman grew up in the Appalachian mountains of West Vir-
ginia and Virginia. As a child, she was turned on to the violin after
hearing Vivaldi’s “Winter” in a cartoon movie, and begged her par-
ents to get one for years before they gave in. She began lessons at
age 8 — the nearest teacher was
a four-hour round trip — but
despite years of practice, Hind-
man never felt accomplished as
a violinist.
Her story is driven by her
attempts to support herself at
the College. Before joining the
ensemble in her senior year and
meeting the man referred to
only as The Composer, Hind-
man joined the Air Force
ROTC for the benefits; then,
after quitting, she sold every-
thing from long-distance tele-
phone scams to massage oils to
her own eggs. Struggling to pay
tuition and dogged by feelings
of mediocrity, she colludes with The Composer’s scam (“the classi-
cal music version of Milli Vanilli — ‘Milli Violinni”) not only for
the money, but for the praise of the listeners. “As someone who had
only worked menial jobs, being seen as a successful musician was
extremely alluring,” she says. Ultimately, Hindman spirals into an
identity crisis and disillusionment as she “plays” for audiences who
VANESSA BORER
42 CCT Fall 2019
are genuinely moved by the per-
formance, unable to differentiate
real from fake.
Feeling psychologically destroyed, she left the tour in 2006 and
got a job at CUMC that offered a tuition benefit for grad school.
“My negative experiences as an undergrad were mostly tied to
money, and once that was taken out, getting my M.F.A. was the
best educational experience of my life,” she says.
Hindman is now a professor of creative writing at Northern Ken-
tucky University, where she recently won the Outstanding Junior
Faculty Award. “College was the time in my life when I most needed
help, but was least able to ask for it,” she says. “Now I try to look out
for students who might be going through similar things.
“I certainly have a different perspective now on what it means
to succeed and what it means to fail,” Hindman says. “The illusion
of ‘perfection’ or immediate success is in fact an illusion — people
who seem to ‘have it all’ may still be struggling in some way.
“I also used to think that if you worked hard enough, you could
achieve whatever you want. But now I see that there are huge soci-
etal forces at work that just stick people, and it has nothing to do
with how smart they are or how hard they work. I know it’s not
very uplifting, but I think an important takeaway is that ‘failure’ is
not always a personal failing.”
Titanic is narrated in second person, partly, Hindman says, as a
way to distance herself from some of the more painful parts of her
story. The “you” also helped her to universalize her experience. “It
was a way to say this book is not just about me or this guy; it’s about
other people,” Hindman says. “I think by using different pronouns,
you can make some kind of psychological switch — you can see
yourself better as a character on the page.”
And though exposing the identity of The Composer could have
been a juicy hook, Hindman opted to keep him anonymous. “What
I was trying to do was bigger than just him,” she says. “Having the
Internet piling on this guy didn’t need to happen. These were char-
ity concerts, so it wasn't out-and-out fraud, and really — people
just loved the music.”
Hindman is similarly tender with herself in hindsight. In her
epilogue, she writes that after a few semesters of teaching, she had
a revelation: “Faking is pedagogy. Faking is teaching and faking is
learning, from babies faking speech to teenagers faking coolness ...
It’s in the faking of other people’s writing that one learns to write.
Faking is the way that all human beings grow.”
Misfire: The Tragic Failure of the
M16 in Vietnam dy Bob Orkand
58 and Lyman Duryea. Orkand, a
retired Army lieutenant colonel,
combines insider knowledge of
weapons development with firsthand
combat experience to tell the story
of the oft-malfunctioning firearm
that was rushed into troops’ hands
in 1965 (Stackpole Books, $29.95).
Artistic Collaboration Today:
Profiles of Creative Teams in
Diverse Media dy Victor M. Cassidy
62. A report on more than 40
collaborating sculptors, painters,
printmakers, photographers,
architects and performers who have
worked in tandem with other artists
(McFarland, $45).
Semmelweis, The Women’s
Doctor dy Anthony Valerio 62. The
life and work of pioneering feminist
physician Ignaz P. Semmelweis,
known as “the Father of Antisepsis,”
who discovered the causes and means
of prevention of childbed fever
(Amazon Digital Services, $9.99).
SUBMIT YOUR
BOOK TO CCT
Alums! Have you written
a book in the last year?
Tell us about it!
college.columbia.edu/cct/
submit_bookshelf
The Last Days of Paul Rimbaud
by Thomas C. Lewis ’63. The last
novel in a trilogy about Rimbaud,
a Vietnam veteran who has
buried his memories of the war
(340 Press, $19.95).
Big Cabin dy Ron Padgett 64. A new
collection of poems about mortality,
consciousness and time, written over
three seasons in a Vermont cabin
(Coffee House Press, $16.95).
Learning to See, and Other
Stories and Memoirs from
Senegal by Gary Engelberg ’65.
Engelberg, a co-founder of Africa
Consultants International, an
NGO that promotes cross-cultural
communication, health and social
justice, has lived in Senegal,
West Africa, for more than 50 years
(BookBaby, $25.19).
The Complete Poetry of Giacomo
da Lentini translation and notes
by Richard Lansing 65. The first
translation of the complete poetry of
da Lentini, the first major Italian lyric
poet, and the inventor of the sonnet
(University of Toronto Press, $24.95).
You Say You Want a Revolution:
SDS, PL, and Adventures in
Building a Worker-Student
Alliance edited by John F: Levin 65
and Ear! Silbar. Former members of
the Worker-Student Alliance recount
and evaluate their participation in
the struggles of the 1960s and early
1970s (1741 Press, $18.95).
Turkey Shoot dy Geoffrey Dutton
66. Dutton’s debut novel is an
international conspiracy thriller
set in Greece and Turkey in fall
2015, as a young Iraqi refugee
takes part in a terrorist mission
(Perfidy Press, $15.99).
Entrenchment: Wealth, Power,
and the Constitution of
Democratic Societies dy Paul Starr
70. Pulitzer Prize-winner Starr
describes politics today as a struggle
over entrenchment — efforts to
bring about change in ways that
opponents will find difficult to undo
(Yale University Press, $28.50).
The Next Republic: The Rise
of a New Radical Majority dy
D.D. Guttenplan’78. Guttenplan,
a national political correspondent,
profiles nine activists who are
changing the course of American
history (Seven Stories Press, $23.95).
A Rosenberg by Any Other
Name: A History of Jewish
Name Changing in America
by Kirsten Fermaglich ’92. This first
history of name changing offers a
window into American Jewish life
throughout the 20th century
(New York University Press, $28).
Handbook of Student Engagement
Interventions: Working with
Disengaged Youth edited by Jennifer
A. Fredericks "92, Amy L. Reschly and
Sandra L. Christenson. The authors
pull together the current research on
alumninews
engagement in schools and empower
readers to implement interventions
(Academic Press, $87.58).
The Daughters of Temperance
Hobbs: A Novel 4y Katherine
Howe ’99. A New England history
professor must race against time to
free her family from a curse (Henry
Holt and Co., $28).
The Obsoletes: A Novel dy Simeon
Mills ‘00. Mills’s debut follows two
teenage brothers as they navigate high
school while hiding a secret: They're
actually robots (Skybound Books, $26).
Range: Why Generalists Triumph
in a Specialized World 4y David
Epstein 02. A New York Times
bestseller that makes a case for breadth
and late starts (Riverhead Books, $28).
An October to Remember 1968:
The Tigers-Cardinals World
Series as Told By the Men Who
Played in It dy Brendan Donley ’15.
Donley traveled the country to gather
the accounts of the remaining players
of the famed Tigers and Cardinals
teams (Sports Publishing, $24.41).
Trillion Dollar Coach: The
Leadership Playbook of Silicon
Valley’s Bill Campbell dy Eric
Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg and
Alan Eagle. Management lessons
from legendary football coach and
business executive Bill Campbell ’62,
TC’64 (HarperBusiness, $28.99).
— fill C. Shomer
Fall 2019 CCT 43
BP Foe e ese ee creer ence
Golden fall
leaves contrast
beautifully
with Columbia
blue as the
seasons change
on campus.
44 CCT Fall 2019
1942
Melvin Hershkowitz
22 Northern Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060-2310
DrMelvin23@gmail.com
In early June, I had a phone call
from Daniel Albohn’81, son of
our late classmate Arthur Albohn
SEAS’43. Daniel is a telecom exec
and is devoted to our athletics
teams. He commented on the
Spring 2019 issue of CCT, and
was enthusiastic about Columbia’s
increasingly competitive status in
the Ivy League, especially in football
and basketball.
Arthur was a chemical engineer
by profession, and also a longtime
member of the New Jersey State
Legislature, where he was a steadfast
Conservative member for several
years. This writer, whose political
views were different from Arthur’s,
was friendly with both Arthur and
his wife, Regina, who attended many
alumni events and were loyal Lions.
Best wishes to Daniel and his family.
Dr. Gerald Klingon (98), a
retired neurologist living in NYC,
frequently calls me to discuss
Columbia affairs. He recently
reminded me of the historic 1939
baseball game versus Princeton at
Baker Field, which was the first
televised sporting event. Columbia
lost to Princeton, 2-1. Gerald, then
a freshman, saw the game. Our
pitcher, Hector Dowd’40, graduated
from Harvard Law School in 1943
SCOTT RUDD
and established a law firm in New
York. This game was announced by
Bill Stern, now deceased, one of the
preeminent sportscasters of that
era. Gerald became the varsity first
baseman at Columbia and once hit a
home run into the Harlem River.
Kind regards to all classmates.
1943
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
From Bernie Weisberger: “Hello,
classmates of 1943. I just read my
last entry, in the Summer 2019 issue,
;
classnotes oe... ee | |
written to cover the final days of
2018, which were somewhat dismal.
Alas, winter of the current year
wasn't much of an improvement:
‘If you have tears, prepare to shed
them now.’
“Don't worry, though, I will spare
you all howls of despair — but the
brute facts aren't that pretty and
there is redemption in a happy
ending. In short, just at Christmas
week my wife, Rita, fell and broke
an ankle and perhaps other foot
bones, which initiated a long winter,
first in surgery, then in a rehabilita-
tion facility learning to walk safely
again, and finally with home care,
which only ended recently. Plans for
a winter cruise had to be scrapped,
leaving us at the mercy of a really
bitter winter. OK, OK, it should end
there, but it didn’t.
“It was my turn to wrench an
arm practically out of its shoulder
socket in an unlucky descent from
a Chicago Metra (suburban) train,
and only a short while later to fall
backward, landing precisely on that
shoulder. Which meant that all the
weeks since then passed with me
unable to use my right arm, requir-
ing up to the present day the help
of a couple of aides to shave, shower
and dress me, and make breakfast
and perform other household chores
for us both. Likewise, I need a
walker to get around and one or the
other of the caretakers to accompany
me in case it slips out of my control
and dumps me on the pavement
again, to be rescued. It destroys all
possibility of accomplishing any
work before noon.
“Such is life in one’s 90s, so I
know many — if not most — of
us in the Class of 43 could match
these stories and more, though I
hope you haven't.
“However, there is a happy
ending. I can’t travel alone, or at
least not without daunting difficulty,
but toward the end of May, helped
by my daughter and son-in-law,
I attended the graduation of my
‘middle’ granddaughter, Miriam
Rich, from Harvard with a Ph.D.
in history and a job as a lecturer at
Yale in hand. And while exercising
my grandfatherly bragging rights, I
point again to Miriam’s older sister,
Abigail, who is in San Francisco
providing legal aid to asylum
seekers, which, if I were more
religious, I would say was surely
the Lord’s work.
“So there’s my report. Please, all
of you out there, don't leave me to
be the sole and therefore lonesome
contributor to this column.”
1944
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
CCT, and your classmates, would
love to hear from you! Share an
update on your life, or even a
favorite Columbia College memory,
by sending it to either the postal
address or email address at the top
of the column.
1945
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
No news this quarter! Share an update
on your life, or even a favorite Colum-
bia College memory, by sending it
to either the postal address or email
address at the top of the column.
1946
Bernard Sunshine
165 W. 66th St., Apt. 12G
New York, NY 10023
bsuns1@gmail.com
No updates for this issue, but please
do take a moment to share an
update with the class. Wishing you a
happy and healthy fall season.
1947
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
Nothing to share this time! Share
an update on your life, or even a
favorite Columbia College memory,
by sending it to either the postal
address or email address at the top
of the column.
1948
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
Dr. Alvin N. Eden writes: “I am
happy to report that I have been
very lucky — still able to practice
pediatrics and teach third-year medi-
cal students at my age. Next project is
writing my memoirs without delay. I
would like to hear from any classmate
whether they remember me.”
CCT, and your classmates, would
enjoy hearing from you, too. Share
an update on your life, or even a
favorite Columbia College memory,
by sending it to either the postal
address or email address at the top
of the column.
1949
John Weaver
2639 E. 11th St.
Brooklyn, NY 11235
wudchpr@gmail.com
Wiliam Chinowsky, Arthur Feder,
Joseph Levie, Marvin Lipman,
William Lubic, Richard Sachs and
John Weaver: That is the roster
of attendees at our 70th reunion.
Jane Billings (guest of William
Chinowsky), Ruth Lubic and
Naomi Lipman, steadfast members
of our dwindling group, joined us
for a warm and loving journey down
memory lane.
We had a stimulating visit by
and discussion with Dean James
J. Valentini. The focus was on the
admissions process and the growing
diversity of the College student
body. The impression with which I
was left is one of admiration for the
dean. He provided a reassurance that
the College is in good hands and is
approaching the rapid changes in
demographics with a positive and
constructive attitude. I think we can
all take heart that the Core is in safe
hands. And, if you share my convic-
Fall 2019 CCT 45
tion regarding the importance of
the Core, the political future of our
land will be well tended by the next
and future graduating classes of our
beloved alma mater.
I am writing this in the midst of
the July heat wave and am conserv-
ing energy with the aid of a fan and
the classic “window” AC. By the
time you are reading this, cooler
heads and hearts — to say nothing
of armpits — will prevail and we can
look forward to the changing sea-
sons as well as the growing intensity
of the 2020 election season. Let us
all hope for sanity, intelligence and
integrity to prevail as we make the
choices that may well determine the
continued existence of the pursuit
“to form a more perfect union.”
1950
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
Happy fall, Class of 1950! Please
take a moment to send in your news
for a future issue, and be well.
From David Berger: “After 25
years in Madison, Wis., we're still
enjoying all this university town has
to offer. Here’s a status report, in the
form of a short poem I recently wrote:
Ambling
My body is ambling
toward the end of
its useful life.
Not all the structure and hydraulics
are in topflight working order.
Sometimes the end is in sight.
But life is good:
every friend is a blessing,
and each day a gift.
From Arthur Thomas: “In
1947-49 I rowed in competition in
Columbia College crews in New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Con-
necticut, New York, New Jersey and
46
CCT Fall 2019
Pennsylvania. I rowed in lightweight
crews with the exception of one race.
“T remember the positive influences
of all the coaches: Stan Smith, Ed
Taylor, Bill Hayer and Hube Glendon.
I remember, too, that the University
chaplain, Chaplain Knox, was a great
oarsman on the Hudson River.
“In the morning I would take
classes at Amsterdam Avenue and
116th Street at the Van Am Quad,
and in the spring and fall in the
afternoon I would be practicing with
my confréres on the waters of the
Spuyten Duyvil and Harlem Rivers.
At least two of the members of the
crew had Dutch surnames.
“My last employer before I retired
was a Dutch company for whom |
worked for a time in Hoboken and
on Park Avenue.
“My life, one may say, started with
the Dutch when in 1943 as a student
in school on 91st Street off Amster-
dam Avenue I received a Times
Current Events book prize, Van Loon’
Lives by Hendrik Willem Van Loon,
who also autographed my copy,
‘Arthur Thomas, his book. Hendrik
Willem Van Loon May 1943.”
1951
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
From David Kettler GSAS’60:
“Two items of news. First, I retired
from my post-retirement employ-
ment — which lasted 29 years — at
Bard College on my 89th birthday,
July 1, 2019. And second, I finished
a book (with a collaborator, Thomas
Wheatland) on my Columbia
teacher in political theory, Franz L.
Neumann, which was scheduled to
appear toward the end of July. It is
the monumentally long sequel to an
article on Neumann that I published
a few years after his death. He was a
major figure for my generation, but
he also has much to teach us all in
the age of Trump. I hope the book
will be read and discussed.”
Edgar “Yogi” Coghlin sent a
nice handwritten letter: “I enjoyed
the Class Note from Howard Han-
sen’52 in the Summer 2019 issue
depicting that great 1950-51 bas-
ketball team. I remember that team,
as I was a ticket-taker for most of
the home games. It brought back
fond memories of the 1951 baseball
team. We were honored with a trip
to Brazil and Puerto Rico that sum-
mer. The mission was to promote the
game at these locations, plus a ‘free’
weekend in Rio. Andy Coakley was
the head coach, but Johnny Balquist
CC 1932 was head coach for this
trip. The lineup was Don Kimtis’52,
catcher; Tony Misho’52, first base;
Jack Rohan’53, second base; Bobby
Walker ’52, third base; Lee Guittar
53, shortstop; Walt Mitardy’53, left
field; me, center field; Tom Powers,
right field; Kermit Tracy’52, pitcher,
and Gordie Martin ’52, pitcher.
“As I recall, we were undefeated,
or close to it! I remember a phone
call I received while in Puerto Rico,
from my dad, wanting to know
my return home date. I told him,
‘Thursday.’ His reply: ‘Good, because
you have been drafted and must
report this Monday.’
“T became a Marine Corps pri-
vate that Monday, followed by Parris
Island, San Diego and Pendleton,
ultimately becoming an officer
candidate (Quantico), for possible
selection to officer training. Survived
one month of ‘hell,’ and made the
grade. Spent eight months in Korea
and received an award for valor in
combat. Was active duty for two and
half years and reserve for 10 years.
Retired as a major, USMC.
“Would love to hear from any of
the old teammates. Forgive me if I
left anyone out!”
CCT, and your classmates, would
enjoy hearing from you, too. Share
an update on your life, or even a
favorite Columbia College memory,
by sending it to either the postal
address or email address at the top
of the column.
1952
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
From Howard Hansen: “In the
Summer 2019 issue I mentioned
that the 1967-68 basketball team
was inaugurated into the Columbia
University Athletics Hall of Fame
prior to the 1950-51 undefeated
team’s acceptance. As previously
stated, the 1967-68 team had
a 16-point average victory over
opponents, but I left out that the
1950-51 team had a 21-point aver-
age margin of victory!
“The travel team included Jack
Molinas’53, Bob Reiss, Al Stein,
Howard Rosenfeld, John Azary’51,
Bob Sullivan SEAS’51, Paul ‘White’
Brandt ’53, Stan Maratos’53, Lee
Guittar 53, Jack Rohan’53, Frank
Lewis ’51, Tom Powers’51, coach
Lou Rossini, trainer Red Romo and
manager Gerry Evans’51.
“Other facts of interest: They aver-
aged 16 more rebounds than oppo-
nents. Three of the top-10 scorers in
the Ivy League were Azary, Molinas
and Reiss. The New York All-Met
team, which was the center of college
basketball in those days, listed Azary,
Molinas and Reiss among the top
10 players. Azary, the team captain,
was voted ‘Most Valuable’ in the Ivy
League and ‘Most Outstanding’ in
the Metropolitan area as the Hag-
gerty Award winner. This team’s main
component was that they epitomized
that there was no ‘T in ‘team.’
“Us football guys gave out and sold
programs at the home games and can
vouch for the skilled team effort.
“Red Romo was also an out-
standing trainer for football. He
ended his long career at the Naval
Academy, spending a good 30 years
at Annapolis, and was honored with
a building in his name.”
1953
Lew Robins
3200 Park Ave., Apt. 9C2
Bridgeport, CT 06604
lewrobins@aol.com
Greetings, Class of 1953. Share
your stories, news or even a favorite
Columbia College memory by send-
ing a note to either of the addresses
at the top of this column. Your class-
mates would love to hear from you!
1954
Bernd Brecher
35 Parkview Ave., Apt. 4G
Bronxville, NY 10708
brecherservices@aol.com
It was grand seeing and celebrating
with nearly two score classmates,
including many wives and four
widows of classmates, the 65th
LYNN SAVILLE
Members of the Class of 1954 (and four widows of classmates) at their 65th
reunion on campus.
anniversary of graduation over the
long weekend of May 31-June 1.
As requested by class members, our
events and activities were concen-
trated on CC’54-specific interests
and speakers over two-plus days.
While many “regular” reunionites
attended, it was gratifying to our
11-member Reunion Committee
that several “never before” or “not-
for-many-years” classmates attended.
Our mission was to connect,
reconnect, and self-assess how some
Class of Destiny members may have
fulfilled their destinies. (The Sum-
mer 2019 CCT Class Notes covered
major events of our reunion.)
We used a dedicated hospital-
ity and meeting room in Alfred
Lerner Hall both for events and
presentations and for our meet-
ing and greeting headquarters.
Highlights included an open mic
session at which we heard from
several classmates about their lives
and challenges; two sessions with
panels of Columbia students and
CC’54 classmates, one on facing the
realities of today’s world, and one
on the values and significance of a
Columbia education then and now; a
dramatic presentation by the director
of Columbia's Center for Climate
and Life; and presentations at two
dinners by two special guest speakers
who took their turn on the rostrum
with several of our classmates.
At long last, we launched our
Class of 54 Bicentennial Ladies
Club (see letter later in the column),
comprising classmates’ widows
who have always felt “part of the
class.” We were joined by Regina
Kenen BC’54, GSAS’74 (Peter
Kenen), Phyllis Skomorowsky
(Peter Skomorowsky), Marilynn
Talal (Norman Talal PS’58), and
Eleanor Frommer (Herb Frommer
DM’57). Several other interested
ladies were sorry they were not able
to participate this time. The concept
for the BLC was based on a hoped-
for class/College family relationship
and continuity that would be valued
by all involved. (Note: We will
gladly share our process and likewise
solicit recommendations from other
reunion classes.)
A special treat at our 65th
was one session arranged with
the cooperation of the United
Nations Association of New York,
meeting with two extraordinary,
just-graduated Columbia alumni,
Ji-Young Kim SIPA‘19, recipient
of a UNANY Summer Scholars
Fellowship (for Egypt), and Erick
Regalado SIPA'19, recipient of a
UNANY Summer Scholars Fellow-
ship (for Belarus). The discussions
and Q&A covered the world, and all
attendees concluded that the world
might soon be in good hands.
Closer to home, another special
event was a “super panel” of our
classmates (Larry Scharer PS’58
and Jack Blechner) joining with
two just-graduated alumni (Jordan
Singer 19 and Adam Resheff 19)
and one student (Joon Baek’21) to
discuss the significance, advantages,
and challenges of a Columbia edu-
cation 65-plus years apart. I moder-
ated both programs, and all of us
at both sessions were impressed by
what we learned from young adults
alumninews \:}
the ages of our grandkids. The Col-
lege panelists were enlisted with the
help of Spectator’s editor-in-chief.
Our opening speaker at Friday’s
welcome dinner in Lerner Hall was
Roosevelt Montas’95, GSAS’04,
a frequent guest speaker at our
reunions who began teaching in
the English department in 2004
and who later was director of the
Center for the Core Curriculum
for 10 years. Currently, Roosevelt is
senior lecturer in American studies
specializing in Antebellum Ameri-
can literature and culture, with a
particular interest in American
national identity. He addressed the
challenges to keeping the Core
relevant in the 21st century and on
the cutting edge of liberal education
in a rapidly changing world.
Roosevelt was followed by Dean
James J. Valentini, who also is vice
president for undergraduate educa-
tion and who personally welcomed
our attendees. Our concluding
speaker on Friday evening was our
valedictorian, Henry Buchwald
PS’57, who came from Minneapolis
with his wife, Emilie BC’57; daugh-
ter, Amy; and her husband, Danny
Woodburn, a well-known TV and
movie actor. Henry delivered his
update, “Valedictory 2.0,” and we
noted that similarities 65 years apart
were numerous while differences
in American life — externally and
technically — have dramatically
evolved. Henry is working on a
project on which I tried unsuccess-
fully to assist him, and about which
I quote a recent letter of his: “Thank
you for researching the information
about the percentage of graduates
going into medical school from
Columbia College at various time
spans. I am dedicating several of my
columns in General Surgery News to
the question of the doctor-patient
relationship and how it has been
destroyed in the current world of
medicine as business. This would
have been a nice piece of informa-
tion. I believe that today’s young
doctors, who so readily accept being
employees in a job, do not have the
same enthusiasm of my generation
and those before us. I believe this
status will eventually lower health-
care standards in this country.”
Now there’s a challenge to the
scores of CC’54 doctors and others
who may want to weigh in.
Henry, thanks for never having
stopped being provocative.
Our farewell gala dinner on
Saturday night, in Butler Library,
was highlighted by Saul Turteltaub
LAW’S57, who regaled us with his
take on Hollywood wit, and the
Hon. Alvin Hellerstein, who sent
us off, citing some of his cases, with
a reinforced and nuanced under-
standing of the law.
Stanely Fine PS’57 wanted
us to know that “it was wonderful
seeing some of my old friends at
reunion. Hank Buchwald and I go
back many years and we try to see
each other whenever he comes to
town. On Sunday we visited with
Simeon Pollack PS’57, who wasn’t
able to make the reunion, and had a
wonderful afternoon.”
Thanks, Stan, for reconnecting.
Want to sign up for our 70th?
Ted Spiegel, photographer
extraordinaire and chronicler of
today’s West Point, once again
shared one of his special productions
with all our reunion attendees. His
annual wall calendar, this time of
the Hudson River Valley, was a “take
home” appreciated by all.
Richard Bernstein SEAS’55,
taking a breather from his medical
practice and diabetes specialty, wrote
— and distributed in the hospitality
room — a story called “Big Ben,”
about his time as a student in Benja-
min P. Dailey’s advanced chemistry
course and his subsequent life lead-
ing to medical school (announced at
our 25th reunion at Arden House)
and his career as physician, innova-
tor, and researcher. Dick will be glad
to send you a copy on request.
On Friday afternoon we were
wowed by a presentation with video
and charts that might well have made
an impact even in the White House
on the doubters about climate change.
The Thomas Alva Edison/Con
Edison Professor, Dean of Science,
Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and
Director of the Center for Climate
and Life in Columbia’s Lamont-
Doherty Earth Observatory Peter B.
de Menocal educated and enlight-
ened a capacity audience of classmates
about the undeniable threat of man-
made enhanced climate catastrophe
that the world is facing.
Ron Sugarman, who expedited
and introduced the Lamont-
Doherty event, thanked Professor
de Menocal for “a most personable
and extraordinary presentation ...
bringing insight, facts, and data to
share with us, and responding to our
Fall 2019 CCT 47
questions with great clarity and a
teacher's desire to connect.”
‘The professor's coverage
addressed topics such as, “Where are
we on the continuum? What are the
principal contributors to the accel-
erating rate of temperature increase?
How long can temperatures
continue to rise unabated before the
world would be facing catastrophic
consequences? Can the rise still be
mitigated, halted, reversed? What
needs to change now? Where is the
point of no return?”
“T am happy that you enjoyed the
book that took me 60 years to make. I
thought that you of all people would
appreciate the images made by a very
young and innocent American ...”
writes Stanley Fellman in acknowl-
edging my appreciation for his gift, a
slim volume titled Europe Then, con-
taining some of the most memorable
black and white photographs I have
seen in a single collection.
They were taken during 1957-59
while Stan was a dental officer in
the Army, stationed in Germany.
Stan practiced dentistry in Hartford,
Conn., for more than 50 years, but
his passion has been and continues
to be black and white image making,
and he continues to work in his
darkroom. He writes, “Thank you and
the Reunion Committee again for
taking all the time and effort to make
anniversary number 65 very special.”
Thank you, Stan, for your service
and your art. (Some of the images in
the book are in the permanent col-
lection of the New Britain Museum
of American Art, in Connecticut.)
David Bardin LAW’56 reports
that James Taaffe of Tuscaloosa,
Ala., died on July 3, 2019, as per
information from his widow, Alli-
son, who said, “Jim always praised
his Columbia professors as model
teachers and scholars. English was
his subject and John Milton his
forte. He earned his master’s (56)
and Ph.D. (60) in English at the
University of Indiana. He taught
English at Williams, Vassar, Case
Western Reserve University and
the University of Alabama. He co-
authored the Milton Handbook (with
Holly Hanford) in 1970.”
Jim is also survived by daughter
Lauren and son Patrick. He had
entered Columbia from his home-
town in Ohio.
One of our class widows, Eleanor
Frommer, who attended the reunion,
wrote in response to my request
48 CCT Fall 2019
for suggestions, “ ... my thanks for
including me in the celebration of
the 65th anniversary of the Bicenten-
nial Class of 1954, on behalf of Herb.
He would have loved every moment
of it. 1 would be interested in meeting
regularly, formally or informally, as
Regina (Kenen) mentioned. Is it
possible to come up with a different
designation? ‘Ladies’ Clubs’ went out
with the Fifties ... Perhaps there are
others who would like to join us.”
You bet, Ellie, and beginning with
you four, you all now “own” the BLC,
which was a working title, and we
hope you will be represented on our
70th anniversary Reunion Committee.
That’s it for this Fall issue, gents.
Thank you all for your input and
support for our 65th. Join our 70th
Reunion Committee. Meanwhile, as
always, write, email, and/or call, and
be well, do well, do good — help
cure the world. Excelsior!
1955
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Gerald Sherwin
181 E. 73rd St., Apt. 16B
New York, NY 10021
gs481@juno.com
Next year promises to be a terrific
one for our reunion. You won't want
to miss out on the 65th anniversary
of our graduation. We expect class-
mates from far and wide and near
and far. You will be part of exciting
speeches, awards, the dean’s note-
worthy update and more. We expect
classmates such as Barry Pariser,
Stan Zinberg, Marv Winell, Jesse
Roth, Harry Scheiber, Ed Lubin,
Doug Lasher, Matt Loonin and,
of course, Herb Johnson from
Black Mountain, N.C., and Dan
Wakefield, the noted author from
Indianapolis. From the West Coast
are Richard Mazze and David Gor-
don. We will have locals like Chuck
Garrison, Bob Brown and Norm
Goldstein, who tells us he is still
busy and loving it. Jerry Catuzzi
and his buddy Ben Kaplan are
expected as well. Jack Stuppin has
been in touch with us in the plan-
ning stages of some of his paintings.
The special class luncheons are
still being held at Faculty House.
Recent attendees have included
Anthony Viscusi, Roland Plottel
and Allen Hyman.
We have dinners being put together
by Dan Laufer and Alfred Gollomp.
Bob Schoenfeld reminds us
about his father, who was an out-
standing basketball referee. Bob lives
on Long Island, and we expect him
to be at the festivities.
Sad news to report about the
passing of John Naley in early July;
among the funeral attendees were
George Raitt and Jack Freeman.
The class will be advised about
reunion events and speeches. Start
planning now; you don't want to be
left out. Let the good times roll.
Love to all! Everywhere!
1956
Robert Siroty
707 Thistle Hill Ln.
Somerset, NJ 08873
rrs76@columbia.edu
Alan Broadwin, Al Franco
SEAS’56 and I met for breakfast
in Low Library on June 1, during
Reunion Weekend, followed by the
Dean's State of the College Address,
then the Reunion Keynote in Alfred
Lerner Hall. John Censor was there
as well, but we couldn't find each
other. Ralph Kaslick and Barbara and
Jerry Fine joined us for a barbecue
lunch on South Field, followed by
lectures in the afternoon. Always
seems like we feel 20 years younger
walking on campus. We started our
summer program of tennis and lun-
cheons at Dan Link’s club in July.
Please keep the good news com-
ing. It is time to start planning our
65th reunion, which will be held in
less than two years. We need volun-
teers, particularly from areas outside
of the immediate Tri-State area.
From Bob Lauterborn we learn
of his visit with Jordan Bonfante
and Len Wolfe. Bob reports that
Len and his wife, Ruth, have
moved from New Haven, Conn., to
Pennsylvania. He also reports that,
although retired, he still lectures at
UNC Chapel Hill, and recently met
with Steve Easton and his wife,
Elke, at a get-together he described
as a “lightweight football reunion.”
I took my grandson from Colum-
bia, S.C., to the New Jersey State
Steve Easton ’56 (left) and
Bob Lauterborn ’56 met up in
North Carolina.
Museum in Trenton and found a
metallic print on display by Arthur
Rothstein CC 1935 (1915-85), who
founded the University Camera Club.
Sadly, I have learned of the
passing of Robert Cabat Ph.D.
His obit in The New York Times
noted that from Columbia, which
he entered as a Ford Scholar, he
went on to a life fostering Spanish
language and culture, and was the
author of class textbooks. He also
served as NYC director of foreign
language education.
Keep the news coming!
ou
Herman Levy
7322 Rockford Dr.
Falls Church, VA 22043
hdlleditor@aol.com
A report from Mac Gimse: “On
June 4 I brought home a new bronze
from the foundry. I got to suit up
in leathers and help pour about 240
lbs. of 1,000-degree hot metal. It’s a
blast. The finished product is called
Moses in a Mushroom Cloud. Moses
saw the burning bush that did not
disappear, so here he is standing
in the atomic blast but he is not
consumed. It’s because he is holding
a third set of tablets that have the
Nuclear Law, or the ‘New Clear
Law, to love your neighbor or kiss
the world goodbye. The key is that
nuclear energy has not been used
in warfare since those explosions in
August 1945. And we still live in
dangerous times.
“The poetry that follows is Never
Again...Evermore, Children of the
Nuclear Holocaust, which 1 began
writing at age 10, when we all were
kids and heard about the atomic
bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Well, that was the first jolt. I’ve taken
students to Hiroshima six times since
1977 and each time it got more raw.
The poem was set to music by my
composer friend, Daniel Kallman, for
the St. Olaf Choir to sing in Japan
and South Korea in summer 2017.
It premiered in the Ordway Concert
Hall in St. Paul, Minn. It had solo
and spoken parts and when it ended
there was silence. It made me shiver.”
Never Again...Evermore,
Children of the Nuclear
Holocaust
Coils of clouds toss megatons of
snarling chaos down onto streets
swept dry by flames, of people
stilled, fear-frozen in a flash.
Watch...watch playgrounds drain
of joy.
Never Again no more hurting.
Evermore bring me shelter.
Cover me with your arms
of embrace.
Never Again...Evermore
All life stops with thunders of
hot ash blowing.
A singe of odor breathes of melting
leather onto hairless flesh.
Touch...touch tiny fingers as they
reach for coolness.
Never Again...no more burning.
Evermore...bring me balm.
Lay on me your hands of healing.
Never Again...Evermore
Humans fall in heaps of
walls, tumbling,
scattered over stains of ground,
each body
etched into shadows of amber halo.
Listen...listen as kindergartens fade
to their final breath.
Never Again...no more suffering.
Evermore...bring me gentleness.
Sing me your songs of soothing.
Never Again...Evermore
Nothing remains but eternity to
stretch into, leaving
the last terror shown forever
shouting on my face.
Hear...hear little ones sobbing
inside their screams.
Never Again...no more crying.
Evermore...bring me quiet.
Give me angel’s wings to fly away
from tears.
Never Again...Evermore
Child-angels lie in wait for the
embers of their
sintered lives to cool inside their
wounded souls.
Dream...dream of children dawning
to rekindle their youthful glow.
Never Again...no more nightmares.
Evermore...bring me
dancing into a world with joy in life.
Never Again...Evermore
With memories of the nuclear
holocaust, I pledge never again
to harm the sweetness of my child in
laughter, evermore.
Feel...feel the infant heartbeat
pulsing through my veins.
Never Again...no more heartache.
Evermore...bring me love unending.
Promise me peace to last beyond
this day.
Never Again...Evermore
1958
Peter Cohn
c/o CCT
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
petercohni939@gmail.com
Once again, we begin on a sad
note. Art Radin died suddenly and
unexpectedly on April 24. His wife,
Miriam Katowitz BUS’74, shared
some thoughts with us: “Art had
continued to go to the office four
days a week working with clients
as an accountant, having given up
doing audits about four years ago.
While Art claimed to have had
the same job for 66 years, having
started working at 15 in his father’s
CPA firm, he in fact had a long and
rich career doing everything from
audits of large and small entities
(both public and private), to taxes
for corporations and individuals, to
writing manuals, and reviewing and
writing articles for The CPA Journal
on a variety of accounting topics.
The latter ranged from overload
of requirements to sustainability
reporting. I had the pleasure of writ-
ing some of the articles jointly with
him. He continued to learn new
topics, including tax law, but still
found time to be on the editorial
board of The CPA Journal. He had
many clients for more than 30 years,
asking only that his clients be nice
alumninews
folks, offer interesting work and pay
his reasonable rates.
“Aside from his work, Art had a
variety of interests, including singing
in many choral groups, attending a
history book club (and two James
Joyce book clubs), reading lots of
magazines and newspapers, biking,
skiing and spending time with his
family. The family included three
children, a son-in-law and daughter-
in-law, and four grandchildren. Art
was pleased to say that he had the
privilege of wiping seven bottoms!
Finally, I want to add that he much
enjoyed seeing his classmates, espe-
cially at the monthly lunches that he
hosted at the Princeton Club.”
Ernie Brod comments on
Miriam's last remark: “Many years
ago — nobody remembers exactly
how long ago — Art took on the job
of coordinating the monthly Class of
1958 lunch, which he carried out with
his patented wit and style. It was only
appropriate that 16 of us attended the
May 14 lunch (organized and hosted
by Tom Ettinger) to reminisce about
him. Miriam joined us, giving her the
opportunity to see where and how the
lunches took place and to hear our
stories about a friend whose cheerful
manner and offbeat humor will be
sorely missed.”
To that we can only add, “Amen.”
Other attendees at the May
lunch, in addition to Tom and
Core
Haiku
they had done in 2018 against Yale.
Perhaps this fall will see football
as competitive as the spring teams
were. Let’s hope so.
As noted, the Class Lunch is
now hosted by Tom Ettinger and
is held on the second Tuesday of
the month in the Grill Room of the
Princeton Club, 15 W. 43rd St. ($31
per person). Email Tom if you plan
to attend, even up to the day before:
tpe3@columbia.edu.
1959
Norman Gelfand
c/oCGh
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
nmgc59@gmail.com
Our class held its 60th reunion May
30-June 1. Our reunion began with
a well-attended Class of 59 recep-
tion in the Dodge Fitness Center’s
Lou Gehrig Lounge, near the site
of the old University Hall. The
next morning, breakfast was served
in John Jay, where the strength of
the CC’59 contingent seemed to
outnumber several of the younger
anniversary classes. Friday morning
activities were an individual’s choice.
Lunch was served under a tent on
South Field. This was followed
Analytic Freud,
Synoptically wed
to Wealth of Nations
Ernie, were Joe Dorinson, Harvey
Feuerstein, Peter Gruenberger,
Paul Herman, Dave Marcus,
Bernie Nussbaum, Howie Orlin
(and his wife, Anita), Shelly Raab,
Howard Presant, Bob Waldbaum,
Eli Weinberg and Mark Weiss.
We end this report on a brighter
note: As predicted, the tennis team
won the Ivy title (the streak is now
five in a row) and the baseball team
finished second in the league stand-
ings, thereby qualifying for the Ivy
championship playoff series against
first-place Harvard. Unfortunately,
our lads could not win the title, as
— Paul Kantor ’59
by the first of two sessions titled
“Looking Back, An Opportunity to
Hear from Each Other,” in which
classmates were offered the oppor-
tunity to describe, in most cases,
their lives after graduation and the
impact of the College on their lives.
After attending, or not, one of many
receptions or lectures that followed,
we gathered at V&T for pizza, wine
and good conversation.
Saturday began with breakfast
in the Low Rotunda, with other
anniversary classes, and hosted
by Dean James J. Valentini. We
then retired to the C.V. Starr East
Fall 2019 CCT 49
Asian Library in Kent, where we
resumed the “Looking Back” open
mic presentations by classmates,
followed by lunch. It is my intention
over the next few issues of the Class
Notes to include the presentations
that people sent to me. You need not
have attended reunion or presented
at the open mic sessions to send a
contribution to me. It might take a
while to be published, but if I am
successful in setting up a location on
the web, all your contributions will
be available online.
‘The final event of our reunion
was our class dinner, held in Faculty
House on Saturday. After dinner,
the chair of our Reunion Commit-
tee, Steve Buchman, made some
remarks and then read the speech
prepared by Steve Trachtenberg.
Core
Haiku
reunion. Leading them has been, yes,
a challenge, but also a privilege. Some-
one has said chairing a reunion com-
mittee is like herding cats: true, but in
this case those cats are Columbia lions
and that makes all the difference.
“Special thanks to Joel Rein,
who suggested having open mic
sessions as the format for our class
events and for his Solomonic direc-
tion of one of those sessions; he
brought tact, patience and humor to
the challenge.
“There is one more major thank
you, and that’s to you, our class-
mates, and your spouses, significant
others and guests. It’s really all of
you who deserve our thanks for
your energy, enthusiasm and sharing
these last two and a half days. You
are the real stars of his show. From
Netted butterflies
Morningside in Plato’s shoes
Apple core consumed
Steve Buchman delivered the
following remarks: “Hello again.
After two days of reunioning,
reminiscing and moving across the
campus of our memories, we've come
to the final class event of our 60th
reunion weekend — the closing
remarks of Steve Trachtenberg. But
this year there’s a twist: Steve was not
able to join us, as you know. He’s in
London, recovering well, and, as he
says, looking forward to joining us at
our 65th reunion. He has, however,
been a presence at this reunion and in
our thoughts each day.
“Tt’s been an honor and a pleasure
chairing the Class of 59 Reunion
Committee in organizing our
program for you, all with the goal of
making this a special and memorable
60th ... and there are people to thank.
“Our Alumni Office planners and
‘handlers’: they've guided us since
last September with ideas, logistical
support and their presence at each of
our events. Please thank them with
your applause.
“T want to again acknowledge the
Reunion Committee and ask them all
to stand and be recognized for their
contributions, efforts and commit-
ment to their classmates and this
50 CCT Fall 2019
— Edward R. Wolpow ’59
our rain-soaked Thursday evening
reception, when you shed your sod-
den raingear and discomfort in the
lobby and moved into Lou Gehrig
Lounge for our first meeting: the
vitality in the room was infectious
and ran us over schedule by about
an hour. At the opening John Jay
breakfast on Friday, when the
audience was asked for a show of
hands of classes present, our 60th
attendees far outnumbered the 10th,
25th and 50th grads who were there.
At Friday’s lunch on South Field,
the three tables we'd had set aside
for the Class of 59 were insuf-
ficient; we needed to commandeer
two more to hold us all. Our open
mic sessions were more than we'd
hoped for: participation, patience
and attentive audiences made these
very special gatherings and provided
more shared memories. Our dinner
at V&T last evening showed no
lessening of the weekend’s energy.
“The alumni staff who attended
our events continued to express their
amazement at our engagement and
liveliness and left their registration
desks to join us.
“So, I'm going to ask the Reunion
Committee to stand, once again,
and have them thank you, the Class
of 1959, for being here, being you,
and making this 60th reunion one
of the great memories of our
Columbia experience.”
Steve then read the talk prepared
by Steve Trachtenberg. (I will do
my best to make the text of his talk
available to all.)
The dinner, and the reunion,
ended with a rendition of Sans Souci.
I think that most, if not all, who
attended the reunion had a very
good time. I know that at least
some who were unable to attend
the reunion were unhappy with
their inability to come. Let us wish
a full recovery to Dave Clark,
Ted Graske, Ben Miller, Steve
Trachtenberg and Bill Zangwell,
and anyone else whose medical
problems prevented them attending,
so that they can join all of us at the
next reunion.
I hope to print the shorter pre-
sentations in our Class Notes as well
as submissions from classmates for
whom time did not permit to make
oral presentations, as well as from
classmates not able to attend the
reunion. I hope to be able to make
all written submissions online.
Bob Nelson contributed this to
the conversation: “The Individual?
We were all very bright; our mothers
told us so. In fact, we would not have
been admitted if we were not. The
Core Curriculum opened our eyes to
a world that, for the most part, was
unfamiliar to us. Yes, we may have
had some exposure to literature, poli-
tics, philosophy, art or music, but this
was different and did change us.
“We made good friends during
those years but were always expected
to work on our own, not to cooper-
ate in our work products. It was all
individual and no teamwork unless
you were involved with extracurricu-
lar activities or athletics.
“This attitude persisted for the
most part into grad school, or what
I call ‘vocational training’ (otherwise
known as engineering, law or medi-
cal school). Not until these studies
were completed did we begin to
work as teams.
“The Team? As we moved along
in our careers we were exposed to
different worlds, different cultures.
For me it was Virginia and Cincin-
nati of the early 60s. Neither were
strongholds of civil liberties but
there were liberals as well as conser-
vatives. Naval service was another
opportunity to learn from a society
to which you had not been exposed.
You had to learn to keep your eyes
and ears open and learn!
“Student and Teacher’ As a
resident physician I learned from
my seniors and attending physicians.
I also taught junior residents and
medical students. After beginning
my own practice, I continued to
‘teach’ resident physicians over the
next several decades. I say ‘teach’
because I was always learning from
them. I was also learning from my
patients and my colleagues.
“Our Future? We can all continue
to learn from those around us. Many
have retired from their profession
but can still stay involved in learning
and teaching. Mentoring students,
volunteering in libraries or hospitals,
working with community service
organizations and so forth are great
ways to continue to give back some of
the gifts that Columbia has given us.
“And always remember to ask
the question that I would ask my
patients and you should ask those
around you: ‘How can I help?”
1960
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Robert A. Machleder
69-37 Fleet St.
Forest Hills, NY 11375
rmachleder@aol.com
Congratulations to Terrence
McNally, who was honored on June
9 at the 73rd Annual Tony Awards
with a Lifetime Achievement
Award. Described as “a probing
and enduring dramatist” and “one
of the greatest contemporary play-
wrights the theater world has yet
produced,” not only has Terrence’s
career spanned an extraordinary six
decades, but his work also has been
remarkably diverse, including plays,
musicals and operas. In his accep-
tance speech, Terrence noted that
“the world needs artists more than
ever to remind us what kindness,
truth and beauty are.”
In 2018 Terrence was inducted
into the American Academy of Arts
and Letters. He is a recipient of the
Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achieve-
ment Award and the Lucille Lortel
Lifetime Achievement Award. He
has won four Tony Awards: two for
the plays Love! Valour! Compas-
sion! and Master Class and two for
the musical books for Kiss of the
Spider Woman and Ragtime. He also
has written numerous T’'V scripts,
including Andre's Mother, for which
he won an Emmy Award. Terrence
has received two Guggenheim Fel-
lowships, a Rockefeller Grant, four
Drama Desk Awards, two Lucille
Lortel Awards, two Obie Awards
and three Hull-Warriner Awards
from the Dramatists Guild. In 1996
he was inducted into the Theater
Hall of Fame.
He wrote the libretto for the
operas Great Scott and Dead Man
Walking, both with music by Jake
Heggie. Terrence’s many plays
include Mothers and Sons; Lips
Together, Teeth Apart; The Lisbon
Traviata; A Perfect Ganesh; The Visit;
The Full Monty; Corpus Christi; Bad
Habits; Next; The Ritz; Anastasia; It’s
Only a Play; Where Has Tommy Flow-
ers Gone? and The Stendhal Syndrome.
Terrence has been a member of
the Council of the Dramatists Guild
since 1970 and was VP 1981-2001.
And, not to be forgotten, in 1992
Terrence was presented by the Col-
lege a John Jay Award for distin-
guished professional achievement.
Distinguished achievement, indeed.
Tom Hamilton reflects on his
work in 1963 at Grumman, which
had received the contract to build
the lunar module intended as the
spacecraft to carry the first people
to the moon. Tom had just started
work at a well-known computer
manufacturer with a commitment
that he would work in Manhat-
tan, thus enabling him to continue
his pursuit of graduate studies in
astronomy. Soon after he started,
however, he was told that he would
be reassigned to its Poughkeepsie,
N.Y., office. One of his colleagues
forwarded his name to an engineer
at Grumman, who was recruiting
people to work on an Apollo Project
contract to build what was then
referred to as the Lunar Excur-
sion Module. Tom’s educational
background in astronomy made
him an attractive candidate and
he was invited for a job interview
at the Grumman headquarters in
Bethpage, N.Y., to be followed by a
security clearance procedure.
‘The job interview went well; the
security clearance, a tad less smoothly.
‘The lengthy security questionnaire
inquired whether the applicant or any
family member was or had been a
member of any of a list of organiza-
tions deemed security threats, or
of any organization not listed that
advocated the violent overthrow of
“the government.” Tom, committed to
responding truthfully, acknowledged
having relatives who had engaged in
activity to overthrow the government.
The head of security suggested that
he delete the entry as “it would cause
trouble.” Tom refused, whereupon
the head of security said, “It’s on your
head, dammit; go ahead.” Tom got
the job, and security clearance, despite
the conduct of grandfathers several
generations removed who had fired at
the king’s troops in April 1775 as they
marched toward Bunker Hill.
Tom was assigned to a group that
included draftsmen, computer pro-
grammers, a mathematician and a
variety of engineers. He was the only
one with an astronomy background.
His main job for the three years
working on Apollo, as he explains
it, “was determining a back-up
technique for lunar orbit rendez-
vous, radar accuracy requirements
for the on-board radars during the
return of the LM from the Moon to
the orbiting CSM (Command and
Service Module), fuel usage for the
RCS (reaction control system) and a
few other minor issues.”
One of Tom’s singular experi-
ences was a simulated test flight.
Situated on the roof of one of the
Grumman buildings was a large blue
sphere. Tom describes it: “The inside
had been adapted for a ‘full mission
simulator’ that astronauts were
expected to use in training. But first,
select Grumman employees were
sent to test it, and test themselves.
Someone decided my work on the
planned lunar orbit rendezvous of the
LM and CSM made my flying the
simulator a good idea. It was truly
impressive, with a view of a shrink-
ing lunar surface as I ascended into
space to link up with the CSM. I felt
embarrassed when the control panel
showed I had rammed into the CSM
at 19 feet per second, when the limit
was under 10 feet per second. But I
was told most people missed rendez-
vous and had the LM wander off in
lunar orbit, while a few crashed back
on the moon. I was congratulated for
an excellent first (and only) flight.”
alumninews
Neil Markee submits the follow-
ing synopsis of his post-Columbia
life. As a member of NROTC, Neil
spent the six years after graduation
on active duty: the first three on an
old LST (“landing ship, tank”) and
the next three putting a new LPH
(“launch and recovery platform,
helicopter”) into service. As Neil
describes the latter assignment, “I
worked for some of the best officers
around. Working directly for the
XO [executive officer] during
commission provided a seminar
on leadership. As the radio officer
on the amphibious forces flag ship
during the Cuban Missile Crisis, I
was offered a ringside seat for some
of the events.”
After separating from the
Navy, Neil joined Educational &
Institutional Cooperative Services, a
nonprofit purchasing and contract-
ing cooperative serving the needs of
higher education. For the ensuing
seven years he was responsible for
E&l’s activities in the Northeast,
from Maine to Pittsburgh. During
that time period he married Susan
Haley, an elementary school teacher,
and their daughter, Jennifer, was born.
“Seven years later,” Neil continues,
“I moved to higher education's
professional association for campus
purchasing officers as its CEO.
Although we were based on Long
Island I spent a good bit of time in
Washington, D.C., where many of
the other higher professional associa-
tions are based. Together we repre-
sented the business side of higher
education in dealing with the federal
government and other organizations.
“Twenty-five years later, Susan
and I announced our early retire-
ment — only for me to be offered
an attractive position with a San
Francisco-based dot-com. Working
from home and the Bay Area as an
advisor was an interesting experi-
ence. As my two-year contract was
winding down, we were acquired
by SciQuest and I again planned to
retire for the second time, only to
learn that the online publication we
had launched had been acquired by
the two nonprofits I had worked for
earlier, and they offered me a posi-
tion as editor-in-chief and a major
content provider for the publication.
‘The job was to be from home, part-
time. I held the position for 22 years
until earlier this year I again retired.
“Susan and I live roughly six
months a year in Port Jefferson on
Long Island and six months in Palm
City on Florida's east coast, adjoining
the towns of Stewart and Jupiter. We
plan to eventually become full-time
Florida residents. Our daughter,
Jennifer, is heavily involved in the
professional show jumping equestrian
community, based in Wellington,
Fla., to our south.”
Keep in mind that the Class of
1960 has a 60th reunion coming up.
Sixty years? Is that possible? Good
health to all; send me your notes;
and hope to see you at the 60th.
1961
Michael Hausig
19418 Encino Summit
San Antonio, TX 78259
mhausig@yahoo.com
Tom Lippman’s latest book was
recently published: Crude Oil, Crude
Money: Aristotle Onassis, Saudi
Arabia and the CIA is the story of a
little-known Cold War drama with
a big cast of colorful and ethically
dubious characters. The king of
Saudi Arabia gave Aristotle Onassis
a contract that would have broken
the American monopoly on the
Saudi oil industry and disrupted
the maritime shipping business
worldwide. Seeing this as a possible
opening to Soviet meddling in
Saudi Arabia, Eisenhower ordered
the Dulles brothers to make sure the
contract never took effect. This book
is about how they did it.
Tom is a Washington-based
author and journalist who has
specialized in Middle Eastern
affairs and American foreign policy
for more than three decades, and
is an experienced analyst of Saudi
Arabian affairs and U.S.-Saudi rela-
tions. He is a former Middle East
bureau chief of The Washington Post,
and also was that newspaper's oil
and energy reporter. Throughout the
1990s, Tom covered foreign policy
and national security for the Pos?,
traveling frequently to Saudi Arabia
and other countries in the Middle
East. As an independent writer, he
has visited Saudi Arabia every year
but one in the last decade. Tom
discussed his new book at the New
York City class lunch in July; it’s
available on Amazon.
Tom is an adjunct scholar at the
Middle East Institute in Washing-
ton, D.C., where he is the principal
Fall 2019 CCT 51
media contact on Saudi Arabia
and U.S.-Saudi relations. He was a
member of the Council on Foreign
Relations and was formerly an
adjunct senior fellow there.
A project Gene Milone has
been working on for the past six
years has come to fruition with the
acceptance of a paper on the project
by The Astronomical Journal. The
work involved running more than
70 models and exploring nearly
every physical nuance that can affect
the motions and brightness of an
eclipsing binary star. This one, DS
Andromedae, lies in a star cluster
some 1,500 light years from Earth.
The work permits us to obtain its
distance, among other properties, to
high precision and reasonably high
accuracy, and to understand a little
better the age and distance of the
star cluster as well.
Gene was keen to finish this work
and have it published before eye
problems and the inevitable conse-
quences of aging take their toll.
Bob Pollack continues as a
professor of biological sciences at
Columbia, a position he has held
since 1978. He hopes to write at
least one book during his academic-
year-long sabbatical, which began
July 1. But just in case, he will
continue to co-teach a course on
human identity with his daughter,
Dr. Marya Pollack’87, PH’92.
Bob and his wife, Amy, sold their
Vermont schoolhouse when the
commute got to be too much — six
hours! Currently, they escape up the
Hudson to Saugerties, N.Y. — two
hours and they are in the woods.
Their motto: Everyone alive is
equally part of the future. That’s one
of the reasons Bob has not retired;
sharing ideas with people the age of
their grandson is exciting, he says,
and also it lifts the burden of being
in charge. And as a professor, getting
paid to do it is a gift!
Bob Salman is teaching a course
on the history of impeachment
this fall at Brookdale Community
College. It’s open to political science
students and is part of Brookdale’s
Lifelong Learning Program.
Bob and his wife, Reva, saw Stu
Sloame and his wife, Ellen, when
the Sloames were in New York City
in June.
On a sad note, I report the pass-
ing of two classmates.
Norm Kurnit GSAS’66 passed
away on February 6, 2019. After
the College, Norm went directly to
GSAS, where he earned a master’s
in 1962 and a Ph.D. in 1966, both
in physics. He spent the majority of
his career working at Los Alamos
National Lab and lived in Santa Fe,
N.M. Norm is survived by Ellen, his
wife of 50 years; two children; and
two grandchildren. :
Dave Schwartz DM’65 passed
away on July 7, 2019, after a nearly
seven-year battle with multiple
myeloma. Dave practiced oral surgery
for more than 50 years in Queens. He
was on the Board of Trustees of both
the Queens County Dental Society
and the New York State Society of
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.
An avid golfer, tennis player,
skier, guitarist and singer, Dave was
a longtime member of the Bonnie
Briar Country Club, where he was
the Super Senior Club Champion
Holler at Us
in Haiku!
Core, one hundred years!
What’s a fun way to note it?
Poetry from you.
We’re celebrating the Core Centennial this year and would
love to hear your memories of the Core Curriculum! But
there’s a catch — you need to tell us in haiku. Send your
5-7-5 recollections to cct_centennial@columbia.edu, and
we'll run our favorites in the next three issues’ Class Notes.
52 CCT Fall 2019
in golf in 2017. He also maintained
a summer home in Wellfleet, Mass.,
where he requested to be brought,
one last time, a week before he died.
Dave is survived by his brothers,
Michael and Larry; wife, Isabel;
daughter, Beth Jones, of Alexandria,
Va., and son-in-law, Jamie Jones;
granddaughter, Isabel; grandson,
James; son, John D., of New York;
daughter-in law, Amy Kean; and
grandsons, Kean and Oliver.
1962
John Freidin
654 E. Munger St.
Middlebury, VT 05753
jf@bicyclevt.com
All’s too quiet on the 1962 front.
Please help me avoid making up
stories by writing in.
Anthony Valerio has published
another acclaimed book, Semme/weis:
the Women’s Doctor. It’s an intimate
biography of a great mid-19th-
century scientist. Anthony explores
Semmelweis’s complicated character,
his research uncovering the causes
and means to prevent childbed
fever, which was then considered
unpreventable and killed nearly 30
percent of new European moth-
ers who delivered their babies in
maternity hospitals. Semmelweis
correctly determined that the disease
was caused by doctors’ failure to wash
their hands effectively, and prescribed
that they scrub in a solution of chlo-
rinated lime.
Nevertheless, Semmelweis’s
obstetrical colleagues disdained his
work and ostracized him. In 1865,
he supposedly suffered a nervous
breakdown and was treacherously
committed to an asylum by a col-
league. He died — or was he mur-
dered? — at 47 from a gangrenous
wound after being beaten by the
asylum guards.
Burt Lehman wrote that he is
reading a fascinating new book,
Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership
Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Camp-
bell. Burt says “the book focuses
mostly on Bill Campbell TC’64’s
extraordinary influence on some of
Silicon Valley's stars and his way
of coaching them how to deal with
their underlings, in particular. There
is a section on Bill’s undergraduate
and coaching days at Columbia,
which are nostalgic.”
Three Google executives — Eric
Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg and
Alan Eagle — are the authors.
Here is an excerpt from the book:
“As [Columbia President] Lee C.
Bollinger says, ‘Bill had the highest
capacity to understand the people
he was working with. He had an
intuitive sense of people and what
motivated them and how to move
them forward.’ He accomplished a
lot of this by looking for tension, the
smoke to a problem’s fire ... People
would simmer, and Bill would spot it.
“Listening to more than words
requires keen observation. Not just
listening ... but noticing the body lan-
guage and side conversations. So many
of the people we talked to commented
on Bill’s ability to sense when people
were frustrated. This is not a natural
skill, but one that can be developed.
You have to listen and watch.
“Jim Rudgers, who was on Bill’s
coaching staff at Columbia, recalls
Bill’s remarkable ability to see the
entire field of 22 players as a play
unfolded. ‘Hold up a finger and look
at it, Jim says. “That’s how most of
us watch football; the finger is the
player with the ball. But Bill could
see, recall, and assess the things that
happen on the periphery as well. He
brought that skill to team meetings.
He wouldn't just see the speaker; he
could see the entire field and gauge
reactions and intents even with the
people who remained silent, the
ones without the ball.”
1963
Paul Neshamkin
1015 Washington St., Apt. 50
Hoboken, NJ 07030
pauln@helpauthors.com
I joined Henry Black, Doron Gop-
stein and Lee Lowenfish to march
in the Alumni Parade of Classes on
Class Day on May 21. As always, it
was a great event — it’s a pleasure
to see the happy graduates and their
families, as well as greet old friends
as we proudly hoist our class banner.
Join us next year.
Gary Rachelefsky writes,
“Retirement is a word that was never
part of my vocabulary; I thought of
it as an end-of-life word. The brief
stop before the undertaker came
calling. Boy, was I wrong. After a
successful and satisfying 46-year
career in medicine, I was ready (and
luckily healthy), with my wife, Gail
(married 52 years), being supportive.
I could not be happier; my advice
is to spend lots of time planning it
and doing activities you never had
the time or the energy to do. So I
learned to cook, play golf (exercise
and ‘boy friends’), joined a couples
book club (so I now read books),
go to the sports club, talk to my
wife, be a real poppy to my eight
grandchildren, travel, spend a social
evening without my patients calling
and/or falling asleep. I even read
The New York Times and Wall Street
Journal each morning. I volunteer at
two Native American reservations
helping in the care of children and
adults with respiratory and allergic
disorders. I still only sleep five to six
hours but I need all that awake time
to complete my day. I am available
for free consultations.”
Henry Black sent me the follow-
ing historical footnote about how he
got mentioned in Andrew Roberts's
most recent biography, Churchill:
Walking With Destiny. Henry writes,
“T’ve been a student of WWII and
an admirer of Churchill for decades.
With that in mind, my wife, Benita,
gifted me with an autographed
letter from the great man written to
Nicholas Murray Butler CC 1882 in
Because of this ‘discovery,’ Roberts,
whose book was still in galleys,
added the information to Chapter
15, and thanked [my wife and me]
in Footnote 51 for the world to see!”
Phil Satow writes, “My wife,
Donna GS$’65, and I had the pleasure
of visiting Israel during the last part of
June and attending the Genesis Prize
Ceremony in Jerusalem. On June 20,
the prize, a $1 million award, was
granted to Bob Kraft. The Genesis
Prize is given annually to Jewish peo-
ple who have attained recognition and
excellence in their fields. Bob brought
25 NFL players and their spouses
who had not visited Israel before.
It was a well-attended and exciting
evening, and the prize was awarded
to Bob by Bibi Netanyahu. The next
day I attended an American football
scrimmage at the Kraft Family Sports
Campus in Jerusalem, where the NFL
players coached two Israeli teams.”
Ed Coller writes, “There is an
annual public affairs lecture named
for my parents at the Hillcrest Jew-
ish Center in Flushing, N.Y. (the
50th is this fall). Jim Shenton ’49
spoke in 1986, and he chose immi-
gration as his topic. Near the end of
the lecture he said that his analysis
of demographic trends led him to
believe that if immigration policies
Mukasey and Barr
Grooved on Machiavelli
Holder skipped that class
— David G. Hitlin 63, GSAS’68
1931, and typed on Waldorf-Astoria
stationery. The contents seemed
bland and unimportant at the time
(and only about three sentences
long). One evening last fall, we
attended a lecture by Roberts at the
New-York Historical Society, where
he is scholar in residence. Afterward,
while dining at the restaurant, Rob-
erts passed by our table and I had a
brief moment to tell him about our
letter. He handed us his card and
asked us to send him an image of
the letter, which we promptly did.
Turned out that the three sentences
in the letter contained a tiny factoid
heretofore unknown by Churchill
biographers (there are about 1,005
biographies of the great man).
remained the same, sometime in the
early 2000s the population would be
on the brink of being less than 50
percent white and that there would
be a major movement to essentially
close the doors to non-white immi-
grants and a real battle of conscience
over how sincerely we believed in
the myths of being the open door to
the tired and poor. He then went on
to brilliantly make the case for keep-
ing the doors open. The guy called it
33 years ago.”
Don Margolis reports, “I have
been riding my bike for the last 17
years and targeted 25,000 miles when
someone told me that was the circum-
ference around the equator. Then I saw
that it was only 24,901 and I reached
alumninews
Four members of the Class of ’63 marched at the Alumni Parade of
Classes. Left to right: Doron Gopstein, Henry Black, Lee Lowenfish and
Paul Neshamkin.
that last week. I hoped the summer's
heat and humidity would abate and
then I could reach 25,000 soon.”
Hey, gang, can any of you match
Don’s record? I sure can't.
Paul Gorrin writes, “Our oldest
son, Dan, and his wife, Leah, who
teaches high school math, have
a new baby, Max Michael, and a
daughter, Bailey (4), who loves being
a big sister. Our younger son, David,
and his barrister wife, Sally, have
an 8-month-old daughter, Eleanor.
Our oldest daughter, Ellen, teaches
middle school in Millsboro, Del.
Our youngest daughter, Emily, is
finishing a mental health nurse prac-
titioner program at the University of
Delaware. My wife of 39 years, Ann,
after being for 14 years the Sussex
County coordinator for the non-
profit Read Aloud Delaware, which
arranges for volunteers to read
one-on-one to at-risk children, now
is a program manager for Delaware
Health and Social Services.
“T’ve retired from an internal
medicine and an allergy practice, am
a member of the Rehoboth Beach
Writers Guild, a life member of
the Delaware Medical Society and
a founding member of the Seaside
Jewish Community in Rehoboth
Beach, Del. I met my wife in
Vermont shortly after completing
a fellowship at the University of
Vermont in chest disease, which
became a lung cancer suppressor
cell study. It was this introduction to
the immunology of the respiratory
system that I brought to my medical
practice, but that seems so long ago.”
Charles E. Miller GSAS’66
reports the filing on July 22 in the
U.S. Supreme Court of the first
amicus curiae brief of the Associa-
tion of Amicus Counsel in a case,
Peter v. NantKwest, Inc., involving
one of the legal profession’s favorite
topics: court-awarded attorney fees
in administrative law cases involving
patent and trademark applications.
‘The AAC, of which Charles is
president and one of its found-
ing members, is an independent
nonprofit of lawyers having diverse
affiliations and law practices and
who, by training, scholarship, experi-
ence and breadth of discernment in
their respective areas of the law, are
possessed of the requisite abilities in
appellate advocacy and proficiency
in producing and submitting amicus
curiae briefs as may be helpful to
courts and other tribunals in cases
involving issues of contention. Such
briefs are designed to call attention to
pertinent matters and viewpoints not
previously recognized or addressed by
the parties or the decisionmaker(s).
Neither the AAC, nor any of its
members or their other affiliations
who participate in or whose name(s)
appears on a brief of the AAC, will
have represented a party in the case
or will have otherwise had a direct
financial stake in the outcome. In
addition to parties supported by the
AAC, non-parties represented are
those wishing to express their views
on issues in precedent-setting adju-
dications whose outcomes will affect
the public interest, including their
own and of others similarly situated.
Fall 2019 CCT 53
It is for these reasons that the
AAC was conceived, established
and exists: to promote and assist in
advancing the science of jurispru-
dence through amicus briefs that
advocate the correctly informed
judicial development of the law in
the time-honored tradition of amici
curiae — “friends of the court.”
If you're back in NYC, you can
reconnect with your classmates at
our regular second Thursday class
lunches at the Princeton Club. The
next lunches are on September 12
and October 10.
In the meantime, let us know
what you are up to, how you're doing
and what’s next.
1964
Norman Olch
233 Broadway
New York, NY 10279
norman@nolch.com
Who would have thought there is a
connection between our 55th reunion
and the 50th anniversary of the
Apollo moon landing? Well, our class-
mates who organized reunion did.
In a joint reunion effort with
Columbia Engineering, the speaker
at the first of two dinners was Larry
Kuznetz SEAS’64, SEAS’65,a
central figure at NASA’s Mission
Control in 1969. In a fascinating
after-dinner talk, Larry (with accom-
panying PowerPoint presentation and
videos) touched on topics ranging
from the trial and error in making a
space suit to the hierarchy at Mission
Control (only one person was autho-
Let us know if you have a
new postal or email address,
a new phone number or
even a new name:
college.columbia.edu/
alumni/connect.
54 CCT Fall 2019
rized to speak with the astronauts
once the flight began). He also
touched on the afterlife of the mis-
sion — his two appearances on The
Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
(were any of you on this show?) and
the different complexities and risks
of a trip to Mars (for example, the
distance from Earth to Mars is so
great that a distress call from Mars
may take too long to reach Earth, or
the response from Mission Control
may take too long to reach Mars).
Reunion began with a Thursday
evening reception in the art-filled
Manhattan apartment of Maya and
Larry Goldschmidt LAW’67, and
over the next two days there were
lunches on South Field and a range
of tours and lectures from which to
choose. Reunion concluded with
a Saturday dinner at which Phil
Lopate gave a witty, insightful and
poignant reminiscence of his College
experience. A standing ovation of
appreciation followed, and I and
others there hope Phil will reprint his
talk in a future book of his essays.
Bob Liss and his good friend
Diane Levy flew in for reunion from
San Francisco, where Bob is a psy-
choanalyst. He earned a J.D. at Yale
and a Ph.D. at NYU. On the website
First of the Month, Bob contributes
articles on basketball. His most
recent (as of this writing) begins,
“Damn! Those NBA playofts take
forever!” For more of that refreshing
angle, go to firstofthemonth.org/
author/bob-liss.
After decades with Columbia,
Howard Jacobson LAW’67 has
retired as deputy general counsel
of the University. All sorts of legal
issues arise for a major university like
Columbia, and for many years Howie
was at the center of things. He writes,
“T retired on December 31, after 40
years working for Columbia. Before
I came to Columbia, I served as a
law clerk to federal judge William B.
Herlands, and then worked for about
10 years at [what was then the] Kaye
Scholer law firm, in New York.
“At the General Counsel’s Office,
I worked with every in-house general
counsel in the University’s history,
beginning with the first one, John
Mason Harding, through the cur-
rent one, Jane E. Booth LAW’76.
(Before Harding, all general counsels
were members of outside law firms.)
When I began there were three
attorneys in the General Counsel’s
Office; today there are 20. Through
the years I worked on many different
areas of the law, including litigations,
gifts and estates, compliance with the
increasing complexity of governmen-
tal regulations, and University gover-
nance and real estate. In addition, for
many years I served as parliamentar-
ian of the University Senate. What
no doubt was the highlight of my
work at Columbia was participating
in seeking the regulatory approvals
and numerous property site acquisi-
tions needed to create the overall
Manhattanville campus.
“After retirement, I have con-
tinued to serve on the board of the
University-affiliated Community
Impact, a nonprofit that annually
serves more than 9,000 low-income
residents of Harlem, Washington
Heights and Morningside Heights
through the work of about 900
University student volunteers.
“My wife, Kathryn, and I have
planned a cruise to Alaska. We
are spending more time with our
children and grandchildren.”
Howie is also a regular presence
at Columbia basketball games. We
wish him and his family much hap-
piness in retirement.
After attending reunion, Dan
Nussbaum, who is at the Depart-
ment of Operations Research at
the Naval Postgraduate School in
Monterey, Calif., made his way to
Baku, Azerbaijan, for a seminar on
energy security. Dan writes: “At the
seminar, the new U.S. ambassador
to Azerbaijan made his first public
statement on U.S. energy policy in
the Caspian region, and I and my
team were invited to attend the
July 4 celebrations at our embassy.
While it was an honor to attend the
celebrations, and the food and music
were good, the moving moments for
me were the conversations I had with
foreign diplomatic, military and com-
mercial personnel, who uniformly
expressed their strong appreciation
for the consistent and principled
leadership that the United States
provides in this strategic and highly
contested part of the world. I know
that we hardly ever hear conversa-
tions about the Trans-Caucasus and
Caspian regions, but historically they
are important, and they are even
more important now as a region of
great power competition — for their
energy content, and for their location
as gateway to Central Asia.”
Remember, our informal class
lunch is the second Thursday of each
month, and don't forget to send in
your answer to the questions: “What
do you wish you had known when
you were 18?” and “What advice do
you have for the members of the
College’s next graduating class as
they face becoming ‘adults’?”
1965
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Leonard B. Pack
924 West End Ave.
New York, NY 10025
leonard@packlaw.us
Gene Feldman sent me a fascinat-
ing note triggered by his temporary
stay at the King’s Crown Hotel. I
was one of the “handful of us.” Gene
writes, “At the start of our first year,
a handful of us were temporarily
housed in the King’s Crown Hotel
on 116th Street due to a snafu
in dormitory planning. I became
friends with a few men such as Don
Norris and Richard Taruskin. And
I tried cheap Chianti for the first
and last time. A few weeks later, I
relocated to a suite in New Hall, the
high-rise dorm awaiting a benefac-
tor to name it.
“T barely recalled the episode until
I learned this history. In 1939, Enrico
Fermi fled fascist Italy. Professor
George B. Pegram of the Columbia
physics department wisely recruited
him. When Fermi arrived, they put
him up at the King’s Crown Hotel.
Leo Szilard, another refugee nuclear
scientist, serendipitously met Fermi
in the hotel’s lobby. The two geniuses
collaborated intensely, despite their
oil-and-water temperaments. They
soon realized that a nuclear chain
reaction was possible.
“Szilard argued that this reaction
should be used to build a uranium
super bomb to stop Hitler’s war
machine. Their fortuitous partner-
ship lead Fermi to create the first
controlled chain reaction in a secret
laboratory on December 2, 1942.
‘The immigrants got the job done.
Now an atomic bomb seemed pos-
sible. A phone call announced suc-
cess to President Roosevelt’s advisor,
cryptically saying, “The Italian navi-
alumninews
gator has landed in the new world.’
Everyone in the lab celebrated with
a bottle of good Chianti, and all
signed the basket.
“The Los Alamos team then built
a few bombs intended for Germany.
But after Hitler’s defeat, Japan
became the target. Fermi still had
the President’s ear. He and Szilard
urged FDR to detonate the bomb in
the Pacific, demonstrating its fear-
some power to the Japanese while
sparing civilians. The politicians and
generals had other plans.
“While most physicists had
chosen narrow specialties, Fermi
mastered all the major areas. He was
dubbed “The last man who knew
Core
Haiku
mobile methods to screen patients for
cardiovascular risks and raise aware-
ness about heart disease.
“Tn 2011, he received the
National College Football Founda-
tion’s Distinguished American
award. In 2018, he received the John
F. Kennedy Award from Holyoke’s
St. Patrick’s Day parade committee.”
Bob Yunich also gave us an
update: “Over the past few years, I’ve
enjoyed a wonderfully unrestrained
life. I've become more active in volun-
teer work; my wife, Joanne, and I have
been traveling and taking advantage of
our second home in Andes, N.Y.
“For more than five years, I
have been a credit crisis counselor/
Along with my boys
Hamilton & Obama
A proud College grad
everything,’ the title of a biography
by David N. Schwartz from which I
learned some of this story. David is
the son of the late Columbia profes-
sor Mel Schwartz’53, GSAS’58,
who, like Fermi, was a Nobel Laure-
ate. Professor Schwartz inspired my
love of physics and my career.”
Last October, The Republican,
a local newspaper for Chicopee,
Holyoke, South Hadley and Granby,
Mass., reported that Holyoke
H.S.’s first Hall of Fame class was
inducted. Archie Roberts was one
of the inductees. From the article:
“The Class of 2018 honorees also
include a father-son duo, 20-year
football coach Archie Roberts and
Archie Jr., who excelled in three
sports. In 1959, his father’s last
season as head coach, Archie Jr.
quarterbacked Holyoke to a 9-0
record and its first AA Conference
title. He also starred as a basketball
point guard and baseball shortstop.
At Columbia, he broke 17 passing
records and also played basketball
and baseball as the university’s last
three-sport athlete.
“After a brief time in the NFL, he
completed studies for a medical degree,
and went on to a career as a renowned
heart surgeon. After retiring in 1997
as an active surgeon, he founded the
Living Heart Foundation, which uses
— Gerald Kruglik ’65
financial coach with the Community
Service Society of New York. I have
been helping people in one-on-one
meetings deal with problems such as
adverse credit reports, stifling credit
card debt, default judgments arising
from delinquent debt obligations
and the quagmire around — and
crippling amounts of — outstanding
student loans.
“For the past year, I’ve been
working with Trout Unlimited to
increase funding for an awesome
program, “Trout in the Classroom.’
TIC is a hands-on, STEM-focused,
environmental K-12 education
program that enables students to
raise trout from eggs to fingerlings
in an aquarium in their school
classroom. Following eight months
of care and observation of their
trout, students release their fish into
streams and participate in a day of
outdoor stewardship activities, forest
hikes and stream studies. In New
York City, many of the students are
from inner city schools and wouldn't
otherwise be exposed to the environs
outside the five boroughs. I would
be delighted to hear from classmates
who are interested in learning more
or supporting TIC.
“In June, 2018, we took the
National Geographic/Lindblad
‘Circumnavigate Iceland’ expedi-
tion. Every day was a new chance
to see Iceland’s natural wonders
— geysers, geothermal mud pools,
waterfalls and volcanic lava fields
— and become acquainted with the
daily lives of Icelanders. On July 4,
our ship, the National Geographic
Explorer, cruised north to Grimsey
Island, crossing the Arctic Circle.
Due to the island’s geophysical
attributes, it produces inexpensive
hydroelectricity, which has fueled
an immense aluminum smelting
industry (aluminum ore is imported,
converted to aluminum ingots or
rolled stock, which then is exported).
‘This is the story line of the 2018
movie Woman at War.
“This summer, we had planned to
go on an Abercrombie & Kent safari
to Botswana, but had to cancel due
to health issues. We are confident
Botswana will always be there and
that we can go another time. In the
meantime, we're planning a trip to
London around Christmas and maybe
Croatia and Lisbon in the late spring.
“T have scaled back my financial
advisory practice with a view toward
fully retiring in the next few years. I
am looking forward to our reunion
next year and hope many, many
classmates can participate.”
Your correspondent and your
classmates would like to hear more
from you. As Gene’s note suggests,
you can even write about a thought
triggered by Columbia. Whatever
you write, it will be eagerly con-
sumed by your classmates.
1966
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
Greetings for fall, Class of 1966!
From Calvin Johnson: “T teach tax
at the University of Texas School
of Law, and jump valiantly into the
intellectual fray. My last articles
said that Elizabeth Warren’s wealth
tax was constitutional, because the
defining aspect of direct tax was that
it had to be reasonably apportion-
able. Before that I said that under-
valuation of property transferred
at death means estate tax captures
only 25 percent of what the statute
says it is supposed to collect. Then I
said the Trump deficits needed to be
funded by taxes on wealth, because
tax deficits funded by harm to lower
tiers maximized the damage that
tax does to human happiness. Then
I said rewrite the ‘dividend’ rules so
that the dysfunctional earnings and
profits account doesn’t matter, and
so that there is not a tax without
gain. Then I said taxpayer has no
capital gain, unless the taxpayer
has basis. Then I took down four
Harvard professors, a Stanford Law
professor and the president of the
American Economic Association. I
expect an email telling me ‘the veil
has fallen from my eyes’ any day
now. I am writing an autobiography
with technical tax talk, which of
course my kids won't understand.
But I am still having fun.”
Michael Garrett writes that,
within the last year or so, he spent a
month in Japan, a month in the Baltic
region and a month in Australia/
Indonesia/Singapore, and will spend
the September in Spain and Portugal,
January in the Galapagos and Ama-
zon, May in New Orleans and August
in eastern Europe. When you add
to that a 50th Law School reunion,
a variety of interesting activities and
projects at Columbia College, the
Business School, the Law School,
the Libraries, University Seminars,
Colloquia and Alumni Singers;
some grandparenting, photography,
piano, theatre and classical music;
and events at the University Club
and the Chautauqua Institution, it all
results in a very stimulating and most
rewarding retirement that — on the
sound theory that this life is not a
dress rehearsal — he plans to continue
as long as his and his wife’s Sandy’s
health and energy level can support it.
From Jeff May: “My wife,
Connie, and I moved after 40 years
in Cambridge to Tyngsborough,
Mass. Our daughter (who went to
Smith College) and her husband
(who went to UMass) have given
us two wonderful grandchildren,
Gabriel (3) and Eliza (1). Our son,
Ben SEAS’00, works at NewYork-
Presbyterian/Columbia University
Irving Medical Center in IT; he
and his wife, Ola, run a cat rescue in
Washington Heights.
“We recently sent off the second
edition of our first book (of four!),
My House is Killing Me! The Home
Guide for Families with Allergies and
Asthma, to the press.
“T continue to do indoor air
quality investigations with the
Fall 2019 CCT 55
unbelievable assistance of Connie,
who quit working at the Cambridge
School of Weston (after 30 years of
teaching and administration) to help
me in the office. We love our new
digs but the best part of moving was
landing a five-minute drive from
Princeton Station, where we try to
go rock’n roll dancing to live bands
every weekend.”
From Barry Nazarian: “Three
out of the four children I raised as a
single father have been in Califor-
nia for the last 15 years, so after 66
years of living within 10 miles of
Columbia I decided to join my kids
and grandkids and moved across the
country: I am now completing my
ninth year in San Diego.
“T think the move was a good one
as it’s pretty stimulating to switch
cultures after six and a half decades,
and change is a good form of mental
exercise for those of us now con-
fronting aging.
“T have made a lot of new friends
and for a pretty serious bicycle racer,
I could not have picked a better
place to be living and training.
“Sitting in occasionally with my
son's rock band and enjoying the
fact that there are several Columbia
people around my class who long
ago moved to this ideal climate, I
am also doing the heap of sitting
required to make a house a home
with many of my neighbors who
share what is labeled an ‘active
senior community, which I think is
an appropriate description.
“T lost my incredible lifelong
friend Charlie Pitchford, with
whom I roomed all four years at
Columbia; I was the best man in his
\Y
Contact CCT
Update your address,
email or phone; submit a
Class Note, new book,
photo, obituary or Letter to
the Editor; or send us an
email. Click “Contact Us” at
college.columbia.edu/cct.
56 CCT Fall 2019
wedding. Also miss my friend Rich
Forzani, whom I met during fresh-
man football and who, being a Jersey
boy, remained a friend I would see
on occasion during the decades fol-
lowing our graduation.
“I am hoping to get a few more
novels out, particularly since I am
in a situation where I have the time
to do just that without being played
out from a long day at work.
“My best to my classmates out
there with hopes that we will gather
again at least once in decent num-
bers before that final dismissal.”
Mike Gengler writes, “I have
published a book about school
desegregation in my home town of
Gainesville, Fla.: We Can Do It: A
Community Takes on the Challenge of
School Desegregation. Yo my knowl-
edge, after extensive research (thank
you, Walter Metzger GSAS’46
and others, and my mentors at
Spectator), this book is the only one
that details adjustments in schools
during and after desegregation.
Despite Brown, the South continued
under lower court rulings to oper-
ate its side-by-side separate white
and black schools as long as black
students could choose to attend the
white schools (‘freedom of choice’).
Not until 1968 and 1969 did the
Supreme Court put an end to the
South’s dual school systems. In
Gainesville, two-thirds of African-
American students and many
teachers chose to remain at Lincoln
HLS. Its students struck for 11 days
in 1969 to protest its closing. Deseg-
regation was a process, not an out-
come. White and black communities
had to work together to bring their
public-school systems through this
crisis. For more information, please
see wecandoitbook.com.”
1967
Albert Zonana
425 Arundel Rd.
Goleta, CA 93117
az164@columbia.edu
The 1967 version of the lightweight
crew had a reunion at the Eastern
Association of Rowing Colleges
Sprints on May 19 in Worcester,
Mass. In May 1964, the freshman
crew culminated its undefeated
season at this event. The crew has
remained close through the years.
Eric Dannemann supplied the
The 1967 lightweight crew had a reunion at the Eastern Association of
Rowing Colleges Sprints on May 19 in Worcester, Mass. Left to right: Jon
Jarvik ’67, Jeff Brensilver 67, Bob Malsberger SEAS’67, David Blanchard ’67,
Gerry Botha ’67, Richie Miller 67 and Eric Dannemann ’67.
nearby photos and a brief update on
our classmates.
Jon Jarvik is a cellular and molec-
ular biologist at Carnegie Mellon.
Jeff Brensilver PS’71 has had
a long career as an internist/
nephrologist/educator/department
chair in teaching hospitals in the
New York metropolitan area and
still loves his work.
Bob Malsberger SEAS’67
became a career engineer, starting in
aerospace and mutating to biotech.
Along the way he somehow managed
to be part of an energetic family.
David Blanchard grew up in
Texas, went to graduate school
at Brown and lived in California,
Mexico and Vermont for the last
40-plus years, homesteading, pot-
ting, parenting, paddling, special
educating and soaking up the beauty
of the mountains.
Gerry Botha SEAS’68, SEAS’70
started out with AMF in Connecti-
cut; went to business school in Mas-
sachusetts; worked at Ford in Illinois,
West Virginia, California and Scot-
land; was with Ferranti in Scotland,
New York and Georgia; was with a
consulting group in Atlanta; worked
with Ametek in South Carolina and
Florida and Nilfisk in Minnesota,
Denmark, Sweden, Germany and
Italy; settled down in Vermont, with
consulting, property management,
grandchildren and endless to-do lists!
Richie Miller retired from a
30-plus-year career with AT&T
and the USAFR to become a full-
time grandpa.
Eric Dannemann was in the
Navy, and later went to business
school. After various management
assignments, he has spent the past
30 years in the art business. Retired
in Connecticut with the love of his
life and three great kids.
Be well, all of you, and do write ...
1968
Arthur Spector
4401 Collins Ave., 2-1417
Miami Beach, FL 33140
arthurbspector@gmail.com
Wishing the members of the Class of
1968 a happy and healthy fall. Please
take a moment to share your news or
a favorite Columbia College memory
with the class by sending an email to
arthurbspector@gmail.com.
1969
Michael Oberman
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel
1177 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036
moberman@kramerlevin.com
Our milestone 50th reunion, held
May 30-June 1, was by overwhelm-
ing consensus a grand success. We
had both class-specific events, as
well as the events open to all alumni,
as described elsewhere. Our goal in
planning the reunion was to create
ample opportunity for classmates
to reconnect, and also to provide
some content and entertainment. On
Thursday night, we had a reception at
the Columbia Alumni Center, which
— despite heavy rain — still gener-
ated a crowd that filled the room. On
Friday night, we had a capacity-crowd
reception in the C.V. Starr East Asian
Library in Kent Hall. These opening
events allowed classmates to spend
extensive time together, sometimes
with no contact in many a year, and
even to meet classmates previously
unknown to them.
Initially, we had no class-specific
daytime activities scheduled for Fri-
day. However, responding to requests
from classmates, Dick Menaker
organized a tour of the Manhat-
tanville campus, including a brief
look at the interior of the Jerome L.
Greene Science Center and a visit to
the other two completed buildings.
Dick led a hike back to campus
along the Hudson River Greenway
for those wishing to hike.
On Saturday, we were joined for
our lunch and dinner programs by
Columbia Engineering alumni. The
lunch programs were held at Faculty
House. Following a brief reception
and time for lunch, Dean James J.
Valentini welcomed the class back to
the campus. Rich Wyatt then moder-
ated a lively open mic session, where
memories were shared (many arising
from the blackout). A common
refrain was the benefit of learning
from classmates having a different
background. We paused to recall
those of our classmates (sadly, now
more than 80) who have passed away.
Bill Bonvillian, who teaches at
MIT, led a panel on climate change,
joined by Sir Alex Halliday, director
of Columbia’s Earth Institute; Scott
Anderson, former curator at the
Museum of the Amazon (Museu
Paraense Emilio Goeldi )in Belém,
Brazil; and Marc Rauch, now with
the Environmental Defense Fund.
As Dick Menaker aptly put it, “I
have rarely seen so many key issues
handled so swiftly in so little time.”
Mike Rosenblatt then anchored
a panel of doctors, which he had put
together, focused on the need for
innovation in improving health care.
Mike focused on the topic “Where
will new medicines come from?”;
Gary Rosenberg addressed “Can
we optimize treatment for both
the individual and the popula-
tion, and can we afford it>?”; Jerry
Avorn’s topic was “How my years at
Columbia shaped my deviant career
in medicine and what we need now
to fix health care” (for many years,
Jerry has focused on the economics
of pharmaceuticals); and James
Coromilas SEAS’69 talked about
“Heart disease — will we tame it?”
‘Then Steve Valenstein gave us
“Insights from analysis of health
policies,” and finally, David Sokal
addressed “Male contraception:
challenges and impact.” Here, too,
there was much substance of interest
and importance from a policy and
personal perspective.
The weekend culminated with a
reception and dinner in Low Library
for both the College and Engineer-
ing 50th reunion classes; with guests
and spouses, we had more than 150
for the dinner. Ahead of dinner, the
official class photo was taken on the
Low Steps. The Alumni Office has
posted Reunion Weekend photos on
its Facebook page (facebook.com/
alumnicc/photos). During dinner,
Dick Menaker gave welcoming
remarks, then turned the microphone
over to George Baker, who portrays
John Adams in a variety of venues, as
he did for us. (Staying in costume, he
really stands out in the class photo.)
Our main speaker was Professor
Ken Jackson, the authority on the
history of New York City; he gave
lively and informative comments
on the city at the time of our births,
during our College years and now.
And there have been many changes.
To close out the evening, the
Alumni Singers performed Roar,
Lion, Roar and Alma Mater, with
extensive selections from Gilbert
and Sullivan before that.
Who attended? ‘This list of
classmates was compiled based on
those who registered and/or checked
in at a class specific-event; if you've
been left off the list or included by
error and youd like a correction,
please let me know: Lawrence
Aaron, Michael Agelasto, Domi-
nick Agostin, Ron Alexander,
Jim Alloy, Scott Anderson, Bob
Appel, Jerry Avorn, George
Baker, Larry Berger, Richard
Berger, John Bernson, Chuck
Bethill, Bill Bonvillian, David
Borenstein, James Boyce, Eric
Branfman, Michael Braudy, Andy
Bronin, Michael Jacoby Brown,
Peter Buscemi, Ira Cohen,
Steve Ditlea, John Erickson,
John Fogarty, Miles Freed-
man, Robert Friedman, Robert
alumninews &:)
Gabel, Bill Giusti, Jerry Gliklich,
Sam Goldman, Jesse Goldner,
Neal Handel, Fred Harbus,
Edwin Harnden, John Herbert,
Michael Ingrisani, Bill Kelly,
Marty Konikoff, Joseph Kushick,
Dwight Lee, Mark Leeds, Hal
Lemberg, Hal Lewis, John Van
Dusen Lewis, Woody Lewis,
George Lindsay, Jim Lo Dolce,
John Lombardo, Andy Markov-
its, Joe Materna, Dick Menaker,
Jerry Nadler, Jerry Nagler, Fred
Neufeld, Michael Oberman,
Michael O’Connor, Peter O’Hare,
Manny Organek, Gary Otsuji,
Fred Pack, Bob Papper, Harold
Parker, Hart Perry, Richard
Prouser, Norbert Rainford, Rich-
ard Rapaport, Marc Rauch, Alan
Romanczuk, Oren Root, Dave
Rosedahl, Gary Rosenberg, Mike
Rosenblatt, Irv Ruderman, Eric
Saltzman, Jack Schachner, Joel
Scharfstein, Don Schenk, Mike
Schnipper, Jeff Schwartz, David
Silverstone, Bill Sleeper, Dave
Core
Haiku
college, and wish I had known them
sooner. Ihe Reunion Committee did
an excellent job of combining time to
socialize and time for lectures.”
From Larry Berger: “The reunion
surpassed my expectations. More
classmates turned out than I had
expected, and I was able to spend
considerable time with some. Sadly,
10 percent of our class are no longer
with us, clearly indicating we should
make a constant effort to take
advantage of these reunions. There
were two events that I particularly
enjoyed. The Art Humanities course
was skillfully managed by our profes-
sor, who, using the Socratic method,
immediately engaged us in lively
discussion and highlighted points
made by the participants who were
plentiful. Also the Reunion Keynote
[featuring actor Maggie Gyllenhaal
99 and screenwriter Beau Willimon
99, SOA03], from both big and small
screen, and their perspectives as actors
and directors, as well as their Colum-
bia experiences and relevance to their
In Plato’s dream cave
we see only shadows of
whom we’re yet to be.
— Rabbi James B. Rosenberg ’66
Sokal, Alan Sparer, Alan Sullivan,
Mike Teitel, Dave Turner, Steve
Valenstein, Mark Webber, Jeff
Weintraub, Julian Wheatley, Eric
Witkin, Rich Wyatt and Joel Ziff.
I invited those who attended to
help frame a sense of the event. From
John Bernson: “The reunion was
totally swell. The class-specific events
were congenial — I ran into some
long-lost classmates and old friends.
The intellectual content was excellent.
A high point for me was the tour of
The Met Cloisters, which was led by
a brilliant professor who is writing a
book about Genghis Kahn. Finally,
the campus looked beautiful — a vast
improvement, and also a great time
of year to see it.”
From Don Schenk: “The reunion
was a great success. I reconnected
with so many great friends and wish
so many more of my crew and swim-
ming team [friends] had come. I also
had the pleasure of meeting several
classmates whom I had not known in
profession. Panels in which classmates
participated on climate change and
health care were enlightening both
for content as well as appreciation of
the expertise and knowledge offered
in these areas by classmates!”
From Michael Jacoby Brown:
“It was good to reconnect with some
people I knew and have not been in
touch with for 50 years. I saw some
people I knew slightly and had some
good conversations. I assume differ-
ent people want different experi-
ences from a reunion. I was looking
forward to hearing what classmates
had learned over 50 years. ... I think
the open mic session lacked the kind
of serious reflection I was looking for,
although I assume others wanted just
to have fun. Like Jerry Avorn, I was
surprised that there was no mention
of the events of Spring 1968, and
as Jerry said, there seemed to be a
‘blackout’ of this time, although there
were lots of memories spoken about
the electricity blackout.”
Fall 2019 CCT 57
Class Notes
From Jim Lo Dolce: “I very
much enjoyed seeing some old
acquaintances, as well as talking to
classmates whom I did not recall
knowing. I was energized to hear
about all the interesting lives and
adventures our classmates have had.
I was impressed that a lot of us are
still working and contributing to
society. I think our class as a whole
has had a big impact on the world.”
From Hal Lewis: “Thoughtfully
arranged and well-timed events were
a good backdrop for learning more
about classmates who were casual
acquaintances and reengaging with
longtime friends. Greatly enjoyed
extended time with former roomies
Michael Agelasto and Richard
Rapaport and reencountering other
Lewises, John Lewis and Woody
Lewis. Pleased our class seemed more
focused on the value of our undergrad
experience in navigating a seismically
changed world than on the minutiae
of our years here. Maybe a sign of our
collective general health and well-
being despite early senescence?”
From John Lombardo: “In my
view, the reunion was a complete
success. One could feel the wonder-
ful spirit of community at all of the
events. It was remarkably free of all
the negatives that others describe
with respect to their school reunions.
What stands out? First, the self-
critical humor of the beloved Woj,
and the great spirit of togetherness.
I think I was correct in insisting
that the event remain apolitical. For
me, the reunion has also generated
an invitation to a 50th anniversary
wedding party of a classmate, who
got married in our chapel. It was a
wedding I was privileged to attend.”
From David Turner: “So great
to see you and our classmates at
the great and grand reunion. The
feeling of connection and recollec-
tion remains strong. Among so many
wonderful and meaningful conversa-
tions, the moment I cherish and will
long celebrate was at the banquet, at
the end of Professor [Ken] Jackson’s
speech on the living history of
New York City, when he asked for
questions. He called on Rep. Jerry
Nadler, and we had the opportunity
to stand and applaud one of our
own, a man at the very point of our
nation’s discourse and labors. Colum-
bia College and we of the Class of
69 can take pride in what we learned
and shared, and aim to do as well
when we are called upon.”
58 CCT Fall 2019
One further benefit of reunion
planning that some classmates noted:
Even among those classmates who
could not attend, many of us got to
visit with them by phone or email as
we tried to see if they could come —
and to catch up in the process.
Lastly, there is one important
item to report: the success of our
Class Gift. In total, we had 157
donors, 32 at the John Jay Associates
level, with direct contributions to
the Columbia College Fund of more
than $293,000, and total donations
of more $1.38 million. A great way
to cap Reunion Weekend.
1970
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Leo G. Kailas
Reitler Kailas & Rosenblatt
885 Third Ave., 20th FI.
New York, NY 10022
Ikailas@reitlerlaw.com
Your class correspondent was
absolutely overwhelmed by the Class
of 1970's response to my solicitation
of news! In fact, I received so many
notes that they cant all fit in the
print magazine! Go online to college.
columbia.edu/cct/issue/fall19/article/
class-notes and type “1970” in the
search bar to read news from Michael
Aeschliman, David Lehman and
first-time contributor Bill Moore.
I start with Vladimir Danyl-
evich, with whom I was friends
throughout my undergraduate years.
Vladimir is a computer project
manager and systems integrator.
He is also an ordained Eastern
Orthodox priest who baptized
my youngest daughter, Shirley, 30
years ago. Vladimir reports: “Son
Andre lives in Los Angeles and
is a post-production manager for
the Fox sci-fi series The Orville.
Daughter Theodora ’03 has finished
a Ph.D. in English, is married and
teaches at Georgetown. Daughter
Ksenia is married and teaches at the
Bethesda Waldorf School. Daughter
Elizabeth has been tonsured a nun
in Greece and is now Sister Ionia.
Finally, youngest daughter, Anna, is
painting icons.”
Martin Newhouse: “I am
soldiering on as president of the
New England Legal Foundation in
Boston (NELF; nelfonline.org). My
big news is the arrival of a grandson,
Herman Katz Newhouse, last
October. He is the son of our son
Sam Newhouse and his wife, our
daughter-in-law, Samantha Mitch-
ell. That happy couple, and little
Herman, live in Philadelphia.
“In January I completed a five-
year term on the Massachusetts
Supreme Judicial Court’s Clients’
Security Board (the body that
recompenses clients who have had
their money stolen by their lawyers;
Massachusetts is unique I believe in
having no cap on the amount that
we pay back to the defrauded cli-
ents). Having completed that duty, I
was appointed to and am serving on
the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial
Court’s Standing Advisory Com-
mittee on the Rules of Professional
Conduct. Finally, in addition to my
duties at NELF I teach professional
responsibility and transactional skills
at Suffolk University Law School.”
Joseph Spivack: “Enjoying
my third year of retirement! Busy
as an angel investor in New Jersey
and elsewhere. Traveling a good bit.
Hiked in Scotland and Patagonia
this year. Volunteering as a trail
builder on the Appalachian Trail in
Harriman State Park and else-
where. Helped celebrate Richard
Polton’s 70th birthday in Montclair.
Renovating a studio apartment in
Manhattan. Busier than ever!”
First-time contributor and nature
enthusiast Tom Barrett writes: “I’m
getting a jump on 50th anniversaries
later this summer by heading to
Yosemite National Park, where I first
worked as a seasonal ranger at Tioga
Pass in 1969. (In later years, with
some interruptions, I worked my way
up to garbageman, sanitation worker,
gas station attendant, trail-crew
laborer, trail-crew cook and surveyor’s
helper.) The park, and in particular
its wilderness high country, to which
I’ve returned again and again for
long, often solo, for backpacking
trips, has formed the bedrock of my
mental landscape ever since. We're
planning a 50-miler this year — me
and one of the many lifetime friends
I made 50 years ago — into the north
end of the park, which encompasses
one of the largest roadless areas in
the lower-48. It’s been some years
since I’ve been that way. Fortunately
for me, my fellow traveler is a world-
class mountaineer. Best wishes to you
and the Class of 70.”
Philip Roath notes: “My wife,
Kathy, and I both recently retired and
moved to Pearland, Texas (south of
Houston), from North Dallas. We are
closer to our grandchildren (2 and 4),
our two daughters and son-in-law.
We live in an active 55-plus commu-
nity on a golf course. Life is good.”
Arthur “Wickes” Rossiter writes:
“T believe this is my first correspon-
dence with the Class of 70 and,
amazingly, a lifetime has passed by
since we graduated. I practiced as a
C.P.A. for many years (Arthur Young
& Co., now Ernst & Young, among
others) then moved to an industrial
equipment and supply company in
Needham, Mass., as treasurer and
general manager. I retired in June
2018 to Scarborough, Maine. I was
sorry to read in the past year of the
deaths of George Stade GSAS’65 and
Wallace Broecker ’53, GSAS’58, two
particularly memorable teachers. I
visited Columbia for the first time in
many years in May year to attend our
daughter's graduation from Teachers
College and was reminded how much
I regret the chaos that prevailed on
campus during our four years there. I
wish I could start again as a freshman
(probably minus the blue beanie!).”
Professor Sam Estreicher says
that in January he received the
Brooklyn Technical H.S. Alumni
Association Award for Outstanding
Alumnus. The association plans to
dedicate the school’s moot court-
room in his honor.
Dan Feldman sent a happy note:
“T had a wonderful sabbatical year
in 2018, in which I spent the spring
semester as a full-time gradu-
ate student in philosophy at the
CUNY Graduate Center and the
fall semester in Rome as an associate
at the Institute for Regionalism,
Federalism, and Self-Government
of Italy’s National Research Council,
studying the efficacy of Italian
anti-corruption institutions (results
to be published shortly as a chapter
in a book). Shortly after returning
to my teaching responsibilities at
John Jay College in 2019, however, I
was guilt-tripped into accepting the
directorship of our MPA-Inspec-
tion and Oversight Program, which
makes up about 40 percent of our
800-student overall MPA program.
When I left full-time government
work in 2010, I had hoped not to
have to run anything anymore. No
such luck. However, I have made
it clear that when my term expires
after another two years, I will not
accept reelection and will return to
teaching and writing.
“Better news: our son got an
M.P.A. from NYU in May and is
a senior manager for data analytics
and strategy (or something like that)
at NBC News. Our daughter got
her master’s of marine affairs degree
from the University of Rhode Island,
also in May, and started a two-year
stint in the coastal management
section of the New York State
Department of State as a National
Oceanographic and Atmospheric
Administration fellow.”
Joel Mintz reports: “In June,
David Sokolow, Ted Wirecki and
I got together for another of our
annual guys’ getaway weekends. This
time we spent three relaxing and
enjoyable days in the Rockies near
Vale, Colo. A great time was had by
all! I recently semi-retired from my
job as a full-time professor of law
at Nova Southeastern University
Shepard Broad College of Law,
where I had taught environmen-
tal law and related courses since
fall 1982. My employer was kind
enough to appoint me as the C.
William Trout Senior Fellow in
Public Interest Law. This fellow-
ship allows me continued use of my
office, student research assistance
and an annual stipend to cover
my expenses in participating in
professional conferences. I have also
continued working on some writing
projects and serving on the boards
of two environmental NGOs. None-
Holler at Us
theless, I now have lots more time
to travel with my wife, Meri-Jane
Rochelson BC’71, and to work on
some visual arts projects, swim, visit
my kids and grandkids, and read for
pleasure. No complaints here!”
Dov Zakheim reports: “Recently
returned from Mexico City, where
my grandson Max and his basketball
team won the gold medal in the Pan
American Maccabi Games. I work
‘half-time’ — 40 hours a week. In
the last few months I have been to
London (twice), Paris, Rabat and, of
course, Mexico City. Still racking up
those miles.”
Good news from Leonard
Levine: “I had successful colon can-
cer surgery in August 2018, followed
by chemotherapy.”
Another first-time contributor,
Professor Michael P. Link, says: “I
am a pediatric hematologist/oncolo-
gist, and have been a faculty member
at Stanford for 40 years. I’ve had a
pretty good professional run. Happily
married with two girls, and we enjoy
living in the San Francisco Bay area.
We are avid skiers, and we love the
beauty and opportunities (mountains,
wine country, Pacific Coast and great
weather) that California offers. Con-
templating retirement, but I still have
a few irons in the fire. New York is a
wonderful place to visit to catch up
on opera and so on, so I am grateful
for my Columbia years that allowed
me to feel at home in the Big Apple.
But we are stuck on the West.”
Steve Boatti and his wife, Linda,
are happily retired and the proud
grandparents of two grandchil-
dren. They live in Riverdale, the
Bronx, and spend time traveling
in Haiku!
Core, one hundred years!
What’s a fun way to note it?
Poetry from you.
We're celebrating the Core Centennial this year and would
love to hear your memories of the Core Curriculum! But
there’s a catch — you need to tell us in haiku. Send your
5-7-5 recollections to cct_centennial@columbia.edu, and
we'll run our favorites in the next three issues’ Class Notes.
alumninews
and visiting their country house in
Connecticut. Steve was a corporate
lawyer and Linda was a private
school teacher.
Robert A. Leonard GSAS’82
reports: “As the 50th anniversary of
Woodstock approached, our creator,
my brother George Leonard ’67, and
the 11 surviving members of the
original Sha Na Na, 10 of whom are
CC grads, had been asked for a lot
of interviews. For example, ‘How did
a group of Columbia undergrads go
from campus performances straight
to one of Andy Warhol’s nightclubs,
where we were discovered by Jimi
Hendrix and Janis Joplin, and wind
up, only a few months after George
gold-lamé’d and choreographed us,
opening for Jimi at Woodstock?”
“Our hit TV show, Jocko Marcel-
lino’72 tells me, was syndicated in
33 countries. Three of us still tour
more than 30 gigs a year. Elliot Cahn
became Green Day’s formative man-
ager, and Ed Goodgold’65 did the
same for Phil Collins and Genesis.
“The press also likes to write about
how many of us went on to unusual
careers outside of rock. Just to men-
tion two, Alan Cooper’71 and I were
the original basses in Sha Na Na
(né the Columbia Kingsmen). Alan
sang lead in the one song we got in
the original Woodstock movie (“My
Teen Angel’ was added in the later
director’s cut). Alan got a Ph.D. at
Yale and became the provost of the
Jewish Theological Seminary. I got
my Ph.D. at dear old Columbia and
became a forensic linguist, teaching
at Hofstra and working with the FBI,
British intelligence, Joint Terrorism
Task Force and counter-terrorism
units worldwide — especially the
FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit-1
(counterterrorism and threat assess-
ment). My civil suit clients include
Apple, Facebook and the Prime
Minister of Canada. Very dear to
my heart is the Forensic Linguistics
Capital Case Innocence Project I
started, where my grad students and I
reanalyze language evidence that has
put people on death row for murder.
In 2012 TIME magazine deemed
me the second smartest rock star in
history, behind Brian May of Queen,
who is an astrophysicist; I think I
shall sue. Know any good lawyers?”
Don't forget to go to college.
columbia.edu/cct/issue/fall19/
article/class-notes to read updates
from Michael Aeschliman, David
Lehman and Bill Moore!
Lewis Preschel
c/o CCT
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
l.a.preschel@gmail.com
Hello, Class of ’71. This is my first
column, so please, bear with me as I
work out the kinks.
I remember our class’s orientation
and our first days on campus in fall
1967. Even though I had been on
College Walk many times before
with my family, at that moment, I
stood on those red bricks feeling
isolated even while surrounded by a
crowd of 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds.
‘The familiar atmosphere, changed
forever at that moment: I was a
Columbian and Columbia was
family. Very few of us knew any of
the others, and yet, more than 50
years later, we have bonded through
common experiences. We arrived
from Kansas, or California, or
Massachusetts, or wherever we had
lived before, but this was no longer
Kansas, Toto — this was college
and we were on our own. We were
adults. ’'m getting flashbacks of
that experience as I write our class’s
column for the first time. It makes
me a little nervous and a lot excited.
Please send me information about
your lives so we can share it between
us: La.preschel@gmail.com.
Robert Mayer reports on a
continuing tradition that started in
summer 1980. Anticipating Billy
Crystal’s City Slickers, Robert struck
on the idea of New Yorkers going
off the grid in the great outdoors for
relaxation. He and his brother Alan
Mayer’72 backpacked the Wind
River Range in Wyoming that
summer. They enjoyed it so much,
it became a tradition. This summer
was the 40th annual hike/trip. The
group includes Dr. Larry “Spider”
Masket and Elliot Cahn’70, who
sang with Sha Na Na (photo at
college.columbia.edu/cct/issue/
fall19/article/class-notes). Robert
also gives a shout out to Lloyd
Emanuel, Phil Nord, John Jaeger
and Terry Kogan. He is glad to have
the friends he made at Columbia.
Arthur Engoron is an elected
New York State Supreme Court
justice, sitting in Manhattan. He
commutes to Centre Street from
Fall 2019 CCT 59
Great Neck, N.Y. He is married with
four children, one of whom became a
lawyer. The others are 13, 11 and 10,
so their occupations are pending, as
are their tuitions. Arthur formed and
runs the Wheatley School Alumni
Association for his high school.
Lambert Chee is practicing
cardiology in Walnut City, Calif.
Ray Stricker PS’78 practices
medicine in San Francisco, specializ-
ing in tickborne diseases, which are
a worldwide epidemic. He recently
spoke at a large medical conference
in Sonora, Mexico, about these
diseases. When his work allows,
Ray and his wife, Gina, travel. His
daughter is traveling in Asia while
authoring the next Great American
Novel. His son works for a drug
design company.
Ray poses the question that has
puzzled Columbians since Jack
Rohan’53, TC’57’s team won the Ivy
League Basketball Championship:
“Why did the Princeton team line up
at midcourt and stare at our players
during warm ups, before the champi-
onship playoff game in 1968?”
Ray, if Princetonians are so intel-
ligent, they would have used the
time to warm up, too. They needed
to locate the basket. We beat them
and made the NCAA tournament.
‘The final answer to the question is:
Coach Rohan prepared his team for
everything. Any stare generated by
a Princeton player could not come
close to “the ghost” Jack gave to our
guys when they did something fool-
ish on the court. He gave it to them
in practice and during many games,
so they were ready. Go, Lions.
As reported in The New York
Times on June 6, Rocco Commisso
SEAS’71, BUS’75 purchased the
Serie A soccer club ACF Fiorentina.
Rocco has always given to the sport
he loves, and as his teammate on the
undefeated Columbia freshman soc-
cer team of 1967, I know firsthand
his determination to win and be the
best. Rocco has received the Ellis
Island Medal of Honor, is the chair-
man of cable provider Mediacom
and was the chairman of the New
York Cosmos soccer team. He is
quoted in the article, “... given the
fact I was born in Italy, my love for
Italian soccer and what soccer has
done for me, I wanted to eventually
buy a quality team here in Italy, and
I’m very proud, happy and honored
to buy Fiorentina, a club that’s got
great traditions.”
60 CCT Fall 2019
Now our class has to watch Serie
A football on cable. We have a root-
ing interest.
Juris KaZa lives and works in
Riga, Latvia, although he is tech-
nically retired and collecting unspec-
tacular pensions from Sweden, the
United States, Latvia and Germany.
From 2006 to 2013 Juris worked
for the Latvian news agency LETA.
Subsequently, he became a stringer
for The Wall Street Journal in Riga.
With the economy of Europe as it
was, he was kept busy. During this
time, he also became a stringer for
the Spanish news agency EFE.
Juris’s youngest son, Matiss, gradu-
ated from NYU's Tisch School of the
Arts last spring. He spent a semester
at the American Film Institute in
Los Angeles, but suspended his
studies to make a film. He received
funding from the Latvian National
Film Centre to do a feature-length
fiction film, a Western set in Czarist
time with gunfights, an anarchist
and the Czar’s armed forces. Matiss
also produced the documentary One
Ticket Please. It was entered in several
festivals and won some prizes. He is
completing his second documentary,
which is set in multiple locations
around the world.
Juris’s oldest son, Davis, is mar-
ried and the editor of a Swedish
newspaper in Umea. Number 2 son,
Nils, has provided two grandsons:
Dante (4) and Elliot (10). They live
in Stockholm.
Juris’s wife, Una, works for a
call center in Riga. She is also a
filmmaker, having trained at the
Gerasimov Institute of Cinematog-
raphy in Moscow.
Last year, Louis Rossetto visited
Juris in Riga, and they spent several
days catching up while they toured
the shady bars in town.
As a group, we were selected in
spring 1967 and thrown together
on 116th Street in the fall. For years
we walked by each other on campus;
some of us stopped and talked, oth-
ers continued on to study at Butler
Library or play pool in Ferris Booth.
We drank with each other in The
West End or elsewhere. We watched
Sha Na Na under the stars in front
of Low Library. We went to mixers
(remember when they had mixers
or socials and people did not find a
date online?), dated Barnard women,
saw Broadway plays and watched our
football team lose so often, it eventu-
ally set a national record. These are
common experiences. Tell me about
yours. I cannot write this column
without your information. Please
help me: l.a.preschel@gmail.com.
1972
Paul S. Appelbaum
39 Claremont Ave., #24
New York, NY 10027
pappel1@aol.com
No reason why you should know
this, but the high school that sent
the largest number of students to
our class at Columbia was my alma
mater, Stuyvesant H.S. in New York.
Hence, one of the reasons I was so
looking forward to my Stuyvesant
class’s 50th reunion (only a year late)
was having a chance to catch up
with many of our Columbia class-
mates. So one evening this past June
at the Princeton Club (sorry about
that), my wife and I sat down for
dinner at a table that included three
other members of the Class of ’72.
Next to me sat Doug Weiner
GSAS’84, who summarized life
since graduation this way: “Before
resuming doctoral studies in Russian
history (Columbia), I took three years
off, driving a taxi (night shift) and
working in the Post Office. After a
postdoc at Harvard, I taught at Indi-
ana and Tufts before assuming my
current position at the University of
Arizona. An extreme nationalist Rus-
sian daily, Zavtra, credited me with
bringing down the USSR, but this is
surely an exaggeration. A pioneer in
researching Russian environmental
history (my first two books), I was
president of the American Society for
Environmental History.”
Doug has lots of interests, includ-
ing the piano and birding — I saw
some great photos on his phone —
and he’s a devotee of the excellent
Arizona Theater Company in Tucson.
Steve Bellovin, who sat next to
Doug, is the Percy K. and Vida L.W.
Hudson Professor of Computer
Science at Columbia, and an adjunct
faculty member at the Law School,
where he teaches a seminar, “Cyber-
security: Policy, Legal and Technical
Aspects.” Steve, who earned a
Ph.D. from UNC Chapel Hill and
has been elected to the National
Academy of Engineering, lives on
Morningside Heights.
What was particularly nice
about the mini-reunion is that
Doug, Steve and I all grew up in
Canarsie and spent 10 years in
school together, from seventh grade
through graduation at Columbia,
but we hadn't all been together since
our Columbia days.
Across the table from us, with
his wife, Susana, was Ron Weigel.
After getting a Ph.D. in zoology
from the University of Illinois, and
doing a post-doc at UCLA, Ron
spent 28 years at Illinois as professor
of epidemiology and biostatistics in
the College of Veterinary Medi-
cine. After retiring in 2015, he and
Susana — who met while ballroom
dancing and are Argentine tango
enthusiasts — retired to Athens,
Ga., where Ron had done some
research early in his career.
At other points during the eve-
ning, I had the pleasure of speaking
with a couple of other classmates,
including Sherwin Borsuk, who
entered with us but, with the magic
of advanced placement courses, grad-
uated two years early. Sherwin lives in
Meriden, Conn., with his wife of 46
years, Ruth, and is now retired from
the practice of radiology, having led
a 10-person radiology group. Their
children, Ethan and Amaranth, are
a cameraman and college professor,
respectively. Interesting tidbit: Sher-
win holds two patents/trademarks for
a digital book.
Walter Zaryckyj GSAS’78, who
stayed at Columbia to get a Ph.D.,
is executive director of the Center
for US Ukrainian Relations, “an
informational and cultural platform
for representatives of the political,
economic and cultural establish-
ments of the U.S. and Ukraine to
exchange views on issues of mutual
interest.” Walter taught for 30 years
at NYU and says he “was married
to the most marvelous angel in
the world (I might be biased) who
wandered the planet with me,” his
wife, Marta, who died in 2010. As
for the next generation, “I have a
terrific youngster pursuing a master’s
in gastronomy in Italy.”
One of the reunion’s organizers
was Al Sheiner, who greeted me at
the registration desk. Al practices
prosthodontics on Manhattan's
Upper East Side, although he lives in
New Canaan, Conn. At Columbia,
Al played freshman football and
lettered in heavyweight crew; he’s still
an active guy, now the rides director
of the Sound Cyclists Bicycle Club.
He’s also a member of the executive
committee of the Columbia Alumni
Association of Fairfield County. Al
and his wife, Shean-Mei Sheu, “live
with an Italian poodle named Etro,
who also functions as a therapy dog
for my patients.”
During the reception, Al said to
me, “You've got to include all the
Columbia people here in the next
Class Notes.” So I did.
1973
Barry Etra
1256 Edmund Park Dr. NE
Atlanta, GA 30306
betra1@bellsouth.net
“Time it was, And what a time it was.
It was... a time of innocence. A time
of confidences. Long ago ... it must be
... [have a photograph. Preserve your
memories. They're all that’s left you.”
So wrote Paul Simon 50 years
ago this year, as we were preparing to
enter the College; how did he know?
Stew Sterk has reached the
40-year milestone as a professor at
the Benjamin N. Cardozo School
of Law, and “continues to enjoy all
aspects of the job.” He was honored
at William and Mary last year for
property law scholarship, and has
been named a “Best Professor” at
Cardozo 15 times. He and his wife,
Carol, enjoy kayaking in Mama-
roneck, N.Y., and skiing in Vermont
with their two daughters.
Bill Miller sent a pic (that we
could not include here) of the sum-
mer 1969 WKCR-FM Program
Guide, on which he was featured.
He also muses, “It does not seem
possible that it was 50 years ago.”
‘This was the start of his career in
broadcasting and media, which
continues today.
Barry Kelner sent greetings from
sunny Minnesota, where he’s spent
his career in financial services; he’s
now at U.S. Bank in Minneapolis.
He is hoping for a repeat this year of
the Twins’ 1991 World Series win!
His son Malcolm is an actor and
writer in Los Angeles, son Jackson
is an i-banker in NYC and daughter
Sage is at Penn Dental (their first
“Penn-tist,” he quips). Barry’s wife,
Nancy, is an estate-planning attor-
ney in suburban Minnetonka.
Mike Jellinek left his last job
running community hospitals and
services after a merger and started a
CEO/senior management consulting
firm. He is still seeing patients as a
general and child psychiatrist. He’s
happiest about his three adult chil-
dren, who all live near him and his
wife, Barbara, in Newton, Mass.; they
have four grandchildren, ages 6-12.
Mike and Barbara are both 70 (!),
and have been married 49 years. Now
that is something to shoot for!
From Jose Sanchez: “My
colleagues and I were able to get a
street named for Angelo Falcon
in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at the
intersection of Havemeyer Street
and 1st Street. This is the neighbor-
hood where Angelo spent most
of his youth and the last 15 years.
This is the same street where his
father owned a bodega and his uncle
owned a barber shop. This was an
acknowledgement by the city that
Angelo was a great contributor to
city and national politics. This honor
was bestowed on June 18. The skies
were threatening rain all morning.
A downpour came at the end of the
ceremony, as we removed the cover
over the street sign. It was almost as
if Angelo had influenced the clouds
to delay until we finished.”
Hasta, all.
1974
Fred Bremer
532 W. 111th St.
New York, NY 10025
f.bremer@ml.com
“Columbia knows how to do it
right! A wonderful reunion with
old friends,” started the email from
Roger Kahn (managing director at
Capstone Headwaters in NYC).
“This is the best reunion we've
had — so far!” said Dewey Cole
(lawyer, librarian, professor —
depending on the day).
‘These are typical of the reviews
from most classmates who attended
our 45th reunion, May 30-June 1.
‘They told how they enjoyed the chal-
lenging Mini-Core Classes and panel
discussions on current topics. They
enjoyed the Broadway shows, ballet
at Lincoln Center and tours of the
National Jazz Museum in Harlem,
the Hamilton Grange National
Memorial (Alexander Hamilton
CC 1778's homestead) and a guided
tour of the Whitney Biennial 2019. I
especially liked seeing the “Core Cur-
riculum Treasures” in Butler Library’s
Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
adlumninews ‘
‘The greatest excitement came
from the gatherings of classmates at
beautiful venues around campus: The
Friday night cocktail party on the top
floor of Faculty House; the Saturday
luncheon on a beautifully manicured
South Field; the reception and dinner
in the World Room in Pulitzer Hall
(it was called Journalism in our day).
One classmate commented on how
little of the interactions were about
careers. Instead it was much more of
personal questions — how the kids
are doing, health challenges and plans
to retire. Few in the class seem to
have already retired, but at my table
at the Saturday luncheon I heard Dr.
Steve Schonfeld (a neuroradiolo-
gist at University Radiology in East
Brunswick, N.J.) say he was gradually
cutting back under a department pro-
gram that he had designed. Dr. Larry
Stam (a nephrologist at NewYork-
Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist
Hospital) was also reducing his hours
in a more freeform way. By the time
we gather for our 50th reunion, I bet
we will hear of a lot more who have
fully retired.
On the wall at both the Friday
and Saturday events was the somber
“memorial board,” which listed our
classmates who have passed away.
Around four dozen names were
listed — about 10 percent of our
graduating class. While this first
seemed shocking, it is probably typi-
cal for a group now in its mid-to-
late 60s, but it still was disturbing.
Reading through the names brought
back memories of classmates who
were not with us.
Two classmates who did not
know they are neighbors in Sleepy
Hollow, N.Y., met at the Saturday
night reception. Jean-Pierre “J.P.”
Van Lent (an attorney with the law
firm Cullen and Dykman in Man-
hattan) got together with Dr. Peter
Zegarelli (a dentist in Tarrytown,
N.Y.). We learned that Jean-Pierre
has the unique achievement of being
the father of twin 7-year-olds. Peter
said he is planning to retire later this
year and looks forward to having
more time to tend to his bees and
his gardens — and to dote on his
one grandson. He will also be kept
busy with his new company (Ema-
nate Biomedical), which is manufac-
turing a drug delivery device.
With reunions only happening
every five years, sometimes we gather
“news” that isn't so new. For instance,
we learned that Richard Briffault
(professor at the Law School) is chair
of the New York City Conflicts of
Interest Board, which enforces rules
on NYC government officials and
employees. Nearing the end of his
five-year term, Richard will soon step
down. Richard’s wife, Sherry Glied,
became the dean of the Robert F-
Wagner Graduate School of Public
Service at NYU two years ago. We
also had a chance to meet up with
Joel Almquist (an attorney with
the Kirkpatrick & Lockhart law
firm in Boston) and his wife of two
years, Tanya Chermak. Tanya does
leadership training for physician
groups. Those of you who missed the
Saturday dinner missed Joel’s rendi-
tion of one of the bawdy limericks
from his days with the Marching
Band. He also told us he now has
three grandsons: newborn Edmond
joins Henry (3) and Charlie (5), all
children of Joel’s son, David.
Dr. Alan Rosenberg (a VP at
WellPoint) made it to reunion from
the Chicago area. At the Saturday
dinner, he told us how busy he and
his wife, Debra, have been: going to
art galleries, plays and the Whitney
tour, as well as the class events. He
also passed on that Debra has been
taking classes at Chicago Dramatists
for the past few years. Her latest
play is expected out this fall.
There you have it. A few of the
tales of a great reunion of guys who
met in September 1970 — nearly a
half century ago! More to follow in
future columns.
1975
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Randy Nichols
734 S. Linwood Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21224
rcn2day@gmail.com
Fernando Castro and Ta’ Yer
Productions presented his version
of Eva Peron at the Hudson Guild
Theatre in Hollywood in July. From
the ad for the show, I don’t think it
was the standard production!
Posting on Facebook, Dan
Deneen wrote, “Yes, I know it’s
kind of pathetic to leave Vermont
Fall 2019 CCT 61
for NYC and head straight to the
Ramble. But great news — there are
hermit thrush in Central Park.”
I had to remind Dan to beware of
other “wildlife” in the Ramble, with
emphasis on the “wild.” He replied to
me, “Careful; you're dating yourself!”
LOL!
In a later post, Dan bemoaned
the passing of Mad magazine. Dan
has such a way with words, and his
words in this case probably apply
to many of us — it is just too good
not to share in full. He posted: “So,
there’s been all this coverage of Mad
magazine shutting down. I didn’t
even know it still existed. In the
1970s, I didn’t know it still existed.
Core
Haiku
of what commas were for, then the
meaning of “What, me worry?’ would
have been seen as the anodyne shrug
it really is.) (And, of course, I'd have
been robbed of one of my childhood’s
primal mysteries ....)
“So, I’ve been reading the various
obits this week, grudgingly agreeing
with pronouncements of Mad's
claim to cultural significance over
the decades ... also, lots of thinking,
“Wait a minute. If Mad was a war,
then I’m a veteran of the Battle of
the Bulge. I was there! They’re talk-
ing about me and my idiot friends!
But it was just Mad magazine. That’s
all. And Alfred was just a geeky
loser with a runny nose who picked
At just eighteen years
Like eating your vegetables —
Core Curriculum
— Mark Steven Denardo ’75
But in the mid-’60s I read every
issue, like every other boy I knew
— maybe the girls were reading it,
too, but how would I have known?
Then I outgrew it, along with brush
cuts and going to Mass, and like
an imaginary friend who vanishes
without a trace, Mad disappeared.
“And the fact is, | was happy to let
it go, because something about Mad
and the rituals of reading Mad scared
the shit out of me. It was ‘kewl,’ and
funny, sure, and naughty enough that
it seemed weird that Mom and Dad
actually let us read it. And it was
intimidating. I could never really be
sure I was in on the joke — was in
fact pretty sure I wasn't. And it was
really creepy, it made me want to not
be a kid anymore. At 10, 11, 12 years
old in the world of suburban Detroit
boys, what was in each new issue was
necessary, vital information. I wanted
to be 30, so I could ignore it without
the worry that I'd miss out on some
essential shared snickering. Alfred E.
Neuman’s viciously smug and stupid
look wasn’t funny to me; it was scary.
“What, me worry?’ represented some
opaque meaning that I never grasped,
beyond knowing that it would be
really stupid to ever admit it. (If
Seinfeld had been on TV back then,
or if 1 knew any people like shat back
then, or if I'd had any understanding
62 CCT Fall 2019
on smaller kids. For most of us, Mad
magazine was just a phase that came
after comics and before Playboy.
‘What, me still clueless?”
By the way, I saw a stack of the
magazine at a recent flea market,
and purchased one to send to Dan
to help him work through his grief.
Jim Dolan and his wife, Yasmin,
spent time in May in their new
favorite city, Copenhagen. Jim
describes it as “totally chill ... heard
no sirens or truck noises ... hell, the
cars all shut down at intersections
and only restart when the light turns
green.” Quite different than the
street noises in Philadelphia, their
hometown. Jim proposed to Yasmin
and they became engaged at the
top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and
then married 15 years ago, during a
monsoon, in Baltimore.
The Dead Don’t Die, the latest
from Jim Jarmusch, kicked off the
Cannes Film Festival in May, 35
years after his landmark 1984 feature,
Stranger Than Paradise, played the
same festival and won the Caméra
d’Or prize for best first feature.
After 22 years with Cuddy &
Feder, Bob Schneider retired as
special counsel in July. He had han-
dled commercial and public finance
transactions, long-term and revolv-
ing credit loans and commercial,
real and personal property financing.
Shortly after, Bob and his wife,
Regina Mullahy BC’75, came to
Baltimore for a visit. We toured the
American Visionary Art Museum
and the National Aquarium in
Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
Do you want a Bobfather ESB?
If so, head to Wynkoop Brewing Co.
in Denver. The ale is brewed with
the oldest beer yeast strain in North
America, isolated by Bob Sclafani.
Siege: Trump Under Fire is
Michael Wolff's account of the sec-
ond year of the Trump administra-
tion. Published in June, it is a sequel
to Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump
White House, which was a bestseller
in 2018. Michael claims that Steve
Bannon described the Trump
organization as a criminal entity and
predicted that investigations into
the President’s finances will lead to
his political downfall, when he is
revealed to be “not the billionaire he
said he was; just another scumbag.”
Recent reporting by The New York
Times and other sources seem to
support Bannon’s claim and Wolft’s
reporting of it. Will we have another
Wolff account of the third year of
the Trump presidency?
In closing, do you believe it
is almost that time again? Our
45th reunion is next year. A small
Reunion Committee, including Jim
Dolan, Steve Jacobs, David Stein
and yours truly, Randy Nichols, and
led by Ira Malin, has begun prelimi-
nary planning. Stay tuned for details.
We hope to see lots of classmates on
campus next spring!
1976
Ken Howitt
1114 Hudson St., Apt. 8
Hoboken, N.J. 07030
kenhowitt76@gmail.com
No music this time. Not in the mood.
Terry Corrigan reached out just after
the last issue closed with the news
that Pedro Mencia passed away
in April 2019 of esophageal cancer.
Pedro was an ob/gyn for 39 years and
practiced in Pennsylvania and New
York. Terry’s email brought back
great memories of our junior and
senior years, when the south balcony
of 2 Hartley was the location of
Terry and Pedro's great three-room
suite, where there were many parties
and long nights of Hearts and/or
Risk with a group of dedicated ’76ers.
Most of all, 1 remember Pedro's
outrage when anyone else would
dare to build their Risk Army on the
continent of Australia. Pedro’s lasting
legacy, to me, is certainly bringing
many newborns into this world that
he long ago conquered by starting
his journey from the continent of
Australia on 2 Hartley. He is survived
by his wife of 40 years, three sons and
many grieving friends.
In more joyful news from sum-
mer 2019, I had a great trip to
Cooperstown, N.Y., where I went
to the National Baseball Hall of
Fame and Museum, the Fenimore
Art Museum and the GlimmerGlass
Opera performance of Show Boat.
‘The trip ended up with a stop in
Syracuse to see Mika the dog and
the couple (Linda and Dennis
Goodrich) whom Mika allows to
live in her house. Also, Mika is bark-
ing a lot about Washington, D.C.
Also heard from Rich Rohr about
what used to be called Dean's Day,
then was briefly called All-Class
Reunion and now is simply part
of Reunion Weekend, with no
special name: “Reunion Weekend
featured two days of events open to
all classes, including ours. ‘Dean-
tini’ [Dean James J. Valentini] was
pleased to note that no one bribed
their way into the Class of 2023.
More seriously, he described a new
initiative, My Columbia Journey,
with 13 specific competencies that
students should seek to develop
over four years. These are not degree
requirements but are intended to
help students plan their studies.
“Contemporary Civilization turns
100 this year. CC was an outgrowth
Ken Howitt 76 (left) and Dennis
Goodrich ’76 with Goodrich’s
dog, Mika.
3
ae
as
é
alumninews |
Several members of the Class of 1976 met in July for dinner on Morningside
Heights. Left to right: John Connell, Mark “Wojo” Wojciechowski, Steve Davis,
Robert Erlanger, Mozelle Thompson, Ken Howitt and Jon Margolis.
from a course offered during WWI
to educate ROTC students about
the issues leading to war in Europe.
The focus switched to maintaining
peace and became the course that
you remember.
“The Reunion Keynote featured
actor Maggie Gyllenhaal ’99 and
screenwriter Beau Willimon’99,
SOA03 talking about the challenges
of telling stories in films and televi-
sion. Ms. Gyllenhaal appeared for a
9:30 a.m. session after working until
2 a.m. filming the next season of The
Deuce for HBO, indicating marked
devotion to alma mater.
“T spent a night in Wallach Hall;
it was called Livingston in our time
and has been extensively renovated
and modernized. The rooms are
small, bathrooms are in the hall (but
quite nice) and the furnishings are
spartan, but for $99 a night with
free parking, it’s a great bargain for
a New York vacation. It’s not too far
from our 45th reunion, and I hope
to see all of you there.”
I had a great dinner in July with
Steve Davis, Robert Erlanger,
Jon Margolis, Mark “Wojo”
Wojciechowski, John Connell and
Mozelle Thompson. We all were
interested to hear Mozelle’s views
on the presidential race and he was
very reluctant to share his opinions
(NOT!). But more importantly, we
talked about Steve on 7 Carman, me
on 10 Carman and Mark, Mozelle
and Rob on 13 Carman during our
first year at Columbia. John and Jon
started as commuters and ended up
in John Jay (appropriately!) before
the end of our freshman year. Lots
of laughs, good food at Pisticci and
great memories. The only downside
for me was that I had to spend two
and a half hours with six lawyers.
Side note on the dinner: This was
the first time that’76ers had an ad
hoc gathering outside of a formal
university setting. I have been sug-
gesting just this kind of gathering
since taking over Class Notes, and
now we have a core group and a great
place. With the stories, conversations,
laughs and drink, it was just like a
night on 2 Hartley almost 45 years
ago. Be in touch if you want to enlarge
the Magnificent Seven! We will do it
again before the end of 2019.
A few classmates sent regrets
that they were not able to join us:
Mike Yeager, Steve Mackey and
Robert Siegfried. Robert sent this
update: “I’m at Adelphi University,
and my wife, Kathy, and our son,
Jason, and I live in Oceanside, N.Y.
(Long Island). Jason is due to finish
his bachelor’s after this semester as a
computer science major with a his-
tory minor. And as long as my mind/
body permits me, I’ll keep teaching.
“A former student of mine, Kathy
Herbert, is married to John Berger,
one of Professor Koji Nakanishi’s
former post-docs. I had Professor
Nakanishi for Organic Chemistry 2
and while I struggled to understand
his English (the acoustics of 309
Havemeyer didn't help), I found him
to be quite gracious in my limited
direct contact with him. John and
Kathy were at his 90th birthday
celebration. It’s humbling and awe-
inspiring to realize that I had the good
fortune to be taught by people like
Ronald Breslow, Koji Nakanishi and
Arthur Nowick GSAS’50. (Nowick
was in what is now Columbia Engi-
neering). We had the opportunity to
walk in the shadows of giants.”
When I sent an email request-
ing updates, I mentioned my recent
sign-up for Medicare. Tim Teeter is
also a Medicare team member and
sent this: “First, 1 am myself starting
Medicare but still work and am not
planning to retire quite yet — but I
can see it over the horizon. I teach
in the Department of History at
Georgia Southern University and
live in Savannah, Ga.
“My wife, Toni, passed away last
December — I met her through a
connection in Butler Library some
35 years ago and our first date was at
Symposium on West 113th Street.
I’m doing the usuals — giving
papers, attending conferences (next
one is in Lecce, Italy), conducting
study-abroad programs and the
like. Anyone who remembers me is
welcome to give me a heads up if
they're going to be in Savannah.”
In closing, let’s keep reconnect-
ing. Homecoming is Saturday, Octo-
ber 19, and I hope to see you all at
the pre-game barbecue. Look for
the table that has the Leo the Lion
puppet (seriously!). It will be great
to see you.
Most importantly, stay in touch,
and let us know how you, your
career and family are doing.
USER
David Gorman
111 Regal Dr.
DeKalb, IL 60115
dgorman@niu.edu
Some of us are retired now; others,
not so much.
In the first category is Peter
Beller, who retired in June from
Hartford Hospital, where he was
for 12 years medical director of the
Women’s Ambulatory Health Ser-
vices. “Now playing golf, riding my
bike and paddling my kayak. Also
doing per diem coverage at Planned
Parenthood clinics,” he reports. “So
far, so good.”
In the second category are Mike
Aroney and Greg Ball. In 2014,
Greg moved from Johns Hopkins to
the University of Maryland College
Park to become dean of the College
of Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Having finished a term and gone
through the review process, Greg
reports that he has “been informed by
the provost that I will have a second
five-year term that has just started.
So my academic life will continue.”
At least until 2025, if I’m count-
ing right. Greg adds, “I’m always
happy to welcome fellow Columbi-
ans in the D.C. area.”
Meanwhile, Mike wrote in July
that he'd just returned from seven
months in the United Arab Emir-
ates, where he was working on an
engineering project. He, his wife,
Kathy, and “our two large dogs
and I made it home just before the
oppressive summer heat descended
on Abu Dhabi. My current work
assignment will keep us confined
to North America and presents the
opportunity to make it to Home-
coming once again this year, with
the usual bribe of a Broadway show
so Kathy will join me at the game
on Saturday, October 19.”
I was also glad — and impressed
— to hear from Jon Fraser that his
play The Last Box was included in
Best Ten-Minute Plays of 2019, and
that his latest one-act play, Ms. Thule
Won't Be Coming Back, was produced
by New Circle Theater Company as
part of its Inferno Project: Greed &
Wrath festival at The Chain Theatre
in New York City in June.
Please take a moment to send in
your news, and have a great fall!
1978
Matthew Nemerson
35 Huntington St.
New Haven, CT 06511
matthewnemerson@gmail.com
It is clear to me that climate change
has finally impacted the class column
— what else can explain the pitiful
lack of enthusiasm to share precious
news with your classmates? I chalk it
up to the 100-degree weather across
much of the country that holds vast
numbers of 1978ers. While you were
deciding it was too hot or humid
to bother with dear old Columbia,
I was in the always-seasonable
Galapagos Islands learning about the
finer points of evolution and seeing
what sort of natural vegetation led to
stronger alumni participation on one
island versus another. Something to
do with bar stool height at The Gold
Rail as opposed to average room size
in John Jay or Carman. Or was it the
color of the ivy on Hamilton Hall?
But I digress.
Kevin Vitting, when he’s not
doing the things you do in the
Nephrology Group in Ridgewood,
N,J., has other pursuits and reports
that he’s been “enjoying my summer
reading sessions with the Masterwork
Chorus — so far we've sung Men-
delssohn’s ‘Elijah,’ Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria’
and Haydn's ‘Lord Nelson Mass.”
Fall2019 CCT 63
From a longtime, first-time (as
I think WFAN still allows people
to self-identify) classmate we hear,
one hopes not for the last time, from
Daniel Kohn: “I am the rabbi of the
town of Bat Ayin, Israel, for close to
28 years. I have seven children; five
are married with children. I teach,
facilitate psycho-therapeutic groups,
conduct Jewish meditation seminars
and host musical evenings at which
I play and sing. My wife, Batya, runs
a school for young women seeking
to deepen their Jewish spiritual life.”
And finally, from the man who
introduced me to sports radio
many decades ago, Tom Mariam
notes, “Excited to report that my
son Michael graduated from
Blind Brook H.S. and is now at
Emory University.”
Not one to pass up a chance at an
easy pun, when commenting on the
Yankees’s chances, Tom weighed in:
Core
Haiku
requirement. What a relief I didn’t
have to take Russian like Sid Holt
°79. Too hard! But on May 13 I was
formally made a Chevalier de l’Ordre
des Arts et des Lettres at the French
Cultural Services in New York, so
I guess I’m more French than I
realized. Naturally, in my speech, I
thanked my mother, Christiane, who
is 94 and an alumna of Columbia’s
American Language Program, where
she learned English and fell in love
with the novels of John Dos Passos.
I’m sure her Columbia connection
had a lot to do with my wanting to
go to the College.”
I want to recognize that our
class’s prodigious talent at leading
journalistic enterprises continues: in
addition to Harper’ (Rick) and The
New York Times (Dean Baquet),
D.D. Guttenplan has now taken the
helm at The Nation. This is from his
introductory letter a few months ago,
Hidden in a wing
of The Met, | read Ovid;
Bird-like diva trills
Yes, they are good, “though it’s hard
to Judge.”
During the almost-as-hot
summer of 1978, John R. “Rick”
MacArthur and I drove to
Washington, D.C., where he was
about to start an apprenticeship at
the old Washington Star, back when
it was a good paper and a classic
“front-page” type opportunity —
he worked every beat, including
police and obits. I was working for
Sen. Abe Ribicoff (D-Conn.) that
summer. A few years later when
I was working at the Washington
Monthly, our paths crossed again,
and I tried to recruit Rick to join
the Monthly as an editor. Just about
that time, Rick’s grandfather died
and the rest is, as they say history,
as Rick convinced the subsequent
foundation’s board to purchase
Harper's Magazine, where he has
remained (I assume) the longest-
serving publisher in America.
Rick writes, “When I was a fresh-
man I thought the best thing about
growing up in a bilingual household
was placing out of the language
64 CCT Fall 2019
— Richard Stukey ’78
“Though I’ve been an editor-at-large
and contributor to this extraordinary
publication for many years, serving
its vaunted legacy as editor makes me
even more keenly aware of the criti-
cal role reader support plays in our
strength and independence.”
My new company, Budderfly, is
doing well; we raised $55 million
to expand our energy efficiency as
a service business to areas such as
governments, commercial properties,
assisted living and the businesses
that actually use the most electricity
per square foot of any in the country
— fast food.
It turns out that America wastes
about a third of its commercially
used electricity, or about $60 billion
worth a year. And so, we end where
we began. While some of you are
writing about the end of the world
on a daily or monthly basis, our
company is trying to save the world
for a few more years. Which means
that some of you will have to keep
writing in to the column, because
this is the one place that will always
be very cool.
Robert Klapper
8737 Beverly Blvd., Ste 303
Los Angeles, CA 90048
robertklappermd@aol.com
Ethan Heisler reports: “After retiring
from Citi in May 2016, I launched a
paid subscription newsletter and ran
it for 22 months, then got hired by
Kroll Bond Rating Agency last year
to continue publishing my newsletter
on its platform. I work from home
on Long Island and, at 62, found a
gig I can continue for, I hope, years to
come. Regards!”
Allan Hoving updates us: “Two
years ago, we dropped off our young-
est at Scripps College in Claremont,
Calif., and I wondered why we
were heading back to Connecticut,
especially after driving down along
the coast between Los Angeles and
San Diego. In May, we relocated to
a little beach town north of La Jolla
and we're not coming back (except
for periodic dental cleanings; that
hygienist is a keeper!). My digital
marketing work has turned free-
lance/remote; I’m an online instruc-
tor in the graduate program of the
S.I. Newhouse School of Commu-
nications at Syracuse University, and
my agent is trying to sell two novel-
las to the movies or streaming TV.
Sorry I missed the 40th, but sending
regards from the Golden State.”
Michael P. Kelly is finishing
his 10th year as chair of McCarter
& English in Wilmington, Del.
He shares, “My daughter Joanna
graduated from the College in 2014.
I am happy to report that I am
cancer-free after being diagnosed
with stage IIIB gall bladder cancer
in 2017. Thanks — from the bottom
of my heart — to my fellow CU
alums who offered their prayers and
encouragement. Hope to see you at
the next reunion.”
Karim H. Karim writes, “I hadn't
planned to write my memoirs in any
form, but was interviewed recently
about my career studying Mus-
lims for the forthcoming book The
Production of ‘Islams.’ The questions
inevitably took me back to my years
studying at Columbia for a major
in Islamic studies. I went on to earn
a master’s at McGill’s Institute of
Islamic Studies and then crossed the
campus for a Ph.D. in communica-
tion studies, examining the depiction
of Muslims in mainstream media.
‘The thesis was published a few
months before 9-11 as a book, Isfamic
Peril: Media and Global Violence, for
which I received the 2001 Robinson
Book Prize. I am a professor at Car-
leton University’s School of Journal-
ism and Communication in Ottawa,
Canada, and director of the Carleton -
Centre for the Study of Islam.
The interview will be published as
the chapter titled ‘Unpacking the
Production of “Islams”: My Journey
of Forty Years.’ My email address is
karim_karim@carleton.ca.”
Fernando Koatz attended our
40th reunion and writes, “I am
practicing law in my own firm,
keeping busy with work, lecturing
and traveling when necessary. My
kids are out of college; one working
in San Francisco for LinkedIn,
the other one here in New York
doing marketing and social media.
My wife is an assistant principal
in a public school in Forest Hills,
Queens, where we have been living
for nearly 30 years.”
Thomas A. Kligerman’s update:
“We recently sold our house in
New Jersey and are now full-time
residents of New York City. We have
bought an apartment in Murray Hill
and are about to embark on a total
renovation. Given that I see con-
struction up close on a daily basis, I
am filled with excitement tempered
by a good dose of trepidation.
“Our youngest daughter,
Magdalen, is in her second year at
The American University of Paris.
Katherine, our middle daughter,
is entering her final year at the
University of Texas at Austin School
of Architecture. Our eldest, Rebecca,
lives in Brooklyn and does PR for
various companies to New York City.
“As I write this I am sitting in a
shingle-style cottage in the seaside
town of Weekapaug, R.I. We take
this house from June 1 through the
end of August every year. It is the
perfect antidote to Manhattan. I
have been coming here since I was
10 and have friends here that go way
back — more than half a century. As
we all know, time flies.
“Work at the Ike Kligerman Bar-
kley architecture firm is very busy.
I feel incredibly lucky to have great
clients who want houses in an array
of beautiful places. We have projects
underway in Martha’s Vineyard,
South Carolina, Canada, California
and the Hamptons, as well as New
York City and other places. A lot of
travel but a lot of great experiences!
“Periodically, I walk around the
Morningside Heights campus. The
architects who designed the campus,
McKim, Mead & White, are a
constant source of inspiration for
me, as are all the things I learned at
Columbia and my memories of this
great university.”
Robert C. Klapper: “Today’s
Columbia memory actually comes
from this column. I got a nice note
from legendary baseball writer Bob
Klapisch about his new book, Inside
the Empire: The True Power Behind
the New York Yankees. As I put
together this column, it occurred to
me that I have never met or spoken
with Bob. Truth be told, during the
four years on Morningside Heights,
I got some of his mail, and I’m sure
he got some of mine.
“T couldn't help but let him know
that I have hosted a radio show on
ESPN for eight and a half years and
that I would love to have him on as
a guest to talk about all things base-
ball — and maybe a little bit about
his memories of playing baseball
at Baker Field. If you recall, in our
yearbook there is a full page devoted
to Bob. He’s on the pitcher's mound
wherein the four-sequence photo
you see him winding up, throwing
the pitch, then realizing o00/ the
ball’s been hit and then seeing him
looking up at the home run he has
just given up, without ever showing
you the batter. It’s a classic.
“T found out that Bob’s given
name is Roberto, and that many of
his friends have called him Robby
Klapper, which really made me smile.
(I reminded him that I had the only
Jewish mother who did not throw
away her son’s baseball cards; she
had saved my shoebox filled with the
entire 1968 Topps set and, in addi-
tion to Nolan Ryan's rookie card, my
favorite card is of Roberto Clemente,
the legendary Pittsburgh Pirate from
Puerto Rico.) This is my favorite
card in the set because his name is
listed as ‘Bob’ Clemente, because in
America in 1968 they were not going
to call him ‘Roberto.’ Bob reminded
me that his mom is Brazilian and
he has a whole other life as Roberto
Klapisch, where he writes for a
Spanish-speaking audience.
“T’ve interviewed hundreds of
guests on my show — from Dick
Butkus to Isaiah Thomas — but Bob
was, by far, one of my favorites. You
can hear the interview on the ESPN
podcast for Weekend Warrior. Bob’s
gift as a storyteller is second to none.
“He very heavily credits his four
years at the College with helping
him see the beautiful connection
of art and sports. It made me once
again appreciate the value of the
Core Curriculum on my life these
40 years after graduation. Bob’s story
of riding the subway to Baker Field
for the first day of baseball practice
and encountering a violent gang
who took over the subway car, and
how he survived the train ride, made
‘Ez
R
2e-_
E
Longtime friends (left to right) Shawn FitzGerald ’80, Mike Brown ’80,
Eric Blattman ’80, Joe Ciulla 80, John Hall ’81 and Scott Ahern ’80 met up
on the North Fork of Long Island this past summer.
alumninews
it clear to all of my listeners what
a special talent he really has. Who
knew that in creating this column,
such a beautiful reunion on the radio
would be possible?
“Roar, lion, roar!”
1980
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Michael C. Brown
London Terrace Towers
410 W. 24th St., Apt. 18F
New York, NY 10011
mcbcu80@yahoo.com
Fall is almost here. Lions Head
Football Coach Al Bagnoli has the
team competing at the highest levels,
and let’s hope that Dave Maloof’s
Jets are playing well. I hope to see
many familiar faces at Homecoming
on Saturday, October 19, enjoying
the tailgating experience.
It’s hard to believe that in 2020
we will celebrate our 40th reunion.
Seems like only yesterday that we
were ascending upon Morningside
Heights, full of energy and big ideas.
Keep an eye on our Facebook page,
“Columbia College Class of 1980
Reunion,” for details.
Best to all, and drop me a note at
mebcu80@yahoo.com.
1981
Kevin Fay
8300 Private Ln.
Annadale, VA 22003
kfayO516@gmail.com
I heard from Daniel Gordis, who
has spent the last 21-plus years in
Jerusalem, where he helped found
Israel's first liberal arts college, Shalem
College, based (in part, and not
surprisingly!) on the Core Curriculum.
On the eve of turning 60, Daniel
and his wife are taking a short break
from daily Jerusalem life and have
relocated to Cambridge, Mass., for
a couple of months. Their daughter
is living in the United States while
studying at MIT, and their son-in-
law is at Harvard (this explains the
Cambridge sabbatical, I guess). They
are celebrating the birth of a second
granddaughter, and being close by,
this involves helping with childcare,
carpools, shopping and so on. Daniel
is working remotely for Shalem,
and is back into the world of child
raising (an exhausting and humbling |
reminder of why they had children
decades ago!). Daniel recently
published his 12th book, We Stand
Divided: The Rift Between American
Jews and Israel.
As it’s the class correspondent’s
task to share both good and bad
news, what follows is certainly the
latter. I learned from Ed Klees that
Stephen McPartland passed away
last year. Steve had many health
issues, moved to Florida decades ago
and pretty much kept to himself.
He was a beloved member of Fiji,
and when word got out, we swapped
memories of being with Steve McP
many years ago.
‘Those who knew him all had
a favorite Steve McP story. Steve
was described by his classmates as
extremely smart, funny, kind/gentle,
with keen powers of observation —
he wasnt pushy or loud, and was an
extremely genuine guy. There was a
bit of mystery to Steve McP; he was
dubbed “the James Bond of Bayside.”
I thank Ed for letting us know,
and for Jason Zweig’82, Jeff Pun-
dyk, Brian Krisberg, Jeff Haberman
80, Jon Dahl’80, Louis Napoli’83
and Mike Kinsella for sharing stories
about his life. To attend Columbia in
the late 1970s was to be exposed to
true individuals such as Steve McP,
and for this I’m incredibly grateful. |
1982 |
Andrew Weisman
81 S. Garfield St.
Denver, CO 80209
ColumbiaCollege82@gmail.com
Greetings, gents. After a two-issue
respite — due in part to my email
going on the fritz and a general mal-
aise experienced by all of us — we’re
back in business.
I’ve decided to get the ball rolling
with an update of my own. It was
bound to happen: In June I turned
60. The wife, Jody (née Abramowitz)
BC’84, SIPA’85, and I have now
been married for 33 wonderful years
and we celebrated my birthday by
riding our bicycles from Vienna to
Prague. Amazing time, and I highly
Fall 2019 CCT 65
recommend you put this on your
bucket list!
After three years, my term
as president of the Society of
Columbia Graduates came to an
end. It was an amazing and fulfilling
experience to have the opportunity
to present the Great Teacher Award
three times. The award ceremony
occurs during Reunion Weekend;
it’s open to all and well worth 90
minutes of your day to celebrate our
talented and generous professors.
Jody and I were blessed with three
wonderful children. Our oldest, Han-
nah, is now putting the final touches
on her doctoral dissertation at the
London School of Economics. Our
middle one, Izzy, completed a year as
a graduate fellow with the National
Nuclear Security Administration
while doing research at Lawrence
Livermore Laboratory. She recently
started working for “Z-Division,” a
joint venture between the Depart-
ment of Energy and the CIA. How
scary is that? Your guess is as good as
mine as to what she does there. Our
youngest, Henry, finished Regis Jesuit
HLS. here in Denver (interesting
choice for a bar mitzvah boy, don’t you
think?) and is now at Colby College
in Maine. If any of you get to Denver,
look me up — dinner’s on me!
A couple of folks checked in this
period. Mark Monane says hello to
everyone and bemoans the recent
lack of classmate participation. Larry
Braverman checked in with some
serious concerns about the meager
funding of the Columbia University
Marching Band and its fight over their
appearance in Butler Library on Orgo
Night; clearly that cherished 40-plus
year tradition must be protected!
Last but not least, our devoted
classmate John Mastrodimos
checked in: “In 2014, I moved in
with my parents to be primary
caregiver. They were under hospice
care at the same time for a year and
a half. It was a difficult time in my
life. I found solace in The Stanhope
House. The S.H. is a legendary
roadhouse and blues establish-
ment in Stanhope, N.J. On Tuesday
nights I would venture to the club
for its open mic night. The club is
10 minutes away from my parents’
home. I could go out for the evening
knowing that if my parents needed
me, I was but 10 minutes away.
“T play percussion: drums, bongos
and timbales. Playing at the open
mic was one of my few pleasures.
66 CCT Fall 2019
Another pleasure was seeing the
club’s house band, the Stanhope
House Rhythm & Blues Revue,
perform. The Revue featured a
dozen top-notch musicians, includ-
ing a three-piece horn section. Every
Tuesday, after the open mic, I would
stay up into the wee hours, watching
the Revue rehearse. I was an audi-
ence of one, and they didn’t seem to
mind my being there. They were my
favorite band.
“Recently, ’'ve made a niche for
myself playing percussion, especially
bongos, at the open mic. Occasion-
ally, I will sit in with some of the
Revue’s members, and I’ve become
bold enough to start playing with
them regularly, which brings me
great joy! I recently played an entire
set with the band on their home
turf. We were scheduled to play
again two weeks later, and yes, I’ll be
playing with my favorite band again!
“The band is fronted by Jon
Kline, the 75-year-old owner, with
a voice like sandpaper and glue. This
man lives and breathes the blues. I
owe my place in the band thanks to
his kindness and big heart.
“My parents have passed away,
but my frequenting the club regu-
larly, and sitting in with the Revue,
continues. My parents were always
supportive of my music. I know that
they would be pleased that I am now
pursuing my passion for music, and
especially, my playing at the S.H.,
with great approval!”
John, thanks for the wonderful
update!
Now let’s all chip in and send news!
1983
Roy Pomerantz
Babyking/Petking
182-20 Liberty Ave.
Jamaica, NY 11412
bkroy@msn.com
From David Lyle: “Paul Lerner
and I got together for lunch at the
Huntington Botanical Gardens in
Pasadena. My husband, Douglas
Murray, and I and our daughters,
Mary and Frances, were visiting
Los Angeles from Nashville. Paul’s
husband, Stephen Reis, was part of
the company, too.”
Bill Spiegelberger: “After 15
years in Moscow, I left Russia in
December 2017 to rejoin my family
in Vienna. The timing turned out to
be good. In April 2018 my former
employer RUSAL was sanctioned
by the U.S. Treasury Department,
at which point it would have been
impossible to continue working
there. But I didn’t leave Russia
because of anticipated sanctions.
I left because the thrill was gone;
Russia had become grimly predict-
able. In Vienna I’ve taken up writing
about Russian domestic and foreign
policy. The Foreign Policy Research
Institute recently published two of
my articles: The Sources of Post-
Soviet Conduct (Russia is aggressive
abroad because it is weak at home
— neurotic, really) and Anatomy
of a Muddle: U.S. Sanctions against
RUSAL and Oleg Deripaska (United
States was pressing buttons like a
monkey at a typewriter). I’m now
halfway through writing a book
about the Russian political protests
from a few years ago. Working title:
Core
Haiku
My mind freezes over.
The Ephemeral R/Evolution. The Art
of Russian Civil Protest 2011-2014.
My next project will be a musical
comedy about terrorism and assas-
sination, No Polonium, Please. We're
British! In this dark, Merovingian-
like age we live in, I think it’s best to
have a martini and a laugh.”
Michael Lavine: “I have such fond
memories of my time at Columbia.
‘Two of my favorite professors were
Wallace Gray and Peter Awn (who
passed away on February 17, 2019).
When I took my junior year abroad in
London, I found myself in Dublin on
James Joyce’s 100th birthday. I picked
up copies of all the local newspapers
and gave them to Professor Gray. He
then gave them out as prizes to his
star students in his great ‘Eliot, Joyce,
Pound class.
“T can picture Sam Steinberg sit-
ting outside Ferris Booth Hall like
it was yesterday with his chocolate
bars shouting ‘I’ve got the big ones!’
I actually have three or four original
Sam Steinberg drawings on rectan-
gular cards. I’m in touch with Paul
Lerner, whom I met my first week
Gloomy freshman year
Reading books | cannot pronounce;
in freshman year. I sometimes stay
with him and his husband, Stephen
Reis, when I’m in Los Angeles. -
“I am a musical director, conduc-
tor and vocal coach for Broadway
performers. Through the years, I’ve
amassed one of the larger privately
held collections of sheet music
around. I get requests for that obscure -
piece of sheet music that no one can
find every day. My teaching has taken
me all over the world. For the past 10
years, I’ve been teaching twice a year
all over Australia in its conservato-
ries. I’ve also taught in Singapore,
Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok,
Lausanne (Switzerland), Italy, India
and many more places. I love travel-
ing. I’ve been Executive Platinum on
American Airlines for many years,
which shows my obsessiveness with
mileage! I’m in my 30th year living
across the street from Juilliard/Lin-
coln Center. I don't get to Columbia
— Kevin Cronin ’83
that often, but when I do, I love just
walking through the campus. I’d love
to hear from fellow alumni. I’m at
broadwaymh!@aol.com.”
Victor Cha: “It’s a year of
anniversaries for me. This year, I
have tallied 25 years of teaching
at Georgetown University where
I hold the D.S. Song-KF Chair in
Government and am vice-dean of
faculty and graduate affairs in the
School of Foreign Service. I also
completed 10 years as senior advisor
and Korea chair at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies
in Washington, D.C. My work as an
NBC News and MSNBC contribu-
tor brings me back to New York
frequently, and I enjoy occasionally
sneaking up on the 1 train to 116th
street and sitting on the Steps for
coffee and reminiscing. One of my
sons was a campus organizer for
John Delaney’85!”
James Lo: “I’ve been creating
compositions and sound designs for
downtown contemporary dance, the
last three of which were for Donna
Uchizono at The Joyce Theater, Neil
alumninews
Greenberg at The Chocolate Factory
Theater and Molly Lieber/Eleanor
Smith at New York Live Arts. I also
develop interactive props and set
pieces for theater, and am excited to
be adding basic robotics to my bag
of tricks. There are days I miss the
big enterprise software tools I used
to use, but I never miss the pressure,
arbitrary engineering trends or
politics of my old job. I’m happily
married to Amy Chin BC’83, whom
I hope to be more like someday. I
ran into Michael Azerrad seven
years ago at the Pitchfork Music
Festival, which was coincidentally
the last show I played as a drummer.
Time appears to be accelerating; can
you feel it?”
Eddy Friedfeld: “I’m getting a
second bite at the apple on this entry
since CCT inadvertently left out
my good friend and now longtime
doctor, the brilliant dermatologist
and Mohs surgeon David Kriegel.
We're going to do this until we get it
right: ‘On September 29, 2018, I had
the honor of performing the wed-
ding ceremony of Tracy Klestadt
to Esther Duval in Bridgehampton
in a sunset wedding on the beach.
Since graduating from Columbia,
I have also had the privilege of
alternatively officiating, being best
man, groomsman, toastmaster or
writing about the weddings of Adam
Bayroff, Paul Ehrlich, Neal Smolar,
Danny Schultz, Roy Pomeraniz,
David Kriegel, Len Rosen, Steve
Arenson, Jon White’85 and Allison
White BC’86 (née Breitbart), and
Judy Landis BC’85 (née Enteles),
honors I hold dear, and all of whom
remain close friends.”
Holler at Us
in Haiku!
Core, one hundred years!
What’s a fun way to note it?
Poetry from you.
Tom Licata: “After 25 years in
the semiconductor industry, I retired
from that sector, earned a Series
79 investment banking certifica-
tion, and now do ad hoc work with
start-ups, and some consulting. I
also vigorously participate in musical
activities. I’ve gotten back to my
roots with the Columbia Glee Club,
singing with the Oregon Chorale
for the past few years, performing a
broad repertoire including classical
masterworks by Mortan Laurid-
sen, Ralph Vaughan Williams,
Heniyk Gorecki and so forth, and
occasional performances with the
Oregon Symphony and Beaverton
Symphony Orchestra. We recently
completed a tour of Eastern Oregon
to support the local groups there.
“Through 2018 I was executive
producer for my older son’s first pro
album, Thom Moot — Moot Points,
which can be found on bandcamp.
com. I also provided the keyboard
work for the song ‘Autumn.’ I don't
currently have a hobby band up
and running, but some previous
instances can be found on Sound-
cloud including Cats and Jammers,
Port4 and RainTrek. These are all
live recordings made just for fun.
“Best wishes to the Columbia
community! The light of truth and
sound governance are needed now
more than ever!”
Jon Ross: “I went to Indonesia
for June and July to do an assess-
ment on Lombok and to visit our
[MicroAid] projects in Nepal. Please
let me know if you want to visit or if
you have contacts in Indo.”
David Hershey-Webb: “I first
came to NYC to live 40 years ago
We’re celebrating the Core Centennial this year and would
love to hear your memories of the Core Curriculum! But
there’s a catch — you need to tell us in haiku. Send your
5-7-5 recollections to cct_centennial@columbia.edu, and
we’ll run our favorites in the next three issues’ Class Notes.
this past summer. Somewhere there’s
a photo of our white Saab with a
roof rack crammed with my stuff,
including a bike, parked in front of
Beta Theta Pi, with its red, white and
blue columns, on West 113th Street,
off Broadway. Dave Humor, a friend
of my high school buddy Stephen,
had found a room in the run-down,
rat-infested, trash-strewn, alcohol-
soaked fraternity for the summer.
‘The three of us lived there that sum-
mer, across the street from campus.
The night we got here Stephen and
I rode our bikes from West 113th
Street to the Battery, where we stood
and looked out across the harbor at
the Statute of Liberty.
“We had loft beds, which the rats
couldn't reach. We listened to Some
Girls (‘rats on the west side/bedbugs
uptown/this town's in tatters/look at
me!’). We followed the Sandinista
Revolution, rooting for the Sandini-
stas. NYC was dirty and dangerous
and loud with graffiti all over the
subways and muggers everywhere and
weed and coke and music and beggars
and squeegee men and ceilings falling
in and no heat or hot water and sirens
and scammers and sweaty dancers
and sex — in other words, heaven for
three 19-year-old boys.
“T must have lost my bike because
I bought another at Metro Bikes on
West 96th Street, next to the plant
store, and got a job with mobile
messengers. For the next couple of
months I rode up and down the
avenues carrying packages to model-
ing agencies and ad agencies and
taking in the street scene.
“At night we sat on the Low
Steps and drank and talked about
history and philosophy and revolu-
tion and music. We were Marxists
and idealists and hedonists.
“One evening that summer
Jimmy Carter gave what came to be
called his ‘malaise’ speech. I watched
it with the frat boys. I agreed with
much of what Carter was saying and
was not a little frightened by the
drunk frat boys screaming ‘fuck you’
at the T'V screen. A little more than
a year later they'd bring us Reagan,
and later the unnamable one.
“I was in Love. With NYC.
But it was an odd kind of love. I
loved it in part because it was bad.
It was gruesome murder and the
stench of poverty. It was greed. It
was scamming. It was heartbreak.
It was broken glass. A car smashing
into a light post. A man walking
up to a woman on the street and
slapping her. A man walking up and
down Broadway sticking a needle
into people. I loved it all because I
carried so much pain inside and it
expressed what I felt.
“And there were the little flowers
pushing through the pavement. The
camaraderie of friends. A soulful
street singer. Block party dancers.
Merengue and salsa. Lovers on
Sheep Meadow. Ninety-year-old
communists in a basement club-
house, with a beautiful dream still.
‘The afternoon light on the ornate
old buildings of the Upper West
Side. The determination and passion
in the faces of every complexion.
The clothes, the clothes, the clothes,
wild hats and crazy coats and white
gloves and plaid shorts and red fish
net stockings and black leather pants
and feather boas and platform shoes
and alligator boots and the girl with
the faraway eyes and Puerto Rican
girls just wanna and it doesn’t matter
and when the whip comes down
and shattered shattered and you're
so respectable and the White House
lawn and I’m so hot for you and
you can't give it away on Seventh
Avenue, in 1979.”
1984
Dennis Klainberg
Berklay Cargo Worldwide
14 Bond St., Ste 233
Great Neck, NY 11021
dennis@berklay.com
With thanks to the Reunion Com-
mittee and the Alumni Office staff,
our 35th reunion was great fun and
a huge success. The stories! The
reminiscences! The career updates!
‘The interactions with old (and new)
friends. Simply put, a real pleasure
for all who attended.
Events included a get-together
with many Barnard alumnae at La
Palapa (with thanks to owner Bar-
bara Sibley BC’92); various classes;
lunches; a wine tasting; a joint
reception with the Classes of ’74
and’79; our class dinner; and a final
chance to “dance under the stars” on
Low Plaza and College Walk.
In attendance: Jon Abbot,
David Adler, Madhu Alagiri, Paul
Auwaeter , Michael Bozzo, Paul
Burke, Newt Burkett, Antonio
Cancio, Evelyn Chaleki, Tom
Chaleki, Daniel Cohen, Patrick
Fall 2019 CCT 67
Conroy, Christine Cronin, John
Feeney, Robert Feinstein, Law-
rence Finkel, Thomas Gilman,
David Godfried, Langham Glea-
son, James Gorton, El Gray, Mark
Green, Michael Hall, Eric Han-
sen, Reggie Henderson, Ronald
Hubsher, Patricia Huie, Larry
Kane, Brian Kennedy, Dennis
Klainberg, Frank Lang, Rupert
Li, Douglas Lindgren, Elias Lolis,
Douglas Mintz, Christopher Nol-
let, Najmuddin Patwa, Nathan-
iel Polis, Ben Pushner, Tom
Samuelson, Steven Saunders,
Michael Scherz, Peter Schmidt,
Karl Schmuck, Paul Schwartz-
baum, Phil Segal, Chip Seibert,
Larry Silo, Mark Simon, John
Stackfleth, David Stewart, Edwin
Trayner, Wayne Weddington, Jim
Weinstein, Carlton Wessel and
Barak Zimmerman. Special guests
at our class dinner included Beth
Knobel BC’84, David Filosa’82 and
spouses/partners/children/friends.
Kudos and many, many thanks
to our riveting and simply amazing
guest speaker, Michael Massimino
SEAS’84, an accomplished engineer
and astronaut, and now a professor
at Columbia Engineering.
Special thanks to Tom Gilman
and Carl Wessel, who were the co-
chairs of our Class Gift Committee.
Looking forward to seeing you
all in five years, or at Homecoming
(Saturday, October 19) or at one of
our old stomping grounds (V&T,
Symposium, Mondel, The Hungar-
ian Pastry Shop, Koronet, Tom’),
or one of my new favorites (Le
Monde, Mel’s Burger Bar, Dinosaur
BBQ, The Heights and other great
neighborhood venues.)
Roar, Lion, Roar!
1985
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Jon White
16 South Ct.
Port Washington, NY 11050
jw@whitecoffee.com
James Walsh is directing a new
show, As Much As I Can, at Joe’s
Pub/The Public Theater in NYC
68 CCT Fall 2019
in September. He writes, “It is a
powerful piece, about the hidden
HIV/AIDS epidemic in the black
community, which I co-created with
pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline
(see more info at bit.ly/2LUV7J8).
As Much As I Can is regarded as a
seminal work of theater based on
personal stories of the subjects of
a five-year ethnographic study, as
profiled in this New York Times
Magazine cover story from 2017:
nyti.ms/336WJ Vx.
“There’s an interesting story in
the saga of how As Much As I Can
came to be from a corporate com-
mission — from a drug company,
no less — and the creative journey
we've taken over the past two and
a half years from Jackson, Miss., to
Off-Broadway.
“Our show won a Cannes Lion,
one of several prestigious media,
creative and social consciousness
honors that have been bestowed
upon the piece since our New York
run in Harlem last May.”
My wife, Allison, attended a
swearing-in for new citizensin _
Suffolk County, and saw Magistrate
Gary Brown officiating. I was told
(to my complete non-surprise) that
Judge Brown did an amazing job
overseeing the ceremony and offer-
ing wonderful words of wisdom and
congratulations. Even more exciting,
Gary has been re-nominated to
serve as a district judge on the
United States District Court for the
Eastern District of New York. Gary
has served in the Eastern District
since his selection in 2011 and also
serves as an adjunct professor at St.
John’s University School of Law.
He served on the Committee of
Administration Magistrate Judges
System, appointed to manage more
than 1,400 Superstorm Sandy cases.
Prior to his appointment to the
bench, Gary served as the director
of litigation and chief compliance
officer of CA Technologies and as
an assistant U.S. attorney in the
Eastern District of New York for
more than 15 years, concluding his
service as the chief of the Long
Island Criminal Division.
In this 50th anniversary year of
the Apollo 11 moon landing, Tom
Vinciguerra JRN’86, GSAS’90’s
most recent New York Times piece
was appropriately titled, “How “The
Twilight Zone’ First Saw Man on
the Moon.” The 1959 pilot episode,
airing a decade before the first moon
Four track teammates and a friend went to London in January to watch some
Premier League soccer games. Left to right: Chris Erker, Andre O’Reggio ’87,
Ward Bobitz ’86, Doug Teasdale ’89 and Dave McCarty ’86.
landing, bore what would become
the series’ hallmark: narrating Cold
War anxieties through a mix of sci-
ence and superstition.
And speaking of anniversary
years, our 35th reunion will be cel-
ebrated Thursday, June 4-Saturday,
June 6. Please mark your calendar
and try to be there for some, if not
all, of the weekend. Just as impor-
tantly, please volunteer to be on the
Reunion Committee. There’s not
a ton of work involved — one big
goal is to maximize our attendance,
and to do this we will want to get a
wide range of ideas about what kind
of venues might be fun. To help get
classmates here, we would love to
have plenty of folks to reach out to
classmates and encourage them to
attend. Aside from the usual phone/
email lists, the best way to do that
is through clubs or teams or dorm
floors/suites that were part of your
Columbia community. I have found
that this is consistently the best way
to increase the size of our group.
Even if you can't help out with
the planning, feel free to shoot me
an email with your ideas about
our class-specific events. The “big
events” are pretty much locked into
the overall reunion schedule (class
dinner, certain evening receptions,
lectures and tours). However, there
are a few class-specific opportuni-
ties in which we can plan unique
events. We have had dinner at V&T
a few times — should we go back,
or is there another place to go to
reminisce? (Unfortunately CDR,
Cannon's and The College Inn are
gone — if you haven't been back to
Morningside Heights in a while, you
wont recognize the neighborhood!)
If any classmates have a space we
can use/tie into an event, or a neat
connection for a lounge area for a
party, please let us know (in past years,
we had a reception in Brian Cousin’s
law firm’s office, and we went to the
New York City Ballet and saw John
Phelan’s amazing daughter).
Just hold the reunion dates, and
details will be forthcoming.
Even if you can't attend, help in
the planning or suggest an event, at
the very least you can send me a nice
long update about where you are,
how Columbia still has an impact on
you 35 years later, what your most
memorable moment is and so on.
1986
Everett Weinberger
50 W. 70th St., Apt. 3B
New York, NY 10023
everett6@gmail.com
Congrats to Ben Schmidt on his
daughter, Isabel Schmidt, join-
ing the Class of 2023. Ben is the
Giovanni and Amne Costigan
Endowed Professor of History at
the University of Washington in
Seattle. Ben, who earned a master’s
and Ph.D. from Harvard, teaches
some interesting-sounding classes at
UW. Last winter, he taught “Spain
and Its Golden Age, 1469-1700,”
and last spring, “Exploration and
Empire: The Art and Science of
Global Power, 1300-1800.”
Ward Bobitz sent us a nice
update: “I have been in Richmond,
Va., for nearly 23 years, working the
entire time at Genworth Financial,
where I now am general counsel.
My career at Genworth, the world’s
largest underwriter of long-term
care insurance, has been extremely
interesting. In addition to confront-
ing the societal challenges of fund-
ing the long-term care needs of our
aging population, I have also been
exposed to a variety of geopolitical
issues, as we have been operating
under a merger agreement to be
acquired by a Chinese company,
China Oceanwide Holdings Group,
since October 2016. We continue to
seek the required regulatory approv-
als to close the transaction. The
stamina that I developed running
cross-country at Columbia is truly
being put to the test by this deal!
“On the personal side, my wife,
Kelley (Brown’87), and I have
three great kids, Jack (20, a junior
at Brown), Sam (18, at Michigan)
and Cate (16). I frequently see many
of my track teammates, includ-
ing Jon Sycamore ’85, SEAS’85;
Terry Jones ’85; Dave McCarty;
Andre O’Reggio’87; and Doug
Teasdale ’89. Nearby is a photo of
Dave, Doug, me, Andre and a non-
Columbia friend from our January
trip to London to watch a couple of
Premier League soccer games. Most
of us are too old to do any serious
running, but we do enjoy watching
soccer, which is probably influenced
by our enjoyment of the great
Columbia soccer teams of our era.”
Michael Goldfischer reports on
a fun Columbia-themed party: “On
June 29, Jeffrey Ammeen, along
with his daughters, Jade and Aja,
hosted the family’s Fifth Annual
Summer Solstice musical celebra-
tion — Jeffapalooza, a day of family,
friends, live music, Columbia blue
spirit and Fiji purple brotherhood.
The Dude count was high at this
one, and you can't tell me there was
a better party going on anywhere. In
attendance were fraternity brothers
William Golden BUS’93; Paul Mar-
shall’85; James Hirshfield SEAS’87,
who attended with son Jack and
Bill Flick ’87 (left) and Michael
Goldfischer ’86 enjoyed music
at “effapalooza.”
fiancée, Regina; Mark Foss ’87;
Andrew Upton’85; Arthur Ajzen-
man’83 and his wife, Lisa; William
Flick’87, with his wife, Leslie, and
kids, Will, Charlie, Max and Nina;
Dominic DeCicco SEAS’84 and his
son, Dante; Bob Watson SEAS’86
and his wife, Sandy; and Michael
Goldfischer with his sons, Jacob,
Jared ’21 and Noah. The Columbia
spirit was enhanced by other alums,
including Edward Zahos and his
wife, Marilen, and kids, Alexander
and Isabel; Joe Policastro’87 and his
daughter, Alessandra; and Columbia
Lions Living Legend Danny
Upperco’85.
“The musical entertainment
consisted of Jeff playing lead guitar
with his newest band, Charlie Don't
Surf; Michael Goldfischer on lead
electric mandolin with his band The
Outside Band; and musical chairs
with other great musicians hopping
up and jamming, including Dominic’s
son, Dante. Nothing could prevent
the day from being a rousing success,
not even a torrential downpour, which
almost blew down the stage. Dominic
once again provided commemorative
T-shirts, this year’s in Columbia blue.
From retelling old stories from 114th
Street, to catching up on growing
families, sharing a few cocktails of
Clyde May’s Whiskey, Prospero
Tequila and Nemiroff Vodka, it was
a day to remember. For those of you
who cant get enough of CC’86 live
rock and roll, the second annual Win-
terpalooza is scheduled for March 7
at the Stanhope House in Stanhope,
NJ. The night will once again feature
three bands fronted by CC’86ers: Jeff
and The Doctor’s bands mentioned
earlier, opening for the headliner, and
Sherman Ewing. Now Roar, Lion,
Roar and Rock, Lion, Rock.”
Our class’s Jacques Cousteau,
Steve Klotz, headed to Beqa
Lagoon, Fiji, this past summer to
observe and study inter-species
shark feeding behaviors. His
son, Daniel, studied at a summer
program in Saint Petersburg and
Moscow. His daughter, Alyxandra,
started law school at The George
Washington University in D.C.
Mark Goldstein updated us from
Thousand Oaks, Calif: “Exciting
transitions for our family. Shira is a
freshman at University of North-
ern Colorado, and Risa is a junior
in high school at the Besant Hill
School in Ojai, Calif. My wife, Julie,
is purchasing manager for Minimus,
alumninews \:)
specializing in all things travel and
individual sized, from baked goods
and snacks to personal care products.
I protect the intellectual property of
technology and business innovators
at SoCal IP Law Group.”
Many of us knew Alex Navab ’87
and were shocked and saddened to
learn of his death on July 7, 2019,
while on vacation with his family in
Greece. He was a star at KKR for
24 years, and had launched Navab
Capital Partners in April with a fun-
draising goal of $3 billion. Alex was
a class act and a mensch, and will be
missed and remembered. [Editor’s
note: See “Obituaries.” |
1987
Sarah A. Kass
PO Box 1006
New York, NY 10113
SarahAnn29uk@gmail.com
At press time, the shock waves are still
reverberating from the tragic, sudden
death of Alex Navab. There are many
moving tributes and reminiscences
elsewhere, but I am hoping that some
of you will send in stories over the
next few months. It would be lovely
to publish a collection. Please consider
contributing to the column. [Editor's
note: See “Obituaries.” |
Recently, my father, Alvin Kass
’57, and I ventured to Mamaroneck,
N.Y., to pay a visit to our former
professor Henry Graff GSAS’49.
We had read the previous week of
the passing of his wife, Edith, and
learned there would be a shiva in
the assisted living facility where
Professor Graff and his wife had
been living. What a wonderful visit!
Despite some physical infirmities,
Professor Graff (97) seemed as sharp
as ever, discussing with us topics
ranging from baseball to politics.
Professor Graff once told my father
and I that we were possibly the only
father-daughter pair that he had
ever taught; he had taught many
fathers and sons, but as far as he
knew, we were the only father and
daughter. (If anyone knows of other
father-daughter pairs he taught,
I'd love to hear about it!) While
we were there, we also had a lovely
chat with Dr. Allen Hyman’S55. All
in all, a wonderful and meaningful
Columbia experience!
Ralph Stone, my next-door
neighbor in Carman (literally on
the other side of my wall), wrote
with news of our friend and fellow
Carman 5 denizen, Hugh Cushing.
Ralph writes, “In January, Hugh and
his wife, Louise Dubin ’92, had a baby
girl. Hugh, who started with our class
but graduated in 1988, has already
started planning for their daughter to
join the Class of, let us say, 2039.”
I was also so happy to receive a
note from Michael Rubin. He wrote:
“By now, all of us are ‘of a certain age’
and given to reflecting on our Colum-
bia experiences from a distance. In
my case, however, although we live
in the Boston area, I’ve been quite
happy to stare at Columbia regularly.
In early 2019 I dropped my younger
daughter off on campus for her fresh-
men spring semester. And my first
daughter graduated from the College
in May 2018. Of course, in 1983,
at the College’s inaugural coeduca-
tional Class Day, I would never have
predicted I'd have two daughters, and
both would go to Columbia.
“On the home front, I’ve been
interviewing prospective Columbia
students as part of the Alumni
Representative Committee, and I’m
on the board of the Kraft Fam-
ily Center for Jewish Student Life
(Columbia/Barnard Hillel). It’s
great fun to be involved with the
next generation! When not writing
checks to Columbia, ’m the CEO
of an augmented reality start-up and
baking sourdough. I would love to
hear from ‘old’ friends from McBain
and Carman 8 (has everyone
recovered by now from experiencing
a dead body wrapped in a carpet
on our floor?). You can reach me at
rubinmichaels@yahoo.com.”
1988
Eric Fusfield
1945 South George Mason Dr.
Arlington, VA 22204
eric@fusfield.com
Professor Graham Dodds of Mon-
treal’s Concordia University writes
that in June, “A half dozen CC’88ers
got together for a barbecue in Trum-
bull, Conn.” Dr. Stephanie Sudikoff
of the Yale School of Medicine
hosted the gathering. Others attend-
ing included Al Bundonis, Nikos
Andreadis, Shari Hyman and
William Woo. “The first five of those
six all lived on Carman 9 back in the
day,” says Graham. “It was great to
Fall 2019 CCT 69
LESLIE JENNINGS-LAX
Some CC’88ers got together in June for a barbecue in Trumbull, Conn. Left
to right: Stephanie Sudikoff, Al Bundonis, Nikos Andreadis, Graham Dodds,
Shari Hyman and William Woo.
see so many friends from Columbia
at an event other than a reunion,
wedding or funeral.”
Stu Kaplan PS’92 writes that
he “recently obtained an M.B.A. at
the University of Amsterdam and
came back to the States (Bay Area)
to become the executive director of
Okizu, a cost-free camp for children,
siblings and families affected by
childhood cancer.” According to Oki-
zu’s website, “The mission of Okizu
is to help all members of families
affected by childhood cancer to heal
through peer support, respite, men-
toring and recreational programs.”
Keep the updates coming! I look
forward to hearing from you.
1989
Emily Miles Terry
45 Clarence St.
Brookline, MA 02446
emilymilesterry@me.com
More than 150 of us gathered in
May to celebrate our spectacular
30th reunion as only CC’89 could,
with classmates traveling from all
over the world. There is nothing
like reconnecting with people who
loved us before we had careers and
property and titles and domestic
imperatives like soccer games and
dirty dishes. Being with our dear
old friends helps us remember and
appreciate who we were at 19, and
the stories recounted of our youthful
selves are strengthened through our
collective memories.
70 CCT Fall 2019
I asked classmates for their
remembrances from the weekend.
Here are some:
From Jeff Udell, who has been
practicing law for the past few years
at Walden Macht & Haran, a bou-
tique firm in Manhattan: “Reunion
Weekend never disappoints, as it is
always great both to reconnect with
old friends and to spend time with
folks who share that bond formed in
Morningside Heights some 30 years
ago. The Thursday night off-campus
outing was a ton of fun; I caught
up with Chris Della Pietra, Steve
Metalios and his wife, Joy Metalios
SEAS’90 (née Kim), who explained
that the reason Steve appeared in
every single one of the photographs
on the bar television slideshow was
because he was the only one who
answered the request to supply them.
“Also was great speaking with
Tajlei Levis, a writer of books
and lyrics for several musicals (see
glimpsesofthemoon.com); Dan Fut-
terman, who described his research
process for his The Looming Tower
miniseries, which is based on the
rivalry between the FBI and CIA
prior to 9-11; Julie Jacobs Menin,
who in her position with the NYC
Office of the Corporation Counsel
helped successfully challenge the
Trump administration’s proposed
2020 Census citizenship question
(later stricken by the U.S. Supreme
Court); and Luis Penalver, who is
a corporate lawyer at Cahill Gordon
& Reindel.
“The highlight for me on
Thursday night was a post-event,
late-night diner hang with Adina
Safer BC’89, who is a healthcare
consultant in San Francisco, and my
former roomies David Streitfeld, a
computer programmer with Intuit,
also visiting from the Bay Area,
and John Libertino’88, who came
in from Philadelphia to surprise
everyone. Speaking of roomies, I
was sorry that Michael Schrag and
Erik Price could not make it, as Erik
was celebrating his 25th wedding
anniversary in Spain, and Mike and
Dr. Andrea Franchett were other-
wise enjoying life in the Bay Area as
soon-to-be empty nesters, with their
second and third kids heading off
to college soon. Saturday night was
equally fun, catching up with (among
others) Dr. David Kooby, an oncolo-
gist at Emory University; Laura
Dower (née McTaggert), a writer
of children’s books; Alix Pustilnik, a
lawyer who most recently was general
counsel of the Battery Park City
Authority; and Tom Kamber, who
has lived on a boat on the Hudson
River and now runs a group that
helps senior citizens get online and
navigate technology.”
Michael Barry, who works at
Ironstate Development and lives
in Short Hills, N.J., writes that he
“enjoyed [Dean] Jim Valentini’s
address and his clear affinity for
the Class of 89. I spent most of the
night catching up with a few friends,
interspaced by a few conversations
with classmates I didn’t really know
that well. A fun night all around.”
From Stephanie Spencer, who
traveled from Washington state: “I
really enjoyed my time in the city.
I only get to NYC every five years,
for reunion. I always enjoy balancing
my time between reunion events and
touring. I very much enjoyed visiting
with old friends and acquaintances,
and I also really enjoyed the Mini-
Core Classes and lectures. I loved
being on campus and staying in Wal-
lach — it only took 30 years to land
a room in Wallach. I never did have
much luck in those housing lotteries.”
For the last four years, Stephanie
has been director of teaching and
learning on Vashon Island, Wash.,
where she oversees professional
development for staff, writes and
manages grants, and works on policy
and procedures. Stephanie’s son is
in the sixth grade, and last summer,
“the two of us restored my grand-
father’s 100-year-old, cedar-strip
canoe, and we've been enjoying it
on the sound around Vashon Island
ever since.” f
Raymond Yu SEAS’90, who
recently returned from an extended
trip through Europe (Madrid, Bar-
celona, London and Paris), writes,
“Two highlights of reunion: reunited
with all of my Carman 8 suitemates
(813) and ended Saturday night by
going to Koronet and then drinking
and playing darts at Mel’s!”
Wid Hall SEAS’89, SEAS’91 has
been to every one of our reunions
and traveled from Germany to join
us again. Wid writes, “My favorite
part of the 30th reunion was that so
many people attended. I think the
30th was at least as big as the 25th!”
Alix Pustilnick, who was men-
tioned by Jeff Udell earlier, writes
that reunion “was especially mean-
ingful to me. I felt a lot of gratitude
and joy simply to sit on the Steps
in the sun and reconnect with folks
and see how much the Core still
resonates in our conversations.”
Roger Rubin, Newsday senior
reporter, wrote that he was thrilled
to connect with classmates and
dear friends including Greg Watt,
who came in from the Boston area;
Dave Winter, an attorney in D.C.;
and Rusty Kosiorek (I promise
to write more about Rusty later).
Of reunion, Roger writes, “Our
class continues to astound me with
the way its members are drawn to
one another and cannot wait to be
reunited. I expected that after the
25th, the passion and intensity of
the 30th would in some way pale in
comparison but this reunion was as
much fun — possibly an even better
time — than the last.”
Send in
Your News
Share what’s happening in
your life with classmates.
Click “Contact Us” at
college.columbia.edu/cct,
or send news to the address
at the top of your column.
Ellen Vaknine writes, “As at
past reunions, not only did I enjoy
spending time with friends and
acquaintances from my time at
Columbia, but I also ended up
speaking at length with several
classmates whom I hadn't previously
known. It’s great to learn where
we've all ‘landed’ and the varied
paths we've taken since Columbia.”
Ellen lives on Long Island and
recently sold her kosher catering
business to focus on real estate
investing/property management.
Andy Baehr BUS’96, who has
attended our 20th, 25th and now
30th reunions, comes to reunion to
reconnect and proudly reminisce
about being part of the gang that
carried the goal post after our
famous streak-breaking football win
over Princeton in 1988. Andy works
at a finance startup, after 20-plus
years in banking. He earned an
M.B.A. from the Business School
and lives in Tribeca with his wife
and two children.
Carol Remy, who brought her
11-year-old daughter to reunion,
loved revisiting “our old haunts
— Koronet, The Hungarian Pastry
Shop” and cherished “a slow walk
through the Cathedral Church of St.
John the Divine,” and showed her
daughter Carman, where Carol lived
freshman year. Carol writes, “My
daughter remembered where the owl
was immediately upon arrival. She
found the owl when she was 6, at
our 25th reunion, and remembered
it at our 30th. Maybe we have a
CC’30 in our midst!”
Daniel Halberstam, who came in
from Ann Arbor, where he is associ-
ate dean for faculty and research at
Michigan Law, the Eric Stein Profes-
sor of Law, and director, European
Legal Studies Program, writes, “I was
especially struck by how cozy the
campus felt, given its vast intellectual
expanse. It was a nice reminder of
what a punch Columbia packs into
that incredible campus.”
Eliza Armstrong, a math teacher
at North Star Academy in Newark,
NJ., writes, “The highlight of
reunion for me was getting time with
Lisa Carnoy and Wanda Holland
Greene, two of my dearest friends.
I brought one of my daughters to
the opening cocktails on Thursday
night, and another to the events on
Saturday. They also love Lisa and
Wanda, and it is always special when
my kids get to spend time with such
amazing, smart, interesting and funny
women whom I’m lucky to have as
friends. Another highlight was get-
ting to spend a couple of hours with
Shaquan Nelson SEAS’19, a former
student of mine. He’s a remarkable
young man, and it is such a joy to see
how he has grown since I taught him
seventh-grade math. Columbia was
lucky to have him, and I’m so proud
of the person he is.”
For those who haven't connected
with our Class of 89 Facebook
group, please do. Thom Chu, an
estate attorney in New York, cre-
ated a great post there that I recap
here with his permission: “Great
memories made over our 30th
reunion weekend: classmates at
the John Jay Associates celebra-
tion; seeing rare works on paper at
Avery Library, including some by
Frank Lloyd Wright, connecting
with former work-study supervisee
Ben Jealous 94, the youngest CEO
to serve the NAACP; enjoying
rainbow-hued Jell-O shots at the
LGBTQ reception; Dr. Alexis
Pauline Gumbs BC’04, Lambda
Literary Award nominee, with her
collage of the Rev. Pauli Murray, a
queer civil rights activist and first
African-American woman to be
ordained in the Episcopal Church,
four Hunter College H.S. Class of
°85 and Columbia University Class
of 1989 undergraduates, includ-
ing Alix Pustilnik, Paul Radvany
and Steven Chulik SEAS’89; and
dancing under the stars by Low
Library. Thanks to all for making a
memory for a lifetime!”
Please send more updates and
reunion memories for future columns!
I wish I could focus only on the
joyful recap of our reunion, but days
after we were mingling our group
grew smaller, as we lost Tony
Augello SEAS’89, who passed
away in Southern California, where
he was an engineer. Tony attended
Purdue University for a master’s
and then UC Berkeley for a Ph.D.
Tony was an avid Boston sports
fan throughout his life. He lived in
Newport Beach, Calif., and worked
for Group Delta Consultants. Tony
was a dear, sweet friend to many
and will be greatly missed. Of Tony,
Michael Behringer wrote, “You'll
remember Tony for his happy smile,
gentle soul and love for his friends,
fraternity (Fiji), football team and
Columbia. He was one of the best
and will be missed.”
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Rachel Cowan Jacobs
youngrache@hotmail.com
What a fun summer I had seeing
classmates on my travels. In June,
work took me to San Francisco for
a conference, where I had the great,
annual pleasure of hanging out with
Larry Momo’73 and Liz Pleshette
89. If there are any other Columbia
alumni who do college counseling,
please identify yourself!
I also spent some time visiting
with Joel Tranter and his son,
Ellison (7). The three of us hit the
Alameda County Fair one of the
days of my visit. Joel has a jockey
friend who was racing that day,
and he made quite an impression
on Ellison. After we watched his
first race, Brian Timoney kept us
updated via text from Colorado on
the jockey’s six other races that day
while we took in the rest of the fair.
My timing in the Bay Area coin-
cided with Peter Neisuler’s family’s
return from their State Department
post in Amman, Jordan. They are
spending two months road-tripping
in the United States before report-
ing for duty at their next diplomatic
post, in Tel Aviv. Peter is working
in the political section on Iran, and
Mariana is in the economic section
covering energy and cyber issues.
Luckily, we were all able to meet for
dinner before I headed back east.
Back on the East Coast, Joy
Metalios SEAS’90 (née Kim) is
making a name for herself — on TV!
She’s the host of The American Dream
TV show in Connecticut, a national
real estate show that airs in about 40
cities across the country. Her local
segments explore different neighbor-
hoods, businesses and trends in the
local market, showcasing lifestyle,
community and real estate. You can
catch all her shows on Apple TV,
Roku and Amazon. Joy’s first episode
aired in early June and — as exciting
as that was — her daughter's high
school graduation was even more
exciting. Zoe ’23 lives in Carman and
plays on the field hockey team. Her
brother, Max, is a junior at Penn and |
on its lacrosse team. |
Stephen Winick took me on a
stroll down memory lane when he
sent me a link to a January story about
Ken Hechtman. You should read it
online (bit.ly/2YysDGN) if you didn’t
catch the story on the news.
As for Steve, he’s staying out of
trouble. He shares, “I continue to be
the editor in The American Folklife
Center at the Library of Congress,
our national folklore archive and
study center. I write and edit our
blog, Folklife Today (blogs.loc.gov/
folklife). A couple of years ago I
authored the fourth edition of our
fieldwork manual, Folklife && Field-
work: A Layman’ Introduction to Field
Techniques. Since then I’ve steered it
through the process of being trans-
lated into Spanish and Chinese.
“This year I created a podcast for
the Library of Congress, Folklife
Today; you can listen online at bit.
ly/2KkySZD. It tells stories about
traditional culture and the people
who keep it alive. For example, did
you know that Ralph Ellison was
a folklorist? He collected folklore
for the WPA in the 1930s before
becoming a celebrated novelist. In
his manuscripts I found a story he
collected in Harlem from someone
named Leo Gurley, about a man
nicknamed ‘Sweet the Monkey.’
Sweet the Monkey was an African-
American man in South Carolina
who was able to turn himself
invisible. This story is clearly one
part of the inspiration for Ellison's
novel Invisible Man. That story is
in the episode “Hidden Folklor-
ists.’ We also have episodes about
Agnes Vanderburg, a Salish elder
in Montana who ran a school for
traditional Indian ways; about our
Civil Rights History Project, which
collects narratives from leaders of
the civil rights movement; about the
complicated history of the spiritual
‘Come by Here,’ better known as
‘Kumbaya; and about lots of other
topics. I co-write, co-produce and
co-host the podcast.”
Professional news about Dean
Sonderegger SEAS 90, SEAS’91:
In May, he was appointed senior
VP and general manager of Wolters
Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S., a
company he joined in 2015 as head
of Legal Markets & Innovation. In
his new position, Dean continues to
spearhead the company’s focus on
customer-focused innovation, with a
Fall 2019 CCT 71
Joel Tranter ’90 (left), Rachel Cowan
Jacobs ’90 and Peter Neisuler ’90
enjoyed dinner together in June in
the Bay Area.
strong emphasis on the rapid devel-
opment of advanced digital products
and services to enhance legal profes-
sionals’ efficiencies and workflows.
Very exciting times for Dean!
I wh
Margie Kim
margiekimkim@hotmail.com
Wishing the members of the Class of
1991 a happy and healthy fall! Please
take a moment to share your news or
a favorite Columbia College memory
with the class by sending an email to
margiekimkim@hotmail.com.
1992
Olivier Knox
olivier.knox@gmail.com
Hello, Class of 1992!
Jonathan Henick wrote from
his perch at the State Department
(25-plus years) to say he “wrapped
up a job as the deputy coordinator
for the Global Engagement Center,
where I helped stand up our efforts
to counter Russian, Chinese and
Iranian disinformation.”
Jonathan is now a few months
into his gig as deputy assistant sec-
retary for South and Central Asia,
with responsibility for Central Asia
and press and public diplomacy.
“More importantly, of course, I
am celebrating 19 years of marriage
to my bride, Dominique Freire, and
72 CCT Fall 2019
amazed at how our kids, Oskar (17)
and Carmen (13), are growing up
into amazing people despite our lack
of parenting skills,” Jonathan shares,
adding that he “would love to hear
from old Columbia pals!”
Andrew Vladeck has a new
album, Visions and Revisions. Keep
track of his work on andrewvladeck.
com! (It’s how I found out about
the album.)
Los Angeles Mayor Eric
Garcetti SIPA’93 opted not to join
the crowded field competing for the
2020 Democratic presidential nod. I
thought I should flag that Eric has
hired a new communications direc-
tor, Dae Levine BC’92.
Please keep writing in! This col-
umn doesn't work unless you do!
1993
Betsy Gomperz
Betsy.Gomperz@gmail.com
Greetings, classmates. I only have
one update this time, and it comes
from Jenny Hoffman, who is
returning to Morningside Heights!
Jenny is a lecturer/adjunct professor
at the School of Professional Studies
in the Master of Science in Enter-
prise Risk Management program.
She writes, “I am excited to be
back on campus and would love to
reconnect with any of you in New
York. Aside from the Columbia gig,
I am also senior VP at Global Risk
Intelligence, a boutique risk advisory
firm in Washington, D.C.”
Hope you all had a great summer!
Please take a moment to send in
a note!
1994
Leyla Kokmen
lak6@columbia.edu
On the way uptown to Reunion
Weekend (complicated by the 1 train
not running all the way to 116th
Street that weekend), I shared an
amusing text exchange with Mary
Killackey and Marina Groothuis
(née Gurin), the crux of which
revolved around wearing comfortable
(but still cute) shoes. Because who do
we need to impress anymore, anyway?
‘That was, perhaps, apt branding for
our 25th (25th!) reunion, a delightful
weekend of comfortable reminisc-
ing with people who pretty much
looked exactly the same as they did
a quarter-century ago. (Does that
mean we're all aging gracefully, or did
we just look like 40-somethings in
college?) So, permit me a few random
ramblings from reunion:
Catching up outside Ferris Booth
Hall (is it even called that anymore?)
with Marina, Jen Cohen-Glasser
and Brian Orefice, talking about
the sobering stats on admissions
rates shared at an afternoon panel ...
Chatting with our unrivaled social
media class cheerleader Penelope
Kliegman at the Wine Tasting ...
Rave reviews for the talks by
Derek Fairchild-Coppoletti,
Camilla Jones (née Jackson),
Rebecca Oppenheimer, Elliott
Regenstein and Lavinel Savu ...
Talking with Milos Naumovic
and Alex Rosenstein about the
perils of introducing The Breakfast
Clu to our kids ...
Shawn Landres insisting that
all photos be taken in portrait mode
— he’s right, they’re better! — and
listening as he, Matt Eddy and
Ocean MacAdams reminisced
about high school ...
A trip to Koronet with Kay
Bailey and Danny Franklin, which
led to an existential crisis for me:
‘The slices were SO BIG! I honestly
did not remember that. Did I
somehow never go to Koronet? Or
did the intervening 25 years erase
knowledge of these slices? ...
Sitting on Low Steps, hearing
about the sports consulting business
Stephanie Geosits has launched
in Toronto, and then heading over
with her, Elliot and Kay to Tom’s for
egg creams (another thing I never
had in college; who knew no eggs
were involved?) ...
Delightful conversations during
the Friday night reception at the
Manhattanville campus with Sofia
Dumery, Estelamari Rodriguez
and Shelley Schneiderman-
Ducker, among many others ...
More delightful conversations
throughout the Saturday class
dinner at Faculty House with Amit
Bose, Ben Grant, Erik Groothuis,
Alfredo Jollon, John Katz, Mason
Kirby, Lillian Koo, Allegra Lowitt
(née Wechsler), Negar Nabavi,
Steve Ruddy and Andrew Russo.
It was a special treat to catch up
with some of our far-flung class-
mates, like Jessica Craig, who lives
in Barcelona and is a literary agent.
Or Josh Shannon, who was about
to head off to the Free University of
Berlin for a year. ;
Throughout the weekend, there
was ample opportunity to remember
and relive. And yet, there still wasn't
enough time. If I missed you there,
or if I missed you in this column, my
sincerest apologies.
But that’s all the more reason to
send in an update! Even more so
if life events conspired, preventing
you from making it to reunion at all.
Because one thing is certain: Even
25 years later (or maybe because it’s
25 years later!), the Class of 1994
likes to stay connected.
Until next time.
1995
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Janet Lorin
jrf10@columbia.edu
Our class counts a star in the wine
world, Dan Petroski, named wine-
maker of the year in 2017 by the San
Francisco Chronicle for his Massican
label. Jon Bonne 94 is an influential
wine writer. And now, the prestigious
James Beard Foundation has recog-
nized the culinary talents of Ann Kim.
In May, Ann won the James
Beard Award for Best Chef: Mid-
west for her Minneapolis restau-
rant, Young Joni. The competition
included chefs in Iowa, Kansas,
Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska,
North Dakota, South Dakota and
Wisconsin. (Illinois, Michigan,
Ohio and Indiana are in the “Great
Lakes” grouping.)
Ann has two other restaurants:
Pizzeria Lola opened in Minneapo-
lis, and Hello Pizza followed. They
were partly inspired by her pizza-
eating days at Columbia; Koronet
ranks as her top choice.
Ann arrived at Schapiro Hall our
freshman year from Apple Valley,
Minn., south of Minneapolis, drawn to
the school for its proximity to theater.
She remembers seeing Broadway
shows with groups of students and
a professor and buying discounted
tickets at TKTS. “For me, it was
mostly soaking in whatever New
York had to offer,” Ann said in a
phone call this past summer. “I saw a
lot of music, jazz and theater.”
Ann’s first Broadway show was
Les Miserables, and she saw it again
— about five more times.
She’s still in touch with her crew
of friends, many of whom have
made the trip to Minnesota to
sample her fare.
Young Joni, where pizza is a
staple and a wood-fired grill offers
other dishes that look delicious on
its website, was named best new
restaurant in 2017 by several publi-
cations, including Esquire.
Ann and her husband live with
their dog, Lola, for whom she
named her first restaurant.
I hope to see Ann and many of
you at reunion. If you are interested in
helping to plan it, please get in touch.
1996
Ana S. Salper
ana.salper@nyumc.org
Dear classmates, where, oh where, did
you all go? I am disappointed to say
that I have no notes this time around.
Werent there around 800 of us in the
class? There have to be at least some
of you who have some news to share!
Please send in notes so that our
column is not devoid of news.
I wish you all the best for the fall
and look forward to hearing from
you! I leave you with this:
“In the end we will remember not
the words of our enemies, but the
silence of our friends.”
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
1997.
Kerensa Harrell
kvh1@columbia.edu
Dear classmates, I hope you all
enjoyed a fun-filled summer!
Our first update comes from
Natasha Goldberg (née Bartolf).
We met during our final semester at
the College, when by chance we took
the same class in Hamilton Hall.
It was a seminar on the writings of
the famous 19th-century Russian
writer Nikolai Gogol, held in a cozy
classroom with one long table. This
seminar, comprising around half a
dozen students, was led by one of the
world’s preeminent Gogol scholars,
Professor Robert Maguire SIPA53,
GSAS’60. Natasha recalls that I
always sat to her left, by a window
that overlooked College Walk, and
she fondly reminisces: “It was a
memorable class. Reading Gogol’s
hilarious play The Inspector General
might have been the apotheosis of
my Columbia experience. It was like
we were members of an esoteric club.
I remember the feeling of camarade-
rie in the room, 25 years out.”
Well put, Natasha — I thor-
oughly concur with that sentiment!
Natasha also sent the following
update: “For the past 15 years, I have
been the middle school librarian at
The Chapin School, a wonderful
gig that allows me time in July and
August to pursue drawing at The
Art Students League of New York,
and a pleasantly geeky/intellectual
life year-round.
“Tam married to Josh Goldberg
BUS’97, with whom I probably
rubbed elbows at some point at the
Uris Caf (which we agree offered
the superior sandwiches on campus).
It took us until 2009 to actually
grab lunch, though. We now share
a home on Pierrepont Street in
Brooklyn Heights, with our daugh-
ter, Mila (7), who, like her parents,
loves to go to a lot of shows (most
recently, The Losers Lounge tribute
to ABBA at Joe’s Pub!).
“My favorite memories of Colum-
bia involve the pecan pie at John
Jay, discovering a ton of new music,
books and movies (remember when
Pulp Fiction came out?), and discov-
ering the East Village, back when
there wasn't a bank on every corner.
“In terms of my CC’97 network,
I appreciate keeping in touch with
Heidi Kirk (whom I visited in
Shanghai in’05, and who is pres-
ently Berlin’s coolest tour guide),
and with Avideh Moussavian
and Elizabeth Chiles (who, post-
McBain, are kicking butt in the
worlds of immigration advocacy and
the visual arts, respectively).
“For those of you with middle-
school-aged kids in need of book
recommendations, or who just want
to reconnect, you can find me at
@finelibrarian. Hope everyone’s
been reasonably happy, healthy and
well-behaved!”
Rebekah Gee PH’98 shares that
she is still the secretary of health for
the state of Louisiana. Recently she
was named one of Modern Healthcare
Magazine's “Ten Women To Watch”
alumninews
for 2019. Rebekah enjoys seeing
Athena Bendo Ole every Jazz Fest.
Her twins, Elizabeth and Eva, are 6.
Carl Pavel is practicing pulmo-
nary and critical care medicine in
the Chicago suburbs. In their spare
time, he and his wife, Sarah, and his
four children enjoy trying new play-
grounds, exploring the state parks
system and driving into the city.
As for me, Kerensa Harrell, as |
wrap up this column in mid-July, I've
been thinking about how much fun
I’ve been having this summer with
my 2-and-a-half-year-old daughter,
Amara. A few months ago we moved
from our house, which at 4,000 sq. ft.
was far too large for just the two of
us. We remain in the Orlando area,
but have downsized to an apart-
ment in a brand-new building. Each
Core
Haiku
train and began strolling through
the lobby of the Grand Florid-
ian Resort & Spa, heading toward
our car, we noticed the charming
sounds of a live, vintage-style jazz
orchestra, comprising mostly elderly
musicians, playing wonderful jazz
standards from many decades ago in
the hotel lobby. Hearing the music
made me really miss living in New
York City, when in my dancing days
I frequented the famed Rainbow
Room (late 1990s/early 2000s) with
my friends and we would spend
hours on the magical revolving floor
of the 65th floor of Rockefeller
Plaza while dancing the foxtrot and
swinging to a live jazz orchestra. As
those memories began flooding my
mind, Amara excitedly turned to me
and exclaimed, “Mama, let’s dance!”
Core Curriculum.
Protested. Got arrested.
Son reads Plato now.
morning we are greeted by a dozen
gigantic and colorful hot air balloons
that magically float down from the
sky and land right before our eyes
in the field across from us. Amara
has been helping me select the new
furniture, fixtures and furnishings for
our home (she loves letting me know
what she wants!). I am trying to brush
up on my feng shui knowledge, with
the goal of perfecting a harmonious
arrangement of the décor.
As usual, it was a very hot summer
here in Florida, and we cooled off
in the evenings at our clubhouse’s
saltwater swimming pool, which is
walking distance from our apartment.
During the day we met up with
Amara’s little friends for fun activi-
ties; I’ve also been homeschooling her
in reading, writing and geography.
She’s amazingly good at geography,
for only being two and a half — she
can already locate and identify all
the states on her puzzle map of the
United States, as well as find a bunch
of countries on her world globe,
which she loves to spin.
Recently we were heading home
from having spent a few hours at
the Magic Kingdom, where we have
annual passes. As we exited the
— Red Delicious ’97
and insisted that we start dancing
together, right then and there. Ah,
luckily the apple does not fall far
from the tree!
As I sign off now, let me end with
a song that my daughter and I like to
dance to and sing along with at home.
It’s the waltz song from the Min-
nierella episode of a T'V series called
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The lyrics are
“Come on, let’s dance together!
We'll be best friends forever!
Oh, who else could it be ...
But you and me!”
Blessings to all, and please do
send me your updates. Keep in mind
that they needn't be just about the
usual topics like career/marriage/
birth announcements — they can be
on your exotic travels, your exciting
adventures, your fascinating hobbies,
your philanthropic endeavors, your
charming children, your daring
projects, your poetic musings and/
or your flowery reminiscences. Or
simply tell us about some delight-
ful local event that you attended
or a family vacation that you went
on. If nothing else, you can always
write us just to say hello! It would
Fall 2019 CCT 73
be splendid to hear from as many
of our classmates as possible. I look
forward to hearing from you. In
lumine Tuo videbimus lumen.
1998
Sandie Angulo Chen
sandie.chen@gmail.com
Happy fall, CC’98! Hope you all
had a wonderful summer. Please
take a moment to send a note
— travel, work, family, favorite
Columbia memories, anything you
want to share. Your classmates want
to hear from you!
B99
Adrienne Carter and
Jenna Johnson
adieliz@gmail.com
jennajohnson@gmail.com
Dear classmates, on a gorgeous
Saturday night in June we made
the journey back to those beloved
old Steps for a bit of catch-up and
reunion. It’s been 20 YEARS. Some
folks are still spry enough to dance
under the stars (though it is, more
than ever, ill-advised to wear heels on
College Walk). Among those spotted
in attendance: Laurent Vasilescu,
Martin Mraz, Brad Neuberg,
Chris Schettino, Sameer Shamsi,
Andrew Chen, Laura Colarusso,
Sahil Godiwala, Wendy Liu,
Stephen McGrath, Andrew Park,
Anna Remet, Dominique Sasson,
Stacy Rotner, Adam Spiewak,
Nina Tannenbaum, Sally Woo,
Caitlin Schrein, David Schach
SEAS’99 and Jason Saretsky.
Everyone was in good spirits, though
many were missed. We toasted every
one of you and hope you'll make the
trek for the 25th.
In non-reunion news, Patrick
Radden Keefe has another book to
add to his “also by” page. Say Nothing:
A True Story of Murder and Memory
in Northern Ireland, was published by
in February and has received raves
from a range of readers and reviews
— from Gillian Flynn to Colum
McCann to the Wall Street Journal to
Entertainment Weekly to The New York
Times. [Editor’s note: See “Columbia
Forum,” Spring 2019.]
At reunion, we caught up with
Brad Neuberg, who started a
74 CCT Fall 2019
short research fellowship at the
NASA Frontier Development Lab,
a research accelerator that brings
together machine learning specialists
and space scientists. He is on a team
as the machine learning specialist
applying deep learning to heliophys-
ics, or the study of our sun. He lives
in San Francisco in the Mission
District with his wife, Abby, and their
daughter, Cameron (1 and a half).
We also chatted with Laura
Colarusso, who has been the digital
managing editor at WGBH News
for two and a half years. She and her
husband, Jason Saretsky, have two
children, Olivia and Owen.
Also, now seems a perfect time
to mention that our esteemed cor-
respondent, Adrienne Carter, is
going to be making a big move. As
of this fall, she'll head up the Asia
desk for The New York Times, and so
she'll be moving to Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, we've been filing
these reports for about four years, so
it’s about time we graduate and pass
the duties to some fresh-eyed class-
mate. Our goal was to reach out to
all of you listed in the current class’
contacts spreadsheet, and we’re very
nearly there. So we've earned our
graduation, yes? If you're interested
in becoming the class correspon-
dent, send a note to us at the email
addresses at the top of this column,
or to CCT’s Class Notes editor,
Annie Sirju, at cct@columbia.edu.
2000
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Prisca Bae
pb134@columbia.edu
Nick Dierman has lived in Los
Angeles for 16 years, practicing as
an in-house attorney. He recently
left his role as senior corporate
counsel at Westfield, the shopping
center development company, to
join Maryland-based Federal Realty
Investment Trust as its chief West
Coast counsel, based in El Segundo,
Calif. Nick’s partner, James, and their
blended family of three dogs live in
Miracle Mile. Nick is in touch with
Lauren DeMille, Jennifer Glaser,
Stephen Del Percio SEAS’00 and
Laura Hertzfeld BC’01.
Also in L.A. is our resident sock
mogul Erica Easley, the founder and
owner of Gumball Poodle, a sock
company famous for its knee-high
Obama socks and “gangsta” socks
worn by Beyoncé in a music video.
Her socks are sold everywhere —
check her out at gumballpoodle.com
and @gumballpoodle on Instagram!
If there are any classmates who
have started their own companies,
please let me know so we can sup-
port your entrepreneurial ventures!
I’m excited to report that I joined
the board of The Roger Lehecka
Double Discovery Center, a Colum-
bia-based nonprofit whose mission
is to increase high school gradua-
tion rates and college enrollment
for low-income and first-generation
college-bound students in Harlem
and Washington Heights. Roger
Lehecka’67, GSAS’74, our former
dean of students, helped found DDC
in 1965, and it has since helped more
than 15,000 students! Each year, 90
percent of DDC high school seniors
graduate on time and attend college.
Please consider supporting DDC.
A gift to DDC will count as your
annual gift to Columbia. You can
learn more (and make a contribu-
tion) at ddc.college.columbia.edu.
Thanks, and look forward to
hearing from you!
2001
Jonathan Gordin
jrg53@columbia.edu
Hello, CC’01 — hope you all had
an excellent summer! Please take
a minute to share your news. Your
classmates want to hear from you!
2002
Sonia Dandona Hirdaramani
soniahird@gmail.com
Hope everyone enjoyed the summer!
Albert Lee SEAS’02 was selected
as a 2019 NextGen institutional
investor by Chief Investment Officer
magazine (formerly its “40 Under
40” list).
New book alert! Reclaiming Her
Time, is a deep dive into the life, wis-
dom, wit and legacy of American icon
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), and is
authored by Helena Andrews-Dyer
and the incomparable R. Eric Thomas.
Kimberly Blumenthal is an allergy
specialist and researcher at Mass
General in Boston and an assistant
professor of medicine at Harvard
Medical School. Her research is on
drug allergies, and how over-claiming
a penicillin allergy is contributing to ©
antibiotic resistance. Recently, The
New York Times, The New York Post
and The Wall Street Journal did articles
covering her research. Kimberly's
husband is a cardiologist and they live
in Wellesley, Mass., with their boys,
Jonah (7), Eli (4) and Ari (2).
Ksusha McCormick (née
Boutov) has lived in Harlem for six
years and works for an investment
firm specializing in distressed and
niche credit. With Sean she has two
daughters, 4 and a half and 1 anda
half. “Our eldest is starting kinder-
garten this fall at P.S. 145, a Russian
dual-language elementary school on
the Upper West Side,” Ksusha writes.
She never imagined her kids could
get a Russian language education in
a public school, “but living in New
York is a gift that keeps on giving!”
In engagement news, con-
gratulations to Andres Zuleta, who
proposed to Christina Soto in San
Diego with a surprise all-female
mariachi band.
Genevieve Thornton lives in
the West Village with her 3-and-a-
half-year-old identical twins (Class of
2038?) and continues to be involved
with the Columbia College Alumni
Association. She encourages everyone
to donate to Columbia and to mentor
a current CC student (college.colum-
bia.edu/alumni/odyssey-mentoring)!
CCT welcomes Class Notes
photos that feature at
least two College alumni.
Click “Contact Us” at
college.columbia.edu/cct.
SNE aA RNR TEteboee
2003
Michael Novielli
mjn29@columbia.edu
Our classmates continue to have an
impact on a variety of industries,
including higher education and
entertainment. We are also excited
to learn about additions to a number
of classmate families. Please remem-
ber that I’m happy to include an
update about anything that’s new in
your lives — it need not necessarily
be a new job or baby; you can share
about a new volunteer gig, a recent
trip you took or even restaurant/bar
recommendations. I hope to hear
from you soon!
Adam Libove writes, “I’m
delighted to report that on April 28
at 7:09 a.m. my wife, Barbara, gave
birth to our daughter, Maya Sasha,
who weighed in at 7 lbs., 6 oz., and
was 19 inches long. Mom, baby and
brother Aaron are doing great!”
Oscar Chow writes, “My wife
and I welcomed twin boys, Axel and
Elliott, on September 21, 2018. Our
daughter, Kiva (3), now loves her
brothers very much.”
Andrea Paul (née Herbst)
writes, “My husband, Jacques Paul
SEAS’03, and I live in Somerville,
Mass., and I am in-house corporate
and securities counsel at Akebia
Therapeutics in Cambridge. We
have two young daughters who just
started at a French-English bilingual
school. We would love to reconnect
with classmates who come through
the Boston area!”
Beth Mickle writes, “I’m the
production designer on a (pretty big!)
movie for Warner Bros./DC Comics,
The Suicide Squad — a reboot of the
comic book movie franchise. James
Gunn is our director. And in Novem-
ber, I have another movie coming out
that I production designed last year,
Motherless Brooklyn. \t was written
and directed by Edward Norton, who
is also the lead actor in the film. It’s
based on the Jonathan Lethem novel
by the same name.”
Amy Phillips writes, “I recently
celebrated four years of marriage
to my husband, Elia Einhorn. Our
daughter, Alana Conwy Ann Phil-
lips (we call her Conwy), is 2. We
live in Brooklyn.
“August 1 marked my 14-year
anniversary at the music website
Pitchfork. Earlier this year, I was
promoted to managing editor. When
I started in 2005, I was one of five
employees in a small office in Chicago.
Today, Pitchfork is part of Condé
Nast and has a staff of 50. I have an
office in One World Trade Center,
overlooking the Statue of Liberty.”
Stacey-Ann Johnson writes,
“My husband, Yves Noel, and I were
blessed with a little girl, Maya-
Simone Noel, in December 2018.
We got married in October 2017.
Also, Gladys Chang got married in
May of this year to Andrew Ho. The
wedding was officiated by Simone
Sebastian and attended by Diane
Webber SEAS’03.”
Paul Morton writes, “I received
a Ph.D. in cinema studies from the
University of Washington last year.
I will soon be a lecturer at the Uni-
versity of Washington. I frequently
publish my work at the Los Angeles
Review of Books.”
Mark J. Mann is an assistant
professor in the urology department
at Thomas Jefferson University.
Katie Benvenuto BUS’12
continues to serve alma mater as the
senior executive director for devel-
opment for Columbia College, Arts
& Sciences and Athletics.
2004
Jaydip Mahida
jmahida@gmail.com
I hope this issue finds everyone well
and that those of you who were able
to attend Reunion Weekend 2019
had a great time. It was fun catching
up with so many old friends — and
I think we will all fondly remember
Steph Lung’s speech for many,
many years to come.
Christine Luu writes, “Recently
moved to Agoura Hills, Calif., with
my wife, Lindsay, and started a job
at DC Entertainment (home of DC
Comics and a subsidiary of Warner
Bros.) in Burbank as a director of
business affairs. I can't believe it’s
been 15 years since we graduated.
Hope to catch up sometime. Send-
ing everyone good wishes.”
Rachel Neugarten writes, “After
seven years living and working in
Washington, D.C., I am moving
to Ithaca, N.Y., to begin a Ph.D.
program in the natural resources
department at Cornell University. I
welcome any CC alums to visit; let’s
hike some gorges!”
alumninews
Please send in updates, as we
want to hear from as many folks as
possible. Career and family updates
are always fun, but also feel free
to share about trips you might
take, events you have attended or
are looking forward to, or even
interesting books or shows you have
come across. You can send updates
either via the email address at the
top of the column or through the
CCT Class Notes webform, college.
columbia.edu/cct/submit_class_note.
2005
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Columbia College Today
cct@columbia.edu
Happy fall, CC’05. The 15-year
reunion will be here in June, so mark
your calendars now!
Brendon-Jeremi Jobs writes,
“I have had so many opportuni-
ties to really drive my inclusion
work to some unexpected spaces
since attending Harvard’s Gradu-
ate School of Education's Race
Equity & Leadership workshop
in the spring. I sat for two podcast
interviews related to the work of
equity, inclusion and social justice in
schools. The themes I’ve been think-
ing about are ‘Practicing Habits for
Engaging the Racial Elephant’ and
‘Storytelling as Empowerment in
Schools.’ The first — with German-
town Radio’s “The (Not So) Hidden
Agenda — focused on storytelling
as empowerment in schools. The
second — on Third Space with Jen
Cort — offered space for me to
reflect on the role of the diversity
director in schools. This past sum-
mer I attended the Teachers College
Reimagining Education Conference
before heading to San Diego with
my partner to visit my littlest sister,
who is training in the Navy.”
From John Kluge: “In June,
I formally launched the Refugee
Investment Network, the first
impact investing and blended
finance collaborative dedicated to
durable solutions to forced migra-
tion. This is truly a global, all-hands-
on-deck effort, so I’'d love to extend
an invitation to the Columbia com-
munity to engage with us! Learn
more at refugeeinvestments.org.”
From Tanya Franklin: “I’m
running for school board for Los
Angeles Unified. Los Angeles Uni-
fied School District is the second-
largest school district in the country,
and it’s where I grew up, where I
taught for five years with Teach For
America after graduation and where
I’ve been working since 2011 with
the Partnership for Los Angeles
Schools, aiming to transforming
some of the highest-need schools in
the district.”
Please take a moment to share
your news. We would love to hear
from you!
2006
Michelle Oh Sing
mo2057@columbia.edu
Wishing the members of the Class
of 2006 a happy and healthy fall.
Please take a moment to share your
news with the class by sending an
email to mo2057@columbia.edu.
2007
David D. Chait
david.donner.chait@gmail.com
Thank you, everyone, for sharing
your exciting news. Now for exciting
updates from our classmates!
Rebecca Boti (née Liu) shares,
“With heavy heart we left our per-
fect Brooklyn apartment and made
the great migration to the suburbs of
Westchester this year. As we settle
into our new existence and plug
into the local network, we would be
excited to connect with fellow alums
and families here. Please reach out!”
David Greenhouse writes,
“My wife, Emily, and I are happy
to report the birth of our daughter,
Elleda Louise, on May 29 in Berlin.”
Philippa Warodell writes,
“We continue to live happily in
Stockholm, and I am working for
H&M’s new advanced analytics and
AI function. Hoping to get to New
York during my maternity leave, but
traveling with two children under 3
is looking daunting ....”
Josie Raymond JRN’08 (née
Swindler) shares “I finished my
first session as a Kentucky State
Fall 2019 CCT 75
Eric Bondarsky ’07 (left), Ezra Dweck
"97 (center) and Bashar Mourad
in December at an event hosted
by NYU Langone Orthopedic
Pulmonary Associates.
Representative both more frustrated
and more determined than ever. The
majority passed unconstitutional
bills that will be struck down in
court and did little to improve the
daily life of the average Kentuck-
ian. I continue to build a coalition
supporting pre-K for all and full-day
kindergarten, the single most impor-
tant investments we can make for
stronger communities.”
2008
Columbia College Today
cct@columbia.edu
Happy fall, CC’08!
Congratulations to Vedia Eidel-
man (née Biton) and Vlad Eidel-
man SEAS’08, who welcomed a
baby boy in August 2018!
76 CCT Fall 2019
FRANK BAEZ
Also congratulations to Jia Guo
BUS’15, who shares, “My husband,
Wei Ke SEAS’03, BUS’09, and I are
very excited to announce the arrival
of our baby boy, Theo, born on June
27 at over 7 lbs. and 20 inches long.
He is happy, healthy and eagerly
exploring the world.”
Alex Gartenfeld is artistic direc-
tor at the Institute of Contemporary
Art, Miami. He recently organized
major exhibitions and catalogues for
Ettore Sottsass and Paulo Nazareth.
Forthcoming are first museum
surveys for Sterling Ruby and Allan
McCollum. Alex has edited 20
catalogues during the past two years,
added 100 works to the museum’s
collection and led a successful cam-
paign for ICA Miami’s launch.
Great work, Alex!
‘Thanks to all who wrote! Please
take a moment to share your news
in an upcoming issue by writing
to the email address at the top of
the column.
2009
Chantee Dempsey
chantee.dempsey@gmail.com
David Derish (who earned an
M.F-A. from the School of the Art
Institute of Chicago in 2015) is the
recipient of a 2019-20 award from
the inaugural grant program of The
Cooper Union to develop a multi-
media resource to assist students in
establishing an independent, envi-
ronmentally responsible studio art
practice. He is the studio manager
for the Painting Department.
Michael Emerson and Adina
Bitton BC’08 are moving to Jeru-
salem, Israel, with their daughters,
Maayan, Lital and Keren. Michael
spent three years working for The
Wexner Foundation as director
of the Wexner Service Corps, a
teen service-learning fellowship in
Columbus, Ohio. Look them up
next time you're in Israel and sched-
ule a coffee date to catch up.
Ashleigh Aviles earned a
master’s in human development and
family science from the University
of Texas at Austin in her doctoral
program this past spring.
Dan Amrhein is moving with his
wife, Melissa, and infant daughter
from Seattle to Boulder in October.
Dan spent the last decade (?!)
researching the physics of the oceans
and climate, which included a
couple of swashbuckling sea voyages
but mostly involved using climate
models to study Earth’s geologic
past. In Boulder he will work at the
National Center for Atmospheric
Research. He is looking forward to
hiking the Rockies, building a pizza
oven and somehow morphing into a
ripped triathlete, like everyone else
in that town.
Ralph DeBernardo and Kaitlyn
Busler DeBernardo 10 welcomed
Charlotte Mia into the world on
April 14. Ralph shares, “Charlotte
came in at a solid 8 lbs. and almost
21 inches long, solidifying her as
a future Columbia Lion volley-
ball player — Class of 2042! We
celebrated her baptism along with
godfather Gene Kaskiw on July
14 at home in New Jersey. We had
multiple CC grads in attendance,
including Gary Mesko and Megan
Donovan 10.”
Please send any life updates to be
included in an upcoming issue!
2010
REUNION 2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Julia Feldberg Klein
juliafeldberg@gmail.com
Jordan Fraade and Emma Curran
Hulse 09 were married on June 2 in
Brown County, Ind., near Emma’s
JOE DEBERNARDO
Kaitlyn DeBernardo (née Busler) 10
and Ralph DeBernardo ’09 at their
daughter’s July 14 baptism at Our
Lady of Good Counsel Church in
Washington Township, N.J.
hometown of Indianapolis. The
couple met after college through
a mutual friend from Columbia,
and worked backward to figure out
they'd attended all the same dinner
parties at Potluck House. Alumni in
attendance included Rahel Aima,
Becky Davies, Megan Eardley,
Kabita Parajuli, Kate Redburn,
Laura Seidman, Salman Sonjjee,
Jonathan Battat SEAS’09, John
Klopfer ’09, Jardine Wall’09 and
Dave Plotz’06.
Laura Weldon writes, “I still
have one more year to go to finish
my medical degree, but I received
an MLS. in integrative mental health
this past June! I am a neurodiversity
advocate and am researching autism.”
Kaitlyn DeBernardo and Ralph
DeBernardo ’09 welcomed their
first child, Charlotte Mia, on April
14, weighing 8 lbs. and measuring
20.75 inches long. On July 14, she
was baptized in New Jersey, where
Gene Kaskiw ’09 was named her
godfather. Charlotte is already mea-
suring off the charts and her parents
are hoping she will be a Columbia
athlete like they were!
Morgan Parker's debut young
adult novel, Who Put This Song On?,
will be published in September. Her
third collection of poetry, Magical
Negro, was released earlier this year.
In June, Michael Bossetta
completed a Ph.D. in the political
science department at the University
of Copenhagen. His research
examines social media’s impact on
politics and elections. Michael will
continue his research during a two-
year postdoctoral fellowship at Lund
University in Sweden, where he is
leading the project “Self-Effects
on Social Media and Political
Polarization.” Using data from the
2019 European elections, the project
investigates whether posting about
politics on social media encourages
the polarization of public opinion.
The project was awarded a Seal
of Excellence from the European
Commission and is funded by
Sweden's Innovation Agency. You
can find out more about Michael’s
research by checking out his podcast,
Social Media and Politics.
2011
Nuriel Moghavem and
Sean Udell
nurielm@gmail.com
sean.udell@gmail.com
Hey, 2011. It’s with a heavy heart
that we report the loss of Trevis
Glenn Welcome-Joyner. Trevis,
ever the loving force, was a remark-
able classmate. The void created by
his death this past May will be felt
in our community for a lifetime.
We remember Trevis by dedicating
this column to his memory. The
following (from which excerpts were
pulled) was originally published on
the website for the Cremation Soci-
ety of Georgia. The excerpts have
been reprinted with its permission.
“Trevis Glenn Welcome-Joyner
had the kind of warmth of personal-
ity that inspired and changed the
people around him, from small chil-
dren to people decades older. “He is
magnetic, his mother, Tracie Joyner,
said. ‘People are just drawn to him.
He is an extraordinary human being.’
“Trevis, 30, passed away Thursday,
May 9, 2019, at Northside Hospital
in Atlanta, Ga., after years of living
his life joyfully and valiantly in the
face of a terrible cancer and in defi-
ance of its attempt to define him.
“Tf you knew Trev, I know
you loved him,’ his wife, Maxine
Welcome-Joyner, wrote. ‘My heart is
breaking for all the people who will be
saddened by the passing of him. Let
grief take you where you need to go,
but also be joyous. He was joyous and
laughing to the very end, and I know
he would want everyone else to be.’
“Trevis was not only a son,
husband, and brother, but also a
teacher, mentor and friend. He was
a graduate of Lithia Springs H.S. in
Douglas County, Ga., and Columbia
University in New York, where he
double majored in computer science
and psychology. He also attended
Culver Academy in Culver, Indiana,
which introduced him to the sport
of fencing. He later went on to fence
in college and was a member of the
Columbia Fencing Team when they
won the Ivy League Championship
in 2008.
“Trevis was a dedicated teacher
and most recently worked as a
second-grade intervention specialist
at KIPP Strive Primary School, a
public charter school in Atlanta’s
Westside neighborhood. He began
his career in education at KIPP
AMP Elementary School in
Brooklyn, New York, where he was
a Founding Kindergarten Teacher,
followed by a Founding First Grade
A group of CC’'11 classmates at graduation (left to right): Dave Feig, Jonathan
Tanners, Dhruv Vasishtha, Louis Fisher, Trevis Welcome-Joyner, Javed Basu-
Kesselman, Ben Berger, Mujib Mashal and Sam Frank.
Teacher and then a Founding Sci-
ence Teacher for grades K-2. He
later worked as a Second Grade
Teacher at KIPP Ignite Academy in
South Los Angeles after moving to
California. Throughout his teaching
career, Trevis made a point of reach-
ing out to the students who needed
him most. The mother of one of
his students commented, “Trevis
meant the world to me and mine.
He is forever in our hearts. Know
that his time here in New York was
well spent impacting so many young
minds. He is forever a part of our
family.’ Another parent wrote, “Tre-
vis was my daughter’s kindergarten
teacher in 2013 at KIPP in NYC.
She loved him and had a special
bond with him. He was so good to
her. When she heard the news he
had passed, she was sad and calmly
said, ‘He taught me how to read. I
am going to miss him. He just got
me.’ She was a shy student and he
definitely had an impact on her. ’...
“Throughout his life, Trevis never
lost his thirst for learning. He was a
deep thinker with an intellectual curi-
osity that drew people in and encour-
aged dialog. When others spoke, Trevis
let them know he was listening. ...
“Tt was hard for anyone to meet
him and not love him right away,’
wrote Helen Werbe, one of Trevis’s
close friends from college. ‘In fact, I
have so many friends and family he
met over the years on who he made
such positive impressions that they,
even if they had only met him once,
would continue to ask how he was
doing. To me, this was incredible.
No one else would be remembered
like that.’ ...
“Trevis faced a devastating
diagnosis in the fall of 2015, but
rather than allowing it to shatter
him, he chose to embrace a new
phase of life. He moved to Los
Angeles with Maxine, he traveled,
read, ate and loved. When he and
Maxine moved home to Atlanta, he
drove cross country with his younger
brother, Hayden. To the delight of
friends and family, he and Maxine
were married in December 2018 ina
ceremony that the two of them cre-
ated. Trevis’s vows to Maxine were
largely improvised. When he spoke
from his heart, Maxine’s tears were
joined by those in attendance, many
of whom traveled across the country
to witness this special union.
“In an online remembrance,
Claire Turner, another college friend
Columbia varsity soccer teammates
Nick Faber 12, Zach Glubiak "12,
Will Young 13, Nick Scott 13, Ronnie
Shaban SEAS'12, Jesse Vella
SEAS12, Francois Anderson ‘12,
Henning Sauerbier 14 and Michael
Mazzullo 12 (along with some friends)
met up to play in New York City.
and former co-worker, described
Trevis as ‘the rock of our friend
group whose boundless love and
enthusiasm for food, music, and
children left a deep impression on
all who knew him. ‘Eight years was
not enough time to have known you,
my friend. We had a lot more living
to do,’ she wrote. ‘In his honor, talk
to a stranger, try a new food, laugh
with your children, dance. Live life
to the fullest, because we know that’s
what he would be doing.’
“After his passing, Tracie received
this message from someone she had
never met, ‘You don’t know me, but I
recently heard the news about Trevis.
What I will always remember about
him is his joy — his joy in people, his
joy in food, music, dance, everything.
Trevis inspired everyone he met to be
a better person, and also to live life
with joy. He inspires me! | will live
my life as joyfully as I can, because
that’s what Trevis would do!”
2012
Sarah Chai
sarahbchai@gmail.com
Hey, all! Hope you had a great sum-
mer and are looking forward to fall!
A core group of some Columbia
varsity men’s soccer teammates play in
New York every Saturday, but on one
summer weekend some additional
guys were in town for a wedding.
Nick Faber, Zach Glubiak, Will
Young ’13, Nick Scott’13, Ronnie
Fall 2019 CCT 77
Class Notes
Celebrations
CCT welcomes wedding photos where at least one
member of the couple is a College alum. Please submit
your high-resolution photo, and caption information,
on our photo webform. In this issue, we also highlight
three engagements of couples in which both alumni are
College grads. Congratulations!
JINNY k PHOTOGRapHy
UDIOS
MICHELLE VARELA OF OCEANLAB ST
78 CCT Fall 2019
SWEETWATER PORTRAITS
1. James Glynn 15 and Lisa
Harshman 15 recently got
engaged.
2. Jeanine Alvarez 14 and Mycheal
Crafton SEAS’14 got engaged in
June at the American Museum
of Natural History. In attendance
to celebrate were friends Nelson
Castafho 14, Cathi Choi 13, Johnny
Fells Ill SEAS’16, Akinyele Jordan
15 and Jachele Vélez 11.
3. On August 25, 2018, Alisa
Parker 07 (née Gross) married Hal
Parker in Philadelphia. Top row,
left to right: Chris Danzig GS’05,
Sari Linson Danzig SEAS’06, Ellie
Bernick BC’11, Carey Gibbons
°03, Max Talbot-Minkin ’07, Risa
Chubinsky ’07, Susan Millenky ’07,
Roger Stefin ’75 LAW’79, Katie
Kluger Kenigsberg BC’07, Kwame
Spearman ’06 and Laura Lariu
Roberts ’06. Bottom row, left to
right: Ruth Gross (Alisa’s niece), the
bride, Professor Emeritus Jonathan
Gross, Rena Gross ’02 and Andrew
Napier LAW’13.
cd
4. Taylor Willis (née Troutt) 18
married Titus Willis 18 in Gadsden,
Ala., on August 11, 2018. Left to
right: Jesse Thorson 18, Saul De
La O Villa SEAS18, the groom,
the bride, Rebecca Ohaeri 18 and
Rachel Lipski BC’18.
5. Many CC alumni gathered
at the August 2018 wedding of
Jenieve Guevarra-Fernandez 12
and Amin Guevarra-Fernandez ’11
in Elizabeth, N.J. First row, left to
right: Christina Ortiz 12, Alejandro
Ortiz SEAS’15, Melanie Ortiz,
Ximena Fonseca BC’15, Jasmine
Ruiz BC’'15, Christina Gee BC’14, the
bride, the groom, Steven Martinez
11, Robert Taronji, Eric Kay Kyere
42 and Richard Parraga SEAS’14.
Second row, left to right: Christian
Morales SEAS14, Ernesto Jacobs
SEAS’13, Johanna Miele 712, Julian
Vigil SEAS’17, Andrew Padilla, Doric
Sam and Lucelys Popoter BC’14.
Third row, left to right: Carolina
Stairs GSAS’13, Emmanuel Arnaud
43, Juan Carlos Garcia SEAS12,
Brian Velez SEAS14, Gilbert Nunez
13, Elizabeth Angeles 13, Michael
Barrientos SEAS 12 and Michael
Elias SEAS’15. Forth row, left to
right: Jibreel Adekiigbe SEAS'14,
Jason Tejada 13 and Jose Escano.
6. Andrew Ren “15 and Sida Li 15
got engaged on April 26.
». 4@ &
Shaban SEAS'12, Jesse Vella
SEAS’12, Francois Anderson,
Henning Sauerbier’14 and Michael
Mazzullo were able to catch up over
the game!
I hope to hear from the rest of
you soon. You can submit updates
by writing to me at the address at
the top of the column or via the
CCT Class Notes webform, college.
columbia.edu/cct/submit_class_note.
Until next time!
2013
Tala Akhavan
talaakhavan@gmail.com
It is with a heavy heart that we
dedicate this quarter’s Class of 2013
column to the memory of Brian
DeVeau, who sadly passed away on
June 23, 2019.
Brian was a beloved member of
the class and a devoted player on the
varsity football team. He majored in
economics and, in football, he played
defensive back and offensive slot back.
Many classmates remember Brian’s
signature bright smile lighting up our
campus. He was an investment analyst
with Merrill Lynch before becoming
an associate investment banker with
Mizuho Bank. Most recently, Brian
was the managing director of mergers
and acquisitions at Taylored Services,
a portfolio company of Saybrook
Corporate Opportunity Funds, while
pursuing an M.B.A.
In memory of Brian, we've col-
lected thoughts, memories and short
stories about him from members of
the Class of 2013. He will be deeply
missed and remembered by the
Columbia community.
Robert Sigmon: “I’m confident
there has never been anyone quite like
Brian DeVeau. I was fortunate enough
to befriend Brian as an incoming
freshman at Columbia when he
was still entrenched in his phase of
oversized sweatpants, buzz cuts and
carrying around a gallon of water
everywhere he went. It didn't take long
for him to become one of the most
beloved individuals in the program
and one of my closest friends. He
didn’t need many words (and even
fewer over text messages) to make
his mark on those he cared about. He
led by example on and off the field by
showing an unbreakable commitment
to his teammates, friends and family.
He was the ultimate teammate and
a brother to many on the team,
including me. Through college
and two years of rooming together
afterward, he taught me the value
and importance of being authentic.
Brian was never afraid to be himself,
and that’s what made people gravi-
tate toward him. You will always be
missed and loved, Bri.”
Sean Brackett: “Brian was a
great friend, teammate, roommate
and even better person. We ‘grew up’
together, from 17/18-year-old public
school freshmen with no idea about
our futures, to Ivy League graduates.
Literally every time I saw Brian, he
brought a smile to my face. Whether
it was his choice of style/fashion (or
lack thereof as an underclassman!)
or his unique phrases and sayings
that he was so known for, he was
always in good spirits and showing
his positive light to others. He was
a fierce competitor in everything
he did; football, working out, in the
classroom. Brian was always going
to give his absolute best. I will miss
his laugh, his positive energy and just
talking to my boy. I’m blessed to have
made so many great, crazy, hilarious,
awesome memories with him. He
will always live on through these
memories. Rest easy, my brother. I
love you. Roar, Lion, Roar forever.”
Andrew Weiss: “Because we both
played football, Brian was one of the
first people I met at Columbia. We
grew up about 15 minutes away from
each other in New Jersey and even
played football against each other
when we were younger. When you
spend nearly every day with someone
for four years, you cannot help but
acquire countless memories and
Left to right, Shad Sommers 13, Seyi Adebayo 14, Cameron Ross 13, Ryan
Murphy 13, Xander Frantz SEAS’13 and Brian DeVeau ‘13.
stories, and I probably have enough
anecdotes to fill the magazine. I
will summarize by saying that I will
always remember Brian as three
things: a great teammate, a special
person and an incredible friend.
“Brian was a tremendous team-
mate. He loved football, always
put the team first, and displayed
a tireless work ethic. In the locker
room, he was revered and loved by
all of his teammates. He even saved
my butt (and his!) one day when we
both walked to the bus together for
practice, only to realize that there
was no bus and that none of our
teammates were standing at 116th
and Broadway. While I was already
running through the many different
horrible scenarios of how we would
be penalized for being late, Brian
hailed a cab for us and told the
cab driver we were late to practice.
Incredibly, we somehow made it to
Baker on time to quickly get dressed
along with our teammates, many of
whom were already in their pads. I
can say I was never late for anything
in four years because of Brian!
“Beyond football, Brian was a
special person and a terrific friend.
He was a great man from a great
family. His trademark smile and
vibrant laugh will not be forgotten
by those who knew him. He was
incredibly selfless and eventually I
came to realize that his frustrating
text message exchanges — with
one-word questions or comments
— were simply his way of checking
in on those he cared about.
“But above all, my college experi-
ence, and my life, would not have
been the same had I never met
Brian. I cannot think about my time
at Columbia without thinking of
Brian's presence in all of it. From our
first days of moving in to Carman
Hall to going out to Senior Nights
together, Brian was an integral part
of everything on and off the field.
Among the many memories, I will
always remember living down the
hall from him in Broadway over the
summer going into our senior year,
hanging out on Saturday nights after
wins and losses with our teammates
and the time spent at his family’s
home in New Jersey. I will always
treasure the countless hours we spent
together and our friendship over all
these years. Brian represented the
very best of Columbia and I know
I join all of my classmates and all of
my teammates in saying that we will
miss him deeply.”
Nicholas Mills: “Brian and I
were Carman 12 suitemates; we
shared the suite with both Steve
Santos and Sean Brackett.
“One of my first memories of
Brian was teaching him how to
do laundry in the sub-basement of
Carman. I recall him knocking on
my door to ask for help; he took
me to the washer he had previously
run a batch of clothes through and
asked why they weren't clean. I then
asked if he put laundry detergent in
before he ran the washer, to which
he responded ‘no.’ knew right then
I had my work cut out for me.
“Brian and I hung out when we
could; I remember he had originally
started college as a pre-med student
and we had similar class schedules.
Fall 2019 CCT 79
JJ5 freshman floormates met up at their fifth reunion this past June. Left to
right: Alexander Pensler 14, Suhas Thalapaneni 14, Kevin Zhang 14, Nick
Parker 14, Jonathan Hofman 14, Solomon Hoffman 14, Joel Camacho 14,
Dana Benami 14, Yaas Bigdeli SEAS’14, Anthony Ramirez 14, Nim Gumaste 14,
Sarita Patankar 14, Rebecca Fattell 14 and Vikas Vavilala ‘14.
We definitely spent a NYE together
in NYC, though I can’t recall the
locale. He had his group of football
players and I had my group of
wrestlers but we were certainly
friends. He honestly didn’t go out
much, but I do remember one night
at the now-throwback Campo; he
wasnt afraid to dance but he was
wonderfully awkward at it. His smile
was absolutely contagious and he
laughed a sort of laugh that was
distinguishable from thousands. He
80 CCT Fall 2019
had a natural curiosity about things,
albeit I had a hard time discern-
ing when he was being genuine or
sarcastic. I assumed the latter almost
always yet entertained his inquiries.
He was a good friend.”
Cameron Ross: “Brian was
a great classmate, teammate and
friend. His strong work ethic built
through sports carried over into
his personal life. He was loyal to a
fault once you got to know him and
a genuine person who was always
4
ap
there for you. His smile and laugh
could brighten up a room and he
will be deeply missed by many.”
Bob Hauschildt 12: “Brian was
one of the hardest working people
I’ve ever met. He would put his
heart and soul into every single
thing he did. His intensity was
unwavering, whether it be on the
football field, in the classroom or
simply tossing a ball around. But the
thing Pll remember most is he did
all of this with a massive smile that
went from ear to ear. Brian smiled
with his whole body and that will
always stay with me. Brian was a
great teammate and a better friend
and he will be sorely missed.”
Maria Sulimirski: “I will always
remember Brian’s kind eyes and big
smile. He had the same sweet pres-
ence in our elementary and middle
school classrooms in Kinnelon, N,J.,
as he did when we crossed paths
again moving into Carman a few
years later. Sending all of my love
and prayers to his beautiful family.”
Andrew Heinrich: “Brian was,
above all, a great teammate. He
cared deeply about all of us, and was
always fun to be around. What I
remember most about Brian is how
he continued to be a great ‘team-
mate’ even after our final game. Brian
always took interest in what we were
doing and did his utmost to support
us. Nothing epitomizes Brian more
than the texts I would get with ideas
he had for me to use at work or when
he would show up to my work events
just to show his support. I think my
ultimate memory of Brian is him
tracking me down in Ferris our junior
year with notes he had written out
with ideas for how to take something
I was working on to the next level.”
Ashley Zambito: “Brian, you
always made a room shine, and
you will forever shine down on us.
Your caring heart exhibited such
brilliance and you were loved just as
much, if not more, in return.
“T for one, will always remember
our special times at Columbia. I
enjoyed learning more about you
each year as our major, sports and
general interests fueled our friend-
ship. As you tended to keep quiet
around most, I knew you to be
incredibly caring and that you were
always there for me, your teammates
and your friends. From our fun trips
downtown, to our almost daily study
sessions, to doing our best to enjoy
all of our econ classes, words can’t
explain the laughter and moments
we shared, but I will always hold
them close to my heart.
“I am sending my prayers, love
and best Brian smile to you and your
family. Nothing will replace your
loss, but you filled us all with great
joy that we will have forever.”
Sabaah Jordan: “Sending all
my love to the friends and family
of Brian DeVeau. He was a truly
awesome guy, always kind and funny,
always working hard in the gym. He
was one of the people who made my
Columbia experience memorable in
the best way. I am deeply saddened
and know his loss will be a heavy
weight on everyone who knew him.”
2014:
Rebecca Fattell
rsf2121@columbia.edu
It was wonderful to see so many
of you at our five-year reunion! It’s
hard to believe that five years have
passed since graduation. Our JJ5
freshman floor did an excellent job
of finding each other for a picture,
and I got to see Alexander Pensler,
Suhas Thalapaneni, Kevin
Zhang, Nick Parker, Jonathan
Hofman, Solomon Hoffman,
Joel Camacho, Dana Benami,
Yaas Bigdeli SEAS’14, Anthony
Ramirez, Nim Gumaste, Sarita
Patankar and Vikas Vavilala.
Roniquee Marksman had a great
time catching up with classmates at
reunion! After three years at Ember
Charter School in Brooklyn, she will
be pursuing a master’s in Chicago. If
Karina Brasgalla ‘15 (left), Chris
Canales 14 (center) and Nora Rose
BC'15 played trivia in El Paso, Texas.
CC’'15 friends recently traveled to Chicago to visit Bitania Wondimu. Left to
right: Wondimu, Vishal Alluri, Kareem Carry! and Mihika Barua.
you are in the area and would like to
connect, let her know.
Sam Kazer and Julia Sayles
BC’14 were married overlooking
the Long Island Sound in New
Rochelle, N.Y., on July 13. The
couple met at a Musical Mentors
party thrown in Sam’s Ruggles suite
during their junior year. Sam taught
Julia how to play beer pong, and
the two bonded over playing Cards
Against Humanity. Now living in
Boston, Sam and Julia fill their time
outside lab and teaching with pub
trivia, MasterChef, home brewing
and making music.
Jeanine Alvarez and Mycheal
Crafton SEAS14, SEAS'17 got
engaged this June at the American
Museum of Natural History. There
to celebrate were a few of their clos-
est friends, Nelson Castano, Cathi
Choi 13, Johnny Fells II] SEAS'16,
Akinyele Jordan 15 and Jachele
Vélez’11, LAW’17.
Finn Vigeland graduated in May
from the Harvard Graduate School
of Design with a master’s in urban
planning and moved to Washing-
ton, D.C., in July, where he lives
with Jay Rappaport 18. Finn is a
transportation planner at Foursquare
Integrated Transportation Planning
in Rockville, Md. He hopes to fix
the MTA someday, but for now is
looking forward to meeting Lions in
the D.C. area!
Eric Ingram is completing a
master’s degree/teaching credential
program at UC Berkeley's Graduate
School of Education to become a high
school English teacher in California.
Chris Canales is chief of staff
to Rep. Cissy Lizarraga in El Paso,
and a professional soccer referee
in the USL Championship (the
second division in the United States
and Canada, one level below Major
League Soccer). He recently got
engaged to Nora Rose BC’15, and
they plan to tie the knot in NYC
next year. They've also formed a pub
trivia triad, Updog, with Karina
Brasgalla’15, and they love to
host visiting Columbia friends in
the Borderland to help them crush
the competition.
2015
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
cecfund@columbia.edu
Kareem Carryl
kareem.carryl@columbia.edu
Hello, Class of 2015! By the time
you read this, we will be less than
one year away from our five-year
reunion. I cannot wait to see you all
there and learn more about what
you all been up to! But do not wait
until then — as we start to see more
graduations, new jobs, engagements
and other life happenings, please
write to me, or feel free to nominate
someone for me to reach out to! We
would love to have more stories and
photos for Class Notes!
alumninews «&:)
Here’s what some of our friends
have been up to lately:
Another reason to thank Colum-
bia Housing: Sida Li and Andrew
Ren got engaged in New York City
on April 26. They met on campus
and were RAs together!
Lisa Harshman and James
Glynn have also recently gotten
engaged! Congratulations!
Courtney Garrity is 700 miles
into thru-hiking the Pacific Crest
Trail! She writes, “I did the first
550 on my own and am now hiking
the next 400 with a research group
conducting avian, herptile, vegeta-
tion and eDNA surveys through the
southern Sierra Nevadas.”
Stella Zhao let us know that
Esme Levy founded a clothing
company that mainly designs yoga
pants that makes leg prints of
insects as the yoga pant print to raise
awareness for vulnerable ecosystems.
Stella also let us know that Kristine
Musademba, Chloe Durkin and
Esme Levy flew to Houston for 48
hours to cheer her on for her first
crochet competition. Fun fact: The
event lasted 14 hours with 68 meters
of yarn. Her friends stayed for the
whole event!
And a quick update from me: I
recently traveled to Chicago with
Mihika Barua and Vishal Alluri for
a weekend of fun visiting Bitania
Wondimu, who is attending North-
western University Feinberg School
of Medicine.
As always, your classmates want
to hear from you. Please be sure to
CC'16 alumni met in April to support Madison Ford at the NYC screening
submit updates to Class Notes by
writing me at the address at the top
of the column or via the CCT Class
Notes webform, college.columbia.
edu/cct/submit_class_note.
2016
Lily Liu-Krason
lliukrason@gmail.com
Hey, CC’16! From talking to many
of you at Reunion Weekend 2019,
it seems we've all been pretty busy!
Here are some highlights:
From Tyler Huyser: “Being bira-
cial, I’ve always been asked, “What
are you?’ Confused by the question
and the frequency with which it was
asked sparked a desire in me to learn
about the racialized and cultural
experiences of others from an early
age. After completing my film degree
at Columbia and moving south to
begin a career in the burgeoning
Georgia film industry, this fascination
was transformed into action when
the hateful dialogue of the 2016
election grew deafening. I sought to
compile the stories of others with the
intention of creating a platform to
share them with the world.
“The project morphed from a
simple interview series (a la Humans
of New York) into a virtual reality
project, Walk In My Shoes. It has
since blossomed into a media com-
pany that links innovative technol-
ogy with storytelling media in order
to create high-impact platforms
of Nathan’s Kingdom, in which Ford stars. Left to right: Grayson Warrick,
Dan Multer, Ford, Brandon Martinez and Lily Liu-Krason.
Fall 2019 CCT 31
Phantila Phataraprasit 16 and Caitlin de Lisser-Ellen 16 co-founded the
sustainable furniture company Sabai Design.
that inspire inclusivity. We recently
launched on social. Follow us on
Instagram @walkinmyshoesmedia to
check out our stories.”
Shen Qiu successfully hit five
continents in a month on a work
trip helping Uber Eats grow its
business globally. He lives in San
Francisco and is looking for a
language buddy to practice French,
Spanish and Japanese — let him
know at sq2145@columbia.edu if
you're interested!
Phantila Phataraprasit and Cait-
lin de Lisser-Ellen launched their
sustainable furniture company, Sabai
Fall 2019
Design. Inspired by the movement
to rethink excessive consumption in “
other entrenched industries, Sabai
aims to challenge the fast furniture
model and make pieces that are
sustainable, beautiful and work with
a flexible lifestyle. The “Closed Loop”
program will extend the lifecycle
of the pieces through a buy-back
program, where any Sabai sofa can
be purchased back at a discount and
sold secondhand. Follow them on
Instagram @sabai.design or email
them at general@sabai.design.
In April I went with Grayson
Warrick, Dan Multer, Madison
Ford and Brandon Martinez to
support Madison in her leading role
in the film Nathan’ Kingdom at its
New York screening.
What have you all been up to? As
always, write in to say hello!
2017
Carl Yin
carl.yin@columbia.edu
Elle Wisnicki moved to San Diego
and became a homeowner!
Karisma Price recently completed
a master’s program at NYU and
graduated with an M.F.A. in poetry.
This fall she is a visiting assistant pro-
fessor at Tulane University.
It’s been a wild year and a half
since Marina Chan’s last Class
Note, thanks to a casual lunch with
her former theatre professor, Hana
Worthen. That lunch ended up
launching a one-year series of panel
discussions conceived, curated and
organized by Marina, in collaboration
with the Barnard Theatre Depart-
ment and the Asia Society’s Perform-
ing Arts Department. The series,
“Asian Americans in Theatre: Art and
Activism,” consisted of three panels
involving theater professionals and
scholars discussing Asian-American
theater, artistic identity and activism,
with an eye to expediting aware-
ness and change. The series (and a
corresponding lecture Marina gave at
Barnard) came at a ripe time, filling
in dire gaps in Marina’s knowledge
and coinciding with what turned out
to be a watershed year for Asian-
American representation in enter-
tainment. Ideally the momentum will
continue, for all minorities.
Now, with the series completed
and having recently returned from
a family trip (worst part: purse theft
in Stockholm; best part: Rovaniemi,
Finland, gateway to the Arctic Circle
and home of Santa Claus and his
reindeer!), Marina will strive to con-
tribute to that momentum through
playwriting and she hopes perform-
ing, as well, if she isn't too rusty (see-
ing as her first role was the Tin-“Gal”
in The Wiz, in middle school!).
Nate Barasch is moving to Tokyo
for a year at the end of September to
work in the IT innovation depart-
ment in the head office of Sumitomo
Mitsui Banking Corp. He would love
for classmates who live there or will
be visiting to reach out, as he will not
know anyone there going in. KAU<
SHAUL!
This fall, Brian Manzo will start
in the statistics Ph.D. program at
the University of Michigan.
Brynn Harris writes, “After
graduating with an M.P.H.,I moved
to Salt Lake City, Utah, where I’m
the administrative fellow for the
University of Utah’s Hospitals &
Clinics. I’m enjoying the mountains
and can't wait to take my baby pug,
Vegas, hiking with me.”
And a note from me (Carl Yin):
I am moving to the Bay Area in the
fall, and would love to connect with
anyone out there!
2018
Alexander Birkel and
Maleeha Chida
ab4065@columbia.edu
mnc2122@columbia.edu
Thanks to everyone who sent us
their exciting updates! As always,
keep us posted about your adven-
tures, big or small.
Antonia Georgieva writes, “I
am based in London, working on an
M.F-A. in advanced theatre practice
at Royal Central School of Speech
and Drama. Recently, I founded
the female-led Aslant Theatre
Company, and we performed our
debut production, MUSE, as part
of the Camden Fringe Festival in
London in August. The show will
transfer to the Tristan Bates Theatre
‘
1% escin tial
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“os TW F
Perry Kerner '18 (left) and
Dylan Cooper 18 met up in
Nyhavn, Copenhagen.
Members of the crew of the upcoming film Glance from the Edge, filmed in
Bulgaria, posed in a lavender field. Included in the photograph are Kosta
Karakashyan 19, Lora Beltcheva 19, Stephanie Handjiiska, Kevin Chiu
SEAS'17 and Julien Leitner ’20.
for a weeklong run in November.
We would love to see any Columbia
alumni there!”
Perry Kerner and Dylan
Cooper started medical school in
August at SUNY Downstate Health
Sciences University and Hofstra
University, respectively. Before all
the hard work began, they met up in
Nyhavn, Copenhagen!
Kelly Powers is getting a Ph.D.
in classics at Florida State Univer-
sity. She originally enrolled in the
master’s program there but switched
into the Ph.D. program during her
second semester. Her degree track
focuses on ancient Greek and Latin
language and literature. Kelly’s
areas of interest are Greek and
Latin poetry, gender and sexuality
in ancient poetry, and reception of
poetry (how later writers interact
with and respond to earlier writers).
This past June, Maleeha Chida
returned from a year in northern
Spain as a Fulbright Scholar. She
taught English at a secondary school
in La Rioja, Spain’s wine-growing
region. While she misses her school
and the beauty of the northern Span-
ish landscape, she is excited to be back
in New York City, where she is an
analyst at the law firm Kobre & Kim.
2019
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Emily Gruber
Tj Aspen Givens
tag2149@columbia.edu
eag2169@columbia.edu
Congratulations, Class of 2019! We
are officially alumni and are excited
to stay in touch. Send Class Notes
for future issues to Emily Gruber
and Tj Aspen Givens to either of
the email addresses above. We will
miss you all during back-to-school
season on Morningside Heights!
Here are our first updates
as alumni!
Alan Blaesser is teaching sailing
lessons on the Cape.
Elise Fuller recently moved
to New Jersey and is a consulting
analyst at Accenture.
Heidi Hai sends an update from
Paris: “In preparation for attending
NYU Law in the fall, I decided to
alumninews
go to Paris to better my French and
do some ‘soul searching,’ as self-help
handbooks would probably term the
sum of my museum-going, cinema-
hunting and historic site excursions
of ambiguous nature. I enjoy the
immediate, sentimental reactions
paintings and sculptures have been
giving me. Walking in the streets of
Paris, seeing a largely similar picture
of the city as Parisians during the
Belle Epoque and stepping into pal-
aces that housed kings and queens
400 years ago, I sense how history
elevates me from a relatively mun-
dane version of life. Two months
after graduation, I feel readier for
my future, and I hope you do too.”
Dancing alumni Kosta Kara-
kashyan and Lora Beltcheva are
collaborating on the film Glance
from the Edge, which wrapped up
filming this past summer across 12
cultural/historical sites in Bulgaria
— Sofia, Plovdiv, Prohodna cave, the
Black Sea coast, Ovech Fortress and
many others. Kosta is directing and
choreographing the film in collabo-
ration with fellow Bulgarian dancer/
choreographer Stephanie Handjiiska
after they worked together on a
project in Egypt last year, and Lora
is their invaluable line producer,
making sure the budget, travel and
filming logistics are all in order.
Glance from the Edge is a Bulgar-
ian-American collaboration between
co-directors and choreographers
Kosta and Stephanie, DoP Kevin
Chiu SEAS’17, composer Julien
Leitner ’20 (stage name Jude Icarus)
and line producer Lora. The project
is supported by the National Culture
Fund of Bulgaria, Derida Dance
Center, and is an associated project
for Plovdiv 2019 - European Capital
of Culture. Glance from the Edge is
a short film about six individuals
who find themselves swept across a
tapestry of 12 Bulgarian landscapes
as they struggle to establish relation-
ships, place and belonging. Through
the medium of dance, their interwo-
ven stories of growth and loss offer a
glance from the edge of the human
condition and its inherent dangers.
Kosta and Lora graduated
with their degrees in dance and
economics/sustainable develop-
ment, respectively. “We can’t wait
for the premiere to be presented in
Sofia and Plovdiv in autumn 2019,”
they shared, “The team is looking
for a partner for United States and
European distribution.”
Matthew Petti writes with a
career update: “I recently got a job
as a national security reporter at The
National Interest. My first two articles
were about the British ambassador's
row with Trump, and British-Iranian
tensions over oil tankers.”
Josh Schenk spent the summer
surfing and working with Cory
Booker on his presidential campaign.
Solomon Wiener and several CC
friends traveled to Thailand and visited
Ayutthaya, an old Siamese capital.
Solomon Wiener 19 (second from left) and several CC friends traveled to
Thailand and visited Ayutthaya, an old Siamese capital.
Fall 2019 CCT 83
obituaries a eo |
1941
Arthur D. Taplinger, retired
engineer, Fort Lee, N.J.,on February
12, 2019. Taplinger entered with
the Class of 1941 but earned three
degrees from Columbia Engineer-
ing: a B.S. in engineering in 1943, an
MLS. in chemical engineering in 1944
and an M.S. in mechanical engineer-
ing in 1947, During his career as an
instrumentation engineer, he worked
for companies such as American
Can Co., DuPont, Lever Brothers
and Lockwood Greene designing
control systems for plants that made
pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals,
coke (a grey, hard and porous fuel
with a high carbon content and few
impurities, made by heating coal or
oil in the absence of air) for steel
mills, and beer, among other things.
During WWIL he worked on the
Manhattan Project. Taplinger loved
classical music, played the violin,
painted and for a while in his youth
flew piper cub airplanes. He was a
longtime resident of Englewood,
N.J., and for the last five years of his
life lived in Fort Lee. Taplinger was
predeceased by his wife, Estelle Pine
Taplinger, and his partner later in
his life, Edith Woods. He is survived
by his son, Michael’79; daugh-
ter, Susan; and the many friends,
acquaintances and strangers whose
lives he touched with his kindness,
generosity and optimism.
Obituary Submission
Guidelines
Columbia College Today 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,
Ath Fl., New York, NY 10025.
84 CCT Fall 2019
1945
George T. “Ted” Wright, professor
emeritus, Louisville, Ky., on May 1,
2019. Wright was born on Staten
Island, N.Y., on December 17,
1925. He earned an M.A. in 1947
from GSAS and a Ph.D. in English
literature in 1957 from UC Berkeley.
Wright had a distinguished teaching
career, beginning at the University
of Kentucky as assistant professor,
1957-60, and continuing at the
University of Tennessee as associate
professor, 1961-68. He then began
a long tenure at the University of
Minnesota, where he was profes-
sor, Regent’s Professor, chair of
the Department of English and
finally Professor Emeritus. Wright
received two Fulbright awards, an
NEH Senior Research Fellowship
and a Guggenheim Fellowship,
among other honors and awards. He
authored six books about poets and *
poetry, including the works of Eliot,
Yeats, Pound and Auden, but his
specialty was the examination of the
metrical qualities of Shakespeare.
Wright wrote dozens of articles in
professional journals of English,
published about 80 poems in
periodicals and published a volume,
Aimless Life. Wright was predeceased
by his wife, Jerry Honeywell Wright;
brother, Lawrence; his sister-in-law,
Joyce; sister, Norma Weaver; and
brother-in-law, Robert Weaver. He
is survived by his nephew, Raymond;
and nieces, Pamela Rehman, Col-
leen Long and Sharon.
1946
Baruch S. “Barry” Jacobson,
retired professor, Wynnewood, Pa.,
on February 29, 2019. Jacobson
graduated from Bronx Science at 16
and enrolled at the College before
serving in the Army in Germany at
the close of WWII. Upon returning
stateside, he moved to northern
California and farmed chickens,
then earned a Ph.D. in physics from
UC Berkeley. Jacobson became a
professor at the University of Texas,
University of Minnesota and Cen-
tral Michigan University (CMU),
where he was on the faculty for 20
years. He published his final aca-
demic paper at 80. The last decades
of Jacobson’s life were rich and
varied, even after his wife of nearly
50 years, Guadalupe Savedra, passed
away. With Betty Owen, he toured
the Western states that she'd grown
up in. Political activism was one of
the key values that he shared with
his progeny. Raised in a questioning
Jewish household and married to a
Catholic, Jacobson was for 70 years
a Unitarian. He is survived by his
sons, Carlos and Ramon; daughters,
Mercedes BC’82, PS’87 and Raquel,
seven grandchildren; and two great-
grandchildren. They provided him
new audiences for his old jokes, and
in return, they were tech support
for his phone. Memorial contribu-
tions may be made to Union of
Concerned Scientists and CMU’s
Department of Physics.
1948
Alan S. Kuller, real estate executive,
Rye, N.Y., on December 7, 2018.
Kuller graduated from Erasmus Hall
and won a Randolph Hearst Ameri-
can History Award. At the College,
he edited Spectator and the Columbia
Law Review, and was a Harlan
Fiske Stone Scholar. Kuller served in
the Navy during WWII. He earned
a degree from the Law School in
1949 and became senior VP and
head of real estate for Caldor for
many years. Intellectual curiosity,
humor and irreverence marked his
attitude toward life. Kuller loved
to travel off the beaten path. He
was active in his local synagogue
and played a significant role in its
adult education program. Kuller
was predeceased by his wife, Nancy
Schoenbrod Kuller; and leaves his
longtime, devoted partner, Myra
Lehman; brother, Lewis; daughters,
Debora Shuger, Judith Verhave and
Lisa Kuller (Dalessio); six grandchil-
dren; and two great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be
made to Community Synagogue of
Rye Adult Education Program, 200
Forest Ave., Rye, NY 10580.
Marshall W. Mount, art professor
and researcher, Jersey City, N.J., on
November 25, 2018. Mount was
a zoot-suited teen covering NYC
jazz for his high school paper and
became a serious art history student
at Columbia, from the College
through his 1966 Ph.D., earned
at GSAS. In 1960, Mount was
awarded a Rockefeller Foundation
Fellowship to do field research on
post-WWII African art in sub-
Saharan Africa. His book African
Art: The Years Since 1920 was the first
volume of contemporary African
art published in the United States.
Mount was an art history profes-
sor and department chair at Finch
College, NYC, and the University
of Benin, Nigeria. He also taught at
the Fashion Institute of Technology
(SUNY) and Washington Square
College (NYU), among other
institutions. With an FIT George
T. Dorsch Endowed Fellowship he
spent several months researching
traditional art in the cultural festi-
vals of Cameroon's Grassfields, lead-
ing to an exhibition/catalogue at the
QCC Art Gallery (CUNY). Mount
also loved music, far-flung travel,
films and cooking. His is survived by
his wife, Caroline Katz Mount; son
(from his previous marriage), Chris-
topher’85, and his wife, Stephanie;
and grandson, Julian. Memorial
contributions may be made to the
African Wildlife Foundation.
1949
Dominick P. Purpura, physi-
cian, professor, researcher and
academic administrator, New York
City, on May 16, 2019. Even prior
to graduating magna cum laude
from Harvard Medical School in
1953, Purpura was the lead author,
as a medical student, on a paper
examining the neurophysiology of
spinal neurons. After training at
Columbia’s Neurological Insti-
tute of New York, from which he
graduated in 1954, Purpura devoted
himself to laboratory research and
integrated a wide array of tech-
niques and approaches to study the
nervous system. His exceptional
technical abilities combined with
his keen intellect allowed him to
tackle difficult and pressing ques-
tions in brain sciences, including
pioneering work on epilepsy and
intellectual disabilities. Purpura was
instrumental in establishing the
Society for Neuroscience, and the
second free-standing neuroscience
department in a medical school. He
also introduced the first modern
medical school and post-graduate
neuroscience curriculum, which
quickly became a national model.
Purpura’s scientific accomplish-
ments secured him membership in
the National Academy of Sciences
and the Institute of Medicine. He
was dean of Stanford University
and of the Albert Einstein College
of Medicine. Throughout his career,
Purpura was remarkable for his love
of science, his approachability and
his mentorship.
1951
Arthur S. Verdesca, retired physi-
cian and corporate medical director,
Morristown, N.J.,on August 11,
2018. Verdesca earned an M.D.
from P&S in 1955. While doing
post-graduate training in internal
medicine at St. Luke’s Hospital in
New York City, he served as a captain
Dr. Arthur S. Verdesca ’51
in the Air Force at Stewart AFB in
‘Tennessee; he was chief of medical
service 1957-59. From 1961, when
Verdesca finished his training at St.
Luke’s, until 1985, he worked for
Western Electric in New York as
headquarters medical director. From
1985 to 2005, he was corporate
medical director for American Inter-
national Group, also in New York.
During his service in Tennessee, and
until 1968, Verdesca broadcast a one-
hour classical music program, Mostly
Mozart, on several radio stations in
the New York metropolitan area.
In 1980, Van Nostrand Reinhold
Co. published a collection of his
medical articles for the layman, Live,
Work, and Be Healthy: A Top Medical
Director's Common-sense Advice and
Observations for the Working Person.
Verdesca was a crossword puzzle con-
structor, publishing almost 50 puzzles
a year at the time of his death. He is
survived by his wife of 57 years, Ann;
son, Stephen’85, and his wife, Patri-
cia Durner; daughters, Julia Lucivero
and her husband, Philip Joseph,
and Edith Kaplan and her husband,
Christopher; and five grandchildren.
1952
Albert Ackerman, retired ophthal-
mologist, Arcadia, Calif., on July 16,
2019. Ackerman made significant
medical advances as a leading
ophthalmologist in the Tri-State
area. He was a charter member of
‘The Retina Society (founded in
1967), whose mission is to reduce
worldwide visual disability and
blindness, with particular emphasis
on vitreoretinal diseases. Ackerman
established retinal services at several
hospitals in New York and New
Jersey, including the New York Eye
and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.
He was on the faculty of Albert
Einstein College of Medicine, as
well as other medical schools that
are affliated with teaching hospitals.
Ackerman was a warm-hearted,
generous, loving and caring person
Dr. Albert Ackerman ’52
who would reach out to his patients
under any circumstances. He is
survived by two children and his
long-term partner.
Daniel C. Seemann, retired uni-
versity director of student activities
and professor, Sylvania, Ohio, on
September 3, 2018. Seemann was
born on April 29, 1930, in Wal-
bridge, Ohio. He excelled at sports
at Waite H.S.; he was All-City in
basketball and continued the sport at
the College. Shortly after marrying
Rosemary, in 1952, he was deployed
to Korea while in the Marine Corps.
After his discharge, he pursued a
master’s in educational psychology at
the University of Toledo. This started
a 40-year career at the university
as director of student activities. In
1980, Seemann completed a Ph.D. in
educational psychology and became a
psychology professor. He remained in
the Marine Corps Reserve, attaining
the rank of colonel. He also had a
lifelong love of music and playing the
bass; he founded The Dan Seemann
Quintet with friends and played
locally for years. Seemann was prede-
ceased by his wife, and by his siblings
Bob, and Patti Jones. He is survived
by his brother John and John's wife,
Carol; sister Joan Gannon and her
husband, Lee; children, Jeff and his
wife, Nadine, Greg and his wife,
Mary, Mitch and his wife, Sharon,
and Anne Hammersmith and her
husband, Don; 12 grandchildren,
three great-grandchildren; and many
nieces and nephews.
Charles W. Young, medical
oncologist, New York City, on
December 31, 2018. Young gradu-
ated from Harvard Medical School
in 1956. During his 42-year tenure
at Memorial Sloan Kettering Can-
cer Center, he was chief, Devel-
opmental Chemotherapy Service
(1979-92): head, Clinical Pharma-
cology Laboratory, Sloan-Kettering
Institute (1979-93); and Professor
of Medicine, Cornell University
Medical College (1982-99). Young
was also an advisor to the American
Cancer Society and National Cancer
Institute. To his patients, Young was
caring and kind. To his colleagues,
he was known for his innovative
approaches to cancer treatment.
To his family, he was a source of
Fall2019 CCT 85
strength and wisdom. Young is
survived by his wife, Helene; sons,
Stephen and his wife, Sara, and
Matthew; and stepchildren, Bonnie,
and Benjamin and his wife, Lily. He
was predeceased by his eldest son,
Michael, and sister, Jean. Memo-
rial contributions may be made to
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer
Center (pollocke@mskcc.org).
1954
Michael R. Naver, retired govern-
ment public affairs specialist, Bal-
timore, on March 29, 2019. Naver
was born on February 15, 1933, in
New York City. He graduated from
Stuyvesant H.S., where he had his
first bylines as a reporter on the
school newspaper. With a New York
State Scholarship, he enrolled at the
College, where he earned a liberal
arts degree. Naver joined Spectator
and rose to news editor by his senior
year. He earned a master of liberal
arts degree from the Johns Hopkins
University and in 1958 joined the
staff of the Baltimore Evening Sun as
a local reporter, where he stayed for
10 years. In November 1968, Naver
became a public affairs specialist at
the Social Security Administration
in Woodlawn, Md. His career lasted
30 years, and he received several
agency awards, including its highest
award, the Commissioner’s Citation.
Naver retired from government ser-
vice in 1999. He married the former
Irid Bucci in 1965; she survives him,
as do their children, Richard and
Meg; and two grandchildren.
1955
Ronald P. McPhee, retired insur-
ance executive, Somers, N.Y., on
June 25, 2018. McPhee was born
on May 13, 1933, in Manhattan.
He grew up in the Bronx, graduated
from Cardinal Hayes H.S. and was
awarded a scholarship to Colum-
bia. He was captain of the varsity
basketball team in 1955. After the
College, McPhee joined the Air
Force, became a pilot and rose to
the rank of captain. Following his
military service, he found work with
TIAA-CREF, where he worked
for 40 years and from which he
retired as a VP of insurance services.
Throughout his adult life McPhee
was an avid tennis player and plat-
86 CCT Fall 2019
form tennis player, actively involved
with various community organiza-
tions at Heritage Hills of Somers,
N.Y., and a member of the Knights
of Columbus. He is survived by his
wife, Carol (née Frueh); son, Ronald
Jr., and his wife, Donna; daughter,
Carolyn Doan, and her husband,
Jim; and two grandchildren.
1956
Robert Cabat, retired educator,
Staten Island, N.Y., on June 5,
2019. Cabat began his career as a
middle and high school teacher of
Spanish and French in Brooklyn,
N.Y. He then became chair of
foreign languages at New Utrecht
Robert Cabat ’56
HLS. in Brooklyn; it was during this
period that he received a Ph.D. in
Spanish literature from NYU. Cabat
eventually became head of foreign
languages for the entire New York
City DOE, and after retirement was
a professor at several institutions. He
was the co-author of several popular
secondary-level textbooks, and was
the president of the American Asso-
ciation of Teachers of Spanish and
Portuguese. He was extremely proud
to have been able to use his Colum-
bia education to help improve the
lives of thousands of students and
dozens of teachers across the years.
Cabat is survived by his wife, Janet,
children, Joshua’86 and Abigail; and
three grandchildren.
1957
Michael Gold, retired attorney,
Harbor City, Calif., on January 30,
2018. Born in New York City in
1935, Gold grew up there and in
Hillside, N.J. At Hillside H.S. he
was class president and an Eagle
Scout. While at Columbia, Gold
pledged with the Alpha Epsilon
Pi fraternity, and met his first wife,
Lucienne “Lucy” Kacew, whom
he married the summer after
graduation. They lived in Jersey
City while Gold attended Rutgers
Law School. After graduation,
Gold worked for the New Jersey
Department of Agriculture and was
an assistant state prosecutor before
founding his own law practice in
Flemington, N.J., with his brother,
Stephen. Gold participated in
Democratic politics, including
serving as Hunterdon County
Democratic chairman. He married
Virginia D’Andrade in 1979 and
relocated to California in 1980,
where he designed a computerized
Worker-Right-to-Know system,
a database used to settle asbestos
liability cases, and a litigation
support business. With his wife,
he also established the Virginia M.
Woolf Foundation, which converts
written materials into large type
for the visually impaired. Gold is
survived by his daughters, Pamela
Gold and her husband, Jay Brandt,
Kathrine Gubner and her husband,
Kenric, and Jennifer Minotti and her
husband, Tod; four grandchildren;
stepchildren, David D’Andrade and
Anne McNally; and sister-in-law and
brother-in-law, Gale and Fred Driver.
1959
Vincent H. Demma, retired
military historian, Lanham, Md.,
on September 18, 2018. Demma
was born on December 9, 1937, in
Brooklyn, N.Y. A graduate of the
University of Wisconsin at Madison,
he moved to Washington, D.C., in
1962 to be a military historian for
the United States Army Center of
Military History, where he served
until his retirement in 1999. As
a historian of the Vietnam War,
Demma was widely consulted and
contributed his expertise to several
documentaries and books. He is
survived by his wife, Stephanie
(née Lippman); children, Mat-
thew, Rachel, and Sarah Klein;
children-in-law, Rachel Demma
(née Shapiro) and Philip Klein; four
grandchildren; brother, Peter; and
many nieces and nephews. Memo-
rial contributions may be made to
the Southern Poverty Law Center.
1961
Norman A. Kurnit, physicist,
Santa Fe, N.M., on February 6,
2019. After graduating from the
College, Kurnit went directly to
GSAS, where he earned a master’s
in 1962 and a Ph.D. in 1966, both
in physics. He spent the majority of
his career working at Los Alamos
National Laboratory and lived in
Santa Fe, N.M. Kurnit is survived
by Ellen, his wife of 50 years; two
children; and two grandchildren.
David Schwartz, retired oral
surgeon, Larchmont, N.Y., on July
7, 2019. Born on May 2, 1939, in
Brooklyn, N.Y., Schwartz was raised
in White Plains. He received an
academic scholarship to attend the
Dental School and graduated in
1965, second in his class. Schwartz
completed his oral surgery training
at The Roosevelt Hospital in 1968
and immediately joined in private
practice with Dr. Bertram Blum.
He, along with Dr. Debra Blum
(in 1985), practiced oral surgery at
Blum, Schwartz & Blum for more
than 50 years in Queens. Schwartz
served on the Board of Trustees of
both the Queens County Dental
Society and the New York State
Society of Oral and Maxillofacial
Surgeons. An avid golfer, tennis
player, skier, guitarist and singer,
he was a longtime member of the
Bonnie Briar Country Club, where
he was the Super Senior Club
Champion in golf in 2017. Schwartz
also maintained a summer home in
Wellfleet, Mass. Schwartz had said,
“The best part of my job is getting
to know my patients and feeling
that I’ve helped them to feel bet-
ter.” He is survived by his brothers,
Michael and Larry; wife, Isabel (née
Clippinger); daughter, Beth Jones;
son-in-law, Jamie Jones; son, John;
daughter-in law, Amy Kean; and
four grandchildren.
1967
Robert G. Segel, retired invest-
ments executive, Key Biscayne,
Fla., on September 6, 2017. Segel
earned an M.B.A at the University
of Michigan. He started his career at
Tucker Anthony and rose to become
managing director. Segel founded
Park Street Capital in 1997, initially
]
alumninews
Alex Navab ’87, University Trustee, Former BOV Chair, Prominent Financier
Alex Navab ’87, a University
trustee and former chair of the
Columbia College Board of Visitors
(BOV) who recently formed his
own investment firm, died on July 7,
2019. He was 53.
Navab was born in Isfahan, Iran,
on November 24, 1965, to Dr. Ali
and Katina (née Armenakis) Navab.
‘The family — Navab was one of four
children — fled to Greece after the
Iranian revolution in 1979 before
moving to the United States.
Navab worked at Goldman Sachs
from 1987 to 1989 before earning
an M.B.A. from Harvard Business
School in 1991; he graduated as
a Baker Scholar (High Distinc-
tion) and was presented the Edna
E. Wolfe Award. He then worked
at the investment bank James D.
Wolfensohn, Inc., before joining
KKR — then known as Kohlberg
Kravis Roberts — in 1993.
Overseeing numerous leveraged
buyouts at KKR, including the
takeovers of the Nielsen Company,
Yellow Pages and Borden, Navab
as a joint venture with Tucker
Anthony Sutro. Following the
Royal Bank of Canada’s acquisition,
Segel left the company to allow his
private equity business to become an
Robert G. Segel ’67
independent entity. He worked tire-
lessly for 40 years in the investment
business, committed to excellence
and treasuring his close relationships
with his partners. In addition to
his professional pursuits, Segel was
civic-minded and generously sup-
by 2008 had become co-leader of
the firm’s North American private
equity business. He took sole leader-
ship of the division six years later,
and as head of North American
buyouts helped the firm raise nearly
$14 billion for its 12th North
American private equity fund, one
of the biggest of its kind. Navab
left KKR in 2017 and announced
in April 2019 that he had formed
Navab Capital Partners.
Navab, who lived in New York
City, was an involved and gener-
ous Columbia alumnus; his giving
of his time and energies began as
president of his sophomore class
and continued as president of the
Columbia College Student Council
his senior year. An outstanding
student who graduated Phi Beta
Kappa, Navab also captained the
varsity lightweight crew team, and
maintained close ties as a benefactor.
He donated two shells in summer
2018 and was presented the 2018
King’s Crown Rowing Association
honor this past December.
ported numerous organizations. He
served on the Board of Trustees of
his children’s schools, Buckingham
Browne & Nichols in Cambridge,
Mass., and Ransom Everglades in
Coconut Grove, Fla. A devoted hus-
band to Janice Sherman, Segel was
also the father of Julia and Michael.
He especially loved and was loved by
his dogs, Callie and Wilma. Segel’s
sense of humor, genuine warmth and
ability to talk with anyone allowed
him to create lifelong relationships
with everyone he met.
1969
Roy S. Feldman, retired chief, den-
tal service, and professor of dental
medicine, Jamison, Pa., on March
8, 2019. Feldman spent eight years
at Columbia, majoring in Greek
at the College while fulfilling a
journalism urge as editor of the 1969
Columbian, and then as a predoctoral
student in the Dental School, from
which he graduated in 1973. From
1973 to 1980, Feldman attended the
While on the BOV, where he was
a member from 2005 to 2017, with
terms as vice-chair from 2011 to
2014 and chair from 2014 to 2016,
Navab led the effort to develop a
strategic plan for the College; this
became the foundation of the Core
to Commencement campaign, the
first campaign uniquely dedicated to
Columbia College students and fac-
ulty. In partnership with Dean James
J. Valentini, Navab helped shape a
plan that would focus on strength-
ening the student experience,
enhancing the Core Curriculum and
supporting faculty committed to
teaching undergraduates as priorities
for the College’s success.
Navab became co-chair of the
Core to Commencement campaign;
he and his wife, Mary Kathryn —
who survives him, along with their
three children and his parents —
gave $6 million to Columbia to cre-
ate the Navab Fellowship Program,
announced this past December,
to fund internships for students.
Navab was also a board member of
Harvard School of Dental Medi-
cine, earning an D.MSc. and then
continuing as an assistant professor.
From 1980 on, Feldman was chief,
dental service at the Philadelphia VA
Medical Center and a professor at
Penn’s School of Dental Medicine.
He was an active alumnus with the
College, the Dental School and the
Columbia Club of Philadelphia.
Feldman enjoyed his retirement
with his wife, Nadia Rosen, who
survives him and was his co-manager
of Night Sight Farm, a horse farm
in Bucks County, Pa. He was first
married to Barbara Abrams, now
deceased, and is survived by their
daughters, Lauren and Emma; and
Nadia’s children, Louise and Oliver.
Ronald R. Rosenblatt, retired
financial executive, West Des
Moines, Iowa, on February 24, 2019.
Born in New York City on January
31, 1947, Rosenblatt graduated
from Scarsdale H.S. At the College,
he played on the varsity basketball
team. Rosenblatt earned a B.A.
and M.A. (in 1974 from TC) in art
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and
the Robin Hood Foundation, among
many others. He was elected a Uni-
versity trustee in 2017, was presented
a John Jay Award for distinguished
professional achievement by the
College in 2011 and was awarded
the Ellis Island Medal of Honor,
a national award that recognizes
recipients’ public service and patrio-
tism as well as their connection to
their ethnic heritage, in 2016.
history, economics and education.
After teaching high school science
in NYC, he earned a Ph.D. in eco-
nomics and education from the Uni-
versity of Idaho and then taught at
Kansas State University. Rosenblatt
then moved to Des Moines and had
a distinguished career in mortgage
banking before retiring as a principal
partner at Fortress Wealth Manage-
ment. He was a world traveler and
an avid golfer, and served on the
boards of Tifereth Israel Synagogue,
the Jewish Federation of Greater
Des Moines and Planned Parent-
hood of the Heartland. Rosenblatt is
survived by his wife, Susy; daughters
Betsy Beck and her husband, Paul,
and Katherine; brothers, David
and his wife, Robyn, and Larry and
his wife, Linda; sister, Ann Arbeit,
and her husband, Stuart; and many
nieces and nephews. Rosenblatt
was predeceased by his brother, Bill.
Memorial contributions may be
made to The Jewish Federation of
Greater Des Moines or the South-
ern Poverty Law Center.
— Lisa Palladino
Fall 2019 CCT 87
corecorner |
CORE CARTOON CAPTION CONTEST
In honor of the Centennial, we asked four artistic alums to take
inspiration from the Core; for this and the next three issues,
we'll provide a cartoon in need of a caption. We’re kicking things off
with longtime New Yorker contributor Edward Koren ‘57.
The winning caption will be published in the Winter 2019-20 issue,
and the winner will get a signed print of Koren’s cartoon.
Any College student or College alum may enter. Submit your idea,
along with your full name, CC class year and daytime phone,
to cct_centennial@columbia.edu by Friday, November 1.
ILLUSTRATION BY EDWARD KOREN '57
88 CCT Fall 2019
W.COLUMBIA.EDU
MAKE YOUR GIFT AT COLLEGE.GIVENO
Columbia
College
Today w
Columbia University
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
college.columbia.edu/campaign
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
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Burl. VT 05401
Columbia
College
Today w
Ann Kim ’95 is
bringing fire power
to the Twin Cities
Winter 2019—20
CRADLE OF
(CONTEMPORARY)
CIVILIZATION
THE CORE CURRICULUM'S
ORIGIN STORY
GREENER CLEANERS
AN AMBITIOUS NEW VENTURE
FROM ECO-ENTREPRENEUR
JOHN A. MASCARI’08
SHE SAID
HOW JODI KANTOR ’96 EXPOSED
THE WEINSTEIN SCANDAL
De Yow knew/
What is the
longest-running
book(s) on
the Lit Hum
syllabus?
Take a Co ie z at corel100.columbia. edu
and sha as ults ith #
Then, check o nine eve oie stort san nd more to celebrate the
Core Cent ennia l year!
C>
Contents
Fire Power
James Beard Award winner
Ann Kim ’95 is bringing the heat
to the Twin Cities.
By Alexis Boncy SOA'11
First Class
How Contemporary Civilization laid the
foundation for the Core Curriculum.
By the Editors of CCT
The Eco Entrepreneur
John A. Mascari ’08 aims
to make your cleaners greener.
By Yelena Shuster ‘09
Columbia
F | College
Today &
VOLUME 47 NUMBER 2
WINTER 2019-20
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Alexis Boncy SOA'11
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Lisa Palladino
DEPUTY EDITOR
Jill C. Shomer
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Anne-Ryan Sirju JRN’09
FORUM EDITOR
Rose Kernochan BC’82
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Thomas Vinciguerra ’85
ART DIRECTOR
Eson Chan
Published quarterly by the
Columbia College Office of
Alumni Affairs and Development
for alumni, students, faculty, parents
and friends of Columbia College.
ASSOCIATE DEAN,
COLUMBIA COLLEGE
ALUMNI RELATIONS
AND COMMUNICATIONS
Bernice Tsai 96
ADDRESS
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530, 4th FI.
New York, NY 10025
PHONE
212-851-7852
EMAIL
cct@columbia.edu
WEB
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.
© 2019 Columbia College Today
All rights reserved.
a MIX
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responsible sources
¢ F
Cover: The Restaurant Project; Insert Card/Alma Mater: Alyssa Carvara Ruin CRCO22060
Contents
Pe
r |
departments alumninews \-
#
3 Message from Dean James J. Valentini 34 A Familiar Face in the Storm
Reflecting on Columbia College experiences.
35 Message from CCAA President
4 School of Thought Michael Behringer 89
Let’s hear it for alumni volunteers!
7 Around the Quads
A feminist banner hangs at Butler, this year’s 36 Lions
faculty MacArthur “genius” and more. Jack Stuppin ’55; Jacquelyn Schneider ’05
12 Roar, Lion, Roar 38 Bookshelf
Lions won big at Homecoming 2019, and F**k, Now There Are Two of You
we've got loads of joyful photos. by Adam Mansbach ’98, SOA‘00
31 Columbia Forum: She Said: Breaking 40 Class Notes
the Sexual Harassment Story Alumni Sons and Daughters; Just Married!
That Helped Ignite a Movement
by Jodi Kantor ’96 and Megan Twohey
How two New York Times journalists
blasted open the Weinstein scandal.
78 Obituaries
Immanuel M. Wallerstein 51, GSAS’59; John Giorno ’58
80 Core Corner
Our Core Centennial cartoon caption contest
continues with an illustration by R.J. Matson ’85.
Now on CCT Online
PRINT EXTRAS
« Homecoming 2019 Facebook album
« Art by Jack Stuppin ’55
Like Columbia College Alumni
facebook.com/alumnicc
View Columbia College alumni photos
instagram.com/alumniofcolumbiacollege
EDWARD KOREN '57
Follow @Columbia_CCAA
“Enough warm-ups, already! When are we
Join the Columbia College alumni network going to roll boulders with Sisyphus?”
college.columbia.edu/alumni/linkedin errr
The winner of our first Core Centennial cartoon caption contest is
William A. Teichner ’86! Thank you for all your submissions.
col leg e.col um bia .ed u/cct This issue's cartoon is on page 80.
olumbia College students live and learn
in a uniquely rich environment, with the
opportunities that our college, the many
other schools of our university and the City
of New York offer. Approaching that experience with
Beginner's Mind, they expand their knowledge and
understanding of themselves and their world as they
encounter new concepts, discover perspectives unfamil-
iar to them, and engage with their professors and peers
in and out of the classroom.
The Core Curriculum is the foundation of this experi-
ence, expressing a conscious and deliberate institutional
commitment to a curriculum taken by every student,
specially constructed to prepare each of them to be ana-
lytical and imaginative, empathetic and active, and col-
laborative and visionary, as well as leaders in advancing
their communities, society and the world. It achieves that
through small classes in which instructors guide genuine
discussions about how societies have been conceptual-
ized and developed; how new knowledge has reshaped
the concepts and reformed the development; how indi-
vidual rights and responsibilities have been balanced;
and how the joys and challenges of that human existence
have been expressed in literature, music and art.
In the Core’s centennial year, we celebrate not only its
value, but also its spirit, and we celebrate it by examining
it critically and analytically. We are revisiting its creation,
examining its evolution and adaptation to a continually
changing world; assessing its present success, challenges
and limitations; and charting a future in which it will
continue to achieve its ambitious goals. That examina-
tion, assessment and planning will be most successful if
opinions, perspectives and ideas are contributed by the
thousands of faculty and students who have participated
in the Core during its long history.
In particular, we seek recollections from you, our
alumni, about how it felt to be in Core classroom dis-
cussions, to struggle to understand Kant or Plato, to
analyze the complex dynamic of composer and librettist
in Le Noxze di Figaro, to explain the many-dimensional
aesthetic of the works of Bernini. We want to hear how
the Core has informed, guided and enlightened your
life journey, so, we invite you to share your personal
history of the Core through our Core Stories project
(core100.columbia.edu/core-stories), which will run
through the end of the centennial year (June 2020).
In 2018, we made a conscious and deliberate deci-
sion to focus student attention on that life journey,
through a vehicle we call My Columbia College Journey
The Foundation of the College Experience
MICHAEL EDMONSON '20
—
w
(college.columbia.edu/journey), a strategic planning guide
that directs each student to maintain a unique, individual,
personal attention to developing the attitudes, abilities,
skills, perspectives and understanding that will empower
success in their personal and professional lives, no matter
what their path. We express that through 13 Core Com-
petencies, which provide the structure for Journey. ‘This
guide encourages each student to approach with Begin-
ner’s Mind all parts of their individual College experience,
and to recognize all of those seemingly discrete parts as
connected in a self-guided and self-aware approach to
building the Core Competencies.
As we continue our centennial celebration and reflect
on its past, present and future, and as the College con-
tinues to expand the importance of Journey, I hope that
you will join me in taking a moment to reflect on your
own past, present and future — wherever your journey
has taken you.
.
James J. Valentini
Dean
Winter 2019-20 CCT 3
SCHOOL OF THOUGHT
SALUTING CONTEMPORARY CIVILIZATION
FOR SPARKING A CENTURY OF IDEAS AND INSPIRATION
IN Monet
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4 CCT Winter 2019-20
ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN ROMAN
No phones in class ...
they are the cave you
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Winter 2019-20 CCT 5
wy The Columbia College Funa
fee SUpports the work
of the College
Every gift to the Columbia College Fund
strengthens the undergraduate experience and helps
build community for College students by providing
vital resources in support of:
/ Student life experiences
/ Internship opportunities
/ Financial aid and scholarships
/Mnereore Curriculum
COLUMBIA
Make your gift today a
college.givenow.columbia.edu
KILLIAN YOUNG / COLUMBIA COLLEGE
A BANNER BEARING THE NAMES OF EIGHT FEMALE-IDENTIFYING AUTHORS AND VISIONARIES — Maya Angelou; Gloria E. Anzaldta; Diana Chang BC’49;
Zora Neale Hurston BC 1928, GSAS 1935; Toni Morrison; A. Revathi; Ntozake Shange; and Leslie Marmon Silko — is now hanging above the names of the male
writers on the facade of Butler Library. The banner will be on display through December 16. Learn how the names were selected, about the first female-focused
banner (hung in 1989) and more at butlerbanner.com.
Hartman Named
MacArthur Fellow
Professor of English and Comparative
Literature Saidiya Hartman is one of
26 recipients
of the 2019
MacArthur
fellowship,
given out
annually by
the John D.
and Catherine
T. MacArthur
Foundation.
COURTESY MACARTHUR FOUNDATION
Hartman
earned a $625,000 “genius grant” to be
distributed over the next five years. “I am
delighted to receive the MacArthur. It
means the world to me,” she said. “It gives
me the time | need to write and think.”
Hartman is a scholar of African-
American literature and cultural history.
Her works, which include Scenes of
Subjection: Terror, Slavery, and Self-Making
in Nineteenth-Century America; Lose Your
Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave
Route; and most recently, Wayward Lives,
Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories
of Social Upheaval, explore the afterlife of
slavery in modern American society.
Sherwin Service Award
The Gerald E. Sherwin Young Alumni
Service Award, which honors individuals
who have demonstrated exceptional service
to the College’s young alumni community,
was presented to Matthew Lemle Amster-
dam 710, LAW’13 at the Columbia College
Alumni Association’s Board of Directors
meeting on October 19. Amsterdam was
on the Senior Fund Executive Commit-
tee, was a member of his fifth Reunion
Committee and is co-chairing his 10th. He
is a member of the Columbia Law School
Association's Board of Directors and a
chair of the Loyal Blue Society, which rec-
ognizes continued donor support toward
the University.
‘The award is named in honor of CCAA
president emeritus Gerald Sherwin’55.
CCT Wins!
Columbia College Today won the Eddie
Award for best full issue (Spring 2019)
in the association/nonprofit, alumni/
university category at the 2019 Folio:
Eddie & Ozzie Awards on October 30.
The winning issue included features on
Whitney Biennial co-curator Rujeko
Hockley ’05, Captain Marvel director
Anna Boden’02, and documentary
filmmakers Ric Burns’78 and James
Sanders 76,
GSAPP’82:
‘The annual
Eddie & Ozzie
Awards honor
excellence in
editorial and
design across
all sectors of
the magazine
industry, and
have been
presented by Folio: for more than two
decades. This year, 400 winners were chosen
from a field of more than 2,500 entries.
o ® 64: Million
The eighth annual Columbia Giving
Day, held on October 23, was a smashing
success! Through 2,242 gifts, the College
received the largest sum among all
Columbia schools or institutes. All told,
Columbians hit a new high, raising
$22,009,151 from 18,622 gifts. Learn
more at givingday.columbia.edu.
Winter 2019-20 CCT 7
HallofFame
The Zoologist Who Was the
World’s Biggest Bat Fan
By Thomas Vinciguerra ’85, JRN’86, GSAS’90
or some people, bats are
creepy creatures of the night
that foul the world with
squeaks and guano. For oth-
ers, they are the alter ego of
Bela Lugosi and his bloodsucking cohort.
For Karl F. Koopman’43, GSAS’50,
they were his lifework and love.
Over a long, distinguished (and largely
obscure) career, Koopman was one of the
world’s leading chiropterologists. In caves,
rainforests, wildlife preservés and anywhere
else he might find his quarry, he obses-
sively collected, studied and classified the
only mammals that flap hither and yon.
Koopman pored over these “flying foxes”
in laboratories, published widely and held
forth endlessly about them in public.
“There’s been a tremendous amount of
misunderstanding about bats,” he said in a
1979 interview for United Press Interna-
tional. “I'd say they’re as friendly as gerbils.”
8 CCT Winter 2019-20
Born in Honolulu, Koopman moved
with his family to California as a child
and glommed onto nature with frequent
visits to the Los Angeles County Museum
of Natural History. He earned a Ph.D.
at Columbia with a dissertation on fruit
flies; later, he turned briefly to birds and,
then finally, to bats. At various times he
was a biology instructor at Queens Col-
lege, and was on the stafts at the Academy
of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia and
Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural His-
tory; he joined New York City’s American
Museum of Natural History in 1961,
where he stayed for 24 years.
But Koopman didn’t restrict himself
to his office. Though he wasn't exactly
built for fieldwork — stout and dwarfish,
perhaps 5 ft. tall, with sensitive skin — he
circled the globe twice in pursuit of his
game. He had a penchant for the Carib-
bean and Latin America, gathering and
scrutinizing bats in Jamaica, the Bahamas,
the Virgin Islands, the Lesser Antilles,
Belize, Bolivia and Mexico.
Slowly and steadily, he acquired an
international reputation. In books and
some 100 scholarly articles, Koopman
made major contributions to bat classifi-
cation and evolution. His specialty was bat
biogeography — describing how bats were
distributed throughout the world and
explaining how they got there.
Koopman’s fascination, suggested fel-
low chiropterologist Thomas A. Griffiths,
came from wanting to fill a scientific void:
“He did something no one had ever done
before — examining the regions of the
earth and seeing how bats related to
them. And that inspired other scientists
to do the same thing.” When Koopman
began his research, his friend and col-
league Merlin Tuttle estimated, there
were approximately 850 bat species. By
the time his career was over, there were
around 1,300.
Colleagues who tried to trip him up
on bat trivia usually failed. “But if you
had him stumped,” said Tuttle, “he would
come back at you pretty quickly with
names and terminology that would slow
things down and have us pondering for a
bit. We couldn't figure out if he was buf-
faloing us.” At professional bat gatherings,
Koopman would sit in the front row and
invariably pose the first question, prefac-
ing it with a high-pitched, “Weeell, it
seems to me that...”
“Send him an exotic bone,” wrote
author and naturalist Diane Ackerman,
“and he could swiftly identify it down to
the subspecies.” In 1944, a little brown bat
(Myotis lucifugus) was found in Iceland,
to which no bats are native. Years later,
Reykjavik’s Museum of Natural History
sent Koopman the preserved specimen,
hoping for an explanation. Identify-
ing it as a North American (as opposed
to European) variety, he figured that
this particular gatecrasher had swooped
aboard a ship at St. John’s, Newfoundland,
and inadvertently stowed away. After all,
Koopman pointed out, there was plenty
of heavy shipping between St. John’s and
Reykjavik during WWII.
He dealt with laymen, too. A New
York Times reader once asked in a Q&A,
“How can a bat hang upside down for
long periods without damaging its brain?”
Koopman replied, “This is like saying,
‘How are you able to stand up and not
have blood collect in your feet?” When
someone reported a 130-lb. Philippine bat
with a 12-ft. wingspan, he brushed it off
as a “zoological tall tale.” He dismissed
popular myths that bats are inordinately
rabid and will fly into your hair. “I don't
know how that particular superstition got
started,” he said.
Koopman was a dedicated scholar. In
1977, Queen Elizabeth II visited the
North American Symposium on Bat
.
Research in Ottawa. Koopman’s col-
leagues were atwitter. But he cared only
about the proceedings. “My ancestors
fought a war,” he said, “so that I wouldn't
have to be excited about that monarchy!”
And he had a puckish sense of bat
humor. In trying to define “microbats,”
he proposed two types: yangochiroptera
and yinochiroptera. Koopman drew the
names from the Confucian doctrine of
Student Spotlight
BRANCHING OUT
“Tm taking a class
right now that I def-
initely wouldn't have
thought about taking
when I was a fresh-
man: ‘Reincarnation
and Technology,’
with Professor David
Kittay [GSAS'11].
The first class on the
syllabus was titled
‘Disorientation, and
I’ve been utterly
disoriented since —
in a good way.”
THE PRIME VIEW
“Tm a big fan of the
Milstein Center and
those green comfy
chairs that look out
over Broadway —
I’ve finished multiple
papers there.”
ALUMNI
ENCOUNTERS
“T don't think you
can go to school
anywhere else and
walk down the street
and someone who
ran track in 2006 can
see your backpack
and go, ‘Oh my God,
are you on the track
team?’ That’s not
going to happen at
any other school.”
A GOOD SPORT
“As an athlete,
I think I’m obliged
to like Dodge but
also obliged to
not like Dodge!”
Outside of class, I’m an athlete
— I’m a triple jumper on the track
team — and I’m the co-chair for the
Arab/Middle Eastern family tree in the
Columbia Mentoring Initiative. | also
really, really love photography — I’ve
been doing it since | was in high school.”
the passive “yang” and the active vin
because the yinochiroptera had a uniquely
mobile bone in its upper jaw. Once,
tongue planted firmly in cheek, he said he
welcomed global warming: “It extends the
ranges of all those tropical bats! They'll be
up in North America where I can study
them more easily!”
Koopman died on the Upper West
Side on September 22, 1997. Many of the
Meet women’s track
Around
the
liads
delicate techniques he used to dissect his
prizes died with him. But his name lives
on in the Latin classifications of various
mammals, including two varieties of mice,
a rat and a porcupine.
And, of course, he has a couple of bats
to his nomenclatural credit: the yellow-
shouldered Sturnira koopmanhilli and the
brown fruit-eater Koopmania concolor. The
“mania” in the latter was entirely apropos.
“While I grew up in
New Fersey, my family
is originally
Egyptian. This
is a huge part of
my identity.”
A SPEECH IN
PRAISE OF LOVE
“My favorite Core
reading, collectively,
is Symposium —
and not just because
it’s short and sweet.
You read a lot of
serious texts in
Lit Hum; I think
being able to laugh
through Symposium
was a nice break.”
and field team captain
MARYAM HASSAN ’20,
a Middle Eastern
studies major (with
a concentration in
anthropology) from
Cresskill, N.J.
SIDE HUSTLE
“When I got here
I started shooting
photos for fun and
then I got a job
working for Athlet-
ics. ’ve been covering
home games since
my sophomore year!”
Winter 2019-20 CCT 9
JORG MEYER
By Jill C. Shomer
ndrew J. Nathan has been
teaching at Columbia for
nearly 50 years; as he points
out, he was even born in
Columbia-Presbyterian
hospital. The Class of 1919 Professor of
Political Science, Nathan is an expert in
Chinese politics and foreign policy; he
teaches students from the College, Bar-
nard, GS, SIPA and GSAS about China,
political participation, political culture
and human rights.
Nathan became interested in China
somewhat by accident. His father was
“a spiritually questing” person who read
about Zen Buddhism. As a first-year Har-
vard sophomore (“I was allowed to skip
my freshman year — a bad idea”), Nathan
needed a social science class; remembering
his father’s fascination with the Orient, he
signed up for “History of East Asia.”
“In 1960, that seemed very exotic,” he
says. It turned out to be his favorite course.
Nathan declared a major in history
with a focus on modern China, and began
studying intensive Chinese — one of only a
few undergraduates to invest in a seemingly
useless language at a time when the United
States and China had no friendly contact.
Upon graduation, Nathan was awarded a
fellowship to study in Hong Kong; when
he returned to Harvard for a master’s in
East Asian studies, his advisor suggested he
10 CCT Winter 2019-20
get a Ph.D. in political science. “I did defi-
nitely enjoy the study of China,” Nathan
says. “But it took years of teaching for me to
get into the poli sci part.”
He taught at the University of Michi-
gan as a post-doc before being hired
at Columbia in 1971. Early on in his
College career, Nathan was asked to
teach Contemporary Civilization. “It was
a struggle at first because I hadn't had a
broad liberal arts education,” he says. But
he grew to love it, and has taught it since.
Nathan has helped generations of
young people to better understand China
and the world they live in; he won the
Mark Van Doren Award for Teaching
in 2008. “My students have gone into
teaching, into the media, into think tanks,
the State Department, the CIA,” he says.
(He didn’t teach Barack Obama’83, “but
I participated in a briefing for him when
he was President.”) “You don’t change the
world as a college professor,” he says. “But
I feel like I've had the opportunity to say
what | want to say and be listened to, and
that’s been a privilege.
“Those semesters in CC when students
are reading Rousseau or Nietzsche and you
see them get hooked, when the conversa-
tion gets going and you can just duck
under the table and let the conversation rip,
that’s very cool,” Nathan adds. “The con-
nectivity of it is extraordinarily gratifying.”
Nathan has chaired, directed and
served in various leadership roles across
Columbia. He is currently part of the
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, which
facilitates teaching and research on East,
Southeast and Inner Asia; and is on the
board of advisors for the Institute for the
Study of Human Rights, which provides
interdisciplinary human rights education.
ISHR’s Advocates Program brings activ-
ists from all over the world to campus in
the fall semester, and Nathan welcomes
them as guest speakers in his “Introduc-
tion to Human Rights” course. “Students
get to see the actual people who do the
work they’re studying,” he says.
Despite his deep connection to China,
Nathan has been banned from entering
the country since 2001, after the publica-
tion of The Tiananmen Papers, the book
he co-edited with Perry Link. A whistle-
blower approached Nathan with documents
exposing the political process around the
1989 Tiananmen crisis; Nathan spent
several years authenticating the material and
supervising the translation with his friend
Link, then a professor of East Asian studies
at Princeton. When the story broke it got a
lot of attention — The New York Times ran
a front-page article and Nathan appeared
on 60 Minutes — which resulted in both
Nathan and Link being barred.
“Some Chinese officials have said they
want to give me a visa — maybe they think
it’s been long enough, or they like what I
did — but they don’t dare unless someone
above them takes responsibility, and that
hasn't happened,” Nathan says. “I never
push it. ’'m waiting for an invitation. It
would be good to go and get a more tan-
gible sense of the mood, but I can continue
my work without being there in person.”
Nathan has authored more than a
dozen less controversial books (most
recently, 2012’s China’ Search for Security)
and regularly publishes in academic jour-
nals. He’s the Asia/Pacific book reviewer
for Foreign Affairs, and contributes articles
to its website to help readers understand
China’s point of view on subjects such as
the recent protests in Hong Kong.
Outside the classroom, Nathan stays
busy with his four children (son Oliver is a
College senior; daughter Alexa is a Barnard
grad) and one grandchild. He loves muse-
ums, and hopes to take art history courses
when he retires — whenever that is. “I’m 76,
but teaching is too much fun to stop now!”
College
Volunteer with the Alumni Representative Committee and interview
students who are applying to Columbia College. It’s quick, easy
and fun! You'll support Admissions and also help bring Columbia
to life for these students. Your insight and experience is extremely
valuable, and interviews are now even easier with our virtual
interviewing option!
Visit college.columbia.edu/alumni-interviewing to learn more.
Regular decision interviewing begins January 2, 2020.
ALUMNI
RE RRES = NivAiiv-E
CIOs IN AE ete
ROAR, ROAR
Lions Pounce on Penn
Columbia's 75th Homecoming
was a sunny, rollicking game, as
the Lions dominated Penn in a
44-6 win — thetr largest margin
of victory ever in a Homecoming
matchup. “We picked a good time
to play our best football of the
year, said Al Bagnoh, the Patricia
and Shepard Alexander Head
Coach of Football. As part of the
festivities, the Columbia College
Alumni Association held its annual
gathering of food and fun, with
lawn games, archery and more.
Photos by Jenna Bascom and Columbia Athletics
12
CCT Winter 2019-20
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For more photos, go to
facebook.com/alumnicc/photos.
Winter 2019-20
FIREPOW
JAMES BEARD AWARD !
WINNER ANN KIM ’95
IS BRINGING THE HEAT
TO THE TWIN CITIES
KIM AT THE OVEN AT
PIZZERIA LOLA.
nn Kim ’95 has made an art of playing with fire.
Over the past decade, the elemental hiss and
crackle has fueled the Minneapolis chef’s rise to
national prominence and, earlier this year, a James
Beard Award as best chef in the Midwest. It’s the essential
ingredient at two of her three Twin Cities restaurants: At
her hand, it will make you rethink a dish as simple as roasted
cauliflower and go downright swoony over a charred yet
somehow still chewy pizza crust. A wood-fired oven stands
literally at the center of Kim’s first shop, Pizzeria Lola; its
gleaming copper back appears to arriving diners more like a
Richard Serra sculpture. Only after rounding a bend to sit at
the bar does the open mouth reveal the flame.
“Cooking by fire, to me, is a craft,” Kim told me back in
July; we were sitting in a booth at Lola, just feet from the
shiny hull. “It’s something that you can’t teach via textbook.
It’s a physical, visceral something that you feel in your body.
“We burned a lot of pizzas,” Kim added. “We made a lot
of shitty pizza before we made good pizza in this oven. We
learned. And we evolved.”
Part of the evolution was remaking the dough recipe she'd
exactingly developed in her home kitchen. “How that recipe
would react and cook in a home oven that got up to 500
degrees max is very different than what happens when you
get up to 900 degrees-plus. It was back to the drawing board,
testing, until I found the crust that I really wanted to make.”
‘That was in 2010, and after opening a slice shop, Hello
Pizza, as her sophomore venture, Kim returned to the fiery
theme in November 2016, with Young Joni. The inventive
pizzas-and-more menu leaned into her Korean heritage
and relied on the alchemy created by cooking in that same
style of wood-fired oven (two, in fact) and over a wood-
burning grill. Young Joni was named the Star Tribune
2017 Restaurant of the Year, one of GQ’s Best New Res-
taurants in America and one of Travel & Leisure’s leading
reasons for food lovers to visit the Twin Cities. (Plus it’s
Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs’s favorite restaurant — no
small endorsement in the city of the Minneapolis Miracle.)
Young Joni’s success also cemented Kim’s role in what’s
been widely touted as a regional dining revolution.
“It’s really about understanding fire and how to manipu-
late it,” Kim said. “It’s not autopilot — we're not going to
turn up the convection oven and just go. You have to focus,
pay attention, be patient. And you have to practice. Some-
times the fire is going to have its own mind and you have to
work around that. But that to me is exciting.”
My lunch with Kim had been in the works for months —
nearly moved so she could attend an invitation-only, wood-
fire cooking event in Ireland, then back on again. Arriving
early, I took time to drive the neighborhood, technically the
outskirts of Minneapolis, where the city meets the friendly
suburb of Edina. But “neighborhood” was the word for it.
The side streets were primarily residential, and even the
main road that Pizzeria Lola fronts was house-lined and
sleepy; another 10 minutes passed before I reached a typi-
cal small-town cluster of retail, coffee shops and eateries.
THE RESTAURANT PROJECT
THE RESTAURANT PROJECT
Kim later told me that her and her husband Conrad Lei-
fur’s first home was less than a mile away. “We were walk-
ing our dog and we saw a for-lease sign. It used to be a local
convenience store; we said, “This is it.”
Location, as I came to learn, was an essential part of
Kim’s vision. When dreaming about what she wanted in
a place of her own, she thought back to her College days:
“One thing I really missed in Minneapolis was pizza —
and the other was a restaurant that felt like home. Because
being in New York, you could go to any corner and there
was always a small little neighborhood joint. Here, it was
lots of chains. I wanted a place where I'd love my surround-
ings, love the people that 1 worked with and could get to
know my guests as family.”
Walking in the door at Lola (named, incidentally, for
Kim’s sweet-faced Weimaraner), I certainly felt the warmth
of a small-town spot. The decor was simple and cheerful, lots
of wood and recycled light fixtures. A back-lit, black-lettered
specials sign had the look of something pulled from a road-
side ice cream stand. Strips of smiling and goofy faces, taken
in the restaurant’s photo booth, lined a side wall.
Kim arrived a few minutes after me — voice bright, with
a hint of Minnesota accent — and ordered up a heap of
food: the aforementioned cauliflower, a matchstick zucchini
special and meatballs that on another day could have been
the main event. There were also two dizzyingly good pizzas:
the Xerxes (a Greek-y pizza with feta, sautéed spinach and
Marcona almonds) and the Korean BBQ (beef short ribs,
scallions, soy-chili vinaigrette). The latter is their bestseller,
a one-week special that was brought back for good after
bummed-out customers kept calling to complain.
As we talked, I found Kim to be exuberant, sincere,
uncensored. I was reminded that this is the woman who
several years ago went viral with a tweet declaring, “Fuck
fear, lesson learned” — a reference to how shed nearly
launched her career with the “safe choice” of franchising
a Jimmy John’s sandwich shop. This is also the woman
who opened her James Beard acceptance speech by tear-
ily admitting that she'd just come back from the restroom,
where she'd taken off her Spanx.
In fact, Kim seems so comfortable with who she is that it’s
hard to imagine that her younger self struggled with expec-
tations that she'd pursue a different path — one that ended
in a job with letters after it, “you know, Ph.D., M.D., J.D.”
She characterizes hers as “a stereotypical immigrant story —
the family moves here, they want their children to have a
better life.” But the particulars of her experience are quick
to emerge: Her family came to Apple Valley, Minn., from
Korea when Kim was 4. They didn't have a lot of money;
her father had been an accountant before the move, but here
worked in a bottle factory and, later, for the post office; her
mother (the “Young” of Young Joni) was a housekeeper in a
nursing home.
By her own account, Kim was always a creative person,
but felt repressed growing up; she was drawn to Columbia
by the Core Curriculum and because it was the kind of
good school her parents wanted her to attend. But New
York also spoke to her secret ambition to be an actress.
After graduation, she briefly dabbled in law firm jobs before
returning to Minnesota, where she could manage the cost
of living while wading into the theater scene. As soon as
she was cast in a full-time acting gig, she quit her job with
FIREPOWER
THE BIBIM GRAIN
SALAD FROM
YOUNG JONI.
“AS A CHEF, I'VE FOUND MY CALLING AND THIS IS
MY EXPRESSION. THIS IS MY BEST SELF.”
the general counsel of a small company. Her parents found
out only after calling there one day to speak with her.
“They were really disappointed; they sort of disowned me
for a period of time. They really thought that I was destroy-
ing my life, that there was no future in it.” She again kept it
to herself when she set her sights on becoming a chef.
Today, Kim says, that’s all far in the past. Her parents
now do drive-bys to see if her restaurants are busy. “I was
always fighting who I really was,” Kim muses, “what my
soul really felt, versus what I felt like I had to do and had to
be. And now, as a chef, I’ve found my calling and this is my
expression. This is my best self.”
Growing up in Minnesota in the 1970s, Kim recalls, there
wasn't a lot of diversity in the food at the grocery store.
What couldn't be bought had to be made by her mother and
maternal grandmother. At a young age, Kim was helping
to make kimchi (they brined cabbage in the family kiddie
pool to make batches large enough to last the winter). In
the summer, she tended a garden planted with Korean veg-
etable seeds that her mother had smuggled in. While Kim
never dreamed of becoming a chef per se, she always loved to
entertain and have people over. “I’m such an active go-go-go
person, but when we cook together and gather people and
slow down, it always gave me a lot of peace and satisfaction.”
Cut to 2009. It was the recession, and Leifur had recently
lost his job in finance; she was unhappy and looking for more
agency in her work than acting allowed. “We said, let’s do
something that feeds us emotionally, where we wake up and
Winter 2019-20 CCT 17
were grateful,” Kim recalled. “Conrad’s the one who said,
‘You're an amazing cook. Why don't we open a restaurant?”
Then came the near-contract to open a Jimmy John’s,
and their decision to take the leap to open the pizza place
of their dreams. Kim spent countless hours in her home
kitchen developing her ideal crust — for her, the key to a
great pie. She did a deep dive into artisan bread-making
books, visited crust-obsessed corners of the internet and
kept records of every trial, noting the relative humidity and
outside temperature, and how it reacted with her dough.
(Kim is by her own admission a recovering perfectionist.)
When Kim realized she'd need professional help, she
enrolled in an intensive course at Tony Gemignani’s Interna-
tional School of Pizza, in San Francisco. (“I didn’t know it at
KIM DESIGNED WHAT SHE CALLS “A NEO-NEAPOLITAN
PIE,” WITH A CRUST THAT COMBINED ATTRIBUTES
OF HER HOLY TRINITY: NEAPOLITAN (SOFT AND
BUBBLY), CLASSIC NEW YORK (FOLDABLE YET CRISPY)
AND NEW HAVEN-STYLE (CHARRED AND COAL-FIRED).
the time, but if you want to learn about every style of pizza,
he is kind of the man,” Kim says.) That’s where she fell in love
with fire, and returned for several apprenticeships. “There was
a lot of R&D,” says Gemignani. “Ann was very particular; she
would drill me. She knew what she wanted, and when we'd
try something she'd say — ‘nah, it’s too soft, it’s too wet, that’s
not it.’ It wasn't easy. But sometimes the best students are the
18 CCT Winter 2019-20
PIZZERIA LOLA
ones who are trying to achieve greatness.” Ultimately, Kim
designed what she calls “a neo-Neapolitan pie,” with a crust
that combined attributes of her holy trinity: Neapolitan (soft
and bubbly), classic New York (foldable yet crispy) and New
Haven-style (charred and coal-fired).
When Pizzeria Lola opened in late 2010, Kim was
kneading all of the dough herself; she devised a menu that
was simple, seasonal and pizza-focused. In a last-minute
twist, she experimented with Korean flavors — thus was
born the kimchi-topped Lady ZaZa. It was a natural com-
bination for Kim, who'd added the fermented favorite to
pizza (and every other meal) as a kid. For customers, it was a
radical departure. “A lot of people said, ‘We don’t know what
kimchi is,’ and I always replied, ‘If you don't like it you don't
have to pay for it, but give it a go if you’re curious.’ I kind
of chuckle to think that a lot of customers’ first exposure to
kimchi is on our pizza, but if that expands their horizons
and makes them want to explore Korean cuisine, or other
cuisines they’re unfamiliar with, then hey, that’s awesome.”
Early success for Lola came from word of mouth. Then,
in 2012, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives came calling. “The first
question I asked was, ‘Do we have to close?” Kim says with
a laugh. “All I could think was, we need butts in seats, we
need to pay this restaurant off.” Knowing when the episode
would air, they timed a change in their schedule and offered
lunch for the first time the next day. “Thirty minutes before
we opened, we had a line out the door,” Kim recalls. “It was
nonstop, just packed, until we closed. It was bonkers.”
Looking back, Kim says they turned inexperience into
an asset: “We were open to any sort of possibility because
we didn’t know that you ‘shouldn't do that.” But since then
she has also learned: “If your intention is there and you
listen to your gut, it usually turns out right.”
Back at Lola, shortly before our pizzas arrived, a couple
stopped by the table to introduce themselves — “We saw
you and couldn't help ourselves,” the woman said. She asked
about the “epic dinner” Kim had posted on Instagram the
night before, and Kim easily fell into a few minutes of chat
(as it happened, the dinner was a home-grilled affair by
friend and fellow James Beard winner Alex Roberts, to cel-
ebrate Kim’s award). “We're such fans,” the woman said by
way of goodbye. “We love everything you do.”
“Everything,” at this stage, includes three restaurants; a
fourth is on the way. Kim leads the culinary side of the
house while Leifur is CFO (they founded parent company
Vestalia Hospitality in 2015). “I love the act of inspiration,
creating things and coming up with ideas and places where
people can gather,” Kim said. “If there’s something missing
— if I say, ‘I wish this existed here’ — then something starts
to bubble up. ‘Is anyone doing this? Why isn’t anyone doing
this? We should have this.”
She walked me through some of her a-ha moments: an old
hardware store struck her as the place for a classic New York
slice joint — what became the playful Hello, Pizza in 2013.
(The vibe was evident even under construction, thanks to the
giant Lionel Richie banner in the window.) Young Joni came
from a visit to Northeast Minneapolis,
an up-and-coming, artist-driven part of
the city. Kim envisioned a neighborhood
restaurant like Lola, “but one that was a
little different, a little more sophisticated,
a little sexier.” The result was a handsome,
wood-beamed space that conjures what
master food writer Adam Sachs termed
a “Korean-Midwestern hygge”; Kim has
said that she wants diners to feel like
they're getting wrapped in a bear hug.
Kim gets atmosphere, according to Star
Tribune restaurant critic Rick Nelson.
“I think that comes from being in the
theater,” he says. “Her places aren't showy,
but they feel special. She also gets hospi-
tality in a way that I think a lot of people
here don't.”
He noted that at Young Joni, a lot of
the seats are around counters or large
communal tables that encourage sharing
Se ae
and conversation. “Minnesotans are a very
stand-offish kind of people,” Nelson, a
lifelong resident, says with a laugh. “We're
polite, but we're very particular about per-
sonal space. At Young Joni alone, Ann
has taught people, it’s really fun to go out
and sit next to a stranger and get to know
them and talk about food and drink and
the city and world.”
In the bigger picture, Kim is in fact contributing to an
evolution in Twin Cities dining culture. It goes beyond cul-
tivating a more social experience; it’s also an expansion of
tastes. What many think of as traditional Minnesota fare
— hotdish and tater tots, or Scandinavian fare like lutefisk
or lefse — is no longer the dominant mode. Kim credits
the change in part to a diversifying population: “People are
looking for food that not only challenges them but is also
just good. It’s no longer about saying this is ‘ethnic cuisine.’
It’s just, this is the food that represents who we are as a
community, now, in this present time.”
‘The meat-and-potatoes DNA still exists here, says Nelson,
who has a long view after more than 25 years in the business.
“But the dining public is way more adventurous than it used
to be, and people are willing to spend money in ways they
didn’t before.” Kim was among the chefs he cited in a recent,
sweeping overview that declared the Twin Cities’ ascension
to a three-star — “highly recommended” — town. “In the
last seven or eight years there has been enormous growth in
the number of exceptional and interesting and diverse res-
taurants here,” he says. “I think it’s become one of the most
exciting places to dine in the United States.”
i
THE RESTAURANT PROJECT
Kim told me life has changed since the James Beard award.
“I wish I had 24 more hours in a day. Right now it’s about
deciding which offers and invitations are real opportuni-
ties, in line with our vision and values and goals.”
She is adamant about not wanting to be pigeon-holed,
and indeed, an obsession with handmade Oaxacan tortillas
is at the heart of her upcoming not-quite-Mexican enter-
prise. “My food is an amalgam of what feels authentic to
me — my palate, my soul, my story, my history. And once
you try it you can decide what it means to you.”
She recalled her mother at the hearth, “throwing a Japa-
nese sweet potato on the coals on a winter day and us peeling
it and eating it like candy. Those are the flavor memories I
have. We grew up with very little money, but her food was
always there for us, always comforting.
“I know it sounds fluffy,” she added, “but I really do think
that’s why we're successful. It comes not from a place of
pedigree or experience, but from the heart. And I think we
as a community and as a
nation need to do more
of this. Share. Come to
the table.” Kim gestured
at Lola’s photo wall:
“We have a family that
has rows and rows of
pictures from when they
were pregnant to birth,
and now that child is older. To me those are connections of
celebration and memories, and if you can bring a little com-
fort on a bad day — there aren't a lot of places where you can
do that anymore. If I can provide that for people, that would
be my biggest accomplishment.”
FIREPOWER
romp. HOT STUFF!
yA J) We've got the recipe for Pizzeria
Lola’s Roasted Cauliflower. Find it
now at college.columbia.edu/cct/
latest/feature-extras/lola.
: Cede Xu
THE RESTAURANT PROJECT
Winter 2019-20 CCT 19
HOW CONTEMPORARY CIVILIZATION LAID THE
FOUNDATION FOR THE CORE CURRICULUM
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lato versus Aristotle on the polis. Introduction
Augustine versus Aquinas on God To Contemporary Civilization
and the soul. Hobbes, Locke and A sylies Part}
Rousseau thrashing out the lead- Pew Bite
ers and the led. Darwin finding our place
among the beasts. Printed for the Use of the Students
‘This is the stuff of “Introduction to Con- of Columbie' College
temporary Civilization in the West,” aka
Contemporary Civilization, aka CC. For the
Copyrighted 1919 by
last 100 years, every Columbia College stu- witha esa
dent has alternately sweated through, fret-
ted over, grappled with and (often enough)
reveled in this unique required backbone of COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
a College education. It is also, significantly, oeg
the first pillar in what became the Core Cur-
riculum. Its success laid the foundation upon
which first Literature Humanities, in 1937,
and later Art Humanities and Music Humanities would be built. It both
offered a model for how those classes might be conducted and inspired
an educational purpose apart from pre-professional training: to equip stu-
dents with intellectual awareness and habits of mind that would be valuable
throughout their lives.
And yet, CC’s founders never imagined their work would accomplish any-
thing so sweeping as that. So what exactly were their ambitions? How and why
was Contemporary Civilization created, and what was it like when it began?
It turns out that for all the continuity and commonality CC has provided
through the years, the course has traveled far from its original design. Stu-
dents have read primary texts in full only since 1968, spending bleary-eyed
nights with works like Machiavelli’s The Prince and Descartes’s Discourse on
the Method. For roughly 20 years before that, CC’s raw material was found
in two Columbia-published casebooks (“The Red Books”) that summarized,
wove together and offered excerpts from seminal thinkers. Both of these
iterations of the class would be nearly unrecognizable to its earliest enrollees.
‘That’s because when CC was unveiled in 1919, immediately following the
First World War, it had a highly specific purpose and what was then a radically
different approach to undergraduate education. It was meant to instill in the
College’s first post-bellum classes a fundamental awareness of their essential
IMAGES COURTESY COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
Winter 2019-20 CCT 21
First
place in the modern human race — the better to help
them forestall another global conflagration and to pre-
pare them in case one did explode.
And yet, however foreign it may be to today’s eyes,
the embryonic CC of a century ago foreshadowed the
CC of 2019. From the beginning, the course has sought
to introduce young minds to some of humankind’s
most essential, intractable questions and dilemmas.
TURNING BOYS INTO MEN
CC was the byproduct of the unprecedented carnage
and social upheaval of the Great War. Millions were
killed. Empires fell. A generation was strangled. Some
200 uniformed alumni from across the University
died. When the smoke literally cleared on Novem-
ber 11, 1918, “the war to end all wars” was not just a
catchphrase.
‘The University had done its part. In 1917, Colum-
bia had introduced the Student Army Training Corps
(S.A.T.C.), a government-sponsored experiment in
educating citizen-soldiers that essentially consisted
of uniformed students taking regular courses. Part of
the instruction was a class called “War Aims” that was
designed, by one account, to promote “understanding
the worth of the cause for which one is fighting.”
But when the guns stopped firing, an urgent ques-
tion arose among some faculty members: What do we
do now? Among the principals who took part in the
discussion was the new dean of the College, Herbert
Hawkes, whose 25-year tenure went on to be defined
by his commitment to a general liberal arts education.
Hawkes believed that issues of peace were vastly more
complicated than those of war, and could also be more
important as a field of instruction; he saw an opportu-
nity — even a responsibility — to offer a course that
equipped students with the tools to “participate in
national affairs with clear judgment and intelligence.”
And so the College faculty determined that “War
Aims” should yield to an undefined yet mandated
course that would consider the modern world.
This metamorphosis, constituting the first step
toward Contemporary Civilization, took place dur-
ing crucial junctures in both College and University
history. At the time, many elite colleges still doubled
as finishing schools that would somehow “turn boys
into men.” Scholarship often came second to the hazy
notion of building character.
But character couldn't always be built. And Colum-
bia’s imperious president, Nicholas Murray Butler
CC 1882 — whose tenure lasted from 1902 to 1945
— cared little for budding maturity. Rather, he was
concerned with molding his growing university into
a grown-up, graduate-focused, research-oriented
colossus. Indeed, “Nicholas Miraculous” once accused
undergraduates of “intellectual dawdling.” Under
his (unrealized) “Columbia Plan” of 1905, College
students could enter the University’s professional or
graduate programs after their sophomore year. As late
22 CCT Winter 2019-20
Dean Herbert Hawkes
was instrumental in
the founding of CC,
DEAN HERBERT HAWKES BELIEVED THAT
ISSUES OF PEACE WERE VASTLY MORE
COMPLICATED THAN THOSE OF WAR,
AND COULD ALSO BE MORE IMPORTANT
AS A FIELD OF INSTRUCTION.
as 1917, Butler was still proposing a separate two-year
junior college for precisely this purpose.
Columbia College, meanwhile, was suffering from
benign neglect. It was not until 1907, a full decade
after the move from West 49th Street to Morning-
side Heights, that the College got its own building
in the form of Hamilton Hall. Its first dean, John
Howard Van Amringe CC 1860, was very much of
the “boys into men” school of thought. Still, he some-
times despaired of scholarly standards. “The present
undergraduate course of study [is] not consistent with
the true purpose of an academic curriculum,” he com-
plained in his 1904 annual report.
It was against this knotty institutional background
that Contemporary Civilization was hatched. Just two
months after the Armistice, on January 20, 1919, the
The end of WWI
raised questions about
peacetime education
at the College.
College faculty resolved that a course called Contem-
porary Civilization would now be a freshman require-
ment. (The name itself was punted around a bit; other
candidates were “Contemporary History,” “The World
We Live In” and, naturally, “Peace Issues.”) CC even
won the endorsement of Butler, who shook off his lack
of interest in undergraduates enough to approve of
their taking a wider view of the world around them; a
Jester cartoon depicted him deploying the new course
as a weapon against Bolshevism.
As September and the new academic year drew
nearer, the program rounded into shape. Fifteen
instructors, drawn from the departments of history,
economics, philosophy and government, would do the
teaching. Professor of Philosophy John J. Coss — the
first and only director of CC until his death in 1941
— boldly predicted that the cross-disciplinary nature of
the course would even benefit its preceptors, thanks to
the need to teach outside their specialty. “The staff will
be educating itself as well as instructing the students,”
Coss wrote in the July 1919 Columbia University Quar-
terly — in the process broadening their own minds, or
as he put it, “break[ing] down those ‘idea-tight’ com-
partments in which learning too often isolates itself.”
With an average of 15 students, each section was
small enough to be conducted as a discussion. Sections
would meet five times a week, 9-10 a.m., complete with
daily quizzes. The 1919-20 “College Announcement”
made clear the ultimate goal: “To inform the student of
the more outstanding and influential factors of his phys-
ical and social environment. By thus giving the student
objective material on which to base his own judgment, it
is thought he will be aided in an intelligent participation
in the civilization of his own day.”
NOT THE SAME OLD THING
The first-year students drew upon a primer of some
450 pages that was prepared especially for their new
class. It was Human Traits and Their Social Significance,
written during summer 1919 by campus philosopher
Irwin Edman CC 1916, GSAS 1920. Not yet 23, he
wouldn't earn his Ph.D. for another year, yet he was
charged with writing a seminal book. “To my sur-
prise,” he recalled, “I found myself under forced draft
... [writing] a book for the section of the course for
which, apparently, no viable text existed.”
Edman’s tome offered such heady chapters as “The
Demand for Privacy and Individuality,” “The Devel-
opment of the ‘Self,” “Art and the Aesthetic Expe-
rience” and “Morals and Moral Valuation.” It was
an audacious, broad-ranging and, in many respects,
idiosyncratic effort. The first two weeks of the very
first incarnation of Contemporary Civilization were
devoted to discussing the physical features of planet
Earth and the natural resources of its major countries.
Other volumes written by College faculty and
graduates — many of them written specifically for CC
— soon supplemented Edman’s. Among these were
Man and Civilization by anthropologist John Storck
CC 1922, GSAS 1929, which influenced the class’s
growing tendency to look further into the past in
order to understand the present; and The Making of
the Modern Mind by Professor of Philosophy John
Herman Randall Jr. CC 1918, GSAS 1922.
Winter 2019-20 CCT 23
Professor of Philosophy
John J. Coss was the
first director of CC.
First
“These texts were not easy reading,” wrote J.W.
these were such CC 1923 legends as composer Richard
(“Wim”) Smit, who famously taught all four of the Rodgers, Oscar-winning screenwriter Sidney Buch- genedules TOF ;
basic Core Curriculum courses. “The first CC students man, humorist Corey Ford and philosopher Mortimer
: : sEcTION 1
worked hard. The sheer mass of problems thrown at Adler, who developed his own concepts of canonical MoW.ESe
them was daunting, involving much more than a pass- _ texts that were eventually introduced to St. John’s Col- ee
ing acquaintance with European and American his- lege in Annapolis. ba game
sat. *
tory, social psychology, world geography, philosophy,
economics and politics.”
Despite the burden, the College’s charges seemed to
respond. Just six weeks into the fall semester of the foun-
dational year of 1919, Coss offered a glowing assessment
in the Columbia University Quarterly: “It is not too early
to state that even the most sanguine advocates of this
innovation in freshman education are surprised by the
success.” He credited the major part of the success to the
fact that the students liked the material, adding: “As one
rather clever freshman put it, ‘I like this course because it
is new and my professor is still interested in it; he is not
“[A] reason for the success of the course which must
not be overlooked,” wrote Coss, “is to be sought in the
very nature of the freshman class, which is unusually
intelligent and mature. The maturity doubtless comes
in part from the four years that have just passed. The
war and its issues have made even boys thoughtful,
and the social unrest which has come with peace has
intensified reflections.”
Contemporary Civilization was on its way. Through
word of mouth, speeches at academic conferences,
attention in scholarly journals and general press cover-
age, the news about CC spread. Shortly before Christ-
Mon.
kite eo 3]
19 50) Weds Oot 2
Oct.
1
'
1
just going over the same old thing again.” mas 1919, Hawkes estimated that more than 100 Ae 1
colleges and schools across the nation had requested | ol
A TECTONIC SHIFT detailed information about it. By 1921, Spectator was te = |
Coss praised the “unusually competent group of men’ calling CC “famous” and noted that Hawkes was get- ae (
who were teaching this strange new construct. But his _ ting about 10 letters of inquiry per week. “Rutgers Col- oe
most personal thoughts were reserved for the hun- lege has adopted the Columbia syllabus,” Spec wrote, me are |
dreds of teenagers who were actually taking it. Among “and Yale, Dartmouth, Princeton, Chicago, and Johns Mp ts ae og ate
Hopkins have worked out courses = ’
»» 4, OCEss
quite similar to Columbia’s.
The University published a sum-
pages, followed by 32 pages of sta-
tistics,” wrote Thomas Paul Bonfi-
glio in Why Is English Literature?
(2013), “this may be a candidate
for the longest course syllabus in
the country.” The whole notion of
CC itself, Bonfiglio wrote, con-
THE WHOLE NOTION OF
: ; Mon, Nov.
mary of the CC experiment in 1920 rae % ip
as Introduction to Contemporary ? |
Civilization: A Syllabus. “At 121 sat Nes
CC ITSELF, THOMAS
PAUL BONFIGLIO WROTE,
CONSTITUTED “A TECTONIC
SHIFT IN THE FOUNDATIONS
OF UNIVERSITY EDUCATION.”
stituted “a tectonic shift in the
foundations of university educa-
tion.” That shift, however, was not
a matter of drilling the thoughts
of the many names that adorn
the facades of Butler Library into
undergraduate heads. Instead, this
was a matter of abandoning classi-
Irwin Edman CC 1916,
GSAS 1920 wrote the
book — literally — on
CC; his was the first text
used for the course.
CCT ARCHIVES
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What’s more, although no one planned it that way,
cal learning, including the reading of “dead” languages
Contemporary Civilization — and the wider Core
Curriculum that followed — gave Columbia College
like Greek and Latin, and yanking undergraduates
something it had never quite had before: a unique
into an urgent, present-day life.
Not everyone on campus was enamored. Some fac-
ulty said the course was unteachable, or worried that
it would serve as an alternative rather than an entice-
ment to deeper scholarly studies. But the balance in
favor of CC — which by the mid-1920s was ranked
by graduating seniors as the most valuable class at
Columbia — far outweighed any skepticism. Con-
temporary Civilization would gradually, and inevita-
bly, make its mark. As founding figure Edman himself
put it, “The incoming freshmen had the sense of par-
ticipating in a new and exciting educational adventure
... Within a year or two Columbia College seemed
always to have had a course in CC.”
intellectual and even institutional identity. Change
was in the air, and on the heels of CC began the shift
in how humanities were taught, starting with an hon-
ors course that emphasized reading classics in transla-
tion, without secondary sources — the predecessor to
Literature Humanities. By 1947, the four main pillars
of the Core had been established.
Indeed, as philosophy professor Justus Buchler
GSAS’39 wrote in 1954, reflecting on CC for an essay
composed for the University’s bicentennial, “The year
1919 can be justly regarded as marking the actual
birth of the new Columbia College.”
CC provided a model for
the course that became
Literature Humanities,
introduced in 1937.
Winter 2019-20 CCT 25
:
Per ae uae IMT
MASCARI AT
BLUELAND’S
WAREHOUSE IN
NEWARK, N.J.
THE
ECO
ENTREPRENEUR
JOHN A. MASCARI ‘08 AIMS TO
MAKE YOUR CLEANERS GREENER
BY YELENA SHUSTER 09
ohn A. Mascari 08 was 7 years old when he
stopped eating his buffalo wing mid-bite.
He noticed what looked like a vein and
thought about the lion posters and bison
wallpaper he saw every night before bed, and
about the summer camp he attended that was
on the same property as a cow farm. That night, to the
consternation of his meat-eating Italian household, Mas-
cari became the first in his suburban Buffalo community
to stop eating all meat and seafood. (This was the 90s.) It
was social suicide. (This was Buffalo.)
Like many of us, Mascari lost some of his idealistic
resolve as he grew up. But a few years ago, with Earth burn-
ing, glaciers melting and oceans choking on plastic, Mascari
found his thoughts returning to his childhood commit-
ment. Already an entrepreneur, he didn’t just start compost-
ing or bringing a tote bag to the grocery store — he went
all in. From his home in Boulder, surrounded by majestic
mountains, Mascari made a new pact: his next business
would be devoted to helping the environment. You could
even say he’s making up for lost time. Because nearly three
decades after his first pact, he has resolved to rid the world
of plastic — starting with your cleaning supplies.
Eight months ago, Mascari and co-founder Sarah Paiji
Yoo debuted their eco-venture Blueland to much fanfare.
‘The online company launched with $3 million in venture
capital (Justin Timberlake is an investor), won the Harvard
Business School Global Alumni New Venture Competi-
tion and was featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fast
Company and Vogue. In September, Blueland appeared on
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JORG MEYER
THE
ECO
ENTREPRENEUR
ABC’s Shark Tank and landed a deal with investor Kevin
O'Leary, leading to a valuation of $9 million.
The winning pitch? Instead of buying a new bottle of
Windex every time you run out, you have one “Forever”
bottle you refill with just-add-water cleaning tablets that
clock in at a mere $2 each.
The ambitious goal is to eliminate single-use plastic
while reducing carbon emissions, as the tablets are 300
times lighter to ship than conventional equivalents. And
that’s just to start. Mascari wants to transform the entire
$60 billion cleaning supply industry so it’s non-toxic,
waste-free and still profitable.
“The world is in crisis mode,” Mascari says, his baritone
(with a hint of upstate New York) filling the room. “I want
Blueland to be a definitive case study about how to build a
business that thinks first about the environment, and is still
more successful than any business that’s come before rhe,
If Mascari sounds confident, it might be because he
already hit the startup jackpot once before. His first busi-
ness was inspired by his then-pregnant sister’s difficulty
finding a balance of nutrients in her diet. Fresh out of
Harvard Business School, at only 27 years old, Mascari
created Bundle Organics, the first line of non-GMO,
vitamin-fortified, pasteurized juices designed for preg-
nant women.
Bundle was Mascari’s first experience with building a
supply chain: the manufacturing, packaging and deliv-
ery process that transforms an idea into a viable prod-
uct. It took him a relentless pavement-pounding year
to convince his preferred supplier (whose other clients
28 CCT Winter 2019-20
were giants like Pepsi and Coke) to take a chance on an
unproven startup.
Lifestyle influencer Whitney Port — a Bundle con-
sumer and fan whom Mascari recruited as the company’s
chief brand director — witnessed this tenacity firsthand.
“John has the ability to redirect when people say no,” Port
says. “He will somehow creatively turn it into a yes. He's
always trying to figure out ways around roadblocks.”
His persistence paid off. Bundle made it to national
retail shelves, including Target and buybuyBaby. Four
years after launching, Mascari sold Bundle to natural
product powerhouse 1908 Brands. Mascari can't reveal
the dollar amount, but more important than the money
was finding the right mission-based partner. “When
I sold Bundle, I was deliberate in finding it a very eco-
focused home,” he says. “There were other potential
investors, but I loved knowing that the business would
be joining a company with environmentalism at its core.”
T* inspiration for Blueland started with a close look
at a bottle of Windex. Turns out the ingredients are
97 percent water and only 3 percent active cleaning agent.
This “seemed bananas” to someone with Mascari’s bever-
age background. Why ship a product that’s mostly water
around the world when you can just use the tap and reduce
your carbon footprint and operating costs?
After realizing the water ratio applied to most cleaning
supplies, Mascari and Paiji Yoo — who met at Harvard
— recruited chemist Syed Naqvi from non-toxic clean-
ing giant Method to join the founding team as their head
of development. Blueland launched one year later, just in
time for Earth Day 2019.
As CEO, Paiji Yoo is the face of the brand, handling
marketing, public relations and big-picture strategy. As
COO, Mascari is its legs, keeping the day-to-day opera-
tions running. During the Shark Tank taping, Paiji Yoo
and Naqvi pitched the concept while Mascari sat in a
conference room with all of his spreadsheets in case they
needed to call him with a question.
“Startups are all about operating effectively in a resource-
constrained environment. There is no one better to have in
the trenches than John,” Paiji Yoo says. “He is really run-
ning all things: manufacturing, sourcing, warehouse and
fulfillment. And our partners are all across the country —
he will fly there and fix any problems himself. a
In fact, Blueland’s press-friendly launch date wouldn't
have happened if it weren't for Mascari’s sleeves-up ethos.
The weekend before, Mascari learned the branded tablet
wrappers wouldn’t arrive in time to make their deadline.
That night, he booked the last flight out to the manufac-
turer in Florida, where he hand-stickered 3,000 tablets.
Similarly, when there’s an unexpected spike in sales,
Mascari hops on a red-eye to Newark, N,J., and spends the
day at the warehouse, packing boxes to ensure orders dont
fall behind. “What am I going to do? Sit at my computer
and say, ‘Where are these boxes? Where are these boxes? It’s
important for me to go there and do it,” he says.
aking a product that didn’t exist begins with cobbling
a supply chain together from scratch.
‘The first problem? The tablets. “I joke that if I ever get
a tattoo, it will probably be the tablet itself, or that tablet
wrapper,” says Mascari, flashing his one-dimpled smile,
“because they were so impossible to put together.”
Cleaning companies don’t employ tablet-making
machines, as their products are liquid-based. To produce
Blueland’s 94 percent bio-based tablets (made entirely of
ingredients on the EPA's safer chemical ingredients list),
Mascari visited 50 manufacturers ranging from medica-
tion makers to candy factories, searching for the right
type of machinery.
Then there was the plastic problem — to avoid using
it, Mascari’s tattoo-worthy wrapper had to be developed
without impacting the quality, smell or look of the tablet
over time.
“There was no way we were going to package our prod-
uct in something that wasn’t compostable, recyclable and
safe for children,” Mascari says. “Believe me, it would
have been so easy to say, ‘We'll just do Jess plastic,’ because
those machines are in abundance.”
Blueland was rewarded with the highest rating by lead-
ing environmental agency Cradle to Cradle. Even the art-
work on the “Forever” bottles was put to the test, as many
label paints contain known carcinogens. “Our suppliers
think it’s insane that we're sourcing inks and dyes from dif-
ferent places, but we wanted to know what was in them
down to the molecular level, so we knew exactly what we
were putting into a consumer’s home,” Mascari says.
Although there are plenty of eco-friendly cleaning
products out there, Mascari isn’t worried about compet-
ing with these bigger players. He
considers Blueland — which has 18
patents pending — to be an entirely
different category. “Asking a tradi-
tional liquid cleaning company to
reinvent itself as a dry tablet com-
pany is basically saying, ‘Clear the
deck and start over,” he says.
Bringing this vision to life has
been exhausting. A former invest-
ment banker, Mascari is no stranger
to late nights in the office — a work
ethic, he says, that was cultivated as
publisher of Spectator. He works from sunrise to well past
sunset, with breaks for food and exercise. This doesn’t
include Sunday nights, when he stays up till 2:30 a.m.
to work with his partners in Hong Kong, where it’s Mon-
day morning.
‘There is no guarantee that Blueland will have the same
success as Bundle, and yet Mascari can’t imagine spend-
ing 15-hour days doing anything else. “To go through
the process of trying to build a business again, which is a
grind, it has to be tied to something that is going to pull
you out of bed every day,” Mascari says. “This is brand
new and yet already feels like my life’s work.”
Yelena Shuster 09 has written for The New York Times,
Cosmopolitan, InStyle and more. Her CCT Fall 2018
cover story, “Star Power,” won a Folio: Eddie Honorable
Mention and a CASE Silver Award. She founded and runs
TheAdmissionsGuru.com, where she edits admissions essays
for college and graduate school applications.
"| JOKE THAT
IF | EVER GET
A TATTOO,
Winter 2019-20 CCT 29
sk) COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK
Summer Programs
Visiting Students
Undergraduates Adults
& Graduates & Professionals
Students enrolled at Individuals with a bachelor’s
another institution. or higher degree.
Session |: May 26-July 2
Session Il: July 6-August 14
More than 50 areas of study to explore
and endless opportunities to discover.
sps.columbia.edu/summer20cct
High School Students
College Edge
An opportunity for high school Fall, Spring, & Summer Offerings
students to take for-credit
courses on Columbia's campus
with undergraduate students
Summer Immersion
Immersive programs for Session 1: June 29—July 17
domestic and international Pf in at oe ee an
high school students Session 2: July 21—August 7
interested in living and
studying in New York City Session 3: August 10-August 14
sps.columbia.edu/hs20cct
Columbia! Forum
The Scoop on a Scandal
How Jodi Kantor ’96 and Megan Twohey blasted open the Weinstein story
Jodi Kantor ’96 (left)
and Megan Twohey
In 2012, when Jodi Kantor ’96 was last fea-
tured in CCT, her bestselling book The Obamas
had recently been published. Kantor — who
had been named the New York Times Arts and
Leisure editor at just 27 — was the paper’s
Washington, D.C., correspondent. Her subtle
yet revealing portrait of the President and First
Lady’s uneasy transition to White House life
was acclaimed in The New York Review of Books
as “among the very best books on this White
House.” Kantor’s unusual prowess as both a
MARTIN SCHOELLER
writer and editor had gained her, early on, the
kind of recognition that many reporters strive
for over the course of decades.
Now, with fellow Times writer Megan
Twohey, Kantor has written another block-
buster. Their newsroom memoir, She Said:
Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That
Helped Ignite a Movement (Penguin Press,
$28), has been hailed as the feminist equiva-
lent of The Washington Post’s famous Watergate
exposé. (The Los Angeles Times playfully head-
lined its review “She Said’ is more important
than ‘All the President’s Men.’ There, I said
it.”) A well-matched pair of reporters, Kantor
and ‘Twohey seem poised to become the jour-
nalistic icons for their generation: Woodward
and Bernstein, with a difference.
She Said is the inside story of the New York
Times investigation into complaints of sexual
misconduct by Miramax Films co-founder
Harvey Weinstein; the story, a 3,300-word
piece about alleged abuses by Weinstein, was
published by the Times on October 5, 2017,
and won Kantor and Twohey (along with The
New Yorker's Ronan Farrow) the 2018 Pulit-
zer Prize for Public Service. After scores of
interviews, Kantor and Twohey had managed
to substantiate the sinister rumors that had
swirled around Weinstein for decades.
The writers tirelessly sought out victims
both well known (actresses Ashley Judd and
Gwyneth Paltrow contributed to the investi-
gation) and lower profile. They traveled exten-
sively in search of leads and breakthroughs
Winter 2019-20 CCT 31
Columbia! Forum
— almost everyone they spoke to was hamstrung by a
non-disclosure agreement, by a lucrative settlement or by
pure fear of retribution from Weinstein. (Though Kantor
claims not to have been afraid, the book describes how
Weinstein hired an intelligence agency staffed by ex-
Mossad agents to find a way to derail the Times's report-
ing efforts.)
After months of hard work, Kantor and Twohey still
had not located a female source with a firsthand account
of abuse who was entirely sure that she wanted to speak
on the record — but then, slowly, the tide turned. They
began to find current and former employees who were
willing to share inside knowledge and paperwork that
would help substantiate the lurid stories Kantor and
Twohey had uncovered. Chapter upon chapter of She
Said details their meticulous work. The moment when
Times executive editor Dean Baquet — “jumping out of
his skin” — decides the story is finally ready to print
feels seismic.
The results were immediate. A day after the story’s
publication, a third of Weinstein’s board had resigned;
days later, Weinstein himself was out. His corporation
declared bankruptcy within a year. More importantly, the
article’s revelations led to a national outpouring of sexual-
harassment confessions, helping to reignite the “Me Too”
movement activist Tarana Burke had started in 2006. “So
many women phoned ... to report allegations of sexual
harassment and assaults against Weinstein that the paper
had to assign additional reporters to handle the calls,”
a Times contributor noted. Kantor and Twohey refer to
their piece as “a solvent for secrecy, pushing women all
over the world to speak up.”
Two years later, reading the book is a euphoric expe-
rience. The two reporters are at the top of their game,
seamlessly and effectively cooperating and tag-team-
ing. As feminist author Susan Faludi points out in the
Times review, it’s the journalistic equivalent of world-
level sports: “Watching Kantor and Twohey pursue their
goal while guarding each other's back is as exhilarating
as watching Megan Rapinoe and Crystal Dunn on the
pitch.” In the end, what impresses most is Kantor and
Twohey’s fearlessness in the face of established power —
and the fierce adrenaline that animates them. As Kantor
recently admitted to Vox, she and Twohey “kind of relish”
having had the chance to confront Weinstein’s wrong-
doings. “We're investigative journalists,” she says firmly.
“We're trained to do this.”
— Rose Kernochan BC’82
32 CCT Winter 2019-20
Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story
That Helped Ignite a Movement
SHE
SAID
Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey
Winners of the Pulitzer Prize
The First Phone Call
n 2013, Jodi had started investigating women’s
experiences at corporations and other institu-
tions. The gender debate in the United States
already seemed saturated with feeling: opinion
columns, memoirs, expressions of outrage or sister-
hood on social media. It needed more exposure of
hidden facts. Especially about the workplace. Workers,
from the most elite to the lowliest, were often afraid
to question their employers. Reporters were not. In
doing those stories, Jodi had found that gender was
not just a topic, but a kind of investigative entry point.
Because women were still outsiders at many organiza-
tions, documenting what they experienced meant see-
ing how power functioned.
She wrote to actress Rose McGowan, calling on
those experiences:
Here's my own track record on these issues: Amazon,
Starbucks and Harvard Business School have all
changed their policies in response to gender-related
problems I exposed. When I wrote about the class gap in
breastfeeding — white collar women can pump on the
Job, lower paid women cannot — readers responded
by creating the first-ever mobile lactation suites, now
available in 200+ locations across the country.
Tf youd rather not speak, I understand and best of
luck with your book publication.
Thank you, Jodi
McGowan wrote back within a few hours. She
could talk any time before Wednesday.
The call seemed like it could be tricky: McGowan
appeared tough, with a buzz cut and that call-to-arms
Twitter feed. But the voice on the phone belonged to
someone impassioned and game, who had a story and
was searching for the right way to tell it. Her tweets
about being raped had just been hints, with few details.
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Alma Mater
Generally, the rule in interviews was that they were on
the record — meaning the material could be published
— unless otherwise discussed. But any woman with
an assault complaint against Weinstein would prob-
ably be reluctant to have even an initial conversation.
So Jodi agreed that the call would be kept private until
they decided otherwise, and McGowan started in.
In 1997, she had been young and newly triumphant,
on a heady trip to the Sundance Film Festival, where
she alternated between premieres and parties and a TV
camera crew followed her around. She had only been in
four or five films, like the teen-horror flick Scream, but
she was becoming one of the ingenues of the moment,
with multiple new movies at the festival alone. “I was
the belle of Sundance,” she said. Independent films
were at the center of the culture, the festival was the
place to be, and Harvey Weinstein was sovereign:
That was where the producer-distributor had bought
small films like Clerks and Reservoir Dogs, which he
had turned into cultural touchstones. In her telling,
McGowan didn’t remember which year this was; many
actresses chronicled the past not according to date but
instead to which movie of theirs was filming or being
released at the time. McGowan recalled the screening
where she had sat right near Weinstein:
7. T 22 ae = j
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The movie was called Going All the Way, she said > a | F -—_— i <<
with an incredulous laugh. ; >,
. S \ ri
Afterward, he had asked for a meeting with her,
which made sense: The top producer wanted to get
ALEC PERKINS / FLICKR
Kantor and Twohey’s blockbuster story helped reignite the “Me Too” movement started
in 2006, leading to women all over the world speaking out against sexual harassment.
together with the rising star. She went to see him at
the Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley, in Park City,
where they met in his room. Nothing happened except
the usual talk about films and roles, she said.
But on the way out, Weinstein pulled her into a room
with a hot tub, stripped her on the edge, and forced
his face between her legs, according to McGowan.
She said she remembered feeling like she was leaving
her body, floating up to the ceiling and observing the
scene from above. “I was just feeling massive shock, I
was going into survival mode,” she said. To get away,
McGowan said, she faked an orgasm and mentally
gave herself step-by-step instructions: “Turn the door
handle.” “Walk out of this meeting.”
Within a few days, she said, Weinstein had left a mes-
sage on her home phone in Los Angeles with a creepy
offer: Other big female stars were his special friends, and
she could join his club as well. Shocked and distraught,
McGowan had complained to her managers, hired a
lawyer, and ended up with a $100,000 settlement from
Weinstein — essentially, a payment to make the matter
go away, without any admission of wrongdoing on his part
— which she said she had donated to a rape crisis center.
Did she have her records from the settlement? “They
never gave me a copy,” she said.
The problem was worse than Weinstein, she said.
Hollywood was an organized system for abusing
women. It lured them with promises of fame, turned
them into highly profitable products, treated their
bodies as property, required them to look perfect, and
then discarded them. On the call, her indictments
came fast, one after another:
“Weinstein — it’s not just him, it’s an entire
machine, supply chain.”
“No oversight, no fear.”
“Each studio does the victim shaming and payouts.”
“Almost everyone has an NDA.”
“If white men could have a playground, this would
be it.”
“The women here are just as guilty.”
“Don't step out of line; you can be replaced.”
McGowan’s words were arresting. It wasn’t new to
say that Hollywood took advantage of women, forced
them into conformity, and dumped them when they
aged or rebelled. But hearing a direct account of
exploitation from a familiar face, in full disturbing
detail, and with one of the most renowned producers
in Hollywood as the perpetrator, was entirely different:
sharper, more specific, sickening.
From the book SHE SAID: Breaking the Sexual Harass-
ment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement by Jodi Kan-
tor and Megan Twohey. Reprinted by arrangement
with Penguin Press, a member of Penguin Group
(USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company.
Copyright © Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, 2019.
Winter 2019-20 CCT 33
- Lee re oo a a cena em
RE LR A RE A A tn
Alma Mater (Latin for “nourishing mother”)
watches over campus through the dark
days of winter. The sculpture, designed by
Daniel Chester French and cast in bronze by
John Williams, was unveiled on September
23, 1903, in front of Low Memorial Library
following the opening exercises to kick off the
University’s 150th academic year.
KILLIAN YOUNG / COLUMBIA COLLEGE
34 CCT Winter 2019-20
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ee Ae
¥, — ae ai,
Appin #
~ RR :
™ 4:7
36
Jack Stuppin ’55, Jacquelyn Schneider ’05
38
F**k, Now There Are Two of You,
by Adam Mansbach ’98, SOA’00
40
78
Immanuel M. Wallerstein ’51, GSAS’59; John Giorno ’58
80
Core cartoon caption contest!
By Michael Behringer ’89
ne of the great pleasures of being president of the Columbia
College Alumni Association is the opportunity to connect
with so many generations of College alumni. Passions for Colum-
bia run deep, as do alumni’s continued involvement with alma
mater. Here, a few updates from my recent encounters with our
diverse alumni volunteer community.
On September 27, alumni across the decades were well repre-
sented at the Core Centennial opening celebration, with almost
500 alumni, students and faculty in attendance. University Trustee
Co-Chairs Jonathan Lavine ’88 and Lisa Carnoy’89 opened and
closed the event with their reflections on the Core Curriculum
experience and its ongoing significance to Columbia.
At the breakfast reception, I connected with former CCAA presi-
dents Gerald Sherwin ’55, Marty Kaplan ’61, Brian Krisberg ’81
and Doug Wolf ’88. I’m inspired by how engaged with the Col-
lege each of these alums remains, continually finding new ways to
contribute and inspire the next generation of alumni volunteers —
myself included!
I was especially excited to spend time with Noam Elcott ’00,
Art Humanities chair and an associate professor of modern and
contemporary art. Noam is on the frontier of revolutionizing how
art history is taught, having spearheaded the use of virtual reality
technology in the Art Hum classroom. He demoed the VR system,
which will be available at different events throughout the year, to
Stephen Buchman ’59 and me — and it was impressive! We were
transported into Notre Dame Cathedral and the Parthenon in an
immersive experience that will forever change the way we experi-
ence art. Noam also participated in a panel where he previewed the
work underway to update the Art Humanities curriculum — the
first significant change since its inception in 1947.
I thank Bernice Tsai ’96, Katie Day Benvenuto 03 and Stefanie
Katz-Rothman’88 for their roles in helping with this incredible kick-
off event and for their ongoing planning of other Centennial programs
still to come. Bernice and Katie, both Alumni Office staff members,
work closely with Stefanie (chair of the Core Centennial Committee)
to help develop and promote Centennial-related programming. The
day was a huge success, in part due to their collective efforts.
Many alums returned for a great Homecoming weekend on Octo-
ber 18-19, topped by a 44-6 victory over Penn. This year’s activities
extended beyond Kraft Field to include a new Friday night on-campus
pep rally (including dinner with Roar-ee), the annual Saturday alumni-
student lunch under the tent and a new Saturday night After Party
for young alumni at the fabulous Hudson Terrace. I thank former
CCAA president Kyra Barry ’87 and current CCAA secretary Chris
Della Pietra ’89 for their work as co-chairs of the Homecoming and
Reunions Committee in supporting such great programming.
At the game, I caught up with Tom Cornacchia’85, chair of the
Board of Visitors, who is spearheading several key BOV initiatives
alumninews ©
SGielealewelens eens ateendheacransnvnensaceaviacssslelsessashanssecacdesennessacveertvanmddaiesvssatsaseieciindssneseucetsac tess desslersacebetscntccesscse sees ccieetedesiics nc MMMEEMBSs ons se cuter tierce
JENNA BASCOM
focused on enhancing the undergraduate
experience. BOV member Leslie Gittess
Brodsky ’88, who was awarded a 2019
Columbia Alumni Medal in recognition
of her many years of service, was also at
several of the Homecoming activities.
Also on hand was Mila Tuttle ’96, who is very involved with fun-
draising for Columbia, having co-chaired the CCAA’s Alumnae
Legacy Circle and frequently hosted events for alumni leaders.
I was also happy to spend time with some more recent alumni,
including Brian Chung ’16 and Jocelyn Bohn ’15, co-presidents
of Columbia College Young Alumni, and Carl Yin 17. Brian and
Jocelyn are feeling energized by their roles and looking for young
alumni volunteers to help them engage with their peers. Carl was
excited to be back on campus, as he recently moved to San Fran-
cisco and started a position at Google with its Business Operations
and Strategy group. Carl remains active on the CCAA and CCYA
boards, and is a CCT class correspondent.
T am in touch with one of CC’s newest alums, Emily Gruber
19, who now clerks for Hon. Arthur Engoron at the New York
State Supreme Court, and plans to apply to law school. Emily was
an engaged student, and I’m delighted to see that continue as an
alumna. She co-chairs the Class of 2019’s First Reunion Fund-
raising Committee, was very supportive of the new Homecoming
programming and is a co-class correspondent for CCT:
The College is fortunate to have such a vibrant alumni volunteer
community. It’s inspiring to see such commitment to giving back
to Columbia and wonderful that there are so many ways to remain
involved with alma mater.
ROAR!
Heep
The CCAA Board of
Directors met on
October 19, before the
Homecoming festivities.
Winter 2019-20 CCT 35
By Rebecca Beyer
n his first year at the College, in a studio course with artist
Peppino Mangravite, Jack Stuppin ’55 put the skills he learned
in childhood art classes to work in a charcoal study of a live
model. The professor was not impressed.
“He put a big X on my drawing,” Stuppin recalls, laughing. “He
said, ‘You're a human being. You have a mind, a soul, a heart. Why do
you want to do what an inanimate object like a camera does better?”
The criticism might have stung, but for Stuppin, it was also freeing.
“Tt liberated me,” he says. “I got looser. I let my emotions get involved.”
Today, Stuppin’s style as a landscape artist has evolved far from
photorealistic renderings. His California and Hudson River land-
scapes — known for their bright, super-enriched colors — fuse
a certain folk-art primitiveness with deeply personal feeling. His
work is in the permanent collections of several museums, and he
has had solo or group shows in galleries across the United States,
including the well-known ACA Galleries in New York City and
the Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco. Now in his ninth decade,
Stuppin shows no signs of stopping.
Before he became a full-time artist, Stuppin, a Yonkers native,
served in the Marine Corps. While awaiting orders for his peace-
36 CCT Winter 2019-20
time deployment to Japan, he spent a month in San Francisco and
fell in love with the city. When he left the military in 1958, he made
it his home, working as an insurance salesman, a stockbroker and an
investment banker. Stuppin helped start several successful technol-
ogy companies, including American Microsystems, Applied Micro
Circuits Corp. and Autodesk. Meanwhile, he painted on nights and
weekends and took classes at the San Francisco Art Institute (one of
his teachers was Jay DeFeo, a well-known member of the Beatnik
community, who watched her students work while drinking beer and
sitting on a folding chair atop a table; she called Stuppin “Smiley”).
By the early 1980s, Stuppin had earned enough from his invest-
ments to walk away from the business world. He also moved to
“the country,” settling in Sebastopol, Calif., where he still lives.
Stuppin’s success is a testament to his talent and creative
approach. One technique he employs is to print large versions of
his smaller paintings and apply multiple
layers of paint until he has produced an ;
entirely different-looking piece. Famed CCT Print Extras
art critic Donald Kuspit ’55 wrote ina See more of Stuppin’s work at
2015 catalog that the paint in Stuppin’s _college.columbia.edu/cct.
Hudson River landscapes is “like some kind of embalming mate-
rial, immortalizing nature in wishful fantasy, magically eternalizing
it as a touchstone for a future in which it will no longer exist.”
Still, Stuppin says luck also has played a role in his journey.
“Everything in my life has been lucky,” he says.
His introduction to Bill Wheeler, the late activist, artist and
hippie commune founder, was happenstance, for instance: Stup-
pin wanted to build a table and Wheeler had a portable saw mill.
Wheeler then asked Stuppin to join him en plein air painting, or
painting outdoors.
“I said, ‘I haven't painted the landscape since I was a teenager,”
recalls Stuppin, who at the time was doing more abstract work. “I
told him, ‘Tl go out once, but don’t ask me again.’ But then I thor-
oughly enjoyed the process.”
Wheeler and Stuppin became half of a group known as the
Sonoma Four (the other members were Tony King and William
Researching Nuclear Risk
By Nathalie Alonso ‘08
ocial science meets Dungeons & Dragons” is how Jacque-
lyn Schneider ’05 describes the innovative war game she
designed to assess if and how a cyberattack could lead to
nuclear war.
A fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, Schneider's work is at the
intersection of technology, political psychology and national security.
For her current study, she has recruited military and foreign policy
officials, cybersecurity experts and business leaders worldwide to par-
ticipate in a tabletop game in which four to six players simulating a
national security cabinet are asked to respond to a hypothetical crisis.
Unlike traditional war games used by the military, Schneider’s
experimental game is academic. She’s testing for variables; specifi-
cally, whether a state’s access to cyber weapons or known vulner-
abilities in its nuclear control program would stop or motivate it
to use nuclear weapons. “I am always interested in how the human
being interacts with the technology,” Schneider says.
Schneider’s game is more ambitious than most in its scope: It
has been research deployed in several countries, including Norway,
SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY
alumninews \
Morehouse). Their vastly different renditions of the same land-
scapes became a currency that brought them exposure and recog-
nition, Stuppin says.
“Tt was very interesting to people to see four takes on the same
scene in such different styles,” he says.
In 1995, Stuppin, Wheeler and King each spent a week working
in the Bay Area’s Farallon Islands, producing a series of works in
support of the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, which manages the
National Wildlife Refuge. The resulting paintings were later exhib-
ited at the California Academy of Sciences.
Stuppin, who continues to show his work around the country,
says painting is “almost like a narcotic” for him. “It’s just this com-
plete concentration of the brush and the paint on the canvas,” he
says. “It’s part of my personality. I have to paint.”
Rebecca Beyer is a freelance writer and editor in Boston.
Argentina and Thailand. Professors at Cornell and the University of
Wisconsin have also run the game with undergraduates, allowing
Schneider to compare the results to those produced by players consid-
ered experts in crisis decision making. The early returns are heartening:
“We're finding that people tend to downplay their own vulnerabilities,
which decreases incentives to use nuclear weapons,” says Schneider.
Schneider was first exposed to war games as an intelligence offi-
cer in the Air Force (she enrolled in ROTC to fund her studies
at the College), a job that sent her to Japan and South Korea for
six years following graduation. “I immediately used the knowledge
from all the great courses I took in political science and econom-
ics,” she notes.
After leaving active duty in 2011, Schneider earned a master’s
from Arizona State University and a Ph.D. from The George
Washington University, both in political science. She’s still an Air
Force reservist assigned to U.S. Cyber Command; prior to being
named a Hoover Fellow last summer, Schneider taught at the U.S.
Naval War College in Newport, R.I.
Last summer, Schneider was also appointed to the Cyberspace
Solarium Commission as a senior policy advisor. Created in 2019,
the bipartisan commission looks to develop a comprehensive U.S.
cyber policy. Schneider’s first book, The Rise of Unmanned Technolo-
gies: Explaining the American Desire for Drones, co-authored with
Julia McDonald of the University of Denver, is slated for publica-
tion in 2020.
“I want to do work that makes the U.S. safer and more pros-
perous,” says Schneider. “The puzzles that I’m drawn to — about
cybersecurity, about unmanned technologies, about strategic stabil-
ity — are things that we desperately need answers on.”
Nathalie Alonso 08, from Queens, is a freelance writer and an edi-
torial producer for LasMayores.com, Major League Baseball’s official
Spanish-language website.
Winter 2019-20 CCT 37
By Jill C. Shomer
an you name a number 1 New York Times bestseller that
has the F-word in the title? Your ability to answer
may depend on whether you have small children —
we're referring to 2011’s Go the FR to Sleep by Adam
Mansbach 98, SOA‘00. ‘The real-talk bedtime book (expertly
profane actor Samuel L. Jackson narrates the audio version) was
a smash with parents worldwide, allowing them to acknowledge
and laugh at the frustration of having youngsters who refuse to sail
peacefully to dreamland.
After a sequel, 2014’s You Have to F**king Eat, Mansbach is
back with another children’s book. F"%, Now There Are Two of
You (Akashic Books, $15.95) reflects the author's reality, and then
some: Mansbach now has three daughters (“TWO OF THEM
ARE UNDER TWO YEARS OLD,” his bio exclaims). “We had
the first girl and from that point on I was like, ‘please let the rest
be girls,” he told CCT. “Girls have their shit together much more.”
Still, he says, “two is a million more kids than one.” In Two of You,
Mansbach locates the humor in stressful group outings, loss of adult
time, anxiety over future college tuition, and yes, bedtime. The audio
book is narrated by famously
acerbic comedian Larry David.
Though the F% books are
his most widely known (he also
penned G-rated versions for
parents to read aloud without
changing the words), Mans-
bach’s bibliography is unusu-
ally multi-genre. In addition to
writing for older kids (Benjamin
Franklin: Huge Pain in My ...),
Mansbach writes poetry (Genius
B-Boy Cynics Getting Weeded in
the Garden of Delights), and his
novels have ranged from satire
(Angry Black White Boy), to saga
(The End of the Jews), to super-
natural (The Devil’ Bag Man).
His years at the College were similarly unorthodox: Mansbach,
who grew up in Boston, was a rapper and a DJ from a young age,
and “within 72 hours of arriving at Columbia I found everyone
who rapped,” he says. “There weren't that many of us.” As a sopho-
MATTHEW L. KAPLAN
38 CCT Winter 2019-20
ent
Now O Then Are Two “Are Iwo of You
wy OoRy a
4
Ne
beg
by Adam Mansbach - illustrated by Owen Brozm an
more he founded a hip-hop journal, E/ementary, and straddled the
experience of being a student while running a magazine full-time.
“There were deep, vibrant conversations going on in and around the
culture that weren't being reflected in print, so I thought I could do
something about that,” he says. “Elementary became a great com-
munity of writers and artists and rappers and DJs.”
He was also a fan of jazz, and in his junior year, Mansbach
became a roadie for the drummer Elvin Jones. “He was John Col-
trane’s drummer in the ’60s, pretty much the greatest drummer
who ever lived,” he says. “I traveled the world with him.” Jones
inspired Mansbach’s first novel, Shackling Water, published in 2002.
Mansbach says the leap from novels to Go the Fk to Sleep hap-
pened accidentally. “When your mind works in a satirical way
and you think you're funny, you just say stuff,” he says. “I was with
friends and made a joke about writing a kids’ book called ‘Go the
F**k to Sleep!’ and as soon as I said it, I sort of knew what that book
would be, how it would play with the tropes of the bedtime book.”
He was surprised by the instant response (“I was mostly tickled
that it was even going to be published!”). But at the same time he
became a bestselling author, personal tragedy struck: Mansbach’s
younger brother took his life. “It’s taken me a long time to talk
about it,” he says. “I was publicly doing all of this shit, navigating
the sudden fame of the book, and privately going through the worst
experience I’ve ever had.” Mansbach’s next book, to be published in
September 2020, is a poetic memoir called I Had a Brother Once.
Mansbach was thinking of the College when he wrote the
screenplay for Barry, the 2016 film directed by Vikram Gandhi ’00
that imagines Barack Obama’83 as a young man. “What drew me
to focusing on that part of his life is that it’s so opaque, it lends itself
to wholesale invention,” Mansbach says. “I had his memoir and a
smattering of articles for sourcing, but it was mostly retrofitting
who he was then based on who he is now. I was largely drawing
on Vikram’s and my experiences at Columbia.” Mansbach’s screen-
play was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and a Film
Independent Spirit Award, both in 2017.
Today, reflecting on the latest in his cuss-filled collection, Mans-
bach says, “Go the F“& to Sleep became fodder for think pieces about
the state of parenting, but these books are an affirmation that we’re
not going through this alone — it’s an opportunity for a sort of
shared catharsis. I'll probably leave a few copies of Two of You at
the doctor’s office when I go for my vasectomy.”
“Loved reading this _ the story, the flow” Jonas Gauguin
Paul Gauguin’s Son
THE LIFE AND TIMES
OF EMILE GAUGUIN
Paul Gaugin’s Son: The Life
and Times of Emile Gaugin dy
Francis Butterworth ’57 and David
McIntyre. Butterworth, formerly a
professor of genetics and molecular
biology, provides a comprehensive
account of a son living in the
shadow of his famous artist father
(Saugus Books, $39.50).
Four Men Shaking: Searching
for Sanity with Samuel Beckett,
Norman Mailer, and My Perfect
Zen Teacher dy Lawrence
Shainberg 58. In this memoir,
the author considers how two
literary friendships and a teacher-
student relationship shaped his
experiences of writing and Zen
practice (Shambhala, $16.95).
The Road Traveled and Other
Essays by Steven Cahn ’63.
Philosopher and educator Cahn
offers his latest reflections on the
nature of well-being, the rationality
of religious belief and the aims
of higher education (Resource
Publications, $17).
SUBMIT YOUR
BOOK TO CCT
Alums! Have you written
a book in the last year?
Tell us about it!
college.columbia.edu/cct/
submit_bookshelf
ie’
sill Christophersen
Pathfinding in Jacksonian America
The Second Founding: How the
Civil War and Reconstruction
Remade the Constitution dy
Eric Foner 63. The Pulitzer Prize-
winning scholar outlines the history
of three constitutional amendments
that built equality into America’s
foundation, and how those guar-
antees have been shaken over time
(W.W. Norton & Co., $26.95).
One Hundred Autobiographies:
A Memoir dy David Lehman
70. While undergoing painful
chemotherapy and surgery for
cancer, Lehman aims to make sense
of his mortality by composing a
life story from 100 short reflections
(Cornell University Press, $22.95).
Resurrecting Leather-Stocking:
Pathfinding in Jacksonian
America dy Bill Christophersen ’71.
The author argues that James
Fenimore Cooper’s Leather-
Stocking frontier tales, though
fictional, highlighted real problems
plaguing 19th-century America
and also suggested a path forward
(University of South Carolina
Press, $59.99).
Graphic Music Analysis: An
Introduction to Schenkerian
Theory and Practice dy Eric
Wen’74. Wen guides students of
musicology, theory and composition
through the process of creating
graphic representations of music,
giving more than 650 musical
examples (RL Publishing, $85).
i
¥
John O’Hara: Four Novels of the
1930s edited by Steven Goldleaf’76.
In one volume, four novels about the
pursuit of pleasure and status in Jazz
Age America, from the author who
has been called “the real Fitzgerald”
(Library of America, $40).
Exile Home 4y Mark Statman ’80.
Poet Pablo Medina says of Statman’s
newest book: “The father poem, ‘Green
Side Up, is a triumph of courage and
poetry and love. From it the manuscript
opens like a flower of multiple
petals” (Lavender Ink, $17.95).
Dockworker Power: Race and
Activism in Durban and the San
Francisco Bay Area dy Peter Cole
91. Workers in the world’s ports
are often missed in commentary on
today’s globalizing economy. Cole
brings their experiences to light in a
comparative study of Durban, South
Africa, and San Francisco, Calif.
(University of Illinois Press, $35).
Victor in the Jungle dy Alex Finley
94. The pseudonymous author, a
former CIA officer, continues the
satiric adventures of case officer
Victor Caro, now on assignment
with his family in South America
(Smiling Hippo Press, $14.99).
The Rise of the Working Class
Shareholder: Labor’s Last Best
Weapon 4y David Webber ’95. Webber,
a law professor at Boston University,
describes how worker organizations
can wield the power of pension
alumninews ‘
ge Ra
ay
Pe
JUNGLE |
A ter at,
funds against corporate exploitation
(Harvard University Press, $35).
The First Dinosaur: How Science
Solved the Greatest Mystery on
Earth dy Ian Lendler 96. The idea
that giant creatures roamed Earth
millions of years before humans
was once unfathomable; Lendler’s
book for young readers recounts the
fossil discoveries and advances in
science that led to the knowledge
that dinosaurs existed (Margaret K.
McElderry Books, $24.99).
The Passion Projects: Modernist
Women, Intimate Archives,
Unfinished Lives 4y Melanie Micir
03. A look at how modernist women
writers such as Virginia Woolf
used biographical writing to resist
their exclusion from literary history
(Princeton University Press, $29.95).
Beyond the Boulevards: A Short
Biography of Pondicherry dy
Aditi Sriram ’07. Sriram, a writing
professor at Ashoka University,
traces the historical, cultural and
spiritual evolution of the South
Indian coastal city of Pondicherry
(Aleph Book Company, $16.99).
How to Fight Anti-Semitism
by Bari Weiss 07. The New York Times
writer delivers an urgent wake-up
call to all Americans, exposing the
alarming rise of anti-Semitism in this
country and explaining what we can
do to defeat it (Crown, $20).
— Jill C. Shomer
Winter 2019-20 CCT 39
A light snow
dusts campus
as winter arrives
on Morningside
Heights.
40 CCT Winter 2019-20
CES NADI eR EF
oe
vr . . a ee :
Ge Nant J
1940-49
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
[Editor’s note: Graduates from
Classes 1940-49 can now all write to
Columbia College Today to share their
news. Please take a moment to send a
note to either the postal or the email
address at the top of this column to
connect with us and with classmates. |
From Dr. Melvin Hershkowitz
’42: “I recently wondered who
among our Great Class of 1942
could be considered nationally and/
or internationally famous (not just
well-known in our own Columbia
community). I thought that a good
criterion would be a prominent
obituary notice, with photo, in
one of our major daily newspa-
pers (The New York Times, the Los
Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune).
Three late classmates fit in to that
category: Gerald Green ’42, Don
Mankiewicz ’42 and Donald
Keene ’42, GSAS’49.
“Gerald was a prolific novelist,
TV writer and producer at NBC.
One of his first novels, The Last
Angry Man, was made into a film
with Paul Muni. His television
script for Holocaust drew worldwide
attention and acclaim. Gerald died
in 2006 after a long struggle with
Parkinson's disease.
COLIN SULLIVAN '11
“Don won the Harper Novel Prize
in 1955 for Tria/ and originated the
popular television show Ironside.
His father, Herman Mankiewicz
CC 1917, wrote the film script
for Citizen Kane, one of the most
famous movies ever made. His uncle,
Joseph Mankiewicz CC 1928, was a
prominent Academy Award-winning
Hollywood writer and director who
wrote the film scripts for 4 Letter to
Three Wives and Julius Caesar.
“Donald was a world-famous
published scholar of Japanese his-
tory and literature. He had a long
and extraordinary career with the
Columbia faculty before his death
in 2019. I knew him only casually,
since our paths rarely crossed during
his cultural and my pre-medical
curriculum studies.
“Gerald and Don Mankiewicz
were two of my closest friends at
Columbia, a diverse group that
included Donald Dickinson ’42,
Arthur Wellington ’42, Dr. Herbert
Mark ’42, Robert Kaufman ’42,
Charles Hoelzer ’42, Jack Arbo-
lino ’42, Stewart Mclilvennan ’42
and Dr. Gerald Klingon ’42, whose
99th birthday was on September 22.
“Looking through the old books
section in my bookcase, I recently
found How To Watch Football by Lou
Little, a 315-page book published in
1935. It has a good picture of Coach
Little, and multiple illustrations of
his comments on offense, defense,
scouting, kicking, passing and football
officials. It was published one year
after Columbia's famous 7—0 upset of
- Stanford in the 1934 Rose Bowl, and
is available through Amazon. Mean-
while, our current football team has
61 returning starters from 2018, and
Z what Coach Al Bagnoli calls ‘great
potential.’ We will soon see if they
can win an Ivy League Champion-
ship. Kind regards and good wishes
to the few surviving members of our
Great Class of 1942.”
From Bernie Weisberger ’43:
“Greetings, classmates. I note that
we are still the second class report-
ing in to CCT, and I am not at all
jealous. I want all of us 90-some-
things still kicking to enjoy a life
of high quality to the last drop.
As I write this in September, I am
looking out my window at a scene
of wind-whipped trees, reminding
me that autumn is officially only
a week or so away, and winter not
far behind. But there is not much
to report on my calendar except a
string of appointments to keep the
old machine in shape — doctor,
dentist, audiologist, podiatrist and
ophthalmologist, all of whom give
good reports considering the mile-
age that has accumulated.
“T reported in the Fall 2019
issue the achievements of my six
grandchildren either in gaining
degrees or putting them in practice
in worthwhile jobs — asylum lawyer,
history professor (ahem!), social
worker and a couple of miscel-
laneous occupations. That’s the
pleasant part of the present. The
current state of the Union under
You Know Who is not pleasant and
auguries aren't encouraging, so that
tends to push me into the past, and
I am thinking right now that 80
winters ago, 1939-40, against the
background of the early stages of
the war when there was little major
action, I was enjoying making the
acquaintance of the Core Curric-
ulum’s classics and the wonderful
professors who taught them —
Gilbert Highet and Dwight Miner
CC 1926 in particular. | remember
them both as charged with energy
and enthusiasm; Highet bounding
into the classroom with a cry of
‘Good morning, gentlemen, today
we're going to talk about the greatest
play ever written’ and Miner doing
a hilarious imitation of a ‘robber
baron’ on the Rhine holding up
a juicy fish, which he confiscated
Mildred Howitt, widow of Bill Howitt 41, with all four of her children, left to
right: Larry Howitt 85, Ken Howitt 76, Jeff Howitt 72 and Arn Howitt ’69.
as the price of letting a barge go
through his stretch of the river, and
Douglas Moore playing Mozart and
Bach on the piano in my second
year of Humanities. What a time!
What teachers (and I had yet to
encounter Jacques Barzun CC 1927,
GSAS 1932 in my third year) and
what a mind-opening set of ideas
to carry with us into our lives and
professions. I make no apologies for
ranting and raving a little, exactly
because the memories are so sweet.
“So come on, CC’43 classmates
in our shrinking numbers, how
about sharing some anecdotes of
your first experiences here? Don't
wait till Father Time tells us ‘our
revels now are ended.’ And happy
2020 to us all.”
Harold Edmund Brandmaier
"44, SEAS’47, SEAS’48 writes:
“After two years in Columbia
College I transferred to Columbia
Engineering. I received a B.S. in
1947, an M.S. in 1948 and a [doc-
torate] in 1962.
“While at Columbia, I met
Ginny, then a Barnard student, over
a lunch of peanut butter soup in
the Lions Den. It turned out to be
a lifetime partnership. We married
and had two boys and two girls in
five years. All have graduated from
colleges with multiple degrees and
have families of their own.
“After five years at Worthington
Corp., I enlisted in the Navy, gradu-
ated from Officer Candidate School
and spent the following two years at
sea aboard the heavy cruiser U.S.S.
Newport News.
“T worked in industry for many
years, helping to solve technical
problems involving high-tempera-
ture gas properties, advanced com-
posite materials and applications,
and magneto fluid dynamics.
“After retirement, I changed my
technical interests completely and
became an expert in sundial design. I
helped to design and install a number
of sundials. I also authored articles in
The Compendium, the journal of the
North American Sundial Society, and
authored two books on sundials.”
Bernie Sunshine ’46 reports
on his classmates’ activities: “Albert
Winter 2019-20 CCT 41
MICHAEL DIVITO
Members of the Class of 1949 and their guests met on campus at their 7Oth
reunion on June 2.
Starr ’46, PS’49 recalls that during
WWII, most of his peers were in
the military, but he was just 16
when he started at CC and then
went to medical school at 18,
thereby deferring his service until
the Korean War, in which he served
as a battalion surgeon in the 1st
Cavalry Division. Working in a
mobile army surgical hospital (aka
MASH), he ‘did more than 1,000
major abdominal operations in one
year. He returned to P&S, where he
completed his training in surgery.
His ‘fondest memories involved the
courses in Contemporary Civiliza-
tion, which laid the groundwork
for a happy and successful life,’ he
writes. “The rest is history.’
“History, indeed. Albert’s work
on the first durable artificial mitral
valve and first artificial heart valve
NL,
SS ep
Stay in
Touch
Let
us know if you have a
new postal or email address,
a new phone number or
eve
coll
n anew name:
ege.columbia.edu/
alumni/connect.
42 CCT Winter 2019-20
has perhaps saved many hundreds of
thousands of lives.
“And what is life without being
able to laugh at its insults? Some of
the Class of 46 might find Larry
Ross ’46's definition of ‘nonagenar-
ian’ apt: ‘reaching the age when you
can enjoy almost none of the things
you loved to do.’
“An exception, we think, can be
made for keeping in touch with old
(I do mean old) friends.
“Happy to hear from Mel
Holson ’46 that he is ‘still function-
ing despite two new hips and one
new knee.’ He looks forward to
another class get-together. Well,
reader, what do you say?
“Dr. Paul Marks ’46, PS’49,
president emeritus of Memorial
Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,
but now fully retired and living in
New York City and Connecticut
with Joan, his wife of 66 years, was
recently interviewed about his time
on the committee to review the
Three Mile Island nuclear reactor
accident. His growing family now
includes two great-grandchildren.
“After his Army discharge in
1946, Norman Hansen ’46,
SEAS’50 resumed his studies at
Columbia, earning a B.A. from
the College and then a B.S. from
Columbia Engineering, thanks to
the GI Bill. He was an engineer for
Mobil Oil for more than 30 years,
first in Paulsboro, N.J., and then on
projects around the world. Today, he
resides in Bothell, Wash., and is a
great-grandfather eight times over.
“It is with great sadness that
we report the passing of Arthur
Lazarus Jr. 46 on July 27, 2019,
at 92. According to an obituary in
The Washington Post, Arthur was ‘a
Washington lawyer who represented
Native American tribes for more
than four decades, notably securing
a landmark $106 million award for
the Sioux Nation as part of its long
fight for the Black Hills of South
Dakota.’ It was ‘the largest Indian
land compensation award in U.S.
history,’ and Arthur is regarded as
one of the ‘preeminent practitioners’
of Indian law. At Columbia, Arthur
was a roommate of Allen Ginsberg
’48 and editor-in-chief of the
Columbia Daily Spectator.”
Edwin “Ed” Paul ’48 writes: “It’s
saddening to see less and less about
classmates’ activities, as well as the
classes bracketing ours. Sometimes
there is nothing at all. So I am going
to make sure that in this issue, at
least, there is something for the
Class of 1948.
“After graduating from Harvard’s
Graduate School of Design in 1956
and working in architectural offices
for a few years, we were able to
purchase a plot, with savings, loans
and a lot of dickering, in back-coun-
try Greenwich, Conn., which the
developer hadn't been able to sell. It
was nearly unbuildable for a conven-
tional builder’s house. It was a long
shelf on a narrow, rocky ledge with
a dramatic view overlooking acres
of forest below. I started dreaming
of a house that would fit there and
designed a mostly glass house with
an innovative closet system hung off
the outside of the structure to take
advantage of the view. It attracted
a lot of attention, and about a year
after the house was finished and
we moved in I got an offer to do
another house. I gave notice at the
New York office where I worked and
opened an office in my house.
It immediately eliminated the
tedious and often unreliable three-
hour daily commute to Midtown,
and I was able to spend more time
with Judy and the children. We had
a small make-believe farm with
goats, chickens, coops, sheds and
gardens. We eventually moved a
historic barn to the property.
“Later, with all the kids grown
and an empty nest looming, we
decided to change pace. I retired
from full-time practice and bought a
building on the harbor in Newport,
R.I. Judy opened a wonderful Vic-
torian antique shop, St. Albert’s, in
our building on Thames Street, and I
kept a Nonsuch catboat at our dock.
“T loved Newport and enjoyed
visiting and researching all its archi-
tectural history and its wonderful
buildings. I did a lot of sailing, too,
around Newport and the islands,
and Judy and I went on shopping
trips and to auctions all over New
England to replenish the fast-mov-
ing inventory in the shop.
“Tt was a wonderfully different
and relaxed life. We became deeply
involved in other things, as well, and
I was slowly forgetting about all the
deadlines and tensions of my architec-
tural life and almost all the houses that
I had done more than 40 years ago.
“It came as a pleasant surprise,
then, when I was informed last
year that the Greenwich Historical
Society, at its annual meeting, rec-
ognized my first house (ours) as an
outstanding example of mid-century
modern architecture. The society
mounted a distinctive bronze plaque
on the house and also recorded the
history of the house in stories and
a lot of pictures in a little book.
Subsequently, some of the owners of
those early houses got together and
published another little book, of four
of my other houses, just in time for
my 95th birthday this past August.”
Dick Hyman ’48 shares: “On
October 16, my clarinet-playing
partner, Ken Peplowski, and I
appeared at Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at
Lincoln Center playing selections
from our new duet album, Counter-
point Lerner & Loewe. On October
17 and 18, I appeared at a number
of events having to do with my
receiving the Satchmo Award from
the Louis Armstrong Educational
Foundation. This honored some
of my earlier activities involving
Armstrong’s music; at that time I
wrote and recorded special arrange-
ments of his repertoire and toured
the United States, Europe and
the Soviet Union in performance.
I’ve continued to be involved with
Armstrong’s music, although more
recently I have composed a clarinet
concerto for Ken as well as various
chamber music.”
“Hard to believe that it has been
more than 70 years since graduation,
when the subway cost a nickel,” writes
Dr. Alvin Eden 48. “I am still prac-
ticing pediatrics and starting to write
my memoirs. I would like to hear
from any 1948 classmate. Please email
me at babydoceden@gmail.com.”
Graduates from the 1940s, please
share your news by writing to one
of the addresses at the top of the
column; your classmates want to
hear from you! Be well going into
the new year and the new decade!
1950
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
CCT wishes the members of the
Class of 1950 a happy holiday season
and a wonderful start to 2020. Please
send a note to either of the addresses
at the top of the column, as your
classmates would love to hear from
you. And mark your calendars now
for Reunion Weekend 2020, Thurs-
day, June 4-Saturday, June 6.
1951
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
Clare Henry shared news about her
husband, Phillip A. Bruno: “Phillip
and his British wife have relocated
to Scotland, where her children and
grandkids live. He has taken this
opportunity to present a selection
of his art collection to the famous
Hunterian Art Gallery and Hunt-
erian Museum, Glasgow, founded
1807 and the oldest public museum
in Scotland. There will be an exhibi-
tion there, A Gift to Glasgow from
New York: The Phillip A. Bruno Col-
lection, until January 12 (it began on
October 18) to celebrate this New
York-Glasgow gift, coinciding with
Phillip’s 90th birthday on January 3.
“Phillip got off to a flying start
with visits to Paris to see Matisse,
Brancusi and Giacometti. A stay in
Holland with the Van Gogh family
soon followed. Phillip’s French father
relocated to New York when Phil-
lip was young, but maintained his
European connections, so his son’s
horizons were always adventurous.
“The single most influential event
in Phillip’s career led directly from
his passion for Van Gogh. In 1949,
at 19, he was overwhelmed by the
Metropolitan Museum of Art’s his-
toric exhibition dedicated to the art-
ist. Phillip took the initiative to visit
Van Gogh's nephew at his New York
hotel, and invited him to give a talk
at Columbia. Not long afterward,
Phillip’s invitation to Columbia
was reciprocated, and he traveled
to stay with the family at Laren, in
North Holland, driving there from
Amsterdam with the artist’s nephew,
Vincent Willem van Gogh, who
was the major lender to the show
and went on to found the Van Gogh
Museum in 1973. Phillip’s bedroom
had four paintings by Van Gogh
and a window looking onto a garden
with sunflowers. With Vincent W.,
Bernd Brecher ’54, Jennifer Anglade Dahlberg ’93 and Helen Brecher
enjoyed lunch together in Stockholm in September.
Phillip handled some of Van Gogh’s
letters written in English. Friend-
ship with artists and privileged
access to works of art went on to be
the theme of his life.
“As the director of New York
art galleries for 58 years (includ-
ing the Staempfli Gallery, and
later Marlborough Gallery, both
important venues for contemporary
art), Phillip befriended and advised
collectors and museum directors.
He always passionately collected but
was generous in gifting hundreds
of works to U.S. museums. ‘I never
had enough wall space,’ he says with
a laugh.
“The gift includes 75 works of art
by many American artists, and some
European. During almost 60 years
at the forefront of the art world in
Manhattan working with key artists,
galleries, dealers and collectors,
Phillip’s career gave him an exciting,
remarkable, close-up view of inter-
national art events.
“Phillip was born in Paris and
studied art history and architecture
at Columbia before embarking on a
distinguished career working with
artists like Avery, Brancusi, Bertoia,
Chihuly, Christo, Delvaux, Katz,
Grooms, Desiderio, Jacklin, Kitaj
and Rickey. Manhattan is a truly
international art center, and while
many of the artists Phillip dealt
with were New Yorkers, he also
had a special interest in European,
primitive and oceanic art, as well as
in artists from the U.S.’s West Coast.
A Gift to Glasgow features works by
American artists such as William
Dole, Lee Gatch, David Levine,
Leroy Lamis, Robert Andrew Parker
and Tom Otterness, as well as inter-
national figures such as Mexican
painter José Luis Cuevas and Japa-
nese sculptor Masayuki Nagare.
“Phillip’s stepson Damian Henry
is also an artist, so Phillip is happy to
keep his hand in, while enjoying a new
life among the British art world.”
Ted Bihuniak writes: “My wife,
Marilyn, died on August 20, 2019.
She succumbed to acute myeloid
leukemia after battling it for three-
plus years. We had 62-plus years of a
happy marriage.”
Immanuel Wallerstein GSAS’59
died on August 31, 2019. The New
York Times featured his obituary
online on September 10 with the
headline “Immanuel Wallerstein,
Sociologist With Global View,
Dies at 88.” You can also read about
Immanuel in this issue of CCT in the
“Obituaries” section.
Share your news, life story or
favorite Columbia College memory
by sending it to either of the
addresses at the top of this column.
Your classmates would enjoy hearing
about you. Happy 2020!
1952
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
Share your news, life story or favorite
Columbia College memory by send-
ing it to either of the addresses at the
top of this column. Happy holidays!
1953
Lew Robins
3200 Park Ave., Apt. 9C2
Bridgeport, CT 06604
lewrobins@aol.com
Your classmates would love to hear
from you, so please take a moment
to share your stories, news or a
favorite Columbia College memory
in these pages. Wishing you a pleas-
ant start to the new year.
1954
Bernd Brecher
35 Parkview Ave., Apt. 4G
Bronxville, NY 10708
brecherservices@aol.com
Gentlemen of ’54, as you read this
column you are aware that we all
are edging toward the opening of
a new decade — 2020 — that will
signify for many an opportunity
to make one more lasting mark
on our world and on the lives of
younger generations, who might
even remember and bless us for our
efforts and accomplishments. In the
spirit of Tikkun Olam (“help heal the
world”), will we use our next decade
to help correct, make or build a vir-
tual if not actually ethical structure
that will help define the future of
our universe?
‘That, fellows of ’54, is the theme
that I felt was pervasive among
those of us who attended our 65th
Winter 2019-20 CCT 43
————
anniversary reunion at the beginning
of this past June. Highfalutin per-
haps, but reread our Class Notes in
the Fall 2019 CCT before you react.
In mid-September, my wife,
Helen, and I made come to pass a
long-ago personal promise to visit
Stockholm. We had a spectacular
learning experience, finding ourselves
in a multi-ethnic, cultural, geographic,
racial, bilingual — the list is long —
melting pot of several million Swedes
(and some tourists) who put our own
NYC, Chicago or Los Angeles in
the dark ages of multi-just-about-
anything. Everything worked, even
the buses and subways. History and
museums were everywhere. Food
was of the world. The opera and
ballet were not to be missed. People
smiled, responded, and appeared
glad. Glitches? Of course: On our
first night, finding the hotel less than
desirable, the American Embassy
helped us find a spectacular hotel
and room at 2 a.m. Ah, travel! (Yes,
Sweden's open arms to refugees and
asylum-seekers has begun to generate
a right-wing backlash. Ah, world!)
Highlight: We met with and
were advised by Jennifer Anglade
Dahlberg ’93, who graduated
from the College with a degree
in political science. She was an
executive search consultant for four
years, then moved to Stockholm in
1997. Her first novel, Uptown and
Down, was published in 2005. Her
second novel, Lagging Indicators,
was published in 2018. Jennifer still
resides in Stockholm and is an active
Columbia ambassador as an Alumni
Representative Committee member,
conducting applicant interviews, and
as a leader of the Columbia Alumni
Association in Sweden.
When not working on her third
novel, Jennifer enjoys spending time
with her husband, Christian, and
son, James. She is also the proud
parent of Yasmine ’23, and looks
forward to visiting the Columbia
campus more often, having recently,
with Christian and James, helped
Yasmine move into her dorm. Jen-
nifer was our new friend and guide,
and a delightful representative of
alma mater. “Feel free to contact
me,” Jennifer wants all Lions to
know, “if your travels take you to
Stockholm: jadahlberg@gmail.com!”
Herb Zydney SEAS’5S,
SEAS’59 represented our class on
campus on August 25 as part of the
Alumni Procession at Convoca-
tion, welcoming the Class of 2023.
An estimated 10 alumni from the
50s participated. Herb writes that
it was “wonderful to see the 1,400
freshmen ready to learn and grow on
campus. Greetings from President
Lee C. Bollinger and Dean James J.
Valentini carried insightful welcom-
ing messages, including thoughts on
the campus challenges of support-
ing speaking the truth and making
comments that could be considered
offensive, under the guise of free
speech. Two of my co-attendees
were grandfathers of freshmen.”
Stanley Fine PS’57 wants to
share some future joy, reporting, “In
February my wife and I are planning
to fly to New Zealand and cruise to
Samoa, Bora Bora, Tahiti, etc. We
are obviously very excited.”
Several 1950s alumni represented their class decade on August 25 at
Convocation, to welcome the Class of 2023, by marching with their decade
banner in the Alumni Procession.
44 CCT Winter 2019-20
As we all are for you both, Stan.
We have visited family in New
Zealand, and just want to alert you
— there are 5 million people and 50
million sheep.
“Finally hit the age — 87 —
where when somebody asks me,
‘How do you feel?’ I can honestly
say, Fine!” writes Saul Turteltaub
LAW’S57. “I can honestly say it if
they ask me when I'm sitting or lying
down. But standing or walking with
p?
my cane or my walker, I can't fool
anyone. However, doctors assure me
in four months I'll be FINE! So, I
can't wait for the next Class Notes to
see how I am. Hope you all are well.”
Indeed, Saul, we all are weller
whenever we hear from you —
keep writing!
“In May, my wife, Ann Louise,
and I made a road trip from Wash-
ington, D.C., to Knoxville, Tenn.
(where we saw her Mount Holyoke
College ’54 classmate),” writes
Edward Cowan, “then to Cincin-
nati, where we had lunch with
Brian Tansey; his daughter, Eira
Tansey; and Eira’s husband, Justin
Levy. We lunched in the restaurant
of the retirement community where
Brian has been living since he had a
stroke last autumn. Brian’s mobility
is diminished (he uses a walker)
but, the stroke notwithstanding, his
thinking and speech remain clear
and well-focused. He and I took a
trip up memory lane back to 1958,
when I visited him in south central
Kentucky, where he was pastor at a
couple of Presbyterian churches. In
time, Brian and the churches came
to a parting of the ways and he
became an administrator of retire-
ment homes. Brian has been married
twice and has four daughters. He
was unable to attend our 65th class
reunion and sent good wishes to all.”
Thanks, Edward and Brian, for
connecting, and be well.
En route from Cincinnati to
Washington, the Cowans visited the
Flight 93 National Memorial near
Shanksville, Pa., which honors the
courageous passengers who were
on United Flight 93 on 9-11. The
passengers’ heroism prevented the
hijackers from crashing the plane,
probably into the United States
Capitol. Says Edward, “The memo-
rial evokes memories of 9-11, and is
deeply affecting.”
To return, in conclusion, to the
theme at the top of this column,
before our week in Stockholm,
Helen and I spent several days
in Halberstadt, Germany (in the
former East Zone), where I have
been speaking and lecturing for
about five years to audiences of high
school students and adults. I use the
Washington, D.C., United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum’s
challenge of “Never Stop Asking
Why,” and am gratified particularly
when 16- and 17-year-olds thank
me afterward for my message and
tell me that they have accepted and
taken it to heart. Basically, I tell
them it is no longer “our” world but
theirs to fix what has been broken.
They are especially appreciative that
I do not avoid any issues; neither
WWII veterans nor Holocaust
survivors will still be able to bear
witness for long.
That’s it, Class of Destiny, for this
issue and this decade. We WILL
celebrate our 70th reunion, and our
Reunion Committee is in formation.
At this juncture, we need you to sign
up, share your ideas, and become
part of the story NOW. Be well, do
well, do good, never stop asking why.
Write, email, call — and see you in
the Spring 2020 Class Notes.
Excelsior!
1955
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Gerald Sherwin
181 E. 73rd St., Apt. 16B
New York, NY 10021
gs481@juno.com
It’s the 100-year anniversary of the
Core Curriculum. The kickoff event
on September 27 featured speeches
from President Lee C. Bollinger
and Dean James J. Valentini and
was held in Low Library in front of
a turn-away crowd. Other notables
who attended were Anthony Vis-
cusi and Elliot Gross.
Many different events will take
place this coming year, especially our
65th reunion. We hope that a lot of
classmates will attend. Jim Berick
from Cleveland; Stan Lubman from
California; Lee Rodgers from Los
Angeles; Jerry Plasse from Mon-
tana; Bob Dillingham, Mel Holden,
Daniel De Palma, David Gordon
and Berish Strauch from Westches-
ter, Herb Cooper and Barry Pariser
from Newburgh, N.Y.; Rochester,
N.Y.’s own Beryl Nusbaum;
Dan Hovey; Ross Grumet from
Atlanta; and Milt Finegold from
Houston, who is looking for Herb
Rubinowitz. We also heard from
Jack Stuppin, who had a showing in
Northern California. [Editor's note:
See “Lions,” this issue. |
The latest U.S. News €9 World
Report ranking showed Columbia
as number 3, just below Princeton
and Harvard.
Chuck Solomon has been doing
yeoman work for the Dental School.
We hope to hear from Ted
Ditchek from Phoenix, Ron
Dubner from Bethesda, Md., and
Evan Gerakas from Boca Raton, Fla.
The Homecoming 2019 football
game took place in front of a big
crowd, as we played our archrival,
Penn. We can't forget the basketball
program, as it opened against Wake
Forest and number 1-ranked UVA.
Keep your sunny side up. The
whole world smiles with you. Con-
tinue with your good habits; you'll
be a better person for it.
Love to all! Everywhere!
1956
Robert Siroty
707 Thistle Hill Ln.
Somerset, NJ 08873
rrs76@columbia.edu
Not a lot of news from this past
summer. My wife, Margo, and I
took a river cruise from Amsterdam
to Vienna.
Word arrived that Alvin Pouissant
has retired as professor of psychiatry
at Harvard Medical School. He is
known for his scholarly papers and
his position as medical advisor to
The Cosby Show. And we have received
word of the death of David Nitzberg.
At the time of writing, Margo
and I had just returned from her
60th reunion at Syracuse University,
and were deeply impressed by the
amount of planning that goes into
such an event. I realize that by the
time anyone reads this, it will be 18
months until our 65th. So, if there is
any possibility that you will join us
for the first weekend in June 2021,
send me a note at rrs76@columbia.
edu. It’s not a commitment, but will
help in planning. And, even better,
let me know if you would like to
help in such planning.
Send me some news, so I don’t have
to use filler. Stay busy. Stay healthy.
oy,
Herman Levy
7322 Rockford Dr.
Falls Church, VA 22043
hdileditor@aol.com
From Gary Angleberger: “As fall
approached, I was reminded of that
time of the year in my first couple of
years at Columbia (1953-55). Because
I was on a National Scholarship, I
thought I needed to use any oppor-
tunity I could find to earn a little bit
of money in my freshman and sopho-
more years. When I heard about the
possibility of earning some money by
selling refreshments at the fall football
games at Baker Field, I applied for the
job and was immediately accepted.
So my whole freshman year, while I
was at all of the home games, I never
really saw all of the game. While
touchdowns were being scored (and,
at that time, there were not too many
being scored by the Light Blue), I was
wandering through the stands selling
soft drinks. I became much more
interested in Columbia football when
my good friend Claude Benham of
Portsmouth, Va., became the varsity
quarterback and passed the Lions to a
few victories.
“Claude and I became friends
through our partnership on the
Columbia varsity baseball team for
three years. We were the double-play
combination of the team. While I
don't remember our win/loss records
during those years, we had a good
time playing and making trips to
all the other Ivy League baseball
stadiums. In those days, Yale was
the team to beat and I think we may
have accomplished that once or twice.
Some years after graduation I had the
good fortune of visiting Claude in his
home in Virginia. He is one of those
steady persons who change little with
the passage of years. The years do
sweeten our memories.”
From Ed Weinstein: “Carlos
Mufioz and I (and our wives)
attended Convocation on August
25. We joined in representing CC’57
in the Alumni Procession and then
settled into our seats to listen to
remarks provided by the deans and
others to the Class of 2023 (which
includes two of my wife Sandra’s and
my granddaughters). President Lee C.
Bollinger delivered a well-organized
and intelligent presentation on the
purpose of the University.
“He also noted that Columbia
does not offer its space to uninvited
speakers with a message, but offers
a podium to speakers, whether part
of the CU community or invited
guests. CU does not censor presen-
tations of ideas that are unpopular
and that may be unsettling to many.
He noted, however, that those
delivering controversial messages
would have to defend them in intel-
lectual exchange. In discussion later,
all in our party, including our son
and daughter, their spouses and our
16-year-old grandson, agreed that
it was worth the time to listen to
the presentation. Three generations
agreed that the message was both
appropriate and well developed.”
I received word from his widow,
Susan, that Dan Davidson LAW’59
died on September 13, 2019, at his
home in Washington D.C.
Yours truly attended the annual
meeting of the American Bar
Association (ABA) in San Francisco,
August 8-10. I remained in the Bay
Area through August 16 for visits
with my sister and with friends. My
sister and I, among other things, vis-
ited the Haas-Lilienthal House, San
Francisco's “only intact residential
Victorian house museum open to the
public” (according to its handout);
the Fort Mason Center for Arts &
Culture, with its Readers Bookstore
and SFMOMA Artists Gallery;
and the restful Japanese Tea Garden.
I revisited one of my favorites, the
Asian Art Museum, with its vast col-
lection of art from various countries
of Asia and its excellent gift shop.
In the background is the magnifi-
cent Beaux Arts domed City Hall.
My friends, a couple I have known
from law school, and I, among other
things, visited the extensive Stanford
University campus, especially the
Rodin sculpture garden.
I then proceeded to Seattle for
visits with an ABA colleague and
a friend. My colleague and I had
dinner at a restaurant specializing in
salmon. My friend and I took a long
walk through Pike Place Market,
with its almost innumerable shops
and restaurants. As one enters, there
appears the colorful fish market,
where the salespersons toss whole
fish. Not far away are shops selling
exotic canned goods. There also are
shops selling leather goods, jewelry
and various costumes. You name it,
most likely you will find what you
want, and then some. I also went
through the market on my own.
On my last day in Seattle, I vis-
ited the Seattle Art Museum, with
its outstanding collection of paint-
ings and other art objects. There was
a particularly outstanding collection
of Pre-Raphaelite paintings from
the art museum in Birmingham,
England, which I had visited in
January 2018. To crown my visit, I
took the elevator to the top of the
Space Needle for a panoramic view
and photos of the Seattle area.
1958
Peter Cohn
c/o CCT
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
petercohn1939@gmail.com
Larry Margolies and his wife,
Sylvia, visited NYC in July in con-
nection with the Off-Broadway
opening of the play Mojada at the
Public Theater. My wife, Joan, and I
were pleased to join the couple and
their Chicago friends and colleagues
that evening. We learned quite a
bit about the origins of the play
from Sylvia (who is on the board
of the Victory Gardens Theater in
Chicago). She explained that the
play is an adaption of the Greek
tragedy Medea, but now the central
characters are Mexican immigrants
illegally in the United States. All
in all, a delightful evening at the
theater to see a well-received play.
Larry notes: “Both Sylvia and I
have been theater enthusiasts for
many years. Chicago has more than
250 theaters, from huge theaters
hosting road shows to small store-
fronts with 40 or so seats. This selec-
tion leads to many opportunities to
attend performances, whether they
be traditional or experimental opera,
drama from the ancient Greeks or
new works. We have been most
connected with the 40-year-old
nonprofit theater Victory Gardens.
‘That is where most of our support
of the arts goes. The theater won a
regional Tony Award for excellence
a few years ago, and we think it is
Winter 2019-20 CCT 45
stronger and more relevant than
ever before. Mojada is typical, since
it speaks about illegal immigrants
and their problems. Recent plays
have considered gentrification,
urban corruption, racism in Chicago
and South Africa, call centers in
India, adoption, relations between
neighbors, murder over the theft of
sneakers, reintroduction to society
after imprisonment, human sexuality
and the Cambodian genocide.”
Now a word about Columbia
athletics: This column is being writ-
ten as the football season begins. I
am looking forward to joining class-
mates on beautiful fall afternoons
at the Baker Athletics Complex to
watch a very competitive team in
its quest for that elusive Ivy League
Championship. Then, in November,
basketball will begin, with our best
team in the last few years. But more
about that in the next issue! ,
Reminder: The class lunch is
usually held on the second Tuesday
of every month in the Grill of the
Princeton Club, 15 W. 43rd St. ($31
per person). Email Tom Ettinger if
you plan to attend, even up to the
day before: tpe3@columbia.edu.
1959
Norman Gelfand
choliEG4ir
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
nmgc59@gmail.com
Our reunion is over, and it will be
a while before our next, so Class
Holler at Us
in Haiku!
Core, one hundred years!
What’s a fun way to note it?
Poetry from you.
Notes are one way we connect to
each other. Please share your activi-
ties with your classmates.
I heard from Ellen Offner in early
July that her husband, Arnie Offner,
“had an aortic dissection about 10
weeks ago followed by two major
surgeries. He is now recuperating at
the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospi-
tal in Charlestown, Mass., one of the
top such places in the United States.
He is expected to recover fully over
the coming weeks.”
Allan Franklin writes, “My most
recent book, Is It the Same Result2
Replication in Physics, was published
in October 2018.”
From Ira Lieberman GSAS’69:
“T’m very sorry to have missed the
reunion dinner but was regrettably
out of town. I haven't written to you
before because I wanted to finish
my project since retiring from the
first violin section of the Metro-
politan Opera. I do treasure my
years at Columbia, earning a B.A. in
59, master’s in’61 and a Ph.D. (in
musicology) in 69.
“T taught music at Midwestern
State University in Wichita Falls,
Texas (1965-69), and Virginia Com-
monwealth University in Richmond
(1972-75,) conducting orchestras at
both. I was also chief music critic for
the Richmond Times-Dispatch during
my three years there. Then I accepted
the position of principal second
violin with the Théatre Royal de la
Monnaie in Brussels.
“After returning to New York I
began 35 years of playing with the
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, with
many of the world’s greatest conduc-
tors (as well as some not-so-great
We're celebrating the Core Centennial this year and would
love to hear your memories of the Core Curriculum! But
there’s a catch — you need to tell us in haiku. Send your
5-7-5 recollections to cct_centennial@columbia.edu, and
we'll run our favorites in the next two issues’ Class Notes.
46 CCT Winter 2019-20
ones). In the summers I played with
the Mostly Mozart Festival Orches-
tra, the Casals Festival and with a
summer program for young singers
based in Lucca, Italy. I am an original
member of The New York Pops and
still play with them at Carnegie Hall.
“My varied experiences led to
intense consideration of the process
of music making, resulting in my
book Leaders of the Band: A Violinist
Discusses Conductors and Conduct-
ing at the Metropolitan Opera. It is
designed primarily to aid aspiring
conductors with frank suggestions
regarding both positive and negative
approaches to conducting opera. It
also informs musicians and the public
about the nature of the collabora-
tive experience in the pit. After an
enthusiastic response from colleagues
in orchestras around the globe, I have
started the second volume. I recently
received my copyright and can now
begin to approach publishers.”
From Murray Epstein PS’63:
“Although I was unable to attend
our 60th reunion because of
overlapping family commitments,
I heard how successful it was from
Joel Rein and Herb Dean, who
attended. My interactions with Joel,
Herb and Bob Burd encouraged me
to write a brief update of my life.
“Following graduation from
the College, I attended P&S, and
received my medical degree in 1963.
I retired from academic medicine
in 2009, after 39 years, where I
was a professor of medicine in the
nephrology division of the Univer-
sity of Miami. It was an exciting run,
and very productive and rewarding.
“Following my Air Force stint
at the USAF School of Aerospace
Medicine in San Antonio, where I
conducted research on the effects
of simulated space flight on kidney
function, including hypobaria,
weightlessness and Gz forces, I
joined the faculty at the University
of Miami, Miller School of Medi-
cine. There I was able to continue
my studies and to pioneer a new
field of research: ‘kidney function
during manned space flight.’ My
studies were supported primarily by
research grants from NASA, and
resulted in more than 30 peer-
reviewed publications in medical
and physiological journals.
“I was also invited to serve as
a renal expert at a major global
summit of experts convened by the
National Academy of Sciences’s
Space Science Board. Our meeting
resulted in a white paper that estab-
lished the template for future direc-
tions of research in the physiology
of manned space flight. The recent
worldwide celebrations of Apollo 11
and the 50th anniversary of the first
successful lunar landing served as a
lovely reminder of my participation
in this program.
“My other research efforts were
successful in establishing/enhancing
two major spheres of clinical medicine:
“1. Leading efforts to advance
our knowledge and development
of a newly discovered class of
drugs labeled calcium antagonists
(or calcium channel blockers) as
formidable drugs to treat not only
ischemic heart disease and hyper-
tension, but also unique applications
such as a role in protection of kidney
function. Based on my studies, I also
edited three editions of the premier
medical textbook in the field, Ca/-
cium Antagonists in Clinical Medicine.
“2. More recently I focused my
research efforts on extending the
utility of aldosterone blockers (now
labeled MRAs, or mineralocorticoid
receptor antagonists) in ameliorat-
ing both congestive heart failure
and chronic kidney disease. My
contributions helped in part initiate
a major global study investigating
whether these drugs can confer
clinical benefit.
“In my present quasi-retirement,
I co-chair a global clinical effort
— the FIDELIO-DKD and
FIGARO-DKD clinical studies.
Now in their fourth year, these
clinical studies have enrolled more
than 30,400 patients with diabetes
mellitus at more than 2,100 clinical
sites in more than 70 countries. My
involvement in these studies entails
chairing the data safety monitoring
committee, which is responsible
for continual surveillance of the
enrolled patients to ensure that
adverse events are detected early
and preemptively, and it is our
charge to jointly decide when the
studies should be stopped for either
good outcomes (benefit) or for bad
outcomes (adverse events). My
participation entails my spending
more than 25 percent of my time
in overseeing the conduct of these
ongoing studies. Lots of work, but
quite fulfilling and I hope to achieve
a good outcome with clinical benefit
for diabetic patients with heart and/
or kidney disease.
“My free time is spent with my
family and friends. My wife, Nina,
and I reside in Miami but our chil-
dren are geographically dispersed
— our eldest son, David’01, and
daughter, Susanna ’03, live in New
York City, and our youngest son,
Jonathan ’07, is in Norman, Okla.
We Epsteins can claim to constitute
a quintuple Columbia legacy. I hope
Nina and I will be able to attend our
next class reunion.”
Bob Ratner writes about a
revered teacher, William Cornell
Casey: “In my junior year at Colum-
bia I was unsure of my academic
direction and, more broadly, of my
purpose in life. I had excelled in the
Core’s Humanities program and
sampled the sciences with mixed
interest and regret, but no area of
study loomed as a preferred major. A
friend, aware of my confusion, sug-
gested that I attend a class taught by
one of his professors in the sociol-
ogy department. I agreed to do so
without knowledge of the professor
or of sociology, relying solely on his
earnest recommendation.
“I came to the class early to
ensure a seat and waited expectantly
for the professor to arrive. When
Professor Casey entered the room, I
was struck by his stately appearance
— tall, erect, but of gentle bearing,
his intense blue eyes lit with antici-
pation of the hour ahead. All at
once, I felt a surge of joy and sense
of relief that I had found someone
who might fulfill my meandering
quest for intellectual and moral
guidance. I was no less taken by his
lecture, which seemed to pry open
my imagination at every turn, and
by the end of the hour I had the
unfamiliar but welcome sensation
that I knew my destiny.
“Over the next two years I went
full bore into sociology, taking
whatever was on offer, including all
of Professor Casey’s courses, which
were always an exquisite adventure.
His classes ranged from examina-
tion of everyday case studies, to the
strengths and foibles of Athenian
democracy, to the workings of
the British Royal Commission, to
the lofty elocutions of contempo-
rary theorists grappling with the
contradictions of modernity. Almost
magically tying it all together in his
incisive chalk board method of pre-
sentation, unaided by notes or writ-
ten lectures, was the theme of how
language can symbolically mislead
and miscast reality, diverting us from
real solutions to social problems.
‘Those who wanted more of Profes-
sor Casey’s astounding erudition and
lucidity could find him endlessly
accessible in his book-lined office
on the second floor of Fayerweather
Hall, standing comfortable amidst
antique desk chairs and piles of
literary and political magazines such
as The Listener, which he encouraged
us to read. Before long, we came to
understand why those who preceded
us had dubbed his courses ‘Caseyol-
ogy, in acknowledgment of their
unique quality, and why his courses
had been voted the best at Columbia
by nearly three decades of graduates.
“Our last class with Professor
Casey — his last class prior to retire-
ment — was particularly memorable.
After finishing his lecture he took
questions, as always, and one student
asked what singular thought students,
now about to graduate, should
take out to the world; whereupon,
Professor Casey, without a hint of
theatricality, answered, ‘Oh, you don't
have to ask me that. Just do as the
Good Lord said, “Walk humbly and
do justly.” There was a hush, and then
the class, in unison, rose to applaud.
‘The professor nodded his thanks
and gracefully exited. The applause
continued, and as I looked around
for confirmation of my own feelings,
I could see tears streaming down
the faces of some students, everyone
visibly moved but already saddened
by the realization that we may have
heard the last of someone who was
not only a superb teacher, but also a
rare, irreplaceable human being.
“After graduating with my
B.A., I continued to see Professor
Casey occasionally, visiting him at
his apartment in Butler Hall on
Morningside Heights, often with
one or two other students, where
we talked through the night and
early morning, fortified by sherry
and orange juice, and the lethal
addiction to cigarettes, a habit for
which the professor later paid dearly.
Our conversations drew on current
events, historical anecdotes and
the literary passages that Professor
Casey would have us read, especially
those he selected from The Knights of
the Round Table, as our little troupe
was intuitively likened to a facsimile
of that hallowed circle. How privi-
leged we felt to spend long hours
in unbounded dialogue with our
cherished professor.
“On January 18, 1960, I received
the first of my letters from Professor
Casey, wherein he informed me that
he had sent a recommendation on
my behalf to Yale University which,
indeed, helped me to obtain a fel-
lowship and pursue my métier in
sociology. In his inimitably gracious
words: ‘Always remember that I
consider it a privilege to write, no
less than think, in your behalf. How
could I do less for one like yourself
who so often, perceptively, struck
a light when the path through the
imponderables of my own classwork
last year bogged and dimmed. I shall
be eternally grateful to you for that.’
“In the summer of my second
year at Yale, a fellow Caseyite and I
decided to visit the famed Oneida
Community in upstate New York,
a utopian commune established in
1848 that Professor Casey lectured
about, which had once advocated free
love and communal child-rearing,
and was highly respected for its
industrial entrepreneurship culminat-
ing in the worldwide Oneida flatware
company. On the way, we impulsively
detoured to the country estate of
our beloved professor in Mexico
Point off the eastern shore of Lake
Ontario, where he had spent most of
his summers since 1931. We parked
on a dusty road, traipsed across some
adjacent yards, espied his cottage and
finally beheld Professor Casey tend-
ing to a rosebush in his trim English
garden. We called out to him and he
rose to his full height, a little startled,
exclaiming, ‘Well, I'll be! With that
salutation cheerily received, we spent
the afternoon chatting about the
progress of our studies and touring
the English manor that he and
a close friend had built from the
remains of an old carriage-house
once belonging to the Mexico Point
Hotel that burned down in 1951,
and which was now on a life-lease
to Professor Casey. The walls and
beams of the house were carved
with 11th-century figures and old
English writings drawn from King
Arthur legends, which combined
with the stained-glass windows,
rustic fireplace and chapel dedicated
to his mother on the second floor,
seemed perfectly suited to his medi-
eval tastes, oddly contrasting with
his innovative, progressive ideas.
My friend and I reflected quietly on
our remarkable surprise visit as we
motored toward Oneida later that
day.” (To be continued.)
I will be including other reminis-
cences in future Class Notes, includ-
ing presentations made at reunion.
1960
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Robert A. Machleder
69-37 Fleet St.
Forest Hills, NY 11375
rmachleder@aol.com
Calendar rapidly advancing toward
another Class Notes deadline.
Mailbox wide with vacant space.
An urgent hope for some news. Lee
Rosner responds. It is not the kind
of news that ever I would hope to
receive. Lee’s note is a sad reminder
of our mortality and contained a link
to an obituary: Bill Engler GSAS’65
died on August 17, 2019.
Obituaries always contain a
chronicle of the items on one’s
résumé: educational background;
employment history; professional
achievements. But rarely do they
expose the human element — the
essence of one’s persona. This obitu-
ary, however, captured many of the
distinctive attributes that defined Bill.
[ll get to those, but first, the
résumé. Bill attended Friends
Seminary in Manhattan. He entered
the College, majored in English
and earned his varsity “C” run-
ning track and cross country. After
earning a master’s in English at
GSAS, he began teaching English
and communications at Mercer
County Community College, in New
Jersey, where he remained until his
retirement in 2004. While teaching
full time, Bill completed an Ed.D. at
Rutgers University in 1973, receiv-
ing the award for the best doctoral
thesis that year from the Graduate
School of Education. He then went
on to teach part-time at the graduate
school for several years. During his
career at Mercer County Community
College Bill chaired the Academic
Skills Department and received the
Distinguished Teaching Award.
‘There was more to Bill than that.
‘The obituary noted, “Bill was a dedi-
cated teacher who loved the art of
teaching and his students knew that.
Winter 2019-20 CCT 47
With humor and wit, he taught all
students, from those enrolled in basic
English courses to those in advanced
literature, to think and write clearly
and to love reading in the process.
He served as a role model for his
colleagues, whom he regaled at the
lunch table with vibrant and hilarious
conversation. Lunch with Bill was
the absolute high point of everyone’s
day. During his lifetime, Bill faced
many health challenges, foremost of
which was multiple sclerosis, which
was diagnosed in his mid-20s. With
the same characteristic determination
he displayed in his life, he devoted
himself to ‘beating’ the disease by
exercising vigorously and leading a
healthy lifestyle. He rode his bicycle
thousands of miles and rowed on his
rowing machine for almost as many.
He served as an inspiration to all
who knew him.”
Contemplating Bill’s death elic-
ited countless memories; I'll share
one, which will surely resonate with
many of the New Yorkers in our
class. Bill and I prearrange to meet
at Jerome Avenue and East 164th
Street in the Bronx on December
21, 1958. We enter a drugstore to
purchase a box of cigarillos, then
cross the street and head for the
Yankee Stadium ticket office. Skies
are clear; the weather intense — a
biting cold. The Eastern Conference
Championship of the NFL resulted
in a tie between the Cleveland
Browns and the New York Giants.
A one-game playoff will decide the
championship this afternoon. We
will sit in the bleachers. A bleacher
seat costs 50 cents. The ticket clerk
suggests that we consider two
Holler at Us
in Haiku!
seats in the end zone. The seats
are much closer to the field; a roof
overhang affords protection from
the elements; the price is heav-
ily discounted — not much more
than bleacher seats — as the roof
and a pillar label them “partially
obstructed views” which, the clerk
advises, is true for baseball where
one might lose sight of the arc
of a fly ball, but the sightlines for
football are unimpaired. We take
the end-zone seats. The ticket clerk’s
description is accurate. We settle
down to watch what will become a
football classic. It’s a masterpiece of
defensive play. In the first quarter,
Charlie Conerly takes a snap and
tosses the ball to Frank Gifford,
who draws the Browns defense, then
swerves to lateral the ball back to
Conerly, who takes it in for a touch-
down. That’s the only touchdown
scored that day. The extra point is
good. In the second quarter, Pat
Summerall kicks a field goal — the
last points scored in the game.
Giants 10, Browns 0.
Both defenses are fierce and
produce some remarkable statistics:
A record eight turnovers. The Giants
fumble six times, but turn the ball
over only twice. A rookie fielded by
the Giants as their punt returner —
a super-fast, skinny kid from Texas
— can't hold onto the pigskin. On
each of his fumbles Billy and I join
an earsplitting chorus of groans and
imprecations that shake the walls of
the old stadium. At the end of the
season the Giants release the kid.
He is picked up by the AFL’ Titans
of New York, which joins the NFL
as the New York Jets, and, there,
Core, one hundred years!
What’s a fun way to note it?
Poetry from you.
We're celebrating the Core Centennial this year and would
love to hear your memories of the Core Curriculum! But
there’s a catch — you need to tell us in haiku. Send your
5-7-5 recollections to cct_centennial@columbia.edu, and
we'll run our favorites in the next two issues’ Class Notes.
48 CCT Winter 2019-20
the kid — Don Maynard — breaks
records in a long, brilliant career that
culminates with his induction in the
Pro Football of Fame.
At halftime, word spreads that
fans in the bleachers set fires in the
trash receptacles to keep warm. Billy
and I are more discreet in dealing
with the cold. Smoking is permitted
in the stadium: Neither Bill nor I
smoke. Throughout the game, as
conditions warrant, we light a suc-
cession of cigarillos over which we
warm our hands.
‘The second half is all defense. The
Giants’ defensive coordinator, Vince
Lombardi, has his middle linebacker
key on the Browns fullback on every
play. Sam Huff holds the legendary
Jimmy Brown to a total of 8 yards
on a dozen carries. This game and
the ensuing league championship in
which the Giants beat the Baltimore
Colts are still regarded as two of the
finest games ever played in the NFL.
On December 21, 1958, this
Bronx lad witnessed a thrilling
event, and experiencing it with a
boon companion made it a lifelong
memory. It was like that with Bill.
In our circle of commuters who
met every day on campus for lunch,
Bill was a sparkplug, with a gift of
boundless energy that radiated wit,
warmth and intelligence. Time spent
with Bill was always uplifting. It was
a complete surprise to me that he
had MS or any other health issue.
I regarded Bill as the very picture
of health: trim, athletic, a fitness
buff, full of life and always upbeat. I
remember our foot race — a sprint
in Riverside Park. Pll leave it at that
except to say that his acceleration
absolutely amazed me. I suppose it
was fitting that he ran track and I
sat pulling an oar on a sliding seat in
an eight-oared shell on crew.
Lee Rosner echoed my senti-
ments: “Billy (I never got used to
‘Bill’) was sweet and funny and
kind and smart. He was dedicated
to giving kids a great junior college
experience and apparently excelled
at it. I will really miss him.”
Andy Feuerstein has this
remembrance: “Bill was smart, witty,
humorous, literate and sensitive,
and had a flair for storytelling. I
well remember his tales of the ‘Rat
Pack’ and other Las Vegas characters
after he had worked a summer at
the iconic Sands Hotel and Casino,
where his uncle was involved in
operations. Bill was a terrific athlete
and we enjoyed many games of
half-court, three-man basketball
in the Columbia gym after classes,
before we headed back on the subway
to our respective commuter homes.
We reconnected at the 50th reunion,
where I learned that Bill had battled
MS since his 20s. His resilience
and heroism were apparent; he did
not seem to miss a beat. We stayed
in touch intermittently since then.
When we spoke earlier this year, he
told me of his joy leading an active
book group of retirees where the
reading list included some of the
‘Great Books’ we read in Humani-
ties. It was also clear how much he
appreciated the closeness he shared
with his dear wife, Fran. I understand
from Fran that the reading group
members are devastated by Bill’s
passing. I will miss Bill and feel a loss
for not having been in closer contact
these past many years.”
I write this with a heart, heavy
that one of my dearest college
friends is gone, buoyant that it was
my extraordinary good fortune to
have had him as a friend, comforted
that he lived his life doing what
he loved best and, in the process,
touched so many lives, enriching
them intellectually and personally,
leaving wonderful, endearing memo-
ries with so many.
Our deepest condolences to Fran,
Bill’s wife of 55 years, his two daugh-
ters and two grandsons, and to all
who were his students and colleagues.
1961
Michael Hausig
19418 Encino Summit
San Antonio, TX 78259
mhausig@yahoo.com
Bob Salman LAW’64, while serving
as a member of New Jersey’s Council
on Local Mandates, is participat-
ing in a case involving New Jersey’s
mail ballot law. He has also been
appointed to serve on a panel of
NYC's Contract Dispute Resolution
Board in a case involving the City
Island Bridge Replacement project,
chairs two FINRA arbitration cases
and is a member of the New Jersey
Democratic State Committee.
Avrum Bluming’s book Estrogen
Matters: Why Taking Hormones in
Menopause Can Improve Women’s
Well-Being and Lengthen Their Lives
— Without Raising the Risk of Breast
alumninews
Arnie Intrater ’61 (left) and Jim
Mathews ’61 met in Maine in August
to celebrate their 80th birthdays,
which are two weeks apart.
Cancer, written with social psycholo-
gist Carol Tavris and published last
year, has had a second printing in
the United States. It has also been
published in the United Kingdom as
Oestrogen Matters and in Germany
as Ostrogen.
Mickey Greenblatt’s son Mark
was confirmed by the United States
Senate as inspector general of the
Department of the Interior on
August 1.
Arnie Intrater and Jim
Mathews met in Maine in August
to celebrate their 80th birthdays,
which are two weeks apart. Arnie
traveled from Washington, D.C.,
where he lives several months a
year when not residing in Boynton
Beach, Fla. He retired from many
interesting high-level governmental
positions practicing law in Wash-
ington, D.C. Jim drove from Silver
City, N.M., where he now resides
after retiring 10 years ago from
teaching psychology at the Univer-
sity of Hartford for 43 years.
Joel Pitt and his wife, Marie,
rented out their home in Princeton
September 1—May 31 and plan
to spend nine months exploring
the Southern Hemisphere. At this
writing, they had not firmed up
plans for the full trip and will likely
not make plans in detail for more
than a month or two in advance.
‘They started with a five-day visit
to their son James Womack’s eco-
tourist resort Equilibrio Surf Art
Yoga in Las Salinas de Nahualapa,
Nicaragua. From there, they went
to Panama City and environs for a
week before moving on to Bocas del
Toro, Panama, to take four weeks
of Spanish lessons and loll on the
beach. The remainder of the trip was
still in the planning process at the
time of this note.
Louis “Bernie” Muench SEAS’62,
BUS’65 writes that after the College,
he spent two years in the Engineering
School, worked for a period and then
earned a degree in finance from the
Business School, ending with a B.A.,
B.S.E.E. and M.B.A.
After graduate school, Bernie
worked in finance for Cummins
Engine Co. for three years. Then,
the Business School’s dean of
placement, Fred Way, helped him
to identify an opportunity at Ford.
Bernie moved to Ford Car Product
Planning, working on the Mustang.
Several years later he moved from
car planning to truck planning. Lee
Iacocca and Hal Sperlich, creators
of the Ford Mustang and Chrysler
minivan, were among his bosses
and mentors. Subsequently, Bernie
became responsible for all Ford light
truck product planning.
For 1976, the federal government
mandated unleaded gasoline for cars
and light trucks under 6,000 lbs.
gross vehicle weight, because lead
contaminated the catalysts that the
automotive industry needed to use
to meet evolving emission standards.
‘The government also mandated a
50,000-mile emission-certification
test for each vehicle-engine-trans-
mission combination offered for sale.
This was a major issue. It required
every filling station in the nation to
install new unleaded-fuel tanks and
fuel pumps. The Ford challenge was
to test and certify more than 100
vehicle-engine-transmission combi-
nations, each test costing more than
$1 million. Ford had the money and
provided it to the responsible test
manager. But, there was a problem.
‘The responsible test manager did
not have the drivers, garage or test
facilities to do the testing. He was
caught making up test results, fired
and replaced with another engineer.
After several unsuccessful efforts
to meet the new product standard,
Ford approached Bernie for a
recommended solution. His proposal
to meet the new fuel standard,
compete with Chevrolet and remain
in compliance with the new law’s
unique model was accepted and
implemented successfully. That truck
was the F-150. The F-150 ultimately
became the best-selling pickup in
North America.
At 80, Bernie has been thinking
and writing, mostly for his grand-
children, about his life choices and
luck. Some bad decisions did not
result in consequences as bad as pos-
sible, and some good decisions had
consequences better than expected,
so his run has been good. He hopes
all of us can say the same as we enter
our ninth decade.
On asad note, Luke Urban
passed away in his sleep on August 3.
In more sad news, Bob Ladau
received a clipping from a Guatema-
lan publication that disclosed that
Alan Plihal died and was buried in
Guatemala in September 2017.
Alan was a member of Alpha
Delta Phi and was part of the fenc-
ing team for four years. After gradu-
ation, Alan returned to Guatemala,
where he ultimately took over the
reins of the family business that
produced automobile tires and shoes
in Central America.
In the 1970s, political upheavals
in Guatemala forced Alan and his
family to move to Key Biscayne, Fla.
Alan required hospitalization for
some injuries incurred as a result of
the upheavals.
1962
John Freidin
654 E. Munger St.
Middlebury, VT 05753
jf@bicyclevt.com
Travelin John Garman writes,
“Last spring, my wife, Nancy, and I
had a wonderful four-day trip with a
13-member Road Scholar group to
visit historical sites in Philadelphia.
On the top of my list was the Barnes
Foundation. This museum holds the
largest collection of Impressionist
art outside of Paris.
“While there we dined at The
Victor Cate. Its Italian food was
outstanding. And all the waitstaff —
both male and female — were opera
soloists. So, our dinner was punctu-
ated by arias in Italian and German.
“Tm thinking about making a
donation to the College. Nothing
big. Fifty years ago, I tried to give
a little amount to what was then
known as the Dean’s Fund. It was a
discretionary fund the dean could
use to help students who ran out of
$$$. I know, because I had that need
a number of times.
“When I asked to have my little
contribution put in the Dean’s Fund,
I was told all such contributions
had to be put into the College’s big,
general operating fund!
“But then, guess what? When I
called the Dean’s Office last month,
I was referred to a special adminis-
trative office, which told me, ‘Sure,
we can put that kind of contribution
into a special fund that the dean can
use for students who have emergen-
cies like you described.’
“Thought this might interest
some of our classmates.
“That’s all for now. Off to New
Brunswick and Nova Scotia; then
Nice, Loire Valley and Paris; and
finally Chautauqua, N.Y., for my
annual Road Scholar foreign affairs
conference. Hope I come through in
one piece!”
Bernie Patten PS’66’s latest
book-like object, Neurology Rounds
with the Maverick: Adventures with
Patients from the Golden Age of Medi-
cine, was published in September.
Bernie culled from his decades of
practice the most interesting and
unusual patient stories. He says,
“Some are funny, some not so funny,
some happy, some sad, some terrible
— but all real.” Bernie’s publisher cre-
ated the title, and Bernie eventually
figured out who the Maverick was.
But he didn’t reveal that to CCT. He
says classmates might enjoy the book.
It’s available as a download for $1.99!
Dave Nathan was a good high
school golfer. At Columbia he was
a backbencher on the golf team.
But in the 1970s he lost his way
and took up tennis. Now he has
morphed into a “Cal (Iron Man)
Ripken’ in the 20-team, suburban
Washington, D.C., senior tennis
league where he plays. His partners
and opponents are often former
college stalwarts and occasionally
former U.S. Open doubles players.
But Dave holds the league endur-
ance record: More than 300 matches
during the last 20 years! And he
claims to look forward to many
more years of injury-free tennis. His
success stems partly from attending
adult tennis camp in Vermont.
Larry Wittner GSAS’67, profes-
sor of history emeritus at SUNY’s
University of Albany, is enjoying his
retirement from teaching. This past
spring, he completed a three-year
term as co-chair of the national
Winter 2019-20 CCT 49
board of Peace Action, America’s
largest peace organization, which
grew out of the merger between
the National Committee for a Sane
Nuclear Policy and the Nuclear
Freeze Campaign. Larry continues
to pursue his dedication to building
a world without war, and recently
accepted positions as a board mem-
ber of both the Peace Action Fund
of New York State and the Citizens
for Global Solutions Education
Fund. In March, Larry traveled with
a small group of concerned New
Yorkers to Vieques, P.R., to learn
about the history of and current
conditions on that small Puerto
Rican island, which was for decades
a bombing range for the Navy until
irate residents secured a shutdown
of military operations there.
As a union delegate of United
University Professions Joint Labor
Management Committees, Larry
was for six years executive secretary
of the AFL-CIO New York City
Central Labor Council before step-
ping down to become a member of
its executive committee. One of its
key campaigns in the past year was
an effort to secure county legislation
to guarantee workers paid sick days.
“Unfortunately,” Larry wrote, “pow-
erful business interests managed to
block adoption of the legislation.
But the campaign will continue.”
Although he no longer writes
scholarly books, Larry frequently
pens op-eds. Focused primarily on
issues of war, peace and economic
equality, they usually first appear on
the website of the History News
Network and are subsequently
picked up by other publications.
>
Contact CCT
Update your address,
email or phone; submit a
Class Note, new book,
photo, obituary or Letter to
the Editor; or send us an
email. Click “Contact Us” at
college.columbia.edu/cct.
50 CCT Winter 2019-20
Larry maintains contact with
Mike Weinberg (now active in
local Democratic Party politics
in Oregon) and Charlie Nadler
(retired from legal practice in Colo-
rado and posting lots of pointed
political messages on Facebook).
Mike and Charlie, as well as lots of
other Columbia students, appear
in Larry’s autobiography, Working
for Peace and Justice: Memoirs of an
Activist Intellectual, in the chapter
devoted to his years at Columbia.
John Joyce writes, “Maybe
because my classmates and I are
approaching (or have reached) 80,
the following may be of interest. At
the funeral of my youngest brother
this past February, I spoke with a
former sister-in-law, whom I had
not seen for more than 40 years. I
asked her if she recalled that when
Baker Field was being demolished
* in 1982, I had asked her former hus-
band (my other brother, who worked
in NYC) if he would go to Baker
Field to ask the workers whether he
could take parts of any bleacher seats
on which was painted the number
‘62.’1 thought it would be an inter-
esting piece of memorabilia. My
brother brought several sections of
the seats to his home in New Jersey.
I was living in Maryland then. After
my brother and his wife divorced,
I never thought about the bleacher
seats until I saw her at my youngest
brother’s funeral. She said she was
still living in the house where she
and my brother had lived. Then, to
my surprise, she told me that the
bleacher seats were still lying on
the rafters of her garage, where my
brother put them in 1982. I asked
her to take pictures of the bleacher
seats and then discard them.
“Many memories of our senior
year sitting in Baker Field — when
Columbia won the Ivy League foot-
ball championship — were brought
back by the pictures.”
Stephen Larsen, with his wife,
Robin Larsen, was on the founding
Board of Advisors of the Joseph
Campbell Foundation and also
founded ‘The Center for Symbolic
Studies to carry on Campbell’s work.
Stephen is best known for his work
in mythology and for being a pio-
neer in the field of neurofeedback.
Stephen earned a Ph.D. at Union
Institute & University. He is now
a professor emeritus of psychology
at SUNY Ulster (Ulster County
Community College). He has trained
with Jungian training analyst Edward
Whitmont and Stanislav Grof, as
well as with Campbell in the under-
standing of myth and symbol.
For the last 10 years, Stephen
has been working closely with Len
Ochs, innovator/originator of the
LENS neurofeedback technique,
and researching its potential. In
2003, they jointly presented “Fun-
damentals of the LENS Method:
Using EEG Driven Stimulation to
Work with the Clinical Spectrum
of Problems: Special Emphasis on
the Neurologically Sensitive Patient”
at the International Neurofeed-
back Organization Conference in
Houston. Their work is documented
in Stephen’s new book on LENS,
which is also featured on Ochs’s
website. For more on Stephen's
intriguing work, take a look at
stonemountaincenter.com.
1963
Paul Neshamkin
1015 Washington St., Apt. 50
Hoboken, NJ 07030
pauln@helpauthors.com
Another academic year is underway at
the College. If we were still students, it
would be our 60th. I missed Convoca-
tion in August for the first time in a
while, but Doron Gopstein was there
to welcome the first-years. He reports:
“T had the pleasure of speaking briefly
to three or four groups of the new
freshmen, who were spread out as
usual in groups of about 15 all over
South Field with their classmates
and their enthusiastic senior student
guides. Wished them well for four
wonderful years and tried [to give] one
or two pieces of advice. They seemed
to listen in awe (or shock?) when I
told them that we were doing exactly
this with our new classmates (with
beanies then) exactly 60 years ago, and,
to give a sense of time, that John F.
Kennedy would be elected President
the following year, the Vietnam War
had not started yet, Martin Luther
King Jr.’s ‘I have a dream speech’
would be five years later, Watergate 13
years later and 9-11 not for another
42 years (but they wouldn't remember
that because they were born that year).
Anyway, they were all very nice and
cordial and it was nice to spend a
minute or two with them.”
We recently celebrated our 150th
monthly “Second Thursday Class
Lunch.” It’s been a wonderful time
to enjoy good food and conversa-
tion together. A shoutout to the
eight classmates who joined me for
a September lunch: Steve Barcan,
Henry Black, Ed Coller, Mike
Erdos, Doron Gopstein, Bob
Heller, Lee Lowenfish and Harvey
Schneier. Please plan on joining us
next time you are in NYC.
Bill Burley writes, “Driving
through Kansas at the moment,
having left home in Boulder, Colo.,
this morning. On our way to
Pittsburgh to begin cycling from
my wife Suzanne’s childhood
hometown to Washington, D.C.,
beginning on September 9. We
were married August 2, 1969, and
thought this an appropriate way to
celebrate 50 years of marriage.”
If you friend the Burleys on Face-
book, you can follow their adventure
in text and pictures.
Alexis Levitin sent greetings and
reports that he is “uneasily retired
after 51 years of teaching. The body
is starting to go, but I still love travel-
ing. Spent six weeks in spring visiting
the spectacular, awe-inspiring Andes
of Peru, including, of course, Machu
Picchu. The other high point was a
visit to floating reed islands in Lake
Titicaca. My translation life contin-
ues: Cattle of the Lord by Portugal’s
Rosa Alice Branco, Pa/avora by Bra-
zil’s Salgado Maranhao and Outrage
by Ecuador’s Carmen Vascones in the
last three years.
“My only grandchild, Hannah,
is 3 and a half, but 100 percent a
miracle. I remain in touch with
Peter Belfiore, who never stops
writing; Paul Reale, who never
stops composing; and Kit Wertz,
who still perfects the language he
invented almost 60 years ago.”
Paul Kimmel writes, “I’ve been
retired from public school teach-
ing since 2012, after 42 years at
East Brunswick H.S., but I’m still
teaching at Rutgers. I am one of the
lecturers in general chemistry and
also the administrator of the course,
which means writing the exams,
doing the grades and answering
student email. So with about 1,400
students in the course, that keeps me
pretty busy. I’m still an active bicy-
clist, putting in around 2,000 miles
a year on the tandem with my wife,
Jane. I’m also still playing the piano,
and have performed in local recitals.”
Mike Erdos writes, “My wife,
Caryl, and I have relocated to
NYC, and I’ve been enjoying the
monthly luncheons with classmates
(one request: can we open them to
spouses/significant others?). I look
forward to seeing everyone again,
attending Columbia football games
and taking advantage of other
activities on campus now that we
are so close! As of this writing, the
next month, however, will be spent
preparing for our daughter’s wed-
ding on October 5 in Williamstown,
Mass.! We're very excited about this,
and are looking forward to it!”
Elliott Greher has been married
56 years and has four children, 15
grandchildren (three married) and
three great-grandchildren. Of his
two sets of twin grandchildren, one
set had a twin as an ambulance first
responder at the same time his twin
was a sharpshooter in the Israel
Defense Force (IDF), so both saving
lives. Currently, four grandchildren
and one spouse are studying in yeshi-
vas. Another five are in college, one
is a medical intern and one (a girl) is
in the IDF. Elliott moved from New
York 51 years ago to Silver Spring,
Md. He hopes to move back to New
York within the next two years. So
much for gardening and suburban,
endless driving. Elliott still has a post-
retirement (from the United States
Nuclear Regulatory Commission)
business selling books and consult-
ing to the adult disabled and aged
population. New York will extend his
active museum, concert and theater
experiences and yet provide more
time for reading — and attending
Columbia functions.
Phil Averbuch writes, “Greet-
ings from Florida. My wife, Judy,
and I celebrated our 55th wedding
anniversary with a Mediterranean
cruise with our entire family. Judy
and I attended the May graduation
of my grandson Matthew Kronen-
gold SEAS’19 from Columbia
Engineering, magna cum laude. He
now works at Goldman Sachs. A
very proud and exciting moment.”
Rich Gochman writes, “Last
summer, Paul Reale and his wife,
Claire, visited with my wife, Alice,
and me in Chatham, N.Y., for a
week. We all had a real ball: Carrying
on pretty much in the same way as in
college and the 50-plus years after-
ward. We even had water fights in
my indoor pool. For the last two days
of the visit Paul went to a nearby
performance venue, which turns into
a recording studio. The Troy Savings
Bank Music Hall, despite its bizarre
name, has renowned acoustics with
a worldwide reputation and is only a
half-hour away.
“For decades, Paul had racked
up excellent achievements in the
classical music realm with leading
performers premiering his work and
putting it on their CDs, but it was
the performers who had the real
clout. In the last few years he has
become an A-list rock star in the
neoclassic realm. Now Paul selects
his pieces and decides who will per-
form them. He is on a roll — in the
last few months he has made three
CDs, all of which have received rave
reviews from Gramophone and Fan-
fare, the leading music periodicals.
His three most recently recorded
CDs are Children’s Palace MSR Clas-
sics MS 1715, released in April, Ca/-
dera with Ice Cave: Music for Strings
MS 1703, released in May; and
Stroke of Midnight Naxos 8.559879,
released in October. Despite a recent
illness, Paul is composing at a frantic
rate and has plans and agreements
for numerous premieres and CDs
in the near future, which he hopes
includes another visit with us at
Lazy Bear Farm, our home.
“Alice and I continue to enjoy
good health and good fortune. We
love living on our farm in a house
designed for us to support all of our
interests and hobbies. A real farmer,
who lives only a couple of miles
away and is also my best friend in
Chatham, does all the actual farming.
I make the big decisions like ‘grow
green stuff, no corn.’ am very inter-
ested in the economics and science
of agriculture, but I have no interest
in actually doing it. To be successful,
a farmer has to be smart, work very
hard, hope that government doesn't
upset their life with trade wars and
regulations, and also be lucky. I never
tire of looking out the windows. We
have full views of the Berkshire and
Catskill mountains. We share the
place with about 30 deer, bobcats,
wild turkeys, foxes, rabbits, birds from
eagles to cardinals, and the occasional
bear that gives our place its name.
Giant trees date from the Civil War.
Occasionally we have a modest tree
harvest. The tax laws are pretty good,
as they should be, since we are cap-
turing CO, and producing oxygen.
It would be fairer if we were exempt
from taxes completely.
“We are active in the Old Cha-
tham Hunt Club. The word ‘hunt’
alumninews
should really be replaced by ‘chase.’
We do not hunt anything! On foot
we follow Beagles that chase rab-
bits safely into their burrows while
foxhunters on horseback follow
foxhounds, chasing foxes that always
win the race. The club’s kennels have
more than 100 hounds (if you call
them ‘dogs’ you are severely pun-
ished). It is all an excuse to leave the
road behind, and get some exercise
over hill and dale. And the best part
is that when the chase is over, we
have a big party. We love to have the
club hunt our land — we get a beau-
tiful view without doing anything.
I have also co-founded NanoPhar-
maceuticals, a cancer drug discovery
company. On mice and monkeys,
results have been very exciting, but
there is a long way to go.”
Jack McMullen writes, “I spent
six weeks in Porto, Portugal, in
May and June trying to revive the
Portuguese I learned on the streets
of Brazil many years ago while
on a traveling fellowship there. I
made good progress, especially after
I abandoned the idea of learn-
ing both European and Brazilian
Portuguese at the same time in
different daily classes. I settled on
Brazilian Portuguese, and things
went much more smoothly. The dif-
ference between those two forms of
the same language is much greater
than the difference between British
English and American English. The
reason: Brazil has a population of
212 million while Portugal has only
10.5 million, even though it was the
parent country. So, lots of TV shows
and other media flow from Brazil
to Portugal and virtually nothing
goes the other way. Therefore, the
Portuguese are familiar with Brazil-
ian Portuguese, while Brazilians take
around two months to get comfort-
able with European Portuguese
when they go to Portugal to work
(there are many Brazilians doing
that these days). Of course, in the
United States we get Masterpiece
Theatre, music and the BBC, while
the British get lots of American
films, TV shows and music — so our
two populations are familiar with
each other’s way of speaking our
common language. Still, it’s no walk
in the park to relearn a language at
our stage of life. What I learned in
Brazil faded through non-use, so I
was quickly disabused of my original
thought that I would pick up
Portuguese again quickly. Language
is not like riding a bike. Don't use
it and you lose it, while we can pick
up bike riding again easily even after
years of not doing it.”
If youre back in NYC, you can
reconnect with your classmates at our
regular second Thursday class lunches
at the Columbia Club (for now, we
are still gathering at the Princeton
Club). The next are on December 12,
January 9 and February 13.
In the meantime, let us know
what you are up to, how you're doing
and what’s next.
1964
Norman Olch
233 Broadway
New York, NY 10279
norman@nolch.com
I am writing in September, but
by the time this appears in CCT’
we will be approaching the start of
the new decade. I wish each of you
and your loved ones a happy New
Year, and a year of good health,
peace and prosperity.
I have asked the class two ques-
tions: What do you wish you had
known when you were 18, and what
advice do you have for the members
of the College’s next graduating
class as they face becoming “adults”?
Responses have been trickling in.
Lee Witting writes from Penob-
scot, Maine: “First of all, thanks for
your dedication in producing this
column year after year. I was sorry
not to make the reunion, but after
we lost my freshman-year room-
mate, Nick Rudd, my best reason
for attending disappeared.
“To turn your first question
around, I wish (for my father’s sake,
at least) I had known less when I was
18 than I did. When I drowned at 7,
I went through a near-death experi-
ence (NDE) that compromised my
focus on this life, and left me with
a foot here and in the hereafter. My
father was a high achiever, and very
successful in his career. My focus was
just not there in the same way, and
I’m sure I was a disappointment to
him, career-wise. Instead of focusing
on economics, I spent my quality
time on Eastern studies, primarily
Buddhism. After graduating from the
College, I followed my dad’s wishes
and started in the Business School's
M.B.A. program, only to drop out
in disgust. I went to work for NYC’s
Winter 2019-20 CCT 51
Department of Human Services,
where my caseload was in West
Harlem, above 125th Street, and
where I learned that people with less
than nothing materially had more
character and love in their hearts
than I ever would have imagined.
“Over time we saved some money
and my wife, 3-year-old son and
I traveled to Germany on a coal
freighter and lived in a VW camper
for nearly a year, exploring the cathe-
drals and holy places throughout
Europe and the Middle East. When
we got back, we found an old farm-
house in Maine, cleared the fields
for a garden and grazing, and raised
goats, chickens, pigs and a horse for
the kids to ride. I worked a variety
of jobs to supplement, but eventually
went to seminary, where I earned a
doctorate in NDE. I recently retired
from 15 years as chaplain at Bangor’s
Eastern Maine Medical Center,
where I heard many accounts of
NDEs from patients who had died
and been resuscitated. If that subject
is of interest to any classmates, I do a
podcast on NDE at www.nderadio.
org. There are more than 300 shows
archived for the listening.
“Oh, and my answer to question
number 2, advising those graduating,
is simple: Follow your heart.”
Gene Meyer writes: “I don’t
have any great pearls of wisdom in
response to your query about what
I wish I'd known then that I know
now. So I'll just give our classmates
a personal update.
“My third book, Five for Freedom:
The African American Soldiers in John
Browns Army, was published last
year (and dedicated to the late James
P. Shenton ’49, GSAS’54). It won
the 2019 award for Outstanding
Biography/History book from the
American Society of Journalists and
Authors. ASJA also gave me the top
prize, the ASJA Outstanding Blog
Post recognition, for a blog I posted
on my website: ‘Pittsburgh: Never
Again? Just Words.’ In addition, the
National Association of Real Estate
Editors gave me a Silver Award this
past spring for a magazine article
about the Marriott Corp.’s decision
to move its headquarters. Finally, I
was honored and humbled to receive
the Lifetime Achievement Award
from the online Washington Inde-
pendent Review of Books, on whose
board I have served for several years.
“Here in the Washington, D.C..,
area, I see some classmates, including
52 CCT Winter 2019-20
Steve Case LAW’68 and Barry
Shapiro. I recently heard from
Richard Tuerk 63, my junior-year
roommate, who has had an outstand-
ing academic career in Texas.
“My three sons are doing well
and thriving in Brooklyn, Chicago
and Richmond. My wife, Sandy
Pearlman, who makes my life
possible, works in HR for a federal
agency not far from our home in
suburban Silver Spring, Md. I con-
tinue to freelance for several publi-
cations. Life is full of challenges, but
also rewards; I am resigned to the
former and grateful for the latter.”
Paul Neuthaler GSAS’72,
SW’96 writes: “While my fingers
still work and my tired eyes still
focus, I wanted to check in and greet
classmates who, I hope, are feeling
as grateful and fulfilled as I.
“Looking back at my two careers
— 30 years in publishing, culminat-
ing in having been named chairman
and CEO of the Bantam, Double-
day Dell Publishing Group in the
early 90s; then 25 years practicing
psychotherapy in Westchester, N.Y.,
until I fully retired last year. Four
children, and seven grandchildren to
date — all four, thank God, healthy,
loving and happily and expensively
educated. I had kids in the ’60s,’70s,
’80s and ’90s! How patient and car-
ing my wife, Abbi, has been.
“Columbia, my intellectual home,
awarded four degrees to me over the
years, including a Ph.D. in English
Renaissance literature. My greatest
Columbia debt was to my teacher
and mentor, Edward Tayler, who died
in April 2018. We were friends for 58
years — my tribute to him appears
in the Spring 2019 CCT. I miss him
every day. Whatever the future holds
for me, I will try to approach it with
the same naive expectations as ever.
My life has been blessed.”
Steve Solomon, happily retired
in Florida, stopped by the class
lunch in September. He is busy
taking classes three days a week,
traveling, visiting the grandchildren
and so forth. “I don’t know how I
ever had time to work,” he says.
Congratulations to Sophia Bock
19 on receiving the Allen J. Willen
Memorial Prize for her paper on
the impact of voter ID laws, Voter
Identification Laws and Their Effects
on Voter Turnout and Republican Vote
Share: An Analysis of State-Border
Pairs 2000-2016. Allen Willen was
the news editor of Spectator.
Sophia writes to the class: “Thank
you for establishing the Allen J.
Willen Memorial Prize. Writing my
thesis was one of the most formative
experiences of my college career. I was
able to explore my passion for voting
rights, and develop a deep knowledge
of statistical analysis. Working with
Professor Donald Green made me a
more thoughtful researcher. Even as
an academic endeavor, it helped me
prepare for my career as much as any
internship I’ve done.
“T was inspired to write my thesis
because of my work on campaigns,
and my whole experience at Colum-
bia. I had spent the past three years
jumping from job to job, studying a
wide breadth of topics through the
Core, and I saw this as an opportu-
nity to dedicate myself to one subject
and develop a deep understanding
of one of my most passionate policy
areas, as well as statistics and manag-
ing a large-scale project on my own.
It was more of a challenge than I ever
thought it would be, and I gained
more from the experience than I
thought possible.
“Winning this prize helped me to
go to Italy after graduation with the
friends I made on my freshman floor
during my first week at Columbia. I
am now trying my luck in Washing-
ton for a while, before I inevitably
return to New York to work on
voting rights advocacy. Thank you
very much for your meaningful
contribution to the College.”
‘The two questions I asked await
your response. Also, join us in New
York for our informal class lunch the
second ‘Thursday of each month.
1965
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Leonard B. Pack
924 West End Ave.
New York, NY 10025
leonard@packlaw.us
Joel Berger responded to the
mention in the Fall 2019 “Obituar-
ies” section about Bill Goring dying
on July 28, 2019: “I was saddened
to read of Bill’s passing. He and I
were roommates in our sophomore
and junior years in (what was then)
Livingston Hall. We didn’t know
each other well as freshmen, but we
became close friends and he was a
delightful roommate. Bill grew up
in Northampton, Mass., where his
father was a maintenance worker
at Smith College. That background
gave Bill a refreshing outlook
into issues of relations between
the academic community and the
working-class population in a small
college town. He also had a fascina-
tion with neo-Nazis and other
weird political groups and collected
their literature, not because of any
sympathy with them but rather out
of curiosity as to what could produce
such oddities in 1960s America. (He
did get occasional feedback from the
neo-Nazis complimenting him on
the similarity between his last name
and that of Field Marshal Hermann
Goering!) He and his wife later
founded a very popular and highly
respected antique bookshop in
Torrington, Conn. I believe that at
least one and possibly more of his
children attended the College. He
was a truly unique and wonderful
human being, and he will be missed
by all who knew him.”
I reached out to Dan Carlinsky,
who had sent news about Bill that
appeared in a previous column. I
asked Dan if he ever got to visit
Bill’s bookshop, Nutmeg Books. Dan
wrote, “I did visit Bill’s shop — at his
home in Torrington — once. I also
used to run into him at library book
sales, where he was always a major
presence. For decades, if you were
a dealer or collector of old books in
Connecticut, you knew Bill Goring;
he was really one of the deans of
the antiquarian book world in the
state and beyond. For several years,
my wife, Nancy, and I ran a yearly
book sale to raise money for our
town library, a half-hour’s drive from
Torrington. We could always count
on Bill’s showing up to stand in line
at opening so he'd have a shot at our
best stuff. He dealt in an eclectic
stock, which obviously represented
his own mind well. Check his
website; I think it fits the personality:
nutmegbooks.com/about-us.”
Gad Heuman responded to one
of my pleas for news: “Classmates
might be interested in my book The
Caribbean. A Brief History. The third
edition of was published earlier
this year and includes an update of
recent developments in the Carib-
bean and new publications. I am also
one of the organizers of a Carib-
bean seminar at University College
London and continue to work on
slavery and the aftermath of slavery.
In addition, I am the editor of an
academic journal in this field, S/av-
ery &F Abolition: A Journal of Slave
and Post-Slave Studies. However, two
little grandchildren are doing their
best to focus my attention elsewhere.
I am now professor emeritus, having
retired from university teaching in
the United Kingdom, and continue
to live in London with my wife, the
former Ruth Weinstock BC’66.”
Leon Rosenstein appears to
have had a great summer: “I’ve just
returned from a six-week tour to
Sicily and Greece, voyaging with
a friend for whom I more or less
served as Cicerone, as my wife, Sara,
is not currently well enough for
travel. While I had seen most of this
before, it was usually as a tour group
leader for the Classical Alliance of
the Western States, so it was nice
tion of our antiques business (note
to antiques collectors: except at
the highest end of the market, e.g.,
Sotheby’s auction sales, antiques are
dead), and the trip pretty much served
its purpose, at least psychologically.
“My intellectual adventures this
year were of two sorts. The first:
I published a collection of what I
consider to be my 10 best scholarly
articles previously published in aca-
demic philosophy journals, a book
called Art and Existence, currently
available only in hardcover format
from me (anyone interested need
only contact me by email: rosenst1@
sdsu.edu). In the meantime, Cornell
University Press has informed me
that subsidiary rights to a Chi-
nese translation of my 2009 book,
Antiques: The History of an Idea,
have now been granted and that the
Chinese version of my book should
be available in a year or so. (For-
tunately, I will not be required to
proofread it.) My second intellectual
adventure: I had the pleasure (and it
Baptized as freshman
by the Core Curriculum
washing over me
— Jim Siegel 65, BUS’68
not to be obligated by the usual
impediments and responsibilities of
that role and I could include in our
private itinerary archeological sites
far from the usual tourist locales and
the madding crowd — the Temple
of Apollo Epikourios, for example,
supposedly designed by Iktinos,
and unique for being aligned north/
south, provided with a side door
and with the first known instance
of a Corinthian capital. A Greek
friend (formerly a graduate student
of mine) regaled us with fulsome
accounts of the current Greek
socio-political situation and made
comparisons with the United States,
e.g., the economic ‘use’ (I employ
this term in its several senses) of
| Albanians there as Californians ‘use’
/ Mexican laborers here.
“The trip was planned as a relief
experience — relief from the various
health issues of both my wife and me
this year and from the frustrations
attendant upon the final liquida-
|
.
was a pleasure) of being invited by a
group of San Diego State University
philosophy graduate students to
participate in their self-instituted
seminar to study Nietzsche’s A/so
Sprach Zarathustra. It was a pleasure
not only because it prompted me to
reread a notoriously poetic/esoteric
work (the actual text of which I had
not read in perhaps 40 years), but
especially because these students
chose this study topic on their own
without requiring academic credit
for it and without the support of
philosophy faculty, which was not
available to them in any case, as
no one remains in the department
from which I formally retired 10
years ago who is competent to teach
this in this area. Indeed, since I left
the department, many traditional
and fundamental courses have
been abandoned by the university
administration and several of my
own specialized subjects and courses
have been left unstaffed, since the
alumninews
university (like so many universities
these days) is committed to operat-
ing on the factory model (high-
speed, efficient, cut-rate production
of workers) and serving up massive,
intellectually undemanding doses of
the currently most fashionable drivel
as worthy of academic study.
“As with my traveling adventures,
so with these intellectual pursuits:
I did them in part because I have
always loved doing them for them-
selves and partly to demonstrate
to myself that I was still capable of
doing them. Well, so much from San
Diego, where the temperature so far
this year (as of August 1) — at least
at the coast where I live — has yet
to pass the 80-degree mark.”
Barry Kamins was featured in
The New York Times on September
13 in the article “Officers Said They
Smelled Pot. The Judge Called Them
Liars.” A great photograph of Barry,
seated at his desk and wearing his
customary bow tie, is captioned
“Barry Kamins, a former New York
City judge and an authority on
search and seizure law in New York,
said Judge [April] Newbauer was
‘the first judge to really express an
opinion about this type of scenario.”
Michael Schlanger was cleaning
out his house in preparation for a
move and came across an August
1983 article in Legal Times: The
National Law Journal about “worka-
holic lawyers.” It featured 10 worka-
holic lawyers. Two of them are Mike
himself and Michael Cook. I know
they both continue to practice law, but
I hope they have eased up a bit!
Bob Yunich followed up on his
report in the Fall 2019 issue: “I’ve
become more active in volunteer
work, as I’ve been significantly scaling
back my financial advisory practice.
“In July I was elected a trustee
of the New York Youth Symphony
because it is an extraordinary orga-
nization and I am passionate about
its mission. Founded in 1963, its
award-winning program is dedicated
to educating and inspiring gifted
and talented young musicians, ages
12-22, through exceptional training
and performance opportunities.
Approximately 260 students from all
backgrounds participate, regardless
of their ability to pay, made possible
by the availability of more than $1
million in scholarships. Its programs
have grown significantly to include
chamber music, conducting, jazz,
composition, musical theater com-
position and commissioning, with
performances at world-class venues
including Carnegie Hall and Jazz
at Lincoln Center. More than 20
free and ticketed performances that
reach more than 8,500 people in
the New York metropolitan area are
offered each year. A concert during
the Youth Symphony’s inaugural
year featured a 17-year-old Israeli
violinist, Itzhak Perlman. In the
intervening years, many of the Youth
Symphony’s alumni have assumed
prominent roles in the music world.
“Tm continuing my work, started
more than five years ago, in the
credit crisis counseling program
with the Community Service
Society of New York and, more
recently, the Trout in the Classroom
Program with Trout Unlimited. As a
result, I have been appointed to the
NYS Council of Trout Unlimited,
the governing body for all of TU’s
chapters and activities in the state.
“Our travel plans are fluid; we’re
planning a trip to London in Febru-
ary, Montreal in May and maybe
somewhere in Europe (where we
haven't visited) in the early fall.”
Our class reunion (Thursday,
June 4-Saturday, June 6) is a mere
six months away. Reunion planning
is getting underway, so you can
submit suggestions for activities. The
Reunion Committee hopes many,
many classmates will participate.
1966
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
Sasha Berkman ’05 wrote in to share
her remembrances of her father,
Stuart M Berkman BUS’68:
“Despite knowing that death is an
inherent part of life and hearing
regularly of its occurrence, the finite
impact turns real only when experi-
enced firsthand with the passing of
a loved one. It has taken me a few
months to fully come to terms with
the sudden loss of my father (Febru-
ary 13, 1944—January 25, 2019).
“A native of Cleveland, he spoke so
often with infectious enthusiasm of
his undergraduate years at Columbia
that there was hardly any other pos-
sible outcome than for my yearning
for a Columbia experience of my own.
Winter 2019-20 CCT 53
“For many decades after his
graduation he was the CC’66 class
correspondent for Columbia College
Today, in addition to conducting
interviews of college hopefuls —
first in my hometown of Atlanta,
and later in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
where my parents moved upon my
completion of Columbia in 2005.
“One of my favorite Columbia
stories is how his 28-year career
at Coca-Cola came to be: He
was apparently doing poorly in
one of his classes at the Business
School and built a rapport with the
professor, possibly to improve his
standing in the class. He was about
to graduate, the Vietnam draft was
looming and he had no plans. One
day, my dad’s professor asked what
his graduation plans were, and said
he had two friends, one in Atlanta
at Coca-Cola and one at another
company elsewhere. It sounds like
my father jumped at the Coca-Cola
opportunity, and thus began his
international career in marketing
and licensing at Coca-Cola.
“Throughout the years, either for
business or for our yearly holiday
travel with my mother and me, my
father would not come to New York
without a mandatory visit to the
Columbia campus, which he admired
every time. The visit also included a
mandatory stop at Mondel Choco-
lates to purchase chocolate-covered
Core
Haiku
Russian. My father and I, despite us
both being Americans residing in the
United States, spoke in Portuguese to
each other — Brazilian Portuguese
because of his nearly 43-year mar-
riage to my Brazilian mother, Gilda
Esberard Berkman, whom he met
during his years spent working at
Coca-Cola Brazil in the 1970s.
“I miss my father greatly.”
Gr
Albert Zonana
425 Arundel Rd.
Goleta, CA 93117
az164@columbia.edu
We heard from four classmates
this issue!
Cliff Dobrin writes, “I received
a juris doctorate from Rutgers Law
School. A six-month trip to Hawaii
led me to San Diego. I signed up
for a three-year stint with the San
Diego District Attorney’s Office. I
loved the job so much, I stayed for
37 years, retiring in 2007. When not
looking after my granddaughter, my
wife, Mary, and I have been traveling
the world. Every couple of years,
however, we return to New York City
so I can stroll down College Walk
and breathe in the most wonderful
of memories. I picture my sponsor,
Professor Jim Shenton’49, GSAS’54,
In Plato’s dream cave
we see only shadows of
whom we’re yet to be
Dp — Rabbi James B. Rosenberg ’66
ginger, a bite at V&T and a pastry
at The Hungarian Pastry Shop. One
might say he had memories tied to all
those local spots.
“I am fortunate to have been
loved and raised by a man who was
the grandson of Hungarian and
Russian immigrants, worked part
time at his parents’ convenience
store from the young age of 4 and
paid his own tuition at Columbia,
ultimately growing his passion for
foreign languages and becoming a
self-taught linguist speaking English,
Portuguese, French, Spanish, Ital-
ian, German, Dutch, Turkish and
54 CCT Winter 2019-20
and some of my friends and always
appreciate what an extraordinary
experience it was. Life is good.”
Bob Burdette writes, “I was
unable to attend our class reunion
in 2017 due to mobility problems
occasioned by spinal stenosis.
My two closest friends from the
class, George ‘Jud’ Marking and
Michael ‘Mickey’ Lane, and their
wives, came to my home in Cincin-
nati that spring and we celebrated
on our own. The fairly large number
of our classmates who had already
died surprised me. These days I lead
a solitary life in the company of a
sweet-natured little Cavalier King
Charles Spaniel. Having allowed
memberships in various organiza-
tions to lapse, I did join the local
literary club. For that group I have
written some fiction, including a
murder mystery, which was pretty
good, if I do say so myself. There are
several classmates still living I wish I
had been able to see again. My best
wishes to all of you.”
Don Shapiro writes, “Over the
years I’ve thought of writing to Class
Notes but just never got around to
doing it. Hard to believe that it’s
been 56 years since we lived together
on (I think it was) the 12th floor of
‘New Hall’! T'll make this short and
sweet, and leave out the many details.
My wife, Karlyn, and I raised our
family in the Philadelphia area, where
I practiced medicine. We now divide
our time between Juno Beach, Fla., in
the spring and fall, and Aspen, Colo.,
in the summer and winter. Also, I’m
proud to say that my son, Adam
03, is a fellow Columbia College
graduate. Lately, I’ve been rereading
some of our Lit Hum books with the
Columbia College Alumni Associa-
tion’s Core Conversations book club
(college.columbia.edu/alumni/learn/
coreconversations). I hope a lot of
you are also taking advantage of this
great opportunity. Life is good!”
Jenik Radon writes, “My vaga-
bond ways now find me also return-
ing to my California ‘roots’ — I did
law at Stanford and grad school at
UC Berkeley. I have rejoined Santa
Barbara-based Direct Relief, the
premier United States provider of
critical emergency medical supplies
around the world, as a member of its
Board of Advisors. This gives me the
chance to catch up with Al Zonana,
who is not embarrassed to admit
that he loves living in paradise.
“Other than the Bear Republic, I
combined business with lots of plea-
sure by visiting Estonia, the land that
invented Skype, this past summer and
joining in its famed Estonian Song
Festival, which in 1989 sparked Esto-
nia’s independence movement from
the USSR. This year was the festival’s
150th anniversary; there were more
than 30,000 singers and more than
130,000 participants, all singing
songs of freedom. It was an emotional
high. It also gave me the oppor-
tunity to check up on my interns.
‘They were working in the Estonian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs helping
to craft a platform for the 105 small
states (countries with populations
of 10 million or fewer) that Estonia
plans to promote as a member of the
United Nations Security Council,
to which it was just elected and for
which I supervised my SIPA students
in crafting a report.
“And I made headlines in another
paradise, Mauritius, by calling for
it to create a public registry of the
beneficial owners of all of its thou-
sands of registered companies — |
cannot say that my interview made
me popular.
“A high point of the summer was
my proving that I still had what it
takes by dancing the twist at a wed-
ding in Hannover, Germany, where
even the 30-year-olds could not go
so ‘low’ and get back up.”
Be well all of you, and do write ....
1968
Arthur Spector
4401 Collins Ave., 2-1417
Miami Beach, FL 33140
arthurbspector@gmail.com
Hello to the Class of 68! We all
met about 55 years ago, can you
believe that? I am enjoying my
home in Miami Beach, but the
hurricane approaching did make me
think twice ....
Visit me! Buzz Zucker, our resi-
dent expert on plays, is coming soon.
We saw each other in Saratoga this
past summer — he won at the race
track, I was wiped out. Seth Wein-
stein is also coming, as is Bob Costa
67 and his wife, Joan. | went to their
daughter Carolyn Costa’12’s wedding
in July, the best wedding I have ever
been to. Carolyn is wonderful.
Nigel Paneth, Bernie Weinstein
65, Jenik Radon’67, Robert Brandt
and Seth Weinstein and I go back
and forth on public policy issues; it
is quite amazing how Seth, Robert
and I tend to be flawless in our
observations. Nigel is again doing
important public health teaching.
Seth is biking and is down to college
weight — told me he did 18 miles
in one day recently.
I also heard from Larry Suss-
kind, who has a new book out. He
teaches at MIT.
Heard from Jim Shorter, who
was planning to come to Homecom-
ing Weekend 2019.
Also heard from Tom Sanford,
who gave us a good lecture at our
40th about staying fit. Tom writes,
“Rowed up the Thames River from
the Hammersmith Bridge to Henley
over the course of three days in early
July with a group of English old
boys. My second year of this fun. ’m
looking forward to Homecoming and
planning to go to the Yale Bowl, too.”
A role model for us all, for sure!
Ira McCown, a former rower,
was planning to come to my place
to watch a Columbia football away
game; I was to produce lunch.
I heard from Hollis Petersen,
who is in hot water with me until
the next reunion — talk about foot-
ball, I bet he was at a game at age 3
or so, like Paul de Bary.
Hollis wrote that he and his wife,
Ann, continue to be enthusiastic
residents of Islamorada, which is in
the middle of the fabulous Florida
Keys (where the sun shines except for
an occasional hurricane). While sorry
to miss the recent excitement of the
Lions’s successes, Hollis still claims
to miss Buff and Archie and sends
enthusiastic greetings to all from the
Conch Republic (aka the Keys).
Hollis, I hope to get out to see
you there or hope I can persuade you
to travel to Miami.
‘The latest news from Steve Got-
tlieb’s late-blossoming tennis life: “I
was selected for the United States
four-member team to compete in
the 70-and-over world team compe-
tition in Croatia. Pleased to report
that we captured the bronze medal.”
George Bernstein recently
returned from a wonderful time
with some English friends whom he
met 26 years ago in Scotland. They
met in London for a celebration.
George sounds like fun; I recom-
mend that any member of the Class
of 68 who’s spending time in New
Orleans ring George, who probably
knows the best restaurants and chefs
in the city (which has some of the
best food on the planet).
George, we missed you at the
2018 reunion, but we have many
more on the horizon.
Sandy Zabell writes, “Recently
published a 75-page paper on Ger-
man mathematicians who worked
on cryptography during WWII
(the German counterparts to Alan
Turing). There were quite a few (not
surprising, given their preeminence
in mathematics then). Other than
that, the usual teaching.”
Sandy is a professor at Northwest-
ern; his 75-pager sounds like the basis
of a movie with intrigue. I wonder
what happened to all the Germans.
Did they end up in America?
I wish I had a list of all the
professors in our class, as I bet we
have some kind of record of talent at
universities. Although, we have a lot
of lawyers and doctors, many turned
out to be professors in some cases!
Have a happy New Year, and
please take a moment to write!
1969
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
CCT was saddened to learn that
longtime class correspondent
Michael S. Oberman passed away
on October 16, 2019. He was a very
active alumnus, serving as class cor-
respondent for 41-plus years, serving
on the Columbia College Alumni
Association Board of Directors
2008-19 and volunteering for mul-
tiple Reunion Committees through
the years. He will be missed.
1970
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Leo G. Kailas
Reitler Kailas & Rosenblatt
885 Third Ave., 20th FI.
New York, NY 10022
Ikailas@reitlerlaw.com
My dear friend Jacob Worenklein
sent a lovely note: “I continue to
focus on electric power in major
United States cities as we transi-
tion to a low-carbon future. I
chair the company that owns the
Ravenswood Generating Station
in Long Island City (New York’s
largest power plant), and am CEO
of US Grid Co., which is in the
process of acquiring power plants in
major U.S. cities. I worry, as so many
of us do, about the threats to the
basic values of our nation and chair
the Interfaith Alliance, which is
committed to the protection of the
constitutional rights of Americans
of all faiths and backgrounds.
“My wife, Cindy, and I continue to
live on the West Side of Manhat-
tan with our daughter Sasha, a
sophomore at the Fashion Institute
of Technology, and not far from my
children David’93 and Laura’01, and
close in spirit to my son Dani, who
lives in Jerusalem and finds opportu-
nities for me to do good deeds.”
My friend Professor David
Lehman reports, “David Lehman's
new book, One Hundred Autobiog-
raphies: A Memoir, tells the story of
his (provisionally) triumphant three-
year battle with cancer, with the
Core
Haiku
valuable treasure trove of videos that
reach far and wide, demonstrating
the power of listening, creating and
improvising in what is usually viewed
as an arcane and painful task. His
published work, including his highly
influential textbooks on both modal
and tonal counterpoint, have created
an extraordinary impact on the field.
Finally, he has changed the way
musicians think, bringing joy through
musical insights, allowing students to
do something that they only dreamed
of in terms of their musical studies
and analytical discoveries.”
Richard Hobbie reports: “After
23 years as president and CEO of
Honors, passing, fail —
For all the lasting mem’ry:
Core, the Core, the Core
book's structure allowing for digres-
sions, memories, fantasies, dreams
and reflections on life and death.
Lehman's poetry books include
Playlist; When a Woman Loves a Man;
and The Daily Mirror.”
Professor Lehman is also men-
tioned with great respect in James
Periconi’s letter to our class at the
end of these notes.
Great news about Professor Peter
N. Schubert of McGill University’s
Schulich School of Music. Peter “has
been awarded the Gail Boyd de Stwo-
linski Prize for Lifetime Achieve-
ment in Music Theory Teaching and
Scholarship. This honor is awarded
every five years and bestowed upon an
individual who has helped to shape
music theory pedagogy throughout
the world, whether it be through
teaching at his or her home institution
or through lectures, formal conference
presentations and publications beyond
the campus. Criteria for the award
also require that honorees have taught
for a minimum of 25 years, have
maintained significant scholarship
and continued presence in the field
of music theory pedagogy, and have
demonstrated impact on future gen-
erations of music theory instructors
(mentorship, successful alumni, legacy
in teaching approaches).”
Beyond his excellence in class-
room teaching, Peter “has created a
— Robert Nordberg ’68
the Water Quality Insurance Syndi-
cate in New York, I have retired and
am living in Dorado, Puerto Rico.”
Professor Lewis H. Siegelbaum,
the Jack & Margaret Sweet Professor
Emeritus of History at Michigan
State University, sent a note about
the publication of his memoir, Stuck
on Communism: Memoir of a Russian
Historian (with a chapter on his years
at Columbia College). His publisher
describes the book as a “memoir by
one of the foremost scholars of the
Soviet period from the 1950s when
Lewis Siegelbaum’s father was a
victim of McCarthyism through the
implosion of the Soviet Union and
beyond” and refers to Lewis's self-
discovery “through the tumult of the
student rebellion at Columbia during
the Vietnam War and Moscow at the
height of détente.”
It sounds like a fascinating read!
Geoff Zucker reports: “As one
of the ‘counterculture’ generation of
students of the Class of ’70, I never
thought I'd say that I retired last year
after 40 years as a gastroenterolo-
gist in Western Massachusetts. This
year my wife, Donna, retired as a
professor of nursing at University
of Massachusetts. We're trying to
figure this out, and some travel (a
recent trip to Egypt, Jordan and
Israel) and summers on Cape Cod
have been wonderful. In order to
Winter 2019-20 CCT 55
Class Notes
give me a reason to get out of gym
clothes, I’m president of the medical
staff at Cooley Dickinson Hospital,
a Mass General Hospital affiliate,
and am on the Board of Trustees of
the Massachusetts Medical Society.
Having a voice in the governance and
policies of the organizations that I
belong to has been my best solution
to avoid ‘burnout, a serious problem
for physicians these days. Our first
grandchild, Evan, was born a year
ago, and gives us a strong reason to
drive into Long Island on a regular
basis. I’m looking forward to next
year’s reunion, and to connecting
with my old friend, Tom Keenan.”
Well, Tom Keenan also sent a nice
report: “My wife, Keri, and I are look-
ing forward to catching up with you
guys again at our 50th! And since you
asked ... ‘In his 2004 book Techno-
creep: The Surrender of Privacy and the
Capitalization of Intimacy, University
of Calgary Professor’ Tom Keenan
made some feisty predictions about
how the world would change by the
50th anniversary of Woodstock (music
curated through AJ, personalized
medical tests, direct stimulation of
the brain with electricity rather than
chemicals). Woodstock 2019 didn't
happen, but most of the things Tom
predicted did. One thing he didn’t see
coming was the ability for anyone to
fake images/documents/videos with
commonly available software. He’s
now designed a blockchain-based
system that can help detect image
manipulation — a useful tool in the
age of Fake News. He presented it
at the RSA conference in Singapore
this summer. A short video version is
online at bit.ly/2mDrdhh.”
Send in
Your News
Share what’s happening in
your life with classmates.
Click “Contact Us” at
college.columbia.edu/cct,
or send news to the address
at the top of your column.
56 CCT Winter 2019-20
Bill Schur writes: “’m back in
Fort Worth, Texas, where I have
taken up bowling and golf 50 years
after I quit both. Pursuing a new cit-
izen naturalist hobby, photographing
plants and animals and uploading
them to the iNaturalist website/app/
database, where I go by the handle
cwd912nb. Doing my civic duty by
serving on a stormwater advisory
group for the City of Fort Worth
and working on various neighbor-
hood association projects.”
Larry Rosenwald writes: “I’m
excessively proud to have a verse
translation of mine, of Itzik Manger’s
The Ballad of Old Harlequin, pub-
lished on the website of the Yiddish
Book Center, yiddishbookcenter.org/
language-literature-culture/yiddish-
translation/ballad-old-harlequin,
with a beautiful, heart-wrenching
graphic presentation.”
Finally, news from James
Periconi (who is on our Reunion
Committee): “I very much look
forward to our 50th reunion in June.
I’m happy to report that in my small
— but not unimportant — way, I’m
beginning to pick up where I left
off as a graduate student midway
to getting a Ph.D., Columbia’s only
Danforth Graduate Fellow in the
Class of 70. I admire classmates
who successfully finished their
Ph.D.s in English literature, too
many to name. One in particular I’m
lucky enough to see a lot of, who has
taught and written some of the best
poetry around (not to speak of his
prose works) and started in 1988 an
iconic American cultural institution,
The Best American Poetry series: my
good friend David Lehman. It just
wasn't for me then.
“T continued to pursue a pretty
good career as an environmental
lawyer. This began while I was
studying in Paris, attending Michel
Foucault’s and Claude Lévi-Strauss’s
classes at the Collége de France, liv-
ing with an American science writer
for UNESCO, who wrote about the
gradual destruction of the environ-
ment, convincing me that the world
needed environmental lawyers to
save the planet more than it needed
another Ph.D. in English literature.
But starting about 20 years ago
at a conference I helped organize,
with Edward Said as the keynote
speaker (thanks, Jim McMenamin),
I prepared my first bibliography, a
modest effort at a comprehensive list
of the literary output of Italians in
America. Part-time work as a book
dealer led to research, which led
to collecting, and back to a deeper
research, and soon I was publishing
an article every two to three years —
practicing law not leaving more time
for this activity.
“In recent years, I’ve taken several
intensive courses in bibliography,
including ‘Principles of Descrip-
tive Bibliography,’ at the Rare Book
School at the University of Virginia,
enhancing my research and my
collecting, which culminated in
2012 in an exhibition at the Grolier
Club New York City of my collec-
tion, prompting the now-deceased
William Reese, one of the eminent,
scholarly dealers in American books,
to buy two copies of my catalogue
for his staff, declaring I had filled
an important gap in American book
publishing history. Whew!
“A year ago, the New York Public
Library gave me one of its coveted
positions as a Wertheim Research
Scholar for a year, and recently
extended it to May of next year.
To some a poor step-sibling of the
Cullman Fellows Program (with
its stipends) perhaps, but a key to a
private reading room on the second
floor of the magnificent 42nd Street
library and, even better, a couple
of shelves on which to keep books
ordered from the stacks brought
right there, to keep pretty much as
long as we need them. Lately I’ve
been scouring the Italian news-
papers in New York in the second
half of the 19th century for ads for
imported books from Italy — a
thriving business, it seems — and
then for the exciting emergence of
home-grown materials, in other
words, Italian fiction, poetry, mem-
oirs and histories, in U.S. imprints
(not imported). It’s almost entirely
virgin territory for a scholar in this
sub-field (I know most of them),
so it actually sets my pulse to rac-
ing when I make a discovery and
jump out of my seat, or have my
assumptions utterly (and thrillingly)
defeated by the inexorable power of
real evidence of historical events and
material culture.
“As if I weren't already terribly
fortunate because of this, my com-
panion of the last five-plus years is a
senior Columbia history professor at
the crest of a great career, and about
to publish at Harvard another one
of her award-winning histories of
modern Europe. Every other year
she teaches second semester CC,
enjoying rereading these magnificent
texts — a somewhat different selec-
tion than ours of a half-century ago,
but not as different as you'd think
— and discussing them with really
smart and (mostly) hard-working
College undergrads. Just remember-
ing as much as I occasionally do
about texts from that life-altering
course — thank you, Pete Pardue
from the religion department! —
and from its offshoots, especially
sociology-CC, discussing them with
her, reminds me how much I got
out of Columbia despite the awful
political times.
“Tve run on too long, but there’s
much to say that’s positive, and I
haven't even mentioned children and
grandchildren, in which I’m very
blessed; no bemoaning the pains of
\!?
old age or miscalculations in my life
1971
Lewis Preschel
clo. CGh
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
l.a.preschel@gmail.com
Howie Selinger writes, “I have
lived in Denver for 44 years. After
finishing a Ph.D. in clinical psychol-
ogy, I have been in private practice
performing consultations and giving
expert witness testimony. I specialize
in cognitive behavior therapy, includ-
ing mindfulness-based stress reduc-
tion and acceptance and commitment
therapy. I love my work too much to
retire. It fulfills my personal goals of
decreasing human suffering.”
Howie notes the Core Cur-
riculum created a firm basis for his
practice. His wife, Marilyn, has a
doctorate in neuroscience; their two
grown children returned to Denver
to live. They practice law and psy-
chology. Howie has three grandchil-
dren, who first heard “Roar, Lion,
Roar” minutes after their birth. He
is eager to hear from classmates:
hvs3@columbia.edu.
After 40 years of public service,
Gary Marton retired last May. He
notes his path after Columbia took
a slight detour: “For two years after
graduation, I shared an apartment
on Claremont Avenue while I drove
a cab, played tournament bridge,
helped to run a food co-op and took
piano lessons. I lived the hippie
lifestyle. However, while in college,
1969-71, I performed draft counsel-
ing with good success. The process
was rewarding, so I decided to enroll
in law school: Boston University.
In 1976, I obtained a position with
a solo practitioner, but found no
enjoyment there, so in 1978, I took a
position with the Office of the New
York City Comptroller. For more
than six years I worked on construc-
tion contracts, administrative law,
labor law and public procurement
issues. In 1985, I joined the New
York City Law Department and
ran the litigation unit. We defended
thousands of tax foreclosure
proceedings, occasional bankruptcy,
eminent domain, environmental,
public procurement and tax certio-
rari cases. We also drafted legislative
proposals. In 1999, I gained approval
and was appointed, as a judge, to the
New York State Court System, the
housing part of the Civil Court of
the City of New York. I served for
almost 20 years in various boroughs
throughout the city.
“My wife, Monique, and I have
lived in Brooklyn since 1990. We
have two grown daughters. We enjoy
our lives every day. I am in contact
with Roger Liwer SEAS’71 and
Roy Rosenstein, both of whom
live in Paris, and within walking
distance of each other. During my
time as a judge, I would occasionally
cross paths with Arthur Engoron.
From time to time, I run into Larry
Weiss, who is the headmaster of
Brooklyn Friends School.”
Ron Rosenberg teaches at the
Law School of William and Mary,
but will retire at the end of this year.
Although he and his wife reside
in Williamsburg, Va., presently,
on retirement they will relocate to
Charlottesville. He remembers that
the events of our freshman year
shocked him personally and intel-
lectually. In retrospect, he concludes
that our class was a firsthand
observer of social and political his-
tory that changed the essence of our
country forever.
As your class correspondent, I
claim minimal training in psychol-
ogy and statistics, but our class
seems to have a larger than expected
proportion of people involved in
the legal system of the city, state
and federal government. Add in the
number of lawyers, judges, physi-
cians, and include those in related
medical fields, and it seems the
events and times of our college edu-
cation directed so many of us toward
our appropriate future — serving
others to better our world.
Paul Armstrong follows
Columbia baseball, and the team is
obviously much better than when he
played, though I can attest that Paul
could play quite well. Paul married
Peggy after graduation and did
corporate work for 40 years while
living in Colorado, California and
Pennsylvania, and finally return-
ing to New York. He traveled the
world as well, including but not
limited to, trips to South America,
Japan, South Korea and Europe. In
retirement, Paul devotes his time to
his family: two sons and a daughter,
plus five grandchildren. The oldest, a
grandson, is 16; he lives in Califor-
nia and is ready to look at colleges.
Paul is making a road trip with him
to UCLA, USC and Caltech.
As a retiree, Paul has stopped
solving engineering problems, equa-
tions and such, as he did throughout
college and his career. He says, “I’m a
liberal arts guy at heart, but took the
technical route in college out of prac-
ticality [and the need to find a job].”
While taking engineering courses
and practicing baseball during the
day, and then studying for engineer-
ing at night during college, he had
no time to read great literature; so
in his leisure, he now makes up for
lost time. Otherwise, he spends his
spare hours abusing his knee and hip
replacements by playing tennis.
George Quintero lives in Mara-
caibo, Venezuela, but notes he was
destined to go to Columbia, as his
dad, Jorge Quintero ’45, PS’48 was
pre-med and his mother was BC’44
and also PS’48. George proposes
that Greg Wyatt make a desktop
replica of his Scholar’s Lion for our
reunion. He looks forward to the big
5-0, which is coming up soon.
Paul Scham is the co-editor
of Israel Studies Review. He is the
executive director of the The Joseph
and Alma Gildenhorn Institute for
Israel Studies at the University of
Maryland, College Park.
Len Renery, the captain of
our class’s freshman soccer team,
checked in: “In 1954, the NCAA
in its wisdom mandated freshman
athletics teams, so that incoming
students could play sports. It was
required of all colleges and universi-
ties until 1973. I was privileged
alumninews
to play on Columbia's freshman
soccer team in 1967, along with
outstanding teammates like Rocco
Commisso SEAS’71 and Omar
Chamma.” Another excellent player,
Mike Vorkas, has passed away.
Len continues, “The 1967 freshman
soccer team was undefeated, beating
previously undefeated Penn 4-3 in
the final match of the season. (We
won the hypothetical freshman Ivy
League Title.) Naturally those of
us on the team are proud of this
accomplishment and remember
it vividly. Now, arguably, the most
important position on a soccer team
is the goalkeeper, and I'll have you
know that the goalkeeper on the
undefeated 1967 freshman soccer
team at Columbia was none other
than Lew Preschel. Thanks for a
great season, Lew!”
Len remembers back to our dads
standing on the sidelines cheering
us on. Another great moment for
both of us.
In an effort to present a balanced
picture and give credit where credit
is due, on the soccer pitch in front
of me, I had an incredibly talented
defense, including Rocco; Rinaldo
Veseliza SEAS’71, GSAPP’74,; Joe
Koch; big Jorge Gleser’72; Rich
Milich; and also my friend, fullback
Bobby Brintz, who succumbed to
ALS several years ago. That season
beat the hell out of studying for
organic chemistry. We should also
note that Len was an All-Ivy selec-
tion in 1969 and 1970, and went
on to a career in professional soccer
before becoming a high school and
college coach.
Fortuitously, Rich Milich, one
of the starting fullbacks on our
undefeated freshman soccer team,
dropped us a line: “For the past 30
plus years, I have taught psychol-
ogy at the University of Kentucky;
however, I recently retired. I chaired
more than 35 doctoral dissertations
and performed research concern-
ing ADHD for 40 years. The topic
still holds my interest because
new questions arise, begging to be
answered. Having worked and lived
in Lexington has made it my home,
so | am retiring here as well.”
On a class business note: I am
hopeful that in the spring we can
have an informal class luncheon
someplace in Manhattan. It would
be great to see everyone — those I
remember and those I never knew. If
you like this idea and have sugges-
tions as to where we should meet,
please contact me at l.a.preschel@
gmail.com. I hope to set this up far
enough in advance that some of our
out-of-towners can make it.
Life presents twisty paths — we
have all gone our own way, but we are
not near our finish line. We can still
Roar, Lion, Roar. We're the brother-
hood of ’71ers; let’s stay in touch.
1972
Paul S. Appelbaum
39 Claremont Ave., #24
New York, NY 10027
pappel1@aol.com
Gene Ross reports, “All is well.
My three sons are succeeding in
their careers. I am still busy in my
Westchester County ear, nose and
throat practice, though, after 43 years
of operating, and a clean record, I
have adopted an office-only practice.
My wife and I are taking more time
off, and have wandered the world this
year — Peru, Madeira, the Grand
Canyon, Bulgaria, Greece, Puerto
Rico and eight trips (so far) to our
beach home in Fort Lauderdale. I
learned to play Mozart's Piano Con-
certo No. 19 a couple of years ago, have
been working on Chopin's Etudes
and plan to resume playing jazz on
saxophone. I get to the gym a lot and,
at 69, am 5-foot-10 and 148 lbs.”
He concludes with a welcome
bit of Columbia patriotism: “Roar,
Lion, Roar. Still so honored to call
Columbia alma mater. I’ve always
endeavored to earn her faith in me.”
Bruce I. Jacobs SEAS’73 wrote
that his latest book, Zoo Smart for
Our Own Good: Ingenious Invest-
ment Strategies, Illusions of Safety,
and Market Crashes, which explains
the underlying causes that connect
financial crises from 1987 to the
present, was published last year. His
firm, Jacobs Levy Equity Manage-
ment, entered its 34th year this
fall. In September, the Jacobs Levy
Equity Management Center for
Quantitative Financial Research
at the Wharton School hosted its
seventh annual conference, including
the presentation of the fourth bien-
nial Wharton-Jacobs Levy Prize for
Quantitative Financial Innovation.
On the personal front, Bruce and his
wife of 44 years, Ilene, are proud of
their four children, who are pursuing
careers in social work, finance and
Winter 2019-20 CCT 57
a food business startup. And, of
course, they are enjoying time with
their four grandchildren.
Bill Hudgins shared some
reminiscences of moving in during
Freshman Week: “I grew up in a
small rural town in Virginia and
spent my last two years of high
school at an all-boys school in yet
another rural part of Virginia. The
Spring 1968 shutdowns worried
my folks greatly, but for me, they
signaled I was indeed going to the
right place. My dad and I drove
to NYC — I'd been to New York
before, but he never had. We arrived
and got our first look at the campus.
Hippie-looking people everywhere.
Scores of beautiful girls (did I
mention I'd just finished two years
at an all-boys school?). People with
bullhorns broadcasting whatever
position they embraced. And hun-
dreds of other confused, confounded
and anxious parents wondering, as
my dad surely was, what circle of
hell they were delivering their babies
to, and if they'd ever see them again.
If there was a parents’ orientation
then, we didn’t know about it. So we
moved my stuff in, and my dad very
reluctantly bade me goodbye. I went
off to find out what new world I'd
landed in. It was years later when I
realized how he must have felt after
leaving me in that Boschian scene.”
My wife, Dede, and I were able
to do a few days of guided birding
in Gibraltar and southern Spain this
year at the start of the fall migration.
Though we're not fanatic birders,
we've had the privilege of seeing
these magnificent creatures in some
of the world’s major flyways, includ-
ing Israel and Costa Rica. It’s a
lovely way to spend a couple of days.
I am also pleased to note the pub-
lication of the first book by my son,
Binyamin (the only member of the
family without a Columbia degree),
a member of The New York Times
editorial board. I’m certainly biased
in suggesting that Zhe Economists’
Hour: False Prophets, Free Markets,
and the Fracture of Society is the
most readable account of post-war
economic history that I’ve ever seen,
but there you have it.
If you are receiving CCT but
never see an email from me about
contributing to Class Notes, it
means the Alumni Office doesn’t
have your current email address.
With our 50th reunion looming, it’s
all the more important that they,
58 CCT Winter 2019-20
and I, know how to contact you. So
please send me your email address
and I'll pass it along, or submit it
directly to CCT: college.columbia.
edu/cct/update_contact_info.
1973
Barry Etra
1256 Edmund Park Dr. NE
Atlanta, GA 30306
betra1@bellsouth.net
My entreaties for Class Notes go
unheeded. Thus is a class correspon-
dent’s lot, at times ....
Nick Lubar muses about CCT:
“When we entered Columbia, the
oldest classes listed in CCT were from
the turn of the century; now, we're
somewhat in the middle ourselves. A
way to measure the passage of time.”
Nick was on campus in the spring
for the annual fundraiser for the sail-
ing team, which now has a coach and
a fleet on City Island — a marked
change from yesteryear. As well, he
met with two students who were the
recipients of a prize that he created
for students to study the way Latin
American governments are improv-
ing life for their citizens, and was
“impressed with their enthusiasm.”
Methinks it’s those little gestures
that matter the most.
Barry Etra did not write in, but is
running two forums in Atlanta that
match up investors and early-stage
companies in unique ways that
enable the companies to remain
local, thus building up the local eco-
system. Ihe RAISE Forum was his
invention; he also runs the Atlanta
chapter of the Keiretsu Forum, the
largest and most active angel group
in the world.
And there you have it. Until the
next issue!
1974
Fred Bremer
532 W. 111th St.
New York, NY 10025
f.bremer@ml.com
Walking around Morningside
Heights on a beautiful fall day, I was
struck by the amusing chalkboard
signs outside some of the newer
establishments. In front of Oren’s
Coffee (just north of Tom's Restau-
rant on 112th Street and Broadway),
was a sign that read “EEFFOC —
that’s coffee spelled backwards ...
and I don't give EEFFOC before my
first cup of coffee in the morning!”
Another, in front of Mel’s Burger Bar
(a great place where The Gold Rail
was in our day), took a little artistic
license. It had an arrow pointing
up Broadway and a note saying,
“Columbia: $71,199” and an arrow
pointing to Mel’s that said, “Happy
Hour drinks: $4.” I bet it is a tough
choice for the undergraduates!
You've got to love the disparate
rankings of best colleges, each using
different criteria and weightings
of the factors. A listing in The Wall
Street Journal had Columbia at a dis-
couraging 15th place. But CNBC’s
ratings of the “top 10 U.S. colleges
in big cities” put Columbia at
number 2. The granddaddy of lists,
by U.S News & World Report, has
Columbia tied with Yale at number
3. Take your choice, but we all know
“Who Owns New York?”!
Don't wince when your kids tell
you they plan to major in history
and urban studies. You might think
these majors could make it hard to
get a “good” job. But it all worked
out for Ken Krug (perhaps helped
by getting an M.B.A. at Stanford).
Ken first was an executive at the
RAND Corp. (the public policy
think tank in Los Angeles). In 2007
he became the CFO of the Jewish
Federation Council of Greater Los
Angeles. Since 2011, Ken has been
the CFO of The Asia Foundation in
San Francisco and says he plans to
stay “for a while” in part because the
position gets him to Asia frequently.
One big change is that he has moved
from Berkeley to Los Angeles and
will now make a weekly commute
from L.A. to San Francisco.
Another classmate is a CFO in
San Francisco: Tom Ferguson. He
works for the Episcopal Church but
has a much shorter commute (from
the nearby suburb of Piedmont).
Tom passes on that his daughter,
Elizabeth, completed a master’s at
NYU last summer. He promises
details on what he’s up to when
work lets up.
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
has a new film. Zoni Morrison: The
Pieces Am is about the Nobel- and
Pulitzer-winning novelist. The Las
Angeles Times calls his movie “moving
and profound” and also said, “Look
for this one to be front and center in
its category come Oscar time.” While
Timothy has produced a number of
works that have shown up on TV,
this is his first major piece for the big
screen.
Distant memories put Jim
Rouen in the anti-money launder-
ing group at Citigroup in New York.
He updates us that he is still at
Citi but he now heads its securities
services legal team. He also teaches
a course at the USC Gould School
of Law (done over one weekend)
and teaches a course online; he adds,
“struggling a bit with the tech.” Jim
says he is “still married to my college
(but not Barnard) sweetheart, Mari-
lyn Belloch.” They have two grown
children. One is in film in L.A. and
the other is in the restaurant busi-
ness in NYC. Earlier this year Jim
and his wife moved from the Upper
West Side to Connecticut. He says
he took several alumni courses
(French literature, and the history
of Broadway theater), and says both
“have been absolutely great.”
“Tm a migrant worker these days!”
writes Steve Simon. After serving
on the National Security Council
(as director of Middle East and
North Africa) in Washington, D.C.,
he accepted a three-year post as a
visiting professor at Amherst College
(in Massachusetts). He is now doing
a five-year stint at Colby College (in
Waterville, Maine). Steve adds, “It is
kind of a big moment for us in that
it looks like we are going to sell our
farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
‘This implicitly means we are never
returning to land below the Mason-
Dixon. Weird feeling.”
Also leaving D.C. is Steve
Seidel: “After working on ozone
protection and climate change for
more than 30 years at the EPA and
other environmental organizations,
I retired two years ago. Sad to say
there is way more work left to be
done by the next generation of
activists.” (Officially, Steve was the
director of the Stratospheric Protec-
tion Project at the EPA.) But he is
now off on a new adventure: “My
wife and I are heading to Thailand
to teach English.”
Warren Stern writes from
Greenwich, Conn., “I am liber-
ated from my long legal career at
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
I remain of counsel. Owning your
time is a great privilege.”
How is he filling his days? “I’m
a devoted angler and boater, and
like to travel, spend time with my
wife and two grown children (no
grandchildren at this point) and read
as much as I can,” he says.
Having retired five years ago from
his career on Wall Street, George
Bartos (who lives in NYC) says he
is “living a life of leisure.” He tells us
he enjoys “playing the grandfather
role” for the two sons of his daugh-
five years back. It seemed like such
a good idea that I’ve tried to keep it
up during the non-Lenten months,
those being most of them. If that’s
boring, alas, so be it.”
His thoughts on my obituary,
which he has been planning for
years, are NSFW, so probably not
safe here, either!
Core too much to read
Monarch Notes help you indeed
With Thucydides
— Robert Sclafani "75, GSAS’81
ter (who works for NBCUniversal).
He also tries to keep in contact with
his Columbia fencing team friends.
‘There you have it. Some classmates
continue in their chosen professions,
while others are altering their careers.
There seems to be an increase in
classmates who have decided to take
time to smell the roses. Whatever you
are doing these days, take a moment
to drop me an email!
1975
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ecfund@columbia.edu
Randy Nichols
734 S. Linwood Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21224
rcn2day@gmail.com
Getting a note from David
Gawarecki is always fun. Here’s
the latest: “1. I gave up alcohol
as a way of life, not as an option
in life. 2. I gave up womanizing
because not doing so might shorten
my remaining years (it’s called
mariticide, beginning with the
same three letters as Martha). 3. I
gave up work because it seemed too
plebian (blame Columbia for giving
me unrealistic expectations). 4. I
didn’t give up fast cars — driving a
six-cylinder, standard transmission
Camaro these days, miraculously
without any speeding tickets (so far).
5. I gave up humility for Lent about
Athens, the Acropolis, Milos,
Santorini, Mykonos and more. Not
quite how I (Randy Nichols) spent
my summer vacation, but almost.
Since my Social Security checks
have started rolling in, I’m going to
spend those dollars on vacations!
This past summer, a trip on the Star
Clipper — a four-masted barquen-
tine — was a real treat.
Joel Stern does it again! He
announced the publication of his
newest origami kit, My First Origami
Fairy Tales Kit, which includes a full
cast of characters — a princess, an
ogre and a witch — and has detailed
step-by-step instructions. Colorful
paper collage backdrops and brilliant
folding papers make it easy even for
first-timers. I’ve ordered mine; you
can get yours at amazon.com/gp/
product/080485 1468.
1976
Ken Howitt
1114 Hudson St., Apt. 8
Hoboken, N.J. 07030
kenhowitt76@gmail.com
Some classical music on the turn-
table — Gershwin orchestral works.
I need a lot of time, since I got a lot
of updates. Thanks to all of you!
To start, this coming March
will mark the third annual Dr.
Saul and Dorothy Kit Film Noir
Festival, a 10-year series initiated by
Gordon Kit in honor of his parents.
‘The festival will run Wednesday,
March 25—Sunday, March 29, at the
Lenfest Center for the Arts on the
Manhattanville campus. The festival
organizers (including Gordon)
wrote: “Kit Noir 2020 will feature a
range of Jewish artists and themes.
‘The festival will include films
by Jewish filmmakers (Edgar G.
Ulmer’s Detour, Billy Wilder’s Ace
in the Hole), films that address anti-
Semitism (Crossfire) and WWII (The
Spiral Staircase, The Stranger) and
films on the blacklist and the media
(Scandal Sheet, Sweet Smell of Success).
Once again, a majority of the films
will screen on 35mm film.”
I attended the first two and have
seen other 76ers in the audience.
Last year, I enjoyed a post-festival
meal with Joel Silverstein and his
family at Pisticci. I hope to see many
more classmates this year; tickets will
go on sale at the festival’s website:
arts.columbia.edu/noir. Let me know
if you are planning to attend. At a
minimum, we can grab some coffee.
Mark Giosa retired last year after
a career in corporate real estate: “I
have been enjoying golf, traveling and
reading books — one of these days
I will get around to rereading some
of the classics that I failed to fully
appreciate during my College days.
I was in NYC in May, reunioning
with my buddies from SEAS’76. My
wife had never seen campus, so we
jumped on the Broadway local for a
visit and happened to visit on gradu-
ation day. The campus was beautiful
and brought back many memories.
“My biggest claim to fame is
that my son Alex is performing on
Broadway as the substitute drummer
on Hamilton. We hope to make a
return trip to the city soon to catch
the show.”
I went to Syracuse (I need some
destination suggestions for future
trips!) to see Mika and her tenants,
Linda and Dennis Goodrich, and
to surprise Bob Czekanski and
his wife, Pam, who came by during
their visit to their son at Hobart.
Bob writes: “I live in a small town in
Central Massachusetts, work part-
time and tend to my apple trees. My
oldest son is two years out of college
and my younger sons are in their
senior year of college. All is going
well and I look forward to following
the Lions’s football season.”
Bob Giusti PH’77, a pediatric
pulmonologist and clinical professor
of pediatrics at the NYU School of
Medicine and director of the Pediat-
ric Cystic Fibrosis Center at NYU's
Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital,
says NYU has been approved as the
FF
only Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia
diagnostic and treatment center in
NYC approved by the Primary Cili-
ary Dyskinesia Foundation.
PCD is a genetic disease with
chronic wet coughing and lung
infections resulting from the
inability of cilia that line the airway
to perform their role of clearing
secretions from the lung.
Bob is also proud to have
established, with the assistance of
his daughter, Elizabeth Kipp-Giusti
12, the Norman Hildes-Heim Fund
at the College. This scholarship, in
memory of Norman Hildes-Heim
60, who was the freshman lightweight
crew coach at Columbia, provides
annual support for an undergraduate
in the music department.
Bob lives in Greenwich Village
with his wife, Leslie Kipp, and tries
to stay fit as he approaches his 65th
birthday by daily walking a mile to
and from his pediatric pulmonology
practice at NYU.
John Connell’s daughter Erin
Connell’13 married Christian
Adams on September 7 in Mount
Desert, Maine. There were a lot
of College alumni in attendance,
including Erin’s sister, Brigid 16,
and brother, Will’19. (See “Just
Married!”) John added this caption:
“Special surprise guest appearance:
Dorian ... as in hurricane!”
Toomas Hendrik llves writes:
“After finishing my second term as
president of Estonia and after my
youngest son was born, Stanford
invited me out for a few years. I am
a Distinguished Visiting Scholar
at its Hoover Institution. In 2017 I
received a John Jay Award for dis-
tinguished professional achievement
from the College.”
Since retiring from Wall Street
in 2009, Yuji Sugimoto has been
traveling and sailing the seven seas
on his sailboat: “One of the best
experiences I have had recently was
on land, the walking of the Camino
de Santiago in the northeast corner
of Spain. It is an UNESCO World
Heritage Site-recognized activity that
started about 1,250 years ago as a
Christian pilgrimage but is now done
by anyone, regardless of religious
background. You hike 10-15 miles
every day in the beautiful pastoral
settings just with your backpack,
going from village to village, staying
at hostels and inns. It is a great way
to see this beautiful region up close,
taste real local food and wine, and
Winter 2019-20 CCT 59
above all else give yourself some
time to think, reflect and reminisce
about many things — away from the
internet. And it is a great, refresh-
ing, stressless way to get in shape;
great for 76ers’ age bracket. There are
several routes to Santiago de Com-
postela in Galicia, Spain, but I hiked
the Portuguese Coastal Route with
my wife, Yumi BC’74, BUS’76, from
Porto, Portugal, to Santiago, which
took about 20 days. I am thinking of
doing the purists’ route, The French
Way (aka the ‘real deal’ that takes
about 45 days, starting from Saint-
Jean-Pied-de-Port near Bordeaux in
southwest France and cutting across
the Pyrenees range through the
Basque region to Santiago). If you
have interest in the Camino, watch
the 2011 movie The Way with Martin
Sheen or videos on YouTube.”
A little over a year ago, Laurence
Lubka and his partner, Miriam,
purchased a large house in Pasadena.
“We are now just a few feet from
the Rose Parade route,” he writes.
“Most people are downsizing, but we
upsized (and still lack room for the
combined households). I spend a lot
of time traveling to my son's family
in the Bay Area and to my daughter's
family (including my granddaughter)
in Seattle. I recently hung out with a
group of Columbia friends (including
some from the CC’77 and CC’78)
in Crested Butte, Colo. We have
gathered as a group pretty much every
other year for more than 40 years. A
proud Columbia tradition.
“My construction law practice is
quite busy, as construction in Los
Angeles is quite busy. I’ve heard
about this term ‘retired,’ although
I’m told I don't entirely grasp the
concept. I’m starting slowly and will
soon take Fridays off. In the mean-
time, I’m still having fun.”
From Gary Lehman BUS’80,
SIPA’80: “Greetings to all with best
wishes for a safe and wonderful fam-
ily/friends time and spiritual renewal
over the holidays. I am always
proudly kvelling over my two grand-
daughters and grandson — with two
more grandsons on the way — not
to forget six granddogs, who go nuts
when I bring them treats of dried
codfish skins. After retiring from a
big blue IT company where I was
for 36 years, I now work for the
Department of Homeland Security,
which I thoroughly enjoy; it is an
increasingly important mission.
“This summer I led my team up
7,000 ft. to the summit of Pikes
Peak at 14,000-plus ft. on a cancer
treatment/research fundraiser (Swim
Across America: Making Waves
to Fight Cancer; my photo of a
smiling swimmer and her niece was
used nationwide on Clear Channel,
which I admit was pretty neat). In
December, my wife, Linda, and I
will tour Ethiopia. And then I will
dive in Djibouti, observing/docu-
menting whale shark behavior and
collecting plankton, tissue and poo
samples in the Gulf of Tadjoura to
capture data for the Shark Research
A September reception in Washington, D.C., brought together Columbia
alumni (left to right) Thomas J. Motley ’76, Reynold Verret 76, Gustavo
Paredes ’77 and Steven L. Richardson.
60 CCT Winter 2019-20
Institute's whale shark database
regarding their migration, mating,
and life and times to try to 1) under-
stand and 2) save them — before
they are gone forever.”
Mario Fernandez writes: “I
retired in 2011 from the United
States Department of the Trea-
sury Internal Revenue Service,
Statistics of Income division, as
‘Statistician, Economics, after 30
years with the U.S. government. I
was born in Santo Domingo, the
Dominican Republic. I was part of
the 1967, 1968 and 1969 groups of
the Upward Bound program at the
College. I don’t think I was one of
the original members because, as I
recall, it started in 1966. I was one
of the students from Jamaica H.S. I
was also part of the Student Forum
when I was a student and I remem-
ber the other members like Richard
Collins, Paul Nyden 66, Linda
Nyden, Michael Merryl, Jonathan
Draper ’74 and some others. For a
while I was a professional student,
but I ended up getting my degree in
1976. I would have to think some
more to remember those years,
which is the reason others might not
want to respond. God bless Roger
Lehecka’67, GSAS’74.”
Kevin Berry writes: “Lots going
on here in Philadelphia. Our sports
teams are, for the most part, superior
to those in New York, so that is
always a comfort. Still working,
out of either masochism or love
of the game. I am a commercial
trial lawyer, and a busy one at that.
Also enjoying time with my three
children, three stepchildren and five
grandchildren — most are around
here, but one is in Florida and one
is in Los Angeles. I was in Scotland
for a week in June, brandishing my
abysmal golf game (I told you I was
a busy lawyer, didn’t IP). I headed to
Aspen for a week in September, then
took a two-week trip to Eastern
Europe in October. We will spend
the holidays in Palm Beach, Fla.,
where we have our second home.
Running across Columbia grads in
Philadelphia is like trying to find a
Phillies fan in the Bronx, but I see
some from time to time.”
Tom Motley wrote about a
reception that he attended in
Washington, D.C., that was hosted
by Reynold Verret, president of
Xavier University of Louisiana, in
New Orleans, at the Qatar-America
Institute on September 11 in honor
of the Congressional Black Caucus
Foundation’s 49th Annual Legisla-
tive Conference. Tom commented,
“This event provided an opportunity
for classmates to reminisce about the
Columbia experience and the impact
of Literature Humanities readings
of Freud, Machiavelli and others.”
So, Gershwin’s Second Rhapsody
(very underrated in my opinion) is
concluding and I have once again
written too many words for my edi-
tor. Keep those updates comin’ and
keep smilin’!
LOT
David Gorman
111 Regal Dr.
DeKalb, IL 60115
dgorman@niu.edu
Greetings for winter, Class of 1977!
Hope you're all having a wonder-
ful time. Please take a moment to
send a note — travel, work, family,
favorite Columbia memories and/
or anything you want to share. Your
classmates want to hear from you!
1978
Matthew Nemerson
35 Huntington St.
New Haven, CT 06511
matthewnemerson@gmail.com
Here we go again. I don't mind get-
ting older. I’m calmer and happier,
exercise more and generally have a
much better outlook on everything.
Still, I don’t like September. Oh, the
weather is great, there is football
and baseball at the same time and
everyone seems very serious about
business and working on Friday
afternoons. But when the holidays
come and we aren't going away on
the weekends I have a real sense of
another year being etched off the
tablet. There is something both so
cliché but also so accurate about the
fall of life and the very certain smell
of running out of the endless time
we all sensed in college as the leaves
begin to turn again this time.
Gary Pickholz SIPA’81, who has
been updating some of us on the
nuances of the last Israeli elections
writes, “English is such a marvelous
lingua franca — recrudescence: Go
ahead, find a comparably concise
term in any other major tongue.
Rav Aryeh (Lionel Trilling CC 1925,
GSAS’38) and Reb Zisheh (Sidney
Morgenbesser) would approve with
a definitive ‘yeah, right.’ Reb Zisheh
might have added his infamous
“What is it that you maximize in
Jewish decision theory? Regret.”
Looking back at how we are
different from our children, he notes,
“We were vastly more optimistic
about our futures professionally, per-
sonally and as paterfamilias than our
sons today. And both generations are
correct in their respective analyses.”
Looking ahead, Gary unveiled
a program that he created at some
of his stomping grounds: “Shira
and I have been blessed with the
opportunity to endow a small set
of Pickholz Scholars as a ‘post-
Rhodes Scholar Rhodes Scholar-
ship,’ permitting some of my Oxford
students to go for moonshots that
may truly alter the world for good,
but require far longer than two years
effort and VC seed funding. I have
partnered to create a comparable
program for Israeli scholars studying
at Columbia, Harvard and Stanford.
Nothing is more vital to future
Israeli—Diaspora relations than to
see a significant number of next-
generation Israeli leadership secure
their advanced degrees in the United
States, and live among us.”
From Mintz Levin in New York,
Jeffrey Moerdler notes, “We
recently had our fifth grandchild,
and two of our kids and their fami-
lies have moved from apartments
on the West Side — one to New
Milford, N.J. (near Teaneck), and
the other to New Rochelle, N.Y.
‘The third is still on the West Side.
We are lucky that they are all within
a 20-minute drive from Riverdale,
albeit in different directions.”
‘The always reliable Thomas
Reuter SEAS’79, with General
Electric, is back with a new message
for us: “My oldest son, Matthew’07,
contributed a piece on Columbia
men’s lacrosse for “The Last Word’
column in CC7’s Spring 2019 issue,
and the staff selected one of my
color photos from the 2006 Colum-
bia-Princeton game to accompany
it. Look on your coffee table and you
will no doubt find it. My next chal-
lenge is to be paid for my work like
my youngest son, Tim 11. Google
“Timothy Reuter and Syrian Civil
War’ for a sample of his work.”
We asked about favorite trips and
Tom noted, “I have visited all the
Grand Slam tennis sites: London,
Paris and Melbourne. [Also] the
Mauna Kea Observatories on the
island of Hawaii; I thought there
were a lot of stars at 6,000 ft. — by
the time you reach 9,000 ft. there
were at least a billion more. Carl
Sagan was right!”
Philip Vecchio has been mar-
ried to Catherine since 1985. He
writes, “I am far more apprecia-
tive of our Founding Fathers and
what they have done to create the
greatest civilization in the history of
mankind. I am also appreciative that
Columbia was devoted to teaching
Western civilization and requiring
students to read the classics; more so
now than in 1978. But when I look
at the campus today, I unfortunately
perceive the inmates now run the
asylum. We need to emphasize
respecting the wisdom that comes
from experience.”
Phil’s goal “is to transition into
‘retirement, where I am working
pro-bono for a Christian charity or
mission domestically or internation-
ally. My wife and I have traveled to
Florence, Italy, and Cork, Ireland;
both were stunningly beautiful for
different reasons. We now hope to
travel to Alaska and to many of the
National Parks that we have not had
the opportunity to visit while busy
raising children and paying bills.”
Al Feliu LAW’81 tells us, “I
have had a rewarding career as an
employment lawyer and arbitrator
and mediator. Most of my work now
is as a neutral (arbitrator, mediator,
investigator), although I have a small
law practice and counsel clients. I
live in New Rochelle with my wife
of 33 years, Susan Hobart LAW’83,
an attorney with Shearman & Ster-
ling, whom I met at the Law School.
We have three grown children all
living in the New York area. The
classmates I interact most with are
Joe Greenaway and John Flores.
“My perspective when I was at the
College was more hopeful than kids’
today, what with remnants of the 60s
‘we are going to change the world
for the better.’ This generation seems
more inward looking and pessimistic
about their futures, with good cause.
However, the College is much more
attuned to the needs of the student
body, it appears, than was the case in
the 1970s — a very good develop-
ment. I plan to continue to enjoy
time with my wonderful family and
my legal practice.”
alumninews
Chuck Callan says he is looking
ahead and looking forward to “reading
and rereading the Great Books and
to be transported into the world of
the mind. Russian literature, French
romance, Greek tragedy and comedy.”
And finally, William Hartung,
with the Center for International
Policy, is “continuing my work at
a progressive foreign policy think
tank. I have done a lot of writing
aimed at ending U.S. arms sales
and military support for the Saudi
regime due to its brutal war in
Yemen, in which it has killed thou-
sands of civilians in indiscriminate
air strikes and driven the country to
the brink of famine. Congress has
begun to take notice of this issue,
passing a number of amendments
to block U.S. arms and military
support to the Saudi regime. So
far, these efforts have been vetoed
by the Trump administration, but
the political calculus is shifting as I
write this. I have also spearheaded
an effort to promote substantial cuts
in Pentagon spending, under the
umbrella of the Sustainable Defense
Task Force, a group of experts that
includes former military personnel,
White House and Congressional
budget analysts, and representatives
of non-governmental organizations.
Thinking of campus life today
he says, “I believe that life is more
stressful for kids coming up today,
from college debt to a lack of
well-paying jobs with job security
to larger issues like the impact of
climate change on their futures.” He
plans to “build my organization into
a bigger player in the foreign policy
debate while making time for family
and fun, including my hobby as a
standup comic.”
William’s favorite recent trips
include China and South Africa;
he also “has enjoyed regular trips to
Mexico, Paris and London, and a
recent trip to Prague.”
I have to brag a bit as my wife,
Marian Chertow BC’77, was
recently put in the Connecticut
Women’s Hall of Fame for her work
as an environmental leader in her
role as a professor at the Yale School
of Forestry & Environmental Stud-
ies and sitting on many boards and
committees around the world. If
you remember, her thing is reducing
waste and thinking about things
like garbage, recycling and how
businesses can co-locate to be more
efficient and waste fewer resources.
She also won the International
Society for Industrial Ecology’s
Society Prize, awarded every two
years, at this year’s conference in
Beijing. And did I mention that my
daughter Joy is working for a food-
tech startup in Shanghai and writing
a blog about bugs called “Get Bug-
gie”? You could look it up.
US)
Robert Klapper
8737 Beverly Blvd., Ste 303
Los Angeles, CA 90048
robertklappermd@aol.com
News from Joe Ferullo: “I retired
from CBS in March. I was the
executive VP of programming for
the company’s syndicated television
division, overseeing such shows as
Judge Judy, Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray
Show and Entertainment Tonight,
among others. A wonderful gig, a
great place — but after 13 years
there (and 12 years before that at
NBC News), it was time to move on
and exhale.
“T had no Plan B, still don’t. But
I did get a call in late March from
the owner of the Washington, D.C.,
newspaper/website The Hill — we'd
met years ago over business negotia-
tions. He asked me to write a regular
opinion column from Los Angeles
for The Hill on media and politics.
“It’s been a bit of a college-
dream-come-true. I was editor-in-
chief of Spectator back in the day,
and initially pursued a career in
print journalism — where almost
everyone’s dream is to be a colum-
nist. So, this is a fun return to the
beginning. We'll see what happens
from here, but it has been an unan-
ticipated gift.
“Family matters: My wife, Sylvia
Lopez, spent more than 25 years
as a local news anchor here in Los
Angeles, left three years ago to pur-
sue a master’s in public health and
now does research for UCLA's Jons-
son Comprehensive Cancer Center.
My oldest daughter, Daniella, an
NYU grad, is developing an execu-
tive career in Hollywood — she is
an assistant to the president of the
combined Disney/Fox television stu-
dios. Our younger daughter, Isabella,
is a junior at The George Washing-
ton University in D.C., majoring in
psychology, which will be helpful to
the entire family. All the best!”
Winter 2019-20 CCT 61
Howard Z. Goldschmidt PS’83
was recently appointed president of
the American Committee for Shaare
Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
Shaare Zedek is the busiest hospital
in Jerusalem and is well known for
its innovative treatment of heart
disease, stroke and trauma. Howie
continues to teach cardiology and
practice interventional echocar-
diography at Shaare Zedek every
February. The rest of the year, he is
director of echocardiography at The
Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, NJ.
His wife of 34 years, Debbie, is a
lawyer specializing in immigration
law; he has three children, and four
grandsons who live in Israel.
Howie writes, “I have only
fond memories of my years on
Morningside Heights. The liberal
arts education was incomparable.
Exposure to Art Humanities and
modern literature was the perfect
antidote to the pre-med grind. ‘Eliot
Joyce, Pound,’ taught by Wallace
Gray, and ‘Ttalian Cinema, taught
by Pellegrino D’Acierno, shaped my
cultural tastes. In my senior year, I
was lucky to take Willard Gaylin’s
Freud course and Arthur Hertz-
berg’s ‘History of Zionism, both of
which gave me strong foundations
for continued study.”
Robert C. Klapper: Today’s
Columbia memory comes from a
small, skinny-legged, 36-inch-high
table that I recently uncovered in
my garage. I made this table with
my father, Abraham the carpenter,
before starting my senior year living
in Furnald. The reason for the dimen-
sions of tall, skinny legs and being
10 inch x 24 inch is because this table
fits perfectly over the radiator (pro-
nounced raa-diator, like radical, not
ray-diator, like radiate — and I still
say pocketbooks, not purses, because
I still bleed Columbia blue).
As you might recall, it was for-
bidden to cook in our dorm rooms.
But during my junior year, in a visit
to a friend’s Shangri-La in Furnald
(remember this was a coveted
building, only for seniors), I saw the
light — a custom-made table fitted
perfectly over the steam heated
coils! My parents could not afford
to give me any financial assistance,
so tuition and room and board came
solely from my work in the Catskill
Mountains and the bowling alley job
at Ferris Booth. Money was tight,
and I realized I could no longer
afford the meal plan. So when I saw
62 CCT Winter 2019-20
a box of Corn Flakes and ramen
noodles on this custom-made table
over the radiator, it was as though
the holy grail of surviving my senior
year came into view.
I immediately took the A train
home to Far Rockaway and told my
father we needed to make a custom
table like one I had just seen. This
turned out to be one of the great
moments in my life with my father.
To him, it was a perfect way to pro-
vide some support for my journey
to a better life. We immediately
jumped in his truck and went to his
wood shop. I remember him say-
ing, “Robby, we're going to do this
together, because I want to teach
you how to make this table.” He said
the skinny legs would be made from
a long piece of 2 inch x 2 inch wood.
He asked me how high it had to be
to sit just above the radiator; I said
36 inches. He said, “OK, take my
tape measure and the pencil from
behind your ear and measure 36
inches and make a mark.” We then
used a table saw to cut along the line
making the first leg of the table.
He then said, “OK, now let’s make
this second leg from this 2x2 piece of
wood.” He then explained, “Robby,
you no longer need the ruler, because
we will use this first leg as the tem-
plate for the second leg.” I laid the first
leg along the long piece of wood, took
the pencil from behind my ear and
made the mark. I then cut the second
leg. I was about to use the second leg
as a template for the third leg, when
my father said, “No Robby, don’t do
that. The second leg cannot be the
template for the third leg because if
you made even the slightest error, this
error will magnify with each subse-
quent leg you make. Go back and use
the first leg you made as the template
for legs two, three and four.”
He then said something that I
will always remember and cherish:
“Robby, you must always go back to
the original.” This metaphor for my
life has been my mantra in the many
facets of my journey as a surgeon,
inventor, author, sculptor and ESPN
radio host. That table saved me
money from the meal plan. The Corn
Flakes and ramen noodles it allowed
me to stack sustained me my whole
senior year. But it was in building that
table that I learned the greatest life
lesson and enjoyed one of the greatest
moments I ever had with my dad.
What relics are in your garage?
Let me know. Roar, Lion, Roar!
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Michael C. Brown
London Terrace Towers
410 W. 24th St., Apt. 18F
New York, NY 10011
mcbcu80@yahoo.com
It’s official. Our 40th-year reunion
will be held Thursday, June 4-Satur-
day, June 6, in New York City. Your
Reunion Committee has been work-
ing diligently on the agenda, with a
cocktail party, all-class bash at the
New York Public Library and our
class dinner on Saturday planned so
far. You can expect an event-filled
weekend with plenty of opportuni-
ties to reconnect with classmates.
Please reach out to all your College
friends to remind them to come
back to campus!
Jim Schachter will take over as
CEO of New Hampshire Public
Radio, succeeding former chief exec-
utive Betsy Gardella. Jim previously
held the top news executive position
at WNYC, the country’s largest
public media station. In his role there,
he oversaw programs including On
the Media, The Brian Lehrer Show
and Radio Rookies. Before joining
WNYC, Jim spent nearly 17 years
at The New York Times, where he was
associate managing editor.
Greg Peterson was recently
named to the “Best Lawyers in
America” 2020 list. He is a partner at
Casner & Edwards in Boston, where
his practice specializes in real estate
development and environmental law.
Matt Kennedy has been work-
ing with fellow lacrosse alumni to
promote the sport at Columbia, with
the ultimate goal of making men’s
lacrosse a varsity sport. Anyone
interested in learning more about
the initiative can check out makeit8.
com. Also, for those who missed it,
check out CC7’s Spring 2019 issue,
page 88, “The Last Word,” or college.
columbia.edu/cct/issue/spring19.
Congratulations to Dr. George
Yancopoulos GSAS’86, PS’87
on receiving the 2019 Alexander
Hamilton Medal. George is the
president and chief scientific officer
at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. He
holds many patents, is active in
STEM educational commitments
and is a supporter of the College.
Looking forward to seeing you all
at reunion in June! Drop me a line
at mcbcu80@yahoo.com.
Lance Warrick "79 ran into Ben Drachman ‘17 on July 30 in Washington State.
Warrick was hiking north on a 75-mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail when
he crossed paths with Drachman, who was hiking south on his attempt to
hike the entire length of the 2,653-mile trail from Canada to Mexico.
DARRELL LEE
1981
Kevin Fay
8300 Private Ln.
Annadale, VA 22003
kfayO516@gmail.com
Greetings for winter, Class of 1981!
I heard from James Klatsky about
the addition of two grandchildren:
Madeline, born in April to his son,
Michael, and his wife, Lauren (they
also have a son, Sammy); and Mia,
born in July to his daughter, Elisheva,
and her husband, Marc. I’m not sure
if James is located physically close to
his grandchildren, but if so, he now
has his weekends blocked out with
grandparent duties!
Congratulations, and best wishes
for your grandchildren.
On a personal note, I have moved
from Northern Virginia to Charlot-
tesville (again), this time for good. We
are empty-nesters save for our three
dogs — all good. Hope to hear from
more classmates in the near future!
1982
Andrew Weisman
81S. Garfield St.
Denver, CO 80209
columbiacollege82@gmail.com
No news this time, gents! Please
make it a New Year's resolution to
send in some news. Your classmates
want to hear from you!
1983
Roy Pomerantz
Babyking/Petking
182-20 Liberty Ave.
Jamaica, NY 11412
bkroy@msn.com
My boys and I attended several
Columbia Lions baseball games this
past season at Robertson Field at
Satow Stadium. The games are free
and the adjoining football field is
open to the public. The Lions are very
competitive and lost to Harvard this
year in the championship Ivy League
playofts. Phil Satow’65 told a memo-
rable story at the 2014 Alexander
Hamilton Award Dinner, the year he
was the honoree. Phil was a middling
second baseman when he played for
Columbia and lamented that the
coach could never remember his
name. “Thankfully, that’s no longer
a problem,” he said with a chuckle
during his acceptance speech.
My wife, Dr. Deborah Gahr, and I
again hosted a NYC Summer Send-
off for entering Columbia students.
Several classmates attended, including
Ken Chin, Peter Ripin, Bruce
Abramson, Eric Wertzer and Jon
Ross. Matthew Patashnick, associate
dean for student and family support
at Columbia, welcomed the students.
Bruce Abramson is a senior
fellow at the London Center for
Policy Research and director of policy
at the Iron Dome Alliance. He is
also a technology lawyer and expert
witness in private practice. He is the
author of Digital Phoenix: Why the
Information Economy Collapsed and
How It Will Rise Again (2005), The
Secret Circuit: The Little-Known Court
Where the Rules of the Information Age
Unfold (2007) and numerous articles
on the interplay among technology,
business, law and public policy. Bruce’s
multidisciplinary practice draws upon
his experience as a computer scientist,
an economist and an attorney. He has
helped clients navigate litigation, nego-
tiation, growth, technology assessment,
merger and regulatory settings.
Prior to becoming a lawyer, Bruce
developed deep experience teaching
and researching artificial intelli-
gence, big data, Bayesian modeling,
statistics and forecasting. He then
deployed those skills in a variety
of economic settings, shifting his
focus into economic modeling. His
practical expertise includes valuing
intellectual property and other
asset classes; assessing damages and
royalties; evaluating and deploying
patents, products, digital copy-
rights and technologies; devising
growth strategies; drafting licenses,
contracts and patents; determining
and predicting competitive effects
and market responses; modeling and
analyzing complex data; assembling
and managing cross-functional
teams; facilitating communication
among engineering, management
and legal teams; marketing and cul-
tivating client relationships; teach-
ing, research and public speaking;
and publishing books and articles on
technology, business and law.
Peter Ripin is a litigation partner
with Davidoff Hutcher & Citron
and has assisted numerous institu-
tions and individuals in resolving
breach of contract, real estate and
Roy Pomerantz ’83 hosted an NYC Summer Sendoff for entering Columbia
students; several alumni friends came to the event to welcome the new
students. Left to right: Pomerantz, Ken Chin ’83, Peter Ripin ’83, Bruce
Abramson ’83, Eric Wertzer ’83 and Jon Ross ’83.
partnership disputes; defending
franchise owners; and protecting
trade secrets and confidential infor-
mation. He has also written exten-
sively, lectured and been interviewed
on numerous legal issues affecting
the hotel and hospitality industries.
From Eddy Friedfeld: “On
August 25, Neal Smolar and Betsy
Chutter Smolar BC’85’s daughter
Abigail was married to Daniel Stern
at a beautiful event in a converted
Core
Haiku
Betsy had just celebrated their 30th
wedding anniversary. I introduced
them during senior year at Colum-
bia and despite that fact I have been
a welcome and grateful guest at their
High Holiday dinner table for 29
out of the last 30 years.”
From Drew Velting: “For the
last several years, I’ve been writing
and performing Americana and
roots-oriented music with acoustic
guitar (6- and 12-string), banjo and
Here in my 50s
As | first read the Core texts;
I blame the CliffsNotes
— Lou Orfanella ’82
warehouse in Paterson, N.J. Pres-
ent were five of the six inaugural
residents of Suite 505 East Campus:
Steve Arenson, Adam Bayroff,
Eddy Friedfeld, Len Rosen and
Neal (the sixth is Teddy Wein-
berger) — we all maintain that the
holes in the walls were there when
we moved in. Also in attendance
were Larry Herman, Aron Kressel
81, Mark Segall’84, Ray Edelman
82, Leslie Pressner Edelman BC’85,
Miriam Kushner BC’83 and Monica
Marks Aboodi BC’85. Everyone
looked great, and it was fun catching
up. As of this writing, Neal and
harmonica. Last year, I recorded
and released my first single, “The
Mournful Death of Heather Heyer,’
to coincide with the one-year anni-
versary of the Unite the Right rally
and counter-protests in Charlot-
tesville. The song is available for
digital download, and proceeds are
being donated to the Heather Heyer
Foundation. Heather’s mother,
Susan Bro, and I were interviewed
in a CBS19 News (the Charlot-
tesville, Va., affiliate) feature story
and Newsday also featured an article
about the song. The video is available
on my YouTube channel.
Winter 2019-20 CCT 63
Class Notes
Alumni Sons and Daughters
Seventy members of the Columbia College Class of 2023 and five members of the Columbia Engineering
Class of 2023 are sons or daughters of College alumni. This list is alphabetical by the parent(s)’ last name.
STUDENT
Alexander Aibel
Santa Monica, Calif:
Caroline Alleyne
La Jolla, Calif:
Charlotte Atkins
Naples, Fla.
Nader Babar
Houston
Andre Balian
Skillman, NJ.
Sareen Balian
Chevy Chase, Md.
Pierce Woodall
Coppell, Texas
Jonathan Berkowitz
Potomac, Md.
Edward Brodsky
New York City
PARENT
Sarah Aibel 92
Neville Alleyne ’79
Charles Atkins ’86
Nadeem Babar’87
John Balian’85
Nairi Balian 188
Tracy Bender’92
Philip Berkowitz ’88
Leslie G. Brodsky ’88
Samantha Camacho Michael Camacho ’91 and
Nyack, N.Y.
Kevin Chaikelson
New York City
Claire Choi
Washington, D.C.
Olivia Choi
Washington, D.C.
Yasmine Dahlberg
Stockholm
Sonali Dasari
Brentwood, Tenn.
Elizabeth DeSouza
Darien, Conn.
Javier Dobles
Holden, Mass.
Luke Dobrovic
Oakton, Va.
Brenna Dugel
Paradise Valley, Ariz.
Stephen Eisner
New York City
Patricia Labrada ’91
Steven Chaikelson ’89 and
Amanda Rosen Chaikelson’91
John Choi’91
John Choi’91
Jennifer Anglade
Dahlberg 93
Sriram Dasari ’92
Patrick DeSouza’80
Ricardo Dobles ’89
Nino Dobrovic’86
Pravin Dugel’84
Linda Mischel Eisner ’87
64 CCT Winter 2019-20
STUDENT
Sylvie Epstein
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Marcus Fong
Hong Kong Island
Alexander Glasberg
New York City
Mary Grealy
McLean, Va.
Andrew Haberman
New York City
Leah Hale *
Weston, Fla.
Rebecca Hale
Weston, Fla.
James Harrison
Bronx, N.Y.
Liam Hayes *
Greenwich, Conn.
Samuel Hosmer
Belmont, Calif.
Samuel Hyman
Newburgh, N.Y.
Zoe Hyman
Englewood, N.J.
Sameer Joshi
Cranbury, N.J.
Elyse Kanner *
Armonk, N.Y.
Ethan Kim
South Orange, N.J.
Alexandra Kirk
Rye, N.Y.
Margot Kleinman
New York City
Hani Kodmani
London, U.K.
Lindsay Kornguth
PARENT
Daniel Futterman ’89
William Fong ’87
Scot Glasberg ’86
Francis Grealy Jr. 75
Sinclair Haberman ’78
Martin Hale ’74
Martin Hale ’74
David Harrison ’83
Andrew Hayes ’85
Basil Hosmer’85
Barry Hyman’77
Joshua Hyman’85
Jitendra Joshi’90
Michael Kanner 90
Arthur Kim 795
Edward Kirk ’92
Howard Kleinman’84
Omar Kodmani’89
David Kornguth’87 and
Orinda, Calif Linda Kornguth (née Wang) ’87
Bertina Kudrin
Fort Lee, N.J.
Sergey Kudrin’81
STUDENT
Christian Law
Mount Sinai, N.Y.
Jackson Law
Mount Sinai, N.Y.
Olivia Lease *
Inverness, Calif.
Hannah Lederman
San Francisco
Samuel Levine
Great Neck, N.Y.
Lucy Blumenfield
Culver City, Calif.
Emma Lill
Loganville, Ga.
Emily Lim
Asheville, N.C.
Alexander Mendelson
Miami, Fla.
Ruby Mendelsund
New York City
Zoe Meshel
Roslyn, N.Y.
Zoe Metalios
Riverside, Conn.
Anthony Ozerov
Moscow
Maximilian Ozerov
Moscow
Andrew Riordan
Greenville, S.C.
Jackson Roberts
New York City
Hattie Rogovin
Los Angeles
Juliette Rooney
London, U.K.
Miriam Alvarez-Rosenbloom
Cambridge, Mass.
Darius Rubin
London, U.K.
PARENT
Edward Law’86
Edward Law’86
Elizabeth Lease 02
Ilene Lederman ’87
Gregory Levine 83
Jaclyn S. Lieber ’88
Jason Lill 96
Chang Lim ’87
Victor Mendelson’89
Peter Mendelsund ’91
Adam Meshel’92 and
Samara Meshel 92
Steve Metalios 89 and Joy
Metalios (née Kim) SEAS’90
Serge Ozerov’85
Serge Ozerov’85
Michael Riordan ’80
Lauren Roberts 90
John Rogovin 83
Robert Rooney ’89
Rachel E.
Rosenbloom 90
James Rubin ’82
STUDENT PARENT
Miles Schachner
Miami, Fla.
Seth Schachner’85
Isabel Schmidt Benjamin Schmidt’86
Seattle
James Schwann Thomas Schwann’82
Ottawa Hills, Ohio
Isabelle Seckler Jonathan Seckler’87
Boca Raton, Fila.
Doran Sekaran Rajan Sekaran’82
Weston, Conn.
Boaz Shaham Shai Shaham’89
New York City
Yena Shin * Duke Shin ’89
Palisades, N.Y.
Raphael Simonson Alexander Simonson 84
Teaneck, N.J.
Eleanor Streit James Streit ’88
Tarrytown, N.Y.
Natalie Tak Thomas Tak’91
Weston, Mass.
Leora Schloss Aviva Taubenfeld 92
Bronx, N.Y.
Miriam Weinstein
Hoboken, N.J.
James Weinstein 84
Mizia Wessel Carlton Wessel ’84
Washington, D.C.
Eva Westphal Christoph Westphal 90
Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Leif Wood Timothy Wood ’96 and
East Hampton, NY. Mira Dougherty-Johnson’96
Six Columbia College transfer students are
sons or daughters of College alumni.
Kemal Aziz ’22 Irfan Aziz ’90 and
Staten Island, N.Y. Radhi Majmudar’90
Nina Halberstadter 22 Milton H. Beller 63
Scotch Plains, NJ.
Adam Burns ’22 Ric Burns ’78
New York City
Ariel David ’22 Michael David’89
New Rochelle, N.Y.
Jonathan Otto-Bernstein ’22 Katharina
New York City Otto-Bernstein 86
Thalia von Moltke-Simms ’22 Clifford
Princeton, N.J. Simms 86
* member of the Columbia Engineering Class of 2023
alumninews
“Tm planning the release of
another single and title track of
my first EP, Where Do the Homeless
Dwell? Y'm really enjoying the oppor-
tunity to perform live, write and
record music and share it with others.
My website is drewveltingmusic.com.
“On a more personal note, my
wife, Olivia; children, Addie and
Otto; and I recently spent a week-
end in Manhattan that included a
walk around the Columbia campus.
Wonderful to step inside John Jay
for the first time in almost 40 years.
Brought back many great memories.
Stopped by The Hungarian Pastry
Shop for dessert to top things off.
Also started rereading the Lit Hum
syllabus earlier this year. My first
introduction to Sappho! Writing
poetry again after a long hiatus and
submitting for publication. Hoped
to get to a football game this fall
and was looking forward to catching
up with classmates.”
From Steve Arenson LAW’86:
“We live in Riverdale and have
three boys (13, 11 and 8) anda
girl. Thank G-d, everyone is doing
well. 1 practice law in the field of
employment litigation with my
own firm, Arenson, Dittmar &
Karban, in Manhattan. We recently
concluded a seven-year battle for
106 immigrant car wash workers
who were exploited, working 12
hours a day, six to seven days a
week, for $40—$50 a day in cash.
We obtained the largest recovery
ever in the low-pay car wash
industry. Here’s a link to the article
in The New York Times about the
case: nyti.ms/20E5oyJ.
From Gerrard Bushell
GSAS’84: “It has been a while
since I wrote. I have spent the last
four and half years working in Gov.
Andrew Cuomo’s administration as
president and CEO of DASNY, one
of the nation’s most prolific issuers
of municipal debt and largest public
builders. I am proud to work with
Columbia on a number of important
financings critical to the develop-
ment of the Manhattanville campus.
DASNY is proud to partner with
Columbia on such a magnificent
project. I have had the great pleasure
to tour the Jerome L. Greene Sci-
ence Center and the Lenfest Center
for the Arts. It’s a magnificent
campus and I get to look at it every
Tuesday or Wednesday night on my
drive back from Albany, when I cut
across Broadway.
“DASNY is the financier for social
infrastructure across New York State,
and we have done incredible work
with colleges and universities across
New York. Our work in life sciences
with CUNY Advanced Science
Research Center, Columbia’s Jerome
L. Greene Science Center and NYU's
Tandon School of Engineering has
supported an important research
corridor across Manhattan. DASNY
helps New York State remain a major
player in the efforts to attract talent,
and support inclusion.
“T have also followed my dream.
For years, I had wanted to teach at
Columbia and, over the last two
years, have had the pleasure to teach
an undergraduate seminar on cities
and development, and one on states,
finance and economic development.
It tickled me to stand in room 711
of the International Affairs Building
every Wednesday night, where I was
once an undergraduate and graduate
student studying with Professor
Alan Westin, Professor Charles V.
Hamilton SW’82 and Professor
Robert Y. Shapiro (who still teaches
political science).
“My daughter, Claire, is a senior
at Dalton and I have asked her,
a New York City kid, to look at
Columbia. She grew up swim-
ming in the pool and hanging out
[on campus] with me when I was
working on my Ph.D. She is a much
better student than I ever was, and
she is excited by senior year. I do
hope to keep in better touch over
the next few years. Oh, I also work
with Ricardo Salaman’81, who
looked familiar to me.”
From Geoffrey Mintz: “I moved
to Lake Worth Beach, Fla. — near
Palm Beach — about four years ago.
Perhaps I will move back to NYC
eventually. I am still doing the hat
business, mostly making hats in
Madagascar now. I have a little girl,
my first child, who is 2. Sometimes
she helps with endurance testing
and modeling of the hats.”
Kevin G. Chapman is thrilled
that the first book in his crime-
thriller series, Righteous Assassin, was
named one of the top 20 mystery/
thriller novels of 2019 by the Kindle
Book Review. The second book in
Kevin’s Mike Stoneman Thriller
Series, Deadly Enterprise, is sched-
uled for release on December 2. It is
available on Amazon.
Hope to see you at some football
and basketball games.
Winter 2019-20 CCT 65
1984
Dennis Klainberg
Berklay Cargo Worldwide
14 Bond St., Ste 233
Great Neck, NY 11021
dennis@berklay.com
Mark Katzoff, senior counsel at
Seyfarth Shaw by day, channeled
four years of experience singing
in the piano bars of New York to
debut his one-man cabaret show,
Two-City Man: A Musical Trifle, at
the Kraine Theater in New York in
July. The show was based around
Mark’s experience shuttling between
Boston and New York, although he
continually claims he’s not moving
from Beantown.
Daniel G. Berick has been
named Leveraged Buyouts and
Private Equity Law Lawyer of the
Year for 2020 by U.S. News & World
Report on its list “The Best Lawyers
in America,” a longstanding and
well-respected legal peer-review
publication. In each major legal
market, only a single lawyer in each
discipline is honored as Lawyer of
the Year. Dan was honored in 2016
as the Cleveland Corporate Law
Lawyer of the Year, and was named
Cleveland Leveraged Buyouts and
Private Equity Law Lawyer of the
Year in 2020, 2017, 2015 and 2013,
as well as Cleveland Securities/
Capital Markets Law Lawyer of the
Year in 2014 and 2011.
This fall, Mark Binder released
his 20th book, The Misadventures
of Rabbi Kibbitz and Mrs. Chaipul.
It’s a light romance between two
wise seniors in Chelm, the village of
fools. Mark’s planning a world book
tour, so if youd like to check out the
book, or invite him to your com-
munity, go to markbinder.com.
Danny Armstrong, founder of
Find A Tree, checks in. “Since the
Find A Tree program's inception, it
has changed lives and has created
many success stories. More recently,
I've been fortunate to have worked
with major companies such as Nike,
Microsoft and many others,” he writes.
1985
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Jon White
16 South Ct.
Port Washington, NY 11050
jw@whitecoffee.com
Many of our classmates continue
to mark milestones and/or receive
recognition for their professional
activities. Lucas Collazo celebrated
20 years at Inova Health System. He
is co-director of the Pediatric Heart
Program and medical staff president
Columbia alumni met in Washington, D.C., for the September 13 retirement
ceremony of Maj. Gen. Scott Smith ’86, who served 32 years in the Air Force.
Left to right: Jack Merrick ’86, Smith, Stan Sagner ’88, Patrick McGarrigle
86, John Murphy ’86, Joseph Titlebaum ’85, Gary Ireland GS’86, Arthur
Ajzenman ’83, Andrew Upton ’85, Dominick DeCicco SEAS’84, Smith’s Air
Force colleague B.J. Shwedo, his high school friend Ramsey Masri and
Michael Goldfischer ’86.
66 CCT Winter 2019-20
at the Inova Fairfax Medical Cam-
pus in Falls Church, Va.
James Lima was recently in the
news: As part of a strategic regional
business initiative, the Long Island
Regional Planning Council recently
approved consulting services with
James Lima Planning + Develop-
ment to advance development of
a workforce training center, The
Long Island Innovation Park at
Hauppauge (formerly known as the
Hauppauge Industrial Park). Jim’s
company has advised major Silicon
Valley firms on building out their
campuses and ecosystems, and will
undertake economic and demo-
graphic research, setting the stage
for the launch of a high-impact
regional workforce center.
Patrick Ward left NYC in 1995,
moving first to the San Francisco
Bay Area and eventually settling
in Denver, “where we have lived
for the past 17 years, raising two
daughters, one of whom is hoping to
be CC’24. I have fond memories (as
ironic as it may sound) of Columbia
football games, which I still enjoy
from afar with my father, James
Ward’50, LAW’S3, brother Liam
Ward ’82 and cousin Sam Ward
82. I also have fond memories of
my time playing club lacrosse and
support the club team as we work to
convert lacrosse to a varsity sport at
Columbia (#makeit8, makeit8.com).
I have owned my own PR/strategic
communications business in Denver,
104 West Partners, since 2003.”
Kudos to Tom Vinciguerra for
his great article in the Fall 2019 CCT
about the woman who earned the
distinction of being the College’s first
alumna, in 1975. [Editor’s note: See
“Around the Quads” in that issue. ]
The 2019-20 academic year is
highlighted by the centenary of the
Core Curriculum (look for articles
in this CCT and in the next two
issues) and, of course, our 35th
reunion, [hursday, June 4-Saturday,
June 6. Our Reunion Committee,
co-chaired by Glee Club alums
John Phelan (programming),
Leslie Smartt (communications)
and yours truly (fundraising), is up
and running. In my next column,
I will give you the complete list of
committee members (currently in
formation). Thanks in advance to so
many of you for joining. Commit-
tee membership is not capped, so
please feel free to let any of us know
if you'd like to join our efforts, if
you're coming to reunion or if there’s
anything specific you'd like to see
during that weekend. We've already
begun conference calls to make
sure we have fun and interesting
class-specific program options, have
regular communications leading up
to next June and can meet our class
fundraising goals.
And, of course, it is the perfect
opportunity to provide me with any
updates for this column!
1986
Everett Weinberger
50 W. 70th St., Apt. 3B
New York, NY 10023
everett6@gmail.com
Michael Goldfischer reported
on a great event that took place
on September 13: “Twelve Lions
descended on Washington, D.C., to
celebrate Scott Smith’s 32 years in
the Air Force, which culminated in
his rise to the rank of major general.
‘The official ceremony at Bolling AFB
highlighted Scott’s many assignments
and achievements, as a pilot and staff
officer, that spanned the globe in both
peace and war. Scott was joined by
his wife, Amber, and daughters, twins
Mazie and Marisha (14) and Melody
(9), who were also honored for
their sacrifices and service. Melody
started the ceremony with a beautiful
rendition of the National Anthem.
Maj. Gen. Smith was thanked for his
service, given a Distinguished Service
Medal and a presidential proclama-
tion, and gifted an American flag
during the moving ceremony.
“In Maj. Gen. Smith’s comments,
while thanking Amber and their
daughters, parents, mentors and
colleagues in the armed services, he
took time to highlight the tremen-
dous support and friendship that his
fellow Columbians (and Fiji broth-
ers) have extended to him through-
out these decades. In attendance
were Jack Merrick, John Murphy,
Patrick McGarrigle, Gary Ireland
GS’86, Andrew Upton’85, Joseph
Titlebaum 85, Dominick DeCicco
SEAS’84, Arthur Ajzenman’83,
Matthew Barr’87, Stan Sagner’88
and James Hirshfield SEAS’87. We
were all honored to attend and to
thank him for his friendship, service
to our country and sacrifice.
“As Scott and his family enter the
next chapter of their lives, we join the
On September 7, Columbia friends
held their 33nd annual fantasy
football draft in Montreal. Left
to right: Dave Moson ’89, Mike
English SEAS’89, Marc McCann ’88,
Ravi Singh ’88 (foreground) and
Rob Daniel ’88.
Headquarters Air Staff and heartily
wish Maj. Gen. Smith and his family
good luck, Godspeed and U'Chaim.
An island-themed party followed the
ceremony, where tall tales were told
and laughter filled the air.”
We're proud of you, Scott, and
what you have achieved during your
fantastic career in the Air Force. We
wish you continued success and joy!
1987
Sarah A. Kass
PO Box 1006
New York, NY 10113
SarahAnn29uk@gmail.com
Lots of great news from Garth
Stein SOA90, who writes: “Big
events! In May, my eldest, Caleb
(23), graduated from the Berklee
College of Music. In August, the
movie of my book The Art of Racing
in the Rain was released, and I took
my family to Los Angeles for the
premiere. We hung out with Milo
Ventimiglia and Amanda Seyfried.
And Kevin Costner. I also turned
in my new novel, A Couple of Old
Birds, with the publication date to
be determined. I’m also prepping my
graphic novel, The Cloven, for publi-
cation in July 2020. We will launch
at San Diego Comic-Con!”
Suzanne Waltman writes that
this year marks the 33rd consecutive
year of a book group founded by
several members of CC’87. “Ginger
Segel, Rob Wolf, Bob Pipik and I
were in the original group, which we
began in December 1986,” Suzanne
says. “As I remember, Ginger had
graduated early and wanted to keep
reading in a formal setting. She
left New York shortly after, but
Rob and I have continued all these
years. Originally many of us lived
in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and that
was the book group’s focal point.
Karin Higa, Lydia Tzagoloff, Jon
Klavens, Rebecca Turner and
Julia Fitzgerald all participated
in the early years. More recent
members include Lisa Fieteholtz’88
and Kevin Kelly’85. It has been a
big part of Rob’s and my life for so
many years, and it definitely has its
roots in Columbia and Lit Hum.”
I heard from my Carman 5
floormate Divya Singh, who
always has a fascinating story. Divya
recently started working part-time
in Shiprock, N.M., at the North-
ern Navajo Indian reservation,
making her a federal employee, as
the Indian Health Service is part
of the Department of Health and
Human Services. Although still
based in Seattle, Divya lives on the
reservation when she is working but
has had time to explore the Four
Corners region on weekends. She
writes, “Last time, I met up with
Jeanne Costello (also Carman 5!)
in her hometown of Durango. She
has my dream job — she’s a book
buyer at the independent bookstore
Maria’s Bookshop. I hadn't seen
her in more than 30 years. She is as
fabulous as ever.”
As always, keep your wonderful
updates coming!
1988
Eric Fusfield
1945 South George Mason Dr.
Arlington, VA 22204
eric@fusfield.com
Dave Fondiller SIPA’92 is putting
the skills he honed at Spectator and
the Columbian (yearbook) to good
use. After more than 11 years at the
Boston Consulting Group, most
recently as head of North America
PR and communications, he recently
joined Altran, a digital product
engineering company, as VP of com-
munications for its North America
division. In this role, Dave oversees
PR, executive communications,
alumninews \.
internal communications and digital
and social media. In addition, he is
chief communications officer of frog
(lowercase is correct!), one of the
world’s leading design and innova-
tion firms and an Altran company.
With a workforce of 47,000 and
sales of $3.3 billion, Altran partners
with both blue-chip corporations
and startups to help them design,
develop and support complex tech-
nology products and services.
“The company is literally at the
forefront of today’s hottest tech
trends — 5G, edge computing,
virtualization, Al, the Internet of
Things — and I’m loving it,” Dave
writes. He and his wife, Jennifer
BC’88, who is VP for enrollment
at Barnard, live in Edgemont,
Westchester County. They have two
Core
Haiku
expected that after the 25th, the
passion and intensity of the 30th
would in some way pale in compari-
son. That’s what seems to happen
in other classes. Not ours. Our 30th
reunion was as much fun — possibly
an even better time — than the last.”
The summer went by too quickly
for most of us. At the time of writ-
ing this column, many of us are
planning to get to Homecoming
Weekend in October, so we'll have
an update next time about that.
I touched base with Christina
Ying, who loved our 30th reunion:
Highlights for her included con-
necting with Ana Toledo, Diane
Daltner, Susan Shin and John Kim,
among many others. Christina got a
law degree at Georgetown and is a
partner at Herrick Feinstein in New
Spring term, Wallace Gray
The Odyssey blooms again,
Yes yes yes yes YES!
daughters. The older, Anna BC’19, is
pursuing a career in entertainment
talent management. The younger,
Julia, is a junior at Smith.
Marc McCann wrote from Mon-
treal that some classmates joined
him there for their 33rd annual
fantasy football draft. “Our first
draft was in 1987 in Hartley Hall
with all Class of 88 guys,” Marc
says. “We've mixed things up a bit
over the years, but original members
still involved are Mike Zegers
SEAS’88, Rob Daniel, Doug Wolf
and Ravi Singh.”
Keep sending me updates! I
look forward to hearing from all
of our classmates.
1989
Emily Miles Terry
45 Clarence St.
Brookline, MA 02446
emilymilesterry@me.com
To begin this issue’s column, Roger
Rubin shares, “Our class continues
to astound me with the way its
members are drawn to one another
and cannot wait to be reunited. I
— Paige Sinkler ’88
York, focusing on real estate sales,
acquisitions, developments and joint
ventures involving office and retail
properties. Christina also volunteers
with the Columbia College Fund
and spends her free time traveling
to cheer on her daughter at fencing
tournaments around the world.
It was nice for my husband,
Dave Terry 90, and I to visit with
Eugene Ryang at our reunion
barbecue. Eugene says reunion
“absolutely exceeded my expecta-
tions.” Eugene got a master’s in
landscape architecture and cultural
anthropology from UVA and works
at Water Street Studio, an environ-
mental design firm with offices in
Charlottesville and Richmond.
Our class has created a leadership
project to help us better communi-
cate post-reunion about events and
get togethers around the country.
Matt Engels has volunteered to be
our class president, and I hope we'll
all hear from him with updates and
class announcements. Matt lives in
the Chicago area with his family,
where he is president of SBCGlobal
and enjoys watching the Engels’s
family sports legacy through his son,
Tommy, who plays football, and his
Winter 2019-20 CCT 67
daughter, Ellie, who plays volleyball.
To reach Matt about any class activ-
ities, or to volunteer to be part of the
CC’89 leadership project, email him
at mxengels@sbcglobal.net.
Also, Jared Goldstein asked
that I remind everyone to check out
our CC’89 Facebook group, which
he runs: “Columbia University Class
of 1989 Undergraduates.”
1990
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Rachel Cowan Jacobs
youngrache@hotmail.com
Since you last read this column, I have
only a small amount of news. Noreen
Whysel reports, “With a freshman
at Sarah Lawrence College and a
sophomore at Loyola University New
Orleans, my husband, Brett, and I are
officially empty-nesters — at least
until they come home, too briefly, for
the summer. I teach the UX Design
Intensive at General Assembly (a
global code and design school for
adult learners; generalassemb.ly) and
web design at New York City Col-
lege of Technology (aka City Tech).
Coincidentally, while attempting to
convert my résumé to an academic
CV, mulling over the awards section,
I got a call that I’m going to receive
a ‘Contribution to the Profession’
award from the New York State GIS
Association. NYSGIS.net is a profes-
sional organization for geospatial
information system (GIS) users
working in New York State. GISMO
is the local chapter where I’ve been a
board member for many years.”
Congratulations, Noreen!
Alicia Shems (née Katz) read
our last column and identified
herself as someone who skirts the
college counseling world: “I tutor
students in writing and English, as
well as tutor and advise them with
their college essays. Some of my
students say they feel like they come
to therapy as we discuss all the top-
ics they could choose to write about.
I have to say, I love working with
teenagers — their angst, enthusiasm,
drama and perception are wonderful
and refreshing — and when they
come up with an original idea and
find their writing voice, it’s really
rewarding for me to see.
“Not content to have just one
job, I also am a freelance editor,
senior writer for an edtech startup
and a mixed media artist. It’s a little
crazy, but I’ve never been very good
at eliminating options and making
choices. Nevertheless, my husband,
Nessy, and I celebrated our 25th
wedding anniversary and are now
empty-nesters! It’s a lot quieter here
without our children, Matthew (23)
and Leah (19), though since Matthew
Friends from CC’91 and BC’91 gathered for 50th birthday celebrations in
Truro, Mass. Left to right, standing: Tanya Weisman ’91, Angela Eaton ’91,
Tom Nishioka ’91, Noah Elkin ’91, Sara lvry BC’91, Catherine Geanuracos
’91, Rachel Porter ’91 and Justin Lundgren ’91; and left to right, kneeling and
seated: Kif Scheuer ’91, Katie Sellers Rosenblum ’91, Alice Vosmek ’91, Marc
Rosenblum ’91, David Tepper ’91 and Karl Meyer ’91.
68 CCT Winter 2019-20
is graduating this year, we might.get
him home for a couple months before
he starts his job in computer science.
Leah is studying fashion design, so
she will probably end up in New
York, which means I will get to visit
Columbia more in the near future.
“T cant believe we are coming
up on our 30-year reunion — I
spent the first half in Chicago and
now the second half in the Boston
area. As for keeping in touch with
CC friends, I recently visited Teri
Rice in Miami, Fla., but cannot do
that again easily since she recently
moved to Dubai with her husband
and sons; I also keep in touch with
Stephanie Aaronson and Eliza-
beth Phythian.”
Meanwhile, in September
Melissa Steinman found herself
Core
Haiku
Class Notes
1992
Olivier Knox
olivier.knox@gmail.com
I heard from not one but two Car-
man 7 alums this cycle — keep ‘em
coming, erstwhile floormates!
Tom Linton SEAS’92 and Lauri
Pendray Linton BC’93 moved to
London in July. Tom is the manag-
ing director of Frontera Consulting
(UK). A statement from the company
heralds, “Tom has been instrumental
in growing Frontera’s Oracle Cloud
capabilities in both the UK and
North America.” (That’s right, every-
one, we've reached the age at which
companies put out statements about
us.) Their son, Dylan (14), is in ninth
Hamilton, Morris,
Jay and the luminaries
bring us together
in Moscow, where she spoke at the
Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance
and connected with Greg Krasovsky
91, who attended the seminar.
It'd be great to report news from
more people in the future. Please,
friends, won't you send me your
updates? And mark your calendars
for our 30th reunion: Thursday,
June 4-Saturday, June 6. Looking for
something to do until then? Contact
the Alumni Office and get on the
Reunion Committee (contact info is
at the top of the column). The more,
the merrier.
1991
Columbia College Today
cct@columbia.edu
CCT thanks Margie Kim for her 11
excellent years of service as class cor-
respondent! She has decided to step
down, so while we search for a new
class correspondent, you can send your
news directly to CCT for inclusion in
a future issue. And if you would like to
learn more about volunteering for the
class correspondent role, please shoot
an email to cct@columbia.edu!
— Heather Brownlie ’91
grade at The American School in
London. “How’s the culture shock?”
I asked Tom. “Not too bad!” he said.
Talso heard from Jason Hagberg,
who is heading back to NYC soon
to work for Google “after 16 years on
the West Coast (Los Angeles/San
Francisco) and a few years in Hong
Kong and Beijing.” Jason writes that
he has “been working mainly in tech
working on building contract manage-
ment systems and data privacy policy
at Google, Facebook and others.” He
started his own consultancy, global
reachconsulting.us, and is working
with Corestream, professional home
to Adam Brothers ’94, and is “looking
to get off the hamster wheel. More
seriously, I am starting a foundation
(Upstream Color) to help get kids who
have the ability to go to Columbia” but
face costs not covered by financial aid
— “laptops, meals when cafeterias are
closed on holidays, etc.,” Jason says. “I
am not ready for prime time and still
waiting for my nonprofit paperwork
to come through, but a decent number
of classmates know about it and are
willing to help,” Jason writes.
Enjoy your winter, classmates,
and please take a moment to send in
a Class Note!
Betsy Gomperz
betsy.gomperz@gmail.com
Greetings, classmates. I wanted
to share the great news that Seth
Pinsky has been appointed chief
executive of the 92nd Street Y and
will begin his position in January.
92Y plans to embark on an extensive
update to its buildings to make
more space for its expansive slate of
programming; it is known for hosting
concerts and lectures with high-
profile public figures, language and
music classes, and its nursery school.
While Seth has been in the pri-
vate sector the last several years, he
previously served in Mayor Michael
Bloomberg’s administration as the
president of the New York City
Economic Development Corp., a
role he took on just before the 2008
financial crisis hit.
Congratulations, Seth!
Please submit updates — the
more I hear from you, the longer the
columns will be!
1994
Leyla Kokmen
lak6@columbia.edu
Jennifer Khouri writes that two
years ago she and her family moved
back to New York from California.
While a family graduation in Cali-
fornia prevented her from attending
our reunion this past summer, she did
have a reunion of sorts in the ladies’
room at JFK: “As I was washing my
hands, Mary Killackey called my
name! She was just about to board
a flight home and I had just landed
from LAX. I met her lovely daughter,
Charlotte, and introduced them to
my little girl, Sofia (4). Mary’s flight
was getting ready to leave, so the
encounter probably lasted all of three
minutes, but I was grateful for even
that tiny taste of Reunion 2019!
Jennifer continues, “As for me
and my family, we are back in
Garden City, N.Y., and my husband,
Andy, and I work for Lockheed
Martin in Uniondale and are grate-
ful for our five-minute commute.
Our son Aidan (10) attends the
same school Andy attended as a
child, and both kids are looking
forward to winter — snow is still a
novelty. My stepson, Tucker, decided
to move here to attend college, so
we've got a fairly full house. I hope
[ll be free for the next reunion!”
In other news, Rachel
DeWoskin’s latest book, Banshee,
came out this past summer, and she’s
been busy doing readings and inter-
views about what Publishers Weekly
calls her “slow-burning, satisfying
fifth novel,” about the psychological
effects of a life-changing diagnosis.
Imara Jones has been named a
2019 Soros Equality Fellow. The pro-
gram supports innovators — from art-
ists to advocates, lawyers to organizers
— whose work tackles systemic racial
disparities and discrimination and
advances racial justice and equality
across the country. Imara will continue
to develop TransLash, her cross-
platform storytelling effort centering
on the humanity and perspectives of
trans people of color.
‘That’s it for this time! Please keep
sending updates — we'd love to
know what you're up to!
1995
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
cecfund@columbia.edu
Janet Lorin
jrfi10@columbia.edu
Thanks to everyone who shared
updates as we close in on our 25th
reunion. If you are interested in
helping with the reunion or have
questions or suggestions, please
reach out to me as soon as possible.
Michael Fein writes that after
working for more than 15 years in
the classroom as a history professor
and writing about the politics of
American highways, he’s spent the
past several years in higher educa-
tion administration at Johnson &
Wales University in Providence,
R.I. This summer, he took on the
position of dean of the College of
Arts & Sciences at JWU, where he
supports 85 faculty members and
more than 1,300 students enrolled
in more than 20 undergraduate,
master’s and doctoral programs.
“Recently, we've launched many
undergraduate programs and opened
up cutting-edge science labs, a
criminalistics lab and a center for
media production on the Providence
campus,” he writes. “While it is
strange to think that I’ve been get-
ting ready for the start of the school
year for more than 40 years, I’m
always happy to reflect on my time
as an undergraduate as 1 welcome
first-year students and think about
the transformative years that are
ahead of them.”
Mike lives in Westwood, Mass.,
with his wife, Marjorie Feld, who
is a professor of history at Babson
College, and their sons, Izzy Fein-
feld (14) and Nate Feinfeld (12).
Thaddeus Tracy and his wife,
Michele Haberland BC’94, have
twin boys who are 13. They live
near campus and regularly attend
Columbia basketball games. Thad-
deus recently launched an investment
startup focused on specialty crop and
sustainable agriculture, capitalizing
scalable and difficult-to-replicate
operations that can be integrated into
food company supply chains.
Jed Weiner is a partner in a
boutique NYC law firm. He helps
companies and entrepreneurs raise
money and provides advice on
company sales and purchases. Jed
lives in Potomac, Md., with his wife
and two daughters and works in his
NYC office two weeks a month. His
oldest daughter is in kindergarten
and his youngest daughter is in pre-
school. Jed is no longer active in the
Navy, where he served as an intel-
ligence officer. He says he would
enjoy meeting up with Columbia
alumni in NYC or D.C.
Congratulations to David Web-
ber on the success of his 2018 book,
The Rise of the Working-Class Share-
holder: Labor’s Last Best Weapon. Ideas
in it are expected to be introduced
in congressional legislation. David
recently became associate dean for
intellectual life at Boston University
School of Law, where he teaches.
1996
Ana S. Salper
ana.salper@nyumc.org
Greetings, classmates! lan Lendler
has published a new book, The First
Dinosaur: How Science Solved the
Greatest Mystery on Earth. This is his
ninth book, but it is an entirely new
genre. It is a nonfiction history of how
humans discovered dinosaurs and is
for grades 6 and up. Kirkus Reviews
describes it as, “An outstanding case
study in how science is actually done:
funny, nuanced, and perceptive.”
New York Times reporters Jodi
Kantor and Megan Twohey also
recently published a book, She Said:
Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story
That Helped Ignite a Movement,
which describes how they broke the
Harvey Weinstein story and details
the investigative work that earned
them the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for
Public Service and helped ignite the
#MeToo national movement. [Edi-
tor’s note: See “Columbia Forum.”
In other Pulitzer news, as reported
in the Summer 2019 issue of CCT,
Harriet Ryan, who wrote for Specta-
tor while at Columbia, received the
2019 Pulitzer Prize in Investiga-
tive Reporting for “reporting on a
University of Southern California
gynecologist accused of violating
hundreds of young women for more
than a quarter-century.” According to
the Los Angeles Times, “The reporters
worked three months to track down
people who had information about
[Dr. George] Tyndall, uncovering
troubling allegations of abuse of
young patients. The series roiled the
prestigious private university ... and
led to dramatic changes, including
the resignation of the university
President C.L. Max Nikias.”
Congratulations, Harriet!
I had a nice chance encounter
with Nick Kukrika at a farmers
market in the Hamptons this past
summer, and he provided me with
a good amount of news. Nick and
his wife, Andrea Lally, have two
kids (Theo, 2, and Maria, 6) and
live in London. They try to spend
much of their summers out on Long
Island, near Andrea’s parents. Nick
works with Generation Investment
Management, where he is a partner
investing in tech companies. He is
an avid supporter of the Democratic
Party and has been working to
expand the community of Demo-
crats in the United Kingdom.
On a recent trip to NYC, Nick
spent time with Mark Levine and
Darren Seirer. He writes, “As a
sign that bipartisanship remains
the remotest of possibilities, we
three have remained close friends.
Mark works at BlackRock; I would
argue that he is attempting to create
another financial crisis, but he would
say he is trading mortgage-backed
securities. Darren is with Select
Winter 2019-20 CCT 69
Class Notes
Equity Group, which he joined as
an intern while at Columbia! [Some
might] appreciate that he found it in
the internship ‘book’ at the Center
for Career Education. I suspect only
Darren was patient enough to get to
the letter ‘S’ in the book and that’s
why he got the gig.”
Nick shared that Stephane
Gruffat is also in London, working
at Credit Suisse. He has two sons,
Alexandre and Jack.
Moha Desai lives with her sons,
Devraj (11) and Vikram (6), in her
hometown, 15 minutes outside of
Boston. Moha writes that she is
gratified to be managing her own
healthcare consulting practice,
which she began in 2015 after 16
years of working in big firms. She
says she enjoys the flexibility of
199d.
Kerensa Harrell
kvh1@columbia.edu
Dear classmates, I hope you enjoyed
a lovely fall season. It is my pleasure
to present the following updates
from our class.
Orli Shaham writes: “I’m a
concert pianist and a recent member
of the faculty at The Juilliard School.
I recently released my 11th CD:
piano concertos by Mozart with the
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. One
of my favorite parts of the recording
process was a conversation about the
pieces with my husband, conductor
David Robertson, and my CC music
professor Elaine Sisman! During
Music Hum teacher
arrives late, glasses broken
“Il was mugged!” Class starts
— Elizabeth Yuan ’96, JRN’98
her own practice while staying on
the forefront of topics that mean
the most to her. Moha invites any
CO96ers to look her up if you find
yourselves in the Boston area.
Maurice “Mo” Toueg is
president and CEO of GOBU
Associates, an executive recruiting
firm that he founded after having
spent 20 years at one place. His firm
focuses on recruiting for corporate
strategy, corporate development,
finance (CFOs and heads), invest-
ment banking and treasury for
Fortune 500 companies, startups,
portfolio companies of private
equity firms and venture capital
firms. Mo writes, “Still living on
East 79th, a block away from where
I grew up — still can't drive, but
spend winters in Florida, where
Uber makes a fortune off of me.”
I would like to hear from more
of you; please send in more news! I
leave you with this:
“T want you to feel the fear I
feel every day. And then I want
you to act. I want you to act as
you would in a crisis. 1 want you
to act as if our house is on fire.”
— Greta Thunberg, 16-year-old
Swedish environmental activist
70 CCT Winter 2019-20
the past two years, I’ve commemo-
rated the 100th birthday of Leonard
Bernstein, playing his Symphony No.
2. The Age of Anxiety with orchestras
around the world. This fall, for the
second year in a row, I am a guest
host of the classical music program
From the Top, which airs on more
than 200 public radio stations across
the country. I live in Manhattan
with my husband; 12-year-old twins,
Nathan and Alex; and Dachshund,
Milo, and ran into Julie Foont
around the corner!”
Swati Khurana writes: “In addi-
tion to having 21 years of teaching
history at Advantage Testing, I am
chugging away on my first novel (a
New York Foundation for the Arts
award in fiction was recent encour-
agement!). I have also been on a path
that started with coming out as a
post-Hindu witch in Teen Vogue and
doing Tarot card readings with cus-
tom affirmations for boutique hotels,
private equity client groups, literary
festivals, mom groups and nonprofit
retreats. The highlight of my life has
been watching my 8-year-old daugh-
ter do aerial dance and gymnastics,
observing how a child can actually do
the things of a superhero.”
Allison Jaffin writes: “My
husband, Seth Unger, and I are the
presidents of the “Tony Roach Fan
Club,’ and during the last year we have
toured the country to see Tony Roach
in his various starring roles. Our most
recent run started last fall, when we
saw him as Henry Higgins in Lincoln
Center’s production of My Fair Lady
and culminated this past summer
when he starred in the Aspen Theater
Festival productions of Little Shop of
Horrors (as the dentist) and Guys and
Dolls (as Sky Masterson).
“During the day, Seth is the pro-
ducer of the Food Film Festival, an
event where you literally taste what
you see on the screen. ‘The festival
was in NYC this fall and will be
in Tokyo this spring, among other
places. We have twin daughters who
are 12 and are next in line to chair
the Tony Roach Fan Club.”
Edward “Ted” Wladis writes: “I
was recently named professor and
chair of the Lions Eye Institute,
ophthalmology department, at
Albany Medical College. In addi-
tion to being chair, I oversee the
fellowship in oculofacial and orbital
plastic surgery, I perform basic sci-
ence research and I am the CEO of
Praxis Biotechnology. I was honored
to recently have been inducted into
the American Ophthalmological
Society. My wife, Lianne Pinchuk
LAW’00, and I have two daughters,
ages 8 and 11.”
Endre Tvinnereim writes: “In
April I started a job as associate
professor of political science at the
University of Bergen, Norway.”
Rebekah Gee writes, “Our
twins started first grade this year
and they love to dress up, just like
their mother.”
As for me, Kerensa Harrell, as I
sit here wrapping up this column in
mid-September, I am thinking about
how glad I am to be doing yoga again
after not having done it for so many
years. It certainly isn’t easy getting
back into it, but I am starting to
slowly feel my body reconnecting.
Aside from practicing yoga, I have
been doing some gardening on my
balcony. My daughter, Amara (3), is
enjoying doing yoga and garden-
ing alongside me! We have a lovely
corner balcony that overlooks a pond
with a big water fountain that is
always flowing. Our balcony doesn't
get any direct sun until the afternoon
(which in Florida is perfect, as it is
quite hot here), so we find it pleas-
ant to garden in the mornings. My
grandmother Marie’s lovely caladium
plants, which I inherited from her
garden after she passed away several
years ago, are thriving. And I have a
bunch of morning glory vines, with
their big blue flowers that bloom
each morning, climbing up the
balcony rails.
As I sign off now, let me leave
you with my daughter’s current
favorite song, “Let It Go.” She likes
to sing it at the top of her lungs as
she dances around improvisationally,
while I follow her around attempt-
ing to shield her from crashing into
the furniture. It’s a favorite among
little girls, and is sung by Queen
Elsa in the movie Frozen:
“Let it go
‘The cold never bothered me anyway
Let it go, let it go
And I'll rise like the break of dawn
Let it go, let it go
That perfect girl is gone
Here I stand in the light of day
Let the storm rage on!”
Blessings to all, and please do
send me your updates. Keep in mind
that your updates needn't be just
about the usual topics like career/
marriage/birth announcements
— they could also be on your exotic
travels, your exciting adventures,
your fascinating hobbies, your phil-
anthropic endeavors, your charming
children, your daring projects, your
poetic musings, your flowery remi-
niscences .... Or simply tell us about
some delightful local event that you
just attended or a family vacation
that you went on. If nothing else,
you can always write us merely to
Tony Roach ’97 (left) autographed
Seth Unger ’97’s chest at the Lincoln
Center’s production of My Fair Lady.
In late June, members of CC’01 and SEAS’01 met in Vail for a weekend of fun.
Left to right: Becca Bradley (née Siegel) ’01, Jaime Pannone ’01, Emily Stanton
(née Georgitis) SEAS’01, Jessica O’Sullivan (née Tubridy) ’01, Anne-Marie
Ebner ’01, Ali Kidd ’01 and Jennifer O’Connell (née Tubridy) ’01.
say hello! It would be splendid to
hear from as many of our class-
mates as possible. I look forward to
hearing from you all. In Jumine Tuo
videbimus lumen.
1998
Sandie Angulo Chen
sandie.chen@gmail.com
Greetings, Class of 1998! A few
short updates for you this issue:
Congratulations are in order
for Lori Meeks and her husband,
Jason Webb, who welcomed a
second child, Penelope Ann Webb,
in August 2018. Brother Jupiter is
4. Lori and her family live in Los
Angeles, where she’s an associate
professor of religion and East Asian
languages and cultures at USC.
Speaking of East Asian languages,
Taylor Ortiz shares that his and his
wife Veronica Lei’s two sons started
kindergarten and third grade at
their Mandarin immersion school
in Indianapolis this past fall. “Future
East Asian studies majors,” he says.
Dennis Machado writes with
some good news about Elliot
Han, who won a combined half
marathon/5K in San Francisco in
September. Elliot placed first with a
time of 1:53:12 at The Giant Race
2019 in San Francisco. As for Dennis,
he and his wife are happily raising
their children, ages 15, 13 and 11.
Have a wonderful winter, and
please take a moment to send in a
Class Note!
1999
Adrienne Carter and
Jenna Johnson
adieliz@gmail.com
jennajohnson@gmail.com
No news this time, so please take a
moment to send us a note! You can
share your news by sending it to
either of the email addresses at the
top of this column. Your classmates
would love to hear from you!
2000
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ecfund@columbia.edu
Prisca Bae
pb134@columbia.edu
It’s almost a new year, so why not
make a resolution to send in a Class
Note? Let us know about new jobs,
alumninews
family life, cool trips and/or interest-
ing hobbies — this is your space to
stay connected with classmates! And
don’t forget, our 20th reunion will
be here before we know it, so mark
your calendars now for Thursday,
June 4—Saturday, June 6.
2001
Jonathan Gordin
jrg53@columbia.edu
In late June, Becca Bradley (née
Siegel), Ali Kidd, Emily Stanton
SEAS’01 (née Georgitis), Jaime
Pannone, Jessica O’Sullivan (née
‘Tubridy), Jennifer O’Connell (née
Tubridy) and Anne-Marie Ebner
gathered in Vail for a relaxing week-
end of good food, beautiful vistas
and celebrating a certain milestone
birthday and 20-plus years of friend-
ship. Ali and Jaime arrived from
California, Emily from Colorado and
Becca from Nashville, and the rest of
the crew arrived from the NYC area.
Becca writes, “It was truly a gift
to spend time with these amazing
ladies and reconnect, especially since
we now reside all over the country.
Core
Haiku
and enjoyed spending time with
Annie and Dina in New York.
Dina Epstein and her family had
an epic trip to Israel to celebrate her
40th birthday and 10th wedding
anniversary — the photos were
incredible. Our family had gone a
week or two before and we managed
to compare notes, seemingly in real
time, about must-sees with our kids.
What a summer!
When I returned from Israel,
I had my own mini-Columbia
reunion in my neighborhood. My
former roommate Adam Sokol
moved into a house down the block
with his wife, Bingyi, and kids, Arro
(6) and Leo (3). Jasper Cooper
was in town visiting with his wife,
Josie, and kids, Vali (6), Zed (3) and
Ozzie (1). We met up for pancakes
with our kids at the neighborhood
diner. Adam is an accomplished
architect with his own practice in
downtown Los Angeles. He was
recently selected by Architectural
Digest as one of its “100 Most
Influential Architects and Interior
Designers in China 2019.” Jasper
is an insurance industry analyst
at Moody’s and also runs a real
estate empire (my words, not his!)
Woolf, Hurston — without
them how would | have found rush
of human feeling?
— Jonas LaMattery-Brownell 98
We enjoyed gondola rides, strolled
through an art fair and craft beer
festival, and kept our eyes peeled
for moose (though we didn’t see a
moose, we did spot a marmot on
the way up the mountain). We hope
to make these gatherings annual or
semi-annual events. We even had
matching hats.”
Speaking of reunions, seven
members of our class reunited 20
years after sharing a Ruggles suite
sophomore year. Annie Lainer Mar-
quit, Dina Epstein, Nancy Perla,
Joe Rezek, Billy Kingsland, Eri
Kaneko and Susan Pereira Wilsey
met up in Manhattan in May for
dinner and drinks and reminisced
while looking through photos of
their Columbia life. My wife, Jamie
Rubin BC’01, was a peripheral guest
throughout Brooklyn and Queens.
Ethan Perlstein announced
the birth of his son, Lucian Dana
Perlstein (aka Luca) on August 29,
weighing in at 6 lbs., 7 oz. Con-
gratulations to Ethan and his wife!
So many of our classmates are
celebrating milestone birthdays (and
births!) this year, and I was thrilled
to attend one such celebration in
September. Annie Lainer Marquit
invited several friends to an elegant
evening of dinner and games to ring
in her 40th year. It was a gorgeous
evening, with every detail attended to.
Please let me know how you cel-
ebrated your 40th birthday or share
information about your “reunion”
with CC alumni friends.
Be in touch! It’s always great to
hear from all of you.
Winter 2019-20 CCT 71
2002
Sonia Dandona Hirdaramani
soniah57@gmail.com
Hope everyone had a great fall!
Many exciting updates to share;
please keep them coming to
soniah5 7@gmail.com.
Cut+Run’s Robert Ryang has
been awarded the Sports Emmy in
the Outstanding Editing category
for the short film Zion.
Agnia Grigas (née Baranaus-
kaité) is moving back to Santa
Monica/Los Angeles with her
husband, Paulius, and their two kids.
She looks forward to reconnecting
with Columbia alumni.
Sara Goldfarb-Langmead
SEAS’02 reports that a group
of classmates got together over
Memorial Day weekend to catch
up and meet each other’s fami-
lies. Gathered at the Westchester,
N.Y., home of Jaime Sneider
LAW?’08 were Sara; Ben Langmead
03; Rachel Forster Held; Steve
Steer SEAS’00, SEAS’02; Carina
Schoenberger; John Morris ’03;
Michael Kalnicki SEAS’02; Sheera
Hopkins BC’06, BUS’14; and mem-
bers of the Classes of 2032-41.
Jill Santopolo’03 married
Andrew Claster on June 30 at
Guastavino’s in New York City. In
attendance were Namrata Tripathi
01, Greg Shill, Rebecca Bloom 03,
Eleanor Coufos ’03 and Kimberly
Grant’03.
2003
Michael Novielli
mjn29@columbia.edu
I was recently back on campus for
the Columbia Alumni Association
(CAA) Alumni Leaders Weekend,
so I had a chance to enjoy a bit of
fall weather in New York City. I
moved to Singapore five years ago
and have become accustomed to
four seasons of summer. On the
topic of Singapore, I’m fortunate to
have been elected president of CAA
Singapore earlier this year, and I
enjoy catching up with many of you
as you travel through Singapore. Just
this evening we had a CAA Sin-
gapore board games night; Shaun
Ting, Frederick Cheng SEAS’04
and Chris Cheng SEAS’06 were
there. Now, on to some updates from
other parts of the world!
Raquel Gardner writes, “In
February 2019, Jonathan and I wel-
comed twin boys, Betzalel and Zev,
into our now rather large family! Big
siblings Azaria, Reva and Margalit
are quite smitten and already plan-
ning escapades together including
a sibling basketball team and piano
quintet. I am now proud to say that
Nancy Pelosi and I have three things
in common as working (number 1)
San Francisco (number 2) moms of
five (number 3).”
Jonathan Goldstein writes, “I’m
back in New York City after a long
stint in Tel Aviv operating tours in
Classmates gathered in Westchester, N.Y., during Memorial Day weekend to
catch up and meet each other’s families. Pictured are Rachel Forster Held
02, Sara Goldfarb-Langmead SEAS’02, Ben Langmead ’03, Jaime Sneider
02, Steve Steer SEAS’00, Carina Schoenberger ’02, John Morris ’03, Michael
Kalnicki SEAS’02, Sheera Hopkins BC’06 and members of Classes 2032-41.
72 CCT Winter 2019-20
Israel, Central Europe and right
here in NYC under the label Cice-
rone Travel. When I’m not traveling
for work, I spend my time in Brook-
lyn with my partner and baby.”
Thomas E. Anderson II shares,
“T am taking a class on global
leadership and recommend the book
Cultural Agility: Building a Pipeline
of Successful Global Professionals, by
Paula Caligiuri.”
Emily Hazlett (née Doyle) writes,
“T have been working the academic
circuit for a long time now. I teach
online classes in human development
for Penn State (World Campus) and
I teach in the psychology depart-
ments at Carleton College and St.
Olaf College, both conveniently
located in Northfield, Minn., where
I live with my husband and two kids.
I’ve learned to love the Minnesota
winters and even play on a curling
team called Sweeping Beauties.”
Sheila Dvorak writes, “On
August 17,1 released my debut
album: Sheila Dee Has To Be Real,
which is now available everywhere,
including iTunes, Amazon Music
and Spotify. If you’re old-fashioned
like me, you can buy the CD at
sheiladeemusic.com. I love writing
music and fronting the band, and
often bring my two children to
my concerts in the Hudson Val-
ley. A feature documentary film I
produced and co-edited, Gone Postal,
premiered at the East NorthEast
International Film Festival in New-
burgh, N.Y., in October.”
The Atlantic shared: “Yoni
Appelbaum will oversee a dramatic
expansion of the Ideas desk. Nearly
a year ago, The Atlantic introduced
Ideas, which has gone toe-to-toe with
the country’s top opinion pages by
offering sharp perspectives, essays,
and arguments that drive the national
conversation. Under Appelbaum's
leadership, Ideas has quickly become
a home for some of the top writing
talent in the world — led by Atlantic
staff writers, with contributions from
elected officials and leaders shaping
every industry — and a must-read for
millions of readers. The section has
delivered such tone-setting arguments
as Adam Serwer's “Ihe Cruelty Is the
Point, Caitlin Flanagan's “They Had It
Coming, Rep. John Dingell’s ‘I Served
in Congress Longer Than Anyone.
Here’s How to Fix It, Sen. Marco
Rubio's ‘America Needs to Restore
Dignity of Work’ and Deborah
Copaken’s ‘My Rapist Apologized.”
Susan Nwankpa Gillespie
writes, “My husband and I had
a beautiful baby girl on June 15:
Adanna Rosemary Gillespie. We're
doing well and having a great time,
despite very little sleep! I’m in the
third year of my business, Nwankpa
Design, a Los Angeles-based archi-
tecture and interior design firm. We
are doing great and have a roster of
fantastic projects and clients.”
2004:
Jaydip Mahida
jmahida@gmail.com
Congratulations to Elizabeth A.
Sullivan, who was recognized on
the Forbes “Next-Gen Best-in-State
Wealth Advisors 2019” list.
That’s all for this issue! Please
send in updates, as we want to hear
from as many folks as possible.
Career and family updates are
always fun, but please reach out
to share about trips you may be
taking, events you have attended
or are looking forward to, or even
interesting books or shows you have
come across. You can send updates
either via the email at the top of the
column or the CCT Class Notes
webform: college.columbia.edu/cct/
submit_class_note.
2005
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Columbia College Today
cct@columbia.edu
Happy end of the year, CC’05! Don't
forget that reunion is coming (Thurs-
day, June 4-Saturday, June 6), so make
plans to come back to campus!
From Jeffrey Schwartz: “I
recently opened an addiction
treatment center, The Addiction
Recovery Evolution. I specialize in
providing state-funded services for
gambling addiction and treatment
for drug/alcohol-use disorders. I
also recently celebrated my one-year
wedding anniversary.”
Jacob Shell is an associate profes-
sor of geography and urban studies at
Temple University, where he received
tenure in 2018. In June 2019 he pub-
lished his second book, Giants of the
Monsoon Forest: Living and Working
with Elephants, an ethnographic study
of Burmese elephants as sustainable
means of transportation.
Rebecca Weber and her
husband, Ben Carver, welcomed
daughter Eden Noa on August 30.
She joins big brother Ezra. Rebecca
and her family have lived in Denver
since 2014, where Rebecca serves as
a federal prosecutor.
From Steven Melzer: “Tracy
Massel BC’06 and I are overjoyed to
announce the birth of our daughter
in August. I’m at The New School,
leading strategic initiatives, and
‘Tracy runs network operations at
Oscar Health. And we've stuck
around the Upper West Side, so our
daughter will be visiting Low Steps
(and 1020) very soon.”
2006
_ Michelle Oh Sing
mo2057@columbia.edu
Happy holidays, classmates! Share
your stories, news or even a favorite
Columbia College memory by
emailing me at mo2057@columbia.
edu — we want to hear from you!
2007
David D. Chait
david.donner.chait@gmail.com
Thank you, everyone, for sharing
your exciting updates. Here is the
news from classmates!
Alison Mariella Désir shares,
“Kouri Henri Figueroa was born on
July 23 at 7:09 p.m., weighing 6 lbs.,
3 oz.! He will be Class of 2037!”
Dan Wulin and Gaby Wulin (née
Avila-Bront) welcomed their third
child in May. Her two big brothers
are smitten and are ecstatic in their
new roles!
Keith Hernandez held a cere-
mony for his marriage to Dunyu Gu
in Monemvasia, Greece, on October
5. Despite a small gathering, with
a little more than 30 attendees,
Columbia was well represented by
Nick DeRosa, Max Talbot-Minkin
and Jerone Hsu. It was an interna-
tional affair, with guests representing
10 countries, reflecting the places
where Keith and Dunyu have lived
and worked. ‘The ceremony was held
overlooking the Rock of Monemva-
sia in the eastern Peloponnese on an
Ancient Byzantine estate.
Luke McGowan has had a busy
few years — moving to Vermont,
welcoming a son (Augustus Blake)
and launching a social impact venture
fund. He now leads Burlington's
Community and Economic Develop-
ment Office, where he works on
everything from reducing lead haz-
ards, to building affordable housing,
to developing the social and physical
infrastructure of Vermont’s Queen
City. Luke shares, “If youre ever in
the Green Mountain State, say hello!”
2008
Columbia College Today
cct@columbia.edu
Hello, Class of 2008! Wishing you
an excellent start to 2020!
Betsy Purves (née Remes) lives
in Washington, D.C., with her
husband and their 2-year-old son.
She recently started a job as director
of development at the DC Youth
Orchestra Program and is delighted
to be back in the music world.
Also, check out the “Just Mar-
ried!” section for a photo of Carman
8 floormates at Ben Teitelbaum’s
California wedding.
Please take a moment to send
your news to the email address at
the top of the column. Your class-
mates would love to hear from you!
2009
Chantee Dempsey
chantee.dempsey@gmail.com
Stephanie Chou recently premiered
her song cycle/jazz-opera, Com-
fort Girl, about the young women
kidnapped and forced into sexual
slavery by the Japanese army during
WWIL. It premiered at Joe’s Pub
at the Public in NYC to a sold-out
audience, which included a group
from Columbia College Women
and several Columbia professors.
Comfort Girl was commissioned by
the American Composers Forum
and a recorded version is forthcom-
ing. Stephanie says that she enjoyed
performing at the CC’09 10-year
reunion with Michael Hardin ’11.
alumninews
Annie Ma-Weaver and Jacob
Ma-Weaver welcomed their first
child, Minerva, in April. She is
named for the Etruscan goddess
and is getting along nicely with her
brother-who-is-a-dog, Aristotle.
Have a great end of the year and
a happy start to 2020, and please
take a moment to send in a note!
2010
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Julia Feldberg Klein
juliafeldberg@gmail.com
Asher Grodman writes, “After grad
school in San Francisco and three
years of working in Los Angeles,
I moved back to NYC, where I’ve
been appearing mostly in television
(Chicago Med, Law &¥ Order, House
of Cards, Succession). 1 have a feature
film at film festivals right now, Inez
& Doug & Kira, and I’m teaching
acting at Hunter College and to
inmates at Rikers Island.
“T’ve started a weekly pick-up
football game in Hell’s Kitchen.
If you want to relive memories of
playing on the greens — without the
hassle of getting kicked off by Facili-
ties — message me on social media
@ashergrodman. Would be great to
see familiar faces.”
Sarah Suria and Ahmed Suria
BUS’15 welcomed Harlan “Hardy”
Braidy Suria into their family on
June 7.
Gabriella M. Ripoll shares, “A
lot has happened in the last couple
of months! I’ve had a job transi-
tion, from being associate counsel at
Delos Living to now being one of a
small team of legal licensing counsel
at the licensing agency Earthbound
Brands. It’s an exciting move that
puts me in the middle of Flatiron,
so other alums nearby — let’s get
lunch! In even more exciting news,
my longtime boyfriend, Filipe
Fernandes, proposed over Memorial
Day weekend, and our nuptials are
planned for Leap Day 2020. Miriam
Manber BC’10 is, of course, one of
my bridesmaids. Exciting times.”
Derek Squires says, “I’m enjoy-
ing my honeymoon after getting
married in August. We’ve visited
Geneva and Zermatt, Switzerland,
so far. Venice and Rome are next.
Traveling to Europe always inspires
me to dust off some of my Lit Hum
and CC books!”
David Zheng-Li Xu PS’15 will
complete his residency in June 2020
and matched to an interventional
radiology fellowship for 2020-21. He
is getting married in October 2020.
Derek Jancisin has an article
to share; read it online: bit.ly/
2nZclEK.
Chris Yim writes, “In fall 2018,
my wife, Grace, and I split up. It
was both devastating and informa-
tive. My life was out of whack, and
I had been living out of alignment
in many ways — my principles and
actions didn't match. As a result, I
went to great lengths to destruct the
seemingly stable things in my life.
“T did a lot of self-reflection about
how I lost my best friend, hurt her
and found myself in a place where I
had no idea what to do next. I had
never lost someone like this before,
and I spent a lot of time angry with
myself. Themes of the next few
months involved self-compassion,
acceptance and healing. While the
breakup shined light on all this
brokenness within, it also paved a
way for me to heal. I’m still on that
path. Some days I’m flowing and
it’s light. Other days, I have no idea
what I’m doing, and I wonder how
I got myself here. I’m realizing that
that is part of the journey — you
find yourself stuck at sea, throw your
hands up, look at the sky and say, ‘I
guess I'll just keep on sailing.’
“T learned many lessons this
year. It was really humbling to have
thought I knew stuff about life, then
to be pushed off a mountain and
find myself in a valley realizing my
ego had driven me astray. I had to
learn some of these lessons the hard
way, and it’s been painful.
“These days, I’m spending my
time thinking about community.
After the breakup, I felt like I
needed to surround myself with
people who were thinking about
personal growth and wanted to have
intention about how they showed up
in the world. So, I started a housing
community with people who were
drawn to this vision of living to
support one another. It’s teaching
me a lot about how to hold space for
others. I think about what it means
to support and invite others to
Winter 2019-20 CCT 73
Fust Married!
CCT welcomes wedding photos where at least one member of the couple
is a College alum. Please submit your high-resolution photo, and caption
information, on our photo webform: college.columbia.edu/cct/submit_
class_note_photo. Congratulations!
JONATHAN meee
74 CCT Winter 2019—20
LAUREN O'BRIEN (SILVERFOX STUDIOS)
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1. John Connell ’76 stands next to his daughter Erin
Connell 13 at her wedding on September 7 in Mount
Desert, Maine. Other alumni in the photo include Erin’s
siblings, Brigid Connell 16 and Will Connell 19.
2. Meredith Kirk 12 and Matthew Star 12 were
married in Marfa, Texas, on September 14. Left to right:
Brandon Thompson 12, William Leonard 12, Vanessa
Nieto SEAS’12, Jeremy Bleeke 13, Jill Goodwin BC’12,
John Goodwin "12, the bride, the groom, Khalil Romain
12, Karla Casariego 12, Cody Haefner 12, Brian
LaPerche 12, Emily Drinker BC’12, Tom Kapusta 12,
Donia Abdelaziz 12 and Alexa Goldson 12.
3. Kimberly Flores Gaynor 16 married Eric Gaynor
GS'16 on August 24 in Walworth, Wis. Left to right:
Damien Chang SEAS'16, Elizabeth Combs 15, the
bride, the groom, Karissa Austin 16, Kristin Austin 16
and Eugene Kim ’96.
4: Derek Squires 10 married Renee Squires at the
Quogue Wildlife Refuge in New York on August 17.
5. On June 15, Holli Chopra 14 married Josh Faber
GS'12 and the two attended Trenton, N.J.,’s Art All
Night.
6: On August 25, Neal Smolar ’83 and Betsy Chutter
Smolar BC’85’s daughter was married in Paterson, N.J.,
with several CC’83 and BC’83 friends in attendance.
Top row, left to right: Smolar, Len Rosen ’83 and Adam
Bayroff ’83; and bottom row, left to right: Miriam
Kushner BC’83, Steve Arenson ’83, Eddy Friedfeld ’83
and Larry Herman ’83.
7. A big CC’08 (and Carman 8!) contingent traveled to
Simi Valley, Calif., in September for Ben Teitelbaum
08's wedding.
8. Chuck Roberts 12 and Tyler Badgley were married
at the Congressional Club in Washington, D.C., on
September 14. Back row, left to right: Nettra Pan 12,
Alyson Cohen 10, Matt Chou 14, Heather Hwalek ’10,
Dennis Martin 10, Alexander Harstrick 12, Sudeep
Moniz SEAS‘10, James Rathmell 12 and Nuriel
Moghavem ’11; and front row, left to right: Julio Enrique
Herrera Estrada SEAS12, Badgley, Roberts, Aki
Terasaki 12 and Allie Wakefield ‘12.
CASSIDY DUHON
aduumninews
collaborate on a vision. It’s far from
perfect, but the relationships are
really incredible.
“Te also been thinking about sto-
ries and the capacity for stories to heal.
I have this belief that we're all healers,
capable of healing ourselves, relation-
ships, communities and the world.
So much of how we see ourselves
and the things around us is based on
stories. I’m focusing on telling healing
stories and hope to do this through
the medium of film. Writing this, so
much of my life feels uncertain at the
moment; I have no idea about what
the future holds for my community,
my work, friends (many have left the
Bay Area), love ... but it’s never felt
more interesting. And I’m curious.
“A friend sent me a quotation that
Tl treasure for a while: ‘Gratitude is
not a virtue but a survival skill, and
our capacity for it grows with our
suffering. This is why it is the least
privileged, not the most, who excel in
appreciating the smallest of offerings.”
2011
Nuriel Moghavem and
Sean Udell
nurielm@gmail.com
sean.udell@gmail.com
oy
Howdy, 2011. We hope the winter
brings you an opportunity to slow
down, enjoy the holidays with your
family, catch up on Netflix shows
and relive the memories of cold
walks back from 1020.
On to some updates! Ben Philippe
is full-time faculty at Barnard, teach-
ing film and TV writing within the
TV department. He sold his first
nonfiction collection of comedic
essays, tentatively titled Sure, I] Be
Your Black Friend. He is teaching three
courses: American drama, digital
media and screenwriting.
Amin Guevarra-Fernandez
graduated as a Dean’s Scholar from
New York Law School in May and
sat for the New York bar exam in
July. He recently celebrated his
one-year wedding anniversary with
Jenieve Guevarra-Fernandez’12.
Amin began working with The
Bronx Defenders as an immigration
attorney in September.
Elsewhere in people on the right
side of immigration law, Nicole Cata
wrapped up her clerkship at the Staff
Attorney’s Office of the United States
Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit in August. In September, she
joined the Immigration Intervention
Project at Sanctuary for Families.
As a staff attorney, she helps people
who have experienced gender-based
violence secure and maintain lawful
immigration status and obtain U.S.
citizenship. In July, she caught up with
Paul Lerner, a fellow CUMB alum,
during her first trip to Montreal.
Alex Ivey joined Global Strategy
Group in June as a senior director
in its Washington, D.C., office. He’s
been relishing the return to Demo-
cratic electoral politics ahead of
2020 — this time as a pollster and
strategist. Don't hesitate to reach out
to him with any and all hot takes
(just be sure to vote, as well).
Ola Jacunski was recently
promoted to project leader at Boston
Consulting Group, where she works
with clients in financial services and
pharma. When she’s not building
models or writing slides, Ola spends
her time either reading stories or
writing them. Her first short story
was published earlier this year in the
JordanCon Anthology under the
pen name Alexandra Hill, alongside
science fiction and fantasy greats
like Brandon Sanderson and Seanan
McGuire. Ola’s always looking for
her next great read — please reach
out to share books you've loved!
Conductor, composer and loose
character study Teddy Poll spent
the summer with the inimitable and
doubly named Max Rifkind-Barron.
‘They worked furiously on putative
queer‘d history, manifesting in a new
musical set in an underground drag
cabaret in Paris in 1953, tentatively
titulated Murder at le Cog sur le vol...
He has enjoyed Los Angeles, and
remarks of the weather, “delicious!”
and of the traffic, “oy!” We con-
gratulate Teddy on submitting to us a
Class Note that we can use unedited.
Megan McCusker bought her
first house in Philadelphia and
continues to run a successful coffee
shop, Function Coffee Labs, with
her husband, Ross Nickerson. They
recently celebrated two years of mar-
riage and three years in business! On
nights and weekends, you can find
Megan at weddings and corporate
events working the new branch of
her coffee biz — mobile coffee cater-
ing. As if running her own business
weren't enough, Megan also holds a
full-time day job as an accounting
associate at her mother’s CPA firm
in Fort Washington, Pa. She is taking
Winter 2019-20 CCT 75
accounting classes to gather enough
credits to get her CPA license.
Warren McGee had quite the
eventful summer. He (finally!)
finished his Ph.D. in neuroscience
at Northwestern and has returned to
medical school, expecting to finish
his M.D. at Northwestern in 2021.
He also recently got engaged to his
longtime girlfriend, Kathryn Brill
BC’13! They are eagerly looking
forward to their wedding, as are we!
Simone Foxman and Benjamin
Clark recently traded the Big Apple
for the Middle East, moving half-
way around the world for Simone to
become Bloomberg’s correspondent
in Doha, Qatar. She’s covering
Middle East news on Bloomberg
TV and will also continue to write
for Bloomberg’s online and print
media. They were able to catch up
with a few fellow alums — includ-
ing Jessica McKenzie BC’11, Bren-
dan Hannon, Jeremy Sklaroff,
Linette Lopez’08, Kamal Yechoor
SEAS’11, Alyssa Lamontagne
and Taylor Owens — ahead of the
move. Simone and Benjamin are
inviting any and all to hang out with
them in Doha for the World Cup
in a few years. Presumably they will
have air conditioning.
We also have a CC’11 baby
update: On May 22 (which was,
appropriately, Commencement),
Brian Keith Grimes II was born
to Zila Acosta-Grimes and Brian
Grimes. We saw the baby’s picture
and can confirm that he has an
incurable case of pediatric cuteness.
Ben Cotton was on his honey-
moon in Tanzania, blissfully ignor-
ing Class Notes emails.
2012
Sarah Chai
sarahbchai@gmail.com
Hey friends, a few folks promised
to submit photos for this issue, so
check out “Just Married!”
Speaking of weddings, congratula-
tions are in order for Brian Barwick,
who married Meaghan Robson
on July 13 in his hometown of
Laguna Beach, Calif: Michael Loya,
Stephanie Foster, Francisco Vega
SEAS12, Marisa Vega and Allyson
Werner were in attendance.
Gillian Rhodes shared an update:
“T’ve been settled in Lahore, Pakistan,
for a year and a half. Among various
76 CCT Winter 2019-20
dance and choreography projects,
I’ve performed as a dancer and actor
in multiple music videos (see my
favorite at bit.ly/2KIFHkL), and
this fall I had the opportunity to do
choreography for a feature film that
will be released next year!”
Hope to hear from many more of
you in 2020!
2013
Tala Akhavan
talaakhavan@gmail.com
Happy end of the year, CC’13 — best
wishes for an awesome start to 2020!
Dean Kowalski is one of 20
castaways on Survivor: Island Of the
Idols (season 39), which premiered on
September 25.
Good luck, Dean!
Please send in a note. Your class-
mates want to hear from you!
2014
Rebecca Fattell
rsf2121@columbia.edu
No news this time, but we wish you
a happy start to 2020! Please make
it a New Year’s resolution to send in
some news — cool trips, new jobs,
fun hobbies, big life changes ... any-
thing you want! Let’s stay connected!
2015
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Kareem Carryl
kareem.carryl@columbia.edu
Hello, Class of 2015! We are get-
ting closer to our five-year reunion
(Thursday, June 4-Saturday, June 6)!
The Reunion Committee is hard at
work to ensure it’s a great experi-
ence for everyone. I cannot wait to
see you all there and to learn more
about what you all have been up
to! In the interim, please feel free
to send me any life happenings —
graduations, engagements, new jobs,
cool adventures — anything! Feel
free to send photos, as well!
I am happy to share that I am
in my first year at Harvard Law
School! It has been great thus far
and I’m looking forward to what the
next few years will bring.
Your classmates want to hear
from you. Please submit updates
by writing to me at the address at
the top of the column or via the
CCT Class Notes webform, college.
columbia.edu/cct/submit_class_note.
2016
Lily Liu-Krason
lliukrason@gmail.com
Hey 2016, I’ve started following up
on the nominations you're sending
and am always so impressed and
inspired by us as a group. Please
keep them coming! By the time you
see this, Homecoming will have
passed, so feel free to also send me
photos from that. Looking at the
last few issues, these moments are to
be treasured. Without further ado,
updates from your classmates:
From Richard Lee: “I started
really getting into blockchain and
cryptocurrency in early 2017. A
couple months later I quit my job
and started Global Blockchain
Innovative Capital (GBIC), a crypto
fund with fellow Columbia alumni.
We invest in cryptocurrencies like
Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as
early-stage blockchain projects. We
also started a consulting and advi-
sory company underneath GBIC to
diversify our exposure in the indus-
try. It’s been and will continue to
be a wild ride through the ups and
downs, as Bitcoin has gone as high
as $20K and as low as $3K.”
From Jackie Dubrovich: “Since
graduation, I worked full-time at a
media measurement and analytics
company for three years while simul-
taneously training and competing on
the national and international fenc-
ing circuit. I made the USA National
Team this season and competed at
both World Fencing Championships
(our team won the bronze medal!)
and the Pan American Games in
Lima, Peru (our team won the gold)).
I finished the season ranked number
2 in the country and am training full
time for the 2020 Summer Olympics
in Tokyo. Columbia has had a rich
history of fencers competing at the
Summer Olympics, and I hope to
continue this tradition!”
Class Notes
From Jared Greene 17, SEAS'17:
“The past few years have honestly
been pretty all over the place. Finished
the 3-2 program in 2017 (so am I
really CC’16?), then built robots in
Brooklyn for a bit before going to
Guatemala City for a year to study the
internet. After that I basically did the
most cliché thing I could think of and
worked at a cryptocurrency startup in
San Francisco for a hot minute until
moving for the fourth time in two
years, this time to Seattle. Now I work
on Starlink at SpaceX to make the
internet globally accessible, and am
waiting for any excuse to get a dog.”
2017
Carl Yin
carl.yin@columbia.edu
Simon Schwartz’s startup, Locasaur,
launched a platform to message with
your favorite local businesses, with
the goal of providing regulars with
a direct channel to friendly faces at
their spots and mom-and-pops with
an unapologetically pro-local ally in
tech. Locasaur is available in your
app store and online, where you can
search the user-generated database
of local spots that stretches from
Morningside to Japan.
Shreyas Vissapragada is
in graduate school at Caltech study-
ing planetary science. He’s been
working on a way to observe the
atmospheric evolution of planets
outside the solar system.
Tolu Obikunle launched a
non-alcoholic wine company,
La Mére Beverage. Products will
be on sale broadly through
e-commerce in January.
Bianca Guerrero shares, “I am
still working on policy for Mayor Bill
de Blasio, focusing on worker protec-
tions and climate issues. Our primary
goal is working with the City Council
to pass a paid personal time bill, which
would guarantee two weeks of paid
time off (separate from sick leave)
for private sector workers. I also am
meeting people (including Columbia
alumni) and learning organizing skills
as the lead volunteer for Elizabeth
Warren in uptown Manhattan. I
also help out on Jamaal Bowman's
campaign to represent my old con-
gressional district, NY-16. I was not
into electoral politics at Columbia but
I believe in both candidates, so I am
doing what I can to help them win.
Christopher George 17 and Jonathan Koptyev 17 were each awarded a
Ferdinand C. Valentine Medical Student Research Grant in Urology; they are
pictured here with the award and other winners.
“This past summer, I spent two
weeks on the West Coast with two
friends from the Harry S. Truman
Scholarship Foundation network.
We visited the Bay Area, Yosemite
National Park, Seattle, North Cas-
cades National Park and Vancouver
— it was incredible. I also visited
Toronto and decided that Canada
is an underrated tourist destination.
I snagged last-minute tickets to
CNN’s climate town hall and, last
but certainly not least, I got to see
my favorite band — the recently
reunited Jonas Brothers — live for
the first time. I’m excited for what-
ever the next season brings!”
Chris von Pohlot and Justin
Bleuel co-founded a company to
make renting easier.
Ethan Wu shares, “As time
passes, it seems to move more rap-
idly, day by week by month by quar-
ter. I started architecture school this
past fall, gratified to be starting with
a beginner’s mind again, but I find as
I age my life’s circumstances become
closer to ones I once abhorred —
aging coming not from the passing
of days but from the heaping of
responsibility and experience.”
Elena McGahey had a fun
weekend with lan Covert, Mayank
Mahajan SEAS’16, Harsha Vemuri,
Sahir Jaggi SEAS’17, Eunice Emefa
Kokor SEAS’17, Kanika Verma,
Jake Kwok and Josh Keough. She
also started grad school this fall at
UCSF and welcomes all Lions in the
program to say hi!
Christopher George and
Jonathan Koptyev were awarded
a Ferdinand C. Valentine Medical
Student Research Grant in Urology
for their summer research projects
between their first and second year of
medical school. Jonathan's project was
titled “Assessing the Risk of Kidney
Stone Formation Induced by Weight-
Loss Diets” and Chris’s project was
titled “Quantifying the Association
Between Nocturia and Cardiovascular
Disease: Results from the Krimp-
ten Study.” Jonathan conducted his
research at medical school (Rutgers)
and Christopher conducted his at
Erasmus University in Rotterdam,
Netherlands. They both presented
their respective research findings at
the New York Academy of Medicine’s
Medical and Dental Student Forum
on September 9.
2018
Alexander Birkel and
Maleeha Chida
ab4065@columbia.edu
mnc2122@columbia.edu
Cristina Frias hopes everyone is
excited for the season! She could
never have imagined what a year and
a half in the real world could bring.
Cristina has a full year of work expe-
rience in software development under
her belt, which means realizing how
little she actually knows, she says.
She’s continued to swim by joining
the Asphalt Green Masters program.
And she hopes she’ll be volunteering
at the ASPCA soon to help out with
some of the dogs and cats!
This past fall, Tiffany Troy and
her father worked together with the
help of many in the community on
the first case in which a man got
released by ICE on an employment
anti-retaliation theory. Their quest
for liberty did not come easy, but
they had faith and never turned
their backs on the dream they
carry. On top of that experience,
which turned into a poem, Tiffany
celebrated her birthday in style with
a coinciding publication, which she
wrote in Dodge Hall last spring.
Since graduating, Shawnee
Traylor dove over more Panamanian
coral reefs (thankfully, no crocodiles
this time), spent a season collecting
water samples (and dodging leopard
seals) in Antarctica, backpacked
the glacier-studded mountains of
Patagonia and sailed up into Green-
landic fjords — mostly in the name
of science. She is a Ph.D. student in
a joint program between MIT and
the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution, where she studies how
important elements cycle between
the ocean and atmosphere in the
context of a changing climate.
Sharel Liu published an article
in the architectural journal Log
in August, “Community on Tap:
The Commodification of Identity,”
which can be found for purchase on
anycorp.com/store/log46.
Briley Lewis is excited to be in
her second year of graduate school at
UCLA, even if that means she needs
to start studying for her comprehen-
sive exam. Other than research, she’s
been doing a lot of teaching and
writing lately. Check out astrobites.
org/author/blewis.
Siena Bergt has a feature film
that was received into the Santa Fe
Independent Film Festival.
2019
REUNION 2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccaa-events@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Emily Gruber
Tj Aspen Givens
tag2149@columbia.edu
eag2169@columbia.edu
An aspiring surgeon, Hanya
Qureshi is a member of the Class of
2023 at the Yale School of Medicine.
She is enjoying exploring New
Haven while continuing to collabo-
rate with the United Nations Girls’
Education Initiative through her
role as the founder and co-developer
of the UN Ivy STEM Connect
Program. Thus far, the program
has impacted nearly 200 students.
Hanya hopes to use her background
to encourage girls globally to pursue
STEM careers.
Tre Gabriel is preparing to go to
grad school (a doctorate program in
psych), while being a content special-
ist for a mental health company, The
Flawless Foundation, and using his
fifth year of eligibility to play football
at his hometown school.
Gowan Moise (now going by
Will/William) moved to Santa
Monica to start working at a
boutique law firm specializing in
intellectual property and complex
commercial litigation. He spends
his days reading case law, building
damages models and chasing his
roommate’s French bulldog. He’s still
yet to go to the beach.
Danny Hong is pursuing an
M.Sc. in innovation, entrepreneur-
ship and management at Imperial
College Business School. His mas-
ter’s program cohort at Imperial sees
candidates representing 70 nationali-
ties; he is one of two Americans in
the program. In pursuing a master’s,
Danny says he looks forward to
applying his Columbia background
to cultivate innovative ideas with
which to seek employment or to cre-
ate his own company, as these are the
requirements to officially achieve the
master’s from Imperial.
Winter 2019-20 CCT 77
obituaries
1942
Nicholas W. Cicchetti, Sleepy
Hollow, N.Y., a retired educator
who earned a master’s from TC;
August 21, 2019.
Abram Loft, Amherst, Mass., a
distinguished professor emeritus of
chamber music; earned an M.A. and
a Ph.D. from GSAS, in 1944 and
1950, respectively; February 1, 2019.
1946
Evarts Cecil Erickson, Wellfleet,
Mass., a retired writer; September
28, 2019.
1953
Morton Freilicher, New York City,
a retired lawyer who earned a degree
from the Law School in 1956;
August 7, 2019.
Benjamin P. Roosa, Jr., Hopewell
Junction, N.Y., an attorney;
August 28, 2019. Memorial contribu-
tions may be made to Cardinal
Hayes Home for Children, P.O. Box
CH, 60 St. Joseph Dr., Millbrook,
NY 12545 (cardinalhayeshome.org).
Howard R. Williams, Bloomfield,
N.J., a humanitarian aid executive
and adjunct professor at SIPA;
September 25, 2019.
1956
Charles W. Bostic Jr., Morrisville,
N.Y., a retired vocational rehabilita-
tion counselor; September 28, 2019.
David M. Nitzberg, Lake Forest,
Ill.; February 26, 2019.
1957
Richard J. Cohen, San Francisco,
a retired physician; December 25,
2018. Memorial contributions may
be made to Congregation Beth Sha-
lom, 301 14th Ave., San Francisco,
CA 94118 (bethsholomsf.org).
78 CCT Winter 2019-20
Daniel |. Davidson, Washington,
D.C., earned a degree from the Law
School in 1959; September 13, 2019.
1958
Alfred R. Stein, New York City;
October 15, 2019.
Jesus A. Suarez, Stuart, Fla., a
retired engineer; earned a B.S.,
M.S. and C.E., all from Columbia
Engineering in 1960, 1962 and
1966, respectively; August 13, 2019.
1960
William H. Engler, Princeton Junc-
tion, N.J., a retired professor of Eng-
lish; earned an M.A. in 1965 from
GSAS; August 17, 2019. Memorial
Columbia University, N. Y. City Pore
MAF S59
- ts ¥ Ai
ip ae bed
A, * e¢ es Wires
PERS Let OR ‘ A Fi) eo gle eRe
Lae Be ae gc i rs sige s Sas gt ALS nea pet
contributions may be made to the
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
(nationalmssociety.org).
1961
Arnold Chase, Township of
Washington, N,J., a retired attorney
who earned a degree from the Law
School in 1964; October 1, 2019.
Memorial contributions may be
made to any multiple myeloma or
diabetes organization.
1966
Stuart M Berkman, Rio de Janeiro,
a retired licensing and marketing
executive who earned a degree
from the Business School in 1968;
January 25, 2019.
OBITUARY SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Columbia College Today welcomes obituary information for Columbia College alumni.
1969
Michael S. Oberman, New York
City, an attorney; October 15, 2019.
Memorial contributions may be
made to Hope & Heroes (hhecf.
convio.net/goto/michaeloberman).
1982
John S.W. Dawson, New York
City, a director of marketing; Octo-
ber 13, 2019.
1991
Patrick H. Flynn, Wilmette, IIl.,
a co-portfolio manager of a high-
yield strategies fund; April 23, 2019.
Memorial contributions may be made
to SitStayRead (sitstayread.org).
Links or mailing addresses for memorial contributions may be included. Please fill out the
“Submit Obituary Information” form at college.columbia.edu/cct/content/contact-us, or
mail information to Obituaries Editor, Columbia College Today, Columbia Alumni Center,
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530, 4th FI., New York, NY 10025.
WILL CSAPLAR '57, BUS'58 POSTCARD COLLECTION, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
Immanuel M. Wallerstein ’51, GSAS’59,
Sociologist and Prolific Author
Immanuel M. Wallerstein ’51, GSAS’59, a sociologist who transformed
the field with his ideas about Western domination of the modern world
and the very nature of sociological inquiry, died on August 31, 2019, at his
home in Branford, Conn. He was 88.
Wallerstein was born to German parents on September 28, 1930, in
Manhattan and grew up in the Bronx. He served in the Army 1951-53,
and earned a master’s in 1954 from GSAS. In 1955, the Ford Foundation
awarded him a fellowship that allowed him to study in Africa; he
continued to travel the continent after earning a Ph.D. in 1959, also from
GSAS, and joining the Columbia faculty. Wallerstein wrote two books
on Africa in the 1960s: Africa: The Politics of Independence and Africa: The
Politics of Unity.
During Columbia’s Spring 1968 uprising, he was part of a faculty
committee that sought to mediate the situation. Based on those
experiences, as well as other events in that tumultuous year, Wallerstein
wrote University in Turmoil:
The Politics of Change, published
in 1969. In 1971 he moved
to Montreal to teach at
McGill University, and then
in 1976 became distinguished
professor of sociology at SUNY
Binghamton. He had been a
senior research fellow at Yale
University since 2000.
Wallerstein’s doctrine of
the world-system became an
influential theory in the field. In
1974 he published The Modern
World-System I: Capitalist
Agriculture and the Origins of the
European World-Economy in the
Sixteenth Century, the first of four volumes that took a broader sociological
approach than was common at the time, favoring a global view that
encompassed history and economic evolution.
World-systems analysis, as Wallerstein called his approach, occupied
only a modest part of his scholarship. A 2011 book of essays on the impact
of Wallerstein’s work, Immanuel Wallerstein and the Problem of the World,
considered Africa’s influence on his thinking. “I had the gut feeling in the
1950s,” he wrote in The Essential Wallerstein (2000), “that the most impor-
tant thing that was happening in the 20th-century world was the struggle
to overcome the control by the Western world of the rest of the world.”
Wallerstein produced numerous other books, and also wrote on current
events; in 2014 he delivered a lecture to more than 1,000 students in Iran,
where his writings have been widely read.
A theme of activism ran through Wallerstein’s career and his writings. “I
have argued that world-systems analysis is not a theory but a protest against
neglected issues and deceptive epistemologies,” he wrote. He argued that no
world-system lasts forever and that the current one is slowly disintegrating.
For years he elaborated on these and other ideas on his website (iwallerstein.
com). On July 1, 2019, he announced that day’s post was the 500th and last.
He concluded by pondering the future, and whether the global change he
predicted would come to pass: “I think there is a 50-50 chance that we'll
make it to transformatory change, but only 50-50.”
Wallerstein married Beatrice Friedman in 1964. In addition to her
and his daughter, Katharine, he is survived by two children from his
wife’s previous marriage, Susan Morgenstern and Robert Morgenstern,
and five grandchildren.
alumninews
John Giorno 58, Poet and Poetry
Advocate, and Artists’ Muse
John Giorno ’58, who employed
art and mass media to embed
poetry more deeply in the
fabric of everyday life, died on
October 11, 2019, at his home in
Lower Manhattan. He was 82.
“Possessed of Greco-Roman
good looks and a gregarious,
benevolent spirit,” according to his
New York Times obituary, Giorno
played an important role early in
his life as a muse to and lover of
other artists, among them Robert
Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol.
Born on December 4, 1936,
Giorno grew up in Brooklyn
and Roslyn Heights, N.Y. He graduated from James Madison H.S. and
to the end of his life spoke of the importance of the English teachers he
encountered there. After the College, during a brief stint as a stockbroker,
Giorno began to befriend artists and poets like Warhol and Ted Berrigan
and filmmaker Jonas Mekas.
Giorno and Warhol were living together off and on when Warhol came
up with the idea of filming Giorno asleep, naked. Warhol created his seminal
1963 film Sleep by focusing a mostly static camera on Giorno for more than
five hours. Though the couple split in 1964, the movie — among the first foot-
age Warhol shot and now considered an underground classic — linked them
indelibly in postwar art history. But Giorno’s lasting contribution to art came
through his restless experimentations with the political potential of poetry,
which he felt had been unjustly overshadowed by other genres of expression.
In 1965, Giorno founded the nonprofit Giorno Poetry Systems to promote
his work and that of his peers. Four years later, inspired by a call with William
S. Burroughs, he started Dial-A-Poem, a rudimentary mass-communication
system for cutting-edge poets and political oratory. Reachable around the
clock for anyone with a few minutes and a desire to be read to, millions of
people called in. At a time when the art world and culture at large were still
largely conservative, Dial-A-Poem was often unabashedly homoerotic.
Giorno’s own artwork drew heavily from the ideas of the found imagery
that fueled the Pop revolution and also from the tradition of the ready
made — plain, found objects presented as art. Giorno mined news items
and presented them virtually untouched as verse, as in his privately circu-
lated 1964 collection The American Book of the Dead.
By 1962 Giorno had moved into a hulking Queen Anne-style building on
the Bowery that had been built as the first YMCA and that then had a sec-
ond life as a warren of studios for artists. He eventually occupied three spaces
there, one of which was nicknamed “the Bunker” by Burroughs. For more
than three decades, Giorno, a longtime practicing Buddhist, hosted annual
gatherings in the building for hundreds of Tibetan Buddhist adherents.
Over several decades, Giorno Poetry Systems produced dozens of
albums, videos and events of the work of Giorno and other writers, musi-
cians and artists. In 1984 the foundation started the AIDS Treatment
Project, which disbursed hundreds of thousands of dollars.
At the time of his death Giorno had been finishing a memoir, Great
Demon Kings: A Memoir of Poetry, Sex, Art, Death, and Enlightenment,
scheduled to be published next June.
Giorno is survived by his husband, Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone, who
in summer 2017 produced the NYC exhibition Ugo Rondinone: I ¥ John
Giorno, a sprawling, multi-part exhibition that presented, at 13 venues,
Giorno’s life and work, as well as work that he inspired.
Winter 2019-20 CCT 79
COTreCcOMmMer
CORE CARTOON CAPTION CONTEST
In honor of the Centennial, we asked four artistic alums to take
inspiration from the Core and provide a cartoon in need of a
caption — one for each of our four issues this academic year.
This installment is by editorial cartoonist R.J. Matson ’85.
The winning caption will be published in the Spring 2020 issue,
and the winner will get a signed print of Matson’s cartoon.
Any College student or College alum may enter; no more than three
entries per person. Submit your idea, along with your full name,
CC class year and daytime phone, to cct_centennial@columbia.edu
by Monday, February 10. And be sure to check out the Fall issue’s
winning caption on our Contents page.
80 CCT Winter 2019-20
DOSER AEE Te
_ “Thanks to generous alumni support, Columbia College
provided me with funding to take an internship with a nonprofit
media company that gives voice to at-risk children. This enabled
me to explore my passions and expand my outlook
for the future.”
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Core to Commencement is proud of the Work Exemption Program, part of Columbia
University’s enhanced financial aid program for students. Generous funding from alumni and
parents provides qualified financial aid recipients expanded support to pursue meaningful
unpaid or low-paid internships, research projects and community outreach work that helps
them experience greater possibilities.
| : CORE TO
- Support the Campaign: CORETO
college.columbia.edu/campaign COLUMBIA COLLEGE
| Columbia :
CCT sic; ee
| Today « PAID
Columbia University Permit No. 724
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530 Burl. VT 05401
New York, NY 10025
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
REUNION2020 =
LET’S ROAR IN THE ‘20S
AT NEXT YEAR'S
COLUMBIA REUNION
JUNE 4-6, 2020
All alumni are invited, with special events for milestone years
that end in 0 or 5, and the Class of 2019
college.columbia.edu/alumni/reunion
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fe | VIDEOGRAPHER ON
: THE VANGUARD
FRANCESCA TRIANNI ’11,
JRN’13 DOCUMENTS A
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
DETROIT ROCKS!
; NIA BATTS ’07 BRINGS
GOOD HAIR AND GOODWILL
Columbia TO HER HOMETOWN
College BRIAN DE PALMA’62
THE FAMED FILM DIRECTOR
Today @ WRITES HIS FIRST NOVEL
PLATO - Thucydides - Bach - W.E.B. DUBOIS - Jane Austen - Raphael - Duke Ellington
Le Corbusier - Ruth Crawford Seeger - FRANTZ FANON - Moliére - PATRICIA J. WILLIAMS
THOMAS AQUINAS - Verdi - John Milton - Berg - HANNAH ARENDT - Andy Warhol - Ovid.
Schubert - MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT - Montaigne - Clara Schumann - JOHN STUART MILL
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE - Boccaccio - William Grant Still - EDMUND BURKE - Spinoza
Reich - JOHN JAY - Euripides - Saariaho - THOMAS JEFFERSON - Berlioz - AL-GHAZALI
Monet + JAMES MADISON - Louis Armstrong - ALEXANDER HAMILTON - Aristophanes
ARISTOTLE - Rabelais - Michelangelo - Monteverdi - AUGUSTINE - Herodotus - GALILEO
Picasso - IBN TUFAYL - Pérotin - Goethe - Beatriz de Dia - SOJOURNER TRUTH - Haydn
Swift - Aaron Copland - GANDHI - Dostoevsky - Cage - DESCARTES - Charlie Parker - Woolf
Rembrandt - MACHIAVELLI - Aeschylus - Handel - HOBBES - Sophocles - HUME - Mozart
KIMBERLE WILLIAMS CRENSHAW - Mahier - Vincent van Gogh - FRANCISCO DE VITORIA
Beethoven - Virgil - JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU - Bruegel - ADAM SMITH - Mussorgsky
Shakespeare - Chopin - MARX - Bernini - DARWIN - Cervantes - Wagner - NIETZSCHE
SIGMUND FREUD - Stravinsky - CARL SCHMITT - Fielding - FOUCAULT - Jackson Pollock
Josquin des Prez - VOLTAIRE - Arnold Schoenberg - Lucretius - ROBESPIERRE - Apuleius
HEGEL - Sappho - Frank Lloyd Wright - Claude Debussy - HARRIET TAYLOR MILL - Brahms
Leonardo da Vinci - ELIZABETH CADY STANTON - Puccini - CATHARINE MACKINNON
Homer - Hildegard of Bingen - JOHN LOCKE - Dante - Goya - KANT - Toni Morrison
| support the Core
because it is the
cornerstone of
lifelong curiosity, |
passion and
engagement.
Elizabeth Kipp-Giusti CC’12
Photo by Tammy Shell
When you support the Core Curriculum through the
Columbia College Fund, you help to provide resources
necessary to sustain a vital centerpiece of the College
experience. Your gift symbolizes a commitment to this
century-old foundation of a College education.
MAKE YOUR GIFT AT COLLEGE.GIVENOW.COLUMBIA.EDU
a COLUMBIA
COLLEGE
FUND
Contents
What's it like to teach the Core?
Eleven faculty members tell us it’s inspiring,
intense and exhilarating.
By the Editors of CCT
i 7) f
ai
Videographer Francesca Trianni 11, JRN’13 ee
puts a human face on the Syrian refugee crisis.
By Fill C. Shomer
Almost two decades after Lit Hum, a student and
professor reunite to discuss fast versus slow learning.
By Fill C. Shomer
€ £2
Na 4 ¥
a a
, ‘
ae
avin A EY
A Detroit entrepreneur reinvests in her hometown.
By Anne-Ryan Sirju FRN’09
ER
departments
3 Within the Family
4 Music to Our Ears
6 Letters to the Editor
8 Message from Dean James J. Valentini
The Core Curriculum, like the Grand Canyon,
is “absolutely unparalleled.”
9 Around the Quads
This year’s John Jay Award honorees, a
Centennial celebration on campus, the Audre
Lorde Community Space, Roar briefs and more.
34 Columbia Forum: Are Snakes Necessary?
by Brian De Palma ’62 and Susan Lehman
. Master of suspense De Palma’s newest project?
His first novel.
Now on CCT Online
PRINT EXTRAS
- Book excerpt from Monique W.
Morris 94, GSAPP’96
- Michael |. Sovern 753, LAW’55’s video reflection
Like Columbia College Alumni
facebook.com/alumnicc
View Columbia College alumni photos
instagram.com/alumniofcolumbiacollege
Follow @Columbia_CCAA
Join the Columbia College alumni network
college.columbia.edu/alumni/linkedin
college.columbia.edu/cct
Contents
alumninews \/
38
39
40
44
46
86
88
Spring into Action
Message from CCAA President
Michael Behringer ’89
How an essential aspect of the Core continues to resonate.
Lions
Monique W. Morris 94, GSAPP’96; Kasia Nikhamina ’07;
Richard Maimon’85; Isaiah D. Delemar ’93
Bookshelf
Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell
Us About Our Past and Future by James Shapiro ”77
Class Notes
Just Married!
Obituaries
Michael I. Sovern 53, LAW’55
Core Corner
Our Core Centennial cartoon caption contest continues
with an illustration by Dr. Ben Schwartz ’03, PS’08.
R.J. MATSON ‘85
“French vanilla chia seeds at F's Place!
We're not in Athens anymore, P.”
The winner of our second Core Centennial cartoon caption
contest is Tom McNamee ’99! Thank you for all your submissions.
This issue’s cartoon is on page 88.
JORG MEYER
On the Centennial Beat
eve crossed the midway point in CCT’s
year of Core Centennial coverage. On
the feature front, we’ve spoken with the
University’s president about the endur-
ing importance of the Core, and done a deep dive into
the origins of Contemporary Civilization, the curriculum’s
inaugural course, launched in 1919. When considering our
next big piece, it seemed like high time to go to the faculty
members themselves, and to ask for their perspective on
what it’s like to teach the College’s signature classes.
Of course, this was in December; the professors were
busy, in the midst of grading end-of-semester papers
and preparing for final exams. But they graciously took
time out for some thoughtful conversation. Faced with
our icebreaker about how long they'd been teaching the
Core, more than one confessed to being nervous when
they started. But all have been teaching the curriculum for
years, and some for decades.
They've stayed with it because teaching the Core is
energizing and challenging, because it connects them to
something greater than themselves, because of the stu-
dents and because of the opportunity to impart something
lasting — an expansion of worldview; an introduction to
the basic questions of human existence; the tools for a
lifelong appreciation of art, music and literature.
‘The enduring influence of professor on student can be
seen more directly in our roundtable with writer David
Epstein ’02, JRN’04, GSAS’04 and Julie Crawford, the
Mark Van Doren Professor of the Humanities and former
chair of Literature Humanities. The two met in the Lit Hum
seminar room almost two decades ago, and we got them
together again to talk about Epstein’s latest book, Range:
Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. The result-
ing conversation, which originally appeared in our website’s
“Like Minds” department, discusses fast versus slow learning,
and how embracing a liberal arts education might pay divi-
dends over a quick commitment to a particular path.
Elsewhere in the issue, we interview TIME videographer
Francesca Trianni’11, JRN’13, who recently made her direc-
torial debut with the documentary Paradise Without People.
‘The film, which sold out at DOC NYC 2019, offers a win-
dow onto the Syrian refugee crisis through the eyes of two
women who have just given birth. We also learned how Nia
Batts ’07 is bringing an impressive one-two punch of inno-
vation and community impact to her hometown of Detroit:
Her salon, Detroit Blows, has broken new ground with its
all-inclusive approach to hairstyling, with a portion of sales
going to support local projects by female entrepreneurs.
SUSAN BOYNTON NICHOLAS DAMES
VOICES OF
WISDOM
CCT is breaking a little new ground ourselves — we're
thrilled to be hosting our first event, an evening with famed
film director Brian De Palma 62, here on the Columbia
campus on Thursday, March 26 (college.columbia.edu/
alumni/events). The talk celebrates De Palma’s debut novel,
Are Snakes Necessary?, excerpted on page 34. The twisty,
noirish book marks an apt next step for a man who’s made
his career as a master of suspense. De Palma will be joined
on the 26th by his co-author, former New York Times editor
Susan Lehman; School of the Arts film professor Annette
Insdorf will moderate.
We hope to see you there!
Meanwhile, if you haven't yet submitted a Core haiku,
there’s still time. And the latest installment in our Core
Centennial cartoon caption contest series can be found on
the back page. Submissions for both of them can be sent
to cct_centennial@columbia.edu.
We're also putting out a call for readers to show us their
LGBTQIA+ pride. Send your hi-res digital photo with
caption info to cct@columbia.edu (at least one person
in the photo must be a College alum). We plan to run
a selection of favorites in the Summer 2020 issue — the
first of what we hope will be many “billboards” showing
different sides of our vibrant Lions community.
Spring Forward!
Alexis a2 SOA11
Editor-in-Chief
Featuring the
Core: This issue,
we highlight
faculty voices.
Spring 2020 CCT 3
MUSIC TO OUR EARS
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weve listened to,
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Columbia
| College
Today @
VOLUME 47 NUMBER 3
SPRING 2020
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Alexis Boncy SOA'11
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Lisa Palladino
DEPUTY EDITOR
Jill C. Shomer
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Anne-Ryan Sirju JRN’09
FORUM EDITOR
Rose Kernochan BC’82
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Thomas Vinciguerra ’85
ART DIRECTOR
Eson Chan
Published quarterly by the
Columbia College Office of
Alumni Affairs and Development
for alumni, students, faculty, parents
and friends of Columbia College.
CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS
AND MARKETING OFFICER
Bernice Tsai 96
ADDRESS
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530, 4th FI.
New York, NY 10025
PHONE
212-851-7852
EMAIL
cct@columbia.edu
WEB
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.
© 2020 Columbia College Today
All rights reserved.
ee FSC* C022085
COURTESY COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
Letters to the Editor
Thanks so much for the Core Curriculum origin story (Winter 2019-20, “First
Class”). Fifty years have passed since I took CC, Literature Humanities and Art
Humanities. These three courses were among the most valuable experiences of my
intellectual development in college. The other was organic chemistry, a foundation
of my education and work as a physician. All four have remained at the core of my
intellect throughout my adult life.
I have thought back to CC, Literature Humanities and Art Humanities thou-
sands of times. They ground me. They are a source of reflection and insight. Espe-
cially now, they help put the political circumstances of our nation in perspective.
No work of literature has meant more to me than Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave.
The story is so simple that at the time I wondered what the fuss was about. Yet
many events and relationships of my life have recalled this allegory of the difference
between appearance and reality, and the awakening of understanding.
Something else: In the years since, I have learned that I am slightly dyslexic. I
suspect that in the early 1960s, when I took CC and Humanities, few people knew
about dyslexia, much less understood what it is. Though mine is mild, it still dra-
matically reduces my reading speed. You can guess how this affected my participa-
tion in CC and Humanities.
After college, I continued to read portions of the assigned works. Yet even though I
have read in full almost none of them, I think I understand today much of what the works
are about, and I continue to refer to them, often opening the volumes I bought back then.
Only Art Humanities was unaffected by my dyslexia, and to this day I love art,
attend lectures on artists and paintings, and go to art museums frequently.
Richard Kapit 67
Rockville, Md.
cf 2 RA DE Se ESS
Upon receiving the Winter 2019-20
issue, I immediately turned to the article
on the origins of Contemporary Civiliza-
tion (“First Class”) where, to my delight,
on page 23,1 found a photograph taken by
my father, Bernard Sunshine ’46, of sailors
ascending the steps to Hamilton Hall.
My father, now 92 and going strong, got
a kick out of seeing it, too. The picture was
taken during WWII, though, not WWI, as
the caption suggests.
Andrew Sunshine ’79
New York City
[Editor's note: CCT is also delighted to learn
who the photographer was — one of our former
class correspondents, in fact! Thank you for the
ID, and we apologize for the caption error.]
Lifelong Learning
I write in response to Dean James J. Val-
entini’s invitation in the Winter 2019-20
issue’s “Message from the Dean,” “We
want to hear how the Core has informed,
guided and enlightened your life journey.”
I entered Columbia College with the
Class of 1958, but after one year left
to spend four years rising to the rank
of sergeant in the Marine Corps. I was
readmitted, as a member of the Class of
1962, but actually graduated in September
1961 after completing a three-credit sum-
mer class while working full-time for the
New York Daily News.
My fragmented attendance record left
me without the supportive network of
longtime classmates that many graduates
enjoy. But I carried away something even
more valuable.
When I returned to the College after leav-
ing the Marine Corps, my roommate and |
were both taking Contemporary Civiliza-
tion, but with different instructors. We would
discuss the readings and arrive at a point
saying, “I get the basic idea here, but what
about this?” We'd go to class the next day and
ask, “What about this?” That issue would be
addressed in the next reading. Uncanny, no?
Of course not — CC was designed to lead
you from one idea to another.
I reluctantly signed up for Music
Humanities, which turned out to be taught
by an associate conductor of the New York
Philharmonic. He would fill the black-
board with scales and notes, play a bit of
Beethoven, then jab at the blackboard with
a long pointer so could we see the notes
that were thundering through the room. I
now have nearly 200 operas on CD.
Through the years, I have slowly reread
all of the classics I raced through to meet
Literature Humanities deadlines, and they
have enriched my life.
Most of all, I remember my writing
teacher, George Knobbe. Midway through
PIZZERIA LOLA
the year, he broke his leg. Instead of turn-
ing the class over to a substitute, he had
us meet in his Morningside Heights apart-
ment. We would sit on the carpeted floor
of his small living room and learn how to
put our thoughts into our own words.
The valuable jewel that I carried away
from Columbia, and the truth that Colum-
bia taught me, is that learning is fun. I’ve
been a student ever since.
Donald C. Dilworth ’61
Silver Spring, Md.
Taste Test
How superb that chef Ann Kim’95 (Winter
2019-20, “Fire Power”) is spicing up Mid-
western cuisine. Within minutes of finishing
the article, we turned off the stove and raced
to Pizzeria Lola. We can report the pizzas
are as fine as any we've tasted in New York,
New Haven and even Naples. Brava!
Dr. Norbert Hirschhorn ’58, PS’62
Minneapolis
[e Contact Us
CCT welcomes letters from readers
about articles in the magazine but
cannot print or personally respond to
all letters received. Letters express
the views of the writers and not
CCT, the College or the University.
Please keep letters to 250 words or
fewer. All letters are subject to editing
for space, clarity and CCT style.
Please direct letters for publication
“to the editor” via mail or online:
college.columbia.edu/cct/contactus.
Spring 2020 CCT 7
RESTA 77 Ai
MATTHEW SEPTIMUS
100th anniversary is particularly special,
because there are so few things that per-
sist that long. This is why we are having a
special celebration of the Core Curriculum
all this year. But the Core is not the only institution
now having a 100th anniversary. The Grand Can-
yon National Park is another. 1 mention it because its
founding in 1919 was guided by a vision of value at
once both very similar to and very different from the
vision we have of the Core.
Theodore Roosevelt said: “The Grand Canyon fills me
with awe. It is beyond comparison — beyond descrip-
tion; absolutely unparalleled throughout the wide world
... Let this great wonder of nature remain as it now is.
Do nothing to mar its grandeur, sublimity and loveliness.
You cannot improve on it. But what you can do is to
keep it for your children, your children’s children, and all
who come after you, as the one great sight which every
American should see.”
We feel that the Core, too, is “beyond comparison” and
“absolutely unparalleled throughout the world.” And we
do want to keep it for our children, and our children’s
children and all who come after us, as the great experi-
ence of Columbia College. We want to do nothing “to
mar its grandeur, sublimity and loveliness.”
But, we do not want it to “remain as it is now” and we
do not believe that “you cannot improve on it.” Unlike
the Grand Canyon’s grandeur, “a wonder of nature,” the
product of the action of natural forces across millions of
years, the Core is the product of the action of conscious
human forces, with a most decidedly human value in
mind, and that value is realized in a human context
that is constantly changing. The Core is not a national
monument. It is not a Columbia College monument. It
is alive and responding to that changing context.
Like the Core itself, this Centennial is alive — alive
with questions about the past, the present and the future
of the Core. These questions are of particular importance
during this Centennial, but they should be considered
and answered every year. What are some of them?
I have said that the Core is always the same and
always changing, and I believe that is accurate, but how
do we elaborate that? Its objectives seem to remain the
same, but the way in which we work to achieve those
objectives must change as the circumstances of the
world in which we live change, as they have done and
will continue to do.
8 CCT Spring 2020
The Grandeur of the
Core Curriculum
JEAN BEAUFORT
How should we explain the objectives in a way that
makes clear the continuity of purpose, while ensuring a
contemporary approach that continues to give value to
the Core? How should we assess success in achieving
what we aim to?
How do we make sure the Core will remain successful
for every student in the future? How do we ensure that
the Core empowers students to engage with a world
neither they nor we can predict? How do we explain
to students the importance of the Core in their devel-
opment of the 13 competencies within My Columbia
College Journey (college.columbia.edu/journey/home),
our guide for students to obtaining the most value from
the entirety of their College experience?
I encourage you to think about these questions and
share your answers with us; they can be emailed to
core100@columbia.edu.
ss
James J. Valentini
Dean
The Grand Canyon —
an “unparalleled” vista.
John Jay Awards
On March 4, Columbia College celebrated
the 42nd annual John Jay Awards Dinner,
honoring six accomplished College alumni
for distinguished professional achieve-
ments in a variety of fields ranging from
finance, law and media to education, real
estate and business. The dinner, held at the
iconic Cipriani 42nd Street, raises money
for the College’s John Jay National Schol-
ars Program, which provides financial aid
and special programming to enhance the
academic and extracurricular experiences
of outstanding students. This year’s award-
ees were Michael Barry’89 (president and
CEO of Ironstate Development); Lanny
A. Breuer ’80, LAW’85 (vice-chair of Cov-
ington & Burling); Anna Fang ’04 (partner
and CEO of ZhenFund); Poppy Harlow
05 (anchor of CNN Newsroom); Wanda
Marie Holland Greene ’89,TC’91 (head
of school at The Hamlin School); and
Victor H. Mendelson ’89 (co-president of
HEICO Corp.). See photos at facebook.
com/alumnicc/photos.
A Surprise Donation
Dr. George D.
Yancopoulos
80, GSAS’86,
PS’87, the
2019 Alexan-
der Hamilton
Medal recipi-
ent, wowed the
crowd at the
November 21
ceremony by announcing a $10 million
commitment to create a “Beginner’s Mind”
institute at Columbia. In addition to Yan-
copoulos’s gift, the dinner raised a record-
breaking $2.35 million in support of the
College, with $1.35 million specifically
earmarked to support College students
pursuing scientific research.
Beginner’s Mind, a concept often dis-
cussed by Dean James J. Valentini, speaks to
the value of approaching people, interactions
and ideas with an attitude of openness and
eagerness, and with a lack of preconceptions.
EILEEN BARROSO
TABLE TALK: More than 450 people turned out for the Dean’s Scholarship Reception, held February 11
in Roone Arledge Auditorium. The annual event brings named scholarship donors and College student
recipients together to meet, share advice and swap stories about their College experiences.
“T believe that there is nothing more
important than helping the next generation
to face and conquer the truly existential
threats, the challenge[s] of humankind,”
said Yancopoulos, the co-founder, president
and chief scientific officer of Regeneron
Pharmaceuticals, at the dinner. “Listening
to the dean, it became so clear to me that
Beginner's Mind defines both the key to
uniting humanity to do great things as well
as the key to using science to address the
most devastating threats to humanity, from
disease to climate change.”
Poet and activist
Audre Lorde
LS’60’s name
now graces
Multicultural
Affairs’s home
in Alfred Lerner
Hall; the dedi-
cation marks
the first time a
space on the Morningside Heights campus
has been named after a black woman.
The Audre Lorde Community Space, a
resource for both College and Engineering
students, will establish a home for identity-
conscious community building. Lorde —
a graduate of the School of Library Science
(which closed in 1992) — was a self-
described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior,
poet.” Born in New York City to West
Indian immigrant parents, she had her first
poem published in Seventeen magazine
while a student at Hunter College H.S.
Throughout the 1960s Lorde was a librarian
in New York City public schools, and went
on to be a professor of English at John Jay
College and Hunter College, as well as poet
laureate of New York State (1991-92).
Centennial Celebration
on Campus
A Century Celebration, marking the Core
Curriculum’s 100th anniversary, will take
place on campus on Saturday, April 4.
The keynote conversation will feature two
prominent public intellectuals, Cornel
West and Robert P. George. West is Pro-
fessor of the Practice of Public Philosophy
at Harvard, and a professor emeritus at
Princeton, and George is the McCormick
Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton.
‘The day will also include the premiere
of a Core documentary, a collaboration
with director Ric Burns’78; family-friendly
workshops; interactive sessions such as art
studios and science experiments; and more.
For details, go to core100.columbia.edu.
Spring 2020 CCT 9
HallofFame
The Baseball Hall-of-Famer
Who Wore “Clean Sox”
By Thomas Vinciguerra 85, JRN’86, GSAS’90
uick — who was Columbia’s
greatest baseball player? Lou
Gehrig CC 1925, right?
Not necessarily. Consider
Eddie Collins CC 1907.
A good chunk of Collins’s fame rests
on his having been one of the Chicago
White Sox players who did not infa-
mously throw the 1919 World Series
to the Cincinnati Reds. He remains
celebrated as one of the “Clean Sox,” as
opposed to the corrupt “Black Sox.”
There was more, however, to “Cocky”
Collins than that. He was a hard-
charging, canny infielder, solid hitter, fast
10 CCT Spring 2020
runner and expert base stealer. One of
the best second basemen ever, he had a
lifetime batting average of .333. When
he died in 1951, only three others had
surpassed his total of 3,313 base hits
— Honus Wagner, Tris Speaker and Ty
Cobb, legends all.
“As a ball player he had no flaws,”
eulogized The New York Times. “I dreamed
of becoming another Eddie Collins,”
wrote author James T. Farrell, whose
“Studs Lonigan” trilogy of novels was a
hit during the Great Depression. “It was
as though he played ball for me. In my
imagination, I lived his career.”
Collins’s own baseball philosophy was
simple. “I like being a player,” he said.
Hailing from Millerton, N.Y., the
5-foot-9 Edward Trowbridge Collins Sr.
initially went out for Columbia football,
becoming the starting quarterback. But
he was also a Lions shortstop with a
sharp arm. One winter's day, he reportedly
knocked a freshman’s decidedly unfash-
ionable brown derby off with a snowball
he threw from 75 yards away.
In his junior year, Collins started playing
semipro ball and signed with the Philadel-
phia Athletics. Not long after graduating,
he began making a name for himself. By
1910, he had already stolen 81 bases in a
single season — the first Major Leaguer to
exceed the 80-mark. (Altogether he stole
744 times, including six in one game —
a feat he accomplished twice.)
Collins’s other statistics remain aston-
ishing. He played 2,826 career games,
batted in 1,300 runs and established a
Major League record of 512 sacrifice
bunts. He was on six World Series cham-
pionship teams.
But “he was a lot more than a set of
numbers on a slotted card,” wrote Rick
Huhn in Eddie Collins: A Baseball Biogra-
pay. Collins was known for tough yet fair
play, integrity and intelligence. He was a
rare college graduate in the roughhouse,
locker-room atmosphere of the era. When
he signed to the Sox in 1915, it was for
an annual salary of $15,000 — substan-
tially more than anyone else on the squad.
Collins was able to command such a sum
from the team’s miserly owner, Charles
Comiskey, because “Commy” knew
“Cocky” was worth it.
Admittedly, Collins’s high pay, coupled
with his tendency toward aloofness and
independence, didn’t make him especially
popular. Nonetheless, in the end he was a
committed cog in the Sox machine. “We
may not have been each other’s ‘dearest
friends,” he said of the notorious Black
Sox lineup, “but once we took the field we
suddenly gelled into a formidable unit.”
Collins established his public image for
probity when the infamous “Eight Men
Out” of the White Sox were indicted
(though never convicted) for conspiring
with professional gamblers to lose the
1919 World Series. Collins had nothing
to do with the fix; indeed, his conniving
teammates did not even approach him.
And he spoke against reinstating any of
those under suspicion:
“It would be a blow to the team and
upset playing. I hardly think it possible for
any of the indicted men to mingle with
their former mates again. ... You must also
regard the effect it would have on the pub-
lic. ... The fans would never tolerate it. The
whole team, honest players and indicted
players alike, would be under a cloud.”
At the same time, he said, “I feel sorry
for some of the players whose careers have
been cut short by the scandal.” He espe-
cially felt for the uneducated “Shoeless Joe”
Jackson of “Say it aint so, Joe!” fame. “T pity
Joe,” said Collins, “for he is a man easily led
and could have been swayed by good advice
as well as the voice of the tempter.”
Collins returned to the A’s in 1927,
retiring as a player following their 1930
World Series victory. After coaching
the A’s for two seasons, he joined the
Boston Red Sox as general manager. He
helped turn around a deteriorating team,
leading them in 1946 to their first pen-
nant in 28 years.
But Collins’s biggest single stroke with
Boston may have been spotting and sign-
ing Ted Williams. It was a no-brainer:
“Your Aunt Susan could have picked
Teddy out of 1,000 players,” he quipped.
In 1939, the year after he signed Wil-
liams, Collins was inducted into the newly
dedicated National Baseball Hall of Fame
and Museum. “I’m glad to be the bat boy
for such a team as this,” he said wryly.
Around
the
Quads
In an exclusive statement to Spectator
in 1915, as he was already cementing his
reputation, Collins said, “I wish to empha-
size three reasons why a Columbia man
should devote some time to athletics and
to baseball in particular. In the first place,
pleasure; second, honor; and third, duty to
himself and his college.”
_— ees‘
Student Spotlight
TORGORE
MOMENT
“T loved W.E.B. Du
Bois’s The Souls of
Black Folk. When
I read it in sopho-
more year I was also
taking“Introduction
to African Ameri-
can Studies’ and
‘Introduction to
Comparative Ethnic
Studies,’ and we read
that book in both. I
had three different
settings in which I
was reading the same
text!”
MY FAVORITE
SPOT
“As cliché as it is,
IT really like sitting
on the Steps. I
think different parts
of the day have a
different feeling —
when it’s a sunny
day, it’s very crowded
and it feels like the
campus is alive and
spirited. It’s also nice
at night when it’s
not so crowded, you
get to look out at ©
all the lights —
it’s very serene in
those moments.”
CLASS AGT
“T’m taking “The
Social World,’ which
I decided to get into
on a whim — I'd
never taken a sociol-
ogy class. We've been
reading a lot of texts
that describe the
development of the
self — that you’re
not actually able
to develop without
being socialized and
interacting with oth-
ers. We brought that
into discussions of
more modern topics
like race and gender.
I think it’s really
interesting; that con-
cept definitely stuck
with me.”
NIGHT AT
THE MUSEUM
“In my free time,
I like to explore
the city and art
museums. I really
like the Frick; it’s
where I take anyone
who visits me!”
Meet MADISON
HARDEN ’20, an
economics major
from Philadelphia who
will work for VOréal
after graduation.
Spring 2020 CCT 11
“This year I’ve gotten
heavily involved with
alumni activities
— I'm president of
Columbia College
Student Ambassadors,
so I help plan a lot of
events with alumni.
I've gone to a lot of
different events where
I interacted and talked
wuh people in really
cool occupations.”
LAST CHANCE
“Tm using this
semester to try to
take classes in any
last area I haven’t
gotten to try.”
COFFEE BREAK
“T try to go out once
a weekend to a coffee
shop with my home-
work; I think it’s nice
to be in a different
environment.”
DidYou |
The East Asian Library
Features Law-IThemed
Stained Glass
he C.V. Starr East Asian Library, on the third
floor of Kent Hall, is home to “one of the major
collections for the study of East Asia in the United
States, with over 1,000,000 volumes of Chinese, Japanese,
Korean, Tibetan, Mongol, Manchu, and Western-language
materials and almost 7,500 periodical titles, and more than
55 newspapers,” according to the Columbia University
Libraries. It also features a large stained-glass window on
its east side depicting the concept of Justice, a memento
— of Kent Hall’s time as the home of the Law School (from
1910 to 1960). The stained-glass windows were donated
by Anna Chesebrough Wildey in 1913 in memory of her
husband, Pierre Westcott Wildey CC 1860, LAW 1863.
SCOTT RUDD
ROAR
yer, has been a trustee since 2009; he received a John Jay Award in
2006 and the Alexander Hamilton Medal in 2012.
“T look forward to our women’s and men’s teams nailing
3-pointers from the spot where the ‘D’ is on the floor in pursuit of
Ivy League championships,” Schiller said. “Go Lions!”
Columbia’s basketball players are now squeaking their sneakers on
a newly dedicated floor: In February, the center court in Levien
Gymnasium was named in honor of
Jonathan D. Schiller ’69, LAW’73.
Even before the dedication, Schil-
ler’s name had long been synony-
mous with Columbia basketball. A
three-year letter winner, he was a
member of the 1967-68 Ivy League
men’s basketball championship
team, which was ranked fifth in
the country and was inducted into
the Columbia University Athletics
Hall of Fame in 2006. Schiller, a
frontcourt player who competed alongside future NBA players Jim
McMillian’70 and Dave Newmark’68, was named to the inaugural
class of Legends of Ivy League Basketball in 2017.
“For more than 50 years, Columbia basketball has been a con-
stant and transformative element in my life,” Schiller said. “I have
been privileged to work with many committed alumni in support
of the basketball program, including through the last decade
COLUMBIA ATHLETICS / MIKE MCLAUGHLIN
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
with Columbia’s Board of Columbia fencing continues to dominate the competition, as
Trustees and President Lee the women’s fencing team again captured the Ivy League crown
Bollinger. The dedication of — their third consecutive outright title, and the fifth time in six
Forthe latest download the this beautiful gym floor is a seasons that they’ve topped the podium.
Columbia Athletics app or visit great honor for my family.” The team went a perfect 6-0 at the Ivy League Championships,
ialions Schiller, a commercial liti- held in Boston in early February. The men’s team, meanwhile, took
gator and arbitration law- second place with a 4-1 record.
12 CCT Spring 2020
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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK
sae
FES A ll AR ee le aD TB 2. i es i Ra Ai are tr len Nate a Ai tee ade stash ee bey
Visiting Students
Adults
& Professionals
Undergraduates
& Graduates
Students enrolled at
another institution.
Individuals with a bachelor’s
or higher degree.
Session I: May 26—July 2
Session II: July 6—-August 14
More than 50 areas of study to explore
and endless opportunities to discover.
sps.columbia.edu/summer20cct
Summer Programs
High School Students
College Edge
An opportunity for high school Fall, Spring, & Summer Offerings
students to take for-credit
courses on Columbia's campus
with undergraduate students
Summer Immersion
Immersive programs for Session 1: June 29-July 17
domestic and international
high school students
interested in living and
studying in New York City
Session 2: July 21—August 7
Session 3: August 10-August 14
sps.columbia.edu/hs20cct
REUNIO
|
.
LET'S ROARIN _
THE '20S AT ~~
COLUMBIA 2
REUNION! |
JUNE 4-6
All alumni are invited for an
unforgettable weekend, with
special events for milestone
years that end in O and 5, and
the Class of 2019.
“Th
; gourah
rot
gqnitl
genial
A |
nn
Nu
college.columbia.edu/alumni/reunion
OVER 100 EVENTS
TO CHOOSE FROM! ‘-
Be saa
VOICES OF
WISDOM
WHAT'S IT LIKE TO TEACH
THE CORE? ELEVEN FACULTY
MEMBERS TELL US IT’S INSPIRING,
INTENSE AND EXHILARATING.
o celebration of the Core Centennial
would be complete without the voices
of those who teach the curriculum. In
any given year, the classes are led by
close to 200 instructors representing more than
20 departments. It’s a collective effort that, as
one longtime professor put it, means that work-
ing at Columbia College is about something —
that teaching the Core instills a sense of purpose,
joins the instructors in a common cause and
imparts to the entire College community a sense
of tradition and shared intellectual history.
We asked 11 faculty members for their reflections
and perspective on the Core. What was it like pre-
paring to step outside of their specialties, and how
has teaching the different courses shaped them
as professors and scholars? What do they see
as unique about the curriculum for students, and
how is it different from the classes they elect to
take? What meaningful or inspiring moments have
stayed with them?
Though the professors were united in their
belief in the Core, their words underscored the
variety of insights that come from participating
in this unique educational endeavor. And they
affirmed that — for all the many times they’ve
gathered at the seminar table — the experience
is never the same twice.
— The Editors
ILLUSTRATIONS BY
ALYSSA CARVARA
SUSAN BOYNTON
PROFESSOR OF MUSIC,
HISTORICAL MUSICOLOGY
Boynton started teaching in the Core shortly after
she joined the Columbia faculty in 2000. Her research
interests include liturgy and music in medieval
Western monasticism.
“Preparing for Music Hum has continually led me to
make connections between different periods of music
history. Thinking about music in broader terms has given
me new ideas about composition and performance, as
well as insight
into relationships
between the arts
and humanities.”
She thinks a
unique essence
of the Core is the
opportunity for
discussion-based
focus on primary
sources:
“Rather than
approaching
them through
layers of commentary and interpretation, students
address primary sources — texts, music and images —
directly (some in translation, of course). The learning
is collaborative; faculty and students create an
intellectual community.”
In summer 2015, Boynton and Art Humanities professor
Robert E. Harrist Jr. began teaching a combined Art Hum/
Music Hum program at Reid Hall in Paris:
“Teaching the two courses in conjunction
brings out the alignment of music and
visual art. For example, Impressionism
forms a useful background against
which to consider the music of Debussy;
the same is true for Picasso and
Stravinsky. The juxtapositions bring out
meaningful intersections that shaped how
the arts were experienced historically.”
NICHOLAS DAMES
THE THEODORE KAHAN
PROFESSOR OF HUMANITIES
Dames joined the College faculty in 1998; his area of
specialty is the history of the novel in Britain and Western
Europe. He says
teaching in the Core
is “an experience
that you just don’t get
anywhere else.”
“My first semester
of Lit Hum was
intense, but weirdly
triumphant, too, for
surviving it. There’s
almost nothing like
it, when you bond
with that first group,
when your're all
doing it for the first
time. ... After a few
years of doing it you
realize there’s a kind of openness to that classroom that’s
greater than when you’re teaching in your own discipline.”
Dames says “the immersiveness” is what’s most special
about the Core for students:
“To be with the same 22 people for four hours a week all
year long is unlike anything they would have here or any-
where else. It’s not stale familiarity, but productive familiar-
ity, an intimacy. They have enough time to get used to you,
to get frustrated with the limits of what the professor does,
and to push at it a bit. If it works well, by the second half of
the second semester you’re not running it in the same way
anymore. That’s very much about the structure and not the
content, and that to me is irreplaceable.”
And he thinks that humor in the classroom can be a
productive mode of thinking:
“Finding something funny can really open
texts up — and also make them stick.
| have so many memories of levity,
moments when the class really frees
itself. It’s not a successful term without
a few laugh-out-loud moments!”
NOAM ELCOTT ’00
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MODERN ART
AND MEDIA AND THE SOBEL-DUNN CHAIR
FOR ART HUMANITIES
Elcott has chaired Art Hum since 2018, coming full circle
from when he took the course in the first semester of
his first year. He credits his own Art Hum professor,
Stephen Murray (an expert on the Amiens Cathedral),
with sparking his passion.
“It’s likely that even if your emphasis
is 17th-century still life painting or
Roman coins or 20th-century sculpture,
you will inspire students to pursue
the most extraordinary topics and
ideas and experiences within and
beyond the Art
Humanities
curriculum.”
Elcott tells
graduate students
who are preparing
to be first-time
preceptors that
teaching the
course involves a
certain amount of
letting go.
“It is both
humbling, as it
should be, and liberating, because no one expects
you to be an expert. Sometimes undergraduates
mistakenly think that you can possibly know all of it,
when of course you can’t.”
He says that Art Hum students, similarly, need to
experience the class as a safe space to engage with
and question art, and that the aim of the course is
not mastery of material, but rather openings onto
new worlds:
“The number 1 goal is to spark the passion,
provide the critical tools and transmit enough of
the knowledge necessary to fuel a lifelong
engagement with art.”
Spring 2020 CCT 17
VOICES OF WISDOM
WALTER FRISCH
THE H. HAROLD GUMM/HARRY AND
ALBERT VON TILZER PROFESSOR OF MUSIC
Frisch is a specialist in Austro-
German composers of the 19th
and 20th centuries. He says that
Music Hum is an opportunity
to guide students’ hearing
and thinking toward a deeper
understanding of music, and
to expand their experience of
something that’s already very
present for them:
“For almost all our students,
music is a basic, essential part
of their lives. But what we study
in Music Hum is mostly not what they listen to regularly, so as
instructors, we can build on what they already love in order to
get them to appreciate Western classical music.”
Having taught the course more than 30 times, Frisch says that
he’s learned it’s better to study fewer works in more detail;
he might spend two or three full classes on an opera like
Don Giovanni or a work like Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5:
“Learning to listen, or to watch, in the case of opera, takes
time, and this process takes place best in real time. I’ve
found that going through works like these in some detail —
stopping the recording or video, discussing, demonstrating
a detail at the piano — really helps the students absorb and
internalize the material.”
Some of Frisch’s most rewarding teaching moments have
come from having guest musicians perform in class.
“Last semester we had four different live
performances in my section, including a
pianist from the Columbia-Juilliard program,
Forrest Eimold [’22], who played Beethoven
and Chopin. It was wonderful to see the
students’ faces as they watched his
intense virtuoso playing and his focused
concentration. They could see how the music
of the composers we were studying comes
alive in a performance.”
18 CCT Spring 2020
ROBE:
HARRIST JR.
THE JANE AND LEOPOLD SWERGOLD
PROFESSOR OF CHINESE ART HISTORY
Though Harrist’s field of expertise is the art of China,
he originally set out to be a Matisse expert. His
knowledge of Western art was invaluable prepara-
tion for Art Hum, which he began teaching in 2000.
“| didn’t really start to look at art carefully until
| started teaching Art Hum. There’s something
about the intensity of the Core classes and, in the
case of Art Hum, the intensity of looking required
to make it work, that helped me get to a different
level in my own engagement with the visual arts.”
He believes the goal of Art Hum is “to nurture
the ability to derive visual pleasure from paying
attention to the world”:
“If you learn to pay attention to the
pattern of ornament on a doorway,
and enjoy doing so, you might start
paying attention to all sorts of things.
I think that given the state of
the world and the country at the
moment, paying attention is more
important than ever.”
Harrist thinks the art and architecture on campus
is a resource that greatly enriches the teaching
of Art Hum:
“When you walk out of Schermerhorn, the build-
ings you see are in one way or another connected
to monuments we study. Being able to go straight
from the classroom and out the door to show
students something — whether it’s the fluting
of a column or a Corinthian capital — is a huge
pedagogical advantage.”
MAT THEW
MCKELWAY
TAKEO AND ITSUKO ATSUMI
PROFESSOR OF JAPANESE ART HISTORY
McKelway earned his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1999; he
returned as a professor in 2007. He chaired Art Hum
twice — from 2009 to 2011 and from 2016 to 2018.
“What I think is so distinctive about studying art his-
tory is it’s something that elicits an emotional reac-
tion ... it goes to the mind
through the eyes but in
a different, more visceral
way than we experience
when reading a text. Art
is a way to communicate
that existed before writ-
ten language, after all.”
He started teaching the
Core Curriculum in Spring
2008. Then-chair Robert
Harrist told him, “Art Hum is the glue that holds the
department together,” but as a Japanologist with no
experience teaching the history of Western art, McKelway
at first found the prospect “really daunting”:
“| had a sense of awed panic. | felt prepared as an
art historian, but what | hadn’t quite understood is
that | could take the language | was using to talk
about cultures | was more familiar with and apply it
to Western art. What teaching outside your comfort
zone does is make you think more broadly about big
questions — about the nature of art, and what ‘art’ is. .
McKelway says he appreciates how “a perfect cross-
section” of students who might not otherwise interact
are represented in his Art Hum classes, and that the
Core provides them with a new way to communicate:
“It creates a common conversation
— not only within a single class, but
across the entire curriculum. It’s not
SO much a Core body of knowledge,
but a mind that has become used to
exercising and thinking about big,
sticky, tough questions.”
EDWARD
MENDELSON
THE LIONEL TRILLING PROFESSOR
IN THE HUMANITIES
Mendelson has been teach-
ing at the College since 1981;
his primary interest is 19th-
and 20th-century literature.
“I like talking about great
books, so | am delighted to
teach in the Core. But after
I did it for the first time |
started rewriting the syllabus
a bit, swapping in books that
| thought made more sense
as part of a coherent story.
When the Core didn’t teach
Euripides’s The Bacchae —
which is to me the most disturbing play ever written — | put
that in. I’ve replaced Crime and Punishment — which is a very
great book! — with Notes from Underground.”
He says a theme of his teaching is the difference between a
collective identity, like gender or race, and “being a person”:
“What I try to teach in Lit Hum is thinking
for oneself. The inner life has no category,
no ethnicity, no gender, no skin color.
It’s not a product of compromises; it’s where
you think what you want. I’ve swapped
Pride and Prejudice for Frankenstein, a
book that seems to me an ideal fit for the
plot of the course, which is what it’s like to
become an individual — what the price is
as well as what the benefits are.”
Mendelson says one of his favorite moments is when he feels
the students relax and “they stop being too shy to talk”:
“There’s always a moment toward the middle of the term
when a few students who mistrusted me start trusting me.
I think some are not used to being spoken to as individuals,
rather than as category members. Our whole culture is
determined to think of human beings as categories, and |
get to see people become themselves.”
Spring 2020 CCT 19
VOICES OF WISDOM
CATHY
POPKIN
THE JESSE AND GEORGE SIEGEL
PROFESSOR IN THE HUMANITIES
Popkin specializes in Chekhov, 19th- and 20th-
century Russian prose, and literary theory, and has
taught Lit Hum since 1986. She holds a reunion for
each Lit Hum class toward the end of their senior
year, and is continually moved by the camaraderie
of the Core experience.
“The most stunning thing about this
program is seeing every kid in Butler
poring over The Iliad at the same
time, or hearing them argue about
the ending of Crime and Punishment
in the elevator in Hamilton. That
universal community of readers is
so powerful.”
She thrives on small-group conversations:
“What I do best in the classroom has nothing to
do with expertise; it has to do with making
something happen right then and there in
real time. It’s even more exciting to do that
when you’re trying to puzzle your way through
something strange and unfamiliar. And then
you get to something and everyone gasps: that
is the most thrilling thing in the world.”
She appreciates that the Lit Hum texts aren’t
beyond critique by the students or faculty:
“You read against the grain a lot of the time; you
don’t just worship what you’re teaching.”
20 CCT Spring 2020
ELAINE SISMAN
THE ANNE PARSONS BENDER PROFESSOR
OF MUSIC, HISTORICAL MUSICOLOGY
Sisman currently chairs Music Hum and has taught at
Columbia — and in the Core — since 1982. She loves that
the course offers students opportunities to be profoundly
moved, and thinks that “there’s a lot of human truth on offer”
for students during their class trip to the Metropolitan Opera.
“After La Boheme last semester, | heard
from both male and female students: ‘I knew
what was going
to happen, but
I didn’t think
I was going
to cry at the
end; | didn’t
know how it
was going to
affect me.”
She notes that students
without musical
backgrounds can be
nervous at
the start, but says
in reality, the class explores topics and questions that are
new for most everyone.
“There’s always the sense in Music Hum of, oh, somebody
took piano lessons or somebody can read notation,
somebody’s mother always took them to ballet. But |
generally find that doesn’t make a difference. You can have
eight years of piano lessons and not have any idea of what
is making the music tick.”
Sisman recalls that preparing to teach Music Hum was initially
“terrifying,” but says she took comfort in knowing the Core is
intended as a place for experts to step outside their specialty
and for amateurs to be learning together:
“Music Humanities is a way of thinking and talking about
how the music lives in itself. How did people respond to it
then, and how do we respond to it now; it’s not only what
has it meant historically but why is it still being recorded or
performed, and how does it speak to us today?”
MICHAEL
STANISLAWSKI
THE NATHAN J. MILLER
PROFESSOR OF JEWISH HISTORY
Stanislawski has taught in
the Core for nearly 40 years,
and chaired CC for four of
them. A specialist in Jewish,
European intellectual and
Russian history, he says
the Core is one of the main
reasons he came to work
at Columbia — and why
he’s stayed.
“My view of CC is not that
it’s a canon of books that
students have to read.
It’s really a debate about
the fundamentals of life. Is there a god and if so, what does
it mean for us? Have these students thought about what
being a citizen means or should mean; what kind of political
organization we should have? We have very smart students,
but it’s rare that they will have thought about these things.
So here you’re introducing these questions to them.”
He is inspired by the graduate student preceptors who teach
in the Core:
“It may sound corny, but in this time when
the humanities are in such crisis and are
Shrinking, it’s uplifting to see these students
who really are dedicated to studying and
learning and teaching them.”
One of his proudest teaching moments occurred just last year:
“I had a student, a very smart student, but literally she had
no idea how to express her own ideas. I had to sit down
with her and say, ‘Give me an example of what you have an
opinion about. She did, and | said, ‘Now tell me what you
feel and think about that, and she told me. Now, | said, tell
me what someone who was writing about it would say, and
she tried that and it clicked — | could see it click — the
difference between a personal view and an analysis. She
had never done that before; she had only given back to
professors what they wanted from her.”
KATJA }
VOGT
PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY
With its focus on big questions, Vogt says the Core
plays to some of her central interests. A specialist in
ancient philosophy, ethics and normative epistemol-
ogy, she’s taught both CC and Lit Hum, and values
having extended conversations with students with
such different perspectives, experiences and goals.
“When | was a high school student in Germany,
Kant was ‘in the milk you drink. This level of famil-
iarity can mislead one into thinking that the ideas
are highly plausible. But when you read Ground-
work with students in CC, it’s a different experience
— for most students, the steps in Kant’s argument
aren’t intuitive at all. This is bound to lead to
questions about pretty much every sentence. For
me, teaching Kant in the U.S. — also in my ethics
classes — has helped me see Kant with fresh eyes.”
She says Lit Hum is a special teaching experience
— because it comes for most students in their first
year, it sets the tone for their College journey:
“It’s as if the students get to
discover two complex worlds at
the same time: our campus and
the universe of The Iliad and
The Odyssey.”
She also appreciates having the chance to talk with
students about one of her favorite authors:
“I love Homer — in another life, | could be a Homer
scholar. The Core has given me the opportunity to
sometimes switch into this role.”
Spring 2020 CCT 21
ow do you make people care about a story
that’s been flooding their news feeds and
TV screens for years?
‘That’s the question Francesca Trianni’11,
JRN’13, a senior video producer at TIME,
_and her colleagues faced in summer 2016, as media
outlets worldwide were saturated with images and
news items about Syrian war refugees. The editors were
looking for new ways to help their audience connect
___ to the enormity of the crisis. “When you hear ‘refugee,’
you think you already know the story,” Trianni says.
‘Then Trianni’s attention was drawn to a little-known
statistic: 1 in 10 women living in refugee camps was
pregnant. She saw the potential to tell a human story
with universal context, and pitched the idea of inter-
viewing an expectant Syrian woman; her editor took it
a step further and suggested documenting a year in the
life of a family with a newborn.
‘Trianni eventually became part of the team whose
reporting led to TIME’s 2018 multimedia project, Find-
ing Home. The work also led to a milestone for Trianni
as a videographer: She directed and filmed her — and
TIME’s — first feature documentary, Paradise Without
People, which had a sold-out screening in November at
PUTS A HUMAN FAC
BY JILL C. SHOMER ~
ANCESCA TRIANNI "11, JRN’13
DOC NYC 2019 and is now playing at festivals around
the country.
The film follows the lives of two Syrian women,
Taimaa and Nour, living in a refugee camp in Thessa-
loniki, Greece, from the day they give birth to their chil-
dren’s first birthday. Just months after that fateful pitch
meeting, Trianni, JME bureau chief Aryn Baker and
award-winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario were
inside the camps. After asking dozens of families for per-
mission, they found two who were willing to be filmed,
photographed and reported on for a year — a tall order
for anyone, with an added need for cultural sensitivity
among women who wear the veil and the challenge of
getting access inside the hospital.
“IT was so lucky to work with Lynsey and Aryn —
they've both spent a lot of time in the Middle East, and
they taught me a lot,” Trianni says. “We were all women
— the three of us, and all the translators, too. They were
incredible in helping to negotiate those relationships.
We wouldn't have been able to do it otherwise.
“War stories are often told from a male perspective,
and we made a conscious effort to tell this story from
a female point of view,” she says. “Growing up, my
parents bought the newspaper every day, and all the
. Pe re
— a’
YaAAaW SYOr
A
DIRECTORIAL
BESwU|)
|
|
|
ABOVE: Nour
and Yousef
Altallaa, with their
daughter, Rahaf,
wait for asylum in
Thessaloniki, Greece,
after fleeing Syria.
Nour found out
she was pregnant
the day the couple
decided it was too
dangerous to stay.
Taimaa, a Syrian
refugee from Idlib,
moments after she
arrived in her new
home in Estonia.
24 CCT Spring 2020
serious, respected journalists 1 read were men. Work-
ing with women who had successful careers, seeing
that that’s possible and how amazing they were — it
really helped me.”
Back in New York, the team found its reporting
had yielded even more stories. To reach a wider audi-
ence, TIME created four print cover stories, launched
an Instagram page where they could tell stories daily
and produced an interactive online feature. The multi-
media approach worked: Finding Home was nominated
in 2018 for a News & Documentary Emmy Award and
won the 2018 World Press Photo contest for Innova-
tive Storytelling.
“T realized when I was filming that I was captur-
ing something I'd never seen before,” Trianni says. “I'd
watched a lot of films about refugees and immigrants,
who were always portrayed as heroes or invaders —
there was no middle ground. But these women and
their husbands were just young couples caught in the
middle of this huge humanitarian crisis and trying to
figure it out.
“It’s a really hard time to tell a story that lives in the
grey,” she continues. “These are human beings who are
flawed, and they make mistakes. Sometimes it’s hard to
connect with them. I filmed everything myself and I
felt so much responsibility, especially at a time like this,
the way we act with such fear toward the Other. But I
wanted to show something different and true.”
de never thought she would be a filmmaker, but
got started on her path at the College. A native of
Modena, a small town in Northern Italy (“we're famous
for balsamic vinegar”), she'd never heard of Columbia.
She was part of a study-abroad program in high school
and learned English in a small suburb outside of Boston;
one of her teachers encouraged her to take the SAT and
apply to American colleges. “Nobody in my town went
to school in America,” she says. “My family and I knew
nothing about the application process.” Trianni laughs,
recalling that she was so shocked and excited to get into
the College that her parents thought an intruder had
broken into their home because of her screaming.
She started out studying political science. “I grew up
with Berlusconi in power and saw how much of my
country was being hurt by his presidency,” Trianni says.
“I wanted to have agency to make a change in history.” A
John Jay Scholar, she landed an internship with the first
lesbian member of Italian parliament; though she found
the experience interesting, she lost her taste for politics
and was left questioning what she really wanted to do.
Trianni’s future was changed by a book. In her junior
year, she read The Sack of Rome: Media + Money + Celeb-
rity = Power = Silvio Berlusconi by Alexander Stille. “It
was such a great piece of journalism, fair and fascinat-
ing,” she says. “He helped me understand the history of
my own country.” After finding out Stille was a profes-
sor at the Journalism School, Trianni wrote a fan letter
thanking him for his work. He wrote back saying he
needed an Italian speaker to help with his next book,
and did she want to be his research assistant? She did.
“I helped him research a book about his family his-
tory and with a regular column he wrote for the Italian
newspaper La Republica,” Trianni says. “He had a seat in
understanding history. I couldn't believe that was a job!”
Stille, the San Paolo Professor of International Jour-
nalism, encouraged Trianni to apply to the J-School
and has continued to be a mentor. “Francesca has
turned herself into a first-rate journalist,” he says. “Her
work combines deep passion, powerful commitment
and great journalistic integrity. She tracked immigrant
families for more than a year to find a compelling way
to tell their stories and did it so well that she managed
to overcome a climate of general indifference around
those issues.”
Trianni thought “journalism” meant being a writer,
but found her passion for video storytelling in a digital
media class. “When I started working in video I felt
like everything clicked — I found a way that I could
stand out, I felt that I had something that I could bring
to it. That’s such a wonderful feeling, when you realize
you're good at something.”
She didn’t want to stop. After a six-month intern-
ship with Reuters, Trianni landed at TIME in 2014,
working on breaking news stories. Ready for some-
thing more enterprising, she created
a six-minute video about Emma
Sulkowicz 15 and presented it to her
bosses; soon after she was creating
short documentaries and eventually
was producing video exclusively.
Trianni has continued to get feed-
back about Finding Home and Para-
dise Without People since the premiere
in October. “Teachers have told me
they use the interactive story in their
classrooms, and I’ve heard from others that they’ve
never seen refugees portrayed that way. It feels like
such an accomplishment.”
She recalls an especially relatable scene, where one of
the main characters, Taimaa, is preparing for her daugh-
ter’s first birthday. “Every parent understands the feeling
of wanting your child’s birthday party to be memorable.
Right before cutting the cake, as everyone is singing,
Taimaa starts crying — and you can tell that she’s just
now realizing that no matter what she does, no matter
how hard she tries, her daughter is still growing up a
refugee, and Taimaa won't be able to provide her with
the ‘perfect’ birthday party anytime soon.”
Trianni is eager to make more feature films and learn
new ways to reach and connect with an audience. “I
liked doing something that made viewers uncomfort-
able, that maybe made them rethink something they
thought they already knew,” Trianni says. “Challenging
people’s assumptions about the world around them —
that’s what journalism does, right?”
TSA REALLY |
HARD TIME TO
fee’ SIORY
THAT LIVES IN
BUT | WANTED
TO SHOW
SOMETHING
DIFFERENT
AND TRUE.”
leis Gina’
Spring 2020 CCT 25
“RANGE” ..
~ AND HIGHER EDUCATION
CCT Spring 2020
Last fall Columbia College Today spoke with
writer David Epstein ’02, JRN’04, GSAS’04
and Julie Crawford, the Mark Van Doren
Professor of the Humanities and former chair
of Lit Hum, to talk about Epstein’s latest
book, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in
a Specialized World.
Range, which was released in 2019
and promptly became a New York Times
bestseller, offers a well-researched and
thoughtful rebuttal to society’s inclination
toward mastery over multiplicity. Epstein
writes, “The challenge we all face is how
to maintain the benefits of breadth, diverse
experience, interdisciplinary thinking and
delayed concentration in a world that
increasingly incentivizes, even demands,
hyperspecialization.”
It’s not surprising that Epstein, formerly a
senior writer at Sports /I/ustrated and author
of the 2013 bestseller The Sports Gene: Inside
the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Perfor-
mance, introduces a primary analogy for spe-
cialization versus generalization by citing two
of the greats: Tiger Woods, who first picked
up a golf club at 7 months old, and Roger
Federer, who dabbled as an athlete for years
before settling into tennis superstardom.
Epstein makes a solid case for being a
“Roger”; his former professor Crawford was
eager to discuss the debate as it applies to
higher education, as well as Epstein’s findings
on fast versus slow learning. What follows is
an edited excerpt of their conversation.
‘WY WHEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
RANGE
WHY GENERALISTS TRIUMPH
IN A SPECIALIZED WORLD
eed EAN
Makin ones
VID EPSTEIN
“AUTHOR OF THE SPORTS CANE
COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY: David,
you specifically asked for Julie to be
part of this conversation. Can you
describe the influence she had on you?
DAVID EPSTEIN: [Laughs] I feel nervous,
like ’m reverting back to my freshman self
in front of my professor! I think I came to
Columbia with something of an anti-
intellectual streak. I was oriented toward
achievement and going to a good school,
but I don't know if I was actually oriented
toward learning. I think I was also intimi-
dated — I didn’t realize that so many of my
classmates would be coming from private
schools, and reading on a higher level. I
wasn't attuned to reading deeper than what
was exactly on the page.
Photographs by Zack Garlitos
It came to a head when we were reading
The Decameron — this group of students
wall themselves inside a garden, away from
the death of the Plague, and tell stories;
by being away from the destruction of
civil society, they restore values with their
storytelling. When we talked about it, Julie
put up veils over the window and the door
and said, “This is our garden, we're shut
off from whatever is going on outside.” I
thought that was the dumbest thing I ever
heard, like, “What does symbolism have to
do with my actual life?!” She called me into
her office later and told me that symbolism
is reading, if you want to be a good reader.
‘That really challenged me.
Now I’m far on the opposite side of the
spectrum — I read voraciously and am
always aware of symbols and analogies.
Julie cued me to the fact that I was getting
in my own way, and I came around to see-
ing literary texts as the preservations and
challenges of culture. Now I think of books
as a sort of privileged garden that people
can dive into for a while. These questions
I take on in The Sports Gene and Range —
nature versus nurture, how specialized or
how broad to be — I can’t answer those
questions, but I can hope to make those
conversations more productive and inter-
esting, where someone can step away from
whatever they’re doing and consider them.
JULIE CRAWFORD: I thought about
higher education the whole time I was
reading David’s book. What he was just
saying about coming into Columbia with a
sense of the elite education and the impor-
tance of the education but not necessarily
the practices of the education — what
other system allows you to see and experi-
ence education as a web of social good?
What is it that creates knowledge in a
Spring 2020 CCT 27
=
larger sense, where it isn’t just end-oriented
or a model of mastering things in the pres-
ent? It’s something you wish you could tell
every student in the moment: You're not
going to figure it out in the next year, or in
the next four years.
CCT: Julie, do you sense from stu-
dents that their education is only a
means to an end?
CRAWFORD: Donors and administra-
tors and researchers tell students all the
time not to chart a tight path, not to major
in something “secure.” It’s certainly true
for tech careers that didn’t exist 10 years
ago. But there are also counter-pressures,
which often have to do with money — for
instance, families who say: “We're spend-
CCT: David, you wrote: “We have a
collective complex about sampling,
zigzagging and swerving from iron-
clad long-term plans.” Where do you
think this comes from? Do you think
social media has had an effect?
EPSTEIN: I think it has sort of waxed and
waned throughout history. Specialization
made a lot of sense for most people in
industrial economies, where work this year
looked like work last year and you might
be able to expect that for your entire life.
We see some of what happens when people
are used to that sort of environment, where
you have one discrete training period early
in your career and you never have to relearn
anything or reinvent yourself — those peo-
ple are not so adaptable and arent prepared
if there’s dislocation. Now we're in an era
“| always call reading in Lit Hum ‘a slow
practice in a fast world.’ It’s the practice part
that’s harder, the idea of something you
have to do without immediate rewards.”
ing this money, therefore you need to do
something we can narrativize.” And there's
an alarmist industry promoting the ideas
that Range argues against: Commit fast,
commit early, commit to something that
seems like a sure bet, and that is economi-
cally feasible.
EPSTEIN: Julie hits on one of the themes
of the book, which is that sometimes the
things you do to cause what looks like opti-
mal outcomes in the short term undermine
long-term development. It’s deeply counter-
intuitive. People with more career-oriented
education do jump out to an income lead
early on, but they become not very adapt-
able — and in a knowledge economy, while
work changes a lot, they spend a lot less
time overall in the workforce. So they might
win in the short term and lose in the long
run. I think that process connects directly to
education. We ask people to make choices
at the time of fastest personality change in
their life, to make choices for a person they
don't yet know.
28 CCT Spring 2020
where you have to keep learning — it’s a
big shift; the world we live in has changed
a lot faster. And the pressure ramps up
because of the expense of education. I can
only speculate on the effect that social
media has, but I think it infuses everything
with more intensity.
CCT: It’s another element of pressure.
EPSTEIN: Absolutely, plus it’s highly
curated and unreal. It’s like the Olympics
— people are only looking to see the best
in the world. Most people aren't on social
media looking for the norm. It’s an unend-
ing ability to feel behind.
CRAWFORD: One thing I paid close atten-
tion to in Range was pop-up knowledge,
like a BuzzFeed version of a research study
that says you shouldn't major in X, and
then it gets circulated and becomes a wise-
sounding info nugget. That kind of informa-
tion retrieval, recirculation and use is the
| ME “RANGE” AND HIGHER EDUCATION
opposite of the slow practice — the dilatory,
accidental and error-prone processes that
you talk about in your book and that most
professional educators believe education is
about. I always call reading in Lit Hum “a
slow practice in a fast world.” It’s the practice
part that’s harder, the idea of something
you have to do without immediate rewards.
We all love dynamic, immediate things
that seem to work right away, but it’s much
harder to do the other kind of thing.
CCT: Do you think the Core and lib-
eral arts in general are helping people
open their minds to other paths and
other points of view?
EPSTEIN: The Core certainly did that for
me. I’m still processing information I got
from the Core. In my book I quoted from
a text I read in “Major Texts of the Middle
East and India,” which I took because of
Lit Hum. I still have my books from Music
Hum. The Core gave me the framework
to get a foothold in understanding. ‘The
biggest gift for me in writing this book was
the writing I got to do about art and music;
it’s very much a continuation of the jour-
ney that the Core started me on. I’m not
going to be a specialist in any one of these
areas, but I can build these frameworks to
continue my self-education.
CRAWFORD: The book is a vindication
against the argument that what the Core
does is give cocktail party conversation.
It’s not just about name-dropping; it’s
more about analogical thinking but also
the slow reveal, the surprise juxtaposition,
or the return.
But David’s right; when you're 19 in
CC, you're a radically different person
than you are even when you graduate. I
would love to hear whether there is data on
students who are made to take a variety of
classes, and if there’s a greater shift in those
students in what they think they want to
major in and what they end up taking. My
hunch is that must be true.
EPSTEIN: That happened to me! I ended
up in a career that I'd had no idea about.
But it is true; students who sample more
do end up more often majoring in things
they hadn't heard of when they were in
high school.
CRAWFORD: Another thing I love about
the Core is that faculty are teaching radi-
cally outside their expertise. The first time
I taught Lit Hum, I’d read maybe three
books on the syllabus. And so what’s great
is, youre learning along with the students;
you're not coming in with pre-conceived
expertise. You have specialists in other
areas teaching Lit Hum and you get that
cross-pollination — you become aware in
real time of the multiple different kinds of
learning that can happen in this collective
enterprise, where nobody is coming in as
an expert in everything.
CCT: This is a perfect segue into fast
learning versus slow learning — that
was a fascinating chapter. David
writes: “It’s difficult to accept that the
best learning road is slow.” Can you
both elaborate on that? Is that a stick-
ing point for students?
EPSTEIN: One realization is that most
students are not very good at evaluating
their own learning in the moment. It’s an
important thing to be aware of, because
it’s really difficult to combat. One of the
quotations from a cognitive psychologist
sticks in my head: “Difficulty isn’t a sign
that you're not learning, but ease is.” We're
oriented toward measuring our own learn-
because if it’s consumable it’s easily assimi-
lable to what you already know. What you
really want, as David says, is struggle, is that
difficulty. But if students feel like they’re
confused, it’s difficult for them to realize it’s
great, because it messes with their heads.
CCT: How do you think the potential
advantages of generalization can be
imparted to performance-oriented
young people?
EPSTEIN: I think the best thing I can do
is write a book about it and hope a lot of
people read it [laughs]. I’ve been getting
invited a lot of places to talk about it.
People are looking for analogies and other
ways to think, so I hope some of the book’s
message will resonate.
CRAWFORD: One thing the internet does
is afford access. My 14-year-old son is very
interested in reading about what people
did before they became the thing that
is awesome now. It’s not so much about
narrativizing the rise of the great person,
but rather narrativizing the indirection of
the path, the great variety of the path. I
find that when you talk to students all the
time, and tell them to do something crazy
or different [from the path they’re on],
you're also speaking to powerful winds on
“We're oriented toward measuring our own
learning by how fluid it feels and how
quick the progress is, which in many cases
is the opposite of what we really want.”
ing by how fluid it feels and how quick
the progress is, which in many cases is the
opposite of what we really want.
CRAWFORD: What you remind me of, as
I enter my 20th year of teaching, is that the
actual outcomes happen years after you're
out of the classroom. When students tell me
something like, “That was a beautiful lec-
ture,” I think, “Hmmmmm. That’s not what
I was going for.” Because it’s not supposed
to be beautiful, or quite literally consumable,
the other side, like parents or student loans.
Sometimes I think it’s just the crosscurrent
of conversation that needs to happen.
So David, if you're coming to give that
talk, you’re also part of that crosscurrent
— because people have read about Federer
and Tiger Woods, but in your interactions
with people, you're also talking about sub-
jects and people that are more available to
them and their own experience. It’s those
cross-fertilizations that need to happen,
talking to people outside your silo.
CCT: There’s a feeling of relief to hear
stories about these exceptional others
— to realize there are many ways to
get there.
CRAWFORD: On that note, David,
another thing I really loved about your
book is how you stress the collaborative
nature of becoming a person. One of the
things I feel the Core is so successful at,
specifically because of the mechanics of the
22-person class, is reminding people that
this is not a journey you're doing on your
own. It’s a really important observation
to keep making, that many things are
collaborative. I feel like that’s a real subtext
in your book. Even though you may
focus on recognizable names and really
wonderful stories, I’m really interested
in looking at the collaborators, the
cultures, the co-makers and the no-named
interlocutors who create the kinds of
knowledges and successful enterprises that
you talk about. That’s something to remind
young people, that we’re doing all of this
with each other.
CCT: David, how does it feel to have
another bestseller?
EPSTEIN: As I get older I take myself less
seriously. I’ve realized the importance of
luck. But it’s amazing to see a lot of people
engage with your work. And even the cri-
tiques were totally fair, and something for
me to learn from — I don’t know if that’s
me maturing or the issues were less contro-
versial than in my first book, but that’s the
best thing you can ask for.
CRAWFORD: David, by writing this
book you've actually illustrated your thesis.
You've had all these experiences and did
all this diligent research across realms, and
what you're telling us is: This is something
we need to be thinking about. You should
take credit for the fact that it’s coming at a
time when people need that insight.
CCT: Really badly, actually [laughs].
It’s such a strong, positive message.
CRAWFORD: Free research of ideas by
free thinkers isn’t always going to be end
oriented or lead to a huge breakthrough. It’s
sometimes just going to be pretty marvelous.
Spring 2020 CCT 29
NIA BATTS ’O7
EXPECTATIONS
BY ANNE-RYAN SIRJU JRN’09
PHOTOGRAPHS BY KAT STEVENSON
etroit native Nia Batts 07 watched from
New York City as the 2008 financial cri-
sis left her hometown reeling; industry left
Motown en masse, unemployment sky-
rocketed and Detroit’s debt mounted — by
2013, it had declared bankruptcy, the larg-
est U.S. city ever to do so.
“T think when you leave a place and you see that it’s suf-
fering when youre not there, there’s a little bit of latent
guilt that starts to set in,” Batts muses.
Now Batts has come home to make Detroit — and its
residents — shine, by taking a radically inclusive approach
to beauty, entrepreneurship and philanthropy. Detroit
Blows, the salon Batts started with business partner Katy
Cockrel and investor Sophia Bush, was founded on the
idea that beauty could (and should!) be accessible to, inclu-
sive of and beneficial to the community.
The premise is simple: a salon at which women of all
races and hair types and textures can receive services by
knowledgeable technicians, and from which a percentage
of profits are reinvested into the community through the
Ais ” ee 4
Mi ORO
=
os
a
CCT Spring 2020
company’s philanthropic arm, Detroit Grows. The salon,
which opened in October 2017, quickly made national
headlines, with write-ups in women’s and general interest
magazines (Marie Claire and People), in business magazines
(Forbes) and on beauty websites (Refinery 29). The busi-
ness partners landed on People's “25 Women Changing the
World of 2018” list and in, 2019, Batts appeared on Inc.’s
list of “100 Women Building America’s Most Innovative
and Ambitious Businesses.” And as word spread about
Detroit Blows, so did its influence on the community.
Batts’s idea for Detroit Blows was born from her experi-
ence as a commuter to her own hometown.
At the time, Batts was based in NYC as Viacom’s head of
strategic partnerships and social innovation, helping non-
profits and large corporations highlight their philanthropic
work. After being assigned to a Detroit-based auto-
motive company account, she started traveling regularly to
the Motor City. And that’s when she noticed a problem
— Batts, who is African American, couldn't find a conve-
nient salon downtown that could style her hair. “I would
go to the Detroit suburbs and spend my money there,” she
says, ‘then come back to the automotive company and talk
about how we had to keep dollars in the city. The hypocrisy,
after a while, wasn’t lost on me.”
Looking for solutions, she connected with her childhood
friend Cockrel, who is biracial and is a communications and
public relations specialist in Detroit. The pair realized that
a downtown salon with stylists who could expertly handle
multiple hair types would fill a sorely needed niche. Batts’s
best friend, actress Bush (who is white), came on as the first
investor. “We knew that we wanted to create an inclusive
model because salons have traditionally been segregated
spaces,” Batts says. “We wanted to go someplace where
I could get my hair done,
she could get her hair done,
everyone could get their hair
done and we could begin to
dismantle this idea that you
only want to be serviced by
“ITWAS A
MUCH LARGER
OPPORTUNITY
”
TO THINK
ABOUT THE
ROLE THAT
BEAUTY CAN
PLAYINA
CONVERSATION
someone who looks similar.
‘The partners soon secured
a location in a diverse part
of downtown and, within
two years of its opening,
their goal had been real-
ized: “You see women in
our salon sitting next to
each other who, historically,
AROUND have never sat next to each
COMMUNITY other in a salon,” Bush said
REVITALIZATION, last October, qPoewuee on
a panel at the Forbes “Under
AROUND 30 Summit” in Detroit. “It
IDENTITY is creating an intersectional
awareness and community
POLITICS, that, to us, is paramount.”
Detroit Blows offers blow-
outs, up-dos and curly-hair
friendly styles, as well as other
services like manicures and
waxing, using all non-toxic
products. (Batts notes she and
the staff chose their products
by testing on themselves: “Everybody on our leadership team
had a different hair type, and so we were able to take products
home, use them and then talk about how they worked.”) By
funneling $1 from every blowout and a portion of all retail
sales into Detroit Grows, the founders began to put their prof-
its back into the community.
“For us, it was a much larger opportunity to think about
the role that beauty can play in a conversation around
community revitalization, around identity politics, around
consumer-packaged goods,” Batts says. “We're understand-
ing the power that we, as consumers, have to direct those
dollars toward what it is that we want to see.”
Batts knew she wanted to work with established local
nonprofits that had the institutional knowledge and frame-
AROUND
CONSUMER-
PACKAGED
GOODS.”
work to help Detroit Grows have the most impact, and
partner with larger companies to help maximize its reach.
On the micro-grant level, Detroit Grows has donated to
nonprofits such as Alternatives for Girls and Empower-
ment Plan to sponsor educational development programs
for women. “Nia and I try to prioritize time with organiza-
tions that are impacting the community positively,” Bush
told Hour Detroit in a February 2019 interview. “Last time
I was in town, we went to visit the team at Empowerment
Plan to see what they are doing with their sleeping bag
coats. When we visited, we got to tour their warehouse
space, learn about employee training and the sewing pro-
cess, and met a group of the employees. They have such
an inspiring story of helping to lift people out of home-
lessness, provide job and financial training, and focus on
employee wellness.”
In addition to micro-grants, the team also works with for-
profit businesses to offer entrepreneurship grants; Detroit
Grows recently partnered with the female-founded social
networking and dating site Bumble to award four women-
run local businesses grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000.
“Economists talk about the multiplier effect — if you invest
in women and girls, that investment goes further,” says Batts.
“It’s an investment in their families, it’s an investment in
their communities, it’s an investment in the idea that women
matter and their ideas matter and are important.”
In interviews, Batts is confident and passionate. She sees
her city healing and says she’s excited to be part of “that
energy and grittiness and maker culture” that has always
defined Detroit. The hometown salon has also given Batts
a chance to make a statement about defining beauty. She
stresses that Detroit Blows wants to move “beyond the
blowout” (the company motto) and redefine how “beauti-
ful hair” is seen.
“It’s an opportunity for us to acknowledge that beauty,
for us from a hair standpoint, is not just straight,” she says.
“Straight hair is not just che beautiful hair, it’s whatever you
want your hair to do that day ... We are at the moment just
one small salon in Detroit, but we’ve been able to become a
part of a national discourse.”
Spring 2020 CCT 33
A Filmmaker’s First
Master of suspense Brian De Palma’62 is back with an entirely new project
COURTESY HARD CASE CRIME
Columbia! Forum
Celebrated movie director Brian De Palma ’62 has
always been known — like his idol Alfred Hitchcock —
as a master of the unexpected. Again and again, in mov-
ies from Scarface to Mission: Impossible, a scene will grab
us in suspense, as tightly as the bloody hand reaching up
from the grave in Carrie's final moments. So it shouldn't
be any surprise that, at almost 80, De Palma has one
more plot twist in store for us: his first published novel.
- Are Snakes Necessary? (Hard Case Crime, $22.99) —co-
written with his partner, Susan Lehman, a former New York
Times editor — is set in the murky moral terrain familiar
to his film’s fans. It’s a pulp noir political thriller, a genre
that De Palma clearly loves. He tells CCT that both “the
brutal directness of the prose” and “the characters — sexy,
duplicitous women, morally flawed men” — appeal to him.
Along with the auteur’s trademark gotchas, De Palma and
Lehman provide references
to Hitchcock and others in
the cinematic pantheon. (Its
quirky title is a film-nerd in-
joke, name-checking a book
glimpsed in Henry Fonda's
hands in Preston Sturges’s
classic screwball comedy,
The Lady Eve.)
De Palma’s gritty thriller
was a perfect fit for its
noir publishing imprint,
co-founded in 2004 by
Charles Ardai 91. Ardai
was excited to publish the director’s work, and was
De Palma with his co-author,
Susan Lehman.
>
impressed by De Palma’s “sharp, ruthless look” at current
politics. “This is not just a great crime story,” he says. An
added bonus was Ardai’s “delighted” discovery that De
Palma was also a College grad. “When I was a student,
34 CCT Spring 2020
WIKIMEDIA / FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINE EN GUADALAJARA
I had the opportunity to meet, and in some cases study
under, some truly towering figures — Grace Paley, Philip
Roth, Allen Ginsberg 48, Mary Gordon. In some ways
I like to think of getting to work with Brian now as an
extension of that exceptional Columbia experience.”
It was in fact at the College that De Palma, a surgeon's
son from Pennsylvania, discovered his lifelong métier.
When he arrived in the late 50s, the teenage science
fair whiz was studying to become an engineer. But the
radical winds blowing through Morningside Heights
in those years had a bracing effect. French New Wave
cinema was all the rage, and De Palma became entranced
by Jean-Luc Godard, the Maysles Brothers and the clas-
sics of John Ford and Howard Hawks. “He hocked all his
scientific equipment for a Bolex movie camera,” People
magazine once noted.
Although much of his filmmaking education took place
off-campus, De Palma was able to learn key storytelling
basics from professors such as Robert Brustein GSAS’57
(later head of Yale Drama School). De Palma remembers
reading Ibsen’s plays in Brustein’s class; he says he still
thinks of lines like those from the emotional finale of The
Master Builder. “It was my initial introduction to master-
ful dramatic writing,” he says. “Lessons learned in that
class live in my writing today.”
As his cinematic skills developed, De Palma progressed
from making avant-garde short films (like Woton’s Wake,
with William Finley Jr. 63) to counterculture satires
(Greetings, Hi, Mom!) and documentaries for hire. “I was
a very good cameraman,” he remarks with superb under-
statement in a 2015 documentary, De Palma. He ended
up at Warner Bros. in Hollywood, where he became part
of a cohort of up-and-coming early 70s filmmakers,
alongside Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese,
George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. The young direc-
tors helped each other succeed, passing scripts back and
forth and working together on casting. According to
Scorsese, De Palma “took him under his wing” when he
went to Los Angeles, introduced him to Robert De Niro
and even gave him the script for Taxi Driver. “He is a
warm, passionate, compassionate person who, I think,
puts on a tough front,” Scorsese told People.
What set De Palma apart was his focus on horror and
his “operatic and balletic” camerawork — “simultaneously
voluptuous and _ incisive,”
as critic Michael Sragow
MEET THE wrote in Film Comment in
MASTER 2016. The name “De Palma”
Join CCT on Thursday, March
26, to hear Brian De Palma ’62 i
discuss his new book and his of menace to viewers, but
career with film professor Annette it also signaled the pres-
Insdorf. Register at college.
columbia.edu/events/event/
on a film conveyed a sense
ence of an artist’s vision.
As De Palma’s directing
choices evolved, cannily
alternating between large-scale studio assignments (The
Fury, The Bonfire of the Vanities) and more indie “passion
projects” (Home Movies, Raising Cain), the indelible films
that movie buffs know — among them The Untouchables,
Dressed to Kill, Blow Out and Carlito’ Way — got made.
De Palma, as one cinematographer has said, is simply “one
evening-brian-de-palma-62.
of the greatest visual filmmakers around.”
With its visual scene setting and crime-ridden twists and
turns, the novel benefits from De Palma’s cinematic sensi-
bility. Writers like Bret Easton Ellis admire its pacing and
style (“a fast-moving page-turner”). But let’s leave the last
word to De Palma’s old friend Scorsese. Of this novel, he
says, “You have the same individual voice, the same dark
humor and bitter satire, the same overwhelming emotional
force. It’s like having a new Brian De Palma picture.”
— Rose Kernochan BC’82
“IT'S LIKE HAVING & a
BRIAN DE PALMA PIC
Martin Sbaviess
Chapter 34.
ging is not an entirely pleasant affair.
One day Connie was the beautiful
Bryn Mawr graduate. The whole
world was open in new ways. Doc-
tor, lawyer, Indian chief. Connie had choices her
mother never did. Bryn Mawr pushed hard for cer-
tain career choices. Connie’s roommates were both
going to medical school.
But medicine was not a viable option: Connie
didn’t give a hoot about radiology or endoskeletal
whatevers. Numbers weren't Connie’s strength, so
banking made no sense. Anyway, her father had
money, so work wasn’t an issue.
Frankly all Connie really wanted was to get
married. She could raise children — and maybe
horses — and read great books and have a garden
and make wonderful meals and plan nice vacations.
And oh, she'd love her husband, ambitious,
fierce-minded, fair, strong, successful. She’d care
for a fabulous house, assemble it in good taste, and
have nice parties and interesting friends (from good
families). Connie couldn't tell anyone any of this. It
would be too embarrassing.
That pretty much left law school as the sole
viable option.
Columbia was a bit of a shock when she first
arrived. But Connie stuck to her dorm, outlined her
cases and generally applied herself. She met Lee in
her second year and paid far less attention to torts
and contracts after she did.
“Bring your lunch and meet me by the river. The
114th Street entrance. At Riverside Drive. You'll
recognize me. I'll be looking for you.” That’s what
the note in Connie’s book bag said. She found it
there one morning after criminal law class ended.
Connie remembers the note vividly, each syllable.
Professor Simon had called on the handsome
dark-haired man next to her. “Mr. Rogers, can you
tell us please, what is the issue in Brady v. Maryland?”
Spring 2020 CCT 35
Columbia! Forum
Mr. Rogers had exactly no idea. “Professor Simon,” he
said, “I have exactly no idea what the issue is in Brady
v. Maryland.”
No one had had the guts to say anything like that
before. The class cheered. Lee Rogers came as close
as a person could come to taking a bow without
actually moving.
Unimpressed, Professor Simon called on Connie
Salzman, who quite matter-of-factly delivered the
perfect analysis of the Brady rule of exculpatory evi-
dence case. Of course she knew the issue. She'd spent
the weekend in her room studying, going through
the cases over and over until they practically extruded
through her skin.
Connie brought her lunch (a frisée salad) to the
river with some trepidation. Who was this smooth-
talking Lee Rogers and why did he want to have
lunch with her?
Rogers, who'd brought a hot dog for his lunch,
spread mustard over the bun with his finger. He
produced a blue-and-white bag with the Columbia
mascot (a lion) on it.
“Roar,” he said, pulling out a bottle of sparkling pink
champagne. “Matches the sunset. And your smile.”
He pulled two plastic champagne cups from the
bag and started to pour.
“First things first,” he said, and took a bite of his
frank. “Yum.”
Connie smiled. She was charmed.
But she couldn't help herself. “Do you know
what’s in those?”
“Whatever it is, it sure tastes good.” Lee smiled.
“Have you ever visited a hot dog factory?”
Rogers’ eyes twinkled. “Was that on the college tour?
I didn’t pay much attention after Butler Library.”
Connie loved it that he was playful. She giggled
— something about him brought out the coquette
in her.
“They mix pork trimmings with pink slurry. That’s
what you get when you squeeze chicken carcasses
through metal graders and blast them with water.”
Admittedly, Connie’s idea of coquettishness was a
little odd. She hadn’t had much practice. But Rogers
was not put off. “How about the bun?” he said.
Connie liked the way he teased. “This is before the
bun! Listen. They mix the mush with powdered gunk
— preservatives, flavorings, red coloring all drenched
in water and then squeeze it through the pink plastic
tubes where they cook and package them.”
“Now the bun?”
For the life of her, Connie couldn't figure out why
she was talking about hot dogs. Something about
Rogers made her nervous. The talk was like a tic.
But he was having fun. And she couldn't help but
enjoy herself.
“Right. Now the bun. I don't think you're taking
this very seriously.”
36 CCT Spring 2020
“I’m very serious about my hot dogs. Also I’m
serious about you, Miss Brady v. Maryland. You look
very delicious yourself.”
He said this straight out of the blue. Connie blushed.
“Hey! There’s some pink slurry flushing across
your face.”
Connie blushed more. And giggled. What was it
about this guy?
Rogers lifted his glass. “To exculpatory evidence.”
They took a quick sip from their cups. Rogers moved
closer. He smelled Connie’s sweet (expensive) perfume.
“Mmmm. Delicious, yes! And no plastic packaging?”
Connie loved this. So much so, that to her enor-
mous surprise, she heard herself say, “Only one way
to find out.”
“And what would that be?”
Connie lightly brushed her lips against his. “Any
sign of plastic packaging?” she said.
“Nope!” said Rogers. He kissed her again shyly.
“What do you think? Will I survive that hot dog
and all those toxins?”
“I hope so,” said Connie and she did. “Take my
breath away,” she added. And he did.
A courtship began. Connie helped Rogers outline
his cases and prepare for exams. He took her to jazz
concerts at divey bars downtown. She got all As. He
got offers from the top firms.
Rogers clinched matters when he took Connie to
Paris right after graduation (she graduated third in
her class; he didn’t rank) and proposed to her.
He did not want to be without this fine-looking,
straight-thinking woman. He needed her. He loved
her too. There was no question: Connie would be the
perfect wife.
Connie was over the moon.
You probably want to know what the sex was like
then. I’m sorry, Connie Salzman was not the type
of girl who talked about things like that. She liked
Lee Rogers. A lot. Let’s leave it at that. He made her
laugh. She did things with him she couldn't imagine.
They were married six months later. Lee had a job
at a big Philadelphia firm. Connie had a job at a big-
ger Philadelphia firm. The job was not interesting.
Even slightly.
Connie did not have to worry much about any of
this for long. Two months after she started work, she
discovered to her delight — true, actual and complete
delight — that she was pregnant. The trouble with
Lee might have started around this time.
Connie was dizzy with happiness about the preg-
nancy and might have lost track. Dinner might have
slipped; Connie absolutely did not plan the spring
trip to the Alps that year. That she remembers. Lee
went instead with a bachelor friend from his firm.
Connie would never have found out about the
stewardess he met on the flight. She wasn’t a suspi-
cious spouse or anything like that. But she phoned
Lee in the Alps — the connection was bad and she
thought she'd misheard the hotel operator; she asked
for Mr. Rogers and the operator said, in thickly
accented English, “I em so sorry, Ma’am. Meester
and Meesus Rogers just check out now.”
Connie actually said, “No. Not Mr. and Mrs. Rog-
ers. I’m looking for Mr. Rogers. I am Mrs. Rogers!”
“I em so very sorry,” said the voice on the phone.
“So very sorry.”
Connie was actually confused and wondering why
on earth the operator was so very sorry when the
awful truth dawned on her.
Lee’s homecoming was not so pleasant as previous
ones. Connie did not pick him up at the airport, but
was instead waiting for him when he got home.
“Lee. We have to talk,” she said.
Rogers had never seen such a stern look on Connie’s
face. Pregnancy, he thought, makes animals of all of us.
“Who were you with in the Alps? I know you
weren't alone. I know you were with a woman. Lee.
What. Are. You. Doing?”
Lee Rogers was on his knees so quickly Connie
thought he'd had a heart attack. It took him just a
few tearful moments to tell her, choking back tears,
that yes, he was with a stewardess, someone he’d met
on the plane.
He was scared of being a father, he said. Just scared
in a way he'd never been before. “I lost my mind,
Connie. I was so afraid. I wanted to be a man for
you, a strong man who wasn‘ afraid, and I wanted to
be a strong father for our baby, and Connie, Connie,
Connie,” he choked back more tears, “can you forgive
me? Ever? Oh god, Connie! Please help me to be
worthy of you — your love, our baby.”
‘This could’ve been the end of all that Connie had
ever dreamt. She wasn’t going to let it slip quickly
out of hand.
Determined to save herself, her baby, and the fam-
ily she dreamt of, Connie got in the car and drove to
Bucks County, to the small country house her father
had given her and Lee for a wedding present.
Connie had planted a little garden there and it
was there that she would find the peace she needed
to survive this glitch on the long road she knew
would lead to a happy ending for her, for Lee, and
for their unborn child.
It was high spring. Connie knew just what she’d
do. She'd plant a cherry tree like the ones that had
just blossomed in the capital. Sweet, pink and fra-
grant, the trees represented all of nature’s promise.
Trees with sour fruit last longer — up to two
hundred years. As a statement about her conviction
and the promise of this pregnancy, Connie chose
one of these.
She loaded the sapling into her car, ferried it to
Bucks County and planted it before she even went
inside the house.
Twenty years later, worried about herself and her
odd behavior, Connie drives the familiar road to
Hillside Lane. There, in front of the house, the first
thing she sees is the cherry tree she planted all those
years ago.
Now fully mature, it blossoms magnificently over
the drive. For Connie the tree is a horrible sight.
Each bright pink bloom is a reminder of that time,
of what happened with the stewardess.
What happened happened — a long time ago.
And then it was over. Lee said it was.
And it was.
And it was awful and unspeakable to have accused
him again, to have impugned his integrity with her
crass inquiry about the video girl.
It was weak to have questioned him. Rogers made
a promise all those years ago: if Connie could forgive
him — and she could, she did — never again would
he violate their vows or give her cause to Worry, ever.
A simple exchange: absolution for fidelity, forever.
And she had sunk to questioning his veracity, his
honesty. She had violated their trust.
Rogers produced a blue-
and-white bag with the
Columbia mascot (a lion) on
it. “Roar,” he said, pulling
out a bottle of sparkling pink
champagne. “Matches the
sunset. And your smile.”
She goes to the shed. On a neat pegboard hang all
the tools you'd need to build a new world — ham-
mers, drills, saws. Connie surveys the tools and, at
last, sees the hatchet she is looking for.
She picks it up. Weaving just a little, she carries
the hatchet to the front of the house and plants her
size 5 feet onto the earth and then she takes a wild
swing — not one, in fact, but six — and she does not
stop then but continues to hack, chop chop chop, at
the twenty-year-old tree that bears with its fruit the
bitter memory of Lee’s twenty-year-old sin.
‘The tree falls. The crash is loud. Connie is satisfied.
Gone is the tree that memorializes Lee’s one and
only transgression. She will not question him again.
From the book Are Snakes Necessary? by Brian
De Palma and Susan Lehman. Copyright © 2016,
2020 by DeBart Productions, Inc.
Spring 2020 CCT 37
ahunninews
SPRING INTO
ACTION
The spring semester is well underway,
and students are gearing up for
midterms. What better way to mix
school with fun than studying with
classmates in the sun? The lawns are
the perfect place to read, relax and
enjoy the outdoors!
LEON WU '18
38 CCT Spring 2020
40 Lions
Monique W. Morris 94, GSAPP’96; Kasia Nikhamina ’07;
Richard Maimon ’85; Isaiah D. Delemar ’93
44 Bookshelf
Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us
About Our Past and Future, by James Shapiro ’77
46 Class Notes
Just Married!
86 Obituaries
Michael |. Sovern 753, LAW’55
88 Core Corner
Core cartoon caption contest!
Appreciating the
Gospel of the Core
By Michael Behringer ’89
A S we continue to celebrate the Core Curriculum’s Centennial
this academic year, I’m enjoying hearing Core Stories from
fellow alumni. It never ceases to amaze me how the Core not only
was a defining moment of our undergraduate education, but also
remains relevant in the lives of so many of us.
My most memorable Core experience was studying the Bible.
That might seem like a surprising choice in the context of my 12
years of Catholic school education, including time as an altar boy.
I read the Bible every day in class and of course on Sundays, from
the judgment of Adam and Eve in Genesis to the final judgment of
mankind in the Book of Revelation. It was a text I felt I knew well
when I began Lit Hum.
When it came time to talk about the assigned readings in class,
I was confident I had it well covered. I was sure I would stand out,
dazzling my professor and classmates with my deep knowledge
and insight.
Yet there we were — a group of 20 or so students: Jews, Chris-
tians, Muslims, atheists and agnostics, all approaching this with
different perspectives, beliefs and backgrounds. A sacred text to
some. A collection of stories to others. A source of inspiration and
comfort. A source of division and discord.
Suddenly, the Bible was entirely new to me.
We discussed. We debated. We argued. Yet, the conversations
were respectful, the tone polite. It didn’t matter that we didn’t agree
on ideas; we did agree on engaging in a civil discourse.
That’s when one of the most essential aspects of the Core resonated
with me. It presents a grand opportunity to take a text, a philosophy
or a belief that is so intimate to oneself and to see it through the eyes
of another. And in so doing, see it again for the first time.
Columbia College gave me a great gift in the form of the Core,
and it’s a gift that I’ve treasured throughout my life. Its values are
ones I talk about often with our children, as my wife and I try to
teach them that no one has a monopoly on ideas or truth, and that
what we think we know might not always be right.
Regrettably, public discourse today seems dominated by partisan
rancor. We seem to be very good at speaking forcefully, but we are
less good at listening. The reports from many other campuses are
not much better; we hear of student bodies that shut down free
debate rather than embrace a vivid exchange of ideas.
The Core seems to be needed now more than ever.
Our Core Curriculum is wonderfully unique in higher educa-
tion. No other college has the same commitment to having the
entire student body study the same enduring texts, music and art,
in a small seminar setting that is guaranteed for every student.
I am delighted that the College continues to distinguish itself this
way, and that its education sets students up for a lifetime of mean-
alumninews
ingful engagement with the world. That’s
why it’s so important that we ensure that
the Core is not only available for future
generations, but also that it continues to
adapt and thrive in the years to come.
Producing the Core requires an exceptional commitment of
resources, and its scale grows each year. This type of experience is
only possible through alumni support, and the College needs our
continued investment to strengthen the Core for future students.
Please join me in making a gift in April to the “1919 Challenge”
(college.columbia.edu/alumni/columbia-college-fund) in honor of
the 100th anniversary of the Core. If 1,919 donors make a gift in
April, an anonymous donor will make a $100,000 gift to the Colum-
bia College Fund.
You can also participate in the College’s day-long Core Centen-
nial Century Celebration on campus on Saturday, April 4. And
make sure to join the #corestories memory project by sharing your
Core experience on core100.columbia.edu/community; more than
400 stories have already been contributed!
ROAR!
ae
Spring 2020 CCT 39
The Story of Adam and
Eve by the Boucicaut
master, circa 1414.
WIKIMEDIA
By Rebecca Beyer
onique W. Morris 94, GSAPP’96 was answering
questions from the audience after a screening of her
new film, PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black
Girls in Schools, when one of the young women featured
in the documentary — a survivor of commercial sex trafficking —
took the microphone and started to field queries herself.
“Tt was great,” Morris recalls. “Part of what we wanted to do with
this film is demonstrate that there is an incredible resilience in these
girls. With the right kind of intervention and guidance, they can
come back and be community leaders. That’s exactly what she’s done.’
By providing such assistance, Morris, an expert in how black girls are
?
affected by racial and gender disparities in the education system, has
empowered her research subjects to become experts themselves.
PUSHOUT is Morris’s first film, based in part on research and
first-person interviews she conducted for her 2018 book of the
same name. Morris learned that black girls in high school are six
times more likely than white girls to be suspended and two times
more likely to receive corporal punishment in states that still allow
40 CCT Spring 2020
SS
SANCHA MCBURNIE
it. They are also three times more likely to receive
one or more in-school suspensions, four times — Morris at the
. : : October 10
more likely to be arrested, three times more likely
: ; : screening of
to be restrained and three times more likely to be ~~ pusHour,
referred to law enforcement. hosted by the
“There are different ways of doing this,” says Georgetown
IM ova ie al d id CRReINA Gon Law Center
orris, co-founder and president of the Nation Ghirovery
Black Women’s Justice Institute. “We don't have
to treat our young people this way.”
What makes Morris’s work unique is that she doesn’t just point
out a problem — she also offers solutions. Her approach has led
to powerful partnerships; in September, Rep. Ayanna Pressley
(D-Mass.), who, as a Boston city councilor worked with Morris
on previous research in that city’s schools, hosted the premiere
of PUSHOUT at the Congressional Black Caucus Legislative
Conference. And in December, Pressley and Rep. Ilhan Omar
(D-—Minn.) introduced federal legislation based on Morris’s
research. Named for the film, the Ending Punitive, Unfair, School-
and Inequality.
based Harm that is Overt and Unresponsive to Trauma (PUSH-
OUT) Act would establish $2.5 billion in grants to support states
that commit to banning discriminatory practices, invest $2.5 bil-
lion to shore up the civil tights work of the USS. Department of
Education and create an inter-agency task force to eliminate the
disparate impacts of school disciplin-
ary policies on girls of color.
Morris’s other recent work includes
a 2019 book, Sing a Rhythm, Dance a
Blues: Education for the Liberation of
Black and Brown Girls, which high-
lights educators and administrators
who are successfully exploring non-
punitive responses with girls of color.
Taken together, the books, film and
legislation “are really about, how do
we begin to shift a public narrative
SO we recognize that hurt people hurt
people?” Morris says. “We need to facilitate healing as opposed to
deepening harm through punishment. Young people who are act-
ing out in school are acting out because there’s been a deep disrup-
tion in their lives.”
Even when teachers and school officials recognize that reality,
there is a tendency to point fingers — at poverty, at parents, at
historical oppression, Morris says. But that’s too passive, she argues.
“We've got to move past the blame game,” she says. “We have a
responsibility to try to make things better right now.”
Morris says she first recognized that responsibility when she was
a student at the Architecture School working on her thesis about
PUSHOUT
MONIQUE W. MORRIS
the impact of residential juvenile correctional facilities on black
community development. Some of the girls she met were survivors
of sexual assault, as Morris herself is.
“I realized that many of the girls dealt with conditions similar
to my own life,” she says. “The critical difference was education. I
didn’t have to fight anymore because I could write.”
The San Francisco native also recalls deep conversations about
historical narratives with the DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus
of History Eric Foner’63, GSAS’69. She credits them as formative
to her experience as one of the founding student staff members of
the Institute for Research in African American Studies, which was
created in 1993 by Professor Manning Marable.
“I will always be grateful for
his guidance and mentorship,”
she says of Marable, who died
in 2011.
Morris calls efforts to raise
awareness about black girls’ treat-
ment in schools “freedom work.”
If education is an antidote for
criminalization and incarcera-
tion, then “our efforts should be Wl! pe Serene followed
to keep girls in school, not to BY Ge elselissloln ied DY ;
find ways to take them out of it,” pores A pe me cha
; re oF of the sociology department
Morris says. “This is fundamen-
ey 2 at Barnard. Sign up online:
tally about facilitating freedom. ccwsignatureevent2020.
eventbrite.com. You also can
read an excerpt from PUSHOUT
at college.columbia.edu/cct.
More from Morris
Monique W. Morris ’94,
GSAPP’96 will be the keynote
speaker at Columbia College
Women’s 2020 Signature
Event, Thursday, April 2, at
Casa Italiana. PUSHOUT
Rebecca Beyer is a freelance edi-
tor and writer who lives in Boston.
Kasia Nikhamina ’O7 Keeps Brooklyn Rolling
By Anne-Ryan Sirju JRN’09
iking in New York City can seem daunting: Traffic,
weather, pedestrians and road conditions conspire to
make for a sometimes-harrowing ordeal. But for Kasia
Nikhamina ’07, co-owner (with her husband, Ilya Nikha-
min) of Brooklyn’s Redbeard Bikes, it’s all about freedom — once
you have the perfect bike, you'll forget the rest.
Situated on DUMBO’s busy Jay Street, the brightly lit shop is
a cyclist’s paradise. Bikes hang from floor to ceiling along exposed
brick walls, while the wooden floors house neat rows of bikes;
accessories like seats and helmets are dotted throughout the store.
Says Nikhamina, “We're going for a down-to-Earth, welcoming
place. There are a lot of people who feel excluded from cycling, and
we want to be a place where you can walk in and feel comfortable
no matter your knowledge or background.”
Redbeard is rare in that it specializes in both custom bike
builds, made by Ilya, as well as off-the-rack sales and bike repairs
for more casual riders. While Ilya focuses on builds and fixes,
Nikhamina focuses on the day-to-day operations — “I keep the
place running,” she says with a laugh. Opened in November 2012
by Ilya, demand quickly outpaced the one-person operation and
within the first year, Nikhamina had left her finance job to jump
into the small business world. “The growth is funny; it’s hard to
reflect on it,” says Nikhamina. “So much has happened — people
just kept coming, and DUMBO definitely has exploded. There’s so
much demand.”
Early on, Nikhamina and her husband started offering commu-
nity-focused activities like neighborhood rides (which are now led
by “Redbeard ambassadors” and run every Saturday and Sunday,
March—October) to build out the biking community in the neigh-
borhood. By the end of 2013, Redbeard had expanded into its cur-
rent, larger space from a smaller shop down the street.
Nikhamina first became interested in cycling in high school,
when Ilya bought her her first bike (the couple met as classmates at
Stuyvesant H.S.). “New York wasn’t very bike friendly at the time,”
she says. “My parents were worried about my safety, but it was a
way of asserting my independence. Having a bike I thought, ‘Now
I'm free. I don’t have to rely on anyone to drive me anywhere.”
Outside of the bike shop, Nikhamina, who majored in litera-
ture, is wrapping up work on her first book, a memoir, in her spare
time; her experiences at Redbeard feature heavily in the work. She’s
Spring 2020 CCT 41
thrilled about the city’s growing support of cyclist culture and cred-
its Citi Bike, as well as the improved infrastructure around bike
lanes, as part of a change that has led to an explosion of biking
enthusiasm in New York during the seven-plus years Redbeard has
been open.
That explosion hasn't come without difficulties, though, as the
realities of running a growing business mean that the husband-
and-wife team need to always be on hand at the store, and staffing
needs often outpace the supply of workers. “There aren't as many
people working with their hands, and definitely not with bicycles,”
Nikhamina says. “It’s getting safer, easier and more commonplace
to ride — but who's going to serve all those people?”
Biking in New York City is clearly here to stay, and Nikhamina
is a big part of that culture shift. “In the city, we live in such close
quarters, and we don't have a lot of chances to feel free,” she says.
“We're always corralled somewhere; we're in a line to get coffee,
we're crowded in the subway. When you get a bike, yeah, there’s
traffic, but you have control. You connect with your animal self, you
reconnect with your inner child.”
SAM POLCER
a
f
Ta
Husband-and-wife team Kasia Nikhamina ’07 and Ilya Nikhamin in front of their
DUMBO store, Redbeard Bikes.
Richard Maimon ’85 Practices Design Diplomacy
By Rebecca Beyer
Architect Richard Maimon ’85 at Dilworth Park in Philadelphia, one of the many
large-scale projects he has worked on with his firm.
42 CCT Spring 2020
ANDREW MAIMON
ichard Maimon ’85 was 14 in 1977, the year Dilworth
Plaza opened across from Philadelphia's City Hall after
nearly 10 years of construction. Because he passed through
the transit hub frequently on his way to Center City to
run errands with his family, he was excited to see the final product.
But he was disappointed; the plaza was not very welcoming,
consisting of endless granite. “I thought, ‘Is that all there is?” he
recalls. “It suffered from a design that was very much defensive. The
public was presented with walls and barriers and steps.”
Maimon was not alone and, decades later, when stakeholders
got together to transform the eyesore, he was in a position to help.
A partner at Philadelphia-based architectural firm KieranTimber-
lake, Maimon was part of the team behind the plaza’s renovation.
The new Dilworth Park includes two 20-ft. glass pavilions that
serve as entrances to the underground train station, a large lawn
and a fountain fed with purified rainwater that becomes an ice-
skating rink in the winter. Since the new four-acre space opened in
2014, Maimon says he’s visited every chance he gets.
“My kids roll their eyes,” he says. “But they’re teenagers.”
Maimon says Dilworth Park is one of the great things he’s
worked on during his career at KieranT imberlake, which he joined
full time in 1989. But there are many others. He is also heading
up his firm's work on 181 Mercer, NYU’s multi-purpose build-
ing for athletics facilities, performing arts venues, academic class-
rooms, and student and faculty residences; more recently he helped
complete a master plan for the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
One of his biggest projects — the new U.S. embassy in London
— got some unexpected publicity when President Trump refused
to attend a ribbon cutting in 2018, calling the building a “bad deal”
(the approximately $1 billion project was funded entirely by proceeds
from the sale of other U.S. government properties). The final design
— a transparent crystalline cube — includes grey water recycling, a
pond that filters and stores stormwater, and interior gardens modeled
after U.S. ecosystems. Maimon says a major challenge was figuring
out how to convey democratic values such as openness and transpar-
ency while providing maximum security.
“Through a set of carefully considered design moves, you can
achieve multiple goals that originally might have seemed to be con-
tradictory,” he says. “And that’s what we did.”
Maimon knew he wanted to be an architect even as a child; he
loved “great spaces” like Philadelphia's Wanamaker’s department
store building. But he credits his liberal arts education at the Col-
lege with preparing him for the parts of his profession that require
negotiation and persuasion.
dlumninews \
“You learn to be critical and thoughtful and rigorous, to under-
stand other people’s points of view,” he says. “Architecture is as
much about verbal communication as it is about the visual and
technical side of making buildings. Everyone needs to feel like
they’re being heard, and you need to respond to them.”
One lesson stands out: In 1984, when Maimon pinned a design
he had drawn on transparent paper across two tack boards, Profes-
sor Robert A.M. Stern ’60 called out the aesthetic misstep, asking
Maimon if he wanted to be remembered “for a crack running down
the middle” of his drawing.
“While my first response was laughter, I quickly realized the les-
son,” Maimon says. “How you present your work is as important as
the content.”
Rebecca Beyer is a freelance editor and writer who lives in Boston.
Isaiah D. Delemar ‘93 Preserves
the Past for the Future
By Anne-Ryan Sirju JRN’09
hen Isaiah D. Delemar ’93 was young, he noticed
a trend while watching Sunday news programs:
Many of the world’s movers and shakers had law
degrees. Now an Attorney-Advisor for the U.S.
Department of the Interior, Delemar has become one of those
influential people — in 2018, he was the team leader and lead
lawyer on multiple projects that preserved significant sites in
American history, most notably
Camp Nelson National Monu-
ment, in Jessamine County,
Kentucky, and Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.’s birth and life
homes, in Atlanta, Georgia.
Camp Nelson was a Union
Army depot during the Civil
War. A recruiting ground for
new soldiers and escaped slaves,
as well as a refugee camp for
escaped women and children, it
became one of the largest Union
training centers for African-
American soldiers. “Camp Nel-
son is unique,” says Delemar,
“because it is an under-told
story of freed men fighting for
the freedom of slaves and their
families.” Its designation also
marked President Trump’s first use of the Antiquities Act (a power
that gives the President the authority to declare national monu-
ments by public proclamation).
Delemar’s second big win for 2018 was facilitating the National
Park Service’s acquisition of the Atlanta home where Dr. King
was born and lived for the first 12 years of his life; previously
owned by The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent
Social Change (The King Center), it is now guaranteed perpetual
federal protection and resources. As part of the Martin Luther
King, Jr. National Historical Park, the home features free daily
guided tours led by National Park Service rangers and is a popu-
lar park attraction.
“Putting these three properties in federal hands ensures they will
be preserved for the current generation and future generations,”
Delemar says.
While at the College, Delemar was active in the Charles Ham-
ilton Houston Pre-Law Society and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity,
serving as VP of both — he points out that Charles Hamilton
Houston (the first African-American to graduate from Harvard
Law School), billionaire philanthropist Robert F. Smith BUS’94
(whose donation to the National Park Foundation facilitated the
acquisition of King’s birth and life homes) and King were mem-
bers of Alpha Phi Alpha as well. After graduation, the native New
Yorker headed south to law school at UNC-Chapel Hill and later
joined the U.S. Department of the Interior. “Really, no day looks
exactly alike,” he says of his work. “You have high-profile matters
like these, which have many stakeholders, including the White
House. But the average day could be dealing with clients, review-
ing contracts, or opining on real estate issues or resolving boundary
disputes. Each day is a potpourri.”
Delemar sees the law as a tool for social progress, and these
recent acquisitions exemplify that work, as the new designations
will promote awareness and drive visitors to these sites of impor-
tant African-American history. “The National Parks are a treasure,”
he says. “The ability to preserve cultural and natural resources for
the benefit and enjoyment of the American people and for future
generations is an awesome, awesome mission.”
Spring 2020 CCT 43
ee
bookshelf
Bridging Differences
Through the Bard
By Jill C. Shomer
n the current American moment, it is hard to say we are “united
states.” While writers, historians and pundits offer opinions
on how we might bridge our cultural and political differences,
James Shapiro 77 suggests we look to the Bard.
In Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us About
Our Past and Future (Penguin Press, $27), Shapiro, the Larry Miller
Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the College
and a renowned Shakespeare scholar, looks at the ways in which
people reveal themselves through interactions with Shakespeare’s
work. Shapiro writes, “his plays are rare common ground.”
We all study Shakespeare at some point; the majority of Ameri-
can junior high and high schools expose students to Romeo and
Juliet, Macbeth and Hamlet. Shapiro believes that Shakespeare’s
work can help make sense of controversial issues in our nation’s
history. “It’s frightening how much darkness, how much prejudice,
how much resentment has inadvertently been revealed through
America’s engagement with Shakespeare,” he says.
The book draws cultural through lines to landmark Shakespeare
productions, films and musicals that have featured hot-button top-
ics such as immigration (The Tempest), interracial marriage (Oshello),
class warfare (Macbeth), domestic violence (The Taming of the Shrew),
same-sex marriage (4s You Like It), adultery (Hamlet), gender iden-
tity (Twelfth Night) and, in numerous instances, the Other.
“One of the things I’ve explored in Shakespeare’s comedies is how
many of them end with exclusion,” he says. “Shylock is left out at the
end of The Merchant of Venice, Malvolio
is left out at the end of Twelfth Night.
Characters create community by whom
they leave out, ostracize, stigmatize.
The comedies become a historical road
map of whom we are now leaving out
and stigmatizing. They become a way
of revealing things that are not so great
about this great country.”
Astonishingly, Shapiro never took a
Shakespeare course as an undergraduate.
Instead he would go to London every
summer (after quitting a different temp
job every August 1) and glut himself on
Shakespearean theater. “I'd see 25 plays
in 25 days,” he says. “At that age, you're really open to powerful art, and
it was like a drug — I loved it. I was interested in how Shakespeare's
work came to life onstage and spoke to the cultural moment.”
The Brooklyn native attended grad school at the University of
Chicago, then joined the Columbia faculty in 1985. “I learn a lot
ee
=
MARY CREGAN GSAS'95
44 CCT Spring 2020
SHAKESPEARE
IN A DIVIDED
AMERICA
JAMES SHAPp IRO
from teaching,” Shapiro says. “It’s important to hear what young
people have to say because there’s a break between one generation
and the next that’s quite sharp right now. The classroom is one of the
few places where you can bridge that divide, or at least try to hear
and see a little bit more clearly how generational interests diverge.
“T need to mix it up with students, I need to push and be pushed
back,” he continues. “It’s a very New York style.”
In the late aughts, Shapiro realized that after decades of Shake-
speare scholarship he knew very little about American history. In
an effort to connect the dots, he started teaching undergraduate
and graduate seminars on the American response to Shakespeare,
and wrote a 2012 anthology for the Library of America.
Shakespeare in a Divided America’s narrative culminated for
Shapiro after the 2016 election and a controversial theater produc-
tion the following summer. The Public Theater staged Julius Caesar
at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park and director Oskar Eustis
chose to portray Caesar as a modern-day Trump lookalike. Shapiro,
the Shakespeare scholar-in-residence at The Public, was at nearly
every performance and witnessed protesters attempting to attack
the actors and disrupt the show. His book opens and closes with
discussions of what the production meant for free speech and
artistic freedom. “Everything that I’ve been trained to do and have
lived through has led to this,” he says.
“The danger of being a professor is getting stuck in time; you
always have to be open to what’s happening at a particular moment,”
he says. “| Writing this book] forced me to confront things that are
harder to define, like racism and discrimination — who admits to
being racist, or to being against someone with a different sexual
orientation or gender? ‘This book allowed me to get behind that
wall. You'd be amazed what people will admit to through Shake-
speare that they will not admit otherwise.”
Becoming a professor was an easy career choice for Shapiro.
Both his parents were public school teachers, brother Michael
teaches in the Journalism School, sister Jill BC’80, GSAS’95 is
a senior lecturer in ecology, evolution and environmental biol-
ogy at the College and wife Mary Cregan GSAS’95 teaches
in the English department at Barnard. Son Luke DeCourcey
Cregan 19 was awarded a 2019 Euretta J. Kellett Fellowship and
is studying at Oxford; Shapiro hopes he will follow in the family’s
faculty footsteps.
Shapiro says that for him, a nice thing about Shakespeare is that
it straddles work and play. In addition to teaching, he’s currently
contributing to several theatrical productions and will soon embark
on a book tour. “It’s all-consuming,” he says. “There are really not
enough hours in the Shakespeare day!”
ROM
LEARNING F
FRANZ L. NEUMANN
d the Brute
David Kettler and
Thomas Wheatland
Learning from Franz L. Neumann:
Law, Theory, and the Brute Facts
of Political Life 4y David Kettler ’51
and Thomas Wheatland. The first
English-language, full-length study
of Neumann, a highly regarded
Columbia professor and exile
scholar who played a prominent
role in efforts to break down the
divide between political theory
and the empirical discipline of
political science (Anthem Press,
$99, Kindle version).
Renia’s Diary: A Holocaust
Journal translated by Elizabeth Bellak
GS'55. The widow of George M.
Bellak’57 brings to life the diary of
her late sister, who was murdered
by the Gestapo in 1942; the book
became a New York Times bestseller
(St. Martin’s Press, $27.99).
Cesare: A Novel of War-Torn
Berlin dy Jerome Charyn ’59. The
latest from Charyn, an author of
more than 50 works of fiction and
nonfiction, is a literary thriller and
love story, “born of the horrors of
SUBMIT YOUR
BOOK TO CCT
Alums! Have you written
a book in the last year?
Tell us about it!
college.columbia.edu/cct/
submit_bookshelf
a country whose culture has died,
whose history has been warped,
and whose soul has disappeared”
(Bellevue Literary Press, $26.99).
Crude Oil, Crude Money: Aristotle
Onassis, Saudi Arabia, and the
CIA by Thomas W. Lippman ’61.
Lippman, who has written about
Middle Eastern affairs and American
foreign policy for four decades, sheds
light on a little-known story about
the collision of nationalism, money,
celebrity and oil (Praeger, $37).
The Cambridge Introduction to
British Fiction, 1900-1950 dy
Robert L. Caserio’65. An examination
of the work of more than 100 writers
in a variety of genres, including
detective, spy, gothic, fantasy, comic
and science fiction; Caserio also
brings new attention to lesser-
known writers he thinks merit
increased attention (Cambridge
University Press, $29.99).
Biotech Juggernaut: Hope,
Hype, and Hidden Agendas of
Entrepreneurial Bioscience dy
Stuart Newman ’65 and Tina Stevens.
‘The authors recount their encounters
with biotechnology in scientific,
legal, policy and advocacy settings,
and give broad historical context to
biotech and its societal implications
(Routledge, $42.95).
Chip Rock and the Fat Old Fart:
A Heartwarming Adventure dy
Michael Daswick’79. The story of
a comic and poignant friendship
between 23-year-old orphan
Chip Rock and Deacon, a
50-something, socially outcast
meat cutter (Bowker, $28.95).
My Creative Space: How to
Design Your Home to Stimulate
Ideas and Spark Innovation by
Donald M. Rattner’79. Rattner,
a noted architect, shares practical
techniques for shaping a home
that will boost your creativity, and
includes photos of interiors from
around the world (Skyhorse, $29.99).
The Misadventures of Rabbi
Kibbitz and Mrs. Chaipul dy
Mark Binder’84. The fourth
book in Binder’s “Life in Chelm”
series features stories about the
importance of exercise for seniors,
maintaining your identity and the
joy of eating good food (Light
Publications, $29.95).
What You Do Is Who You Are:
How to Create Your Business
Culture dy Ben Horowitz ’88.
Horowitz, a leading venture
capitalist and modern management
expert, explains how to make your
company culture purposeful by
spotlighting four historical models
of leadership and connecting them
to modern case studies (Harper
Business, $29.99).
The Yellow Bird Sings: A Novel dy
Jennifer Rosner ’88. As WWII rages
in Poland, a mother hides with her
alumninews
Little
Weirds
rN
may Jenny
Slate
“Honest, funny. positive, completely ornnal, and inspiring
im the very best way.” ~GEORGE S EES
young daughter, a musical prodigy;
to soothe the girl and pass the time,
the mother tells her a story about
an enchanted garden (Flatiron
Books, $25.99).
Banshee by Rachel DeWoskin ’94.
DeWoskin’s lead character has a
full, sane life and all the trappings of
middle-age happiness, but when she
gets a terrifying diagnosis, a lifetime
of being polite and putting others
first ignites in her a surprising rage
(Dottir Books, $16.95).
Little Weirds dy Jenny Slate 04. This
collection of personal essays gives
insight into the writer, actress and
stand-up comedian’s “strangely funny
and tender, magically delicious mind”
(Little, Brown and Co., $27).
Characters Before Copyright:
The Rise and Regulation of Fan
Fiction in Eighteenth-Century
Germany é4y Matthew Birkhold
‘08. The first in-depth study of the
history of fan fiction — literary
works written by readers who
appropriate preexisting characters
invented by other authors (Oxford
University Press, $70).
Who Put This Song On? dy Morgan
Parker ‘10. The first novel from poet
Parker, about a black teenage girl
searching for identity when the world
around her views her depression as
something to be politely ignored
(Delecorte Press, $18.99).
— Jill C. Shomer
Spring 2020 CCT 45
| The return of
Spring on campus
is cause to
celebrate — and
Alma Mater has
| brought balloons
for the occasion!
46 CCT Spring 2020
1940-49
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
From Dr. Melvin Hershkowitz
"42: “I began as class correspondent
in 2006 to replace my lifelong best
friend, Dr. Herbert Mark ’42, who
died after open-heart surgery. Now,
after 14 years of submitting my
reports to CCT, I am 97, and will
hope to enjoy reading CCT for a
few more years to come. Here are
my current notes, which are mostly
reminiscences about our past years
at Columbia.
a i Giese! aE ars eee _"
“Meals: Breakfast at Columbia
Chemists — OJ, donut, coffee.
Lunch — sandwich at The West
End. Dinner — New Asia Chinese
Restaurant on Broadway; it served a
full dinner for 85 cents.
“Great professors (many): Boris
Stanfield (Russian history); Gottlieb
Betz (German literature, Faust);
Mark Van Doren GSAS 1920
(Shakespeare, poetry of Hardy and
Yeats); Joseph Wood Krutch (drama
and theater; founder of Sonora Des-
ert Museum in Arizona); Dwight
Miner CC 1926, GSAS’40 (history
and modern American literature);
and J. Enrique Zanetti (inorganic
chemistry and a virtuoso in conduct-
ing experiments during his lectures).
“Fourteen members (maybe
more?) of our Great Class of 1942
Wp to aia SSS
= s-
> Se SSS
<
ae SS poe
SSS
LEON WU 18
were killed in WWII. Among them
were two of my good friends, Lt.
Philip Bayer ’42 and Lt. Roger
Dounce ’42. Phil was a Marine
hero, killed at Peleliu. He was a star
halfback on our football team. Roger
was an Air Force pilot in the Pacific,
and was shot down in combat. He
was an inveterate pipe smoker, wrote
critical articles for Jester and The
Columbia Review, and had a great
sense of humor.
“Sports: Football — when
Columbia upset a great Army team
21-20 at Baker Field in 1947, I
was in the Army on active duty in
occupied Japan, as a captain and
medical officer in the 27th Infantry
Regiment. The West Point officers in
the regiment were very upset at this
score, but I retained their friendship
for several years after my discharge
from active duty. On November
20, 1982, I was at Baker Field with
Gerald Green ’42 and our friend
Ray Robinson ’41 as Columbia lost
to Brown 35-21 in what was the
last game played at Baker before it
was demolished and replaced by our
current Wien Stadium.”
From CC’47 former class cor-
respondent Bertram Sussman ’47:
“It’s been more than eight years since
some of you attended the memorial
service in New York for my wife,
Shirley GSAS’46. I thank everyone
who came to celebrate her and our 62
and a half years of marriage.
“T'm 96 and a half, and recently
went into home hospice at an
assisted living center north of
citizen program.) So, when I returned
to Maui, I put our house on the
market and rented a cottage in Kula,
on the slope of Mount Haleakala,
from my voice teacher, Pamela
Polland. Pamela had been a major
behind-the-scenes player in the Los
Angeles and Northern California
music scenes of the 70s and ’80s.
So, I joined a roster of students that
included Jackson Browne, Linda
Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt.
“Despite this flirtation with vocal
stardom and my auto-romance
with my new Toyota Prius, at 89,
living alone was getting difficult.
‘Then, uncannily, in fall 2012,
Jan Bonaparte, Joe Bonaparte’s
widow, showed up at my door. Jan
convinced me to move to an assisted
living facility in Kihei, on Maui’s
almost-always ‘sunny side.’
“On June 1, 2013, she helped me
put on a big 90th birthday party at
one of Maui’s best Aloha country
restaurants. People came from the
mainland and from the island. I never
imagined enjoying myself so much
without Shirley. Yet seeing all these
people travel thousands of miles to
celebrate my birthday made me decide
T had to return to the mainland.
“With Jan's help, in September
2013, I moved to the Brookdale
4
Seattle in Stanwood, where my old-
est grandson, Evan, and his young
family live. My entire immediate
family, except my son, Richard ’76,
live within an hour’s drive.
“During a recent visit, Richard
(and my brother, John Weaver
’49) urged me to send a note to
CCT, my protests notwithstanding.
(What news did I have to share?)
After Shirley died, I was in a hurry to
leave the Manhattan apartment we
had taken up four years earlier and
return to Maui, where we had retired
after selling our business, RPM, in
1999. Shirley and I had made many
friends on Maui. (When we turned
80, a local gym used us as models for
a flyer promoting their new senior
Stanwood Assisted Living Center,
where I can frequently see my
great-grandkids, Josh (8) and Lily
(6). And my terrific caretakers and
support team have made my ‘pursuit
of happiness’ all the more real.
“I hope that more of you will
send your stories to CCT. As Walter
Cronkite used to say, ‘And that’s the
way it is,’ in Stanwood, Wash., on
December 26, 2019.”
[Editor’s note: CCT is sad to
report that Bertram passed away on
February 20, 2020.]
From Lawrence N. Friedland ’47,
LAW’49: “1) I am still working and
I have two offices — a law office
(when I complete my current con-
tinuing legal education requirement
I will be able to practice law until I
am 99) and a family office; 2) I have
been married to Alice Linker Fried-
land for 63 years; and 3) We have
three children and six grandchildren.
One of my granddaughters is in the
College now.
“My time at Columbia provided
me with an education (about the
world in which we live and how
we arrived here), a profession and a
whole coterie of friends who became
a substantial part of my family’s
social life.
“Judy and Mort Lindsey ’44
were very close friends — we vaca-
tioned together in Paris, London
and elsewhere and celebrated many
holidays together. When they
moved to California, we socialized
with them every time we went to
visit our daughter in California and
when they came to New York.
“Kathy and Marshall Mascott
"48 were also very close friends, and
we spent many hours together while
they lived in New York, just across the
street from our residence. I remember
my boys and I playing touch football
with Marshall and his son Chris in
Central Park. When he and Kathy
moved to Europe we visited them
numerous times, in London, Baden-
Baden and Switzerland. Whenever he
and Kathy came to this country, we
would also spend time with them.
“Cyrus Bloom ’47, Al Burstein
’47, Ed Costikyan ’47, Ed Cramer
’47, Fred Freund ’48 and Billy
Kahn ’47, and their wives, as well as
many other Columbia friends, formed
part of our social circle. I would like to
hear from any classmates.”
1950
REUNION 2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ecreunion@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
Dr. Dudley F. Rochester PS’55
writes: “ll celebrate my 92nd birth-
day in May, 70 years after graduat-
ing from Columbia College.
“While there I had Jacques Bar-
zun CC 1927, GSAS 1932 for CC
and Mark Van Doren GSAS 1920
for Humanities. In January 1948 a
Pakistani man joined the class, and
soon expressed criticism of CC for
ignoring cultural contributions from
Islamic scholars. One Friday this
Spring 2020 CCT 47
student and Professor Barzun had a
heated argument. On Monday, Bar-
zun told the class that he’d thought
deeply over the weekend, concluded
that the student was correct and that
he, Barzun, would change hence-
forth. Now that was a lesson!
“After graduating from P&S, I had
my internship and residency in medi-
cine at Presbyterian Hospital and
a research fellowship in Dr. Andre
Cournand’s laboratory at Bellevue
Hospital. After two years active duty
in the Army, I began my academic
medical career, first at Bellevue, and
subsequently at Harlem Hospital. In
1976 I became head of the pulmonary
medicine division at the University of
Virginia in Charlottesville.
“T’ve been retired for 25 years,
and spent much of that time as a
volunteer for the American Lung
Association and the Episcopal
Church. My advice for a good
retirement is ‘Always have a learning
curve ahead.’
“Lois Boochever BC’49 and I
married in June 1950. We’ve lived
for the last 16 years at Westminster-
Canterbury of the Blue Ridge, a
retirement community in Charlottes-
ville. As our physical capacities have
diminished, we no longer travel, but
we remain active here at WCBR.
“We have several intellectual
groups, and in the past year I’ve given
the talks ‘Health Care in the U.S.,’
‘Religion & Science’ and “The Brain as
Mind.’I’m scheduled to give another
one in May, ‘Artificial Intelligence.’
“T thank Columbia College and
P&S for instilling in me a sense of
intellectual curiosity that persists to
this day.”
Stay in
Touch
Let us know if you have a
new postal or email address,
a new phone number or
even a new name:
college.columbia.edu/
alumni/connect.
48 CCT Spring 2020
CCT received a loving remem-
brance from Hindy Livia Bergovoy,
widow of Philip M. Bergovoy. She
writes of Phil, who died on Febru-
ary 22, 2019: “I had a charmed life
with him for almost 37 years. Just
as important, he had a positive and
special influence on everyone who
knew him: his children, grandchil-
dren, nephews, nieces, students,
fellow teachers, alumni and business
associates ... not least of all me. We
each can, and many have, testified
and eulogized about how he encour-
aged and empowered each of us.
“If you knew Phil, you know he
loved his time at Columbia. Even
as CC’50 had naturally dwindled
lately, Phil and his Columbia friends
continued to keep in touch, sharing
their happiest Columbia memories.
It was clear they appreciated the
privilege they earned — the nonpa-
reil education at Columbia College.
“To simply listen to Phil and his
Columbia compatriots conversing,
to have heard their calm, intelligent,
respectful and loving interchanges,
will forever remain a uniquely joyful
and gratifying memory.
“Can you imagine how proud
Phil was when our granddaughter
Kiera Allen’22 chose Columbia
for her tertiary education? And
imagine how proud he was when he
discovered she was published in the
2018/2019 edition of The Morning-
side Review.
“Between the mid-1950s and
early 1970s, Phil taught at North
Shore H.S. and various other
schools on Long Island. ‘Coach’
(as many called him) had amaz-
ing impact on countless students
in those years. Later, he naturally
developed a deep and loving rela-
tionship with many of his former
students. First mentor, later friends.
“After Phil’s death, I discovered
letters written as far back as 1954
from students and parents that
thank him for the positive influence
he had on his students’ lives.
“In short, I could say without
conceit, his influence has made the
world a better place.”
Hindy also shared Phil’s obituary
from The Wounded Lion, Vol. XIV,
Issue 1:
“This past February we lost a
strong advocate for ROTC and a
person of many talents. He was an
entrepreneur, teacher, mentor, coach,
patriot and proud Columbia grad.
Phil entered Columbia College
when he was 15 years old during
WWII. He wanted to fight for his
country against the tyranny the
world was facing so he enlisted in
the Navy. When it came to light that
he was under the required age to
join the armed services, he received
an honorable discharge.
“In 1950 he graduated from
Columbia and was commissioned
through the NROTC program as a
Marine Corps officer and assigned
to active duty. In 1952, he encoun-
tered a medical condition that cut
his marine duty short and he was
honorably discharged. The same
year he graduated from Columbia
University’s Teachers College.
“In the 1960s, because of his
genius in probabilities and to help
support his family, Phil developed,
wrote and published booklets about
horse racing systems. He also taught
and coached at various Long Island
high schools.
“Phil retired from teaching and
coaching in 1970 to devote more
time to his family and his successful
publishing business. He dedicated full
time to entrepreneurship. Throughout
the 70s [and] until his death, he suc-
cessfully managed portfolios for his
family and business associates.
“In September 1981, Phil’s first
wife, Jean Bergovoy, succumbed to
cancer at the age of 46. The follow-
ing year, he met his future second
wife, Hindy Livia Bergovoy.
“He continued to successfully run
various businesses, from nightclubs
to retail food establishments. With-
out specific knowledge of an indus-
try, but with the keen understanding
of finance, Phil continued to succeed
in these ventures, supporting up to
25 families.
“At the turn of the 21st century,
Phil devoted most of his time to
managing his family’s portfolios. He
and his wife relocated to Sarasota,
Fla. His dedication to his former
students and business colleagues
was such that many continued and
continue to express their gratitude for
his inspiration and empowerment.
As a board member of the Columbia
Alliance for ROTC he constantly
provided input and proposals for how
to approach the university. Despite
failing health, he made every effort to
contribute his thoughts and ideas to
the Alliance. He never lost his affec-
tion for the Marine Corps.
“Phil is survived by his three
children, Richard Randolph Bergovoy,
Kenneth Bergovoy, and Catherine Jean
Allen; his five grandchildren, Kate
Anne Bergovoy, Michael Bergovoy,
Kiera Allen, Sean Allen, and Connor
Allen; and his wife, Hindy Bergovoy.
“He was laid to rest with a
military honor guard at the Sarasota
National Cemetery in Florida.
“Semper Fidelis.”
Patrick J. Barry died on Decem-
ber 27, 2019; CCT was informed by
his daughter Judith Barry BC’84.
Classmates would enjoy hearing
from you. Please send your news
to CCT by writing to either of the
addresses at the top of the column.
1951
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
Classmates would like to hear
from you! Please send your news
to CCT by writing to either of
the addresses above.
1952
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
Dr. Irvin Herman, who notes he is
a “philosopher, sage and sophisticate
due to CC and Humanities,” writes:
“The CCT article on the history of
the Core Curriculum [“First Class,”
Winter 2019-20], I am sure. has
resulted in a flood of comments. I
must add mine. I came from a good
but not very enlightened high school
in a small town in the Midwest. To
illustrate this point, for a book report
in an English class, I somehow read
Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Must
confess my innocence. I asked my
elderly, spinster teacher what the
Scarlet A meant. After a lot of her
verbal fumbling and mumbling, I still
didn't know. Can't remember when
I became wise and sophisticated
enough to announce, ‘Aha.’
“With that sort of academic
background, you can imagine my
confusion in my first CC class to
discover that there was a cause and
effect between ideas and events.
ai! [
Left to right, David Filosa ’82; Ambassador Maria Theofili, the permanent
representative of Greece to the UN; Bernd Brecher ’54; Arthur Delmhorst
’60; and James Gerkis ’80 at a Columbia University Club Foundation event
on November 6.
And we were actually reading and
thinking about those ideas — what
they meant and how they were
influenced and influenced the world,
then throwing in the humanities to
tie imagination and creativity into
the mix. Wow!
“This leaves me with one of my
favorite memories of undergraduate
days ... sitting in one of those large
booths at The West End, drinking
beer with Howie Hansen, Don
McLean’51 (football players, mind
you), Frank Manchester’51, Mal
Schechter and James “Tex’ McNal-
len’51 energetically discussing Plato
and Aristotle.
“And to top off this marvelous
intellectual growth, when I saw The
Music Man, 1 knew what Professor
Harold Hill meant when he sang
(politically incorrectly), ‘I hope, I pray
for Hector to win just one more A...
the sadder but wiser girl for me.”
From Dr. John Laszlo: “When I
was a medical student at Harvard in
1954 I scrubbed in on a pioneer-
ing valve operation. So when I was
interviewed in preparation to receiv-
ing a new type of artificial heart
valve last August, I explained to the
young surgeon that I had my finger
in the human heart many years
before he was even born! But, unlike
my early experience, when the chest
was opened and the heart cut open,
the new procedures are all done by
inserting catheters into the groin
and threading a new valve into place
via an artery. Then they implanted
a pacemaker directly into my heart
via the femoral vein. I walked that
same evening, and had no marks on
my chest, but my groin looked like
I had been hit by a truck. All is well
and I exercise daily, but I wanted to
underscore the tremendous progress
in this aspect of medicine, along
with many others.
“Three short stories from
Columbia, which happen to involve
football players whose names I do
not remember (but some of you
might). Professor Gilbert Highet
had a popular Humanities course
that started promptly at 11 a.m.
Spectator came out just before 11
a.m. and a student was sitting in
the front row when Highet entered.
He always insisted on starting class
on time and was angry at seeing a
newspaper in his face in the front
row. So he took out his lighter and
set the paper on fire; it burst into
flames and shocked the reader —
and the rest of the class.
“Professor Irwin Edman CC
1916, GSAS 1920 had similar
feelings about late starts in his
philosophy class. A short, rather
obese and visually impaired man, he
always had it in for football players.
So when one of our classmates
sauntered in, Edman stopped talk-
ing until the student found a seat.
Edman accused him of being a
tardy, lazy football player. When told
that this student was not a football
player, Edman apologized and said,
“You must think that I am a son of
a bitch.” To which he was answered,
“Yes, that had occurred to me.’ I
might not have that story exactly
correct, but it is close.
“Finally, our advanced organic
chemistry class was to be given a
special visiting lecture by Professor
Linus Pauling, a two-time Nobel
Prize winner. Pauling furiously
began to draw equations all over the
board, giving the molecular strain
between atoms. He wrote in tiny
Greek symbols to illustrate the alpha
strain at this intermolecular distance,
then this is the beta strain, and the
writing became tiny and illegible
beyond the front row. Finally, a
booming voice came from the upper
row of the auditorium, ‘What about
the eye strain, Professor?’ It would
have been a forgettable lecture but
for this repartee, and the prof had no
sense of humor!”
We also heard from Dr. Arthur E.
Lyons: “The slowly thinning San
Francisco contingent of the superan-
nuated but enthusiastic Columbia
grads from the ’50s/’60s continues to
get together at regular intervals: Dr.
Bob Blau’53, Dr. Allan Jackman’53,
Joel Armstrong GSAPP’65 and I
enjoy a Chinese lunch every month.
It costs a little more than the $1
lunch my classmate, the now-lost
Ralph Morgan, and I used to get at
Wing Hing, a tiny dive now long
gone from Upper Broadway, that
gave us a somewhat exotic respite
from the dreary cafeteria fare at the
John Jay dorm. But now, as retired
doctors (except for Joel), we can
afford even San Francisco prices.
“Our undergraduate days at
Columbia seem very remote, 60-plus
years past, but our conversations are
reminiscent of what we experienced
then in Irwin Edman CC 1916,
GSAS 1920, C. Wright Mills and
Mark Van Doren GSAS 1920's
CC and Humanities sections. I left
Columbia after three years to go to
medical school under the exigency of
the Korean War, missing my senior
year. I have always regretted it.
“T practiced neurosurgery for
40 years, on the teaching faculty of
UCSF School of Medicine. Despite
the stresses, I enjoyed every minute
of it. Along the way I got involved in
medical politics and was president of
both the San Francisco Neurologi-
cal Society and the San Francisco
Medical Society. I could not convince
either of my sons to leave California
for college. I'll have to leave it for
my teenage granddaughters to elect
to continue the Columbia tradition
started by my father, Dr. Alfred L.
Lyons CC 1924.”
A brief note from Geoffry
Brown GSAS’53: “I have launched
a website that contains 120 dramatic
monologues on ‘Quintessential
Americans,’ some of which I have
performed around New England
and are available for download:
www.geoftrybrown.net.”
Classmates would enjoy reading
about you, too! Please send your news
to CCT by writing to either of the
addresses at the top of the column.
1953
Lew Robins
3200 Park Ave., Apt. 9C2
Bridgeport, CT 06604
lewrobins@aol.com
Michael I. Sovern LAW’55, who
was Columbia’s 17th president,
1980-93, and was the Chancellor
Kent Professor of Law at the Law
School, died on January 20, 2020.
He was 88. After graduating first
in his class from the Law School,
Michael soon became the youngest
tenured professor (28!) in Colum-
bia’s modern history while on the
Law School faculty. He later was
dean of the Law School, execu-
tive VP for academic affairs and
University provost before becoming
Columbia’s president.
Read more about Michael in this
issue’s “Obituaries” section.
Please take a moment to share your
news, life story or favorite Columbia
College memory in these pages, and
have a very enjoyable spring.
1954
Bernd Brecher
35 Parkview Ave., Apt. 4G
Bronxville, NY 10708
brecherservices@aol.com
OK, destiny’s darlings, welcome
back, Class of Destiny — let’s start
with some 2020 numerology! While
a few of us might be a year or so
older or younger, most will mark the
big 88 during 2020, 66 years after
our not-so-big 22 in’54. Con-
template that and then take these
numbers to your astrologer, your
bookie and your broker. And let me
hear about your results.
As I began to create these quar-
terly Class Notes for this issue, we
received a call about our granddaugh-
ter Sydney, a senior at University of
Michigan (spoiler alert — she’s fine)
who, with four friends in a Chrysler
Ram, was struck by a car in which a
couple was fighting, causing her Ram
to roll over several times, ending off
the road upside down. All five were
buckled up and even the back seats
Spring 2020 CCT 49
had air bags; the Ram's roof did not
collapse. Pedestrian good Samaritans
helped get them out, emergency
room examinations revealed no
serious injuries and all five were back
in their dorms. Miracle of miracles!
Syd had a mild concussion; we've
spoken to her several times and she
appears to be in good hands with the
school’s medical department. Younger
brother Jared is a freshman at UM,
now joined for several days by our
daughter-in-law, Sharon. (The pic-
tures of the wreck are shocking; God
was looking out for all of us.)
Henry Black shares, “While
Moira, my wife, and I don’t have
much to note, the interesting stuff
is the work of our three daughters,
their husbands, eight grandchildren,
our first great-granddaughter, four
dogs and three cats. All are very
kind and helpful to Moira and me;
I need help living with chronic back
pain and scoliosis.”
Henry’s oldest daughter is a poet
and the development director for
a nonprofit association of writers
and university creative writing pro-
grams; her husband has developed
programs focusing on writing skills
across university departments.
Henry’s middle daughter has
created a business finding and seating
audiences for TV shows such as
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, and
various Comedy Central shows. Her
husband works with her on the com-
puter backup for some of the shows.
“Our youngest daughter,” Henry
writes, “right out of college got a job
with a caterer providing food around
the clock to the crew and principals
of TV and movie productions in
NYC, where she got to know vari-
ous members of the crews, but found
the electrical and lighting work
most fascinating ... [she] got the
crew to take her on and train her.
She was a hard worker and gained a
good reputation. Subsequently, she
worked on a number of major mov-
ies, including The Cider House Rules
with Michael Caine. Her husband
has been working steadily on mov-
ies and a TV series, now as a first
assistant director.”
Indeed, Henry’s pride in his
daughters — all three Barnard
alumnae — is well documented.
Breaking news: I have just been
informed that the Vagelos College
of Physicians and Surgeons’s Dean’s
Advisory Committee on Honors &
50 CCT Spring 2020
Awards has chosen Dr. Henry Buch-
wald PS’57 to receive the Vagelos
College of Physicians and Surgeons
Alumni Association’s Gold Medal
for Outstanding Achievements in
Medical Research at its alumni gala
dinner on Saturday, May 16. Henry
was our class valedictorian and
delivered his valedictory 2.0 at our
65th anniversary reunion last year. As
professor of surgery and biomedical
engineering and the Owen H. and
Sarah Davidson Wangensteen Chair
in Experimental Surgery, Emeritus at
the University of Minnesota, he just
keeps going and going.
Yay, Henry!
David Bardin LAW’56, the
class’s once-and-forever advocate and
lobbyist for good causes, reported
just before the New Year on some
extraterrestrial phenomena that
helped him in his most recent success-
ful endeavor. He writes, “In 2019, I
pictured a hopeful, covenantal rainbow
(see Noah's story, Genesis, chapter
9). Later, in December, I saw my first
fogbow out our window overlooking
Connecticut Avenue in Washington,
D.C. (try googling ‘fogbow’). And
throughout 2019, I encountered fellow
alumni in some very positive contexts.”
During 2019, as in prior years,
David submitted written testimony
to Congressional appropriators and
lobbied for adequate funding for the
U.S. Geological Survey’s geomagne-
tism program. He urged an increase
from $1.888 million to $4 million
per year. The new House subcom-
mittee chair in 2019 (Betty McCol-
lum, D-Minn.) heard oral testimony
from private citizens, including him,
as well as from government officials,
and the House approved $4.114
million. The Senate then approved
$3.388 million.
David enlisted lobbying assis-
tance from my wife, Helen, for
Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), chair of the
House Appropriations Commit-
tee; Joseph P. Josephson, an Alaska
state leader, who reached out to Lisa
Murkowski (R-Alaska), of the Sen-
ate Appropriations Subcommittee;
and, relatives of David’s wife, Livia,
who are constituents of and com-
municated with Senate committee
members Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and
Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Others
helped reach out to Richard Shelby
(R-Ala.), chair of the Senate Appro-
priations Committee, and ranking
member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),
John Neely Kennedy (R-La.), Cindy
Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), and Chris
Van Hollen (D-Md.).
“The final outcome,” David says
with a sigh of relief, “was good
news: appropriation of $4 million.”
A PDF of David's basic lobbying
memo is available.
On the home front, David writes,
“On November 24, Livia and I came
back to Brooklyn for the lovely
wedding of our oldest grandchild,
Benjamin Bardin 12, to Rebecca
Miller at The Picnic House in
Prospect Park. Other alumni at the
wedding included Benjamin's parents,
Jacob E. Bardin SEAS’83, SEAS’87
and Donna Waxman Bardin SW’88;
his paternal grandfather (me); and his
bride’s paternal grandmother, Stepha-
nie Asker (née Mattersdorf) BC’55.
“Also there were two sons of our
epidemiologist Leon ‘Levi’ Gordis
(1934-2015), Daniel Gordis’81 and
Elie Gordis’83, LAW’86, and their
wives, Elisheva and Avra. And, while
in Brooklyn, I took family members
to visit the sidewalk near 15 Clark St.
in Brooklyn Heights where — on a
sunny Sunday afternoon on December
7, 1941 — I heard, and still remember,
a stranger's agitated cry that Pearl
Harbor had been attacked.”
At the end of October, our late
classmate Irwin Bernstein BUS’55
was memorialized at the dedication
in his name of a part of Columbia’s
fencing facility in Dodge Fitness
Center. Steve Buchman’59, a close
friend who worked with Irwin on
fencing matters for several decades
and who, with Irwin’s widow, Liela,
was a speaker at the dedication,
alerted us to this occasion. Class-
mates, you remember: Irwin was cap-
tain of Columbia's 1954 undefeated
championship team, which was also
the NCAA champion. He went on
to be president of the United States
Fencing Association, the United
States Fencing Foundation, and the
Varsity C Club, and received numer-
Ous recognitions and awards. Steve,
in his comments at the naming event,
cited Irwin's dedication to fencing and
Columbia saying that “ ... today is also
reflected in his role in helping create
the closest integration of a women’s
and men’ athletic team as exists here
at Columbia and perhaps in college
sports in the United States.”
Leo Bookman, who played
baseball for Columbia and won
an Ivy League batting title, in his
after-college life became a talent
agent and partner in an agency that
represented some superstars of the
wide world of show business. His
childhood closest friend — along
with Tony winner Phyllis Newman
— was Jerry Herman, the phenome-
nal composer-lyricist of Hello, Dolly!
and other Broadway hits during its
Golden Age of musicals.
Leo writes, “When I joined the
William Morris Agency after col-
lege, it represented Saul Turteltaub
LAW’S7, and he and I would
occasionally meet. I also represented
Gerald Green’42, who wrote the
book and screenplay for The Last
Angry Man and Holocaust for televi-
sion. One day someone told Gerald
that I played baseball for Columbia,
and after that he would call me
every week to discuss Columbia
athletics. He was a great alumnus
and a wonderfully gifted writer.”
Back to numerology, Jerry Her-
man died just before the New Year at
88; he worked for decades composing
on his piano, which has 88 keys.
Agent Richard Seff writes about
Stephen Sondheim's musical Merrily
We Roll Along (in which I invested):
“You could imagine his song ‘Old
Friend’ being written about Herman,
Newman and Bookman, for they
were indeed three talented young-
sters who discovered show business
at early ages and moved to New
York where they thrived.”
Leo, your classmates are proud of
you — take a curtain call!
Arnie Tolkin continues to be a
moving target, his most recent report
having been received over the New
Year holidays. “My wife, Barbara, and
I are now off the Argentine coast
cruising to the Falkland (Malvinas)
islands in the South Atlantic. We are
rounding Cape Horn for the fourth
time (we fell in love with the Chilean
fjords and the Andes mountains in
Southern Chile). May 2020 be a
healthy, happy, peaceful and prosper-
ous New Year for us all.”
Alvin Hellerstein became a
great-grandfather to Eden Malta,
born in Israel in December and
named after his late wife, Mildred
Hellerstein. Judge Alvin reports that
he “also celebrated the 21st anniver-
sary of my appointment as United
States District Judge. I also have a
new hip, courtesy of the doctors at
the Hospital for Special Surgery.
‘The rest of my body and mind seem
to be holding up.”
Congratulations, new GGF, and
many happy returns.
Members of the Class of 1956 enjoyed the October class lunch. Left to
right: Peter Klein, Ralph Kaslick, Jerry Fine, Bob Siroty and Buz Paaswell.
An imaginative architect, Donald
Rattner 79 (husband of Gabby
Rattner BC’80 and son-in-law of
Joel Belson GSAS’64 and Abby
Belson BC’56, GSAS’59), has
published a how-to guide book, My
Creative Space: How to Design Your
Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark
Innovation. I keep it at my desk. It
claims to contain “48 science-based
techniques” to help blow your mind,
while being insightful, philosophi-
cal, human, and even humorous. The
illustrations and charts are gems.
Don obviously paid attention during
his Core classes.
Farewell again gents, some good
news this month, some sad, some
even miraculous, some like Days of
Our Lives, my wife’s favorite soap
opera. "Till the Summer issue, call,
write, email, and/or text so we can
all share the good and the not-so.
Continue to be well, do well, and
help cure the world.
Excelsior!
1955
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccreunion@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Gerald Sherwin
181 E. 73rd St., Apt. 16B
New York, NY 10021
gs481@juno.com
It’s a new year! The monthly class
luncheon, held in Faculty House,
featured attendees Anthony Vis-
cusi, Allen Hyman, Don Laufer
and Alfred Gollomp. The Dean's
Scholarship Reception took place in
early February; it was a huge success,
bigger and better than previous years.
‘This fits in perfectly leading up to
our 65th reunion, Thursday, June 4—
Saturday, June 6, if you can believe it.
Meetings have been held, mapping
out events such as Mini-Core Classes
and Saturday’s class dinner.
We hope that a lot of classmates
will attend events over the course
of the weekend. Even though
some of the guys won't be able to
make it, we've heard reactions from
classmates throughout the country,
which have been quite positive.
Jeff Broido will try to make
events leading up to reunion, and
Norm Goldstein, who is based in
New York now, will attend, I hope.
One of the key events will be in the
New York Public Library, in addi-
tion to the class dinner.
From the West Coast, Southwest
and New England, we hope class-
mates near and far will attend part
(if not all!) of the events. Ezra Levin,
Howard Lieberman, Eliot Gross,
George Christie, Mort Civan, Ted
Ditchek and Fred Dziadek — we
hope to see you there. Another
attendee of the monthly lunch is
Bill Epstein, and we hope to see
Jim Larson, Bob Brown, Ralph
Wagner (from Wellesley, Mass.),
Geysa Sarkany (from Centerreach,
Long Island), Dave Sweet (from his
hometown of Warwick, R.I.), Jack
Kirman, Jerry Pomper, George
Bahamonde (from Heidelberg,
Germany), Lew Mendelson and
Marty Molloy (in Palo Alto, Calif.).
The Winter 2019-20 issue fea-
tured Jack Stuppin in the “Lions”
section, with some of his artwork on
CCT’s website (“Print Extras”).
We have two corrections: Herb
Cooper is not a resident of New-
burgh, N.Y. David Gordon is a
resident of California, not West-
chester County. Your correspondent
stands corrected.
Keep up the good work. If there
is anything I can do for anyone in
the class, let me know.
Love to all! Everywhere!
1956
Robert Siroty
707 Thistle Hill Ln.
Somerset, NJ 08873
rrs76@columbia.edu
Had a great telephone conver-
sation with Murray Watnick of
Enfield, Conn. Also a great day
in October at Faculty House on
campus, when the class last met for
lunch. Peter Klein, Ralph Kaslick,
Jerry Fine, Buz Paaswell (who
continues to teach) and I had a
wonderful time.
Starting to get serious about
planning for reunion number 65,
only 18 months away (as this is
written, shorter as it is read; Thurs-
day, June 3—-Saturday, June 5, 2021).
As of this writing, our next luncheon
was planned for January and was
to include a visit from Eric Shea,
senior director, alumni relations, to
help us plan.
T heard from Jonas Schultz, in
California. When we next see him,
he will have a new hip.
Steve Easton writes: “It is hard
to realize that I have been in North
Carolina for more than three years,
and have experienced three hur-
ricanes in that time. Someone said it
would not be easy leaving New York
City, and they were right.
“['ve managed to spend more time
than I would like still working in
my real estate-related business, even
though I tell the world I am retired.
Somehow, with the work ethic we
were all brought up with, it looks like
very few of us really are retired —
there is always something to do.
“T spend a good amount of time
in New York City and in Mexico, so
that I can say when I am in North
Carolina I am visiting my residence.
In North Carolina, I get to see Bob
Lauterborn, who has stopped most
of his travels to China, but seems to
get in a substantial amount of travel
time to other locales. Last year, Bob,
Jordan Bonfante and I (with our
respective wives/significant others)
were able to visit.
alumninews \
“Tt is nice that when I am in New
York, Bob Siroty and Danny Link
schedule our class lunches so that I am
able to join y'all (Southern for ‘yow).
When in New York, I also visit with
John Censor, who is still busy work-
ing at his corporate training business.
“In Mexico, I get to relax, play
a lot of golf in warm weather and
wonder why I am not better at
Spanish. Plans for 2020: 1) Looking
forward to getting older gracefully,
2) looking forward to our 65th
reunion planning and 3) hoping
that I do not read too many of our
classmates’ obituaries.
“T am also planning to become
more active, as probably our class’s
only remaining Columbia College
Fund class agent, for fundraising
requests, including planned giving.
Please at least hear me out.
“In summary, I think our class-
mates continue to be like a good red
wine: We get better as we get older.
Remember that, Ron Kapon. Hope
you enjoyed reading this as much as
I enjoyed writing it. Let’s plan for a
great 65th reunion.”
[also report the death on
September 28, 2019, of Charles
Bostic, of Morrisville, N.Y., a
vocation counselor for the Office of
Vocational and Education Services
for Individuals with Disabilities.
Charles was a Navy veteran, dis-
charged in 1959 as a lieutenant. He
was an avid golfer.
Keep in touch, guys. There’s a lot
to tell and talk about.
1957
Herman Levy
7322 Rockford Dr.
Falls Church, VA 22043
hdlleditor@aol.com
On the way home from Ameri-
can Bar Association meetings in
San Diego in October, yours truly
stopped off in Austin, Texas, for a
visit with Steve Kornguth and his
wife of 62 years, Peggy.
Steve is professor of neurology at
Dell Medical School, University of
‘Texas, and senior research scientist
in kinesiology at UT. He is also
professor emeritus, neurology and
biomedical chemistry, at the Univer-
sity of Wisconsin, Madison, where
he earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry.
I attended two of Steve’s lectures
— grand rounds neurology and a
Spring 2020 CCT 51
review of neuropathology for neu-
rology residents. A grand round is a
conference held weekly or monthly
in medical school departments to
discuss a particular clinical condition
(e.g., multiple sclerosis). The aspects
covered include medical history of
the patient, presenting signs and
symptoms, current patient status,
laboratory test results, treatments
including drugs and finally progno-
ses or post-mortem results.
Peggy is doing well. Steve says
their “time together is a blessing and
[a] joy.” She is a Wellesley grad, Class
of ’57, with a Ph.D. in physiological
chemistry from the University of
Wisconsin, and is now retired.
Arthur Rifkin passed away in
NYC in July 2019, reports Arthur's
cousin E. Michael Geiger ’58.
CCT would like to share a con-
nection made between two high
school and College classmates that
came about through Class Notes.
After seeing Ed Weinstein’s Class
Note in the Winter 2019-20 issue,
Rhonda Donatova SEAS’66 (who
attended Columbia under the name
Robert Donat), reached out to share
some hjgh school memories. She
wrote, “Dear Editor, I would like
to send a greeting to Ed Weinstein,
Class of 57. He is noted in the
alumni news of your recent CCT.
We were classmates in high school
and I have not been in contact since.
I am so pleased to see someone I
remember from the past appear in
CCT and I would ask if you could
kindly convey to him my best wishes
for a happy Hanukkah from an old
classmate, since I do not have his
email address nor his home address.
I was known as Robert then. He and
I would compete for the best grades
in math classes. We were both pretty
good at it. Thank you. I wish you
and staff all a Merry Christmas and
a Happy Hanukkah and Happy
New Year.”
The CCT staff passed the mes-
sage along to Ed, who responded,
“Rhonda (or Bob as I then knew
you): Thanks for the message and
best wishes for a wonderful Christ-
mas and for health and happiness
in the New Year. This message is a
stunner, as I have never received a
message from a member of the Class
of 53 at Far Rockaway HLS. As I
recall, we were both eclipsed in math
by Abe Weitzberg, another ’53er, who
matriculated at MIT. You may also
have known my wife, then known
as Sandra Eisenberg FRHS’54. She
even majored in math at Skidmore
College, from which she graduated in
58. Nice to hear from you.”
1958
Peter Cohn
c/o CCT
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
petercohn1939@gmail.com
Homecoming 2019 was the source of
great pleasure for long-suffering fol-
lowers of Columbia football. Among
the more than 10,000 Light Blue
faithful (and about 100 or so Penn
fans) at the Baker Athletics Complex
were several members of the Class of
1958, including Ernie Brod, Bernie
SHOW US YOUR
LION’S GAY PRIDE!
CCT is creating a photo gallery to celebrate Pride
Month this June. Show us your LGBTQIA+ pride
in a group or individual photo (we need at least
one person to be a College alum!). Send your
hi-res photo with caption info to cct@columbia.edu;
we'll run our favorites in the Summer 2020 issue.
52 CCT Spring 2020
Members of the Class of 1958 cheered on the Lions at the 2019
Homecoming football game. Left to right: Ernie Brod, Bob Waldbaum,
Peter Cohn and Bernie Nussbaum.
Nussbaum, Bob Waldbaum and me
(see the above photo). The 44-6 romp
was the most lopsided Homecom-
ing win in Columbia history and,
along with the overtime win against
Harvard two weeks later (the first
win over the Crimson in 15 years),
represented the highlights of what was
otherwise a disappointing season. Our
team was only competitive in three of
its seven losses. However, the fact that
the Homecoming win was the third in
Coach Al Bagnoli’s first five years at
Columbia was especially noteworthy.
In fact, in my 65 years of following
Columbia football, I cannot recall a
similar five-year Homecoming record.
As I write this column, the basketball
season is upon us but hopes for a win-
ning record are slim. The season began
without two of our projected starters,
and a difficult out-of-conference
schedule didn't help. I hope when Ivy
League play starts in mid-January we
will see an improvement.
Warren Opal’59 writes about
the passing of his friend Harlan
Lane GSAS’58 on July 13, 2019:
“Harlan was a classmate of mine at
both Stuyvesant H.S. and Colum-
bia, as well as a fellow Tau Epsilon
Phi brother. As noted in Wiki-
pedia, Harlan was the Matthews
Distinguished University Professor
of Psychology at Northeastern
University in Boston and founder of
the Center for Research in Hearing,
Speech, and Language. He received
both a B.A. and an M.A. from
Columbia in 1958 and subsequently
a Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard
in 1960 and a Doc. Des Lettres from
the Sorbonne in 1973. In 1991 he
was awarded a MacArthur Founda-
tion Fellowship.
“Harlan’s research was focused
on speech, deaf culture and sign
language. Although not himself deaf,
he became an often-controversial
spokesman for the deaf community
and a critic of cochlear implants.
He wrote extensively on the social
construction of disability and stated:
‘Unless deaf people challenge the
culturally determined meanings of
deaf and disability with at least as
much vigor as the technologies of
normalization seek to institutionalize
those meanings, the day will continue
to recede in which deaf children
and adults live the fullest lives and
make the fullest contribution to our
diverse society.’ In recognition of
his research and advocacy regard-
ing these issues, Harlan received the
Distinguished Service Award from
the National Association of the Deaf
in the United States, the Interna-
tional Social Merit Award from the
World Federation of the Deaf and
numerous other awards including the
Commandeur de I’Ordre des Palmes
Académiques, the highest level of
the academic honor given out by the
French government.”
In other news, we are pleased to
announce that Joe Dorinson was
inducted into the Brooklyn Jewish
Hall of Fame by the Brooklyn Jewish
Historical Initiative in November.
Way to go, Joe!
Reminder: The class lunch is
usually held on the second Tuesday
of every month in the Grill of the
Princeton Club, 15 W. 43rd St. ($31
per person). Email Tom Ettinger if
you plan to attend, even up to the
day before: tpe3@columbia.edu.
1959
Norman Gelfand
c/o CCT
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
nmgc59@gmail.com
Dear classmates, I hope that this
finds you well and that you enjoyed
the winter, perhaps by escaping it.
Let me encourage you to let your
classmates know what you are doing.
Steve Trachtenberg reports, “I
was delighted to survive the heart
attack that I had in London while
you all were at the 60th reunion. I
had been planning to be with you on
Morningside Heights. I have been
healing since — operation, recovery,
post-cardio exercise program,
etc., and can report that I recently
returned to London and came home
again. So, while I am still in repair
mode, a little weak, and I tire easily,
I am back. Thank you to all who
sent get-well greetings from reunion
and since. Hearing from classmates
helped me during those dark nights
alone at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.
The United Kingdom's National
Health Service care was excellent.
As a non-Brit, I had to pay. I did.
Despite that, the hospital food was
as bad as the medical care was good.
I lost 20 lbs., and I ate so many
bananas that when I got home I had
excess potassium. Anyhow, all good
that ends good. Prognosis bright.”
Thanks for the good news. Steve
was also featured in CC7’s “Take Five”
— here is a link: bit.ly/2OCIK40.
‘The column also contains a link to
Steve's reunion speech.
Core
Haiku
mon many friends in the business
from what is now 60 years past!
However, I started my undergradu-
ate years expecting to aim for law
school and so I completed a four-year
degree in American history without
getting to know Ira, or other aspir-
ing musicians in our class. In those
days it was easy to take lessons and
instruction privately, as I did, with a
guy in the New York Philharmonic
— asa senior I played in the Colum-
bia Orchestra, led in those days by
Howard Shanet 39, GSAS’41.
“I spent most of my career with
the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra,
but in the summer seasons just after
graduating from Columbia I played
in the Aspen Music Festival — I
believe it was in 1960 that I was in
the orchestra there for James Levine’s
first opera conducting (Strauss’s Ari-
adne auf Naxos, Op. 60). Ira must have
played dozens of performances with
Levine, including that very opera,
one of Levine's favorites.
“As far as my Columbia memories
are concerned, I had enormous
respect for the entire faculty I was
lucky enough to meet, but Professor
Justus Buchler GSAS’39 made an
A noble lie? No!
Plato did not understand.
Truth is what’s noble.
John Clubbe GSAS’65 has com-
pleted a major work on Beethoven.
His book Beethoven: The Relentless
Revolutionary was published July
2019. He writes, “It has garnered
(when last my wife, Joan, checked)
five five-star reviews in Amazon's
‘best musical biographies’ section
and has to date sold more than
3,000 copies worldwide. The audio
complete version (16 CDs!) recently
was released. Here is a link to an
interesting review, which appeared
in the award-winning weekend arts
supplement of our local Sante Fe New
Mexican: bit.ly/2RCdL94.
From Stephen Basson: “I was
a professional bassoon player for 41
years, and with an older brother (cel-
list) at Juilliard, and a New York City
life myself, 1 am sure Ira Lieberman
GSAS’69 and I would have in com-
— George Jochnowitz ’58
especially deep and lasting impression
on me. Through sheer luck I ended
up in one of his sections for CC, and
every class was worth looking forward
to. Another terrific musician is my
lifelong friend David Wyner, who
practices psychotherapy in NYC (and
piano wherever he can find one).”
Frank Wilson’s sister lives in
Chicago. On a recent visit, Frank,
his wife and sister, and J. Peter
Rosenfeld and his wife and I got
together for a very pleasant dinner.
I continue Bob Ratner’s remi-
nisces of his beloved professor, Wil-
liam C. Casey: “Over the next two
years I was preoccupied with study,
employment and family, so I saw
Casey but twice. When I sent him
news of my marriage and the sub-
sequent birth of my son, he wrote
an affectionate congratulatory letter
alumninews
(on April 29, 1965) that displayed
a tender paternalism one might not
expect of a confirmed bachelor.
“He wrote, ‘Prince Benjamin
Immanuel needed no introduction.
Nor Gloria. In the snapshot, both
speak for themselves. The Prince
chose his parents most wisely; an
awesome decision by the way, when
one thinks of the billions of Suns
and Planets in the Milky Way alone.
To Gloria, it should go without say-
ing: My admiration and best wishes.
‘There is magnanimous envy also
on my part ... if I know you, and I
think I do out of sheer affection and
mountains of respect, I do suggest
that you take a leaf out of your son’s
bright and gleaming book where all
things worth knowing and feeling
are freshly written, radiating from
the eyes and every gesture. See to it
that the current brand of “certifica-
tion” doesn't cramp him through the
formative years. Time enough for
Columbia or Yale, after that.’
“In 1967 I left Yale to begin my
academic career at The University
of British Columbia on the west
coast of Canada (to the delight of
my Canadian wife), which ended my
visits to NYC and Professor Casey.
A few years after my dissertation
was officially approved and the doc-
torate awarded, I sent Casey a copy
of the abstract and acknowledg-
ments, the latter underscoring the
fullness of my debt to him: ‘Finally,
I wish to express my profound grati-
tude to Professor William C. Casey
— brilliant and beloved mentor
— to whom I owe eternal thanks for
whatever I may do that is good and
productive in my life.’
“Casey responded (on May 1,
1974) in his sublimely gracious
style with the last of his letters
(owing to my own neglect) that
I was always so elated to receive:
“Your acknowledgment to myself,
as your undergraduate colleague,
must be modestly construed, since
in all this, unlike a British Don, I
have so little to be modest about.
What you and I did together, we
did in an undergraduate crowd
where only mutual empathy could
substitute for the tutorial role. You
excel in empathy and diligence, and
your genes accounted for the rest.
But thank you, Bob, just the same.
Your generous acknowledgment was
much cherished.’
“As the years went by, I thought
of Casey and his nonpareil style
of pedagogy only in the resting
moments between the trials of raising
a family, learning the habits and
history of my adopted country, and
engaging in the battles of tenure and
promotion as I strained to elevate
myself on the professional ladder of
careerist scholars, a facet of Academe
that Casey privately scorned. In 1978
I received dismaying notice of a
memorial service for Casey to be held
at the Cathedral Church of St. John
the Divine. Our great teacher was
felled at 87 by cancer of the larynx,
robbing him of the verbal majesty
that was the source of his renown.
My reasons for not attending the
service were all too trivial, cloaked
in circumstance, and my absence
remains my deepest regret. In the
years since, I have tried to recapture
fond memories by reading The Real
Real World of William C. Casey,
authored in 1987 by several of his
students of an earlier generation who
sought to lay out the essence of some
of his most heralded lectures. I also
participated on a panel organized for
the 50th reunion of the Class of ’59
on the subject of ‘Remembering Pro-
fessor Casey,’ and now I have written
this belated tribute partly because I
failed to dependably requite the love
I felt for this noble man, and partly
to rekindle the memory of a revered
teacher who rose above the standard
of exceptionality then and today.
Others, of course, have remembered
Casey as well. Indeed, his cottage in
Mexico Point and the surrounding
area has been preserved since 1991
by Friends of Casey’s Cottage and
restored as an historical, artistic and
cultural center, commemorating the
humble edifice as ‘a work of love, a
place of beauty, friends, companion-
ship and good conversation only.’
“As our own time draws to an end,
can we say who, in our lives, was most
responsible for teaching us to think
clearly about the bewildering array
of symbols and slogans that clutter
our daily existence, for exhorting us
to be merciful and just, for urging us
to remain steadfast in the honing and
virtuous application of our intellect?
I can. For me, it was William Casey.
I was fortunate to be one of his ‘ten
thousand sons, as he proudly referred
to us, and I thank Columbia for hav-
ing him here for me.”
As a closing note: 2019-20 is the
100th anniversary of the Core. This
is an opportunity for the develop-
ment department at the College to
Spring 2020 CCT 53
Class Notes
initiate an assault. As part of their
offensive they held a small dinner
in Chicago, to which I was invited.
It turned out that the Class of 59
was the earliest one present. We
have become the old men we saw at
Homecoming when we were in the
College. We did it!
Stay well, enjoy the spring and
keep in touch.
1960
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccreunion@columbia.edu
Development Contact
cecfund@columbia.edu
Robert A. Machleder
69-37 Fleet St.
Forest Hills, NY 11375
rmachleder@aol.com
A healthy and happy 2020 to all.
This is an auspicious new year. The
60th anniversary of the Class of
1960’s graduation. In past years we
have had excellent turnouts at our
reunions. We hope to replicate that
tradition this year when once again
we gather on Morningside Heights,
Thursday, June 4-Saturday, June 6.
Soon after learning about
Bill Engler’s death, Bill Landes
GSAS’66 sent a note: “I heard about
Bill. We were great friends at Colum-
bia, and in years after. We corre-
sponded about our 50th reunion but
we hadn't been in touch since then.”
Bill’s note went on to describe
his present life in retirement. After
Contact CCT
Update your address,
email or phone; submit a
Class Note, new book,
photo, obituary or Letter to
the Editor; or send us an
email. Click “Contact Us” at
college.columbia.edu/cct.
54 CCT Spring 2020
earning a doctorate in economics
at Columbia, Bill spent most of his
career teaching at the University of
Chicago and its law school, where
he is professor emeritus, and writing
prolifically on the economic analysis
of law. He shares, “Retired from
Chicago but I still teach a course
on art law in the fall quarter. My
wife, Lisa, and I spend winters in
Scottsdale, Ariz. We are enjoying
retirement. I started taking jazz
piano lessons again [Bill and I were
classmates at the H.S. of Music &
Art] and took up golf. We feel very
lucky. We are healthy, and still lifting
weights [the two Bills — Landes
and Engler — and I frequently
worked out together at the gym on
campus and at the Enrico Thomas/
Mr. Universe gym on Broadway]
and are blessed with seven grand-
children, three children and their
spouses. Four grandchildren go to
the University Lab School (ages
9-15) and our daughter Bonnie’s
oldest is a 1L at the University of
Chicago Law School. I haven't been
in New York in more than two years
but follow Columbia football. I was
able to watch most of the games last
year on our dish.”
A brief note from Andre V.
Hoyer SEAS’60, who set the pace
as the stroke oar of our first boat on
freshman lightweight crew, sending
special regards to the members of
the team and with a promise that a
more expansive update will follow:
“T believe 10 years have passed since
we last communicated. Truly, I am
embarrassed that I have not kept
up with classmates. I now receive
regular updates from Columbia
regarding crew schedules and races.
Nice. And, I do relish receiving
CCT, and particularly enjoy the
Class Notes column.
“As you often meet with other
crew members, I thought I would
send a short note to let you and other
members of our shell know that I
am alive and well, and miss them
all, although sadly, many are gone
[I responded to Andre that Frank
Decker, Norm Hildes-Heim and
Dick Nottingham had passed]. I
live in a small community west of
Philadelphia. I still row, but on a
WaterRower, not in a shell, as there is
no convenient body of water nearby.”
A most delightful surprise at a
recent First Thursday of the Month
Class Lunch: John Pegram
showed up after what he described
as “a hiatus of 30-plus years.” John
reports: “After graduating with a
concentration in physics, I got a job
as a cathode ray tube engineer at
the Allen B. DuMont Laboratories
in Clifton, N.J., through a contact
made while at WKCR. I took some
engineering courses in the evenings
for two years, and then enrolled in
the evening program at NYU Law.
In 1966, I joined a medium-sized
patent and trademark law firm, where
I ascended to partner and happily
practiced there for nearly 30 years. In
1995, some of my partners wanted to
join a general practice law firm, but
I wanted to continue in a practice
focused in what had become known
as IP law [intellectual property law].
I led a group to open an NYC office
for Fish & Richardson, which has
since become the leading U.S. IP law
firm. I am now trying to wean myself
from most of my client work there.
“Following the example of my
father and grandfather, I have always
been active in professional asso-
ciations, and have been a frequent
author and speaker on IP law and
civil litigation topics. I was presi-
dent of the New York Intellectual
Property Law Association, which
gave me its Lifetime Achievement
Award this year, the first such award
not given to a judge. I chaired many
committees in the American Intel-
lectual Property Law Association,
was a member of its board and
received its President’s Outstanding
Service Award in 2011. I also was
editor-in-chief of The Trademark
Reporter and a board member of
what is now called the International
Trademark Association.
“In 1966, I married Patricia
‘Patty’ Narbeth, a neighbor from
my hometown of Swarthmore, Pa.
We lived on NYC’s West Side until
1972, when we bought a gutted
rooming house in the then-marginal
neighborhood of Park Slope, Brook-
lyn, and moved there with our son
and daughter. We have done most
of the renovations (which continue
today) ourselves. Each of our chil-
dren have produced a boy and girl.
Our daughter married a Frenchman,
so we are ‘forced’ to visit her and her
family in Paris.
“T have enjoyed comparing mem-
ories at reunions and am looking
forward to seeing many classmates
at our wext reunion.”
Bill Tanenbaum has a passion
for travel. Twice during the past
year, he and his wife, Ronna, trav-
eled to Europe. He describes their
wanderlust: “Our hobby is traveling,
but we believe that if you are physi-
cally capable of being active, then
do whatever it is you enjoy and do it
now. Last year, in late February and
into early March, we visited Spain
on our own for 16 days. Our visit
included studying Spanish, Moor-
ish and Jewish history. In visiting
Barcelona, Malaga, Granada, Seville,
Cérdoba and Madrid we learned a
great deal. In June, with six members
of our family, we led a 16-day
tour of London and Paris with an
emphasis on art history, visiting
nine museums. The grandchildren
(aged 11, 13 and 15) are ‘hooked’ on
traveling like we are.”
A sad note. On September 14,
2019 we lost Jerry Schmelzer
JRN’62. Rene Plessner offers this
recollection: “I spoke to Jerry 5-10
times a year and he was always
funny, insightful and interested in
how members of our class were
doing, particularly Peter Sch-
weitzer, Bob Abrams and Larry
Mendelson. He loved baseball, and
we talked trivia often, particularly
about ‘his team,’ the Cleveland
Indians. [ Jerry was from Cleve-
land Heights, Ohio.] At our 50th
reunion, dining at V&T, we sat with
Bob and Peter and tried to stump
each other on baseball trivia, such as,
“Who was DM of the 1950 Detroit
Tigers? (Dave Madison), and ‘Who
was Rocky Colavito traded for?
(Harvey Kuenn).’ We laughed with
glee. Jerry and Peter were WKCR
sports announcers during our years
at the College and they were quite a
team — superb at what they did —
employing just the right amount of
fact and humor to draw and enliven
interest in some of our hapless
teams. Jerry really was a product of
Columbia College, a ‘whole man.’ I
will miss him.”
Bill Tanenbaum offers this
reminiscence: “Most times when
one considers the passing of a friend,
the thoughts relate to the person’s
accomplishments: the awards
received, the success in business or
profession, or the fame achieved.
“Jerry did well in his real estate
business but that was second to the
smile on his face when he greeted
you, or to the happy sound in his
voice when he spoke with you.
“We last saw him and his lovely
wife, Sharon, on January 18, 2018,
Former football players Gerry
Brodeur ’61 (left) and Bob
Federspiel ’61 recently got together.
in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., upon their
return from a cruise. We enjoyed
lunch together.
“A wise person once said, “There
comes a time in your life, when you
walk away from all the drama and
people who create it. You surround
yourself with people who make you
laugh. Forget the bad and focus on
the good.’
“Jerry was such a person — one
who would make you laugh. He will
surely be missed.”
Our deepest condolences to Sha-
ron, and to all of Jerry’s family.
1961
Michael Hausig
19418 Encino Summit
San Antonio, TX 78259
mhausig@yahoo.com
Gerry Brodeur writes, “From play-
ing football in 1959 for Columbia
to a get-together at the Leatherneck
Club in Las Vegas, Gerry and Bob
Federspiel have not changed a bit.”
See the above photo from Vegas!
Phil Cottone still plays golf and
tennis in addition to working. He
and his wife, Maureen, have been
traveling throughout the world for
the last 10 years. They go somewhere
just about every year. They went to
China this year following trips in
previous years to Vietnam and Thai-
land; St. Petersburg, Russia; Estonia;
and throughout Europe. They have
concluded that riverboats and small
cruise ships are their favorite ways to
travel. About five years ago, Phil was
part of an American Bar Association
delegation asked by the govern-
ment of Vietnam to go to Hanoi
as the guests of the courts to teach
arbitration and mediation, and that
got them interested in Asia. He and
Maureen intend to continue to travel
as long as they can; they usually do it
with friends from Australia (Brits by
background) whom they met about
seven years ago on a boat and have
been traveling with ever since.
Phil and Maureen have four sons,
11 grandchildren — five grandsons
and six granddaughters (three mar-
ried now) — and two great-grand-
children. Descendants include son
Anthony’80 and grandson Ryan’15.
Don Savini and his wife, Patricia,
spent the Christmas holidays in
Chicago, where several of their seven
children live. Good food and lots of
family activities were included. Don
and Patricia preferred to be on their
farm in central Pennsylvania with
everyone there, as big-city commo-
tion isn't what they enjoy.
Bob Salman LAW’64 presented
a talk at Brookdale Community
College in April, “Trump Impeach-
ment — What Happened and
Why.” To celebrate his 80th birth-
day, Bob’s daughter Suzanne and her
family took Bob and his wife, Reva,
to Puerto Rico for a week to relive
their first vacation away from the
United States mainland. In March,
their daughter Elyse (who is married
to the great-nephew of Columbia
icon Sid Luckman’39) took them to
a New York Yankees spring training
game, fulfilling one of Bob’s bucket
list items.
Rabbi Cliff Miller has retired from
synagogue pulpits, but is still work-
ing, cataloging books in the Library
of the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Cliff walks a mile each day from
the Port Authority Bus Terminal to
Times Square and from Columbia to
JTS and back, as well as walking up
and down stairs to and from subways,
to provide his cardiovascular exercise.
Cliff commutes to work in Manhat-
tan four days a week.
Cliff’s brother recently retired,
closing his law practice at 89, so
maybe it is not too soon for Cliff to
consider retirement.
Arnold Klipstein continues to
do locum tenens jobs and went to
Urbana, IIl., in February to do gas-
troenterology work. He also works
in a free clinic in Bridgeport, Conn.,
caring for indigent patients and
tending to their digestive needs.
Arnold’s grandson Jonas (21) went
to Israel on a trip for young adult
alumninews
Jews to learn about Israel. As part
of the trip, the group heard a lecture
on becoming a bone marrow donor.
Jonas signed up and was a match for
a 70-year-old woman with leukemia.
Jonas, who lives in California, flew to
Boston to donate his marrow, which
was sent to the womans location.
The donor and the receiver know
nothing about each other’s location.
Arnold was with Jonas after donat-
ing. Arnold is very proud of him.
Jonas will be listed in the Gift of Life
Marrow Registry. It was a painful
procedure, but Jonas felt it was worth
it to save someone's life.
Tony Adler wrote that there are
a number of classmates who are full-
Core
Haiku
multiple myeloma. After graduating
cum laude from the Law School,
Arnie spent 25 years as an associate
and then a partner at Botein, Hays,
Sklar & Herzberg, where he focused
on corporate and securities work.
From 1990 until 2015, Arnie was a
legal advisor to Ferring Pharmaceu-
ticals, a privately owned, multina-
tional pharmaceutical company. For
more than 25 years he was a board
member and then a VP of the Edu-
cational Alliance, a Jewish organiza-
tion based in New York City’s Lower
East Side that focuses on a mix of
education, health and wellness, arts
and culture, and civic engagement
for all New Yorkers.
Fresh-formed like Eve, |
tasted the Knowledge Apple
But found only Core.
or part-time residents of Florida.
Some have expressed interest in a
lunch meeting in the greater Palm
Beach area. Tony would be glad to
coordinate if there is interest. Many
of you have Tony’s email address.
If not, please contact me and I will
provide it.
Tony and his son Peter recently
purchased a 26-ft. fishing boat, so he
will have to take up fishing to justify
the expense.
Hon. Jose Cabranes’s opinion
article “Higher Education’s Enemy
Within,” published with the sub-
head, “An army of nonfaculty staff
push for action and social justice at
the expense of free inquiry,” ran in
the Wall Street Journal on November
8. This article was adapted from
remarks delivered on October 18 to
the American Council of Trustees
and Alumni, which bestowed on
Jose its 2019 Philip Merrill Award
for Outstanding Contributions to
Liberal Arts Education.
Jose serves on the United States
Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit. He was Yale’s first general
counsel, and later was a trustee of
Yale, Columbia and Colgate.
Sadly, Arnold Chase LAW’64
died on October 1, 2019, at home
with his family surrounding him, fol-
lowing a nearly 14-year battle with
— Imre Horvath ’61
Arnie is survived by his wife of
more than 32 years, Nilene Evans;
daughter, Michelle Sarao; son, Ben;
and Michelle’s children, Gavi, Isaac
and Avital.
1962
John Freidin
654 E. Munger St.
Middlebury, VT 05753
jf@bicyclevt.com
Crawford Killian writes that he
“can remember when my 1958
acceptance letter told me I was in
the Class of 1962 — an impossibly
remote date. The idea of life in the
2020s was unimaginable, even to an
aspiring science fiction writer.”
Crawford’s 22nd book, A Writer’s
Guide to Speculative Fiction: Science
Fiction and Fantasy, is now available
from your local bookstore. It was
written in 2019 with the collaboration
of a Mexican-Canadian author, Silvia
Moreno-Gareia, who is not only a
fine writer but also a state-of-the-art
conversant in self-publishing and mar-
keting. Crawford continues to write
for The Tyee (thetyee.ca), and last year
published a series on dementia.
“In September, at the end of a
pleasant trip to Finland and Sweden,”
Spring 2020 CCT 55
Crawford reports, “my wife collapsed
at Stockholm Arlanda Airport as
we were about to fly home. We got
a one-day crash course in Swedish
healthcare, including excellent airport
paramedics and a highly competent,
very laid-back emergency department
in a suburban Stockholm hospital.
My wife’s faintness turned out to be
a transient problem, and the next
day we returned uneventfully to
Vancouver. Lessons learned: Don't go
overseas without plenty of medical
insurance, which we had. Swed-
ish hospitals are good, and charge
accordingly. Keflavik International
Airport is to be avoided except in
emergencies. We have no plans for
further overseas travel.”
Though on our class list, Carl
Jacobsson SEAS’63 recently
confessed that he is (also?) a civil
engineering graduate and has been
retired from his engineering career
for 11 years. In retirement, Carl
has devoted himself to the work
of his local branch of the NAACP
in Bremerton, Wash., where he
chairs the political action commit-
tee. He shares that on March 7, the
Bremerton branch of the NAACP
will commemorate four major
anniversaries: the adoption of the
Namibian Constitution (February 9,
1990), the release of Nelson Man-
dela from prison in South Africa
(right after the adoption of the
Namibian Constitution), the People
Power Revolution in the Philip-
pines (February 22-25, 1986) and
the Bloody Sunday March in Selma,
Ala. (March 7, 1965).
Joe Nozzolio recently finished
reading a book about our football
COT
SHOW US YOUR
captain, Billy Campbell TC’64:
Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership
Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Camp-
bell by Eric Schmidt et al.
Joe says: “The book tells a lot
about Bill’s life, but focuses on
his tenures as a board member of
Google and Apple, how he applied
skills he acquired as a football coach
and player to guide and coach those
who reported to him and how he
always focused on the ‘goal’ or solu-
tion to the problem du jour. Great
read. I passed it on to my grandchil-
dren, who are recent college gradu-
ates and new to the business world.”
On New Year’s Eve, Allen Young
sent the following message: “I am
in Honolulu with some friends,
part of an extended winter getaway.
Yesterday, as a winter storm struck
New England, I was swimming in
the Pacific Ocean.”
While in Honolulu at the
invitation of friends, Allen enjoyed
wonderful time with Honolulu native
Paul Nagano ’60, who had left Boston
to return to his roots. They visited
museums, drove around Paul’s old
neighborhood and reminisced about
Columbia topics such as the Van Am
Society (Paul was a member), Specta-
tor (Allen was its editor) and Naval
ROTC (Paul became a lieutenant
and served in the Navy). For years,
Paul lived in Boston and Bali. While
in Boston, he managed the successful
art gallery owned by Bernie Pucker
59, and pursued his own career as an
artist. “Paul,” writes Allen, “enjoyed
the support of a patron in Bali, and
painted beautiful watercolors featuring
the culture, landscape and botany of
Bali. Google ‘Paul Nagano’ for more.”
LION’S GAY PRIDE!
CCT is creating a photo gallery to celebrate Pride
Month this June. Show us your LGBTQIA+ pride
in a group or individual photo (we need at least
one person to be a College alum!). Send your
hi-res photo with caption info to cct@columbia.edu:
we'll run our favorites in the Summer 2020 issue.
56 CCT Spring 2020
The Class of 1963 met for their monthly lunch in January. Clockwise
from bottom left: Tom Lewis, Mike Lubell, Steve Barcan, Paul Neshamkin,
Alan Wilensky, Mike Erdos, Ed Coller, Harvey Schneier, Bob Heller,
Lee Lowenfish, Doron Gopstein, Henry Black and Larry Neuman.
From New York City, Lester
Hoffman writes, “I am involved
with a new children’s literacy
initiative designed to encourage
the enjoyment of reading among
first- and second-graders. Lyrics
4 Literacy harnesses the power of
music to get beginning readers (ages
5-8) engaged in reading through
face-to-face interaction.
“Designed as a supplement to
early reading curricula, L4L is
especially timely, since the National
Educational Scorecard recently
showed that nearly two-thirds of
fourth-graders don't meet grade-
level reading standards.
“Further, recently published
brain research indicates that digital,
screen-based reading approaches may
have significant drawbacks, such as
affecting parts of the brain involved in
language learning and cognition.
“Tf this educational arena interests
you, I'd love to hear from you.”
1963
Paul Neshamkin
1015 Washington St., Apt. 50
Hoboken, NJ 07030
pauln@helpauthors.com
I wish we had enjoyed a more suc-
cessful football season, but Home-
coming 2019 at least gave us an
enjoyable day, as many in the class
returned to witness an epic blowout
as the Lions routed Penn 44-6. Let’s
hope that this year has a lot more
games like that.
Nick Zill sent me notice of his lat-
est article, “The New Fatherhood Is
Not Benefiting Children Who Need
It Most.” He writes, “It is based on
my analysis of five years of child sup-
port and parental involvement data
collected by the Census Bureau for
the Office of Child Support Enforce-
ment. The link is bit.ly/2S804Sm.”
Zev bar-Lev writes, “Life is
good; I’ve enjoyed my first decade of
retirement with my wife, Shoshana
BC’63; and our three kids, five
grandkids and three granddogs.
We're active in synagogue life, and
are passing on Hebrew to new gen-
erations. As principal of a Hebrew
school in Poway, Calif., our daughter
uses my multi-level Hebrew
program. My ‘nanosemantic’ theory
(a comprehensive theory of ‘how
languages mean:’ see languagebazaar.
com) is about to be published in a
third article in Macrolinguistics.”
Ben Tua writes, “Every now and
then I get published, mainly short
articles on foreign policy topics.
My most recent piece is ‘Learning
About Islam: From Ignorance to
Understanding,’ which appeared in
American Diplomacy in September.
Those who are interested can access
it online at unc.live/2tk7tCS.
David Orme-Johnson writes,
“Here is a link to my article on
research on cosmic consciousness:
bit.ly/2S9HO82.”
It is with sadness that I report the
deaths of Barry Jay Reiss LAW’66
and Victor Margolin.
Barry died in November from
Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known
as ALS. He had been one of the
regulars at our monthly Class of 63
lunches until he had a heart bypass
in March 2018. It was successful and
Barry was recovering well when it
was discovered in the late summer of
that year that he was suffering from
ALS. Barry had been a successful
music and show business lawyer both
in private practice and for major
media corporations, working with
Clive Davis at CBS Records and
then helping form Arista Records.
He then moved to a variety of roles
at MCA. Back in private practice, he
represented clients such as U2 and
The Allman Brothers Band.
I will miss Barry at our lunches,
where he was a presence for the last
16 years. He loved to share stories
about his days working at WKCR
as an undergrad, his travels and his
law practice, which he still enjoyed.
He was proud of his commitment to
the environment as an early adopter
of solar panels for his house and his
old Tesla.
We will miss you, Barry.
Victor was a retired professor of
art and design at the University of
Illinois, Chicago, and the found-
ing editor of Design Issues. He is
considered one of the founders of
the discipline of design history. His
most ambitious work was the World
History of Design. You can watch him
in a YouTube video describing the
process of writing this book at youtu.
be/KxyyOTHLful. I remember him
as a man with a fine sense of humor.
He was the editor-in-chief of Jester,
and a contributor to MAD Magazine
and the editor of two books of puns
he wrote as an undergraduate.
Rest in peace.
If you're back in NYC, you
can reconnect with classmates at
our regular second Thursday class
tals
Niles Eldredge ’65 (left) and
Leonard Pack ’65 attended a
December 15 performance at
William Paterson University in
Paterson, N.J.
lunches at the Columbia Club (for
now, we are still gathering at the
Princeton Club). The next are on
April 9 and on May 14.
In the meantime, please let us
know what you are up to, how you're
doing and what's next.
1964:
Norman Olch
233 Broadway
New York, NY 10279
norman@nolch.com
I am writing early in January; the
ball has fallen in Times Square and,
depending on your point of view,
we are in the final year of the first
decade of the 21st century, or the
first year of the second decade of the
century. Regardless, I wish each of
you and your loved ones a Happy
New Year, and a year of Good
Health, Peace, Joy and Prosperity.
This time around there have
been no responses to the questions I
put to the class: What do you wish
you had known when you were 18,
and what advice do you have for
the members of the College’s next
graduating class as they face becom-
ing “adults”?
But I did not come up completely
empty. After reading Lee Witting’s
response in the Winter 2019-20
issue, in which Lee mentions he
is from Penobscot, Maine, Eddie
Harrow PS’68 wrote to say that he
learned from the note that he and
Lee live within 30 minutes of each
other in Maine and that they both
had worked at the same hospital for
15 years! They will connect. This has
happened before: A classmate learn-
ing from Class Notes that a member
of CC’64 is nearby.
Last year the New York State
legislature declined to legalize the
recreational possession of marijuana.
But the state does have a medical
marijuana program. Dave Levin,
whose pain from a torn rotator
cuff in each shoulder interrupts a
good night’s sleep, registered with
the program for pain management
and received a medical marijuana
card. He has a prescription for a
marijuana oil but says that after
using it for one week there was “not
much of an effect.” He and his wife,
Linda, planned to go to Florida for
two months. He hopes the warm
sunshine will help.
alumninews
‘The college basketball season
is underway and, after watching
Columbia defeat Marist, I had
dinner at V&T with Steve Singer,
who lives in Morningside Heights.
Marty Weinstein and his wife,
Ruth, celebrated their 50th anniver-
sary with friends in Montevideo, Uru-
guay, and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Felicidades.
There is an informal class lunch
in Manhattan the second Thursday
of every month (except July and
August), so if you are nearby, or
visiting New York City, join us.
Peter Thall sent an email that the
December lunch was a “mini-CC
experience” that “belongs in a Core
classroom.” While I cannot promise
the lunch conversation is always so
elevated, we do enjoy ourselves.
So, answer (or do not answer) the
questions I have put to the class. But
do send in a note and let us know what
you are up to, or tell us about a trip you
have taken (maybe with a grandchild)
or a book or film you recommend.
1965
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccreunion@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Leonard B. Pack
924 West End Ave.
New York, NY 10025
leonard@packlaw.us
It’s just coincidence, but for this col-
umn I insinuated myself into three
stories. First, I met Larry Guido
and his partner, Judith Kaplan, for
lunch in Manhattan on November 4.
Judith has had an apartment in Paris
for many years, so Larry and she
split their time between the Ocean
Reef Club in Key Largo, Fla., and in
Paris, where they do “hardship duty.”
Says Larry, “Someone has to!”
I saw Bob Henn in New York
in early June when he was in town
to attend a “Core|Reexplore”
program at the College, “Tragedy:
Literary and Philosophical Perspec-
tives.” | was in San Francisco in
mid-November for an arbitration,
and Bob took me to a wonderful
restaurant, 3rd Cousin, in the Bernal
Heights neighborhood. See the
nearby photo of Bob and me enjoy-
Bob Henn ’65 (left) and Leonard
Pack ’65 enjoyed dinner in
San Francisco in November.
ing dessert. Bob is trying to retire
from the practice of law with, so far,
interim success.
Niles Eldredge and I are passion-
ate jazz fans. I met up with Niles on
December 15 to attend a performance
at William Paterson University in
Paterson, N_J., by John Pizzarelli (on
guitar) and Catherine Russell (a mag-
nificent vocalist). Niles’s wife, Michelle,
took the nearby photo of the two of us
in the lobby. As we chatted, Niles told
me he had only recently met Stuart
Newman (they had not known each
other while at the College) because
Stuart is the editor of the scientific
journal that published a recently
issued paper by Niles and a collabora-
tor. I contacted Stuart, who provided
us with the following update on his
career and recent encounter with Niles:
“After graduation with a concentration
in chemistry (having been afforded
a rich complement of courses, both
required and elective, in the humanities
and social sciences), I headed to the
University of Chicago to do a Ph.D.
in chemical physics. During my first
quarter, I met my later-to-be-wife,
Jura, in a philosophy course. Though
not typical for chemistry graduate
students, the inclination to take such
educational detours seems bred in the
bone for Columbians. It has paid me
dividends many times over.
“My research, grounded in strong
courses in thermodynamics and sta-
tistical mechanics at the College and
carried forward under my doctoral
supervisor, Professor Stuart Rice, led
readily to involvement in the theories
of complex systems that were emerg-
ing in the 1970s, and, with colleagues
of the renowned U. Chicago school of
theoretical biology, to applications in
Spring 2020 CCT 57
the life sciences. This in turn drew me,
through a series of postdoctoral turns,
to theoretical and experimental work
in developmental biology (i.e., embry-
ology and regeneration), and then,
by the 1980s, to participation in the
rise of the field that came to be called
‘evolutionary developmental biology’
(EvoDevo). In the decades since, I
have worked on the origination and
evolution of animal and plant body
plans, the tetrapod limb, and the first
birds and eggs, among other things.
“Because EvoDevo incorporated
into evolutionary theory the abrupt
morphological transformations
observed in developing systems, the
perspective challenged the gradual-
ism of the standard Darwinian
model. In my view, this resonated
with the path-breaking notion of
punctuated equilibrium that had
been introduced by paleontologist
Niles Eldredge and his colleague
Stephen Jay Gould. Niles and I
did not meet at Columbia, but he
is widely known and esteemed by
the evolutionary biologists of our
time. More recently, our professional
trajectories have intersected along
interdisciplinary routes that likely
owe much to our shared boundary-
breaking undergraduate education.
“My work in developmental
biology has always been balanced by
resistance to misapplications of the
field’s techniques to human biology,
such as cloning and germline gene
modification, which carry risks both
of eugenicism and experimenter-
induced errors. In addition to a
coauthored textbook (with physicist
Gabor Forgacs) in my own research
area (Biological Physics of the Develop-
ing Embryo, 2005), I have recently
published (with historian Tina Ste-
vens) Biotech Juggernaut: Hope, Hype
and Hidden Agendas of Entrepreneurial
Bioscience (2019), a historical and con-
temporaneous account of reproduc-
tive technologies and their pitfalls.
“The criticism of overdependence
on the concept of the gene implicit
in both the theoretical and social-
critical areas of my work has led to
involvement in several organiza-
tions. I was a cofounder in 1980 of
the public interest group Council
for Responsible Genetics, and later
became a member of the external
faculty of the Konrad Lorenz Insti-
tute for Evolution and Cognition
Research in Klosterneuburg, Austria.
About five years ago, I was invited
to become editor of the KLI’s phi-
58 CCT Spring 2020
losophy of biology journal, Biological
Theory. 1 doubt I would have accepted
had I not been so well and broadly
educated at Columbia, beginning
with the Core Curriculum.
“It was Biological Theory that led
to my crossing paths with Niles. Last
year my co-editors and I decided to
initiate a feature, ‘Classics in Biologi-
cal Theory, in which a major scholar
would be recruited to write a critical
introduction to a forgotten, impor-
tant paper, which would then be
made available online to the scientific
community. Niles was a consensus
choice to inaugurate the series, and
we were thrilled that he agreed. His
essay on Clarence King’s 1877 pre-
scient ‘Catastrophism and Evolution,’
appeared in late 2019. Upon becom-
ing familiar with the journal, Niles
decided that it was an apt publication
venue for an interdisciplinary, socially
engaged, conceptual paper he was
preparing with cancer biologist James
DeGregori. Their remarkable article,
‘Parallel Causation in Oncogenic
and Anthropogenic Degradation and
Extinction, available at the Biological
Theory website (bit.ly/2U6yfJH), will
appear in print early this year.
“After periods in Brighton,
England; Philadelphia; and Albany,
Jura and I have lived (ideally for us)
less than an hour north of New York
City since I became a faculty member
at New York Medical College in
Valhalla 40 years ago. Our daughter
Sarah is a curator at the Smithsonian
American Art Museum in Washing-
ton, D.C., and our daughter Erica
is an ecologist at the University of
Arizona, Tucson. Through the years
I have been privileged with a close
friendship with James Siegel, a
fellow editor of Jester.”
Check out the “Bookshelf” section
for news about Stuart’s latest book.
Mike Bush circulated news of a
great honor awarded to Ron Che-
vako BUS’67 and his wife, Anne,
adding, “I’m sure this deserves a loud
and long fanfare — from any band!”
He shares, “On October 31, Ron
and Anne represented the Jane Stern
Dorado Community Library at the
Library of Congress 2019 Literacy
Awards conference in Washington,
D.C., as a Best Practice Honoree, a
recognition of 15 organizations that
have developed ‘programs uniquely
successful in their communities and
potentially applicable to other audi-
ences.’ JSDCL fell into the category of
‘innovative programs through libraries’
for the Satellite Community Library
Program extending services to seven
barrios in four Puerto Rican munici-
palities. Our pride in our program was
matched by the other 14 honorees,
amazing organizations with programs
across the United States in Afghani-
stan, Ruanda and Central America.”
Dan Carlinsky added, “Hey, not
just a fanfare — a full rendering of
the “Hallelujah Chorus’ followed by
a chorus of “Who Owns D.C.? A
real sweet recognition.”
Ron got the last word: “Dan, I like
both of your suggestions for differing
reasons. We were rather impressed and
thought that these awards might give
a boost to Puerto Rico national (state)
pride. The reconstruction progress has
been nothing short of abysmal except
for the best mayors. FEMA personnel
are accused of stealing $1.8 billion and
a number have been arrested. No plans
for reconstructing the electrical system
Core
Haiku
1966
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
cct@columbia.edu
Happy spring, and thank you to
those who wrote in! Please take a
moment and send your news to
cct@columbia.edu. Classmates want
to hear from you.
From John Burrows: “It doesn’t
seem possible that I am starting my
sixth year in an outdoor paradise
appropriately named Eden, Utah. I
moved west because Horace Greeley
said to do so (and my three children
and grandchildren were all out here).
“T am within 20 minutes of
three great ski areas, the best of
them being the unequaled Powder
Sold Core texts bought beer.
Later bought same texts paid more.
Lesson here is what?
yet have been released for public hear-
ings. We thought a little good news
would be welcome!
“We did do local publicity but did
not get the response we expected as
apparently it was interpreted in some
quarters as ‘political.’ We made some
great contacts in Washington, includ-
ing expanding our relationship with
personnel of the National Cathedral
School and received technical assis-
tance that will allow us to improve
the quality of the free courses that we
give in our small, satellite libraries.
‘That was the really great news!”
I learned from a November 1 email
from his organization, Africa Consul-
tants International Baobab, that Gary
Engelberg, who had been in poor
health, died in Senegal on August 12,
2019. After graduation, Gary went to
Senegal as a Peace Corps volunteer,
and he essentially remained there,
doing good social justice and develop-
ment work, for the rest of his life. You
can read testimonials and reminis-
cences from his work colleagues and
fellow Peace Corps volunteers online
at bit.ly/2RSvmte.
— Thomas Chorba ’66
Mountain — the largest skiable area
in North America. I am a Powder
Guide there. Still getting about 90
days a year in the fluff.
“Music continues to be a driving
force in my life, having recently
recorded a 20-song CD, Eagle in
the Air. Incredibly, four Grammy
winners volunteered their services.
The music follows my lifeline of
oceans and mountains, being equally
distributed between country rock
(a genre I help found) and Carib-
bean rock.
“Moving from New England to
Utah was the right thing, but here I
was at 67 with no friends, no audi-
ence for my music and no familiarity
with the medical institutions (hehe).
Music has again led me to wonder-
ful associations with many new
friends/fans. And Eden, in this high
mountain valley close to Salt Lake
and Ogden, is truly magical and
unequaled, providing an incredible
quality of life.
“So, this proud father and grand-
father continues to ski, hike, bike
and write music. If you want to hear
my new tunes from Eagle in the Air
go to johnburrows.hearnow.com.”
Mark Levine shares: “David
Gilbert’s son, Chesa Boudin,
won a tightly contested race for
district attorney in San Francisco
in November’s election. Chesa is
a Yale graduate and a former
Rhodes Scholar. His mother is
Kathy Boudin.”
From Tod Howard Hawks: My
father wanted me first to obtain a
law degree and then an M.B.A.I got
neither, a defiant decision I made
for which he never forgave me. I
dropped out of law school before the
end of my first semester. I have been
a poet and human-rights advocate
my entire adult life.
“T would like to share the poem
“Those Who Rule.’I posted it
on hellopoetry.com, where it has
received more than 1,000 hits.
‘Those Who Rule
We shall keep the poor poor.
We shall be on them like
a master’s whip on the backs
of slaves; but they will not
know us: we are too far and
too close. We shall use the
patois of patriotism to patronize
them. We shall hide behind our
flags while we hold only one pole.
We shall have the poor fight our
wars for us, and die for us; and
before they die, they will kill for
us, we hope, enough. In peace,
we shall piecemeal them and serve
them meals made of toxins and tallow.
For their labor, we shall pay them
slave wages; and all that we give,
we shall take back, and more, by
monumental scandals that subside
like day’s sun at eventide. We shall
be clever, as ever, circumspect and
surreptitious at all times. We shall
keep them deluded with the
verisimilitude
of hope, but undermine always its
being. We shall infuse their lives
with fear and hate, playing one
race against another, one religion
against a brother’s. Disaffection is
our key; but we must modulate our
efforts deftly, so the poor remain
frightened and angered, but always
blind and deaf and divided. And if,
perchance, one foments, we shall
seize the moment and drop his head
into his hands, even as he speaks.
‘This internecine brew we pour, there-
fore, into the poor to keep them drunk
with enmity and incapacitation. Ah,
eternal anticipation! Bottoms up,
old chaps! We, those who rule,
shall have them always in our laps.
We are, as it were, their salvation.
1967
Albert Zonana
425 Arundel Rd.
Goleta, CA 93117
az164@caa.columbia.edu
Congratulations to Tom Hauser
LAW’70, who has been selected
for induction into the International
Boxing Hall of Fame. The ceremony
will take place on June 14. Tom is
known in boxing circles as Muham-
mad Ali’s friend and biographer.
On eight occasions, articles he has
written have been designated as
the “best investigative reporting
of the year” by the Boxing Writers
Association of America. In 2004, the
BWAA honored him with the Nat
Fleischer Award for Career Excel-
lence in Boxing Journalism.
Elliot Bien LAW’71 writes,
“After a few years as a law professor
in Chicago, in 1982 I became a civil
appeals specialist in San Francisco and
have greatly enjoyed this academic and
less-stressful outpost of law practice.
I'm still active, but my longstanding
musical career (including the Colum-
bia band) has been expanding. I'm now
composing; playing woodwinds in
chamber groups, a klezmer band and
Jewish service; and doing a weekly gui-
tar and harmonica gig at a local café.
A wonderful wife of 44 years and two
wonderful grandkids help life a lot, too.
But I do miss NYC and Columbia.”
My wife, Diane, and I were ona
river cruise in Portugal in October.
On the last evening of the trip, we
found out that the gentleman who
had kindly provided me with much-
needed cold medicine was Mike
Landa’71. Nice connection.
Be well all of you, and do write.
1968
Arthur Spector
4401 Collins Ave., 2-1417
Miami Beach, FL 33140
arthurbspector@gmail.com
Happy New Year. It is quite amazing
that it is 2020. I hope the class is in
good humor and in good health — a
challenge, it seems, for all of us. 1 am
alumninews
happy to report that I got hearing
aids; they are outstanding and easy
to handle (and overdue). No more
excuses ... what? Seems to be better
at a dinner table with a few others.
Lat year was quite a year — I went
to Homecoming with some class-
mates, and the Lions had another
great win. I am hopeful that the team
will do better this year. Great wins
over Penn and Harvard this season.
Coach Al Bagnoli is exceptional, and
his group of coaches are superb. The
returning players should make for
a stronger team. I believe we have
five running backs this year with
good experience; maybe the most
exciting kick-off and punt returner in
Columbia history; a superb receiver;
and talented quarterbacks returning.
Get your tickets early.
And, I might add, I have watched
a few of the women’s basketball team
games, and the players are incred-
ibly talented. It appears that Coach
Megan Griffith 07 is a superstar; she
has a young team but it is impressive,
with lots of depth. It’s an exciting
group — I think they had 13 3s at a
recent game. The team has outside
shooting, rebounding and play-mak-
ing, and clearly great coaching.
I heard from Ross Ain. It has been
a while since he and I went to an
art exhibition during a reunion. He
writes: “Ross Ain has taken on new
responsibilities as president of Caith-
ness Energy, a privately held indepen-
dent power producer, where he has
been a partner and senior executive for
the last 20 years. Caithness owns and
operates state-of-the-art natural gas
plants on Long Island and in Pennsyl-
vania and the country’s second largest
wind farm, Caithness Shepherds
Flat, an 845-megawatt wind farm
on 30,000 acres of land in eastern
Oregon. He says this is definitely his
last hurrah, as he looks forward to
summers on Cape Cod and less time
on the Acela trains between his home
in Washington, D.C., and his office
and apartment in NYC.”
Buzz Zucker, Seth Weinstein
and Robert Costa’67 had dinner
at V&T recently, and said it was a
great night on the town.
Alan Seplowitz sent a sonnet:
To Alma Mater
Perched sphinxlike on the steps
of Low,
Are you ever oer your left
shoulder looking
When no-one’s around, in the
dim moonglow,
To see if The Thinker has
anything cooking?
You've seen many protests and
rallies, Right and Left,
Divergent views of events present
and past,
While on South Field frisbee players
try to be deft
Midst the persistent echoes of a
Lou Gehrig blast.
You've seen NROTCers come
and go,
Are they smiling ‘cause of pride in
country and flag,
As they march around the campus
to and fro,
Or’cause Uncle Sam’s covering the
tuition price tag?
You've seen thousands pass by yet
you never flirt,
But wait! What’s that owl doing
under your skirt?
Ken Tomecki PS’72 is president
of the American Academy of
Dermatology, the world’s largest
dermatology society, with more than
20,0000 members. Impressive for
a “guy from Brooklyn.” It is indeed
impressive, but if he misses another
reunion, he is in hot water! Given
my hanging out in the shade at the
pool here in Miami, I still expect a
free consult at the next reunion.
Congrats, Ken.
I talked to Art Kaufman at
length; he is doing well and is
focused on his grandkids. He likes
Miami Beach, so I am hoping he
will show up some time. He con-
tinues to be a big fan of Columbia
rowing and hopes to go to England
this year.
I have an idea for the Class
of 1968 showing up in Miami in
December; Art Basel is here each
year, and, thanks to David Shapiro
GSAS’73, I have become more
enthusiastic about 20th-century art
(our art history class at Columbia
helped, too). I think Ross Ain told
me he is a collector, too.
In recent years, Columbia has
sponsored some events at Art Basel.
The Columbia University Club of
South Florida has a good turnout,
but I have this idea of about 1,000
of us showing up from the rest of
the country, and outside of it. There
are many venues in Miami, and par-
Spring 2020 CCT 59
ties, too. You can see new artists or a
Modigliani or a Miro or a Chagall;
I saw a Pollock that would be
perfect for one of us. Chuck Close
was apparently floating around last
year, and the convention center
was packed with great stuff and
champagne.
In any event, let me tell you a
bit more about Art Basel 2019:
David Silver, a major gifts officer for
Columbia and our class’s Alumni
Office liaison, advised me of the
coming attractions. Columbia also
sent Ilene Markay-Hallack, senior
executive director, strategic events, for
the University (she worked with our
class on some of our reunions), and
Patty Tsai, senior associate director of
CAA Arts Access. They came with
our hosts, Suzanne Geiss of Murphy
& Partners and Daniel Mitura’09.
There was a Friday tour at Untitled,
hosted by Theo Downes-LeGuin’86
of Upfor Gallery. Saturday night’s
event was in one of the large tents
with windows on the beach, and
food both outdoors and indoors.
We had perfect weather, and it was
a wondrous evening. I had gone the
year before, when we had the event in
The Bass museum.
My thought for 2020 is that we
invite the Class of 1968 to host
and we bring in the Classes of 65,
°66,'67,'69,’70 and’71. Block out
hotel rooms, and add a bit to the
program — maybe a dinner dance.
‘The infrastructure is in place; we just
add to the size. I joked with Ilene
and Patty about adding another 100
alums, but I think the right goal
would be 1,000, with spouses/guests.
‘This could be another great annual
event for alumni. I will produce
great weather.
So, it’s just a thought, but as we
had the largest turnout for a 50th
reunion of any class, we certainly
could pull it off again. With some
sun and good weather and music, it
might be some great days and nights.
Just to add one last thought:
The whole Art History department
might come down if we were big
enough. This column will probably
cause high blood pressure at Colum-
bia, but it could be fun!
I spoke to Tom Sanford about
my idea; he is game, so we shall see
how this unfolds. His son is an art-
ist, and we can consult with him.
Some of you might have been
to the Met Opera-Columbia event
that I conceived of as chair of the
60 CCT Spring 2020
Bicentennial. We filled up the house
in 1987 for the best entertainment
you could get on Broadway! Some
folks thought the idea was insane
— one was then-Dean Robert Pol-
lack’61, who ended up enjoying the
night. Lisa Carnoy’89, now co-chair
of the University Board of Trustees,
was a student then; she reported to
me that she had a great time.
I was thin on news this time, but
I promise a bulky column next time.
Let me know if you have thoughts
about Art Basel. Many here might
come (“here” being Naples and
South Florida).
All the best, and go Lions! See
you around — maybe at Homecom-
ing for another win!
1969
Nathaniel Wander
c/o CCT
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
nw105@columbia.edu
Dear classmates of CC’69, allow me
to introduce myself as the new class
correspondent. I’m Nathaniel Wan-
der Ph.D. GSAS’80. I hope to serve
as faithfully as Michael Oberman
did through all his years.
I also hope you'll accept me as an
authentic classmate, though I didn’t
graduate until 1972. In 1967, I took
a leave of absence to travel to Israel
before the Six-Day War; follow-
ing Spring ’68, I resigned. My best
evidence of belonging, however, is
possession of my freshman beanie.
How could I give up a baby blue
‘Tweedledum/Tweedledee cap with a
white “69” plastered across the crown?
Making up for prior fecklessness,
I returned to Columbia in 1970,
completing undergraduate and
graduate degrees in anthropology. I
taught in that department through
summer ’81, when I left for a post-
doctoral fellowship in anthropology
and psychiatry at UC San Diego.
My dissertation research in rural
West Bengal included study of ghost
and witchcraft possession and exor-
cism; I came to understand exorcism
as a kind of drama therapy. In San
Diego I studied parallels between
diagnosis of anti-social personality
disorder and life histories of country
music song characters — characters
who regularly turned over municipal
dump trucks in the mayor's yard,
lost all their worldly possessions
rodeoing or shot a fellow barfly just
to watch him die ....
Desirable academic positions
were few when my fellowship ended
in 1983. Reckoning I could conduct
therapy as well as psychiatrists, if not
exorcists, I took group-facilitation
training with the Carl Rogers-
founded Center for the Studies of
the Person in La Jolla, Calif., and
went on to practice in the Navy
Substance Abuse Prevention Pro-
gram until an M.D. friend invited
me to Portland, Ore., to manage his
clinic for street people.
In Portland, I lucked into an
unofficial internship at a counseling
center, and a decade later, emerged
from Portland State University with a
master’s and a specialization in group
work with substance abusers, and per-
sons with advanced HIV. I worked for
child protective services and for two
county health departments, ultimately
rappelling back to academia.
Based on experience in smok-
ing cessation and as a rural city
councilor, I was hired to assist
rural Oregon municipalities to put
tobacco control policy into practice.
I stumbled across the $10-million
electronic document tobacco
industry archive that emerged
from the 1998 Master Settlement
Agreement between the State
Attorneys General lawsuits against
the Big Five tobacco companies. I
went on to conduct research at UC
San Francisco — where the archive
had been curated — then at the
University of Edinburgh, part of a
British multi-university consortium.
From 2002 to 2011, I specialized in
tobacco industry activities to influ-
ence officials and the general public,
particularly with regard to global
health policymaking.
Following early retirement from
Edinburgh, I relocated to Belize to
study woodpeckers. My anthro-
pological interests had included
evolution and ecology; in the 90s,
I'd become an avid birder, taking
courses and participating in field
studies of ecology and avian behav-
ior. | was on my way to reinvention
as an ornithologist when someone
mistook me for a gringo rich enough
to be worth killing and robbing: He
shot me in the back with a shotgun,
but obviously, I survived.
Back in the United States in
2017, I resettled in Oregon, where
I’ve been composing a personal/
professional memoir, seven chapters
of which have been published; an
eighth was recently accepted. I
began learning to paint in acrylics,
then in watercolors; until photogra-
phy obviated the skill, explorers and
naturalists noted their findings in
watercolor, and I long envied them.
Having previously painted nothing
but houses, it’s been fun to discover
new talents at this age.
Now that you know about me,
what’s new with you? Write me at
nw105@columbia.edu.
1970
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccreunion@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Leo G. Kailas
Ikailas@reitlerlaw.com
David S. Sokolow GSAS’71,
LAW’79 proudly reports: “My big
news for 2019: My wife, Tobi, and
I won our first North American
Bridge Championship together, the
Senior Mixed Pairs, in San Fran-
cisco. It was my first unrestricted
national win. Tobi, a six-time world
champion, has put in 30 years trying
to improve my game. I am happy to
report she achieved her goal!
“Otherwise, I’m still teaching
at the University of Texas School
of Law (39 years), but plan to go
half-time next year. Too many places
to explore, too little time. I'll spend
three weeks in India in 2021 with
Ted Wirecki and Joel Mintz. I look
forward to seeing everyone at our
50th reunion.”
I second David’s precatory state-
ment regarding our 50th reunion
—a BIG EVENT in our lives that
we should all celebrate! Our 50th
reunion coincides with the 100th
anniversary of the Core Curriculum;
the great news is that during reunion
weekend there will be lectures that
focus on the Core and the reasons for
its longevity and appeal. I should also
mention that on Saturday afternoon
we will have a forum for our class
for which we will pick three or four
topics to focus on that relate to our
experiences at the College and how
those experiences have had an impact
A group of CC’70 alums tailgated at the Lions’s season-opening Saint
Francis football game in Loretto, Pa., including Bob Borza, Jim Wascura,
Bruce Nagle, Frank Furillo, Bernie Josefsberg and Pete Stevens.
our lives. There will be an open
mic and everyone will be invited to
participate. Princeton professor Paul
Starr will speak to us on health care
reform, and Professor Tom Keenan
SEAS’71 will discuss cybersecurity
issues that we should all be aware of.
Football captain Frank Furillo
sent a note and a photo (above)
regarding his opening game outing
with classmates. Frank notes, “A
group of CC’70 alums got together
to tailgate at the Lions season
opener at the Saint Francis game
in Loretto, Pa. The Pittsburgh
contingent included Bob Borza and
Bruce Nagle, with Pete Stevens,
Bernie Josefsberg, Jim Wascura
and I representing the New York/
New Jersey Lion contingent. All six
were members of the 1966 freshman
football team, which was coached by
the legendary ‘Coach of Silicon Val-
ley, Bill Campbell 62, TC’64. Even
though it’s been more than 53 years
since we were first teammates, we
remain close to each other, loyal to
the football program and apprecia-
tive of our Columbia education.”
I hope all of these football team-
mates show up at reunion so we can
enjoy their banter and show them
our appreciation.
Michael Stern reports, “I retired
as a lawyer in Silicon Valley last year
and am producing movies instead
(much more rewarding and fun).
Our first film, General Magic, is
about a fabled startup that spun out
of Apple in 1990 to build a smart-
phone 17 years before it was actually
possible. The company’s young
engineers later developed both the
iPhone and Android, founded eBay,
become the chief technology officer
of the United States and achieved
many other spectacular things. The
film premiered at the Tribeca Film
Festival, played at film festivals
around the world (garnering many
‘Best Of? festival awards), was cable-
cast on Showtime in the United
States and National Geographic in
Europe, and debuted on streaming
platforms in October 2019 as a top
10 pick on iTunes.”
Carl Hyndman GSAS’74 sent
the following: “Hard to believe it
has been 50 years since we got our
heads bashed on Low Plaza and
then tried to go to Woodstock. I
tried to summarize many of these
events in my recently published
novel, Bookstore on the Seine. I vividly
remember carting Lewis Siegel-
baum off the plaza. Then we rode in
paddy wagons to the Tombs, where
we spent the night with 700 others.
Although I have had a fairly normal
family and career life since then, I
often reflect on those days and in
particular my adventures along the
hippie trail to Afghanistan in 1972;
swinging from birches in Ben-
nington, Vt., with David Shack’71;
attending Sha Na Na concerts; and
long nighttime discussions with Ed
Wallace ’71, John Riley and Chuck
Bethel ’69. I tried to recount these
and other tales in my novel.
“All the best to those stalwarts
and to others in Class of 1970.”
Carl, I hope you will attend
Columbia Reunion 2020 and tell
us about some of your experiences
during that era.
alumninews
1971
Lewis Preschel
l.a.preschel@gmail.com
William Barr GSAS’79, the present
and two-time attorney general of
the United States, was the subject of
the front-page article of The Sunday
Review of The New York Times on
October 27. The biographical article
discussed his education, includ-
ing his degrees from Columbia, as
well as the fact that his father and
mother were professors at our Uni-
versity. In a display of karmic irony,
the most visible member of our class
—aclass that was heavily involved
in the anti-Vietnam War protests —
is from the conservative wing of the
Republican party. That demonstrates
the diversity of opinions and the
breadth and depth of exposure a
student at Columbia experiences.
Our education is not limited to the
classrooms. The campus environ-
ment allowed growth through the
exchange of divergent ideas.
Art Smith TC’73 checks in:
“After retiring from two stints as
an environmental attorney (as a
big prosecutor and progressive
business officer), I am several years
into adjusting to retirement. I enjoy
splitting time among road biking,
pro-bono climate change activity
and family. I train all year in Illinois,
Indiana and Michigan for annual
bike trips; 2019 was Portugal and
Joshua Tree, Calif. Recently finished
my second article for an Ameri-
can Bar Association sustainable
development journal (on ecosystem
services and pluvial flooding). Most
important is spending time with my
grandkids — Landon (8), Sydney
(4) and Tyler (2). It took a couple
of years to find the right retirement
balance. My wife, Jan, and I enjoy
several trips each year to NYC that
we combine with visiting family in
Washington, D.C.”
Mark Silverman has retired, as
well. He was the founder and chair
of the anatomic pathology depart-
ment at the then-named Lahey
Clinic in Boston. Mark writes, “My
wife, Susan, and I lived in Newton,
Mass., for almost 40 years, but now,
we split our time between Mas-
sachusetts and New York City. We
have an apartment in Greenwich
Village so that we can enjoy life and
see our three children and our three
grandchildren, who all live in the
city. Although I enjoyed practic-
ing medicine, retirement is really
wonderful. I would love to reconnect
with friends who remember those
silly blue beanies and the good
things like The Gold Rail.”
How about equal time for those of
us who frequented The West End?
Daniel Libby is a clinical
professor of medicine, pulmonary
and critical care medicine at Weill
Cornell Medicine, as well as an
attending physician at NewYork
Presbyterian Hospital. Dan credits
the Core Curriculum as having
a profound influence on him. I
would agree that as a physician, the
ethics and morals of our humani-
ties and arts studies set a standard
for my life’s work. He puts it this
way: “Critical thinking, expression
of one’s ideas in writing, exposure
to great moments in philosophy,
history, works of art, literature and
music broadened my outlook on the
world and enabled me to appreciate
so much more in life. Left to my
own devices, I doubt I would have
acquired the knowledge, critical
thinking or appreciation of diversity
that the Core Curriculum and Col-
lege life demanded.”
Dan also thanks the guardians/
caregivers of the Core Curriculum
for its continued growth and modi-
fication so that it remains as vibrant
today as when we partook in it.
Dan went to Baylor College of
Medicine in Houston. He returned
to NYC for his internship and
residency in internal medicine
at NewYork Presbyterian/Weill
Cornell Medical Center, where
subsequently he completed a fellow-
ship in pulmonary and critical care
medicine. From 1979 to 1986, he
was a full-time employee of Cornell
University Medical College, pursu-
ing academic pulmonary medicine.
Thereafter, Dan has been in the
private practice and has published
approximately 100 journal articles
on various aspects of the pulmo-
nary/critical care medical field. His
academic interests focused on the
area of screening for lung cancer
with low-dose radiation CT scans in
high-risk individuals. This technique
helped change the long-term out-
look in lung cancer.
Dan remains in practice in New
York City but has traveled the world
with his wife of 42 years, Dr. Nancy
Kemeny. They have three daughters
Spring 2020 CCT 61
Class Notes
— Jacqueline, a Ph.D. in robotics at
Carnegie Mellon; Laura, an M.D.
in practice with Dan; and Victo-
ria, a Psy.D. in Portland, Maine.
He wishes for his granddaughters
(Luna, Olympia and Lucianna) the
enlightenment of a Columbia Col-
lege education.
Bennett Alan Weinberg was
a professor of cultural history, an
attorney and a consulting writer for
many Fortune 500 pharmaceutical
companies, as well as being an award-
winning author. His nonfiction
books include The World of Caffeine:
The Science and Culture of the World's
Most Popular Drug, a reference book,
and The Caffeine Advantage: How
to Sharpen Your Mind, Improve Your
Physical Performance, and Achieve Your
Goals — the Healthy Way, a self-help
book. These award-winning books
have been translated into Italian,
Japanese, Spanish, Korean and Indo-
nesian. In the field of fiction, Bennett
authored the neo-noir thriller Manci’s
Girl: An Updated Noir Thriller and
the occult fantasy Simon Magus: The
First Vampire. He shares, “My works
allowed me to be a guest on many
news programs and documentaries,
including CBS Sunday Morning, Fox
News's Health and Fitness and a radio
interview on NPR’s Weekend Edition,
with Scott Simon.”
Presently, poetry is Bennett’s main
interest. If anyone has an interest in
reading or publishing poetry that is
metered and often rhymed, Bennett
would be delighted to hear from you.
Arvin Levine writes, “Funny,
but my experience might have been
different from what you generalized
about our class. I only did service
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Share what’s happening in
your life with classmates.
Click “Contact Us” at
college.columbia.edu/cct,
or send news to the address
at the top of your column.
62 CCT Spring 2020
on a local level (think Boy Scouts),
studiously avoiding anything legal or
governmental. Also, I saw our class
as instrumental actors in the events
of 68, not onlookers witnessing his-
tory in the unfolding. ... You know,
‘If you don't like the news, make
some of your own.”
Arvin, I think part of our class
acted to create history, but the whole
of our class was on the scene to
observe it. Do you remember, “If
you are not part of the solution, then
you are part of the problem.” was a
popular quotation of the time?
Arvin lives in Jerusalem and
ended his note with, “Thanks for
re-raising my consciousness! Arvin
Levine, Jerusalem (052-405-4129)
and arvinlevine@gmail.com.”
I assume Arvin would love to
hear from classmates.
Rev. Vincent J. Rigdon wrote
that after graduating, he worked
for the Department of Commerce
as an export control compliance
inspector/special agent. He lived in
Richmond Hill, Queens, and worked
at JFK Airport. During this time,
he considered the Catholic priest-
hood, and entered Mount St. Mary’s
Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., in
1973. Vincent was ordained a Catho-
lic priest for the Archdiocese of
Washington, D.C., on May 14, 1977,
having already been commissioned
as a chaplain candidate in the United
States Air Force Reserve in 1974. In
October 2000, he retired from the
USAFR as a chaplain, lieutenant
colonel. Prior to his retirement he
achieved “Career Conditional” status.
Vincent also became famous
throughout the USAFR by suing
the secretary of defense over partial
birth abortion: Rigdon v. Perry, in the
US. District Court for the District
of Columbia. He had the temerity to
win the case. As Vincent states, it was
not a career-enhancing move.
He adds, “In July 2018, I retired
from the pastorate, but not from the
priesthood. I now live in retirement at
Old St. Mary’s in Chinatown, Wash-
ington, D.C., saying Mass, hearing
confessions and keeping reasonably
active. All the best to classmates.”
Dear classmates, I am hoping to
hold an informal class meeting in
New York City; with working out
logistics we are probably shooting
for a year from this spring. If you are
interested, please respond with dates
that would work for you and a place
(read: restaurant/bar; The West End
no longer exists, so pick someplace
else) that might interest you. I will
keep a list of interested classmates so
that I can email you to work out the
specifics when a consensus is reached.
Also remember that I only edit this
column; without classmates checking
in, I will have nothing to publish. We
to Sulawesi to Kalimantan (Borneo),
boarding small planes (the client
told us to check the airworthiness
certificate each time we got on
a plane), coastal and river patrol
boats, trips to a Caspian Sea port
in Kazakhstan; Bangkok, Thailand;
Casablanca, Morocco; the Suez
were drafted into the brotherhood of
the Class of 1971. However, you have
to volunteer to keep in touch. Drop
the Class Notes a line.
1972
Paul S. Appelbaum
pappel1@aol.com
Canal, Egypt; Portugal; and ports in
Mexico, Central America (Hondu-
ras, Costa Rica and Panama) and
South America (Colombia, Venezu-
ela, Ecuador, Chile and Brazil).”
Now in Reston, Va., Larry special-
izes in planning for retirement and
estates, college and long-term care.
Steven Hirschfeld PS’83 tran-
sitioned during this past year from
active duty in the United States
Public Health Service to civilian
status and “maintains a footprint at
the Uniformed Services University
of the Health Sciences, a larger
footprint at the National Institutes
of Health, and more of a footprint
Larry Boorstein SEAS’74,
SEAS’78, BUS’88 shares some
reminiscences: “I won't say that it
seems a short time since college, but
I do remember arriving at Columbia
College in September 1968. Mayor
Core
Haiku
Reading these books has
been at the core of my life.
Columbia, thanks!
— Phillip M. Weiss ’73
John V. Lindsay gave the commence-
ment address for my high school,
Bronx Science, at a theater on the
Grand Concourse in the Bronx in
June 1968. LBJ was President when
we started college and Nixon when
we graduated; that seems so distant
now. After getting a B.A. (as I recall,
Alfred Hitchcock was awarded an
honorary doctorate at Commence-
ment), I went to the Engineering
School for a master’s in civil engi-
neering (1974) and a professional
degree in civil engineering (1978). I
returned as a full-time student at the
Business School, where I earned an
M.B.A. in finance in 1988, before
continuing my career.”
After a 40-year career mostly
with AECOM Technical Services,
where he was project manager for
transportation infrastructure projects
in 19 states and 29 countries, Larry
joined New York Life in April 2019.
With AECOM, Larry traveled
the world; he says, “Memorable
experiences include a trip to visit
ports in rural Indonesia, from Bali
doing work in the private sector.
Does that mean I have three feet?
No, it means constant hopping
among locations.”
Among other roles, Steven is a
professor of pediatrics at the
F. Edward Hébert School of Medi-
cine of USUHS in Bethesda, Md.
Armen Donelian, our jazz musi-
cian extraordinaire, has recently seen
the publication of the Italian edition
of the first volume of his book Train-
ing the Ear. The original version in
English of this textbook and CD
package appeared in 1992, followed
by the Japanese edition in 2001.
1973
Barry Etra
betra1@bellsouth.net
My pleas for news fall on deaf ears.
Makin’ do with what I get ....
James “Jim” Minter caught up
with Peter Niemiec after several
decades, when Peter traveled east from
Los Angeles for his 50th high school
reunion. Jim and his husband, David
Schnabel, were in London in Septem-
ber for Mitch Freinberg’s daughter
Charlotte ’10’s wedding, along with
several other CC grads, among them
Geoff Colvin ’74, and Mitch’s brother,
David Freinberg’78. Jim and David’s
nephew, Matthew Ruppert, was
admitted to the Class of 24, which he
says is “the best news since their niece,
Elise Minter Konover’07, was admit-
ted to the Class of 07. Who owns
New York, indeed?”
The redoubtable Michael Shapiro
BUS’79 recently conducted the BBC
National Orchestra of Wales for
three days in Cardiff, performing his
own Archangel Concerto for piano and
orchestra, based on Milton’s Paradise
Lost (Michael notes, “first read by me
in Humanities A” — go, Core!). Also
conducted that day were his works
Roller Coaster, Perlimplinito, Opera
Sweet; and Widorama. All these are
now commercially available and on
BBC3 this year.
Need quantity over here, folks.
Do send in your news, as your
classmates want to hear from you.
Thanks in advance.
1974
Fred Bremer
f.bremer@ml.com
As we meander through our 60s,
we are experiencing a change in the
demographic landscape. While we
were once considered “the younger
generation,” few would now look
at our thinning grey or white hair
and choose this description. Now
it is the millennials who have taken
our spot. We are left clinging to the
hope of being considered middle
age. At least they (occasionally) give
us their seat and (far too often) refer
to us as “sir.”
With a generation often con-
sidered to be roughly 25 years, an
increasing number of colleagues,
neighbors and relatives are one or
two generations younger than we are
and thus have not shared many of
our life experiences. In the same way
we could not relate to our parents’
references to the Korean War, many
now consider the Vietnam War as a
topic of history books.
At work recently I referred to
author Ken Kesey and his 1962
book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s
Nest. All I got back were blank
stares. (Lucky I didn’t try mention-
ing the “Magic Bus” or the phrase
“youre either on the bus or off the
bus”!) Another time I was quietly
singing “My Boomerang Won't
Come Back” (the 1961 song of our
youth) and was told I must have
made that up. Increasingly I find it
necessary to “self-censure” in order
to keep my remarks relevant to a
greater and greater number. And it
will only get worse!
It might not be long before
many will find it impossible to
believe that all colleges were not
always coed. That reminded me of
the “Around the Quads/Hall of
Fame’ article in the Fall 2019 CCT,
“The Woman Who First Crashed
the College Gates,” about Anna
Kornbrot SEAS’74,’75. The profile
was the Columbia College Alumni
Facebook page’s most-clicked article
of 2019! Anna discovered a loophole
that allowed students at Columbia
Engineering to add one more year
at the College and receive both
degrees. Now a doctor of dental
medicine, she is married to Barry
Klayman (an attorney at Cozen
O’Conner in Wilmington, Del.). I
saw a Facebook note from Jon Ben-
Asher (an attorney with Ritz Clark
& Ben-Asher in NYC): “Anna was
always far cooler and braver than the
rest of us!”
Also on Facebook was a posting
by Ted Markowitz (chief architect
for Cognosys in Darien, Conn.)
about his pets: two Maine Coons
(said to be the largest domestic cats
in the world). He said the breed can
weigh 9-18 lbs. and “is somewhere
between a cat and a lynx.”
An email came in from Rob
Stevens (president and managing
director of One Stone Produc-
tions — Mine Train Records in the
Bronx). His impressive discography
includes his recent remixing of John
Lennon's Imagine album. Rob tells
us he has also mixed, produced or
played with quite a diverse group of
musicians: Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Herbie Hancock and Yoko Ono.
(Were they discussed in Music
Hum?)
There you have it. Classmates
adapting to the changing demo-
graphics while continuing to follow
their careers. Seems like we should
be hearing of more classmates retir-
ing, but no big flood of news. If this
applies to you, send details!
alumninews \:
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ecreunion@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Randy Nichols
rcn2day@gmail.com
Alan M. Fixelle has started a
position as physician/CEO at his
private practice, Gastro Consultants
of Atlanta.
After drooling over their
Facebook posts, I asked Phelps
Hawkins JRN’79 to send a few
words about his and his wife San-
dra’s travels in Europe last summer.
Former journalism professor that
he is, Phelps outdid himself. I can't
improve by editing, so I will just
include it as he wrote it.
“We stormed into 2019 and our
70s as recent retirees with a plan not
to have a plan. Neither of us wanted
the pressure of ‘deciding what to do
in our retirement.’ As career-long
journalists, there was little of substance
to do professionally. So, we decided to
look inward and keep it simple.
“We'd already offloaded all sorts
of furniture and other stuff on the
kids in Dallas, so next was to tackle
decluttering, starting with a garage
full of everything but two cars. Years
of moving to next jobs, including
two international round-trips, left
us with boxes absolutely everywhere
storing essentials from a child’s
pre-school art to antique red and
gold Balinese doors to Grandma's
incomplete single bed set.
“No surprise, they’re not all gone
yet, not even close.
“The surprise is we've been
busy. Nobody told us that 70 was a
watershed moment for health issues,
or so it seems. The first 50 years, two
doctors were just fine; now, I have
10, and every time I ask another
question I’m likely to get another
one. But I did finally take action on
years of weight problems and had
bariatric surgery. Now I’m down 60
lbs., with about 25 to go. It’s easier
when your stomach is about 20
percent its original size.
“We've also gotten started on one
key element of our retirement —
travel. Varied long weekend trips are
a snap and, since I love to drive, not
all that expensive. We also enjoyed a
full three months at our lake place in
the northern Adirondacks. Then, we
wrapped up the year with a terrific
two-week trip introducing Sandra
to Italy, with fabulous private tour
guides in each major city: Venice,
Florence and Rome.
“After a New Year's trip to see the
four grandkids, and taking them to
see The Very Hungry Caterpillar at
the Dallas Children’s Theater, we're
now settled back in our barrier island
Savannah home, enjoying the pool!
“Our next travel may have to be
to move overseas, depending on the
results of the 2020 election.”
Fingers crossed for 2020!
Gene Hurley chimed in recently,
writing: “I have not contributed any-
thing to our CCT Class Notes since
I was the original class correspon-
dent in the 1970s. But having saved
up, I now have plenty to relate. And
I am in the mood to do so because I
am on the verge of a big life change
— specifically, after a lifetime in the
NYC metro area, I am moving to
Bloomington, Ind., for my retire-
ment years.”
After graduating from the College,
Gene was a trade magazine editor for
a while, then entered Brooklyn Law
School, graduating in 1982. He says,
“During and after law school I was
a law clerk for U.S. Magistrate John
L. Caden in the Eastern District
of New York. In 1983, I joined the
Manhattan D.A.’s office as an assis-
tant D.A.I spent the next three and
a half decades there before retiring in
the middle of 2018. I was in the trial
division and specialized in homicide
cases and sex trafficking rings. I was
appointed a senior trial counsel in
1994. The work was always challeng-
ing and engaging.”
For the past few years Gene has
been creating a collection of walking
guides to Paris, for cell phones. It
involves a great deal of historical
research (and yes, visits to Paris and
learning to read French).
In 2004, Gene married Ivy Mil-
lerand, whom he met on match.com.
He has two sons, Bill and Peter,
from a previous marriage.
Gene and Ivy have lived in and
around NYC for most of their lives,
and were planning to stay. But after
visiting his sister and brother-in-law
in Bloomington this past October,
they decided to move. He says,
“We're both retired, our parents are
deceased, our best friends already
Spring 2020 CCT 63
live four hours away, and they and
my sons can afford to fly to visit, or
we can fly back — it’s just a two-
hour, 15-minute flight, and Indy has
a beautiful new airport.”
Richard Mattiaccio LAW’78
has made the transition from being a
“Big Law” commercial and IP litiga-
tor and occasional arbitrator to work-
ing nearly full time as an arbitrator.
He also represents clients at his new
firm, Allegaert Berger & Vogel, an
NYC boutique where the College is
well represented. In his spare time
Richard teaches arbitration law at
Fordham University School of Law,
chairs the London-based New York
Branch of the Chartered Institute
of Arbitrators and is a co-director
of an annual, one-week Columbia
Law School/CIArb intensive course
on international arbitration. In 2019
he co-chaired the first New York
Arbitration Week, held at a number
of NYC venues November 19-22.
A decade after their return from
19 years of child-rearing exile in
Westchester County, Richard and his
wife, Kate, continue to enjoy living on
the Upper East Side. Kate is active
in behavior analysis practice and in
training teachers of students on the
autism spectrum. They look forward to
spending more time over the next few
years with good friends and visiting
new countries as well as old haunts.
And dont forget, 2020 is our
45th reunion year! Make your plans
to attend Columbia Reunion 2020,
Thursday, June 4-Saturday, June
6. The weekend will kick off with
an all-class party at the New York
Public Library, and there will be
assigned class lounges in the newly
renovated Carman Hall. The dorm
room pictures I’ve seen are gorgeous
— rich, wood-toned floors instead of
cold tiles (but with the same built-in
furniture). Mark your calendars!
The Columbia College Alumni
Association Board of Directors and
the Alumni Committee on the Core
Centennial ask for your help with an
important piece of the Centennial
celebration. The Core Stories Memory
Project (#corestories) will gather
reflections, perspectives, insights and
memories of our Core Curriculum
experiences to be shared throughout
the year on social media, online and
in various publications. At the end of
the Centennial year, the College will
preserve the memories in a digital
and/or print format as the community
expression of the Core experience.
64 CCT Spring 2020
Please visit core100.columbia.edu/
core-stories to submit stories, to
attach a photo or to send a short
video that speaks to your experience
in the Core.
1976
Ken Howitt
kenhowitt76@gmail.com
No music, as I am sitting Shiva
for my 96-year-old mom, Mildred
Howitt (spouse of Bill Howitt’41
and mother of four College gradu-
ates), who recently passed away. Two
classmates were so embracing. First,
Tiberio Nascimento’s guitar playing
was playing on a CD in Mom's hospi-
tal room during the last three weeks
of her life. Then, Mozelle Thompson
was the supreme editor for my eulogy.
‘Thanks to both for all the support!
Philip “Gara” LaMarche
checked in with a mini-reunion of
his own: “In December, Dan Baker
and I organized a reunion, with
our wives, of three Columbians
— ourselves, and Harry Bauld’77,
along with Chris Daly, a Harvard
friend. It was 40 years since the big
birthday party we had for ourselves
in 1979. We revisited old haunts
like V&T and the site of the now-
departed Felle’s Tavern at 106th and
Amsterdam, where we all played in a
darts league.
“T head up the Democracy Alli-
ance, the organization of progres-
sive political donors, heading into
the most important election of our
lives, teach at Hunter College in the
Roosevelt House Human Rights
Program, and chair the boards of
StoryCorps and The New Press.”
Gary Lehman BUS’80, SIPA’80
took a break from his job with
Homeland Security to report he“...
sojourned to Djibouti in the Horn of
Africa with Shark Research Institute.
Mission was to scuba dive/snorkel
with the whale sharks to document/
photograph them, building census
baseline data while they congregate in
the Gulf of Tadjoura. They are highly
endangered and they might be gone
before we even know much about
them. The spot patterns for each
whale shark are unique, so individuals
can be identified; keep that GoPro
running! Seeing a whale shark for the
first time is a stunning experience; it
is like looking back at the begin-
ning of life on Earth. We also dove
between the separating tectonic plates
in the Africa’s Great Rift Valley.
“After the diving adventure, I met
my wife in Addis Ababa and we
toured Ethiopia: Addis Ababa and
the 3.5 million-year old Australo-
pithecus Afarensis, then north to
Bahir Dar to see the source of the
Blue Nile and Christian monasteries
from 13th century on Lake Tana;
Gonder; the stunning lava rock
churches (World Heritage sites);
and the spectacular Simien Moun-
tains with various endemic species
and the cheeky gelada monkeys! We
are looking forward to welcoming
[grandson] Silas in March; he will
join his four cousins!”
Laurence J. Collins reports from
Toledo, Ohio. He sent an incredible
piece of digital art, which described
his transformation to “phoenix”
shortly after his Columbia gradua-
tion. LJC draws a parallel to a lion, in
that “I am boldly striding forth.” In
that mission, he has been married to
Linda for 37 years. They met in NYC
during his freshman year. Together,
they have four children (two boys
and two girls), with two in business
management, one a teacher and one
a homicide detective. LJC contin-
ues, “I am a certified blood bank
technologist, and worked within the
Greater Toledo Area Chapter of the
American Red Cross for 12 years in
the blood processing lab, two years as
community program consultant, and
five years as founder and coordina-
tor of the Men of Color Project of
Toledo, which was an HIV/AIDS
prevention and education initiative
targeting gay and bisexual men of
color in Toledo and Lucas County,
Ohio. I officially retired from the Red
Cross on August 1, 2019. In 1998,
I earned a master’s in education in
mental health and school counseling
from the University of Toledo. I was
employed by Toledo Public Schools
for 16 years before retiring in 2011.
I have been a real estate developer
since 1982 and provide affordable
residential housing for Toledo resi-
dents. I am currently the head varsity
basketball coach at my alma mater,
Jesup W. Scott H.S., and will be a
substitute biology teacher this year.”
Indeed, like a phoenix, LJC seems
to be constantly rising!
Jeffrey Glassman checked in
with concern about the Columbia
University Marching Band situation
from last fall. "The increased supervi-
sion concerns him, based on his rec-
ollection of an incident during our
student years. He writes, “The band
set out for the Saturday afternoon
Brown game late Friday night, and
then went to the Yale campus and
pretended to be the Harvard band,
got on the bus and went to Cam-
bridge and pretended to be the Yale
band, waking everybody early in the
morning and confusing everybody
because the Harvard-Yale game was
in New Haven, and then went on to
Providence for the Brown game and
‘pretended’ to be the Columbia Uni-
versity Marching Band. Somehow, I
think that behavior in 2019 or 2020
would end in not only administra-
tive discipline but also, and more
likely, criminal charges.”
Jeff is concerned that the current
solution is too restrictive but realizes
that a number of alums remain
active in an advisory role, and so he
is confident about the future.
George Freimarck GSAS’81
checked in: “I’ve entered my second
year here in Munich, on behalf of
Xceedance Consulting, developing
business for our insurance strategic
consultancy in Europe. While here,
my wife, Gratia Pelliciotti BC’80,
and I have engaged in quite a bit of
travel throughout Germany, Austria,
Switzerland and the Adriatics (as
opposed to the Baltics). Speaking
of the Baltics, shoutout to Toomas
Hendrik Ilves, former president of
Estonia, and valedictorian of Leonia
HLS. in New Jersey! I follow Toomas
on Twitter (@IlvesToomas), mainly
because of my interest in the Baltic
region and his informed perspective
on a region we often hear too little
about but to which a lot more atten-
tion ought to be paid.”
Charles Martin, as a former class
correspondent, took pity on me and
submitted: “Not much to report
([soon] I should have an announce-
ment about a new mystery novel).”
He went on to say that the
story collection Hong Kong Noir
features one of his stories, “Ticket
Home,” was named one of the “45
Highlights from 2019” by the Asian
Review of Books. Charles works out
of a 1957 Airstream trailer in his
Seattle backyard.
John Lauer has resided in
Morgantown, Pa., for more than
33 years, and it has been almost 38
since he moved out of Astoria, N.Y.
Married to Bonnie for more than
42 years and enjoying having four
of their six children still home, on
Left to right, Dan Baker ’76, Harvard grad Chris Daly, Harry Bauld *77 and
Gara LaMarche ’76 recreated the pose Bauld caricatured for an invitation in
1979 based on Picasso’s Les Desmoiselles dAvignon.
occasion. John manages a Thrivent
Financial office as a financial associ-
ate, only 4.4 miles from home. His
new motto is “65 and still alive!”
He adds, “Medicare has been good
so far, too. While life is not without
health issues, ’'m celebrating eight
years post-prostate cancer. Also made
the last two college tuition payments
in January for the last two daughters,
both seniors at Eastern University.
One son is finishing his Ph.D. in
physics at Temple, so finally there
will be a ‘Dr. Lauer’ later this year. If
you pass through Morgantown (Exit
298 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike),
stop in to say hello.”
Glenn Stanley GSAS’88 lives
in Berlin, where he is a lecturer at
Barenboim-Said Akademie there.
He is also professor emeritus at the
University of Connecticut. Glenn
writes, “Many of you don't know me
because I was at Columbia for only
two years and lived at Barnard, but
here goes. I started graduate school
in musicology at Columbia in 1976;
after my first year I spent two years
in Germany studying language and
music, and I met my future wife,
Anka, who returned with me in
1979. I finally finished in 1987 (two
years of research grants in both East
and West Germany for the disserta-
tion slowed the process, but we had
fun!), taught as a visiting professor
for two years at Columbia and one
at McGill before settling down at
the University of Connecticut with
one son in tow. There we stayed until
2017, with several half-year and full-
year stays in Germany and Austria,
when we moved to Berlin, where we
now live permanently. I love the city,
and there is much less Trump here,
although still too much. I am teach-
ing at a small conservatory in Berlin,
and remain active as a scholar, con-
centrating on Beethoven and other
German composers as well as music
criticism and historiography.”
Quite a few classmates send in
their updates with offers to host
travelers who want to get in touch.
Our class does not seem to be retir-
ing to Florida, but instead is rising
like a phoenix (apologies to LJC for
stealing his idea) and continuing to
expand our horizons. Writing this
column is inspiring, and | appreciate
all the back and forth as I try to cre-
ate an interesting read.
If there is a classmate whom you
would like to reach out to, please
email me at the address at the top
of this column. I would be happy to
connect you.
Finally, the music will start
again next week. Being a part of a
Columbia family and having all of
you as family members has seen me
through many recent trying times.
Thanks, and start planning for the
45th reunion Thursday, June 3—
Saturday, June 5, 2021. Keep those
updates coming!
en
David Gorman
dgorman@niu.edu
I have managed to get way behind
on this column. Apologies to
all concerned.
In November, Peter Basch
wrote to update us on his work at
NASA’ Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
which involved a side trip from
Los Angeles to Cape Kennedy. He
shares, “I’m on the Mars 2020 rover
team at JPL, doing documenta-
tion. I'll travel to the Cape for two
months! Maybe not sun, fun and
sand, but certainly sun and mechani-
cal/electrical procedures. And some
sand too, I guess.”
In August, Walter Heiser BUS’85
wrote to say that first, he is a project
finance and development attorney
based in southeast Asia (he mentions
ahunninews
Bangkok and Vientiane), these proj-
ects, he says, “include numerous elec-
tric power facilities — hydropower,
solar, and wind and mine-mouth coal,
as well as the Laos-China Railway
(under construction).”
Walter considers his second piece
of news to be the big one, however,
since it concerns the publication
of his first novel, Brazil, Brasi/...
Welcome to Brasil! The paperback is
available from Barnes & Noble, the
e-book from Amazon. This venture
has not been without its issues. He
says, “My book website has survived
numerous hacking attempts from IP
addresses in such exotic locales as
Staten Island; North Bergen, N_J.,
the Russian Federation and Kazakh-
stan. Either a former employer is
concerned that my book might be
exposing the antics of ex-top brass
when in Brasil or Trump’s Russian
operatives! I did, however, change all
names to protect the innocent and
not-so-innocent.”
Walter has a second novel, set in
the Philippines, and is looking for
a publisher. He is also working on a
third, “set largely in 1980s—90s NYC
— a surefire bestseller!”
If I am in there, Walter, please
change my name.
In July (told you I'd gotten
behind), Gerry Friedman wrote to
say that he didn’t recall when his last
update was (it was 2014). Gerry is
a professor of economics at UMass
Amherst, and so much more, which
I will attempt to sort out:
1. Teaching. Gerry writes, “I have
been teaching the mega-lecture in
microeconomics at UMass, with
about 20 percent of the undergradu-
ates. They know me much better
than I know them, and they know
my dogs, who come to class. Our
older dog, Beowulf, died days after
the election in 2016, despairing of
what the humans had done. We now
have his nephew, Corduroy, also a
Standard Poodle. The dogs are much
more popular than I!”
2. Administration. In the past
decade, at various times, Gerry has
been chair of his department, associ-
ate chair, undergraduate program
director and chair of the college
of social and behavioral sciences
personnel committee.
3. Research. Gerry writes, “I have
been very involved in the campaign
for Medicare for All, preparing eco-
nomic impact studies for 10 states
(including New York), as well as for
the United States. This has led me to
spend time on the road, and testify-
ing in various venues, including
Washington, D.C. 1 contributed a
controversial economic study to the
Bernie Sanders campaign in 2016.”
4. Publication. Gerry has
continued to revise his alternative
microeconomics textbook, and he
finished a manuscript, The Case for
Medicare for All.
Apologies to Mike Aroney, who
was identified only as “Mike” in the
Fall 2019 column.
1978
Matthew Nemerson
matthewnemerson@gmail.com
Thanks, everyone, for contributing
to another busy column.
Michael Burros shares that he is
marrying Brant Dykehouse in March.
I had asked everyone, in honor of the
Oscars, to give the class their movie
and book picks. Michael mentioned
the films O gue Arde; Longa noite;
Moira; and Mientras dure la guerra.
The Core at 100 has been a theme
around campus starting last fall and
was even featured at Homecoming
last year. Chuck Callan notes, “I
attended the relaunch of the Core
Curriculum in September. It is great
to see the sincere dedication of
talented teaching faculty, even if for
some students it’s a hard sell to con-
vince them why they should spend
the time to read the ‘Ancients.’
“Priorities are the same for kids.
Perhaps maybe more anxiety today
about careerism and being liked. We
thought it was an accomplishment
to not be liked, as that meant we
were imaginative and original.
“For books, I recommend Pierre
Hadot’s What Is Ancient Philosophy?
Separately, for a great description of
decadence and gluttony, I recently
reread The Feast of Trimalchio. Vm not
sure The Satyricon is still on the syl-
labus for Lit Hum, but it should be.”
Thomas Reuter had lunch with
Gerard Gallucci at Eataly in NYC.
Thomas writes, “My kids are fond
of telling us that we were oh-so-
worried that Nintendo would rot
their brains when they were young,
and then we went ahead and let Fox
News rot our brains.
“As for books, I suggest Justin-
ian’ Flea by William Rosen. It’s an
ambitious work that ties together
Spring 2020 CCT 65
the Roman Empire, the Hagia
Sophia and climate change, leading
to the Plague’s escape from Africa,
which led to the depopulation of
Europe, which led to the rise of
Islam. A good read.”
Cristopher Dell, now with his
own Dell Energetix Consulting,
writes, “It seems that my retirement
careers have unexpectedly put me
in an interesting place to watch a
couple of the major issues of our
time play out. I work part-time for
Fieldstone, the leading independent
investment bank in the African
power sector; am a consultant to
the Joint Chiefs of Staff/U.S. Africa
Command exercise program; and
have recently joined the board of an
Australian startup that has licensed
a lithium-ion battery anode technol-
ogy that almost doubles the storage
capacity of said batteries.
“We're working on a pilot facility
to refine and prove the technology
at scale. So somehow or the other,
I’m involved in the reemergence
of great power competition with
Russia and China (both military and
economic), and renewable energy in
response to climate change. I can say
with certainty I’ve seen its impact
in changing weather patterns every-
where I’ve lived and clear evidence
of rising sea levels.
“Fortunately, none of it demands
too much of my time and I’m free
to pursue things I really care about,
as well. This entails spending a lot
of time in Portugal, and rehabilitat-
ing an old windmill (no sign of any
cancer-causing tendencies just yet,
despite our Dear Leader’s mad pre-
dictions); trying (and thus far fail-
ing) to learn to play the Portuguese
guitar; and reading about the history
of the Portuguese discoveries. After
living abroad for two decades, I’m
now ensconced in Crazy Town,
where my wife works for USAID.
That’s about the only thing keeping
me from moving back to Europe
full time. But I must confess that
Washington, D.C., has become a
much livelier and more interesting
town, as long as one doesn’t have to
get involved in the politics.
“My thoughts about our kids is
that they seem much less concerned
about starting a definable career.”
Chris says he stays in touch with
another world traveler from CC’78,
Nick Serwer.
Staying with our class interna-
tionalists, William Hartung, with
66 CCT Spring 2020
the Center for International Policy,
writes, “I continue to work on peace
and security issues at the center, a
D.C.-based think tank. Much of my
writing now appears in my column
at Forbes — a recent example is
‘Don't Blunder Into War With Iran.’
“Our kids are clearly more
progressive, more concerned about
issues like climate, racism and
gender equality. When it comes to
generations and the climate, my
daughter doesn’t so much blame us
as encourage us to rise to the occa-
sion and do something about it now.
“T have stayed in touch with my
freshman and sophomore go-to
friend Lewis Pasco and saw
Andres Mares during his recent
NYC visit.
“As for movies, I recommend
Parasite, and books by Jeanette
Winterson or Curtis Sittenfeld.”
John A. Glusman GSAS’80,
with W.W. Norton & Co., where
he is editor-in-chief, is married to
Emily Bestler BC’83, publisher of
Emily Bestler Books, an imprint
of Simon & Schuster. John writes,
“Our daughter Jenny is a third-year
medical student, daughter Isabel
is applying to graduate school in
psychology and son Graham 19 will
attend Vanderbilt University Law
School next year. While it’s hard to
generalize, I think all three of our
children are very conscious of their
generation's interest in making the
world a better place than we did.
So, I'd say they’re more politically
engaged and socially active.
“T recently saw Barry Singer
°79, owner of Chartwell Booksell-
ers. Barry and I took Ted Tayler’s
legendary Shakespeare course and
attended the lovely memorial service
for him in Low Library, along with
my author Tom Vinciguerra’85.
“Yes, climate change is real, due
to a variety of factors, and there’s no
doubt that our coastlines are at risk
and our fisheries are in peril, as is
the quality of the air we breathe and
the water we drink. Our children are
quick to blame the boomers for this
tragedy, and rightly so, especially
when environmental regulations are
being rolled back under the current
administration at an appalling pace
and with far too little public debate.
“Speaking of the environment,
read Richard Powers’s The Overstory,
if you haven't already done so. It won
the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in fiction, is
gorgeously written, deeply moving
and will remind you of the beautiful
world we inhabit and which is now
at such risk.”
Tony Dellicarri is a retired
attorney now with The Mental
Health Association of Westchester
as a mental health peer counselor.
He writes, “I’ve been married 33
years and we have one daughter (25)
and one son (22). I recently saw
basketball friends Joe Vidulich and
Calvin Parker. Climate change is
real, but I would be lying if I said I
did not like the warmer winters!”
Henry Aronson will be the music
director for Sarah Silverman’s show
The Bedwetter at the Atlantic Theater
Company this spring. “Yes, climate
change is a terrifying reality, being
exacerbated by the willful ignorance
and obstructionism of Republicans
and their corporate overlords.”
From Barry Sage-El, “Enjoying
my first year of retirement. My wife,
Margot BC’78, and I welcomed our
third grandchild, Lea, into the world
in the fall. I think our kids are a lot like
we were, in their early 30s now and
grinding out careers and raising kids.”
Tim Weiner JRN’79 reports, “I’m
happily married for 26 years to Kate
Doyle, with two beautiful daughters,
and we are back in Brooklyn after a
38-year ellipsis. My sixth book, The
Folly and the Glory: America, Russia,
and Political Warfare 1945-2020,
will be out in June. I hang with
Joe Walker’79, my WKCR buddy,
whenever possible, and I recently
saw my freshman roomie, Carl
Strehlke. None of us ever age.”
Joseph Cosgriff writes, “I
recently released The Dog Who Took
Me Up a Mountain: How Emme
the Australian Terrier Changed My
Life When I Needed It Most, which
I co-wrote with business leader
Rick Crandall. It’s about the dog
that inspired Rick’s late-career
passion for mountain climbing. My
next book will take on the 1904
American League pennant race. I
have also taken a consulting position
with Fans for the Cure, broadcaster
Ed Randall’s charity that promotes
best practices around the testing for
and the treatment of prostate cancer.
Can't say enough about the sup-
port the charity has received from
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/
Columbia University Medical Cen-
ter and its team of urologists.
“As for stealing signs, the 1978
Columbia baseball team had a new
coach, Paul Fernandes, so our high-
est priority was just recognizing the
Columbia signs, which we more or
less did in time for graduation day.
“I recently saw Brian Altano
at the wedding of his son Erik. A
marriage took place that enables
Michael Forlenza and me to share
three wonderful nephews. I am
regularly in touch with my baseball
teammates Michael Wilhite, Harry
Bauld’77 and Rob Murphy’77. I
hope to see my baseball teammates
and classmates at Columbia baseball
games at Robertson Field at Satow
Stadium this spring, as usual.
“As for climate change, the sci-
ence is undeniable and June, July
and September of last year were
the warmest of those months on
record for the last 143 years. And
the last decade was the warmest in
recorded history. Most telling, my
wine-growing friends say that past
schedules have become increasingly
less relevant as they plan for harvest.
“For books, I suggest The Big Fella:
Babe Ruth and the World He Created
by Jane Leavy; Our Dogs, Ourselves:
The Story of a Singular Bond by Alex-
andra Horowitz; The Life and Afterlife
of Harry Houdini by Joe Posnanski;
Inventing Tomorrow: H. G. Wells
and the Twentieth Century by Sarah
Cole; Our Man: Richard Holbrooke
and the End of the American Century
by George Packer; and Night Boat to
Tangier by Kevin Barry. That should
keep you busy for a while.”
Joseph Schachner says, “I’m
on the email list of W2AEE, the
amateur radio club of Columbia
University. Very nostalgic. When I
retire — in three years I think — I
will have to get there some time
when it’s open. My older daughter is
expecting our second grandchild in
April and no news can top that.
“T hope there will be time to
avert a climate catastrophe. In the
meantime, I drive a Honda Clarity
plug-in hybrid vehicle, which I can
charge and only use battery power to
drive to and from work, all the time.
So, I’m doing my part.
“This year’s Little Women was very
true to the book and I thought an
overall excellent movie.”
Stuart Kricun closes the com-
pendium of tidbits with this news:
“As many of you are probably getting
prepared for your children’s weddings
or welcoming grandchildren, my wife
and I are preparing for my son’s bar
mitzvah. We're working on photo
montages and videos to make it a
special occasion for him. As for work,
1 will celebrate my 15th year at the
Disney Channel at the end of May. It
is the happiest place on earth!”
All is good here in New Haven
— drop in if you're driving through.
NOS
Robert Klapper
robertklappermd@aol.com
This note comes from yours truly,
Robert Klapper. Today’s Columbia
thought comes courtesy of Google.
For me, getting into Columbia
was my ticket to a better life. It
propelled me on the path to medical
school, thanks to St. Patricia Geisler
GSAS’79. I may be Jewish but I do
believe in saints, and she was the
patron saint of the College. [Editor’s
note: For those who don't remember,
Geisler was an instructor in the
German department who was then
appointed assistant College dean
and a pre-professional advisor. |
Medical school at P&S led to
training in orthopedic surgery at the
Hospital for Special Surgery, the last
31 years working at Cedars-Sinai and
— 15,000 surgeries later — a truly
wonderful life that I could never have
imagined as I put my head on the pil-
low as a freshman at Carman Hall. I
remember those days because I could
not afford one of those mini-fridges
and kept the milk for my cereal in a
plastic bag hung outside my window
to keep it cold. When I revealed this
crisis in cryotherapy to my parents,
they said, “Your grandma has an old
icebox in the basement; you can use
that.” Do you remember Jackie Glea-
son and the sitcom The Honeymooners?
It’s the same kind of icebox Ralph
Kramden used to open, telling Alice,
“Youre going to the moon.” It had to
be from the 1940s, because every time
the refrigerator turned on, the channel
on my roommate’s radio changed sta-
tions. He wanted to kill me.
To say the least, it was a real day-
to-day struggle for me financially.
The only way I could afford room
and board and tuition was through
a scholarship. I was designated the
Sykes Scholar for the Class of 1979.
When I was accepted to the College,
Columbia advised me of this prize.
It was due to my desire to row crew
as well as being pre-med. I was told
I was being sponsored by a wealthy
hedge fund alumnus, Macrae Sykes
CC 1933, who rode on the 1929
championship crew and had a son
who wanted to be a doctor but unfor-
tunately passed away. To honor his
family, a scholarship was established.
Forty-five years later, one day I
decided to google Macrae Sykes, the
angel from above who helped me
make my dream of graduating from
the College a reality.
Through the labyrinth that is
Google, I stumbled upon a financial
advisor in NYC and Rye, N.Y.,
named Macrae Sykes. There was no
way it could be him, I thought —
he'd be 100-plus — but there was a
phone number and I dialed it!
I was shocked when a voice on
the other end of the line announced,
“This is Macrae Sykes speaking.” I
was immediately transported back in
time to Orientation Day as a fresh-
man. 1 wanted to say thank you to
someone related to the scholarship.
The Macrae Sykes I was now talking
to was, in fact, the grandson of the
man who paved the way for me to
go to Columbia. He told me the
scholarship was an important part of
his grandfather's life. He didn’t have
much to tell me about his grandfa-
ther and obviously I will never meet
my Lorenzo de Medici, but what a
powerful legacy to give and make
possible a priceless journey for a
poor kid from Far Rockaway.
Thank you, Google.
Roar, lion, roar!
1980
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ecreunion@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ecfund@columbia.edu
Michael C. Brown
mcbcu80@yahoo.com
As the old song goes, “ ... another
brick in the wall,” and here we are
on the cusp on our 40th reunion.
Wow, time sure flies! Your Reunion
Committee has been working hard
on the event, scheduled for Thursday,
June 4-Saturday, June 6, with
cocktail parties, an all-class party
and a class dinner, which will give us
plenty of time to reconnect.
Congratulations to Lanny Breuer
for being honored with a 2020 John
Jay Award for distinguished profes-
alumninews
Ed Klees ’81 (second from right) celebrated his birthday on November 2
with alumni friends, left to right: Michael Kinsella ’81, Kevin Fay ’81,
Robert Spoer ’81 and Steven Coleman ’83.
sional achievement. Lanny has had a
distinguished career in law and gov-
ernment, serving Presidents and the
people. He is vice-chair of Covington
& Burling, one of the leading law
firms in the United States.
Mark Diller checked in from
the Upper West Side, where he was
recently elected chair of Manhattan
Community Board 7. Using his law
career experience, he will focus on
community issues like zoning, land
use changes, transportation and
affordable housing, to name a few.
Given the amount of development
occurring in NYC, Mark will be a
busy man in 2020.
It is nice to see legacy admits to
the College, and I was happy to learn
that my former roommate Mike
Riordan’s son Andrew is in the Class
of 2023. Mike recently retired from
Prisma Health, where he was the
CEO of South Carolina's largest
health system. Based in Greenville,
Mike is on some boards and is active
in his community. Looking forward
to seeing him around campus.
Another legacy admit, Pat
DeSouza’s daughter Elizabeth, will
also be part of the Class of 2023.
Pat is the chairman of Plain Sight,
a technology company focusing on
water and media.
Stan Lazusky checked in from
Harrisburg, Pa., where he runs an
executive search firm. He is working
on his great American novel and
looking forward to migrating south
for the warmer weather.
We look forward to seeing you at
the 40th reunion! Drop me a note at
mecbcu80@yahoo.com.
1931
Kevin Fay
kfayO516@gmail.com
This column contains a little of
everything — joy, a request and loss.
Let’s begin with joy!
On November 2, I attended a
birthday party (the 60th) for Ed
Klees at the Boar’s Head Resort in
Charlottesville, Va. The event was
hosted by his wife, Susan Klees, and
included family, close friends and a
few “old” classmates from Columbia.
It was both celebration and roast,
wonderfully done. Also present were
Michael Kinsella, Robert Spoer
and Steven Coleman’83.
By now, most of the Class of 1981
has celebrated their 60th birthday.
If you would like to share memories
and photographs with your class-
mates, by all means contact me!
I have a request from Erik
Jacobs, who wants to know if
anyone from the class still has his
freshman beanie (these were pro-
duced in 1977 — yikes). Erik wants
to borrow it (or at least obtain a
photo), and plans to make some for
2021 in time for our 40th reunion.
Mark your calendars: Thursday, June
3-Saturday, June 5, 2021.
Finally, it saddens me to report of
the death of James Haslem’80, fel-
low Fiji, a beloved husband and the
father of two sons. Jim was an honor
student at Columbia and a graduate
of Penn Law, and had a long and
successful legal practice and real
estate consulting firm in California.
Spring 2020 CCT 67
Jim was diagnosed with ALS in
July, and succumbed to this disease
on November 9, 2019. For decades,
the Fays exchanged Christmas cards
with the Haslems — we met either
in California or Washington, D.C.,
on various occasions. Way too soon!
Please keep in touch. Wishing
the entire class the very best in 2020.
1982
Andrew Weisman
columbiacollege82@gmail.com
Greetings, gents! First, I apologize
to anyone who might have tried,
unsuccessfully, to send an update.
The columbiacollege82@gmail.com
account was temporarily disabled.
Not sure how this happened. Tech
support informs me it was a combi-
nation of gremlins and evil spirits.
Looks like we’re now back in action.
Our first update this quarter
comes from our accomplished
and loyal classmate Skip Parker
BUS’91. In light of his upcoming
Diamond Jubilee celebration of life
on planet Earth, Skip decided it
was time to update us: “Over the
past three years, I’ve become heavily
involved in community affairs in my
hometown of Greenwich, Conn.
On November 5, I was elected to
a two-year term as a delegate to
Greenwich’s Representative Town
Meeting, the second-largest legisla-
tive body in the country, other than
the U.S. Congress. I also serve on
Skip Parker ’82 shared a photo
from the Head of the Housatonic
regatta featuring (left to right)
oarsmen Jim Murphy ’88, Mike
McCarthy ’83, himself and Terry
Waldron SEAS’82 (the coxswain is
an MIT grad).
68 CCT Spring 2020
the town’s Harbor Management
Commission and co-founded the
energy sub-committee of the town’s
Conservation Commission, upon
which I also served. I chair the
Greenwich Choral Society, which is
composed of 100 auditioned male
and female voices performing choral
masterworks with professional solo-
ists and a chamber orchestra three
times each year. I also sing with the
University Glee Club of New York
City, which was founded by Colum-
bia alumni, and the Columbia
Alumni Singers.
“For the past three years, I have
been the treasurer of Call-A-Ride
of Greenwich, which provides free
car service to residents older than
60. Recently, I was appointed to
the vestry of my church, and I sing
in the church choir there as well. I
continue to remain fit for rowing
and have captained a four-oared
shell for the Kings Crown Rowing
Association for the last five years at
the Head Of The Charles regatta.
“Recreationally, my wife and I
enjoy plying the waters of Con-
necticut and Massachusetts in our
powerboat. Our daughters graduated
from the University of Virginia, Bar-
nard College and Boston University.
Professionally, my title is first VP
— wealth management at UBS. In
short, I work with busy professionals
who work very hard and retire early!
“Near this column is a photo
of my shell from the Head of the
Housatonic Regatta, for which we
finished third in the Masters event.
‘The oarsmen are (left to right) Jim
Murphy ’88, Mike McCarthy’83,
me and Terry Waldron SEAS’82.
The coxswain is an MIT grad.”
Skip, it’s a good thing you're not
planning to retire any time soon; the
City of Greenwich would have its
credit rating cut at least two notches!
Our second update this quarter
comes from our highly honored
classmate Stephen Sullivan
GSAS’13. Steve wrote on January 3:
“In about nine hours the American
Historical Association (AHA) will
honor me with its Nancy Lyman
Roelker Mentorship Award.
Columbia history professor Betsy
Blackmar was the 2011 recipient,
so I figure it’s good to be on any list
that includes her name. Ironically, I
retired from my job as a public high
school social studies teacher after 31
years to accept a ‘too good to refuse’
opportunity as research director at a
Catholic all-girls academy closer to
home. I’m technically attached to the
science department, but 70 percent of
my girls’ research involves econom-
ics, psychology, sociology, geography
and history of science. The other 30
percent? Chemistry, physics, ecology,
biology and engineering! Hey, I was
pre-med for two years at the Col-
lege! God bless the Core. Besides, I
needed a new challenge. Mentoring
is mentoring. Smart kids are smart
kids. They keep me on my toes. It’s
just a little funny that the AHA
decided to honor me now.”
For those unfamiliar with this
award, it’s a big deal and we should
all be really proud of Steve. I grabbed
a couple of parts of the AHA press
release to put this accomplishment
in perspective: “The Nancy Lyman
Roelker Mentorship Award for teach-
ers of history who taught, guided, and
inspired their students in a way that
changed their lives. ... Once every
three years, the American Historical
Association's Roelker Award Com-
mittee meets to recognize the nation’s
best precollegiate mentor — ‘to
honor teachers of history who taught,
guided, and inspired their students in
a way that changed their lives.’ At first
glance, the AHA decision to grant
one of its most prestigious prizes to
Sacred Heart Academy’s Science
Research Director might seem curi-
ous. However, if one considers Dr.
Sullivan's long career, and expansive
and interdisciplinary definition of
historical and scientific research, their
thinking becomes clear. Between
1987 and 2019, Stephen's students
have earned literally hundreds of
national awards in humanities, social
science and natural science competi-
tions. Said Sullivan, ‘I teach research,
not history, psychology or biology, per
se.’ According to Science Chair Beth
Feinman, M.D., ‘{t]his is a wonderful
recognition of all that Dr. Sullivan
brings to the Research Department
and underscores that ‘science’ is more
a critical way of thinking than just
a discipline. Stephen has helped
us widen SHA’s perspective and
broadened the scope of what we can
offer our students through the lens of
non-traditional sciences.”
Congratulations, Steve! Obvi-
ously well deserved!
Finally, it is with a heavy heart
that I must inform everyone that
beloved classmate John Dawson,
after a valiant fight against an
aggressive cancer, passed away on
October 13, 2019. John earned
a B.A. in political science, was a
former president of Delta Psi, a
member of the men’s heavyweight
crew and an active alum, where he
was part of the Kings Crown Row-
ing Association.
John enjoyed attending Colum-
bia’s annual Homecoming festivities
and was a season ticket holder for
Columbia basketball games, which
he enjoyed attending with his son,
Johnny. He was also an enthusi-
astic golf and racquet sportsman,
especially tennis. He is survived by
his wife, Anusia, and son, Johnny,
and will be sorely missed by all his
friends and classmates.
1983
Roy Pomerantz
bkroy@msn.com
I am deeply saddened by the passing
of fellow Columbia College Alumni
Association Board of Directors
member and CCT class correspon-
dent Michael Oberman’69, Harvard
Law School’72 on October 15,
2019. Kenny Chin was a partner
with Michael at Kramer Levin and
attended the funeral. Kenny learned
that Michael’s family had a setback
when he attended Columbia;
Michael never forgot the help he
received during college and became
a lifelong supporter of CC. He
personally contacted classmates for
CCT and would vent to me when
his calls were not returned. His
column was always one of the most
informative. He was an inspiration
to me and will be sorely missed.
My sons, Ricky and David, and I
attended a number of CC football and
pre-conference CC basketball games.
We met Alton Byrd’79, VP of busi-
ness operations for the Long Island
Nets. He holds Columbia’s record for
career assists (526). Alton was drafted
by the Celtics and was a star player in
Europe for almost 20 years.
My daughter, Rebecca, will attend
Hamilton College this fall.
In honor of the Core Centennial,
Cathy Popkin, the Jesse and George
Siegel Professor in the Humanities,
spoke about Lit Hum at a recent
CCAA board meeting. She said
the conversation now is focused
on how we are all different. The
intellectual workout reading a text
like The Iliad stems from the story
In case you missed this photo in
the Winter 2019—20’s issue’s “Just
Married!” section, here it is again:
On August 25, Neal Smolar ’83
and Betsy Chutter Smolar BC’85’s
daughter was married in Paterson,
N.J., with several CC’83 friends in
attendance. Top row, left to right:
Smolar, Len Rosen ’83 and Adam
Bayroff ’83; and bottom row, left to
right: Miriam Kushner BC’83, Steve
Arenson ’83, Eddy Friedfeld ’83 and
Larry Herman ’83.
being so alien to us. The discussion
about homosexuality in Plato used
to be uncomfortable. Students now
are much more inclusive. There are
a thousand different conversations.
Students are instructed not to read
with awe and reverence. Everyone,
including the professor, is learning
together. Lit Hum and CC are one-
year courses. Being in a Lit Hum or
CC class is like living intellectually
with 22 roommates every year. These
classes require determination. They
are hard. People gasp. But there is
a huge alteration in the chemistry
of the room at the end of the year.
Everyone celebrates what they have
achieved together. These classes
redirect students from collecting
achievements on their transcript or
résumé to pursuing an intellectual
exercise. Just like Seinfeld is a show
about nothing, Lit Hum is a course
about nothing. It’s just about being
human. Having a conversation.
Approaching a text with Beginner's
Mind. One funny remark was that
she never met a student who actu-
ally read Thucydides. Maybe that’s
why it’s off the syllabus. But CC
has added important authors like
Virginia Woolf and Toni Morrison.
Professor Popkin said her favorite
text is Woolf’s To the Lighthouse,
which I read during my recent busi-
ness trip to China. Quite a contrast
to the last book in my Kindle,
Howard Stern Comes Again.
I attended Eddy Friedfeld’s NYU
Tisch School of the Arts class “Sid
Caesar, Milton Berle, Lucille Ball
and The Golden Age of Comedy.”
It was a tour de force and brilliantly
funny. It was one of the most enjoy-
able evenings I had last summer.
On September 22, I attended
the seventh annual Les Nelkin
[SEAS’87, LAW’87] Pediatric Can-
cer Survivors Day. Les’s sister, Amy
Nelkin ’89, LAW’91, also attended. I
miss Les and think about him often.
From Marcus Brauchli: “For the
last six years, I've been at North Base
Media (NBM), a venture capital firm
that has enjoyed reasonable success
focusing on media and media-tech
in the world’s growth markets. I
co-founded the firm after leaving the
Washington Post Co., where I spent
five years as executive editor and later
was a senior advisor to the Graham
family. My co-founder, Sasa Vucinic,
previously played a big role in foster-
ing independent media in post-com-
munist eastern and central Europe
and has an investment background to
balance out my overweighted journal-
ism résumé. We help to build quality
media for the next few billion people
coming online. Our portfolio includes
a number of leading news, business-
information, sports and entertain-
ment digital startups in Indonesia,
the Philippines, India, Mexico and
Taiwan. NBM’s general counsel is
Stuart Karle’82, who was the Wall
Street Journal’s general counsel when
i was the top editor there and long
ago my hard-driving boss at Spectator.
“My two daughters are in college,
one studying engineering at Colo-
rado University in my hometown
of Boulder, the other a freshman at
NYU Shanghai, a city where my wife,
Maggie Farley, and I spent five of our
15 years as reporters in Asia. Maggie
left the Los Angeles Times and now
works with Google’s news initiative.”
From Jacob Rabinowitz: “This
is the first time I have responded to
an alumnus update request. I recently
published my memoirs (link: amzn.
to/37gee7p). The chapter “What Sex
Are I?’ deals, inter alia, with my time
at Columbia, and what it meant to be
gender-fluid so many years before it
was known by that convenient name.
The preview pages on Amazon give a
fair impression of the book.
“T have had a more interesting
and picaresque life than anyone who
alumninews
I have seen as the subject of a fea-
ture in CCT, particularly in view of
my long and complicated relation-
ship with Allen Ginsberg ’48, which
is dealt with in detail in the book.”
From Walter Roberts III:
“Exploring the Core Curriculum has
continued to be the driving force in
my life. In 2006 I earned a Ph.D.
in classics from UC Berkeley, after
which I held positions at UMass
Amherst and the University of Ver-
mont. Ever eager to popularize the
Great Books, my work at UVM was
diverted by an aspiration to return
Greek and Latin to the Detroit
public schools. In pursuit of this goal,
in 2012 I resigned my position there
as assistant professor and returned
to Detroit to found a 501(c)3: the
Detroit Greek and Latin Educational
Foundation. Six years and $300,000
later, our team was forced to accept
that reviving Greek and Latin
was not within the orbit of K-12
educators in the city of Detroit. Don
Quixote going after those windmills!
“Eldercare duties now con-
fine me both to Detroit and to
my own home, where | attend to
my Alzheimer’s-afflicted mother.
Despite these constraints, I continue
my mission as a teacher of Greek
and Latin. Most recently I have
begun producing series on You Tube
videos, the main project being a
full-scale elementary Greek course
based on Clyde Pharr’s Homeric
Greek: A Book for Beginners. As
high schools and colleges across
the country continue to cut back
on their Ancient Greek offerings,
I’m personally relieved to be able to
create such a course and know that
ultimately anyone anywhere will be
able to appropriate the gem of my
Columbia experience — a working
knowledge of Homeric Greek.
“Tam in daily touch with Dr.
Langham Gleason’84, with whom
I play chess on the chess.com site
under the handle ‘NoCapa.’I wel-
come challenges from chess-playing
class members. Recently, when in
NYC for Wagner's Ring Cycle, it was
a pleasure to reconnect with former
dean Michael Rosenthal GSAS’67.
We had a pleasant early afternoon
chat at The Hungarian Pastry Shop.”
From Kurt Lundgren: “I am a
law partner in Thwaites, Lundgren &
D'Arcy, in Harrison, N.Y. Married
to Teresa for 23 years, with two boys,
Christopher (21) and Alec (17), and a
dog, Harley. I live in New City, N.Y.
“T stay in touch with baseball
buddies Glenn Meyers ’85 and
Michael DiChiaro ’84. Glenn lives
in West Nyack, N.Y., and Dich
lives in Mahwah, N.J. Also, Frank
Antonelli lives in Charlestown,
N.C., where he owns a golf course
and organizes golf events around the
country. John McGivney works for
the federal government in a capacity
that if he told us ... well, let’s just
say he has 00 status. Eugene Larkin
’84 a former World Series hero who
now is a financial broker in Min-
nesota, recently saw William Ebner
’73 and his wife, Virginia, while
voting. Bill is our former coach and
runs operations at the local JCC
and, at 70, looks terrific. Also, our
former baseball coach and Columbia
University Athletics Hall of Famer
Paul Fernandes is doing well, as is
his wife, Kathy; they split their time
between New Jersey and Florida
and enjoy time with the grandkids.
Frank Lofaso SEAS’83 is doing
well and lives on Long Island.
“Earlier this year several alums
attended a beautiful memorial ser-
vice at Robert K. Kraft Field for our
dear friend Michael J. Allen’82, who
died of natural causes. Everyone
who played ball with Mike came
away from the experience with great
memories. We still repeat Mike
Allen stories among each other
— he was a greater-than-life per-
sonality in those days. He was a true
friend and a great teammate.”
1984
Dennis Klainberg
dennis@berklay.com
Congratulations to Dr. Mark
Trolice, who recently was
appointed professor of ob/gyn at
the University of Central Florida
College of Medicine. His new
book, The Fertility Doctor’s Guide to
Overcoming Infertility. Discovering
Your Reproductive Potential and
Maximizing Your Odds of Having a
Baby, was released in January and
offers patients and their families a
guide to the struggles and realities
of the infertility treatment process,
along with no-holds-barred advice
about misinformation, exaggerated
claims, and unnecessary and
unhelpful treatments.
“Infertility,” says Mark, “is a
disease I personally battled and is a
Spring 2020 CCT 69
painful, heart-wrenching problem
that brings with it both emotional
and financial risk. One of my
reasons for writing this book was to
help the reader be proactive and be
their own advocate.”
It’s 2001 all over again as Hal
meets Kenny Tung LAW’S87,
“the AI guy.” From Kenny: “Here
is a link to my article on AI and
lawyers published in November:
bit.ly/2RzwjI5. Comments and
feedback will be greatly appreciated.”
Short, sweet, to the point ... but
did he write this?
A renewed journey for David
Prager Branner. After the death
of his mother, and months in New
York handling the estate, David has
again relocated to Taiwan. He writes,
“T have wanted to live [there] for the
long term ever since I got out of col-
lege. I expect to be back in New York
for the summer months each year
for the next few years; the rest of the
time, Taiwan will be home. I hope to
get permanent residence.
“In 1985, the pressure of ‘the
future’ obliged me to leave Taipei for
New York, graduate school and all
that. But now ‘the future’ is over and
I’m fortunate in being able to come
back and immerse myself in Chinese
language again. My wife, YSJ (Yeo
Shujen, given name Shujen) is
working on her calligraphy and I’m
improving my Chinese by reading
hard pre-modern literature and
translating it into Mandarin. My
teacher is a career language teacher
who is normally trapped dealing
with beginner students. Frankly,
I think it’s salutary for her to be
working with a student of my level,
CCT
SHOW US YOUR
LION’S GAY PRIDE!
CCT is creating a photo gallery to celebrate Pride
Month this June. Show us your LGBTQIA+ pride
in a group or individual photo (we need at least
one person to be a College alum!). Send your
hi-res photo with caption info to cct@columbia.edu;
we'll run our favorites in the Summer 2020 issue.
reading things she would never have
picked up on her own. Right now
we're finishing a piece, written in a
late imperial style of Classical Chi-
nese, on the first moon landing in
1969. I’m not sure if I will get a job
here, but the next two years, at least,
will consist of training in Chinese
and, I hope, the completion of some
long-unfinished book projects.”
It’s 2020, so all eyes on Steven
Odrich PS’88: “My wife and I
recently moved back to Manhattan
after raising our kids in Westchester.
Two of our three daughters are out in
the workforce and daughter number
3 is finishing her senior year of under-
grad coursework at Boston University.
We just paid our last tuition bill
and had a big party! My wife is an
architect practicing in Brooklyn and
I’m an ophthalmologist practicing in
Manhattan and Riverdale.”
Mark Binder’s latest book, The
Misadventures of Rabbi Kibbitz and
Mrs. Chaipul, has rocketed to the
top of the charts and is the number
1 bestseller in the category “Short,
humorous and romantic novels set
in an Eastern European Jewish
Village.” He will begin his second
European capitals book and spoken
story tour in March, with stops in
Vienna, London and Copenhagen.
Shoutout to Scott Avidon, who,
while attending the January 5 Jewish
solidarity march in NYC, bumped
into yours truly, Dennis Klainberg.
While we were stuck behind the bar-
ricades waiting for our time to join
the parade, none other than former
heavyweight crew member Ed Joyce
’83 was seen passing by at the head
of the parade, along with Mayor Bill
70 CCT Spring 2020
DiBlasio and Sen. Chuck Schumer
(D-N.Y.). With thanks to CCT
class correspondent Roy Pomerantz
°83, we have learned that Ed is an
attorney in NYC with Jones Day and
has become quite the bike enthusiast,
helping raise money through rides
such as the Wheels of Love (where
he has met my virtual cousin and
super-close family friend, attorney
Jonathan Lupkin’89, LAW’92,
founding member of Lupkin PLLC).
Ed also co-founded the Grumpy
Roadsters cycling team to raise “a few
dollars and shekels for the Muslim,
Christian and Jewish children of
ALYN Hospital in Jerusalem.”
Faster than a speeding bullet ...
no wait ... my Spidey sense is telling
me ... it’s Carr D’Angelo, owner
of Earth-2 Comics in Sherman
Oaks, Calif.!
Carr writes, “I am proud to be a
contributor to the book Selling
Comics: The Guide to Retailing and
Best Practices in the Greatest Modern
Artform, for the benefit of the Comic
Book Legal Defense Fund. The book
was compiled and edited by Alex
Cox, who once owned Rocketship,
the best comic book shop in Brook-
lyn. I remember starting my shop 17
years ago with not a lot of resources,
so I was happy to help pinpoint the
challenges faced going into this retail
business. I wrote about how to stock
your store for your opening, as that
was the question I kept asking in
2002. Besides, I always like to exer-
cise those Freshman Comp muscles
when I can.”
If you have forgotten — and
we're all in our 50s so, you might
have! — earlier in his career, Carr
was a movie producer (for Rob
Schneider’s The Hot Chick and The
Animal) and writer for magazines
and the entertainment industry.
Another charitable venture Carr
organized was a fundraiser for The
HERO Initiative. He says, “Our
good friend and customer, actor/
comedian/producer Jeff Garlin,
donated valuable vintage comics
(like the first appearance of the
Silver Surfer!) that we started selling
at an event in November; we still
have some for sale. All proceeds go
to HERO, a nonprofit that provides
financial and medical assistance to
comic book creators in need. As
freelancers, many of these fine folks
don’t have all the resources available
to them later in life, and HERO
makes a difference.”
Check out the “Just Married!”
section in this issue to see a photo
from Thomas Coffin Willcox’s
recent wedding!
1985
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccreunion@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Jon White
jw@whitecoffee.com
You should have recently received
information about Columbia
Reunion 2020, set for Thursday,
June 4-Saturday, June 6. I hope to
see many of you there and to catch
up in person.
The Columbia women’s rowing
program officially dedicated the
Deantini in honor of Dean James J.
Valentini at the annual Kings Crown
Rowing Association Banquet earlier
this year. The boat was a generous gift
from Tom Cornacchia, a longtime
supporter of Columbia rowing. The
Deantini will be the women’s varsity
eight racing shell this spring. Tom
was a four-year letter winner for
heavyweight rowing and capped his
career by rowing in the stroke seat.
He rowed alongside Colin Redhead,
coxswain Phil Gold’87, Dave Silvera
86 and Jim Hammond’87.
“Tm a big supporter of all of our
rowing programs, but I’m particu-
larly supportive of our women’s pro-
gram at Columbia,” said Tom at the
event. “Our women’s program can
bring a lot to this institution and the
athletes who come to the table.”
Paul Bongiorno is a residential
and commercial real estate agent
based at Keller Williams Mid-
town Direct in Maplewood, NJ.
He would be happy to help any
classmates with their home or office
property needs.
Congratulations to Hon. Gary
Brown, who was finally confirmed
by the United States Senate to take
his seat on the federal bench for the
Eastern District of New York!
Jeffrey Katz’s recently published
book, The Secret Life, charted as a
number 1 new release on Amazon.
‘The book explores the pioneering
work in the field of unconditional
love done by the Jewish scholar
-
Joe Titlebaum ’85 (second from left) received a lifetime achievement award
from The National Pancreas Foundation in November. Joining him were, left
to right: Mike Goldfischer ’86, Jim Hirshfield SEAS’87 and Gary Ireland GS’86.
Maimonides. It also explains his
teachings on charity and how devel-
oping a healthy emotional detach-
ment from money and material
things leads to bliss and prosperity.
‘The book is also available at Barnes
& Noble as well as everywhere else
books and e-books are sold.
Look for the “Lions” profile of
architecht Richard Maimon else-
where in this issue.
Mark Rothman continues to
build his practice as a progress
coach. He writes, “I help my clients
achieve and maintain continual for-
ward progress in every area of their
lives. Achievements and milestones
come and go, and even philosophical
definitions of success can be limit-
ing. But the ability to maintain
progress carries us from peak to peak
and through valley after valley. My
first book, Stop Playing Small: An
A to Z Guide to Living Your Bigger,
Better Life (available on Amazon),
which explores many of the key
concepts I use in my coaching, came
out last year.
“My wife, Vicki, and I are
currently enjoying a few days with
our youngest son, Noah, between
his time finishing with the Israeli
army and heading to Mammoth
Mountain to work at the resort
and ski. Son Eitan SEAS’17
completed almost seven months of
world travel and will be an assistant
coach to the Columbia heavyweight
crew (I would pay ¢hem to do that
.). Saul, our oldest, looks forward
to finishing his computer science
degree at the end of the summer
and joining Israel’s tech industry.
And Vicki’s industriousness seems
to know no bounds; in addition
to being the faculty leader at the
Santa Monica College Career
Services Center, she’s teaching a
mini-course in career development
to econ master’s students at UCLA
and maintaining a thriving private
practice as a career counselor.”
Tom Wheeler is in private
practice maternal fetal medicine in
Fort Wayne, Ind. His son serves in
the Marine Corps at MCB Camp
Pendleton in San Diego.
Andrew Hayes was thrilled to
come back to Morningside Heights
in September to help his son Liam
SEAS’23 move into Wallach. “Most
striking change — so much good
quality food available right on
campus,” he says.
In addition to Andrew, con-
gratulations to proud parents John
Balian, Basil Hosmer, Josh
Hyman, Serge Ozerov (twins
in the freshman class!) and Seth
Schachner, whose children con-
tinue the tradition as members of
the Class of 2023!
Joe Titlebaum is still in the
Washington, D.C., area, working
with startup companies through
Black Lab Venture Studio, which
funds and incubates startups at
the intersection of technology and
regulation. He says, “On the phil-
anthropic side, in November 2019
I received a lifetime achievement
award from The National Pancreas
Foundation in recognition of my
service as the chairman of the board
2009-19. The NPF provides hope
for those suffering from pancreatitis
and pancreatic cancer through fund-
ing cutting-edge research, advocat-
ing for new and better therapies,
and providing support and educa-
tion for patients, caregivers and
health care professionals. In addition
to my wife, Julie, and our son, Ben-
jamin 719, my friends and fraternity
brothers Mike Goldfischer ’86, Jim
Hirshfield SEAS’87 and Gary Ire-
land GS’86 joined me at the event
in New York City.”
Aaron Freiwald is celebrating
20th anniversary of his trial practice
in Philly, Freiwald Law. His weekly
podcast, Good Law|Bad Law
(law-podcast.com), continues to
grow and is now one of the leading
law-related podcasts in the country.
He is married to Stacey and lives in
Bryn Mawr, Pa. He says, “Hands full
with three kids, three stepkids, two
pugs and two Bengals!”
Greg Jarrin will miss our reunion,
as he will be venturing to Anchorage,
Alaska, for the first time as the orga-
nizer of the Indian Health Service
Annual Surgeons Conference. He has
been organizing this conference for
more than 20 years. Greg is the Indian
Health Service chief clinical consul-
tant for surgery; the group is always
looking to recruit surgeons to serve its
Native population. Feel free to contact
Greg at tubasurgeon@yahoo.com if
you can help or have questions about
the conference or his work.
You might be aware that this year
marks the 100th anniversary of the
founding of the Core Curriculum
(there was a feature article, “First
Class,” on Contemporary Civiliza-
tion in the Winter 2019-20 issue).
I encourage everyone to share their
Core memories, the Core’s impact
on their lives and so on.
My best Core memories include
being awoken by my Art Hum
professor as I dozed near the
projector when the lights had been
turned off for my 9:10 a.m. class
(but I still remember enough to
be competent in a museum now);
sitting in the first row of Carnegie
Hall for the New World Symphony
(performed by a Czech orchestra
with pride beyond description); and
having the good fortune to find one
of my favorite Stuyvesant friends,
Beth Knobel BC’84, in line for
signing up for Lit Hum sections
(back in the day when you had to
stand in line for that stuff) and
her letting me join her to sign up
for Wallace Gray’s section (a class
I will never forget that brought
me new appreciation for literature
and differing perspectives about
things). Those Core classes really
did provide an amazing foundation
for critical thinking and writing, as
well as being exposed to things I
never would have taken voluntarily.
Your recollections are welcome at
core100.columbia.edu/community
or in this column.
See you on campus soon — and
keep your great updates coming
either way!
dumninews \)
1986
Everett Weinberger
everett6@gmail.com
Happy 2020! It’s amazing to me that
we've already experienced the ’60s,
which we barely remember; the ’70s,
which made us love classic rock; the
80s, when we truly grew up; the
90s, when we worked our butts off;
the 00s, when the internet amazed
us; and the 10s, when the iPhone
became umbilically attached to our
hands. Given the pace of change, I’m
excited to see what this decade has
in store. Drop me a line if you have
any thoughts to share.
Our class held its own for
admissions to the Class of 2023. A
hearty congratulations to Charles
Atkins and daughter Charlotte;
Nino Dobrovic and son Luke; Scot
Glasberg and son Alexander; and
Ben Schmidt and daughter Isabel;
and special recognition to Ed Law,
who managed to get his two sons,
Christian and Jackson, accepted to
the Class of 23! And congrats on
transfer admissions for the Class of
2022 to Katharina Otto-Bernstein
and son Jonathan; and Clifford
Simms and daughter Thalia von
Moltke-Simms.
Robert Zifchak sent us a nice
update replete with philosophi-
cal musings: “My wife, Suzanne,
and I celebrated our 25th wed-
ding anniversary on September 10.
It’s been a blast, to say the least.
Unfortunately, the schedule the kids
keep prevented anything other than
a nice dinner at a local place we love.
While on our way to the restaurant,
I received a call from a retirement
counselor about my plans to retire at
60. When my wife figured out what
the call was about she took over the
conversation and told him I was
never retiring and not to call again.
We had a good laugh. Sadly, I’ve
been forced to adjust my plans.
“We've been blessed with two
beautiful girls who keep us busy.
Our eldest, Julia, turned 16 last
February and the Sweet 16 party
was almost as big as our wedding!
More than 100 guests plus the DJ.,
emcee, photographer, photo booth,
centerpiece gifts for the court (bridal
party-equivalent) and a bunch of
things I’m probably forgetting. I
drove all over New Jersey fetch-
ing assorted things for about two
Spring 2020 CCT 71
months, plus made three trips to the
venue to pre-stage things. Quite an
extravaganza. Apparently, this is the
big thing with her age group these
days — each party tries to outdo
the previous one. I think we came
in fourth place but they haven't
stopped yet so our final position is
TBD. I’m happy to report Sue took
care of all the details. I was just the
gofer and bank.
“Julia’s starting to drive. She’s
doing well, but our greatest fear is
she’ll be screwing with her phone and
have a problem. I guess that’s every
parent’s worry. I looked into a device
that would disable her phone while
the car was running but they are
illegal. FCC regulations, apparently.
‘The college search is proceeding. I’m
pushing for Michigan or Stanford
but Sue thinks they are too far away.
Columbia is in the running but Julia
wants to teach and a lot of the staff
in our local school system went to
Delaware and have recommended
the teaching curriculum there heavily,
so that’s her first choice (as of this
week). UNC and Duke have come
up but they fall in the ‘too far away’
category. When Julia said she wanted
to take a year off after high school
I told her that year is called United
States Army in this house, so that
idea evaporated quickly.
“Our younger daughter, Amanda,
has decided she’s going to attend
Rutgers, play professional soccer and
teach after she retires. Remember how
simple things were when you were 12?
“Professionally, I still support
the IT infrastructure for Deutsche
Bank, but when DB outsourced its
IT department to Hewlett-Packard
CCT welcomes Class Notes
photos that feature at
least two College alumni.
Click “Contact Us” at
college.columbia.edu/cct.
72 CCT Spring 2020
I went with it. HP promptly split
into HP and HPE, and HPE
merged with CSC to form DXC
Technology. I ended up working for
four companies doing the same job
in less than a year. The cool part is I
get paid to play with the latest and
greatest technologies all day. I even
get my hands on beta components
before they are available to the
public. Makes going to work an
adventure instead of a job.”
Congrats to Bill Teichner for being
named managing partner of Frontier
Capital Management, a Boston-based
investment company. Bill co-manages
its small-cap value fund.
Congrats also to Bill for winning
CCTs first Core Centennial Cartoon
Caption Contest. His winning cap-
tion was announced on page 2 of the
Winter 2019-20 issue. As part of the
celebration of the 100th anniversary
of the Core Curriculum, longtime
New Yorker magazine contributor
Edward Koren’57 provided CCT
with a Core-related cartoon in need
of a caption for the Fall 2019 issue
and asked for caption submissions.
Assuming you don't search for the
cartoon, it shows four students sitting
around a book-strewn table with
a professor at the head wearing a
T-shirt that says “The Core.” They are
all holding mini gothic pillars in both
arms above their heads, like weights.
Bill’s winning caption was, “Enough
warm-ups already! When are we
going to roll boulders with Sisyphus?”
Well done, Bill! I always read The
New Yorker's cartoon caption contests
and I can tell you that this one was
up there in difficulty and obscurity.
1987
Sarah A. Kass
SarahAnn29uk@gmail.com
After the tragic loss of Alex Navab
last summer, I put out a call for
reflections. Jared Goldstein ’89 sent
the following: “Alex had reason to
dislike me. Even though he was
a senior and I was a sophomore,
I campaigned against him in the
Student Council election. I was
pretty much his foil when we served
the prior year.
“He ran meetings fairly and well.
When the campus was in turmoil, he
held hearings on the topic. He was
athletic, self-assured, suave, great hair-
cut, pre-finance, fraternity. This is put-
ting it nicer than I would have in 1987.
I assumed he was a Conservative, and
I had little idea that on top of it all,
he was a scholar. My coalition was
anti-Conservative; more like Furnald
Grocery, Reality Fest, arts, progressives
and maybe identity groups.
“T won that election, and Alex
rose to the occasion, putting duty
over what might have been distaste.
He gave me the keys, a tour of the
office and a letter that council chairs
Core
Haiku
ment, the year 1986 was listed! I
had always thought that we finished
second that year.
“So, like the millennial wannabe
I am, I whipped out my phone and
looked it up. Lo and behold, our 1986
team is credited with the Ivy League
Title that year — with an asterisk. So,
what gives, you might ask?
“Back then we played in the
Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball
League, which consisted of all the
During a cool fall
Dr. Bilgrami let us
think and speak deeply.
wrote to their successors. Alex’s
classiness was a great example.
“The following year, the council
was in strife. With a junior as
council chair, there were miffed
seniors and some striving juniors
readying for a rematch through
obstructionism and confrontation.
It was pulling the institution apart.
I invited my predecessors back. Alex
and Dave Leibowitz’85 returned to
address us, and it did some good.
“T saw Alex on the Steps 20
years later at a reunion and thanked
him for his support of the College.
He was modest about it and kind.
Very graceful.
“He made a great impact on my
sense of loyalty and duty. I am sure
that he is tremendously missed by
those who were close with him.”
Thank you for this, Jared!
Switching gears, Derrick Acker
shared a story: “I played baseball at
Columbia 1983-87 and cherished
every second. We had a very good
team but would always come up a
little short of an Ivy League title —
at least that’s what I thought for the
past 30-odd years.
“A few weekends ago, I was at
Baker Field (well, that’s what we
used to call it) with my older son,
Ty, who was attending a Columbia
baseball prospect camp. The camp
was run by Columbia's head baseball
coach, Brett Boretti. As I was stand-
ing on the ramp leading down to
the field I noticed, listed on the left
field wall, all the Columbia baseball
Ivy League titles. To my astonish-
— Ethan M. Singer ’87
Ivy League teams in addition to
Army and Navy. In 1986, Navy
won the EIBL Championship and
we were awarded the Ivy League
championship, as the first-place Ivy
League team.
“At the time of this monumental
discovery, I was standing on the
ramp with Frank Seminara’89,
who was as surprised as I was about
this turn of events. I called Mike
Telesca, and he thought I was
joking. I even called our 1986 head
coach, Paul Fernandes, who was also
surprised. Indeed, we were all at a
loss. Neither the Ivy League nor
Columbia ever told us that we were
the Ivy League champs that year.
Suffice it to say, I made my son call
me ‘Champ’ the rest of the day.
“I guess my only question is:
When do we get our Ivy League
Championship rings? We've been
waiting 33 years ....”
1988
Eric Fusfield
eric@fusfield.com
It was good to hear from Jessica
Vitkus, the first classmate I have
met who is currently an elementary
school parent, like I am. “I’m a field
producer at The Late Show with
Stephen Colbert and I love it,” she
writes. “Excited for the roller coaster
of an election year. I have 6-year-old
twin daughters, which is also a roller
coaster ride. Wheeee!”
Moving from elementary school
parents to Columbia College alum
parents, my Washington, D.C.-area
neighbor Abha Jain Sinha wrote,
“T am easing into retirement. Life is
happy and busy with a lot of travel.
The College’s Core Conversations
book club inspired me to attempt
to reread the Core, and it’s been
interesting to revisit it with a more
mature perspective. I am thrilled
to watch my son (CC’17) become
involved in alumni life. And my
daughter has launched her own
company (IIlumix) in the augmented
reality mobile gaming space, with a
new game: Five Nights at Freddy’s:
AR ... check it out!”
News from Lawrence Trill-
ing, a parent of a current College
student: “I live in my hometown of
Los Angeles with my wife, Jennifer
Kattler BC’88. I have been working
in film and television for more
than 20 years as a director, writer
and producer. I’m the executive
producer and showrunner of Goliath,
which stars Billy Bob Thornton and
streams on Amazon Prime. I’ve been
spending more time on campus the
past two years; my daughter Lyla’22
lives in McBain. I also have a son,
Jonah, who attends DePaul Uni-
versity, and my daughter Dahlia is a
junior in high school. I remain close
to many of my CC’88 friends.”
Steve Stastny has “lived and
practiced law in Birmingham, Ala.,
for over 25 years,” he reports. “After
having practiced at various national
firms, I have been a solo practitioner
since 2011.1 am AV-rated and dual
listed in Best Lawyers in America
for employment litigation (defense)
and commercial litigation. My wife,
Lauren, and I have two sons, John
Michael (17) and Ross (14).”
Finally, Mark Timoney BUS’93
writes, “Although I have done
some class agent work [with the
Columbia College Fund], I am not
well known to most of our class.
I was an off-campus commuter
— more common during our time.
Now I live in Westchester County
and commute to Manhattan, where
I work in banking. I am with the
Japanese group MUFG Bank; my
focus is structured trade finance.
My wife, Maria, and I have four
grown kids. At the time of writing,
our oldest daughter is expecting a
boy in early February. We are very
happy and excited to receive our
first grandchild!
“My brother Michael Timoney
G$’99 is a surgeon with NYU
Langone,” Mark adds. “He lives in
New York with his family. My other
siblings, Maria Teresa Timoney
NRS’98, NRS’99, and Francis
Xavier Timoney GS’84, also live in
New York with their families. Our
parents, John H. Timoney’54 and
Ana Timoney, both are well. They
live in the Princeton area. John stays
in contact with several of his class-
mates. Am I a lucky guy or what?”
Keep the updates coming! I look
forward to hearing from you.
1989
Emily Miles Terry
emilymilesterry@me.com
Rusty Kosiorek attended our 30th
reunion, and wrote to share how
reunion struck a chord and triggered
memories of our time at Columbia.
He writes, “Our reunion reminded
me how the Core Curriculum is the
flowing blood of Columbia. Back in
that early autumn of 1985, I recall
the terror of not knowing what an
Iliad was or that I was expected to
have read the first six chapters of it
on day one of Literature Humani-
ties. | proceeded to immediately quit
football, sequester myself nightly
in the harsh light of the Carman
basement and wrestle with this Core
Curriculum. I went to every class
and read every book of every course
for the next two years. Those books
and the teaching instruction and the
perspectives from my classmates were
all formative. How I read, watch,
think, react — all of it was catalyzed
by Columbia.
“T’ve had solid, interesting work at
Merck & Co. in sales or marketing
for 30 years, a stalwart spouse for just
as long and three caring kids. And
I see Columbian friends every year
when Brian Thomson hosts me,
Greg Watt, Roger Rubin, Steve
Toker, Craig Blackmon’88, Paul
Shaneyfelt 90 and Marc Eames
SEAS’90 at his island fort deep in
the wooded lake of the great Parry
Sound north of Toronto. This pack
took a sojourn last summer to have a
quality drink-up with Gil Greenman
in Seattle — a most fortunate class-
mate who mentally and physically
pounds down his multiple sclerosis
like he did our rugby opponents
when we played together as Lions.
alumninews
What Rainer Maria Rilke called the
‘beauty and terror of life. For that is
what the Core Curriculum — what
Columbia — made us fit.”
I'm writing this column on the
eve of 2020, with lots of exciting
news about our class, not the least
of which is the just-announced John
Jay Award recipients, with three
89ers out of the six: Victor Men-
delson, co-president of HEICO
Corp. in Florida; Michael Barry,
president of Ironstate Development
Co. in New Jersey; and Wanda
Marie Holland Greene, head of
school at The Hamlin School in
San Francisco. Some of you might
remember that the first recipient
from our class, and the first woman
recipient, was Stephanie Falcone
Bernik, who has been the chief of
surgical oncology at Lenox Hill
Hospital for 10 years and lives in
New Jersey with her family.
Jason Carter wrote from Wash-
ington, D.C., expressing his regrets
on not attending reunion, and to
share he had recently completed his
tenure as a member of the District
of Columbia board on professional
responsibility, a position respon-
sible for adjudicating misconduct
allegations against lawyers. Jason
Core
Haiku
email me and I'll send you the link
— but, of course, I will demand a
lengthy personal update for Class
Notes in return.
Danielle Maged BUS’97
continues to be another star in our
CC’89 galaxy — last November, she
joined Global Citizen as its chief
growth officer. Global Citizen is
the world’s most powerful advocacy
movement to end extreme poverty,
tackle climate change and reduce
inequality by 2030. Of her new posi-
tion, Danielle says, “At a time where
every single voice can be heard, I am
thrilled to be able to help grow the
movement and offer my expertise to
advance Global Citizen’s reach and
purpose. There’s a huge opportunity
to cultivate additional partners in
media and technology, sports orga-
nizations and athlete ambassadors,
among others excited by the power
of the mission and what we can col-
lectively achieve.”
Danielle received a 2017 Ad
Age Women to Watch Award; is
on Adweek’s 2017 List of Disrup-
tors; was a 2013 WISE (Women in
Sports and Events) Woman of the
Year; and was a 2012 Sports Business
Journal Game Changer: Women in
Sports Business honoree. Danielle’s
My first opera,
what an unexpected gift.
A lifetime passion.
writes, “If that’s sort of boring, you
can add that my goal is to visit every
country in the world, but the clock
is running — I’m only at 68. Folks
can look me up when they are in the
area: jec78@caa.columbia.edu.”
Jason is also a veteran of the
Department of Justice’s Criminal
Division, and spent his career
chasing fugitives, their money and
the evidence against them around
the globe. Jason also negotiates law
enforcement treaties on behalf of
the United States. He says it might
be easier to find fugitives than our
CC’89 Facebook group.
To find our group, you might
need the exact name: “Columbia
University Class of 1989 Under-
graduates.” If you still can’t find it,
— Lisa Carnoy ’89
operating experience spans Fox
Sports, National Geographic, NBA,
ESPN, Madison Square Garden and
eBay/StubHub. She lives in New
York with her husband, Greg, and
two sons, whom she has gotten to
join Global Citizen and take action!
Writer and activist Erica Etelson
has penned her first book, Beyond
Contempt: How Liberals Can Com-
municate Across the Great Divide,
which shows us how to communi-
cate respectfully, passionately and
effectively across the political divide.
Beyond Contempt grew out of Erica’s
work as a certified Powerful Non-
Defensive Communication facilitator
and former human rights attorney,
when she advocated in support of wel-
fare recipients, prisoners, indigenous
Spring 2020 CCT 73
peoples, immigrants and environmen-
tal activists. Erica has also organized
for clean, community-owned energy
as part of a just transition to a local,
low-carbon economy. Her articles
have appeared in the San Francisco
Chronicle, Mercury News (San Jose),
The Progressive Populist, Truthout and
AlterNet. Erica lives with her husband
and son in Berkeley, Calif:
Pll close with a poem from Matt
Engels, who in his capacity as
CC’89 class president penned this
for us:
In 2020:
Let’s rally around alma mater,
with other ways to support the
College that really matter.
Why not interview prospective
candidates under ARC?
Supporting College admissions hits
it out of the park.
Or how about mentoring a student?
Guiding a young mind with your
wisdom and prudence.
For our Class of 89, Thom Chu
chairs ARC, and Jeff Udell is
over mentors,
reach out to these two any time, or
touch base with any of your class
committee members.
Looking to May, what can we say,
we've opened reunion for all
classes to play.
Look for the info, coming your way,
we'll show the Class of 90 the
Class of 89 way.
At the start of the new decade, your
class committee wishes you well.
Proud to be CC’89, as we're sure you
can tell.
Peace, joy and happiness to you and
yours for 2020!
1990
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccreunion@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Rachel Cowan Jacobs
youngrache@hotmail.com
The Reunion Committee is working
hard on our 30th reunion. Outreach
chairs Judy Shampanier and John
Vincenti are encouraging everyone
74 CCT Spring 2020
in the class to attend (Thursday, June
4 Saturday, June 6) and to sign up at
college.columbia.edu/alumni/reunion.
I am five for five on reunion atten-
dance and am very excited for our next
one. They are so fun! At our first four,
I always enjoyed the Saturday dinner
and was envious of the class that got
to have theirs in the Low Rotunda. I
knew wed have to wait our turn. The
dinner in Low for our 25th surpassed
my expectations. Rumor has it that
our class bumped the 50th reunion
folks from Low because our numbers
were so huge! (Administration, care to
confirm or deny this?)
As your class correspondent of 19
years, I challenge all of you reading
this to register for reunion and to
make your travel plans now. Don't
miss the opportunity to reunite with
longtime and newer friends, enjoy
some lectures, tour campus and see
how much it has changed since the
last time you were there (I’m espe-
cially talking to those of you who
haven't been to campus since 1990,
or even 2005!), and relive our glory
days of undergrad.
If you're the competitive type,
you might be chagrined to learn that
Columbia alumni are far outnum-
bered by our peer institutions in
our number of alumni interview-
ers and the number of applicants
interviewed each cycle. The Alumni
Representative Committee needs
you to interview applicants to
Columbia College. It takes only
about 30 minutes to get trained,
training is available on the ARC
website and the interviews are at
the interviewer's convenience or can
be done remotely. Your participa-
tion will help show the best side of
Columbia and its alumni. Judy has
been interviewing for years and says
it’s fun to meet these kids and, as
a side bonus, very helpful for those
of us who have children who will
be going through the process at any
college. Judy is living that life as you
read this, with daughter Anna hav-
ing submitted college applications
this past winter.
Mazel tov to Laura Shaw Frank
LAW’93, who joined the American
Jewish Committee in January as its
associate director of contemporary
Jewish life. She’s a master juggler
because while she jumped into her
new position, she simultaneously
put the finishing touches on her
dissertation, which she will defend
at UMD this spring.
Robin Wald SEAS’90 embarked
on a business venture last fall,
Cosmic Wisdom Coaching, offering
life coaching and astrology services
to support clients’ joy and success
around life purpose, career, relation-
ships, parenting, health and wellness.
You don't live in Westchester County,
N.Y.? No problem. Robin works with
clients in person and virtually. Learn
more about her work by listening
to a podcast she was featured on
in December: bit.ly/2NPSuxc. In
addition to her new business, Robin
continues with her longtime passion
of teaching yoga and Hebrew school.
Visit robinwald.com.
Maybe you've noticed that I’ve
been writing about my usual suspects.
Well, that’s because during Christ-
mas week, I vacationed at Judy’s
house, where she, Robin, Laura,
Sharon Rogers and I had a mini-
reunion, in preparation for reunion.
‘The four of them have been gather-
ing on December 24 for many years,
and this time I was able to join them.
Too much fun was had by all, as per
usual. Friendship is priceless.
I’ve known Paul Greenberg
BUS’97 since the second grade, and
I love hearing from longtime (not
old! we'll never be old!) friends.
Some of this has been reported in
previous columns, but it’s good for
us to refresh our memories, too. He
writes, “I moved to NYC in’86 to
go to the College and have never
left. ’'m married and have two kids.
My wife is an adjunct professor of
English at CUNY. My kids are 15
and 12. The older one is anatomi-
cally female but now identifies as
non-binary (preferred pronouns:
they/them). Since I can’t call them
my ‘daughter’ anymore and ‘child’
seems too young, I asked them how
I should refer to them. In typi-
cal wise-ass teenager fashion, they
replied, ‘Just call me your spawn.’
They're very happy. My 12-year-old
is a daughter who is into ballet, art,
writing and — of course — You-
Tube. Both of them go to Friends
Seminary here in New York.
“Tve been in media and digital
media my whole career, with a focus
on digital video. About two years
ago, I started my own digital video
company, Butter Works, which is
a full-service firm offering deep
Al-driven data analysis, which tells
our clients what kind of content to
make, where to distribute it, how
long it should be, how well it will
perform, etc., full production, strategy
and distribution. We're working with
Netflix, Viacom, Discovery Channel,
Verizon, P&G, A+E Networks, The
Guardian, SoulCycle, Bustle and
others. I really enjoy running my own
company. My only full-time employee
is a data scientist, and we're seeing
great demand for the data work plus
the creative production.
“One thing I wanted to share is
that I’ve suffered from depression
most of my life and only recently
was able to come out of it. 1am
trying to destigmatize mental
health issues, so I wrote about my
struggles in a Hollywood Reporter
piece: bit.ly/2s3QBPwA. I was also
recently interviewed for a Harvard
Business Review podcast on manag-
ing depression while running a
company: bit.ly/36bTa0p.”
Dean Sonderegger SEAS’90,
SEAS’91 is moving into real estate
mogul territory, having recently bought
a place in Battery Park City. For those
keeping score at home, you'll remem-
ber that Dean lives in Virginia but
works in Manhattan. This has eased
his and Tracy’s life substantially!
I learned from Facebook that
New Hampshire resident Rick St.
Hilaire was appointed in Decem-
ber by President Trump to serve
on the Cultural Property Advisory
Committee through April 2021. The
committee is tasked with advising the
White House on foreign government
requests for U.S. import controls on
archaeological and ethnological arti-
facts threatened by looting and theft.
‘The committee was created by federal
law in 1983 and submits its findings
directly to the Department of State.
In 2013, Rick founded the nonprofit
Red Arch Cultural Heritage Law &
Policy Research (redarchresearch.org).
Martin Benjamin let me know in
September that he has “a new book-
like thing, teachyoubackwards.com.
It started off as a standard academic
research project, but you start to
discover some interesting things
when your ‘lab’ gets working with
people and languages from Malawi
to Mongolia. So, it evolved into a
web-book that can include humor
and multimedia and be accessible
to non-specialists, but still has the
chops to survive peer review.
“Tm happily divorced and a
full-time single dad of a wonderful
9-year-old 50 percent of the time.
She and I had the best vacation ever
last summer, Interrail-ing through
scuthern and eastern Europe. I live
in Lausanne, and try to do most of
my work via Skype to reduce my
carbon crimes, but am unable to
avoid occasional meetings in places
like Yakutsk for UNESCO-related
business (July) and Bamako for the
African Union (September).”
Wherever you live, dear reader,
Pll see you in June!
1991
Columbia College Today
cct@columbia.edu
Have you ever wanted to be a CCT
class correspondent? Now’s your
chance! After 11 amazing years of
service, Margie Kim has stepped
down from this role. If you would
like to write this column, please
reach out to us at cct@columbia.edu.
In the interim, while we search for
a new correspondent, the CCT staff
will compile this column, so please
drop us a line and share your news!
1992
Olivier Knox
olivier.knox@gmail.com
Greetings, classmates. I heard from
fellow Carman 7 alum Dave Gabel,
who lives in Stamford, Conn., and is
VP of digital content and program-
ming for NBC’s Olympics coverage.
Dave writes that he’s “in prep mode
for Tokyo 2020, which will be my
(ugh, I’m old) 13th Olympics, having
started on the TV side pre-internet
(again, ugh, I’m old).” Dave reports
that he was briefly married five years
ago. “Lotta travel and golf,” he says
[ Wait, no tennis? ]. “Would say I’m a
proud fan of the 2017 World Series
champion Astros, having grown up
in Houston,” he adds, “but that’s a
sensitive topic these days, hahaha.”
Jeff Lovell wrote in with some sad
news: “My wife of 13 years, Lesley,
passed away due to cancer on Septem-
ber 11. She was the reason I moved to
Australia, but I’m now a citizen and
staying in this wonderful country.
“T was offered the role of services
manager (basically the project
delivery arm of our software devel-
opment business) for Australia and
New Zealand 18 months ago, but
couldn't take it as I was essentially a
full-time carer for Lesley (working
half-days remotely). It was recently
reoffered, and I’m taking it and
moving back to Melbourne from
Perth,” Jeff says. “Last year was
terrible, with many close friends and
family members passing away. I’m
looking to this move and new role to
start a new chapter.”
Jeff closes on this note: “Huge
changes across the spectrum of life
— I’ve even lost 55 lbs. and am
wearing my KDR and swimming
sweatshirts from the 90s.”
Jeff, my sincerest condolences.
1993
Betsy Gomperz
betsy.gomperz@gmail.com
Check out this issue’s “Lions”
section to read about Isaiah D.
Delemar! And please take a
moment to send in a note. Your
classmates want to hear from you!
1994
Leyla Kokmen
lak6@columbia.edu
Happy spring, CC’94, and best wishes
for a great start to your summers!
Please check out the “Just Mar-
ried!” section in this issue for a
photo of Alison Gang’s October
2018 wedding, which brought
together Jordan Karp, Satoshi
Kitahama’91, Alessandra Gunz
(née Morales) and Roxanne Hill
(née Zikria) at San Francisco’s
Golden Gate Park.
Take a moment to send in a
note — cool trips, job changes, fun
hobbies, big life events or anything
you want. Let’s stay connected!
1995
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ecreunion@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Janet Lorin
janet.lorin@gmail.com
I hope this finds everyone thinking
about attending our 25th reunion,
which will be held Thursday, June 4—
alumninews
Saturday, June 6. In helping to plan
reunion, I have been in touch with
classmates who have answered my
call for an update.
Roosevelt Montas GSAS’04
stepped down as director of the Core
Curriculum in December 2018. He
returned to the faculty as senior
lecturer in American studies, where
he teaches courses in early American
literature and American political
thought as well as continues to teach
in the Core. He’s also writing a
book about his experience of liberal
Core
Haiku
last fall. She visited the country for
Oslo Innovation Week and gave a
talk, “The Power of Mentorship.”
‘The goal was to remind people not
to leave minority youth behind in
discussions during the conference
about business goals and plans.
Rhonda spoke about the success
of U.S. employers partnering with
programs like Junior Achievement,
Big Brothers Big Sisters and Speed
Mentoring. She told the Norwe-
gians to do the same with their busi-
nesses so that young, bright people
Reading and thinking,
the Core united us all.
Agree disagree.
education. Most importantly, he has a
2-year-old child, Arjuna Montas.
Mohit Daswani and his wife,
Sejal Daswani SIPA’%6, have been
living on the West Coast for 15
years and now call San Francisco
home. They have three kids — Naiya
(13), Siddhartha (11) and Nysa (4)
— and love the organized chaos
that comes with this stage of life.
“We've both also transitioned to
careers in technology. I wrapped up
at Square (where I ran finance and
strategy for three years) and joined
ThoughtSpot, a business intelligence
software company, as its chief finan-
cial officer in January,” Mohit writes.
Sejal is the chief human resources
officer at Sunrun, a residential solar
energy company. They get a chance
to see Susan Philip (my Sangam
Magazine editor) fairly often.
Adina Shoulson chairs the
history department at SAR H.S., a
Jewish school in Riverdale, N.Y. “It’s
fun, challenging and meaningful,”
she writes. Her kids are in the 6th,
8th and 10th grades.
1996
Ana S. Salper
ana.salper@nyumc.org
Happy spring, classmates!
Rhonda Moore writes that she
had the pleasure of combining her
love of HR and her love of Norway
— Stephanie J. Geosits ’94
from disadvantaged socio-economic
backgrounds do not get left behind
or left out. Rhonda writes that it was
a dream come true to share this per-
spective, and she is happy to report
that the message was well received.
Congratulations to Charlotte
Bismuth LAW’04, whose first
book, Pain Killer: Catching New
York's Deadliest Doctor, is coming
out in June. The book is about a
case Charlotte prosecuted on behalf
of the NYC Office of the Special
Narcotics Prosecutor. Sounds like
a great read! Charlotte lives in
Manhattan with her husband, John,
and children, Nina, Charlie, Lucie
and Althea.
I want to call something to every-
one’s attention. All alumni, faculty
and students are invited to partici-
pate in the Core Stories Memory
Project (#corestories), which is
an important piece of the Core
Centennial celebration. The project
will gather reflections, perspectives,
insights and memories of our Core
Curriculum experiences to be shared
throughout the year on social media,
online and in various publications.
The memories will be preserved at
the end of the Centennial year in a
digital and/or print format.
It sounds like a great project, and
I encourage you to visit core100.
columbia.edu/core-stories to submit
stories or to attach a photo. You can
also send a short video that speaks
to your experience in the Core to
Spring 2020 CCT 75
the Alumni Committee on the Core
Centennial: core100@columbia.edu.
As always, I would love to hear
from more of you — please send
news! You can email me directly, use
CCTs Class Notes webform (college.
columbia.edu/cct/submit_class_note)
or send your notes directly to CCT
(cct@columbia.edu; these notes will
be forwarded to me). I leave you
with this:
“Life is not measured by the
amount of breaths we take, but by
the moments that take our breath
away.”
— Maya Angelou
WOT
Kerensa Harrell
kvh1@columbia.edu
Dear classmates, I hope you are doing
well and that your winter was not too
brutal. It is my pleasure to present the
following updates from our class.
Kate Kelly recently published
her third book, The Education of
Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation.
Co-authored with Robin Pogrebin,
her colleague at The New York Times,
Kate’s book completes the inquiry
into the newest Supreme Court
justice’s educational years, the people
who helped shape his experience
and their impact on his contentious
confirmation process in 2018. The
Washington Post called it “a remark-
able work of slowed-down journal-
ism,” and Gloria Steinem wrote,
“,.. all of us subject to the Supreme
Court must read it.” Kate’s back from
book leave and covering business,
its impact on politics and influential
people on Wall Street at the Times.
Rebekah Gee was proud to be
recognized by The New York Times
as one of “Five Who Spread Hope
in 2019,” for her work to eliminate
hepatitis C in Louisiana and suc-
cessfully negotiate the first modi-
fied subscription model for drug
pricing in the United States (nyti.
ms/2uqhz55). Her twin girls are in
the first grade and they love living
in New Orleans, where they enjoy
good food, culture and festivities.
Sareeta Amrute has written a
book, Encoding Race, Encoding Class.
Indian IT Workers in Berlin, which
received the 2019 International
Convention of Asia Scholars Social
Sciences Book Prize. It also received
the 2017 Diana Forsythe Book Prize.
Benjamin Rand shares: “I am
honored to have been named assistant
commissioner of the NYC Depart-
ment of Design and Construction,
reporting directly to the commis-
sioner. As the city’s primary capital
construction project manager, with
more than $20 billion in construction
this year, we build many of the civic
facilities such as firehouses, libraries,
police precincts, courthouses and cul-
tural centers, as well as NYC’s infra-
structure projects such as roadways,
sewers and water mains in all five
boroughs. I support the commission-
er's vision and lead projects controls
in analyzing cost control, scheduling,
scope and risk management toward
the on-time and on-budget construc-
tability of our public buildings and
infrastructure projects.”
John Dean Alfone writes: “I’ve
been busily working in the New
CUT
SHOW US YOUR
LION’S GAY PRIDE!
CCT is creating a photo gallery to celebrate Pride
Month this June. Show us your LGBTQIA+ pride
in a group or individual photo (we need at least
one person to be a College alum!). Send your
hi-res photo with caption info to cct@columbia.edu;
we'll run our favorites in the Summer 2020 issue.
76 CCT Spring 2020
Mexico/Colorado/Texas motion pic-
ture industry since last summer. My
production credits include Amer-
ica’s Got Talent (NBC), Bar Rescue
(Paramount), American Idol (ABC),
The Explosion Show (The Science
Channel), Surviving Death (Netflix),
The Circus: Inside the Greatest Politi-
cal Show on Earth (Showtime) and
Deputy (Fox), and two live-streaming
projects, the 2019 Connie Mack
World Series (FloSports) and the
Leonard Bernstein Symphony No.
1: Jeremiah retrospective (Vimeo).
‘The videos for my company, Corsair
Media Productions, are hosted by
Vimeo, which made it particularly
enjoyable to work on their produc-
tion (vimeo.com/user638665).
As for me, Kerensa Harrell, I am
excited about our new year: 2020. It
has a rather futuristic ring to it, but
it’s here already! As I wrap up this
column, it is New Year’s Day. Later
this month I’ll begin going to the
training sessions for my new career
as a certified yoga instructor. A new
year and a new career. Last week we
had a wonderful Christmas Day at
my father’s house here in Florida,
with all his little grandchildren
(including my daughter, Amara) run-
ning around his yard like a pack of
wild monkeys. And we were blessed
with perfect weather, with the high
temperature in the upper 70s. I miss
so many things about living in New
York City, but the winter weather is
not one of them!
Amara turned 3 last October. She
is such a delightful little girl — very
clever, monkeyish, funny, sweet, cute
and loving! For her birthday party I
did a princess theme, since that’s what
she’s currently into, and I decided to
stagger the birthday celebrations over
the course of two days. I held the first
party at our home, where we invited
all her little friends and their parents
for lunch and children’s games. I held
the second party at my grandfather
Lawrence's home, where we invited
the family for lunch and festivi-
ties. My grandfather, now my sole
remaining grandparent, is 88 and lives
in an assisted facility due to being
wheelchair-bound from arthritis. The
only way that he could attend his
great-granddaughter’s birthday party
was if we brought the party to him, so
that’s exactly what I did. It was truly
priceless to have my grandfather at
my daughter's birthday celebration.
As I sign off now, and forge my
new path in 2020, let me cue the
new song that Queen Elsa sings in
Frozen 2 (it’s my daughter's favorite
movie right now):
“Every day’s a little harder as I
feel my power grow ...
“Dont you know there's part of me
that longs to go...
“Into the unknown ... Into the
unknown ...”
Blessings to all for the new year,
and please do send me your updates.
Feel free to keep in mind that your
updates needn't be just about the
usual topics like career/marriage/
birth announcements — they could
also be on your exotic travels, your
exciting adventures, your fascinating
hobbies, your philanthropic endeav-
ors, your charming children, your
daring projects, your poetic musings,
your flowery reminiscences ... Or
simply tell us about some delightful
local event that you attended or a
family vacation that you went on. If
nothing else, you can always write
us merely to say hello! It would be
splendid to hear from as many of
our classmates as possible. I look
forward to hearing from you all. In
lumine Tuo videbimus lumen.
1998
Sandie Angulo Chen
sandie.chen@gmail.com
Your classmates would love to hear
from you, so please take a moment
to send in a note! Wishing you a
very happy spring!
Igo9
Adrienne Carter and
Jenna Johnson
adieliz@gmail.com
jennajohnson@gmail.com
Hello classmates, and Happy
New Year!
Will Heinrich sends news to
bring us into 2020. For the past
few years he’s been writing about
art for The New York Times (Art
Hum vindication!). His second
novel, The Pearls, came out in
December. Order it, classmates!
Call your local bookstore.
Will lives in Queens with his
wife, an artist, and their daughter.
What else? Send us your news!
(And let us know if you want to
take this news-gatherer baton.)
Kraig Odabashian ’00 (left) and Andrew Ricci ’00 hiked in Montana’s
Glacier National Park last July.
2000
REUNION 2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccreunion@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Prisca Bae
pb134@columbia.edu
In April 2019, Phoebe Farag
Mikhail’s book Putting Joy into Prac-
tice: Seven Ways to Lift Your Spirit
from the Early Church was published
(bit.ly/2USTHP9). A must-read
for anyone seeking more happiness
in 2020!
Kraig Odabashian and Andrew
Ricci reconnected last July to spend
a week hiking in Montana’s Glacier
National Park. It was 20 years after
they first climbed Algonquin Peak
at 5,114 ft. in the Adirondacks
(the second highest peak in New
York!) the summer after our junior
year, forging a lifelong passion for
mountaineering.
I look forward to seeing everyone
at Columbia Reunion 2020, Thurs-
day, June 4-Saturday, June 6! Get
more info and sign up at college.
columbia.edu/alumni/reunion!
2001
Jonathan Gordin
jrg53@columbia.edu
Greetings for spring, Class of 2001!
Please take a moment to send in a
note — travel, work, family, favorite
Columbia memories and/or any-
thing else you'd like to share. Your
classmates want to hear from you!
2002
Sonia Dandona Hirdaramani
soniahird@gmail.com
Happy New Year! Lindsay Jurist-
Rosner and her husband, Jason E.
Fox, are excited to announce the
birth of Annabel “Annie” Jean Fox,
born at 10:24 p.m. on November 14.
Annie weighed in at 5 lbs., 14 0z.,
and measured 19 inches.
Colleen Hsia is leading a
30-person cross practice team at
FTI Consulting, where she is a
senior managing director and head
of Americas financial services in the
strategic communications division.
She lives with her husband, Mike,
and their daughters, Evie (5) and
Zoe (2), in Short Hills, N_J.
Please send updates to soniahird
@gmail.com!
2003
Michael Novielli
mjn29@columbia.edu
Happy New Year! Hope that 2020 is
off to a good start for you and yours.
For those who celebrate the lunar new
year, happy Year of the Rat! Mickey
and Minnie have been making their
appearances in malls throughout Asia.
Jessica Huang Pouleur BC’03 has a
hand in this as head of strategy and
business development, Asia Pacific, for
Disney, based in Singapore.
Hector Rivera is a physician at
Emergency Medicine Professionals
and lives in Orlando, not far from
the noteworthy mice.
Karolina Dryjanska spent the
New Year hiking in the Himalayas,
off the grid from technology.
Leah Bailey wanted us to know
that she is healthy and well. She
writes, “I had a successful kidney
transplant from a living donor in
April 2019, and the difference it has
made to my life (primarily, not being
on dialysis anymore) is astounding.
I’m currently putting the kidney
(fondly named George, as the
transplant was on Saint George’s
Day) to work by teaching reading
and writing and language arts at a
public school in rural Milton-Free-
water, Ore. (population: 7,027), and
parenting three kids under 8!”
Julie Bennett Ashton GSAS’11
wishes the Class of 2003 happi-
ness in 2020! Currently developing
several project proposals, she plans
to approach Gucci and the city of
San Francisco to offer an emblem-
atic series for a collaboration and
a billboard, respectively. To share
contacts or encouragement, mes-
sages are welcome: ashtonportfolio@
protonmail.com.
Kambiz Eli Akhavan writes, “I
recently joined the international law
firm of Norton Rose Fulbright U.S.
as senior counsel. I specialize in estate
planning and asset protection for
both U.S. and international families.”
Please do take the time to write
with updates, as we'd love to hear
what’s new in your life. If you do
not have any life updates to share, I
also welcome any book, restaurant,
movie, or bar recommendations for
the rest of us.
2004
Jaydip Mahida
jmahida@gmail.com
Adam Gidwitz has been publish-
ing books for young people for 10
years. He has nine books, includ-
ing A Tale Dark and Grimm and its
companions; the 2016 Newbery
Honor book The Inquisitor’ Tale:
Or, The Three Magical Children and
Their Holy Dog (written with massive
input from his wife, Lauren Mancia
05); and now his series for younger
kids, The Unicorn Rescue Society,
which is a comedy-adventure series
for boys and girls and everyone else.
He thinks a lot about campus and is
thinking of auditing some classes in
the spring or fall semesters. He says,
“See you there?”
Rachel Neugarten is in her first
year of a Ph.D. program at Cornell,
and very much enjoying being a stu-
dent again. She also loves living in
Ithaca, with its access to nature trails
and local organic produce; it makes
her hippie heart happy. She has a big
house and a new dog, and welcomes
you to visit anytime.
Daniel de Roulet Jr. and
Julia Hertz de Roulet (“We met
freshman year on John Jay 6!”)
have moved from Long Island to
San Francisco. Julia is pursuing
a master’s in counseling psychol-
ogy for licensure as a marriage and
family therapist. Danny is CEO of a
biotech company, Mitokinin, which
he started with Julia’s brother. Their
three kids love SF and they do, too!
Tristan Perich writes, “I have
continued composing music since
my time as an undergrad with
Columbia New Music. Last year I
presented my largest piece for 50
violins and 50 electronic speakers at
the Cathedral Church of Saint John
the Divine, which then traveled
to the Netherlands to accompany
a new dance by Lucinda Childs.
In my music I often work with
one-bit sound, thinking about the
relationship between computation
and the physical world around us,
which I also explore as a visual artist,
building drawing machines and the
like. I am lucky to share this career
with my wife, Lesley Flanigan (also
a musician), and my kids, Bronwyn
and Ramsey.”
‘That’s all for this issue — please
continue to send in updates, as we
want to hear from as many folks as
Spring 2020 CCT 77
possible. Career and family updates
are always fun, but please reach
out to share about trips you might
take, events you have attended or
are looking forward to, or even
interesting books or shows you have
come across. You can send updates
either via the email at the top of the
column or the CCT’ Class Notes
webform: college.columbia.edu/cct/
submit_class_note.
2005
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccreunion@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Columbia College Today
cct@columbia.edu
Wishing the Class of 2005 a very
happy spring! Don’t forgot that
our 15th reunion will be here soon,
Thursday, June 4-Saturday, June 6.
Come back to campus and recon-
nect with old friends!
Very happy news from John
Zaro: “With our hearts full, my
wife, Natalie Leggio BC’04, and I
welcomed a daughter to the world
on December 31. Sophia Ivy is bask-
ing in adoration from her brothers,
Adrian and Gabriel, at our home in
Battery Park City.”
2006
Andrew Stinger
andrew.stinger@gmail.com
CCT thanks Michelle Oh Sing for
her 15 years of excellent service as
class correspondent, and is happy to
welcome Andrew Stinger to the
role. Below is Andrew’s introduction,
followed by Michelle’s final column.
From Andrew: “Hello! You
might remember me from Dance
Marathon, CU Relief, SigEp, the
occasional CU Road Runners race
or as the guy who always had an
extra pen in your recitation group.
I live in San Francisco, where I run
product marketing for a startup,
Coda, and teach fitness classes. In
other words, I’m a professional hype
man, so it’s a privilege to take up the
Class Notes mantle from Michelle,
and to celebrate the goings-on of
78 CCT Spring 2020
our amazing class! Please join me in
thanking Michelle for 15 (!) years
of sharing our class updates, and
feel free to share your news with me
moving forward.”
From Michelle: “Hi Class of
2006. I hope you are all doing well.
Please find a couple of updates from
classmates below:
“Andrew Liebowitz writes,
‘I was thrilled to be the best man
at Eric LeSueur’s wedding in
November. I am so grateful that
Matt Disney SEAS’06 and his
family fought through two hours of
New York City-area traffic — after
flying in from the West Coast on a
separate trip — to pay me and my
family a visit in Northern New Jer-
sey in November. Truly a wonderful
holiday season.’
“Sam Schon harvested a nearly
500-Ib. black bear from his family’s
Pennsylvania farm in 2018 while
hunting with his father. This year
the bruin entered the state record
book with an official score of 19-10.
When not on a bear hunt (or hunt-
ing for oil and gas), Sam can be
found in Houston with his family.
“Jeremy Kotin was thrilled to see
his directorial debut short film, La
Salvadora, play at the Lincoln Cen-
ter as part of the 2019 Columbia
University Film Festival alongside
writer/producer Tom Locke SOA’19
and co-producer Daniel Raifte
SOA‘18, winning the IFP Audience
Award. The film recently sold to
ShortsTV and began broadcasting
nationwide in early 2020.”
2007
David D. Chait
david.donner.chait@gmail.com
Read on to learn about what some
of our classmates are up to!
Andrew Russeth writes, “I
got married to the love of my life,
Lauretta Charlton (Columbia
Publishing Course ’05), at the
Headlands Center for the Arts in
Sausalito, Calif., in September. It
was an honor to have among the
groomsmen David Chait, Marc
Tracy and Avi Zenilman. Other
Columbians making the trip
were Christina Giaccone BC’07,
Gillian DiPietro BC’07, Subash
lyer, Helam Gebremariam,
David Berlin, Joseph Anzalone,
Susie Schwartz 02, Stacy Wu’02
and Doug Gould LAW’08. We
honeymooned in Crete, and highly
recommend that beautiful island for
anyone seeking a delicious vacation.”
Jami Jackson welcomed a child
on September 5. She writes, “I had
a healthy boy named Isaac Aeneas
Mulgrave. I now am a mother of
two young children!”
After nearly five years of private
practice in the Philadelphia and
Washington, D.C., areas, Negar
Kordestani is now an assistant U.S.
attorney in the criminal division of
the Southern District of West Vir-
ginia. If you're ever in the Charles-
ton, W.Va., area, please let her know.
Tricia Ebner writes, “I got
married on November 16 in Long
Island City to Frank Dubinsky. It
was a great time, full of Columbia
grads, including both my parents
and sisters (Anne-Marie ’01, Mary
03 and Kathryn ’05), as well as
Jordy Lievers-Eaton, Natalia
Premovic, Carly Sullivan, Hilary
Sullivan, Liz Ichniowski, Christina
Fang, Adriana Sein, Andrew
Ward, Adrian Demko, Conall
Arora’06 and Erin Debold BC’07.”
Tarik Bolat once again regales us
with a humorous update: “My wife,
Max, son, Asher, and I dusted off
the Art Hum syllabus for Hallow-
een and dressed up as Jan van Eyck’s
Arnolfini Portrait. It was a Flemish
Fright! (Go to college.columbia.edu/
cct to see the photo!)”
Tarik also shares some fun fake
news from classmates Dave, Peter
and Paul!
Brimming with brio after a suc-
cessful career as an investor, Dave
Schor plans to make a hobby a
career: Wine label copy writing.
“Even though I don't have a back-
ground as a sommelier or vintner,
I would always find myself writing
sample copy for wine bottles in
between my financial modeling work
at Goldman [Sachs],” Dave says.
“That continued well into my 30s. I'd
be sitting at a Bloomberg terminal,
monitoring the pound-yen exchange
rate, and then ‘bam’, all of a sudden
on the side of my notebook I'd find
a few sentences about a northern
Rhone Hermitage Roussanne with
notes of persimmon, buckwheat and
burnt leather. I was like, “Forget the
price of frozen orange juice futures, I
need to be doing this!”
Dave offered his services to sev-
eral Northern California wine pro-
ducers, which began using his work.
He now writes for seven vineyards
in the area. “It’s really about creating
a dreamscape, a land of possibilities
and imagination for the consumer. It
really helps them enjoy the wine to
its fullest extent,” Dave says.
Inspired by his work, Dave has
also begun writing a short memoir
of his professional left turn, titled
Gooseberry, Is That You?
Peter Shalek is again shaking
up the world of modernist Ger-
man melodrama with his critically
acclaimed one-man show, Lampy
Lunaire, an anxiety-packed remake
of Arnold Schoenberg’s seminal
early 20th-century work Pier-
rot Lunaire. In this pathbreaking
performance, Peter seizes the stage
in full costume as a wistful and
existentially fraught version of a
desk lamp and wills into creation an
atonal affair for the ages that inter-
rogates Thing Theory, capital in the
age of the bit, and ultimately society
at large. One gobsmacked fan in
Tulsa, Okla., related: “Mr. Shalek’s
Sprechstimme caterwaul is primal —
his performance is a monument to
the lived experience and sizzles like
a t-bone on the grill.”
Good luck, Peter!
In addition to his rising career as
a journalist, Paul Sonne has become
known throughout the continent for
his superlative solo sackbut perfor-
mances. Dubbed ‘Sackbuttist of the
Year’ two years in a row by France’s
leading Renaissance music guild,
sold-out crowds from Strasbourg
to Timisoara have been thrilling to
Paul’s commanding crescendos and
honeyed pianissimos. This fall, he’ll
be on the road as the opening act for
an Alsatian master known as the Eric
Clapton of the cornet.
What an opportunity, Paul! We
hope your tour makes it stateside
next year!
2008
Columbia College Today
cct@columbia.edu
Happy spring, Class of 2008! Thanks
to everyone for sending in your
exciting news!
Lindsey Lazopoulos Friedman
joined the United States Attorney’s
Office for the Southern District of
Florida as a criminal prosecutor. In
2019, Lindsey tried and won four
jury trials in Miami, Fort Lauderdale
a.1d Key West. At the time of writing
in early January, she was planning
to moderate a panel on trends in art
crime for the Federal Bar Associa-
tion’s 2020 Art Law and Litigation
Conference, held at the National Arts
Club in Manhattan on February 6.
Jonathan Basile’s first book, Tar
for Mortar, “The Library of Babel” and
the Dream of Totality was translated
into Portuguese with the title Massa
por Argamassa: A “Biblioteca de Babel”
eo Sonho da Totalidad.
From Andrew Avorn: “I got
married in June in Brooklyn. My
wife, Annie, and | are excited to go
on our (somewhat delayed!) honey-
moon to New Zealand this spring.
I recently started a law firm where I
represent startups and entrepreneurs
as outside general counsel.”
2009
Chantee Dempsey
chantee.dempsey@gmail.com
Happy New Year, CC’09! Sasha de
Vogel's first novel, A Wicked Magic, is
a young adult contemporary fantasy
about teenage witches on California's
northern coast; it is scheduled to
come out on July 28 and will be pub-
lished under the pseudonym Sasha
Laurens. Sasha also just finished sev-
eral months of fieldwork in Moscow
for her dissertation for her Ph.D. in
political science.
Carlos Cortés will open an
expansion of his family’s chocolate
restaurant, Chocobar Cortés, in the
South Bronx in spring/early sum-
mer 2020. This news was featured
in a press release by Gov. Andrew
Cuomo. Check out Carlos’s Insta-
gram @chocobarcortes.
Lauren Damooei 10 and Alidad
Damooei ’09 welcomed daughter
Scarlett Marie on September 12.
Gilad Edelman started a job in
October covering tech and politics
for WIRED magazine.
Rory Donnelly married Christina
Collins on June 14. Rory is a senior
associate in corporate intelligence at
PricewaterhouseCoopers UK.
After two years clerking for
Chief Judge Merrick Garland
on the D.C. Circuit and Justice
Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar on the
California Supreme Court, last fall
Amari Hammonds started as the
2019-21 Earl Warren Fellow in
the California Solicitor General’s
Office. The California SG recently
argued the DACA case before the
U.S. Supreme Court, and Amari
looks forward to even more exciting
appellate litigation on behalf of
the State of California. She loves
her community in Oakland and is
unashamed to say she can no longer
tolerate sub-40s temperatures.
In October, Stephanie Chou per-
formed several songs at the memorial
conference for Patrick Ximenes
Gallagher, a beloved math professor
and director of undergraduate studies
who taught at Columbia 1972-2017.
Patrick was Stephanie's advisor
and professor for several classes. In
attendance at the conference at Earl
Hall were numerous Columbia math
department professors, colleagues
from math departments across the
country, and family and friends.
Dr. Michael J. Drabkin recently
completed his medical training at
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer
Center and is now a practicing inter-
ventional radiologist on Long Island.
In the past year, he also had the honor
of presenting his research in exciting
locales including Sao Paolo, Barce-
lona, Austin and even Manhattan.
Madison Mobley left the
corporate world and founded both a
nonprofit (Kickstart Your Humani-
tarianism) and a footwear line
(Instagram: @gunnarfoshay). At the
time of writing she was preparing
to be featured in New York Fashion
Week in February, returning to New
York for the first time in years.
Rachelle Meyer became a
veterinarian last summer!
Amanda Karl and her hus-
band, Mike McBrearty SEAS’04,
welcomed a son last summer. They
live in Northern California, where
Amanda represents employees and
consumers in complex litigation.
Josh Mathew graduated from
Harvard Law last May. He works
alumninews
for Kirkland & Ellis in Manhattan
and lives in Astoria.
Stephanie Lindquist is pursuing
an M.F.A. at the University of Min-
nesota. Since moving to Minneapo-
lis from New York last summer, she
feels grateful to family, old friends
and new friends who have welcomed
her there.
This spring, Jenny Lam is
curating SLAYSIAN, an exhibition
celebrating and featuring Asian-
American artists in Chicago. Other
recent life updates include being
selected to exhibit her artwork at
the Chicago Cultural Center and
at the Chicago Public Library; get-
ting published in the graphic novel
anthology New Frontiers; speak-
ing at Facebook Chicago and at
stARTup Art Fair about representa-
tion and about “What Matters,”
respectively; guest judging at Line
Dot Editions; being featured in an
episode of the political documen-
tary series Transition to Power, and
performing at 20x2 Chicago. She
and her parents rang in 2020 in
Patagonia, a destination that was on
her bucket list.
Alidad Damooei and Lauren
Damooei’10 welcomed daughter
Scarlett Marie on September 12.
2010
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccreunion@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Julia Feldberg Klein
juliafeldberg@gmail.com
Happy spring, Class of 2010! Our
10th reunion will be here soon,
Thursday, June 4-Saturday, June 6!
Charlotte Freinberg married
Iestyn Barker in September at the
Royal Institute of British Archi-
tects in London. The couple live
in London and work in television
production. In attendance were
many Columbia and Barnard alumni
including Julia Klein, Emily John-
son, Zachary Waisman, Elinor
Noble BC’10, Charlotte Furet BC’10,
Jeffrey lloulian, Jeffrey Schwartz,
Matthew Harold, Nicole Beach,
Elisabeth Freinberg 02, Mitchell
Freinberg’73, David Freinberg’78,
James Minter’73, Caroline Freinberg
19, Marilyn Harris BC’73 and Sarah
Charles BC’75.
Ahiza Garcia and Vaughn
Hodges were married in October
at the Palacio de Galiana in Toledo,
Spain, surrounded by family and
friends. Guests included Carl
Constant’11, Macklin Loughrey,
Jared Morine, Andrew Shal-
brack, William Lipovsky, Derek
Jancisin, David Brekke, Millicent
Olawale, Hannah Biddle and
Isidore Smart.
Dean Forthun wrote in with
exciting news: “I’m certainly roaring
my way through 2020. I married my
beautiful fiancée, Ellie Eubank, on
January 18 in front of God, family
and friends at Mission San Luis
Rey. My best friend and college
roommate, Derek Squires, was in
my wedding party and I couldn't
have been happier. The day after the
wedding, Ellie and were off on a
two-week adventure to Thailand and
Singapore for the honeymoon. When
we get back we'll move into our first
apartment together in downtown
Long Beach. Life is so rich!”
2011
Nuriel Moghavem and
Sean Udell
nurielm@gmail.com
sean.udell@gmail.com
Spring. The season of birth. The
stirring of love. The ignition of your
innate immune system. We hope
that the season of new beginnings
is bringing welcome change in your
life. If it is — or if it isn’t — we
want to hear about that change (or
lack thereof) here in the 2011 Class
Notes column! Please give Nuriel
and Sean a shout. We can’t wait to
hear from you.
To emphasize how some things
really don't change, Dhruve
Vasishtha is planning Rajib Mitra
SEAS"11's bachelor party for his
impending nuptials to Debashree
Sengupta. Rajib and Debashree
are a true (Columbia)-blue 2011
love story! The groom has asked for
activities with a high likelihood of
generating quality Instagram content.
Look for #RajibGets TheD, coming
to your social feed this spring.
Annie Tan, in addition to being in
her eighth year teaching elementary
special education in Sunset Park,
Brooklyn, has spent the past three
Spring 2020 CCT 79
Fust Married!
CCT welcomes wedding photos where at least one member of the couple
nvaa NVI8S
is a College alum. Please submit your high-resolution photo, and caption
information, on our photo webform: college.columbia.edu/cct/submit_
class_note_photo. Congratulations!
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KN
PATRICIA LYONS
80 CCT Spring 2020
HAILEY & JOEL CRABTREE
1. On November 10, Joshua Philip Ross ’97
married Jihyun Jo at SongEun ArtSpace in
Seoul, Korea.
2. Andrew Russeth ’07 married Lauretta Charlton
at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito,
Calif., in September. Back row, left to right:
Christina Giaccone BC’07, Avi Zenilman ’07,
Marc Tracy ’07, David Berlin ’07, Subash lyer ’07,
Helam Gebremariam ’07 and Joseph Anzalone
07; and second row, left to right: Gillian DiPietro
BC’07, Susie Schwartz 02, Stacy Wu ’02, the
bride, the groom and David Chait ’07.
3. On November 16, Tricia Ebner ’07 married
Frank Dubinsky at Sound River Studios in Long
Island City, N.Y. Left to right: Jordy Lievers-Eaton
07, Anne-Marie Ebner ’01, Elizabeth Ichniowski
’07, Christina Fang ’07, Andrew Ward ’07, Carly
Sullivan ’07, Adriana Sein ’07, Adrian Demko ’07,
the bride, Irene Plagianos ’03, Mary Berat ’03,
Conall Arora ’06, Hilary Sullivan ’07, Erin Debold
BC’07, Natalia Premovic ’07, William Ebner ’73,
Kathryn Van Nuys ’05, Virginia Ebner NRS’79,
Mike Cappeto, Carol Brofman and Ken Torrey.
4. Max Banaszak 12 and Gina Ng (front center)
celebrated their marriage at the Fullerton Hotel
Singapore on July 7. Among the bridesmaids
and groomsmen surrounding them are Kemal
Arsan SIPA'‘11, Jason Alford 12 and Mike Hu 12.
5. Dean Forthun 10 married Ellie Eubank on
January 18 at Mission San Luis Rey in California.
6. On January 21, 2019, Irene Izaguirre-Lopez
Post 12 and Robert Post SEAS’12 were married
in New York City.
POLINA BULMAN
TIGRAN MARKARYAN, CALYPSO DIGITAL WEDDINGS
A
7. Alexander Harstrick 12 married Jo Beth
Harstrick on May 19, 2018, at the Dover Hall
Estate in Goochland, Va.
8. Charlotte Freinberg “10 married lestyn
Barker in September at the Royal Institute
of British Architects in London. Alumni in
attendance included Elisabeth Freinberg ’02
(far left) and Charlotte Furet BC’10 (second
from right).
9. Ahiza Garcia 10 and Vaughn Hodges 10
were married on October 5 at the Palacio de
Galiana in Toledo, Spain, surrounded by family
and friends. Clockwise from left: Carl Constant ’11,
Macklin Loughrey 10, Jared Morine 10,
Andrew Shalbrack 10, William Lipovsky ’10,
Derek Jancisin 10, David Brekke “10, Millicent
Olawale ’10, the groom, the bride, Hannah
Biddle 10 and Isidore Smart 10.
10. Nina Lukina 12 and Russell Gallaro LAW’12
were married at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
on September 9. Left to right: Camille Salcedo-
Watson 12, Ben Lindbergh, Michele Cleary 12,
John Gallaro, Kathleen Schneider, the groom,
the bride, Rebecca Gallaro, Ned Klein, lvy Lei
and Eric Apar.
11. On September 7, Erin M. Connell 13
married Christian Adams in Somesville, Maine.
Top row, left to right: Becca Bor BC’06, Robin
Barnes PS’78, Jocelyn Howard ‘13, the groom,
Julia Tejeda 13, the bride, father of the bride
John Connell ’76 and Annie Bryan 18; and
bottom row, left to right: Will Connell 19, Brigid
Connell 16 and mother of the groom Mary
Barnes SOA‘85.
THOR SWIFT
12. Thomas Coffin Willcox ’84 married Glenda
Lombrino on May 5 at The Divine Science
Church in Washington, D.C.
13. Wendan Li 12 and Yufei Liu SEAS’12, who
met during NSOP, were married at the Hans
Fahden Vineyards in Calistoga, Calif., on
October 12, their 11-year anniversary. Left to right:
Jim Huang SEAS12, Belle Yan 12, Ying Wang 12,
Nathan Hwang SEAS’12, the bride, the groom,
Steven Wong SEAS12, Jin Chen 12, Sid Nair 12,
Cecilia Schudel 13 and Hans Hyttinen SEAS12.
14. Alison Gang ’94 married Mark Johnson at
San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on October
13, 2018. Left to right: Jordan Karp ’94, Satoshi
Kitahama ’91, the bride, Alessandra Gunz (née
Morales) 94 and Roxanne Hill (née Zikria) ’94.
Spring 2020 CCT 81
years as a storyteller all throughout
NYC, as well as kept up her activism
work around public education and
Asian-American rights. One of
Annie’s stories was featured on the
Moth Radio Hour. “Remember-
ing Vincent” is about her relation
to Vincent Chin, a man killed in a
hate crime and whose murder led to
a pan-Asian American movement
in the 1980s. She also keynoted the
“Teaching Social Activism” confer-
ence last spring at the Museum
of the City of New York. Annie is
excited that her story and work will
be featured in the PBS documentary
series Asian Americans, out this spring
— hope you tune in (pbs.org/show/
asian-americans)!
Some 201 ers have really taken
this spring to have sprung some-
thing totally new! Anjelica Hernan-
dez took her passion for dogs and
the environment to another level
by launching EarthyPup, an eco-
friendly pet subscription company.
EarthyPup aims to provide thought-
ful products and creative solutions
for a greener, simpler life within the
dog community. This social venture
reminds us that there’s no small act
when it comes to helping make the
world more sustainable.
Allie Fisher is now partner,
creative director at a San Francisco-
based design and strategy firm,
Godfrey Dadich Partners. She is
part of the team that produced sea-
son two of Abstract: The Art of Design
on Netflix, which launched last fall
’ mi / |
isl
and might finally help her family
understand what the heck a job in
“design” really is. More recently,
Allie worked on a project close to
home — or rather, campus, leading
the team working on the brand
redesign of campus coffee shop
Joe Coffee. The new visual identity
speaks to both the craft and com-
munity vibes of this NYC mainstay.
The new look will roll out across
campus and the city this year.
Others have experienced a multi-
tude of change over several seasons.
Zack Crimmins graduated from
William & Mary Law School, the
oldest law school in the country, in
May 2019 and passed the Virginia
bar exam. He is a law clerk for the
Hanover County Circuit Court in
Virginia’s 15th Judicial District, near
Richmond. He recently saw his old
Lions basketball team, and head
coach Jim Engles, take on the defend-
ing champs in Charlottesville. The
Lions unfortunately did not prevail,
but acquitted themselves admirably.
Stephanie Wilhelm was sworn
into the Delaware Army National
Guard JAG Corps and directly
commissioned as a first lieutenant in
October. She will attend (or is cur-
rently attending, depending on when
this is published) the Direct Com-
mission Course at Fort Benning, Ga.,
and Judge Advocate Officer Basic
Course at the Judge Advocate Gen-
eral’s Legal Center and School in
Charlottesville this spring and sum-
mer. She says she looks forward to
Micah Smith 14 and Alex Gaspard 14 got engaged last summer in Boston.
They celebrated their engagement with their vintage Class of 2014
champagne flutes from Senior Night.
82 CCT Spring 2020
Several alumni are involved in the Lalabala Project, an original children’s
musical theater piece traveling to Nepal this spring: Fiona Rae Brunner BC'14,
Molly Rose Heller GS/JTS'15, Jake Lasser 12, Schuyler Van Amson ‘17 and
Maria Fernanda Diez °15.
serving the United States of America
and the State of Delaware!
Princess Francois has experi-
enced a whole year of blessings! She
got engaged in late April 2019 in
Egypt on the Great Pyramid! She
also received the Milken Educator
Award in November! Princess was
the only educator in New York State
to receive the award last year, and
one of just 40 educators across the
country. (It’s the Academy Awards
of teaching ... seriously!) Princess
is assistant principal of math and
science at MESA Charter H.S. in
Brooklyn. This is her fourth year
there and her ninth year in education.
We hope that the remainder of
your spring continues to blossom!
We've exhausted our flowery language
for now, but we're already looking for-
ward to serving the sizzling updates
of the summer in a few months.
ZOOL
Sarah Chai
sarahbchai@gmail.com
Happy New Year, everyone!
Starting off the year with happy
news from Max Banaszak and
Ashley C. Lhérisson.
Congratulations are in order for
Max Banaszak and Gina Ng, who
were married at the Fullerton Hotel
Singapore on July 7. Check out the
“Just Married!” section for a photo
of the happy couple surrounded by
bridesmaids and groomsmen, includ-
ing the groom's freshman year John
Jay 12 floormates!
Ashley C. Lhérisson LAW’17
was selected by The National Black
Lawyers for its list of “Top 40 Under
40” lawyers in New York! The National
Black Lawyers is a professional and
educational organization comprising
African-American attorneys who have
demonstrated excellence and achieved
outstanding results in their careers.
Membership is by invitation only and
is based on peer nominations and
third-party research.
Ashley joined the legal depart-
ment of Goldman Sachs in January.
Before that, she was a litigation asso-
ciate at Sullivan & Cromwell special-
izing in white-collar criminal defense,
regulatory enforcement and internal
investigations. She is also entering
her third year as founder of Ivy Grad
Services, her graduate school admis-
sions consulting business.
In 2019, Ashley hired two consul-
tants, Marc Holloway’11, BUS’17,
LAW?’17 and Quinn Shelton ’13.
Ashley says she looks forward to
hiring more Columbia alums and
expanding her business in 2020!
Wishing everyone a happy new
year. Please take a moment to send
a note!
2013
Tala Akhavan
talaakhavan@gmail.com
No news this time, CC’13! Do you
have fun plans for the summer? Share
them here! Any cool job news? You
can share that, too! Big life changes?
Let’s hear it! This is your place to
share, and your classmates want to
hear from you. Please send a note to
talaakhavan@gmail.com.
2014
Rebecca Fattell
rsf2121@columbia.edu
Happy spring, Class of 2014!
Eric Ingram is in his final
semester for his master’s program in
education at UC Berkeley and plans
to teach high school English in Los
Angeles next year.
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Jen Lee relocated to San Fran-
cisco after completing an M.B.A. at
Harvard. She enjoys startup life, the
outdoors and the mild weather in
the Bay Area. Let her know if you're
in the area!
In March 2019, Chris Zombik
quit his full-time job in Shanghai
to focus on growing his education
consulting company. Now location-
independent, he is traveling around
East Asia and the United States
meeting people and working on
both business and creative projects.
Kate Eberstadt is based in
Brooklyn and is a recording artist,
musical theater composer, performer
and humanitarian, often blending
these roles. Described by Soundigest
as “avant garde meets pop,” as the
alt-pop duo Delune she and her
sister Izzi Eberstadt BC’16 are
releasing one single a month in
2020, dropping both their debut
baroque-pop concept album Pierrot
and an electronic beat-driven EP
inspired by their time in Central
Asia last year. The pair recently
returned from Kazakhstan, where
they co-composed an original
musical, based on the East Ger-
man dystopian fairytale The Rain
Maiden, for the Nemetski National
Theater. The duo are also compos-
ing for Lalabala Project, an original
children’s musical theater piece
traveling to Nepal this spring, cre-
ated by Fiona Rae Brunner BC’14,
directed by Molly Rose Heller GS/
JTS'15 and featuring Jake Lasser ’12,
Schuyler Van Amson’17 and Maria
Fernanda Diez’15.
Kate is writing an autobiographi-
cal experimental musical, Notes from
the Basement, documenting the year
she spent living in her parents’ base-
ment writing a mixtape after work-
ing in an emergency refugee camp
in Berlin. This show, also directed
by Molly Rose Heller GS/JTS’15,
has had a few workshops/readings in
NYC, including at Corkscrew The-
ater Festival, spearheaded by Alex
Hare ’13 and Alexander Donnelly.
‘The developmental cast featured
longtime Notes and Keys collabora-
tors — Izzi, Christopher Ramirez
13 and Donju Min’13, who also
worked on the project in Germany.
After leading a recording pro-
gram on Rikers Island with incar-
cerated youth, Kate continues to be
a teaching artist in the city, most
recently mentoring eighth graders at
Girls Prep to create an album about
their middle-school experiences.
To follow Kate’s musical theater
and humanitarian work, check out
her Instagram @updatesfromkate.
Check out Delune’s work on Spotify,
Apple Music or other streaming
platforms! Follow @deluneofficial
for more updates.
Micah Smith and Alex Gaspard
got engaged last summer in Boston
and are planning their wedding
for this fall! They celebrated their
engagement with their vintage Class
of 2014 champagne flutes from
Senior Night.
Several former Columbia Community Impact members had a mini-reunion.
Left to right: Hahn Chang ‘15, Adrian Silver 15, Megan Thompson BC'15 and
Brian McGrattan SEAS’15.
alumninews
Rebecca Fattell will return
to Columbia this fall to begin an
M.B.A. at the Business School.
She’s thrilled to be returning to
Morningside Heights!
2015
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccreunion@columbia.edu
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Kareem Carryl
kareem.carryl@columbia.edu
Hello, Class of 2015! I hope the first
few months of the decade have been
treating you well! Let’s jump right
into the news that classmates shared.
Adrian Alexander Alea shared,
“Since associate directing the world
premiere of Hercules in collaboration
with Disney Theatrical Productions
and The Public Theater’s Public
Works, I am excited to share that I
will start at New York City Center's
Encores! in a newly created position
as its creative associate.”
Congratulations!
Virgilio Urbina Lazardi is
in the third year of his doctoral
candidacy at NYU’s Department
of Sociology. His research focuses
on industrial relations, bargaining
power and labor sociology, with a
focus on workplace representation
in Germany and Austria. He shared
that he is “still living in ‘da greatest
city on Earth,’ baybee” and offers
his sincere apologies to any and all
offended for his turning coat (blue
for violet).
Adrian Silver recently had a
Community Impact reunion with
Hahn Chang, Megan Thompson
BC’15 and Brian McGrattan
SEAS’15.
Fatimatou Diallo and Doreen
Mohammed ’19 traveled together in
Paris! ‘They shared a photo from the
Louvre Museum.
As always, your classmates want
to hear from you! Please be sure to
submit updates to Class Notes by
writing me at the address at the top
of the column or via the CCT Class
Notes webform, college.columbia.
edu/cct/submit_class_note. And
make plans to come back to campus
for Reunion Weekend 2020, Thurs-
day, June 4-Saturday, June 6!
Fatimatou Diallo 15 (left) and
Doreen Mohammed ’19 went to the
Louvre Museum together.
2016
Lily Liu-Krason
lliukrason@gmail.com
Hey 2016, happy 2020 to you! I con-
tinually am impressed by the updates
and nominations you send in. Please
continue to write with updates or
nominate friends to brag about.
From my end, I spent the last part
of 2019 back at Columbia in the
Journalism School, focusing on data
journalism. Did you know Brad’s is
now a Joe’s? (Not sure you needed
to know, but now you know!) On to
more interesting classmates and their
2019 adventures ... drum roll ...
From Justine Horton: “This
past winter, I had the incredible
opportunity to summit Mount Kili-
manjaro. At 19,341 ft., it is the tallest
mountain on the continent of Africa,
and the tallest free-standing volcano
in the world. My team reached the
summit just as the sun rose over the
crater’s rim, making the freshly fallen
snow on the peak’s glaciers glow pink.
It was a phenomenal experience. The
trip came as a culmination of now
three years working in the outdoor
industry, following my five-month
through-hike of the Pacific Crest
Trail in 2017. Since then, I have
been an instructor with outdoor
education organizations, and a guide
with Discover Outdoors, a New York
City-based guiding company. Though
Spring 2020 CCT 83
Class Notes
India Wilson 16 (left) and Reva Santo
16 met up for a mini-CC'16 reunion.
my work mainly keeps me away from
the city and buried deep in the forests
and mountains of the Northeast, I
can occasionally be found in Brook-
lyn. Let me know if you want to get
out for a hike!”
From Sanjana Salwi: “I’m in
my third year of medical school
in Nashville — bachelorette party
central. In addition to boasting the
highest proportion of party tractors
per capita, Tennessee is also one of
the states hit hardest by the opioid
epidemic in the context of Medicaid
non-expansion. I’ve been working
on several bills and initiatives to
| help get patients with opioid use
| disorder the care that they need.
It’s been super exciting to talk to
| Tennessee state legislators and
| physicians in the Tennessee Medical
Association on a (mostly) bipartisan
issue. I’ve also been putting those
CC readings to work on a medical
ethics project to study how doctors
make decisions on end-of-life care
when the outlook is hard to predict.
This project has not lessened the
regret my parents feel for paying
tuition for me to read books.”
CUT
SHOW US YOUR
LION’S GAY PRIDE!
CCT is creating a photo gallery to celebrate Pride
Month this June. Show us your LGBTQIA+ pride
| in a group or individual photo (we need at least
one person to be a College alum!). Send your
hi-res photo with caption info to cct@columbia.edu;
we'll run our favorites in the Summer 2020 issue.
84 CCT Spring 2020
From Reva Santo: “Hey, Class
of 2016! It’s been a while since I’ve
seen most of you and I hope you're
all thriving. What’s been going on
with me? I left New York pretty
quickly after graduation to spend
time in Cuba making a short film.
When I came back I linked up with
the Visible Poetry Project (run by
the awesome Michelle Cheripka)
to direct a visual poem interpreting
the powerful words of Sojourner
Ahebee. The short was featured at
the Los Angeles Municipal Art
Gallery! Whirlwind! Shuffled off to
make another short in Japan after
that, just for fun.
“T came back to New York briefly
in 2018 but then got the opportu-
nity to chase after one of my favorite
directors, Dee Rees, in Puerto Rico
on the set of her upcoming film The
Last Thing He Wanted (based on the
Joan Didion novel, for all my fellow
nerds). Came home to Los Angeles
to breathe for a sec and then took
off to Europe to do research for a
story concept.
“[’'m back in L.A. now, and most of
my energy goes into my baby, Honey
& Smoke, a global artist community
and platform focused on creating
space for artists to meditate on the
important themes of our time (Ins-
tagram: @_honeyandsmoke_). Aside
from this, I recently launched the fun-
draising campaign for my short film
Trust Issues, which tells the story of
Aliya, a young musician confronting
the aftermath of sexual assault and
its effects on her relationships, her
mental health and her career. Light
stuff! Feel free to reach out to me
if any of this is of interest to you; it
Columbia friends took a winter trip to Maui! Left to right: Winnie Zhang
BC'19, Hidy Han 17, Anne Chen 18 and Caroline Chen “18.
would be great to reconnect! Find me
on Instagram: @revasanto!”
VAS
Carl Yin
carl.yin@columbia.edu
Michael Jesse Abolafia and
Amber Doll Diaz GS’25 are happy
to announce they got engaged on
September 22, after dating for
nearly a decade. The wedding is
planned for spring 2021.
After a brief stint in professional
baking, Laney McGahey is happy
to report that she has started grad
school at UC San Francisco with a
focus on clinical research. She still
lives in San Francisco and enjoys
spending time with other Lions in
the Bay!
Elle Wisnicki was applying for
M.B.A. programs in January to
become a healthcare entrepreneur in
the mental health space. She would
like to create a national urgent care
system for affordable crisis treat-
ment as an alternative to overrun
emergency rooms.
Louisa Carpenter-Winch and
Elizaveta Kulko GS'17 are engaged!
They write, “We met several years ago
in Havemeyer. We're no longer lab
partners, but we're now life partners
and are excited to get married. Cheers!”
Tara Shui recently went to Shang-
hai with Jibben Hillen SEAS’17. It
was Jibben’s first time in Shanghai —
he especially loved the sheng sian bao.
Bianca Guerrero adds, “I am
still at City Hall, working hard to
pass a bill to guarantee two weeks of
paid time off for workers in NYC.
I spent much of 2019 organizing
for progressive candidates: 2020
will be much of the same. Last
summer, I began knocking on doors
and making phone calls for Jamaal
Bowman, a middle-school principal
and Justice Democrat running for
Congress in NY-16, which includes
the Bronx and lower Westchester.
(I’m also excited to knock on doors
for Samelys Lopez BC’01, running
in NY-15.) I joined a volunteer-run
political organization, Amplify Her,
which helps elect progressive women
running to represent NYC in local,
state and federally elected offices. I
serve as policy director, which entails
creating questionnaires for candidates
seeking our endorsement, hosting
candidate forums and co-managing
our endorsement process. We will
announce our 2020 slate soon, which
I'm really excited about!”
2018
Alexander Birkel and
Maleeha Chida
ab4065@columbia.edu
mnc2122@columbia.edu
Happy New Year, Class of 2018!
Read on to see what classmates have
been up to, and as always, feel free to
send us updates, big or small!
Briley Lewis’s first research paper
was accepted into Icarus, a solar
system studies journal from Elsevier.
It’s based on work about Pluto that
she started at a summer internship
during her time at Columbia.
Since graduating, Abbey Li has
been traveling around the world,
both for her job as an international
arbitration paralegal and for her
vacations. She rang in the New Year
(and, as hard as it is to believe, the
new decade) with her high school
friends in Osaka, Japan.
Elise Barber has moved to Mil-
waukee to work for the Wisconsin
Democratic Party. She is excited
to talk to voters and work to elect
Democrats to every level of the
government in Wisconsin and in the
2020 presidential election. If you live
alumninews
in Wisconsin and are interested in
getting involved in this effort, email
her at eliseibarber@gmail.com.
In order to escape the cold
in New York, Chicago and San
Francisco last Christmas, Caroline
Chen took a trip to Maui, Hawaii,
with Winnie Zhang BC’19, Hidy
Han’17 and Anne Chen.
2019 ONLINE
2020
JUNE 4-6
Events and Programs Contact
ccreunion@columbia.edu “TI E LATEST”
Development Contact
ccfund@columbia.edu
Emily Gruber and
Tj Aspen Givens
tag2149@columbia.edu
eag2169@columbia.edu
Happy New Year, Class of 2019!
Here are updates from our friends:
Brent Morden is choir manager
for Every Voice Choirs, a Teach-
ers College-based singing program
for kids 7-16. He also continues to
freelance as a composer, arranger,
vocalist and actor in the New York
metropolitan area. Brent welcomes O R | G N A L S TO R | E S
you to contact him: brentmorden@
gmail.com. ALUMNI VOICES
Sofia Schembari enjoyed a visit
fiom Adriana Fratz in Guanacaste UPDATED WEEKLY
Costa Rica, where Sofia is doing
field work with white-faced capuchin
monkeys. Sofia and Adriana have
been friends since Days on Campus!
We send our best for a happy
and healthy 2020 and look forward
to catching up with everyone at
our first reunion, Thursday, June 4—
Saturday, June 6!
college.columbia.edu/cct
Columbia
College
Today &
Sofia Schembari ’19 (right) enjoyed
a visit from Adriana Fratz 19 in
Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
Spring 2020 CCT 85
obituaries
1944
Van Dyk Buchanan, retired
professor, Santa Barbara, Calif.,
on January 20, 2018.
Vance W. Weaver, writer,
newspaper columnist and blogger,
New York City, on December 28,
2019. Memorial contributions may
be made to International Rescue
Committee (help.rescue.org/donate)
or End of Life Choices New York
(endoflifechoicesny.org).
1947
Bertram M. Sussman, retired
manufacturing business owner,
Stanwood, Wash., on February 20,
2020. Memorial contributions may
be made to Southern Poverty Law
Center (donate.splcenter.org).
1948
Robert W. McClellan, retired journal-
ist, Burlington, Vt., on September 9,
2019. McClellan earned an M.A.
from GSAS in 1961. Memorial con-
tributions may be made to Christ
Presbyterian Church, 1597 Allen
St., Springfield, MA 01118.
1949
Murry J. Waldman, retired attorney,
San Francisco, on January 15, 2020.
Memorial contributions may be
made to Congregation Emanu-El
Tzedek Council (emanuelsf.org/
donate), ACLU Northern California
(aclunc.org) or Environmental
Action Committee of West Marin
(eacmarin.org/donatenow).
1950
Patrick J. Barry, orthopedic
surgeon and knee specialist, Miami
Beach, Fla., on December 27, 2019.
Memorial contributions may be
made to The Elephant Sanctuary
(elephants.com).
Philip M. Bergovoy, entrepreneur,
Sarasota, Fla., on February 22, 2019.
Memorial contributions may be
made to Make-A-Wish Hudson
Valley (hudson.wish.org).
1952
A. James Gregor, professor
emeritus, Berkeley, Calif., on
August 30, 2019. Gregor earned
an M.A. and a Ph.D. from GSAS
in 1958 and 1961, respectively.
Memorial contributions may be
made to your local animal shelter
or to ASPCA (aspca.org).
1953
William U. Bruch Jr., retired real
estate executive, Bellevue, Wash., on
October 30, 2019. Bruch earned a
B.S. in chemical engineering from
Columbia Engineering in 1954.
1954
Joel J. West, psychiatrist, Laguna
Woods, Calif., on December 20, 2019.
OBITUARY SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Columbia College Today welcomes obituary information
for Columbia College alumni. Links or mailing addresses for
memorial contributions may be included. Please fill out the
“Submit Obituary Information” form at college.columbia.edu/
cct/content/contact-us, or mail information to Obituaries
Editor, Columbia College Today, Columbia Alumni Center,
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530, 4th Fl., New York, NY 10025.
86 CCT Spring 2020
1955
Robert E. Kushner, retired attorney,
Tuckahoe, N.Y., on August 23,
2019. Kushner earned a degree from
the Law School in 1958. Memorial
contributions may be made to UJA
Federation New York (ujafedny.org/
donate) or American Civil Liberties
Union (aclu.org).
1956
Harold B. Reisman, retired
chemical engineer, Carlsbad,
Calif., on July 29, 2019. Reisman
entered with the Class of 1956 but
earned two degrees from Columbia
Engineering: a B.S. in 1956 and a
Ph.D. in 1965.
1957
Thomas J. Fagan, retired
mechanical engineer, Scottsdale,
Ariz., on January 5, 2020. Fagan
earned a B.S. from Columbia
Engineering in 1958.
Arthur E. Rifkin, academic psychia-
trist and researcher, Great Neck,
N.Y., on July 7, 2019. Memorial
contributions may be made to
American Psychiatric Association
Foundation (apafdn.org).
1958
Harlan L. Lane, psychologist,
advocate for deaf culture, Boston
and Roquefort-les-Pins, France, on
July 13, 2019. Lane earned an M.A.
in psychology from GSAS in 1958.
1959
Robert M. Burd, retired physician,
Sarasota, Fla., on October 31, 2019.
Memorial contributions may be
made to Leukemia & Lymphoma
Society (Lls.org/ways-to-donate).
David M. Clark, retired science
teacher and wrestling coach,
East Northport, N.Y., on
August 15, 2019.
Guy J. Manaster, retired professor
of psychology, department chair
and graduate advisor, Dallas, on
October 15, 2019. Memorial
contributions may be made to
organizations that treat and
research Parkinson's disease or
Lewy body dementia.
1960
Jerome H. “Jerry” Schmelzer,
public relations and urban develop-
ment executive, Pepper Pike, Ohio,
on September 14, 2019. Schmelzer
earned a degree in 1962 from the
Journalism School. Memorial con-
tributions may be made to Cleve-
land Animal Protective League
(clevelandapl.org), Maltz Museum
of Jewish Heritage (maltzmuseum.
org) or Columbia Journalism School
(journalism.givenow.columbia.edu).
1961
Rev. Canon Gregory M. Howe,
retired priest, Provincetown, Mass.,
on January 12, 2019. Memorial
contributions may be made to St.
Mary of the Harbor, 519 Commercial
St., Provincetown, MA 02657.
1963
Victor Margolin, emeritus professor
of design history, Washington, D.C.,
on November 27, 2019. Memorial
contributions may be made to
Subud Washington D.C. c/o The
Alkaitises, 1231 Hillcrest Rd.,
Arnold, MD 21012-2116.
Barry J. Reiss, attorney, Commack,
N.Y., on November 23, 2019. Reiss
earned a degree in 1966 from the
Law School. Memorial contributions
may be made to ALS Association
Greater New York Chapter (als-ny.
org) or Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation (jdrf-org).
1964
Steven T. Henick, professor and
retired business executive, Millers-
ville, Md., on November 19, 2019.
1965
Michael D. Cooper, retired
radiologist, Jerusalem, on
February 27, 2019. Memorial
contributions may be made to
ALS Therapy Development
Institute (als.net/donate) or
American Friends of Zichron
Ruth Kollel, 109 Bayit Vegan
Street, Jerusalem, 9642621, Israel.
Gary S. Engelberg, humanitarian,
Dakar, Senegal, on August 12, 2019.
Michael I. Sovern 753,
Michael I. Sovern ’53, LAW’55,
the Chancellor Kent Professor
of Law and a former University
president, died on January 20, 2020,
in Manhattan. He was 88.
During his 13-year term as
Columbia's president (1980-93),
Sovern opened the College to women;
appointed the first female deans at
the Journalism School, GSAS and the
Law School; made housing available
to all undergraduates; and brought
about divestment from companies
doing business in South Africa.
Sovern was born on December
1, 1931, in the Bronx to Julius and
Lillian (née Arnstein) Sovern. His
father was a partner in a women’s
clothing company and died when
Sovern was 12. His mother became a
bookkeeper after her husband’s death.
Sovern graduated from Bronx
Science. After his junior year at the
College, he started classes at the
Law School under the “professional
option,” earning a bachelor’s summa
cum laude and two years later a J.D.,
graduating first in his class and serv-
ing as articles editor of the Columbia
Law Review. In 1957, he joined the
Law School faculty, becoming a full
professor three years later. At 28, he
was then the youngest tenured faculty
member at the University. Sovern
CCT Print Extras
Michael |. Sovern 53, LAW’55
reflects on his “improbable life”
in a short video. Go to college.
columbia.edu/cct.
1966
Anthony F. Starace, professor
of physics, Lincoln, Neb., on
September 5, 2019.
LORD
Michael R. Zakian, museum
director and professor of art history,
Malibu, Calif., on January 14,
2020. Memorial contributions
may be made to the Michael
LAW’55, University President Emeritus
accepted a job teaching at the Uni-
versity of Minnesota Law School and
stayed for two years before returning
to the Law School in 1962.
In Spring 1968, when campus
protests erupted and students occu-
pied the president’s office and other
campus buildings for a week, Sovern
decried what he called the “offensive
notion’ that faculty and students
should confront each other as war-
ring camps. “I cannot regard my
students as adversaries; if they ever
come to see me in that role, I shall
leave teaching,” he wrote in 1969.
Sovern was appointed chair of the
Executive Committee of the Faculty,
and his deft handling of the crisis
was widely lauded. In the following
months, he proposed the creation of a
University Senate, a policymaking body
formed in 1969 composed of faculty
members, students, alumni and staff.
Sovern’s involvement in the Uni-
versity Senate whetted his appetite
for administration, and in 1970 he
was named the eighth dean of the
Law School, serving until 1979 and
remaining an active full-time faculty
member until his death.
While helming the Law School,
Sovern recruited Ruth Bader Gins-
burg LAW’59 as its first woman
law professor and Kellis E. Parker as
its first black law professor. He also
established the Center for Law and
Economic Studies, expanded the
school’s clinical law programs and
helped establish a number of scholar-
ships. In 1998, an anonymous donor
established the Michael I. Sovern
Professor of Law chair, awarded to
alumninews ©
Zakian Exhibition Fund (impact.
pepperdine.edu/memorial).
1980
James R. Haslem, attorney,
real estate consultant, Santa
Barbara, Calif., on November 9,
2019. Memorial contributions
may be made to ALS Association
(alsa.org), VNA Health
(vna.health/ways-to-give) or
Hospice of Santa Barbara
(hospiceofsantabarbara.org).
those who demonstrate outstanding
promise in their teaching and writing.
Sovern was University provost
and executive VP for academic affairs
1979-80, when he was named the
University’s 17th president, replacing
William J. McGill. He faced chal-
lenges immediately: Columbia was
not considered well managed, build-
ings were in disrepair and new faculty
had to be recruited. “We were broke,”
Sovern said in a 2014 interview at
Hunter College. But endowment
soared during Sovern's tenure, grow-
ing from $525 million to $1.7 billion,
and he oversaw the $400-million sale
of 11.7 acres of University-owned
land beneath Rockefeller Center in
1985 to the Rockefeller Group, which
had been paying the University rent
since the 1930s.
Sovern announced he was step-
ping down from the presidency
when his wife, Joan R. Sovern, a
sculptor, was undergoing treatment
for cancer. She died in 1993.
After leaving the presidency,
Sovern chaired the Japan Society and
the American Academy in Rome,
and was president of the Shubert
Foundation. In 2000, he was named to
succeed the chair of Sotheby’s. But his
time at Columbia remained the focus
of his pride: “No savvy gambler would
have bet that a fatherless adolescent
from the South Bronx, the first in his
family to graduate from high school,”
he wrote in his autobiography, “would
grow up to become president of one of
the world’s great universities.”
Sovern was presented with numer-
ous honors, including an honorary
JOE PINEIRO
2007
Daniel P. Bajger, attorney,
Bethesda, Md., on December 26,
2019. Memorial contributions
may be made to the Columbia
men’s baseball team: by check,
mailed to Columbia Athletics
Development, c/o Emily Maury,
Development Coordinator,
Columbia Alumni Center,
622 W. 113th St., New York,
NY 10025, or online (athletics.
givenow.columbia.edu).
LL.D. from Columbia, the College’s
Alexander Hamilton Medal, the GS
Owl Award, the Law School’s Medal
for Excellence and its Lawrence A.
Wien Prize for Social Responsibility,
the Citizens Union Civic Leadership
Award and two honorary doctorates.
In addition to his wife, Patricia
Walsh Sovern, whom he married
in 1995, Sovern is survived by
his daughters, Julie LAW’93 and
Elizabeth; sons, Jeftrey’77, LAW’80
and Douglas; stepson, David Wit,
10 grandchildren; and sister, Denise
Canner. Two earlier marriages ended
in divorce.
In announcing Sovern’s death,
President Lee C. Bollinger said, “Mike
loved Columbia, and did all he could
to support and further its greatness
— always, it should be added, with a
smile, a clever quip and a good laugh.
And there is so much more good he
did in the world, beyond Columbia.
Mike was one of the great university
presidents of his generation.”
Spring 2020 CCT 87
COTECOMeEL
CORE CARTOON CAPTION CONTEST
In honor of the Centennial, we asked four artistic alums to
take inspiration from the Core and provide a cartoon in need of a
caption — one for each of our four issues this academic year.
This installment is by Dr. Benjamin Schwartz ’03, PS’08, a regular
cartoonist for The New Yorker.
The winning caption will be published in the Summer 2020 issue,
and the winner will get a signed print of Schwartz’s cartoon. Any
College student or College alum may enter; no more than three
entries per person. Submit your idea, along with your full name,
CC class year and daytime phone, to cct_centennial@columbia.edu
by Monday, May 11. And be sure to check out the Winter issue’s
winning caption on our Table of Contents.
88 CCT Spring 2020
EL PAP IER oe oe cam pe scientanint an op
PERTTI OT, oO LS a ALR EE ESTE POR TRSN ME
rhe as ean set
RRA S ret PPE Scare a ada y:
| CORETO
~ COMMENCEMENT
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The Core to Commencement campaign sets forth a bold plan for Columbia
College's future. Only through the generosity of alumni, parents and friends
are we able to prepare our students to help build a better world for us all.
Join the more than 42,000 DONORS who already have shown their
support, at every level, for the greatest college in the greatest university
in the greatest city in the world.
ie.” Ne > aie .
a7 «=a S [=>
The Core at 100 Wellness and Beyond the Teaching and Access and
Community - Classroom Mentoring Support
COLLEGE.COLUMBIA.EDU/CAMPAIGN
| Columbia
| College
| Today w
Columbia University
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530
New York, NY 10025
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
i 4
ie 4 weed
a
JOIN THE CELEBRATION ONLINE, as the
Centennial year continues. Find events, music,
art, Core Stories and much more.
e oT
riacg
| We iankt
core 100.columbia.edu
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 724
Burl. VT 05401
Summer 2020
PREVAILING OVER
PANDEMIC
ALUMNI SHARE STORIES
OF LIFE DURING COVID-19
VIRTUAL CLASS DAY
THE SHOW DID GO ON!
CONGRATS TO THE
estat CLASS OF 2020
oe Olire| ‘as - Si,
College ise F RACHEL FEINSTEIN ’93
Toda OP . ae SCENES FROM HER
= mn. =~ /) FIRST MAJOR MUSEUM
RETROSPECTIVE
Alex Loznak ‘19
is Suing the
U.S. government
for the right to
a Safer planet
Columbia
College
Today @
VOLUME 47 NUMBER 4
SUMMER 2020
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Alexis Boncy SOA’11
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Lisa Palladino
DEPUTY EDITOR
Jill C. Shomer
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Anne-Ryan Sirju JRN’09
FORUM EDITOR
Rose Kernochan BC’82
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Thomas Vinciguerra’85 errr
ART DIRECTOR Taking Climate Change to Court
Eson Chan
ew Alex Loznak ’19 is one of a team of young people suing
Published quarterly by the the U.S. government for the right to a safer planet.
Columbia College Office of
Alumni Affairs and Development By Anne-Ryan Sirju FRN’O9
for alumni, students, faculty, parents
and friends of Columbia College.
CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS 14
AND MARKETING OFFICER rrr
Bernice Tsai 96 “What Has Your Pandemic
scons Experience Been Like?”
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center Fourteen alumni tell us how COVID-19 has shaped their lives.
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530, 4th FI.
New York, NY 10025 By the Editors of CCT
PHONE
212-851-7852 24
coy
cct@columbia.edu Uniquely United
WEB
college.columbia.edu/cct The College produced its first-ever virtual
ISSN 0572-7820 Class Day to honor the Class of 2020.
Opinions expressed are those of
the authors and do not reflect 25
official positions of Columbia College
or Columbia University.
© 2020 Columbia College Today = CC20 STILLROARS
All rights reserved.
We asked members of the Class of 2020 what it means to
MIX be graduating at this unprecedented moment.
Paper from
responsible sources
FSC FSC® C022085
Cover: Photo by Robin Loznak
departments
3 Within the Family
4 Message from Dean James J. Valentini
Facing the future after an academic year no one
could have predicted.
5 Around the Quads
Student innovation, faculty awards,
virtual reunion and more.
28 Columbia Forum: Rachel Feinstein
Feminist sculptor Rachel Feinstein ’93 gets
a major museum retrospective.
DR. BENJAMIN SCHWARTZ ’03, PS’08
Contents
alumninews
31 ESB Lights Up for Lions
32 Message from CCAA President
Michael Behringer ’89
Maintaining College community when we
can’t be together.
33 Lions
Charles Miers ’80; Annie Tan ‘11
35 Bookshelf
Ted Shawn: His Life, Writings, and Dances
by Paul A. Scolieri’95
37 Just Married!
38 Class Notes
73 Obituaries
Dr. Paul A. Marks “46, PS’49; Eugene T.
Rossides 49, LAW’52; Saul Turteltaub 54,
LAW’57; Brian Dennehy ’60; Terrence
McNally ’60; Charles P. Wuorinen ’61,
GSAS’63; Heyward H. Dotson ’70, LAW’76
79. Core Gomer
Our Core Centennial cartoon caption
contest concludes with an illustration by
Ariel Schrag ’03.
‘In 1928, with the introduction of the home
refrigerator in the U.S., a new art form emerged
among some of the younger artists there. eColimbinCellsea Alumaal
facebook.com/alumnicc
The winner of our third Core Centennial cartoon caption
contest is Patrick Rapp 66! Thank you for all your submissions.
View Columbia College alumni photos
This issue’s cartoon is on page 79. ; } :
instagram.com/alumniofcolumbiacollege
Follow @Columbia_CCAA
Join the Columbia College alumni network
college.columbia.edu/alumni/linkedin
He @ xs
college.columbia.edu/cct
JORG MEYER
t’s hard to know where to begin when writing this column,
against the backdrop of these recent strange and devastating
months. I look across my makeshift desk, out the window, where
— after a chilly spring — green leaves finally fill the gridded
pane. My husband, our 3-and-a-half-year-old daughter and I joined
my parents at their home in Massachusetts in early April; they help
with childcare while my husband and I work remotely. We take turns
cooking dinner, then watch TV together or drift into different corners
to decompress. At least once a day, we speculate how much longer.
Tam enormously grateful for our situation, but as the weeks have
passed, my homesickness has grown acute. I miss our apartment
in Brooklyn; I miss my office in Morningside Heights. I miss the
hour-long commute that took me from one to the other, a trip I
often cursed (fie, MTA!) but that I now understand offered precious
personal time to read or listen to podcasts or even nap until, on my
luckier days, I woke just as the conductor announced my stop.
These are small and easy losses to catalog. There have been losses
far, far greater in recent months — overwhelming in their scope
and complexity, impossible to fully comprehend. I struggle to make
sense of all that’s happening: COVID-19, with its wrenching
human and economic toll; the brutal murders of Ahmaud Arbery,
Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and the subsequent protests — a
communal keening that reflects too many years of injustice, heart-
break and anger, and which has demanded a national reckoning.
We each must decide how we will respond to these crises: How do we
contend with their many facets; with whom will we share our thoughts
and feelings; what calls to action will we issue or answer? These are con-
versations that begin quietly, in moments of self-reflection, and open
outward to engage family, friends, community and others.
Of course, the community we have in common is that of Colum-
bia College. As Dean James J. Valentini eloquently addresses in his
message on page 4, we are part of an institution where “much of
what our undergraduates really explore is knowledge of the self and
of their own humanity, in the context of others.” The foundation
that the College instills in its students and alumni, and the aware-
ness it fosters — for anyone who swims in its proverbial waters —
have prepared all of us to consider the questions of equity, ethics,
responsibility and democracy that are suddenly, urgently vital.
In this issue’s cover story, we take up questions of responsibility relat-
ing to another of today’s most pressing issues: climate change. ‘There,
the spotlight is on activist Alex Loznak’19, who, with 20 other young
people, is suing the U.S. government for the right to a clean environ-
ment. The groundbreaking case, Juliana v. United States, charges that our
leaders have caused undue harm to its plaintiffs by enabling and even
encouraging policies that promote fossil fuels and carbon dioxide pollu-
tion. We look both at the remarkable case and Loznak’s personal story
— his crusade is inspired by his family’s 152-year-old Oregon farm,
which has become increasingly threatened by drought and wildfire.
3 CCT Summer 2020
Notes on a Surreal Season
Elsewhere in the issue, we invited 14 alumni
The CCT team,
clockwise from top
left: Deputy Editor
Jill C. Shomer, Editor-
in-Chief Alexis Boncy
SOA, Executive
Editor Lisa Palladino,
Associate Editor
Anne-Ryan Sirju
JRN’O9 and Art
Director Eson Chan.
to contribute reflections on the changes to
their daily lives during the early months of
the pandemic. Our original aim had been to
create a time capsule of sorts, but as the proj-
ect developed, we found ourselves moved and
heartened in ways that we hadn't anticipated.
We hope it does the same for you.
And speaking of heart, don't miss our
graduation coverage, starting on page 24.
Class Day and Commencement went virtual
in lieu of traditional ceremonies, and we highlight 10 seniors from
the remarkable Class of 2020. The lessons they've taken from the
extraordinary circumstances of their last semester — and the inten-
tions they now carry into the world — are truly inspiring.
In case you missed our June 14 email announcement, I'd encourage
you to read our recent Online Exclusive, a O&A with Dr. Ashish K.
[ha “92, director of Harvard’s Global Health Institute. In it, Jha —
whom you might recognize from appearances on MSNBC and other
networks — offers an optimistic prediction of our future, but doesnt
mince words about what’s gone wrong with the federal response to
COVID-19. We also announced that we're posting this issue online
only, having paused publication of the print magazine due to the
financial implications of the pandemic.
We'll be back with a print magazine in the fall. In the meantime,
I welcome your feedback at cct@columbia.edu. Be well.
Alexis Boncy SOA'11
Editor-in-Chief
college.columbia.edu/cct
MATTHEW SEPTIMUS
_ Looking with Clear and
hen Columbia College began the academic year last
September, it would have been impossible for me to
imagine how differently it would draw to an end.
While every year has its distinctions, as humans, we
rely on predictable rhythms to guide us. At Columbia, we start on a
grand scale with Convocation for the incoming class, then gather
together in a sea of Columbia Blue for Homecoming, observe the
quietude of fall and spring exam periods, and finish the year with several
more grand events: Class Day, Commencement and reunion.
The past several months have reminded us that whatever we might
expect, life presents the unpredictable. And this year, the unpredictable
arrived on a scale and with a force many of us had never before expe-
rienced. The outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States began with
ambiguity in February, but its rapid development into a massive public
health crisis in New York City and elsewhere led us to a series of “first-
evers” at the College. We moved to an entirely remote learning and
working model in mid-March, and then, just a few days later, expedited
the departure of thousands of students from our residence halls to acti-
vate what we all now know as social distancing and de-densification.
This past spring our typically blooming and energized campus
was unrecognizable, absent of students, who concluded their year
with examinations and final papers from locations around the world.
Poignantly, our senior class experienced graduation ceremonies
entirely through online experiences: videos, livestreams, Zoom
receptions with faculty and more. As the final senior celebration was
concluding on May 22, faculty and staff were already planning for
summer and fall, anticipating the next phases of the pandemic and
thinking of ways to prepare our 266-year-old school to adjust.
But in that moment of turning toward the future, the brutal killing
of George Floyd on May 25, Memorial Day, jolted the nation into a
new crisis that had a distinctly different feeling than the global health
and economic crisis we were already in. The tragedy of yet another Black
American's unjust death demanded that each of us look to the present
with clear and unblinking eyes, to acknowledge that the racism of today
is the result of a dark part of America’s past. Some of our country’s his-
tory is not easy to reckon with, but the insistent protests, outpouring of
heartache and outrage, and overwhelming pain of so many has drawn
together millions of Americans in a desire to collectively listen, share and
take action to address this fundamental flaw in our nation’s fabric.
Today, we face a future with two enormous challenges. By no coinci-
dence, both are deeply rooted in the humanities and its enduring ques-
tions about equality, ethics, responsibility and democracy. COVID-19
asks us each to consider how to physically take care of one another
and ourselves as part of our social contract. The issue of racial injustice
demands that we reflect on why we have taken insufficient care of
a certain population among us, resulting in Black Americans feeling
especially vulnerable in our communities.
4 CCT Summer 2020
Unblinking Eyes
I am glad to be at Colum-
bia College right now. Our
students are part of an insti-
tution that is rigorous about
learning, inquiry and the pur-
suit of knowledge. While we
often hear about Columbia’s
research and discoveries at
the frontiers of science and
medicine, much of what our
undergraduates really explore
is knowledge of the self and
of their own humanity, in the
context of others. The ques-
tions our students are asked
to consider have been delib-
erated for centuries, but in a
world as disrupted as today’s,
those questions — and the
JILL SHOMER
importance of their answers
— are even more significant.
Our circumstances challenge students, and former students such
as yourself, to reflect on how to better care for one another, how to
listen to others who are different from ourselves, how to expand
our understanding of ethical obligations and how to actualize
our values and beliefs every day of our lives. This is the essence of
the “Civic and Individual Responsibility” competency within My
Columbia College Journey, which all students engage in as part of
their holistic development, and which we emphasize as much as or
even more than academic achievement.
This is a particularly important moment to redouble the College’s
commitment to The Eric H. Holder Jr. Initiative for Civil and Politi-
cal Rights, which, since 2016, has engaged undergraduates and fac-
ulty in education toward advancing rights, justice and citizenship. We
will explore programs and opportunities that further commit to Eric’s
appeal that we never retreat into “the quiet prejudice of inaction.”
To learn in the classroom is the reason students come to Colum-
bia College, and with our guidance they do. But we bring them to
Columbia College to prepare them for a life beyond graduation, in
which working to improve the human condition is an aim of their
effort, whatever their profession.
—
James J. Valentini
Dean
college.columbia.edu/cct
Sophia Ahmed ’21 “Sees”
New Use for Used Goggles
By Alexis Boncy SOA11
ophia Ahmed ’21 had been thinking about ways to help
during the COVID-19 pandemic, but she never expected
her a-ha moment to come while unpacking dorm-room
boxes in her parents’ Michigan basement. There, in mid-
March, she uncovered a pair of average, everyday lab goggles. For
the Rabi Scholar, they had been a routine piece of gear. Could
they now be put to a less routine use?
5 CCT Summer 2020
COURTESY SOPHIA AHMED ’'21
“We started hearing reports about hospital shortages and how
they didn’t have enough PPE to protect the healthcare workers,”
Ahmed says. “That seemed fundamentally wrong to me. If you
can't protect the people who are supposed to be protecting ws, how
do you expect to get through this crisis?”
She and her sister Aishah, a similarly science-minded student
home from Harvard, immediately began contacting hospitals in
the Detroit area to ask if goggles could be of use. The answer was a
resounding yes — and EyeAid Detroit was born. Its aim: to collect
gently used (or new!) protective eyewear from college students,
sanitize them and send them to Detroit hospitals and healthcare
facilities. Interested donors sign up via the EyeAid website, then
receive instructions about shipping and safety protocols.
Ahmed knew immediately it would be a numbers game. “Not
many people have 100 goggles,” she says, “but a lot of STEM stu-
dents have a pair or two. And even other students — many people
take Intro to Chem or a course like that. We knew we were going
to depend on small, individual donations.”
The pair took to social media and contacted friends from high
school and college. “My Rabi community has been super sup-
portive in helping to get the word out,” notes Ahmed, who is a
sustainable development major. As the weeks passed, they began
receiving donations from further afield. “It’s been amazing to
see our second- and third-degree networks grow. Every day we
get emails from students at universities where, personally, I dont
know anyone — this morning it was Alabama — but they hear
about us and email.”
Ahmed makes a point of circling back to donors to let them
know where their eyewear lands. 'To date, EyeAid Detroit has
redistributed roughly 300 pairs of goggles, with hundreds more in
the cleaning and prep phase.
“Tt’s wonderful to see all corners of the U.S. come together and
college students really feeling like they can make a difference in
this,” Ahmed says. She recalls a recent donation from the Michi-
gan State University physiology department: “We opened our
front door to this huge box. We weren't expecting it! And then we
opened it — there were more than 60 goggles. It brought a lot of
light and warmth to my day.”
It’s been especially meaningful to Ahmed to contribute in
Detroit, one of the hardest-hit metro areas in the country and
only about an hour from her home in Port Huron.
“This crisis has really allowed us to reflect on the communities
that we're part of and the impact that they’ve had on us, and then
the impact that we want to be able to have on those communities
in return.”
college.columbia.edu/cct
Faculty Laurels
A pair of longstanding honors were
awarded in May, when a committee of
College students announced its annual
awards for faculty members who
have contributed outstanding work
to publishing and academia. Saidiya
Hartman, a professor of English and
comparative literature and gender
studies, received the 45th annual Lio-
nel Trilling Book Award for Wayward
Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate
Histories of Social Upheaval. Anthropol-
ogy professor Audra Simpson received
the 59th annual Mark Van Doren
Award for Teaching for her “love and
dedication to the act of teaching.” For
more, see the complete story on the
Columbia College website.
FacultyLounge
Madeleine
By Jill C. Shomer
adeleine Dobie gets
why everyone wants
to read The Plague
right now. Camus’s
novel is “an incredible
account” of an epidemic in the French-
Algerian city of Oran; but Dobie, the
chair and director of graduate studies of
the Department of French, whose teach-
ing and research areas include colonialism
and postcolonial literature, offers some
alternative insights. “It’s much harder
now to overlook the ways Camus portrays
Muslim Algerians, and not to notice
that the disease only seems to concern
the white inhabitants,” she says. “We can
extend that to thinking about questions
about inequality and invisibility in public
health in our own moment here.”
Dobie is a professor of Francophone
literature — French texts from countries
other than France, including colonies
6 CCT Summer 2020
Reunion Recap
Columbia Reunion 2020 went virtual on June 6 with a day of programming that included
a live update with Dean James J. Valentini, a Contemporary Civilization lecture by
Ruairidh Macleod Ph.D. GSAS’15 and a series of TED-style talks led by alumni and
faculty. Among the featured speakers were (clockwise from top left) Albert Bergeret’70,
founder, artistic director and general manager, New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players;
Gina Fattore 90, president, Drowning Girl Productions; former Texas Rep. Beto
O’Rourke ’95; and Columbia associate professor of history Frank A. Guridy.
or former colonies in North Africa, the
Middle East and the Caribbean. She is
also co-director of the Columbia Global
Centers’s eight-week summer program
for undergraduate and graduate students,
“Amman and Tunis: Middle Eastern
and North African Studies,” which pairs
intensive Arabic language study with a
cultural and historical seminar.
“My interests have always tended
toward the colonial,” says Dobie, who
teaches and writes about the cultural
dimensions of migration and diaspora,
and about 18th-century French culture,
particularly with regard to the history
of slavery. “I’m drawn to the question of
French outside of France, and its inter-
section with other languages and other
cultural traditions.”
Dobie admits that her academic
and intellectual path has been “rather
meandering.” As a teenager in the United
Kingdom she was fascinated with the
Arabic-speaking world, and began a B.A.
at Oxford in Arabic and Islamic his-
tory. She changed course and graduated
with a degree in philosophy and modern
languages in 1989, then earned a Ph.D.
in French from Yale in 1994. “Though
it sounds disparate, all of these different
strands have come together in my research
and my teaching,” she says. “It’s interest-
ing how some things you do can turn
out to be important later on, even if at
the time you dont think you're continu-
ing down that path. I think we see that a
lot in students, and it’s especially true of
foreign language study.”
Dobie joined the Columbia faculty
in 2002, after an assistant professorship
college.columbia.edu/cct
at Tulane. “At that time Francophone
literature was a marginal field of French
studies,” she says. “What’s been extraor-
dinary over the last 17 years is to see a
real transformation of our field and of my
department. Columbia has really become
a leading center of Francophone studies;
canonical French literature is now being
taught among new classics by writers from
Africa, the Caribbean and other regions.”
When asked what she enjoys most
about teaching, Dobie says she just really
likes students. “I’m interested in them —
they're young people, they’re at the start
of something, and that’s very powerful. I
enjoy being part of the discovery of ideas,
showing them works of literature that are
going to move and inspire them. It’s inter-
esting to see what lands. It’s fascinating to
watch them develop and emerge as more
self-assured thinkers and writers — that’s
Dobie was on sabbatical last year, work-
ing on a book about contemporary Algeria,
After Violence, Politics Memory and the Alge-
rian New Wave, in which she tries to move
beyond the tendency to represent Algeria
as a country defined by the memory of
violence. “I try to direct attention toward
recent achievements and initiatives in the
arts and literature that have unfolded over
the last 20 years,” she says. “I’m interested
in the context in which works are being
produced and received. A whole cultural
milieu is being refashioned.”
She is also involved in an international
collective project creating a three-volume
comparative history of slavery. Dobie’s part
is “Slavery, Literature and the Emotions,”
which considers different literary and film
representations. She has especially enjoyed
collaborating with a cohort in Denmark; the
group had several international in-person
since the start of COVID-19 quarantines.
“We're all learning a lot about what we can
and cant achieve right now,” she says.
Dobie has been sheltering at her house
in Connecticut with her partner, her
daughter and her dog, Finn, whom she
says has become quite the Zoom influ-
encer. “He’s often on the meetings, doing
emotional support outreach,” she laughs.
“But I am worried about our students
— our world has changed in a way we
couldnt anticipate. Wondering what I can
do to help them has been a big part of my
sheltering experience, to be honest.”
In the immediate future, Dobie says she
and a historian colleague have decided to
teach a new class on pandemics in French
and Francophone literature and history
this fall. “We've been sending a syllabus
that we plucked out of the air back and
forth between us,” she says. “I think you
something that’s heartening as a teacher.”
workshops, but has had to connect virtually
have to seize the moment of reflection.”
DidYouKnow?
Columbia’s 1811 Graduation
Ceremony Is Known as
“The Riotous Commencement”
\ ( ayhem erupted during Columbia's 1811 Commencement when
students’ devotion to free speech and self-determination clashed
with a University rule that all graduation orations must be edited
by the Board of the President and Professors, and given exactly as approved.
During the final orations at Trinity Church (Columbia’s original loca-
tion), John B. Stevenson CC 1811 delivered his speech without making
the requested edits. He was subsequently denied his diploma, although he
attempted to collect it three times in protest during the ceremony. The crowd
quickly turned against the faculty.
The 1900-01 issue of Columbia University Quarterly looked back at the
event: “The clapping and applause that greeted [Stevenson's] third appear-
ance on the stage now grew in volume, and it was plain that the sympathies
of a large part of the audience were with the student.”
Stevenson eventually left the ceremony, but the crowd’s anger remained. Stu-
dents continued to hiss and jeer, and soon the police arrived. CUQ continued:
“... there were cries of ‘hustle the officers,’ ‘break down the stage,’ ‘persecution,’
‘tyrants, and the like, the whole church being in a tumult. On the platform,
the space of the faculty was invaded, and after a vain attempt had been made
to go on with the proceedings, the president was forced to desist, and neither
the degree of Master of Arts was conferred nor the valedictory delivered. It was
impossible to conclude the exercise with usual solemnities, and President
[William] Harris, along with the other members of the faculty, was forced to
leave the stage, fearing that he would be forced off should he remain.”
7 CCT Summer 2020
In Memoriam:
Henry F. Graft
GSAS‘49, Professor
Emeritus of History,
Presidential Scholar
Henry F. Graff GSAS’49, a professor emeritus
of history and scholar of the U.S. presidency and
American foreign relations, died from complica-
tions of COVID-19 on April 7, 2020. He was 98
and lived in Scarsdale, N.Y.
A Columbia faculty member from 1946 to 1991
and an oft-requested speaker at reunion dinners,
Graff was born on August 11, 1921, in Manhattan
to descendants of Jewish immigrants from Germany.
Raised in Inwood, he graduated from George Wash-
ington H.S. at 16 and earned a B.S., magna cum
laude, from City College in 1941. A Phi Beta Kappa,
Graff was working toward his master’s at GSAS, and
was the first Jewish student in the history depart-
ment, when he enlisted in the Army in 1942.
As a result of studying Japanese at Columbia,
Graff served as a Japanese language officer and
cryptanalyst in the Signal Intelligence Service, the
predecessor to the National Security Agency. He
read foreign communications and ciphers, particu-
larly the now-famous “Purple” code: In November
college.columbia.edu/cct
1943, Graff translated part of a message sent
by Lt. Gen. Hiroshi Oshima, the Japanese
ambassador to Germany, to the Japanese
foreign minister in Tokyo, which recounted
in detail what the ambassador had seen of
German preparations in north France. Graff
also translated a message from Japan to
the Soviet Union, detailing Japan's plan to
get out of the war. In doing so, he was the
first American to know of Imperial Japan's
imminent surrender. Graff received a War
Department Citation and the Army Com-
mendation Medal for his service.
After his discharge, Graff taught history
at City College for one semester before
joining the Columbia faculty. He was
honored with the College’s Mark Van
Doren Award for Teaching in 1981 and
the Society of Columbia Graduates’s Great
Teacher Award in 1982. In 2005, he was
presented an honorary Litt.D. from the
University. Graff also received City Col-
lege’s Townsend Harris Medal in 1966, in
recognition of distinguished post-graduate
achievement in his chosen field.
Graff knew several U.S. Presidents
personally, including Harry S. Truman and
Gerald R. Ford, who sat in on his popular
“Seminar on the Presidency” at Columbia
in 1959 and 1989, respectively. He also
knew Lyndon B. Johnson and Bill Clinton,
both of whom appointed him to presiden-
tial panels. Beginning in 1971, Graff served
for a number of years on the Historical
Advisory Committee of the United States
Air Force. He twice chaired the juries for
the Pulitzer Prize in American history, and
also chaired the jury for the Bancroft Prize
in history, given by the Columbia Univer-
sity Libraries. Graff was for years a mem-
ber of the Board of Directors of the Rand
McNally Co., and had sat on the Board of
Trustees of the Columbia University Press.
He was the author of 12 books, several
textbooks and countless articles for histori-
cal and popular journals and magazines; he
described his best-known book, The Tuesday
Cabinet: Deliberation and Decision on Peace
and War Under Lyndon B. Johnson (1970), as
“an effort at explaining the administration's
Vietnam policy as the president and his
chief aides said they understood it.”
Graff had been a visiting professor at
Vassar College and lectured on many other
Henry F. Graff GSAS’49
campuses; he had been the distinguished
speaker at the U.S. Air Force Academy, as
well as the Sol Feinstone Memorial Lec-
turer at the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Graff married Edith Krantz in 1946; she
died in 2019. He is survived by their daugh-
ters, Iris Morse and her husband, Martin
Fox, and Ellen Graff BC’77, LAW’78 and
her husband, Andrew; five grandchildren;
and five great-grandchildren. Graft’s twin
sister, Myra Balber, predeceased him.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
To make a memortal contribution, contact
Regina Ketting, director of gift planning in
the Office of Alumni and Development.
In Memoriam: Rabbi A. Bruce Goldman,
Former University Jewish Chaplain
Rabbi A. Bruce Goldman, the University’s
Jewish chaplain from 1967 to 1969 and a
controversial figure who “consistently defied
convention,” died from complications of
COVID-19 on April 2, 2020. He was 84
and lived in New York City.
Goldman, who also went by “Rabbi
Bruce,” was a Reform rabbi, on the most
progressive edge of the movement. He
first came to national attention with his
defense of the right of male and female
undergraduates to cohabitate in dormitory
rooms, which was then in violation of some
colleges’ rules. His most well-known action,
though, came during Columbia's student
protests in 1968: When police prepared to
attack the student sit-ins, Goldman placed
himself as a nonviolent intervenor between
the police and students; the police beat him
semi-conscious. He was not rehired at the
end of his two-year term, but stayed on at
8 CCT Summer 2020
Columbia as an advisor to Jewish students
until the mid-’70s.
Goldman continued his activism, and was
arrested in 1970 along with another mem-
ber of the Columbia Radical Jewish Union
after disrupting services at Temple Emanu-
E] to protest the Vietnam War (the charges
were later dismissed). He also hosted a radio
program in the ’70s, Up Against the Wailing
Wall, on the progressive New York radio
station WBALI. In 1972, Goldman set up
the Center for Creative Jewish Living in
Morningside Heights. In 1988, he appeared
on Geraldo Rivera’s TV talk show with Roy
Innis, the national chairman of the Con-
gress of Racial Equality; the now-notorious
episode ended with a brawl with white
supremacists and a broken nose for Rivera.
In 1994, Goldman placed second in the
“Funniest Rabbi” contest at the comedy club
Stand Up New York.
Rabbi A. Bruce Goldman
In later years, Goldman made his living
performing marriages, often of interfaith
couples, and providing counseling for
children of Holocaust survivors and others.
When asked by Zhe New York Times in 1998
why he was willing to perform weddings for
people of all faiths, he said, “People have a
right to consecrate their love and friend-
ship without being asked to surrender their
values, heritage, tradition or children.”
college.columbia.edu/cct
HallofFame
The Swashbuckling Lawyer
Who Was the Ultimate Spy
By Thomas Vinciguerra ’85, JRN’86, GSAS’90
e was the ace of agents —
architect of covert operations,
recruiter of undercover assets,
manipulator of disinformation,
gatherer of priceless intelligence, perpetra-
tor of psychological warfare, the all-seeing
man in the shadows.
This was William J. “Wild Bill” Donovan
CC 1905, LAW 1907, the head of WWII’s
Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the pre-
decessor to the Central Intelligence Agency.
More than anyone else, Donovan laid the
groundwork for this country’s vast present
intelligence network. He was, by Dwight D.
Eisenhower's sights, “The Last Hero.”
A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Donovan
cut an all-around Columbia figure — Phi
Kappa Psi, the George William Curtis
Medal for Public Speaking, track, crew
and, finally, Lions quarterback. Although
he graduated from the Law School (FDR
was a classmate and admirer), he harbored
a passion for bravado and derring-do. So
in 1912 he joined some genteel Buffalo
types (the “Silk Stocking Boys”) who, with
official War Department permission, were
organizing a local division of the New York
National Guard. Ultimately they chased
Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa from
late 1916 to early 1917. Soon after his
return, with the Great War raging, Dono-
van won command of New York's famed
“Fighting Irish” 69th Infantry Regiment.
In France, where he was wounded three
times, Donovan — by then a major —
earned his “Wild Bill’ rep. After a disastrous
encounter at the Ourcg River in July 1918,
in which he lost 600 of his 1,000 men
(among them Set. Alfred Joyce Kilmer CC
1908, of “Trees” fame), he showed consider-
able élan at that September's furious St.-
Mihiel offensive. “Get moving; what do you
think this is, a wake?” he bellowed.
At the Second Battle of the Marne, he
went into combat wearing his decorations
and insignia, as if daring the Germans to
target him. “They can't hit me and they
9 CCT Summer 2020
wont hit you!” he shouted. Though shot in
the knee, attacked by gas and showered with
the shreds of three of his men, he threatened
to court-martial anyone who tried to get
him off the field. For his actions, Donovan
received the Medal of Honor. As Erasmus
wrote — and as Donovan once jotted down
— “Fortune favors the audacious.”
Come the Armistice, Donovan oscil-
lated between his Wall Street law firm and
public service. He was the U.S. attorney for
the Western District of New York, assistant
to AG Harlan Fiske Stone and a 1932
New York gubernatorial candidate. But his
attention was increasingly focused on the
new war in Europe. As it was, FDR was de-
termined to help the British, but he wanted
inside information about their ability to
fight. Happily, the British foreign intel-
ligence service, M16, was eager to supply it.
And so, in a series of discreet fact-finding
missions, F.DR dispatched Donovan to vari-
ous war theaters to evaluate Axis and British
capabilities and convey his impressions.
A certain Royal Navy officer, future
James Bond creator Jan Fleming, helped
plant a particular idea in Donovan's head:
Why not create some kind of integrated
US. intelligence apparatus? Donovan
agreed: “Modern war operates on more
fronts than battle fronts.” He prevailed
upon F'DR, who on June 18, 1941,
authorized an Office of Coordinator of
Information, with Donovan as director.
Donovan turned the COI (it became the
OSS in 1942) into a formidable enterprise.
By 1943, its budget stood at $35 million; by
the end of 1944, it employed 16,000 people.
Many were bona fide commando types,
penetrating enemy lines to stage raids, de-
stroy installations and commit miscellaneous
mayhem. Others were analysts, decoders,
snoops, thieves, paymasters, safecrackers and
cartographers. Donovan's ranks eventually
embraced such luminaries as John Ford,
Sterling Hayden, Stephen Vincent Benét,
Marlene Dietrich, Archibald MacLeish,
Julia Child and Carl Gustav Jung, leading
some to joke that “OSS” stood for “Oh, So
Social!” So seriously did it take its clan-
destine purpose that others thought it an
acronym for “Oh, Shush, Shush.”
“Strategy, without information on which
it can rely, is helpless,” was one of Dono-
vans mantras. He won his greatest acclaim
through bold tactical operations. In May
1942 his agents burglarized the Lisbon
office of the Japanese military attaché and
stole his most secret cipher. In conjunction
with the Army Air Forces, the OSS attacked
525 of 868 rail targets in France shortly after
D-Day, causing massive logistical foul-ups.
Come war’s end, Donovan assumed
that the OSS would continue, with he as
its leader. But he had stepped on too many
bureaucratic toes and made too many en-
emies. More important, many feared that a
peacetime OSS would constitute an “Ameri-
can Gestapo.” The upshot was that the OSS
was dissolved on September 20, 1945, with
Donovan retiring as a major general.
Being honored with the College’s
Alexander Hamilton Medal in 1950 and
being appointed Ambassador to Thailand
in 1953 did little to lift Donovan's spirits.
Hospitalized for dementia two years
before his death in 1959, he “imagined he
saw the Red Army coming over the 59th
Street bridge, into Manhattan, and in one
memorable last mission, fled the hospital,
wandering down the street in his pajamas.”
But his legacy is secure. Today, he is im-
mortalized with a life-size bronze statue at
the CIA’s Langley, Va., headquarters.
Another memorial, more abstract yet
more personal, can be found on Columbia's
Amsterdam Avenue sky bridge. Tight-
rope Walker features two spindly figures,
one perched precariously atop the other's
shoulders. Dedicated to Donovan by his
friends and associates, its daring poise
captures what he once told Corey Ford CC
1923: “It isn't how brave you were yester-
day, it’s how brave you are today.”
college.columbia.edu/cct
TAKING
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n August 12, 2015, Alex Loznak ’19 walked into the federal
courthouse in Eugene, Ore., with 20 other young people to sue
the U.S. government. Their groundbreaking claim? That the
government’s lack of response to the growing climate disaster
violated their Fifth Amendment rights, including, notably, their
right to life. A life not threatened by extreme weather events; by wild-
fires, earthquakes and floods; by ocean warming and acidification, and
so much more — in short, a life not threatened by the terrible, tangled
ramifications of unchecked climate change.
The case, Juliana v. United States, accused the federal government
of knowingly ignoring the catastrophic effects that carbon dioxide
pollution and the country’s reliance on fossil fuels was having on the
10 CCT Summer 2020
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,
Alex Loznak 19 is one
of a team of young
people suing the U.S.
government for the
right toa safer planet
hs)
By Anne-Ryan Sirju JRN’O9
Photographs by
Robin Loznak
Loznak at
his family’s
152-year-old
farm outside
Eugene, Ore.
college.columbia.edu/cct
climate; further, that by supporting and promoting the country’s cur-
rent energy systems, its actions were actively harming the plaintifts.
The young litigants hailed from across America — Hawaii,
Florida, New York, Oregon, Colorado and more — united by a
common cause and a willingness to push the envelope. Rather than
seek policy change through legislation, and argue in the court of
public opinion with climate change deniers
The plaintiffs and those who put profits and short-term
in Juliana Vv. gains ahead of long-term sustainability, the
United States plaintiffs took their belief in a constitutional
make their right to a clean environment straight to fed-
voines Waar eral court. At stake is nothing less than their
: — and our — futures.
outside the The Juliana case is many things: a test of the
Ninth Circuit scope and limits of the judicial branch; a bold
Court of Appeals statement on the power of youth organizing;
inSanFrancisco an assertion that the science behind climate
inDecember 2017, change and the damage it wreaks are no longer
up for debate. On that mid-August day, how-
ever, Loznak had more than just the filing of
a life-changing case on his mind — he needed to pack, because he
was days away from moving across the country to start his first year
at the College.
0 n the morning of March 12, I hopped on a shuttle bus to New-
ark Liberty International Airport, one of only three passengers
on the usually crowded ride. The coronavirus outbreak was still in its
early days in the United States, but potential travelers had already
grown wary. My editor and I had spent the week before going
back and forth on whether my trip to Oregon was still safe — a
debate I promptly reopened via text as I took in the empty streets of
11 CCT Summer 2020
Midtown and wondered whether I'd be putting myself and others at
risk by boarding a cross-country flight.
Loznak and I had weekend plans to tour his family’s farm an hour
outside Eugene, and to talk about how the case that has been part
of his life for the last five years has changed him. He was going to
walk me through the hazelnut grove that he helped plant nine years
ago and show me the swaths of old-growth
Douglas firs that dot the landscape. I was
eager to see the place that he had affection-
ately described as both “beautiful” and “in
the middle of nowhere,” and to learn how
his experience growing up on a rural farm
had influenced his environmental passion.
Halfway through my bus ride, word
came via email that all Columbia employee
travel was suspended immediately. My
decision had been made for me — I would
not be getting on a plane. In a flurry of
emails with Loznak, we decided on a new
approach to tell his story. Over the next
few months we caught up several times by
phone, as remotely connecting became the
new normal.
The 570-acre Martha A. Maupin Farm
has sat on the banks of Oregon's Umpqua
River since 1868, passing from family mem-
ber to family member through the genera-
tions. It has long been an important source
of food and revenue for Loznak and his
family: Plum trees grow in verdant orchards
(the farm has historically produced prunes
from their fruit); chickens and grass-fed
cows are raised (the family earns money from leasing pasture land
to cattle ranchers); and a large garden supplies fruits and vegetables
for personal consumption. Nestled in the Coast Range Mountains,
the farm is also home to wild animals like elk and deer, and Loznak
enjoys fishing for small-mouthed bass and salmon in the Umpqua
River.
But in recent years, the 152-year-old farm has faced challenges its
founding matriarch, Martha A. Maupin (Loznak’s great-great-great-
great-grandmother), couldn't have anticipated when she became one
of the first women in Oregon to
independently own ranch land.
The state’s growing drought
The plaintiffs
took their belief
in a constitutional
Fight to a clean
environment straight
to federal court.
conditions — as well as heat
waves and the increasing fre-
quency of encroaching wildfires
— threaten the farm’s future.
Loznak, a sustainable devel-
opment and political science
double major, is the seventh
generation to live and work on
the farm. Before joining the
Juliana case, he had already
been a passionate defender of
the environment. He founded
the Climate Change Club at
college.columbia.edu/cct
Roseburg H.S., with the goal of installing solar panels on the school’s
roof, and the League of Umpqua Climate Youth, which is dedicated
to the conservation of the Umpqua River’s watersheds. Loznak also
crusaded against the construction of the Jordan Cove LNG (lique-
fied natural gas) facility and its proposed 234-mile pipeline; the latter
would cross the Coast Range
Mountains as well as five major
rivers, including the Umpqua.
‘Tle was Very
excited about
the possibility to
bring his story
and his family’s
story to this case.”
(The original Ju/iana court filing
spoke specifically to Loznak’s
pipeline opposition: “Alex has
walked along the pipeline route
and has seen the old growth
trees that will be logged and
the special rivers that will be
impacted in order to deliver
natural gas to what would be the
largest, most-polluting facility
and power plant in Oregon.”)
Through his work, Loznak
became acquainted with local
activists and Oregon’ envi-
ronmental law community, and
learned there was a movement brewing to challenge the federal
government directly for environmental protections. This new case
would focus on young people — and the dire future they face if
immediate action isn't taken to fight climate change.
“TI never forget when Alex was first emailing me and calling
me,” says Julia Olson, executive director and chief legal counsel of
12 CCT Summer 2020
Our Children’s Trust, the Oregon-based law
nonprofit that is spearheading the Juliana Media inter-
case. “He was very persistent and very excited views have heen
about the possibility to bring his story andhis aq key partof
family’s story to this case.” Loznak’s role
For aa Juliana boils down to a simple since the case
demand: “Basically, what we ask is for a court soe ae
was filed in 2015.
order directing the government to get serious
and put together a plan to abate greenhouse
gas emissions of the United States and prevent climate change from
reaching a level that would be unsafe for youth, both now and in
the future.”
uliana v. United States takes its name from lead plaintiff Kelsey
Cascadia Rose Juliana, an Oregonian whose activism began in
the fifth grade; at 15 she co-filed a lawsuit against Oregon's gover-
nor asking for an emissions reduction plan, and at 18 she walked
1,600 miles from Nebraska to Washington, D.C., as part of a march
for climate action. Shed turned 19 by the time the current case
was filed, the oldest of the 21 plaintiffs. The youngest was 8, hailing
from a Florida barrier island dealing with sea level rise and waters
threatened by red algae blooms.
Among the other plaintiffs are an Arizona resident driven from
her home on the Navajo Nation Reservation because of water scar-
city; a Louisianan who has experienced eight 500-year floods — and
one 1,000-year flood — in her state in just two years; and an Alas-
kan who has endured the effects of climate change on either end of
the spectrum, from plummeting air quality due to wildfires, to an
ice storm that robbed his family of power for a week in 18-degree
college.columbia.edu/cct
\
SN
YY
The hazelnut
orchard is still
several years
away from
producing ata
commercial level.
LOZNAK’S LEGACY
See more photos of the Martha A.
Maupin Farm: college.columbia.edu/
cct/latest/feature-extras/loznak.
temperatures. Their and the other plaintiffs’ stories together paint a
vivid picture of the physical and psychological harm being caused;
their sworn testimony details negative health impacts, emotional
trauma and damage to their cultural heritages.
For a group who mostly couldnt even vote, their charge into what
many have likened to a David-and-Goliath battle was a remarkable
assertion that young people have
a voice and power. They were
also flipping the script by calling
the adults to task for abdicating
their responsibility as leaders
The plaintiffs’ charge
into what many have
likened to a David
and-Goliath battle
was a remarkable
assertion that
young people have
a Voice and power.
and not embracing or institut-
ing policies that would slow or
reverse the environmental dev-
astation. As one climate reporter
for The Atlantic put it, “The kids
were asking a federal court —
and, inevitably, the Supreme
Court — to take one of its most
extraordinary interventions into
American life since Brown v.
Board of Education.”
Juliana has slowly crawled
through the legal system since
that first filing in the U.S. Dis-
trict Court for the District of
Oregon in 2015, being repeat-
edly met with attempts by the
defendants to squash the case
without its reaching trial. As Loznak succinctly puts it: “Most of
my time in college — and since college — the U.S. government has
been trying to get the case dismissed.”
A major blow was dealt in January of this year, when a three-
judge panel in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to
dismiss the case. The majority said that despite the strong evidence
that the plaintiffs had suffered from climate change, judicial action
13 CCT Summer 2020
was not the solution. “Reluctantly, we conclude that such relief is
beyond our constitutional power,” Hon. Andrew Hurwitz wrote
in the majority opinion. “Rather, the plaintiffs’ impressive case for
redress must be presented to the political branches of government.”
However, says Olson, “That’s not the end of the road.”
In March, the plaintiffs filed a petition for rehearing en danc with
the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; such a hearing would convene
a new panel of 11 Circuit Court judges to review the January deci-
sion. But by mid-March, the COVID-19 outbreak had spread across
the U.S., closing courthouses and further delaying the response of
the courts. Even with the proceedings in limbo, Loznak remains
hopeful: “We're in it for the long haul,” he says. And regardless of
how the rest of the case unfolds, it’s already had a big impact.
“The Juliana case was one of the first times that federal judges
have taken seriously the idea that there could be a constitutional
right to a clean environment,” says Michael Gerrard ’72, an envi-
ronmental attorney and the founder and director of Columbia's
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. “The Ju/iana litigation was
an important organizing tool, and [has] increased the conscious-
ness of many young people about the importance of fighting cli-
mate change.
“Both the majority and the minority opinions from the Ninth
Circuit contained powerful language about the dangers of climate
change and the ability of people to sue about it that I expect will
be quoted in many legal briefs in the years to come. The case is an
instant classic and will be in the casebooks for a long time.”
t the College, Loznak balanced classes with the case, including
Juliana-related trips to Washington, D.C., research trips, and
media interviews and appearances. As part of his efforts to build
the fact record of the case, Loznak traveled to presidential libraries
around the country to try to find the earliest government acknowl-
edgment of climate change. He struck pay dirt in Boston, where he
discovered, in a collection of letters, that President Kennedy was
made aware of the dangers of burning fossil fuels and the resulting
greenhouse gases as early as 1961.
college.columbia.edu/cct
CONTINUING
CLIMATE COVERAGE
Read more about Michael Gerrard
"72 and the hattle for climate
change in our recent “Like Minds”
feature, “The Denial of Science:
We're Already in Hot Water.”
Loznak recalls what it was like to hold
“that very thin letter, the very same piece of
paper that President Kennedy had held in
his hands about 60 years earlier.” He adds,
“The Kennedy Presidential Library is on
the waterfront in Boston; it’s a very low-
lying structure on the oceanfront. It was
eerie to hold that piece of history and then
to look out the window across the ocean
and see how close we are to actually going
through the catastrophe that was predicted
all those years ago.”
That document was later used in Juliana,
as proof the government had longstanding
knowledge of climate change.
Loznak made it his mission to network
wherever he went. “One of the things I saw
in Alex over the years was just his fearless-
ness to approach people — renowned experts
in their fields,” Our Children’s Trust attorney
Olson says. “Whoever it was, he helped make
connections for us in the case, and he also
advanced relationships that we already had
with experts by showing up and not being
afraid to ask people to support our work.”
He recalls meeting Democratic Whip
Richard J. Durbin (D-II) during a trip to
D.C. “Tt was very interesting to also have the
real-world experience of actually meeting
some of the biggest players in terms of making policy, making laws. It
added a whole other dimension to my education on these topics.”
During his senior year, Loznak did a research internship with the
Sabin Center. Together with his research partner, Madeleine Siegel
SPS’20, Loznak reviewed federal environmental impact statements
and environmental assessments issued by U.S. federal agencies in 2017—
18. A look at 26 of these documents, for projects related to fossil fuel
production, processing and transport, led them to conclude that fed-
eral agencies do not adequately
consider how their actions will
affect climate change — find-
ings that, for Loznak, reinforced
the value of the Ju/iana case.
“Basically, we have a sys-
tem of environmental laws
— passed about 50 years ago
— that is just not living up to
the task of dealing with climate
change, so there needs to be
some kind of new approach to
get us where we need to go. The Ju/iana case is at least an attempt to
do that and to approach the problem in a creative, new way — that
is, using constitutional law to try to force action at the national level.”
Loznak also took classes with Gerrard, who became a men-
tor to him as he navigated the courtrooms. (“Alex was extraordi-
narily engaged with the material,” Gerrard says, “and participated in
class discussions very energetically.”) Loznak was even in Gerrard’s
“Climate Change Law and Policy” class when the Ju/iana case was
14 CCT Summer 2020
~Tthink might be
~ the frst person in
“US history study
ny Own case ina —
law school course
while the case Was
_ still pending.”
F
discussed. “I think I might be the first person in U.S. history to study
my own case in a law school course while the case was still pending,”
Loznak says. “That’s a surreal experience.”
fter graduation, Loznak headed back west, taking a job at a
Eugene law firm; he plans to start law school at the University
of Oregon this fall. When he and I caught up in May, he had left his
apartment in Eugene to spend the coronavirus lockdown at the farm.
As we talked about how much the country had changed since our
planned tour, he ruminated on how the pandemic had reinforced
the importance of small farms like his family’s. “We're starting to
see, in some ways, the fragility of the large-scale, industrial agricul-
tural system that we have here in the U.S., which is focused on mass
producing as much of these basic commodities — beef, eggs, dairy,
corn and so on — as possible at the lowest possible cost,” he says.
“But when you have a shock, like the coronavirus, you start to see
not only the environmental limitations of that system but also the
basic health and safety issues.
“The kind of agriculture we do is smaller scale, it’s lighter on the land
and it’s ultimately healthier and more sustainable; it’s a model that we
can look to as we, I hope, move to a sustainable form of agriculture.”
Loznak further reflects on the farm’s hazelnut orchard that he
helped plant, and which is still a few years away from producing on
a commercial level: “As a farmer, you really have to think on decadal
or multi-decadal time scales, so that’s one reason I think coming
from a farming background gives me a certain insight into the cli-
mate problem,” he says. “It’s a long-term thing. It’s not day to day,
it’s not month to month — it’s year to year and decade to decade.”
college.columbia.edu/cct
| | | | | | | | |
15 CCT Summer 2020
“WHAT HAS YOUR
PANDEMIC
EXPERIENCE
BEEN LIKE?
FOURTEEN ALUMNI TELL US HOW COVID-19
HAS SHAPED THEIR LIVES
n March, when we were considering CCT’s Summer 2020 issue,
we knew that we wanted to address the shockwave that had
upended and overtaken all of our lives. The COVID-19 pandemic
was — is — that rare event that affects everyone with ties to the
College. Even as this introduction is written, its vast, global story con-
tinues to evolve, expanding and deepening in ways that resist easy
comprehension.
Against this backdrop, we knew we could tell a more personal story,
create a record of how the coronavirus and its many ripple effects had
been experienced by our community. And so, in April and early May,
we asked 14 alumni to offer a keyhole into their daily lives: What did
their new routines look like? How had work changed? What had been
challenging, and where were they finding their joys?
The responses were varied, shaped by age, profession, location
and all the personal variables that distinguish one life from the next.
And what began as a kind of time capsule became, slowly, so much
more. The reflections enlarged our view beyond the walls that had
all too literally been hemming us in. They invited us to exercise our
empathies, take comfort in shared experiences and — with so many
of us social-distanced into solitude or small groups — feel the warmth
of connection.
It will be a long time before we can fully reckon with all that’s hap-
pened and is happening during this pandemic. But we are going
through it together, and we hope that our contribution can help.
— The Editors
GETTY IMAGES
college.columbia.edu/cct
“WHAT HAS YOUR PANDEMIC EXPERIENCE BEEN LIKE?”
Lea Goldman ’98
Editor-at-large, iHeartMEDIA; chief content officer at Nineteen Twenty Media
66 hough I was an English lit major at Columbia, these days I find myself immersed in
T the sciences, living out Einstein's definition of insanity on the regular: watching the
news, then instantly regretting it; begging/bribing/browbeating my kids to sit for home-
schooling, only to surrender an hour later; channeling Alice Waters for breakfast, Chester
Cheetah by lunch. Our days here at Casa Goldman (me, two grade-schoolers, one eye-
rolling husband) are — wait, what day is it, again? We ditched the skim for half-and-half.
We subscribed to Hulu. We pray to the broadband gods to keep our signal strong. We are,
as the kids say, hashtag blessed.
“As a writer, I wrestle with a strange new tension: I have never felt more creative and
yet so hard-pressed to eke out the time and focus to write. But I’ve still managed to bank
a win or two. I launched a podcast called Hazmat Hotel, in which I interview interest-
ing people about how coronavirus has upended their professions. (Hit me up if youd like
to be a guest.) I finished my one-woman show about Jim Comey. I am knee-deep in a
new screenplay. In the past eight weeks, one of my boys has discovered Seinfeld, the other
‘Shark Week,’ so that Hulu subscription is basically paying for itself now. The news from
Casa G is that we are all OK, hanging in and enormously grateful, thank you for asking.”
Bianca Guerrero °17
Policy analyst, NYC Mayor’s Office of Policy and Planning; volunteer coordinator, Bowman for Congress
66 work for the Office of the Mayor in
New York City full-time and coordinate
volunteers on Jamaal Bowman's congres-
es sional campaign in NY-16 part-time. With
’ _ local government on the front lines of the
/ a \ coronavirus crisis and, as I write, the June
23 primary less than two months away, I
- | am busier than I have ever been.
“T spend 9 a.m.—5 p.m. during the week
/ | researching how U.S. and international
~ ail | : jurisdictions are responding to the crisis,
. | the impact it has had on localities’ budgets
and whatever the hot topic of the day is.
After 5 p.m. and all day on weekends, I
OMAR ETMAN
recruit volunteers, organize phone banks
and other events, and update Bowman's list
of COVID-19 resources for volunteers to order a weaving loom to make tapestries and
share with voters. Campaign work is un- rugs — it just arrived, so I am going to try
wieldly, so my to-do list is never finished. that this week. My roommate’s mom might
“T try my best to work out a few times a drop off an old sewing machine so I can try
week and use Friday evenings to catch upon = my hand at that, too.
TV shows and work on crafts. I rediscovered “Work can be a bit overwhelming, so
my pottery tools when quarantine began and —_ using my hands to make things for myself,
ordered polymer clay and embroidery floss to family and friends is a welcome reprieve
make earrings. A friend recommended that] from corona madness.”
16 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct
“WHAT HAS YOUR PANDI
{Wy
re
ts
3 =
7
i
Amari Hammonds ’09
BEEN EIKE:
—
Associate deputy solicitor general, Office of the Solicitor General in the California Department of Justice
66 hat if I had to go about my life not knowing the next time
it'd be OK to touch another person? I’m single and I live
alone, so this has become an abiding question in the weeks, now
months, since March 16, when the Bay Area announced its first-
in-the-nation shelter-in-place order.
“T’ve learned that isolation makes the memory of my last human
contact more indelible — a Kid’n Play-inspired kickstep as my
friend Colin left what would be our last Sunday pancakes together.
We now connect through FaceTime meals; from afar, he’s taught me
how to make a poached egg. But I’ve also learned that regardless of
health orders, video calls won’ cut it. ’'m grateful to have cultivated
relationships with a select few who, like me, crave connection in the
absence of the pandemic-friendly community offered by roommates
or romantic partners ‘adjacent’ to their households. A conversation
while biking 6 ft. apart is critical nourishment. I once petted a gentle
old dog named Loki after one such ride to the Sausalito waterfront,
17 CCT Summer 2020
and it was like oxygen for me — though for her, probably more
about the hot pastrami sandwich in my hand.
“Most importantly, P’ve learned to be gentle with myself for the
swirl of feelings this all brings. It is possible to feel at once aban-
doned by friends who have hunkered down with the privilege of
companionship, while also compassionate toward their choice —
one I'd likely make, if given the option. It’s OK to spend one night
crying myself to sleep, wishing I could join my mom across the
country, then the next cutting up playing Codenames over Google
Hangouts as if I'd lived my life this way all along.
“Until ‘normal returns at some indeterminate point, in some
indeterminate form, I’m learning what that looks like for now and
receiving sweetness in every form. My friend and her husband
recently invited me for a socially distant picnic, and to meet their
puppy. PIL be there with a fashionably colorful mask and hand
sanitizer at the ready.”
college.columbia.edu/cct
“WHAT HAS YOUR
BEEN EIKEs
t
ae
Brendon Jobs ’05
—t3 =k ee
fs = a ee
is, BH s east
oie ft .
Se ee re &
, ¢ ‘
is * a es -_
as
4
Pps
:
s
a]
as
COURTESY BRENDON JOBS ‘05
Director of diversity and inclusion, The Haverford School; social studies
methods instructor at the Penn Graduate School of Education
‘T4 S chool closed suddenly in March as the threat of pandemic
became a real crisis. Like many, I’ve been going through a
grieving process for the life, vigor and human connection that the
schoolhouse offered me in all my years of teaching.
“At the start, [ was overwhelmed with the multitude of tasks
needed to make the transition [to remote learning] work for my
students, faculty and other communities that I serve. Fear and
duty defined my feelings in that moment. But it wasn't long before
anger and resentment grabbed hold of me. Hopeful proclama-
tions that ‘we're all in this together’ came from official channels;
they offered encouragement that if we adhered to social distancing
we could flatten the curve and ‘get back to normal.’ It wasn't long
afterward that nasty disparities in race and class, in keeping with
pre-COVID-19 patterns, magnified. As an educator, I wondered:
How can I explain this to kids? How does what they're witnessing
shape their understanding of how the world works?
“As a black queer man growing up in the 1990s, I remember
living with the fear of the AIDS virus. Implicitly, I was fed the
message that I lived with greater risk of contracting the disease in
a way that stigmatized me. Those old feelings have reemerged as I
have witnessed COVID-19 transform from a foreign threat into
18 CCT Summer 2020
a health crisis disproportionately infecting and killing Black and
Brown people; meanwhile, violent, armed calls to reopen busi-
nesses rage from white protestors in Michigan and Pennsylvania
despite these deaths. My mother and sister still report to their
jobs as ‘essential workers,’ and my father lost his job abruptly as an
early casualty of the predicted economic crash. These disparities
will only grow as long as we continue to allow politics and business
interests to make us willfully ignorant to wild differences in the
human experience of this moment. I often struggle to imagine a
different, more hopeful outcome.
“T find peace in the time I now have to make a home with my
partner. I love getting lost in a good recipe or a good book (currently
reading Here for It: Or How to Save Your Soul in America by R. Eric
Thomas 03) and taking long walks through Germantown with our
dog. Each day, I’m near the students, practitioners and leaders I con-
nect with, now from my dining room table, as we build a new digital
landscape for teaching and learning in communities of love and care.
In my own practice, social-emotional learning now outranks any
curricular concerns | have had for students and colleagues. We are
living history, and my function has been to make space for folks to
be present and reflective in the face of this global crisis.”
college.columbia.edu/cct
“WHAT HAS YOUR PANDEMIC EXPERIENCE BEEN LIKE?”
Dr. Josh Johnson ’13
Surgical resident, NewYork Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center
66 inging loudly in the background of my day is a cacophony of alarms and notifica-
Re tions that are meant to signify an imminent medical emergency — yet they have
become so ubiquitous that I can no longer distinguish among them. The hours I spend
on the wards have not changed much; I am here for anywhere between 12 and 24 hours a
shift, depending on the day. However, the intricacies of my work have shifted dramatically.
Willing or not, am greeted each day by an endless list of patients with tarnished lungs
who require the utmost interventions possible to keep oxygen flowing throughout their
bodies. It has been truly taxing.
“The difficulty lies in having to carry on and continue my duties without the time to
grieve our losses, to celebrate our wins and to reflect upon our struggles. Yet what has been
remarkable is that my connection to my patients and their families has never been deeper.
Though my patients cannot speak to me, I hear their pain. Though I cannot see their loved
ones in person I have had immensely intimate conversations with them, and I have forged
relationships based solely on trust and hope. During this pandemic I have healed others
more through compassion and understanding than I have through modern science. ‘That is
aaacooe
sescoosaoouess
" osaoes
seen noagoooes
COURTESY DR. JOSH JOHNSON ‘13
the lesson I hope to never forget.”
Rabbi Alvin Kass ’57
Chief chaplain, NYPD; adjunct professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
66 | ife in the Age of COVID-19 has not been simple or easy for
any of us. I’ve had to respond to new challenges: teach classes
remotely, conduct Zoom funeral services, attend virtual meetings
and counsel the troubled by telephone. Perhaps the most awe-
some responsibility of all was to fulfill a request to do a video with
a message of ‘uplift’ and ‘encouragement’ for our police officers.
Quite frankly, reading the newspaper reports every day about the
ever-mounting casualty figures, and discovering that many of the
victims are people I know and love, leaves me in need of uplift and
encouragement. However, I felt this was really important because
police officers are among the first responders to have suffered the
heaviest casualties. After all, they are required to answer the call of
duty regardless of the risks, including the coronavirus.
COURTESY NYPD
“Somehow, notwithstanding my own concerns and anxieties, I
managed to put something together. It was based on Mark Twain's
observation that courage isn’t the ‘absence of fear but the mastery
of it.” There are two ways to transcend anxiety: faith in God and things they dont have to do, is the essence of love and closest we
faith in each other. To believe in God is not simply to believe that shall ever come to experiencing genuine spirituality. It is true that
there is a deity who will intervene and alter reality to accord with COVID-19 requires us to stay apart physically, but getting in touch
our wishes. Even more basically, it is the confidence that there is with each other — as well as family, friends and neighbors assist-
a Benevolent Intelligence undergirding the universe that fills us ing each other — can be so important and pivotal in transcending
with the hope, optimism and trust that human beings possess the this crisis. I certainly cherish the calls and emails I have received as
wisdom and skills required to solve the toughest problems. I cope with the physical distancing of this experience. What they
“Then there is the most effective therapy of all — each other. proclaim in the most eloquent and dramatic way possible is that we
Men and women, helping and supporting one another by doing don't have to struggle with this alone.”
19 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct
“WHAT HAS YOUR Dee Nei.
lan Lendler ’96
Children’s book author
66 | ike so many others, the virus, alas, has “Then, my wife shouts from a different
afflicted me. room that she’s on a Zoom call and the
“For I, you see, am a writer, and I write kids need lunch.
things of terrible importance. I am a Creator “So I make my kids lunch.
of Truths, a conjuror of metaphors. Every “In the afternoon, once again, I tap at
morning I sit at my desk and I call to my my keyboard, calling my Muse back, and 2
Muse; she answers, and we begin a delicate with a curtsy and an impish wink, she and I if
dance of words and images and — oh yes! — _ begin to weave our — Z
similes as well! And just as my prose begins ‘Dad! DAD! We're playing Fortnite with z
to touch the great mysteries of Life — our cousins. We need your computer!’ and >
“DAD! DAD? My children burst into my kids snatch my laptop away. :
the room. ‘Can we have some Goldfish “And so I wander the house, alone, bereft ©
crackers?’ of my computer (and thus, all meaning),
“Be still!’ I shriek. “What matters your until my wife shouts from a different room
aquatic-shaped snacks when I seek Beauty?’ that she’s on a Zoom call and can I get my chance to perform for my adoring audi-
“But it is too late. My Muse begins to dinner started? ence. To conjure worlds for them; to shaman
back out of the room. She says, “You never “And tomorrow and tomorrow and their imaginations to an ethereal realm.
told me you had kids.’ tomorrow creeps in this sheltered-in-place “So for your undoubted delight (and the
“You don't understand, I splutter. ... until ... what’s this?! consideration of Nobel Prize committees),
‘Normally they’re at school now.’ But she is “T have been asked to do an ‘Instagram I give you what I believe to be my most_
already gone. live reading,’ whatever that is ... But I seize harrowing and important work to date.”
Steve Martinez ’11
Television producer, ESPN’s The Jump
66 he show must go on, but my daily routine has been altered sig-
nificantly. The Jump is now entirely produced from home: on-
air talent, producers, directors and so on; we're doing our best to
help deliver to folks a 30-minute slice of escapism every day. Most
of our work in production is now done the night before a show
(previously, most of the production occurred the morning of ). We
complete our daily tapings by 11:30 a.m. PT, but by 1:00 p.m. PT,
we are on a conference call discussing the plan for the next day’s
show. The current production strategy involves a balance between
staying ahead in terms of preparation
and being ready for news to break at a
PHOTOS COURTESY STEVE MARTINEZ ‘11
moment’s notice.
“Communication has been a chal-
lenge at times. It might not look like With that out the window, there’s a lot of phone conversations and/
it at home when you see three people or texting, which I fear is simply not as effective all of the time.
on your screen, but it takes dozens of “T find joy in spending time with my wife, Stephanie, and my
talented folks to put ona TV show. My dog, Callie, here in my Los Angeles home. I also take great pride
previous routine heavily relied upon in the ability to get a show on the air with the entire staff working
face-to-face communication for most from home, something we never knew was possible until we were
of my catching up with staff members. confronted with that problem. Mainly, I just want the NBA back.”
20 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct
“WHAT HAS YOUR BEEN LIKE?”
Mike Mellia ’0O2
Director, photographer, creator of advertising for fashion and lifestyle brands
ie Mi any of the world’s greatest successes took place ina garage— —_in the zone where 14 hours
Apple, Google, Disney. By the same token, I always loved see- _ passes faster than 5 minutes.
ing pictures of Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, two great Neuroscientists describe this
abstract expressionist painters, painting in outdoor barns on Long as your brain operating on
Island during the 1950s and 1960s. They said they liked the light. alpha waves, the ideal state of
What I really think they needed was the isolation and the silence. consciousness that not only .
“To paint, to write computer code, to play music, to write, to produces extreme creativity but 2
play sports, to meditate or to do anything creative all revolves also is necessary for your well- =
around being in a ‘flow state’ — that tunnel-vision feeling of being —_ being. And so, like most days, i a
pandemic or =
not, I’m in r
the ‘garage. 9
“To me, 7
painting is a
performance with an audience of zero, and the
record of that performance is the physical object
created, a mysterious enigma. Over tens of thou-
sands of hours of practice, you train yourself to
not even be conscious of yourself; it feels like ’'m
watching someone else paint a picture. There is also
some element to painting that feels like robbing a
bank: the intensity, the speed and the risk that you
can only experience after learning to transcend all
your experience and training. These large oil paint-
ings are inspired by the wild chaos, the light and
the color of nature I’m experiencing with my wife
and two babies at our home in Southampton, N.Y.
I hope they will bring you some joy.”
Ron Padgett ’64
Poet
Geezer Fitness Locked What to Do
I just did twenty-five push-ups, I almost didn't know what Snow falling from gray sky,
then vacuumed the floor day it is and then it’s time to bake,
and then dropped down I did, locked into time, scones, I mean,
and did twenty more, suddenly more secure and right out of the oven
for what reason I cannot say that it’s Thursday! take one and butter it,
or even want to think about, Which means nothing with jam, teapot hot at hand,
especially at this moment or next to nothing. and exult in the fact
when | am still breathing hard. I] am next to nothing— of everything horrible.
it’s in this room with me,
an old pal.
PASCAL PERICH
21 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct
“WHAT HAS YOUR PANDEMIC EXPERIENCE BEEN LIKE?”
David Peng ’83
Head of Asia Pacific Ex Japan at Legal & General Investment Management; 2
president, Columbia University Alumni Association Hong Kong _
66 hough I am a New Yorker, I have spent my professional life
T in North Asia and this is my fourth posting in Hong Kong,
with in-between postings in Taipei, Shanghai and Beijing. I was
in Hong Kong during the SARS epidemic in 2003. Most people
in Hong Kong remember that period well. When news broke in
January about what was happening in Wuhan, people in Hong
Kong quickly realized the potential of another epidemic.
“The Hong Kong government was quick to put in place restrictive
measures. Io date, Hong Kong has never had an official lockdown,
but people take the lead from the government, which asked all civil
servants to work from home under two orders. People in Hong
Kong are very careful to protect themselves and others, and mask
wearing is universally practiced. With one of the highest population
densities in the world, Hong Kong has managed to ward off a high
level of viral transmission and achieved minimal death.
“When I traveled to London for meetings at the end of January
through the middle of February, friends and colleagues were not con-
cerned. They also thought it was odd that there would be runs on basic
supplies like toilet paper. We know now how quickly the virus traveled
and the devastation it has inflicted on our world, with the highest
rates of infection and death in Europe and the United States.
HE i
SITY
ifs
“At my office in Hong Kong, we continue to practice a work-
from-home policy. Our U.K. head office went into lockdown.
This forced many businesses to operate remotely and digitally.
For many of us, it was a continuation of the restrictions we have
become accustomed to.
“My proudest moment thus far during this pandemic is how the
Columbia community in Greater China and Singapore banded to-
gether to raise funding to procure and donate PPE to our frontline
medical professionals and essential workers. We raised more than
$2.1 million in a matter of weeks, which allowed us to donate masks,
respirators, gowns, gloves, eye protectors, hazmat suits and more to
Columbia University Medical Center/NewYork-Presbyterian Hos-
pital and other afhliated hospitals and emergency service providers.
“During my time at Columbia, I was an official University tour
guide. The highlight for me was always Low Memorial Library,
where I would stop my tour group in front of the Columbia motto.
In Latin, it reads: In Lumine Tuo Videbimus Lumen (‘In thy light
we shall see light’).
“During these dark times, it is my great hope that the pandemic
has shown us how we can be better ourselves and that, united, we
shall continue to see the light.”
22 CCT Summer 2020
PHOTOS COURTESY JILL SANTOPOLO ‘03
Jill Santopolo ’03
Editor and author
66 O n March 12, when Penguin Random
House (PRH)’s work-from-home policy
began, I grabbed my laptop and headed out of
New York City, down to Washington, D.C.,
where my husband works and where we have a
second small apartment. | figured wed be there
for a week at the most, until he began to work
from home, and then we'd head back to Man-
hattan. ’'m writing this on May 8. We haven't
yet been back. We are grateful to have jobs we
can do from home — his in data and analytics,
mine as an editor and novelist. But both of us
working from home has meant getting creative
with our 700-sq.-ft. space. The bedroom is his
office, the rest of the apartment, mine, with a
desk — actually, a table that formerly held our
record player — next to the refrigerator.
“In the last eight weeks, we've luckily stayed
healthy, and tried to keep things business as
usual. I handed in the final revision of a novel.
I edited books, acquired new ones, met with
my PRH team. We've checked in on friends
who are sick and others who are grieving, and
tracked the new COVID-19 cases in D.C.
and NYC. We've gone on late-night, masked
walks, taking in the beauty of the cherry
blossoms and the grandeur of the neoclassical
buildings on Capitol Hill.
“But at the same time, I can't stop think-
ing about New York City. I lived there during
9-11, the 2003 blackout, Hurricane Sandy. I
feel like ?ve abandoned my city in its time of
need. Neoclassical buildings are beautiful, but
so are skyscrapers.
“This pandemic might have made me
a Washingtonian, but it also made me
realize that in my heart I will always be a
New Yorker.”
college.columbia.edu/cct
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“WHAT HAS YOUR PANDEMIC E
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PERIENCE BEEN LIKE?”
Simon Schwartz ’17
Entrepreneur; founder, Locasaur
left New York in mid-March thinking
I'd be back in a matter of weeks, and
my packing reflected this. As the situation
became more clear, I realized I'd be staying
here for a while, on
my family’s farm in
Virginia’s Shenan-
doah Valley. Those
who know me know
I’m not exactly upset
by this. I grew up
here, alongside a
rotating menagerie
of horses, chickens,
sheep and the occa-
sional goat. There are
10 shades of green in
every direction, and
COURTESY SIMON SCHWARTZ ‘17
>
I’ve never been more
thankful for the wide open, secluded space.
“So much of what’s great about New York
happens after dark, and waking up early is
done at your own peril. When I’m home,
however, I’m on ‘farm time.’ Coffee is on
and the house is buzzing by 6:00 a.m. My
company Locasaur’s daily standup isn't until
10:00 a.m., so early mornings are usually
given to farm tasks and chores. There is a
rhythm that you get into living on a farm;
days keep churning, things keep needing
to get done. A farmer’s mindset is that no
matter the day’s challenge, you find a fix.
“These early-morning hours are honestly
my calm, in a world that isn't calm at all. I
get to work with my hands and be outside
more than I ever did in NYC. What others
might see as mundane tasks and responsi-
bilities, I see as therapy.
4
=¥
“The majority of my day is devoted to re-
mote work of the most urgent kind. Locasaur
is a relationship app for local businesses and
their regulars, and right now local businesses
need their regulars more than ever. Every
creative solution demanded by the reality of
COVID-19 — the bakery now doing road-
side pickup, the florist who started delivering,
the bartender selling pre-mixed cocktails —
starts with a business having a group of core
customers who truly care about it. Our goal
is to power some of those creative solutions
and help these businesses go digital without
giving up the ‘personal touch that means
so much to their survival. The next 12-18
months wont be easy, but local business
owners are uniformly some of the toughest
people I know. In many ways they, too, have a
farmer’s mindset.”
ARIEL KAO
Margaret Traub ’88
Head of global initiatives, International Medical Corps
66 y work is emergency medical relief, so the pandemic has tak-
en over my daily life in every way. My organization normally
works in conflict and disaster zones overseas, but with COVID-19,
in addition to responding to the pandemic in 30 countries, we have
deployed healthcare workers and supplies on the frontlines here
in the United States — at hospitals in New York, Los Angeles,
Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Puerto Rico, so far.
“My days start around 5:30 a.m. — bleary-eyed in bed, scrolling
through emails and the latest news. I learned early that if I dont
COURTESY MARGARET TRAUB ‘88
get into the shower by 6:30 a.m., I
wind up chained to Skype and video
calls in my PJs (and sometimes a
them and have to resist the urge to go be with them. I frequently
TALKING POINTS
Visit our website on
Tuesday, August 18, to
nice blouse) until 5:00 p.m. Yes, text and call friends, including my Columbia pals. And at some
that’s happened more times than ’m _ point during my days I try to squeeze in a workout — usually to
old episodes of 30 Rock. Another important COVID-19 distrac-
tion: cooking and baking, which I love.
comfortable admitting.
read more about alumni’s
lives during COVID-19:
college.columbia.edu/cct/
latest/talking_pandemic.
“In between calls with our teams
— mostly about procuring PPE, or “My heart breaks every day, thinking of the suffering going on
moving supplies and clinicians, or around us. And not a day goes by that I don’ feel grateful to be
raising money — I’m checking in
with my family in New York, Utah
and Arizona. I have a severely immuno-compromised sister and
healthy and to have a mostly healthy family and a job that puts a
roof over our head and food on our table.
“Thanks to all those heroes out there, putting their lives on the
”?
healthy but 90-ish-year-old parents, so I worry constantly about line to serve their fellow humans. Everyone stay safe and healthy!
23 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct
nay reced fren the est cee
Top row, left to right: Hon.
Rolando T. Acosta ’/9, LAW’82:
Maryam Khaled Hassan ’20;
and Stacy Tao ’20 with her
family; bottom row, left to
right: Claire Fry ’20; Laurans A.
Mendelson ’60, BUS’61,
Victor H. Mendelson ’89,
Alexander Mendelson ’23,
Nicole Mendelson ’20 and
Lindsey Mendelson ’18;
Dean James J. Valentini;
and James Ritchie ’20.
PHOTOS COURTESY VICTOR
MENDELSON ’89, MARYAM KHALED : ,
HASSAN ’20, NING CHENG, CLAIRE
FRY ’20 AND SIHAN TAN SOA’20
UELY UNITED
THE COLLEGE PRODUCED ITS FIRST-EVER
VIRTUAL CLASS DAY TO HONOR THE CLASS OF 2020
MORE THAN 8,000 VIEWERS tuned in on their computers and
televisions on May 19 for the College’s first virtual Class Day —
a colorful ceremony featuring messages and photos from graduates
and their families, with remarks from Dean James J. Valentini and
keynote speaker Hon. Rolando T. Acosta’79, LAW’82. The broad-
cast united the graduating class across oceans and time zones, from
Santa Clara to Brownsville, Dhaka to Buenos Aires. This was —
as Valentini noted in his welcome remarks — an unprecedented
celebration for unprecedented times.
Senior Class President James Ritchie ’20 highlighted the
uncommonly common experience of a most unique Class of 2020.
“We arrived in Morningside Heights in the “Yes We Can’ era of
hope and positivity,” said Ritchie. “And try as the universe did to
break our spirits, we improvised, adapted and overcame. We were
and are a special class. We are resilient even as we have been made
to handle far more than we thought we could.”
Raised in the South Bronx and Washington Heights, Acosta,
presiding justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Appel-
late Division, First Department, emigrated from the Dominican
Republic to the United States with his family at 14. A former
star on the Lions varsity baseball team, he was inducted into the
Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.
24 CCT Summer 2020
In his remarks, Acosta paid tribute to his father, who died recently,
at 97, of complications from COVID-19: “He showed me that my
contentment is directly related to the path I follow to success and the
lives that I impact.” Acosta praised the Core Curriculum as something
that provided him guidance in becoming “someone who values giving
back to my community, cherishes the rule of law and has chosen to
work within the system to ensure that justice prevails.”
Acosta challenged the Class of 2020 to “continue to find ways in
which to help others through your work,” for “this challenge will not
only benefit society, but it will also be the beginning of a more satis-
fying part of your life’s journey, where you will discover that there is
no substitute for a balanced life, which includes service to others.”
The next day, the members of CC’20 joined graduates from
across the University for virtual Commencement. The deans of
all of Columbia’s schools gave speeches before President Lee C.
Bollinger formally conferred their degrees. To further mark the
day, a surprise gift was delivered: an original song, “Oh, Columbia,”
written by composer Tom Kitt ’96 and performed in a special video
by actor Ben Platt GS’14.
See Class Day photos from around the world in the Columbia College
Facebook album.
college.columbia.edu/cct
GRADUATION2020
#CC2OSTILLROARS
WE ASKED THE CLASS OF 2020 what it means to graduate
at this moment in time, and though every answer was unique,
several themes emerged. Though they missed being on campus,
the graduates have a deeper appreciation for all the experiences Ene c uncon
that came before. They learned as much from people outside reflections, as
well as this year’s
list of Academic
of themselves and each other. And they're ready to make a Wee tee prec
difference in the world. ROAR, LION, ROAR! recipients, here.
the classroom as they did in their courses. They’re proud
BRIANNA SHU YANG
“T will always credit Columbia with honing my sense of civic purpose. I have discussed
and debated citizenship and social responsibility in my Core classes, especially Contem-
porary Civilization. I have met so many people who passionately advocate for issues they
care about. I’ve been inspired to do the same, and to make it my mission in life to break
down barriers to civic engagement. Go vote.
“T feel like it’s common now among seniors, at least among my friends, to mark the
occasion when we finally broke down crying about this unexpected end to our senior year.
There is a sort of catharsis in this act. In many ways, being physically apart has brought
us closer together, and it has underscored that what is, and has been, most important this
year is celebrating how far we've all come.
“The most important lesson I will take away is this: Nothing is worth doing if it is
not in the service of others. The greatest thing we can do with our education is to work
toward change, no matter how big or small, that promotes a fairer world.”
DIMITRI GODUR
“Thinking about the future, I know [Il appreciate the connections and networks I estab-
lished with fellow students, faculty, mentors and professionals. My Columbia education
has made me a better-informed citizen, both politically and socially, with a deeper under-
standing of the history and philosophies that continue to govern our society. ...
“T am beyond proud of every single member of my class and all they have accom-
plished. My message is to be bold, push yourselves beyond your comfort zone and never
be afraid to continue taking risks, as you have already done. And of course, massive con-
gratulations to all on your hard work and ending the year with a BANG”
25 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct
GRADUATION2020
ANTHONY ARGENZIANO
“Being at the College has always meant that everything happens between Broadway and
Amsterdam, from 114th to 120th. From my freshman year to my senior days, I have always
considered myself very lucky to live with and near those closest to me. This past semester,
I’ve missed my friends and the campus that was the straw that stirred the proverbial drink.
... Pve realized with our spring being cut short that life doesn’t work in clean-cut phases
like some people tend to believe; college is not a separate four-year life or oasis.
“With this, though, I’ve developed a new hope. If there are no clear boundaries
separating events over time, and if it is never too early for something to end, it must
follow that it is never too late for something to start. Here’s to friendships yet to be
made, passions yet to be cultivated and fulfillment yet to be had.”
SEMIRA AFIA KAZURI BROWN
“Columbia has served as a crucible of my character, my intellect, my artistic
inclinations, my physical and mental health, and my work ethic, and I am so much
better for it. 1 know myself far more comprehensively than I did four years ago, and
through extending my comfort zone, working hard and challenging myself, I have
a newfound, incandescent confidence that is intrinsically rather than extrinsically
derived. I know myself, love myself and genuinely believe that I can do anything.
“The extraordinary circumstances of this year have shown me how temporary
everything truly is, how ephemeral worldly attachments are and how timeless
human connections will always be.”
ANDREA LIN
“Columbia was the perfect combination of idealistic introspection and
#NewYorkTough. It has taught me to be gentle and sensitive in my heart,
and bold and fearless in my actions.”
TASFIA TABASSUM
“These past few months I’ve really missed the gatherings, especially how everyone would
sit on the grass and on Low Steps. Whatever we were doing, it was the fact that we were
together that gave it a feeling of belonging.
“Out of my entire college experience, | most appreciate the friends that ’ve made and
the people whom I’ve met. I believe that we're meant to meet the people we meet, so every
single interaction that I’ve had has only added to my experience and my self-love journey.
“T hope one day we'll all look back and see that, all along, we were growing. The momer
where our limits were being tested, we were actually being strengthened. Here’s to a new
journey, a new beginning!”
26 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct
GRADUATION2020
CARA MAINES
“T miss walking around campus and running into friends. It was amazing how amidst
thousands of people, I would always see a few friendly faces on College Walk or the endless
Hamilton stairs. I also miss Morningside Heights. The best feeling in the world was coming
off the subway from a bustling neighborhood downtown and feeling at peace and at home. ...
“The Core Curriculum was a large part of what drew me to Columbia, and now that
I have completed it, I can say that it was — without a doubt — the defining feature of
my academic experience. I believe I am a more critical and compassionate person because
of it. I truly believe that taking some version of the Core Curriculum is one of the best
things you can do in your life, especially at this age, the start of adulthood.
“All of this being said, my greatest education was probably outside the classroom.
The relationships I made changed me and formed me, and I am better for them.”
JOHN ARCINIEGAS
“Through my experience at Columbia and with New York as a whole, I learned from people
from all walks of life. | was able to learn from different cultures, viewpoints and experiences
that helped to challenge me and develop myself fully.
“T would like to send a big ‘Congratulations!’ to my classmates, and to remind them to
invest in what they would like to see changed in the world around them. They are very
passionate, dedicated people, and I know they have the skills to accomplish significant
milestones: Congrats, Class of 2020!”
ABENA ADOM-ODURO
“T’ve learned that community is what really matters. At the end of the day, it’s the
experiences that you shared with others, the lives you touched and the lives that touched
you that linger. We're graduating at such a tough and uncertain time, and it may seem out
of place to celebrate, but we've all come so far, and I’m so proud of us!”
LACEY ANN STRAHM
“The unforeseeable and swift end to my senior year made me realize how precious the
time I had at campus really was. As you go through the day-to-day life of being a student
you accumulate these little joys of campus life — like seeing your friends on College
Walk, getting your favorite sandwich at Brownies, finding the perfect seat in Butler. I
understood these joys to be built-in perks of being a College student, but took for granted
the ephemeral nature of their presence in my life; my abrupt departure from campus meant
leaving them all behind. Ghosted, with no substitutes to take their place. As I scroll through
my camera roll and watch memories emerge from my Snapchat, I am reminded of how
lucky I was to have found such joys throughout my four years at Columbia.”
2/7 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct
Columbia! Forum
CHRIS SANDERS
The Artist's Way
Feminist sculptor Rachel Feinstein ’93 gets a major museum retrospective
Last fall, the first-floor galleries at New York City’s
Jewish Museum were filled with tall, curving sculp-
tures made from plywood and foam, enamel and resin.
The ambitious structures were the work of artist Rachel
Feinstein '93; the vast retrospective, subtitled “Maiden
Mother, Crone,” was the first survey show of Feinstein’s
work held in a U.S. museum.
The exhibition, and its accompanying volume, Rachel
Feinstein (Rizzoli, $75), is a record of the decades the
sculptor has spent exploring female archetypes. “Over
the course of her 25-year career, Feinstein has confronted
how women are described, seen and embodied,” writes
. we
*
28 CCT Summer 2020
Kelly ‘Taxter, the museum’s Barnett and Annalee New-
man Curator of Contemporary Art, who helped guide
the exhibition to completion.
Feinstein isn't wedded to a single type of material, or
even to the medium of sculpture itself. “Maiden, Mother,
Crone” includes video, painted mirrors, panoramic wall-
paper, even a white 40-ft.-long wall relief. Feinstein has
made stunning collages for New York magazine (The Seven
Ages of Woman) and a castle-in-ruins runway set for Marc
Jacobs's Fall 2012 show. Underlying all these variations,
though, is a single theme: women and the way they're seen.
As a sculptor, Feinstein was forced to think about gen-
der from the beginning of her career. “When I was just
starting and said to someone that I was a female sculptor,
they told me, “That’s really weird; that’s like a dog that
can walk on its hind legs,” she said in a recent interview
with Scu/pture magazine. She herself admits to nagging
doubts: “I’ve always thought about how being a female
sculptor is not natural, in terms of the aggressiveness
and the material.” Feinstein is married to painter John
Currin; a frequent theme in their media interviews is the
gender-flipped aspect of the art they create. His is soft
and gentle — stroking the canvas with a fine brush, in
a boudoir-like studio — while her man-cave studio is
noisy and filled with power tools.
To a large extent, Feinstein’s career began at the Col-
lege. A Miami doctor’s daughter who had modeled as a
teenager, she knew she wanted to be an artist, but had
little experience with or knowledge of art history. She
started out pre-med (thanks to her parents’ urging), but
she soon changed direction to pursue studio art, and
studied with influential instructors like installation artist
Judy Pfaff. She found a group of fast friends — intimates
whom she still calls her “art clan” — and started explor-
ing the funkiest reaches of Downtown. Feinstein credits
college.columbia.edu/cct
Columbia!Forum
her time at the College with giving her something essen-
tial to her art: a sense of possibility. “I don't know if I
would be where | am today if it wasn't for Columbia and
Judy Pfaff,” she told CCT.
The art that Feinstein created at that time could be hard-
charging and forceful, drawing energy from early-’90s,
third-wave feminism. Her sculpture Ultimate Woman
(1993) shows a woman on all
fours, with red-rimmed aper-
tures reminiscent of gaping
wounds on her back. Someday
My Prince Wont Come, her
first performance art piece,
featured Feinstein swinging
inside a huge welded hoop-
skirt, as red wine gradually
spilled over her clothes. At a
1994 Exit Art group exhibi-
tion, Let the Artist Live, she
posed as a drowsing Sleeping Beauty, but her golden-
haired princess was humped by a grotesque castle as she lay
in bed. She met Currin around that same time.
Her “bad-ass” single life — and the artistic style that
went with it — came to an end. [wenty-six years later,
the two artists share a townhouse, family life and to some
RIGHT: Unicorn or
“H,” 2002. Fabric,
resin, plaster, foam,
wood, enamel,
40 x 73 x 31in. In
exhibition Tropical
Rodeo, Le Consor-
tium, Dijon, 2006.
Private collection.
FAR RIGHT: O/d
Times, 2005.
Stained wood,
97 x 43 x 23 in.
In exhibition Tropical
Rodeo, Le Consor-
tium, Dijon, 2006.
Collection of Jeanne
Greenberg Rohatyn
and Nicolas Rohatyn.
29 CCT Summer 2020
degree, an artistic mindset. Importantly, Currin taught
Feinstein that older European art could be an invalu-
able source of ideas. Feinstein's creative process now often
begins with research in her bookshelves, or at the Strand
Bookstore. (“Maiden, Mother, Crone” was inspired by the
book Maids, Madonnas €8 Witches: Women in sculpture from
prehistoric times to Picasso, with photographs by Andreas
Feininger.) ‘The later work shown at The Jewish Museum
explores female archetypes derived from examples of old
European fine and decorative art, like madonnas, German
woodcarvings, even Meissen porcelain figurines.
Feinstein herself, having passed the maiden stage, has
embraced the role of mother to the couple’s three children.
But far from dreading the approach of her “crone” years, she
seems to be looking forward to a late-stage artistic flower-
ing. In an interview on Bloomberg T’V last fall, flanked by
men in business attire, she is luminous and charismatic in
bright lipstick and a vividly colored dress. Historically, she
says, female artists like Louise Bourgeois, Georgia O’Keefte
and Agnes Martin honed their skills later in life, once the
biological imperative to reproduce was gone. Women art-
ists get “more marketable after menopause,” she says with
a smile. “It seems that you just come into this strength and
power as you get older.”
— Rose Kernochan BC'&2
college.columbia.edu/cct
Columbia!Forum
Adam and Eve, 2007.
Wood, stain, hard-
ware, 84 x 45 x 41 in.
Collection of Mima
and César Reyes,
ee
San Juan.
Fat Friend, 2000.
Wood, epoxy, Sculpey,
plaster, enamel, gold
leaf, 60 x 49 x 32 in.
Collection of
Mark Fletcher and
Tobias Meyer.
FAR LEFT: Kastee/ de
Haar, 2010. Enamel
on mirror, 22 x 17 in.
Private collection,
New York.
LEFT: Bagatelle, 2010.
Enamel on mirror,
18 x 18 in.
Private collection.
© Rachel Feinstein by Rachel Feinstein, Rizzoli Electa, 2019.
30 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct
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Heyward H. Dotson ’/0, LAW’76
PHOTO BY EILEEN BARROSO / COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 79
THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING IMAGE ® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF
ESRT EMPIRE STATE BUILDING, L.L.C. AND IS USED WITH PERMISSION Core cartoon caption contest!
31 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct
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By Michael Behringer ’89
never imagined that I'd be writing my last message in CCT in
the midst of global and national crises. These recent, unsettling
months have affected each of us differently, and the impact will
surely be felt for months and even years to come. As we wrestle
with our many current challenges — an account of which could
itself take up the entirety of this message — I see a parallel story
emerging about how we are navigating our way through this
moment in time. Family and community have perhaps never felt
more vital. And so during this time I am especially grateful for
our Columbia College family, which continues to grow closer and
find new ways to offer uplift and support.
As it relates to the COVID-19 pandemic in particular, ?m
awed and inspired by the Columbia alumni and faculty healthcare
professionals on the front lines, as well as the many scientists
and researchers working on treatments and cures. On behalf of
the College community, thank you for all that you're doing. I'd
also like to acknowledge those among us who are struggling with
adversity of all kinds right now. Please know that your alumni
family is always there for you.
Social distancing has required the College to rethink — and in
many cases, reinvent — how it engages with alumni. In the long
run, I think that the Columbia College Alumni Association's
activities and programming will be better for it. Here, some of the
great work the CCAA has been doing recently:
¢ CURRENT STUDENTS: Undergraduates are the future of the
CCAA and have been a focus in recent years. In April, we offered
more than 20 student/alumni events, with more to come this summer.
The goal was to support students, provide information on career paths
and industries, and foster a sense of community. Originally planned
as live events, we pivoted to hold these virtually, which enabled us to
expand the number of both alumni and student participants.
* THE CLASS OF 2020: We are holding workshops and speaker
events, offering a 1:1 mentoring match program and developing
communications aimed at helping our newest community members.
* YOUNG ALUMNI: At a time of great uncertainty about careers
and the economy, we also will hold virtual mentoring and career-
focused events for young alumni; these began in May with a
presentation from an executive coach and will continue through-
out the summer.
¢ ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT: In a similar vein, we launched a
virtual speaker series that leverages the expertise and wisdom
within our community for the benefit of all alumni. We will cover
32 CCT Summer 2020
Thanks for the
memories! Beh-
ringer (in denim
jacket) and the
financial aid
letter that made
it all possible.
a range of topics, including the search for a COVID-19 vaccine,
the economy and job market, and mindfulness and meditation.
* COLUMBIA REUNION: In-person reunion was postponed (we
are still looking for an alternate time); however, we offered parts of
the weekend online on June 6; these included the Dean's Update
and the presentation of the CCAA President’s Cup, which each
year honors one volunteer for contributions to their class’s reunion.
A s I indicated at the outset, this is my last column for CCT,
as my term as CCAA president ended in June. How not
to sound trite when explaining how meaningful the College has
been for me? Words seem inadequate.
I’m always grateful for the opportunity I was given to attend
Columbia. My family were immigrants and I was a first-generation
student. I dont remember the day I received my acceptance letter;
what I remember was when the letter about my financial aid package
arrived — for that was when I knew I could attend the College.
I’m here today only because of forward-thinking financial aid
policies supported by the generosity of alumni like you. And I’m
delighted that those policies have only expanded and strength-
ened over time. I suppose that’s one reason I’m driven to give
back to the school and pay that debt forward. And on behalf of
similarly situated students and alumni, | thank all of you who
have supported this initiative. You've changed lives in many ways
you may never fully appreciate.
My four years on campus were transformative and magical. That
experience, and the friendships I made, continue to be an integral
part of my life. And I’m lucky that through the CCAA, I’ve been
able to extend that experience and those relationships throughout my
adult life. There are many ways to stay involved and in touch with our
community; I hope each of you finds the right one for you.
I look forward to seeing you soon, once we are on the other side.
As always, ROAR!
heal a
college.columbia.edu/cct
CHRISTOPHE VON HOHENBERG
The Boss of
Beautiful Books
By Jill C. Shomer
eople are always asking Charles Miers 80 what his favor-
ite book is.
As the longtime publisher at Rizzoli New York, books
are his business. Miers is responsible for the acquisition
and editorial direction of all volumes published under the Rizzoli
and Universe imprints, now some 175 books a year. During his
29-year tenure, Miers has dramatically expanded Rizzoli’s program
of books in art, design, fashion, photography and contemporary
culture, while maintaining the company’s roots in contemporary
and historic architecture. In May, The Institute of Classical Archi-
tecture & Art honored Miers and Rizzoli with a 2020 Arthur Ross
Award for Excellence in the Classical Tradition.
33 CCT Summer 2020
With such a luxe and extensive collection — even the Spring
2020 catalog features a glamorous Mert and Marcus photo of
model Kendall Jenner on its cover — it’s not surprising to hear that
Miers can't choose a favorite. “These books are like my children,”
he says. “I could tell you a story about every one we've published.”
Miers was a double major at the College; his studies of history
and art history make him an expert storyteller. He grew up in Eng-
land and spent his youth at boarding schools; he wanted something
different for his college years, and New York City in the late 1970s
was definitely that. “It was an adventure,” he says. “The sense of
physical danger was ever-present. But as a student you could block
a lot of that out.”
Miers was thrilled to study with a generation of notable art his-
torians like David Rosand’59, GSAS’65, Kirk Varnedoe and Rich-
ard Brilliant. He also ran cross country and track, pacing the first
Columbia cross-country team to win an Ivy League championship
in 1979, and later qualifying for the Olympic Trials Marathon (in
2 hours, 16 minutes). But the best thing about Columbia for him
was Avery Hall. “The most beautiful building, the most beauti-
ful library,” he says. “The opportunity to be with those books and
those original materials was fantastic!” He met his wife, Christine
Miers GSAS’86, at Avery while she was getting an art history
Ph.D. (And when Rizzoli moved its bookstore from its longtime
townhouse location on West 57th Street to NoMad in 2014, Avery
was an inspiration for the design; Miers employed architect Tom
Kligerman’79 to create a similar “church to books” feeling.)
The day he graduated, Miers went to work for a “tiny and idiosyn-
cratic” publisher, George Braziller, which specialized in contempo-
rary fiction and nonfiction. “It was too small a place to stay forever
but I learned everything there,” Miers says. “Most of all, George really
taught me to love books as physical objects and understand how they
were made. That has very much stayed with me.” Miers next worked
for five years at Abrams, then joined Rizzoli in 1990.
In those days Rizzoli was thought of as the greatest architecture
publisher in the world. “If I can say where I’ve really made a differ-
ence, it’s that we've become a major force in fashion and interior
design,” Miers says. “Our first fashion milestone was Tom Ford’s
book in 2004; it was his Gucci story. And around the same time,
fashion designers embraced “The Book’ in the same way that archi-
tects did — if you went into any architecture office in those days there
was a large library. Fashion designers embraced books as something
permanent in a very ephemeral world, which fashion very much is.”
He continues, “After the financial crash of 2008, interior design
became especially strong for us, somewhat counterintuitively. I
think to some extent people were turning inward and thinking
about their homes, and that will happen again now. People will
also embrace ‘artisanal’ even harder,” he says.
On deck for Rizzoli this fall is a book by model Lily Cole, Who
Cares Wins, about issues of sustainability and climate change, how
young people should think about those things and what values
they should consider. Like Miers, Cole is an art historian by train-
ing, from Cambridge. “She has a lot of credibility for activism, and
that’s a book we think will have resonance,” Miers says. “It’s subti-
tled Reasons for Optimism in a Changing World — I mean, come on.”
college.columbia.edu/cct
Book publishing may have diminished over the years as digital
media has become more prevalent, but Miers isn't worried. “I believe
that the more digital we've become, the more people value a certain
level of craftsmanship,” he says. “People wont look to books for news
or resources or information in the same way, but they'll look to them
for a certain type of gravitas, for a curated quality, for permanence. I
think the future of the book is strong. Books like ours will become
more bespoke, more expensive, more limited in their availability, and
I think that will suit our corner of the industry.”
As for his favorite part of his job? “I’m lucky to spend a lot of
time with some of the world’s most creative people,” he says. “A
book is really meaningful for them, it’s a moment. Working with
these authors is like having a special window into a period of time
with someone who’s a hero of yours. It’s unbeatable.”
Activist Annie Tan ‘11 Is Speaking Up
for Asian Americans
By Anne-Ryan Sirju JRN’O9
ctivist, storyteller and special education teacher Annie
Tan 711 knows how to make her voice heard, and how
to inspire others to speak up. Most recently, this past
May, Tan appeared on PBS’s five-part documentary
Asian Americans, speaking both about her work as a teacher and her
family’s role at the center of the modern push for Asian-American
visibility and civil rights in the United States.
Tan’s journey to the national stage has been years in the making.
When she was 13, she learned about a tragedy that had shaken her
family to the core. In 1982, Tan’s cousin Vincent Chin was beaten
to death by two Detroit autoworkers; the killers, who blamed the
Japanese auto industry for declining U.S. auto sales, mistook Chin
for being Japanese. The killers received only three years’ probation
and a $3,000 fine. Chin’s mother, Tan’s great-aunt Lily Chin, spent
the years after his death campaigning for hate crime legislation; she
returned to China in 1987 after facing discrimination.
Tan has since taken up the family’s mantle, speaking about the
case in various mediums. “[When] you hear about Vincent Chin in
Asian-American studies textbooks,” she says, “you have a different
reaction than when I’m in front of you telling you that my family
had to fight that case for years and years, and lost over and over, to
the point where my great auntie moved to China. It’s just very dif-
ferent to see it from my vantage point.”
In addition to Asian Americans, Tan has been featured on The
Moth Radio Hour and has embraced storytelling as a way to com-
municate issues relating to Asian-American activism and expe-
riences. She gave the keynote at the Teaching Social Activism
conference at the Museum of the City of New York in May 2019
and has performed at live storytelling events around New York
City. She also volunteers with CAAAV (Committee Against Anti-
Asian Violence), an NYC-based organization that empowers and
advocates for low-income Asian immigrants and refugees, and is
involved in the United Federation of ‘Teachers, the union that rep-
resents teachers who work in New York City public schools.
Tan, who grew up in Manhattan’s Chinatown, majored in urban
studies at the College, while simultaneously earning her teaching
license through Barnard. After graduation she moved to Chicago
and began teaching in the majority Latinx Little Village neigh-
borhood. She campaigned for teachers’ rights for two years as co-
chair of the Special Education Committee of the Chicago Teachers
34 CCT Summer 2020
CINDY TRINH
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* BF i A 4,
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Union. “We fought against hundreds of positions being cut ille-
gally in Chicago public schools, and formed a special education
task force, which is still active,” she says.
In 2016, Tan moved back to New York and sought out Brook-
lyn’s diverse Sunset Park neighborhood in order to teach its large
number of Chinese and Latinx students. “I wanted to continue
teaching bicultural students who had questions like, “What do I do
when my mom and dad need me to translate and put this burden
on me?’ — because I went through that,” she says. “It’s my job as
a teacher to know where they came from and to give them some
space to be kids. It’s a blessing; every day I see their confidence and
motivation grow.”
Tan says her activism and teaching are inexorably linked: “Had
I not been a teacher first, | don’t think I would have learned these
lessons very well. [ realized I have to model what I want my stu-
dents to be. In order for my students to be in a better world and to
be humans that will make this world better, I also have to be better.
And that means I have to fight for them.”
college.columbia.edu/cct
bookshelf
A Dance Pioneer
Finally Gets His Due
By Jill C. Shomer
ed Shawn, often called the “Father of American Dance,”
was so sure about his place in cultural history that before
his death in 1972, he drafted a letter to future biographers
listing what topics should be written about him and the
order in which they should be written. But none of those books
ever came. Until now.
In Ted Shawn: His Life, Writings, and Dances (Oxford University
Press, $39.95), Paul A. Scolieri 95, chair and professor of dance
at Barnard, offers the first scholarly account of Shawn’s pioneering
role in American modern dance and reveals the untold story of
Shawn's homosexuality, his choreographic vision and his impact
on society.
Between 1915 and 1940, Shawn transformed dance from popu-
lar entertainment into a theatrical art, and in the process, made
dancing an acceptable profession for men. With his wife and dance
partner, Ruth St. Denis, he founded Denishawn, the first modern
dance company and school in the United States. (Martha Graham
was a protégée, and went on to become a legendary dancer and
choreographer in her own right.) Shawn directed the first all-male
dance company, Ted Shawn and His Men
Dancers, and was also the founder of
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the inter-
nationally known performance venue and
school in Becket, Mass.
Scolieri spent 10 years researching
Shawn for this biography. “His is one of
the best-documented lives of the 20th
century,” Scolieri says. “He maintained
records from childhood — he had a strong
sense that his life would be extraordinary.”
The importance and influence of Ted
Shawn was imprinted on Scolieri’s life
early. The Long Island native discovered a
passion for dance in childhood, and studied
performing arts at his Catholic high school while also training as a
student at the Martha Graham School in Manhattan. “I would go to
school and then take the train into the city,” Scolieri says.
When it was time for college, he wanted to carry on his training
but not at a conservatory; at Columbia, he was among the first stu-
35 CCT Summer 2020
dents (and the first man) to major in dance. His training at Martha
Graham continued alongside his studies in the Core Curriculum:
“T was dancing Graham pieces inspired by Greek myth at the same
time I was also in Lit Hum, and learning Graham's choreography
for The Rite of Spring while studying Stravinsky’s score in Music
Hum,” he recalls. “It all felt fully integrated.”
A Global Core course in pre-Colombian art set Scolieri on
the path to writing his first book, Dancing the New World: Aztecs,
Spaniards, and the Choreography of Conquest (2013). “I got so
excited by the art, the story of conquest and the imagery that it
became my doctoral dissertation,” he says. It also brought him
back to the Columbia community: In 2000, Scolieri was hired to
teach a class in Latin American and Caribbean dance at Barnard.
He taught for a few years as an adjunct before becoming a full-
time professor in 2003.
Scolieri says that though everyone in the dance world knows
of Shawn, a lot of the details werent clear. “People wondered, ‘He
was married to a woman, but was he gay?’ He was one of those
guys who kept the lock on the closet. And in order for him to have
prestige and stature and visibility, he engaged in a lot of internal-
ized and externalized homophobia.” After the Stonewall uprising
in 1969, Shawn was ready to tell a more authentic story of his life,
and was in the interview process with one of his former students
when he had a heart attack. Scolieri was able to use the seven days
of recorded conversations in his writing.
“T tried to tell his story in a way that he would have told it had
he been able to be honest, and with the vantage of 50 years to
understand where he fit into the larger puzzle of American cultural
life,” Scolieri says. “Shawn was born into a world with no concept
of homosexuality, modernism or dance for men. His life was about
braiding these emerging ideas together. Through my research I was
able to better understand the social vision he had and the sacrifices
he made.”
Scolieri gets reflective when he considers the realities of Shawn's
life versus the life he shares with his husband, Lavinel Savu’94, and
their three daughters. “There’s not a moment that I don’t think that
my life and my career are everything that Shawn desired,” he says.
“The part of the world I get to enjoy is in large measure owed to
what Ted Shawn bodied forth.”
college.columbia.edu/cct
Roget F. Pasquict
Troubleshooter: J.K. Choy, From
Pirate’s Son to Diplomat and
Banker éy Dr. Daniel Choy '44.
Choy’s biography of his father, Jun
Ke Choy CC 1915, who left Hawaii
in 1911 and rose to a top govern-
ment post in China before finding
success in the United States as a
banker and community advocate
(Independently published, $14.99).
Smack in the Middle: My
Turbulent Time Treating Heroin
Addicts at Odyssey House dy
Gibbs Williams ’59. Psychotherapist
Williams describes his work treating
addicts in a Manhattan therapeutic
community over 17 months in
the late 1960s (History Publishing
Co., $19.95).
Birds in Winter: Surviving the
Most Challenging Season dy Roger
Pasquier 69. The first book devoted
to the ecology and behavior of
birds during cold weather; Pasquier
explores how winter affects birds’
lives throughout the year (Princeton
University Press, $29.95).
SUBMIT YOUR
BOOK TO CCT
Alums! Have you written
a book in the last year?
Tell us about it!
college.columbia.edu/cct/
submit_bookshelf
36 CCT Summer 2020
Volunteer: Adventures in
Humanism éy Dr. Daniel Albert ’70.
In addition to practicing medicine
in academic institutions, Albert
made it his life’s work to volunteer
in disenfranchised areas around
the world (Austin Macauley
Publishers, $35.95).
Returning from Afar: A Memoir
by Benson Bobrick °71. This dramatic
farewell work from the author The
New York Times described as “per-
haps the most interesting American
historian writing today” is part
memoir, part religious autobiogra-
phy (Stillwater Books, $16.95).
Phebe’s War: A Revolutionary
War Tale dy Michael Coudreaut ’85.
Despite constant threat from the
British armies, a young girl
living in the Hudson Highlands
plays a critical role in assisting
the Revolutionary War effort
(Hellgate Press, $12.95).
The Self-Care Solution: A Year
of Becoming Happier, Healthier
and Fitter — One Month ata
Time dy Dr. Jennifer Ashton ’91.
Ashton, chief medical correspondent
for ABC News and an ob-gyn in
private practice, shares a yearlong
plan to improve your physical
and emotional health (William
Morrow, $26.99).
PACE by K.M. Halpern ’91. Halp-
ern’s third work of fiction, about a
mysterious and deadly “front” origi-
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nating from Scotland, is described
as “a pitch-black global thriller that
is nevertheless supremely intimate”
(Epsilon Books, $29.99).
The Financial Ecosystem: The
Role of Finance in Achieving
Sustainability dy Satyajit Bose ’94,
Guo Dong and Anne Simpson. Bose,
an associate professor at the School
of Professional Studies, and his
co-authors describe how corporate
functioning could be made compat-
ible with human welfare (Palgrave
Macmillan, $119.99).
The Perfect Escape 4y Suzanne
Park 97. In Park’s debut YA
rom-com, a lovable hero and his
colleague at a zombie-themed
escape room compete in a survivalist
competition for a huge cash prize
(Sourcebooks Fire, $10.99).
The Pearls dy Will Heinrich °99.
Heinrich, an art critic for The New
York Times, considers painting, love,
Jewish identity and more in this
novel about a raucous 1920s love
triangle that crosses the country
from New York City to Sheridan,
Wyo. (Elective Affinity, $25).
Putting Joy into Practice: Seven
Ways to Lift Your Spirit from
the Early Church dy Phoebe Farag
Mikhail 00. The author explains
how to experience joy through
seven spiritual practices, including
giving thanks, hospitality and praise
(Paraclete Press, $16.99).
LOR ene remem enon ene n een ne ena ee Enea ee Emenee ee eneneaene
mal INFLUENCE
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=s0r0S
Bricks & Brownstone:
The New York Row House
by Patrick Ciccone ‘03, Charles
Lockwood and Jonathan D. Taylor.
This beautifully illustrated reissued
volume, first published in 1972,
examines the varied architectural
styles of the New York City
brownstone (Rizzoli, $176).
The Power of Human: How
Our Shared Humanity Can
Help Us Create a Better World
by Adam Waytz 03. Social
psychologist Waytz describes
how to “rehumanize” our
technology-filled lives by
reconnecting with our natural,
instinctive powers (W.W. Norton
& Co., $26.95).
Financializing Poverty: Labor
and Risk in Indian Microfinance
by Sohini Kar 04. Kar examines
how the business of giving
small loans to poor borrowers has
allowed financial institutions in
Kolkata, India, to capitalize on the
poverty of its residents (Stanford
University Press, $90).
The Influence of Soros: Politics,
Power and the Struggle for
Open Society 4y Emily Tamkin °12.
Tamkin, an editor at the
New Statesman, considers the
influence of hedge fund tycoon
George Soros and uncovers the
truth about the conspiracies that
surround him (Harper, $28.99).
— fill C. Shomer
college.columbia.edu/cct
Fust Married!
CCT welcomes wedding photos where at least one member of the couple
is a College alum. Please submit your high-resolution photo and caption
information on our photo webform: college.columbia.edu/cct/submit
class_note_ photo. Congratulations!
ASIA PIMENTEL PHOTOGRAPHY
ZEV FISHER PHOTOGRAPHY
Sey STEINHARDT
37 CCT Summer 2020
ans WiOV
1. Aaron Zhu SEAS’14 and
Samantha Hing 14 were married on
March 31, 2019, in Jersey City.
2. On January 5, Nettra Pan 12
and Luc Jodet (seated, center)
celebrated their marriage with a
Khmer wedding ceremony and
dinner reception attended by 170
friends and family members in Siem
Reap, Cambodia. Guests, which
included Columbia and Barnard
alumni, can be seen throwing
flowers to mark the end of a Khmer
wedding rite.
3. Johanna Lee (née Miele) 12
married Edward Lee ’12 on July 7,
2019, at The Liberty Warehouse in
Brooklyn, N.Y. Left to right: Chris
Guerrero SEAS’09, Patricia Rojas
12, Elizabeth Angeles 13, Herbert
“Chip” Thornhill 12, Michael
Barrientos SEAS12, Kendra Mendez
42, Christina Ortiz 12, the bride,
the groom, Nirmal Ilyas 13, Ryan
Mulvey SEAS'12, Jenieve Guevarra-
Fernandez 12, Amin Guevarra-
Fernandez 11 and Eric Ellis SEAS’12.
alumninews
4. Ezra Wyschogrod ’17 and Talia
Wyschogrod (née Rubin) 18 were
married on November 17 in Boston.
More than 75 Columbia alumni
were in attendance, with the oldest
graduate representing the Class of
1961 and the youngest representing
the Class of 2022!
5. Rob Trump ’09 and Adrianne
Ho BC’O9 were married at The
Langham Huntingdon in Pasadena,
Calif., on September 15, 2018. Many
College alumni were in attendance.
Back row, left to right: Henry
Klementowicz SEAS’09, Leslie
Galindo BC’07, Natasha Dhillon
BC’11, Whitaker Cohen BC’09, Sam
Roberts ’08, Rachel Lowdermilk
BC’08, Alex Evans BC’09, James
Williams ’?08, Maggie Marron BC’09,
Patrick Yan, Max Friedman ’09,
Brendan Ballou-Kelley ’09 and
Blair Bigelow; middle row, left to
right: Allie Rosenblum, Chris Jo
09, Graham Moore ’03, Crystal Ho
BC’03, the groom, the bride, Claire
Noonan BC’09, Emma Rotenberg
BC’09, Sarah Besnoff BC’09 and
Jean Laschever; and front row, left
to right: Leora Kelman ’O9, Shira
Burton ’09, Eric Rosenblum ’09, Alex
Statman ’09 and Tom Keenan ’07.
6. Aurélie and Jonah Van Bourg
°O07 were married in May 2019 in
Antibes, France.
PEPPER MEDIA CAMBODIA
The campus
patiently awaits
the return
of students
and faculty.
38 CCT Summer 2020
1950
Columbia College Today
cct@columbia.edu
No news this quarter. Classmates
would enjoy hearing from you!
Please send a note to CCT by writ-
ing to the address above.
1951
Columbia College Today
cct@columbia.edu
Ernest H. von Nardroff GSAS’66
shares a thought that some of you
might also have: “A late-in-the-
game, unrealistic but ardent wish:
to sit in on the Core. In my present
condition, I probably couldn't do it
justice, but it would be worth a try!”
Leonard A. Stoehr sent updates
in late March for himself as well
as several other early-’50s alumni:
“Greetings from the beautiful rural
Blue Ridge area of Virginia, where
there are still no reported cases of
coronavirus in Greene County.
“W. Fred Kinsey Ill GSAS’53:
Fred, a professor emeritus of archaeol-
ogy at Franklin & Marshall College
in Lancaster, Pa., and his wife, Carol,
recently moved to an assisted living
facility in Lancaster. Fred was my
junior year roommate at the Phi
Kappa Psi house on West 113th Street.
“The following aged gentlemen are
all members of the NROTC unit who
received their Navy officer commis-
ye ___ —
SCOTT RUDD
sions at the Columbia graduation
ceremonies on June 7, 1951:
“Richard C. Boyle: Dick is a
retired M.D. living in Lake City, Pa.,
with his wife, Dorothy.
“Edwin G. Croswell’50, SIPA56:
Ed and his wife, Erna (a graduate
of St. Luke’s School of Nursing),
live in an assisted living facility in
Murrysville, Pa. After his required
service in the Navy, Ed served many
years in the State Department’s
Foreign Service and other federal
government organizations.
“Alfred B. Harbage Jr. SEAS’55:
Al retired from a career with the
Navy’s David Taylor Model Basin
facility in Annapolis, Md. He and his
wife now live in Severna Park, Md.
“Merritt N. Rhoad Jr.: Merritt,
after Navy service in destroyers,
college.columbia.edu/cct
enjoyed a long career with IBM. He
has recently given up his great love
of sailing due to balance problems
resulting from idiopathic peripheral
neuropathy, an affliction that also
bothers me. He lives in Glenside, Pa.
“On a sadder note, two of our
NROTC shipmates passed away
in 2019. Philip M. Bergovoy’50,
an active member of the NROTC
Class of 1951, died in Sarasota, Fla.,
on February 22, 2019. [Editor’s note:
See Spring 2020, Class of 1950
Class Notes.] John A. Handley,
one of the few fighter pilots (per-
haps the only) in our NROTC class,
died in Santa Barbara, Calif., on
October 21, 2019.
“With the passing of Phil and
John, we are now left with only
five 1951 NROTCs. As many of
my contemporaries like to say,
‘Getting old is not for sissies.’ All of
us survivors have an assortment of
physical (I should emphasize, not
mental) problems. My wife, Jan, and
I still play at least one afternoon of
bridge each month. Our opponents
are inspirational — the woman is
93 and her husband will be 100 on
Veterans Day. He is a survivor of
many missions as a B-17 pilot over
Germany in WWII.
“My best wishes to all of the
other 1951 survivors. | hope to
update you in future issues of CC'T””
Share your news with classmates
by sending a note to CCT at the email
address at the top of the column.
1952
Columbia College Today
cct@columbia.edu
Ted Robinson writes: “My wife and
I now spend our time either in New
York City or Naples, Fla., depend-
ing on the weather. We also travel a
good bit and get to Europe for a few
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. By
submitting to Class Notes, you
acknowledge that the text is eli-
gible to appear in print as well as
on CCT Online and in archives.
39 CCT Summer 2020
weeks (now usually Paris) each year.
Still great fun, and I realize that we
are quite lucky.
“T had practiced medicine as a
radiologist until 2007, when I finally
retired. Retirement certainly has
been fun, although I recently have
had the urge to do more.
“T have fortunately remained in
good health and only recently stopped
playing doubles tennis, when I felt
that my reflexes were a bit too slow. So
now I sleep later and read more.
“When I was last in New York
I took the subway uptown to the
Columbia campus. In many ways it
looked as if it were not the campus
I once knew. Of course, the stores,
bars and restaurants | knew are no
longer there, and the Lions Den
is gone. The students also seemed
different from what I remember
we were. Indeed, as Thomas Wolfe
pointed out, you can never go home
again. But we can all enjoy what we
have now. Best wishes to all.”
From John Benfield: “I am writ-
ing during pervasive anxiety about
COVID-19. My grandson, Cody
Benfield ’21, has returned home
from his junior year in Paris. Colum-
bia College Today's Spring 2020
issue, with a cover that celebrates
‘100 Years of the Core, just arrived.
Inside is the obituary of Colum-
bia’s admired president emeritus
Michael I. Sovern’53, LAW’55,
and Class Notes from John Laszlo
and Arthur Lyons. Sovern, Laszlo,
Lyons and I have much background
in common. All this prompts the
following thoughts about New York
and Columbia.
“New York began for me as a
7-year-old Austrian refugee in
Washington Heights in July 1938.
My parents had the courage to leave
immediately after the Anschluss
for a purported vacation, never to
return. Nine months later my father,
an ophthalmologist, was licensed to
practice medicine in New York, hav-
ing passed the licensing examination
in a language new to him, 14 years
after his medical school graduation.
I started P.S. 173, and made it to
Bronx Science, but only after over-
coming a hurdle. What was it?
“T fell three weeks short of
completing the ninth grade. My
father had volunteered to serve in
the U.S. Army. My mother and I
accompanied him to Camp White
in Oregon. Soon he was deployed
to India, and my mother and I
alumninews
COLUMBIA SCHOOL DESIGNATIONS
BC
BUS
CP
DM
GS
Barnard College
Columbia Business School
Pharmaceutical Sciences
College of Dental Medicine
School of General Studies
Graduate School of Architecture,
Planning and Preservation
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Institute of Human Nutrition
Graduate School of Journalism
Jewish Theological Seminary
Columbia Law School
Library Service
School of Nursing
Mailman School of Public Health
College of Physicians and Surgeons
The Fu Foundation School of Engineering
and Applied Science
School of International and Public Affairs
School of the Arts
School of Professional Studies
School of Social Work
Teachers College
Union Theological Seminary
returned to New York. My father
died in India. The enrollment people
at Science refused to honor my
success with the entrance examina-
tion. Apologetic about her English
(which was excellent), my mother
confronted Dr. Morris Meister,
Science’s still celebrated, founding
principal. She convinced him that I
deserved to be admitted to Science.
“Columbia began for me in 1948,
when Dwight D. Eisenhower's
Columbia presidency started. Subway
fares increased from 5 to 10 cents,
and I commuted from 86th Street
to 116th Street. Columbia College
dress code was a shirt and tie. I wore
my freshman beanie and corduroy
jacket on the subway, and fashionable
students who lived in the dormitories
wore blue blazers and white buck
shoes. Core classes were taught by
the likes of Mark Van Doren GSAS
1920, one of my all-time heroes. He
almost always had a twinkle in his
eye, and he enjoyed engaging about
15 of us in intellectual banter. It
seemed as if teaching freshmen in
Contemporary Civilization was an
exciting experience for him. When |
referred to Don Quixote with my best
Spanish accent, Professor Van Doren
playfully asked, ‘Are you talking Eng-
lish or Spanish? If you are talking
English, pronounce his name in Eng-
lish.’ His point was small and argu-
able, but he would have welcomed
any challenge I might have offered,
and I felt free to say anything. He
became my role model for teaching,
and when the UCLA Class of 1971
chose me as the medical school’s
outstanding teacher, Professor Van
Doren shared that honor in my mind.
“So, why do I still love New
York 69 years after leaving it? It is a
haven that provides opportunity for
refugees and internationals seeking
a better life. It welcomed my family,
and provided me with memories
that | treasure.
“Why do I feel connected to
Sovern, Laszlo and Lyons? If
memory serves me correctly, Laszlo
is also a refugee, and that is a bond
between us. Sovern, Laszlo and I are
Science and Columbia graduates.
Laszlo, Lyons and I chose academic
medicine as careers that fulfilled each
of us professionally. In addition, | met
Lyons before we started at Columbia
when he and I were each awarded a
scholarship for war orphans from the
Maud E. Warwick Fund.
“T did not know Sovern person-
ally, but his educational roots at
Science were like mine, and both of
us exercised the professional option
at Columbia. That meant that we
started in our professional schools
after three years in the College, and
we received College degrees after
college.columbia.edu/cct
alumninews
Arthur E. Lyons ’52 (far right) and John R. Benfield 52 (center) receiving a
scholarship for war orphans from the Maud E. Warwick Fund in 1948.
completion of the first year of profes-
sional school. Each of us wished we
had not hurried past our senior year.
“What do I hear from Cody
about Columbia College today? He
loves it and he is getting a first-class
education. But, his classes in the
Core were taught by talented and
well-selected graduate students.
Some of them will become great
professors. However, can they offer
students what Professor Van Doren
gave to me, and Gilbert Highet
and Irwin Edman CC 1916, GSAS
1920 offered to Laszlo? I think
rarely, if ever. They lack the maturity
and experience of the professors who
taught us. Therefore, still an idealist
at 88, I am hopeful that Columbia’s
academic leadership will overcome
fiscal pressures of modern academia
and that future College students will
be taught by professors!”
Classmates would enjoy hearing
from you, too! Please send a note to
CCT by writing to the email address
at the top of the column.
1953
Lew Robins
lewrobins@aol.com
Larry Harte responded to a Class
Note in the Summer 2019 issue. He
writes: “Allan Jackman PS’57’s story
of growing up in Brooklyn brings
back memories of my childhood as a
40 CCT Summer 2020
Dodgers fan in Brooklyn. I lived two
blocks from the Dodgers’s stadium,
Ebbets Field. From my four-story
walkup, I could see center field and
Duke Snider playing there.
“The first year that my dad took
me to a game was 1937. Would you
believe it, the Dodgers were wearing
green instead of Dodger blue for the
first and only year in their history?
I am not sure what the reason was
for that one year. If it was to change
their luck, it did not work.
“Since I lived so close to Ebbets
Field, I had the opportunity to see
more than 100 games. I also had the
opportunity to get autographs from
the 1941 pennant-winning Dodgers
through the 1955 world-champion
Dodgers that defeated the Yankees.
I think the 1941 Dodgers were one
of the best teams that never won a
world championship.
“T used to work at the ballpark
during the summers, where I met
many of the players from opposite
teams. | had autographs from Stan
Musial, Ralph Kiner, Warren Spahn,
Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and oth-
ers. | had accumulated a large scrap
book of autographs. Unfortunately,
my mother, bless her soul, decided to
throw out all my memorabilia when
I went to Columbia. I guess she felt
that I had to go out into the world
and make a real living!
“T am working on a photo book dat-
ing from the 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers
to the present Los Angeles Dodgers. It
would be my third book about Brook-
lyn. The other two were Brooklyn-ese
Proverbs &8 Cartoons and Journey with
Grandchildren: A Life Story.
“IT see Joe Aaron and his lovely
wife, Jane, at our Saint Barnabas
Medical Center meetings in Liv-
ingston, N.J.
“At one event, when I was chair
of the Public Health Council, |
spent some time with then-
President George H.W. Bush, who
was a Texas fan. He jokingly said,
‘How can you still be a Dodgers fan
when they left Brooklyn?’ I came
back with respect and said ‘Mr.
President, as you love our country, I
love my country and the Dodgers of
my youth.’ Bush put his arm around
me and gave me the biggest hug. We
both had a tear in our eye.
“Kathy and I have visited more
than 110 countries as National
Geographic Travelers. However, these
days — aside from hobbies in bridge,
watercolor and glass blowing, and
spending a little time in my orthodon-
tic practice — we usually limit our
travel to visiting our grandchildren.”
1954
Bernd Brecher
brecherservices@aol.com
As I prepare to submit these Class
Notes in April — a quarter of a year
before publication in CC7’s Sum-
mer 2020 issue — the coronavirus
pandemic is devastating the global
landscape politically, medically,
socially, humanly, and rationally. It
is my hope that the virus is peaking
and will soon begin to plateau.
Classmates, I pray that when
you read these notes we will all
be looking back to April of this
year as a time of still-winter of our
discontent, an historical event when
America truly “did not know what
we did not know” — and that we
survived. However, I share with
you now the sad news that Saul
Turteltaub LAW’57 (class president
in our senior year) and Howard
Falberg BUS’56 (class president in
our freshman year) left us earlier this
year. Both had been in failing health,
and neither’s death had any connec-
tion to the pandemic.
Howard was born on December
13, 1932, and grew up in the Bronx,
where we would be classmates at
Bronx Science. After earning an
M.B.A., while in the Army stationed
in San Francisco, Howard met his
soon-to-be wife, Carol May (who
predeceased him 15 years ago), who
had volunteered to help serve a
Sunday bagel brunch for soldiers at a
local synagogue. They lived primarily
in California and Connecticut, and
raised five children — Lisa, Debby,
Vicki, Jeff, and Stephen — while
Howard moved up the corporate
ladder in the retail world, conclud-
ing his career at May Co. as EVP
for human resources worldwide.
Howard died near La Jolla, Calif., on
February 24, 2020.
Before and during retirement,
he and Carol devoted much time
to breeding, showing and judging
Golden Retrievers, which began
with the purchase of a purebred
puppy named Cleo, who won a
medal at a puppy match a week
later. Through the years they showed
and bred more than 30 champions.
Howard became a dog show judge,
founded the Greater St. Louis
Golden Retriever Club, and became
president of the National Golden
Retriever Club and the Canine
Health Foundation.
In response to my request for
happy memories, Howard’s widow,
Debby Davis, wrote, “It’s difficult
to write this, but | hope my sharing
these memories will help me and
Howard’s friends in keeping his
memories alive. We met through
a mutual friend in 2009, after our
spouses had passed away. She was a
neighbor of Howard’s and had one
of his Golden Retrievers. I have
a wedding business and knew her
through that, as she is a wedding
planner. She kept ‘nudging’ me with
stories of what a wonderful guy he
was. I kept saying, ‘I’m not ready!’
Finally, after about a year, we had
our first date. And we never looked
back. It had been four years for
Howard and three years for me since
our spouses passed away.
“We had so many things in com-
mon, like a love of music and the
arts in general. And as a singer I was
thrilled to find out Howard played
the piano. We had many sing-alongs
in the 10 years we were married.
And Howard enjoyed going to my
concerts and singing with me in
Yiddish. I had never had a dog, so
marrying into four Golden Retriev-
ers was wonderful for me! I knew
Howard was serious about me when,
on one of our dates, he presented
college.columbia.edu/cct
On March 4, Adela Raz, ambassador and permanent representative of the
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the United Nations, was the speaker at
the Columbia University Club Foundation’s Ambassador Series. Left to right:
James Gerkis ’80, David Filosa ’82, Toni Coffee BC’56, Bernd Brecher ’54,
Arthur Delmhorst ’60, Raz and Ann Nicol of the United Nations Association of
New York.
me with the American Kennel Club
standards book about goldens! “This
guy’s not fooling around, I thought.
“We enjoyed going to dog shows
together where he was judging. What
an education it’s been. Shortly after
our marriage, Howard was asked to
judge in China. So, we made that
trip our honeymoon. We always got
a laugh from people when we told
them that we were ‘old newlyweds.’
It’s almost 11 years since our first
date and I cherish every moment.
Columbia meant so much to him.
“And meeting so many of you at
a reunion was a highlight for me
because it allowed me to feel that
I'd known him for more years than I
really did.”
Richard Bernstein SEAS’55
shares the following anecdote:
“Howie was the first 54 classmate
I encountered. Before classes began
in August 1950, I couldn't reach the
top button in an apartment elevator.
In walked Howie, who was going
to the same floor. He bent over and
pushed the button. We then visited
the same beer party.”
Saul Turteltaub LAW’57,
whose life and loves (exclusively
Shirley, whom he married in 1960)
in Hollywood, and dedication to
54 classmates and Columbia never
flagged, died in Beverly Hills on
April 9, 2020. His last — and
41 CCT Summer 2020
lasting — service to our Class of
Destiny was as a member of our
65th Reunion Committee last year
and as speaker/entertainer/stand-up
comedian at our anniversary banquet
in Butler Library in June last year.
Saul was a regular contributor to
this column, and when he limited
funny by choice he was always on
the mark with human comedy and
commentary about segregation or
injustice or issues that might help
heal the world. Did I mention he
was a speaker at every reunion? He
was our “yes man;” he never said “no”
to any request from our class.
Saul was born on May 13, 1932,
raised in Englewood, N.J., and
never looked back as he conquered
America as entertainer, director,
producer, writer, and social com-
mentator. When several years and
deans ago he made a substantial gift
to the Columbia College Fund and
the acknowledgement letter from
the dean misspelled his name, he felt
slighted and insulted and asked me
what he should do to correct this
mistake; I suggested capital punish-
ment or similar legal action (after
all, Saul was a Law School grad).
He came up with a better response,
and sent the dean a letter pointing
out that his gift represented $1,000
for every letter in his surname and
that he expected better attention by
the College to that end. Mea culpa
with style!
Variety, The Hollywood Reporter
and other entertainment media
reported on the passing of our
Saul; the Reporter reminding us
in its obituary that “during his
50-year career, Turteltaub left his
fingerprints on 23 sitcoms. He
wrote for and produced such iconic
1960s and’70s shows as The Carol
Burnett Show, Sanford and Son, and
That Girl. He earned back-to-back
Emmy nominations in 1964 and
1965 as part of the writing team for
the T'V series That Was the Week That
Was and was again nominated in
1968 for The Carol Burnett Show.”
Shirley survives him, as do their
sons, Adam (Rhea) and Jon (Amy);
grandsons, Ross, Max, Jack, and
Daniel, granddaughter, Arabella; and
sister, Helena. Saul’s family says, “He
was beloved and respected by his
entire community for his generosity,
endless philanthropy, the giving of his
time, his work with civil rights, his
role as a teacher to underprivileged
or emerging writers, helping war
veterans learning to write, and his
devotion to endless Jewish charities.”
[Editor’s note: See “Obituaries.” |
Howard and Saul, thank you!
Bruce King sent regards to all
from Paris before the global virus
lockdown and said his classmate
constant contacts have been primar-
ily with David Bardin LAW’56
and Joel Gerstl GSAS’55, and that
“my life seems unchanging. My wife,
Adele, died in November 2018 of
lung cancer, and I remain mostly
housebound in Paris, where I am
likely to stay.”
He continues, “I have medical
coverage, housing, friends, and so on
here, and nothing to return to the
United States for — no close family,
no property. I still get books to review
and I can be found in most issues of
The Journal of Postcolonial Writing.
I still get requests to use my name
as editorial board member and/or
consultant, but at 87 I feel like that
part of my life is mostly over; surviv-
ing from day to day, reading The New
York Times International Edition, The
New Yorker, and the Times’s Literary
Supplement, doing my income
tax return myself, and other basic
activities is enough. I go to concerts,
and try to follow the jazz scene and
contemporary dance groups, but can
no longer tell you which are the best
restaurants in Paris.”
Larry Gartner wrote during
the plague wishing us all “well
during this difficult time. We are
doing OK here in rural San Diego
County. Except for trips to our
daughter’s house a mile away, we
stay on the ranch and do pretty
much everything we always do:
gardening, woodworking, and email,
interspersed with walks on the trail.
Our daughter, a surgeon, feels that
we should not be out and about, so
she does all of our shopping; very
convenient and we avoid the long
lines that are outside every store. I
finished planting our large vegetable
garden last week ... and the citrus
crop is just coming ripe, as well.
What Carol and I miss are the con-
certs, theater and restaurants, and
visits with friends. One successful
compensation is that we now do a
weekly group meditation session and
tea over Zoom.”
Larry suspects that life after
COVID-19 is going to be quite
different, but doesn’t yet know quite
how. (Spoiler alert: meditation,
Zoom booms, and vegan meals?)
Classmates, let’s hope we'll actu-
ally be able to see each other after
you receive this issue of CCT. Please
send me your comments, updates,
and corrections, as always. We have a
lot on our agendas as we plan for the
post-pandemic era, which may be a
long one, but let’s hope the world,
all of us, have learned something
to guide us through the next global
dilemma. As before, write, call, email
... keep in touch, stay well, remem-
ber to use all we've learned before,
at, and after Columbia so we can
help cure the world. With thanks
and luv, Bernd. Excelsior!
1955
Gerald Sherwin
gs481@juno.com
I have the sad duty to report that
Commencement and Class Day were
held virtually, with a pledge from the
College to hold an in-person Class
Day ceremony down the road when
circumstances allow. The Class of
1955’s reunion has been postponed,
as well, though a complementary
“virtual” reunion with a smaller
program was held in early June. You
might have already heard about these
changes. All are due to the coronavi-
rus sweeping the country.
college.columbia.edu/cct
?-
pen
Several members of the Class of 1956 met up in January for a luncheon
at Faculty House. Seated, left to right: Peter Klein, Bob Touloukian and
Ralph Kaslick; and standing, left to right: Ken Swimm, Bob Siroty, Harry
Schwartz and Alan Broadwin.
A key event involving the class is
that our scholarship went to Anne
Wood ’23, who is from Oregon.
A class dinner was hosted by Bill
Epstein. Among the attendees were
Elliot Gross, Don Laufer, Allen
Hyman, Herb Cohen and Alfred
Gollomp. We also heard from
Ralph Wagner, Bob Bernot and
Dick Kuhn.
We are sad to report the passing
of Bob Kushner in 2019 and send
our condolences to his family.
Love to all! Everywhere!
1956
Robert Siroty
rrs76@columbia.edu
Our class had a busy few months.
In February, Ron Kapon, Ralph
Kaslick and Socrates Nicholas
represented us at the annual Dean's
Scholarship Reception, meeting
with the student recipients of the
three scholarships tendered by the
Class of 1956.
The Florida contingent of the Class of 1956 enjoyed lunch together in
February. Seated, left to right: David Goler, Don Roth, Stan Manne SEAS’56,
Bob Siroty and Dan Link; and standing, left to right: Barry Truffelman, Lee
Seidler, Mike Spett, Burt Sultan, Murray Eskenazi, Steve Easton, Werner Barth,
Larry Cohn, Martin Mayer and Nicholas Coch.
42 CCT Summer 2020
Several Class of 1956 members attended the Dean’s Scholarship
Reception in February, meeting with the student recipients of the
class’s three scholarships. Left to right: Ralph Kaslick, Ron Kapon and
Socrates Nicholas.
In January, we met at Faculty
House on campus for lunch with
Eric Shea, senior director of alumni
relations, and Jennifer Alpert, our
Columbia College Fund class
representative, to begin planning for
our 65th reunion — happening in
less than a year from when you are
reading this. Plan on it. We reviewed
what we did four years ago. Anyone
who has a project or interest that
he would like to present, please let
us know. Reunion went over very
well in 2016. Present at the lunch
were Peter Klein, Bob Touloukian,
Ralph Kaslick, Ken Swimm, Harry
Schwartz, Alan Broadwin and me.
Also in February, 15 of us met
for lunch in Florida: David Goler,
Don Roth, Stan Manne SEAS’56,
Dan Link, Barry Truffelman, Lee
Seidler, Mike Spett, Burt Sultan,
Murray Eskenazi, Steve Easton,
Werner Barth, Martin Mayer,
Nicholas Coch, Larry Cohn and
me. We had a wonderful afternoon,
and are beginning to think about
next year. Larry offered to take on
a project of arranging luncheons in
Northern California (yes, he was in
Florida), and we urge others in dif-
ferent areas to do the same.
Bob Green writes from Greens-
boro, N.C., that he looks forward to
next year.
Len Wolfe and his wife, Ruth,
have moved from New Haven,
Conn., to the Harrisburg, Pa.,
area. He is looking forward to our
65th reunion.
Bob Touloukian is emeritus at
Yale after retiring from the clini-
cal academic practice of pediatric
surgery, maintaining an office and
participating in conferences.
I read about Matthew Stander’s
death in The New York Times. Matt
went to UVA Law School. He was a
prize-winning breeder of Blood-
hounds, Skye Terriers and Airedale
Terriers, and the co-founder of the
weekly magazine Dog News. Matt
passed away while on vacation in
Nairobi, Kenya.
Keep the notes coming. And, as
a suggestion, if you want to start up
regional luncheon meetings, let me
know and I will connect you with
the Alumni Office for resources on
how to do so — that is, after this
pandemic has passed.
1957
Herman Levy
hdlleditor@aol.com
From Mac Gimse: “On February 7,
the St. Olaf Choir sang a concert in
Carnegie Hall that featured one of
my poetry pieces, On Horizon’ Brim,
set to music by composer Ralph M.
Johnson. He and I were there for
the premiere.
“The poetry was written for
a sculpture, Striving for Peace on
Horizon’s Brim, completed last fall at
a steel manufacturing plant, TMCO,
in Lincoln, Neb.: “My art is a win-
dow on my soul. My poetry is a door
through which I invite others to
join me as witnesses to triumph and
tragedy in our search for goodness in
humankind. When a composer sets
my poetry to music, my heart sings
college.columbia.edu/cct
because it reaches a realm I cannot
achieve on my own.”
From Sam Rosenberg: “My
verse translation of the 13th-century
narrative Robert the Devil appeared
in 2018, followed in the same year
by Armand Lunel’s history of the
Jews of Provence. Then came my
translation of the poetry of Paul
Verlaine in 2019.
“T am now awaiting word on the
acceptability of my translation of
the anonymous Tales of a Minstrel
of Reims and, from a much later
century, the sonnets of Charles
Baudelaire. Meanwhile, I am look-
ing at the proofs of the lyric texts
set by medieval composer Robert
de Reims; the book should appear
in September. Like everything else
I’ve done, these publications all
come from university presses. It is
a pleasure and a privilege to be able
to fill my remaining years with such
constructive activity.”
I’m sad to report that David
Kinne died on March 14, 2020, at
83. Joe Diamond says, “David was
an enthusiastic member of a Colum-
bia ‘rump reunion NYC lunch group
— and a loyal alumnus. A modest
man of large accomplishments, he
will be missed.”
From Jim McGroarty 64: “David
was a good friend. He knew my
brother, John McGroarty’58, at
Columbia and for many years David
and his wife, Kathleen, shared their
interest in theater and arts with me
and my wife, Jane BC’65.
“At the College he captained the
wrestling team during his senior
year and was awarded the Gus
Peterson Trophy. He was also active
wis
ae >
Stay in
Touch
Let us know if you have a
new postal or email address,
a new phone number or
even a new name:
college.columbia.edu/
alumni/connect.
43 CCT Summer 2020
in Naval ROTC and was a member
of Beta Theta Pi.
“After graduation, David served
in the Navy for three years and
then attended SUNY Downstate
College of Medicine, graduating
summa cum laude. After years of
surgical training, including residency
and fellowship, he served on the
surgical staffs of three of the most
prestigious hospitals in New York
City. He became chief of the breast
service at Memorial Sloan Kettering
Cancer Center and later Columbia
University Medical Center/New-
York-Presbyterian Hospital and was
also a professor of surgery at Weill
Cornell Medical Center.
“Among the numerous awards
in his career, several were for being
an outstanding teacher and mentor
of surgeons. When he retired from
medicine, David became a docent at
the Metropolitan Museum of Art
and continued to teach museum
visitors about musical instruments,
ancient and Mideast art, and great
sculptures. In 2007 he gave tours at
the Met to the incoming Class of
2011 as part of the 50th reunion of
the Class of ’57.
“He is survived by Kathleen, his
wife of 35 years; children, James,
Lisa and Jonathan; and five grand-
children. Memorial contributions to
his beloved wrestling team may be
made by check, mailed to Columbia
Athletics Development, c/o Emily
Maury, Development Coordinator,
Columbia Alumni Center, 622 W.
113th Street, MC 4524, New York,
NY 10025, or given online.”
Ed Weinstein: “I picked up
The New York Times this morning
[March 17] and was saddened to
read the obituary of David Kinne.
[Although] we did not know each
other in our undergraduate years,
we connected at regular class
luncheons, which we attended for
several decades. Then, together with
Carlos Mufoz and Mark Stanton,
we played golf from time to time
at the courses to which each of us
belonged. Our golf was not memo-
rable, but the time spent together
was always interesting. I suspect that
was because of our Columbia heri-
tage and memories, our enjoyment
of the game and of each other’s
company. David was a distinguished
oncologist and surgeon, Carlos and
Mark were a banker and an attorney,
respectively, and Ia CPA. Thus, we
never discussed professional matters.
alumninews
Nevertheless, conversation was never
lacking, ranging from politics and
history to music, art and theater.
Our Columbia education was the
foundation of our relationship and
the substance from which we built it.
“David was a compassionate, kind
and thoughtful man. The world is a
better place as a result of his presence.”
Yours truly joins Joe, Jim and
Ed in expressing fond memories of
David. Over some years he, Kath-
leen and I would meet for lunch
when I was in NYC. Although I
remember him in his wrestling uni-
form working out in University Hall
when I was jogging, | did not know
him until our 50th reunion, when I
got to talk to him and Kathleen. At
our lunches we had many pleasant
talks on various subjects.
1958
Peter Cohn
petercohn1939@gmail.com
As I write this column in the closing
days of March, New York City has
been declared the epicenter of the
coronavirus pandemic in the United
States. I hope that by the time you
read these Class Notes that the situ-
ation has improved significantly.
Our mailbag this month is
short on class news (coronavirus
effect?), but I received an email from
George Jochnowitz alerting me
to the death of Larry Nachman
GSAS’64, who had been living in
Australia. I sent condolences to his
family but I have not received any
additional information.
I received further reminiscences
about Harlan Lane from Stan
Schachne. In addition to what was
in the Spring 2020 issue, Stan noted
that he had worked on the Stuyves-
ant H.S. newspaper with Harlan
before they came to Columbia, plus
“we had a floating poker game with
penny stakes” that also included
Dave Londoner (who passed away
several years ago). Stan lives in the
Washington, D.C., area and has only
occasional contact with classmates.
Update on Columbia athletics:
The men’s basketball team wound
up in the Ivy League cellar — a very
disappointing development, to say
the least. But hooray for the Lady
Lions (or Lionesses?)! In the fall
they won the Ivy League cross-
country title and in the winter the
Ivy League fencing title. In addition,
the women’s basketball team earned
a spot in the Ivy League playofts
for the first time. Unfortunately, the
playoffs were called off because of
the coronavirus pandemic, as were
all NCAA playofts. This also meant
that the men and women on the
combined Columbia fencing team
could not defend their 2019 national
championship. Promising seasons
for tennis, baseball and softball were
canceled, as well.
Keep the news coming, and
remember that the class lunch is
usually held on the second Tuesday
of every month in the Grill of the
Princeton Club, 15 W. 43rd St ($31
per person). I hope it will return this
summer. Contact Tom Ettinger if
you plan to attend, even up to the
day before (tpe3@columbia.edu).
1959
Norman Gelfand
nmgc59@gmail.com
As I write this, due to the novel
coronavirus, I am (and I suspect
many of you are, as well) under a
stay-at-home order. | hope that
when you receive this the pandemic
is over, our lives have resumed
some semblance of life before the
pandemic and the pandemic does
not resume.
I must begin with some bad news.
Dave Clark died on August 19,
2019, from complications attending
his heart condition and pulmo-
nary involvement. Dave came to
Columbia from Wyoming, where he
was an outstanding wrestler. He was
a leading member of our wrestling
team. I, among many others, knew
Dave as a friend and a person of
great integrity. He will be missed.
On to more pleasant news.
Bob Ferguson reports that he is
still breathing.
Josh Fierer reports from Cali-
fornia: “Over the winter break, the
Columbia lightweight crew flew to
train at the U.S. Olympic Train-
ing Center in Chula Vista, which
is between San Diego (where we
live) and Mexico. When I saw that
announcement, I asked if I could visit
with my son, who rowed when he
was an undergraduate at UC Davis.
We spent a beautiful afternoon in
the launch out on the water with
the coach. For my fellow oarsmen,
college.columbia.edu/cct
you cannot imagine how much has
changed in rowing. It was unimagi-
nable when we were at Columbia
that the College would pay for such
an opportunity. That is probably why
most of the athletes had rowed in
high school but still chose Columbia
rather than another Ivy.
“Lest you think my life is cushy,
I still am chief of infectious diseases
at the San Diego VA hospital in this
time of coronavirus. This is my sec-
ond pandemic; I remember the early
days of the AIDS epidemic, when
Core
Haiku
caliber entertainment, lectures and
the port tours that are provided.
Our current cruise, Buenos Aires to
Lima, was supposed to end today.
“As I write this, we are stranded in
the Pacific as we have sailed north and
south and been denied port entries
into Lima (where we were supposed
to disembark) and turned back from
Chile after being refused entry after
heading there for the past two days.
“Change in plans: Now we
are heading north again, will go
through the Panama Canal and
Nasty, brutish, short,
Hobbes, in a nutshell captures
Bildad the shuhite
there was widespread fear before
we even knew the cause or how it
spread. We will get through this, but
I fear the worst. Stay well and away
from crowds.”
J. Peter Rosenfeld GSAS’61
reports: “I sold out and accepted a
position on a corporate board (at 80).”
The company is Brainwave Science.
From Steve Trachtenberg: “I
recently joined the board of Colum-
bia University Press and traveled to
Manhattan for my first meeting on
my own, which was a post-cardio
adventure. | am back at work.
Today’s work was a book review for
The Times (London). ’'m washing
my hands like Lady Macbeth and
gargling with Clorox.”
Over the New Year my wife, Yona,
and I spent a very pleasant 10 days in
Hawaii with my son, Joseph Gelfand
01, his wife and his 4-year-old
daughter. We did the usual things:
hiking in Volcanoes National Park,
whale watching and so forth on the
Big Island, and visiting Sea Life
Park and the blow hole on Hilo. We
were also fortunate to be able to visit
the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl
Harbor. The National Park at Pearl
Harbor has an excellent museum
telling the story of the attack.
Herb Dean writes: “March 15,
COVID-19. Travails: My wife and
I have enjoyed the advantages of
cruises for the past decade, including
avoiding packing and unpacking, the
gourmet dining facilities, Broadway-
44 CCT Summer 2020
— Paul B. Kantor 59
will, I hope, reach Miami to return
home to Worcester.
“Meanwhile, there is plenty
of food, we continue to feel well
despite some passengers with ‘colds,’
there is good entertainment, we
are enjoying the company of nice
people and, most importantly, there
is plenty of toilet paper. Fortunately,
they had loaded up and refueled at
our last port in Chile before heading
out to Peru, as they were planning to
return from Lima to Buenos Aires.
“So far, other than getting a
little bored about being on the sea
without a landing/tour, we have
been provided activities including
lectures, movies, trivia contests and
entertainment, and there has been
no decline in our gourmet-style
food, with four luxury restaurants
with menus ostensibly under Jacques
Pépin’s supervision.
“We cross the equator at mid-
night and should reach the Panama
Canal in two days; then we wait in
line for a berth through. They have
not secured a port of entry thus far
into the United States. I do plan to
attend our next reunion with the
usual provisos.”
A classmate, but a man without
a country.
Kenneth Scheffel reports:
“In February I spent eight days in
Texas (Austin, San Antonio and the
Texas hill country) with grad school
friends from Duke. Now, I’m pretty
much homebound thanks to the
alumninews
coronavirus. Even cardiac rehab is
closed here. So, I try to exercise each
day by walking a mile uptown (and
it is hilly in Mount Healthy, Ohio). I
saw Glenn Schaaf ’61, SEAS’62 at a
funeral about two weeks ago, and he
seems to be doing well. This Thurs-
day, | renewed my season football
tickets in Ann Arbor. I hope there
will be a season this fall.”
Murray Epstein PS’63 writes, “In
my quasi-retirement, I continue to
co-chair two major worldwide clinical
trials — the FIDELIO-DKD and
FIGARO-DKD clinical studies,
which are designed to test the hypoth-
esis that a new pharmacological strat-
egy will reduce the rate of progression
of kidney disease and cardiovascular
disease. [ co-chair the global data
safety monitoring committee. In
terms of background, worldwide,
more than 2.5 million people receive
renal replacement therapy (dialysis or
transplantation), and this number is
projected to grow and be more than
double that in 2030.
“While the primary focus is on
renal outcomes, potential benefits on
cardiovascular events will be assessed
as well. The hypothesis being tested
is whether finerenone — a novel,
newly developed mineralocorticoid-
receptor antagonist (MRA) — will
succeed in attenuating/ abrogating
the progression of kidney failure
in type-2 diabetes (T2D) patients
with chronic kidney disease (CKD)
at high risk of progression of their
renal disease and CV.
“FIDELIO-DKD is currently
running in 47 countries with an
expected duration of approximately
five and a half years. The study has
been ongoing since September 2015
and the results are expected in the
latter part of 2020.
“FIGARO-DKD, a com-
panion study, is an extremely
large international, multicenter,
randomized, event-driven study
formally designed to assess whether
Finerenone reduces cardiorenal
morbidity and mortality in T2D
patients with CKD when used in
addition to standard care. This clini-
cal trial is currently running in 47
countries with an expected duration
of approximately six years.
“My involvement in these
companion global studies entails
chairing the DMC (data safety
monitoring committee), which is
responsible for continual surveil-
lance of the enrolled patients to
ensure that adverse events are
detected early and preemptively,
and it is our charge to jointly decide
when the studies should be stopped
for either good outcomes (efficacy or
benefit) or for bad outcomes (futility
or adverse events). My participation
entails my spending well over 25
percent of my time in overseeing
the conduct of these studies and
extensive transatlantic travel. Lots of
work, but quite fulfilling, and I hope
the studies will succeed in achieving
a good outcome with clinical benefit
for diabetic patients with heart and/
or kidney disease.
“My other professional endeavor
is attempting to ‘spread the gospel’
regarding patients with heart failure
and concomitant CKD. At present
the guidelines of the American
Heart Association, the American
College of Cardiology and the
European guidelines inform that
we should not treat patients with
heart failure whose kidney function
is advanced (stage four chronic
kidney disease, or worse). With the
recent availability and approval by
the FDA of novel potassium bind-
ers (patiromer and, more recently,
sodium zirconium cyclosilicate
(SZC)), we now have the capabil-
ity to provide sustained therapy to
patients with heart failure as well
as to patients with advanced kidney
failure, with life-saving drugs such
as MRAs (called aldosterone block-
ers in the old terminology).
“T have written several articles
and lectured at major cardiology and
renal meetings providing a rationale
for not ‘abandoning’ these patients
but demonstrating that they too can
benefit with consequent increased
life span and an improved quality
of life. In short, my mission is to dis-
rupt the current treatment paradigm.
As we are wont to say, the ‘proof of
the pudding is in the eating’ — to
succeed in launching a large clinical
trial that will validate this thesis. I
continue to ‘preach,’ but I believe,
and I am hopeful, that such a clini-
cal trial will be launched soon.
“Finally, I was extremely gratified
to learn that two of my former stu-
dents/mentees have become deans
of major medical schools. Robert
Sackstein, who started a research
project in my laboratory at the
precocious age of 13 and ultimately
progressed to become professor
of medicine at Harvard Medical
School and the world leader in the
college.columbia.edu/cct
nascent field of translational glyco-
biology, was recently appointed dean
of the Herbert Wertheim College of
Medicine at Florida International
University. The current dean of the
Sackler Faculty of Medicine of Tel
Aviv University (Israel’s largest med-
ical research and training complex)
is a former research fellow whom |
helped mentor over the years.”
1960
Robert A. Machleder
rmachleder@aol.com
The Spring 2020 CCT arrived on
March 20. I immediately turned
to our Class Notes, as [ always do,
to review my previous submission,
which had been written in January.
I read the opening sentences: “A
healthy and happy 2020 to all. This
is an auspicious new year.” I shook
my head as it filled with adjectives
— flighty, capricious, improvident,
thoughtless, presumptuous — and
berated myself in self-deprecating
good humor with every disparaging
descriptive that I could think of that
began with “You bloody ...”. Alas,
I had no crystal ball, nor do I have
one now, and I have little idea what
the world will be like when we all
read this issue. In the passage of two
and a half months, from January to
March, the world had undergone
an aberrant transformation and had
become absolutely dystopian.
The Spring issue’s Class Notes
continued with comments regard-
ing our 60th reunion, which was
originally scheduled for June. Action
by our Reunion Committee was
ongoing at the time. As I write these
notes, that traditional reunion has,
of course, been canceled, as has every
other gathering on Morningside
Heights and on every other campus
throughout the country. Members
of our Reunion Committee received
in March an email from Eric Shea,
senior director of alumni relations,
confirming the cancellation and
expressing his deep regrets.
Athletics activities, concerts,
the opera season, all canceled. We
are constrained to practice social
distancing. What has received
remarkably little attention or com-
mentary is how the facts of isolation,
anxiety, panic and the disintegration
of social norms will have pervasive
and enduring adverse mental health
45 CCT Summer 2020
consequences. We are social animals.
Renowned sociologist Emile
Durkheim explored the concepts
and importance of collective con-
sciousness and “collective efferves-
cence.” Will the norms of social
society be restored? And if so, how
soon, and at what price?
And then, as I began to write
this column, word arrived that the
coronavirus had claimed the life
of one of our most creative and
acclaimed classmates. Terrence
McNally died on March 24, 2020.
A chronicle of his prodigious and
brilliant work and the legacy that he
left, having been reported by every
major news outlet, are undoubtedly
known to you all. My reflections are
on the wonderful performances that
I saw and enjoyed: Kiss of the Spider
Woman; Master Class, The Lisbon
Traviata, Lips Together, Teeth Apart,
and others. And I have fond recol-
lections of Terrence’s frequent par-
ticipation as a panelist on the Opera
Quiz that was a regular feature
during intermission of WOXR’s live
broadcasts of the Saturday matinee
performances of the Metropolitan
Opera. Our deepest condolences to
Terrence’s husband, Tom Kirdahy.
[ Editor’s note: See “Obituaries.” |
In another class loss, actor Brian
Dennehy passed away on April
15, 2020. During his long career,
Brian won two Tony Awards, an
Olivier Award and a Golden Globe,
and received six Emmy Award
nominations. Our condolences to
Brian’s family. [Editor’s note: See
“Obituaries.” |
But there were bright spots in the
pathos. Our First Thursday of the
Month Class Luncheons have been
suspended until eating establish-
ments reopen. Fortunately, we were
delighted to welcome Steve Lerner
at the lunch table at a gathering
before the crisis was upon us.
Larry Rubinstein writes, “Robin
and I have been happily living in
Maine since I retired in 2003. What
prompted me to write was reading
about the passing of Jerry Schmel-
zer, with whom I was quite friendly
on campus and then for a number
of years following, although in the
last couple of decades our contact
waned. As I remember, Jerry was
heavily interested in WKCR when
on campus and went by the radio
name of Jerry Summers. He wanted
a less ‘ethnic’ name on the radio. We
used to discuss this at great length
alumninews ()
because we were both involved in
Jewish affairs in our home commu-
nities. Mine was the Bronx and the
Grand Concourse. His was Shaker
Heights, Ohio. His family was very
involved in Jewish affairs and he was
quite proud of it.
“My connections to Columbia
are not what they used to be. On
occasion I would go to New York for
the opera, and would always meet
Bob Berne for breakfast. I also have
become friends with Derek Wittner
65, who moved to Maine about
five years ago when he retired with
his wife, Kathryn. She had been an
associate dean at the College dealing
with student affairs. He had been
the dean of alumni affairs and devel-
opment for many years, and Bob and
I worked with him on the Columbia
College Fund.
“T have been involved in an online
program available to College alumni
— a re-creation of the Core Cur-
riculum — called Core Conversa-
tions, which is a virtual book club.
So far, we have read Democracy in
America by de ‘Toqueville, a number
of plays by Shakespeare, The Iliad,
The Republic, some readings by
James Baldwin, and the latest, 70 the
Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. Some
I read while taking the Core the
first time around. Some I read after
College, and some I am reading for
the first time. It is exciting to be part
of the Columbia learning experi-
ence again, and I enjoy reading the
teachers’ (most of whom are younger
than my children) comments and
suggestions, as well as the other
participants in the class. I can tell
by most of the comments that | am
clearly one of the older participants.”
As I contemplated the cancella-
tion of all my son’s athletics compe-
titions, I found it hard to grasp how
devastating that would have been to
me when I rowed lightweight crew.
Crew was an activity that encom-
passed the entire academic year.
Back in our day all the races were in
the spring. Imagine having put heart
and soul into half a year of intense
workouts only to have the entire
competitive season erased. One of
the treasured trophies in lightweight
crew regattas is the Dodge Cup,
established by Columbia in 1964.
Art Delmhorst BUS’64 was
involved in lightweight crew at
the time. Here is Art’s recollection
how the trophy came to be, and an
update: “During my two years at
the Business School, I coached the
varsity lightweight crew. In my first
year we beat Princeton, Yale, Penn,
Rutgers and Georgetown. At the
time, the lightweights had only one
cup regatta, the Geiger Cup (Cornell,
MIT and Columbia). The crew I was
coaching my second year wanted to
establish another cup and decided to
raise money for a trophy for the Yale/
Penn/Columbia regatta. We had won
the race my first year of coaching
and, in fact, had won it my senior
year as an oarsman. The 1964 crew
raised $1,400 which, at that time,
was the equivalent of a full year’s
tuition! Working with the athletics
departments of the three colleges, it
was decided to name the trophy after
longtime Columbia trustee Marcellus
Hartley Dodge CC 1903 (Dodge
died in 1963). He was a coxswain
while attending the College. Fortu-
nately, we won its first race.
“The base eventually became
separated from the cup, and was lost.
Yale is believed to be the culprit. In
spring 2019 it was decided to raise
money for a new base and those who
helped raise funds for the initial cup
were invited to donate. The amount
necessary was raised immediately.
“T was invited to attend the
rededication ceremony. Also
attending were Eric Danneman’67,
BUS’72, who led the fundraising
effort, and Dr. Jesse Hellman ’64,
who was the stroke of the crew to
first win the cup.”
1961
Michael Hausig
mhausig@yahoo.com
Hon. José A. Cabranes received
the annual Philip Merrill Award
for Outstanding Contributions
to Liberal Arts Education from
the American Council of Trustees
and Alumni (ACTA). Named for
the late public servant, publisher,
entrepreneur and philanthropist
Phillip Merrill, this honor is
bestowed on an individual who has
“made an extraordinary contribution
to the advancement of liberal arts
education, core curricula, and the
teaching of Western civilization and
American history.”
With decades of experience as
a federal judge and time spent as
a trustee of Yale, Columbia and
Colgate, José comprehends that the
college.columbia.edu/cct
alumninews
Dr. Oscar Garfein ’61 with his daughter, Dr. Jennifer Ashton ’91, and her
children, Alex ’20 and Chloe (23 Harvard).
decay of academic freedom and free-
dom of expression are not limited to
the American college campus, but
have affected our entire society. In
a Washington Post article on January
10, 2017, he asserted, “Our universi-
ties today must pay more than lip
service to free expression. [hey must
develop and maintain procedures
that protect professors’ ability to
teach and learn without fear of
retaliation. While political align-
ments may have flipped, the choice
remains the same: academic freedom
or civilizational decline.”
As the first Puerto Rican
appointed to the federal bench in
the continental United States, José
has made it his life’s mission to pro-
tect and uphold the most important
liberties to a free society. Michael B.
Poliakoff, president of ACTA, said,
“Judge Cabranes has been a stalwart
defender of campus freedom of
speech and an eloquent advocate for
rigorous study of the liberal arts. He
exemplifies the values of heart and
mind that the Merrill Award honors
and celebrates.”
Allen Kaplan received a lecture-
ship in his name, established by
the American Academy of Allergy,
Asthma & Immunology. In addition,
Allergy, the journal of the European
Academy of Allergy and Clinical
Immunology, will publish an article
summarizing Allen's 50-year research
career as part of a series, “Legends in
Allergy and Immunology.” The major
46 CCT Summer 2020
contributions leading to the recogni-
tion he has received include discovery
of a treatment for a skin disorder —
chronic spontaneous urticaria — and
working out a plasma enzyme cascade
that is the cause of swelling disorders
that are potentially fatal, which led
to the development of therapies now
available that interrupt steps in the
pathway that he has discovered.
Positions Allen held include head
of the Allergic Diseases Section
at the NIH, chair of the Depart-
ment of Medicine and director the
Department of Allergy, Rheuma-
tology and Clinical Immunology
at Stony Brook University, and
professor at the Medical University
of South Carolina.
Eugene Milone wrote that he
is slowly recovering from cataract
surgery in one eye, and anticipates a
corneal transplant in the other this
summer, circumstances permitting.
He considers this not to be a great
situation for an astronomer, but con-
sidering everything else that could
go wrong with any of us at this stage
in life, not too bad.
Barry McCallion and his wife,
Joanne, recently returned from a
week of fishing and horseback riding
in Costa Rica. Barry caught a 30-kilo
roosterfish, which was successfully
released moments later. Provided
the planet holds together, Barry and
Joanne will visit friends in Mexico
in July and plan to be in Croatia in
the fall. Priscilla Juvelis, Barry’s book
dealer, included three of his unique
books in her March catalog.
Bob Salman LAW ’64 taught a
two-hour course, “Trump Impeach-
ment — What Happened And Why,”
in April. This is part of the Lifelong
Learning program at Brookdale
Community College. As part of his
80th birthday celebration, Bob went
to spring training for the New York
Yankees and spoke to GM Brian
Cashman. From there, he and his
wife, Reva, went to their daughter
Elyse’s new vacation home in Palm
Beach Gardens, Fla. Bob met Tony
Adler for lunch while in Florida.
In May, Bob’s granddaughter
Taylor Spiewak graduated from the
University of Maryland.
Bob remains active politically. As
a member of the New Jersey Demo-
cratic State Committee, he supported
Gov. Phil Murphy’s successful effort
to re-elect John Currie as chair.
Dr. Oscar Garfein PS’65,
BUS’97 practices cardiology in
Manhattan. He says he enjoys caring
for people. Because he is not associ-
ated with, or paid by, any healthcare
system, he can spend as much time
as he chooses talking to and listen-
ing to people. From his perspective,
that is a huge part of medicine.
After many years of academic
affiliation with Columbia, Oscar’s
academic title of associate clinical
professor of medicine at P&S has
passed him by and he is currently
an associate clinical professor of
medicine at the Icahn School of
Medicine at Mount Sinai. His
health is still good, he says, in large
measure as the result of the marvel-
ous advances in orthopedic surgery.
Oscar was the speaker at his
Business School graduation. It was
the best teaching he ever experi-
enced in his life, he says.
Oscar has many Columbians in
his extended family. His daughter,
Dr. Jennifer Ashton ’91, PS’00,
HIN’16, is an ob/gyn practicing in
Englewood, N.J., and the chief med-
ical correspondent for ABC News.
She is also the author of six books.
Her oldest child, Alex’20, majored
in math and computer science. He
will be a software development engi-
neer with Amazon this summer. Her
daughter, Chloe, finished her fresh-
man year at Harvard, majoring in
history and playing for its women’s
ice hockey team. Unfortunately,
Columbia doesn't have a women’s
hockey team.
Oscar’s son, Evan PS’99, did his
undergraduate work at Princeton,
where he played on the national
champion lacrosse team. After train-
ing for eight years in the Harvard
system and one year as a fellow in
microvascular surgery at NYU, he is
chief of plastic and reconstructive sur-
gery at Montefiore Medical Center in
New York. Evan and his wife, Tanya
Simon ’92, have two children. Tanya is
executive editor of 60 Minutes.
Oscar’s former wife is Dorothy
TC’67.
Oscar is in touch with Arnie
Intrater, Harvey Rosen’62, Avrum
Bluming and Jim Matthews, as
well as members of the CC’61
luncheon group that meets monthly.
Every time he sees or walks through
the Morningside campus, he says he
feels an enormous thrill and sense
of gratitude, and that his time there
was extraordinary. He wishes us all
the best of health, and happiness.
Dr. Carl Saviano writes that his
biggest concern is the real possibility
of nuclear war and its connection
with climate change. He is working
with Physicians for Social Responsi-
bility, trying to inform people about
the danger and get them involved
with Back from the Brink.
Tony Adler and 12 other per-
manent South Florida residents or
snowbirds met for lunch in February
at TooJay’s Deli, Bakery and Restau-
rant in Lake Worth Beach, Fla. In
attendance, in addition to Tony, were
Mich Araten, Hal Berliner, Allen
Breslow, Phil Cottone, George
Gehrman, Pete Giovine, Arnie
Goldberg, Arnie Intrater, Dan
Johnson (who drove from Naples),
Steve Leone, John Lipani and Fred
Teger (who drove from Miami). They
planned to do it again in March but
COVID-19 got in the way.
Several years ago, Jim Ammeen’s
second career began with his
involvement and turnaround of
whiskey manufacturer Clyde May’s,
now a brand within the corporate
parent Conecuh Brands, A Premium
Spirits Company. In February,
Clyde May’s whiskey was named
the Official Whiskey of ‘Talladega
Superspeedway. Jim has added
tequila and Irish whiskey to the
company’s product offerings. In
September 2018, The Clyde May’s
brand was the fastest growing
brand in the U.S. Nielsen top 100
American Whiskey brands.
Kudos to Jim.
college.columbia.edu/cct
Dick Hall and his wife, Heleny,
spent nine months in Williamstown,
Mass. (site of Williams College),
where Heleny grew up, and had
access to a family house. Columbia
College is very different than Wil-
liams, although Dick and Heleny
audited very good classes, they said.
He thinks the difference is referred
to as “New York City.”
Sadly, two classmates and
the spouse of a classmate passed
away recently.
Charles Wuorinen GSAS’63, a
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and
formidable advocate for modernist
music, high culture and the com-
poser’s worth, died on March 11,
2020, in Manhattan. He was 81. The
cause was complications of a fall
sustained in September.
Charles received a surge of atten-
tion in 2004, when the New York
City Opera premiered his opera
Haroun and the Sea of Stories, based
on a novel by Salman Rushdie. That
was followed by a commission to
compose an opera based on Annie
Proulx’s short story Brokeback Moun-
tain, which was also the basis of the
2005 movie of the same name.
Charles, who won the Pulitzer
in music in 1970 at 31, composed
works for major orchestras including
the Boston Symphony Orchestra
and the San Francisco Symphony.
He is survived by his husband,
Howard Stokar, with whom he lived
for decades in a brownstone on the
Upper West Side. [Editor’s note:
See “Obituaries.” |
The Rev. Canon Gregory
Michael Howe passed away on
January 12, 2019, in Provincetown,
\
Contact CCT
Update your address,
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Class Note, new book,
photo, obituary or Letter to
the Editor; or send us an
email. Click “Contact Us” at
college.columbia.edu/cct.
47 CCT Summer 2020
Mass. Greg moved to Provincetown
with his wife, Bernice (“Bunny”),
upon his retirement after serving as
rector of historic Christ Church in
Dover, Del., for 34 years.
During his tenure in the Epis-
copal Diocese of Delaware, Greg
served on the Commission on
Ministry, Diocesan Council, and as
chair of the Standing Committee.
At the national level, he served on
the Episcopal Church’s Standing
Commission on Liturgy and Music,
where he helped develop, co-author
and edit liturgical resources for
use in worship. Recognized for his
contributions, the presiding bishop
of the Episcopal Church appointed
Greg as Custodian of the Standard
Book of Common Prayer, a position
he held until 2000.
Phillip Smith GSAPP’69’s
spouse, Douglas Thompson
GSAPP’70, died on November 8,
2019, at 76, after a yearlong illness.
He and Phillip began working
together in 1975. Their firm, Smith
and ‘Thompson Architects, had
completed more than 100 projects.
A memorial for Doug was held on
December 5, 2019, at the General
Theological Seminary Chapel of
the Good Shepherd in New York,
followed by a reception at the archi-
tects’ studio in Chelsea.
1962
John Freidin
jf@bicyclevt.com
Every classmate who emailed in
March sent best wishes to the class.
Jim Spingarn said it especially nicely:
“T wish all a quick and favorable out-
come of the COVID-19 pandemic —
one of the few things Columbia didn't
prepare us for. Oh, for Jim Shenton
’49’s wit and insights!”
Jim and his wife, Jane, live at
Admirals Cove in Jupiter, Fla., in
the winter and at Long Island’s
Glen Head in the summer. Jim
retired from securities brokerage five
years ago. He enjoys golf, bridge,
swimming and lectures, often with
Steve Solomon 64, Ron Gittess
PS’59, DM’63 and Mike Etra’48.
Jim writes, “With the world turned
upside down it looks like travel will
be a bit remote now. But there are
more important things.”
For years David Birnbaum lived
in Hong Kong. Now he and his
alumninews
wife live in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
He writes, “We have three grown
children: son Joshua, a computer
security specialist, lives in New York;
son Sam, a game theory specialist,
lives in Amsterdam; and daughter
Emma, who is a doctoral student at
University College London. I am
still in the garment trade.”
John Garman BUS’67 makes a
gentle plea: “Unfortunately, of our
600 classmates, only a few send
news. | treasure my Columbia years
as opportunities for new learning,
new experiences and new people!
Playing ’62 politics; standing at the
Met for operas; riding the Staten
Island Ferry (which once almost
ran over my father and me when
our outboard motor conked out
in front of the ferry pier); being
exposed to Indian, Chinese and
Japanese studies; enjoying snails at
the Cafe Brittany; making and then
getting paddled with my Beta Theta
Pi paddle; skipping meals at John
Jay to eat lunch at ‘the Japs,’ where
call-in orders were so colorful (tuna
on toast was ‘One Radio Down);
smoking a pipe in Dwight Miner
CC 1926's seminar; giving blood for
the first time in the Blue Key drive;
and listening to Art Garfunkel ’65
hit high notes as, wrapped in towel,
he walked down the hall to the
Hartley showers!
“But that was then. What inter-
ests me now is what our classmates
are doing. Or what were some of the
accomplishments that gave them the
most satisfaction — not to brag, but
to share.”
Toby Robison discloses: “My
wife, Elaine Golden Robison BC’63,
is bored in isolation and is reading
digital books. But my time is full
trying to write a too-complicated
work of fantasy fiction and stocking
up on food for Passover. That, find-
ing new friends on the kinder social
network Mastodon and playing
board games online, fill my days.
“T fear COVID-19 is merely
the first of a series of shocks lying
ahead. How will the death of most
insects affect us? When will the next
floods and tornadoes arrive? What
will next year’s flu be like? Will the
small businesses we rely on survive?
And what will the throngs of coastal
dwellers who abandon their under-
water homes and turn up on our
doorsteps find? Interesting times.”
Retired Reform rabbi Don
Splansky writes from Framingham,
Mass.: “The 100th anniversary of
the Core Curriculum reminds me of
my early years at Columbia, when I
was drunk on great books. I found a
wonderful volume by a current Lit
Hum professor, Edward Mendelson.
His book, The Things that Matter,
What Seven Classic Novels Have to
Say about the Stages of Life, analyzes
seven British novels by five women:
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Emily
Bronté’s Wuthering Heights, Char-
lotte Bronté’s Jane Eyre, George
Eliot’s Middlemarch, and Virginia
Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, To the
Lighthouse and Between the Acts. |
was delighted. Mendelson’s book is
scholarly, yet readable. It offers new
insights into human nature, moral
living and connections between lit-
erature and life. (I have tried during
my career to do that with Biblical
and rabbinic literature.) Because we
can't take Lit Hum now, Mendelson
may be the next best thing!”
Chris Haakon reports: “Our fam-
ily and neighbors are well. We cel-
ebrated Friday night happy hour on
our street with everyone six feet apart.
Fortunately, my three children and
seven grandkids live in the neighbor-
hood, a Virginia boating community
20 miles from Washington, D.C.
Twenty-four children of parents from
the neighborhood have bought homes
here. I’ve been doing some angel
investing and sitting on four boards
of directors and three advisory boards.
I retired from Boeing, which bought
my company in 2000.”
Paul Gitman (retired physician/
administrator) lives on Long Island.
His three children and all his grand-
children are within 30 minutes.
“So,” he says, “life is good. I travel as
much as possible and enjoy photog-
raphy (gitman.shutterfly.com). For
my 80th birthday we'll go by ship
from the tip of South America to
New Zealand. I hope COVID-19
will be gone by then.”
Anthony Valerio sends hopes
that all are “healthy and even enjoy-
ing this confinement and solitude.
It’s a double isolation for me, first as
a lifelong artist, now this one. With
my wife. Interesting, difficult and
added nervousness.”
Peter Yatrakis and his wife,
Kathryn, “are staying home (in
Brooklyn) except for long walks.
We're lucky to be near beautiful
Brooklyn Bridge Park, and several
times on our walks have elbow-
bumped friends and neighbors.
college.columbia.edu/cct
Most difficult is not seeing our
children and grandchildren. On two
sunny days, we sat on our stoop with
neighbors gathered no closer than
six feet except when I brought out
the wine. Doesn't wine kill this bug?”
Crawford Kilian reports:
“COVID-19 has upended our lives
here as everywhere. At least we have
front and back yards to work in, and
a big wooded park to walk our dog.
I’m blogging about the pandemic.”
Dennis Wilder GSAS’63 is pro-
ducing his second feature film — a
screenplay he wrote titled Hell Hath
No Fury. His first feature, Beauty in
the Broken, is on YouTube. Making
it, he says, “was one of the best expe-
riences of my life. | wish ’d become
a writer and executive producer of
independent films years ago.”
For 40 years Dennis has enjoyed
a successful career as CEO of
California Care Center, which he still
operates. It provides residential care
and treatment for persons with men-
tal illness, developmental disabilities
and homelessness. Dennis says, “I am
soon to celebrate 54 years of marriage
to my wonderful wife, Joan, sister of
Mel Werbach. Our marriage has
grown better every year.”
When there’s time, Dennis plays
tennis and the clarinet (especially
klezmer music), and enjoys boating
on his yacht, Jewel of Denial.
From Phil Lebovitz: “Sometimes
an opportunity creates a warm mem-
ory to help us through bleak times.
David Tucker PS’66 learned that I
would be in New York for a meeting
on February 10 of the American
Board of Psychoanalysis, where I
am treasurer. David immediately
contacted several classmates to sug-
gest we dine together. On February
9, David, Paul Alter, Ed Pressman,
Harvey Chertoff, Stuart Rosen-
bluth and I met at BLT Prime. Stan
Waldbaum had planned to be there
but had to cancel.
“Renewing ties with them was
warm and inspiring. Harvey and |
realized we'd both rowed lightweight
crew as freshmen and subsequently
become psychoanalysts. David and
I have had sporadic contact over
the years and enjoy medical and
intellectual conversations. Ed and I
were roomies sophomore and junior
year. Paul is warm and energetic as
ever. Stuart, regrettably, was at the
far end of the table so we'll catch up
next time. BLT Prime starts every
meal with its signature popovers, a
48 CCT Summer 2020
favorite of mine whenever my wife,
Donna BC’64, makes them. I hope
we ll gather again at fall reunion.”
Roman Kernitsky continues
practicing ophthalmology, although
lately he’s spent most of his time
at home due to the coronavirus
pandemic. He has corresponded
regularly with Joel Goldman,
Irving Weissman and Frank
Grady (now deceased), and writes:
“It is wonderful to have good
friends (to paraphrase St. Augustine,
friendship is a gift from God in a
tough world). I am grateful to the
Core Curriculum for introducing
me to the classics in literature and
music. They sustain me during my
leisure. My son Andrew’03, a State
Department diplomat, is stationed
in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Surprisingly, the
biggest shortage there now is flour,
which was a scarcity during the
Serbian-Bosnian conflict.”
Tony Fisher GSAS’68 retired
several years ago and is now emeri-
tus professor of agricultural and
resource economics at UC Berkeley.
He no longer teaches, but is still
engaged in research and writing. His
latest book, Lecture Notes on Envi-
ronmental and Resource Economics,
will be published this year.
Joan and Richard Toder planned
to visit Spain and Morocco in
March, but canceled and thus
were not marooned in the Sahara!
They winter in Naples, Fla., and, in
Richard’s words, “Our May plans to
return to the epicenter in New York
are, needless to say, fluid.”
Meanwhile their daughter, Eliza-
beth, and her two children are in
Madagascar, where she works for the
US. Treasury. So far, Richard says,
“Few people on that isolated island
have contracted the coronavirus.
Nevertheless, Elizabeth, a gradu-
ate of Middlebury College, recently
purchased a home in Cornwall, Vt.,
where she hopes eventually to reside.”
Pete Stevenson shares, “I’m
approaching 80, which is astonishing
as I review the replacement parts, sur-
geries and injuries I’ve inflicted upon
myself: hernia surgery, carpal tunnel
of both hands, broken ribs, broken leg,
damaged shoulder, ankle replacement,
knee replacement, hip replacement,
stents and a triple bypass. Despite
these obstacles, I served in the Marine
Corps for 20 years (active and reserve)
and retired as a major.
“In parallel, I worked in the tex-
tile industry for 45 years in big and
alumninews \)
small firms, two of which I owned.
In another parallel, I was an officer
of the International Geosynthet-
ics Society for 27 years, until 2010.
Now things are less demanding. I
work part-time as a marine surveyor
and happily get 40-50 boat rides
annually, exercise at the YMCA,
am a fourth-degree Knight of
Columbus in an active council and
am an officer in a local chapter of
the United States Power Squadrons.
COVID-19 permitting, my wife
of 34 years and I plan to travel to
Alaska aboard an 88-passenger boat
in May and then explore the Canal
du Midi in France captaining a
45-ft. vessel with two other couples
in September.”
Not bad for a Marine!
Gerald Sorin GSAS’69 is in his
32nd year as the director of the Louis
and Mildred Resnick Institute for
the Study of Modern Jewish Life
at SUNY New Paltz. In May 2019
he delivered two illustrated lectures
as the third annual speaker for the
Rabbi Hillel Cohn Endowed Lecture
Series at California State University,
San Bernardino, one at the CSU:SB
Palm Desert Campus, and another to
an overflow crowd at Riverside Art
Museum. A 1970s student of Gerry’s,
now president of CSU:SB, invited
him to give these lectures.
“By the time you read this,”
Gerry writes, “I hope the COVID-
19 crisis is over, and things are
bouncing back. Whatever happens,
we will never be the same. In the
meantime, I think about the world’s
most vulnerable, who always suffer
most in a crisis. I have relearned
the importance of reaching out to
relatives, friends and strangers. Is
it possible that out of this horror, a
silver lining will be that we are in
this together and must take care of
each other? Let’s work at restoring
the social contract.”
From New York City, Lester
Hoffman reports: “I am part of a
nationwide team of consultants
addressing the impacts of inclusion
and unconscious bias on a large
American city. It’s the first major
initiative of its kind within this city.”
Dr. Russ Warren writes from
Greenwich, Conn.: “Difficult times
in NYC. Being elderly (80), the
Hospital for Special Surgery sent me
home (I am a staff member). Now
[that HSS is] open only for fractures,
tendon ruptures and the like,
NewYork- Presbyterian transferred
its patients to HSS to release beds
for those with the virus. Greenwich
is empty, but today the flowers and
early buds make it beautiful. Our
anesthesia department is using its
ventilators to help patients with
respiratory problems. I note the Navy
sent the USNS Comfort to NYC
to help with beds. I spent a year in
Vietnam on a similar ship, the Repose,
long since laid to rest. It had more
than 1,000 beds.”
And finally, an appropriate sum-
mary from Daniel Stone: “Win-
nipeg, Canada (our home for the past
50 years), has not (yet) passed into
the community phase of the pan-
demic but we're trying to keep it that
way by following guidelines for the
elderly people we've become. Read-
ing, streaming, a little web research
and ordering groceries from stores
that deliver has become our life.”
1963
Paul Neshamkin
pauln@helpauthors.com
The outbreak of COVID-19, and
the fact that as of this writing my
wife and I have self-isolated our-
selves at our Jersey Shore house for
the last three weeks, prompted me
to reach out to the class to see how
everyone is doing. I held a virtual
Class of ’63 lunch via Zoom in
April, and 16 of us shared news —
some reassuring, but others very sad.
We learned that we have lost our
good friend and lunch regular Tom
O’Connor to this horrible disease.
Tom was our class’s football
captain and a member of the 1961
Ivy League championship team.
He was one of the nicest guys in
our class — I will always remember
him for his warm smile and true
friendship. Our best wishes to his
widow, Terrie, and family.
Rest in Peace, dear friend.
This has been a tough time for
many of us, and I hope by the time
you read this, the world is a lot bet-
ter for all of us. After I sent an email
asking for news, I was flooded with
a record number of replies, some of
which are included here. The rest —
from Steve Barcan, Ken Master,
Abba Rubin, John Gleason,
Martin Greenfield, Elliott Greher,
Richard Tuerk, David Orme-
Johnson and Mike Benner — will
be in the Fall issue.
college.columbia.edu/cct
rT] iy *
-
ay
fi
Several members of the Class of 1963 had a Zoom video meeting to connect, while maintaining social distance,
during the coronavirus outbreak.
Lee Lowenfish writes, “I’m
holed up near Columbia — have a
traditional spring cold with sniffles
and sore throat, but nothing virus-
connected, I hope. Here’s my latest
blog post, with a few cultural tips for
the non-baseball lover.”
Peter Broido writes, “I broke my
ankle on February 4. I was climbing
on a ladder and reached too far. The
ladder became unstable and fell with
me on it, which resulted in a com-
pression fracture of my fibula with
subsequent surgery: plate and screws,
plus a piece of cadaver bone to restore
the length of my fibula. As I have
been totally non-weight bearing, I
have been confined to my home, a
fortuitous event; however, today the
doctor is finally allowing me to start
to walk, which is progress. Of course,
there is no place to go. Such is life.”
Doug Anderson reports, “We,
luckily, are living in Palm Beach,
Fla., and more than half of our
neighbors have moved back north
to live in their private homes rather
than in an apartment. We keep up
to date on what’s happening by
watching too much MSNBC and
having wonderful phone calls from
our grandchildren and children,
who insist that we must be more
orthodox in our behavior — no mat-
ter how orthodox we are.
“Almost nobody is wearing a face
mask or gloves; there are none to be
had. Our local Publix supermarket
has moved the opening hour from
49 CCT Summer 2020
6:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. so staff can
stock the shelves with whatever comes
in overnight; they have been doing
a great job staying stocked. What’s
crazy is that for 30 minutes before
opening there is a scrum of 150-200
people at the front door, with everyone
needing to be first. A small number
of us stay in our cars until the group
is all inside. Our building manager
has done a terrific job despite the fact
that nobody can get a coronavirus
test. We’re down to 100 residents and
15 staff members, and have no idea if
anyone has the virus.
“Yesterday I learned that Jerry
Speyer ’62, BUS’64 is chair of NewY-
ork-Presbyterian Hospital. I sent him
an email saying how lucky they are
to have him but that he surely didn't
expect to be in charge during such a
time and to stay safe. Here’s what he
wrote back: “Thanks, pal! It’s really
brutal. We need all kinds of equip-
ment but especially ventilators. If you
know anybody that is in that business
or has access to the ventilators, please
let me know. Stay healthy!”
I read in early March that Robert
Kraft sent one of his New England
Patriots planes to China to pick up
1.2 million N95 facemasks, which
he had promised the governor of
Massachusetts (he was able to have
300,000 of them sent to NYC to
relieve its desperate need). News-
paper accounts such as in Ze Wall
Street Journal will give you details.
Thank you, Bob!
Frank Sypher writes, “I am
working remotely and joining
regular office staff meetings by con-
ference call. Nothing special going
on in my neighborhood that is not
going on elsewhere in Manhattan.
When I go out for a walk there tend
to be few people around except dog
walkers, or people with children on
scooters or with bags of groceries.
I have a book coming out but the
publisher cannot take delivery on
the copies because operations are
closed, so the printer is keeping
the books in storage until delivery
becomes feasible. At that time I will
send you details.”
David Alpern writes, “Like so
many, my wife, Sylvia, and I are
already at least minor victims of
the virus even if don’t actually have
it (and that remains to be seen).
Hunkering down in Sag Harbor
on Long Island with only a few
brief shopping trips and trips to the
post office for items ordered online.
After 12 wonderful days in Morocco
(my third trip since 1971, her first),
we returned to JFK on March 9,
with not-unusual post-flight colds,
spent the night at our apartment
and then took the Jitney to Sag. I
was waiting a few more days before
seeking the test to make sure the
‘bug,’ if there, had time to establish
itself sufficiently to show up. But
now I feel it’s best not to overload
the system as long as we are not in
severe distress. BT'W, I also discov-
ered upon return that a website for
journalists, Muck Rack, discovered
some of my recent work and set up a
small archive, albeit with the bio and
photo of a different David Alpern
on West Coast. It’s now corrected
and expanded.”
Alan Wilensky writes, “Shelter-
ing in place in Seattle. Getting
ready for Passover. We expected
the whole family for the holiday
and we bought accordingly before
everything was canceled. Now there
will only be the two of us. Will be
sharing part of the holiday with the
kids on Zoom.”
Larry Neuman writes, “We
are locked down in Tel Aviv and
restricted to staying within 100
meters of home. Single-file lines
into the only stores open, groceries
and pharmacies, but lots of fresh
fruit and vegetables available.”
Paul Kimmel writes, “Living in
East Brunswick, N.J. Working at
Rutgers teaching general chemis-
try, a large class with about 1,000
students. All lectures are recitations,
exams are online. Riding the tandem
bicycle with my wife to get some
exercise. Talking to our four sons
and their families via FaceTime.”
Art Eisenson writes, “New
Mexico, while a poor state, is intel-
ligently governed. Most people
observe social distancing, but some
are oblivious. Food shopping is
regimented foraging. My wife has a
chronic autoimmune disease, and we
worry that necessary meds are being
hoarded by those who don't need
them, and it seems I’m in the high-
est risk category. We're handling the
shifts to scarcities and shutdowns,
having lived through multiple earth-
quakes and the Rodney King riots in
Los Angeles.”
Bob Donahue writes, “Celebrated
the 79th last Friday. My son and
his wife visited wearing masks and
gloves. It was a great happy birthday
because of his card to me: ‘Happy
Birthday, Dad! We all know that you
arent actually 79 years old, you're just
18 with 61 years of experience! I hope
you realize that you are the best gift
I’ve ever had ...’— we adopted each
other 15 years ago when he was 15.
Greatest experience of my life!”
Barry Austern writes, “I know
how bad it is in the NYC area, and
I really grieve for you. Here in Cin-
cinnati (and all Ohio) things are in
lockdown, pretty much, other than
for really necessary stuff. We belong
college.columbia.edu/cct
to two congregations, because
my wife is more Reform and I
more Conservative, and both have
canceled all services, with them just
online. The only church around here
that I know is still open is the Solid
Rock Church of ‘Big Butter Jesus’
fame. When lightning destroyed
that idol they should have realized
that God didn't like graven images,
but they rebuilt it with a slightly
different idol.
“T don't always get the exercise
I want. I can walk or bike in nice
weather, but the gym is closed. I
don't know if the nearby mall is still
open, but I'd be afraid to go there.
Take care, and stay safe and healthy.”
Jeff Parson writes, “My reaction
to what you New Yorkers and the
rest of the world are experiencing
borders on disbelief, although I’m
aware that scientists and others have
predicted pandemics for years, often
in the context of human-caused
global warming. Two years ago I
wrote a play, Antelope Girl: On the
Edge of Extinction, that deals with
the threat of a pandemic caused by
a sickness that, in fact, killed more
than 11,000 of the world’s most
populous antelope herd in Kazakh-
stan in three days.
“T live in Ashland, Ore., where
my play was given a well-attended
dramatic reading. Two years ago
I received a writer-in-residency
grant to Can Serrat in Barcelona.
Last year I applied for a Rockefeller
Foundation grant to the Bellagio
Center in Italy, which, of course, has
been put on hold due to the crisis.
Right now, ’m hunkered down in
Oregon, trying to remain hopeful
wis
ae -
Stay in
Touch
Let us know if you have a
new postal or email address,
a new phone number or
even a new name:
college.columbia.edu/
alumni/connect.
50 CCT Summer 2020
and musing that now’s a time for
compassion, bravery and resolve.”
Ephraim Fischbach writes, “As
a (still-active!) physics professor at
Purdue, I am facing all the same
problems my colleagues elsewhere
are dealing with, in trying to com-
plete the semester online. At Purdue
we are also facing the problems aris-
ing from a large population of inter-
national students, many of whom
have no place to go when they leave
the dorms. But there might be a tiny
silver lining: After talking to some
of my colleagues here and elsewhere,
I am guessing the spring semester
GPA across the country may be
somewhere between A and A+!”
Joel Krosnick writes, “Since
retiring in 2016 as cellist of the
Juilliard String Quartet, I have
taught the cello full-time at
the Juilliard School. Similar to
Columbia and Barnard, Juilliard
canceled its classes, and it closed
its Lincoln Center building. I have
been teaching my 16 cello students
via Zoom since March 16. Many
of the students have gone ‘home’ to
Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Taipei and
Sydney; others are in San Francisco,
Los Angeles and all around the
United States. Last evening, our
25 or so students; my colleague
Darrett Adkins; and I gathered for
our weekly performance class, on
Zoom, on which we will, for the
next two months, hear solo recitals,
jury exams and solo performances. It
is wonderful to see each other, dear
friends by now.”
Chet Osborn writes, “I feel so
bad for NYC. I’m so proud of New
Yorkers, the mayor, the governor and
the administration, along with the
American public at large. A zoonotic
pandemic was always a global risk
but the nation is tackling it head-on.
I’m in the western North Carolina
mountains, and fortunately our area
is COVID-19-free. For now. Every-
one here is following the reverse
isolation guidelines but I hope the
country can incrementally return to
work before too long.
“T’ve had a wonderful life, both
professionally as a cardiovascular/
thoracic surgeon and now in an
active, happily healthy retirement. I
have two daughters and three grand-
children. All are healthy but awaiting
the time life can get back to normal.
Godspeed, everyone. Stay safe.”
Bob Heller writes, “My wife,
Amy, and I are no longer meeting
alumninews
friends face to face, but we are seeing
them for ‘quarantinis’— cocktails
and conversation on Zoom. We also
are taking advantage of the great
weather to take long walks (4-5
miles) in Central Park and around
the city. We rediscovered Riverside
Park south of 100th Street, as well.
‘The streets are relatively empty and
social distancing is easy. The most
populated area is Central Park, but
keeping your distance is not that
difficult. We no longer enter stores,
preferring to order from supermar-
kets online. Also, we have discovered
how many dishwasher cycles you go
though in a week when you are pre-
paring and eating all meals at home.”
Ken Ostberg writes, “While the
virus is advancing here in Winston-
Salem, N.C., we are nowhere near
a hotspot, so that’s a positive for us.
My wife, Andi, and I just checked
off two more items on our bucket
list. We spent three and a half weeks
in New Zealand, with a stop in
Tahiti on the way. While it’s winter
here, it’s summer there. Tahiti was
hot and humid and a lovely spot to
relax and unwind for a few days. We
can now say that we've dipped our
toes in the South Pacific and walked
on black sand beaches. New Zealand
is a lovely country of but 5 million
people. They seem pretty happy and
prosperous, with seemingly few
social tensions. Our main stops were
in Auckland, Wellington, Christ-
church and Greymouth, with side
trips into the mountains and along
the coasts. The country is mountain-
ous, being formed by the move-
ment of tectonic plates and several
hundred volcanoes, some of which
are still active.
“We flew home just ahead of
COVID-19 across the Pacific and
the United States, so we seem to
have avoided infection. We did avoid
all the tumult and disruption from
testing in the various airports. Now
we are sequestered at home and
emailing and Skyping with family
and friends.”
Peter Gollon, by dint of fortu-
itous timing, spent four days hiking
in Joshua Tree National Park at
the end of February on his annual
“get outdoors in the Southwest to
celebrate the end of winter” trip.
His wife, Abby Pariser BC’67,
joined him to then visit friends and
museums in Tucson and Phoenix,
where they spent an afternoon in the
little-known but fascinating Musical
Instrument Museum. It has guitars
used by Joan Baez and Elvis Presley,
Pablo Casals’s cello and so much
more. Peter and Abby returned
home just ahead of the shutdown
of almost everything, and are now
staying as far from other people as
they can. Peter is a trustee of the
Long Island Power Authority, which
supplies electricity to two counties
outside New York City, and director
emeritus of the New York Civil
Liberties Union.
Lee Scher writes, “I always
look forward to reading about our
class even though I had not been
a contributor to date. Every time I
sit down to write something I am
overwhelmed by all that has trans-
pired since 1963. Good jobs, early
retirement, children and grandchil-
dren on the plus side. Loss of two
wives to cancer on the minus side.
Now that I seem to have more quiet
time thanks to the virus maybe I can
figure it out.”
John Karlberg writes, “Last
year was difficult for me — I had a
laryngectomy (removal of my larynx)
and now I breathe and speak through
a stoma (hole in my throat). But, I am
thankful for a successful operation and
now my life is back to normal. We
are in Palm Coast, Fla., in the winter
and in Pocono Pines, Pa., in the sum-
mer. Both homes are on golf courses
and I play a lot of golf (still a high
handicapper) and tennis. The tennis
courts are now closed but the golf
course is open. Everything else here in
Palm Coast is basically closed. I pray
everyone can weather this storm.”
Richard Gochman writes, “My
wife, Alice, and I are hunkered down
on ‘Lazy Bear Farm’ in Chatham
(Columbia County), N.Y. The county
has a population of 58,000, with
probably more cows than people.
While no place is entirely free from
COVID-19, people look after each
other, especially us ‘elderly’ folks.
Friends call and say, ‘I am going to
the market. Can I get you anything?
One of our best friends is a dairy
farmer and he says not to worry about
meat: If necessary, he will have a cow
butchered. Another nearby friend has
a chicken coop, so we always have
eggs. A lot of our fresh produce is
locally grown, some in hothouses, so
we get it fresh year-round.
“T speak to my friend Paul Reale
a couple of times a week, and he
continues to be on a roll. The July/
August issue of Fanfare (the lead-
college.columbia.edu/cct
ing periodical on recorded serious
music) will include a front-page
article by him.”
Paul Gorrin (and the rest of
the class) was unable to make the
last Class of 63 lunch, as it was
canceled for obvious reasons. He
has completed his new play, Crossing
Brooklyn Bridge, and would like to
share it with classmates for com-
ments: gorrin.paul@gmail.com.
Once this is over and you're
back in NYC, you can reconnect
with your classmates at our regular
second Thursday class lunches at
the Columbia Club (we will still
gather at the Princeton Club, once
it reopens). I’m hoping we'll be able
to meet again by September 10; the
next two will be on October 8 and
November 12.
In the meantime, please let us
know what you are up to, how youve
doing, and what’s next. Stay safe!
1964
Norman A. Olch
norman@nolch.com
As I write this note I am practicing
social distancing. It is the middle of
April and I have been in my Man-
hattan apartment for five weeks. I
do some legal work, read, nap and
watch movies. When the sun is out,
I stand by the window and soak it
in. The news is grim. I hope by the
time this is published that society’s
lot will have improved.
John Cirigliano writes from
Lexington, Ky., that with the
outbreak of coronavirus he and his
wife, Nancy, have canceled trips to
Italy and France. He says, “I wonder,
will we ever make it back to those
countries? Lexington’s food-at-
the-door restaurants and coffee
shops continue, but that might not
last. Lexington’s biggest gash is an
expected 90 percent reduction in
leisure industry employment and the
occupational taxes that go with that.
Nancy and I observe the protocols
as much as possible. Our farm gives
us lots of room to move around to
avoid stir-craziness. My best to all.”
Allen Tobias writes from Brook-
lyn that he is unloading his literary
and cinema collections. He has sold
to the Beinecke Rare Book & Man-
uscript Library at Yale (which has a
major collection of African-Ameri-
can literary art) correspondence with
51 CCT Summer 2020
the estate of Richard Wright and
has sold to the RBML at Columbia
his poetry notebook annotated by
Allen Ginsberg ’48 together with
other correspondence and materials.
He is also donating to the RBML at
Columbia a large collection of mate-
rials relating to Ginsberg, and he is
donating to the RBML at Penn rare
books and other materials. Allen is
also organizing his films, videos and
photography for acquisition by a
major university.
Arnie Zeiderman writes from
Sutter Creek, Calif. (pop. 3,000),
that his journey in life is “quite dif-
ferent” from many classmates who
have distinguished careers in or near
large metropolitan centers.
“IT was born and raised in the
Bronx and Yonkers. Suburban public
schools did not prepare me well for
the intense competition at Colum-
bia. But I thrived and had a wonder-
ful experience, especially the two
years living on campus. Fraternity
life (AEPi) was fulfilling. I entered
and graduated as a pre-med.
“My career path came early: As a
teen | was motivated by the struggle,
failures and ultimate success in the
building of the Panama Canal. I
was considering a future as a civil
engineer. The problem with the
project was that of terrible disease,
not of ‘moving dirt’; Dr. William
Gorgas conquered the malaria and
yellow fever that had killed workers
by the thousands and interrupted
progress for decades. He knew that
understanding the key vector role of
mosquitoes, and eradicating them,
was fundamental. He became the
U.S. surgeon general. Gorgas was a
key player in the history of public
health medicine, which is again in
the limelight with the coronavirus.
He was my hero. Becoming a
medical doctor won out over being
a civil engineer.
“T graduated from the University
of Louisville School of Medicine
in 1968 at 26 along with five other
College grads. After two years of
internship/residency in Atlanta, I
moved to Palo Alto, Calif., for fur-
ther training and became enamored
with the California lifestyle and the
Stanford environment.
“There was a draft, or deferred
service obligation, at that time. So,
it was off to Germany for two years
to serve in the U.S. Army Medical
Corps in Heidelberg and practice
ob/gyn. Then, a fellowship at the
alumninews \)
UC Berkeley School of Public
Health for a master’s in public
health. Declining an academic or
administrative track, I embarked on
a sequence of rural medical practice,
academic public health, training
family practitioners, being an HMO
department chair, being an urban
indigent hospital director and train-
ing Navy doctors, then an academic
appointment and clinical practice.
“T married late and had two sons
just before age 50. In 1995, at the
midpoint of my career, we moved
back to California from the East
Coast, settling in the ‘gold country’
Sierra Nevada foothills between
Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. Great
hiking and skiing.
“T returned to again practice rural
general ob/gyn. My practice was
expansive and comprehensive, per-
sonal and rewarding. My R.N. wife,
Peggy, worked in my office for 10
years while we raised our sons in the
local schools. She is retiring this year
after a decade of case management
at an urban medical center.
“Our ranch home is surrounded
by 18 acres of flower beds, vegetable
gardens, pastures, two black Angus
cattle, egg-laying chickens and many
birds, and beautiful heritage oaks,
redwoods and Ponderosa pines. ‘This
is a beautiful region with a moderate
climate and great natural resources.
In a rural county with children
schooling locally, and a medical
practice in town, personal networks
are extensive and experienced daily
in practice and in the community.
This is rewarding and comforting
during difficult times such as now.
“T closed my solo practice in
2013 and during the past decade
have served on 10 volunteer medical
missions, mostly surgical and interna-
tional, which have taken me to the
Philippines, Ethiopia, Nepal, India
and the Dominican Republic. My
older son, a UC Berkeley grad, is
completing his residency in plastic
and reconstructive surgery at UC
Davis, living in Sacramento with his
younger brother, a business major
and now a senior tax auditor for the
State of California. I chair my county
behavioral health advisory board,
where we have disproportionate rates
of suicide and substance abuse, as
well as a dearth of psychiatric ser-
vices/access. Challenges abound here.
“My education at Columbia was
superb. It is one of my most valued
credentials. As a philosophy major
with a world-class faculty, this expo-
sure provided me with a foundation
of knowledge and thoughtful analy-
sis. | appreciate that gift. In various
other ways the Columbia Univer-
sity academic policies and public/
political postures disappoint me.
Sometimes it is intense. Some of us
see things differently and hold other
values and priorities. Do one’s values
determine their future environment?
Or does one’s environment shape
their values?
“It has been my good fortune to
have this fulfilling life so different
from my fellow grads.
“T enjoy their stories in Class
Notes. I hope they enjoy mine.”
I am saddened to report the
death of Jerry Oster. I knew Jerry
from Forest Hills H.S., where he
played on the tennis team (which
won the Queens County champion-
ship), and in weekend schoolyard
basketball games.
His wife, Trisha Lester, writes
from Chapel Hill, N.C., where she
and Jerry lived: “Jerry had several suc-
cessful careers. He was a reporter for
United Press International, Reuters
and the New York Daily News. He
wrote 21 novels, including Sweet Jus-
tice and Saint Mike, named Notable
Books by The New York Times, and
Nightfall, chosen as the best foreign
language crime novel published in
Germany in 1999. His books were
also published in Brazil, France,
Great Britain, Japan and Russia.
“His play, 90 in 90, premiered
in 2004. He wrote three other full-
length plays and several 10-minute
plays. He was a Tennessee Williams
Scholar at the 2005 Sewanee Writ-
ers’ Conference.
“He worked at the University
of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler
Business School as director of
development communications, and
at Duke as director of development
communications for Arts & Sci-
ences and director of communica-
tions for the undergraduate college.
“His daughter by a previous mar-
riage, Lily Stein Oster, is a doctoral
student in the graduate division at
Emory University.”
Last year Jerry sent in a Class
Note. His advice to future grads:
“Be a generalist, not a specialist;
study what interests you, not what’s
recommended. When and if you
begin a career, be entirely ready to
begin another.”
Requtescat in pace.
college.columbia.edu/cct
1965
Leonard B. Pack
leonard@packlaw.us
Back in those innocent days of
yesteryear — on January 21, to be
precise — when people could still
meet each other in restaurants and
other public places, I met Dan
Carlinsky, Mike Cook, Louis
Goodman and Barry Levine for
lunch at Sidecar, an adjunct to PJ.
Clarke’s on Third Avenue at East
55th Street in Manhattan. No
particular agenda, but an enjoyable
bull session with plenty of jokes
and laughter. Dan regaled us with
a detailed history of the Colum-
bia University Marching Band
through its recent difficulties with
the administration, subsequently
patched over. We didn’t think of
taking a picture, which we surely
would have done if we'd known all
restaurants would be ordered to
close a few weeks later (although the
lack of a picture means that readers
will be spared yet another image
of your correspondent, after two of
them ran in the Spring 2020 issue).
I did ask Barry, the only medical
person present, what he thought
of the then-new stories about the
coronavirus in China. Barry replied,
“It won't be pretty.”
As I write this in late March, New
York City has become the place with
the most confirmed COVID-19 cases
in the country. Los Angeles resident
Howard Matz was moved by this
to write a note to a few New Yorker
classmates, and he has given me per-
mission to share it with everyone here:
“Hello, friends and fellow classmates.
Jane and I hope you and your families
are faring as well as circumstances
could possibly permit. You live in a
perilous place at a perilous time. May
you continue to take good and effec-
tive care and may you come through
this calamity safe and sound.
“T live in the geographic center of
the City of Los Angeles. You would
not know it these days. It is as safe
for youngsters to ride their bikes in
the middle of the street as it was for
my friends and me 70-plus years ago
in the small town I grew up in.
“We, too, are experiencing the
direct impact of seclusion. Two of
our sons and their wives and their
collective three children (one of
whom is only 5 months old) are
52 CCT Summer 2020
off-limits. For our benefit, initially,
they have declined to visit or be
visited. Our third son is a single
dad with a daughter who is only 3
months old. They need and receive
daily, direct help from us, so that is
the limit of our social lives. We are
very fortunate to be there for them,
however, and we are feeling fine.
Let’s stay in touch.”
As the contagion spread, I
thought about calling Michael
Tapper GSAS’66, PS’70, our class’s
stellar infectious disease expert. But
I soon found out from Allen Brill,
Don Bachman and others that
Michael died on March 6, 2020,
after an extended struggle with ill-
ness. Here is an excerpt of The New
York Times's March 10 obituary: “ ...
Dr. Tapper graduated from Colum-
bia College and Columbia medical
school and trained in internal
medicine at Harlem Hospital, and
in infectious disease at Memorial
Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He
served for many years as Chief of
Infectious Disease at Lenox Hill
Hospital where he also established
and directed an early New York
State-sponsored center for AIDS
research and care. Dr. Tapper sat
on several CDC committees, was
past president of the Society of
Hospital Epidemiologists and a
member of a number of New York
State and New York City Depart-
ments of Health task forces, and was
a frequent speaker at national and
international HIV and epidemiol-
ogy meetings. He was uncompro-
mising in his advocacy for patients
under his care and served as a role
model for successive generations of
house-staff. Apart from his medical
activities, Dr. Tapper was extremely
committed to Columbia College, a
dedicated participant in its fencing
team as an undergraduate, and was a
lifelong lover of music and supporter
of the Metropolitan Opera. He is
survived by his sister, Helaine Gold.
Dr. Tapper will be extremely missed
by friends and colleagues. Memorial
to be held at Columbia University at
a later date. Donations in his name
can be made to Columbia College,
undergraduate school.”
In my occasional interactions
with Mike over the years, I was
struck by his seriousness. I got to
see an exception to this several years
ago, when he arrived with a bunch
of former fencing team members at
a restaurant in my apartment build-
alumninews
ing, which is not far from Columbia.
He was smiling and radiantly happy
to be hanging out with his fellow
fencers, and it was a pleasure to see
him that way.
Through CCT, just before the
deadline for this column, I got news
from his daughter, Chaya Cooper,
that Michael Cooper died on Feb-
ruary 27,2019, in Jerusalem. Chaya
wrote: “Michael made a name for
himself at the College as an excep-
tional intellect, and graduated in just
three years while earning a Regents
merit-based scholarship reserved
for the brightest medical students
in New York. After completing his
residency at NewYork-Presbyterian,
Michael served as a captain in the
U.S. Army, and practiced radiology
for 34 years at NYU Health +
Hospitals/Coler and Brookdale
Hospital Medical Center in NYC.
“Michael was a lover of corny
jokes, and was generally a man of
simple tastes and pleasures — with
the exception of foreign travel. He
had a passion for traveling to exotic
and off-the-beaten-path locales, and
traveled all over the world on his
own with just a small suitcase filled
with the bare essentials and his sup-
ply of kosher food.
“A native New Yorker, he moved
to Israel shortly before his death
to be closer to his children and
grandchildren. Michael is survived
Core
Haiku
“Memorial contributions may be
made to the ALS Therapy Develop-
ment Institute (als.net/donate) or
American Friends of Zichron Ruth
Kollel, 109 Bayit Vegan St., Jerusa-
lem, 9642621, Israel.”
I'd welcome any reminiscences
from friends of our class’s two
departed medical Michaels to
include in a future column, together
with news of how you are coping
with the pandemic. In the three
months between my writing
this column and its appearance
in CCT, our world will have
changed enormously.
1966
Columbia College Today
cct@columbia.edu
From Mark L. Levine JRN’79: “A
50th anniversary edition of Mark L.
Levine's The Tales of Hoffman: From
the Trial of the Chicago 8/7, an edited
version of the Chicago 7 conspiracy
trial transcript that was published 10
days after the trial ended, is being
republished in September. The origi-
nal book, which Mark conceived and
coedited, sold more than 170,000
copies. The new edition is scheduled
to appear at the same time as Aaron
Sorkin’s movie The Trial of the Chi-
cago 7. Although the movie is not
Iliad assigned,
Our learning launched in week one.
Still sailing. New shores.
by his five children, Chaya Cooper,
Shifra (Dov Ber) Apelbaum, Eliezer
(Batsheva) Cooper-Gluck, Hindy
(Mark) Ginsberg and Boruch (Sari)
Cooper; three stepchildren, Devorah
(Ben) Schochet, Avi (Teri) Pollack
and Serena (Efraim) Pollack-
Kacenelenbogen; his sister, Phyllis
Wertheimer; brother, David (Judy)
Cooper; brother in-law, Steve Rich;
36 grandchildren; eight great-grand-
children; and several nieces and
nephews. He was preceded in death
by his wife, Miriam (née Stein), in
2007, and younger sister Joan Rich
in 2005.
— Rick Silverblatt ’66
based on Mark’s book, Sorkin has
written an introduction to the new
edition, which has been retitled to
match the movie’s name.
“In recent years, Mark has been
an adjunct professor at Baruch
College’s Zicklin School of Busi-
ness and Cardozo School of Law.
An experienced voter protection
attorney, he plans to be doing a lot
of that this fall in an effort to help
make ‘Trump a one-term President.”
On March 25, Neal Hurwitz
reported: “In self-quarantine since
March 15. Very quiet here, across the
street (115th Street between Broad-
college.columbia.edu/cct
way and Riverside Drive) from the
empty Morris A. Schapiro Hall.
“Indeed, it is the strangest time
here in New York, N.Y. — even more
so than the 69 blackout and 9-11. My
fiancée, Soraya Zuluaga, from Medel-
lin, and I are next door to the Kraft
Family Center for Jewish Student
Life (Bob Kraft’63 was my mentor
when | was class officer our freshman
year); I helped with raising money
for the center and the great Jerusalem
stone exterior! Peter Samton was the
architect and former Clinton White
House counsel Bernie Nussbaum ’58
was a major donor. We are down the
road from Grace Gold Way, which is
the west side of Broadway, between
115th and 116thth Streets. It is
named for Grace Gold BC’82, who
was killed in her freshman year by a
falling stone from 601 W. 115th.
“T have been here since Sep-
tember 1963 (with Alan Geller,
Tom DeWitt and Johnny Akula,
and then Billy Hurwitz ’67 and
Wally Furman 67), after fresh-
man year in 1001A New Hall with
Core
Haiku
course. We are all hanging in as best
we can these days.”
If you would like to stay con-
nected to classmates during this
time, please consider sending a
Class Note to cct@columbia.edu.
1967
Albert Zonana
az164@caa.columbia.edu
No news this time, but best wishes
for the health and safety of the Class
of 1967 and your families. Be well,
and let’s stay connected.
1968
Arthur Spector
arthurbspector@gmail.com
Greetings, classmates. I hope you are
all doing well and staying safe.
I got a wonderful note from Tony
Kao in February: “I thought you
No trigger warnings,
Coddling, safe spaces, jargon,
Dogma. Knowledge reigned.
Phil Cohen, Arne Jensen ’67 and
Jimmy Smoley, across from Marc
Kusnetz, Ray Rizzuti, Jim Gertz
and Ronald Vincent Bryant.
“My daughter has been teaching
English in Hanoi; I do not like hav-
ing my family so spread out all over
the place, especially now! Family are
in New York, Florida, New Mexico,
Illinois, Vermont, North Carolina,
California, Colombia, Israel, the
United Kingdom, Ibiza and more.”
Neal wrote back on April 9 with
sad news: “Steve Steiner GSAS’67
has just died in NYC from COVID-
19. Steve and I shared a love of
history; I had many chats with him
since 1962 — 58 years. Steve was out
of Kew Gardens and Forest Hill H.S.
His children, Andrea and David, are
Facebook friends with me; Andrea’s
memory of her dad was featured in
The New York Post. Steve was a writer/
editor and director of PR for the
Orthodox Union. Very, very sad, of
53 CCT Summer 2020
— Steve Schwartzman ’67
might be interested to know that
George Ting; his sister, Grace; and
I had been working for a few years
on a project in Tokyo, named Gloria
House in honor of his mother. It
was completed in May 2019.
“The project is situated off the
much-coveted avenue in Shibuya
Omotesando, and the five-story
building is mixed use, with commer-
cial on the ground floor, the Gloria
Ting Center on the second floor,
residential on the third floor and
George’s pied-a-terre on the fourth/
fifth floor duplex penthouse, with a
roof deck.
“The dedication and opening of
the Gloria Ting Center was held
on December 7, and was lucky
for me, as I was traveling through
Tokyo that week from Shanghai. I
was heading back to our new home
in Sudbury, Mass., in metro-west
Boston, where I moved to from
Seattle in June.
George Ting ’68 (left) and Tony Kao ’68 in the entry foyer of Tokyo’s Gloria
House, named for Ting’s mother, at the opening ceremony in December.
“It was a wonderful experience to
work with Grace and George, a friend,
one-time roommate and classmate, as
my client, and I’m very pleased to have
been able to put my resources together
to bring this endeavor to a successful
and happy completion.”
CCT received the following from
Christopher Phillips about the pass-
ing of his brother David Phillips
LS’74: “David F. Phillips died on
March 26, 2020, in San Francisco
of a confluence of health issues. He
was 75. He graduated from Penn
Law School (1971) before returning
to Columbia’s former School of
Library Service for an M.S.
“Attention, Columbia historians!
In his autobiography, which appears
on his website, Radbash, David has
written extensively and in great
detail about his years at Columbia
College (1963-68) and Library
School (1973-74). At the College,
he was active in the 1968 student
real career, which was as a scholar of
heraldry. His interest in flags and coats
of arms dated from earliest childhood,
and he became one of the world’s
foremost experts. At his home in San
Francisco, he assembled one of Amer-
ica’s leading collections of heraldry
books, atlases and first-day covers as
part of a vast library that ranged from
typography and design to specialized
dictionaries. He was a trustee of the
Flag Heritage Foundation in America
and was one of only two writers to
be ‘craft’ members of The Society of
Heraldic Arts in Britain.
“David's books included (as
author), Emblems of the Indian States
(2011) and The Double Eagle (2014);
and as editor and lead contributor
Japanese Heraldry and Heraldic Flags
(2018). All three instantly became
the definitive works on these subjects.
At the time of his death he had
completed the manuscript and design
for a book about the heraldic work of
John D. Rosenberg
Shaped my Core in ’63
°09, shaped my son’s
strike, and he started and ran the
Vietnam-War-era student draft
counseling center. [his is a valuable,
detailed first-person account.
“For David, the practice of law
(which he did on his own part-time
schedule with a white-shoe San
Francisco firm) was a sidelight to his
— George J. Leonard ’67
Polish-born artist Arthur Szyk. Most
recently, he was the editor and com-
piler of Psychedelic Refugee: The League
for Spiritual Discovery, the 1960s
Cultural Revolution, and 23 Years on
the Run, the memoirs of Rosemary
Woodruff Leary (Timothy’s wife), to
be published next winter.
college.columbia.edu/cct
“His writing went beyond schol-
arship to poetry, children’s stories,
travelogues, essays, biography and
autobiography. Other byways in his
life included being a radio and tele-
vision broadcaster on Cape Cod and
an English teacher in Taiwan. His
spiritual explorations were informed
by early psychedelic experiences
with LSD, and these led him even-
tually to Buddhism and veneration
of the Hindu god Ganesha.
“Learning of David’s death,
one of his friends remarked, ‘David
won, hands down, the Reader's
Digest “World’s Most Interesting
Person” award.’
“To learn more about David's life
(in his autobiography) and the scope
of his wide-ranging and astonish-
ingly original thought, explore his
website. The drop-down menus
alone are astonishing. You could
spend a year on that site and not
cover everything, and it would be
time well spent.”
1969
Nathaniel Wander
nw105@columbia.edu
Freelance translators of French,
German and Dutch for the past
three decades, Henry Jackson
and his wife now live in Suffern,
N.Y. Henry went on to a graduate
degree in German, spent three years
in Germany and returned to teach
German in Tarrytown, N.Y.
Germany, you might recollect,
predicted its way to victory in the
2010 FIFA World Cup through the
“motivational” coaching of an eight-
legged cephalopod, Paul the Octopus
— an act of such deuced wickedness
as England shall never forget!
After weathering Vietnam as a
conscientious objector teaching in
Bedford-Stuyvesant, John Van D.
Lewis acquired an anthropology
Ph.D. from Yale. Fieldwork on con-
straints to the Green Revolution in
Mali and teaching at Howard Uni-
versity carried John into a career in
rural and agricultural development
with USAID. Since retirement, John
has continued to work on “climate
smart” or “regenerative” agriculture
in Africa.
Poet, historian and demytholo-
gizer Hilton Obenzinger retired
from Stanford as associate director
of the Chinese Railroad Workers
54 CCT Summer 2020
in North America Project, which
produced a wealth of English and
Chinese books and websites, photos
and oral histories, archaeological
digs, curricula and even an oratorio.
The high point of this work was the
huge attendance at last year’s 150th
anniversary of the Golden Spike
ceremony in Utah.
For those who haven't seen John
Ford’s The Iron Horse (1924) lately,
the spike joined California’s Central
Pacific and Union Pacific into the
First Transcontinental Railroad.
Hilton says Ford had to employ
Native Americans to play Chinese
workers on account of 1882’s Chi-
nese Exclusion Act, which remained
in force until 1943. Irony is too
American to ever die.
Hilton was especially tickled at the
praise lavished on the Chinese work-
ers by the kinds of politicians who
previously would have despised them.
Andy Bronin continues to enjoy
practicing dermatology, his chosen
path since he completed medical
training in the late ’70s. He shares
that he’s particularly proud of his
son Luke, overwhelmingly reelected
to a second term as mayor of
Hartford, Conn. Andy attributes the
careers of national politicians from
Judd Gregg on one side to Jerry
Nadler on the other — as well as
Jon Schiller’s service as a Columbia
trustee — to “the strength of the
Core Curriculum.”
Seems a lot to lay on Plato’s
shoulders, no matter how broad they
may have been.
Andy adds, “I miss Mark Drucker!”
T concur.
Renee Chinquapin has been
thinking of three friends — Bob
Raterman, Wiley Webb and Jeff
Sokolov — who “wore the blue beanie
but not the mortarboard,” wonder-
ing where they are now and whether
anyone else remembers them.
I was working with Neal Flomen-
baum, director of the Department
of Emergency Medicine at NYC's
Weill Cornell Medicine, to produce
a note for this issue. Understandably,
it was sidetracked by a bit of a virus
outbreak. Neal’s contribution will be
included in the Fall issue.
John Schuster, a historian
and philosopher of science at the
University of Sydney, and a resident
of Australia since 1980, remembers
Michael Oberman well. Both were
from Hewlett, N.Y. (Long Island);
John says, “We had been in the same
alumninews
classes since around fourth grade.”
John was shocked to hear of Michael’s
sudden death last fall, and especially
as a prior commitment kept him away
from the 50th reunion, he is grateful
he had been able to speak to Michael
and his wife at length in New York
a few years back at their 50th high
school reunion.
It’s only from Class Notes that
I knew Michael. When I read in
the Winter 2019-20 issue that he
had passed away, I wrote to CCT
offering to take on the class cor-
respondent role, frankly, without
one-quarter knowing what I might
Core
Haiku
Civilization
about the toll it will take so I hope
that all of you will be reading this
column in good health. Please stay
connected to the College.
I received a very nice note from
Jim Kunen, which had a lovely trib-
ute to David Lehman and David’s
recently published memoir. Jim
writes, “Longtime reader, first-time
writer: Perusing our Class Notes,
I learned that David Lehman had
written a book called One Hundred
Autobiographies, a memoir of cancer
— sort of. I bought it, read it, under-
lined it like crazy, photocopied bits
for friends (fair use) and returned to
The journey is never done
Join us for the trip
be getting into. As the man who
jumped off the Empire State Build-
ing said passing the 63rd floor, “So
far, so good.” [ expect [ll know by
the end of the year whether I'll be
thanking Michael for keeping the
chair warm all these years, or be
going around grumbling sotto voce:
“Curse you, Red Baron!”
Since Tim O’Brien’s 1990 story
cycle The Things They Carried, “things
they carried” has become a metonym
for the meaningful experiences
people bear with them when they
set out from “home” into a future
guaranteed to astound them. Several
of us have thought to pose questions
in this column about how what
we brought away from Columbia
has shaped our lives over the long
course. [his season’s question is
almost too timely; maybe it will have
shaken out when the call is made
for Fall issue submissions: How has
what you carried away from Colum-
bia affected your weathering of the
COVID-19 pandemic?
1970
Leo G. Kailas
Ikailas@reitlerlaw.com
The COVID-19 virus is wreaking
havoc on the world, and I hope that
we all survive it stronger. I worry
— Don Brophy ’69
it frequently for 1) the articulation
of things I felt but couldn't say and
2) tips on high art, classical music
and serious literature that sound
really worth checking out, before I
check out.
“Thank you, Leo Kailas, for faith-
fully relaying our classmates’ news
year after year, and thank you, David
Lehman, for your wise and thor-
oughly enjoyable book. Be well, all.”
Thank you, Jim, who is himself
the author of The Strawberry State-
ment, written about the uprising at
Columbia in 1968.
I would second Jim’s statement
about David’s tips on high art,
classical music (and not-so-classical
music, like Bob Dylan), and lit-
erature and poetry. I also recom-
mend that you subscribe to David’s
publication The Best American Poetry,
which is filled with interesting
articles. Writing about the current
COVID-19 epidemic, David refers
back to the 10 plagues God visited
on Egypt, the plague Oedipus
brought on Thebes when he com-
mitted the twin sins of parricide and
incest, and the bubonic plague and
notes that we were as unprepared for
this plague as we were for the attack
on Pearl Harbor. In a hopeful note,
David reminds us that we recovered
from Pearl Harbor and will likely
survive COVID-19. He also cites
the line from W.H. Auden’s poem
college.columbia.edu/cct
September 1, 1939, “We must love
one another or die.”
I received another nice note from
Bill Stark 69, asking me to pass on
regards to Michael Stern, men-
tioned in the Spring 2020 column.
Bill writes, “[Michael] was my room-
mate my junior (his sophomore) year.
He worked in my hometown after
his junior year. He was an usher in
my wedding in 1969.”
Michael, please reach out to Bill
at william.stark@slu.edu.
Dov Zakheim became a senior
Defense Department official during
the George W. Bush years in the
White House. Dov has agreed to
place me on his mailing list for his
publication on national security
issues, saying, “I have a rather large
mailing list and would gladly add
you to it if you like. I write about
national security matters.”
I highly recommend following
Dov’s commentary if you have
the time.
Professor Michael Aeschliman
GSAS’91, who keeps me informed
about the publication of his books
and articles in numerous magazines
and literary journals, sent me a note
about the publication of his book
the Restoration of Man: C.S. Lewis
and the Continuing Case Against
Scientism, which received a nice
writeup in Le Figaro.
1971
Lewis Preschel
l.a.preschel@gmail.com
Mark Davies LAW’75 shares
that four years ago, after 22 years
serving the public, he retired from
his post as executive director of the
New York City Conflicts of Inter-
est Board, the city’s ethics board.
The new phase of his life involves
studying toward a master of divinity
degree at the Union Theological
Seminary, right near Columbia. Last
semester, instead of schoolwork,
Mark visited the Bedford Hills
Correctional Facility, along with his
clinical pastoral education instructor,
to work with the LGBTQ com-
munity. Mark will pursue his field
education with a prison reform
group in Westchester next year. He
took two years of New Testament
Greek in seminary school, which he
says tested his soul at his age, but
proved to be the most rewarding
55 CCT Summer 2020
and difficult academic experience of
his life.
May I add, knowing what we all
lived through during our undergrad-
uate days, that is saying something.
Charles Ferguson writes, “In
2017, I returned to my boarding
school in Massachusetts for my
50th class reunion. I took my wife,
Yoko, with me. We stopped in New
York City on the way and visited
the Columbia campus. The deli that
I worked at, Mama Joy’s, was gone.
The taxicab company I drove for,
whose garage was on 125th street,
had vanished.
“The headmaster of my prep
school was a close friend and college
buddy of Henry Coleman 46, dean
of admissions at Columbia. That fact
sealed my fate in 1967, so I came to
New York City and the College.”
Charles explains further how
life leads us on intriguing paths: “I
studied music, and in particular, I
remember my senior year I lived in a
nice apartment just one block east of
College Walk. My music professor
was Nicholas England. He lived in
the same building. To me, Professor
England appeared larger than life.
He taught ethnomusicology at
Columbia and Harvard simulta-
neously. He was always perfectly
attired, old-school tie and all. For
my graduate school choices, Profes-
sor England urged me to apply to a
school in the west. He was leaving
Columbia for a position as dean of
music at the California Institute of
the Arts in Valencia, Calif. I fol-
lowed his lead to California, where |
reside now. When I first saw Profes-
sor England in Valencia, he was in a
Hawaiian shirt, shorts and sandals,
asking all of us to call him ‘Nick.’
“After CalArts, I moved to San
Francisco. My sister was at UC Berke-
ley and had a part-time job at Stan-
ford working for a linguistics professor
named Charles Ferguson. While on
campus at Stanford, I saw the job
posting for a classical guitar instructor.
Eagerly, I applied for the position,
and I am happy to say that I am
celebrating my 46th year on the music
faculty at Stanford. I look forward to
celebrating another 50th reunion very
soon, this time at Columbia with my
College classmates.”
This set of notes is not optimally
voluminous. Please send regards to
the class and let us know how you
are doing, where life led you and
what you are doing. I am writ-
alumninews ()
ing this column from New Jersey
and it is the month of March. I do
not know what the future holds
for our demographic/age group.
I hope everyone has remained
healthy and calm during this time
of crisis. Please be safe, keep your
social distance, wash your hands
often and be careful about public
surfaces, especially metallic ones.
Remember that human vectors and
fomites (inanimate objects that
we touch, like clothing, utensils,
furniture, boxes and even the mail)
can carry the virus and that it is
easily transmissible and long-lived
on surfaces. Cover your cough and
stand back from friends. When
you come back to your home from
outside — from exercise, a walk or a
necessary trip for food — wash your
hands immediately. Don't bring the
virus into your home with packages,
and so forth.
Everyone be well, and stay well,
so that whenever our next reunion
takes place, as many of us as possible
can take part. We are the Columbia
College Class of 1971. The ’71ers
have been through worse and so the
best is on the horizon for us.
1972
Paul S. Appelbaum
pappel1@aol.com
As I write this column, the Univer-
sity is closed, Morningside Heights
is largely deserted and New York
City is the epicenter in the United
States for the COVID-19 epidemic.
All classes and meetings with
students have moved online; grades
will be pass/fail; Class Day and
Commencement have been changed
to virtual ceremonies. A small
number of food stores and take-out
restaurants are open, but traffic is
light and the city buses that go past
are nearly empty.
Even in situations that call for
maximum solidarity and mutual
support, it seems as though there
are always people who just want
to make other people’s lives more
difficult. With classes using Zoom
to draw professors and students
together, the phenomenon of
the moment is “Zoombombing”:
hackers interrupting classes with
offensive content. As Spectator
described one such episode in an
economics class, hackers “disrupted
the class for about six minutes,
playing audio containing racial slurs
and inappropriate content, hurled
insults at the professor, and later
called a participant a racial slur.”
Helping to combat these threats is
Steven Bellovin, the Percy K. and
Vida L. W. Hudson Professor of
Computer Science at Columbia and
one of the country’s leading experts
on computer security. He spoke with
Spectator to advise his colleagues on
simple approaches to protect the
security of their online classes.
Before this all began, Alex
Abella reached out to connect with
me on LinkedIn (hint: you can do
that, too). After graduation, Alex
moved to San Francisco, where he
became a T'V news producer, writer
and reporter; was part of a group
that won a newswriting Emmy; and
was nominated for an individual
Emmy for best breaking news story.
Alex moved to Los Angeles in the
1980s. His legal thriller, The Killing
of the Saints, was a New York Times
notable book and was optioned by
Paramount Pictures, which commis-
sioned Alex to write the screenplay.
The sequels, Dead of Night and Final
Acts, were published soon thereaf-
ter, winning critical praise. Alex’s
nonfiction work includes So/diers of
Reason: The RAND Corporation and
the American Empire, a study of the
world’s most influential think tank.
Alex is married and lives with his
wife and children in the suburbs of
Los Angeles.
Michael Mobley BUS’76 is also
now a LinkedIn buddy. Since he
earned an M.B.A., he has worked in
strategic planning, finance, marketing
and operations that facilitate growth,
market share and profitability for
businesses in numerous industries.
He is managing director of VJM and
Legacy C Suite, and before that was
managing partner of Impetus Solu-
tions, a consulting firm founded in
2014 that focused on value creation
for small businesses. Michael was also
an adjunct professor of entrepreneur-
ship at Howard Community College
and an adjunct assistant professor
in management and international
business at Loyola University of
Maryland. Michael now lives in the
Greater Phoenix area.
I hope that by the time you read
this, the worst of the pandemic will
have passed and that you all will
have come through it unscathed. We
all look forward to happier times.
college.columbia.edu/cct
1973
Barry Etra
betra1@bellsouth.net
These are “Notes in the Time of
Corona.” May we have no more
“interesting times” like these for
several millennia.
Fred Abramowitz was the flag
bearer at the 2019 NYC Marathon
Opening Ceremony, as one of the
few who ran the first one in’76
(“Probably disappointed old radical
friends who hoped Id carry it upside
down,” he says). His new book,
Travels in Africa: A Year by Land
Rover Through the Great Continent,
was published in the spring; all
proceeds go to charity, so pick it up!
Ravi Venkateswaran lives in
Mill Creek, Wash.; his interest in
geology has taken him to “lots of
places,” he says. He has partly retired
after many years in India and a final
assignment in Nigeria, is on the
board of his former boarding school
in Colorado and advises a group in
Nigeria for new projects. He conveys
his best wishes to old colleagues
from Carman and Hamilton!
Erik Bergman retired from a
high-tech PR firm in 2017 after a
35-year career in journalism, PR and
advertising. He has been pursuing
Core
Haiku
Steve is in touch with Rick Blank
and Frank Dermody; he and Rick
meet in Nyack, N.Y., for dinner
several times a year. Frank is the
minority leader in the Pennsylvania
House of Representatives, and they
meet in the city every so often.
Hope y’all are well and stay
well. Hasta.
1974
Fred Bremer
f.bremer@ml.com
‘The “stay in place” order imposed on
many of us this spring did more than
fight the coronavirus. It also gave us
a glimpse of what we might face in
retirement. At first many might have
enjoyed the extra time outside the
office as a welcome opportunity to
spend more time with the grandkids,
do some gardening or go on a lei-
surely bike ride. But soon we realized
that we missed the camaraderie of
our work colleagues and the ability to
get together with friends. We had a
lot of time but lacked a plan for how
to enjoy it.
As our “golden years” progress,
we will also probably see many of
our close friends move to warmer
locales in the sunbelt or bucolic
places like Martha’s Vineyard or
Reading these books has
been at the core of my life.
Columbia, thanks!
his passion for birding from
Alaska to Ecuador; he volunteers
at Portland Audubon and leads trips
to birding hotspots there. Since
travel is “currently unwise,” Erik
does daily walks locally and notes
that it’s “sobering to know that
our peer group is high-risk; when
and how did ¢Aa¢ sneak up on us?”
He signs off, wishing “Peace and
health to all.”
Steve Pellino writes in (finally!)
from Ridgefield, N.J., where he’s
been an attorney for 40 years, also
serving as borough attorney. He’s
single now (after a few tries) and has
a wonderful daughter and son.
56 CCT Summer 2020
— Phillip M. Weiss ’73
Maine. Instead of seeing them once
a week, it may become once or twice
a year. [he alternative is to plan and
to develop relationships with new
and old friends who are likely to
be wherever we plan to be and are
interested in the activities we look
forward to pursuing. It is also a
good idea to accumulate some extra
frequent flyer miles so we can see
friends who have roamed far!
‘The above is not meant to be a
“downer” on retirement. Rather, it
is what I have been thinking about
as the weeks at home roll on and
my eventual retirement date (no
plans yet!) grows nearer. I have even
alumninews
been dusting off some collected
cookbooks that I hope to (finally)
use and am investigating where
I will be able to take yoga classes
or oil painting instruction once
retirement arrives. Preparing for the
future seems like a good way to take
advantage of this abrupt interrup-
tion of my work routine.
The coronavirus hasn't stopped
classmates from “getting together.”
I heard word of a Zoom video
cocktail party in April hosted by
some classmates who were part of
the Spectator staff: Peter Budeiri
(an architect who lives in Irvington,
N.Y.), Richard Briffault (a profes-
sor at the Law School who lives
in Manhattan), Charles Tiefer (a
professor at University of Baltimore
School of Law who lives in Chevy
Chase, Md.) and Gail Robinson
BC’74 (who was the editor our
senior year). Without the virus caus-
ing the growing popularity of video
conferencing, it seems unlikely this
group would have managed to have
their cocktail party!
Two Facebook notes told us of
two new grandchildren of class-
mates. Barry Gruber wrote, “In
these dark and scary days, it is great
to be reminded in a very real way
about the circle of life. 1 am excited
and happy to let my friends know
that my son, Mitch (and his wife,
Amy), had a baby boy at the end
of April. I am looking forward to a
long-distance bris!”
Dr. Steve Blumenthal (who
is a semi-retired pediatrician in
Portland, Maine) says his daughter
Kelsey gave him his first grandchild
in March.
A long email came in from David
Katz (now back in the United
States after a 45-year hiatus). David
received a Euretta J. Kellett Fellow-
ship in 1974 and went to Oxford.
After earning two degrees, he joined
the faculty at Tel Aviv University.
He writes, “Apart from sabbati-
cal years in Oxford (five), Istanbul
(two) and Princeton (one), I was a
professor of history in Tel Aviv for
41 years. Three children and one
grandchild later, | found myself
facing the compulsory retirement
age of 68.”
David is now a professor of his-
tory at Brandeis (outside of Boston)
and director of the History of Ideas
Program. His wife, Amy Singer, was
also teaching at Tel Aviv and now
chairs Islamic studies at Brandeis.
He writes, “Returning to the U.S.
after all these years has been inter-
esting. Back to speaking English
on a daily basis, I find that ‘grass’
is now called ‘weed’ and is legal.
All ‘requests’ have been turned into
‘asks.’ People don't call, they ‘reach
out.’ It’s all very confusing ....”
A stone’s throw away from
Brandeis is Belmont, Mass.,
where Stuart Offner lives. He is
a commercial real estate and real
estate private equity attorney at
Mintz (formerly Mintz, Levin et
al.). Stuart has managed to get his
kids to move back to be near him
(dreaming of grandkids?). Son Ted
(35) moved back from San Fran-
cisco with wife Tracy when he left
Microsoft for a position at Sonos
(the high def speaker company).
Olivia (32) moved back to Boston
after a 10-year career in communi-
cations in NYC and is now a VP of
media and communication at State
Street Bank. Sophia (26) has gradu-
ated from BU Law and is now a
corporate associate at Ropes & Gray
in its Boston office. Wife Susan is at
home full-time after retiring from
a career being assistant treasurer at
MIT (where she managed special
investments and funds).
Seventeen years ago, Michael
Fixel (who lives in Jacksonville, Fla.)
joined with daughter Juliet to form
Bea TPAC, a summer camp for kids
in the first through ninth grades. It
celebrates the performing arts (sing-
ing, dancing and acting). Daughters
Ava and Leia also are there, as camp
directors. This year they are continu-
ing the camp, but added BeaTPAC
To Go, which has virtual classes for
kids who are forced to stay at home
due to the virus. (Michael says, “I
suggested ‘Bea TPAC Goes Viral,’
but it got shot down!”) Michael is
also president of Parallel Universe
Theater Resources. His play, Freefall
Frostbite, will be returning to NYC
this year for what he hopes will be a
10-year run.
With great sadness, I must tell
you that Carl Yirka passed away on
April 4, 2020, at his home in Straf-
ford, Vt., almost two years after being
diagnosed with a neuroendocrine
tumor (a rare aggressive cancer). This
was the same month he retired from
a 30-year career at the Vermont Law
School Library (most recently as its
director). Carl came to Columbia
from Ohio and dreamed of becoming
a Slavic language professor. He some-
college.columbia.edu/cct
how ended up going to the School
of Library Science at Case Western
Reserve and later got a law degree.
Carl leaves behind his wife, Micki;
four children; and three grandchildren.
There you have it. As most of us
are trapped at home by the coro-
navirus, some are celebrating new
grandchildren or holding virtual
cocktail parties. Others are winding
down their careers while others
don’t seem to want to stop. Send in
word of how you are adapting to our
strange new world and what your
plans are!
1975
Randy Nichols
rcn2day@gmail.com
Class Notes will be back in the
Fall issue; until then, stay healthy
and be well.
1976
Ken Howitt
kenhowitt76@gmail.com
Music is back! Need it desperately.
To set the mood, I have Billie Holi-
day performing “Solitude,” which
seems appropriate.
Isolation is not a pleasant task,
but I have been making the best of
it. | dusted off my late wife’s sewing
machine (Singer Stylist Model 833),
learned how to thread it and wind
the bobbin, and then went to town
making masks for the family and
friends. | am down to 30 minutes
for production time for each mask.
Thank goodness someone posted
directions on YouTube for the
Singer Stylist Model 834, or I would
have had only a dust-free sewing
machine for display.
I also decided to go full-in on
Zoom. | have been joined on a few
calls by classmates: Rich Rohr, Den-
nis Goodrich, Jon Kushner, Tibe-
rio Nascimento, Rich Feldman
and George Munoz are among the
attendees. Aside from the Class of
76 calls, I have hosted some WKCR
sports department and family Zoom
get-togethers as well. I also have a
standing call with a BC’76 classmate
who lives in Egypt. We have been
regularly talking for over an hour
each week, and it certainly makes me
feel less isolated. It is very interest-
57 CCT Summer 2020
ing to share perspectives on isolation
from halfway around the world.
Rich, Jon and George are all
in the medical field, and their
perspectives on the crisis are very
interesting. I received an email from
another doctor, Brian Smith, who is
the head of the Division of Oral and
Maxillofacial Surgery at the Cooper
University Health Care Trauma
Center in Camden, N.J. Brian
summed it up this way: “Obviously
crazy times. Life continues to be an
adventure. Tell everyone stay safe.”
Michael Musto is also using
Zoom. Michael was the longtime
nightlife columnist for The Village
Voice. He reports, “I’ve found a whole
new world of connection on Zoom.
I have my [private] Movie Club
there, and I’m even doing interviews
there. Inside Edition contacted me to
be a commentator for a story, then
put that on hold, but they’re now
going to interview me on Zoom.”
Augustinus Ong PH’91 is in
New Hampshire at the Division of
Public Health Services, where he says,
“We are dealing with the COVID-19
health crisis. Please note that all of our
public health service folks are doing
the utmost to provide a unified com-
mand and guidance to our citizens,
to maintain all of our emergency
response capabilities and deliver
medical services to our patients. | am
glad to be part of our statewide teams
and with our federal partner agen-
cies working together to ‘flatten the
COVID-19 curve.’ It remains [to be]
very hard work in the coming months
for everyone. | wish you and your fam-
ily, and our beloved Columbia College,
a safe journey through this crisis.”
I heard in early April from Joe
Graif BUS’78; he is in the middle
of selling his house in Virginia. Did
not get any details, but [ hear from
Joe often and will fill in the blanks
next time.
I do get those kinds of emails a
lot — with few details, but good
info. Our reunion head honcho,
Steve Davis LAW’79, emailed the
following: “Crazy times. I’m work-
ing 8:00 a.m.—11:30 p.m. seven days
a week on client emergencies.”
Another lawyer, the esteemed
John Connell, emailed to ask me
for my cell number. I replied imme-
diately, and he replied, as well: “Fine.
Just catching up. Talk soon.”
Well, John, I am still waiting for
that call. Kind of reminds me of my
dating successes in college.
alumninews \)
Columbia shut down and our
class had one event casualty — the
third annual Dr. Saul and Dorothy
Kit Film Noir Festival, which was
scheduled for the last weekend of
March. As previously recounted,
Gordon Kit is responsible for this
great weekend of viewing. So, I have
saved the last update for him, which
I received in early April (just to give
you a time frame for his narrative):
“Safe and sound here in Wash-
ington, D.C. — not much has
changed. I’m still in my retirement
routine of reading, watching movies,
gardening, playing with and walking
the dog, and cycling, though I now
go to the grocery store at 7:00 a.m.,
when almost no one is there. The
only change is I’m not going on any
trips/adventures, having returned
from India in early February before
the world started sheltering in place
— ie., COVID-19 was only hitting
China at the time.
“This year’s Kit Noir Film Festi-
val was canceled due to COVID-19.
We will probably run the same pro-
gram/speakers/films that we planned
to run in 2020 in March 2021, since
that is basically all planned out and
requires only minor tweaking.
“My bike trip in mid-May in
Israel was also canceled, owing in
part that the trip is eight days, and
Israel currently has a 14-day self-
quarantine policy for non-Israelis
entering the country. I was also
planning to spend two days in Petra
after the bike trip.”
As for me, I am watching the
world go by the windows of my
condo in Hoboken (building is circa
1900, so don't be too impressed). I
still have furniture (mainly book-
shelves) that I acquired or built for
my first post-Columbia apartment
on West 111th Street. | am cooking
up a storm. Since I eat gluten-free,
takeout is a challenge. I am also
baking quite a bit. Still trying to
learn to play the piano — you would
figure that since I started at 9 years
old, that I should be able to do it
pretty well after 55 years. Not so, but
it is great to have a piano for Tiberio
Nascimento’s visits.
My three children and one grand-
daughter are all close by, and if I want
to drive by and wave, traffic is pretty
light. Even the Cross Bronx Express-
way to get to my daughter’s Bronx
apartment is moving pretty well.
I use an elliptical in my home for
exercise (that’s my story and I am
sticking to it!), and also still get on
the bicycle occasionally to go around
Hoboken and Hudson County in
New Jersey.
However, I do miss Manhat-
tan, theater and Morningside
Heights. These updates, though, are
inspirational. The world is still out
there, and when it opens up again,
the revised version will have to be
learned, conquered and enjoyed. I
cannot think of a better group to do
that with than all of you. So, please,
keep yourself and your family safe,
be careful and stay in touch.
Most of all, to our classmates in
the essential services during this
crisis, ] am sending you a big lion
hug for what you are doing in your
communities to protect all of us.
E77
David Gorman
dgorman@niu.edu
In March, I found that I had some
extra time to reflect and reminisce.
One thing that came back to me
about my college years was how
fond I was of a phrase popular at the
time: “You never expect the Spanish
Inquisition!” That theme of stuff you
don't expect feels a bit different now,
especially given my age. I mean, I
didn’t expect to be in a risk group
for the virus: Weren't at-risk people
always my kids, or my parents, or
anybody aside from me?
A number of classmates reached
out around the time of the onset. |
was very pleased to hear from my old
friend Harold Lehmann. And how-
ever things may go from here, | hope
that others will reach out as well.
Don Hare sent good wishes
(which I second) to classmates in
the New York metro area. About
his own area he reports, “Houston
is struggling with the virus but
also with global oil and gas market
issues, surrounding price per barrel.
We are facing more bankruptcies,
consolidations and closures in the
oil patch.”
Jess Lederman BUS’80 is at
work on “a novel that takes place
in 1955, the year many in the Class
of’77 were born.” He adds that
his previous novel, Hearts Set Free,
continues to win critical praise.
Professor Franco Mormando,
chair of the Department of
Romance Languages and Literature
college.columbia.edu/cct
at Boston College, has discovered
that one of his past research topics,
“the effect of the bubonic plague on
Italian society, art and literature,”
has suddenly gotten media buzz.
He was interviewed for an article
in The Wall Street Journal, “In Italy,
Contagion Has Its Own Canon”
(published in the Weekend Review
for March 21-22). Not only that,
this semester he is also teaching his
seminar, “The Plague in Italy: From
Boccaccio to Manzoni.”
Wow.
While he was on the topic,
Franco mentioned the exhibition
that he and Thomas Worcester
co-curated in 2005 at the Worcester
Art Museum, “Hope and Heal-
ing: Painting in Italy in a Time of
Plague, 1500-1800.”
Hope and healing to all class-
mates, and their friends and family.
1978
Matthew Nemerson
matthewnemerson@gmail.com
No news this time. Be well, and let’s
stay connected. Send me a note for
the Fall issue.
1079
Robert Klapper
robertklappermd@aol.com
News from Mark Fleischmann:
“After 45 years as a professional
writer/editor, I have published my
first work of fiction, the Kindle-
only novella Schwap and the Tomb of
Diamonds. ’m using a pseudonym,
M.R.K. Walker, because if your
name were Fleischmann, wouldn't
you change it as soon as you had the
chance? For more information, see
quietriverpress.com.”
Tom Costigan is senior developer
for Promontory Interfinancial
Network in Arlington, Va. He lives
in Falls Church, Va., with his wife of
39 years, Lucy Buchness. Their son,
Nolan, recently earned an M.S. in
data analytics from George Mason
University and is a contract admin-
istrator in Leidos’s Department of
Defense practice. Nolan recently
became engaged to Miriam Roberts,
targeting a wedding date in October
(stay tuned). Tom continues in his
role of chair of the Northern Virginia
58 CCT Summer 2020
contingent of Columbia’s Alumni
Representative Committee; he
encourages all alumni to join ARC
and interview future Columbians.
Erik Swenson LAW’82 reports
that he finally makes good. After
nearly 38 years of “Big Law,” practic-
ing in the energy regulatory and
commercial space, Erik became the
director of the Pro Bono Institute’s
Law Firm Pro Bono Project in
March. At PBI, his initial focus will
be on harnessing available capacity
within the legal community to tackle
the increased demand for free and
low-cost legal services stemming from
the impact of COVID-19 around
the globe. Speaking of COVID-19,
Erik is joined in celebrating his new
position by his wife, Kathy (a Freddie
Mac compliance officer); his children,
Sarah (a William & Mary senior),
Andrew (an Indiana University
freshman) and Amelia (a high school
sophomore); and his rescue dog, Tip-
per (a Labrador Retainer — similar
to a Labrador Retriever, but she keeps
the ball when you throw it), all of
whom are as of this writing respec-
tively working, studying and lounging
at home in a Virginia suburb of
Washington, D.C., due to the virus. In
his spare time, Erik enjoys astronomy,
hiking, photography, sailing and
tinkering, all of which, thankfully, are
compatible with social distancing.
Michael Daswick says he has
been reading and enjoying the
column for a long time. He writes
from Arizona: “My wife and I left
SoCal decades ago and moved to
Scottsdale, where I became involved
in golf course and real estate devel-
opment. That was fun but I traded
it for even more fun and owned
Scottsdale’s busiest dog shop, a great
joint called BellyRubz, for 12 years.
Sold that a year ago and am now
happy to report I’m finally putting
my Columbia English degree to
work. I’m a full-time novelist.
“For more than 40 years I’ve been
writing behind the scenes, stockpiling
pages. In the last year, Pve published
four books. My opus novel, Chip
Rock and the Fat Old Fart, is based
on characters from short stories that
Professors Wallace Gray and Karl-
Ludwig Selig ‘commissioned,’ back
in the day. Professor Gray always
encouraged me to take the Chip
Rock stories and build them into a
novel; well, he finally got his wish.
My fifth book is about Zin Mignon,
a 13-year-old wonder-boy chef; it’s
alumninews ‘<)
the third in the Zin series and will be
published later this year. All this stuff
is on michaeldaswick.com and all the
book sites.
“While the non-academic memo-
ries along Broadway surpass anything
I ever learned in a classroom, I have
a favorite memory of being invited to
join Professor Selig’s colloquium my
junior year. It was a big honor to take
the venerable four-point class once
a week, 6-10 p.m., with 10 dudes
sitting around a big round table in
a conference room next to Selig’s
office. The first week’s book was
David Copperfield. Vl never forget,
the guy on my left lit up a pipe in the
first five minutes, and the guy on my
right lit up a bigger pipe. The night,
to me, was a free-for-all of scholarly
over-analysis; the next morning |
skulked into Selig’s office and, to his
shock, I quit the colloquium. Selig
tried to talk me out of it but I stuck
to my guns and finally he says I’m in
very good company — all by myself
— because in all his years teaching
the class, nobody has ever resigned
but me. And if you knew Selig, I
therefore gained his utmost respect.
“T’ve been married 30 years to Kim,
who’ a great wife and mom, and a
nurse at the Mayo Clinic here. We
have three terrific kids, and ’'m lucky
to be heavily involved in the children-
with-special-needs community. If
youre in Arizona, please say hello.”
Daniel Matathias also checked
in to say he is reading and enjoying
this column. We hope to hear his
news soon.
Robert C. Klapper: “This
Columbia memory comes courtesy
of my 2-year-old grandson's animal
picture book. After the customary
pages of big cats, elephants and a
hippopotamus, they got to birds.
There was the eagle, the hawk, the
buzzard and, off in the corner, a
pheasant. The sight of this obscure
bird in the corner of the page trig-
gered a most enjoyable memory.
“In my freshman year I was a
member of crew, where the rigorous
training for the eight races that
culminated at the end of the year
involved both indoor and outdoor
workouts. The famous ‘tanks’ housed
in the basement of Low Library,
where one could simulate rowing on
the Harlem River during the dead
of winter, were quite convenient and
so was the ergometer machines at
Levien Gymnasium. But the real
exercise occurred near the boathouse
at Baker Field in the part of New
York known as Spuyten Duyvil. I
remember fondly the cobblestone
roads next to Seaman and Dyckman
Streets and what seemed like some
of the oldest non-gentrified avenues
in all of Manhattan. Training on
the river was certainly a key part of
practice, but before we got on the
river there was a mandatory five-
mile run before each practice.
“When I think back to the
coaches I had during my time on
freshman crew, it reminds me of
Woody Allen’s line, “Those who can't
do, teach. And those who can’t teach,
teach gym.’ Anyway, it was on one
of these mandatory five-mile runs
that brings me back to the idea of a
pheasant for this column.
“There was a park, I believe
called Inwood Park, where most of
the five-mile run took place. This
park was so isolated, it remained
untouched by even the early settlers
and native Americans who lived in
Manhattan. It was on this course
one morning in running through
this enchanted forest that I met
a bird — a most beautiful bird. It
quickly scampered out of my way.
It was the most unusual wild bird I
had ever seen. When I returned to
the boathouse and asked the coach
what kind of bird it was, he told me,
‘Oh, what you saw was a wild pheas-
ant. They still thrive in this park.’’To
this day ’m amazed that living in
Manhattan, in 1975, was a bird so
wild that even Margaret Mead BC
1923, GSAS 1929 and the Colum-
bia anthropology department could
forego their visits to Papua New
Guinea looking for strange creatures
from the past and plant themselves
at the end of the IRT subway line
— who knows what they might find
in Inwood Park?
“Tt is funny to think that now,
45 years later, ’m pretty sure if I
replicated my run and I did see a
pheasant, he probably would be
holding an iPhone!
“I hope this story sparks a fond
memory in your mind as well. Roar,
Lion, Roar!”
1980
Michael C. Brown
mcbcu80@yahoo.com
As I write from the epicenter of
pandemic, NYC, I am amazed at the
college.columbia.edu/cct
outpouring of kindness and goodwill
that we have shown each other in
these trying times. The calls, emails,
texts and Zooms from classmates,
family and friends have been amaz-
ing and greatly appreciated. No
doubt our world will change, but I
am optimistic that we will come out
of this better than ever.
While we had a wonderful week-
end planned for our 40th reunion,
we'll have lots to look forward to at
our 45th in 2025 instead! I cannot
wait to see you all and share some
good stories from our time on
Morningside Heights. I thank the
Reunion Committee — Jeffrey
Field, Van Gothner, Steve Kane,
Pat DeSouza, Jim Gerkis and
Neil Sader, and Columbia College
Fund staff member Michael Marino
— for all their hard work and atten-
tion to our class. We did a straw poll
of our favorite places; I hope this
brings back some memories:
Best Bar: The West End
Best Bar below 110th: Cannon’s Pub
Best Sandwich: Mama Joy’s
Best Diner: Tom’s Restaurant
Best Band: Needle Dik
Best Pizza: V&T
Best Dorm: Carman
Best Professor: Karl-Ludwig Selig
Best Sam Painting: E/vis on the Moon
It was great to see Dr. George
Yancopoulos GSAS’86, PS’87 of
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Bob
Hariri of Celularity on the front lines
in the fight against the coronavirus.
Both are developing cures and novel
approaches on immunity.
Once again, hope to see you in
the fall! Drop me a line.
1981
Kevin Fay
kfayO516@gmail.com
As this column is written, we are
all dealing with the effects of the
coronavirus and, as the class cor-
respondent, I wish everyone good
health; this, too, shall pass.
I heard from Richard Baugh,
who in February became a
grandfather of two (both girls and
equally beautiful!). Richard has a
daughter in Richmond, Va., and
a son in Fort Lee, N.J. (his son
graduated from Columbia and works
at the Goldstein Lab at Columbia’s
59 CCT Summer 2020
Institute for Genomic Medicine in
Washington Heights). Richard is on
the Harrisonburg, Va., City Council,
finishing up his third term/12th
year, and mulling over a fourth term.
When not dealing with constituents,
he practices law. Harrisonburg is an
historic city and college town in the
Shenandoah Valley (home to James
Madison University, which two of my
daughters attended — go Dukes!).
I also heard from Dr. Rob Can-
ning PS’85, a professor of surgery
at UMassMemorial Health Care.
After P&S, Rob spent seven years
at Montefiore (five in training, two
as an assistant surgeon). He and his
wife, Deval, then moved to Massa-
chusetts. They have two sons, Samir
17, who is halfway through a Ph.D.
in math from UC San Diego, and
Krishna 20, who graduated with a
degree in music. With two children
attending Columbia, Rob and Deval
became frequent visitors to NYC
and are considering retiring to the
Upper West Side (the changes to
the neighborhood have been unbe-
lievable; so much nicer now).
I also heard from John
DeNatale. He and his wife, Mary
Crowley BC’81, have logged
more running miles than any
couple I know (collectively, they’ve
participated in more than 30
marathons!). For his 60th birthday,
John and Mary ran the Paris
Marathon, for the second time,
along with friends from Brooklyn.
They spent the week in France and
had a wonderful time in both Paris
and Biarritz. John’s freshman-year
roommate, Jesse Davis, is still a
close friend and he and John ran the
Brooklyn Half marathon together
last year. (Imagine that, nearly 40
years later and still close friends with
your roommate from Carman Hall!)
John and Mary live in Park Slope
and keep in touch with quite
a few of their Columbia and
Barnard classmates.
To close, please keep a safe
distance from one another until the
virus is over; now that you're work-
ing from home, don’t forget to drop
me a line for CCT (no excuses!).
1982
Andrew Weisman
columbiacollege82@gmail.com
Greetings, gentlemen. As I pen this
latest set of Class Notes, we’re now
es
pers
hea Li)
BASEBALL
Jesse Davis ’81 (left) and John DeNatale ’81 ran the 2019 Brooklyn Half
marathon together.
approximately three months into
the global pandemic. Such a sad and
disconcerting time. On a personal
note, I spent four days in the hospi-
tal in late March with COVID-19.
I’m doing fine now, for which ?m
very grateful! The staff of Saint
Joseph Hospital here in Denver are
extraordinary people. We should
all be grateful for the sacrifices our
nation’s healthcare workers make.
‘They are truly heroic people. Please
take this danger seriously; stay safe
and responsible.
On a brighter note, Ken Gruber
checked in from sunny Florida, even
though he hails from Toronto; he
managed to get “stuck” there riding
out the pandemic while keeping
company with his 88-year-old (and
fun-to-hang-out-with) mom. He
wrote about it for the Miami Herald.
It’s a wonderful, heart-warming
piece and well worth a read.
After being a suit-and-tie hos-
pitality marketing guy for 25-plus
years, Ken (when not stuck in Flor-
ida) has been enjoying self-/semi-
(un)employment, doing everything
from selling vintage collectibles to
leading bicycle tours in Toronto.
It is with a heavy heart that I
must inform you of the passing of
our extraordinary classmate Michael
S. Friedman. Michael was a lawyer,
editor, teacher, publisher and poet,
father to Henry and Joseph, and
husband of 20 years to Dianne Perry.
He died peacefully at 59 on May 5,
2020, in Denver after a prolonged
battle with cancer.
Michael was born and raised in
New York City. He graduated from
the Collegiate School and earned a
B.A. in English from the College.
After earning an M.A. in English
literature from Yale in 1983, he
graduated from Duke Law in 1986.
Michael first practiced in New
York City, at Winthrop, Stimson,
Putnam & Roberts, and later at
Weil, Gotshal & Manges. In 1995,
he moved to Colorado and began his
25-year association with the Denver
firm of Haligman and Lottner.
Michael was also a prolific
writer and editor. He co-founded
the influential literary journal
Shiny (now archived at NYU), and
authored several books of poetry and
fiction. In 2015, a trio of his novels,
Martian Dawn & Other Novels, was
published, to great critical praise.
Michael was wickedly smart, had
a wonderful sense of humor and was
deeply loved by his wife, sons and a
wide circle of friends. He is survived
by his parents, Lester Friedman, of
Great Barrington, Mass., and Sally
Long, of New York City, and his
sister, Deborah, of Atlanta.
I was fortunate to have spent
time with Michael and Dianne,
dining out and listening to live jazz.
college.columbia.edu/cct
Such a wonderful person. He’ll be
greatly missed.
If you have some time on your
hands, and I suspect you do, take a
few minutes and send along any sort
of update youd care to.
1983
Roy Pomerantz
bkroy@msn.com
I write this column knowing that
many of you have been greatly
impacted by COVID-19. At times
like this, we are so fortunate to be
members of the Columbia College
community. College students are
dealing with tremendous uncertainty.
Some were able to return to their
homes, while others had no choice
but to remain on campus. The ability
to support virtual education varies
depending on a family’s financial
resources. It is our responsibility to
guarantee that students can navigate
the many challenges ahead with health
insurance, summer jobs, rigorous
academic courses and stress. We need
to ensure students are able to take full
advantage of the Core Curriculum
and their Columbia experience as they
begin their journey to become leaders
and to change the world.
Columbia has been in the
forefront of this pandemic. The
Bubble at Columbia’s Baker Athlet-
ics Complex at West 218th Street
was converted into a field hospital
for patients with mild COVID-19
symptoms. Dr. David D. Ho and his
team of 25 scientists at Colum-
bia’s medical schools are aiming to
develop therapies that will work not
only against the coronavirus that
causes COVID-19 but also against
a wide variety of coronaviruses that
could infect people in the future.
On a Zoom conference for the
Columbia College Alumni Associa-
tion Board of Directors in April,
Dean James J. Valentini spoke about
the challenges Columbia faces with
remote learning and the efforts he
has made personally to address some
of these challenges. Dean Valentini
teaches a science class every spring,
and his students this past year were
from Europe, Asia and throughout
the United States, he said. The time
differences made it impossible to
teach all his students during the
normal 4 p.m. time slot. He and
many other faculty members there-
60 CCT Summer 2020
fore agreed to teach their class twice
a day. The CCAA board meeting
included Ed Joyce, who stayed with
his family in Amagansett during
April, and Steve Coleman, who
is in Boston but used a background
of Butler Library for the meeting.
Steve noted, “It was the closest I
ever came to being in Butler.”
My family has stayed in Manhat-
tan throughout the pandemic. In
early March, my wife, who is a
physician, stopped going into her
office in midtown and has been
practicing telemedicine from home.
My business has stayed open, as
we supply essential medical items,
including baby thermometers and
health kits. While 98 percent of
retail has been shuttered, several of
my national customers supplying
food and emergency products have
remained open. Due to the scarcity
of thermometers, our hotline has
been busy 24/7 with inquiries
about whether adults can use our
baby thermometers (they can). Our
overseas factory has advised us that
thermometer orders worldwide are
400 percent higher than in previous
years. Our number-1-selling item
last week was infant bandana bibs.
Our suspicion is people are not only
using them for their babies, but also
extending them for adult use.
I also participated in a Columbia
Fund Development Council Zoom
meeting in April. It was clear to
me that my family’s experience in
NYC has not been shared by some
people in other parts of the United
States. We hear the constant din
of sirens. The streets are desolate,
and it is eerie to walk around the
Upper East Side with so few stores
and restaurants open. We are one of
the only families still occupying our
building. The garage in my building
closed. We were still riding our bikes
around the loop in Central Park
when the tents went up, to serve as
temporary morgues. At that point,
my wife and I discouraged the kids
from going to Central Park any
longer and our primary refuge has
been the empty ballfields at Ran-
dall’s Island. My mother lives in an
apartment complex in Queens with
mostly elderly residents. There have
been many COVID-19 deaths there.
My brothers and I have not visited
her since mid-March, to reduce
any risk of infection. One of my
warehouses is in Queens. This is the
epicenter of the crisis. We have had
alumninews
our challenges with personnel and
concerns for our personal safety. In
May, my wife was to return to prac-
ticing medicine in her office. I was
worried about her taking the subway
and having such close contact with
her patients. But | am grateful my
family is well, my business is solid
and I am in regular contact with so
many supportive Columbia friends.
Mark Simon ’84 is with his
family in New Jersey. Mark and
Melissa’s son, Oliver, will attend
Washington University in St. Louis
in the fall. Fellow CCT class cor-
respondent Dennis Klainberg ’84 is
well and sent me a hilarious Pass-
over greeting. Former dean James
McMenamin is with his family in
the Catskills. Mike Schmidtberger
82 and I have been trading emails
about former CU basketball player
Patrick Tape ’20 (who didn’t play
ball his senior year) committing to
Core
Haiku
their apartment and Esme is doing
her school work remotely.
George Wilson: “I’m fine and
sheltering in place with my wife and
two kids at home in Merrick, N.Y.
My daughter Anna is continuing
her sophomore college education
at Villanova via online classes. My
85-year-old mother is in an assisted
living home in Spring Lake, N_J.,
and my 82-year-old father-in-law
is five houses away. [hese are the
people we worry about the most.
I’ve been working from home since
March 24. The world we knew will
not be the same going forward.”
Kai-Fu Lee: “I started Sinovation
Ventures, a technology VC in China,
after leaving Google China. I wrote
the bestselling book 4/ Superpowers:
China, Silicon Valley, and the New
World Order in 2018. | am married
with two daughters, who graduated
from Columbia and from NYU.”
Homer and Shakespeare.
Took Lit Hum with Peter Awn.
Forever grateful.
Duke. I sat next to Andy Gershon
at one of the CU basketball games
in February. He shared with me a
great story about how he played
as a student in a scrimmage with
Columbia great Alton Byrd’79
(who was also at the game). Larry
Momo’73, former CC director of
admissions, is staying with his wife,
Jane BC’73 in Woodstock. Gary
McCready and his wife, Jane, are
home with their son, Charlie, in
New Jersey. Their other kids are fine,
too — Ben is working in Seattle
and Maddie is in Montreal. Eric
Wertzer is freelancing in NYC and
applying his Ken Jackson think-
ing cap on a NYC history project.
Marc Ripp’80 and his wife, Shari,
are in New Jersey. Marc’s daughters,
Brandi’12 and Elena SEAS’14,
are staying in Manhattan. Eric Lee
Epstein; his wife, Michele Shapiro;
and his daughter, Esme Epstein, are
sheltering in place in their East Side
apartment. Esme was taking her sec-
ond half of her junior year studying
in Rome and had to leave early. Eric
and Michele are working hard in
— Mark A. Momjian ’83
Andrew Abere GSAS’91: “After
more than 20 years, I returned to
Columbia to teach in the Depart-
ment of Economics in Spring 2020!
I was pleased and honored to have
been asked to teach a senior seminar,
in which each student writes a
senior research paper as part of the
course requirements. I am teaching
a seminar, ‘Economics of Antitrust
and Regulation, which is a hot
topic given all of the focus on big
tech these days. I am consulting on
antitrust and other matters as an
economist (and sometimes testifying
as an expert witness), and have been
able to leverage my professional
contacts to bring in guest speak-
ers. | have had an attorney who
represents a number of tech firms
and an economist heading up policy
at Google talk with my students
and help generate ideas for topics
for their papers. | last taught at
Columbia in the late 1990s, and I
have found much has changed but
much has also stayed the same.”
Frank Antonelli: “Living in
Charleston, S.C., it is hard to get
college.columbia.edu/cct
together with my Columbia friends,
but I try to keep in touch with Kurt
Lundgren and John McGivney
as often as possible. My company,
Empire Sports Management,
specializes in the golf industry, and
we recently have been expanding
our agency division. We currently
represent six PGA Tour golfers, five
LPGA golfers and 12 Korn Ferry
golfers. We manage golf courses
and celebrity golf tournaments and
recently restarted our golf course
design and construction company,
Maverick Golf Design.
“Family has had a great year and
I am proud of my three sons — Joey
graduated from South Carolina with
a degree in sports management and
works for Empire Sports, Frankie is
a junior at Clemson in the Clemson
Life program and Patrick is a senior
in high school and was named All-
State in basketball and Region Player
of the Year — undecided on college
as of this writing. My wife, Debbie,
is a basketball analyst on ESPN and
recently was inducted into the North
Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Hope
to get a chance to see more Columbia
friends in the future and make new
CU memories!”
Jon Ross recently moved back
to New York City from California,
where he lived in Venice for 33
years. Jon runs the nonprofit Micro-
Aid International, which rebuilds
permanent houses for disaster-survi-
vor families around the world. Since
he’s been back in the city, Jon has
reconnected with Paul Saputo, Eric
Gardner, Marty Avallone, Bob
Montay SEAS’83 and John Albin
84, and has added John Bonomi
to his Board of Directors. He adds,
“T have always been in close contact
with Gardner Semet, who lives
in New Jersey; Bob Kahn, in New
York City; and Bob Gamiel, in
White Plains, N.Y.”
Through the years Jon has
reached out to other classmates
with less effect: “I once was working
in Yangon, Myanmar, when Barry
Obama was there, and I sent a
message, through the embassy, that I
would love to get together and chat
about our days at Columbia. I never
heard back.”
Jon says the Columbia commu-
nity has been incredibly generous
in its support of his humanitarian
organization, which he founded
10 years ago to address a need in
disaster response: “staying focused
61 CCT Summer 2020
on people whose homes were
destroyed, after the world’s attention
has moved on.” Jon reports that
because of their generosity he has
been delighted to catch up with
Kevin Chapman, Ed Joyce, Steve
Coleman, Mike Melkonian ’84 and
me. “It’s an amazing way to recon-
nect with our old friends — through
helping people,” says Jon. Through
the years, other Columbia grads
have sent words of encouragement.
“When I’m out in the field rebuild-
ing houses in third-world disaster
zones, it’s nice to know Columbia
classmates have my back.”
To see what Jon is up to, and
to support rebuilding houses for
disaster-survivor families, check
out microaidinternational.org or
@microaidinternational on Instagram.
Kevin Chapman recently finished
narrating the first two books in his
current crime-thriller fiction series as
audiobooks. You can listen to Kevin
reading his audiobooks, Righteous
Assassin: A Mike Stoneman Thriller,
Book 1 and Deadly Enterprise: A Mike
Stoneman Thriller, Book 2, by picking
one up on Audible or via Chirp,
Nook, Google Play or Kobo. Anyone
who wants to review the audiobook
can contact Kevin via his website to
get a free download. Book number 3
in the series, tentatively titled Lethal
Voyage, is in production and should
be available in 2021.
Our Columbia friendships are
priceless. They are far more impor-
tant than any financial losses. We
have a shared Columbia experience
and history that spans more than
AO years. It is truly a privilege and
honor to be your class correspon-
dent. Be safe!
1984
Dennis Klainberg
dennis@berklay.com
Novel coronavirus be damned!
Nothing can stop the Class Notes
for CC’84. Many thanks to the fol-
lowing contributors for setting down
their quarantinis to send good news:
Roar, Adam Van Doren, Roar!
He writes, “IT continue to teach art at
Yale to undergraduates and enjoy the
yin-yang of splitting time between
hectic Manhattan and the quiet
confines of the leafy campus life in
New Haven. I am also working on a
book about historic landmark sites
alumninews ()
of the American Revolution, which
will combine my paintings of these
sites, along with personal essays on
each one. Otherwise, I am pleased
to report that my daughter, Abbott
19, is working in a law firm. She and
I enjoyed Homecoming last fall and
the crushing 44-8 defeat of Penn.
My son, Henry, is finishing up at
Wesleyan with a focus on philosophy,
and my wife, Charlotte, is busy as a
real estate broker with Corcoran.”
Welcome back, David Gormley!
He writes, “After graduating from
the College, I worked in brokerage
and banking on Wall Street and was
recruited by Citibank. After a few
more years with Citi on Wall Street,
I was asked to join our international
staff. | was posted in Asia and
Europe for the next 20 years. Lots of
good travel with regular trips back
to the head office. Later, I became
CEO of a listed company on the
Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and
then joined Franklin Templeton.
Happy to be back in the United
States with my wife and two sons.”
Mazel tov, Jeffrey Rashba!
He writes, “I guess any entry to
these notes should begin with the
classic term learned in CC (or was
it Lit Hum?): ‘Oy gevailt? I practice
corporate law in Israel with a focus
on international transactions on
behalf of technology and life science
clients. A professional highlight of
the past year (January 2020) was
delivering lectures in Osaka and
Tokyo on Japanese-Israeli joint
ventures. I also enjoyed some terrific
getaways with my wife, Hedy, during
the past year (during the old days
when one could pick up and travel),
with perhaps our favorite being
a week in February in Lapland,
Finland. Cold, but as cool and fun as
anything we have ever experienced
on a vacation. On the homefront,
we were recently blessed with our
first grandchild (a boy, Lavi Gavriel).
We are still trying to adjust to the
novelty of having a boy in the family,
after raising five daughters.”
The life of Doug Lindgren:
Where “Moonlight in Vermont”
meets “Georgia on My Mind.” He
writes, “Like most people around
the country and much of the world,
my family and I are hunkered down
and practicing social distancing as
the COVID-19 crisis continues. My
daughter, a graduate of Dartmouth
and now working in the executive
search business, is down from NYC
until it is safe for her to return to her
apartment. My son will be doing his
senior spring semester at Dartmouth
online from here. While it is great to
have both of them around for a while,
I am sorry that the COVID-19 crisis
has turned their lives upside down.
“T retired from full-time work in
2017 and now limit my professional
activities to board and advisory
work. My wife is an independent
consultant. This has opened up the
possibly of living almost anywhere.
For now, we have decided to split
time between Sea Island, Ga., and
Norwich, Vt. If you are going to
limit your exposure to the outside
world, Sea Island is not a bad place
to do it. I hope the virus will be
under control when we head back
up to Vermont this summer. In the
meantime, we are staying close to
friends and family via text, Face-
Time and Zoom. In fact, we have a
pretty good group of CC’84s hold-
ing weekly virtual cocktail parties at
this stage.”
Call the Mounties! APB on Bob
Zecker! He writes, “I was back in
NYC for Christmas and attended a
house party concert in The Heights.
Terrific concert performed by vari-
ous Columbia alumni who used to
rock the Postcrypt, as well as the
Marching Band scene. Performing
were, among others, Mark Ettinger
86, Wally Griffith, Steve Greenfield
’82 (who exclaimed when he saw
me, ‘All the way from Nova Scotia!’).
In the audience were Steve Holtje
83 and moi. I also ran into Mad-
eleine Frisch BC’86, who starred
in Barnard’s Gilbert & Sullivan
Society's The Pirates of Penzance
as Mabel. (Sadly, Dennis ‘g(tb)2’
Klainberg was not in attendance.)
This was a wonderful musical event,
but also a touching example of the
Columbia, and human, spirit. May
we all stay safe and be there for each
other in these stressful times.”
Tom Gilman had to cut short
a monthlong Southwest road trip
with his wife, Sue Corwin Gilman
BC’85, due to you-know-what, but
not before encountering a rattle-
snake, an earthquake, a mountain
lion and the Beebs.’Tom’s company,
IDEXX, offers a four-week sab-
batical after 10 years’ service, which
Tom has recently achieved. ‘The trip
started in Phoenix and continued
to Arizona’s Tucson, Ajo and Yuma,
then to California’s San Diego and
Los Angeles; the rest of the trip
college.columbia.edu/cct
Submit
was to include Palm Springs, Death
Valley and Las Vegas, but that will
have to wait for another day. The
rattlesnake encounter was at Organ
Pipe Cactus National Monument,
and ‘Tom reports that it definitely
gets your attention. The earthquake
was in Yuma (the world’s sunniest
place — who knew?), was a 5.5 and
added a little extra excitement to
the cocktail hour. The mountain lion
was spotted in Yuma as well, in a
park near the Colorado River — a
magnificent and rare sight. And in
another magnificent and rare sight-
ing (no?), Justin Bieber appeared
in a purple Porsche heading up
Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles.
All in all, a great trip, and here’s to
finishing it very soon!
At the time of my e-blast
requesting updates, I was saddened
to learn that playwright Terrence
McNally ’60 died from complica-
tions related to COVID-19. As one
of the CC’84 flag bearers at Class
Day 2013, I was privileged to hear
him speak lovingly of Columbia and
his career. You can find his complete
speech at college.columbia.edu/
node/4816. Given our current state
of affairs, here are some of his more
prescient remarks: “Besides, good
or bad, advice is easy. I don't have a
lot for you. Be nicer to people, wash
your hands more frequently, count
to a 100 at least twice before asking
someone to marry you. Be useful,
keep your word. Reread that email
before you hit the ‘send’ button.
Don't put compromising photos of
yourself on Facebook. ‘That’s about
it.” [Editor’s note: See “Obituaries.” |
Stay healthy, all.
ED
CCT welcomes Class Notes
photos that feature at
least two College alumni.
Click “Contact Us” at
college.columbia.edu/cct.
62 CCT Summer 2020
1985
Jon White
jw@whitecoffee.com
Not that long ago, I had anticipated
writing this column immensely. We
would be gearing up for reunion,
we would be getting tons of updates
from classmates (whether attending
or not) and it would be an exciting
time to reminisce ... so much for
that. How things have changed.
More importantly, my greatest
hope is that you and your loved
ones are safe and healthy. Too many
of us will know someone directly
impacted by COVID-19. My wife,
Allison, had a presumed case, but
fortunately it was relatively mild and
she recovered without issue. [hank
goodness the rest of my family has
avoided other health issues to date.
Unfortunately, the economic
impact of the virus, short- and long-
term, remains potentially bigger than
9-11, the 2008 recession or Hurricane
Sandy, and so many of us have been,
and will continue to be, impacted by
the consequences. As of late April,
NYC's shutdown has so dramatically
impacted hospitality, retail and tour-
ism that it may take many months,
or even several years, to see a full
rebound. My own business world has
been significantly challenged, and has
never been so uncertain.
More than ever, this is a great
time to reconnect and touch base.
I encourage everyone to use this
column to share how you are doing,
how you are surviving and how you
are adapting during this crazy time.
I was particularly interested in
our classmates who are overseas.
Sebastian Sperber LAW’88 has
multiple global hotspots covered
— his daughters are in NYC, and he
and his wife live in London. He says,
“We are all fine. London is really
quiet and shut down, very eerie.”
Michael Nagykery resides in
Saint Paul de Vence, France, just
outside of Nice and not far from the
Italian border. He writes, “It just so
happens that I had been skiing in
the Italian Alps with my 8-year-old
son, Aslan, in late February, just as
the coronavirus became a big thing
in Italy, and in Lombardy in particu-
lar. Thankfully, we were not affected
directly and remain healthy.
“Working as an independent in
the tourism and trade show fields,
alumninews
though, has meant a slight reduc-
tion in activity (he says, with mild
understatement, as the entire season
is likely canceled ... ). So I focus on
what is important (as I have done
heretofore): My family/my son, his
well-being, home schooling, tending
our garden, planting a vegetable gar-
den and preparing the pool for a new
season, as well as focusing on some
projects that have been on the back
of my mind for quite some time. I am
of the optimistic sort and so remain
cheerful, and try to spread that cheer
(which may soon be more difficult
to achieve, since we will likely be
required to wear masks in public).
I steer clear of doom-and-gloom
thinking and do a lot of cooking and
baking, often with helping hands.
Keeping one’s head and hands occu-
pied is quite therapeutic. Knowing
your goals is even more so.
“Also, I trusted Aslan to cut my
hair a few days ago. It is nice and
short and a bit uneven, but I am
happy and Aslan is ever-so-proud
to have done a good job. The Monty
Python tune, ‘Always Look on the
Bright Side of Life,’ is running
through my brain, and bringing
a chuckle to my lips several times
each day. We've gone through tough
times before and we shall manage
this time as well.”
Kudos to Tom Vinciguerra for his
article in the Spring 2020 issue about
Baseball Hall of Famer Eddie Collins
CC 1907 (“Around the Quads”/"Hall
of Fame”). This article spoke to me
in multiple ways: first, COVID-19
has delayed the baseball season, and
second, my mother has a summer
home in Copkae, N.Y., a small town
in New York’s Columbia County,
immediately north of Collins’s native
Millerton, and whenever I drive home
from there, I pass by the local park,
which has an arch proudly noting
Eddie Collins Memorial Park.
For those who don't live in NYC,
you might have seen that the city’s
economy has been particularly
impacted with near-total closings
in tourism/hospitality, retail and
dining. You might also know that,
like at many universities, Columbia’s
Commencement was canceled,
classes were moved online and the
schedule and format for the fall
semester is uncertain.
And, as you might now know,
our reunion was not held this June.
Thanks again to Heather Paxton for
continuing to update our “Columbia
College, New York Class of 1985”
Facebook page (if you haven't seen
it, please check it out — some great
stuff there!), and to John Phelan
and Leslie Smartt for their leader-
ship on the Reunion Committee,
which will I hope be reconstituted
once plans are finalized.
So, with everything going on,
your updates through this column
are an excellent way to share what
you are doing and what you are see-
ing. Stay safe.
1986
Everett Weinberger
everett6@gmail.com
I'm writing this in early April, dur-
ing a rough period for New York
City, the United States and the
world. My hope is that by the time
you read this, things will have gotten
better with a clearer path to recovery
and rebuilding. I already know that
this disease has caused us to split life
into “before” and “after” COVID-19.
My heart goes out to anyone in our
class who has lost a family member
or friend to the coronavirus.
Jack Crane and David Skoog
sadly reported that their Ruggles/EEC
roommate and lifelong friend Frans
Kramer passed away from a heart
attack on March 6, 2020. They write:
“An expat Dutch national fluent in
four languages, “Tio’ Frans led a rich,
nonlinear life that included founding
an airline in Venezuela as well as
multinational ventures in consulting
and real estate. Never married, Frans
divided his time between Florida and
France’s Loire Valley when not travel-
ing the world. His lifelong passion
was cinema, but he was also a gifted
pianist, photographer and cook. He
was deeply read even by Columbia
standards, a first-class intellect,
but never at a loss for entertain-
ing conversation in any company.
Kids adored him. Even now, we half
expect our dear brother Frans to pop
up again somehow, bearing some
delectable wine, exotic delicacies and
an amusing tale, with photos, of his
journey to the afterlife! Nunc dimittis.”
Jack formed a private Facebook
group to share memories and
photos of Frans with his family
and friends. Email me if you are
interested in participating.
Michael Goldfischer wrote
about another FIJI-organized event
college.columbia.edu/cct
that I hope got in under the wire
for safe dates to host a party. “On
March 7, 2020, at The Stanhope
House in Stanhope, N_J., the second
annual musical festival, Winter-
palooza2, was held featuring three
bands fronted by CC’86 alumni.
The good Doctor and The Outside
Band were the opening act, Jeffrey
Ammeen and his band Charlie
Dont Surf kept the joint rocking
and Sherman Ewing and his band
were the evening’s headliners. It was
a rousing night of music, friendship,
family, FIJI Purple and Columbia
Blue. Also in attendance were
Arthur Ajzenman ’83 and his wife,
Lisa; Dominic DeCicco SEAS’84;
Andrew Upton’85; Dave Madoft’85
and his wife, Donna; Dan Upperco
85; Rick Wolf and his wife, Debi;
Patrick McGarrigle; Jack Merrick;
William Golden; Addison Arm-
strong; Steven Marder; Mark Foss
87; Joe Policastro’87; Stephanie
Scherby’87; Kyra Tirana Barry ’87;
and Lynne Lada Azer’87.
“The annual concert’s proceeds are
donated to a local charity, and this
year’s recipient was The Seeing Eye,
in Morristown, N.J. This nonprofit
is America’s oldest seeing eye dog
breeder and trainer, providing inde-
pendence for the visually impaired.
We raised $5,000 to name a puppy
Jerry, for musical legend Jerry Garcia,
who is our collective musical muse.
1987
Sarah A. Kass
sarahnn29uk@gmail.com
In the midst of the chaos of 2020
thus far, Rebecca Turner’s good
news shines like a beacon. She
writes, “In November, I released my
third album, The New Wrong Way, an
eclectic selection of songs I (mostly)
wrote, with beautiful backing vocals
by Sue Raffman. You can find it
for sale, download and even on vinyl
(!) along with my other projects at
rebeccaturner.net.
“During this crazy time, my
husband/bass player, Scott Anthony,
and I have kept busy producing a
You Tube variety show, Omniana, a
combination of music, poetry, seg-
ments on interesting stuff around the
house and local pets up for adoption,
and a tip bucket for a different chari-
table contribution each week. Friends
have called it calming, eccentric and
63 CCT Summer 2020
zen! It’s provided some structure and
been a good creative outlet.”
Stay safe and healthy! And don't
forget to send me your updates!
1988
Eric Fusfield
eric@fusfield.com
I am writing this column in the
midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,
which finds me self-isolating at
home with my family, like so many
of us. The situation here in the
Washington, D.C., area is no doubt
less stressful than it is for our many
classmates who still live in New
York, but we’ll all continue to worry
for the safety of our communities
until the threat has diminished. I’ve
been speaking by text and FaceTime
with my former Morningside
Heights roommate Lee Haddad,
who is living in Israel under the
same circumstances my wife and I
are: juggling work with full-time
parenting responsibilities, while
occasionally and apprehensively
venturing outside for groceries and
other essentials. The fact that tech-
nology and shared experiences (good
and bad) can bridge the divides of
geography and time so easily is a
fitting reminder of how intercon-
nected our alumni community, and
our world, are.
Thomas Cornfield works in
finance in the Detroit area. “I am a
financial planner with MassMutual
— my team is doing business as
Generational Financial Group.
We help individuals, families and
businesses to achieve their financial
goals,” he writes. “I am based in
Michigan but have clients all over
the country. My hobbies include
playing guitar, bass and other instru-
ments, and doing artwork.”
Bill Seeley SOA’92 is a newly
published author. “The book is a
monograph on neuroscience and the
arts, Attentional Engines: A Perceptual
Theory of the Arts,” Bill says. “It was
published in February.
“In other news, I am alive and
well and live in Maine with my wife,
Christine Donis-Keller BC’91,” Bill
continues. “I teach in the philosophy
departments at UNH Manchester
and the University of Southern
Maine. I returned to Hudson Bay by
canoe last summer after a 21-year
hiatus. I led a 12-day expedition
alumninews
down the Attawapiskat River from
Lansdowne House in early August.
Other than that, I’ve just been ski-
ing, hiking and writing!”
I hope that by the time this col-
umn is published we'll all be living
under happier and freer circum-
stances. In any case, feel free to be in
touch and let me know how you're
doing. Stay safe, everyone.
1989
Emily Miles Terry
emilymilesterry@me.com
I’m writing this column in the midst
of the worldwide pandemic that has
touched all of us in every way. As
of this writing, my mother and my
business partner have fallen ill with
COVID-19. So, like so many of you,
I am filled with worry and my days
are consumed with trying to see a
path to normalcy.
I am dedicating this column to
everyone in our class — all of you —
Core
Haiku
friends. I presume to speak for all
of us when I say my greatest hope
is that you and your family, friends,
health, businesses and other means
of livelihood, comfort and concern
emerge unscathed and with the
opportunity to return to full vitality.
This column reports past news and
some what-ifs, something the class
correspondents are not supposed
to do.
Exciting news for cookies lovers!
In January, Nancy Pak BUS’95
was named CEO of Tate’s Bake
Shop. You’re not familiar with Tate’s
cookies and other deliciousness?
Guess youd better get yourself to the
grocery store (or order for delivery
if we're still living in a COVID-19
nightmare) and try them. While
Nancy’s family finished the school
year in Maine (she'd been VP and
general manager of Tom’s of Maine
for the past four years), she com-
muted between her home in Maine
and her new office/home on Long
Island, where ‘Tate’s was founded and
operates a brick and mortar store.
You won’t get Sappho
until she is read to you
in the ancient Greek
who are engaged in selflessly helping
others, supporting your families and
fighting against the virus every day in
any way we can. | also thank the won-
derful people in the Alumni Office,
as well as the editors at CCT, for their
unrelenting support of our community
and for always providing new ways to
bring us all together. Until our next
issue — be safe, everyone!
1990
Rachel Cowan Jacobs
youngrache@hotmail.com
As I write this column, it’s late
March and we are all living through
a period that is unknown in its
length, scope and outcome. In this
time of uncertainty, which breeds
worry, fear and a reminder of what’s
important in life, it’s been extra
special to hear from classmates and
— John Vincenti 90
Dan Sackrowitz is the proud
father of a bar mitzvah boy, who
celebrated his special day in Israel in
February. While there, Dan caught
up with Peter Neisuler, and texted
me a photo as proof.
An update from Noreen
Whysel: “I now teach two classes
at CUNY City Tech in Brooklyn:
“Web Design P and ‘UX/UI Design.’
My husband, Brett GSAS’99, now
teaches full-time at Borough of
Manhattan Community College.
We are in the process of converting
courses to fully online for the rest of
the semester due to the pandemic.
We had been thinking of moving
downtown or to Brooklyn and
had our apartment on the market
for a while, but took it off [in
mid-March]. We are hunkering
down on the Upper West Side for
the duration.
“More work news: I work with
Mucktracker, an edtech startup,
college.columbia.edu/cct
which hosts an online classroom
for exploring disinformation in
media. Online and news literacy is
a good combination right now. I’m
also converting the Information
Architecture Conference, a three-
track, 60-talk, 10-workshop event
to digital. It’s as hard as it sounds. I
recently hosted a workshop on open
geospatial data at Studio@Butler on
campus and plan to post a write-up
on Medium as soon as | have a bet-
ter feel for my online classes.
“Both kids are home from college.
My youngest took the train from
New Orleans, which is particularly
hard hit by the virus. My oldest left
everything at her dorm at Sarah
Lawrence in Westchester, another
hot spot. My sister’s son in Michigan
recently had a second child, making
me a two-time grand-aunt. ’m
already missing our 30th reunion.”
And so are the rest of us.
In what might become a social
norm, a crowd of classmates got
together on Zoom one night in late
March. Attendees at this “meeting”
full of memories and storytelling
were Lisa Dabney, Craig Nobert,
Dean Temple, Kirsten Mellor,
Karena O’Riordan, Ben Cos-
grove, Jeremy Manning, Jenny
Thompson Harvey, Scott Gauch
SEAS’90, Sean Ryan, Hayley
Jares Kondon, Margaret Flynn
Robison and the Columbia College
Alumni Association’s outgoing
president, Michael Behringer ’89.
We should see the list of CC’90
alumni whose children will join
the Class of 2024 in the Winter
2020-21 issue. As we wait in sus-
pense, I know of at least one super
excited incoming Lion. How many
others are out there?
In my last column, I reminisced
about our 25th reunion dinner
in Low Library. Sadly, the 30th
reunion isn't happening in June, but
I do hope we can all reconnect in
person sooner, not later. Stay healthy
in body and spirt, friends.
1991
Columbia College Today
cct@columbia.edu
Greetings for summer, Class of 1991!
Please send in updates about your
spring and summer to cct@columbia.
edu — your classmates want to hear
from you! If you are interested in
64 CCT Summer 2020
Sean Ryan pee
Several members of the Class of 1990 caught up over a Zoom video chat during the coronavirus pandemic.
taking on the role of class correspon-
dent, feel free to reach out to us at
the email address at the top of this
column for more information.
1992
Olivier Knox
olivier.knox@gmail.com
No news this time, CC’92. Be well,
and let’s stay connected. Send me a
note for the Fall issue.
1998
Betsy Gomperz
betsy.gomperz@gmail.com
Greetings, classmates! I am writing
this issue’s Class Notes on April
18. am noting the date for three
reasons: 1) We’ve just completed
our fifth week of remote work
and school in Massachusetts and
throughout most of the country, 2)
it snowed today in Massachusetts
and 3) it is my younger son’s 12th
birthday. It is a memorable day!
By the time you read this column,
life will have, I hope, begun return-
ing to “normal” (whatever that
might be). This period has been
such a strange time in so many ways
— difficult for many of you, and
filled with silver linings for others.
A huge THANK YOU to our class-
mates working on the front lines
as doctors, nurses and health care
professionals working with patients
in hospitals; those in government,
helping protect our communities;
and those working toward medical
breakthroughs to get us better
testing and vaccines. Among the
doctors, I’ve only had the chance
to talk to Sandi Johnson Murray,
an ER doctor in Connecticut; she
mentioned the exhausting work and
how very, very sick the COVID-19
patients she sees are. Her husband,
Rob, is also an ER doctor facing the
same stresses while they juggle look-
ing after their two boys.
Thank you, Sandi, Rob and
everyone else for what you are
doing to help so many during this
stressful time!
I don’t think P’ve heard the word
“Zoom” so much since we were kids
watching the show on PBS. But in
this new world order, I am so thank-
ful for Zoom, where I’ve been able
to partake in lots of regular, mini-
Columbia reunions! In addition to
hearing from Sandi, I’ve had a blast
Zooming and catching up with
Robyn Tuerk, who is riding things
out in Boca Raton, Fla.; Ali Towle,
who told me about her recent safari
in Tanzania; Jenny Hoffman,
who is in Washington, D.C., but is
looking into where she can move to
beat the curve and homeschool her
teenage kids from a beach on the
Mediterranean; and Patti Lee, who
is moving back to San Francisco
after living in Marin County, Calif.,
for 10 years. During this time of
social distancing, Patti has taken up
e-foiling, where she can be out on
the water and a safe distance away
from others.
I also caught up with Julie
Davidson Hassan and George
Hassan, who are hunkered down
in Mendham, N.J., where they are
grateful for five-acre zoning in their
town, which leaves lots of outdoor
space for their two boys, Aidan and
Gavin, to run around without seeing
anyone else. In catching up with
both George and Kevin Connolly,
I heard that George, Kevin, Matt
Thompson, Chad Moore, Joel
Cramer, Chris Collins SEAS’93
and Craig Collins met up in
Boston for a mini-reunion! The
event that brought them together
was a visit to the Great Marsh
Brewing Company in Essex, Mass.
Chris and Craig’s older brother,
John Collins SEAS’89, recently
opened the brewery.
This past winter, I had the good
fortune to run into Greg Lang
while at a U14 ski race at Suicide
Six in Pomfret, Vt. I had last seen
Greg at our reunion in 2018 and
before that, when we both worked
at Credit Suisse First Boston in
the late 1990s. It turns out both of
our eighth-graders are part of the
Okemo Mountain Resort team
(my older son, Thomas, and Greg’s
daughter, Diane) — but girls and
boys race separately, so we hadn't
run into each other before! Greg is
college.columbia.edu/cct
the CFO at Oceanview Holdings/
Bayview Asset Management and has
been there for two years. He is mar-
ried to Grace Hyun Lang, who is a
pediatric urologist at NYU Langone
Health. They live in Manhattan with
their two kids.
I also heard from Paul Sangillo
LAW’96, who recently released his
first novel, a legal thriller titled The
Golden Prison. The book is about a
young attorney at a top New York
law firm who finds himself in the
middle of a murder mystery with
a suspicious boss (the write-up on
Amazon is much more exciting
than my brief summary!). Paul is the
deputy general counsel at Benjamin
Moore & Co. and lives in Sparta,
N.J., with his wife and family.
Finally, before we all had to
quarantine in our homes and could
still go to sporting events (boy, do
I miss sports!), Thad Sheely was
able to pull off a mini-Columbia
reunion in Atlanta. Thad said it
was a confluence of events that
started with Susan Schmeidler
Blum, who lives in Atlanta with her
husband and two sons, wanting to
go to a Hawks vs. 76ers game, since
she’s from Philadelphia. Thad also
knew that Buck Jenkins lived in
Atlanta and coached Susan's kids
in basketball (Buck is a teacher and
coach in Atlanta), so he got Buck to
attend the same game. Thad has also
been in touch with Omar Sanders
BUS’99 (who works at Vanguard
and lives in Philadelphia) and talked
him into coming to town for the
game. And finally, Alan Freeman’s
son goes to Elon University in
North Carolina, so he and his son
wis
ae -
Stay in
Touch
Let us know if you have a
new postal or email address,
a new phone number or
even a new name:
college.columbia.edu/
alumni/connect.
65 CCT Summer 2020
road-tripped to Atlanta to join the
fun. Thad reports that it was a great
evening and fun to catch up with
this crew (which included Joe Hill
94). For those who are curious, the
Hawks won, 127-117.
That’s all for this column. Stay
healthy and be safe.
1994
Leyla Kokmen
lak6@columbia.edu
The CC’94 column is taking a hiatus
this issue, but we will be back for
the Fall issue! Best wishes for the
health and safety of all members of
the class.
1995
Janet Lorin
janet.lorin@gmail.com
I hope this finds everyone and their
families safe and healthy. It’s been
such a strange time. While we are
disappointed about and understand-
ing of our 25th reunion not taking
place in June, I’m sure we all are
sending empathy to the Class of
2020, who can't experience a tra-
ditional Class Day or Commence-
ment, or even say goodbye.
At least I can share a little bit
about what had been on tap for
Columbia Reunion 2020, which will
be rescheduled at some point. Ross
Venokur had graciously agreed
to tell us about his experiences
in filmmaking. Despite being in
self-isolation in his home in Ojai,
Calif., Ross is remotely directing the
CG-animated feature film The Silk
Road Rally, which he also wrote. ‘The
film is in production in Montreal,
London and Mumbai, and is sched-
uled to be completed in mid-2021.
In the meantime, Ross’s company,
EDH Animation Co-op, which
he founded in 2018 with his wife,
Lenore Quinonez-Venokur, contin-
ues to try to alter the entertainment
industry paradigm by producing
content in true partnership with art-
ists, writers and creators from across
the animation spectrum.
Dan Petroski of Massican Win-
ery had graciously donated wine for
our Saturday dinner.
Demetre Daskalakis has also
tentatively agreed to do a talk. Now,
Columbia College and Barnard friends met up in April 2019 to celebrate Sima
Saran Ahuja BC’96’s birthday. Included in the photo are Sameer Ahuja ’96,
Neil Kothari 96, Parag Gandhi ’96, Raina Gandhi BC’97 (née Bhatt) and Sima
Saran Ahuja BC’96.
we are all proud of his important
work as deputy commissioner at
NYC’s Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene
Thanks to all the frontline health-
care workers doing their difficult
jobs, and the spouses and families
who are supporting them.
I hope to see you all soon. Please
consider sharing an update!
1996
Ana S. Salper
ana.salper@nyumc.org
Dear classmates, I write these notes
from New York as we are approach-
ing the peak of the COVID-19
pandemic in our area. Living in this
dystopian existence has been nothing
short of surreal ... and scary. I hope
you and your families and friends are
well and staying safe. Working for a
healthcare organization during this
pandemic has made me truly appreci-
ate the power and value of human
courage and commitment.
I hope by the time of publication
of this issue that this pandemic will
be behind us. For now, I personally
salute and applaud all of the health-
care workers at my workplace, NYU
Langone Health, and everywhere
around the world who have risked
their lives to save others. You are
tremendous. Thank you.
Now onto the notes. Parag Gan-
dhi moved to Baltimore with his
spouse, Raina Gandhi BC’97 (née
Bhatt), and their daughters, ages 13
and 16. Raina works at American
University’s Kogod School of Busi-
ness in Washington, D.C., while
Parag is developing a subspecialty
practice in oculofacial surgery,
Maryland Eye & Face. Parag also
does humanitarian mission trips,
continuing in the Columbia tradi-
tion of global outreach.
In May 2019, he worked in
Ulaanbaatar and Khovd, Mongolia,
on a surgical and teaching mission
trip through Virtue Foundation
(NYC) to perform reconstructive
oculofacial surgery on adults and
children screened from various
regions of the country. During the
mission trip, he discovered that Dr.
Abraham “Eddie” Barth’77 would
be the anesthesiologist on his surgi-
cal cases. Parag writes that it was
a pleasure working with him and
exchanging stories about the Core
Curriculum and their Columbia
years. He also explored the beauty
and remoteness of western Mongolia.
Parag adds that he caught up
with other CC’96ers in April 2019
on a beautiful rooftop lounge in
NYC to celebrate a milestone
college.columbia.edu/cct
birthday of Sima Saran Ahuja
BC’96. Among the attendees were
Sameer Ahuja, Neil Kothari,
Parag, Raina and other friends from
the Columbia/Barnard family and
their spouses. Parag says that it was
a memorable reunion of college
friends and a chance to celebrate a
dear friend whilst sipping cocktails
and enjoying views of the city that
made it all happen!
Hussein Rashid writes that
his first co-edited book has been
published, Ms. Marvel’s America:
No Normal, and it is about Marvel
Comics’s first Muslim superhero to
headline a series. Hussein says that
while it is written for academic use,
it is really approachable for fans.
Jeremiah Crowell has been
working in the film industry since he
left Columbia. He started out sweep-
ing floors at a sound studio in San
Francisco, then became an assistant
cameraman and then a director of
photography for a decade, making
all kinds of projects. Jeremiah was
nominated for two Emmys during
that time. He became a director, then
a writer, and now is a producer and
showrunner. He says that he tries to
make projects that help us see our
shared humanity so that we can cre-
ate a world we all want to live in. Two
years ago, Jeremiah executive-pro-
duced and directed the series The Last
Defense for ABC, which is about two
likely innocent people on death row.
Most recently he was showrunner
and executive producer on Pandemic:
How to Prevent an Outbreak, a series
for Netflix that he hopes has brought
people some good information and a
little hope during this time. Jeremiah
Columbia
College
Alumni
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Like the page to get
alumni news, learn
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66 CCT Summer 2020
has two sons, ages 10 and 11, and
lives in Park Slope.
That is all I have for you now.
Stay safe and be well. I look forward
to seeing you on the other side of
this pandemic (early call to join me
at our 25th reunion in 2021!). I leave
you with these fitting words:
“There can be no greater gift than
that of giving one’s time and energy to
help others without expecting anything
in return.”
— Nelson Mandela
To 1
Kerensa Harrell
kvh1@columbia.edu
Dear classmates, I hope you are
all doing well and staying safe
amidst the worrisome coronavirus
pandemic. It is my pleasure to pres-
ent the following updates, which I
received in January.
David Simmonds and Claire
Fenton have been married for more
than 20 years and live in Texas,
where they are joyfully watching
their son and daughter (Patrick, 15,
and Hannah, 13) grow into young
adults. David shares: “After 10 years
of building my commercial real estate
company, I’ve recently implemented
a major rebranding as we enter our
second decade, with plans for further
growth and expansion both in Texas
and nationwide. Claire continues to
love her work in secondary education.
Exciting times in Austin!”
David Scharff shares: “A couple
of decades ago, I moved to a Tibetan
Buddhist retreat center, where |
spent a couple of years learning and
practicing that path. Then I moved
down to Los Angeles to bring my
‘altered’ perspective to the entertain-
ment industry. I spent almost a
decade as a writer, composer and
producer. Since then I’ve spent the
last decade as creative director of the
nonprofit grant-making Annenberg
Foundation, including its beloved
Annenberg Space for Photography.
“Parallel to all of my professional
pursuits, | have continued to practice
and teach meditation. Although
peripheral to my career, it has always
remained a central part of my life.
In October I started Compassion
Unlimited. Now, with my new
venture, I’m pulling my two passions
together: providing creative consult-
ing to clients in need of my brand-
David Simmonds ’97 and Claire Fenton ’97 have been married for more than
20 years and live in Texas.
ing mind and eye, and providing
mindfulness and meditation training
in the workplace for both non-profit
and for-profit organizations that
see the value in making mental and
emotional health a priority.
“Bringing together both sides of
my mind — a mind that benefited
greatly from the spirit of inquiry
and discovery fostered by Columbia
College — feels incredible. No more
division between my two passions;
now both portions are on my plate,
ready to be devoured!
“And on a personal note, two
years ago I married my partner of 16
years, Pablo.”
As for me, Kerensa Harrell, as
I sit here wrapping up this column,
it is late March and everyone is
worried about the pandemic that
has just arrived. I hope you all are in
good health in this frightening time.
Sadly, my last remaining
grandparent (maternal grandfather)
passed away on March 23, 2020, at
88. He was a wonderful grandfa-
ther — good-natured, kind-hearted,
fun-loving, sweet, friendly, down
to earth, simple, jovial, dependable,
loved his family and never missed
a family get-together. I was lucky
to have had him in my life for 46
years. | keep trying to remind myself
that he enjoyed a long, full life and
died peacefully of old age. But I am
still heartbroken to have lost him.
He lived about an hour’s drive away
from my home in Florida, so I was
able to visit him frequently, up until
his last three weeks of life, when the
skilled nursing center where he was
residing went on lockdown, due to an
abundance of caution regarding the
pandemic — no visitors were allowed
in an effort to shield the elderly
residents from potential exposure.
My final memory of him was
on March 2. At that time I did not
know that it would be the last time
that I would see him. I was assum-
ing I would simply come back the
next week. He was propped up in his
bed, on oxygen, and the nurse let me
feed him his puréed dinner, since he
was too weak to lift his hands to his
mouth. After I finished feeding him,
I sat down beside him and chatted
with him for a while. My daugh-
ter, Amara (3), was with me, as
usual. She and I were sharing a big
chair, and I placed her tiny toddler
hand on top of his hand because I
thought he might find it comforting.
She then sweetly kept her little hand
on his for a long while as she sat
watching a movie on his television.
He seemed to really like her resting
her hand on his, and he was smiling
down at her with love and adoration
in his eyes. ’m glad my daughter
got to know her great-grandfather
and make some memories with him
in the last three years of his life. He
was a wonderful man and he will be
sorely missed by all who knew him.
college.columbia.edu/cct
I'd like to end with a few lyrics
from a favorite song of my grandfa-
ther’s, from the 1940s when he was a
kid growing up in Kalamazoo, Mich.
This sweet jazz tune also happens to
be a favorite of my daughter's:
A, B,C, D, E, Rk GH
‘T got a gal in Kalamazoo ...
“Years have gone by
‘My, my, how she grew ...
“Hoppin on a flyer, leavin’ today ... ”
Blessings to all, and please do
send me your updates. In Jumine Tuo
videbimus lumen.
1998
Sandie Angulo Chen
sandie.chen@gmail.com
Hello, Class of 1998. I hope that
by the time this issue is available,
we've gotten over the worst of the
pandemic and are back to whatever
new-normal lies ahead. On behalf
of our class, a heartfelt thank you to
every classmate who's a healthcare
provider, hospital staffer or educator,
or works in any other capacity that
helped keep us safe and sane during
this time.
But now for a slightly less formal
Class Notes column.
Dennis Machado chimed in on
our Class of 1998 Facebook page:
“T’ve fulfilled my lifelong dream
of being able to sit at home for six
weeks straight and not have to com-
mute to work or drive to a single
kids’ event the entire time. Hope
everyone is staying safe!”
Sarah Kawasaki added: “I will
add to Dennis’s well-thought-out
vision for the Class of 98 notes,
Reality Bites-style, by saying that
after two weeks of treating patients
in clinic for opioid use disorders,
I am looking forward to the next
month of telecommuting from
home, crushing it sans pants. My
kids are similarly crushing it.”
Kei Ishidoya mentioned that
she has lived in London for quite
a few years (and reminded us all
that “pants” in the United Kingdom
doesn’t mean trousers).
Lea Goldman started a podcast,
Hazmat Hotel, in which she inter-
views experts from various fields
about the impact of the coronavirus.
One of her episodes features Beth
Roxland, a bioethicist and former
6/7 CCT Summer 2020
executive director of the New York
State Task Force on Life and the
Law. You can find Hazmat Hotel on
Spotify or Anchor.fm.
My husband, Hans Chen 97, and
I continue to live in the Maryland
suburbs of Washington, D.C., where
we've been sheltering in place with
two teens and one tween thrilled
with their at-home curriculum of
baking, embroidering, tying knots
and watching their parents’ favorite
childhood movies. Kidding aside,
our oldest son, Elias, has graduated
from high school and will attend
Williams College in the fall.
Too
Adrienne Carter
Jenna Johnson
adieliz@gmail.com
jennajohnson@gmail.com
No news this time, but best wishes
for the health and safety of CC’99
and your loved ones. Be well, and
let’s stay connected.
2000
Prisca Bae
pb134@columbia.edu
I hope that the members of CC’00
are safe and healthy. I’m sorry that
we didn’t have reunion this spring to
catch up in person. Best wishes for
your health, and I hope that we can
connect soon.
2001
Jonathan Gordin
jrg53@columbia.edu
Hi all, it’s such a strange time right
now. | write this from my house in
Los Angeles, under quarantine, and
you, like me, might be looking for
as much human interaction as you
can get. Sure, there’s all those Zoom
calls I do for my job, but I miss real
social interactions with friends so
much. It makes me truly wistful for
my Columbia experience. Which
brings me to the column... I was in
a writing rut, and then I reached out
to about a third of you with a blind
note, and I got the following back.
Don't worry, I’m coming for the rest
of you soon. Be in touch!
alumninews ()
Sofia Berger SEAS’02 lives in
NYC “with my husband, Alex, and
our daughters, Francesca (3) and
Catalina (8 months). I still hang out
regularly with all my favorite CC’01
ladies from Carman 11!”
Katie Campion Land is building
a house in Tulsa, which should be
done by summer! She took her two
daughters to campus last summer.
Vanessa Bouché (née Gerace)
writes: “I can't believe it’s been almost
20 years since our Columbia days!
My husband, Noel, and I have two
daughters. ’m a professor of political
science at Texas Christian Univer-
sity and, most recently, co-founder
of Savhera (@savherawellness), an
essential oil wellness and lifestyle
brand that provides sustainable liveli-
hoods to survivors of sex traficking.”
Sara Batterton BUS’07 writes:
“We are all good here in Washing-
ton, D.C. Michael Kerin SEAS’01
and I had our second child last
September, a boy named Noah. Big
sister Sadie (4) is proud and doting.
Sadie had her first meaningful trip
to NYC in December and briefly
set foot on College Walk to see the
holiday lights. She hopes to return
again soon to see the statue of Alex-
ander Hamilton — she’s learned a
lot about him in her short life and
is very proud to say Mom and Dad
went there, too.
“Michael is a director of real estate
development for ‘The St. James, a
growing network of sports, entertain-
ment and wellness complexes. The
company’s flagship venue is in Spring-
field, Va. (outside D.C.), with a second
facility already in design for outside of
Chicago. | am an independent con-
sultant supporting a variety of strategy
and operations projects in the K-12
education sector. We'd love to make
sure we get together with fellow ‘01ers
in D.C. (or visiting) this year!”
Samantha Earl has been living
in Philadelphia since 2016 with her
husband, Frank, and kids (George, 6,
and Maud, 4). Sam earned a master’s
in city planning from MIT in 2012.
“T am a consultant for World Monu-
ments Fund (where I worked for five
years in NYC) on an historic preser-
vation project at the Forbidden City
in Beijing,” she writes. “My kids go
to Germantown Friends School and
we live with our dog, Lulu, and cat,
Bob, in the art museum area.”
Elissa Curtis JRN’06 is deputy
director of photography at The Wall
Street Journal in New York. She had
her second daughter, Lenox, on Janu-
ary 22; Lenox joins big sister Hunter
(2), whose birthday is January 23.
Congratulations, Elissa!
Devin Fitzpatrick reports: “T
moved out of NYC after 20 years
and now live in Baltimore with my
husband, William, and my daughter,
Caroline (3). I started my own
company, CDF Consulting, which
specializes in e-commerce and digi-
tal marketing advisement, so I still
get back to the big city for visits and
to see many of my friends from CU:
Meghan Sweeney Dalton-Orbin,
Jane Jhun, Brynn Saracusa and
Tori Brennan. It is great meeting
back home in Baltimore, as Tom
Nelson and Heather Nelson are
here, too, with their kids.”
Janelle Archondo (née Joa-
quim) resides in Roslyn, N.Y., with
“my husband and my kids, Graydon
(11) and Dia (9). Spent the first 15
years of my career in private banking
and transitioned to commercial
banking (middle market) at Bank of
America four years ago.”
Andrew Danberg-Ficarelli
writes: “I live in South Boston, but
return to Columbia every December
for the annual crew alumni banquet
in Low Rotunda with my ’01 varsity
teammates. I finished my graduate
degree and postgrad residency to
become a pediatric dentist in 2012
at Tufts Dental, and last year opened
a practice in Chestnut Hill, Mass.,
Boylston Street Dental Group.”
Dr. Rachel Goodman is the
Elliott Associate Professor of Biol-
ogy at Hampden-Sydney College.
She reports: “I love teaching my
small biology classes at a liberal
arts college with a core curriculum
similar to that of Columbia. I'll be
department chair next year, and
the following year we move into a
new $40 million science building!
I’ve recently been doing research
on pathogens in herpetofauna in
Virginia and Hawaii, and will start
working in Ecuador this summer.”
Elaine Shen lives in NYC, “in
fact in the same neighborhood as
Columbia! It’s weird to see all those
students and even some of the same
professors,” she writes. “I work at
The New York Times on a team that
does training on new story forms and
reporting/workflow. My kids are 8
and 3, which I know are the golden
years of the parent/child relationship.
It’s just sometimes hard to keep in
mind when we're rushing to school
college.columbia.edu/cct
and my 3-year-old insists on wearing
two jackets and walking backwards.”
Marisa De Saracho Lewin “lives
in a Seattle suburb, and is a stay-at-
home mom to two rug rats (6 and
2.5).” She adds, “I last worked outside
of the home as labor and delivery
R.N. six years ago in Los Angeles.”
Nora Abramson: “T live in
Washington, D.C., with my husband,
Dave Nathan, and our sons (3.5 and
5.5 — they are big on the halves
right now). | am a management and
evaluation consultant to schools,
nonprofits and after-school programs.
Iam VP of the board of Operation
Understanding DC, a high school
leadership program that aims to build
a generation of African-American and
Jewish community leaders, trained
to work toward ending all forms of
discrimination. My family is lobbying
me for a dog and my kids are obsessed
with Legos.”
Tamara D’Anjou-Turner writes,
“Tm a psychologist in private practice
and faculty at Georgia State Univer-
sity since 2018. I recently was a first-
time guest on a podcast and planned
to be a guest again in March.”
Kjell Carlsson is married to
Huong Trieu BC’01. “We have
two kids, Kat and Cato; live in
Newton, Mass.; and, much to my
surprise, now advise companies on
artificial intelligence, which is a bit
ironic because I switched from my
computer science major to econ ... I
got to the course on Al and thought
that neural networks and heuristics
were useless; I was right for just over
a decade; now the joke’s on me!”
Tim Fourteau is an attorney with
Latham & Watkins. He is a transac-
tional attorney, working in the energy
and infrastructure sector across Asia,
based out of Singapore. Tim is hap-
pily married with 6-year-old triplets.
Joe Cook lives in Chicago with
his wife and four young daughters. He
writes, “I am an attorney and a major
in the Air Force, currently assigned to
the Illinois Air National Guard. Here
are some updates on classmates:
“My former roommate Noah
Ochsenhaut also lives in Chicago
and is an AP history teacher at
Lane Tech College Prep H.S. Matt
Robertson recently came through
Chicago and we met up. He lives
in Virginia with his wife and son.
Eric Allbin was in Chicago this past
spring and we were able to hang
out, as well. He lives in the San
Francisco area with his wife and
68 CCT Summer 2020
son. Kimball Payne came through
Chicago last summer and we went
to a Cubs game. He lives in Virginia
with his wife, son and daughter. My
sophomore year McBain roommate,
Avery Moseley, is doing well,
living in California with his wife
and young daughter. And one of our
senior year East Campus room-
mates, Chris Schaffer ’02, is also
doing well, living in Connecticut
with his wife, son and daughter.”
‘Thanks, everyone, for these great
updates. Stay well and in touch!
2002
Sonia Dandona Hirdaramani
soniahird@gmail.com
Dear friends, I hope you and your
loved ones are safe during these
unprecedented times. I would love to
hear updates on your experiences and
life during the time of the coronavirus
pandemic, and especially from those
of you on the front lines; we thank you
for your efforts. Stay safe, everyone!
Rupal Patel’s second venture,
Entreprenora, a community of and
for women founders and C-level
leaders who are focused on getting
to the top of their careers and
industries, was recently featured in
Hlarper’s Bazaar.
Leonard “Lenny” Braman
was elected to the Fairfield, Conn.,
zoning commission. His wife, Annie
Green, and their children — Gwen
(6), Spencer (4) and Quincy (1) —
are all doing well.
Jeffrey Anderson announces
the birth of his third child, Jeffrey
Michael Anderson Jr., born on
December 22, 2019. His also has
twin daughters, Charlotte and
Sophia (2). Jeffrey’s father passed
away on January 21, 2020; Jeffrey will
continue to run the family construc-
tion company, Gryphen Services, in
Southern California. He is also head
coach for the St. John Bosco H.S.
wrestling team; they recently took
second place in at the CIF State
Wrestling Championships.
Mike Mellia directed Tory
Burch’s new fashion campaign
using video compositing and special
effects to create a surreal world of
creative accidents.
Last year Michelle Ng married
Christopher Reynolds; she is VP of
retail merchandising at CELINE in
New York City.
alumninews \<)
2003
Michael Novielli
mjn29@columbia.edu
It’s been a challenging few months
for the world, making it difficult to
avoid hearing bad news wherever
we go. But during times like this it’s
even more important to celebrate
good news and the successes and
contributions of classmates. We're
all thankful to the many healthcare
professionals and other essential
workers for their commitment and
sacrifice during this period.
Along those lines, our Senior
Class President, Kim Grant, shared
that Anuj Mehta was “instrumental
to drafting the standards that the
state of Colorado has adopted to
respond to the novel coronavirus
and think about the allocation of
resources in an ethical, unbiased way.
He has been virtually training physi-
cians all over the state.”
Kim also updated us that “Jill
Santopolo turned in the manu-
script for her third novel. Her first
book, which is set at Columbia, has
been translated into more than 35
languages and was a New York Times
bestseller. She is also an extremely
accomplished publisher and has
published books by Chelsea Clinton,
Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Sen.
Kamala Harris.”
Andy Shin SEAS’04 continues to
do incredible work in the tech space.
He is now the chief technology
officer of Quoteapro, “a tech-enabled
marketplace that is disrupting the
$900 billion-plus recycling industry.”
Prior to joining Quoteapro Andy was
the CTO of GOAT, the world’s larg-
est sneaker marketplace with more
than 20 million users and 2 million
shoes for purchase.
2004
Jaydip Mahida
jmahida@gmail.com
In what has been a trying year for
so many, Hendrik Gerrits shared
this uplifting note: “I recently went
through the process of anonymously
donating my kidney to a stranger, who
ended up being a 21-year-old woman
from upstate. It was an experience
not without challenges, but also huge
rewards. It stands out as one of the
things I am most proud of doing.
I mostly want to share about it to
raise awareness that this opportunity
to profoundly change someone's
life exists and that it’s available to
anyone who is lucky enough to be in
great health and with a solid support
system. In times of stress, I’m really
helped by remembering this positive
and life-affirming experience.”
After a 15-year career in social
impact, disaster relief, interna-
tional aid, economic development
and fundraising for tech-driven
nonprofits, Mischa Byruck founded
Evolve.Men, a life and relationship
coaching business in San Francisco.
He writes, runs workshops and
teaches men about sexuality, consent,
integrity and accountability.
Cynthia Chen GSAS’14 writes:
“After co-founding Figure Tech-
nologies and scaling it to a unicorn
in two years, I co-founded Kikoff,
which helps people build credit for
free so that everyone can have a path
to good credit.”
Mustafa Shafi Riffat BUS’11
shares: “After a wonderful experience
returning for my second degree, at the
Business School, I met the love of my
life. We have now moved right by the
CU campus on Morningside Heights,
with our lovely little daughter. Stroll-
ing around campus is still our favorite
thing to do.”
Molly Hartman-O’Connell is a
family nurse practitioner with the
Indian Health Service in Crownpoint,
N.M. She met up with Dr. Susan
Guo PS’08— radiation oncologist
at New Mexico Cancer Center —
recently at her home in Albuquerque.
Please continue to send in
updates, as we want to hear from as
many folks as possible. Career and
family updates are always fun, but
please reach out to share about trips
you may be taking, events you have
attended or are looking forward to
or even interesting books or shows
you have come across. You can send
updates to either the email at the
top of the column or via the CCT
Class Notes webform.
2005
Columbia College Today
cct@columbia.edu
Best wishes for summer during these
uncertain times. We hope that you
are doing well and that you and your
college.columbia.edu/cct
loved ones are safe and healthy. Thank
you to those who shared their news. If
you would like to update classmates,
please send a note to the email above.
From LaToya Tavernier: “I
launched a podcast, Figure Out Your
Life with Toya ‘T, which aims to find
the answers to some of life’s problems.
Weekly, I share tips and strategies for
dealing with everyday issues, from
overcoming a fear of failure to dealing
with ghosting. If you are looking for
unfiltered advice or a good story, this
is the podcast for you. It can be found
on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Sound-
Cloud and Google Podcasts.”
Ling Kong has joined Goulston
& Storrs’s New York City office as
a director in the firm’s Corporate
Group. He brings considerable
experience in a broad range of cor-
porate transactions and financings,
including venture capital invest-
ments, mergers and acquisitions,
joint ventures, restructuring and
recapitalizations to the firm. Ling
earned a law degree from Boston
University School of Law in 2010.
Congrats, LaToya and Ling!
2006
Andrew Stinger
andrew.stinger@gmail.com
As we head into a summer shaping
up to be quite unlike any we’ve
experienced, I begin this column
by saying a special thank you to
classmates for taking the time to
share your latest news. In a season
marked by uncertainty and unease, it
truly bolstered my spirits to hear of
your successes, growing families and
latest adventures. Some news [’m
grateful and privileged to share:
Gina Cucchiara Di Veglio
DM’10 welcomed her daughter,
Vanessa Josephine Di Veglio, on
December 13.
Justin Ifill also shares news of a
growing family: “My wife, Seneca,
and I had our daughter, Marielle
Talia Ifill, on March 5 at 12:53 p.m.
She is such a blessing and I am
already singing “Roar, Lion, Roar’ to
her on a consistent basis.”
On the professional front, Sixiang
Wang GSAS’15 recently moved to
Los Angeles to take a faculty position
in UCLA’s Department of Asian
Languages & Cultures.
Jaclyn Vary (née Matayoshi) was
elected to the partnership of Calfee,
69 CCT Summer 2020
Halter & Griswold in estate and suc-
cession planning and administration.
Sheena Claire-Ann Gibson
has been appointed to the Board of
Directors for the Military Spouse JD
Network, serving as the governance
director for 2020-22. A practicing
attorney and military spouse for nine
years, Claire is looking forward to
this opportunity to serve the needs
of military spouse attorneys affiliated
across the military branches. She
is also the principal attorney at her
boutique intellectual property law
practice, Gibson Law, in NYC.
2007
David D. Chait
david.donner.chait@gmail.com
I wish everyone in the Class of 2007
good health and the best navigating
this difficult time, given the corona-
virus’s impact! During these times, I
hope these positive updates from our
classmates are uplifting.
Lenora Babb Plimpton writes,
“My husband and I recently wel-
comed our second baby, Nora Anne.
Life is good here in Denver. I’m
an employer-side employment law
attorney at a boutique local law firm.
Please reach out if you find yourself
in the area.”
Marianna Zaslavsky BUS’13
shares, “I am joining Modern Fertil-
ity to head up partnerships. I would
love to talk to anyone working at
brands where we can partner on
women’s health.”
Jonah Van Bourg shares
that he “got married last May in
Antibes, France, to a wonderful
lady named Aurélie. We're happily
living in London.”
Kat Dey (née Vorotova) BUS’14’s
company, ettitude, “makes the
world’s softest and most sustainable
bedsheets, sleepwear and bath towels
using its innovative CleanBamboo
fabric.” Kat partnered with ettitude’s
founder and CEO, Phoebe Yu, and
joined as co-founder and president
in 2018. “Today ettitude’s silky soft
organic bamboo sheets are loved
worldwide by more than 30,000 peo-
ple who helped save 100 million gal-
lons of water in 2019 by not buying
cotton.” Ettitude was recently named
“Best International Conqueror” in
the Online Retail Industry Awards
in Sydney and has been featured in
Forbes and Vogue and on Goop.
alumninews ()
Kat and her husband, Anton,
welcomed their daughter, Anna, to
the world in 2018. ‘They are based in
Los Angeles.
2008
Columbia College Today
cct@columbia.edu
CCT wishes the members of CC’08,
and your loved ones, good health
during these uncertain times. If you
would like to share news in the Fall
issue, please send us an email.
2009
Chantee Dempsey
chantee.dempsey@gmail.com
I hope that everyone is doing well
and staying safe and healthy.
We heard from Philipp
Rabovsky: “Capital A, a new
podcast I am doing about art, money
and theory, is out on iTunes, Spotify
and Anchor.”
Congrats, Philipp!
Please take a moment to share your
news. It’s good to stay connected!
2010
Julia Feldberg Klein
juliafeldberg@gmail.com
Hi 2010. I hope all of you are safe
and healthy. It was great to hear
from you for this latest round of
Class Notes, and I will miss catch-
ing up with our class at reunion! |
hope that we get another chance to
connect — virtually, or in person —
sometime soon.
Katherine Vance shares, “My
husband, Robert, and I welcomed our
second son, Peter, on March 24. Eric
(2) is so proud to be a big brother!”
After nearly a decade with the
Department of State, including three
tours as a Foreign Service officer,
Heather Hwalek relocated to
Seattle to begin work at the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation’s Strate-
gic Planning & Engagement office.
Adam Flomenbaum moved to
Seattle with his wife to start at Twit-
ter. He would love to connect with
classmates in the Emerald City.
And from Chris Yim: “T never
really got to say a formal goodbye to
one of the loves of my life — the Bay
Area, who | affectionately refer to
as ‘the yay (no one likes it, but who
cares?). I noticed that whenever I go
out of the country to someplace far
away, and I meet folks who have never
been to the United States, they usually
know of three places — New York,
Walt Disney World and California.
After having lived in California, I real-
ized just how much air time the state
gets in pop culture, what it’s known
for in Silicon Valley and Hollywood,
and how beautiful it is. As a kid
growing up in Virginia, I had dreams
of living in California even though |
really knew nothing about it. I applied
to Stanford and got rejected; my best
friend in high school asked me where
I would go if I got into all the colleges
that I applied to. I said, ‘Stanford
— how could I say no to California?’
Mind you, I had never visited Stan-
ford University.
“When I got to college at
Columbia, I met a bunch of kids from
California. While the state sends a lot
of kids to Columbia, I felt like I really
enjoyed their vibe. They had this quiet
confidence and relaxed approach to
things. While they struggled to sur-
vive in the winter and many of them
got depressed, I gathered that there
was something about the place they
were from that formed them into the
humans that I admired and liked.
“Fast forward to 2011 — I applied
to a job at Google and got flown
out to the Bay Area (my first time
visiting). It had been a nasty winter
in New York. The weekend prior to
my visit, | had gotten snowed in and
I couldn't make my flight. I had to
reschedule my interview, so I flew out
one weekend in February. | bombed
the interview and didn't get the
job, but a perk of the interview was
that I got to rent a car and stay the
weekend. I drove to Stanford — my
first time visiting the school. It was
beautiful. I stayed with college friends
in Berkeley and in San Francisco. I
had my first Mission burrito, went
out on Polk Street and had my first
encounter with Mission Dolores
Park. I got to smoke weed in public,
and I experienced sunshine and blue
skies in February after a harsh East
Coast hibernation. After my stint
in the Bay Area, I realized that the
weekend was probably the nicest
weekend of the year. I got hooked.
“When I moved to the Bay Area in
2013, it was a surprise even to myself.
I had gotten comfortable with my life
college.columbia.edu/cct
in New York, and I really liked many
aspects of it. I had just started dating
someone. | had great roommates. I
had a routine that felt good. Then a
friend asked me if I would come with
him to California to start a company.
Within two weeks, I packed my
belongings into a tiny Toyota Yaris
and we drove it across country. Ihe
day we arrived in California in March
(on the 8th, in 2013), I had seen
snow on the border driving in from
Arizona, and I felt really hot as we
snaked through Southern California
on the 5. We entered San Francisco
on the old Bay Bridge, which I saw
deconstructed and torn down. ‘That
was the beginning of what would be
and still is a beautiful relationship.
“Now that I’m back in New York,
I get the question — California or
New York? It’s hard to think that
reductively, so I would prefer to share
what I love about the Bay Area. I have
so many memories of the place. I lived
there 2013-20, and I experienced so
much of my life in there. It was the
place where I started my company and
sold it, which was the reason I went
there. It was the place where I got to
reunite with one of my best friends,
and we lived there together for many
years. It was the place where I lived
with my partner for the first time, got
married and also got divorced. The Bay
Area is where I really fell in love with
nature, where I learned to develop
and cultivate community, where I
experienced intense shame, guilt, self-
hatred, compassion, anger and sadness.
During the period of living in the Bay,
I had my own racial awakening. This
is where it began. I had my spiritual
awakening, where I saw that I had the
Universe existing in me. This is where
I began my healing. One day, I hope to
write about all these specific elements
in sharp detail. I list them here to say
that this is the place where so much
shit happened, so I have a complex
relationship with it.
“T got to live in San Francisco and
in Oakland. I meandered through-
out ‘the city,’ living in the Mission,
Japantown/Lower Pac Heights and
the Inner Richmond, and I stayed
for a few months in the Presidio.
After my breakup, I had this intense
need to be in community, surround-
ing myself with people who wanted
to say ‘hi’ to each other, with people
who were seeking to put their roots
into the earth and build friendship
in a space that they could call home.
I found a home on 44th Street,
70 CCT Summer 2020
called it ‘La Shire,’ and I reached out
to a few other people who wanted
to examine how they were living life
and how they had a desire to align
intention with action. They liked
what I was communicating, and they
joined me in North Oakland.
“As someone who grew up on the
East Coast, the weather was truly an
awesome perk. The East Coast has its
hot summers, but I would say that it’s
almost always 55 or 60 degrees in the
Bay Area. You get a few extra degrees
if you live in the Mission (in San Fran-
cisco) or anywhere in the East Bay.
And it’s a bit hotter if you live on the
Peninsula. As a non-Californian, this
weather is really delightful. I eventually
got spoiled and needed to experience
a winter just to remember how good I
had it. However, Californians tend to
take for granted just how consistently
the weather is good enough for you to
be outside. What is outside that’s so
great? Air. Trees. Animals and wildlife.
The wind. Birds chirping. Things in
blossom. The ocean. I get sentimental
every time I think about how beautiful
the yay is. | can name place after place
that would place a striking image
of beauty in my mind — driving
through the Presidio to Inspiration
Point; the Headlands, where you get
an immaculate view of San Francisco;
the Oakland or Berkeley Hills and any
one of the parks on Skyline Boulevard
where you can see the expansiveness of
the Bay; Tennessee Valley and the trail
that takes you to the ocean with marsh
and wetlands; and Stinson Beach,
the beach town that has some of my
favorite hiking and the drive in that
will take your breath away. It’s really
just spot after spot.
“T guess if you live in a place for
seven years, youre bound to have
many memories of that place and
feel incredibly nostalgic about that
place. I guess if you live in a place
through your 20s, when you change
so much and so much of you shifts,
then you'll link that physical place to
something significant within you.”
2011
Nuriel Moghavem and
Sean Udell
nurielm@gmail.com
sean.udell@gmail.com
Hey 2011! A big update from one of
your correspondents: Sean Udell is
getting hitched! On February 13, five
alumninews ()
days before his five-year anniversary
with Jonathan Jenkins, Sean surprised
his now-fiancé on the streets of Phila-
delphia with a sign, roses and a gaggle
of the couple’s Philadelphia friends.
The engagement was celebrated with
lots of cute-but-awkward photos, as
Jonathan was still wearing his biking
helmet and no one bothered to tell
him to take it off. Sean and Jonathan
are now in the throes of wedding plan-
ning, which is just as expensive and
stressful as everyone else has claimed.
In less current (but still relevant)
news, in August 2019, Sean, Shiri
Melumad and Roxanne Unger all
realized that they live in the same city
of brotherly love. Since then, they’ve
been getting together about once a
month (usually in person, but cur-
rently digitally) to celebrate friendship
over very extended happy hours. It’s
been a breath of fresh friendship for
all three parties, who were feeling a bit
isolated in their newish hometown.
Sean and Shiri might actually be
dating, but they insist that it’s just a
friendship (especially since Sean just
got engaged to someone else; see ear-
lier in this Class Notes column). Sean
and Roxanne try not to talk about the
hospital during the entirety of their
reunions, but work-life balance is
hard. Also, Shiri often encourages the
hospital talk, so Sean and Roxanne
dontt feel too bad about it.
In other mini-reunions,
Dhruv Vasishtha recently had to
shepherd and keep Jon Tanners,
Javed Basu-Kesselman, Nuriel
Moghavem, Sahil Vora, Blake
Arnold SEAS’11, Benjamin Landy,
Olivier Sherman, Ari Golub,
Minsoo Lyo SEAS’11 and 12 others
alive in the Arizona desert for Rajib
Mitra SEAS’11’s bachelor party. He
told Rajib at the end of the weekend
they are now even for college.
After six years in brand market-
ing and communications at global
luxury e-commerce leader NET-A-
PORTER, Laura Gabriele has been
commuting between Paris and Lon-
don since joining LVMH in 2016 to
build and launch 24S.com, the luxury
conglomerate’s e-commerce platform.
Now in her fourth year with the
project as director of brand commu-
nications and now also global head of
private client events and experiences,
Laura can't get enough of hopping
around the globe whether for work
or play, and is regularly back to alma
mater territory in New York. Give
her a shout if youre Euro-bound
(you know, once international travel
is restored).
Gairy Hall BUS’16 recently left
J.P. Morgan, where he had worked
since graduating from the Business
School, to join The Carlyle Group.
He is focused on raising capital from
institutional investors across the
United States at the private equity
firm, but thankfully is staying in NYC
after a couple of short career stints in
London and Chicago in recent years.
This follows a recent return to the
workforce for his father, Dr. Gairy
Hall 77, who is practicing at Pied-
mont Healthcare and looking forward
to fully retiring in the coming years.
Caronae Howell GS'14 had a
busy 2019, graduating from medical
school, moving to Tucson to start
her vascular surgery residency,
buying a house, adopting a dog and
marrying the love of her life, Paul
Castle. She and Paul met in medical
school and are now both residents
at the University of Arizona. When
they’re not at the hospital, they’ve
been exploring the desert and the
mountains with their crazy dog.
And last, but certainly not least,
after two and a half amazing years
with Boston Consulting Group
— including a promotion to project
leader last fall — Ola Jacunski
GSAS'17 is shaking things up to
focus on writing. She will attend the
prestigious Odyssey Writing Work-
shop this summer (COVID-19
permitting) and pursue an M.F.A.
this fall (school TBD!). Ola recently
won the grand prize in the Writer’s
Digest Popular Fiction Awards
under her pen name, Alexandra Hill.
2O12
Sarah Chai
sarahbchai@gmail.com
Hi friends, I am writing this at the
end of March, admittedly grappling
with the ways that COVID-19 is
affecting people the world over.
This has been a challenging time for
us all, and I hope that this update
reaches you and your loved ones
in good health. In the face of this
adversity, let’s continue celebrating
our classmates’ triumphs.
Kristin Simmons had a solo
art show, The Odds are Good, but the
Goods are Odd, at Phillips (450 Park
Ave. in Manhattan) on February 29.
She also recently launched a
college.columbia.edu/cct
Submit
Your
Photo
business (lightweight, affordable
statement earrings), Glitter Is the
New Black. She invites you to use/
share the code GOLIONS20 for a
discount: glitteristhenewblack.com.
Thanks, Kristin, and congrats on
the art show and new business!
Hope to hear from others soon.
Sending all my best.
2013
Tala Akhavan
talaakhavan@gmail.com
Summer greetings, CC’13. I hope
that you and your loved ones are all
safe and healthy.
Jiyoon Han reports: “I am
back home in NYC roast-
ing coffee for essential hospital
workers in NYC (via ‘SEND A
CUP’/#NY lovescoffee campaign).”
Harvard Business School (Jiyoon
is in its Class of 2021) wrote an article
in April about how after coronavirus
closed down campus, Jiyoon returned
home to Queens “to both complete
her first-year MBA studies online, and
launch an e-commerce site to help her
parents’ small business, Bean & Bean
Coffee Roasters, stay afloat.”
Be well, and let’s stay connected.
2014
Rebecca Fattell
rsf2121@columbia.edu
I hope that all of you are doing well
and staying safe during this time.
Thank you to those who shared news!
ED
CCT welcomes Class Notes
photos that feature at
least two College alumni.
Click “Contact Us” at
college.columbia.edu/cct.
71 CCT Summer 2020
Dara Shapiro (née Marans)
launched a GoFundMe crowdfund-
ing campaign in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic, “Feeding the
Frontlines.” In just two weeks, Dara
raised $20,000 and provided 1,200
meals to frontline workers across
18 hospitals in the New York and
New Jersey regions, with a focus on
community hospitals overlooked by
fundraising initiatives.
On March 1, Alexandra Svokos
was promoted to senior editor at
ABC News Digital, managing daily
operations for ABCNews.com. She
spent almost two weeks with her
staff before they all were sent to
work from home, at which point the
new position became immensely
more complicated, but the outfits
much more comfortable.
Emily Dreibelbis has taken advan-
tage of all the at-home time due to
COVID-19 and started a website for
her latest hobby, soapmaking! She is
making high-quality soap with locally
sourced ingredients. Check it out and
order some if you feel inspired
(fremontsoapcompany.com)! They
have liquid soap, bar soap and candles.
lani Alecsiu started an
M.B.A. at Harvard last fall and
finished the first year online.
This summer she plans to work
on her own start-up, building a
marketplace platform connecting
beauty salons with customers and
creating a more equitable work
environment for technicians.
Kate Eberstadt continues to
write music during social distancing.
She and her sister Izzi Eberstadt
BC’16 are releasing their debut
album, Pierrot, this year as alt-pop
duo Delune. Kate is also working on
some theater projects and solo artist
work. Follow @updatesfromkate on
Instagram for more news!
After nearly five years in China,
Chris Zombik moved home to the
United States in November. He is
focused on running his education
consulting company serving clients
across China and working on other
business and creative projects.
2O15
Kareem Carryl
kareem.carryl@columbia.edu
Hello, Class of 2015! It goes
without saying that the past few
months have been challenging, to
alumninews
say the least. It is times like these
when it is important to remember
to stick together, even while we
might be physically apart. This goes
for family, friends, colleagues and
our Columbia community. In light
of that, | am excited to share some
recent updates from members of
the class.
Courtney Garrity completed the
Pacific Crest Trail hike on October 12,
2019. She started the hike by herself
on May 16, 2019, in Mexico and
finished in Canada.
Congratulations, Courtney, on
your 1,900-mile accomplishment!
Jared Odessky shares: “After
three years at Harvard for law
school, I graduated in May alongside
several other CC’15ers. ’m moving
to San Francisco in October to start
a two-year Skadden Fellowship
as an employment and civil rights
attorney at Legal Aid at Work.”
Congratulations, Jared!
Bitania Wondimu completed her
studies at Northwestern Univer-
sity Feinberg School of Medicine
this spring! Her next step is the
pathology residency program at the
University of Washington.
Congratulations, Bitania!
Ethan Edwards SOA‘'18 has
been a researcher at the experiments
in art and technology program
at Bell Labs. He connects artists
around the world with cutting-edge
researchers to collaborate on per-
formances, installations and more.
He has continued to make his own
artwork and spends much of his
time in New York City with fellow
CU alumni.
Rémi Moét-Buonaparte
recently changed her name (FKA
as Reilly to classmates) and enjoys
living and working in Connecticut.
She loves running into CU alumni
in New Haven!
As always, your classmates want
to hear from you! Please be sure to
submit updates to Class Notes by
writing me at the address at the top
of the column or via the CCT Class
Notes webform.
2016
Lily Liu-Krason
lliukrason@gmail.com
No news this time, CC’16. Be well,
and let’s stay connected. Send me a
note for the Fall issue.
2017
Carl Yin
carl.yin@columbia.edu
Vanessa Anyanso was awarded
a National Science Foundation
Graduate Research Fellowship. She
is pursuing a Ph.D. in counseling
psychology at the University of
Minnesota Twin Cities.
Mia Santiago writes, “In college,
I was involved with Student-Worker
Solidarity and with Lucha. Since
then, I’ve been organizing with
the Columbus Freedom Coalition
(I’m a co-founder) now that I live
in Columbus, Ohio (I’m getting an
M.FA. in nonfiction at Ohio State).
We've had some exciting news.
On MLK Day of this year, I was
arrested during a peaceful protest for
Julius Tate Jr.,a Black teenager mur-
dered by the Columbus police. There
has been public outcry on our behalf,
and recently the Columbus Freedom
Coalition was named the Face of
Columbus by Columbus Alive, part
of the daily newspaper The Columbus
Dispatch. The Columbus Freedom
Coalition is ‘a group of Columbus,
Ohio-based organizers working to
end all forms of state-sanctioned
violence and build a world without
police or prisons.’
“I was interviewed in Columbus
Alive. The mayor of Columbus
requested to meet with us, which we
did. I published an article in Blavity
about my arrest.
“People can help us continue our
work at bit.ly/2zyr]Dm.
“There’s a lot more media
coverage on the work we are doing
in Columbus. We are engaged in
working to free incarcerated people
before COVID-19 kills many in
prisons and jails.”
Elle Wisnicki received a fully
funded scholarship to UC Berkeley
Haas School of Business for an
M.B.A. through the Consortium
Fellowship; she also received a Forté
Foundation Fellowship designation.
She plans to attend this fall. The
Consortium selects individuals who
have shown leadership in improving
representation of African-American,
Hispanic and Native-American
individuals in global business. The
Forté Foundation is specific to
representation of women in business.
Riley Jones IV graduated
from NYU with a J.D. and from
college.columbia.edu/cct
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Silas Grossberndt 18 (left), Rachel Mikofsky 18 and Thomas Nielsen 18
had a mini reunion.
Penn with an M.S. in education
entrepreneurship, both this May.
Riley will practice with the law firm
of Duane Morris in Washington,
D.C., in its education practice
starting this fall.
Ezra Wyschogrod married Talia
Wyschogrod 18 (née Rubin) on
November 17 in Boston. Check out
lust Married! to see a photo!
2018
Alexander Birkel and
Maleeha Chida
ab4065@columbia.edu
mnc2122@columbia.edu
Thomas Nielsen has been up to a
lot recently! He is a legal fellow at
a small Baltimore-based civil litiga-
tion firm, assisting in the authoring
of a book on bankruptcy law in
72 CCT Summer 2020
Maryland. He’s also deciding among
starting at Stanford, Columbia and
Harvard for law school in the fall.
Thomas also has been engaged in
a number of creative endeavors:
He scored a number of short films,
including two collaborations with
Kevin Chiu SEAS’17 and two with
Kosta Karakashyan ’19. In addition,
Thomas wrote two works of literary
criticism — one on soundtracks to
Shakespeare film adaptions, and the
other on the role of music in The
Winter’s Tale, both of which have
been published.
Chase Levitt still makes the
Upper West Side his home, enjoying
a similarly quiet oasis just south
of Morningside Heights. A data
analyst in Midtown, he spends much
of his free time walking around
the neighborhood parks, as well as
catching up with classmates. Chase
makes his way back to alma mater
‘fs fy
i a a a Pah
Briley Lewis 18 (left) and Julia Zeh 18 enjoyed
some sunshine on the beach in Santa Monica.
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Thomas Nielsen 18 (left), Daniel Porada 18 (center) and Conner Duke 18
had a fun meet-up.
several times a year, and still feels at
home on a rare trip to Butler.
Nathan Rosin and Emily Lavine
got engaged in Low Library!
Talia Wyschogrod (née Rubin)
married Ezra Wyschogrod’17 on
November 17 in Boston. Check out
Just Married! to see a photo!
From NSOP to grad school,
Julia Zeh and Briley Lewis still
find ways to meet up even while
living on opposite coasts. On her
way to Hawaii to study humpback
whales for her Ph.D. thesis, Julia
stopped in Los Angeles to visit
Briley, who is also hard at work on
her own Ph.D., in astrophysics. The
two enjoyed some sunshine on the
beach in Santa Monica.
Yemi Olorunwunmii is feeling
unleashed. After obtaining a start-
up M.B.A. from her first job post-
grad, she made the leap to being a
full-time entrepreneur and venture
capitalist. Connect with her on
LinkedIn or Instagram, and check
out her freshly minted community
organizations: @BlacklvyBrigade
and @CorporateChocolate.
2019
Emily Gruber and
Tj Aspen Givens
tag2149@columbia.edu
eag2169@columbia.edu
Hi everyone. We hope that you and
your families are healthy and are
doing as well as possible. We would
love to stay connected. If you have
an update or a message to share with
the class, please send them to us at
either of the addresses above.
We are thinking of you and
hope to be able to see each other
again soon.
college.columbia.edu/cct
obituaries
Editor’ note: In recognition of the toll
taken by the COVID-19 pandemic,
CCT wishes to acknowledge those in
our community who have died from
complications of the virus. Their obitu-
aries are marked with a + symbol.
1945
Anthony J. Borgese, retired elec-
trical engineer, Niskayuna, N.Y.,
on February 18, 2020. Borgese
entered with the Class of 1945,
but earned a B.S. in 1948 from
Columbia Engineering.
1946
Leonard L. Shengold, psychoana-
lyst and expert on child abuse, New
York City, on January 16, 2020.
1947
William I. Silvernail Jr, retired
physician, Dothan, Ala., on Decem-
ber 25, 2019. Memorial contribu-
tions may be made to the Wiregrass
Area Food Bank, 382 ‘Twitchell Rd.,
Dothan, AL 36303, or Ihe Epis-
copal Church of the Nativity, 205
Holly Ln., Dothan, AL 36301.
1949
Paul R. Meyer, retired attorney,
Portland, Ore., on May 1, 2020.
Memorial contributions may be
made to the ACLU Foundation of
Oregon, PO Box 40585, Portland,
OR 97240.
1950
James J. Ward Jr., retired attorney
and football coach, Sarasota, Fla.,
on January 30, 2020. Ward earned a
degree in 1953 from the Law School.
1951
John A. Handley, retired HR execu-
tive and certified financial planner,
Santa Barbara, Calif, on October 21,
2019. Memorial contributions may
73 CCT Summer 2020
be made to the Seabee Memorial
Scholarship Association.
H. Elliot Wales, attorney, New York
City, on February 7, 2020. Wales
earned a degree in 1954 from the
Law School.
1953
Eugene Goodheart, professor
of English, Watertown, Mass., on
April 9, 2020. Goodheart earned a
Ph.D. in English and comparative
literature in 1961 from GSAS.
Robert A. Prendergast, retired
professor of ophthalmology and
pathology, Falmouth, Mass., on May
4, 2020. Memorial contributions
may be made to feedingamerica.org.
1954
Howard Falberg, retired HR
executive, La Jolla, Calif., on
February 24, 2020. Falberg earned
a degree in 1956 from the Business
School. Memorial contributions may
be made to Ner Tamid Synagogue,
Congregation Beth Israel, Con-
gregation Beth Emek or the AKC
Canine Health Foundation.
1955
Daniel B. Hovey, retired physi-
cian, Rochester, N.Y., on April
22, 2020. Memorial contributions
may be made to Columbia varsity
rowing and mailed to Emily Maury,
Columbia Alumni Center, 622 W.
113th St., MC 4523, New York, NY
10025; or made online.
1956
Harmon D. Smith, writer, and
retired marketing and communica-
tions executive, Kent, Conn., on
February 29, 2020. Memorial con-
tributions may be made to Kentland
‘Trust or The Michael ]. Fox Founda-
tion for Parkinson’s Research.
Matthew H. Stander, attorney, Oys-
ter Bay Cove, N.Y., on March 1, 2020.
1957
David W. Kinne, retired physician,
New York City, on March 14, 2020.
Memorial contributions may be
made to Columbia’s wrestling team.
Stephen E. Ronai, attorney,
North Haven, Conn., on April
30, 2020. Memorial contributions
may be made to the Bronx Science
Alumni Foundation.
1958
+ John C. Diaz, retired, Philadel-
phia, on April 3, 2020. Diaz earned
a B.S. in 1959 from Columbia
Engineering.
Laurence E. Harris, attorney,
Potomac, Md., on May 16, 2020.
Memorial contributions may be
made to the Yellow Ribbon Program
at Georgetown Law.
1961
Jeffrey H. Rudell, Jacksonville, Fla.,
on March 9, 2018.
1962
+ Robert S. “Duck” Dickstein,
retired attorney and former wrestling
coach, Paramus, N.J., on April 4, 2020.
Frank J. Grady, physician, Lake
Jackson, Texas, on January 12, 2020.
Memorial contributions may be
made to Backpack Buddies, the
Brazosport College scholarship
fund or the First United Methodist
Church of Lake Jackson.
+ Robert H. Weitzman, retired
pulmonologist, Linden, N.J., on
April 7, 2020. Memorial contribu-
tions may be made to Congregation
Anshe Chesed, 1000 Orchard Terr.,
Linden, NJ 07036.
1963
+ Thomas E. O’Connor Jr., retired
law firm executive, Saddle River,
NJ., on April 7, 2020. Memorial
contributions may be made to
The Grace Foundation of
Terrie O’Connor Real Estate
Companies, 300G Lake St.,
Ramsey, NJ 07446.
1964
Jerry Oster, retired writer,
Chapel Hill, N.C., on January 26,
2020. Memorial contributions
may be made to Cure PSP,
AuthoraCare Collective, the
North Carolina Coastal Federation
or the Fistula Foundation.
1965
Michael L. Tapper, retired
physician, New York City, on
March 6, 2020. Tapper earned an
M.A.in 1966 from GSAS and
an M.D. in 1970 from P&S.
Memorial contributions may be
made to Columbia College.
1966
Denis P. Behan, retired account
executive, New York City, on
November 30, 2019. Behan earned
an M.A. and a Ph.D. from GSAS
in 1969 and 1977, respectively.
+ Stephen A. Steiner, public
relations director, Briarwood, N.Y.,
on March 30, 2020. Steiner earned
an M.A. from GSAS in 1967.
1968
David F. Phillips, heraldic
scholar, author and retired
attorney, San Francisco, on
March 26, 2020. Phillips earned
a degree in 1974 from the
School of Library Service.
John Rice Cole, retired professor,
Greenfield, Mass., on March 12,
2020. Cole earned an M.Phil.
and a Ph.D. from GSAS in
1973 and 1977, respectively.
Memorial contributions may be
made to the National Center for
Science Education.
college.columbia.edu/cct
= 20 (i(‘it;~:O:COC tum ninewss 6
1971
+ Rafael L. Black, artist, Brooklyn,
N.Y., on May 15, 2020.
Stephen J. Christian, attorney
and accountant, Hopewell Junction,
N.Y., on October 21, 2019.
James W. Hall, Odenton, Md.,
on March 11, 2020.
1974
Carl A. Yirka, law librarian,
Strafford, Vt., on April 4, 2020.
2020. Memorial contributions may
be made to Baystate Health Foun-
dation, 280 Chestnut St., Spring-
field, MA 01199.
1979
+ Donald J. Sorel, music teacher,
and church music director, cantor
and organist, Pomona, N.Y., on
April 7, 2020.
1982
Michael S. Friedman, attorney,
editor, teacher, publisher and poet,
Denver, on May 5, 2020.
Rajan Sekaran, investment banker,
Weston, Conn., on May 21, 2020.
Memorial contributions may be made
to Connecticut Food Bank,’ The Nature
1978
Donald A. Schwartz, physician,
Longmeadow, Mass., on February 1,
OBITUARY SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Columbia College Today welcomes obituary
information for graduates of Columbia College.
We do not publish obituary information for
alumni of any other Columbia University
school. Please fill out the “Submit Obituary
Information” form.
Conservancy or ‘The Inner-City Foun-
dation for Charity & Education.
1986
Frans E. Kramer, retired airline
CEO, Val de Loire, France, on
March 6, 2020.
1992
James Hoge Daine, retired bank
VP and retired volunteer fire chief,
Riverside, Conn., on March 2, 2020.
Memorial contributions may be
made to the Sound Beach Volunteer
Fire Department.
Dr. Paul A. Marks 46, PS’49, Cancer Researcher and Pioneering Hospital Leader
Dr. Paul A. Marks ’46, PS’49, who transformed Memorial Sloan
Kettering Cancer Center as president and CEO, died on April 28,
2020. He was 93 and lived in New York City.
Marks was born on August 16, 1926, in Mahanoy City, Pa. He
attended Samuel J. Tilden H.S. in Brooklyn, where a teacher per-
suaded him to apply to Columbia. Marks received a full scholar-
ship and proceeded to P&S for an M.D.
Marks’s research career spanned more than 50 years. In the
late 1950s, he was the first to identify a genetic defect as a cause
of hemolytic anemia, a disorder in which red blood cells are
destroyed faster than they can be made. In the 1960s, he identi-
fied a genetic defect as the basis of thalassemias, a sometimes-fatal
group of anemias. Marks is also credited as one of the pioneers
of epigenetics: His work helped to define the way blood cells can
become cancerous, and he helped develop a pioneering approach to
treating cancer called “cytodifferentiation,” in which abnormal cells
are coaxed into becoming normal again.
After completing postdoctoral research at the National Institutes
of Health and the Institut Pasteur in France, Marks joined the
Columbia faculty. He was the dean of P&S from 1970 to 1973 and
VP for medical sciences from 1973 to 1980, when he joined what
was then Memorial Hospital. Marks was president and CEO of
MSK until 1999, presiding over the unification of Memorial Hos-
pital and Sloan Kettering Institute; he set the institution — and the
field of oncology — on a more scientific course. Marks encouraged
the creation of integrated medical teams to coordinate patient care,
created a research and treatment center devoted to breast cancer and
established the first center devoted to cancer pain management.
Marks also revamped MSK’s staff by instituting a tenure system
with a tough review process; dozens of scientists left between 1982
74 CCT Summer 2020
and 1986. He was known, however, for a sharp eye in recruiting
talent. Marks gave researchers freedom to explore, telling them,
“You will not be told to work on cancer — we know that what you
work on will be relevant to
cancer ultimately.” However,
he said: “We will expect to see
spectacular research.”
Marks wrote a memoir,
On the Cancer Frontier: One
Man, One Disease, and a
Medical Revolution (2014),
and published more than 400
scientific articles. He was the
editor-in-chief of Journal
of Clinical Investigation and
Blood, and served as a member
of presidential panels on can-
cer and biomedical research.
Marks was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and
the National Academy of Medicine, and a fellow of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1991, President George H.W.
Bush awarded him a National Medal of Science in the Biologi-
cal Sciences category. Marks was presented a John Jay Award for
distinguished professional achievement in 1996, and Columbia
Engineering presented him its Michael Pupin Medal in 2016.
He is survived by his wife, Joan; children, Andrew, Matthew and
Elizabeth GSAS’84; and several grandchildren.
Read more about Marks in The New York Times, The Cancer Letter
and CCT.
college.columbia.edu/cct
Eugene T. Rossides ’49, LAW’52, a star quarterback who led the
Lions to an exciting victory over Army in 1947 and became an attorney
who served two Presidents, died on May 16, 2020. He was 92 and lived
in Washington, D.C.
Rossides, whose middle name was Telemachus, was born in Brook-
lyn, N.Y., on October 23, 1927, to Greek and Cyprian immigrants. He
was an outstanding passer and runner at Erasmus Hall H.S.a decade
after Sid Luckman’39 played there. Rossides recalled that Luckman
told him, “You go play for Lou Little at Columbia.’ And that was
it.” He turned down two full scholarships from other colleges and
accepted a partial one from Columbia.
Rossides started as halfback in 1945 and scored five touchdowns
against Cornell, resulting in a 34-26 win (a four-year letter-winner,
Rossides still holds the school record for scoring during a single
game). He switched to quarterback as a junior, after being tutored by
Luckman in spring practices. Rossides and Lou Kusserow’48 became
known as the “Goal Dust Twins.”
Rossides’s star-making moment came when he led the Lions to a
21-20 victory over Army in October 1947; the Cadets had previously
had a 32-game unbeaten streak and were unscored upon in four games.
He also tied a single-game Columbia record set by Luckman and Paul
Governali’43 by completing 18 passes against Army. Rossides was
selected by the New York Giants in the 10th round of the 1949 NFL
draft, but instead accepted a scholarship to the Law School.
After serving in the Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio,
Rossides began his legal career in the New York County District
Attorney’s office, serving in the Rackets Bureau under legendary
AG Frank Hogan CC 1924, LAW 1928. Rossides went into private
practice, became active in Republican politics and spent two and a
half years as an assistant to the undersecretary of the Treasury under
President Eisenhower.
After heading Richard M. Nixon's New York presidential campaign
office, Rossides served as an assistant secretary of the Treasury in the
Nixon administration, oversee-
ing the Customs Service, the
Secret Service and other agencies.
In 1972, he established the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms; he inducted the first
women into the Secret Service
that same year.
After returning to private
practice, Rossides was a partner
in the Manhattan firm Rog-
ers & Wells. In the 1980s, he
worked on the presidential
election campaigns of Ronald
Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and published several books on
Greece’s role in U.S. foreign policy and other related topics.
Rossides became a leading voice in the Greek-American commu-
nity when he founded the American Hellenic Institute in Wash-
ington, D.C., in 1974. He was active in Greek and Cyprian causes
and received numerous honors, including the Republic of Cyprus
Presidential Exceptional Service Medal in 2016.
A stalwart alumnus and supporter of Lions football, Rossides was
presented Columbia’s Medal for Excellence in 1972 and a John Jay
Award for distinguished professional achievement in 1994. He was
elected to the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008
in the Former Male Student Athletes - Heritage Era category.
Rossides’s first marriage, to Eleanor Burcham, ended in divorce. He
is survived by his wife, Aphrodite (née Macotsin); daughters, Gale and
Eleni; sons, Michael’84 and Alexander; brother, Daniel ’50, GSAS’58;
and seven grandchildren.
Read more about Rossides in'Ihe New York Times and on gocolumbialions.
com, and view a conversation with him from The Next Generation Initiative.
Saul Turteltaub 54, LAW’57, TV Writer and Producer
Saul Turteltaub ’54, LAW’57, a TV writer and producer known
for his work on Sanford and Son, The Carol Burnett Show, That Girl,
What's Happening!! and other popular comedies, died on April 9,
2020. He was 87 and lived in Beverly Hills.
Turteltaub was born on May 15, 1932, in Teaneck, N_J.,
and grew up in Englewood. He got his start in comedy in the
Catskills’s “Borscht Belt” with a routine that required him to strip
his clothes and reveal a Superman costume. While at the Law
School, Turteltaub created the Columbia Law Revue and wrote
jokes for the comedy team of Marty Allen and Mitch DeWood.
Turteltaub was nominated for Emmys in 1964 and 1965 for the
satirical news program That Was the Week That Was, and in 1968 for the
first season of The Carol Burnett Show. He and Bernie Orenstein, who
wrote together for more than 30 years, formed TOY Productions with
Bud Yorkin in the mid-1970s following Yorkin's split with writer-
producer Norman Lear. Turteltaub and Orenstein got three comedies
75 CCT Summer 2020
on ABC: Whats Happening,
Carter Country and 13 Queens
Boulevard, then joined Sanford
and Son as producer-writers in
1974 and stayed through the sit-
com’ end in 1977. The pair also
worked on the Sanford spinofts
Grady and Sanford Arms.
Turteltaub was congratulated
for having done 23 sitcoms dur-
ing his 50-year career. “You might
be impressed that I've made 23
TV shows,” he said, “but every producer will tell you that making 23
shows only means that you've had 23 shows canceled.”
In a 2016 interview with the Television Academy Foundation,
Turteltaub talked about being inspired by comedians. “I used to
college.columbia.edu/cct
admire those guys more than the singers and more than the actors
because they would say something and 200 people in the audience
would laugh,” he said. “So it was my job when I was doing Sanford
and Son to make 20 million people all over the country laugh at the
same time and never hear it. But it was enough to hear the audience
in the studio.” Turteltaub was a mentor, and gave first jobs, to Rich-
ard Pryor, Garry Shandling, Dana Carvey, Nathan Lane and others.
Turteltaub’s family said he was “beloved and respected by his
entire community for his generosity, endless philanthropy, the giv-
ing of his time, his work with civil rights, his role as a teacher to
underprivileged or emerging writers, helping war veterans learning
to write and his devotion to endless Jewish charities.” Turteltaub was
beloved by his CC’54 classmates, as well; he often spoke at reunion
gatherings and was the featured guest speaker last year at his 65th.
Turteltaub is survived by his wife of 59 years, Shirley (née Stein-
berg); sons, Adam and his wife, Rhea, and Jon and his wife, Amy;
five grandchildren; and sister, Helena.
Read more about Turteltaub in The Hollywood Reporter, on MSN
and in this issues CC’54 Class Notes column.
Brian Dennehy ’60, Award-Winning Screen and Stage Actor
Brian Dennehy ’60, a versatile actor known for multiple film roles
and his Tony and Olivier Award-winning performance in Death ofa
Salesman, died on April 15, 2020, in New Haven, Conn. He was 81.
Dennehy was born on July 9, 1938, in Bridgeport, Conn., and grew
up in Brooklyn and on Long Island. A history major, he enrolled
at Columbia on a football scholarship, though, he said later, what
he really wanted to do was perform with the Columbia Players. “In
those days, the Players had an artistic definition of themselves which
didn't allow a football player to be active,” he told CCT in 1999.
Dennehy’s first newspaper notices were not as an actor, but as
a Lion. An All-Ivy League honoree, the 6-foot-3-inch offensive
lineman was picked to be one of the senior captains, but in July 1959
The New York Times ran an article headlined “Football Captain-Elect
Drops Out of Columbia.” Dennehy, who said he had struggled
academically, left school to join the Marines, serving in the United
States, South Korea and Japan. He completed his B.A. in 1965.
As for his acting career, Dennehy said, “I was an overnight success
— after 15 years.” He performed in community theater productions,
mostly on Long Island, and in the mid-1970s branched out to NYC.
His first mention as an actor in the Times was in 1976, for a showcase
production of Ivanov. An agent who was looking for “a pro football
type” for the movie Semi-Tough saw the show. Dennehy was cast, and
small roles in movies and TV series followed quickly. He later starred
in the films First Blood (1982), Gorky Park (1983), Cocoon (1985), F/X
(1986), Presumed Innocent (1990) and Tommy Boy (1995).
In 1990 Dennehy received the first of six Emmy nominations, for
the TV movie 4 Killing in a Small Town. He played John Wayne Gacy
in the 1992 mini-series To Catch
a Killer, and from 1992 to 1996
played Chicago police investiga-
tor Jack Reed in six TV movies,
directing and writing four. In
recent years Dennehy had recur-
ring roles in several T'V series,
including The Blacklist.
His first love, however, was
the stage. Dennehy made his
Broadway debut in 1995 in
Translations; after winning
acclaim for his portrayal of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman
(1999), his roles included Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2003), Love
Letters (2014) and The Iceman Cometh (2015) — his second time in
the show. He portrayed Hickey in 1990 and Larry in 2015. Dennehy
was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2010.
The College presented Dennehy with a John Jay Award for
distinguished professional achievement in 1986, and he remained a
loyal alumnus. He lent his distinct voice to a promotional video for
the University and was the College’s Class Day speaker in 2000.
Dennehy’s first marriage, to Judith Scheff, ended in divorce. He
is survived by his wife, Jennifer Arnott; children, Elizabeth, Kath-
leen, Deirdre, Cormac and Sarah; and seven grandchildren.
Read more about Dennehy on gocolumbialions.com, tn ‘The New York
Times and on RogerEbert.com.
Terrence McNally 60, Tony-Winning Dramatist of Gay Life
Terrence McNally ’60, a four-time Tony Award-winning play-
wright whose work over five decades dramatized gay life, died on
March 24, 2020, from complications of COVID-19. He was 81
and a resident of New York City.
Born on November 3, 1938, in St. Petersburg, Fla., McNally’s
parents owned a bar and grill on the beach. After it was destroyed
by a hurricane, the family briefly relocated to Port Chester, N.Y.,
and his paternal grandfather would take him to the theater. After
76 CCT Summer 2020
the family moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, McNally edited the
school newspaper and literary magazine at W.B. Ray H.S.
At the College, from which he graduated Phi Beta Kappa,
McNally wrote for the Varsity Show. His Broadway theater
career began in 1963 when he contributed a few lines to an
adaptation of The Lady of the Camellias and continued with few
interruptions through 2019's revival of Frankie and Johnny in the
Clair de Lune.
college.columbia.edu/cct
SP annem one ee enone n enone
NINA ROBERTS
McNally’s work introduced theater audiences to homosexual
characters and situations that most mainstream productions had
shunted into comic asides. In a conversation with Philip Galanes
in The New York Times Style Magazine in 2019, Galanes noted,
“You were a pioneer, one of the first playwrights to explore gay
characters in your work — from the very beginning, in the 1960s.
Did you see that as bravery?” to which McNally replied, “Not at
all. I saw it as: These are people. I wasn't writing these plays in
Texas. I was writing them in New York, which is sophisticated. I
always felt it was O.K. to be gay in the American theater.”
Across the next 50 years, McNally’s plays — including The Ritz;
The Lisbon Traviata; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; and Anastasia —
traced the same narrative arc that many gay men were experienc-
ing over the same period.
“Though the changes Mr. McNally wrote about were epochal for
gay men, his plays were designed not to exclude. ... [they] never came
across as a narrowing of theater’s human focus but as an expansion
of it, and by inviting everyone into them he helped solidify the social
change he was describing,” the Times obituary noted.
McNally was a remarkably prolific dramatist, with some three
dozen plays to his credit, as well as the books for 10 musicals, the
librettos for four operas and a handful of screenplays for film and
television. He won Tony Awards for the musicals Kiss of the Spider
Woman (1993) and Ragtime (1998), and the plays Love! Valour!
Compassion! (1995) and Master
Class (1996), and was presented
the 2019 Tony Award for Life-
time Achievement.
In 2018 McNally was
inducted into the American
Academy of Arts and Let-
ters. He was presented the
2015 Lucille Lortel Lifetime
Achievement Award and the
2011 Dramatists Guild Lifetime
Achievement Award. McNally
was inducted into the American
Theater Hall of Fame in 1996.
The College presented McNally with a 1992 John Jay Award
for distinguished professional achievement, and in 2004 he was
presented with Columbia’s inaugural I.A.L. Diamond [’41] Award
for Achievement in the Arts. He was the 2013 Class Day speaker.
McNally is survived by his husband of 17 years, Thomas Kirdahy,
and a brother, Peter.
Read more about McNally in Take Five, CCT and in The New York
Times: Jow he was seen by critics and an interview with him and his
husband about thetr lastin ig marriage.
Charles P. Wuorinen ’61, GSAS’63, Pulitzer-Winning and Prolific Composer
Charles P. Wuorinen ’61, GSAS’63, a Pulitzer Prize-winning
composer of more than 270 works, as well as a virtuosic pianist
and a conductor, died on March 11, 2020. He was 81 and lived in
New York City.
Born on June 9, 1938, the son of John H. Wuorinen Sr. GSAS
1931, the former chair of Columbia's history department, Wuo-
rinen was a prodigy who
started composing at 5. He also
was a polymath with interests
in fractal geometry, astrophys-
ics, Egyptology and Chinese
calligraphy. He earned both a
B.A. and M.A. in music, the
latter from GSAS.
Wuorinen’s music showed
refinement, power, technical
excellence and wide emotional
range, and it found a home in
operas, ballets, symphonies,
chamber and vocal works of all
combinations and instruments.
His last completed work was his Second Percussion Symphony, which
premiered in Miami in September 2019.
In recent years conductor James Levine became an advocate for
the composer, and commissioned five orchestral works; Michael
Tilson Thomas, a conductor with whom Wuorinen worked for much
of his career, commissioned three; and Christoph von Dohnanyi,
77 CCT Summer 2020
of the Cleveland Orchestra, one. Oliver Knussen, a composer and
great interpreter of Wuorinen’s works, recorded 4 Reliquary for Igor
Stravinsky, which incorporated a few of Stravinsky’s unpublished
musical fragments (a little more than a minute of music) into a new
work many years after the Russian composer’s death.
Wuorinen also wrote six works for the New York City Ballet,
including three scores inspired by scenes from Dante, and Five:
Concerto for Amplified Cello and Orchestra. His works for the stage
include operas based on Annie Proulx’s novel Brokeback Mountain
and Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
Wuorinen had a strong interest in earlier music, seen in such
works as Delight of the Muses, written for the Mozart Bicentennial;
Time Regained, which uses materials from Machaut, Dufay, Gib-
bons and Matteo da Perugia; and The Magic Art: An Instrumental
Masque drawn from the works of Henry Purcell.
He received numerous awards, fellowships and honors, including
the Pulitzer Prize in 1970 (for Times Encomium), and a MacAr-
thur Fellowship, and was a member of the American Academy of
Arts and Letters. Wuorinen is the author of Simple Composition,
used by students throughout the world. He lectured at universities
throughout the United States and abroad, and served on the facul-
ties of Columbia, Princeton, Yale, the University of lowa, UC San
Diego, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory,
SUNY Buffalo and Rutgers.
Wuorinen is survived by his husband of 32 years, Howard Stokar.
Read more about Wuorinen in lhe New York Times and on his website.
college.columbia.edu/cct
MIKE MCLAUGHLIN / COLUMBIA ATHLETICS
alumninews «3
Heyward H. Dotson ’70, LAW’76, Lions Basketball Star
Heyward H. Dotson ’70, LAW’76, one of Columbia's finest
basketball players who later became a Rhodes Scholar and a
prominent attorney, died on
May 1, 2020. He was 71 and
lived in New York City.
Dotson was twice inducted
into the Columbia University
Athletics Hall of Fame: in
2006 as a member of the
basketball team and in 2018
as an individual.
The 6-foot-4-inch Dotson
was a capable scorer, solid
ball-handler and outstanding
defensive player who teamed
with Jim McMillian ’70 and
Dave Newmark’68 to lead the 1967-68 team that compiled a
23-5 record and was ranked as high as sixth nationally.
The Lions won the prestigious Holiday Festival basketball
tournament at Madison Square Garden, captured the Ivy League
crown by beating Princeton 92-74 in a playoff game at St. John’s
and reached the final 16 of the NCAA tournament. Dotson’s 32
points in an 83-69 first-round win over LaSalle is the record for a
Columbia player in an NCAA tournament game.
That Columbia team, coached by Jack Rohan’53, was known for
its tenacious pressure defense, and no one played harder than Dot-
son. “When we went into big games, teams were not ready for how
hard we played,” Dotson said in a 2018 interview. “Everybody knew
their role and executed very, very well. They used to call us the little
[New York] Knickerbockers [of the NBA], we were that good.”
Born on July 12, 1948, in Lugoff, $.C., Dotson was raised on
Staten Island and graduated from Stuyvesant H.S., where he
1967-68 Ivy League Champion
played center on the basketball team. When he came to Columbia
he was converted to guard and thrived despite the transition, scor-
ing 1,266 points on 54.2 percent shooting and averaging 16.7 ppg
for his career. Dotson was a star in the classroom as well, earning
Dean's List honors six times. “Basketball was a means to get him
off Staten Island, but he always thought of himself as a scholar,”
his daughter, Kahlillah Dotson Mosley, told Ihe New York Times.
After graduation, Dotson studied at Oxford University under a
Rhodes Scholarship and played professional basketball in Europe,
following a path paved by Princeton's Bill Bradley several years
earlier. He returned to the United States, and after an attempt to
play in the NBA, graduated from the Law School and practiced
with the firm of Shea & Gould. Dotson held several government
positions, including one with the New York State assemblyman
Keith Wright and another with New York City Comptroller’s
Office, and ran for the New York City Council in 2001 but lost in
the primaries.
“Heyward was one of the smartest, toughest individuals I have
ever had the privilege of knowing. He always rose to the occasion
and played his best against the best teams,” said Jonathan Schiller
69, LAW’73, a member of the 1967-68 team and chair emeritus
of Columbia’s Board of Trustees. “He was eloquent, proud and gra-
cious for the opportunities he had earned and what he was able to
accomplish as a result. We were fortunate to be with him in life.”
In addition to his daughter, Dotson is survived by his mother;
sisters, Dorothy Benson and Eva Cooper; brothers, David and
Donald; and three grandchildren. His wife, Mildred Dotson (née
Singleton), predeceased him in 1998.
— Alex Sachare’71
View an_interview with Dotson and a collage of his Lions playing days,
both made for his 2018 induction into the Columbia University Athlet-
ics Hall of Fame.
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COTECOMeELF
CORE CARTOON CAPTION CONTEST
In honor of the Centennial, we asked four artistic alums to take
inspiration from the Core and provide a cartoon in need of a caption
— one for each of our four issues this academic year. Our final
installment is by author and graphic novelist Ariel Schrag ‘O3.
The winning caption will be published in the Fall 2020 issue, and the
winner will get a signed print of Schrag’s cartoon. Any College
Student or College alum may enter; no more than three entries
per person. Submit your idea, along with your full name, CC class year
and daytime phone, to cct_centennial@columbia.edu by
Monday, August 10. And be sure to check out the Spring 2020
winning caption on our Table of Contents in this issue’s PDF.
79 CCT Summer 2020 college.columbia.edu/cct
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