Columbia College Summer 2013 TODAY The College Connection Alumni and Students Forge Meaningful Bonds Across Disciplines and Generations Contents NETWORK STUDENTS AND ALUMNI WITH COLUMBIA 24 The College Connection 30 Hands-On Experience ALUMNI Alumni and students forge meaningful The Columbia College Alumni-Sponsored bonds across disciplines and generations. Student Internship Program pairs students BY ALEXIS TONTI ’11 ARTS with alumni for mutual benefit. BY SHIRA BOss ’93, ’97J, ’98 SIPA FEATURES 16 Class Day and 49 Relief, Recovery, Commencement 32 Vision Quest Resilience Through decades of BILL CAMPBELL, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 research, Dr. George 50 Nate Bliss ’05 played CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, INTUIT The Class of 2013 joins 46 Alumni a key role in Coney MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, APPLE Yancopoulos ’80 over- the ranks of alumni; plus MEMBER OF THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY CLUB OF NEW YORK sees numerous drug Reunion Weekend Island’s comeback from Academic Awards and advances — including a and Dean’s Day Hurricane Sandy. Prizes. breakthrough in one to 2013 BY MARY JEAN BABIC BY ALEX SACHARE ’71 treat eye disease. The perfect midtown location to network, dine with a Classmates reconnect on 54 Brian O’Connell ’89 client, hold events or business meetings, house guests 19 Senior BY DAVID MCKAY WILSON campus and throughout helped the school he in town for the weekend, and much more. Snapshots New York City. founded bounce back BY LISA PALLADINO after the storm. To become a member, visit columbiaclub.org or A look at the achieve- BY MICHAEL R. SHEA ’10 ARTS call 212-719-0380. ments and ambitions of eight members of the in residence at The Princeton Club of New York Class of 2013. 15 WEST 43 STREET NEW YORK, NY 10036 FRONT COVER: LESLIE JEAN-BART ’76, ’77L; BACK COVER: CHRIS TAGGART Columbia Ad_famous alumni.indd 6 11/8/12 12:48 PM MESSAGE FROM DEAN JAMES J. VALENTINI DEPARTMENTS ALUMNI NEWS 3 Message from the 58 Message from the 61 Obituaries Alumni and Students Benefit from Dean CCAA President 62 Daniel Hoffman ’47, Alumni and students benefit The CCAA’s Student ’56 GSAS from intergenerational Alumni Committee looks to Intergenerational Interaction interaction. identify areas where alumni can support and enhance 4 Letters to the the quality of student life. Editor his spring, at a campus event cel- begins when students are applying to Columbia 59 Bookshelf ebrating the 75th anniversary of — many are interviewed by Alumni Representa- 6 Within the Family Featured: The Tinkerers by Literature Humanities, faculty, tive Committee (ARC) volunteers — and contin- 36 Columbia Forum: Alec Foege ’88. students, alumni and parents gath- ues through Class Day, when representatives of WWII & NYC ered in classrooms around campus each alumni class march in the Alumni Parade of 7 Around the Quads to discuss The Odyssey, Euripides, Classes onto South Lawn to celebrate that year’s No shots were fired in ear- The Class of 2013 celebrates Montaigne and Jane Austen, and to deliberate the graduates. Such interaction is key to the College nest yet New York City — T at the Senior Dinner. value of Lit Hum and the Core. Current students experience: Students see their possible futures and Columbia — played a Phyllis Fletcher ’94 heard about the significance of the Core in former through alumni, and alumni remember their pasts 14 Roar, Lion, Roar significant role in WWII. students’ lives and former students heard how it and what they experienced as students. BY KENNETH T. JACksON, 64 Class Notes has changed — and stayed the same — during the In my two years as dean, I have noticed again Baseball, women’s tennis THE JACQUES BARZUN Alumni Profiles years since they took it. It was a great opportunity and again how passionate students and alumni are win Ivy League titles. for intergenerational interaction. And it was just one about seeking connections with one another. And PROFEssOR IN HISTORY AND 88 Louis Rossetto ’71 example of many such opportunities at the College I am committed to creating more opportunities for THE SOCIAL SCIENCES 96 Michael Caruso ’83 each year. PHOTO: EILEEN BARROSO such connections. One of my long-term goals for the 102 Phyllis Fletcher ’94 Columbia College alumni and students engage College and the Columbia College Alumni Asso- 42 WWII & Columbia: Alec Foege ’88 through internships, mentoring programs, pre-professional ciation is to match every current Columbia College student with a A Photo Essay 112 Alumni Corner advis ing, scholarship matching and at events. They engage in Columbia College alumni mentor. We will be working on develop- formal settings and less formal settings on campus, in workplaces ing and implementing this mentorship program with the CCAA and in coffee shops around the city and the world. The process and the College’s alumni relations and development staffs. This is part of my goal of 100 percent alumni engagement in the College — of encouraging every alumnus/a to be involved in some way each year. I look forward to updating you on this effort. The Columbia College experience is a continuum that starts from the point of being admitted and lasts until you celebrate Brett Boretti guides Lions to the 50th, 65th or even 80th anniversary of your graduation. For 11th Ivy baseball crown. me, there are three stages of Columbia College students: future student, current student and former student, and as alumni — former students — you play an important role as mentors, advis- ers and inspirations for our current students. In you, our talented and accomplished alumni, our students see the exciting opportu- nities that a Columbia College education can provide. If you are interested in engaging with our current (and future) WEB EXTRAS students, I urge you to get involved. Here are a few ways to do so: Like Columbia College n Alumni on Facebook: View additional photos of and a video about interview prospective students: undergrad.admissions. facebook.com/alumnicc Hurricane Sandy’s impact on Scholars’ Academy columbia.edu/admissions/archandbook/frontpage; n mentor a student: college.columbia.edu/alumni/ View photo albums from Alumni Reunion volunteer/mentoring; Follow @Columbia_CCAA Weekend and Dean’s Day 2013 n attend an event with students: studentaffairs.columbia. on Twitter Read more alumni reflections on edu/studentandalumni; and/or n Literature Humanities sponsor an internship, give students career advice or help them prepare for job interviews: careereducation. Join the Columbia Alumni Read about rower Nikki Bourassa ’13 columbia.edu/alumni. Association Network on and her Olympic aspirations Enjoy the summer. I hope to see you on campus soon! LinkedIn: alumni. Students engage with alumni at events such as a media panel columbia.edu/linkedin college.columbia.edu/cct at Bloomberg headquarters (above) and through community- building activities such as the annual Alumni Parade of Classes. PHOTOS: TOP, PETER FOLEY; BOTTOM; EILEEN BARROSO SUMMER 2013 3 something or other in my hand and won- Letters to the Editor dering how I would get through 450 pages of fairly dense reading in a week — and if I did, how I would remember any of it. am a better scientist and person for having Russ Abbott ’62 Volume 40 Number 4 been exposed to these books and the dis- CULVER CITY, CALIF. Summer 2013 cussions they generated. EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Each year, when we are evaluating ap- The series on Lit Hum in the Spring 2013 Alex Sachare ’71 plicants to medical or graduate school at issue is excellent. I shall be forever grateful EXECUTIVE EDITOR the University of Michigan, where I am for the Core Curriculum. It was then that Lisa Palladino a member of the faculty, I pay special at- my education truly began. MANAGING EDITOR tention to whether they have [studied] a Having said that, I have always regret- Alexis Tonti ’11 Arts broad liberal arts curriculum. I find that if ted that only Western Civilization was EDITORIAL ASSISTANT a student’s classes have almost exclusively covered. The world ended in Greece. The Elena Hecht ’09 Barnard been in the hard sciences, they lack some rich and manifold cultures, politics, eco- FORUM EDITOR of the maturity that I think bodes well for nomics and religions of the Near, Middle Rose Kernochan ’82 Barnard success in graduate or professional school. and Far East were ignored. In that silence, CONTRIBUTING WRITER Columbia should be proud of this tra- those regions were tacitly relegated to un- Shira Boss ’93, ’97J, ’98 SIPA dition. I look forward to celebrating the importance and I, for one, left with that James P. Mirollo ’61 GSAS, the Parr Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Litera- 100th anniversary. mindset. If the world ended in Greece for ture, pauses during a Literature Humanities class in 1991. Mirollo was one of the panelists EDITORIAL INTERN Mike Imperiale ’76, ’81 GSAS Columbia graduates, the same limited at the keynote event during the Lit Hum @ 75 celebration on April 26. Karl Daum ’15 PHOTO: NICK ROMANENKO ’82 Keeping the Spirit Alive ANN ARBOR, MICH. perspective might well have been shared DESIGN CONSULTANT Jean-Claude Suarès Congratulations to the CCT staff for cre- by graduates of other schools with their ating an alumni magazine that has kept I was deeply influenced by the Humani- even narrower curricula. The history of To this day I can spot the Columbia apocryphal and has a necessary touch of ART DIRECTOR Gates Sisters Studio alive the spirit of intellectual curiosity and ties courses; I had never read most of the the last century and this one so far has College graduate because in every field he verisimilitude. exploration that has been such an impor- authors we were exposed to nor was I fa- shown the huge importance of the world or she is known to be the uniquely coura- I was walking down Broadway from CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS tant part of what Columbia has stood for miliar with their ideas.